The Thrust eStrategy Blog

Creating content for You Tube

The trend towards using You Tube for "Google type" searches is becoming more and more prevalent, especially among younger age demographics. 

So creating content for You Tube to support your online marketing footprint makes a lot of sense. 

There are many ways to use You Tube in business. Here are several examples:

• You can use a service like Animoto that combines high resolution still images with video (or just photos) to create an MTV-style video. You can view an example for a day spa in Steamboat Springs here.
• You can do a simple video using basic video editing for job hunting. See an example at PamPeretz.com.
• You can use You Tube to advance statistics and your point of view, as evidenced in this You Tube video for Socionomics.
• Having customer testimonials is another way to bring credibility to your company.
• Having a short video introduction from the C.E.O. or other important company executive is another way of extending a personal greeting and putting a personal face on a company.
• Demonstration videos are also gaining popularity. The old adage of a picture is worth a thousand words certainly extends to video.

If you would like help coming up with your own You Tube video, contact Thrust Internet. Thrust helps growing companies with their online marketing and social media programs.

Social Media Monitoring and Dealing with Negative Comments

There are many good systems for social media monitoring these days. Using monitoring to find market opportunities is a positive and productive activity. But what happens when you uncover negative conversations going on about your brand?

Some negative comments can be handled by your customer support team. Other types of problems such as a brand crisis event may require some public relations assistance. You will need to first assess the problem and decide whether a response will draw more attention to the problem than it would have gotten otherwise. We believe that you should always err on the side of responding, but you must weight the attention your response may unnecessarily draw to the matter.

If you decide to respond, remain calm. Becoming angry or defensive won’t help your cause and will likely make matters much worse. Do what you can to fix the problem that led to the negative comments and of course, detail what you will do to make sure it doesn’t happen again.

Responses should be communicated in the same medium in which the feedback was communicated. If it came through Facebook for example, then respond through Facebook.

Here are 4 good guidelines for responding to negative comments:

1. If someone is leaving negative comments about your company, respond promptly in most cases.
2. Be thankful and polite. Don’t escalate the problem with a negative posture.
3. If the comments are not accurate, kindly correct them with the proper information.
4. Thank them for their feedback, and give them your appropriate contact information.

If you remain positive and respectful, you will have a better chance of a positive outcome.

Do you need a good social media monitoring program? Thrust Internet helps growing companies with their social media programs and online marketing. Contact Thrust today.

The 10 Best Web Design Best Practices

We were having a discussion recently with a colleague who is a writer. She asked what were the latest web design best practices. Here's our top of web design best practices.

1. Start with a thorough keyword analysis. Google ranks pages, not web sites. You should have a list of 300-1,000 keywords that you want to rank for. You want to have keywords that you can actually rank for, so using wide, generic terms doesn't make sense. A tool like Wordtracker can help you select keywords and determine a competitive index, which can help you find high-volume, low competition words.
2. Study the competition. Review your competitor's functionality, keywords they're trying to target, and site structure. Then, set out to make your site significantly better.
3. Make sure you can blog. Adding a blog to your site helps you add new content, and if you blog to rank for keywords, can be a huge asset. Blog 3-5 times a week. If you need help with blogging, hire a blogger.
4. Make sure your site is properly structured. Use the right page titles and don't try using too many keywords on one page. You're better off having more pages with highly optimized keywords.
5. Start a link-building campaign. This is one of the key items to high page rankings. Aim to have several high asset links coming to your site. It's hard work and requires remarkable content, but it's worth it.
6. Limit the Flash. In the early days of web site design, Flash ruled. But in today's search environment, actual words are far more important because Google can't read (or rank) Flash.
7. Utilize social media. Add Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter linking icons, and start a social media program. Thrust Internet can help you start a social media plan if you need help.
8. Build a scaleable site with a Content Management System. Use specialized landing pages for PPC campaigns and special campaigns. A Content Management System allows you to edit content from any computer without having to pay expensive IT people.
9. Add new content on a regular basis. Search engines like fresh, relevant content. With a good CMS based site you can easily add new content on a regular basis. Larger sites generally outperform smaller sites.
10. Make sure your url is registered for more than one year. This is another key element. Make sure your domain registration is not set to expire in less than one year, as some search engines will penalize you for this.

Please feel free to add your thoughts to this. If you would like help with your web site, please contact Thrust Internet. We help growing companies with their online marketing and social media programs.

Beginning a social media program

If you're thinking about beginning a social media program, congratulations. It could be one of the best business investments you make, if done properly.

Here are the nuts and bolts on beginning a social media program.

