Bay Area Inbound Marketing Blog

Easy internet marketing has replaced old-fashioned trade show and brochure marketing. Internet marketing today means blogging using targeted keywords, giving away a small amount of valuable information, search engine optimization, and social media sharing. We call this new, easier process inbound marketing.

At its core, inbound marketing relies on fresh, interesting written content about your industry. You want to give away just enough of it to establish your credibility and authority. Blog topics, white papers and webinars you offer should answer common questions about your industry.

When people look for information about a product or service they want to buy, many people start with an internet search. Give them a chance to find you by having a business blog on your site.

If you don’t already have a Facebook business page, consider making one. Over 400 million people log in to Facebook at least once per day. The average Facebook user spends 37 minutes per day on the site. In the new age of social media, this is where people spend large chunks of their time. A Facebook business page offers you a cost-effective way to engage potential customers.                            

On Facebook, businesses are brands. Marketing guru Seth Godin defines a brand as “the set of expectations, memories, stories and relationships that, taken together, account for a consumer’s decision to choose one product or service over another.” What stories will you tell about your brand on FB?

Part of driving more web traffic to your door has to do with choosing the best keywords for your business. Search engines extract keywords from titles, headers, on-page text and inbound links. Using the right ones is part of the formula that determines how high up you land on search engine results.

A few keywords have high search volume and traffic. They live in the “Hits” part of the keyword graphic above. You want the keywords that live in the long tail. These have less traffic but give you a better chance at a higher search engine rank.

Writing a blog that people will link to and share is essential to high search engine rankings. The search engine algorithms that determine how high your business shows up on search returns value fresh, original content. Here are the top 10 tips for writing blog content that catapults you up the rankings.

1. Top 10 easy tips – People love top 10 lists. What is fascinating about your work? Craft a top 10 easy tips list to position yourself as an expert.
2. Top 10 myths – Exploding myths can be catchy, shareable content. What do you wish more people knew was NOT true about your line of work?
3. Interview – Who are the rockstars in your industry? Approach them at conferences and ask to interview them. Post the written interview to your site.
4. Video blog – Even better, videotape the interview. An inexpensive Flip video camera can give you decent quality video that is easily uploadable to your site.
5. No grammatical or spelling errors – People in a position of authority in the blogging world are more likely to link to your site if your prose is clean and error-free.
6. Pitch ideas to bloggers – Search for blogs related to your field on technorati.com or blogflux.com. Pitch story ideas to these bloggers and ask them to include a link to your site.
7. Guest blog – Once you find relevant blogs, offer to guest blog for them. You’ll have more control to embed links to your site in the text.
8. List of experts - Post a list of experts in your field. These experts may end up linking to your site if you impress them.
9. Survey or study - Survey people about a relevant topic and post your findings.
10. Competition – What is your competition blogging about? Do their posts give you any ideas of similar but distinct topics to cover?

What is interesting about what you do? Sharing it will help people find you. If the content is relevant and easy-to-understand content, people will want to link to your site. The more links you have, the higher your business will rank on search engine results. Good luck!

For inbound marketing consultants that will drive traffic to your site, capture leads, and nurture them towards sales....email Laurie@bayareainbound.com or call 510-543-7593 mbl.

To download our free whitepaper that will give you more tips and tricks, click the button below:

Thank you pages provide an important follow up to your landing pages. Your offer on your site’s landing page was so appealing that your visitor filled in her name and email address. What’s next? Optimize your thank you page so you can move your visitor further down the sales funnel. Here are four best practices for optimizing your thank you page.

1. Give clear instructions about how to receive the giveaway – Whether you are offering useful content, a webinar or free products, your visitor should be able to gain access to this content easily. Allow her to click a link to receive the e-book or start watching the webinar. Make sure they can get the offer immediately. An email with an attachment may take a while.
2. Make another offer – Your visitor has filled out her contact information and is interested. On the thank you page, make an offer for something else she might find useful: another offer or a link to your blog.
3. Restore navigation – On the landing page you took away navigation so the only option the visitor had was to fill out your form. Now, you should restore the navigation so the visitor can view other parts of your site.
4. Offer social media – Place social media icons on your thank you page to give your visitors the options to follow you on Twitter, “like” you on Facebook or folllow you on Linked In.

Your visitors have arrived at your thank you page because they are interested. Optimize your thank you page so you can deepen your relationship with them.

For inbound marketing consultants that will drive traffic to your site, capture leads, and nurture them towards sales....email Laurie@bayareainbound.com or call 510-543-7593 mbl.

To download our free whitepaper that will give you more tips and tricks, click the button below:

Some website landing pages that ask for your contact information make you feel comfortable giving your personal information and others do not. Why is this? Here are five tips you can use to create effective landing pages.

To move your website visitors down the sales funnel from detached visitor to engaged customer, you need to offer value and inspire trust. Your landing pages can help you do this. Here are the basics.

1. Post a clear headline – Visitors should be able to understand what you are offering within a few seconds. The headline should include the title of what you are offering, whether it is an e-book, webinar, white paper or free demo.
2. Offer them value – Your giveaway should provide information visitors will find valuable and position you as an authority in your area of expertise. In order to gain access to that e-book, webinar, white paper or free demo, your site visitors will need to give you their bare minimum contact information. A landing page that asks for a first name, last name and e-mail address will allow your sales staff to follow up on what they learned about your expertise and offer them more value.
3. Minimize distractions on your landing page – Avoid buttons that allow the visitor to navigate away. Your landing page should explain the offer, ask for contact information and give the visitor a call-to-action button that takes them to the valuable item you offer. Two examples of call-to-action buttons are “Download Now!” or “Send me a free trial.”
4. Use an image – A relevant and interesting image that reinforces the benefits you describe in the text will pull viewers in.
5. Reduce anxiety elements – Placing a link to your privacy policy next to the box asking for their e-mail address is an element of a landing page that reduces friction and helps convert your site visitors to leads.