Marketing

Ok, so I've gotten a few emails asking about the ins and outs of green marketing and I figured it might be helpful to line up our top ten tips. So to kick of the week…here goes!

Green Marketing Tip #1

I get a lot of traffic to this blog for search terms about 'green' and 'eco friendly' marketing.
And, if you read this blog somewhat regularly, you'll know that I'm taking a web site and transitioning it into being 'green' and adding a blog component. It's an ecommerce site and the goal is quite lofty. You […]

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Green Marketing Tip #2 - Know Your Market!

The green market is booming and FAST. Determining who your audience is, who the market demographic is can't be stressed enough.
Right now, everyone (and I mean everyone) is trying to figure out who these people are and what they want. I've talked a lot about eco-chic and luxury green. But Alex Williams over at […]

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Tip #3 Participate in Green Events - Think Globally, Act Locally!

Participating in Green Events like Live Earth on July 7 is an absolute must for any business going green. Whether it's hosting an event locally in honor of an event like Live Earth, or creating your own event, a big part of being green and reaching the green audience is about "thinking globally and acting […]

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Green Marketing Tip #4 - Participate in Online ‘Green’ Communities!

It is an absolute must to participate in community. After all 'green' is grassroots. And, using technology (that whole web 2.0 idea) to socialize and increase awareness of your company is not to be overlooked.
Communities have long been an internet staple but with the increased socialization of the web, it's important to find […]

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Green Marketing Tip #5 - No Greenwashing

WARNING – No Greenwashing Allowed…
Greenwashing is a term used to describe companies that are pretending to go ‘eco’ in an attempt to cash in on the green market trend. In effect, they say they are green, create a couple of green educational resources or throw up a few eco friendly products and shout to the […]

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Green Marketing Tip #6 - Purchase Ads On Green Blogs

Okay this is an obvious one. You've probably already thought about it but I have to throw it in, just in case it's slipped your mind.
Purchase online advertising where your green community frequently visits to collect information. Yes, for this particular tip, I'm talking about green blogs. Here are a few, but I encourage you […]

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Green Marketing Tip #7 - Make New Friends…

This isn't a tip, exactly. It's more of a helping you in the right direction. You know, sharin' the love.
Remember the song that goes…"make new friends but keep the old, one is silver and the other gold?" Well, here's your starter list of new friends in the green blog arena.
This is not the […]

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Green Marketing Tip #7.5 - Why You Need Friends

Okay, okay…I really couldn't justify this as a full blown tip. It really just explains tip #7 so it's kind of an add on to yesterday's post about making new 'green' blog friends.
This is the WHY of making new friends in the 'green' blogosphere.
First off, these bloggers are people who really know a lot about […]

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Add to Your List, More Green Blog Friends

We aren't quite to #8 but we'll get there, I promise…
Here's an add-on to #7 - more green blog friends to add to your list. If you don't know about making new green friends, check out green marketing tip #7.
JetsonGreen - green building, sustainable architecture, and eco-friendly development with a modern perspective.
Inhabit […]

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Green Marketing Tip #8 - Be a Green Resource

Okay, this tip applies to you if you are selling a product or service. Once you know who your market segment is and hopefully pinpointed WHAT they are looking for product-wise. You can further establish your positioning and branding by being a resource.
Providing resource information to your customers is extremely important. It legitimizes who you […]

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Green Marketing Tip #9 - Speak to the Senses

There are many products that are not geared to an online environment. However, with the growth of the web and online purchasing by consumers there’s an increasing need to speak to the senses. Seeing, smelling, touching a product are all important but don’t lend themselves, obviously, to an online shopping environment.
So, what do you […]

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Green Marketing Tip #10 - Throw Away Stereotypes and Be Real

Yeah, I know, you’ve been waiting on that last tip for green marketing. Just sitting on the edge of your seat in silent mouth-watering anticipation. And, believe me, I recognize the fact you probably feel like you’ve been waiting…
and waiting…and waiting…
And then, maybe wondering if I dropped off the face of the planet.
Luckily, no, […]

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You know we are pretty persnickety about who we recommend, here at TrulyTwistedMarketing.

But we have someone so cool, so fabulous that we felt it was necessary to extend their skill set as a virtual resource for our readers, clients, lurkers and  anyone else who might be in need of administrative and organizational help. We like to share ideas and resources that actually work! 

So, here you go! If you need a few tasks handled or you need help for the next 5 years of your life, this person can work one-on-one in your place of business if you are local or in an online virtual environment. 

Just follow this link to contact her and check out her services

Oh and, you don't have to thank us. Just sharin' the love! 

