Search Engine Marketing Strategy
These pages are not intended to duplicate the wealth of information available on the web that describes how to do search engine marketing and design. This site provides in-depth how-to steps for optimizing a web site (site architecture, design, marketing and promotion), along with free tools, with a special focus on designing for promotion, especially as these items are concerned with the marketing launch of a new web site or product.We have spent a great deal of time gathering information on how to design web sites with search engine marketing in mind. In sifting through the information, it became obvious that everybody had a particular view of one part of the beast, but that nobody had described the entire internet creature -- certainly nobody described internet search engine marketing as an integral part of the design process. Promotion was viewed as a part of the launch, but not as a part of design.
That fact alone causes the consulting business to prosper.
Let's start with you. Since you are here there is a good chance that you already have a product, and wish to maximize the launch. Downside: if you cannot successfully launch your product you become one of the thousands of companies littering the webscape with their great but unrealized potential. Upside: you become a brand name with a sought after product resulting in wealth and fame. Right now the choice is still yours. This is where you will make it or break it. Now or never. And you cannot afford to do search engine marketing wrong if you choose to be a winner.
The overall eCommerce transaction process involves:
- Attracting prospects to a web site (aka search engine marketing)
- that is properly designed to encourage visitors to browse (aka Web Site Design),
- leads the visitor to a completed transaction by offering products easily and without undue complexity (aka Web Site Navigation), and
- addresses concerns (perceived risks) that can scare off the potential buyer if left unanswered (aka risk avoidance).
Completing an eCommerce transaction is like buying a house. First, you visit a realtor and scan thru books with descriptions if properties, look at flyers with descriptions, or maybe just discuss some new addition to their inventory. This is very much like scanning search engine results, ezine articles, or reading press releases. They are all external to the actual property and as promotion pieces describe something in terms that you may care about. From this promotional material you make a list and go to visit the property. On the web you would view search engine marketing materials and "click here".
Second, you drive to the property with the realtor to see what it looks like. Sometimes, before the car even stops you will say "no, not this one" and drive off. Other times you will stop and take a look. This is often referred to as "curb appeal" -- the property appears to match your needs. On the web, this is usually the first impressions of your home page from the perspective of the visitor, not you. Does it meet their need? Does it offer a solution they seek? Does it "hook" their curiosity? The average home page loads in 48 seconds but the average visitor leaves in 35 seconds. Over 80% of all visitors visit only one page. (Check your server logs now, you may be doing even worse.) Does this tell you something? So, another component along side of searchengine marketing is to build a compelling home page that addresses the visitors needs and wants without having to scroll, and absolutely presents text in under 20 seconds. As you can see web site design is critical or your site message may not even be read.
Third, now that the realtor has shown you a property that seems to be what you like (at least from the curb), you want to go inside and see if it solves your problems. On the web, this is navigation, content, value-statements, a process to allow the visitor to buy without undue complexity, and a way to answer any last minute questions so that they will not abandon their acquisition over a minor issue. Let the human factor (when needed) contribute to the sale. Search engine marketing gets the initial interest, but the website makes the sale.
Properly done this will take a visitor and allow them to become a customer.
Most sites do not do these steps properly. According to ActivMedia, the average Web site earns less than $1,000 per month. You should do better.
But let's start at the beginning....
Considerations:
This section pulls together thoughts (in the form of an annotated checklist) about the process of taking an unknown product to the masses as a winner. It is probably too late to change the product for this launch, but it is important that you consider some web site design criteria for future releases. Given that you have the product in a reasonably releasable state, have invested significant time and energy in developing that product, and are looking for only launch information, that will be the focus of this section.
Do you have any intent to sell your product yourself?
This is a serious question. Many product development organizations are great at the design and development of market-driven products, but they cannot sell their own product. There are business models in existence that recommend that you take your product to a large company with retail shelf presence and "sell" them the sales rights. These partners will typically commit to 25,000 units at approximately 5% to 15% plus Cost of Goods of wholesale, if they will even commit to anything. And you will probably be paid on Net 60 terms after the end of each calendar quarter. On a $100 retail product, you would get $3.75 plus your material costs times 25000 units, or about $100,000 profit. How much did you say you spent to develop this product in time, money and expertise? Lets assume that this is not your choice or you would not be at this site.
Do you have any intent to sell this product through a traditional retail channel?
