Talk Like a Marketing Pro with Simple Google Analytics Buzzwords Marketing is filled with so many buzzwords that it sometimes seems like an entirely different language. And even when you know what the terms mean, it is often hard to figure out what to do with the information. The definitions of terms and phrases you find in your Google Analytics dashboard will help you discuss your website like a pro. But it is not enough to know the words, you need to use the data to build action plans.  Use Google Analytics to Measure Marketing Effectiveness   Is your marketing working? Are people responding to your social posts, email alerts, and advertising? The traffic metrics will help you figure that out. Channels –   These are the different sources of website traffic. They include: organic, direct, paid, social, referral and email. There is no perfect mix or right percentage. Instead, your objective should be to improve each over time.  Direct Traffic   – This occurs when someone is familiar with your brand and comes to your website by typing your web address or URL into their browser. Companies with high brand awareness or a large customer base are likely to see a high percentage of direct traffic. Also, membership organizations or schools where community members are likely to return again and again will see high direct traffic. increasing direct traffic will require you to build interest in your brand in the real world. Traditional advertising like radio, billboards or direct mail help familiarize prospective customers with your company. Go to networking events, hand out your business card or mail a brochure which includes a link to your website to drive people to look for you specifically when they hop on line Email Traffic   – This is not traffic which comes from a link in a personal email. That is actually counted as part of direct traffic. This is the traffic which comes from your email newsletter. If you want to grow this traffic you need to grow your email list. Create systems in your operations to always ask for an email address, and add information to your website to encourage people to sign up.  Organic search – This is traffic which comes to your website as a result of someone searching on Google, or less likely Yahoo or Bing for a product or a service. If a significant portion of your traffic is organic it is a good indication that your site is ranking well for relevant key words. Organic traffic occurs when Google identifies content on your website as relevant for people looking for information.  If you want more traffic, you need more content. The best content is not redundant but covers a wide range of related topics   Social referrals –   This is a count of all the sessions which come from social networks. To increase social traffic you need to be active and interesting on each platform, sharing a mix of content including links to your site. And when you do share your links, don’t just say “New Post.” Tell the reader what they will learn if they click through.   Paid Traffic –   This is traffic which comes as a result of a Google AdWords campaign. I always suggest working with all the other traffic sources first and then use the information to create effective ad campaigns.  Referral traffic – This is traffic which comes to your website from another website. While search engines don’t value links as highly as they once did in establishing your authority, a referral from another high-quality site still brings traffic.  Use Google Analytics to Improve Your User Experience More than just telling you how people find your website, your Google Analytics can help you understand what people are interested in and how they enjoyed their visit to your website.  Bounce –    This is a visit to your site with only one page viewed. This number is often expressed as a percentage referred to as the   Bounce Rate. While many people worry about a high bounce rate, it isn’t always a bad thing.  When it comes to your Bounce Rate a closer look is required:  If you have a fast loading site with key information on a landing page that may allow people to find what they need right away.  If people come to your website primarily to find a single piece of information such as the phone number or hours of operation. A single blog post which drives a lot of traffic but is unrelated to other elements on your website will also cause a high bounce rate.  The bottom line, high bounce rate by itself is not a cause for concern. Page views   – A page view is recorded every time a page is viewed. When a visitor hits the back button, a page view is recorded. When a visitor refreshes their browser window, a page view is recorded. Every time a page is opened in the browser, regardless of whether it has been cached, a page view is recorded. Your objective should be to increase the number of pages viewed per session. Do this by making it easy to move from page to page, with links to relevant content and a clear next step. Entrances/Entry Page/Landing Page These terms are often used interchangeably. They refer to the first stop on a visitor’s journey. Landing pages promoted on social media and in email marketing or on paid search will often be highly ranked. These pages are good indicators of what your customers are looking for. While Google no longer shares detailed information on what keywords people use to find your site, it is easy to guess the topics based on the popularity of particular pages.   When you see one page coming up on your most popular lists, again and again, it should always prompt you to consider adding more content on that topic.  Exit Point –   This is the last page viewed by a website visitor. There are natural exit pages, such as “Contact Us.”  But if people seem to be “getting off your train” at the same location regularly, look for ways to improve the page. Review the layout and the content. Add a clear next step such as a link to more information or a conversion form. If the page has less than 500 words, add more information with headlines and sub heads for easy scanning. Conversion – When a visitor completes an action such as filling out a form, subscribing to a list, buying an item or perhaps watching a video this is considered a conversion. This is one of the primary purposes of your website so pay attention to conversion and add more opportunities for conversion.  If a blog post or page continues to attract visitors long after you have stopped promoting it there is a good chance it has been well ranked for a key term. Don’t let that traffic go to waste. Give visitors a clear next step with a conversion element on the page. Downloads, special offers, newsletter sign ups all encourage the visitor to stay longer or take the next step in their buying process. All of Google Analytics Comes Down to Your Keyword In search engine optimization, the particular word or phrase that describes the contents of a web page is the keyword. Defining keywords to summarize the content of a page helps search engines match pages with searches. Choosing the right keywords and using them correctly is an entire blog topic all to itself. The simplest suggestion is to think like your customers and use their words to describe your products and services. Look for shifts over time It is easy to get lost for hours studying your Google Analytics. Instead, select a few key metrics and look for shifts over time. Set specific goals and objectives, create action plans to achieve the goals and use Google Analytics to hold you accountable to those goals.     Looking for more buzzwords? Check out our Google Analytics Glossary. ... View more

  It is a part of my job to have social media profiles everywhere, both personally as Lorraine Ball and professionally as Roundpeg. Just as I advise my clients, I pick and choose the platforms where I really want to spend my time. As the platforms have grown and adjusted direction, I have certainly adjusted my mix. Lately, I am spending more time on Instagram.   When I started, I made a few of the typical Instagram mistakes, I used the platform as an easy way to share photos to multiple social networks at the same time. I connected with all the same people I knew on Facebook and Twitter, so I would see the same things in my timeline everywhere I went and I didn’t appreciate that there might be a business application for the tool.    Over time I came to appreciate the unique features of Instagram. As an amateur photographer, I love browsing the timeline and searching hashtags to discover great images. I get inspired as I view the world through someone else’s eyes. And I enjoy sharing some of my favorite photos and seeing what type of reaction I get from friends and strangers. If you look at my   personal time line   you will see lots of photos of flowers, animals, interesting places and food. I also enjoy the quick glimpses into the lives of my friends and family as they share photos of kids, pets and vacations.     Everyone uses Instagram a little differently and I usually don’t judge, but I have to draw the line at 300 selfies. Recently, we were screening candidates for a social media job at Roundpeg. We always ask candidates to share a link to one of their social profiles. Usually, we get links to Twitter, LinkedIn and occasionally Facebook. But this year, for the first time, we started seeing quite a bit of Instagram. Many of the accounts gave me a real sense of who the person was and they were more likely to move to the next step in the process.   The exceptions were the Instagram accounts comprised of nothing but selfies. My first reaction was to wonder how anyone can be that narcissistic. My second reaction was to know I didn’t want to find out. There was nothing even remotely interesting about the 300 duck faces. And we skipped more than one candidate because of the selfie laden account. Now I have nothing against the occasional selfie, but good lord, mix it up. There is a whole world beyond you.     As I was thinking about these narcissistic personal accounts, it occurred to me businesses often make the same Instagram mistakes. They jump on Instagram and proceed to push out the same information they are sharing on all the other platforms, but it doesn’t work here. You can’t embed hyperlinks (except in ads) to boring blog posts so you have to be more creative. The timeline is filled with product photos. Yes, your jar of beans is lovely, but it won’t compete with a cute puppy or a beautiful sky at sunset. Your photos need to be more interesting so save the promotions for other platforms and get creative. One of our clients, Randall Beans does a great job on Instagram. They actually have two accounts   Powered by Beans   which features images of healthy lifestyle adventures and   Open Spigot Farm,   where they actually grow some of their beans. On Facebook, where we can embed links we share recipes, cookbooks, and coupons. They miss the point that people like to see pictures of people ( just not 300 of the same person). Instagram is a great place to share pictures of your customers and employees. Will you make sales if you are on Instagram or miss out if you aren’t? Maybe not, but if you are going to do it, do it right. For a few more tips, check out my conversation with Sam.  ... View more