You know the routine…you are casting out and reeling in your line and you know if you wait long enough you are going to catch SOMETHING.

But only if you don't give up.

And like fishing, with SEO you are never 100% sure what that SOMETHING you catch is going to be.

There simply are no guarantees.

I mean, you might be fishing for trout in a lake or river but wind up catching a catfish.  And if you've ever tasted either one of these you know…they just aren't quite the same. You caught a fish (which is good) but it's not the EXACT fish you set out to catch.

Here's the good part. You caught SOMETHING. Because, let's face it, it could have been a slow day or the fish just weren't biting and you could've gone home with NOTHING. SOMETHING is always better than NOTHING in the fishy and often murky waters of SEO.

Why? Because you can build on the SOMETHING that you caught. You can take a rank for a search phrase that you rank well for and parlay it into ranking for the search phrase you want. To use my fishing example…you HAVE your catfish now let's change the bait a little and see if we can get that trout. :-) 

Here's an example of a real work in progress.

The truly fabulous site BestEcoStuff ranks for the search phrase "best eco products" at number 3 which isn't bad. Click here to see it ranking in Google and look at number 3 spot. This phrase is not a phrase I planned on. In fact, I'd rather it rank for  "eco products" whch from a search and search competition perspective is a whole different fish…a much bigger fish. And, I'd a like a rank at number 1, not number 3. However, I'm not knocking that phrase…oh no, I'll keep it and raise it up to that number one spot (if the universe is on my side and the fish are biting) and then take that lesson and look at how I can garner the same spot but for the very sought after "eco products."

Sounds simple, right? It is.

BUT and it's a big but…you have to remember are no guarantees in the "fishy and often murky waters of SEO." So, in your SEO mix you do need to include some targeted ppc (pay per click) or ad placement for the places where you are lacking a good organic search. It's a patch for the "no guarantees" problem that will keep you running until you get what you want out of your organic search marketing campaign.

Ok so if any of this didn't make sense, call us, email us, or comment below. We are always happy to hear from you and to help out!

In the meantime, here are a couple of good SEO resources.

My fave…Jim Boykin's SEO Blog 

Another fave…Greywolf's SEO Blog 

Yet another fave…Stuntduble's SEO Blog 

Enjoy! 

I know, I know…no post in 4 days. I've been under the gun…under a deadline but as always, the brain is churning about possibilities and the limitless wonder of online marketing.

Don't 'cha just love it?! 

It's true though.

With technology and the way the web works and the amount of change that occurs on a daily basis the possibilities of what can actually be accomplished are astounding. 

Take blogging for example. Originally created as a means to publish personal thoughts and ideas on the web, it's now considered very old school not to have a blog as a part of a marketing plan.

Then think about social networking online (social marketing). Who knew? I mean, really, who knew?!?! I've talked about StumbleUpon, Digg, del.icio.us, technorati and many of the lesser known social bookmarking sites and how they can bring massive (yes, MASSIVE) amounts of traffic to your site.

It's truly astounding.

As always, there's more. More new tips and tricks, new technologies and new ways of thinking to get your business roaring in the web environment.

The thing I'm finding out is that most people still don't know. They don't know HOW to use the technology. I'm happy to say we do, here in the land of TrulyTwistedMarketing.

It's our job to be on the edge of that technology and to uncover how to use it not only to have fun (because it truly is FUN) but as an advantage to strategically bring your online presence up a notch which (as we all know) ultimately leads to an increase in the bottom line.

So, today is a day of shameless self promotion. This is what we can do (just in case you're still wondering…

• We do an excellent job both with design and marketing. Check out our new baby still in the works - BestEcoStuff and BestEcoStuff/Blog
• We know how to use the web to grow a business. Take a look at our portfolio and click on one of the images - we list the techniques we used to grow those sites. Each one is different.
• We know how to get that big rank in google. Go to google and type in picnic basket as a search phrase and look at #1 (picnicfun.com) or go to google and type in eco stuff for home and look at #2 (bestecostuff.com) - these are sites that have been touched by our magical SEO wand.
• We know how to use ppc to increase sales and get a good return on your investment. Go to google (again) and type in the search phrase tabletop fountains then look at the Sponsored Listings for kineticfountains.com - it's usually the #1 or #2 sponsored spot.
• We know how to use social marketing to grow your business and bring in traffic. This site is actually an excellent example. TrulyTwistedMarketing's biggest traffic sources from social marketing are StumbleUpon and Buzzfeed. 

And, that is just the start.

So, if you find yourself in need of any of the above or simply want to chat, head on over to the I want to grow my biz! Now what? page and fill out the form.