Here is the problem: traditional retail stores won't acquire products directly from a start-up. If you have other successful products on their shelf, and if you can demonstrate that you have a big bank account (so that you can refund for returned goods), then they may offer your products. But that is very rare during a product launch period. The retail stores you want and need are typically on contract with major distribution outlets, themselves often billion-dollar businesses. For a company to get a contract with these distributors takes money and time, and you probably can't afford to participate in enough marketing programs (depending upon the product this could be easily over $100,000) or take the six months necessary to get onto their price list. The best time to get onto their list is when you are already a success (have their stores asking them for your product), and since you are in a launch stage with no market presence this is not in today's formula. So, lets assume that this is not your first choice.
Have you decided to sell this product via the Web?
Important - please read this overview to Web Marketing.
There are several advantages to a web site sales effort, not the least of which is cost and control. But the steps necessary are similar to opening any store. It is clear that the product cannot be sold in retail until you have made it at least somewhat successful. Make sure that this chance does not stall at the starting blocks.
Also, if you decide to sell this product on the Web, it is important to consider your direct and hidden costs. Designing, building, and "putting up" a web site will cost a few thousand dollars, with a small but professional commercial site starting at about $5000, and a 20 page site starting at about $9000 and going up from there. Obviously, doing it yourself can save a lot of money. At the very high end, Amazon.com spent over $20,000,000 on Web presence in their first year. Web development costs include your time and energy, as well as consulting fees paid to professional Web site designers.
In addition to these fees there is the cost of monthly site hosting, typically a few hundred dollars per year. Then there is the biggie -- the fact that it can cost an average of $9,000 to $90,000 per year to maintain your site on a daily-ish basis. Large sites hire their own Webmasters, so these sites obviously spend towards the top end of this curve. Small sites either do it themselves (poor choice unless you spend a lot of time on the Web for other business reasons) or hire part-time consultants to provide Webmaster services. So the question becomes one of your time, aptitude, and desire to design and maintain your own site. If you choose to do it yourself, be prepared to spend a lot of daily time in the care-and-feeding of your site. On the average, with some content update and revision, plus improving presentation, allow 10% of the development time each month for the care and feeding of your site. If it took 100 hours to build it, then allow 10 hours per month to maintain it.
Remember, your web site is a tool to generate business, and any time spent away from your core business expertise to maintain your tool (especially if you are not a web expert) is probably time poorly spent. If you choose to subcontract to a consultant, be prepared to spend real money for these services. If you choose to do neither, or cut back on the site maintenance, be prepared to have a site that is at best average, and probably not even that. The winning sites take constant care. If you are not ready to commit to that level of support, then decide now that your site is "just for presence" and forget using it to generate serious revenue. We suggest a quick review of our Design and Development page.
Web Scenario - and money is no object:
Contract with a great Consultant and empower them to orchestrate the entire process. This is like planning a wedding except in a month instead of many months. Since your ability to sell your product is dependant upon this launch, you would always involve an expert to have it perfect if you could afford it. But be prepared to spend at least $5,000 for an initial launch.
Web Scenario - and money is tight:
Contract with a great Consultant and produce a list of tasks. Most consultants will customize the launch to fit your product and needs. Many of these tasks will be suitable for implementation and follow-up by your staff, while some are best left to the consultant or their sub-contractors. Discuss this with the Contractor - it will be a great way to save money and to keep informed of the details of the process. If you review most web service businesses, they focus on tasks instead of the entire picture. If you knew all that was needed, you could orchestrate this launch yourself instead of using a Consultant. Provided that you know what was needed and where to look for the right sub-contractors. To be safe, let us assume that you will use a consultant to manage the launch and that you will be doing some tasks under their direction.
Assign competent staff to perform your tasks. Under the leadership of the Consultant, your staff will be directed to perform many of these tasks in a specific way. This is a very specific team relationship between the Consultant and your staff, and communication is key to making this work economically.
Empower the Consultant to do the rest and you will find that the process will be completed successfully.
Web Scenario - no money at all:
Be creative. The following checklist, adapted to your specific product and market, will need to be done to the best of your ability. However, several of these items are quite complex and requires specific skills. Consulting is the right solution, and for the right product, some consultants (us included) may be willing to work part time for expenses plus equity. It sure beats losing. But if you need to launch now and without a Consultant, proceed.....
In any case, it is prudent to assume that it will take months to design a competent web site and to promote it properly. If you are looking for a positive cash flow from the Web in under six months, you will probably be disappointed. We suggest that you have patience with this project, that you have staying power (financially), and that you be dedicated to properly implementing a successful Web strategy. It is not uncommon for a site to take over a year to generate a living for the small business owner doing it themselves, so have a backup plan at all times!
Checklist:
Most of these items are discussed in the web site " Promotion Tactics & Tools" section, but this section explains why you do these steps.
