The Blue Archer marketing department is furiously working on a brand new Blue Archer website! We are putting all of our best practices to work so that our new site will be better than ever. We will keep you posted on the launch, and then we will get back on track, providing web design and web marketing insight on the blog.
Jennifer Brant
Marketing Manager
Monday, February 8, 2010
Monday, January 25, 2010
Establish a Purpose for Your Social Media
When a business or organization is planning its internet marketing campaign, the first step (as with any other plan) should be establishing goals. What do you want to get out of each of your efforts? What are your metrics for tracking these goals? Additionally, your goals should be specific to each component of internet marketing. A goal for your AdWords campaign might be to increase conversions or actual form submits on your website. The purpose of link building may be to increase the organic positioning of a keyword in Google. Some goals may seem more straightforward than others, and it is sometimes most difficult to establish a clear goal for social media.
Over the last few years when social media exploded, many companies jumped on the bandwagon to engage in social media so they wouldn’t be left behind. If this is still why you are using social media, you probably have not seen many results from your efforts. There is certainly value in brand awareness. When people see your name, URL, or logo popping up in more places, it does help create more of an awareness of who you are and your level of activity online. Additionally, creating profiles on sites such as Facebook and Linkedin, result in links back to your website, so at the bare minimal you are helping to increase your inbound links. However, links posted to Twitter or Flickr are “nofollow” links, which means that search engines do not recognize these links as inbound links that will affect the importance of your site.
It is best to set weekly or even monthly goals for your social media that give you tangible, traceable results. Here are a few examples to get you started:
1. Grow your email list through Twitter and Facebook. Use incentives such as 10% off your first order or a free consultation for those that sign-up.
2. Post an article to your website that demonstrates your knowledge in your industry. Track how many visits to your website come in via social media. You want to get potential customers off the social media platform and onto your site.
3. Create an event on facebook to create awareness about a certain promotion or offer at your company. Events on facebook do not have to be actual, real-life events. It can be a month-long event to gain awareness for something-related to your company. For example, a food co-op created an event to encourage people to visit the co-op that month, bring a friend, and share knowledge about the benefits of supporting local farmers. See how many people are attending and track if any of those individuals become your customers.
By creating realistic, measurable goals for your social media, you will find- within a short period of time- you are getting more out of it. Although most social media is of no cost, it still occupies your time. Centering your efforts on specific goals is a method that will not only make more effective use of your time, but also increase your results.
Jennifer Brant
Marketing Manager
Pittsburgh Internet Marketing
Pittsburgh SEO
Over the last few years when social media exploded, many companies jumped on the bandwagon to engage in social media so they wouldn’t be left behind. If this is still why you are using social media, you probably have not seen many results from your efforts. There is certainly value in brand awareness. When people see your name, URL, or logo popping up in more places, it does help create more of an awareness of who you are and your level of activity online. Additionally, creating profiles on sites such as Facebook and Linkedin, result in links back to your website, so at the bare minimal you are helping to increase your inbound links. However, links posted to Twitter or Flickr are “nofollow” links, which means that search engines do not recognize these links as inbound links that will affect the importance of your site.
It is best to set weekly or even monthly goals for your social media that give you tangible, traceable results. Here are a few examples to get you started:
1. Grow your email list through Twitter and Facebook. Use incentives such as 10% off your first order or a free consultation for those that sign-up.
2. Post an article to your website that demonstrates your knowledge in your industry. Track how many visits to your website come in via social media. You want to get potential customers off the social media platform and onto your site.
3. Create an event on facebook to create awareness about a certain promotion or offer at your company. Events on facebook do not have to be actual, real-life events. It can be a month-long event to gain awareness for something-related to your company. For example, a food co-op created an event to encourage people to visit the co-op that month, bring a friend, and share knowledge about the benefits of supporting local farmers. See how many people are attending and track if any of those individuals become your customers.
By creating realistic, measurable goals for your social media, you will find- within a short period of time- you are getting more out of it. Although most social media is of no cost, it still occupies your time. Centering your efforts on specific goals is a method that will not only make more effective use of your time, but also increase your results.