Or heck, just leave a comment below. 

Go to Google.

Type in the search phrase (minus the quotes) "eco stuff for home."

The number one spot is…

My new baby, my sweetheart of a site, BestEcoStuff.com.

Now, let me explain.

To get a number one ranking in Google for anything takes a lot of knowledge, a lot of work, a ton of effort and possibly years…that's right, years!

I had a theory of what would work, how to get a good ranking on a brand spanking new domain name (just registered a few months back) using socialization of the web. And let me just say one more thing so you'll get how truly unusual this is. It's almost unheard of  in Search Engine Optimization circles for a new domain to rank so highly and so quickly.

Well, the theory, the grand plan worked…really well.

My hypothesis worked before I even got through all the testing and before the shopping portal actually launched - you can get a sneak peak of what the site will look like (even though it's still in development) by going here…bestecostuff.com.

While I can't say that the rank will remain intact without some serious link building behind it, nonetheless, it's looking extremely promising. This fledgling site is destined to be quite B-I-G. I can feel it!

What? You want a number on rank in Google for your site?

Drop me a line. We'll discuss it. Or, head over to the "I want to grow my biz" page and fill out the form.

Check this out.

If you are marketing your business online, you NEED this must-have, gotta see it, top secret information….kidding!

You do need it but there's nothing top secret about it, or if there is, well, we've just unveiled it for you and everyone and their brother and their brother's wife and her family know about it.

It's about press releases…specifically the digital release. Simply put, due to the inter-connective nature of the web, articles and press releases are no longer exclusively viewable by news and press organizations.

Literally, anyone with access to an internet connection, a web browser or an RSS reader potentially has easy access to YOUR information. That, statement alone, dramatically impacts the nature of your press release and the crafting of the content contained within it.

Your audience has been switched up from a few journalists or news organizations to millions of web users. Savvy marketers recognize this unique and invaluable tool for gaining larger and larger shares of the market.

1. You need to target your releases to your buyers not just news organizations and journalists
2. Create content that is optimized for the search engines and rich in searchable phrases your customer would use in locating you
3. Embed links that lead them directly to your web site
4. Offer a link to sign up for a series of tutorials, a white paper or free service your customer might be interested in (This will get them into the buying cycle and you can begin to build a relationship with the customer)
5. Send a press release or article every chance you get. That means send them for all sorts of reasons – new product introductions, new services, improved web site navigational experiences, anything you can think of.
6. Use a press release distribution service simply because it makes the whole process much easier and the chances of getting in online news services like Google and Yahoo are pretty much guaranteed. PRWEb, Business Wire, Market Wire, PRNewswire
7. Create your own RSS feeds of your releases and news stories on your site. You can store them in a press area on your site where customers can get easy access and subscribe to receive your content.

Ok, 7 tips to get you started…Go get 'em!

Content is KING.

We hear it all the time.

I preach it at every opportunity.

It’s very simply one of THE most important aspects to growing your web presence.

But there’s a trick – a trick to making content work for you that a lot of individuals in online marketing won’t talk about.

The so called ‘trick’ is simply to understand HOW it works and WHAT the search engines are looking for in content. You can file this one away and break it out when you need it most and it will take you one step closer to that marketing guru status we are working toward…

Common Misconceptions About Using Content

Taking the content of the page and rewriting it on a regular basis will not boost your web site rankings. In fact, it will more than likely pull your ranking down.

*Please note…content SHOULD be updated/rewritten if it doesn’t contain any of the search phrases you want that particular page to rank for. It should also be reflected in your title tag, description and keyword tags up in the meta info in the head section of your site. (Hopefully you know this already…if you don’t call us ASAP!)

Same goes for streaming an rss feed onto one of your web site pages. It doesn’t impact your ranking. It’s a cool tool and can generate traffic to the feed source but again, does not impact your ranking in the search engines.

What You Need to Know

How a page ranks in the search engines is determined by that particular page’s attributes such as the number and quality of inbound links (inbound links are links coming from other sites and resources on the web), along with on the page factors such as keyword placement in title tags, copy, headers, etc.

Making Content Work for You

On the other hand, adding content in the form of articles, blog postings, resources, buyer’s guides, etc. can boost up your search rank and ultimately your traffic. What you are doing is creating more indexable content for the search engines to crawl (as well as attracting more links).

*Another note to remember – pages with few inbound links tend to slip out of the search rankings so you want to make sure the content is good and that people will want to link TO that content.

