The Cheap Revolution

Review of Hubspot's Inbound Marketing System – An Entrepreneur’s Perspective

A brief history of Hubspot

After meeting at MIT in 2006, Hubspot’s founders created a digital search marketing platform designed to leverage the disruptive effects of the Internet to enable businesses to “get found”.  Just five years later, Hubspot.com ranks as a top 1000 Web Site globally and is in the top 350 most trafficked sites in the US per Alexa. 

I started using Hubspot a few years ago as part of my digital marketing business.  After watching a demo of the tool's capabilities, we decided to try using Hubspot within our company.  We quickly introduced it to some of our entrepreneurial clients as well.   I don't use Hubspot in my Philadelphia marketing consulting business today.  I'll explain why later, but first... 

Our Hubspot Review

In this review of the Hubspot platform, we explore what Hubspot does and how a startup or small business may benefit from using their software.

Hubspot’s message is all about Inbound marketing, a term Hubspot has rallied into a brand phrase.  What does Inbound Marketing do?   It allows you to turn your Website into a lead generation tool for customers.

What is HubSpot?

When I started using Hubspot, the central tools revolved around on-site organic search optimization.   The tool would help you discover a dynamic list of keywords that you could attempt to capture with your site optimization efforts.   You were able to track your competition's performance on those keywords as well, providing valuable insight into how their website's were positioned.   Coupled with the website evaluation tools, you were able to quickly optimize a site for organic search traffic.

The Hubspot platform seeks to take the realm of organic search and digital marketing out of the hands of the Internet marketing insider and put it into the hands of the entrepreneur or small business owner.  It has numerous marketing tools and tricks that allow a business owner to:

• Optimize keyword content on blog posts
• Track visitors and user engagement
• Analyze social media feeds
• Create and manage email marketing
• Nurture web leads
• View reports that measure the effectiveness of your marketing

Hubspot also supports their platform with a variety of training and advice.  They have webinars, downloadable white papers, community forums and conferences that support the Inbound Marketing experience. 

Indeed, you can tell Hubspot eats their own dog food. They offer free eBooks to their customer base on how to improve their marketing initiatives as a way to capture leads. A few worth nothing are:

• The Ultimate How-to Marketing Guide 
• Twitter for Business 
• How to Monitor Your Social Media Presence in 10 Minutes a Day
• 100 Awesome Marketing Stats, Charts, and Graphs 
• 101 Awesome Marketing Quotes

How HubSpot Works

Hubspot provides six categories of marketing software capabilities:

1. Search Optimization – Hubspot’s first priority is to get your business found in search engines.  Helping your business to optimize its digital presence for the search engines like Google, Yahoo and Bing is where Hubspot got started.  When I used Hubspot, I was impressed with the ocean of keyword data that I could sort through.   Hubspot helps you with finding the best keywords for your business, prioritize them and use them effectively on your Web site.  
2. Blogging & Social Media – Social and Search work closely together today with personalized searching that draws on  the rapid growth of people’s social networks. Hubspot provides the tools for integrating blogging and social media monitoring, as well as  analytics  for both, into  your marketing efforts.  
   OTHER OPTIONS: If blogging is a central part of your digital strategy, bloggers may want to consider the popular Wordpress blogging platform.  While it’s nice to have everything in one place with Hubspot, the number of plug-ins and the broad community support make tools like Wordpress a must-have tool for serious blogging strategy.
3. Lead Generation and
4. Lead Management  - These two categories fall into the realm of the digital marketers' secret weapon of conversion optimization.   If you are serious about getting quality business leads from your website and social media presence, you must pay attention to where visitors are landing when they come to your site.  Application of best practices can dramatically improve your number of leads! Hubspot tools allow non-technical business owners to optimize the “Landing Pages” and to track exactly what people did when they visited your site.   Before you call the lead back, wouldn’t it be nice to know which pages they read, which videos they viewed or which whitepapers they downloaded.  Hubspot tells you all of that and more, making it a powerful lead nurturing platform.
5. Email & Automation  - like blogging, if you are looking for a “one stop shop” then you may want to consider Hubspot.  However, the areas of Email Marketing and Lead Nurturing have really matured in the past few years and, depending on your needs,  you might be better served by email marketing alternatives like Constant Contact, iContact or Mailchimp.   Lead Nurturing giants like Eloqua, Marketo, and Pardot are worth considering as well.
6. Marketing Analytics – Hubspot’s analytics are organized and focused on driving sales for your business.  Understanding ROI by marketing activities and channels, running comparison tests (A/B analysis) and which channels get the best leads are organized into Hubspot’s “ full-funnel view closed-loop reporting”.  This is a results-driven marketer’s dream!  