  Eight years ago I met a consultant who had been experimenting with podcasts. They were relatively rare at the time, but he was convinced it was the “next big thing” for bloggers. He was having fun and enjoying the opportunity to share expertise with a wider audience. He made it sound simple so we gave it a try, and More than a Few Words (MTFW) was born.    Over the years we have experimented with a variety of formats including occasional pre-recorded interviews with other marketing experts, live shows with call-in options, short solo-casts or conversations with the Roundpeg team on a weekly schedule. Although we had a regular audience, we weren’t sure exactly how the podcast fit within our business model, so we took a break.     Now after almost two years, we are back with a clear vision and a format that fits how we operate today. We are recording short programs and distributing them through our blog, social media and as part or our weekly resource kits. Instead of treating MTFW as stand-alone content, each episode is matched with a blog post containing supplemental information or a resource page with complimentary videos and worksheets.  We schedule social media status updates around each episode and include links in our weekly email campaigns.    I have even begun reaching out to owners of other digital agencies around the country to be guests on our show. It is win/win as they get an audio interview to help promote their business and we introduce our show to a wider audience.    Our podcast integrates well with our other digital marketing efforts. Not only do we link to the podcast from our blog, but we can talk about new resources and blog posts from the podcast. This integrated approach is paying off as we see weekly downloads are on the rise. Our next objective as we reach a wider audience with the podcast will be to build our email list and webinar registrations.   Why Podcasts Make Sense for Small Business People are listening to podcasts While the podcast audience was fairly small a few years ago, it has grown steadily over the last few years. Podcast subscriptions on iTunes surpassed 1 billion last year as people listen from their desktop or from their phone on the go. The vast majority of downloads will come from people who subscribe, so the latest program will automatically appear in their news feed. You don’t have to actively fight to get in front of them as you do on social media.  Podcasting on a shoestring Starting a podcast doesn’t require a lot of expensive equipment or sophisticated hosting programs. Sure some people are podcasting from studios, but also from their home offices, garages and even in the streets. We actually record many of our podcasts directly into the recording function on my iPhone from my office or our back deck. (Listen closely and you might even hear the dogs next door barking.)   We use Audacity (which is free) to edit and host our podcast on Podbean. There is a free version if you are just getting started, we do pay a small subscription to have access to more storage capacity. I like that it interfaces directly with iTunes and creates a simple embed code so we can easily add the recordings to individual blog posts.     Podcasting has never been easier. If you think you are ready to give it a try, but want a little advice, give us a call.  And be sure to check out More than a Few Words (MTFW)  wherever you listen to podcasts.    ... View more

      If you are like me, whenever you hear people talking about Avatars, you think of the movie. You know the one where a hybrid human-alien called an Avatar is created to facilitate communication with the indigenous Na’vis from the planet Pandora.  (Ok, so I am a geek, and maybe I am the only one who thinks that.)   Sorry to disappoint if by chance you did think that. Today’s blog post is not about science fiction characters, it is about the social media avatar, the small image in your social media profile which displays on your timeline. It is a small picture – often less than 80 pixels, but like the avatars of movie fame, it can have a large impact.   Let’s take a look at some of the dos and don’ts of a social media avatar.  Consistency counts – One of the best ways to build brand recognition is with consistency. So choose an image and use it on all social platforms. And don’t change it. Just about the time you are absolutely bored with it, your customers are finally recognizing it.    Your avatar needs to stand on its own – We often see companies designing a social media avatar and cover image as if they were always going to appear together. While they look beautiful side by side on your company page, remember after someone likes your page, they rarely return to your page. Instead, they interact with your brand in the timeline, and only the avatar makes it to the timeline.    Your logo isn’t always your best social media avatar – The avatar will compete with lots of other images in the timeline. If you have a horizontal or busy logo it may not be recognizable in the timeline. And since your name appears right next to it, the image will be directly associated with your brand.    Look at the two images below. Both images are actually the same size, but the horizontal nature of the original logo forces us to make everything smaller. When we pull just the first part of the logo it fills the box. Think about looking at that on your phone. Which one is more likely to jump out at you?  Make your social media avatar a part of your brand kit   When we decided to jump on to social media, we had a challenge because our logo wasn’t designed for the square avatar space. With no “icon” or graphic, just a simple text treatment, we settled on using just the letters r & p in the fonts and colors used in our full-scale logo.       I didn’t want to give up our primary logo, so to create a sense of consistency, we began using the “rp” on print materials, bringing the social media avatar into the real world.   It appears on business cards and note cards linking the two elements into one consistent brand identity.    What about you?  How will you maintain your brand consistency?        ... View more

First impressions matter It only takes a few seconds for people to form preliminary opinions of a person, product or company. Taking the time to design effective and attractive emails will help create a positive, lasting impression.   With easy to use tools like Constant Contact you can create email campaigns in a matter of minutes. And, if you incorporate these simple design strategies you can improve your results by creating easy to read, attractive emails.    Start with your branding When customers and prospects open your email it should feel familiar, creating a visually smooth transition to your website or social media profiles. You can create this familiar feeling by using your logo, brand colors and standard brand images in your header, footer and throughout the email.   Design email campaigns to be read on mobile devices Today, a significant portion of readers view campaigns from mobile devices. Make sure you're using a mobile friendly design. Use a single column format.  Keep sentences and paragraphs short. Use headlines and dividers. Use buttons instead of links.  Select easy-to-read fonts The font you choose can support or distract from your message. Here a few things to keep in mind as you select font for your email. Select fonts which look like your brand If possible. Serif fonts are easier to read on screens.  Use serif font  for titles only. Use all caps for buttons.  Select the right colors When applying color to your design, you should consider color choices that work well together, compliment your brand and project the kind of feeling you are trying to convey. Some things to keep in mind:    Start with your brand colors.  Avoid extremely bright color combinations or large areas of intense color. Use bright colors sparingly to attract attention to key points, Limit the primary color pallet to 3, too many make the design “busy” and hard to look at. If you are going to put text on a colored background, the font will need to be slightly larger and in a strong contrasting color. Use images to create attractive emails People respond to images. One study found 82% of people pay more attention to emails that have images so we know they add value if done well. Here are a few simple things to remember when using images:  Don’t rely on images to convey critical information. Use image descriptions. Keep images relevant. Less is more. Limit the total number of images and calls to action. Want to see some examples of these tips in action? Check out our Email expansion tool kit.  ... View more

  Everyone is using email marketing these days. Unfortunately, most people are not doing it well. I have my own list of pet peeves. If you read the blog often you have probably seen the things which top my list. So for a different perspective, I reached out on Twitter and asked others to share the most common email marketing mistakes.   As I read the responses from professional marketers and small business owners there were quite a few reoccurring themes. My original plan was to post all the tweets, but the question about email mistakes seemed to touch a nerve and there were way too many responses to list all of them.   Here is a synopsis. With many thanks to all the folks who responded. (See the complete list at the bottom of this post)   Everyone does not want your email Carol Stephen started the conversation with a comment on permission. " The biggest mistake is adding people to an email marketing list without asking them first. Meeting someone once does not equal putting them on your mailing list. "   Effective email is first and foremost permission based. You are kidding yourself if you simply add people to your list and then hope they will buy from you. Most of the time they will unsubscribe and think poorly of you. Even if they have a need down the road they are not likely to call you.   Someone who signed up four years ago may not still be interested today. Maybe they have moved or their needs have changed. You are still sending them emails, but they never open them anymore. Repeatedly sending emails to bad email addresses and people who never open your emails, gives you a distorted perspective on how well your email is doing. Regularly weeding out inactive people to keep your email list clean is key.   Failing to get personal Expanding on the theme of permission were lots of comments on the importance of segmenting your list. Depending on the size of your list segmenting by interest, purchase intent, how often they want to hear from you or even time zone gives you an opportunity to send significantly more targeted messages.   Even if you have a small list, creating a segmentation strategy early lets you manage your list as it grows. Otherwise, you will be trapped creating bland and generic messages which are likely to go directly to the Spam folder.   In an age where technology easily supports personalization, people have come to expect it. If Amazon can recommend a book based on what I have read before and CVS can send me a reminder to buy toilet paper, the least you can do is get the name right and figure out that someone signed up for vegetarian, not beef, recipes.   Grabbing Attention Your email won't be read if it isn't opened. There was strong advice on the importance of a good subject line. Too many companies fail to test headlines and delivery times and then are disappointed with their open and response rates. The advice was clear. Don't assume. Test what works for YOUR audience.   Beyond the headline you need to focus on the content inside your email. If your emails only have introductions to stories, Erik Deckers warns "I won't click if you didn't grab me in the first 100 words."  Make every word count and end with a strong call to action.   The Little Details In the past, I have written numerous posts about the need for relevant content. While everyone agreed content is important there was also a lot of energy around the issues of bad grammar and misspelled words. Nothing blows your credibility faster than demonstrating a lack of attention to details. (Full confession, I know this is a weakness of mine, so I rely heavily on my editor, Rebecca).   Also in the category of ways to destroy your credibility was this comment from Mark Tillison "screwing up dynamic text insertion: "Dear <fname>" makes recipients feel really special."   If you aren't sure why this is annoying, go back and read the section on personalization.   There are lots more mistakes you can make, but if you want to avoid them, check out some of these experts. Follow them on Twitter and even ask a question or two.   @ Carol_Stephen  ‏ @ kyleplacy   @ HopeworksDesign @ AdventureGlass @ Tillison @ edeckers  ‏ @ Square2   @ DanaMNelson   @ martinthoma @ WordGroupie @jennrileysimone  @RosserJobs  ‏@RNissenbaum  @randyclarktko   Want to learn more?   Join the Roundpeg Team for the next   EMAIL MARKETING BOOT CAMP ... View more

