Most businesses have a website and feel that is all they need to fulfill their accessibility/validity quotient and although a website is vital in this digital age, making sure that all visitors can access it is key. I mean, why build a website if when your visitors arrive they cannot quickly access the information they came for?

The first step in understanding the usability and functionality of your website is to do a little research, you can hire someone to do this for you or do it yourself.

1. Visit your site from multiple web browsers i.e. Internet Explorer, Firefox, Chrome, Safari.
2. Visit your site from multiple devices, i.e. Desktop, Laptop, Tablet, Smartphones, and web enabled mobile phone.
3. Look at your site analytics for browser and mobile visitor usage stats.

Your web developer probably tested your site out in multiple browsers when they were building your site, but there have been browser updates since then that could make your site look funky or have slowed down the load time of your site. Take a look so you can catch it before your visitors do, web visitors especially first time (unique) visitors will not be forgiving with a slow loading site or coding issues. If you find issues contact your web master and have them check it out.

With a well coded site your website should look good in any size monitor, but your site may not perform well on a Tablet, Smartphone or mobile phone. Flash sites for instance will not be seen on most mobile devices, and large information and media rich sites may not come out flatteringly. You need to see what your current and potential customers see.

Your website analytics will tell you a lot about your site visitors. If you take the time to check out the data and then act on that information you will have a site that results in a higher visitor to customer conversion ratio. It is important to look at the behavior of your visitors, the number of visitors, time on site, average number of page views, and clicks. It is important to look at where they came from and how they are accessing your site by researching the referring sites, keywords, web browsers, devices, and operating systems they are using.

Drill Down

Don’t get caught up in just the big numbers, most website owners look at the larger demographics and cater to them. For example if most of your website visitors use Firefox, you could focus on making sure your site performs well in Firefox but perhaps the reason you do not have more Internet Explorer visitors or they do not stay on your site as long is because your site does not perform well in that browser. Do you see what I mean? Don’t miss out on opportunities.

This includes mobile traffic, your numbers for mobile visitors maybe low which could be due, to a poor performing site or, to the fact that your target audience is not a mobile web user.  But as mobile usage grows your demographics will change and the need to compete on this level will increase, so why wait?

Here is a snapshot of our site’s mobile visitors. In this snapshot we can see that the percentage of mobile visitors is low and that some of our site averages are lower, except time on site that is a little higher. So we have enough information to keep them there, but we may not be pushing to mobile users or making it easy for them to find additional information.

Also, we do okay with the iPhone, iPad, and Android, but not as well with BlackBerry and web capable mobile phones. This is something for us to consider, our target is businesses and professionals and BlackBerry is still a popular device in those demographics.

Here is a snapshot of our blog and here we can see comparable stats in everything except time on site. We are way down which could be because our blog is information and media rich. We will need to develop either an app or a mobile version to compensate for this. Through click tracking we know that Facebook and Twitter provide quite a bit of traffic to our site and with 62 percent of Twitter users and nearly 200 million Facebook users accessing the networks through their mobile device that could be an important demographic we are missing.

Research, Build, Measure…..Repeat

If you want to be successful in the digital marketing universe, research is vital. You have to know what is going on on a macro level and then bring that down to a micro level, accounting for your specific needs, goals, and resources.

What we have shown you above is some of the research we will use to build a better mouse trap. Once we build it, we will measure it, do some more research and then add to or take away from our construct. This is the only way we can stay current and generate ideas for innovation; that point where we step away from the pack and lead – a goal that should be shared by most businesses.

On top of our internal research it is imperative that you look at the current consumer, technology, and marketing trends. We have found a couple articles with some excerpts listed below that will get you started.

Great article on Mashable: Tablet Commerce Expected to Explode in 2011 [STATS]

In the post by Mashable they discuss mobile commerce, tablet commerce and social commerce as reported by Forrester. Forrester’s take on social commerce for retailers is grim, but in my opinion that is due in most part to retailers lack of knowledge on how or what to track for ROI in the social sphere. We will discuss that in a later post, for now the important information to look at is the mobile and tablet usage.

