Why Establish Online Customer Service

It is a fact in business that satisfied customers are more likely to keep buying from you, and are more likely to recommend you to their peers. This is no different from the virtual business world. Good online customer service plays a crucial role in web marketing.

Various studies show data on the importance of exceptional customer service to both the buyer and the seller. As evidenced by the nGenera CIM survey, 66 percent do not like getting stuck in the call center queue, 52% are not impressed by websites that do not have sufficient information of importance, and 36% despise slow email responses.

Some may ask what importance draws the line between online customer service and traditional customer support. In a glance, we can say that while traditional customer support gives a more personal touch, online customer support renders the following:

· Lower customer maintenance cost

· Additional support methods like web FAQ’s, e-mail, live chat, etc.

· Increased chances of retaining clients

While there are advantages of providing customer service online, it is also important to take note of the following disadvantages:

· Client relationship is not personal

· Support staff education

· Excessive budget for software solutions and technologies

Having in mind the drawbacks of online customer service above, it is easier to determine the essential components of an effective online customer service plan:

· A website with clear and simple navigation, attractive design, and easy access to vital information

· Prompt replies to inquiries

· Detailed product information such as descriptions, specifications, prices, packaging and shipping, etc.

· Incentives like discounts for next purchases, reward points, free items, money-back and speedy delivery guarantees, gift-wrapping, free packaging/shipping, etc.

· Credibility aspects like secure transactions, safeguarding of the clients’ private data, reliable endorsements, consistent use of company logos and brand names, etc.

There is another reason why good online customer service is so important. Unhappy customers are just as capable as happy customers when it comes to telling acquaintances about what kind of services you offer. It is a big mistake to underestimate what unsatisfied customers could do online to ruin your company credibility. These customers could post negative reviews on their blogs, share their opinions on online forums and message boards, tell your potential clients about your bad service, and possibly all of the above. To make it even worse, negative reviews posted online are very likely to show up on search results, which would make it even harder for you to start again with a clean slate.

While it is true that good online customer service will require an adequate amount of time and money, it will be worth it in the long run. Here are some basic online customer service strategies that are proven to be effective:

1. Use Auto-Responders – Take the time to thank customers for their orders, welcome them to your mailing list, send them confirmation, and other transaction e-mails. Other companies might take this for granted but customers value these automated messages, which embody common courtesy. If there’s more room in your budget, send gift certificates/coupons along with information about upcoming products. This can benefit you especially when a particular customer is hard-to-please or had a bad experience with your company in the past. Freebies are a good way to soothe ruffled feathers.

2. Include a Detailed FAQ Section on Your Site – Your customers probably have common questions regarding your products and services. Make a list of these common questions and think of the best answers before posting them on your FAQ section. Accept that you cannot be available all the time, so you must have some sort of safety net. The FAQ section is a good candidate for that. With these common questions taken care of, you decrease the chances of having to deal with confused and frustrated customers who couldn’t have their questions answered immediately. For the sake of organization, you should also create a FAQ e-mail address so that all inquiries of that nature would be archived in the same place.

3. Be Available – When you are in marketing, you have to be ready to sacrifice a bit of your privacy. Provide customers with your contact information. If you are so hesitant to give your personal e-mail and phone number, you could just follow the example of other marketers who have separate numbers and e-mails for their business contacts. The main point is to be reachable for your clients. This is a good way of showing them how much you value your business relationship. Just in case you are not available, you should also publish a list of the support crew members and their contact details on your website.

4. Personalize Your E-Mails – Do not give your clients the impression that they are corresponding with robots. Keep in mind that one of the problems that come with doing business online is the lack of personalization. When customers take the time to submit personal information, it would be good form for you to show them that you actually do something about the information they entrusted to you. Use their names when you e-mail them. Give them birthday, anniversary, and other special occasion offers. Send them news about your latest products that they would probably be interested in based on their past orders.

5. Ask for Feedback – This is another way of showing customers that you value their opinion, and that you want to find new ways to improve your service. Even though not every customer takes the time to fill out feedback forms, most of them probably appreciate the fact that you bothered to ask.

If you are not convinced about the power of good online customer service yet, just take a second look at all the successful businesses out there. They share the common ground of excellent customer satisfaction rates.

Somni Creative, Inc., rich media marketing professionals from Los Angeles, California, specialize in providing online customer retentions services, such as Online Customer Service Development. Call us at (310) 6973199 or visit www.somnicreative.com.

References:

Improve Your Online Customer Service

Online Customer Service Basics

Retailers Need to Focus on Online Customer Service

Online Customer Service Could Be More Important than Offline

Understand Online Customer Service

CUSTOMER DRIVE

A Matter of Call-to-Action

An effective website is always action-driven – it helps users accomplish the most important goals as quick and easy as possible. Many internet users do not have an unlimited supply of time in their hands, which is why any website that makes them go around in circles will probably not encourage them to find out more about the offers. Even though it is good to tell users about your company and what you are up to, it is even more important to show them what you can do for them. Call-to-action is one of the key methods to achieving this goal. It gives you three major advantages: a.) website focus, b.) a way to keep track of your customer conversion rate, c.) direction for your site visitors.

According to the authors of Call to Action, Bryan and Jeffrey Eisenberg, “virtually all websites have a persuasive purpose; to get someone to subscribe, to register, to inquire or to buy something.” The goals would of course, vary according to the nature of the websites. An academic website would persuade students to enroll or an online shopping store would persuade people to purchase. There are many more examples and all of them would have one common ground – they all want you to do a certain something. During the process of web design, it is your job to make all the elements work together to persuade users. Every factor is important, right down to the last word – right words would drive users to action while wrong words could distract them. Aside from that, there are other factors to keep in mind:

· Colors – Make sure they stand out and capture the viewer’s attention. At the same time, the colors complement your overall design. Check out the color table below as a guide:

Vocabulary – Appropriate vocabulary should be used. Think of words that would make the objectives clear for the users. Use language that would inspire users to act immediately – call, buy, register, subscribe, donate, download, etc.

