Ideas for Business

As some of you might have noticed, it’s becoming increasingly harder for me to keep this blog updated, primarily because it’s so hard for me to write about Search related issues when I spend all the talking and writing about the subject. When I first started this Blog I intended to focus solely on Search, [...]

A few days ago Mike McDonald wrote a blog post about ranking factors in 2009. I completely agree with most of what he says in the article. To summarize, here’s what he says, with SEOmoz Rand Fishkin’s blessings, is important this year:

• Title tags
• Anchor text
• Link diversity
• Social media and mobile marketing

I would completely agree. I think Title tags have always been important as has anchor text. Link diversity hasn’t always been at the top of the list, but in the last few years it has risen to the top as Google has refined its link quality algorithms. Social media and mobile marketing as ranking factors are new on the scene and I think they’ll rise in importance. But probably not in ways that most of us will imagine.

So what do Mike and Rand agree are not important? Check this out:

• H1 tags
• Keyword density
• W3C validation

Again, great points. But I still think H1 tags are somewhat important. Not as important as they used to be, but important nonetheless. It isn’t even so much that they are bigger than everything else, but if your H1 tag is at the top of the page like it is supposed to be then it becomes a lot more important. If you fill your page with H1 tags then those H1 tags look spammy and become less important. The proper way to use H tags is in declining size from the top to the bottom, which is the same way that newspapers traditionally size their article heads, in the order of importance. If you do it that way then all the H tags are more important.

Still, good article. Thanks to Mike McDonald and WebProNews for a good discussion on ranking ractors.

I had nice back and forth with Brian Clark of copyblogger on Twitter last week about direct marketing and social media.  Ultimately it was more an issue of perspective and semantics but there were some great points about the intersection of direct marketing on the social web. I’ve been an advocate for several years as have others in the social media consulting space, that the social web is not a place for direct marketing. In the past I’ve even posted a fairly good comparison of the difference betwwen direct marketing and social media marketing.

Brian’s position via our Twitter discussion was that social media is exactly that, marketing directly to consumers - a great point. My perspective is that social media is no place for direct marketing messages.

Companies that rush into a social network with sales offers is a classic example of an inappropriate use of direct marketing tactics on the social web. People don’t join social networks to be confronted with marketing messages, they join to be social with a likeminded community.

One successful method for brands to engage social communities from a marketing perspective is to make an effort to listen, participate and leverage email as a transition opportunity.  Email works very well in conjunction with social media for direct marketing purposes.

The marriage of social media relationship building and building up an email list is more congruent to direct marketing than most people think. I think what can make direct marketing work best on the social web is to exercise “give to get” in terms of providing value first. Generate attention and interest through interaction, participation and education. Blogs, social networks and other social apps that allow a community to interact with the brand are good examples.  As the brand provides value and trust, interested community members can move from casual social connections to joining an email list with added benefits. The key is transparency about what providing an email address means, in terms of receiving commercial messages and offers.

What do you think?

• Can direct marketing be social?
• Can direct marketing messages succeed on the social web?
• What’s the difference between marketing directly and direct marketing?

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© Online Marketing Blog, 2009. | How Direct is Social Media Marketing? | No comment | http://www.toprankblog.com

Small business branding is really a simple matter. You may not need to spend thousands of dollars on a huge marketing plan. In fact, spend too much and it will cut into your budget too hard, leaving little room for profit. That’s why many companies opt not to bother with marketing at all. But marketing doesn’t have to be expensive, even for small businesses.

Branding can be as simple as putting your logo on your letterhead. For a rather reasonable fee you can have a graphic artist design you a logo and that’s a one-time fee that allows you to use the same artwork over and over again for the life of your business. That logo will speak volumes about what your business stands for and you want it to be something that will be memorable and recognizable for many years to come. Once you brand yourself in the minds of the people you want to do business with in your local area, it will be difficult for them to forget you. And that’s when you know you’ve done a successful job at branding you business.

Other small business branding practices include simple things like a slogan or tag line that appears on all of your marketing copy, a color that can be associated with your business, a particular style that can be associated with your business and sets you apart from your competition, or anything that establishes you as unique and professional in your niche.

Branding is really all about putting yourself in the minds of your customers so that they remember you even when they aren’t trying to. I’m sure you picture the logos of McDonalds, Coca-Cola, Proctor & Gamble, Abercrombie & Fitch, Exxon-Mobile, and a couple dozen other large corporations without much effort. You can do the same thing for your small business with just a little branding effort and the people you want to remember you will, just when they least expect it.