Key Takeaways for us were:

Forrester half-jokingly coined the term “t-commerce” in the report section covering tablets and online retail. “In spite of the fact that the iPad was only introduced in the spring of 2010,” its analysts write, “it immediately proved to be a formidable driver of traffic through mobile devices. Many retailers report that already half of what they consider to be mobile traffic is coming through tablet devices.”

Forrester opines that the smaller form factor of smartphones make them a less-than-ideal device for would-be mobile shoppers. And while smartphone traffic will continue to supplement web-based online retail, Forrester says, “Tablet devices, on the other hand, will grow by capturing share from traditional PC web traffic by untethering shoppers from their desktops, enabling easy browsing in a living room, during a bus commute to work, or at an airport.”

Great article on MobiThinking: Global mobile statistics 2011

There is quite a bit of information in this posting about global and U.S. mobile statistics, do not get mired in the mindset that “you are not targeting globally so why should I care about these numbers”, instead look at the global and national statistics as trends that you trickle down to a local level. The businesses that look globally and react locally will be the ones to succeed in the coming years.

key Takeaways for us were:

PART A: Mobile subscribers; handset data; mobile operators
1) Mobile subscribers will surpass 5 billion in 2010 (that’s over 70 percent of the world population) and growing rapidly, led by China and India.
• What other medium offers that reach?
2) Mobile devices sales rose in 2010, while smartphone sales showed the strongest growth, but feature phones still outnumber smartphones 4:1.

3) By 2011, over 85 percent of new handsets will be able to access the mobile Web.
• Please note that this does not mean smartphones – you do not need a smartphone to access the mobile Web (but it does make for a richer experience).

1) What do consumers use their mobiles for? According to ComScore’s comparison survey data (June 2010) Japanese consumers are still much more advanced in their mobile usage, with 60 percent accessing the mobile Web and 54 percent using email, but with the US at 34 percent and European consumers at 26 percent they are catching on fast:
2) Most popular activities on the mobile Web are mobile search, reading news and sports information, downloading music and videos, and email and instant messages. In the future, money transfer; location-based services; m-health and m-payment will be key drivers.

1) SMS is the king of mobile messaging.
The ITU (October 2010) estimates that 6.1 trillion messages will be sent worldwide in 2010, that is triple the number sent in 2007 (1.8 trillion). That means 200 000 text messages are sent every second, earning operators US$14,000 every second (if a the average text costs US$0.07)
• The most number of texts are sent in The Philippines and the United States.
Portio Research (February 2010) estimates that SMS is used by four billion consumers worldwide and that worldwide SMS traffic will exceed 10 trillion in 2013.
• MMS, mobile email and instant messaging are all growing strongly. The driver for MMS is the number of camera phones, for mobile email is the business market and while IM is popular with the youth market.
• The global mobile messaging business is worth over US$150 billion, and will hit US$233 billion by 2014.

2b) Shopping on the mobile Web, i.e. m-commerce will reach US$119 billion in 2015 predicts ABI Research (February 2010), that’s about 8 percent of the total e-commerce market:
• Today, Japan is king of m-commerce, where mobile Web shopping exceeded US$10 billion in 2009, making the US$1.2 billion bought in the US by mobile look trifling.

2c) Top m-commerce retailers:
• In 2010, eBay consumers bought and sold over US $2 billion worth of merchandise on eBay via mobile, up from $600 million in 2009. According to Steve Yankovich, vice president mobile at eBay, this $2 billion in gross merchandise volume is derived 78 percent via its numerous mobile apps and 22 percent mobile web.
• “In the last twelve months, customers around the world have ordered more than US $1 billion of products from Amazon using a mobile device,” according to Jeff Bezos, Amazon.com (July 2010).

