Internet Marketing

Get our latest news about Internet Marketing and our other online marketing services. Call us at 1-888-262-6687 to inquire about your marketing needs.

Posts

Ad Retargeting Marketing Trends for 2015

Ad retargeting is a popular topic for 2015 and even if you aren’t running a retargeting campaign it’s important to understand how it works.

A basic ad retargeting definition is targeting your ads to consumers based on their previous Internet activity on your website where they activity didn’t lead to a sale or conversion. The basic ad retargeting cycle works like this:

  • Visitor comes to your site.
  • Visitor looks at your products, reads your pages and adds to their shopping cart.
  • Visitor leaves without doing anything.
  • Visitor later sees your retargeting ads on another website, such as Facebook, reminding them about you and inviting them back to your site.

AdRoll recently released a new study on Ad Retargeting which surveyed 11,000 US advertisers on how they currently use retargeting and if they plan to use it through 2015.

The key takeaways from their study show us that:

  • Social media is the place to be in 2015 with retargeting.
  • Instagram, Pinterest and Amazon are the three most popular social platforms for retargeting in 2015.
  • Mobile and cross-device ad retargeting is becoming more important with over half of marketers retargeting on mobile devices.
  • Search retargeting and Facebook retargeting isn’t just for driving sales! Retargeting is also being used for several purposes including brand awareness, social engagement and customer retention.
  • More marketers are spending more of their online ad budget on retargeting. This year, over 70% are spending up to half of their budget on retargeting.

Are you wondering how you can apply these retargeting marketing trends to your business? Give us a call at 1-888-262-6687 to discuss your website and what retargeting strategies could work for you.

/by

Which of These Marketing Hats Do You Wear?

Tired of wearing three, four or maybe even five different hats at once?

As a small business owner you have probably experienced the precarious juggling act of being your own Sales Team, Website Developer, Social Media Guru, Advertiser and Business CEO. It’s exhausting!

But it is often what you need to do in order to control your spending and stretch your marketing budget just a little further. You simply can’t afford the luxury that many big box retailers and corporations can to hire a large marketing team to keep pace with constantly changing consumer trends.

Which of the following marketing hats do you currently wear and how well do you wear each one? As you read through each we challenge you to consider:

  • Is your time more valuable spent elsewhere?
  • Would hiring someone more experienced lower total your cost and increase your ROI better than for you to do it on your own?
  • If you increase your marketing spend, what type of benefit (or ROI) would you stand to gain?

Marketing Director (aka The Leader)

A leader who can translate the big picture and business objectives into marketing strategies that can be executed by the organization and successfully drive revenue. This person is responsible for the tactical planning and execution of marketing campaigns that align the goals of the company with the sales process and the products and services offered

Vice President of Marketing (The Voice)

The voice of public relations and champion of the business. Able to highlight the company’s best attributes, keep a close eye on the competition and focus on making the business superior through analyzing trends, setting prices, finding new ways to promote and brand the company; write and distribute press releases and act as a spokesperson.

Business Development Manager (The Builder)

Builds the business through promoting the company name in the industry, develops competitive advantage through product enhancement and a comprehensive sales plan. Knows and develops everything and every direction in the business

Marketing Manager (The Doer)

Finds and develops customer bases (leads) for the company product and services. Designs and implements the company marketing plan, including public relations, such as bringing media attention to newsworthy activities, writes and disseminates press releases.

Marketing Analyst (The Researcher)

Researches target demographics, provides information and insights regarding customers, markets, competitors and campaign effectiveness to measure business performance. Must be knowledgeable with mail, email, Internet, print and social media campaigns

Social Media Specialist (The Messenger)

The Super Messenger supporting the marketing plans developed and interacts with the public through social media with engaging, memorable and relevant content in every man speak.

Marketing Coordinator (The Organizer)

The Organizer that pulls together the ideas into a cohesive marketing strategy and creates the outlets for the plan to come to life. The events coordinator of the marketing process

Marketing Assistant (The Helper)

The one who arranges interviews, writes the press releases, monitors the coverage of the product or service on the media, writes ad copy, takes photographs or films video, creates informational brochures, company newsletters and websites and generally takes care of business.