Once again, there are big dogs that only do analytics like Google Analytics or Adobe Omniture, but those systems require someone who knows those platforms to craft the equivalent “conversion funnels” and channel analysis. Compared to Hubspot, those platforms are going to provide a broader range of analytics capability, but Hubspot trumps them on providing easy access to the most important numbers.

HubSpot in Real Life

While I used to employ Hubspot for my marketing clients and my company, we used it to manage landing pages and do our SEO research.   More recently, I've come across companies who use Hubspot for the analytics and the drip marketing capabilities.  Given the rich set of features, there are endless combinations of approaches to using HubSpot.  

Did it work?   Take a look at this graph of a client we launched using Hubspot for landing page optimization and search engine optimization.  

Using HubSpot, we helped this client grow their monthly traffic from zero to 15,000 in roughly six months, including a comparable growth in leads. 

We stopped using HubSpot when our client's using HubSpot took their marketing in-house.  From a digital agency perspective, that kind of sucked.  From the entrepreneur's perspective, this was empowerment - and they took full advantage of it.   

We kept HubSpot around for a while, but it requires a monthly fee and, THIS IS IMPORTANT, it requires ongoing attention and time to work.   When we stopped using HubSpot in late 2010, our small band of merry marketers did not have the time to justify the monthly expense.  But the lesson here is that someone - whether an outside agency or your internal team - must be willing to invest the required effort to use HubSpot and keep abreast of their latest additions to the toolkit.

If you're willing to make the investment of time and aren't afraid of the monthly investment (see Pricing below), then HubSpot is worth checking out.  Friend and colleague David Newman of DoItMarketing provided this review of how he walks the walk and talks the talk with Hubspot. 

Hubspot has totally lit up our visibility to our target market, independent consultants and small professional services firm owners who want to grow. We are now much more findable, visible, and credible. We get between 3-4 leads per day through our Hubspot-powered website AND in addition to that, we get several leads each week via email and phone from people saying, "I just found your site and I'm calling to see how you might be able to help us." Working on both sides of the fence (we are also a Hubspot Certified Partner), it is now very easy to share the value with our prospects and clients because we were the first to "eat our own dog food" and we continue to invest in our own inbound marketing efforts as we help our clients do the same!

If you have the technical and business skills to use an online bill payment system (e.g. from your bank),  online accounting system (e.g. Quickbooks) or navigate an online portfolio (.e.g from The Vanguard Group or Fidelity), then you can use Hubspot.  Some Hubspot capabilities will require an investment of time to be able to use them productively, but there are a host of educational resources from Hubspot.  

Hubspot support ranges across online videos, white papers, best practices seminars and an active and responsive community of marketers using the platform.   It is an exceptionally well-supported product.

Why You Should Care About Using HubSpot

Bottom line: if you are a marketer for your company, this is the most cost effective way I know of to get multi-channel, agency-level marketing help with a DIY  approach.   If you can run an email marketing program, or can get around Quickbooks, then you can use Hubspot.

Using HubSpot requires an investment of time and money - and it requires you to adopt the HubSpot methodology and platform for a lot of what you do.  Some companies, particularly larger ones, are better served by a collection of best-in-class tools.  I believe HubSpot is best suited to startups and smaller businesses. 

Try it out and let us know how it worked for you. You can get your free trial by signing up here.

HubSpot Pricing

HubSpot has a monthly fee.  As an entrepreneur, this is a strategic investment that you'll need to carefully consider.  For entrepreneurs, you can get started with the Basic, Professional or Enterprise version with $200/month up to $700/month.  

What’s the difference? 

The more advanced levels provide advanced interaction and lead nurturing techniques like A/B testing and custom lead scoring.  These are tools that you can adopt over time.   The Basic package has all of the core offerings and provides an excellent Inbound Marketing starting point.

 

Pricing captured from Hubspot site (www.hubspot.com/pricing) on 01/22/2012.

Even if the pricing doesn't work for you, there are a number of free resources from Hubspot.  Consider checking out the Hubspot Grader for a free Web Site assessment.

In Summary: Our HubSpot Review Conclusion

While HubSpot is straightforward to learn and use for the do-it-yourself marketer, it does require a serious investment of time.  In effect, you are in-sourcing your digital marketing agency.  Be ready to get to work!  If you do, the results can be dramatic. 

If you are using Hubspot, please include your experience in the comments below.   We want to hear your stories – good and bad!   By leaving your experience, you benefit the whole community of entrepreneurs reading this review of Hubspot.

- Skip Shuda

Note: This Review of the HubSpot marketing platform contains affiliate links which may provide the CheapRevolution.com with  compensation.  If you find this blog helpful, please patronize our advertisers using the links you find on the site. 