Businesses that want to increase search engine placement and visibility online have a plethora of options. Today we are going to discuss just a few of the things you can do to get you on the road to total search engine domination.

1.       Website – to create a search engine optimization strategy you start with targeted keywords, copywriting, blog content, and ad placement. If you are new to this it can be pretty daunting, there are a few tools free and for a fee that can help you out with this.

• Google Trends
• Google Insights
• Google Keyword Tool
• SEOQuake
• Wordtracker
• WordStream
• Hubspot
• Overture

First make a list of competitor and industry leader websites, and then go to the sites listed above to see what keywords they are using well and what keywords and phrases they are missing that you may be able to capitalize on.

2.       Blog – most websites are static and though the copy in the site is written to strengthen your targeted search goals when that text doesn’t change very often the search engines stop paying attention. A blog is a dynamic site that can enhance and strengthen a keyword strategy. Blogs should be updated regularly and contain content that is engaging, entertaining, educational, and search engine targeted.

3.       Backlinks – after you have your static web pages set and your blog up and running, next you want to build backlinks with other websites and blogs. Through content syndication, blog commenting, directories, press releases, article posting, forms, and web profiles you can gain incoming links that will tell the search engines where your expertise lies.

4.       Web Profiles – social and business profiles not only give you additional links to keyword and brand for search engine placement but they also give you some backlinks for your website and blog. You should start with sites that will get you coveted search engine placement through their popularity i.e.

• Facebook
• LinkedIn
• Youtube
• Twitter

What is coveted search engine placement? When someone searches your name or company name the first items that will come up should be your website and blog but next you will see the four sites we listed above. So you won’t just have one listing you will now have multiple links on the search engines and this will give people that are searching or validating your business more sites to look at to get to know who you are.

5.       Niche Web Profiles – after you have built up your profiles and interactive communities on the popular networks you should then target niche networks that enhance your company brand and put you in front of your target audience. Niche networks are typically smaller than the main stream networks but gain their strength in the laser focus of the content. The content of a niche network can be based on industry, topic, gender, age, location, really the sky is limit.

6.       Exposure – forums used be and still are a great way for you to show expertise in a given subject and get some additional links on the search engines but now we also have question and answer sites.

• LinkedIn
• Quora
• Focus
• Aardvark
• stackoverflow
• Stack Exchange

These sites allow you to establish your expertise by asking and answering questions that showcase the depth of your knowledge in an industry or topic. These communities are growing which will put your answers in front of a lot of people. On top of the growing communities the search engines are indexing the forum question topics like they do tweets, articles, and web pages. So this means that you will get exposure in and outside these popular sites.

And if that weren’t enough these sites give you the equivalent of a focus group. Do you have a new project, venture, or product that you would like to launch? Well why not test out the reaction to your idea on a question and answer site.

As you can see there are a lot of ways for individuals and businesses to gain search engine placement and with so many options it can be a bit overwhelming. To get started just remember to start with your goals, look at your resources, create a manageable and scalable plan, and then consistently work your plan. Whatever you strategy the key is consistency; to see results and give your plan longevity will take time and follow through. You can add and subtract as you get the hang of it, but do not expect overnight results.

For more information on web, tech, and social media tools and resources check out our Get Smart Web Blog

Internet marketing, also referred to as i-marketing, web marketing, online marketing, or eMarketing, is the marketing of products or services over the Internet. (source: wikipedia) Internet marketing is relatively inexpensive when compared to other forms of business marketing, i.e. print, billboard, radio, t.v. etc., through online marketing companies can reach a wide audience, global or targeted, for a small fraction of traditional advertising budgets. The ease of use, scope and breadth of information, low cost of access, and mobility of the internet for the user  gives businesses the advantage of appealing to consumers any day, any hour, and in any location. The strategy and overall effectiveness of an internet marketing campaign depend on the company’s goals, plan, and execution.

