building an online marketing foundation
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TRANSCRIPT
BUILDING AN ONLINE MARKETING FOUNDATION
Follo@HingeMarketingr Blog:
Hingemarketing.com/blog
Today’s Moderator and Speaker:
Sean McVeyDirectory of Online Marketing, [email protected]
Follow Me on Twitter:
@SeanTMcVey
Sylvia MontgomeryPartner, [email protected]
Follow Me on Twitter:
@BrandStrong
What We’ll Cover
› Finding Your Foundation› Understanding SEO on a High Level› Get Started with SEO and Analytics› Measuring Success › Bonus Tips from the Experts
Web Clutter – How is this Helping My Firm?
“I think online marking is important, but I
don’t have the resources to do it all.”
Few firms have both the time and money to execute on a full range of online marketing techniques
Executives want to carefully invest in marketing that produces new business consistently
So… what techniques are most effective?
Key Concern for Executives:
What is your foundation?
SEO Serves as a Solid Foundation
Without web traffic, nothing else matters More and more are using Google to find services SEO can be highly profitable SEO is measurable
Keyword Monthly Search Volume
Architecture Dallas 9,900
Tax Services New York 4,400
Electrical Engineering Services 4,400
Data Warehousing Services 1,300
Law Firm San Diego 14,800
People are searching for your services!
How SEO Works on a High Level
① Conduct keyword research
② Optimize web page with keyword phrase
③ Build inbound links to page
④ Track rankings of page
⑤ Repeat
How is SEO Different for Professional Services?
Buying Process for Most Products and Services
Buying Process for Professional Services
A little research
StartBuy!
Research and Education for a Year or MoreStart Buy!
An SEO focus on early and late stage leads
Early Stage Keywords “Benefits of sustainable
building”
“How to hire a green architect”
“What is the better buildings challenge?”
“BIM definition”
Late Stage Keywords “Memphis architecture firm”
“General contractor DC”
“MEP services”
“Green design services”
Where to start?
Start by optimizing your home page
① Conduct keyword research and select 1 – 2 keyword phrases for the home page.
② Implement the phrases into the page in several ways, including the page title, headers, and paragraph text.
③ Run a link building campaign to the home page, acquiring quality links pointing to your site.
④ Track rankings for target keywords.
Then what?
As you secure homepage rankings, begin to focus on sub pages and rich content pages such as blog posts.
① Select pages with a specific focus that will drive the right traffic
② Repeat the same steps from the home page
What types of results are we looking for here?
› Rankings
› Traffic from organic search (by keyword)
› Conversions (soft and hard)
› New Business
Finding your core metrics
1/14-2/140
500
1000
1500
2000
2500
3000
3500
4000
4500
2130
1222
663
Website Traffic by SourceOrganic Search Direct Referral
1/14-2/140
2
4
6
8
10
12
14
16
8
3
3
Contact Us Conversions by SourceOrganic Direct Referral
Finding your core metrics
1/30/11 2/6/11 2/13/11 2/20/110%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
90%
100%
100.00%
68.18%
45.45%
27.27%
22.73%
22.73%
27.27%
9.09% 9.09% 13.64%
22.73%
31.82%
Core Keyword Rankingsunranked 4th and later 2nd or 3rd First Page
Visits and Quality of Visits by Keyword
Conversions by Keyword
Total Conversions by Goal
Analytics – A Key Foundational Piece
› SEO is pointless without analytics
› Download Google Analytics right now!
› Evaluate key metrics on a weekly basis
› Continually change your strategy based on where conversions and business are coming from
TIPS FROM THE EXPERTSBonus Time!
How long should SEO take?
“It should take no more than three days to get a page indexed in search engines. In terms of ranking improvements, you should start to see results after a month. SEO campaigns can go on indefinitely however, with rankings continuing to improve throughout time.”
- Danny Dover
Author, Search Engine Optimization Secrets
How long should SEO take?
“The time it takes to see SEO results depends on the competitiveness of the industry. In a less competitive space you should start to see results in a month or two. In a competitive space, you’re looking at three or four months.”
- Brad Geddes
Author, Advanced Google Adwords
Where should I focus my SEO efforts?
“For professional services firms, focus on the homepage first. This is your highest priority. After securing initial rankings, focus 50% of your efforts on the homepage and 50% on sub services pages.”
- Eric Enge
Author, The Art of SEO
Where should I focus my SEO efforts?
“We focus on a mix of long tail and short tail keywords. For professional services firms, targeting broad keywords on your home page is a solid start. However, nailing those more specific sub page keywords is also a huge part of the process.”
- Kristopher Jones
Author, Search Engine Optimization
The Most Important Aspect of SEO
“Both parts of SEO are extremely important. If you get the keywords wrong, everything else is futile. And without quality inbound links, you’re not going to rank. You need both pieces for success.”
- Jim Boykin
CEO, We Build Pages
Best Way to Build Quality Links
“Start by obtaining links from credible directories such as Yahoo’s directory. Then focus on creating white papers and blog posts. Rich educational content is the best way to attract links and build authority in the long run.”
- Loren Baker
VP, Blue Glass
The importance of content for SEO
› James Beswick: 10› Jim Boykin: 7› Kristopher Jones: 8› Loren Baker: 10› Danny Dover: 7› Brad Geddes: 3› Eric Enge: 8
Average: 7.57
On a scale from 0 – 10, rate the importance of consistently publishing content on a website to increasing search engine traffic.
PPC vs. Organic
“We favor organic to PPC, focusing about 95% of our efforts on organic. PPC is great for targeting very specific terms. However, the majority of people searching are clicking in organic results.”
- Jim Boykin
CEO, We Build Pages
Biggest Misconception About SEO
“The biggest misconception is that you can go out and buy a lot of links and rank very quickly. People think link building is like media buying. It’s not.”
- Loren Baker
VP, Blue Glass
Best Piece of Advice
“There are no shortcuts. If it’s a shortcut, it won’t work. Roll up your sleeves and stay in it for the long run.”
- Jim Boykin
CEO, We Build Pages
To Learn More…
1. Subscribe to the Professional Services Marketing Blogwww.hingemarketing.com/blog
2. Download the report, “Online Marketing Research Study” www.hingemarketing.com/library
3. Follow us on Twitter:
@SeanTMcVey @BrandStrong
Thank you! Questions?
Sean McVey@SeanTMcVey
Sylvia Montgomery@BrandStrong
Give us a Call!
703-391-8870
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Search for it in LinkedIn Groups now!