Emphasis – Do not be content with just a word or two when it comes to call-to-action. Just be careful not to give users too many options because that would confuse them. It is possible to keep mentioning objectives in a consistent and tasteful manner: a.) research on synonyms and mention them every now and then, b.) place the key call-to-action buttons on every page, c.) give them a trial option aside from the purchase, d.) instill a sense of urgency by using words like ‘now’.

Benefits – As much as possible, make the users think that they need to get your product instead of just want it. Show them why buying from you would do them a world of good: a.) include testimonials, b.) devise easy payment methods, c.) include gifts and reward points, d.) assure users that they could unsubscribe without any hassle involved if they are not satisfied, e.) include a catchy blurb as could be seen in the screenshot of the Skype website below:

· Deadline – Users have a tendency to think ‘I’ll buy it later’ and then forget. One good way to avoid that is to give them a deadline, especially in the case of seasonal/limited edition products. To motivate users to buy right away, you could notify them about a price increase after the cut-off date, or give them a special discount along with giveaways if they order from you before the deadline.

· Connection – Giving them relevant information is good but do not assume that they would know what to do about it and take action immediately. You ought to do something that would drive them to action. For example, when Amazon sends out newsletters about their latest offers, they always include calls-to-action in the form of link texts and buttons to make it easier for you to add product/s to your shopping cart.

· Instructions – Not all internet browsers are experts in the virtual world. That is why clear instructions should be provided.

· Convenience – Consider the steps that would be taken after a user responds to your call-to-action. For example, if a user registers, do not make them suffer a long, tiresome process because that might change their mind. Make the registration process short and sweet and only ask for necessary information.

Location – In addition to putting buttons on places where they could easily be seen, a research by marketing experiments also shows that following the primary eye path would help.

Space – Avoiding clutter is a must. Make sure that you allocate an adequate amount of space for your calls-to-action or they might get lost in the shuffle.

Size – In the case of call-to-action buttons, making them bigger would make them more noticeable to viewers. Color and space might play important parts but that does not mean that size does not play an important role.

In conclusion, a call-to-action is one of the primary concepts of converting users to customers. Call-to-action encourages your viewers to evaluate your products and services and hopefully decide to purchase by the end of their visit to your site, which just proves the extreme importance of including multiple calls to action in your website. If you do not have sufficient amounts of calls-to-action, your website visitors are not likely to figure out what they should do and how to do it.

Somni Creative, Inc., rich media marketing professionals from Los Angeles, California, specialize in providing online customer acquisition services, such as Call-to-Action Tuning. Call us at (310) 6973199 or visit www.somnicreative.com.

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References:

E-mail Marketing - Wikipedia

E-mail Marketing Strategy: Shortcuts to Success

Best Practices for Bulletproof E-mail Delivery

4 E-mail Marketing Strategies: Improve Your Sales or Traffic Via Effective E-mail Marketing

Effective E-mail Marketing Campaigns

E-Mail Marketing Campaign Guide

Technological progression made it possible for people to communicate online aside from the more traditional direct mail method, which people also referred to as ‘snail mail’. Electronic Mail (E-mail) is today’s primary means of online communication, which is one of the reasons why e-mail marketing has turned into an extremely popular method of online advertising. According to Wikipedia, researches show that United States firms spent approximately $400 million on e-mail marketing in 2006.

E-mail marketing is a direct marketing method wherein written and electronic forms of advertisements are spread out through e-mail. Every e-mail exchanged between you and a potential customer has the potential to be considered a form of e-mail marketing. Your e-mail, to be considered a part of your e-mail marketing campaign, should have the following factors:

· Intention to strengthen the bond between you and your current or previous customer

· Intention to convince a potential customer to purchase your products

· Advertisements from related and affiliate companies

· The use of internet e-mail as opposed to network e-mail or FIDO.

For those who delete the advertisement e-mails in their inbox, it might be hard to understand and appreciate the importance of e-mail marketing. However, that does not change the fact that there are several good reasons why a good e-mail marketing campaign is greatly beneficial to your company and give a good impression to your customers:

· You can share information with a broad range of clientele for free or at a very low cost.

· E-mail is less expensive than direct mail and newsletters.

· E-mail marketing is considered to be the most effective online marketing strategy, next to search marketing.

· E-mails are delivered faster than mailed advertisements.

· E-mail advertisements get the message across stronger since they are delivered straight to the user’s inbox as opposed to a website which the user has to visit to find out more about your products and services.

· E-mail messages are automatically included in your archives.

· Regular correspondence with your audience is convenient and affordable.

· Most internet users check their e-mails everyday.

· E-mail marketing is paper-free.

· The results of your e-mail marketing campaign are very easy to track.

How do these advantages and benefits come to play? Your e-mail marketing campaign will not live up to its full potential if you are not prepared enough for it. Planning will save you time, keep you in budget, and will ensure your decisions and actions are consistent with your company goals.

1. Observe your competitors – It is always worth it to check out what they are doing. Learn what you can from their campaigns before you brainstorm about your own. Analyze the pros and cons of their methods so you can come up with even better ones. To apply this technique to e-mail marketing campaigns, it will be good for you to subscribe to their mailing list using an account that will not give away too much information about your company.

2. Ask for permission from the members of your mailing list – Permission-based e-mail marketing lists mean a positive response because the subscribers are truly interested in the information your company is distributing. When you ask for contact details, make sure you let your target users know why you are doing so. It is only common courtesy to give them the option of whether or not they want to receive messages from you.

3. Screen your advertisers, partners, and subscribers – Do not expose yourself to spammers. Verification might take time but it will keep your reputation reliable. It will also decrease the chances of your e-mails ‘bouncing’ back to you.

4. Be creative with your design – Advertising via e-mail does not really limit you to black-and-white paragraphs. You can research on more attractive design templates. Just don’t forget to make sure that your layout is user-friendly and artistic. You can also include visual aids (pictures of your products, etc.) in order to give users a better idea of what you have to offer.

5. Make sure everything about your e-mail comes across as a powerful message – Your audience should not regret subscribing to your mailing list. Give them a reason to look forward to receiving more information from you.