Email marketing isn't perfect. However, when it is used correctly it is a powerful marketing tool. This is true in many industries, but it is especially true for services which offer annual service checks. Whether it is an automobile repair shop, dentist office or heating and air conditioning company, email is a cost-effective way to drive repeat business and a reoccurring revenue stream.       I have been working with HVAC contractors for almost 30 years so my example below is based on that type of business, but it can easily be applied to any service.     At the beginning of each season, successful contractors dive into their customer list sending direct mail and making phone calls to encourage former clients to schedule preventative maintenance. These strategies are tedious, time-consuming and expensive. Email marketing can be an effective addition to the program. It won't eliminate the need for phone calls or direct mail, but it will reduce dependence on those tools.    Here's how an effective service contractor email marketing program can work: With email marketing, a service contractor can send one email to thousands of consumers at once, or stagger the campaign over a series of weeks to manage the call volume. Once the email has been designed, it can be used every year with little or no modification.    Segment your List   Another benefit of sending an email to promote the service before starting a phone or direct mail campaigns is it provides an opportunity to segment the list.   Group #1 - Loyal Fans    While this will probably be a relatively small group, they are very valuable. They will read the email, click the link and schedule an appointment. Your scheduler may have to follow up, but if your web contact form allows them to give you two or three choices of convenient times, you can often schedule the call without ever talking to the customer. For busy, hard to reach customers this is a huge time saving for everyone.   These customers are also ideal prospects for annual maintenance agreements because they clearly understand the value of the service call. Add them to another list to follow up with a supplemental email after the service call.    Group #2 - Interested Prospects   These are people who read the email and click the link but don't schedule an appointment. Often it is because the form didn't load quickly or they were on their phone and it was hard to fill out the form, or maybe they just got distracted. Whatever the reason, these should be the first people you call because they were already in consideration mode.   A quick conversation may be all that is needed to complete the sale. Those you can't reach by phone should receive a shorter, reminder email.    Group #3 - Hard Sell   These are people who opened the email, but then didn't do anything else. This group was not motivated by your message. They may need a more informative communication which explains the value of the semi-annual maintenance visit.     Group #4 - Missed You   These are people who didn't open the email at all. Before you do anything else, resend the same email about one week later. Typically you will get another 10 - 15% of your audience to open the exact same email. When they do, segment them into the three groups above and follow up with a phone call or even direct mail.    Now you have a much smaller list to attack with phone calls and direct mail. But you won't need to go after these people until you exhaust your efforts on the first three groups.   Group #5 - Bounces   People move or they change email addresses so every time you send an email campaign, you should look at your bounces. Delete emails which have been suspended, check non-existent addresses. A typo when you entered an email into the system is often at fault.     Email marketing won't eliminate the need for phone calls or some direct mail, but the more consistent you are with your campaigns the less you will have to rely on expensive and time-consuming methods.    ... View more

If you aren’t going to do anything with the numbers, don’t bother taking the time to measure web performance. As a number geek, it is hard for me to even write that sentence, but I mean it. Looking at numbers for the sake of bragging rights – look how much web traffic or how many fans on Facebook  – is a waste of time.      The numbers only have value if you dive in to understand what they mean, and use them to take action.   What type of action?   The answer to that question will vary based on your business objectives, but at the very least when you measure web performance you should treat the data like clues in a treasure hunt. Take time to follow the information like I did back in 2009 when I noticed an unusual spike in traffic to one obscure blog post.: SHOUT OUT TO VINCENT HIGH SCHOOL   In that example, I tracked back and found a connection between a referral source and a particular piece of content. Since the spike was caused by a group of students who are not necessarily my target market, I wrote a nice blog post, but didn’t have any intention of going any further.   But the process of looking for unusual spikes is one I repeat often. Doing so on a regular basis has helped us discover areas of interest among our readers, and communities we should be connecting to. That is what happened when Peter wrote an article about SumoMe.com.    It was a good blog post but a few days after it was published, the traffic blew up. It turns out that there is a user group for this software product on Facebook and one of the members shared the article. As web developers, we actually joined the group and got involved in the conversation.    Where do they go?   It is good to know where your visitors come from, but you also want to look at where they go next. Do they look at your contact form, your service page or simply leave? How do I know where they go next? I simply use the Behavior Flow tool, one of my favorite tools in the Google Analytics page. Using Behavior Flow, you can see how people move through your site.   We used the tool to study one of our most popular blog posts. Every day people come looking for information about Dropbox. Unfortunately, that is all they are interested in. The vast majority weren’t hanging around. They didn’t look at our other information, sign up for newsletters or seminars or fill out a contact form.    rom the data we came to two conclusions: Although the blog post was popular, we probably weren’t going to do more on the same or related topics because the people reading that post, much like the students in the first post I mentioned, weren’t in our target audience. We needed to at least try to capture some of that traffic. So we began experimenting with different links to other information in the blog post. While the vast majority of the traffic still drifts away at the bottom of the page, we have seen a slight increase in people looking around a little more. The bottom line? Take a little time to go on a treasure hunt of your own. Who knows what you will find, buried in the data if your take the time to really measure your web performance.     ... View more

    First impressions matter It only takes a few seconds for people to form preliminary opinions of a person, product or company. Taking the time to design effective and attractive emails will help create a positive, lasting impression. With easy to use tools, you can create email campaigns in a matter of minutes. And, if you incorporate these simple design strategies you can improve your results by creating easy to read, attractive emails.  Start with your branding When customers and prospects open your email it should feel familiar, creating a visually smooth transition to your website or social media profiles. You can create this familiar feeling by using your logo, brand colors and standard brand images in your header, footer and throughout the email.   Design email campaigns to be read on mobile devices   Today, a significant portion of readers view campaigns from mobile devices. Make sure you’re using a mobile friendly design.   Use a single column format.  Keep sentences and paragraphs short. Use headlines and dividers. Use buttons instead of links.  Select easy-to-read fonts   The font you choose can support or distract from your message. Here a few things to keep in mind as you select font for  your email.   Select fonts which look like your brand If possible. Serif fonts are easier to read on screens.  Use serifs for titles only. Use all caps for buttons.    Select the right colors When applying color to your design, you should consider color choices that work well together, compliment your brand and project the kind of feeling you are trying to convey. Some things to keep in mind:    Start with your brand colors.  Avoid extremely bright color combinations or large areas of intense color. Use bright colors sparingly to attract attention to key points, Limit the primary color pallet to 3, too many make the design “busy” and hard to look at. If you are going to put text on a colored background, the font will need to be slightly larger and in a strong contrasting color.     Use images to create attractive emails   People respond to images. One study found 82% of people pay more attention to emails that have images so we know they add value if done well. Here are a few simple things to remember when using images:  Don’t rely on images to convey critical information. Use image descriptions. Keep images relevant. Less is more. Limit the total number of images and calls to action. Want to put these tips into action? Check out our workbook on this topic.  ... View more

I know you invested in a website five years ago. It was perfect, so why do you need a website redesign?   I will give you the benefit of the doubt and let you think it was perfect five years ago. Unfortunately, that was five years ago and so much has changed. Think about how often you upgrade your computer or phone or car. In many cases, you are running your business on a vehicle that is older than the car you drive to get there every day.   It is time for a website redesign. As a matter of fact even if your website is only two years old, it may be time to start thinking about an update. Here are few really good reasons to call a web design company.   Your website doesn’t meet visitor expectations.   Your customers are not web novices. They surf from site to site all day long. They have come to expect things which your site might not deliver.  What information do visitors look for when they come to your website? Check your stats, then make sure this information is front and center. Does your search function work? If someone is looking for something which is only relevant to a few people, how will they find it? (Hint: They won’t drill down through three levels of navigation). Your website should include current product and service information. If you don’t carry a product or offer a service anymore, take it off your site. If you have three new, very profitable products they should be prominently featured. Does your navigation make sense to someone who is not familiar with your products,service or industry? Don’t guess. Do a test with people who don’t know your business and see how happy or frustrated they are after spending time on your site. Your website must be responsive. This isn’t optional anymore. It is an important part of the user experience as more and more people use their phones and tablets throughout the day. In addition, search engines are giving preferential treatment to websites which are mobile responsive. Your business has changed. Even fairly stable companies grow and change in the course of five years. In all likelihood you have adjusted your marketing strategy; your website should be a part of that strategy. Your competitors haven’t been standing still. Now is a good time to take a look at what they are doing and go one step better. SEO is a like a horse race. You make a change and move ahead. Then your competitor does something and they move ahead. If you are locked into a static design which can’t be adapted easily you will always be playing catch up. Your website isn’t creating leads.   Even if you don’t sell products directly from your website, it should be an integral part of your sales process. It should help you introduce your company and build a pool of interested prospects. Your website’s look and tone should create a positive impression for your target audience The information should be presented in an easy to read format. Yes, you can be professional without jargon or corporate buzz words. Your landing pages should motivate people to interact with your brand with calls to action which actually convert casual visitors into leads. Want to see what's posible? Check out our web design portfolio.  ... View more