When do you find time to get down to the business of doing business?

There are only so many hours in a day.

There is only so much one person can do before something has to give.

As a smart business owner you’ll understand that your focus must be on running your business and at times must seek help to manage the other aspects.

For the SEO or Web Development portion of your marketing we’re a great place to start!

  • We can help fill many of the above positions for that extra help in attracting visitors and generating new leads from your website.
  • We will work with you to develop your ideas and goals with knowledgeable SEO Consultants at reasonable monthly rates.
  • We will help you measure your website health, monthly growth and find solutions to problems as they arise.
  • We will work with you to pull your ideas together into a cohesive marketing strategy, creating new outlets that expand your reach.

Give our Small Business SEO Consultants a call at 888-262-6687 or send us an email at contact@1stonthelist.ca. We’ll be glad to share our ideas and expertise to help you become more efficient at managing your marketing hats!

/by
,

Know What Your Goals Are Before Asking for a Search Engine Optimization Quote

Getting a quote for search engine optimization (SEO) is not like getting a quote on a product; where what you are buying is always the same and the lowest price is the obvious purchase choice.

Choosing a search engine optimization company based on lowest price will seldom get you what you want or need to succeed.

Search engine optimization varies so much in process and approach that it is difficult to compare two SEO companies to each other, even when they both have a clear picture of what you want, let alone if they have to guess at what you want.

It’s like calling a dealer and asking “How much for a car?”

It’s impossible to answer that question without more information and if it was possible, why on earth would you want to let the sales person decide what he wants to sell you?

What kind of car are you looking for? What will you be using the car for? What options do you want?

Depending on your answers, your car could cost you from $100 to $300,000.

For myself, I would want to have some say on what the car dealer will sell me!

The same is true for search engine optimization; the options are endless and your participation is not only needed, it’s crucial.

SEO Quotes are Unique to Your Website

It is to be expected that when someone decides to market their company, they might not know or have thought of all the factors involved.

It is odd however, that many people requesting a quote prefer to avoid talking about what their goals are for their website. Instead, they insist they just want a quote, as if search engine optimization were some well-defined, off the shelf product.

SEO services are not all the same; in fact they are often not even similar. On a well developed search engine optimization campaign the actual process used to optimize a website is unique to that website.

To get a proper search engine optimization quote and to ensure your search engine marketing campaign will succeed, you need to provide the SEO Company with as much information as possible.

  1. What are your goals?
  2. What do you want your website to accomplish?
  3. Who are your competitors?
  4. What do your customers want?
  5. Is your market regional, national or world wide?

At its best, search engine optimization is a well-defined strategy to design and implement the changes necessary for your site to succeed.

Unless you have some new revolutionary product or service that people just can’t live without and everyone in the world is searching for, you will need to develop a good reason as to why they should buy from you rather than your competitors.

The process of discussing your goals with your SEO company will also educate you on the methods and the options available, thus enabling you to make informed decisions on all aspects related to making your website a success.

You will understand why you need to do some of the work to change your website to make it better and how you can help in that process.

When asking for a search engine optimization quote, you should look for an SEO company that wants to discuss your goals…so have an opportunity to reach your goals.

Chris Genge
Search Engine Optimization Strategist

/by

Finding the Right Mix for Internet Marketing

Somewhere throughout life you’ve probably heard the saying, “Don’t put all your eggs in one basket“.

This axiom is as true for your Internet marketing strategy as it is for anything else.

A mix of various forms of online advertising combined with website analytics will allow you to test for measuring conversions, tracking ROI and gauging the success of your Internet marketing strategies.

Choosing Internet Marketing Strategies

If the big keywords are important to you; simply think outside of the box. Big keyword phrases are worth a lot of money and bluntly said; you are going to have to pay for them.

