A blog is web-based publication that is updated regularly with blog posts. It can be part of a website as a news section, or it can be independent. Blog posts can be in any number of wildly different formats – e.g. informative articles, commentary, diary notes, video posts or photos, and some blogs make use of a combination of these styles. It is a very flexible, and more informative way of publishing than the ‘traditional’ website which has a set structure, is planned and updated periodically when content is deemed out of date.

Blog content can also be consumed in a number of ways, making this flexible publishing tool not only easy for the owner to use, but also the reader. True blogs are set up with ‘RSS’ installed (we will come to this later). Which allows the content to be ‘pulled in’ to whatever reading device or software the user wishes.

This document aims to outline some benefits of blogging, some advice on how to tell if it is suitable for you or not, tips on publishing a blog post, and ideas for topics and content.

Examples of well maintained blogs

Notes in Spanish

Notes in Spanish is a blog used in combination with a podcast. The podcast show notes, links to the audio files, commentary, news videos and tips are published as blog posts. The purpose of the blog is to encourage signups to the newsletter and a more importantly signups to a premium membership.

SimpleBits

SimpleBits is developer’s blog written by Dan Cederholm, which covers news about the industry, the company’s twitter posts, quotes related to design and development, announcements of product launches, links to interesting design and other things he finds on the Internet. The purpose is to generate leads from people interested in the services he offers. Posts are short, varied and very frequent.

PushON

Our blog is used to help promote our main site, increase email subscriptions and encourage people to request further information about our services. We publish news about our company and our clients, articles about the online marketing industry, any events we’re going to or presenting at, tips about online marketing, and some general banter about the Internet.

Why Blog?

Blogs are a great way of communicating in a very personal way with your audience, building your online presence, and quite frankly showing off. If you have specialist knowledge in your field, publishing tips and articles on your industry will not only give your users useful interesting content, but will also demonstrate that you know your stuff.

Blogs, when properly deployed, work very well with search and can be a very useful platform to support marketing campaigns. They can be so flexible – and you can embed different types of media to get your message across - images, video, text, links, presentations and audio.

Blogs use RSS, which makes the content available in ways that are easily consumed and used by your visitors, other websites and journalists.

What is RSS?

RSS is a technology used to publish frequently updated content in a standard format feed. The feed is used for distributing blog entries, news, podcasts (audio feeds), and video podcasts for example.

RSS helps get your content to the reader after they have left your site by letting them ‘syndicate’ content automatically. Meaning that when new content is available, subscribers to the feed will almost immediately have the content available in their chosen feed reader.

RSS allows users to subscribe to the latest updates from websites they are particularly interested in, or to view updates from many websites in one place.

Because people subscribe to your content, it enables you to deliver messages to an ‘opted in’ audience, and to continue the relationship with your visitor after they leave your site.

This is a tool that some writers, researchers and journalists use, because not only can you subscribe to RSS feeds from a number of sources, you can also receive news feeds of articles with a certain topic or keyword – for example ‘motor cross’ or ‘animals’.

So if you write a story, and publish it on your blog, there is a chance that a journalist specialising in a related subject will pick it up and republish elements of your content – leading to further publicity and traffic to your site.

How do you subscribe to RSS?

If a site has RSS enabled, it will usually have a button like this on the page or visible in the address bar of your browser:

Or text link saying something along the lines of “Subscribe via RSS” or “News Feed”.

To subscribe to an RSS feed, you click on the link to the feed and choose the feed reader you want to use to view your regular content. Alternatively, if your feed reader isn’t listed, you can copy the feed url and add it to your feed reader manually.

There are loads of feedreaders you can use, but I’ve listed some examples for you here:

Bloglines

Bloglines is an online service for searching, subscribing, creating and sharing news feeds, blogs and rich web content :

iGoogle

iGoogle which is a web based, and very easy to use. As it is web based, you can log in on any PC connected to the Internet to keep up with your feeds :

Microsoft Outlook 2007

Microsoft Outlook 2007, which is desktop based, and pulls in your RSS feeds and displays them like emails :

FeedDemon

FeedDemon is one of the most popular feed readers, it is a desktop tool that allows you to customise the way feeds are organized and displayed, set up custom ‘news watches’ based on keywords or use search to find articles :

Should you set up a blog?

Good question… this is something you have to figure out yourself, but consider the following:

• Do you have time or resources to make regular blog posts on an ongoing basis?
• Do you have something to talk about?
• Can you offer something useful to your readers?
• Will it benefit your business?
• Is it something your target audience is likely to read?

The main reason why you should not bother is if you haven’t the time or resources to keep up the blog posts. If you have the will, you can always learn how to do it better.

Test your subject matter or format by sending it to a small selection of your contacts and request feedback or suggestions for future content.

How do you set up a blog?

There are a number of blogging platforms available that require very little design or customisation. There are blog tools that you can sign up for online, where you don’t need to download, host or install. You sign up for an account, choose the name for your blog, and log in to update your details, choose your design and start blogging – all of this can be done within an hour or two.

This is a great option for people with limited budget, or people who are just dipping their toes into the blogging scene.

Examples of blog providers that work this way:

• Wordpress.com
• Blogger
• Live Journal
  

The limitation is that you generally aren’t able to use your own domain name and don’t have full freedom to customise the design.

If you’re more serious about blogging, a more professional method is to have your blogging software installed on your servers along with your website. You can then choose to have www.yourdomain.com/blog or blog.yourdomain.com

You can also design your blog to match or compliment your existing website; you have much more flexibility with design than the online account.

We recommend Wordpress.org for blogging software, but there are a number of other good tools you can use. You may be restricted by your web host as to which blogging software you can use. This is something you will need a designer/developer to help with, along with the actual installation and design.

We have a list of our favourite, and most useful plugins for Wordpress that add functionality, or make it easier to rank well in the search engine results for your chosen phrases. This list is available on our blog.

Once you’ve set up your blog, what do you write?

This greatly depends on what the purpose of the blog is, who your target audience is and who is writing the content.