Jennifer Brant
Marketing Manager
Pittsburgh Internet Marketing
Pittsburgh SEO
Monday, January 11, 2010
Marketing for the next economic surge: how the internet became main stream
In year's past, companies that had a "digital" marketing strategy were trailblazers. They were exploring new methods of marketing that might someday become standards, albeit supplemental ones. But in today's era of fragmented television markets and the bankruptcy and splintering of print advertising outlets, the internet has become something more than a supplemental marketing resource for many firms: it has become the best method of generating sales.
Marketing had previously been a fairly formulaic process for many companies, especially larger ones. Hire an ad agency, develop some ad copy and messaging, and purchase big blocks of print and TV advertising. Even medium-sized firms began to get into the mix in an effort to "look big" and gain market share. Business-to-business or niche businesses were purchasing extensive repetitions of large ads in industry publications and attending all of the high-overhead conferences that supported these industries. Even small local retail or food service businesses took it for granted that posting ads in local publications was the only method of effectively expanding their markets.
Until recently, no one spent much time calculating the Return on Investment (ROI) of these types of marketing investments, as they represented the only option for most companies. But then a series of events came together that forever altered this paradigm:
1. Television channels multiplied, splintering the viewership and the marketing effectiveness of this type of advertising along with it. Youtube and other online video outlets further siphoned viewers from traditional television. The price for television advertising, however, did not undergo a parallel reduction in cost to advertisers.
2. Print outlets began to fail due to increasing competition from online outlets. Craig's List alone heavily diluted a fundamental source of ad revenue that had very little competition for many years: the newspaper classified ad. The general fragmentation of customer attention as well as specific online outlets of news and information caused a reduction in circulation of print media. But once again, the price for this type of advertising did not undergo a commensurate reduction in price.
But even with these factors in place, the seminal event that is changing the way marketing is done has been the recent economic downturn. In good times, companies are more apt to continue what they have been doing out of inertia. But when budgets are limited by shrinking bottom lines, all expenditures comes under review. Now that some positive economic signs are emerging, with manufacturing, service, finance and even the American automatic industry moving towards a thaw, forward-looking companies are being faced with the problem and opportunity of how best to spend their hard-earned marketing dollars.
It's at this point in time that progressive firms are exploring their digital and online options. Everything from Twitter to Facebook, as well as good "old-fashioned" internet marketing that can place your website at the top of your customers' Google searches, is now accessible to even the smallest of businesses.
The one thing that's missing are progressive and right-priced marketing companies that can provide the proper strategy and implementation for companies that want their marketing dollars to go further, and to represent a measurable and positive ROI.
Blue Archer has positioned our marketing offerings to meet the needs of these progressive small and medium-sized businesses that will lead the next economic surge. We're one of them, after all. Contact us, and we can tell you how to be one of them too. And for a lot less than the cost of a billboard or two.
Al Polanec
Principal and Co-founder
Pittsburgh Website Design
Pittsburgh Internet Marketing
Marketing had previously been a fairly formulaic process for many companies, especially larger ones. Hire an ad agency, develop some ad copy and messaging, and purchase big blocks of print and TV advertising. Even medium-sized firms began to get into the mix in an effort to "look big" and gain market share. Business-to-business or niche businesses were purchasing extensive repetitions of large ads in industry publications and attending all of the high-overhead conferences that supported these industries. Even small local retail or food service businesses took it for granted that posting ads in local publications was the only method of effectively expanding their markets.
Until recently, no one spent much time calculating the Return on Investment (ROI) of these types of marketing investments, as they represented the only option for most companies. But then a series of events came together that forever altered this paradigm:
1. Television channels multiplied, splintering the viewership and the marketing effectiveness of this type of advertising along with it. Youtube and other online video outlets further siphoned viewers from traditional television. The price for television advertising, however, did not undergo a parallel reduction in cost to advertisers.
2. Print outlets began to fail due to increasing competition from online outlets. Craig's List alone heavily diluted a fundamental source of ad revenue that had very little competition for many years: the newspaper classified ad. The general fragmentation of customer attention as well as specific online outlets of news and information caused a reduction in circulation of print media. But once again, the price for this type of advertising did not undergo a commensurate reduction in price.