  Why Local Search Matters When you are looking for a new product or service where do you go? Sometimes you will ask a friend, neighbor or co-worker, but often you will hop online to find the answers. You are not alone, millions of people conduct a local search online for the things they need and want every single day.   Even if you are just down the street, people may look online and discover a competitor miles away because they have done a better job of managing their visibility on local search. So as a business how easy is it to find you online?   Start with your website Obviously, you need to have a well written, mobile responsive website. We know that 90% of mobile searches result in action so if your website isn’t mobile responsive you are missing many opportunities. In addition to a mobile responsive design, your website needs to be filled with relevant and current information that has the appropriate page titles and meta data so search engines can figure out how your website answers the searcher’s question.   Finally, if you are trying to win “local search” it is important to let customers know you are local. In addition to your address and a mention on your home page that you are an Indianapolis-based company look for ways to include more geographic information in your content. like mentioning how companies in your city use your services. Also update the meta data and page titles to include the geographic reference.   Monitor your online presence Your website is a starting point, but it can’t be your only online footprint. While many consumers use search engines like Google, Yahoo or Bing they also turn to local search tools like Citysearch, review sites like Yelp or TripAdvisor and other mobile apps to discover companies which can solve their problem. This is great news because there are now even more ways for new customers to find you. But, it also creates a bit of problem. There are now more places for you to manage. Many of these listings are automatically generated and can often contain incorrect or out of date information. This incorrect or out-of-date information is not what you want as the first impression someone has on your business.   The good news: There are more ways for prospective customers to find you. The bad news: If you want to be found in those locations it takes time to manage or even find all your online listings. Many online directories automatically generate their listings by scraping information from your website or another directory. That is great if the information is correct and current, but it can be quite a challenge to track down and correct information or update records if you make a change to your address or phone number.   So how do you find all your listings? Start with a search for your business using Google and Bing. You may find a few different results on the smaller search engine. Check the listings for accuracy. Submit change requests to update information Conduct a second search for your competitors. Do they appear in places where you are not listed? Go ahead and submit your company information. Also, search for your business on popular sites like Yelp and yellowpages.com. Monitoring and updating your listings can be tedious and time-consuming. There are tools which will help automate the process. One of the easiest to use is SinglePlatform which looks at information posted on different hyperlocal sites, including Yelp, MapQuest, Foursquare and Citysearch.   Prove you are the best Beyond just contact information you can enhance your local search listings by soliciting reviews and testimonials. We know that 85% of consumers are more likely to open their wallets when online recommendations support offline advice. Regardless of the industry you are in, take time to request your customers post reviews, comments and testimonials on directories and social media sites. The more information available about your company from independent sources, the more comfortable prospective customers are likely to be picking up the phone to call you. ... View more

Have you noticed that the holidays get earlier and earlier every year? Well not really, but marketers kick off the holidays so early it feels that way. When I started my career in retail, Black Friday was the first day of the holiday season. We came in early and swapped out the displays so when the doors opened at 10:00 a.m. there was tinsel everywhere.   Now Black Friday starts at 12:01 a.m. in many stores, but the holiday displays are in place by the first of November and Halloween candy is bundled with back to school supplies. As a small business owner, how do you keep up with the accelerated pace of the holidays?   Set a Holiday Goal The economy is healthy and most analysts are predicting a robust holiday season. If you want to carve out your piece of the holiday pie, you need to start with a plan based on realistic and measurable goals. With those goals as your foundation, it is easy to set an appropriate budget. You have to spend enough to get noticed but not so much you don’t actually turn a profit on your sales.   Learn from your history The best place to start? Look at last year’s data. Where did the majority of your holiday traffic come from? Was it email marketing, social media, paid search or organic traffic? This data will be easy to find if you have installed Google Analytics on your website. You can dive into the data on a weekly or even daily basis to see how and when different channels contribute to your overall sales.   Update your website If the holidays represent a significant portion of your revenue you need to put your best foot forward. If you have a WordPress website, then making a few tweaks will be relatively easy. Ask friends, family, employees and complete strangers to test your website. You need to know if they can easily navigate your pages, find special offers, submit forms, place orders and find contact information for your business. Holiday visitors are ready to buy, make sure it is easy for them to do so.   Build out holiday-specific landing pages. If you are going to run Google or Facebook ads or simply make special offers from your email newsletter, you will need to have custom landing pages in place to convert interested prospects to customers. Don’t wait until you are ready to launch the campaign. Plan out your offers ahead of time and build the landing pages. You can even consider creating multiple versions of the pages to conduct a split test early in the season so you have the best possible page ready during the peak season. Rather than scrambling to get them done at the last minute, build them out now.   Create lots of holiday content You are going to need blog posts, images, social media share graphics and newsletters. Start by creating a calendar with topics. Then start chipping away at it and you can have everything ready ahead of time. Edit Flow is a really nice free plugin for WordPress which can simplify content scheduling especially if you have several team members contributing to your blog. You will also want to consider increasing your posting frequency on almost every platform during the holiday season. There is so much noise, you have to do more just to get noticed.   More frequent,well planned holiday email marketing Once you have your content ready, it will be easier to set up your email campaigns. Consider adjusting your offers and funnels to take advantage of the short and very competitive holiday season. For example, if you typically connect with a prospect every 10 days with an offer, during the holiday season you will want to be a little more aggressive. This may mean sending an email every five days because your prospects are in buying mode.   Take time to map out a plan to entice and convert your email traffic. Write all of your auto-responder and drip emails ahead of time. Throwing random emails out there at the last minute is sure to result in less than your best results.   Schedule holiday social-media too Whether you use automated social media tools like Hootsuite or Buffer or simply schedule the posts directly from your Facebook feed, now is the time to schedule content. Sure you will still need to log in to interact with your community, but automating some of your content will allow you to remain visible, no matter how busy you are.   Invest in a few holiday-specific images that are designed to grab attention in a very crowded space. This is one time of year you can throw more direct offers out there.   Get Planning Now You have your work cut out for you. The holidays are getting closer every day but the more you do this month, the more prepared you will be in December. Want to learn a bit more? Check out our webinar on Holiday Email Marketing Tips.   ... View more

People don’t become customers overnight. Typically they start out as a random visitor to your website or someone you bump into at a networking event. You need the right marketing pieces in place to help that stranger become a prospect, a client and maybe even a raving fan.   What kind of marketing tools will move someone through your sales funnel? Information is your most powerful tool. Today’s consumer is not impressed by a hard core sales pitch. People want to make informed purchase decisions. Creating content which answers questions as part of the purchase process helps you attract potential prospects and engage them with your brand. These marketing tools will increase the chances you will close a sale and create long-term relationships so customers will ultimately refer you to others.   As you make the shift to this customer driven marketing approach, you need to shift from pushing information at people (think TV or radio advertising) to offering content which pulls people who are interested toward your website. Once they arrive, a structured process further narrows the audience, driving qualified leads into your sales funnel.   This approach is often referred to as Inbound Marketing where the information you provide gently pushes a prospect toward a sales decision without overtly selling. To make an inbound campaign work there are several pieces you need to have in place. In addition to our list you will see links to some of the free tools we have developed to help you build your own inbound campaign.   Inbound Elements Ideal Customer – It is impossible to create really compelling content if you don’t know who you are writing for. While you may reach a broader audience, the more focused your messaging is, the more likely you will answer just the right questions at just the right time for the kind of people you really want to work with.   DEFINE YOUR IDEAL CUSTOMER   Key Word Research –  I am not going to suggest that you write for search engines because at the end of the day they don’t buy from you, people do. Taking time to consider how people are phrasing their searches for companies like yours may lead you to some very interesting topics for your blog. One of my favorite tools is Answer the Public which will show you a series of common questions related to almost any search term.   Blogging – Creating ongoing, fresh content that is interesting to your target audience is a key for inbound marketing success. Typical blog posts should be 400 – 600 words to meet current Google requirements, They should always include at least one featured image to enhance social sharing. A content calendar will help you plan your monthly blog posts.   GET THE CALENDAR   Social Media updates – While this will vary tremendously by industry, a good rule of thumb is at least a daily update on Facebook, LinkedIn and G+. Twitter is optional, but if you are going to be on Twitter, do it right with 5 – 10 updates and interactions a day. Your social content should include a mixture of informative, engaging and entertaining content. Consider social media advertising to promote specific programs and events.   Email Marketing – A good email program is a mixture of newsletters and auto responders triggered by events such as a phone call or a download of information from your website. We always recommend Constant Contact as the platform for the email marketing program.   Gated Content and Landing Pages – These may be check lists, workbooks or research studies. This content is the core of a customer-driven marketing program. It creates new leads and helps grow your email list. This includes development of the content itself and then adding calls-to-action throughout your website, building custom landing pages, conversion forms, thank-you pages and follow-up emails. These pieces all work together to move prospects through your sales funnel. We like Formstack and Gravity Forms to collect email addresses in exchange for the offer.   SEO – The rules for search engine optimization (SEO) change so your website needs to change as well. We install Yoast SEO to help improve page titles and meta descriptions.   Online Advertising – This is never our first recommendation, but sometimes advertising in limited doses can help jump start an inbound program. In addition to Google, we have seen tremendous success building on the social networks if a client has an established community on Facebook or LinkedIn.   Inbound marketing takes time   Don’t start content marketing if you need sales today. This approach takes time as you find and cultivate an audience, discover your unique voice and develop a series of informative downloads and offers which will generate traffic and conversions. In most cases when we’re working on content marketing with a client, we start to see real results around month four. That’s how long it takes to get all the pieces in place and build up enough content and credibility for people to start taking notice.   For companies who have the ability to be patient, content marketing can pay off in a major way. But not every company can afford to be patient. If you need a serious bump in sales today, advertising may be a better route. The challenge is there is no residual with advertising. Once you stop paying, the leads stop too. With inbound, even if you stop creating new content (though we don’t think you should) those blog posts and downloads on your website will continue to attract new visitors long after they are published.   Ready to switch to a customer-driven marketing program?   CALL US ... View more