1. Begin with a clear objective. You should know what you want to get out of the program, whether it's getting more Facebook likes, finding ways to bring customers into the door, or adding people to an opt-in mail list.
2. Use Facebook as a starting point. If you have a business, start a separate business page. There are great companies that can help you design a custom page at very reasonable prices, like BrandMyPage.
3. Post some videos on YouTube. They can be easy videos of your service, testimonials, or product demonstrations. We know a great spa in Steamboat Springs that offers Thai massage and has a wonderful video on YouTube. BrandMyPage can help you create a custom background for YouTube.
4. Think about Tweeting. There are some great case studies on restaurants using Twitter to drive business. See this case history here.
5. Foursquare can also drive business if you're a location/destination. Restaurants, coffee shops and bars can all benefit from a Foursquare presence. See a wonderful case study on AJ Bombers here.
6. Use LinkedIn and join some groups. This is a wonderful way to build your network, get referrals and pick up business.
7. Start a Blog. You can hire a blogger to work on your behalf. You should blog consistently 3-5 times a week.
8. Use a monitoring service. You need to be aware of the conversation at all times. An affordable monitoring service is Viral Heat.

Thrust Internet helps growing companies with their online marketing and social media programs. If you would like to find out more, please contact us here.

How to create content for the web in 5 easy steps

Having a larger online footprint should be the goal of any company or job seeker. Here are five easy ways to create new content for the web.

1. Start a Blog. Having a blog is a great way to create content for the web. Plan on blogging 3-5 times a week. Don't have the time? Consider hiring a blogger, but establish your blog objectives first.
2. Write and distribute a Press Release. You can do a social media release using a company like PitchEngine, or go through traditional distribution channels like BusinessWire, PRWeb or PRNewswire.
3. Contact an editor and write an article. This is a great way to create online content, and the links that you include should go a long way in your Search Engine Optimization (SEO) efforts. This can be done with trade journals or your local newspaper. Check the editorial calendar first and contact the editor, giving yourself and the editor plenty of lead time.
4. Create more web content. Generally, a larger web site gives you a better chance to rank for more search terms than a smaller web site. Look at reworking your content with remarkable content. Using a web site platform with a Content Management System (CMS) should be a top consideration so you can add and change copy without having to go through expensive I.T. people.
5. Create your own LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter pages and post frequently. Look at the Facebook opportunity to change the url of your page, using your name or company in the back end of the url. But choose carefully on Facebook, because you only get one chance to do it right.

If you would like help with your online marketing or social marketing programs, contact Thrust Internet. We help growing companies with their online footprint and provide a free consultation to boot.

How to Get Email Lists

With all of the focus on social media marketing today, is opt-in email marketing is still worth pursuing? In our opinion, the answer is ABSOLUTELY YES!

Email marketing done correctly is still considered inbound marketing. This is because your recipients have actually subscribed or chosen to “opt-in.” Think about how powerful this is. You have the opportunity to market to prospects that actual want to receive your emails.

Still not sure about email marketing? Consider these facts:

• Email marketing returned $43.62 for every dollar spent on it in 2009, and is expected to return $42.08 for every dollar spent on it in 2010.  (Direct Marketing Association)
• 89% of retailers cited email is the most mentioned successful tactic overall.  (Forrester Research and Shop.org’s Retailing Online 2009: Marketing Report)
• 67% of subscribers say they've purchased products offline as a direct result of receiving an email from a retail company.  (Epsilon – 2009 Report)

Now that you are no doubt, convinced that you need to include email marketing as a part of your online marketing plan, you will need to know how to get email lists. There are basically two ways to do this. You can do it yourself or you can rent a list.

I almost always prefer the do it yourself method. For one thing, you can be assured that you are in compliance with the anti-spam laws. Secondly, it is cheaper and thus will have a much higher return on investment and little or no risk. If you want some great ideas on how to build your list, read this article from the opt-in email experts at Mail Dog. The article is entitled, 29 List-Building Tactics You Must Know.

If you are going to rent a list, be very careful and make sure that you are renting true subscriber lists. These are generally lists that are derived from publications or other reputable websites. For some great information on this topic, read List Rental is Not Evil, by Scott Hardigree.

If you need help with your email marketing campaigns or in developing your online marketing plan, contact Thrust Internet Sales.

Components of an online marketing plan

Recently, we were asked what are the most important components of an online marketing plan. Here's our top list:

