web design & internet marketing basics - brody dorland, something creative, inc

Promoting Your Small Business Online:

Website Design & Internet Marketing Strategies

Brody Dorland - Something Creative, Inc.

Introductions• Presentation Approach: The Strategies

Behind Effective Websites (not the technical stuff)

• Do These Strategies Really Work? I wouldn’t be here if they didn’t.

• Introduce Yourselves…– Name, Company Name– Do you already have a website?– What is your role within your organization?

• Owner? Marketing/Communications Manager? Other?

– What is your geographic target for new patient development?

• National? Regional? Local?

– What questions do you want answered?

What We’ll Cover…

• Marketing Basics • The Importance of Website Content,

Organization & Functionality• Understanding Website Design &

Usability• Search Engine Optimization• Internet Marketing Strategies

Let’s Get Started!

I. Marketing Basics

• People, Messages & Vehicles

• People: Potential Patients, Current Patients

• Messages: Your Brand, Your Unique Offering

• Vehicles: The tactical elements that deliver your message (salespeople, advertising, PR, direct mail, tradeshows, websites, etc.)

Acme Spine Center is the

best!

Acme Spine Center is the

best!

Website Strategy• Translating your marketing/sales strategy

to the web• What is your spine center’s main

marketing/sales goal?• So what does your website need to do to

achieve that goal?– Build brand awareness?– Build credibility?– Educate/inform?– Generate leads?

Profiling Your Customers• Buyer Personas – Explained• Profile Elements

– Who are they? Demographics– What do they want/need?– What are their problems?– Can they be segmented or categorized?– Can you interview them to help you determine and

prioritize your content strategy?– What words/phrases would they use to find your

services on the web?– Will they be task-oriented buyers or browsers?

• Document all this and give each profile a name.• Use these profiles to guide your website

development process.

Establishing Your Brand• Your Brand: Defined

– The defining stamp of your business– A simple message (7 words or less)– A visually-appealing, memorable identity– Consistency across all customer touch point

• Logo and all identity element• Color scheme• Writing Style/Voice• Ads• Brochures• Signage• And of course… Your Website

Communicating Your Unique Message

• Your Value Proposition: Defined

• Differentiation & Positioning

• Creating a Distinct, Descriptive Website Tagline– You have 4 seconds…

– Examples: The Good and the Bad

• What do you want your buyers to believe?

Website Strategy Summary

• We’ve discussed how your website should compliment your company’s sales/ marketing goals

• We’ve developed buyer personas• We’ve determined how you want your

company to be perceived visually• We’ve identified your value

proposition and incorporated that into a new website tagline.

II. The Importance of Website Content, Organization &

Functionality• Translating Audience Needs & Your Marketing

Strategy onto the Web – Content Strategy

• Content is King:– Content brands your organization as a thought

leader– Engage and steer your prospective patients– Write for your buyers…What problems do your

services solve? – Educate them– Let them know about your expertise– Write using your buyer’s own words (interpret

medical explanations for the layperson, SEO benefits)

– Inform them of the latest happenings


Functionality• How will your content be developed?

– Do you have the capacity to do this yourselves?

– Will a peer review be required?

• In most cases, it’s best to get a website copywriter involved early on.– Writing will be higher quality– The writer’s laymen viewpoint often makes for

more effective copy– Internal people don’t have to set aside their

normal jobs for weeks on end.– Overall project will move much faster.– Professional SE keyword integration


Functionality• Content is King, It’s also a

commitment…– You Are What You Publish– Frequent Content Updates

• New Articles• New Service/Capabilities/Techniques• New Research Findings• Practice News• Success Stories/Case Studies• Upcoming Events

– So…How do you update your site? • Developer maintenance agreements• Content Management Systems


Functionality• Site Organization: An Architectural

Process to Categorize Your Content– Define Every Page– Categorize Logically– Develop Navigation…Keep it simple– Use “Web Conventions”– Use Obvious, Descriptive Nomenclature– Minimize Clicks– Create “Engineered Conversion Paths” that

you will track with Website Analytics– Examples

Go To Site >


Functionality• Website Analytics (Google Analytics)

– Traffic Reporting– Site Usage Statistics– Traffic Mapping– Traffic Sources– Keyword Productivity– Conversion Rates– Funnel Visualization– Content Popularity– Etc.