6. Aim for a well-worded subject line – That is the first thing the users see when they check their inbox so think of a subject that would compel them to click on it.

7. Take advantage of e-mail marketing tools – Research on various e-mail marketing templates. Learn from the experts and modify those techniques to make them your own.

8. Do not pressure your prospects with follow-ups – One of the most important facts to remember is that people do not like to be nagged. Instead of asking for feedback repeatedly and risk annoying your prospects, it will be better for you to include a short note at the end of your e-mail asking nicely for feedback, no matter how short.

9. Avoid including large files – There are times that it has to be done but as much as possible, avoid attaching large files especially when it comes to compressed files because they increase the possibility of having your e-mail marked as spam. Just give users the address to your website portfolio or include a few pictures of your best works.

10. Use a consistent, professional e-mail address and sender’s name – Do not confuse your audience. Many of them are probably not patient enough to keep up with changes. Pick an e-mail address and sender’s name that they would easily identify as yours, which means not using vague e-mail addresses like “admin@yourdomain”, or aliases that would only make sense to your family and friends. Using your real name, without numbers or symbols, as a sender’s name is the best way to go.

11. Never put a link before important information – Do not distract them from your e-mail. Once you make them go to another page that they are not familiar with, you face the risk of them not going back to your e-mail or worse, deleting it and marking it as spam.

12. Test the effectiveness of your e-mail campaigns – Try changing one element at a time and see which changes produce the best results.

13. ‘Snail mail’ is best used for follow-up – Sending a ‘snail mail’ follow-up and referencing your e-mail is a great way to stay in contact with your subscribers.

In summary, effective e-mail campaigns are characterized by (1) powerful and relevant content, (2) well-planned strategies, (3) permission-based mailing lists, (4) credible company reputation, and (5) good relationship with subscribers.

Somni Creative, Inc., rich media marketing professionals from Los Angeles, California, specialize in providing online customer retention services, such as Direct e-Mail Marketing. Call us at (310) 6973199 or visit www.somnicreative.com.

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References:

E-mail Marketing - Wikipedia

E-mail Marketing Strategy: Shortcuts to Success

Best Practices for Bulletproof E-mail Delivery

4 E-mail Marketing Strategies: Improve Your Sales or Traffic Via Effective E-mail Marketing

Effective E-mail Marketing Campaigns

Weighing the Pros and Cons

Pay Per Click (PPC) is an online marketing method wherein advertisers pay their host only when their ad is clicked by users – such ads are commonly found on search engines, advertising networks, and content sites like blogs. There are two main ways to determine the cost per click: 1.) Flat rate – the method where the advertiser and the publisher agree on a fixed amount for each click, and 2.) Bid-based – the method where the advertiser competes against other advertisers in a private auction and the highest bidder is awarded the spot (often keywords). Websites that make use of the PPC advertising strategy display an advertisement when the keyword/s a user enters on search engines matches the advertiser’s keywords list. In the case of content sites like blogs, such advertisements show up when they are relevant to the content published on the blog. These advertisements are called sponsored links or sponsored ads.

Looking at the surface, PPC advertising seems to be one of the best ways to get more traffic to your site in a short amount of time - especially if you have a good PPC advertising strategy. However, if you have not done sufficient study, it could mean more losses than gains. In order to make the best out of your PPC advertising strategy, you must accept that it is risky and that you have to plan carefully. Some criticisms to PPC advertising are:

· It can be too expensive, which is especially true in the case of bid-based PPC. There are advertisers who end up bidding too high on a particular keyword and not getting the potential return. There are also some PPC engines that automatically increase your bid amount to maintain your rank, which would make it easier for you to get carried away in your PPC campaign.

· It is more difficult to keep track of the results of PPC campaigns. There are tracking tools available online but they are not 100% accurate.

· Junk traffic. Keep in mind that PPC ads do not only show up on credible search engines like Google and Yahoo. It is highly possible that your listings would be included and generate clicks on the less credible search engines. You might get more clicks that way but it is unlikely that you will get more returns. Because of this, junk traffic is also another reason why it is hard to analyze the results of PPC campaigns.

· PPC advertising does not have a fair proportion. The more traffic you get, the higher your cost. This might not sound like a major downside but it is. Your cost per click remains constant but your overall cost increases. Considering the fact that not every click means a return, this is not really the ideal proportion.

Of course, when executed well, PPC advertising could be very beneficial for advertisers:

· PPC advertising is fast. You could gain more traffic the moment you place your ad and if you set aside a budget for PPC advertising, you could also get top placement on search engines. PPC advertising is so fast that it is highly possible for you to reach your target traffic within a few minutes of activating your ad.

· PPC advertising is the most controllable form of search engine placement. It would not require much effort to adjust your PPC campaign to fit the current marketing conditions. Compared to other forms of advertising which could take weeks or even months, PPC campaigns take only hours or days to adjust.

· Sponsored ads are a good way to attract viewers. Many viewers do prefer to click these and skip the other results because they gather the impression that advertisers who set aside ample budget for such ads have relevant and updated content.

· PPC advertising is agreeable to all parties involved. You could get top placement on the results page without damaging your relationship with search engines.

· PPC advertising could be a bargain. With the help of careful planning, you could avoid getting carried away in bidding for popular keywords and find lesser known and therefore cheaper ones instead.

With the good and bad points of PPC campaigns established, it is now a matter of finding the balance to determine when it is best to make use of this kind of advertising:

· Short-term campaigns. Unfortunately, SEO is not good enough at emphasizing the 4 crucial Ps that marketers consider important – product, price, place, and promotion. Since PPC advertising is a quick and easy way to get traffic, you could use it to inform your audience about your new products and services. One to two days of PPC campaigning should be enough to spread the word. Examples of short-term campaigns are those of seasonal products and special events.

· Online purchasing. There are several businesses that make it possible for customers to buy their products online. In such cases where every website viewer is a potential customer, it is practical to set aside a budget for PPC campaigns.

