Practical SEO and other online strategies :Raj Khera, 1-800-475-1415 1 Practical SEO and other online strategies Raj Khera CEO, MailerMailer Copyright 2008 MailerMailer LLC. All Rights Reserved.


Outline :blog.mailermailer.com Copyright 2008 MailerMailer LLC. All Rights Reserved. 2 Outline 800# Web site options Getting found on search engines Paid ads (pay per click) Search engine optimization (natural rankings) Email marketing Publish, publish, publish – Start by blogging Other strategies


Get an 800 Number :blog.mailermailer.com Copyright 2008 MailerMailer LLC. All Rights Reserved. 3 Get an 800 Number Very cheap, usually just pay pennies for calls Free search for available numbers Get 800 instead of 866 or others if possible Makes you look like a bigger company Include both your local and 800 numbers on your business cards and web site Goal: make it easy for people to reach you


Web Site Options :blog.mailermailer.com Copyright 2008 MailerMailer LLC. All Rights Reserved. 4 Web Site Options Do-it-yourself sites and software Dreamhost, Homestead, ImageCafe Adobe Contribute, Dreamweaver, NVu (free) Hire someone Create detailed RFP, post to freelancer web sites guru.com and elance.com Write search-engine-friendly text


Getting Found Online :blog.mailermailer.com Copyright 2008 MailerMailer LLC. All Rights Reserved. 5 Getting Found Online Natural Search Results “Organic” Paid Search Results “PPC”


Paid Search – AdWords (PPC) :blog.mailermailer.com Copyright 2008 MailerMailer LLC. All Rights Reserved. 6 Paid Search – AdWords (PPC) Enter a keyword here Google gives you many more options here


Paid Search – Set Bids, Get Leads :blog.mailermailer.com Copyright 2008 MailerMailer LLC. All Rights Reserved. 7 Paid Search – Set Bids, Get Leads Ad text should offer something of value Free eBook, white paper, coupon, newsletter Or appeal to emotions Example text: “Look like an e-marketing genius” Max Bid Total Cost Cost per Conversion


Natural Search :blog.mailermailer.com Copyright 2008 MailerMailer LLC. All Rights Reserved. 8 Natural Search 5-6 times more clicks than paid listings Results in 3-6 months Cheaper long-term strategy if you can wait for results Do-it-yourself option really works and it’s not that hard. Really.


Natural Search – Copywriting :blog.mailermailer.com Copyright 2008 MailerMailer LLC. All Rights Reserved. 9 Natural Search – Copywriting Copywriting for your web site Keyword proximity and density “Washington DC real estate” is better than “real estate in the Washington, D.C. area” Descriptive text: GOOD: “Our accounting and bookkeeping services” BAD: “Our services” 250+ words per page; embed keywords in text Use singular and plural tenses


Natural Search – Copywriting cont’d :blog.mailermailer.com Copyright 2008 MailerMailer LLC. All Rights Reserved. 10 Natural Search – Copywriting cont’d Copywriting for your web site Use keyword as filename, dashes as spaces dc-real-estate.html, hollyword-sign.jpg Target 2-3 keywords per page; use 3-4x Target different keywords on each page Highly competitive term: “accounting services” Better bet: “bookkeeping for government contractors in Maryland”


Natural Search – Copywriting cont’d :blog.mailermailer.com Copyright 2008 MailerMailer LLC. All Rights Reserved. 11 Natural Search – Copywriting cont’d Copywriting for your web site Hyperlink keywords to other pages on your site BAD: Click here GOOD: See more sample business plans Home page links: every page should be accessible within 2-3 clicks No more than 100 links per page Google might think you are a “link farm”


Natural ranking – HTML Tags :blog.mailermailer.com Copyright 2008 MailerMailer LLC. All Rights Reserved. 12 Natural ranking – HTML Tags tag and filename 50-75 characters max Title text shown in the blue bar in your browser Use keyword phrase Title and filename used in determining relevancy Sample Marketing Plan and Free Marketing Plans Notice use of singular and plural keyword “marketing plan/s”


Natural ranking – HTML Tags :blog.mailermailer.com Copyright 2008 MailerMailer LLC. All Rights Reserved. 13 Natural ranking – HTML Tags tag Header tag used to identify page topic Use keyword phrase Sample Marketing Plan for Travel Agency


Natural ranking – HTML Tags :blog.mailermailer.com Copyright 2008 MailerMailer LLC. All Rights Reserved. 14 Natural ranking – HTML Tags tag Description tag used on search result page If no META DESCRIPTION tag present, Google uses opening text on page in search result META DESCRIPTION appears here, just below TITLE


Natural ranking – HTML Tags :blog.mailermailer.com Copyright 2008 MailerMailer LLC. All Rights Reserved. 15 Natural ranking – HTML Tags tag Description tag used for images Puts “SEO” into your images Ex:

Natural search – Link Strategy :blog.mailermailer.com Copyright 2008 MailerMailer LLC. All Rights Reserved. 16 Natural search – Link Strategy Increase number of “keyword links” pointing to your site Easy way: write unique articles for others to post (don’t use identical content on your site since Google won’t know “authority” site) and include your byline Copyright 2008 by http://www.morebusiness.com where you can find over 100 free sample business plans Links from .gov, .mil, and .edu sites are valued more since they are hard to get (you can’t buy these domains)


Natural search – Site submissions :blog.mailermailer.com Copyright 2008 MailerMailer LLC. All Rights Reserved. 17 Natural search – Site submissions Google: sitemap Part of Google’s webmaster tools service (free) https://www.google.com/webmasters/tools/docs/en/about.html Yahoo: $299 paid submission for 7 business day review; inclusion not guaranteed http://search.yahoo.com/info/submit.html Dmoz.org – open directory; slow to list but worth doing since Google and other search engines use it Online directories – paid/free, target specific audiences


So They Found You, Now What? :blog.mailermailer.com Copyright 2008 MailerMailer LLC. All Rights Reserved. 18 So They Found You, Now What? Get their contact info


Send Useful Content Regularly :blog.mailermailer.com Copyright 2008 MailerMailer LLC. All Rights Reserved. 19 Send Useful Content Regularly Reinforces the “touch” 7 touches till client buys Portrays you as an expert Keeps you in their minds What to send Trends, White Papers Ideas, Tips, News, eBook Special Deals, Coupons Licensed or purchased relevant content


Email Marketing Best Practices :blog.mailermailer.com Copyright 2008 MailerMailer LLC. All Rights Reserved. 20 Email Marketing Best Practices Do Get permission before sending newsletters Send regularly, once a month is good Personalize for higher response rates Get whitelisted Include opt-out link (law) Include address (law) Don’t Purchase, rent, trade or borrow a list – EVER Ignore bounces or opt-out requests Write text that reads like spam – people will think it is indeed spam


Publish, Start by Blogging :blog.mailermailer.com Copyright 2008 MailerMailer LLC. All Rights Reserved. 21 Publish, Start by Blogging Reporters seek out trends from blogs Content can be used in your newsletter Frequent entries increase search engine rankings Post comments on other people’s blogs Blogger.com - free


Other Strategies :blog.mailermailer.com Copyright 2008 MailerMailer LLC. All Rights Reserved. 22 Other Strategies PR Web – low cost, highly effective news release distribution Write an eBook – modern equivalent of white papers Participate in online discussion groups eBook example


Contact :blog.mailermailer.com Copyright 2008 MailerMailer LLC. All Rights Reserved. 23 Contact Raj Khera MailerMailer.com http://blog.mailermailer.com http://www.morebusiness.com