Wow ‘em with your Web Presence!
Keidra Chaney, The Web Farm
January 20, 2010
Overview Q & A: Terre Houte Your Online Presence: Where to Start Creating Online Content: Writing Creating Online Content: SEO Blogs and Social Media Analytics and Measurement Key Take Aways Questions
Your Online Presence:Where to Start?
It’s not rocket science! New tools for the
same strategies. Don’t be fearful, be
thoughtful! It’s just marketing, and
you’re the expert!
Where to Start:Know Your Online Audience (s)
Who They Are:
Age Gender Income Location Education
Where to Start:Know Your Online Audience(s)
How they see you
Most/least visited webpages How long they stay Where they come from What they find appealing What content is popular or unpopular
Where to Start:Know Your Online Audience (s)
How they want to hear from you:
Your website email newsletter social media … maybe print?
But how do you learn this?
Where to Start: Get to Know Your Audience (s)
Surveys Focus Groups Analytics - using web
traffic to learn about visitor behavior
Testing – get feedback on design and user appeal
Good News: These tools are cheap and/or free!
Where to Start:Define Your Online Goals
Ask yourself: “What do we want people to do when they come to our
website?”
Buy products? Learn more about the organization? Sign up as members? Communicate/network with other members? All of the above?
You can have more than one goal!
Creating Online Content: Writing
Web users scan text, not read Web readers are selfish; they
want to get to the point quick. Web readers are restless, they
tend to multitask online.
from Jakob Nielsen
the “guru of Web usability”
Creating Online Content: Writing
Write in Layers Break longer text in sections Use headings and subheadings
Highlight key text block quotes lists with bullet points use italics (NOT ALL CAPS) for emphasis in sentences
Creating Online Content: SEO
SEO (Search Engine Optimization) Making your website for Google, Yahoo. Bing, etc. to find your site.
Avoid jargon. Use tools to help find keywords your visitors would find.
Avoid “click here.” link words so Google can pick it up.
Keep headlines short:. Under 65 characters for RSS, Google search results.
Creating Online Content: SEO
A final thought:
Write for people, not search engines!
Blogging and social media
Best Practices• Where to start? Go where your audience is• Decide if you have the time/staff to devote to keep up a
social media presence and community• Promote to your audience through existing
communications (newsletters, direct mail, email)
Blogging and social media
Remember: Social media is a two-way conversation, create relationships, don’t just promote
The message is not just yours to control!
Analytics/MeasurementUsed by many e-commerce companies to measure online results.
Many free and inexpensive tools to help small biz and associations
Use your goals as a guide!
Key Takeaways
Learn about your audience Set measureable goals for success Share information with designers – it helps! Consider how web users read when you create content Match social media to your audience/resources Remember social media is a conversation Measure your results! Experiment – and don’t fear failure