· Specific keywords. If you are thinking of a more long-term PPC campaign strategy, you could start by taking a closer look at your keywords list. If you do not have any specific ones, add and use them for your PPC campaign. Not only would it save you money and possibly lessen junk traffic, it would also get you more clicks.

Like any other means of advertising, PPC campaigning is flawed. It might sound great on the surface but if you do not analyze how it works, it could do you more harm than good. That is why it is important that while you are organizing your PPC campaigns, concentrate on how to convert customers instead of how to increase the number of clicks.

Somni Creative, Inc., rich media marketing professionals from Los Angeles, California, specialize in providing online customer acquisition services, such as Pay Per Click Advertising. Call us at (310) 6973199 or visit www.somnicreative.com.

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References:

Pay Per Click - Wikipedia

Why Should You Outsource Your Pay-Per-Click Campaign to an Agency?

Pay Per Click Management

Pay-Per-Click Strategies for Search Engine Marketers

4 Pay-Per-Click Strategies that Win

The key to successful Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is KEYWORD. One of the most essential elements of the SEO process is keywords selection and implementation. If you find yourself undermining the role of keywords in your online marketing strategy, think again.

Correct keyword selection fosters free and qualified traffic from search engines. The multitude of the words in your web copy will be indexed, and the search engines will rank your site based on calculated algorithms (sometimes called organic or natural search) drawn from your site’s keywords which can be found in your text, Meta tags, image tags, and URL. To do correct and proper keyword selection, always put your target audience in front of you. Identify your audience and know how to reach them. Wrong search phrases could get you with good search engine rankings but for keywords that have no search requests. In the same way, low search engine results will get you little or no visits.

Selecting and integrating keywords into your website might seem so simple but in truth, it would require a lot of strategic thought.

Brainstorm. Ask for the feedback of your co-workers and/or business partners and determine the search phrases that target users are most likely to use. To be more organized, you could create a chart using the excel program including three columns: a.) keyword, b.) keyword effectiveness index – how popular is that keyword for users and how many competitors use that keyword, and c.) info – the kind of top websites found by that search engine. As much as possible, do not limit yourself to a single keyword all the time. You should have multiple-word keywords in your list too because people often use them to get more targeted results.

It would also help to consider the following questions during the brainstorming process:

· Would your target audience enter industry specific technical terms or simple layman’s phrases?

· What are the common misspellings for your keyword/s? What are the alternative terms for them in certain environments?

· Which of your items are available? Avoid listing products that are out of stock as keywords because doing that would mislead viewers.

· What is the profit margin for each of your products? Which one has the highest/lowest profit margin? Such information could prove to be useful because there are instances that less searched products actually have higher profit margins and would make it easy for you obtain a high search engine ranking for the said product.

· Who are your leading competitors? Which products are they most known for? Which search phrases do they have high rankings for? By sizing up your competition, you have bigger chances of getting ahead of them.

Analyze your pay-per-click data. This step is applicable to companies who have budget for the more costly PPC campaigns. While it is practical to launch an SEO campaign to reduce the cost of your PPC campaign, there is nothing wrong with milking your PPC efforts for what they are worth. Your PPC data would tell you which keywords brought on the highest traffic levels, best clicks through rates, and other useful information.

Make use of keyword research tools. Not everything in your list of proposed keywords would garner good results. Fortunately, there are keyword devices that would make it easy for you to evaluate possible results. Examples of keyword research tools are Word Tracker, Google’s Keyword Tool, Google Suggest, Google Trends, Google Analytics, SEO Book Keyword Suggestion Tool, Digital Point Keyword Research Tool, Good Keywords, etc. As much as possible, pick the keywords with the best profitability (i.e. high KEI) and consider eliminating the ones with the lowest profitability. To be counted among the top results, you should have at least 40 to 70 different highly profitable keywords.

Integrate your keywords into your website body text properly. Use your keywords in such a way that it would not cause an inconsistency in the natural flow of your contents.

· Be specific - If you sell books, make sure that there are a lot of references to books in your website – paperbacks, hard bounds, textbooks, etc.

· Categorize – Sort your products. Again, using books as an example, assign different pages to different categories – bestsellers, young adult fiction, science fiction, suspense, biographies, etc. Categorizing would make it easier for you to target niche keywords and meet relevancy guidelines for search queries.

· Proofread - It will not do to just slap all the keywords on your page because that would just lead to awkward phrasing which is definitely not going to impress your audience. Recognize the patterns within your website and group relevant keywords around those pages. Do what you could to make the content flow as organized and consistent as possible. Search engines are not the only ones who should be happy. Your viewers should be satisfied with your content too.

· Be thorough – Even your website title, meta tags, image tags, and URLs factor a great deal. Take a closer look at the details included on the SERP – website title, brief description, and the URL. That should tell you a lot about how significant their functions are.

· Keep improving – Assume that your competitors would continue revising their websites for the better. To stay on top of the corporate game, your web pages should always be optimized to their full potential. There are always improvements to be made because there is a new development in technology each day. You do not have to worry about how hard it would be to make continuous improvements. There are tools everywhere that would make it easier for you.

There is no point of dedicating so much time and effort to creating and maintaining a website when the chances of it being visited are little to none. The best way to make it worth your time is to tune your keywords and make them work for you.

Somni Creative, Inc., rich media marketing professionals from Los Angeles, California, specialize in providing search engine optimization. We value our customers, both old and new. We welcome the challenge of getting you ahead in the corporate race. Call us at (310) 6973199 or visit www.somnicreative.com.

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References:

Implementing Keywords Into a Website

Using Google Trends to Select Website Keywords

Steps on How to Maintain Website Visibility

How to Integrate Search Engine Keywords into Website Copy

Choosing Keywords for Your Website

Keywords - A Key to Online Success

Using Keyword Segmentation Strategies for Online Success

Keywords and Search Terms

Search Engine Optimization Basics Part 1 - Keywords

In this modern world, the growth of technology is indescribably rapid and the internet is no exception. Technology has made it possible for businesses to progress – and even compete – online.

The search engines (Google, Yahoo! Search, MSN, etc.) is the described as the online free market for websites and the general buying, researching, or “surfing”, online public. As the public types in keywords for a search, the competition begins for the top spots in the results. As a web player, you would want to be included in the first two pages of the search results, at the least. This is where search engine optimization comes into play.

Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is the process of increasing the volume and quality of traffic to a particular website from search engines through organic search results. SEO targets different kinds of search like image search, local search, and industry–specific search. Since the first websites listed in the search results tend to get more views, SEO as a web marketing strategy considers how search engines work and what people look for. SEO entails editing website content and HTML coding to strengthen the website’s connection to specific keywords and remove elements that would interfere with the indexing activities of search engines. SEO is divided into two categories:

· White Hat SEO – This type of SEO follows the guidelines of search engines. Web developers who practice White Hat SEO create good quality contents for the sake of the users instead of search engines, editing their contents so that they are more accessible to spiders instead of tricking the algorithm just to get a higher ranking.

· Black Hat SEO – This type of SEO uses deception to improve rankings. Search engines penalize companies who make use of Black Hat methods by giving them a lower ranking or eliminating them from the listings.

Danny Sullivan, editor of Search Engine Land and writer of 1996 Webmaster’s Guide to Search Engines, shared the following SEO tips during the KDMC News Entrepreneur Boot Camp at USC:

1. Use Google AdWords’ keyword tool to find the most popular keywords that correspond to the nature of your website. Find out what keywords and phrases users make use of when they are looking for content like yours. Keyword tools save you the time and trouble in doing that. In Google Adwords’ case, it shows you the approximate number of searches conducted on Google for words and phrases you enter or associated with the URL you chose. With such tool’s help, you would be able to have a good idea on which keywords would drive more traffic to your website.

2. Use those keywords in your HTML title tag. The <title> tag defines the title of any HTML document. It defines a title the browser toolbar and provides a title for the page when it is added to favorites. Note that search engines place an important amount of emphasis on the title tag of your pages.

3. Write compelling meta description tags for each page of your site. Sites that have an engaging blurb below the website title attract the attention of the viewers. The keywords and phrases you use in your Meta description tag don’t affect your page’s ranking in the search engines (for the most part), but this tag can still come in handy in your overall SEO campaigns.

4. Use SEO style instead of AP style on references. The rigid rules of the AP style do not aid you in keyword repetition and density. Move away from rigid AP style rules on second references and place names to more SEO-friendly use of full names on some (but not all) subsequent references within a story.

5. Use keywords in your URLs. Keywords are not just for domains. You could use keywords for file names and directory paths as well.

6. Never publish the same article under two or more URLs. Posting an article on multiple pages of your website interferes with its position in the results page because Google ranks a page based on the amount and quality of links to that individual page.

7. Design standing pages as linkbait for popular present issues. Instead of posting the same article on multiple pages, it would be better to index all those links in one page to keep your content more organized and get a better ranking in SERP (Search Engine Results Page).

8. Never change your URL without providing a 301 redirect. A “404” or “page not found” is a response that turns people away. It is not only common courtesy to provide a 301 direct; it also maintains your good position in SERP.

9. Use URL shorteners that provide 301 redirects and click stats. When you make use of URL shorteners, make sure your site gets the search engine credit for that link instead of the URL shortener.

10. Link good websites and invite them to link you. Promotional skills and good relationship with your contacts still go a long way. Other sites linking to you would help move your site up in SERP.

Creative and smart marketing strategies like Search Engine Optimization (SEO) are classic, which means that they are not likely to go out of style. It would make more sense to say that other techniques would become more effective as time passes. As long as more information keeps getting published online, there would be a higher demand for good quality search engines. Therefore, as long as there is a need for search engines, SEO is necessary. For one thing, the problem with search engines is that they cannot guarantee to give you the exact results you are looking for. If the keywords a user puts in are not specific enough, the search engine would also come up with results that are too general and would make it harder for the user to find the exact information he is looking for. This just leads to the fact that even search engines need SEO because it helps companies to follow the guidelines of search engines and provide users with clean, reliable, and powerful content. Of course, it is also possible that SEO techniques would evolve and might even slow down as technology continues to progress. However, as of now, there are still a massive number of web pages, links, and search engines that are not going to disappear anytime soon so you would still need to do a lot of optimization.

Somni Creative, Inc., rich media marketing professionals from Los Angeles, California, specialize in providing search engine optimization. We value our customers, both old and new. We welcome the challenge of getting you ahead in the corporate race. Call us at (310) 6973199 or visit www.somnicreative.com.

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References:

Why SEO Will Never Die

When Will SEO Become Obsolete?

Search Engine Optimization

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Whether or not lead generation is the sole purpose of your website, the fact remains that it is important to answer your prospect’s questions and communicate the value of doing business with you. When you anticipate what your prospects look for and consider every visitor as a potential customer, then you are on target in generating potential customer interest not only on your website, but on the products and services you offer.

Online lead generation is the creation and generation of prospective customer interest or inquiry into a company’s products and services online. There are many possible purposes behind lead generation – list building, e-newsletter list acquisition, reward and loyalty programs, and other forms of member acquisition. Basically, a lead is a sign-up for a company’s particular offer that includes contact information and even demographic information in some forms. There are two types of leads: (a) sales leads which are generated based on demographic criteria and resold to multiple advertisers who are usually followed up through phone calls; and, (b) marketing leads which are more brand-specific and generated for a unique advertisement offer, and sold only once.

Lead generation is advantageous for both the buyer and the seller. A buyer is given the opportunity to request for more information from businesses regarding their desired product and the seller is given the chance to promote their products to those who authorize them to. In addition, lead generation enables a company to: (a) Determine pricing on a per lead basis; (b) Choose what products and services to promote to a prospect; (c) Choose the best geographical area to promote in; and, (d) Control the lead quantity of the company and aid in the budgeting process.