  In 1969 the group The Guess Who recorded a song entitled “No Time,” I wonder if they knew when they recorded it they would be writing an anthem for a generation.  In a world filled with so much information, noise and choices it always feels as if there is “no time.”   As an email marketer, finding a way to make newsletters effective in a world where the average customer is running through life at the speed of light can be challenging. So, how do you get someone to stop and spend a little of their time reading an email newsletter? To begin with, be brief. Sure you have lots to say, but you don't need to do it all in one email. Your newsletter is not the next great American novel. It is a short synopsis, a teaser or an invitation to learn more.   Make scanning easy Break up your content with succinct headlines and sub-heads. Divide even short content into even smaller bites which can be read at a glance. Imagine that all the reader is going to do is skim the page. Your headers should tell a story and the content in between should fill in the details.   Focus on one topic People are going to read this on the fly. These days almost 50 percent of all email is opened on a mobile device so if you want people to read it, you need to get to the point quickly. If you have lots to say, link to a longer article on your blog. People who are really interested will make the jump. If you want to keep the communication in email format, consider sending a second email later with follow up information, more on the same topic or a related topic.   Split your lists Instead of trying to put something for everyone in the newsletter, split your lists by interest. Customers, prospects and referral sources don't always need to know the same things, so create separate customized communication for each audience. Also, if you sell multiple products build separate mailing lists. People who have already purchased our web design services don't need to see promotions on web design, however, they might be interested in social media or content writing.   We always see better open and click through rates on our smaller, more well targeted campaigns because the content is more relevant. It is easier to write compelling content with an intriguing subject line when you have a specific group of readers in mind. One important note, this won't work if 90 percent of your audience is on multiple lists. So spend some time cleaning up your lists before you try this approach.   Just a minute If you have built a following for your newsletter, people already know what to expect. If you are trying to increase your readers, one way to attract their attention is telling them how little time they will need to invest. Sample text on sign up forms might include:   Marketing in a minute Spend 90 seconds to save $90   We know your time is valuable That's it for today. If you want to learn more about making your email program successful you can download our latest how-to guide.   ... View more

Leverage LinkedIn   Originally viewed as a tool for recruiters and job seekers, today LinkedIn is the primary network for a significant number of business professionals. As LinkedIn has expanded their platform beyond paid memberships and job listings, which appeal to recruiters, they have created opportunities for business owners to reach the more than 400 million users.   Although the average user doesn’t check this site as often as their Facebook profile, it is still a sizable community worth targeting for B2B products. It is a great place to make these business connections, but this exposure isn’t free. The LinkedIn advertising package allows companies to put their messages in front of decision makers with a relatively small investment.   These advertisements are especially helpful for products in industry-specific niches. The vast majority of your LinkedIn community won’t be interested in your product or service update. If, however, you can reach your very small, select audience they will be very interested. LinkedIn delivers a well targeted campaign to just those very interested individuals. Of course the more precisely you can define your target, the more effective your ads will be. If you still think owners of “small to mid-size” businesses are your target, these ads won’t be productive. So if  you are thinking about running a LinkedIn advertising campaign, think about these key factors first.   Location   This can be anything from city to continent. If your business is geographically constrained you can select a single city or metropolitan area, a series of cities or an entire state. Select as few or many geographic areas as make sense for your business.   Company Profile   LinkedIn demographics can be incredibly specific. You can include or exclude companies from your audience by using parameters such as company name, a specific industry or the number of employees. For example whenever I run a LinkedIn advertisement from Roundpeg, I will exclude other marketing firms. There is no reason to spend money putting my message in front of my competitors.   Decision Maker Demographics   This is where LinkedIn really shines. Using job title, function and seniority you can pinpoint your messages so they bypass the gatekeepers and are presented directly to the decision makers. You can specify business owners or department heads who are most likely to need your product or service. Skills, degrees, fields of study, gender or age can also be specified if these factors are relevant to your product. Be careful not to define your audience too narrowly or you may miss out on reaching many potential clients.   Ready to dive into LinkedIn advertising? You are in luck. We have just released a brand new white paper which will step you through the basics of running your first campaign.     ... View more

  Are you going to the Home Show?   I just saw an advertisement for the upcoming Home Show. As a homeowner, I have often enjoyed attending this and other home and trade show events, but I know contractors don’t always feel the same way. As they prepare to participate in this important annual ritual, most approach these events with a mixture of excitement and dread. On the one hand, there is the possibility of landing that next big deal. On the other hand, there is a week or maybe even ten days of standing around, hoping people will stop by and talk with you.   If you are heading out to exhibit at a home show in the next few weeks, here a few things to keep in mind:    Communicate before and during the home show If you are going to be spending time standing in a booth for a week, stack the deck by arranging conversations in advance. Invite potential clients to come see your booth. This is especially helpful if you don’t have a year-round showroom. Send an email to current customers, prospects, and vendors. Let them know your booth number and when the best time to drop by would be.   Use social media during the show. Post images and videos from the show on Facebook from both your company page and personal page. Use the show as an opportunity to build your social community by running a contest people can enter only from the Facebook page or by sharing a photo taken at your booth.     Ask show organizers for a registration list so you can send an email to people who attended even if they don’t stop by your booth. Or, ask the organizers to include a special message in the daily show email.    Make the most of your time at the home show   These shows are definitely the ultimate “just looking” event. Not everyone who walks into your booth is a good prospect. So don’t treat them all the same. Instead of pushing hard for a sale in your booth, use the time to qualify the people who walk in  Ask lots of questions to uncover hidden needs and to separate serious prospects from the people simply looking for the free food and a chance to sign up to win a prize.    Don’t get me wrong, there is a place for raffles and games in your trade show strategy. These activities can help you build a broad mailing or phone list. Unfortunately, if there is a prize involved, you may also get a lot of unqualified leads who will waste your time after the show. One way to address this is to use email to narrow your list. Use open rates and click-throughs to identify the most serious prospects. You can also prequalify leads with a short questionnaire on the entry form. The answers will give you clues as to which leads are worth a follow-up effort. Also, the longer form will dissuade less serious prospects.   If you use Constant Contact, don't forget to set up your "Text to Join" option and post the information in your booth.  The high traffic at a home show gives you a great way to build your prospect list.    Another way to get fewer, better prospects at a home show is to offer discounts or free trials of your products or services instead of raffling off a trip to Hawaii. People who enter are actually interested in your services.   Follow up quickly   The average person doesn’t remember what they had for lunch two days ago. With that in mind, it is unrealistic to think they will remember you in the weeks following the home show. You need to be prepared to send something to prospects quickly.   One way to do that is to have a follow-up email or print material prepared and ready to send before you head out to a show. When you get back all you will need to do is include a brief note and drop the information in the mail. Clear your schedule for a few days of post-show calls to set up appointments and close the sale.   Looking for more information on trade shows and home shows? Check out our trade show guide.         ... View more

  Email marketing is easy, right? Build a list, pick an offer, send an email campaign and sit back and wait for the sales. Sometimes that happens, but often the email campaign doesn’t deliver the results you were hoping for. What do you do then?   Before you decide email is a complete waste of time take a closer look and decide if you were really at the top of your game on these four crucial elements.   The list for your email campaign   The success of your email campaign starts and ends with the strength of your list. Without a good permission based list event the most creative campaign is doomed to failure. Maybe you are working with an old list, with lots of out of date email addresses. Periodically taking time to clean your list and purge people who never open your email will give you a much better sense of how big and viable your prospect pool is.   Also, it is entirely possible you took too broad an approach, trying to send one message to everyone on your list. Not everyone on your list is going to be interested in everything you have to offer, so instead of watering down your content so there is something for everyone, take the time to write messages for specific audiences. The more you can personalize the email, the more likely the reader is to respond.   The message needs to be relevant   Even if you have the right list, your email campaign can fail if you send the wrong message. So if you have kept your data base clean and you have selected a target segment and you are still hearing crickets instead of a flurry of phone calls you need to consider that you sent the wrong message to the right people. They were qualified prospects but they didn’t respond because you didn’t send them information they cared about.   This is hard for most business owners who are passionate about the product or service they sell. But sometimes you need to step back and look at your business through the eyes of your prospect and ask yourself, if it wasn’t your business, what would make you care enough to respond to an email.   Timing is everything   The right message at the wrong time will not work. So as you plan your email campaign don’t forget to think about when  you are going to deliver the message. Timing can refer to the time of year (no matter how hard you try it is tough to sell snow shovels in July) or the time of day. People may be willing to read your email first thing in the morning, from their cell phone, but they won’t take the time to click through and fill out a form. Be sure your email arrives in their in box when they are likely to be able to act.   Your email campaign needs a call to action   Maybe the message was all right, delivered to your exquisitely clean list at the perfect moment. People opened your email and then closed it because it didn’t tell them what to do next. If you forgot to put a call to action in your email, or you did, but the call to action wasn’t compelling people will not respond. A good rule of thumb is to have one button in the top third of your mail with a clear compelling reason to click. Don’t clutter your email with too many different offers, save some for the next campaign and you are likely to have better results.   The good thing about all these problems is that they’re easily solvable. Often just a slight adjustment in your strategy will significantly improve your results. Need help finding out what went wrong with your marketing? Give us a call. As a Constant Contact Master Certified Agency, we can help you improve your next email campaign.   ... View more