It is critical that you spend time on the Web. If you do not actually see what your competition is doing, or try to locate a lot of varied topics, you will have difficulties grasping the scale of the following projects. You should be Web educated anyway, and this is the best first step!
The average web surfer consumes information at a record pace, they have a lot of time for amusement, they hunt for free items packed full of curiosity value, they will tell you about themselves whenever and if you can make it worth their while, and they are as blunt as they come in telling you exactly what they think about your product. They know that you want their business, that you want to impress them, and that they are in the drivers seat. And you thought this was going to be easy!
Determine What You Have To Sell
This should be obvious, if you are into a product launch, you should at least know what your features are and have the appropriate pre-launch documentation available.
Determine Who Already Needs What You Have To Sell
You should have a pretty good idea about what the potential users of your product want and need, and how "on target" your product is to this need. Selling a solution to satisfy that need is far easier than selling the need and then selling the solution. As a result, it is up to you to clearly describe your product, not in terms of how great you think it is, but rather in terms of "what is in it for the user" -- why should they buy your product. Make this message clear to enough people, and they will want your product. Especially if you present your product in a way that motivates the viewer emotionally, and they end up feeling that they must have what you are selling. search engine marketing and design must be integrated to achieve this objective.
It has been said that the biggest reason web products fail is that either the product is wrong for the web, the seller loves their product too much to adapt it to the web, or the seller does not have a differentiated offering. It is clear that the seller must believe in their product and also be committed to this project for a long time, but they must also be willing to change their product vision to meet the needs of the consumer.
Determine What They Will Pay For What You Have To Sell
This is a specific exercise that requires that you do a lot of business calculations of costs, fees, and margins. In most cases you know what your minimum price should be. But what the consumer will pay may be an entirely different matter. By comparing your product features (and brand name) to your best selling competition, and your price to theirs, you should have an idea about what the market will pay for your product. IF ZERO, STOP - THE WEB WON'T HELP!
Use These Web Site Design Principles:
- It must showcase the need that your product addresses (public interest)
- It must showcase the solution that you are offering.
- It must provide instant gratification (for information and access to the solution).
- It must provide appropriate and timely information (in images and words) to allow the visitor to make a decision. Help them to decide that your product meets their needs.
- Allow the visitor to buy your product (or, if a service, allow them to contact you).
- Allow for easy information requests if questions arise anytime, day or night. Always respond promptly!
- Consider techniques for counting visitors and have a demographics collection process (newsletter registration or perhaps a Guest Book or equivalent) for capturing visitor name and email information.
- Change the site often (at least once per week) to give users a reason to visit again and again.
- Consider offering a "gift" to visitors (free is best, perhaps a contest) to have them tell their friends to visit your site. Word of mouth is a powerful tool. We have our own "tell-two-friends" referral script on our site.
- Have the site be "High Class". Curb appeal is important in determining if you want surfers to stop and visit. Opinions will be formed early about whether the customer wants to do business with you. Plan improvements.(Regardless of what you may think, every site on the Web is under construction all of the time). Make sure that your web site design does not violate any taboos.
- Design for the masses. Do not use exceptionally advanced technology unless that is your product. The Web is still connected to a lot of slow computers, and many do not operate on the latest Netscape or Internet Explorer products. Keep it simple and still meet your web site design and promotion goals. The toys must be appropriate to the mission of your web site.
These are guidelines to making sure your site is reasonable. But remember, the content of your site is the key. You must compel your visitor to stay, learn, and eventually do business with you. As with a direct mail piece, you must "hook" your viewer within seconds of their arrival, or they will be gone forever. This is marketing, pure and simple. This is NOT just web site design, nor is it only search engine marketing, and it is certainly not cloning a neat page from another industry. You cannot afford to be a "me too" site if you want to effectively utilize the power of the web as a sales tool.
Obtain A Domain Name And Site Host (ISSP)
Like it or not, this is more than just a service provider. Even if you have plans to operate on your own computers connected to a high-speed link, this should initially be at an Internet Server Solution Provider (ISSP) facility. It can always be moved. Ask your Consultant who is the most responsive to their needs. As for obtaining a domain name, this is easy and is available for minimal fees (Registration is between $40 to $70 for two years depending on the service used). As for site hosting, reliability and customer service is key, especially since there are many sites offering hosting at under $25.00 per month for entry-level services. For serious takers wanting top search engine ranking for competitive terms we require dedicated IP numbers for each URL promoted, raising this fee but worth the investment.