Functionality• Website Functionality – Providing tools that…

– Save Time & Effort– Add Value– Set Your Site Apart from Your Competitors– Aid in patient management and marketing (list building, e-mail

mktg)

• Common Tools– Database Backend/Tie into other patient database systems– Patient Portals– Forms (contact, patient documentation, appointment requests)– Calculators/Estimators/Quoting Engines– Product/Concept Demonstrations, Animations & Videos– Directions/Maps– E-commerce (pay your bill online, sell training/exercise

materials)– Content Management Systems

Understanding Website Design & Usability

• #1 Rule of Website Design…Don’t make the user think.

• Examples: Not Thinking vs. Thinking

• Things that make us think:– Nomenclature: Obvious vs. Vague vs. Jargon

– Design Elements: Buttons, Text Links, Colors, Images

– Site Layout: Clutter (Where Do I Start?) , Complex Navigation, Imbedded scroll bars

• Our job is to eliminate the question marks.

Understanding Website Design & Usability

The Facts of Life…1. We don’t read pages, we scan them. Why?

– We’re usually in a hurry.– We know that we don’t need to read everything.– We’re good at it.

2. We don’t make optimal choices, we choose the first reasonable option. Why?– We’re usually in a hurry.– There’s not much penalty for guessing wrong. – Guessing is often more fun.

Understanding Website Design

& UsabilityThe Facts of Life…

3. We don’t figure out how things work, we muddle through. Why?– People don’t read instructions.

– People use websites effectively in ways that are nothing like the designer intended. (example)

– It’s not important (as long as it works).

– If we find something that works, we stick with it.

Understanding Website Design

& Usability• Most people are just scanning, not

reading (they’re whizzing by)

• They’re not necessarily going to make the optimal choice.

• And they may use your site in a very different way then you intended.

• So what do we need to do?

• We design billboards…

Billboard Design 101: Designing Websites for

Scanning• Create a clear visual hierarchy

– The more important something is, the more prominent it should be. (AD example)

Very Important

A little less important

Nowhere near as important



– Things that are related logically are also related visually.

Back Pain

Neck Pain

Degenerative Disc

Herniated Discs

Kyphosis

Low Back Pain



– Things are “nested” visually to show what’s part of what.

– Newspapers are good examples (images, charts, graphics).


Scanning• Conventions are our friends

– Newspaper Examples: Headlines, image captions, layout

– Life Examples: Street signs, universal symbols

– Web Convention Examples: Spine Universe• Navigation (top horizontal or left-side vertical,

tabs, text-based footer navigation)• Layout – Breaking up the page content into

clearly defined areas, top left logo doubles as home button

• Make it obvious what’s clickable (links, colors, underlines, buttons)

• Common web icons (cart, play)


Scanning• Keep the NOISE DOWN!

– Busyness: Too many colors, featured content areas, exclamation points, animations, ads

– Background noise (design elements, videos, audio that detract)

– Examples:• http://www.spinecenter.com/• http://www.laspineinstitute.com/• http://www.livingwellspinecenter.com/


Scanning• What about animation (Flash)?

– Pros: • Draws attention

• Can give high-end feel to site

• Can better explain a complicated concept (visually)

• Allows visitor to sit back (not read) and engage with your message(s).

• Integrate multiple messages and images within one space.

– DFS before

– DFS after


Scanning• What about animation?

– Cons: • Large file sizes

• Can pull eyes away from main focus

• Some people hate flash.

• Not search engine friendly

• No linking to internal pages on Flash-based sites

• Difficult to pull traffic statistics from flash sites.

• Flash developer will have to be involved long-term

– example, new version


Scanning• Street Signs & Breadcrumbs (Walmart example)

– Persistent Navigation and Sub-Navigation• It gives us something to hold on to.

• It tells us what’s here.

• It tells us how to use the site.

