by Jonathon Hyjek | Jul 8, 2012 | Online Marketing
When websites were first introduced, it was revolutionary. No longer did a business need to get a paper brochure into the hands of your prospective customers. The business owner simply pointed their prospects to their website address and the customer could get information about the company right from their company website. For the first 5 years or more, this was amazing and worked fairly well. We all thought this new method of marketing was amazing.
That was then…
This would be a good news story for most businesses, if it wasn’t for the fact that many businesses are still using early 90’s online marketing methods.
What do I mean by that?
Here’s the typical scenario. Businesses approach a web designer to build a website that includes the standard stuff; A contact page, a page that details their services, a bio page and maybe a few other random pages or a portfolio. The website goes up and the business owner expects big things to happen, only to be disappointed by a lack of interest in their website.
So what’s the problem?
The problem is that much has changed in the marketing world and in society in general. We have become a highly interactive society, very attached to technology and we expect businesses that we interact with to be at the forefront of our tech savvy, interactive world. Visitors to your website no longer want to visit a boring website that just tells what products or services your offer. They are looking for a website that gives them up-to-date, valuable information. They want to interact and connect with the business, have their questions answered, have their fears or concerns addressed and they want to know that you are the best company or service provider for them to do business with.
This requires a change in the way that websites are built. It requires businesses to seek out companies that can do more than just built a website. Businesses need to work with an online marketing company that they trust and one that they can build a long-term relationship with.
If you require help with your online marketing strategy, contact us for more information on how we can help.It’s not good enough to toss up a website and wait for results and it’s not a one-sided conversation anymore.
by Jonathon Hyjek | Jul 5, 2012 | Online Marketing
Why is it that we’re willing to pay for quality products or services in some aspects of our life, but not all?
Sometimes it comes down to budget and we just don’t have the money for what we want, so we look for the least expensive option, but in other areas we don’t mind paying for better quality because we realize that we’re getting a vastly different product or service.
Here’s what I mean:
When you want your car fixed, you have the option to take your brand new Mercedes-Benz to the dealer at a cost of over $100/hr, or you can opt for the less expensive local mechanic that may charge $65 or $75 per hour. Chances are good that even though the first option is more money, you will choose it because you know that the Mercedes dealer will do the job correctly. They know your car and they have the genuine parts that it will need.
Another example of cheaper vs. better is when you set out to buy a new pair of shoes. You can go to Wal-Mart and buy just about any style of shoes you might ever want at less than $50. So why is it that you don’t mind paying $150 for a pair of Clarke’s or Rockports? It’s because there’s a difference in quality which you don’t mind paying for.
Now let’s bring this concept into the world of SEO, websites and online marketing. There are all kinds of people offering a website for prices from $100 to $10,000. There are “SEO experts” that offer their services for $10/hr while others charge $250/hr. If you’re a bargain-hunter, you may be drawn to the $100 option and you decide it’s best solely based on the low price. The trouble with doing this, just like the car dealer or your new shoes is that there’s a good chance you’re not getting the same thing. You’re not comparing apples to apples.
Price can only be one of many considerations when choosing an SEO company or website designer. It shouldn’t be the only criteria or you risk getting something that’s vastly different than what you actually need.
Cheaper rarely equals better…
by Jonathon Hyjek | Jun 10, 2012 | Search Engine Optimization
Everything you ever wanted to know is accessible through a simple Google search and that includes the topic of search engine optimization.
Here’s the problem with reading about SEO
Just like almost any topic, there’s a plethora of conflicting information floating around. SEO is a topic that has been discussed on various blogs and websites for about a decade now, leading to all kinds of information being readily available. A simple Google search for the term “SEO” shows that there are 896 million results for that phrase. Let’s just imagine you decided to read all of it. Spend 3 minutes reading each article and you will have spent more than 400 years reading about SEO and you would be more confused than when you started!
Let me me give you an example of a problem that many beginners run into. They Google “SEO tips” and find an SEO article from 2008, which is fairly up-to-date, right? 4 years isn’t THAT long ago. The bad news is that if you were to follow through on some of the strategies that are suggested in an article from 2009 and you might find your website on Google’s hitlist! The same tactics that worked very well in 2008, will now get your website penalized or even de-indexed.
For the beginner, a simple Google search isn’t as simple as it might seem. Because much of the information is conflicting, who do you believe? Which websites have the best information?
The first step is to find a reliable source of information. Find out who is reputable and who isn’t. Reputable sources of SEO advice include SEOMoz, Search Engine Journal and SEO Book. These are good places to start because they will provide quality information that has been tested and doesn’t include unethical or blackhat strategies.
Once you have a few regular websites that you read, now you have to keep up on the information on an almost daily basis. What you learn about SEO may only apply for 6 months and then you may have to tweak your process.
The building blocks of SEO haven’t changed too much in the past decade or so, but what has happened is that the playing field has been leveled. There are no more magic tricks, silver bullets, page #1 overnight kind of tactics. Google is constantly evolving its algorithm which makes SEO a ever-changing field. Don’t believe those that tell you they know all the tricks to get you to page #1 quickly because they could be doing more harm than good.