Measuring an effective advertising campaign is subjective, the ROI (return on investment) for each company is different, some of the components that are measured are time, cost, reach, and conversion. When measuring an internet marketing campaign we take traditional measurements and add in analytical data that can be tracked, measured, and comparatively analyzed. This data can be used to judge execution, to compare with previous campaigns, as well as the web presence of competing companies. The analytical data from internet marketing is far easier and more efficiently extractable when compared  to a traditional offline advertising campaign, this coupled with the lower cost has made web marketing an integral addition to most business marketing plans.

Internet marketing enhanced traditional advertising campaign measurements with  the addition of unique visitors, clicks, bounces, page ranks, keyword authority, link tracking, and much much more…..and now, as if that weren’t enough we add in the interactive marketing component where engagement, brand awareness, word of mouth, and community generated content expands the ROI from return on investment to return on influence. Interactive marketing measurements include content syndication, brand exposure, and comments and discussions on blogs, social networks, forums, micro-sites, article sites, news aggregator sites, mobile and social applications, and…..basically anywhere information can travel it can now be tracked.

Internet marketing has morphed into so much more than the just internet based, where it used to be predominately SEM (search engine marketing) with pay per impression, pay per click, pay per play, or pay per action and SEO (search engine optimization) with long tail and short tail keywords, backlinking, and website design and coding,  it is now interactive multichannel marketing. Internet marketing has grown from just paying for placement for visibility on the internet to interactive digitally focused engagement marketing, which involves the placement of media along varying stages of the customer engagement cycle. Multichannel marketing is accomplished through use of the internet, email, mobile devices, and even extends offline. Interactive marketing is about reaching and engaging consumers where ever they may be.

Right now is the time of year that most business owners are creating or fine tuning their business plan for 2010, part of that process is to look back at what you did this year and last year, as well as to look ahead at what you might want to do next year and the years beyond. A comprehensive marketing plan should encompass staying in front of current and past clients while also increasing exposure to get in front of new clients. Through the use of technology and the internet this has never been easier, so get out there and get interactive. Let us know how it goes!

Aweber has a great article with tips and resources to add animated gif to your email. They also highlight a more  detailed write-up of how to make the GIF. Aweber is an e-newsletter provider we discussed in a previous post on options for picking an e-news provider .

Quick Steps

1. Record or capture video
2. Convert video file to GIF
3. Upload GIF to your website
4. Put GIF into your email just like any other image
5. Add remaining email content
6. Test and send your email!

A Few Things to Consider When Using This Tactic

1. This tactic can be useful not only for “normal” videos, but for any situation where animation might be helpful. A 360-degree rotating view of a product and a virtual tour or slideshow of a house for sale.
2. There will not be sound in the email with this method, so don’t forget to link the image to a page of your website where your subscribers can go watch the video with sound.
3. If someone has images turned off, they’re not going to see the animation. Encourage subscribers to turn on images. Also, provide a text link to an online version of the video.
4. Keep the video short and the file size small remember some of your subscribers may have slower Internet connections.You want your image to load quickly, right?

Tools That Can Help You Create Your Video

• Logitech webcams
  
• Camcorder
• Camtasia Studio – Screen Capture Software
• Jing – Screen Capture Service. Free.
• Photobucket - To create a slideshow
• Adobe Premiere – Video editing software
• Video editing software review
• Free Video editing software
• First Stream – Web-based solution that packs powerful features so you can broadcast live over the Internet, manage all incoming email and send video email, create video podcasts and blogs.

Tools That Can Help You Create Animated GIFs

• Pro Motion – the software Anna used to create her GIF. Software download for Windows. Cost: $78.
• VidGIF – software download for Windows. Cost: $29.95.
• GIF Ninja – web-based video to GIF converter. Free. (But remember that when you use an online converter, you’re uploading your video to someone else’s site. If you’re not comfortable with that, don’t do it.)
• VTubeTools – web-based video to GIF converter. Free.
• Leech Video – web-based video to GIF converter. Free.
• Shareware Connection – Software download video to GIF converter. Free

A wikihow discussing video to GIF conversion:

Convert A Video Into a Gif Animation

We would love to hear your feedback are you using this tactic or something else to get video in your email?