You may have a number of different goals –

• Increase traffic
• Generate revenue from advertising
• Encourage signups to your newsletter
• Increase sales from your e-commerce store
• Generate leads
• Establish yourself as a thought leader in your field
• Promote events

A couple of examples:

To increase traffic and generate revenue from advertising

You could write very short, very frequent blog posts about the latest products and industry news. Lots of images and examples of these products in use. Your articles are short but very frequent, and about lots of different products because you don’t want to engage – you want people to click on the link and buy something elsewhere. The high frequency increases the chances you will get listed for a larger number of searches.

To generate signups to your newsletter or membership plan

Offer useful tips and how-to guides. Longer, more in depth articles. With each blog post, remember to mention that you get so much more ‘members only’ content if you subscribe.

To generate leads

You could write about the ongoing work you do, develop case studies and write articles about the success, the process, before and after pictures, graphs showing the improvement, quotes, testimonials and talk about any industry awards you’re going for. If you’re open about how you do it, you may get people who are in the same industry, but trying to improve following you, bookmarking the site, and linking to you. This all boosts your search engine rankings.

Blogging rules

This is up to you. You write the rules for the way your blog is run.

If there will be a number of bloggers, agree on a blogging policy between yourselves. Get everyone involved in this policy from the start, because it will then be self policed.

Think about what is sensitive and what is not, is swearing acceptable, how rude can you be, are there topics you don’t go near, can you mention things about your fellow employees, do you keep it on-topic all the time, can you talk about random non related items, etc.

Every company will be different, so get together for a brain storm, but don’t be so strict that people are worried about what they can write, it can stifle creativity.

Some general tips for better blogging

1. Let people know who’s talking - if you have a number of bloggers contributing, add a photo for each of them.  This helps when you’re building up a following for each writer, and you get more conversation if people know they’re talking to Paul from Kwikfit rather than adding a comment on the faceless company blog.
2. Let people subscribe by email - a lot of people still haven’t ‘got’ the whole RSS movement, so give people an option about how they consume your information.
3. When mentioning a product/service you offer, link to it.
4. When cross referencing from your blog to your website, deep link to the specific page related to your conversation (not necessarily the home page of your website). This helps the user, as you are taking them to the item you mentioned rather than making them search around for it. But it also helps your deeper pages get indexed well.
5. Use your blogroll for links to useful, interesting, related blogs.  This helps your users, but it also increases the chances these bloggers will link back to you.
6. Read your industry magazines and comment on the print articles as well as online articles.
7. Don’t go for the full on ‘sell, sell, sell’ message, make sure your content is useful/interesting/funny/informative.
8. Choose your title wisely – make it compelling & give some thought to the words that people will search for naturally.
9. Try to keep a regular schedule, if you don’t post for a month, you may lose your readers.
10. Add an image or video to keep it interesting.
11. Keep your sentences & paragraphs to reasonable length, not too long.
12. Leave breathing space – i.e. add paragraph breaks, and sub titles to break up your text and make it easy for the user to scan.
13. Use keywords or phrases in your content. Keep in mind what people might search for, related to the article you’re writing and the services you offer. You must ensure you write predominantly for people, but with search engines in mind.
14. Encourage comments. This can be a great way to find out what your audience thinks, how you can improve, and what you excel at. Very helpful for your next marketing campaign. You may want to moderate this to avoid spam, gossip or expletives. But be open enough to allow negative comments.
15. Reply politely and promptly to your comments. Encourage further discussion.
16. Be as open and honest as you can. Waxing lyrical about this amazing product you found, when you actually market that product, is not a good idea. It’s called astroturfing, and if you get found out, it can be very embarrassing. It’s much better to admit you’re involved, but you love the features of this new product anyway. Conversely, if you’ve had a disaster, be prepared to answer critical comments.
17. Check your spelling and grammar.
18. Talk about new news, keep your articles up to date.
19. Make sure your blog is good looking and easy to use. You have to convince someone to stay within the first second they visit the site. Keep in mind your brand.
20. Avoid making defamatory comments; the author may be sued personally.
21. Remember that once published, it may be on the Internet forever. Would you be happy for your parents/children to read it?
22. Research your facts carefully.
23. Give the pro’s and cons for your arguments, not just one side of the story.

Get involved in the blogging conversation

Make sure you read other blogs in the same topic area. They can give you ideas on format, frequency and content, and you can quote, compare and contract their opinions. Often if you talk about someone, they will start to follow you and sometimes even link to you.

Whatever you do, make sure you don’t plagiarise. It’s very easy to find out who’s copied your work on the Internet. So by all means, quote your competitor, but give them the credit, and if you’re feeling generous give them a link.

Keep an eye on what people are saying about you, and your company. Other bloggers may have loved your article and mentioned it on their blog. Make sure you acknowledge this - either on your blog, their blog or both. And if someone doesn’t like what you do, you can tackle that too.

Tracking this is easier than it sounds - if you’re using Wordpress, it will track any links pointing to your blog so you can see what people have said about you. And you can set up an alert using Google Alerts for any online mentions of your name, brand, clients, or any competitors you want to stalk.

If you want to download or print the PDF version of this document, here you go:

There has been a lot of industry buzz about Twitter. Sometimes we become so immersed in our online marketing sector where we’re always looking to adopt early, that we forget that the absolute vast majority of people, in effect our clients or target audience, haven’t got a clue what Twitter is; how to use it or what value it has. Hopefully I’ll answer a few of those questions right here

So, really, what is Twitter?

Twitter is what’s is rather sweetly known as a ”micro blogging platform”. Sounds rather twee doesn’t it?  Effectively it takes SMS sensibilities and applies it to blogging. So with Twitter, you have a restricted number of characters, 140, for each post that you make, similar to the concise nature of SMS. The idea being that you compose your thought into a very neat package of commentary or wisdom. And Twitter is blog-a-like in that your posts are displayed sequentially with the most recent first. Perhaps the most intriguing aspect of Twitter is the ability to choose who you follow, whose Tweets (an individual Twitter post) you consume. And conversely, other people can choose to follow your Tweets. In effect you can go some way to customising your conversation. By choosing those whose opinion you respect, you can get a short cut to the foremost thinking in your sector. Assuming they use Twitter of course. And as we are in the digital media sector, most of the people whose thinking we value tend to use Twitter. For example, we would certainly recommend that you follow:

Aaron Wall

Robert Scoble

Jeremiah Owyang

Lee Odden

Simon Wharton

Jonathan Yarmis

You might think of these as the “Twitterati”

How do you use Twitter?