Now, just as an aside…there ARE ways to update content on the page to direct the search engine spiders to that page and then plant links to pages you want the spiders to discover. It does speed up the process of getting new pages listed quicker. It won’t impact your ranking but it will be indexed in the search engines quicker so the content is more available. Your best bet, though is to get it right the first time.

Make sense? Any questions? Post them below or toss them over via email. We love to get a good conversation started!

That’s it for today, here’s to you all you fabulous individuals out there who are working hard at your marketing and keepin' it real! Guru status, HERE WE COME!

Back to making you an online marketing guru…

We are continuing down the topic path of how to make your website shine. Today's post is short and sweet and but EXTREMELY important. So please, if you are doing 5 other things at once (yes, I know I do the very same thing ALL the time), cease and desist right now.

URL Rewriting:

Your URL and the links within your web site are very important. It’s the primary way spiders track and manage web site content. URLs that are dynamic are treated as less valuable by the search engines. URL rewriting makes the URL look “real” (nice and clean and spiffy) and gives your web site more credibility in the search engines. 

Good URL
http://www.bestecostuff.com/Product/b-happy-bags.aspx

Bad URL - Dynamic URL that Should be Rewritten
http://www.bestecostuff.com/Product/ProductInfo.aspx?id=26

So that's the marketing guru tip of the day. Here are some resources where you can find more information about URL rewriting. Or heck, just meander on over to google and do a search yourself and see what comes up.

From Wikipedia: "Using a URL rewrite engine, the website software can be presented with URLs in one form, while actual requests (and URLs seen by the user) are in another form. So rewrite engines allow URLs to be tidied up and made more user friendly, by configuring rewrite rules, rather than modifying the webserver software."

URL Rewriting from SEO tools  - Info on Apache server rewrite rules.

URL Rewriting using ASP.net framework - Yes, there's a lot of geek speak here but it's good information if you are familiar with ASP.net.

From Scott Guthrie (one of those techy guys…) - This is an excellent article on explaining the how's and why's of URL rewriting. 

Need some help with URL rewriting? Well, that's NOT our area of expertise. BUT we know people who know people who know people…kidding. We can point you in the right direction and give you some information on techy guys who do this type of thing so drop a line or head over to our sweet new form on the "Grow My Business" page and give it a tryout. If you need a contact or two, we are happy to oblige. 

Wiktionary:

Guru: A leader or expert in a field.

This is first in a series of articles is designed to help you overcome any informational obstacles that are standing in the way of your complete and total marketing success.

In effect, you will become transformed into a guru. As you apply the strategies and utilize the tips, tools and resources, you’ll learn some of the most important marketing channels that will help drive action and convert web browsers into buyers.

So, what are you waiting for? Let's get to it! 

Here are the top ten best practices when creating your web site pages: 

1. Research phrases people are looking for and using when looking for your product. Wordtracker offers a valuable, easy to use service.
2. Page content should be between 300-500 words
3. Pick up search phrases and keywords associated with the product or service you are selling on that page. Use search phrase in a way that makes sense and flows naturally in the copy. 
4. Product Descriptions - Make the product descriptions neat and clean with unique keywords for that product.
5. Use Title Tags - Keep title tags unique while reinforcing the topic of the page. Google displays 60 characters with the ability to index 100 characters but the importance is placed within the first 60 characters. Title Tags are THE Most Important On Page Element and you can and should include promotional copy (your call to action) in them.
6. Keyword Meta Tags - Add in keywords to help assist in Yahoo rankings Keep between 7 – 48 words. Separate keywords by commas ex. <meta name=“keyword" content=“phrase 1, phrase 2, etc,”>. Avoid keyword spamming. Use keywords to reinforce the topic of individual pages
7. Description Meta Tags - Use this tag to reinforce the topic of the page and double as the description listed in the search results rather than content pulled from the page copy. Keep between 12 – 24 words. Use short descriptive sentences. Avoid using more than 2 commas. Incorporate targeted keywords. Do not use an exact sentence from the page content
8. Internal Links & Navigation - Reinforce the main targeted phrase with absolute links to the root level domain throughout the site. ex. http://www.yoursitename.com”> Your Site Name Avoid Dynamic URLs, multiple URL’s (please see URL Rewriting below.
9. When creating new page names use hyphens (-) while avoiding underscores (_) spaces ( %20 ) and dynamic variables.
10.  Image Optimization - Use ALT Tags - Your Images should have keywords embedded in the ALT Tags. Keep files sizes lo. Use descriptive image names (motorola_razor.gif vs. img_02_ab_sm.gif)

"The most beautiful thing we can experience is the mysterious. It's the source of all true art and science."

 - Albert Einstein