I am sure that many of you have heard of Yelp.com, “Real People, Real Reviews” for those of you who do not know:

Yelp is…

…the ultimate city guide that taps into the community’s voice and reveals honest and current insights on local businesses and services on everything from martinis to mechanics.

That is a lot of territory to cover and now it looks like there is a new kid on the block that would like to take a piece of  that territory as their own, Insideup.com.

InsideUp is creating an online community where small businesses can search for business services, review vendor ratings, and get feedback on vendor services. So as Yelp is all about the happenings around town InsideUp looks to be all business, all the time or the source for business services at the very least.

Is there a need for this type of community?

From the InsideUp blog it looks like there are 1.68 trillion reasons:

According to a 2007 report published by Visa International, small businesses (businesses with less than 100 employees or less than $25 million in sales) in the U.S. spend $1.68 trillion yearly on business services, or nearly 35% of their total business expenditures.

Another nice little statistic that lends some credence to the need for this type of resource, also from their blog:

According to Access Market International (AMI) Partners, more than 40% of small and medium businesses (or about 2.8 million businesses) are using Web 2.0 applications as part of their normal business practices. Web 2.0 is a term that describes interactive web features such as blogs, wikis, and social networking sites like Facebook, MySpace, & Digg.

How does it work?

Members can rate vendors, provide references, and answer questions from other members. To insure accuracy, we allow business vendors to flag ratings and references that may not come from actual customers. We also don’t release or sell member information, so our members’ privacy is protected.

Smart Choices

At InsideUp, we know that making smart choices is essential in today’s competitive environment. Business services vendors want to target customers in a cost-effective way, and companies want to make sure that they are choosing solutions that take their businesses to the next level. That’s why we are creating an exciting online community where companies and business services vendors can connect in a unique and innovative way.

The website is in beta testing right now, and there are some glitches so be patient. I have only been able to login once since signing up and that was by accident, I just kept clicking links and the system finally gave in and let me on. Support hasn’t gotten back to me yet, but I am sure they will work the kinks out soon.

Without being a member you can perform a business category search based on distance from a specified zip code. The search will pull up business name, city, and a one to five star rating-to see actual reviews you must be a member.

At this time the membership is free and it looks like that will continue they are, like most networking communities, looking to make their money off of advertising.

I personally like niche communities, I think the more specialized and smaller the better, they keep the feedback relevant and reliable.

As sites get larger like the ones listed below, you get some people that have an opinion just because, and even though there are some genuine reviews the “just because I can” opinions give all the reviews less credibility.

Yelp.com

Local.com

Insiderpages.com

Citysearch.com

Merchantcircle.com

Maps.google.com

Local.Yahoo.com

The Better Business Bureau, local Chamber of Commerce, and the large internet directories are adequate resources and provide a starting point for information, but I also like that I will now have a more local tech based source for business services.

What do you think, do you use the larger business directory sites, if so how do you like or dislike them? Would you be interested in a more specialized, narrowly focused site to get your information from?

there are 1.68 trillion reasons:

According to a 2007 report published by Visa International, small businesses (businesses with less than 100 employees or less than $25 million in sales) in the U.S. spend $1.68 trillion yearly on business services, or nearly 35% of their total business expenditures.

Another nice little statistic that lends some credence to the need for this type of resource, also from their blog:

According to Access Market International (AMI) Partners, more than 40% of small and medium businesses (or about 2.8 million businesses) are using Web 2.0 applications as part of their normal business practices. Web 2.0 is a term that describes interactive web features such as blogs, wikis, and social networking sites like Facebook, MySpace, & Digg.

How does it work? Read the rest of InsideUp for Business Services ……..