Colin Alsheimer » seo

Five Principles of Inbound Marketing Presentation

Colin — Sun, 14 Feb 2010 16:52:34 +0000

I was slated to give this presentation to a group of communications faculty at TCU on Feb. 12th, but the great snowpocalypse of 2010 put a kink in those plans. The presentation covered an Inbound Marketing 101 style curriculum, plus went over a few simple strategies for teaching Inbound Marketing to students. Since I didn’t get a chance to give the presentation, I uploaded it to Slideshare.net, and lo and behold, I wake up to an e-mail this morning that the presentation was being featured on the homepage.

So, in its entirety, here is the presentation, Five Principles of Inbound Marketing & Four Simple Strategies for Teaching It

Five Principles of Inbound Markeing, and Four Simple Strategies for Teaching It

View more presentations from Colin Alsheimer.

The 5 Principles of Inbound Marketing

Colin — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 11:00:23 +0000

The concept of Inbound Marketing as a defined tactic is still very new. Here is my take on the principles of an effective Inbound Marketing campaign. Feel free to chip in with your observations at the end of the post!

Listen and learn

Listening and learning are two of the fundamental skills one must develop in order to engage in effective Inbound Marketing. By listening to your community you’ll not only learn about your customers (and what they think of your products), but you’ll gain valuable insight into how to create better products and services for them.

By engaging in intelligent listening before participating in communities, you’ll also ensure that you don’t make any “newbie” mistakes, which can anger and alienate the very people you want to connect with.

Create exceptional content

The only way to have true success with Inbound Marketing is to create and share exceptional content. Since Inbound Marketing is about being found by your target customers, it’s important to make sure there are ample ways for a customer to find you online. This means that besides your corporate website, you need to be blogging, creating rich media like video and podcasts, and actively participating in social media channels.

Use the right online marketing mix

Inbound Marketing, as it’s defined so far, is really an umbrella term which combines Search Engine Optimization and Social Media Marketing. It will be important to use the right mix of these two tactics (and others) to have the best effect. If more people in your target market use the web for search, you might want to invest more money in SEO than social media.

Engage with your customers

You can listen and learn, create great content and use the right mix all you want, but you’ll get nowhere if you’re not engaging with your customers. You need to be creating the type of content that encourages discussion, or is useful to your customer in some way. As Chris Brogan often says – “Be there before the sale.”

How can you engage? Listen and respond to people talking about your brand or product, be helpful by answering industry related questions, comment on other people’s blogs, and consistently promote others.

Analyze and measure

How can you know what’s working if you’re not analyzing and measuring the results? One of the hallmarks of any good Inbound Marketing campaign is that the execution be tied to measurable results. Before you begin the campaign, figure out some goals you want to accomplish. Contact form submissions, e-commerce sales, brand perception, and engagement metrics like page views, time on site, and comments are all good places to start. Then, using a tool like Google Analytics, configure your goal pages.

What else is essential to an Inbound Marketing campaign? What advice would you give to someone just starting to think about using Inbound Marketing tactics?

How HubSpot Created an Industry: The Ultimate Inbound Marketing Case Study

Colin — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 11:00:56 +0000

Founded in June of 2006 by Brian Halligan and Dharmesh Shah, HubSpot is a company that has seemingly taken the Internet by storm, racking up top ranked blogs, twitter accounts, viral videos, and millions in venture funding along the way.

The Ultimate Case Study

In the Inbound Marketing space everyone is looking out for the next great case study. Pioneers like Dell and Zappos are brought up anytime a marketer needs to show a client that inbound marketing strategies do in fact work.

But could we be missing the biggest case study of them all?

HubSpot, the company that owns the term Inbound Marketing, got to the top by associating themselves with a phrase that up until 2006-2008, had mostly been used in an entirely different context (typically referring to a form of market research).

In the process, HubSpot has created measurable demand for a classification of marketing that never existed before, while at the same time, flooding the Internet with relevant content for an (at the time) uncompetitive market.