Using Webinars to Grow Your Business

 

Whether you’re a multi-national corporation or an aspiring entrepreneur, webinars can play an instrumental part in reaching your target market and growing your business. They provide a platform for you to engage with your core audience and allow you to showcase your expertise to your target market at the convenience of you and the listener.  You can easily record webinars and post them online so that your audience can listen to them whenever and wherever. You can let your users help you promote your brand by encouraging them to share the webinar on their social media channels.  In this post, we’ll talk about webinar best practices, and provide a comparison of the best webinar platforms online.

 

Webinar Best Practices:

An Enticing Webinar Title : The title of your webinar is just as important if not more important than the content itself. An enticing title will attract prospective attendees to learn more about the webinar and your services. Without a compelling title,  you will lose the opportunity to entice your core audience. If you need a source for inspiration, try Richard Bayan's Words That Sell.

A hot topic in your field: Choose a topic that has staying power and will be relevant in a month's time. Look into seasonal trends within your industry to find a topic that your audience is interested in.  The topic should help your audience learn a new skill, become better informed about a certain field, or improve use and understanding of a product. 

For example, if you’re in the gourmet food industry, a great educational webinar in the summer would be "How to Make your own Olive Oil Gelato."  If you are a yoga instructor, a great webinar topic on healthy living could be “Is Yoga Enough to Keep you Fit? How to Create a Healthy Lifestyle.” Marketing companies can capitalize on the Google Plus new release and discuss how businesses can leverage it.

Ease of Understanding v. Complexity : Because the success of your webinar hangs on your audience retaining the webinar in one sitting, the topic must find the right balance between being understood easily while being intriguing. Since your audience is investing their time in you, you want your audience to feel smarter than they were 15 minutes ago. Always include time for a Q&A session at the end to provide them the chance to have their questions answered by you or your speaker.

Don’t assume the webinar is going to market itself: Take the time to develop a plan on how you’re going to get promote the webinar to your target market. We found a great list on this post.

 

Webinar Platforms:

 1.      GoToWebinar - One of the most well-known solutions.

Features: Allow the host to create a registration page and invitation emai to send, branded with your Company logo. Some of its core features include the audio conference by phone and the computer, full desktop or specific application sharing, recording, drawing tools, chat, etc. You can also submit post webinar surveys. And GoToWebinar automatically sends out follow up emails to attendees. This platform provides support for the most attendees of the platforms we surveyed.  So if you anticipate big audiences, GoToWebinar may be your option. It is compatible on PCs and Macs.

Price: All plans offer a 30-day free trial. The smallest plan allows for up to 15 attendees at $49/month. $99 per month for up to 100 participants, $399 per month for up to 500 participants, or $499 per month for up to 1,000 participants. Each plan has a corresponding annual pricing plan which comes out to be 20% cheaper.

 2.      Budget Conferencing

Features:  Pay as you go service plans ranging from basic services to operator assistance for each event. Capacity for thousands of attendees at no additional charge, mp3 audio file download is available for participants (at an additional cost).

Price: 12 cents per minute for standard webinar features, 18 cents per minute for one dedicated operator, or 24 cents per minute for multiple operators.

3.      Adobe Connect

Features: Connects to your mobile and tablet. In addition, Connect helps you manage and plan your webinars. They also have great customer service. 

Price: $55 per month per host for up to 25 participants (I had to call them for a price check since the price is not easy to find on their website). The annual contract is $540 which comes out to $45 per month per host.

 4.      MyMeeting123

Features: File Sharing. Money back guarantee within the first 14 days of use. Cancel anytime and get refunded on the unused months.

Price: $209.85 for 3 months, $419.70 for 6 months, or $755.40 for 12 months (10% off for yearly subscription). All plans host up to 100 participants (including host).

 5.      Intercall

Features: Integrates with MSN Messenger, Lotus, and MS Office Communicator Messenger.  Free iPhone, Android, and Blackberry app.

Price: $42 per month for up to 20 participants or use the pay as you go plan at $.17 per minute. The pay as you go plan can host up to 125 participants.  

6.      Yugma

Features: Yugma integrates with Skype so you can invite your Skype contacts to meetings and share your screen with them. The Yugma A plan contains audio conferencing while the other plans do not. 

Price: Webinar registration is $19.95 per month or $199.50 annually on top of the price of the plan that you choose. The price depends on the number of participants allowed in a webinar. Plans range from 2 participants at no charge or up to 500 participants for $159.95 per month or $1599.50 annually.

7.      Maestro Conference

Features: Participants can share the webinar link to their peers on   Facebook. The "green room" provides a private chat room for webinar staff to coordinate prior to the event.