But even with these factors in place, the seminal event that is changing the way marketing is done has been the recent economic downturn. In good times, companies are more apt to continue what they have been doing out of inertia. But when budgets are limited by shrinking bottom lines, all expenditures comes under review. Now that some positive economic signs are emerging, with manufacturing, service, finance and even the American automatic industry moving towards a thaw, forward-looking companies are being faced with the problem and opportunity of how best to spend their hard-earned marketing dollars.
It's at this point in time that progressive firms are exploring their digital and online options. Everything from Twitter to Facebook, as well as good "old-fashioned" internet marketing that can place your website at the top of your customers' Google searches, is now accessible to even the smallest of businesses.
The one thing that's missing are progressive and right-priced marketing companies that can provide the proper strategy and implementation for companies that want their marketing dollars to go further, and to represent a measurable and positive ROI.
Blue Archer has positioned our marketing offerings to meet the needs of these progressive small and medium-sized businesses that will lead the next economic surge. We're one of them, after all. Contact us, and we can tell you how to be one of them too. And for a lot less than the cost of a billboard or two.
Al Polanec
Principal and Co-founder
Pittsburgh Website Design
Pittsburgh Internet Marketing
Tuesday, December 29, 2009
Search Engine Marketing Primer
Internet Marketing, simply stated, involves the generation of user traffic to your website. Internet Marketing is dominated by two primary areas and tactics: Search Engine Optimization and Search Engine Marketing.
Search Engine Optimization (SEO) describes the practice of structuring your website in such a way that Google and other search engines rank your pages at the top of appropriate searches. This is achieved by utilizing a series of tools and best practices to determine the best keywords to include in your website's code and content, and then ensuring these keywords are properly integrated into your website.
Activity generated via SEO is also called "organic traffic", as you are not directly paying for the traffic, you are simply constructing your web pages and content in the most optimal way.
Search Engine Marketing (SEM) describes the practice of paying directly for user traffic. A good example of SEM is Google's "Adwords" program, in which you establish a budget and requested search terms, and users are supplied with an "ad" that links to your website when they enter the appropriate search criteria. You only pay for the traffic you receive, but you pay for every single "click-through".
Although it can become expensive, SEM can be very effective if done properly and monitored on an ongoing basis. However, smart organizations ensure they execute SEO prior to SEM, as organic traffic can be more powerful and less expensive than SEM.
Additionally, creating a blog like this one can be another excellent online marketing technique that can be utilized. Blogs should typically focus on value-added information presented in a concise manner. Since search engines treat blogs more like news than marketing content, they can rank higher in search engine results than similar content posted to websites.
Al Polanec
Principal and Co-founder
Pittsburgh Website Design
Pittsburgh Internet Marketing
Search Engine Optimization (SEO) describes the practice of structuring your website in such a way that Google and other search engines rank your pages at the top of appropriate searches. This is achieved by utilizing a series of tools and best practices to determine the best keywords to include in your website's code and content, and then ensuring these keywords are properly integrated into your website.
Activity generated via SEO is also called "organic traffic", as you are not directly paying for the traffic, you are simply constructing your web pages and content in the most optimal way.
Search Engine Marketing (SEM) describes the practice of paying directly for user traffic. A good example of SEM is Google's "Adwords" program, in which you establish a budget and requested search terms, and users are supplied with an "ad" that links to your website when they enter the appropriate search criteria. You only pay for the traffic you receive, but you pay for every single "click-through".
Although it can become expensive, SEM can be very effective if done properly and monitored on an ongoing basis. However, smart organizations ensure they execute SEO prior to SEM, as organic traffic can be more powerful and less expensive than SEM.
Additionally, creating a blog like this one can be another excellent online marketing technique that can be utilized. Blogs should typically focus on value-added information presented in a concise manner. Since search engines treat blogs more like news than marketing content, they can rank higher in search engine results than similar content posted to websites.
Al Polanec
Principal and Co-founder
Pittsburgh Website Design
Pittsburgh Internet Marketing
Friday, December 18, 2009
Making Use of Prime Real Estate On Your Homepage
I recently discovered a new Google Tool: Browser Size. This tool helps you understand how your website appears to different users, using different browsers. This is especially relevant to web design, but it also makes you think about the marketing goals of your website.
