Internet Marketing for Small Businesses Lilly Buchwitz, MBA, CEC University of New Brunswick October 1, 2001

Internet Marketingfor Small Businesses

Lilly Buchwitz, MBA, CECUniversity of New BrunswickOctober 1, 2001

E-commerce: Impacting the Way We Do BusinessNashville, Tennessee, October 1, 2001

Lilly BuchwitzUniversity of New Brunswick

Overview

Part IIvisibility

Part Isearch engines

Part IVeverything else

Part IIIemail marketing



What you need to know about search engines

1. There are only nine search engines that matter.

2. Understanding how search engines work and how people use them will help you “get found” on them.

3. You must carefully prepare your Web site before you submit it to the search engines.

4. Submitting your pages to the search engines takes less than 10 minutes.

5. The only person who can submit your site to search engines – effectively – is you.



Search engines that matter

AltaVista Google

Inktomi Fast

Excite Hotbot

Lycos Northern Light

Direct Hit



Directories that matter

Yahoo!

Looksmart

Open Directory



Submitting to Yahoo!

If you’re a business you must pay to be included in the Yahoo! Directory

one-time fee of $299 (click here for link)

https://ecom.yahoo.com/fast/add



How search engines work

database

search resultskeyword

submit URL



How directories work

database

search resultskeyword

submit URL

$$$$



How people search

start with broad, general terms narrow it down by adding more specific

words not likely to search for your company name almost never search for the words

“welcome to”



Preparing your site to get found(this is the hard part)

Choose 10 words that describe your business, service, or products.

Take your time.

Think like a searcher.

Let’s look at an example…

beer

wine

Toronto

brew your own

brew on

premises

make your own

wine from

grapes



Using your keywords:html title

The html title of the page is what you see at the top of your browser when you are on that page.

It’s what displays as the link for your listing on a search engine. Keep it under 75 characters. Make each title relevant to the page it’s on. Spend the most time writing the title for your home page. Also, write a title for the starting page of each major section of

your site. For all other pages, either use the same title as the major section,

or use breadcrumbs.



Using your keywords:meta description

The meta description tag describes in a little more detail what’s on your page

It’s what displays below the title in your search engine listing

Keep it under 150 characters to be sure it doesn’t get cut off Make each description relevant to the page it’s on Try to entice potential visitors with clever copy, so they’ll

clickmore…



Using your keywords:meta description

It’s not really about ranking, it’s about describing your page to potential visitors

Not all search engines use it Here’s how it works:

<meta name=“description” content=“This is a description of my site”>



The meta keywords tag can be the same for all the pages on your site

Not all search engines take this tag into consideration when they rank sites

Use a list of words and phrases with no commas in between (search engine spiders are programmed to read only a certain number of characters in the keyword tag if they read it at all)

Using your keywords:meta keywords



Here’s how it works:

<meta name=“keywords” content=“beer wine toronto brew on premises brew your own beer make your own wine make wine from grapes”>

Using your keywords:meta keywords



Using your keywords:ALT tags

every image on your Web site should have a carefully written ALT tag

the ALT text is what visitors see if they move their mouse over an image



Using your keywords:file names

don’t use abbrv.



Using your keywords:on every page!

Work your keywords into the copy of every page on your Web site, as many times as you can without making it sound ridiculous.

This may seem obvious but it ain’t necessarily so. Focusing on your keywords when writing the copy

for your pages also helps reduce jargon.



What NOT to do

Don’t load your meta tags with irrelevant keywords. Don’t repeat your keywords several times in a row. Don’t hide text on your pages by making it the same

colour as the background. Don’t use a string of keywords for the title of your

page. Don’t submit exact copies of pages with different file

names. Don’t send email to search engines.



Submitting your site(this is the easy part)

Bookmark the submission pages of the search engines that matter, or bookmark this page

Highlight the URL of your page, press CTRL/C, then go to each submission page and paste in your URL. You can submit one page to all the search engines in less than ten minutes.