Price:  $47 per month for up to 50 lines, $97 per month for up to 100 lines, or $187 per month for up to 200 lines. Contact the sales department for a quote if you are interested in adding more than 200 lines.

Already a pro? Let us know what webinar program you use and how webinars have impacted your business. If you're a webinar vendor, feel free to leave additional comments or clarifications on your product.

Photo credit to the Missouri League for Nursing

 

Content is King – SEO Best Practices

If you want your Website to rank high on major search engines such as Google, your best shot is to develop a list of targeted keywords and then build specific WebPages with content focusing on these keywords.  SEO is done best before the Webpage is built; first you develop the strategy then implement by developing a targeted Webpage focused on your targeted keywords.

Step 1 – Keyword Research
Develop a targeted keyword list.  Once you develop your targeted keyword list you need to use a keyword research tool to research how often these terms are being searched and will also give you other suggestions of keywords that you may want to target.  There are plenty of free tools available, just do a search on any major search engine for keyword research tool.

Step 2 – Content Development
Build individual WebPages that target the better performing keywords on your list.  The content of the Webpage should target the keyword phrase you chosen for that Webpage, mentioned three to five times within the page copy.  It is also very beneficial to title the page using your chosen keyword phrase inside of a H1 style tag.  This will tell Google and the other major search engines that the chosen keyword phrase is what the Webpage is focused. 

Your Meta content which includes your Meta title, Meta description and Meta keywords should focus on the targeted keyword phrase.  Your Meta title and Meta description is what will appear on the search results page.  Both needs to include your targeted keyword phrase.  It is usually best to mention your targeted keyword or keyword phrase twice in your Meta title.  For example “Philadelphia Bankruptcy Lawyer – Bankruptcy Lawyer in Philadelphia”.

Step 3 – Linking
In order to maximize your chances of receiving high search engine rankings for the targeted keyword phrases you have chosen to target, you need to have both internal links pointing to this page and external links pointing to this Webpage.  The internal link should come from your homepage and any other page that Google has indexed.  The name of the link should be the targeted keyword phrase if possible, such as “Bankruptcy Lawyer”.

It will be very beneficial to gain external links pointing to the specific Webpage that you are targeting.  This is referred to as deep linking.  You can submit this deep link to some directories that allow deep linking.  Some directories only allow you to link to your homepage or will charge a fee for a deep link.  It may be worth $5 for this deep link. Make sure that the name of the link is descriptive and uses your targeted keyword phrase; “Bankruptcy Lawyer in Philadelphia”. 

You also need to develop external content in the form of articles and press releases.  Write value added articles focusing on the keyword phrases that you are targeting.  These articles should not promote your business or Website or the article directory will not accept the article.  It is very important to write an article that brings value to the person reading it.  You can add some direct deep links within the article pointing to your targeted Webpage.  It is important that the link names are keyword driven.  If you are writing an article on bankruptcy law, you can add a link within the article to your Webpage using a keyword phrases such as “bankruptcy law” or “bankruptcy lawyer”. 

Each article directory has its own rules when it comes to how many links you can add to an article.  Some allow zero link backs, while other article directories will allow three or more link backs.  All article directories will allow you to link to your Webpage from a resource area below the content of the article.  Make sure the link name is keyword driven “Philadelphia Bankruptcy Lawyer”.  It is typically free to submit your article to article hubs.  Do a search for top article hubs or top article directories to find a list to submit your articles.

It is also very beneficial to write a press release focusing on the keyword phrases you are targeting.  You will need to hire a company to send out your press release to the appropriate News Websites such as Yahoo and Google news.  There will be a fee for this service which varies greatly between press release submission services, depending on many variables.  You should research your choices and go with what will work best for your business.

Article written by Jason Lomberg, the SEO strategist for Philly Marketing Labs

Optimize your Website for Local Search – Part 2

Part 1 of this installment focused on local business listings and optimizing your Pay per Click campaigns to maximize your investment in targeting local search.  Both strategies laid out in Part 1 should be fairly easy to accomplish; Part 2 is a more complicated and time consuming strategy to maximize your investment in targeting local search.

Natural Search Engine Optimization
Natural search engine optimization is using onsite and offsite techniques to get naturally ranked high on Google or other search engines for targeted keyword phrases.  As a small business targeting a local area it is too costly and time consuming to rank for general terms without targeting the location.

Let’s use the bankruptcy lawyer in Chicago example again; it will be almost impossible for a small business with limited resources to rank high enough on Google for a keyword phrase such as “bankruptcy lawyer”.  It would be a challenge just to be listed on the first ten pages, let alone the first page.  There are simply too many Websites that already target that keyword phrase for you to have a chance to rank high.  Also in most cases ranking high for “bankruptcy lawyer” would be irrelevant because the chances are the person searching is out of your business area.