At its most rudimentary, Twitter has a web interface that you can use via a Browser. Realistically though, this is an awkward way of using Twitter. The browser takes up a lot of desktop real estate and really doesn’t have the tools built into it that starts to make Twitter useful. You’ll find a lot of people use Twhirl or very similar applications such as Twitterific for the MAC. These deploy more a chat/instant messenger interface which can fade into the background on the desktop. The client becomes unobtrusive when you’re not using it, yet remains available, picking up the Tweets of those you follow by regularly polling Twitter. Twitter can also be narrowcast as opposed to broadcast. You can choose to send a message directly to one person. You can also reply to direct message or broadcast messages and so engaging conversations may follow. Twitter is also usable via mobile devices. You can choose to receive and SMS on your mobile when certain people Tweet. Obviously you want to be careful about who you choose to follow via this method as you don’t want to be receiving and SMS that have little relevance to you while you are out and about. You can also access the Twitter website via a mobile browser friendly version at http://m.twitter.com.

The Downside of Twitter

Noise, noise, noise and more noise. Too often you can find that that Tweets are focused on the ego of the author. Am I really interested in what you had for breakfast? Many people Tweet these fascinating snippets. I have no interest in this but to some people, the “Water cooler” conversation that is enabled with your peer group, but world-wide, is a great way of relaxing. You could say it empowers the down time of the digital community. I’d say be careful who you follow unless you want your attention diverted with drivel.

Getting Started with Twitter

What do you want to be known for? Give it some thought. If you want a good audience for your thoughts, then think why people might want to follow you. Are you sharing wisdom or are you sharing your breakfast menu?
Find the people you respect on Twitter and then follow them. Twitterquette suggest that you follow those who follow you. It doesn’t always happen but at the time of writing numbers of followers seem to be important for bragging rights in the Twitterverse. My following is bigger than your following is the measure of the online personality.
If you are doing something interesting, or are somewhere interesting, then Twitter the event. Breaking key news snippets is a great way of getting the attention of those who can’t be there and it’s certainly where the mobile interactivity comes into play.
The question arises as to how much penetration Twitter has. According to Techcrunch, it’s not huge on the grand scale of things, but it is growing rapidly

Third Party Twitter Applications

It’s the third party applications that are starting to make Twitter compelling.

Twhirl
Thwirl certainly ticks a lot of the boxes with what I like with a desktop client.

Twitterific
A Mac based desktop client.

Twitterlocal
Twitterlocal is a nice tool which allows you to add a regional context to Twitter. You can see who is Twittering within a radius of a given location.

Facebook
You can also consider Facebook as a Twitter app in a way as you can pull your Tweets into your Facebook profile, a nice way of using technology to economically spread your wisdom.

Jaiku
With so many online tools and applications to keep abreast of, it’s essential for the savvy webbie to be able to use their time economically. This of course leads into a conversation about managing your personal brand. Another example of how you can use Twitter to feed your online presence with data is via Jaiku. In many ways, this is a Twitter competitor but you can use Twitter to drive it. Which is handy as it follows the micro blogging principle but with bells on.

Terraminds
I also like Terraminds as a tool for searching Twitter which is a good way of finding who you want to follow.

Twitter Scan
A Twitter search engine with bells and whistles

How can I use Twitter?

Twitter can be used in many ways. It depends what you want to get out of it. It’s excellent for:
•    Following the thoughts of experts
•    Getting real time breaking news
•    Delivering real time breaking news
•    Building your personal brand
•    Gossip
•    Seeding marketing campaigns

One of the most interesting Twitter experiments, as I write, is by Zappos.  By aggregating Tweets about Zappos into one stream, they make a compelling connection very directly with their customers who are consequently very publicly their advocates. Their CEO also uses Twitter very intimately to give an engaging view of how Zappos works at his level. There’s a bravery and openness that many businesses would shy away from that could prove to be a winning strategy.
.

So, What use is Twitter?

There isn’t really a definitive use for Twitter, it’s a multipurpose tool. As a browser based tool, I found it a bit tiresome but Twhirl is the application that made it useful to me. It sits just out of site and lets me know what people I respect are thinking. I can also let them know what I’m thinking and on the odd occasion, these key influencers find my thoughts interesting and propagate them to their audience. It massively increases my reach. It’s not for everyone though, the only way to find out is to play.

Building a website for Search Engine Success

There really are no great secrets to how you should go about building a website that search engines will like. Quite simply, if you want search engines to like your website then there is no better place to start than building your site to W3C standards.

About Web Standards

In the beginning the Internet was very much like an unruly child and to some degree it still is. The problem was we were given all this great technology to help us communicate with each other but with a lack of formally set out rules to guide us we were allowed to run wild.

“The World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) is an international consortium where Member organizations, a full-time staff, and the public work together to develop Web standards.”

By adhering to specifications and guidelines set out by the W3C when building websites we are using what is accepted within the industry as best practice.

Search Engines like Websites Built to Web Standards

It’s true, we’ve seen time and time again that when we build sites to W3C standards they achieve a level of search engine success our no-standards compliant competitors can only dream of.

Why?

Well, the most obvious difference between a standards compliant site and a non-standard compliant site is the use of CSS for laying out the design rather than nested tables.

Tables should be used for tabular data, so says the W3C and not for laying out the design of a site. The intended use for tables was always to layout tables of information but they quickly became the norm for laying out web designs. Using tables for layout causes significant code bloat as well as causing accessibility issues for screen readers. Search engines aren’t really interested in code, they like content. Using CSS (Cascading Style Sheet) for layout means much leaner code and therefore makes it easier for search engine bots to find the content.