What do you want visitors to do when they come to your site? Are they seeing that option immediately or do they need to scroll to find that information presented on the page? Ideally, you want any important information on your site to be “above the fold” or before the site visitor has to scroll vertically. Additionally, you should also be aware of any information lost on the right side of the page. Looking at the screenshot below, you see that the upper left quadrant is visible to most visitors, but anything on the right side of the page becomes lost.
An important goal for Blue Archer's website, is for site visitors to click on the button for a “Free Web Review and Assessment." This button has strategically been placed in the most visible spot on the page- towards the upper left corner. This is prime real estate on the homepage and the most important call-to-actions should occupy this space.
It’s a good practice to examine your marketing goals and ensure that the majority of your site visitors can see these call-to-actions clearly and immediately when they arrive on the page. Using the new Google Browser Size tool is a good way to check your site.
Jennifer Brant
Marketing Manager
Pittsburgh Internet Marketing
Pittsburgh SEO
What do you want visitors to do when they come to your site? Are they seeing that option immediately or do they need to scroll to find that information presented on the page? Ideally, you want any important information on your site to be “above the fold” or before the site visitor has to scroll vertically. Additionally, you should also be aware of any information lost on the right side of the page. Looking at the screenshot below, you see that the upper left quadrant is visible to most visitors, but anything on the right side of the page becomes lost.
An important goal for Blue Archer's website, is for site visitors to click on the button for a “Free Web Review and Assessment." This button has strategically been placed in the most visible spot on the page- towards the upper left corner. This is prime real estate on the homepage and the most important call-to-actions should occupy this space.
It’s a good practice to examine your marketing goals and ensure that the majority of your site visitors can see these call-to-actions clearly and immediately when they arrive on the page. Using the new Google Browser Size tool is a good way to check your site.
Jennifer Brant
Marketing Manager
Pittsburgh Internet Marketing
Pittsburgh SEO
Thursday, December 10, 2009
The new age of the press release
It’s no secret that the internet marketing scene has witnessed an influx of new methods and tools in the past calendar year. Internet marketers will gladly tell you that “Content is King,” and that blogging or Tweeting are essential efforts for businesses who want to strengthen their online presence. Often lost in the discussion is perhaps the marketing world’s oldest utility: the press release.
While new methods can certainly provide “value-added content” to your website, press releases still ensure that your company is the Four C’s: consistent, credible, capable, and client-pleasing. All companies need to deliver in these areas, and here’s how press releases help your company retain these qualities.
Consistent. Have you ever been to a website and wondered “When was this last updated? Is the company still in operation?” Consistent press releases are perhaps the best way to indicate that a company is vibrant and active. Not only will new content help your website rank well with search engines, but releases about new hires, product releases, and completed projects tell visitors that your company is both busy and open for business.
Credible. Press releases build credibility in a number of ways. Releases with quotes from clients or employee can serve as testimonials for the company’s work. If properly formatted, a press release indicates that a company takes their work and their PR seriously. And while social media continues to hedge in on the breaking news market, a press release that lists contact information is still preferred by most news outlets.
Capable. Actions are louder than words, and press releases that show an implementation of a process are more dynamic than simply stating your capabilities under a “Services” tab. Show visitors what you’ve done for clients and what your completed processes resemble.
Client Pleasing. If you finished excellent work for a client, give your company and your client a little extra publicity about it. Even if it’s online, clients love seeing their name “in print.” The same is true of employee hires and promotions.
Consistent, Credible, Capable, and Client Pleasing: press releases relay to visitors that your company is all of these things. While newer methods should always be explored, crafting your company’s image through press releases should always be a foundation of your online marketing efforts. If you do it well enough, you’ll have the bloggers and Tweeters buzzing about the latest news from your company.
Patrick McGinty
Marketing Analyst/PR Specialist
Technorati: WRS6ZVZNN72Y
Pittsburgh Internet Marketing
Pittsburgh Search Engine Optimization
While new methods can certainly provide “value-added content” to your website, press releases still ensure that your company is the Four C’s: consistent, credible, capable, and client-pleasing. All companies need to deliver in these areas, and here’s how press releases help your company retain these qualities.