When developing your search engine optimization plan you should focus on targeting keyword phrases that include the location in which you do business.  This geographic location plan should be implemented in both your onsite and your offsite SEO strategies.

Onsite Localized Search Engine Optimization strategy

1. Develop a list of 5 – 10 targeted geographic based keyword phrases(chicago bankruptcy lawyer, chicago bankruptcy attorney, bankruptcy law firm in chicago, etc)
2. Develop a Webpage of content for each keyword phrase targeted.  For example; develop a Webpage that is keyword dense for chicago bankruptcy lawyer.
3. In your Page title tags utilize the targeted keywords in your list, make sure the most important terms are to the left (your business name is a waste here).  For example; if your homepage targets the keyword phrase “chicago bankruptcy lawyer” your title should be something like “Chicago Bankruptcy Lawyer – Bankruptcy Lawyer in Chicago”.  Best to use your keywords no more than twice in a title.
4. Write a good Meta Description that contains that targeted keyword phrase.
5. Your H1 tags on your Web pages should include the targeted keyword phrase for that page.
6. Your image alt tags should include the targeted keyword phrase.
7. Your page names should include the keyword phrase that is targeted on that Web page. For example if your “about” page targets “chicago bankruptcy attorney”,  then instead of calling that Web Page “about.html” it is better to call that page “chicago-bankruptcy-attorney.html”

Offsite Localized Search Engine Optimization strategy

1. Your directory submissions need to include your targeted keyword phrases.  When adding your Website to directories, instead of using your company name as the link it is smarter to use your targeted keyword phrases.  For example when you add your Website to directory A, you can use a link name of “Chicago Bankruptcy Lawyer” and when you add your website to directory B, you can use a link name of “Bankruptcy Law Firm Chicago”.
2. Look for directories that allow for deep linking and link to individual keyword driven pages instead of all links going to your homepage.  For example: if your about page targets “chicago bankruptcy lawyer” you should submit that page to a directory that will accept a deep link and use the link name “Chicago Bankruptcy Lawyer”.
3. Write industry specific articles and link to targeted Web Pages in your Website.  For example if you write an article about Bankruptcy Law, you should link that article to your page that describes Chicago Bankruptcy Attorneys and make sure the link title is “Chicago Bankruptcy Attorneys”.  Most article submission sites include a link to your Website in your resources section and sometimes in the article itself.
4. Write keyword driven press releases and submit to the Web.  Make sure the back links in your press release are title using your targeted keywords such as “Bankruptcy Law Firm in Chicago”

In conclusion, there are three strategies you should explore if you are a company that offers your products or services to a defined location and you want to rank high on the major search engines. 
1.  Local Business Results 
2.  Localized Pay per Click Advertising 
3.  Localized Natural Search Engine Optimization

 Article written by Jason Lomberg is the SEO strategist of Philly Marketing Labs.

Optimize your Website for Local Search – Part 1

Chances are as a small business or an entrepreneur the products or services that you offer are targeted to a local area.  When this is the case it is very important to develop your search engine optimization strategy with a plan to attract localized searches.  If you are a pizza shop in Philadelphia it makes logical sense to target searches of people looking for a pizza shop in Philadelphia or if you’re a lawyer in New York it is logical to target searches looking for a lawyer in New York and not someone looking for a lawyer in California. 

There are three Search Engine Marketing techniques to maximize local search (using Google as an example).  This blog entry will focus on the two easier ways to maximize local search, part two of this blog will focus on a more complicated strategy to maximize local search

Get your Website listed on Google local business results
This should be mandatory for any business with a physical location.  By getting listed as a local business you will be included in Google’s maps and also will be shown in results that target your location. For example if you are a restaurant in Philadelphia you will be included in Google maps so that a person getting directions to your location can simply just type in the name of your restaurant instead of your address to find directions. Also if a person is on Google maps close to your location you will show up. 

Most importantly you will be queried in the result set under local business for restaurants in Philadelphia with a map of your location attached.  These results typically are at the top or near the top of Google rankings.  This does not apply to every type of business but will work for most businesses that have a physical location.

This is very simple to accomplish, here are the steps

1. Visit www.google.com/local
2. Click the link “Put your business on Google Maps”
3. Set up a Google Account and confirm via email
4. Click the link “add your business”
5. Add your location information
6. You will be sent a postcard from Google with a PIN number to confirm your business is actually in that location
7. Log back into your Local Google account and add your PIN number for confirmation

 Pay per Click (Google Adwords) Advertising
For many businesses Pay per Click is a great way to drive traffic to your Website.  Be aware, many businesses do not profit from their Pay per Click advertising campaigns.  It is important to keep a close eye on your PPC analytics to be sure your ads are profitable. 