1. Start with a Competitive Review. Look at the land competitive landscape for functionality, keywords and rankings.
2. Look for opportunities for brand & web differentiation. One the competitive review is complete, you should be able to see certain vulnerabilities or functionality that would set the new bar in your category.
3. Develop your list of Keywords. You should have a list of 300-1,000 keywords for your plan, and you should rank them according to search traffic and difficulty.
4. Build Links! This is the most important element for any online marketing program, and also the most difficult. An effective link building program should be the cornerstone of any program.
5. Look at available web site platforms. Find one that has a built-in blog, e-commerce solution (if you're selling anything online), social media integration, and one with a Content Management System (CMS) so you don't have to pay someone to upgrade your site all the time.
6. Put an S.E.O. (Search Engine Optimization) program to work right away. The best place to start is making sure your site if properly structured, then look at your most important keywords, and then start your link building program right away.
7. Build Landing Pages. Make sure you use landing pages for your most important PPC (pay per click campaigns), so you can track the efficacy of your online marketing efforts.
8. Identify Your Marketing Pillars. As part of your plan, identify marketing pillars that will support the brand and company, and look at how these differentiators are communicated on web site, product packaging and press releases.
9. Make Public Relations Part of Your Online Plan. This is great for link building and for creating a promotional calendar of relevant releases.
10. Integrate Social Media Marketing. Using Facebook Twitter, You Tube and LinkedIn for your business is really important. Be sure to build in web functionality to make this easy for you.
11. Have an Affiliate Marketing Review. How can you develop an affiliate marketing program? This could dramatically help you increase sales at little or no cost to you. 
12. Don't forget about Opt-in Email Campaign and Newsletters. These two tools can be accomplished at very little cost, but do require time and commitment.
13. Explore your Podcasting and Video Opportunities. Try to post videos of your products, or demonstrations online. The key is to increase your online footprint.
14. Blog and Tweet frequently. You should be blogging 3-5 times a week. Learn how to use Twitter as well. Blog and tweet around desired keywords.
15. Use social media monitoring. This is critical, as a good monitoring program will let you know what being said in Cyberspace about your company, brand and industry. Not having an ongoing monitoring program is foolhardy.

Thrust Internet helps growing companies with their online marketing and social media programs. For more information, please contact Thrust today for a complimentary evaluation of your business situation.

Using Keywords on Web Sites

This blog will explore how using keywords on web sites actually works. It's for those a bit less experienced.

First off, links and keywords are arguably the two most important elements when it comes to your Google ranking. Since we've covered link building in other blog entries, let's take a look at using keywords on web sites.

Keywords are words that people would use to do a search on Google, and it can be one word, or several. Most keywords are actually several words put together, like "affordable hawaii vacations".

Long tail keywords are phrases that are longer, and get searched less often, but still contain important information that you could rank very highly for. An example of this would be "best rated hawaiian vacation packages". 

How do know which keywords to target? Well, you should do some competitive research to determine the keywords that other companies already use. You can use a tool like WordTracker to help you come up with new keywords.

But, you should also determine the competitive environment as well. Wordtracker uses a pretty cool indexing tool that can tell you what the level of competition is. Ideally, you should target keywords that have a high search volume and lower competition.

Once you determine your list of keywords (you should have 300 to 1,000), you can begin your site optimization by including one to four keywords on each page, and then create remarkable content that other web sites will want to link to.

It's the combination of credible links that are linking to a specific page, along with the content that relates to the search that makes the biggest difference.

It almost always makes sense to start a web optimization program or start the development for a new site with the clear understanding of your most important keywords.

Thrust Internet can help in the process. Thrust helps growing companies with their online marketing and social media programs, and also develops web sites.

Whatever route you go, make keyword development and link building two of your top priorities.

25 Tips for Online Marketing in a free eBook

Thrust Internet recently released a new eBook covering the 25 tips for online marketing. The book is available as a complimentary download here.

The book covers several key areas, including:

• The difference between inbound and outbound marketing
• The use of keywords on your web site
• How often to blog and why it's important
• Why Facebook is critical to your business
• The best ways to use Twitter
• Why social media monitoring cannot be ignored
• The use of web analytics
• The best ways to use LinkedIn and why it is important
• How You Tube is changing the way you market
• The ins and outs of e-mail marketing

Designed for the small or medium sized business, the ebook covers 25 full tips, and has been downloaded for easy access.

The authors, Rob Newton and John Peretz, are experts in the area of online entrepreneurial sales, and have a wide range of experience across several business categories. 

"We wanted to really provide the growing companies who believe in what the Internet can do with relevant information," commented Rob Newton. "If I had this when I first started my online efforts, it would have saved me a lot of time and money."

Together, Rob Newton and John Peretz formed Thrust Internet to help emerging companies with their online marketing and social marketing programs. They can be reached at this link.

Analytics Help – Creating Context

This is part of a multi-part series on web analytics help for beginners. While we will focus on the basics in this series, I believe even more experienced users will find some useful information along the way.

When analyzing your traffic avoid focusing on a single metric. Pageviews for example really don’t tell you much by themselves.

When you look at pageviews in context with other metrics you can start to get a clearer picture. For example, looking at the bounce rate tells you that half of the visitors to this page left without viewing another page.

Looking at how a page performs as compared to the site average can also provide actionable information. In the example below you can see that this page provides over 28% of all of the page views.

You can also look at performance compared to a period of time. The example below shows that the page has 20% less visits than last week and people are spending 10% less time on the page. You can also quickly note that the bounce rate has doubled since last week, an obvious red flag.

So putting data into context can help us to ask the right questions and then act on the information so that we can improve site performance and increase sales and profits.

If you need analytics help, contact Thrust today.