Search Engine Marketing Through Links (Search Engines, etc)
This is able to be done easily, although the finishing touches and fine tuning is a labor intensive process. Later I offer a section for search engine marketing Tactics and Tools -- but finish this page first.
Search Engine Marketing Through Public Relations
This is tough. The ability to produce a well worded press release, then the ability to distribute it to the right people, and then the ability to get it to become news are three different skills. I suggest that this "free press" comes with a cost (production and distribution) and that you should plan on about $250 per page per press release plus costs associated with printing, samples, photographs or images, and (in some cases) postage. These costs for a personalized campaign will be much higher. We always prefer to have it hand-crafted to the specific individual receiving the announcement by an agent these editors already know since the return on investment is much, much higher.
The key advice here is that the press release must be differentiated from the thousands of others in your category. For instance, advising the world of a new site is not particularly newsworthy. Advising the world of "the formation of a special association, club, or group that offers [something really special]..., visit at...." is far more newsworthy, and will likely get the attention of editors and get your release some attention. Editors really love a press release that helps them to do their jobs easier - so write the release well and make it print-ready. No fluff.
Search Engine Marketing Through Banners and Print Media
Along with Search Engines, this is the biggest drawing card that you will get to cause traffic to your Web site. It is critical that this program be done properly. Without visitors, your Web program will fail. This program requires a Consultant to be highly effective. To have something basic to generate some traffic is easy, and with the proper tools you can do this at home. To have a great program generate great traffic takes special skills.
Most Web advertising agencies advocate the use of the Web as a "branding" and "sales starter" tool. Web advertising is an extension of your current marketing and advertising programs, but it is not the same. We feel that while it is smart business to properly advertise on the Web, it is only effective if the goal is increased commercial commerce. Running a Web advertising program to give away free content is usually not a good thing. So, if you are considering your site to be a revenue generation activity, make sure that your advertising is focused on bottom-line revenue deliverables instead of simply image. Make sure it is able to be measured, and make real sure it is profitable.
Simply put, the consumer must have a need and demonstrate a willingness to fill that need before advertising is effective. If the content is desired by consumers, and if the technology to deliver that content in an effective and concise manner is in widespread use, then you have access to consumers. And given a large available consumer base desiring your content, products, and services, then advertising makes sense. But you cannot create a need with advertising, you can only offer to fill a need that already exists.
Search Engine Marketing Through Strategic Relationships And Reciprocal Links
Every time you visit a Web site that caters to the same market as your product, contact that site and suggest a cross-link. An example is that visitors to Peanut Butter would be interested in Jelly, even though the products are quite different. Find sites that do not compete, but that are related, and invite a cross-link relationship. Reciprocal links are very powerful, and are generally easy to arrange.
Search Engine Marketing Through Email Discussion Groups And News Groups
Listen carefully - never sell your product in any way or form in a newsgroup or discussion group. You join these groups to obtain information about what the market needs, and to keep an eye out for new ideas and competition, not to sell your product. And always, if it has a product name in it, respond only and directly to the person posting the question or to the list manager. This is a sensitive area, but it is worth your time to join a few groups.
Search Engine Marketing Through A Bulk Email Program (Careful!)
Okay, so direct mail works great in real life but the Web is different. Or is it? Depending upon the product, and the offer, and the way email is worded, and the service used, bulk email can be either great or a disaster. And if you do not choose to use a service, that does not mean that you cannot send out fifty emails per day on your own in a person-to-person manner. But this is a very emotional issue (your opinion doesn't count - only the opinion of the recipient of the email matters), and one that only the recipient can answer. Properly done, this can be a powerful program.
Measure Progress And Change Only One Thing At A Time
This is a rule. Change too many things (even two things) and the results cannot be tracked back to either change. How do you identify what works best for your target market if you change too many things at the same time? Market testing is like product testing. Isolate each stimulus and response to see what works and what doesn't.
Proceed to Search Engine Promotion Tactics and Tools Page
As we stated earlier, no web site is ever finished. It takes years of evolution to get it right, and unless you stop offering new services, the change is perpetual. Go back and improve based upon what you have learned, and the response that you have gotten.
In many cases, and depending upon the structure of your Web site, this may generate leads and inquiries or orders for your products. If you are considering taking orders, look into alternatives such as third-party full featured Malls. The placement into the proper stores (if this is your choice) is important, and requires research.
Obviously, we feel that it is prudent and of high value to involve a Consultant to review your plans in these areas. But we feel that many can accomplish great things themselves. We continue to offer substantial free advice in our Promotion Tactics and Tools page.
When you are ready for the next section, click here.
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