Google Adwords is a great strategy for localized businesses because you can control who sees your ad by location. Google generally knows the location of the person who does a search on Google; this is very beneficial to your business.  AdWords allows you to set up your advertising campaign so only people within a specific geographic location (zip code radius, by city, by state, etc) sees your advertisement.  This prevents people who are not in your physical location to click on your ad which will cost you money. 

For example, let’s say you’re a bankruptcy Lawyer  in Chicago; it is important that you target your Adwords so only people either in Chicago or within a specific zip code radius (possibly within 50 miles of your zip code)  sees your ad when they search for a lawyer.  Targeting your location using Adwords is an easy way to drive business to your Website when a searcher searches for bankruptcy lawyer.

 Part 2 of this installment will focus on a more complicated strategy in maximizing your results on search engines.  The blog entry will focus on Natural Search Engine Optimization and how to rank high on Google and other search engines when a searcher is looking locally for your products or services.

 Article written by Jason Lomberg, SEO Strategist for Philly Marketing Labs

SEO – Optimize Your Blog for High Search Engine Rankings

One of the primary reasons to operate and maintain a blog about your industry is to gain high search engine rankings to assist you in driving targeted potential customers and clients to your business.

Because blogs are updated on a daily or weekly basis they naturally have an advantage over static Websites or Websites that rarely has content changes or additional content. Blogs also naturally receive better rankings because blog posts typically include lot of targeted keywords that helps Google rank your blog for specific targeted keyword phrases.

Even though a blog will naturally gain better rankings, there are still optimization techniques that will assist in gaining high Google and other major search engine rankings. The two biggest blogging sites are WordPress and Blogger. Both blogging sites give you the flexibility to optimize your blog for high search engine ranking.

 

From an optimization standpoint, blogs are not very different from Websites. Keyword driven content and incoming relevant links are still keys to your SEO success. The competitive advantage of a blog is from the frequency of keyword driven postings. By posting daily or multiple times per week, Google and other search engines will quickly take notice and index and rank your blog.

Some Blog Optimization Tips:

• Write an interesting title that correctly describes your blog post.  Your title should captivate the user to read more and possibly attract other Website operators to link to your blog post.
  

• Try to use the most important blog keywords in the title - while it may be hard to always do this, by keeping the title related to the topic, your blog will always be relevant and assists Search Engines in ranking your Website for those targeted terms.

• Utilize the H1 tags - Your blog editor should allow for custom templates, so be sure to stylize your blog title in the H1 tags.  H1 tags is a specific style that search engines recognize as a title to the page and the importance of the keywords within this title

• Turn on the feature that allows you to control the name of the sub directory that the post exists within.  Use your most important 2 or 3 word keyword phrase, placing a dash between each word. (professional-financial-services)

• Make sure the name of the webpage matches your blog post title; this is referred to as URL Rewritten Permalinks.  In addition, most blogging platforms will allow you to add an SEO widget that will assist in the optimization of your blog pages.

• Don't forget about your archives.  They are full of great keyword driven content that will be picked up by search engines.  Make sure these are always turned on and linked from your homepage.

• Link your blog from your corporate Website and any sister sites.  Also invite other relevant Websites to trade links with your blog to increase your incoming links.

Again, the key to a successful search engine optimized blog is frequent keyword driven postings.  It may not be necessary to write up a full article every time you post, two paragraphs and maybe some resource links is all you typically need.  One trick is to split a larger blog post into two sections (part 1 & part 2).  Posts the first part one day, and then post the second part the next day.  This will increase the frequency of your blog posts without a lot of additional work.

  

Article written by Jason Lomberg, SEO Strategist for Philly Marketing Labs

 

 

Search Engine Optimization – Properly Utilizing Title Tags

When optimizing your Website for high search engine rankings, targeted search engines such as Google and Bing, the first step is writing keyword driven Meta title tags.  This title tag is the title on the top left of your browser window.  Search engines put a lot of weight on these titles when ranking your Website.  Many Websites utilize the company name or the name of that Webpage as the page title which is typically a mistake if you want to rank that Webpage for targeted keyword phrases. Even if you do not execute any other types of optimization in your WebPages, keyword driven title tags will help you rank your Website in a higher position.

The Meta title tag serves two purposes in relation to search engines.

1. When a searcher searches keywords that are in your title tag you will rank higher for those keywords.  Google’s number one focus is to give the searcher relevant Websites to choose from that is most closely related to their search.  Google assumes your title tag describes the Webpage and uses that information in deciding where to rank that Webpage.
2. The clickable title of your search engine listing is your title tag for that page.  Unless you’re a known brand your company name serves no purpose here.  It is better to display text that is closely related to the searcher.  For example if someone is searching for a” Bankruptcy Lawyer in Philadelphia” a Website with a title of Philadelphia Bankruptcy Lawyer or Bankruptcy Lawyer in Philadelphia is much more relevant to the searcher then “J & J Law Firm” and will increase the chance of your site being visited from that search.
   