There’s currently 3 things that are going to help you more than all of the reading you can do.
1. Provide good, quality content for your readers and keep the content flowing.
2. Get involved in social media in a meaningful way.
3. Make sure your website is structured properly with basic on-site SEO.
Those of us involved in SEO are constantly learning, reading, creating content and applying what we read. The trouble for most small business owners is that they simply don’t have the time to be doing all of this, plus running their business. If you don’t have the time to be doing SEO for yourself, you should seek the services of an SEO consultant who can take care of these details for you.
If you are interested in some good quality SEO tips, here’s a few terms for you to search for. I won’t provide their links because they will be number 1 for their search terms…because they’re in the SEO business. 🙂
SEOmoz, Search Engine Journal, SEO Book
by Jonathon Hyjek | Jun 1, 2012 | Website Design
In the retail business it’s widely known that customers will make a first impression in a very short amount of time; as little as 7 seconds is what has been suggested. That’s why stores spend a fortune on fixtures, lighting and they train staff to greet customers immediately, to make sure that your first impression is a good one.
Take that same concept and move the business online and this now becomes even more critical. What do most people do before they ever enter a retail store or when they want to learn more about a business? They Google it and visit the website of the service provider or retail store. Now the website has the tough task of making a good first impression. Unfortunately you don’t have the opportunity to bring the “people element” into the equation with a personal friendly greeting (although video could do this?) so the website design, look, feel, ease of use is all that you have to work with when trying to make that very important first impression.
If the website has too much going on, it will look cluttered and chaotic. If there’s not enough images, people may get bored with nothing to grab their attention. If they can’t figure out how to move around your website or some elements don’t work, they may leave the website. If the colors are wrong and psychologically aren’t conveying what you want, a customer may be lost. That’s a lot too keep in mind before the customer ever walks into the store or contacts you about the products or services that your provide.
All that to say this; Don’t underestimate the look and feel of your website. Don’t just hire the cheapest website designer that you can find, who knows the technical side of the business but doesn’t understand the marketing. Work with someone that will build a website to resonate with the people that you want to work with or that you want to purchase your products and services.
by Jonathon Hyjek | May 30, 2012 | Search Engine Optimization
Did this title get your attention?
That’s exactly what it was meant to do and apparently it worked or you may not be reading this. 🙂
SEO companies and “experts” will use phrases like this to suggest that they have the silver bullet, the magic touch, the secret formula to blast your website to the first page of Google in no time. They make an unrealistic claim like the one in the title of this post, hastily take a clients money and they run fast before the client realizes that it either didn’t work or it was a momentary gain.
Real SEO takes time, it takes work, it takes immense creativity and it takes consistent movement in a single direction. Gone are the days when you could blast a bunch of links or submit your website to a thousand directories, or get 500 social bookmarks and see a significant gain in your website rankings quickly. Google has caught on to all these games and is working hard to make sure the websites that occupy the number one spots actually deserve to be there.
Those involved in the more under-handed world of SEO groan and complain that their methods aren’t working. They search all over the internet for answers, discuss it on forums and spend all kinds of time testing to see what might work now. Instead of trying to game the system, here’s a thought: JUST BUILD A WEBSITE WITH GOOD CONTENT THAT DESERVES TO BE ON PAGE ONE! It’s a novel idea isn’t it? This seems pretty obvious, yet it’s overlooked by most people. It actually points to a much bigger problem that I realized as I was at the grocery store recently.
We want everything fast
My local grocery store implemented a new debit system a few months ago and it’s annoyed me tremendously. I slide my card in the chip reader and then I wait…and wait…and wait some more. It’s seriously slow. Much slower than any other system at any other retail establishment around. Way to go Superstore…It’s annoying. But is it really a big deal that I have to wait an extra 7 seconds in the checkout line? Am I that busy that I can’t wait a few more seconds?
Our society can get almost anything we want, when we want it. If you don’t believe me, here’s just a few examples:
– We can heat up almost anything in a microwave in just a few minutes.
– If you don’t have money to buy that new car, computer, TV etc, buy it on credit now instead of saving.
– 3 Mbps internet is way to slow. We can now get 18 Mbps internet…or faster.
– When someone doesn’t reply to my text messages within 20 seconds, I’m annoyed.
The list goes on and on.
The fact that clients want to work with an SEO company that can get their website onto page one of Google practically overnight is just another example of how our society has changed to wanting everything NOW. As a person in the SEO business, I can’t really blame my clients when they say things like “I hope I can be on page 1 by next week.” They don’t really understand how much work it takes to get there and the various factors that go into it. They just assume that because they can get anything else that they want in no time at all, why not get their website onto page one right away?
SEOMOZ, one of the most respected SEO companies in the US wrote a great post about this very subject that I thought would be a great way to end this post. Enjoy!
SEO Isn’t Magic – So Stop Doing SEO Tricks
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