Conclusion

If you’re planning a new website make sure the company you choose to build your site build it to W3C standard. If you already have a site and you’re not sure if it’s built to web standards use the W3C validation service to check.

http://validator.w3.org/

If you’re site is not built to web standards talk to us and we will advise on how best to go about addressing the problems. In some instances a full rebuild is advisable but in most cases a site can be retro fitted to achieve W3C standards. You can also request a Free website analysis from us which will include W3C validation.

Roy Wilding
Creative Director - PushON Ltd
The Online Marketing People

Haveyou ever tried finding a website for a shop down the road from you? Youknow where it is, but you can’t quite remember the name of it. It sellsgadgets and some odd technologies that you think your dad would reallylike for his birthday. You try a quick search for “Gadgets” and foundsome national mail order site, based miles away. Frustrated, so you tryto refine the search by including your location but are now faced withsearch results for some weird gadgets that your local football teamhave branded and are selling as merchandise!  

Perhapsyou’re looking online for some corporate training course and no matterhow hard you look you can only find courses that are being run so faraway you’d spend a day travelling and lose valuable time.

Manyof us have had similar frustrating experiences like this. Therefore, itis importatnt that we prevent our customers and clients from having thesame off-putting search experiences when trying to find our brandsonline. In short, we need to find ways of being found more effectivelyin locally focused search.

In this article we’ll be detailingsome quick and easy solutions that will help your websites visibilityin local search results.

Google Map/Local Business Centre

Googleoffers a free service that allows business to add a brief descriptionof their products and services, along with more detailed informationsuch as opening hours and preferred payment methods. Google iscontinuing to master its ‘Universal Search’ results and we arecontinuing to see information from Google Maps being returned in itsmain results page.

Google validate your business locations bysending you out an activation pin. You can expect to receive the pinwithin 3 weeks of requesting it and once active, Google say that, yourad will be live within just 10 days.

Most of the othermajor search engines offer some form of local map functionality too.Check out Yahoo Local and Live Search to get listed in their maps too. 

Microformats

Microformats haveincluded a geo-location tag in their hCard, business card. This searchengine friendly business card allows users to hard code their lat &long coordinates directly onto their website. Here’s a quick example ofthe PushON offices location via hCard and geo tag:

<div id=”" class=”vcard”>
<span class=”fn”></span>
<div class=”org”>PushON Ltd</div>
<div class=”adr”>
<div class=”street-address”>217 The Boxworks, 4 Worsley Street</div>
<span class=”locality”>Manchester</span>
<span class=”postal-code”>M15 4NU</span>

<span class=”country-name”>UK</span>

<span class=”geo”>

 <span class=”latitude”>53.4733</span>,

 <span class=”longitude”>-2.26093</span>

</span>
</div>

As the usage of microformats become more widely used in mainstreamwebsite design and as Search Engines are increasingly indexing thismarked up content and include it in their results we will start to seethis become really valuable in optimising for local search.

Optimising for Local Keywords/Anchor Texts

Thisshould be your first port of call when looking to optimise for yourlocal search terms. When customers search any of the search enginesthey are typing in text and the search engine attempts to match thattext to websites on the internet that has that text in their content.

Tosuccessfully optimise your keywords and content for local search terms,you should consider using them in your page headers, titles anddescriptions.

PushON has recently undertaken some researchinto place names in the Manchester (UK) Area. In terms of search theseare referred to as geographical qualifiers. This research will bepublished shortly via our website and will be available for downloadfor free.

NOTE: be careful of overusing keywords inyour websites content. Remember that your audience is the human readerand not just the search engine; anything over 10% keyword density isdeemed as spam and may have a negative effect on your websites rankingsin the search results. There are a number of browser plug-ins andwebsites that can check your websites content for keyword density.

Directory Listings

Adirectory is a web search tool that is compiled manually by humaneditors. Once websites have been submitted with information (such as atitles, urls and descriptions) they are assessed by the editor and, ifdeemed suitable for addition, are listed under one or more subjectcategories AND geographical regions.

Unlike search engineresults, directories rely on human editing to categorise the websitelistings, not a long and complex algorithm. Some people feel that thisgives human edited directories more credibility then a search engineand as a result the major search engines use these directories toinfluence how they display their own results.
 
DMOZ – The Open Directory Project (ODP)

What sets the Open Directory Project apartfrom other directories is its database of indexed documents that isavailable to other directories and search engines. A listing hereresults in your website automatically being listed in many otherdirectories and search engines. The model of using volunteer editors isfairly ambitious - and surprisingly successful. It’s a massiveachievement and one of the most authoritative sites on the internet.

Local Directories

Many directories on the internet are internationally focused withregional sections available deep into the sites navigation. However, togain real value in local search you should be aiming to get listed insome locally focused directories that are specific to the town, countyor region your business operates in.

Manchester UK Local Directory

One of the most successful Manchester related directories is Manchester UK.Established by John Moss in 1994 as the Manchester Project; thedirectory has undergone continual growth in recent years. John Moss,Author of Manchester UK, said “human edited directories are invariablymore relevant then even the best constructed algorithms are a crudedevice and results are often completely irrelevant, silly, erroneous orblatantly misleading results.”

He put the directories successdown to it being “relevant to the local area and more relevant andaccurate in terms of the information it contains. Content is our mainconcern - quality content, plenty of it and free.”

Summary

Local Search is an ever-growing area that if taken advantage of willhelp drive quality leads to your website. The hints and tips above willhelp you get a feel for what is required to optimise your website butto get the best out of your website requires a bespoke online marketingsolution.

Many businesses realise that they have to generate traffic to their site if they want to, at the very least, recoup the outlay invested in their Internet site.  But all too often they accept the received wisdom that pay per click and paid advertising will give the return that is so eagerly sought without really fully considering online organic search marketing properly. 