Title Tag Best Practices

• Research your keywords and make sure these are keywords that people are searching. I personally prefer to use multiple tools for this process.  A free tool that works well for keyword research is SEO Book
• Try to be somewhat specific in the keywords you target, very general keywords are very competitive.  For example instead of targeting the keyword “lawyer”, target “Philadelphia bankruptcy lawyer”.  By targeting that phrase you are actually targeting four searchable phrases in one shot; “Philadelphia bankruptcy lawyer”, “bankruptcy lawyer”, “Philadelphia lawyer” and “lawyer”.
• If possible utilize the most important keyword words two times in the title but no more than twice.  For example, “Philadelphia Bankruptcy Lawyer – Bankruptcy Lawyer in Philadelphia”
• Limit your title tag to 70 or fewer characters, including spaces.  If you go over the 70 character limit it won’t hurt your rankings but only the first 70 characters are displayed on Google’s search results.  Also it is possible that characters after the 70 character limit will carry less weight in your ranking.
• Capitalize the first letter of each word.
•  Instead of using the word “and” (takes up space) you can use a “-“ or “|”.  Instead of “Serving Philadelphia and Delaware” you can use “Serving Philadelphia | Delaware”
• Google puts more weight on the left most words of the title tag.
• Your title tag should be focused on the content of that Webpage.  If the Webpage describes a bankruptcy lawyer then bankruptcy lawyer should be in the title and not divorce lawyer.

Keep in mind that by properly writing your title tags does not mean you will magically appear at the top of Google rankings for many targeted keyword phrases. In some cases, typically non-competitive keyword phrases, this will give you a major boost in your rankings.  To be truly successful you need keyword dense webpage copy and a link building strategy among other factors in addition to targeted keyword driven titles.

Stay tuned for future blog posts on how to better rank your Website with SEO.   Have you done a title tag review of your Web site?  How does it stack up against these guidelines?

Jason Lomberg is an SEO Strategist with Team and a Dream

Look to the future - 2010 Social Media and Internet Marketing trends

Many of us are happy to have 2009 behind us! I've enjoyed looking over the predictions and forecasts for
  2010.  I thought it might be helpful to provide a roundup of some of my favorites - and add my reflections to kick off the conversation. 

What are your favorite Internet Marketing and Social Media trends for the upcoming year?  2010 breakthroughs may present themselves as shiny, new technologies... but the biggest surprises might come from mainstream business use of stuff thats been around for some time. 

Here are some of my favorite predictions for 2010.

 1) Harvard Business Review takes an industry level peek into how we organize our social media, business scaling, gaming, mobile and more.

2) Dan Zarella, A Social Media and Viral Marketing Scientist who also works at Hubspot, talks about Social Media trends toward more IRL (In Real Life) translation, micro-segmenting, small business Social Media Marketing and the Real time Web.

3) StartupNation has a terrific set of Top 10 Internet Marketing Predictions for 2010 from Tom Now covering everything from the explosion of the US Hispanic Market online through the rise of video blogs, Digital Portfolios and your digital footprint, Location-based Marketing and Integrated Marketing.  

4) Trendwatching wins my creative insight award though... by taking a wide angle lens on all of society and culture they forearm us with predictions of embedded generosity, intention-based online profiles and Tracking & Alerting to manage our INFOLUST.   They wrap with some reflection on the opinionated, risque, outspoken - and (might I add) rude - brand speak of 2010 that emanates from the mouthpiece of the online world.  Hmm... sounds like a teenager to me. 

My Takeaways and Favorites... 

Favorite #1 - INFOLUST and too much noise.  While I haven't heard the term before, it seems to me an accurate perspective on many of our online pursuits.  This necessitates the need for Attention Filters like alerts, automated search tools, RSS feeds and aggregation tools.  Twitter Lists, Google Sidewiki and other ways for the collective to annotate our ramblings reminds me of how folksonomies are being taken to the entire Web. 

Favorite #2 - Craving of life to meet life.  IRL (In Real Life).  As a  Meetup organizer, I appreciate the value of online meetups.  Meetup passed the 50 Million RSVP mark this year, with 5 Million Meetup groups per Scott Heiferman in this YouTube video on Meetup in 2009. 