Consistent. Have you ever been to a website and wondered “When was this last updated? Is the company still in operation?” Consistent press releases are perhaps the best way to indicate that a company is vibrant and active. Not only will new content help your website rank well with search engines, but releases about new hires, product releases, and completed projects tell visitors that your company is both busy and open for business.
Credible. Press releases build credibility in a number of ways. Releases with quotes from clients or employee can serve as testimonials for the company’s work. If properly formatted, a press release indicates that a company takes their work and their PR seriously. And while social media continues to hedge in on the breaking news market, a press release that lists contact information is still preferred by most news outlets.
Capable. Actions are louder than words, and press releases that show an implementation of a process are more dynamic than simply stating your capabilities under a “Services” tab. Show visitors what you’ve done for clients and what your completed processes resemble.
Client Pleasing. If you finished excellent work for a client, give your company and your client a little extra publicity about it. Even if it’s online, clients love seeing their name “in print.” The same is true of employee hires and promotions.
Consistent, Credible, Capable, and Client Pleasing: press releases relay to visitors that your company is all of these things. While newer methods should always be explored, crafting your company’s image through press releases should always be a foundation of your online marketing efforts. If you do it well enough, you’ll have the bloggers and Tweeters buzzing about the latest news from your company.
Patrick McGinty
Marketing Analyst/PR Specialist
Technorati: WRS6ZVZNN72Y
Pittsburgh Internet Marketing
Pittsburgh Search Engine Optimization
Tuesday, December 8, 2009
O is for "Ongoing Care"
To continue with Bob’s explanation of Blue Archer’s marketing strategy “ECCO,” our final installment is for “O” and ongoing care.
Are you keeping your website active and updated, full of fresh content for your regular visitors? You want your customers to know that you are still a growing business. Press releases on a website should be up-to-date, and you should find ways to improve upon your current content or write new pages. If you are at a loss as to where to begin, add new clients to your client list, insert different testimonials, or incorporate new work or projects into your online portfolio.
Additionally, you want to entice visitors to frequently visit your site by giving them value-added information. Is there critical information that your customer base would be interested in reading on a regular basis? You can write articles, post product tips, or supply the answers to frequently-asked questions. The more your customers are on your site, the more you are keeping them engaged with your business, and thus increasing customer loyalty or repeat business.
Lastly, there needs to be a reliable way for your current clients to contact you. Make sure your phone number is clearly visible on your website, and that it is a phone number where someone will be reachable. Use contact forms on your website and make sure email addresses for key individuals are also listed. Everyone has a different way of asking for help, so you want to make sure that multiple methods of contact are available.
Once you’ve obtained a faithful customer, you need to provide the ongoing care necessary to maintain them. Hopefully these ideas will help you drive changes to your website so that you can build upon the relationships with your current customers.
Jennifer Brant
Marketing Manager
Pittsburgh Internet Marketing
Pittsburgh Search Engine Optimization
Are you keeping your website active and updated, full of fresh content for your regular visitors? You want your customers to know that you are still a growing business. Press releases on a website should be up-to-date, and you should find ways to improve upon your current content or write new pages. If you are at a loss as to where to begin, add new clients to your client list, insert different testimonials, or incorporate new work or projects into your online portfolio.
Additionally, you want to entice visitors to frequently visit your site by giving them value-added information. Is there critical information that your customer base would be interested in reading on a regular basis? You can write articles, post product tips, or supply the answers to frequently-asked questions. The more your customers are on your site, the more you are keeping them engaged with your business, and thus increasing customer loyalty or repeat business.
Lastly, there needs to be a reliable way for your current clients to contact you. Make sure your phone number is clearly visible on your website, and that it is a phone number where someone will be reachable. Use contact forms on your website and make sure email addresses for key individuals are also listed. Everyone has a different way of asking for help, so you want to make sure that multiple methods of contact are available.
Once you’ve obtained a faithful customer, you need to provide the ongoing care necessary to maintain them. Hopefully these ideas will help you drive changes to your website so that you can build upon the relationships with your current customers.
Jennifer Brant
Marketing Manager
Pittsburgh Internet Marketing
Pittsburgh Search Engine Optimization
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