– Page Names/Headings (nice example of nav & headings)

– Footer Text Navigation – Less scrolling (example)

– “You Are Here” / Breadcrumbs (example)


Scanning• Trunk Test – Questions:

– What site is this?

– What does this company do?

– What page am I on?

– What are the major sections of the site?

– What else is within this section (down this aisle) of the site?

• Test Site, (after)


Scanning• Usability Testing: Defined

– If you want a great website, you have to test it.

– Testing 1 user is 100% better than testing none.

– Testing 1 user early on is better than testing 50 users near the end.

– Test subject can be anyone who uses the web

– Nothing beats a live audience

– “Get It” Test, Trunk Test, Key Task Testing

IV. Search Engine Optimization (SEO): A Very

Important Game• The Facts:

– Search engines (SEs) are the primary mechanism used for researching companies, products and services.

– Top search engine ranking have turned home-based businesses into huge corporations in a matter of months.

– SEO is the primary reason why I’m here today.– A search engine’s “product” is providing

searchers with the most relevant content/websites.

– Search engine algorithms: Explained– He with the highest score wins…


Important Game• Our Challenges:

– People don’t read on the web, but SE spiders need words to determine the content topic of each page. Highly visual pages may struggle to score well.

– Market/Industry Saturation

– Your competitors are doing it too.

• Examples


Important Game• The Solution:

– Develop your content for your buyers first– Research and develop a long-tail keyword

strategy– Research/analyze your competitors’ websites and

their SEO efforts– Utilize proven search engine optimization

techniques to make your site appear more relevant (get a higher score) than your competitors’ sites.

• What are SEO techniques?


Important Game• Keyword Research:

– Create a good seed list (most important terms and phrases that you think your buyers will use)

– Dig deeper into the “Long Tail” to identify keyword variations that give you a better chance to rank

• back pain, back pain relief, low back pain relief

– Plug that list into a keyword research tool• Google Keyword Suggestion Tool• WordTracker.com• KeywordDiscovery.com

– Organize/prioritize keyword list, cross reference with your website’s content and address any holes.


Important Game• Geo-Targeting – Optimizing to target

specific markets (cities, states, regions)

• Site Optimization Techniques:– Domain name and domain age

– Keyword optimized file/folder structure

– Overall size of your site

– Fresh content added regularly


Important Game• On-Page Optimization Techniques: (example)

– Creating a “Spider-Friendly Page”• Eliminate road blocks (fancy navigation)• Keep page size down• Limit FLASH usage to visual and interactive content• 250-300 words of content• Keyword integration within first 200 characters of the

page• Focus on 3-5 keyword variations per page

– Keyword integration within body content (improves keyword density)

– Title Tags, Meta Description & Keyword Tags– Head Tags (<h1>,<h2>,<h3>, etc.)– Alt Text Tags, Bold Tags– Link Text (Anchor Text)


Important Game• Scoring Update

– Overall website optimization = 10 points

– Content & On-Page Optimization = 10 points

– New Site SEO Score = 20/100

• We have more work to do…


Important Game• Off-Page Optimization Techniques:

– Link Building: Backlinks Defined– Website Directories

• General vs. Niche• Free vs. Paid

– Blog/Forum Participation (comments & signatures)

– Link Exchanges (partner sites, auxiliary market websites, local organizations)

– Internet Marketing (next section)


Important Game• Ongoing SEO Strategies

– Regular content updates w/ targeted keywords/phrases

– Regular analysis of analytics to identify best keyword performers

– Tweak site content based on analysis– Continually add new pages targeting

new keyword variations– Continued Link Building Efforts– Internet Marketing (next section)

Internet Marketing: The New Rules of Marketing & PR

• The “Old Rules” of Marketing– “Marketing” meant Advertising– Advertising relied on interrupting people to get

them to pay attention to your message.– Creativity was the most important component– Advertising was one-way, company-to-consumer– Advertising was exclusively about selling

products.– Ad campaigns had limited life.– Advertising & PR were separate disciplines, run

by different people with separate goals, strategies and measurement criteria.