Favorite #3 - Portfolio thinking - Digital portfolio/digital footprints.  For the past year, I've been realizing and advocating that we are all going to have start thinking in terms of portfolios. In the highly fragmented world we call 2010, it is more and more likely that our money, time and attention will be coming from/directed to a wide range of sources.  How many income sources do you have?  (I can count six and growing).  How many social (online and offline) outlets do you have (I'm well over a dozen). Have you Googled yourself lately to see your Digital Footprint? 

Favorite #4 - Embedded Generosity.  The idea of seeing tighter, micro-embedding of cause-based efforts is one of the more positive trends that helps tighten the weave of our global blanket. 

What are your takeaways or favorites? What would you add? 

BTW - I know I'm missing some great trends and predictions.  If you have one, please add it to the comments below.  

Thanks - and here is wishing you a life-inspiring 2010!

-Skip

Photo credit: www.brainygamer.com

20 Must Have Resources for Internet Marketers

Internet Marketing Tools/Software & Tools to Help Marketers

HubSpot – HubSpot is a powerful, web-based online marketing system that helps small and medium sized businesses capture and convert more qualified sales leads by an optimized web presence.  We like HubSpot because it is robust, easy to use, and they provide great support as well as a lot of opportunities to learn more about Internet marketing. Definitely a must-have if you’re a marketer who works with small or medium sized businesses. You can test drive HubSpot for 7 days.

Constant Contact – As a marketer, you know you need a “mix” of marketing activities to accomplish your marketing objectives. E-mail marketing is still a viable method of reaching your Internet marketing goals. We still use Constant Contact and we’re pretty happy with it. If you’re not sure, you can sign up for a free trial. Read also: 7 Alternatives to Constant Contact here.

Wordtracker – if you’re serious about keyword research, Wordtracker is an investment you need to make. Not only will your keyword research get done faster, but Wordtracker helps you find the most profitable and competitive keywords and you’re able to save your keyword research by project. They have annual and monthly subscriptions as well as a free trial. There are many keyword research tools out there, but Wordtracker is definitely one of our favorites.

Huddle – Managing your Marketing projects with Huddle is a snap! Huddle offers online collaboration, live conferencing, project management software and document sharing. There are five packages – from FREE to enterprise. Depending on what you need, it can be a cost-efficient way to manage your marketing projects. We use Huddle to keep track of our clients and marketing projects and continue to be pleased with the service. Update: This month customers can get 5% off at Huddle for Life by using coupon code: UHGFDX. Offer valid until 28th February 2011 on all paying subscriptions or free to paid upgrades at Huddle. 

Radian 6 – if you’re an Internet Marketer using Social Media, then you know how important it is to monitor and measure community engagement. Radian6 is a powerful platform that is comprehensive and easy to use. It’s a must have if you’re serious about social media!

Premium Marketing Resources

Market Motives – Get online marketing certified in SEO, PPC, Web Analytics, PR, Social Media, E-mail Marketing, and more.

Marketing Sherpa – Premium membership gets you case studies, how-to guides, research reports, certifications, and more.

Marketing Profs – Paid membership gets you access to marketing articles, case studies, videos, webinars, discounts on conferences, etc.

SEOMoz – Becoming a PRO member gives you access to a host of SEO-related tools. A must-have if you’re into search engine optimization.

eMarketing Association – Paid membership gets you resources, discounts on seminars, reports, whitepapers, articles, and a lot more.

Internet Marketing Books

Inbound Marketing: Get Found on Google, Social Media, and Blogs - a how-to guide to getting found via Google, the blogosphere, and social media sites.

The Art of SEO (Theory in Practice) – If you are new to SEO, you'll get a complete and thorough SEO education, as well as an array of effective tactics, from basic to advanced. Seasoned practitioners will find this book useful as a complete reference to SEO best practices.

Socialnomics: how social media transforms the way we live and do business – an essential book for anyone who wants to understand the implications of social media, and how businesses can tap the power of social media to increase their sales, cut their marketing costs, and reach consumers directly.

Trust Agents – Written by marketing rock stars Chris Brogan and Julien Smith, this book shows you how to tap into the power of social networks to build your brand's influence, reputation, and, of course, profits.

Web Analytics 2.0: The Art of Online Accountability and Science of Customer Centricity – As an Internet marketer, you know the importance of web analytics. This book provides specific recommendations for creating an actionable strategy, applying analytical techniques correctly, and solving challenges such as measuring social media and multichannel campaigns.

Internet Marketing Conferences in 2010

Affiliate Summit West – January 17^th to 19^th in Las Vegas, NV

Social Media Conference – January 28^th & 29^th in Miami, FL

Search Marketing Expo West – March 2^nd to 4^th in Santa Clara, CA

South by Southwest Interactive – March 12^th to 16^th in Austin, TX

Business to Business Forum – May 4^th to 5^th in Boston, MA