Recently, I was the featured speaker at the ASTA (American Society of Travel Agents) Mid America Conference. In my presentation to this group of travel agents, I discussed ways to use digital media to grow their business. This was a really fun program, because of the visual and aspirational nature of the travel industry it is a natural fit for most social media platforms.   I started with the basics: what types of content to share and how often to share on each of the major platforms. From there we went on to talk about advertising and even measuring ROI. It was an information packed session and at the end someone asked me if I could boil it down to a list of seven digital media tips they could use as a starting point.   This is what I came up with:   Seven digital media tips every travel agent should follow   1.  Use your blog as the starting point. Share images, questions and links to blog posts on social media platforms, but always bring the community back to your website where you control the conversation.  Better yet, get them to sign up for you email newsletter so you can stay in touch on your schedule, not theirs.   2 Travel is a visual business. Always include a beautiful image in your social shares. Don’t use stock photography. Everyone has seen the stock sunset over the ocean. Make your share special by selecting images of those special little out of the way locations people won’t find in any tour book. When you share something they probably haven’t seen before they are more likely to stop, look and share.   3. More is not better. If you are like me, you probably take tons of pictures every day. While you may love every single one, your social community won’t take the time to look at all of them. On Facebook or Twitter share 1 – 3 photos at a time for maximum engagement. When you share more than that people are more likely to skip the album, thinking it will take too long to look at all of them. If you really can’t decide, share in small batches several times a day, or save some of the images for follow up blog posts when you return from the trip.   4. Entertain during the 2 pm lull. Interactions on most social media platforms rise mid afternoon as people look for a break in their work routine. This is a great time to post beautiful photos or fun facts about destinations. Simple questions or polls also work well. Make sure the questions can be answered in just a few words because many of your fans will be accessing the social sites from their phones.   5. Invite people to travel with you. When you use Twitter, Instagram or Periscope to share events as they happen, people travel with you vicariously. When you do it in real time, you are likely to get more interaction as other people will share their tips and favorite places.   6. Interaction is key. It is called social media, not broadcast media. If you want people to pay attention to what you share, you need to like, comment and share the content others post as well.   7. Consistency counts. Use productivity tools like Hootsuite or Buffer to schedule content daily even when you are out of the office for a few days. When you return, spend more time sharing and liking the content of others.   Of course social media will only get you so far.  At the end of the day your objective is still getting people to come to your website and sign up for  your email newsletter. .   Want to learn more? Grab a copy of our Social Media Starter Kit   GET THE KIT   For more on this topic, see my interview on the Travel Marketing Report ... View more

No matter what else I have going on, I always make time for Project Runway. I know it is a silly piece of pop culture and I love it. Maybe it is because I can’t sew (I actually used duct tape on a hem once) but the ability to create something from nothing is fascinating. I admire the creative process, the advice from the mentors and the even some of the final designs. And, if you can look past some of the silly drama, there are a few really good lessons for web designers along the runway.   Start with a plan   Every week the designers are given 30 minutes to sketch before picking fabric and starting their project. The most successful participants go beyond just the sketch making notes about color choice, fabric type and even the notions; zippers and buttons they will need when they head off to buy fabric.   It’s easy to spot the designers who are going to be on the bottom at the end of the episode. They are the ones without much on their sketch pad. They arrive at the fabric store without a plan. Precious time is wasted as they wander the aisles hoping a fabric will ” speak to them”. They usually end up wasting money buying too many fabrics just in case and forgetting to grab the little extras which pull the look together.   Back in the workroom as other designers are attacking their projects, the ones without a sketch typically construct several variations before settling on the final design. This wasted effort prevents them from focusing on creating a spectacular finished project because they run out of time.   The lesson for web designers is clear. In order to get an end result your client will love, spend more time focused on planning the design instead of chasing missing information or reworking the site several times.     Really listen to feedback   Every week Tim Gunn, a former member of the faculty at the Parsons School of design, meets with each designer to review their concept. With a career which spans more than 30 years in the fashion industry, Tim knows what he is talking about. While he usually tries to find something positive to say, he is pretty direct when he thinks something is really off track.   I am always amazed when a designer is interviewed after the critique and indicates they aren’t going to incorporate any of Tim’s suggestions. Sure every designer thinks they are an artist and wants to express their vision, but this is a competition and the goal is to win. Beyond the show, they hope to sell their designs. None of that will happen if they get eliminated at the end of the weekly challenge.   Too often I run into a web design where it was clear the designer had something in mind for the client which wasn’t necessarily what the client wanted. Feedback was ignored because it didn’t match their vision of what was best for the client. These projects never end well. Sometimes the client stops the project part way through, or insists on a redesign just as you think you are ready for launch. Or maybe they finish the site and then redesign it with another company all the while speaking poorly of your firm.   All of this can be avoided if you just listen to what the client really wants.   Edit   Reigning in creative ideas can be a challenge, but when you don’t the effect is overwhelming. One of Project Runways most popular designers, Mondo Guerra lost because he couldn’t edit his collection. He had so many ideas, and put all of them into each and every piece of the collection. Individually each element was interesting and pretty, but the collection just had too much going on.   Honestly, I didn’t know whether to look at the hats or the scarves or the print tops as the whole collection went down the runway. The overall effect was that it made my head hurt.   This is exactly how I feel when I land on a busy home page, there’s video, lots of calls to action, sliders and number counters. Design tip: Not every page needs every cool plug in you can create. And just making the home page longer doesn’t solve the issue. The content is still there, distracting visitors from what you really want them to do when they visit your website. In fashion and in web design, sometimes less is more.     I don’t expect a Project Web Design to make it to network television any time soon. But I do think there are lots of lessons from the runway I want to bring back to my web design projects.         ... View more

I am an active Twitter user. I hop on every day, but not nearly as much as I used to. As a business owner, I am spending less time on social media in general, and when I do spend time I find myself gravitating to LinkedIn for business, particularly the groups and to Facebook for personal. I just assumed it was because I was busy and that I would return to my twitter community when I had more time, but maybe not.   According to our 2016 small business social media survey, Twitter use as a business tool is down significantly among small business owners. This was probably one of the biggest surprises in this year’s study. While it has been declining almost every year since 2012 this is the first year it has fallen below 10%.   Why? I think the fact that Twitter requires significantly more time than either Facebook or LinkedIn, with a lesser return for small businesses is a major contributor to this shift in online behavior. Through out the study, we saw indications that business owners are spending less time on social media in general. As time is a finite resource, twitter is the obvious platform to go without. Other sources, same conclusion. This trend was so surprising, I wondered if it was an anomaly in our data. But we are not the only people seeing evidence of Twitter’s decline Tom Webster, writing for the Convince and Convert Blog – In late 2014 he found Twitter growth had slowed as visual tools like Instagram, Pinterest, Snapchat and Vine were starting to eat into their share. People may not want to write blog posts, but we all love to share pictures. Sure Twitter has improved their image management, but is it too little too late? Jim Edwards, writing for Business Insider – Like Tom Webster, he saw Twitter peaking in 2014 with declines in both the total number of users and people actually creating content declining slightly as total account creation seems to have stalled. Carrie Morgan, writing on her blog, Rock the Status Quo –  Has some smart suggestions for Twitter management to use the PR facets of the tool they created to reenergize their community, but it doesn’t seem as if they are listening. Over the years, we have seen lots of platforms come and go. Plaxo, FriendFeed and several other Google platforms have all bit the dust, or settled into relative obscurity like Four Square. Is this really the end of Twitter? It is too early to put the last nail in the coffin, but I do think the next year will be critical. If they can’t figure out a way to carve out something only they can offer it will be harder and harder to hold onto their share as a business tool. After I wrote this post, Twitter announced their intention to test longer messaging options in an attempt to stay relevant. Initial community reaction is not very positive.   About the Study: When we conducted our first study in 2010, we simply asked if people had social media profiles on the most common networks, LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter and Plaxo, which still had a community. Over the next few years we saw networks come and go. As they did, businesses raced to set up profiles on every emerging platform just to grab the name. After a short burst of activity, all but a few of the platforms were abandoned.   Starting in 2012, we modified the question to ask which network was their primary business account. LinkedIn, once the primary business network declined significantly in 2013 and has remained fairly constant after that. In contrast, Facebook has risen to within a point of LinkedIn. The new Facebook business manager tools clearly have many small business owners spending more time on that platform. Google+ now represents 4% of the total. Many business owners are beginning to see the SEO value of the G+ platform, but they are still not jumping in and trying to engage on this platform as their primary network. And, as businesses become more sophisticated in their online practices, we are seeing a little fragmentation as niche sites like Houzz, Instagram, Pinterest and YouTube each grabbing 1 – 2% of the total.   What else did we learn in this year’s study? You’ll have to read the report. Get your copy now. ... View more