If your site is small enough, submit all your pages this way. It will be an hour well spent. If your site is large, submit the first pages of the main sections of your site — the pages with titles and descriptions.

http://members.attcanada.ca/~lillyb/search_engine_submission.html



Wait…(this is also the hard part)

it can take from two weeks to four months for your site to be included in the database

it can take weeks after that before you see your site appear in the search results

every time the database is re-indexed, your ranking will change

re-submit every month and monitor your results



Don’t pay someone else to do it for you

no one else understands your business as well as you

it will take more time for you to explain your business to a stranger than it will to do your search engine optimization yourself



Paid placement andPaid inclusion

If you can afford it, pay to be included in Looksmart directory

Yahoo! = paid inclusionIt’s worth the investment

GoTo = paid placementSave your money!!



Part II

visibility



Link Popularity

a.k.a. “visibility” it’s what made Yahoo! the most popular

site AltaVista, Inktomi, Hotbot, Northern

Light, Excite, and Google all use it in their algorithms

quantity, quality, and relevance



Determining your site’slink popularity

search for unique words/phrases on Google, AltaVista

use AV’s link search – typelink:http://www.mysite.com into search field

download and install Google’s toolbar



More about visibility

Your goal is to get as many sites as possible to link to you Make a list of every Web site that’s in your space but not a

direct competitor Find their email address and write a brief, friendly letter

suggesting a link exchange Get your partners, vendors, friends and relatives to link to

your site Submit those pages that link to you to every search engine



Part III

email marketing



The information strategy

People come to your Web sitelooking for information

Make sure they get it!



The newsletter strategy

A newsletter is arguably the most powerful marketing tool there is.

People who subscribe to, or pick up, a newsletter usually read all of it.

Whatever your business, you are an expert. Give people information!



The education strategy

Present information about your product, your product category, your industry, in an objective, informational way.

Teach your prospective customers. Give them valuable information. They will appreciate it, and come back for

more.



Rules for email newsletters

1. get permission2. frequent3. regular4. brief5. include “why you’re receiving this”6. include options for unsubscribing7. suggest they pass it along to a friend



Email marketing tools



Part IV

everything else



Specialty directories

Search for “directory” and “search engine” on Yahoo! for a list

Search for your keywords on all the search engines, and see what you find

When you find a directory specific to your business, check it out to make sure it’s appropriate

Then (and only then) submit your site You may have to pay for a listing — and it’s

probably worth it



Banner advertising

Banner ads are the first thing people think of when someone says Internet marketing

Banner ads are actually online advertising. Like all forms of advertising, they’re expensive. Banner advertising doesn’t fit into the marketing

budget of most small businesses.



Banner advertising

What about link exchange programs? Well, you get what you pay for. Even if you can run your banner for free, you still have to

pay someone to design it for you. So, should you buy banner ads? Maybe. A short campaign to support a product launch might be

worth the investment. Especially if you can offer a free trial. People click on ads if they feel there’s something worthwhile at the end of the click.

If you’re going to run a banner campaign, make sure your ad has a strong call to action.



Sponsored content

sponsorships are static ads relevant to content of page think: advertising Calloway golf clubs on a

golf news or golf info site



Run a contest

best way to collect names and email addresses

give people something in return for subscribing

partner with another business; you both benefit



Include your Web address on everything!

business cards brochures signs yellow pages ad t-shirts, hats, pens your car or truck



Measure your success

How many people (unique visitors) come to your Web site

How many times (in a month) they come Where they are coming from (referring URLs) Whether they subscribe to your newsletter How many calls you get saying “I saw your Web

site, and…”



Resources

World Wide Web Marketing, 3rd ed., by Jim Sterne

Ecommerce: Critical Success Factors That Will Make or Break Your Online Businessby Nick Jones and Russell Field

Web Marketing Today

Internet.com

iMarketing News

Search Engine Watch

http://www.webmarketingtoday.com/

http://www.internet.com/

http://www.imarketingnews.com/

http://www.searchenginewatch.com/

Let me know about your successes!

[email protected]

http://www.attcanada.ca/~lillyb

Thank you

Documents

Internet Marketing for Small Businesses Lilly Buchwitz, MBA, CEC University of New Brunswick October 1, 2001