If your visitors are not converting into leads, then there’s something wrong in your website. The design and content of your website should be able to do the negotiating for you because unfortunately, you are not available every second of the day to guide every site visitor. People could be fickle creatures - if you do not succeed in holding their attention and show them the value of doing business with you, they will have no qualms in turning to your competition. Persuasion is a weapon you have to make the most out of because every business works around this characteristic. When working on your site, learn how to convert your visitors into profitable leads:

· Project your message loud and clear – It is important that your visitors know what they came for. A big part of this step is researching all the positive and negative points of the products and services you offer. Emphasize the good points and downplay the bad points while you work to solve them. The contents of your website should be enough to answer their questions and make them realize you could provide them what they want and need.

· Use the language your viewers would understand – As much as possible, minimize the use of jargon. Viewers are bound to get the impression that they are not the intended audience of a website that is overflowing with technical terms. Even though it is recommendable to have a target audience in mind, that still does not change the fact that every site visitor could be a prospect. It would be more strategic to use a language that everyone would understand. Of course, there are times that it is unavoidable to include technical terms. In those cases, be sure to define them in a clear and concise manner.

· Focus on their wants and needs instead of yours – While confidence and pride in your company is necessary, do not overlook your viewers’ side of things. The viewers should be the ones on the center stage. Do not focus on telling them how brilliant you are. You should show them, and what better way to do that than to understand, help identify, and provide their wants and needs?

· Do not ask for too much information – When asking your viewers to fill out a form, keep the questions on a ‘need to know’ level. If you ask for too many details, people are less likely to complete the form. Conversion rates tend to be proportional to the amount of information requested especially in lead conversion processes. Lead conversion is also a two-way street - the more customer information you request, the more value they expect from you. You should avoid including questions that they would deem unnecessary. If you truly want them to entrust you with more information, then you should be prepared to give them something that would earn that trust.

· Visual aids are a must – Design is worth a thousand words. Effective web design is also a big part of lead generation. If the design is not attractive, user-friendly, and goal-driven, then your viewers will not turn into leads. Would the website attract your viewers at first glance? Is your website easy to navigate? Would your viewers be able to spot the most relevant buttons easily? These are questions you should consider carefully in the lead generation process.

· Help your viewers figure out what they want – The moment they land on your homepage, help your visitors identify what they want and acquire it promptly. By doing this, you make them feel understood and strengthen the bond you have established with them. Many of your visitors are casual online browsers. Not all of them would have the intention to purchase. Some of them might be there to pass the time, find out more information, etc. However, just because they don’t intend to buy initially does not mean they never will. Let them know who you are, what you do, and what you have to offer in a highly effective manner. You could still persuade them to become leads.

· Analyze and test your methods – Two words that are critical in the world of lead generation are ‘web analytics’. You cannot neglect to evaluate your methods. Make sure your visitors would be able to give you feedback. Track the important details like the responses you get and the amount of time visitors spend on your site. Determine which parts of your site make visitors leave and which parts garner positive responses.

As the virtual front door to your business, your website does not exist for the sole purpose of attracting visitors. More importantly, your website should attract profit. In this day and age, more and more people conduct different businesses online – buyers and sellers alike –you’re your website is the primary tool that can convert visits into the leads that you need for your business.

Somni Creative, Inc., rich media marketing professionals from Los Angeles, California, specialize in providing online customer acquisition and lead generation services. Call us at (310) 6973199 or visit www.somnicreative.com.

References:

Wikipedia - Online Lead Generation

7 Tips For Generating Leads Online

How the Web is Won - 4 Lead-Generating Tactics That Convert Online Prospects Into Customers

Telemarketing Lead Generation

Marketing Benefits of Using Lead Generation

Use Network Marketing Lea ds Generation Ideas For Your Profit

In designing a website, it is advantageous to think of your visitors as shoppers and the web as a huge mall with countless competitors. Shoppers who are caught up in the hustle and bustle do not have much time to spare. They might glance at items and scan the labels and descriptions that caught their attention, but they only linger when they start considering to purchase a product in a particular store. In this scenario, your website is one of those stores. As Rebecca Bloomwood said in the Confessions of a Shopaholic movie, “You know that thing when you see someone cute and he smiles and your heart kind of goes like a warm butter sliding down a hot toast? Well, that’s what is like when I see a store. Only it’s better.” Does your website have the power to do that to a customer? As your visual representation, your website’s initial role is to attract the visitor and convince him to stay.

An important characteristic of an effective website is having the perfect balance between functionality and design. You cannot afford to sacrifice one for the other. Your website might have great features but if the user doesn’t know how to use them, those features would be useless; or your website might rate high at usability but if it does not stand out, then you would be beaten by much more attractive websites that are user-friendly. Steve Krug’s first law of usability clearly states that you must not force people to think unnecessarily when they’re using your site. Everything in your website must be palpable and self-explanatory:

· Remember the “HOME” in Homepage. It is called homepage for a reason. It is the place where you lay out the groundwork for your customers – the products and services you offer, their online options with regards to trial and/or purchase, etc. No matter which area the user is in, the link to the homepage should always be visible. The link could be in the form of the company logo, business name, or simply “back to home”.

· Visibility Adds Weight to Credibility. Show your viewers that you are the real deal. The best way to do this is by giving them many options on how to interact with you. Aside from publishing your contact details i.e. address, phone numbers, and e-mail address, you can include a feedback/survey form in your website for them to fill out and submit. By providing your customers various means to contact you, you are showing them that you value their convenience and that makes them trust you more. People are more likely to purchase from sellers they trust.

· Provide Your Viewers with Clear Navigation. Assume that not everyone who browses online is an expert. Your viewers should not feel lost in your website. There are useful tools like site maps, services index, and search features that would make navigating easier.

· The Relevant Factors Should Load Within a Few Seconds. Graphics and flash presentations are impressive and striking to behold but they also add to the weight of your website. A long loading time would easily result to frustration to the impatient viewer giving him enough reason to leave your site before you could promote your product.

· Test Your Website for Compatibility. Before you launch your website, make sure that it would load properly in different popular internet browsers, screen resolutions, internet connection speeds, etc. Accessibility is one of the most significant factors of a website’s success.