Your product is awesome and it will solve every problem, faced by every human on the planet.   Great! If that is the case, everyone who comes across your content (blog post, picture, social media status, update or email) will definitely be interested in whatever you have to say. If, however, your product has a slightly narrower list of benefits, you need to face the fact that some people just won’t care what you have to say.   Since your product or service isn’t really for everyone, it is time to stop distributing your content as if everyone in the world was interested. You’re wasting lots of time, and in some cases lots of money, as you try to “spread the word”. And even worse than the waste, you are watering your content down so much as you try to appeal to everyone, that you miss the chance to deliver really great information specifically for your target audience.   The alternative is to create really focused content, designed to answer the questions customers and prospects are most likely to have. Next, map out a content distribution plan which will put the great content you create in places your target customers are most likely to see it.   6 Steps for Effective Content Distribution Define your target customer – Get over the idea that anyone who can fog a mirror qualifies as a prospect. The tighter your description of the ideal client, the easier it will be to figure out what to write and where to distribute it. Look at your metrics –  Study web traffic and social media performance. Where do you get the most interaction? And what type of content generates the most responses. It isn’t rocket science. When you find out what people like, give them more of the same. If blog posts about employees do well, write more employee profiles, if your readers like and share “how-to” guides, focus energy on writing more of them. Choose your platforms – You do not need to be everywhere. To manage your time and your resources, it is fine to step back from platforms which don’t work. A great example of this in action was when Copyblogger, a prominent blogging and social media consulting firm, deleted their Facebook page. They did this even though they had 30,000 followers because they were having significantly better results elsewhere. You will be more successful if you do a great job in one place rather than a mediocre job everywhere. No one will notice if you don’t have a presence on Twitter, they will  however, notice if you do it badly. Go beyond social media – Your prospective clients visit many websites. Take some of your best content and pitch it to the site owners. Large popular sites probably get multiple submission requests and they ignore most of them. It takes persistence to get published, but exposure on a high profile site with links back to your site are very valuable both as a way to attract readers and boost your SEO. Another approach is to offer a blog exchange where they feature your content and you feature theirs. Make friends – In every industry there are people who are influential because they are thought leaders, known for sharing industry-specific information. Just as you might submit your information to a website or publication, reach out to these industry experts and ask them to share a link to your blog post, photo or infographic. Before you ask them to promote your information, read their content. Then you will be able to explain how it supports or complements what they typically write about. Don’t abuse your friendship by asking for a share every day. Save the requests for something that is really valuable. Then say thanks with an email or reciprocal share of their content. Pay to Play – When all else fails, you may have to consider paying to get visibility for your content. In some cases, you may have to pay an influential writer to share your information. Just like any advertising vehicle, be sure they really have the audience before you write the check for their interactions. Do they really have an audience worth paying for? If you are ready to pay for placement, it may be time to consider buying advertising on Facebook, LinkedIn or Twitter. If you are going to pay for advertising, be sure the content links back to some type of conversion form. Need more help defining your target customer?  Check out our free guide:      ... View more

  People don’t become customers overnight. Typically a casual conversation at a networking event or a random visitor to your website may be the beginning of a business relationship. Your objective is to move those casual connections through your sales funnel, converting them to leads, customers and ultimately raving fans.   That all sounds great, but who has the time to reach out to every lead as soon as they express even a casual interest, remind every prospect of what you proposed  and reconnect with every client for important updates and annual messages?   The good news is you can do all that with auto response campaigns which deliver information while you focus on other aspects of your business. They do what YOU wish you had the time to do! With an auto response campaign you can shorten your sales cycle as you deliver relevant information to prospects, answering their questions and helping them take the next step in a logical, simple manner.   To build the campaign you use information on your website, social media profiles and email to answer questions before the customer even has a chance to ask. You present information in an informative, not salesy approach helping a prospect see you as an expert, ready to share what you know. Using well timed emails you stay in touch throughout the sales process. And the information and automated touches shouldn’t stop once someone becomes a customer, these same tools can be used to simplify, up-sell and reactivate campaigns for existing and former clients.   So how do you put together an effective auto response campaign? There are three main pieces to a comprehensive program. They are: Web Content The Offer The Follow up Web Content – Information Your Customers Want The first step is to drive traffic to your website, but not just any traffic. You want to attract people who are most likely to become leads and ultimately happy customers. So who are the “right” people? To answer this you need to have a clear definition of your ideal customer. If you are still trying to sell to everyone, this process won’t work. Not sure who your target customer is? Spend some time with our Target Market workbook and then come back to develop your campaign.   Once you know who you are trying to reach, it is easy to think about the kind of information they might need to make apurchase decision. Even though we are talking about answering prospects questions, this “content” shouldn’t be overtly selling. Remember it’s not an ad, it’s not a hard sell. Instead, it’s impartial(ish) information designed to nudge a prospect further down your sales funnel.   The Offer – Something Worth Trading Contact Information For This can be a white paper, a check list, exclusive video or podcast.  It needs to be unique enough for someone to be willing to trade their email address for the information offered. Once you select the content be sure you make it easy for prospective customers to find your offer with clear calls to action, concise landing pages and simple download forms.   The Follow Up – Making Mass Communication Feel Personal Attracting visitors and converting them into prospects is a great first step. Now you need to transform those leads into customers and after the sale, stay in touch to keep them coming back, buying more and referring others to you.   Email is Your Best Employee After a visitor clicks on your call-to-action, fills out a landing page or downloads your whitepaper, the next step should be one or a series of emails focused on useful, relevant content. This “drip campaign” builds trust and moves the prospect easily to the next stage in the sales process. Sure there are the personal touches, a quick phone call or a handwritten note which marketing automation won’t replace, but a good email program guarantees a consistent response to every inquiry.   Ready to get started or learn a bit more? Download our new guide to automating your marketing. ... View more

  When I was first married, I wasn't much of a cook. I relied on recipes for almost every meal. Following the simple structure resulted in some pretty tasty meals.  In a way blogging is a bit like cooking. There is a a simple recipe for great business blog posts.  The recipe looks like this.    Ingredients: 1 Keyword (or phrase) 500 Words of Content 70 Characters in Your Title 2 Internal Links 1 Number in Your Title Directions: Start with one keyword or phrase - Decide what you want to write about and keep your blog focused on that topic. I often see business owners shoving too many keywords into a post. Your readers can tell when you are keyword stuffing. So can search engines. Readers won't stay with you until the end of the post.   If you have several keywords you want to write about, that's great. Now you have topics for two or three different posts.   Mix in 500 words - Just a few years ago you could get away with writing a short 250 - 300 word blog post. That won't fly any more. These ultra short posts don't offer real depth for the reader or enough keyword density to attract the attention of search engines. Google actually penalizes sites that have too many pages of thin content.   This isn't high school. You don't need to let word count drive the post or your web copy. If you are below the 500 mark do a little research and expand on your topic with relevant information.   Sprinkle in a few links to add spice - Once someone finds your content, your objective should be to get them to look around your site for more information. Internal links and calls to action like the one below help readers find related content.   There is value in external links which connect to other relevant sites. When you use external links be sure to include trackback tags to allow the destination site to know you are sending traffic their way. They may even return the favor!   Don't overdo it, though. You don't want to overwhelm your readers with a confusing amount of choices. They may forget why they came to your site to begin with.   Season with no more than 70 characters in your title - While the length restriction may seem arbitrary, there are two very important reasons to keep the title short:   Search engines will truncate your title. You may have an incredibly clever headline, but searchers will only see the first few words. Make sure your keywords appear early in the title Hoping to use social media to promote your post? Users only have 140 characters to work with on Twitter. A short title and short link are much easier to share and retweet without sacrificing content.   Top the post off with some numbers in the title - There is something alluring about the promise to solve a problem in 3 easy steps. While your reader probably knows you won't give them all the answers, we know blog posts with numbers in the title get more traffic. You wouldn't put whipped cream on everything you cook, so don't use this technique in every blog post. Implementing this tip in moderation can give your traffic a nice lift.   New cooks usually follow recipes step by step. Experienced cooks are more comfortable experimenting. As you get more comfortable with blogging don't be afraid to mix it up. Try a short post or a really long one with 1,000 or more words. Study your analytic reports for clues as to what really hits home with your readers.   Good blogging takes time, just like good cooking. Spend it well by creating smart, interesting, funny or thought-provoking content to build a community of loyal, entrenched readers. You'll have them coming back for seconds every time.     ... View more

  Think you have too many social media accounts? Try walking in the shoes of the social media managers of the NCAA with 31 different accounts across multiple platforms. I am sure the first question to pop into your head as you read that statistic is “Do you really need ALL those accounts?” As crazy as it may seem, the answer is yes. They have accounts focused on individual sports with niche followings like wrestling or lacrosse. There are accounts which speak to specific audiences like the media or student athletes and others focus on specific events like March Madness and the Final Four.   As I listened to a presentation by the staff running the various programs they made a compelling case for each account. It was easy to see that a well coordinated strategy run by passionate people can create multiple communities for a single brand.   Every account has a purpose The first thing which came through loud and clear was the need to have specific objectives before you launch a social media account. While some of the accounts are focused on boosting attendance and promoting ticket sales, there are others which are definitely more focused on building a community around a particular sport or being the “go-to” resource for data and statistics.   Particularly in niche sports, the accounts are designed to be the voice of the sport. Wrestling fans don’t need to be “sold”.  They are already committed to the sport and are hungry to be part of the larger wrestling community. They want more than just a running list of statistics. The managers for these accounts work hard to bring personality to conversations. These accounts tend to be highly interactive, with fans contributing photos and other content.   To be credible for these niche communities, the account manager needs to deliver the information from the perspective of a fan. They need to be knowledgeable, ready to answer questions and give opinions about what’s going on. They have to communicate with a passion for the sport or it would just fall flat.   In direct contrast to the niche sports are the statistics and research accounts which are a great resource for members of the media or anyone playing a game of trivial pursuit. These feeds are dry but very informative. Want to know the latest scores, or stats on a particular team? These types of accounts are where you will find that information.   Right content right place At large events like the Final Four there is so much going on all at once. It takes advance planning to decide what type of information will be shared on which platforms. If the same content was posted in exactly the same way, eventually fans will stop following one or more of the feeds. The objective is to create reasons for sports fans to follow multiple accounts the same way you might read a newspaper and watch the highlights on ESPN.   And, at an event like the Final Four, there is more going on then just the games. As sports enthusiasts descend on Indianapolis, the NCAA wants to talk about what visitors can do between the games. Using social media to provide community updates and answer questions about the city enhances the overall visitor experience.   Should you implement a multi-account strategy? In theory it sounds great, but for many of us just finding time to update one set of social media accounts is a lot to keep up with. Before fragmenting your time, consider the following:   Do you have multiple audiences? For a non-profit association with a strong volunteer base it might make sense to create an account dedicated to keeping volunteers informed of upcoming opportunities and special needs. While the average supporter won’t want to to see a running list of supplies needed or links to sign up for events, those who need the information will appreciate the easy access. Do you have the resources to support multiple accounts? While you may have a number of different groups you want to talk with, if you don’t have the bandwidth to support each account they will all start to sound the same. One of the ways we manage the accounts at Roundpeg is that we assign different people to manage each of the social platforms. Do you really have enough different things to say? A few years ago, I split my personal and company twitter accounts. We realized we had a lot of messages, and not all of them made sense coming from the same account. It took some planning, but we carefully divided what types of messages made more sense coming from me, and what needed to come from the brand. Now it seems so natural to have two accounts I can’t imagine going back. The bottom line: Whether you have one or 100 social media accounts, you need to manage them well. Create a unique purpose, target your messages and measure performance.   And you don't need to be everywhere.  Start by picking one platform and doing it well. Use our Social Media Starter Kit to get you pointed in the right direction.      ... View more