  • PPC Advertising – typically a higher cost per click (CPC) for each visitor that comes to your site.  You will get traffic immediately but will lose traffic as soon as you stop your PPC advertising campaign.
  • Organic SEO – typically monthly fees spread over a longer period of time that generate slow but steady growth. Over the long run, a lower CPC.
  • Online Ads – typically you will pay a higher cost per thousand impressions (CPM) and are not guaranteed traffic to your website.

Regardless of what combination of the above three strategies you choose here are an additional five Internet strategies you can use to spread your budget effectively and achieve your desired goals.

1. Website Analytics Account

All of your hard work, effort and budget will be spent in vain without having the ability to track where visitors come from and how they interact with your site. Website analytics is crucial to tracking ROI (return on investment).

Simply sign up for a Google Analytics account and ensure the code is added to all pages within your site.  Setting up the goal and conversion tracking is crucial; so don’t skip setting up the various ways sales and leads can be generated through your site.

2. Search Engine Friendly Web Design

If your site is poorly designed or limited in its ability to convert sales then you will have to push a higher number of visitors to your site to achieve the same level of Internet marketing success as a higher quality site.

A site that does not have a user friendly or search engine friendly web design will cost more money to attract more qualified visitors.

Your website must have the following:

  • Easy, intuitive navigation
  • Easy, user friendly ordering process
  • Visual appeal and layout
  • Compatibility with various browsers
  • Handicap accessible
  • Secure credit card processing (if applicable)

3. Staying Impartial

Lastly, don’t just take “your” word for it.

As hard as it is to believe; what you find easy or understandable may not be the easiest or most attractive to outside visitors.

Solicit feed back from your friends, family and colleagues, especially those who will remain impartial and give you some constructive feedback. Have them run through your site.

Stress testing and quality assurance can save you literally thousands of dollars down the line.

4. Pricing Your Products

No matter how superior your products are, at the end of the day you will be compared to your competitors.
If you sell high end products; you must position yourself as such. For instance, if you sell $200.00 bottles of perfume, targeting the phrase “perfume online” is not recommended.

Understanding your visitors and their mindset will allow you to align yourself with the correct demographics.

Know your competitors and their pricing, and utilize that knowledge within your campaigns.

Finally, be sure to do testing to see what pricing works best for you. If you insist that your products are worth $200.00 but your visitors don’t and are not buying, you either need to accept that you will be selling less products or you must rework your pricing structure.

Remain flexible and adjust to the market so that your budget and business doesn’t suffer.

5. Developing Content That Sells

If your goal is to sell something online then you must be able to provide more information (unique content) than the manufacturer’s stock description of that product (and certainly more relevant information than your competitors are providing.

Many online retail businesses make the mistake of just posting these stock descriptions provided by the supplier or manufacturer, which are often provided to literally hundreds of websites (like yours) who sell the same products.

This creates duplicate content issues and any credit given by the search engines will be given to the site of origin…the manufacturer.

In order to set your website apart from your competitors your content needs to be unique providing more details and information that is relevant to a searchers request. This is your job…and a crucial one.

If words do not flow easily for you, you may need the services of a professional online copywriter, a content writer that specializes optimized content development.

Remember, building a portfolio of successful online advertising campaigns will give you a better grasp of market share and allow you to utilize each marketing vehicle to its fullest potential. Give our internet marketing experts a call at 888-262-6687 if you need some help in implementing marketing strategies that work for your website.

/by
,

Canadian Internet Marketing Strategies

Internet marketing in Canada may be defined as any form of online marketing strategy done via the internet (or the World Wide Web) that supports a website’s marketing efforts.