Being mindful of the latest web design trends will help you get ahead. Many people might prioritize usability but as human beings, we do tend to be more drawn to attractive things. Users might say that stunning websites always load slower - some even say that graphics-heavy websites give them eye strain. Do not be discouraged by comments of that nature. Keep in mind that those websites they were commenting on probably did not achieve the balance between aesthetics and usability. Take the risk and give both elements equal attention. It is possible to construct a beautifully designed website that users would find easy to peruse. It is otherwise known as strategic design:

· Take Note of Your Target Users. Keep in mind that you are designing the website for target users. Take note of the target users’ general preferences, age group, social backgrounds, etc. All these factors should be taken into consideration during the actual design process.

· The Website Design Should Complement Your Company. It is important to determine the look and feel that suit the nature of your business. You have colors, font designs, graphics, and other elements at your disposal. Put all these together and by using different web design techniques, have them convey the right emotion for your viewers. You have to be able to manipulate them into projecting the company in the best possible light.

· Be Mindful of Your Goal. After considering the nature of your company in your web design, determine your goals because these same goals should reflect in your design. If your main goal is to inform, then it would be recommendable to opt for a clean and minimalist look in order for viewers to focus on the text. On the other hand, if you want the focus to be on the portfolio of a particular company, it would be advisable to be bolder in the design process.

· Lead Viewers to the Right Action. After establishing your web goal, work on driving your viewers to action. Sync your design with your strategy. For instance, if you want the user to download a free trial, then use an appropriate call-to-action button. Do you want to highlight a snippet of information in your article? You could use a different color and/or bold the text.

· Always Integrate Useful and Persuasive Content. Choose stunning images to capture the viewers’ attention. As long as it wouldn’t take too long to load, a flash presentation would be ideal for certain themes. As for textual content, write concise yet entertaining articles to inform and convince viewers that you are an expert in your field. People may not have ample time to read but that does not necessarily mean that they do not scan. This is the reason why it is also important to consider the formatting of your text.

There are many steps to take towards building an effective website. The collaboration process of design and usability requires a massive amount of effort from you but in the end, all the hard work will be worth it. It all boils down to designing a website that is not only aesthetic, but a website that works.

Somni Creative, Inc., rich media marketing professionals from Los Angeles, California, specialize in providing web design and development, and online customer acquisition services. Call us at (310) 6973199 or visit www.somnicreative.com.

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References:

Website Design Fundamentals - Creating Effective Websites

Developing a Website

The Process of Developing a Website

Developing Effective Website Content

Developing a Website Strategy for Success

Developing and Managing Website Content

Developing Websites

Developing a website? First You Need a Contract

Designing and Developing Your Website

Smashing Magazine - 10 Principles of Effective Web Design

Smashing Magazine - Strategic Design: 6 Steps for Building Successful Websites

As shown in the 2008 Australian Digital Marketing Trends Survey facilitated by Next Digital, Australia’s largest full service digital marketing company, digital media is considered a significant opportunity instead of a threat for marketing strategists. More than 200 senior marketers from a wide range of industries, the majority of them from Government or Government agency environments with 100-499 employees, responded to the survey since it was published online in May 2008. Based on that survey, it is foreseen that the number of organizations spending between 25 to 50 percent of their marketing funds on digital promotion will increase by more than 40 percent in the next five years.

Digital marketing is the method of promoting products and services by means of digital distribution channels in a timely, relevant, personal, and cost-effective manner. While the internet is included in the scope of digital marketing, there are also other means like mobile phones, SMS/MMS, display/banner ads, and digital outdoor. Digital marketing covers most, if not all, traditional marketing areas like direct marketing, although executed in a more digital fashion like e-mail. Digital marketing makes a difference because of various reasons:

· Low Starting Point – You don’t have to put in an extensive budget for the initial promotion. There is a good relationship between spend and return, which is possible even without production costs involved. In order to better follow your budget, you can choose the option wherein you only pay when there are results.

· Pay-for-Performance Pricing – You only pay when a user takes on a desired action. This makes it easier for you to figure out what consumer actions you want to prioritize in terms of budget.

· Produces Relevant User Data – Marketing is about interaction between you and the consumer. Your strategy would prove to be more effective if you will be able to keep track of the most relevant consumer data including and not limited to their opinions, views, and feedback.

· Easy and Flexible Channel Use – You are not just limited to the internet. You can also advertise via mobile phones and other digital devices. You also get to coordinate and combine various channels.

· Keeps You Ahead in Competition – Many digital marketing techniques are relatively new and your competitors are possibly oblivious to them, giving you a head start in the marketing race.

Because of the fact that digital marketing makes numerous different channels available to you, there are many tactics that are low-cost, reliable, and uncomplicated:

· Electronic Direct Mail – A straightforward and cheap method of promoting, it becomes more effective if you include the click-to-call and click-to-register functionality. To save time, you don’t need to e-mail to a long list of potentials. You can handpick users who are most likely to be converted into customers. When you resort to the direct e-mail campaign, it would be advisable to design a user-friendly and attractive layout.

· Restructure your search keywords – Less common words are cheaper. Just make sure that there’s a healthy ratio of SEM and SEO; and that the search terms you bought are not already available to you.

· Drive-to-Sales Promotion – E-mail is not the only way to spread drive-to-sales offers. Digital coupons and such could also be sent via mobile phones.

· Take Advantage of Video Distribution Sites – YouTube, Google Video, and Yahoo Video are among the top video distribution sites and millions of people visit these sites everyday so posting videos there would be good exposure at minimum cost.

· Internet Microstars – The number of influential and well-known bloggers is steadily increasing. Establishing a good relationship with them will contribute greatly to the promotion of your products and services.

· Affiliate Marketing – Ask another advertiser to promote your company on their website and pay them an agreed amount per lead.

· Cooperate with Brand-relevant Partners – Combining your resources for promotion activities will provide you a more sizeable budget and most likely more potential customers.

· The Rage of Widgets – Designing a good widget would not require much time and effort. At the same time, it would add strength to the connection between you and the consumer. While the rest of your competitors just use attractive banners to steal attention, you could use a widget that would encourage the consumer to view it regularly for its various functions related to your brand.