Pay per click and advertising on well-visited websites certainly has its benefits, I cannot and will not deny that assertion.  Pay per click (PPC) is easy to understand and, unlike many marketing activities, the return can be calculated very accurately indeed – and those are the great attributes.  It also gives the marketing manager or owner an immediate hit.  The pressure to get results quickly is baring down and pay per click can certainly ease the pressure with immediate effect – a simple solution handed on a plate.

Yet, this singular approach is not fully justified.  Yes, pay per click and paid advertising can be highly effective; we all hear the anecdotal examples of business acquaintances and their limitless praise for this approach.  But the approach is limited.

I am not discounting pay per click or paid advertising: there is a place for both in combination with organic search marketing.  Indeed, the best campaigns combine both approaches to stunning effect because both present different strengths which work well together.  But if you have to choose there is a clear winner: organic search.

Before I explain further I really need to clarify what I mean by organic search marketing.  I am referring to a collection of methods that includes using discussion forums, social networking sites, reciprocal links, identifying and utilising sites that Google and other prominent search engines use to rank websites and good old fashioned search engine optimisation: search engine ranking.  And it is the last of these that I will concentrate my article on to demonstrate that there is another way of attaining the results you want from your online marketing.

So why do I have such believe in organic search marketing?  What is my proof?  Why, according to online experts E-consultancy, does 84% of online spend come in the form of paid placement and PPC and the small remaining 16% on organic search marketing if the latter has so much to offer?

Well, my first point is that organic search marketing has much to offer but is generally overlooked or underrated.  Online marketing, as with so many disciplines, is not fully understood and if it is not understood by the buyer then they will often chose the option they can quickly get a grip of or feel comfortable with: PPC and paid placement. 

We must remember as marketers that not everyone has the appreciation or understanding of online marketing.  And we must remember that many marketers are experts in a particular field but do not have a full comprehension of the full marketing mix, at least not to the same depth as their specialisation. 

But my proof goes further: various studies show that a prospective buyer will use organic searches 60% - 80% of the time.  Moreover, organic search results gather up to 6 times more clicks than paid for advertising.

The reasons for this can possibly be attributed to a number of factors.  Firstly, buyers tend to trust search engines.  A brand such as Google fosters confidence; advertising cannot provide the same assurance as it is bought rather than earned. 

Secondly, according to a study conducted by US marketing firm Enquiro and eye tracking technology company Eyetools, surfers follow an F shaped pattern of scanning.  This means that the search results, on the left, are viewed more closely than on the right where the PPCs are located.

I would like to re-iterate that PPC and paid placement certainly have a role in a comprehensive online marketing plan.  The F viewing pattern extends over to the PPC – but only the top ones.

Pay per click search company Overture’s research has confirmed this viewpoint.  A marketing campaign that secures a combination of a top three placement with a top placed PPC will generate a 93% chance of gaining a click. 

The Advertising Association has found that Internet advertising is up 73% for the first half of the year.  It certainly works for some companies.  But its success is also its drawback.  The more we use PPC and paid advertising the more its currency diminishes.  I only have to think of texting and e-mails to back this point up: the more we use PPC the more we will all ignore it and the more the cost will go up for the most popular search words.

Online search marketing undeniably does not have the immediate hit of PPC and paid advertising.  But whereas PPC and paid advertising’s effects ware off quickly, organic search marketing has a real impact in the medium to long term and even after the campaign has finished it will still yield a return.  Many companies will find its longevity and substance of organic search a real benefit.

Organic search marketing benefits from low costs, established reader behaviour and the trust of many commercial and consumer surfers in their search engines to provide the most meaningful search returns.

Consequently, online search cannot be discounted from any online campaign that really wants to give a substantial return.  With organic search marketing technique rapidly evolving and being popularised and PPC becoming over subscribed it can only be a matter of time before clever marketers take heed and chose another way to do their online marketing.

About the author

Simon Wharton runs well regarded web build agency Virtuaffinity and its sister company PushON – a specialist online search marketing agency.  PushOn works with business from all sectors and sizes to ensure the greatest visibility possible online for its clients.  Simon and his team are especially interested in making social media optimisation, SEO and blogging work effectively for their clients.

Simon can be contacted for further comment on simon@pushon.co.uk or on 0870 757 4888

Most of the readers of Talking Business have heard of blogs.  Indeed, when I talk to businesses many have heard of the ubiquitous term, but have never really even considered it as an integral part of their marketing strategy.

Why is that?

Well, the media has portrayed the world of blogging as the domain of techies and bedroom closeted teenagers.  It is hardly surprising that many businesses never give blogging a second thought.  Moreover, many in the business world fail to grasp the real impact and benefits of technology.  How many readers of Talking Business, I wonder, value the Internet? Everyone?  But, how many have invested not only money but also real thought into their online strategy: the online face of their company for the whole world? Not as many I suspect. 

So what is a blog? 

Simply put it is an online diary: a series of regular entries or posts on a theme or subject of real interest to the writer.  The blog may reside online by itself or better still as a feature within a website.

Blogs are not the preserve of the technical genius.  They are very simple to use.  They are also very cheap to set-up; in some cases the simpler versions are free.

The question still remains – what is the value to business?

Blogs give businesses value in a number of ways.  Firstly, a company that blogs with intelligent and insightful comments about their industry has the potential to become the voice of their industry.  Other professionals within the field of the blogger will consult the blog to compare views or learn about a ground breaking aspect of their industry.

The result of using a blog to achieve this aim is building relationships with notable industry professionals.  So, if you are a specialist accountancy practice you might wish to work in partnership with more general accountancy companies that do not offer your particular knowledge base.  The general accountancy practice might want a reliable partner with say, the specialist tax expertise you possess.  This will allow it to service its clients’ needs without the customer looking elsewhere.  How can they find out who knows about this specialism and your expertise?  By following your blog the level of your expertise will be displayed. 

If you blog with the tips I have outlined then you will be found by those you wish to interact with – you are being proactive with little effort.

There are many other benefits: the possibility of attracting a greater number of higher calibre candidates wishing to work for the blogger’s company – a real cost saving for some enterprises.

And of course attracting clients directly.