Banner ads were first used in 1993 and in the one and a half decades since, many various types of internet marketing strategies have evolved including:

Banner AdvertisementsContextual Ads
E-Mail MarketingAffiliate Marketing
Social Media MarketingSocial Bookmarking
Viral MarketingPress Releases

Our Canadian internet marketing company specializes in two other forms of very popular internet marketing strategies. We provide internet marketing consulting services in;

  1. Organic Search Engine Optimization (SEO) for top rankings in the organic search engine listings
  2. Pay Per Click (aka, Search Engine Marketing or SEM) for top rankings in the “paid” search results

Internet Marketing Reach & Purpose

Each type of internet marketing strategy will reach different internet users in various ways, all with the same purpose, to;

  • Increase web page visibility
  • Increase website exposure
  • Attract highly targeted, highly qualified web traffic
  • Bring products and services to a wider audience
  • Increase sales
  • Increase profits

Successful internet marketing campaigns are the result of careful planning to develop an internet marketing strategy that in many cases may utilize several of the internet marketing techniques outlined above. A well laid out internet marketing plan will allow you to identify your goals and track your progress accordingly.

The Evolution of Canadian Internet Marketing

The longevity of some of the early Canadian internet marketing strategies, such as banner advertisements, affiliate marketing and email marketing, are testimony to their effectiveness.

Newer internet marketing strategies have become more popular as technologies have evolved and new avenues and opportunities have opened up.

Search Engine Marketing (SEM), which can include Pay Per Click (Paid Search), Link Popularity and SEO (Organic Search Engine Optimization) among others, has grown in popularity in recent years, even though it has been a very successful internet marketing strategy used by online marketers for quite some time to compete for search traffic via the free and paid listings.

1st on the List: Internet Marketing Consultants

1st on the List Promotion Inc specializes in search engine optimization (SEO) and search engine marketing (SEM), offering various internet marketing consulting services to help web owners achieve top rankings in the organic and paid search results.

Our professional SEO services include organic search engine optimization and pay per click internet marketing methods to drive highly qualified, highly targeted traffic to your website.

We also offer link popularity programs to improve your link building efforts and help increase your website’s link popularity. Additional internet marketing services include social media marketing, social bookmarking, search engine friendly web design and press release services, which effectively work to gain exposure while helping to obtain natural search engine rankings for your targeted keyword phrases.

To learn more about effective Canadian internet marketing strategies or any of our professional SEO services please Contact us today or call us Toll-Free at 1-888-262-6687.

/by

SEO ROI – Measurable Website Optimization

How targeted keywords can make your company more successful and more importantly make more money. Is it worth the investment and what’s in it for you?

Return on Investment (ROI) is twofold:

  • There is ROI of your website, and
  • ROI of your advertising campaign.

For a good ROI, both your website and your advertising campaign must be effective. Without some type of advertising your beautifully crafted website is really no more than a billboard on a deserted island. If nobody sees it, does it really matter how striking it is or how competitive your prices are?

You need people to see your website to make it a success. Businesses who have had their websites optimized properly will confirm search engine optimization is a very cost effective method of website promotion/ Internet Marketing.

Some people might be reluctant to try search engine optimization because they say it’s hard to initially quantify the numbers or potential results and it takes longer to set up than some other forms of advertising. This is not necessarily bad since it gives those people that do use less competition and an even bigger advantage. Let the skeptics try the less effective methods like offline advertising and banner ads.

What makes search engine optimization so effective is that you are essentially just making your website available for those people looking for the products that you offer. When someone decides to look for a product/ service and uses a search engine to locate it, your site is displayed in the results. You are now given an opportunity to make a sale that you would otherwise not have had!

Once your website is professionally optimized and listed for relevant keywords on the search engines, can your website close the sale? If the answer is yes, the next question is: how much more should you invest in your company’s future?

Simply put, the more you invest in search engine optimization, the more you’ll make in profits. I am not saying invest more money, I am saying evaluate the opportunities. If you invest money in search engine optimization and your sales increase delivers a profit, is it worth doing more? At this point, the amount of money you make could be proportional to your investment.

When you buy any type of advertising, you are building your future sales. What are your short-range goals? What are your long-range goals? Are you confident in your idea and your business?

A well-developed search engine strategy will give you a good return on your investment. Here at 1st on the List Promotion Inc. we have developed effective search engine strategies for our clients that deliver profits and meet their needs. If you are successful, so are we.

Let us develop a website promotion/ search engine optimization strategy for you that will turn your website into a money making asset.

Call 1-888-262-6687 or complete the Request Information form.

/by