· Promote in social networking sites – Many companies advertise their products and services on the more well-known social networking sites like Multiply, Facebook, etc. Many music artists also create accounts in MySpace to update their fans about their latest activities and share their sample music.

After familiarizing yourself with the various methods of digital marketing, it is time to take the next step and that is to ensure the effectiveness of your methods:

· Assess your website – It is important for your site to rate high on usability. Others might consider this a simple and negligible step but it’s actually crucial.

· Optimize media content – The media content must be the most suitable and intense reflection of your brand.

· Pre-test your website according to your target users’ preferences – Now that you have the generated relevant consumer data, you can utilize it by determining their usage patterns to make your website more effective.

· Size up your competition – In order to remain ahead, you must know the tactics of your rivals and beat them at their own game when the opportunity presents itself.

The times have changed. One must keep up with the ever-changing trends of information production, distribution, and consumption. While many traditional marketing methods still qualify in effectiveness, it would be a grave mistake to discount digital marketing. Choosing digital marketing does not mean you have to completely set aside the most effective traditional marketing methods. It is possible to combine both if your budget, schedule, and resources cooperate with you. The point is never to cease finding new and better ways to reach your customers.

Somni Creative, Inc., rich media marketing professionals from Los Angeles, California, specialize in providing digital marketing services. Call us at (310) 6973199 or visit www.somnicreative.com.

References:

Wikipedia - Digital Marketing

Marketing Mag - New Survey Confirms the Importance of Digital to Marketers

Digital in a Downturn: Smart Strategies for Tough Times

Top 10 Video Distribution Sites for Producers

Online Marketing Blog - Should Marketers Shift Offline Budgets to Digital Marketing?

Online Marketing Blog - Direct Marketing vs. Social Media Marketing

Detailing the Importance of Web Imagery and Presentation

In 2006, Dr. Gitte Lindgaard and his research team from Carlton University in Ontario concluded that website designers only have as little as 50 milliseconds (1/20^th of a second) to grab the attention of potential customers. In designing a website, functionality only comes into play after the user’s first impression of the design takes over the center stage. A user only needs a few seconds to assess your website design and if he is not impressed, he is most likely to leave for a better looking rival company website. On the other hand, if your website was able to catch his attention, then the countdown to acquiring a new customer just started.

Visual appeal is considered an indispensable factor in the process of web design. According to Dr. Lindgaard, a viewer’s first emotional impression on a website leads to a string of judgments that would involve the website’s usability and credibility, a concept also referred to as the “halo effect”:

“…the strong impact of the visual appeal of the site seemed to draw attention away from usability problems. This suggests that aesthetics, or visual appeal, may be detected first and that these could influence how users judge subsequent experience…. Hence, even if a website is highly usable and provides very useful information presented in a logical arrangement, this may fail to impress a user whose first impression of the site was negative.”

The laws of evolution apply even – especially - in the internet. It is the survival of the fittest. Websites that the users do not find appealing could get easily lost in the shuffle. Considering the overwhelming amount of rivals you have, you cannot afford to have a cluttered and unpleasant looking website that would not inspire confidence to your company. With so many design strategies emerging year after year, web designers should make it a point to keep abreast and know what would work best on target users. You should be able to identify with your target viewer and visualize his expectations for you to meet them. For instance, if you are selling extreme sports equipment, stay away from pastel colors and feminine fonts. A website could be attractive but if the design does not suit the nature of the business and correspond with the preferences of the target demographic, the design won’t be effective.

Keep a balance of the design elements in your website. The contents should go together, and images should complement with text aspects. If you doubt whether a particular element should be there, be prepared to take it out of the equation unless you find good reason for it to remain. You might have spent too much time and effort on flash animation for your homepage but once it proves to be incompatible with the website theme and other elements, it simply has to go and not compromise the overall quality of your design.

Aesthetics should go hand in hand with usability. Remember, the “halo effect” eventually fades. You cannot focus too much on aesthetics and sacrifice usability in the process. Aesthetics is the key player in grabbing the viewer’s attention but later on, usability will play the crucial role in holding the viewer’s interest. No matter how impressed the user is by the website design, he wouldn’t remain there if he cannot understand the way it works. Plan and align your web design and content carefully to make the relationship between aesthetics and usability effective.

Keep in mind the three main principles of effective visual communication – organize, economize, communicate.

• Organize – Provide the user with a distinct and reliable conceptual structure. A good grid structure makes it easier for one to recognize menus, dialogue boxes, and control panels, and also makes the screen layout look less cluttered. Establish the relationships between the elements of your website and group the similar ones together. Do not make it difficult for the user to navigate or move around your website.
• Economize – There are four major points to be considered: simplicity, clarity, distinctiveness, and emphasis. Do not overwhelm the users with excessive graphic and textual content and find a way to draw attention to the most important points. The users should also be able to recognize all the components and their individual properties.
• Communicate – Consider the user’s capabilities. The text must look refined and readable. Demonstrate consistency by making sure a group of similar elements have the same general appearance. Skilled manipulation of color will aid you in emphasizing important areas and enhancing the desired ambiance of your website.

A viewer reacts to a website in two different ways – emotionally and analytically. The website design, more likely to appeal to the user’s emotions, should be impressive enough for the viewer to be willing to go to the next stage of response, which would be more focused on cognitive thought. Do not take for granted the viewer’s emotional reaction to a website - it must be favorable or the rest of his judgments, even analytical, will be influenced negatively. Impressing the viewer with your website design might be the first step but it is still crucial especially if converting a viewer into a customer is your priority.

Somni Creative, Inc., rich media marketing professionals from Los Angeles, California, specialize in providing online customer conversion services. We value our customers, both old and new. We welcome the challenge of getting you ahead in the corporate race. Call us at (310) 6973199 or visit www.somnicreative.com.

References:

Smashing Magazine - Web Design Trends For 2009

Smashing Magazine - More Web Design Trends For 2009

Webcredible - Website Aesthetics

Importance of Visual Images in Lectures: Case Study on Tourism Management Students

WebSiteOptimization.Com - First Impressions Count in Web Design

Effective Visual Communication for Graphical User Interfaces