Blogging in the real world

But does that work in the real world?  One of my clients Artisan Marketing Communications is one example of where the results are starting to filter through. 

When we were approached, Artisan wanted PushON to build a simple static website - we said “no!”  We advised them that a blog was better suited to their aims.  After initial reluctance they agreed with our approach despite a slight case of technophobia, which was soon overcome.

Why did we insist on a blog?  Well, a static website would have given this new PR agency no competitive advantage whatsoever.  Once a potential client had come to the site there would have been nothing to attract them back.  To use an analogy: if a newspaper had the same stories every day, who would read it a second time?  So many websites have this effect and it can actually be detrimental to a business. 

Artisan, at first, posted an entry every two to three days now they post at least five times a week.  The subject matter covers media relations, the PR industry and the influence of new technology on business communications.  They can be found at www.artisanmc.co.uk

The results after only six months are encouraging.  Very few PR agencies in Manchester blog, this has immediately marked Artisan in their industry.  It has also brought some interesting results.  One such example is when NW Business Insider magazine contacted Artisan to discuss blogging for a business feature.  The magazine was one that Artisan had had little contact with but by supplying interesting comments it broke the ice.  This was a key contact for Artisan and will enable them to provide an even better service to clients.     

Where now?

Blogs are not confined to techies or chief executives of big business, many businesses of all sizes and sectors have something to say of interest.  I have included a collection of brief tips, if you think you can follow them you should consider a blog.

10 quick tips to being a successful business blogger:

1. Post entries regularly
2. Post entries that have purpose and focus, do not write for the sake of it
3. Give comment of interest and value to your readers
4. Be transparent and honest – readers will be able to determine when a blog is phoney
5. Use simple easy to read English; if your audience do not understand industry jargon do not use it
6. Be concise – get to your point and make it well.  Even fans of your blog will have limited time
7. Use links in your body copy to give you more visibility on search engines
8. Use reciprocal links to partner websites and blogs, which also aid search engine rankings
9. Ensure a RSS feed is available on your blog: RSS feeds allow you to distribute alerts and information direct to a subscriber’s PC without the need for them to come back to your blog.  This eases communication and builds a relationship between the blogger and the reader.
10. Leave comments on other industry blogs to build relationships within your industry and get your name out

Simon Wharton, managing director of online search marketing specialists PushON welcomes comments and questions and can be contacted on 0870 757 4888 or simon@pushon.co.uk

Talking Business North Manchester
Blogging article
9th November 2006

The worlds of the Internet and PR are inexorably converging; any comprehensive PR campaign must take this fact to heart.   All too often PR practitioners give the right sound bite, yet very few actively pursue online PR with no more than a glib reference or a chance to add another revenue stream without actually delivering on their commitment.

It is not entirely the PR professional’s fault.  It is undoubtedly a field that does not embrace technology as well as it might.  Yet, businesses in the main have failed to recognise or understand the potential opportunities available.  Without pressure from clients, there is no impetus for the PR world to no more than dawdle towards offering online and offline PR in combination.

But why is online PR so important?

The answer is technology and reader behaviour.

If key audiences are receiving their information from an online source, they are not going to know about a business’ new service or product innovation if the PR output is restricted to hard copy.  That is not to say newspaper and magazines are not important: they are and always will be.  After all, computers are essential business tools, but the paperless office did not materialise as predicted some 30 years ago just because computers began to arrive on the scene.

I am sure many readers accept this as fact.  But even if they have any doubts, a few statistics will force the point beyond any reticence or opposition there might be:

Let’s start with UK Internet users: there are 37,800,000; Internet penetration is 62% of the population; user growth is 145% on 2005 (www.internetworldstats.com)

Blogs – a key element of online PR – are going up at a worldwide rate of 80,000 a day according to leading authority Technorati.

And if the product or service is geared towards consumers, such businesses will be pleased to hear that the latest report (June 2006) states that 72.6% of Internet households enjoy broadband, up from 54.4% in June 2005 and 32.7% in June 2004: that’s 14 million households.  What is more, many business people work from home or surf the net after work – an audience approaching TV proportions.

How online and offline PR differ, but remain close allies

The demarcation between online and offline activities in terms of channels that can be utilised is quite straightforward.

Offline PR is mainly associated with print (newspapers and magazines), radio and television. 

Online PR focuses on influencing the readership that gains its information through the Internet: blogs, forums, discussion threads and Internet (including RSS feeds).  A newsletter, sent via e-mail, is another potent weapon in any online PR armoury.

There is a strong correlation between online and offline PR.  Both require newsworthy material expressed well in the written word.

Yet, online PR has many special characteristics that must be recognised: the speed of delivery, the worldwide reach and the interaction.  Online PR is about links; it is about building communities and sharing information.  The very nature of the online world means that traditional media outlets are often taken out of the PR equation.  Users can receive information and comment without interpretation, direct from the source.

Respected commentator James L Horton sums it up perfectly: “Online is an individual medium.”

If you have read Evelyn Waugh’s Scoop or remember The Sun’s triumphant and vainglorious take on a 1992 election: “It’s the Sun wot won it.”  You might think the media is all-powerful.  But traditional media can no longer dominate the online world; they cannot dictate a view because they constitute the few sources of news available.  Even though the traditional media is still highly influential, a great deal of information bypasses them.  

The implication, much more so than offline PR, is that reputation is key.  A business can be discussed at length in blogs, discussion threads and forums.  Consequently an online PR agency has the much more pressing responsibility to constantly monitor key protagonists; it can be likened to grassroots PR rather than centralised PR.

US marketing guru Seth Godin gives an illustrative example: the Sripraphai restaurant in Queens New York.  This tiny unassuming Thai restaurant is packed every night and achieved an amazing review in the New York Times.  How?  The restaurant does not advertise nor engages in promotion.   A blog called Chowhound.  Chowhound has over 350,000 visitors monthly that review restaurants and leave comments.  Readers analyse comments from a trusted source – one that is not manipulated.  That is an awfully powerful medium.

