Archive for January, 2010

In a down economy many businesses take the easy path of reducing their online marketing expenditures. This can be useful in certain scenarios but more the most part, it is the worst thing a company can do.

When the economy is uncertain businesses should increase their online and search engine marketing budget. Today it is a growing fact that customers are searching for companies with search engines as their first method as opposed to the Yellow Pages. Unfortunately if your company is not listed prominently when those customers search you will lose them to one of your competitors, even if that competitor is an inferior one.

Before spending money on Internet marketing it is imperative you or your marketing firm conduct proper research to determine strategy, budget and effective return-on-investment reporting. A major direction of this research should be focused on your competitors and their search engine placement. By looking at your competitors you can determine what that are doing correctly and incorrectly. This information can then be applied to your own marketing efforts to make it as successful as possible.

If you would like to receive a free Internet marketing report that will detail how Net-Craft can help increase your companies presence online, please click the icon below.

After you have created your new web site it will not be long before search engine spiders come along and index the content of your website. Indexing is a good thing, but by implementing the below techniques you can make sure this process is as beneficial to your search engine ranking as possible.

Definition: Indexing refers to the process of a search engine following links through your web site and cataloging the content on those pages.

Meta Page Names:

Each page has a name that should accurately describe the content of that page. For example if the page on your website deals with iPods and accessories a proper page name could be ‘iPod and iPod Accessory Information‘. The search engine “spiders” will use the page name a part of their cataloging operation and in determining your page rank.

Meta Tags:

In each page of your web site there are tags called ‘header information’. Located in this area should be tags that describe the page. Some search engines utilize this information and some do not. Since all search engines have the potential to send your web site potential clients it is our recommendation not to disregard this step. Below is a sample of that this meta area looks like.

<meta name="title" content="Scottsdale Homes">
<meta name="Keywords" content="Scottsdale housing, Scottsdale homes, houses in Scottsdale">
<meta name="Description" content="Information about houses in Scottsdale.">
<meta name="Robots" content="index, follow">
<meta name="Revisit-After" content="7 Days">

Web Site Map (For Visitors):

It is important to create a specific page that is a visual map of your web site and how the pages interrelate. This page should be called sitemap.html or sitemap.htm and should be linked from every page as well as your 404 page. A further step is to include the search term that is specific for that particular page. The site map serves two separate purposes. One is for the benefit of actual site visitors. If a visitor is confused as to where to find a specific piece of information, the site map provides a quick and easy way for them to get back on track. The second benefit is for the search engine spiders that index your site, please see below.

Web Site Map (For Search Engines):

A web site map benefits search engines as well, this page is created in a format called extensible markup language or XML. When a search enigne such as Bing, Google or Yahoo locate this page on your site it allows them to perform a quick and thorough indexing of your web site, ensuring all pages are located.

The Density of Keywords on your Web Site:

The amount of times each keyword is displayed through your web site is an important metric that determines your page rank. It is important to use search terms in headings, actual url’s and within the content area of the page as well.

If you would like to learn more about the Internet marketing services offered by Net-Craft.com, please contact a Net-Craft.com representative by clicking below.

Marketing by email can be an effective form of communication and customer generation. By employing a few useful strategies you can increase your success rate.

1) Make sure your subject line is short and descriptive; this will allow people to quickly decide if they are going to read your email. The subject line is extremely important as this is the first thing people will see.

2) Utilize the From line effectively by including your company name there, by all means do not be deceptive.

3) Tailor your message contents to the audience. Depending on the list your message will be sent to, make sure that the contents are relevant. If you are gathering email addresses from your web site, consider allowing the user to specify what types of information that want to receive.

4) Keep it Short & Simple. Unless your customer has specifically asked for content that is long, keep your email short and to the point. Research shows that short messages generate more calls to action than longer ones.

5) Report and evaluate. Make sure the email service you are using to send messages offers comprehensive reporting tools that will allow you to review important metrics such as deliverable, open and unsubscribe rates.

If you would like to learn more about E-Mail Marketing, please contact a Net-Craft.com representative by clicking below.