  Early in my career I was a floor manager in a department store. In that job I discovered customers don’t always appreciate your product or understand why they absolutely must buy it. It is your job to tell, or better yet, show them.   For example, if I wanted to reduce the overstock of ugly purple shirts, I had to help a customer visualize how that shirt would fit into her wardrobe. I would put one on a mannequin with great pants, a fun purse and a cool belt. The shirts would fly out the door, very often accompanied by the pants, purse or belts.   I am sure you are thinking that’s a great example, but how can you use this marketing strategy if you are not in a visual business? That is where a case study comes in. Instead of telling prospects about your skills, look for ways to show examples of your products or services in action.   Case studies give potential clients a chance to visualize what you might be able to do for them. They are particularly effective with technical products because they are more interesting to read than just product specifications. They are also more credible then simple sales literature filled with claims that you are the “leading experts in your field.”   A well written case study draws the reader into the story told from the perspective of a customer. It helps you prove your expertise without bragging by presenting a factual description of the problem, solution and the results. A quote from the customer brings a bit of emotion and credibility to the case study, saying things you can’t say.   Case studies don’t have to be long or very complex (two pages maximum). They simply need to answer three questions:   What was the problem? The purpose of a case study is to help a prospect visualize how you might be able to help them. In this first section clearly describe the pain points so a reader might say, “wow, that is my problem.” What was the solution?  This is where you get to talk about your product and your expertise. Give readers insight into how you work.  Be specific.  Without giving all your secrets away, tell prospects how you solved the problem. What were the results?   Fill your case study with words like increased, improved, reduced and avoided. Whenever possible support your claims of success with numbers such as total dollar saving or percentage increase to demonstrate the size of your impact. If possible add one or two graphs or charts to visually reinforce the messages. Share your story Now that you have written your case study, put it to work. Create a PDF you can print and hand to prospects or an online, more interactive version complete with a video testimonial from a client. Once you have your first case study done, it is time to start working on the next one.   Need a little help?  Give us a call.  And be sure to check our our case studies to see what we have been able to do for clients just like you. ... View more

    Sometimes you just have to rant. You run into a situation with a vendor, client, coworker, child or spouse which you think is silly, stupid or frustrating. It is going to annoy you until you voice what you are feeling. So what do you do? You can tell a friend, share a comment on social media or you can write a blog post. If it is a personal rant, you can be sarcastic or funny and even a little mean, but what if you are writing for a business? Is there a way to rant professionally?   Obviously I think there is because I have written more than a few over the years:   The Unhelp Desk – An amusing tale of my interactions with the less than helpful customer service team at HP Did you forget where you came from?  – A rant about a former business relationship Small business owner looking for love – Frustrated about the quality of applications we were getting for an open position at the ‘Peg, I ranted. Why we don’t offer drive through marketing – A complaint about prospective customers Breaking the code of silence – A rant about customers who don’t pay their bills. At the time, I felt this didn’t quite fit on our blog, so I found another way to publish it. Thinking about writing a rant of your own? Go ahead: Write, walk away, read and edit then publish.   Write A good rant is cathartic. Whether you are talking to someone directly or writing it down, you will feel better when you get it all out. So go ahead write exactly what you think. Don’t worry about grammar or spelling. Be sarcastic, be mean, be funny or rude. Just write until you feel you have said everything you need to say.   There, now don’t you feel better?   Walk Away Now you need to save your draft and walk away. Capturing your ideas actually gives you permission  to focus on other things. I actually find I am more productive after a good rant. Giving a voice to the things which were hanging around in my head annoying me usually gets them out of my head so I can turn my full attention to more important things.   Read and Evaluate It is a good idea to let a rant sit for a day or two. Once the situation which created the tension is behind you, it is easier to objectively decide if it is still worth writing about and more importantly, if it makes sense on your business blog. Have someone else read it. Talk about why you think the post belongs on your company blog. Be willing to accept that it might be a good rant but it just doesn’t fit your criteria. You can decide to let it go or publish it elsewhere, because some messages just don’t belong on your company page.   Every company should have a set of criteria which help you decide if your rant fits. For Roundpeg, most of our rants include a learning experience, something our audience (primarily comprised of business owners and other marketing professionals) can take away and apply to their own business experiences. Other times they are designed to prompt a conversation about an issue we think is important.   Edit Now that you are calm it is easier to go back and adjust your tone. Dial back the language. Yes, you may feel a  strong four-letter word perfectly expresses your feelings better than any other, it still doesn’t belong on your business page. Make it interesting by streamlining the story, eliminating the extraneous details and taking out the whining. Yes, you are frustrated, but if you sound like a pouty teenage girl, repeating the same point over and over again, you won’t win much support. Humor and sarcasm are fine just don’t be mean.   Protect the guilty. No one will blame you for calling out a large company (HP or Starbucks) by name but that rule doesn’t apply to local small businesses or individuals. Even if they deserve it and you never want to work with them again, it is a risky practice. Why? You may not want to work with them, but other prospective customers seeing your remarks may be reluctant to work with you, fearing they may suffer the same fate. So you’ll feel better for a little while, but the feeling won’t last if others don’t want to work with you.   Publish Now you are ready to share your story. If the rant is a little off topic for your blog, let readers know so they aren’t surprised by the content. Then share your story. If it is well written you are likely to generate more comments than a typical blog. Just be prepared to respond to the comments with the same level of professionalism you brought to the rant in the first place.   A good rant is part of a comprehensive content marketing program.  Start putting your program togther today with your content calendar .  ... View more

Whenever we talk with prospective clients about a web design project, the conversation inevitably drifts to the topic of Search Engine Optimization(SEO). Customers ask about keywords, links, site speed, mobile integration and compatibility with Penguin and Panda.   While all of these things are important, they are really just tactics. Unless they are backed by a solid strategy they amount to little more than busy work.   Elements of an SEO Strategy Your SEO strategy starts with several very important questions. As you read through them, they may look very much like the questions you have to answer to build any marketing plan.   What problem do you solve? Until someone has a problem, they don't search for a solution. If they aren't searching for the solution, they aren't going to be looking for the service(s) you offer. As you think about presenting your business online, think of key words your customers might use in a sentence like this: How can I fix my...... or How can I improve my......   If you can put your product, service or solution into a sentence like that, you are well on your way to building a great list of keywords.   What makes you unique? If you do exactly what your competitors do, you won't stand out in the real world, and you won't stand out online. For example, there are lots of companies which offer carpet cleaning services. If one company offers a money back guarantee, that company will stand out. When someone searches for carpet cleaning companies lots of companies appear. When someone searches for a "carpet cleaning guarantee" only one company will rise to the top of the list.   Who will help deliver your message? You can't do it alone and you don't have to. One of the best ways to get your message noticed above all the noise is to find several companies willing to post your content on their site. In return you can share some of their information with your audience. These cross links make it easier for search engines to find their way back to you.   This works best when the companies are somehow related to one another .  For example, our carpet cleaning company might write about how to protect your carpet and a company which sells carpet might write about stain resistant carpet. A blog swap between these two companies makes perfect sense to human beings and search engines.   When a prospect comes to your website what happens next? Do you have relevant information to help them move through your sales funnel?  If not, it seems silly to spend a lot of time and money driving traffic to your site. Not sure where to start? Peter put together some helpful suggestions on How to Warm Leads with Your Website.   How do you prove to search engines your information is relevant for searchers? This is where your content comes in. You need blog posts, worksheets, white papers and FAQ sections. All of these things help build your authority around a specific topic.   Now you are ready for the tactics. Once you have a strategy in place, it will be easier to develop your key words, write compelling meta descriptions and page titles and seek out links to help search engines and people find you.   Think you have the basics in place? Then it is time to test your knowledge with our SEO Quiz:   ... View more