The worlds of PR and the Internet converge

New, innovative PR campaigns are going to work closely with Internet suppliers: their work compliments each other, almost perfectly.  (The real power of marketing is using complimentary disciplines together). 

Indeed, a gifted and passionate online professional working hand in hand with a talented PR man in the online world can enable clients to punch well above their weight.

But it can have dire consequences if not taken seriously enough: 

Take this lesson from Dell’s experience to illustrate the power of the up and coming online media and its importance for all PR and online search marketing professionals and all companies that take their marketing seriously.

Dell, the computer manufacturers, had earned a fantastic reputation for their products and customer service.  Last year, however, all those years of carefully building a brand image took a major set back.  It was not a rival.  It was not a loose word in the Ratner style.  It was a blogger: just one individual named Jeff Jarvis.

Jarvis had bought a Dell laptop, which had technical problems.  Dell’s customer support did not rectify the issue to the satisfaction of Jarvis.  Through his blog – Buzzmachine – he detailed his complaints.  Those entries were met with hundreds of responses and comments.  The result, as analysed by three market research companies found the whole affair had a detrimental effect on Dell: “ it had sustained long-term damage to its brand image.” (Source: www.bbc.co.uk)

This obviously illustrates the power of online PR.  It also highlights the need for online PR.  Of course, it easy to see why monitoring reputation online is crucial (as mentioned above) and how Internet specialists and PR professionals need to work in collaboration.  But it shows something else.  If the online world can damage a brand like Dell through one individual on one PC, think what it can do positively.  Consider what one PR and one Internet professional can do to gain positive coverage amongst customers that might never read a paper or watch television.

The future: online PR and online search marketing

One thing is certain: online PR will become a more purposeful, organised and valued pursuit.

In fact, online PR is lagging behind the opportunity and capabilities afforded to it by not only the progression of technology, but also its adoption of online information sources by so many in business and indeed outside that categorisation.  That is not so surprising: the opportunities for online search marketing are also far from fully being exploited.

Indeed, the world of online PR is in flux before many PR professionals have even begun to really think about the potential of this opportunity.

How many PRs have heard of Social Media Optimisation?  Very few I should think.  How many communications professionals have considered using You Tube for a viral marketing campaign?  Only the most forward thinking.  And yet this is where the future lies.

Even the humble RSS feed is revolutionising how we receive information; from source to desktop is all instigated by one show of interest in the form of a subscription on the source website.  But how many PRs have realised how incredible this innovation is?

The consumer cannot be supplied information just from a single source as Rupert Murdoch or Silvio Berlusconi would like.   Information sources are becoming more diverse.  Those companies and PR professionals that recognise that fact now will have a big advantage over their rivals.

The forthcoming and almost universal take up of broadband, growing popularity of blogging and discussion threads, greater use of RSS feeds and changes in online reading habits will ensure online PR is an integral part of any comprehensive PR or marketing campaign.   Go online young man!

Glossary

Blogs – are diaries, journals or comment pieces that usually focus on a particular subject or theme, such as politics, business or media.  They can be well patronised and can have a profound influence that has no relation to the size of the organisation behind them; blogs are often the work of an individual, which can potentially make certain individuals powerful voices in a particular sector or industry.

For further insight look up: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blogs

Discussion threads - individuals that are connected via an electronic network; typical examples include Yahoo and MSN groups.

RSS feeds- simply web feeds; a data format that supplies users frequently updated content.  Subscribers, including journalists, can receive new stories instantly and not have to look for the latest updates online.  Users can browse a multitude of headlines on their own desktop and select the stories they are particularly interested in without going from site to site; there is no spam or unsolicited mail as with e-mail.

Search engine optimisation – techniques used to gain higher ranking in a search engine; if sites are not listed in the first few pages of a search, many users will not explore results further

PR wires – press releases distributed online by a specialist agency for the benefit of journalists

Search online marketing – using a blend of online marketing techniques – including blogs, pay per click, search engine optimisation, e-mail marketing – to gain profile and traffic for Internet sites

Social Media Optimisation - this broad ranging technique engages with increasingly popular social networking sites, which are a growing influence as makers and breakers of reputation

Notes:

Many thanks to Craig McGinty of Connect Media and This French Life for discussing his online PR ideas with such enthusiasm and clarity: a true blogger.

Simon and Robert are available for feedback and comment on simon@pushon.co.uk and rob@artisanmc.co.uk

We will show that sensible medium to long term online marketing strategy requires a blended approach to address issues of:

• Brand identity
• Establishing market share
• Website relevance and exposure
• Addressing the broad audience
• Reducing cost of client acquisition

Approach to Search Engine Marketing Strategies

There are a number of strategies that can be applied to online marketing. A non exhaustive list includes:

• Organic Search Engine Marketing (SEM)
• Pay Per Click (PPC)
• Content network listing
• E-Mail Marketing

The relevance of each technique is entirely dependant on which audience you are addressing and what the product is. However, there is a very strong argument that both organic search marketing and pay per click should be the cornerstone of your online marketing campaign. According to research by E-consultancy, the breakdown of marketing spend on search marketing in the UK shows that approximately 84% of spend is on paid placement (PPC and content network) with only 16% on organic search marketing. Why would this be so and what are the implications? Well, PPC is generally more easily understood by those in a marketing buying position in business. Evocative terms such as “Pay for performance” strike a chord as does the relative immediacy of the impact of a campaign. It also closely mirrors strategies for media buying in off line campaigns, you pay some money and an ad appears somewhere. However, this does not fully address understanding search behaviour. Various studies show that a searcher will click on the organic results between 60% to 80% of the time as opposed to clicking on paid advertising such as PPC. Other studies show that, dependant on the nature of the search, the organic search results gather up to 6 times more clicks than the paid advertising. Factors that contribute to this include the fact that searchers tend to trust organic results much more than paid advertising. We might surmise that this is a trust inherited from the brand of their search engine. People trust the Google brand therefore they also trust the results that Google generates naturally.