• The “Old Rules” of PR– The only way to get “ink” was through the

media.– Companies communicated to journalists via

press releases.– Nobody saw your press releases except for a

handful of reporters and editors.– Companies had to wait for “big news” to write a

news release.– Jargon was okay because journalists understood

it.– News releases had to include quotes from third

parties or experts.– The only way buyers would learn about

the release’s content was if the media printed your story.


• The “New Rules” of Marketing & PR:– Marketing is more than just advertising– PR is for more than just the media– You are what you publish– People want authenticity, not spin– People want participation, not propaganda– Instead of one-way interruption, marketing is

about delivering content at the moment your audience needs it.

– The internet has made public relations public again, and lets organizations communicate directly with buyers


• Reaching Your Buyers Directly– Your buyers have a need and go to the

web to find a solution

– A suitable internet marketing strategy greatly increases your chances of hooking buyers

– A quick story about fishing…

The Tools of Internet Marketing

• New Media Advertising– Search Engine Advertising– Online lead generation – utilizing targeted

online media for new patient acquisition– Pay Per Click & Pay Per Impression Models

• Weblogs (blogs)– Blogs Explained– Blogging for Business

• Monitoring Your Online Reputation (Google Alerts)• Commenting on other blogs• Developing your own blog

– Blog Examples – 1, 2, 3


• Forums/Message Boards (example)– Liability Issues?– Forums & Forum Etiquette Explained– The Power of Forum Participation– Creating Your Signature

• Social Networking Websites

– Explained– The Power of Social Networking– Creating Your Professional Profile– Business-Friendly Networking Website

• www.linkedin.com • www.facebook.com • www.plaxo.com • www.biznik.com • www.konnects.com • www.ryze.com


• News Release & Article Marketing– News Releases vs. Articles– The importance of links in your content– You Are What You Publish: Developing an

editorial calendar– Don’t just wait for “big news”…news release

ideas:• Have a new take on an old problem?• Serve a unique marketplace?• Have interesting information to share?• Doctors speaking at a conference?• Win an award?• Add a new service?• Need to explain a new concept?• Answer a frequently asked question?• Publish a paper in an industry medium?


• Publishing news releases through a distribution service (in addition to your website)– Business Wire: www.businesswire.com

– Market Wire: www.marketwire.com

– PrimeNewswire: www.primezone.com

– PR Newswire: www.prnewswire.com

– PRWeb: www.prweb.com

• Purchase a coverage area based on geographical distribution

• Coverage will also include Google News, Yahoo News and others.


• Publishing articles through article marketing websites– www.EzineArticles.com– www.GoArticles.com– www.ArticleDashboard.com– www.SearchWarp.com– www.ArticlesBase.com– www.iSnare.com

• Free syndication to thousands of websites, and blogs

So…What’s It Going to Cost?

• Marketing Budget? Should be around 10%• Things to consider:

– Monthly Hosting– Upfront Strategy/Planning– Design– Content Development– Website Construction/Programming– Search Engine Optimization– Monthly Internet Mktg/Adv./Lead Gen Budget– Special Service Subscriptions (animations, etc.)– Ongoing content development

Choosing a Website Development & Internet

Marketing Partner• Things to look for:

– Their website should have all the characteristics we’ve discussed today.

– A strong website portfolio– Case studies or testimonials describing their

clients’ experience– A background in marketing strategy, not just

programming– Examples of high SE rankings for other clients– An overall willingness to listen and work

within your budget.

Choosing a Website Development & Internet

Marketing Partner• Things to ask them:

– Are you primarily a marketing firm or a development firm?

– Do you provide content strategy and development services?

– Will I own all the files after the project is done? If no, hang up.

– Can you support my website maintenance, SEO and internet marketing needs long-term?

– Can they provide a list of client references with phone numbers?

Next Steps…

• Have questions? Need help? Contact me…– Brody Dorland - Something Creative, Inc.

– Phone: 913-440-9930

– E-mail: [email protected]

• Updated Presentation for Download:www.somethingcreativeinc.com/spine-web.zip

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