Eye Tracking on Websites

Faith in the efficacy of organic search results is also supported by an eye tracking study performed by US marketing firms Enquiro and Did-it in conjunction with the eye tracking firm Eyetools. Effectively there is a zone, referred to as the Golden Triangle, which is an F shaped pattern of scanning across search results. As demonstrated below

This clearly shows that the focus of the eye is on the organic search results as well as the top placed PPC results. Measurements of visibility of organic search placement show that attention on placement of a ranking is distributed thus:

Rank 1 - 100%
Rank 2 - 100%
Rank 3 - 100%
Rank 4 - 85%
Rank 5 - 60%
Rank 6 - 50%
Rank 7 - 50%
Rank 8 - 30%
Rank 9 - 30%
Rank 10 - 20%

Compare this with the visibility of right side placed Pay per Click (PPC) listings:

Position 1 – 50%
Position 2 – 40%
Position 3 – 30%
Position 4 – 20%
Position 5 – 10%
Position 6 – 10%
Position 7 – 10%
Position 8 – 10%

As an example, lets use the fairly straight forward but competitive search term”Free UK ISP”. This is a market we have some familiarity with as we run a number of ISP brands.

As you can see, the focus of the eye is very much squarely on the organic results, and the top PPC results. Pleasingly, our brand is the top ranked organic result and it achieves excellent conversion generating excellent revenue.

Research demonstrated by Overture a few years previously showed that achieving a combination of top 3 placement in organic search combined with a top placed PPC add would generate a 93% chance of gaining a click. In this case, Free UK ISP is clearly in a dominant position.

Interaction with Organic Search Results

We should also give consideration as to how searchers interact with the organic search results. Clearly being at the top of the Search Engine Results Pages (SERPs) for your key search terms is the absolute ideal. iProspect research showed that:

1. 81.7% of users will start a new search if they can’t find what they’re looking for in the first 3 pages (typically 30 results).

So, to some extent, it is a myth that if you are not in the top 10 you will receive no visitors - it depends on the quality and relevance of the listing also.

The detail: 22.6% try another search after first few results; a further 18.6% after reviewing the first page (41.2% cumulative); 25% after checking the first two pages (67% cumulative) and 14.6% the first three pages (81.7% cumulative).

2. Users tend to choose the natural search results in preference to the paid-search listings. According to a sample figures for selection of natural search were 60.8% for Yahoo! and 72.3% for Google. This figure increases for experienced users. This suggests that companies who concentrate on paid listings only are limiting their visibility.

3. Over half of Internet users search at least once a day, while around half use search toolbars from one of the main providers, e.g. Google, Yahoo! or MSN.

It is reasonably safe to conclude that not only from a traffic point of view, but also from a brand recognition point of view, it is vitally important to achieve organic search ranking over a variety of key terms.

It is also sensible to look at the relative costs of generating relevant traffic via both Organic Search techniques and also via Pay per Click techniques. As I have previously stated, 84% or UK online marketing spend is via Pay Per Click. The inevitable result is click cost inflation. More people are bidding for the same terms hence the cost of clicks will inevitably rise. We generally find that PPC campaigns are not well handled in that cost of acquisition of clients could generally be significantly lower. Considering the previous example of “Free UK ISP ” as a search term: when a searcher is using a term this brief, it is likely that they are in a “researching phase” as opposed to a “buying phase”. If someone were to use a phrase such as “Free UK ISP with anti-virus ”, they would be much closer to buying and the competition for that click would be much less and therefore cheaper.

Focusing on the benefits of organic search, it must be understand that achieving high ranking in the SERPs takes time and effort. Consider the outline process that needs to be gone through:

• Keyword research: How are your audience searching for your services?
• On Site Optimisation: Ensuring that the site can interact with the various Search Engines
• Indexing: The Search Engines have to look at the content of your site and document it. This can take time
• Generate links to your site: It can take time for someone to put a link on their site that links to yours and then that link has to be found by the Search Engines and accredited to your site.
• SERPs update: The Search Engines update their rankings and view of relevance of a website on a periodic basis and with varying scale of impact.
• Review and refinement: Once SERPs have been established the online marketer needs to constantly modify both onsite and offsite factors effecting SERPs

In summation, it takes time and effort to get seen by search engines, ranked by search engines and then for them to update your positioning in their SERPs. However there are many significant benefits to organic search ranking:

• Clicks are free. You do not pay for someone click on a link to your site
• SERPs tend to persist. Once ranking is established and with reasonable ongoing maintenance, ranking and therefore traffic tends to be maintained.
• Organic ranking techniques tend to exploit the “long tail”. You will naturally develop traffic for search terms you won’t have considered as the content on the site is increasingly regularly indexed.
• There is generally less paid competition in organic search marketing (16% of total online marketing spend). Organic search is generally not well understood by the decision makers in the client organisation therefore they tend not to choose that path leading to click cost inflation via Pay per Click platforms.

Costs Analysis

It is important to understand the difference in how costs apply to PPC and organic search marketing. PPC is an immediate cost. It brings immediate results and can be immediately quantified and analysed. However, traffic stops as soon as payment stops. Organic search marketing is a medium to long term strategy. It does not generate traffic in the short term however, in the medium to long term, positioning will persist and hence the effective cost per relevant click will reduce rapidly realising an excellent Return on Investment. In combination, Organic Search Marketing and PPC are particularly effective in that they propagate the brand and trust; organic results can generate effective presence and traffic on what would be expensive low conversion “head terms” and spend on PPC can be targeted on high conversion low cost “tail terms” hence either reducing overall PPC costs or increasing the efficiency of PPC spend.

Conclusion

Organic Search Marketing is clearly a viable strategy for any organisation wishing to reduce the cost of acquisition of clients over the medium to long term of an online marketing strategy. However, as we increasingly see click cost inflation via Pay per Click services, we anticipate increasing spend and competition in the organic search market. Early adopters are likely to benefit from establishing a leading position.

Simon can be contacted simon@pushon.co.uk for all matters concerning online search marketing

Simon Wharton
Managing Director - PushON Ltd
Making Sense Of Online Marketing