How did they do it?

“All we try to do is build things we think people will like – both software like HubSpot and the free marketing tools at Grader.com and other things like our blog articles, Webinars, videos, and HubSpot TV – and then share these things with people and ask them what they think.” – Mike Volpe, VP of Marketing for HubSpot in a 2009 ZDNet inteview.

The HubSpot team is frequently known to mention that the secret to their success is “eating their own dog food”, and HubSpot must be full.

In the course of their marketing, HubSpot has created:

A suite of popular, free analytics & benchmarking tools (grader.com)
A top ranked marketing blog (#29 on AdAge’s Power 150)
A series of popular YouTube videos yielding over a quarter of a million views

They’ve also been instrumental in pushing the term “Inbound Marketing” by:

Sponsoring the Inbound Marketing Summit, featuring many of the top minds in the Social Media and SEO industries.
Creating the Inbound Marketing University, a resource and education site that’s very subtly branded as being run by HubSpot.
Creating a series of music video spoofs which extol the virtues and process for successful Inbound Marketing
Publishing the first Inbound Marketing book (affiliate)

Notice in the charts below, the growth in search demand for the term “Inbound Marketing” has a strong correlation with the growth of HubSpot’s business.

Inbound Marketing Search Growth

HubSpot's Explosive Growth

Wrapping Up

HubSpot has managed to grow a successful company by promoting and branding a set of marketing tactics that had previously been classified as two separate entities. They’ve created a self-fulfilling marketing machine: they generate demand for a marketing strategy they created, which builds interest in the services they alone can provide.

Do you think the Inbound Marketing term is here to stay? Or is Inbound Marketing itself too narrow to cover the full scope of the Internet marketing activities that must be conducted for a successful online campaign? Further, has HubSpot built the foundation for long term success by pushing the idea of Inbound Marketing?

How To Set Up a Custom Domain With Your Posterous Site

Colin — Mon, 25 Jan 2010 11:00:49 +0000

As Posterous has grown in popularity, more people are using the powerful platform as the basis for their personal (or business) blogs. While I think that using Posterous in this way is a great option, my inner SEO cringes when I see people using the standard “mysite.posterous.com” domain for their site.

Did you know you can use a custom domain with your Posterous site? It’s not very difficult to set up, either. Using a custom domain (like www.mysite.com), means that you have the opportunity to build up long term SEO value in a domain that you control.

This becomes invaluable if you ever want to switch to a more robust content management system like WordPress or Drupal, or if you ever wanted to sell your website. Basically, no matter where you point your domain you can always take the backlinks and authority that you’ve built up with you.

Here’s how to set up a custom domain with your Posterous site:

If you don’t have one already, buy a domain from GoDaddy.com
Tip: Use this link (affiliate) to save a few dollars on your domain purchase ($7.49 .com domains).
After purchasing your domain, go to My Account, then click on Domain Manager.
Click on the domain name you just purchased.
Click on Total DNS Control (it’s at the bottom of the domain dashboard).
Total DNS Control Section
Edit the points to IP address for the A (host) Record and set this to the following IP: 67.207.139.81
A (Host) Record Option

Editing the A (Host) Record IP Address
Log in to your Posterous site and go to the settings page.
Posterous Custom Domain Options
Enter your domain name into the custom domain field making sure the verify name server option is checked.
Posterous Custom Domain Input Field
Save your settings, and voila! You now have a custom domain for your Posterous website.

Questions? Things not go according to plan? Leave a comment below, and I’ll do my best to help!

Photo Credit

The Single Most Effective Tactic For Online Marketing Success

Colin — Sun, 10 Jan 2010 22:27:23 +0000

Create great content.

There’s just no other way around it. If you want to have success online, you have to be creating great content and you have to be doing it on a regular basis.

Look at some of the best and most highly trafficked websites online, Mashable, Chris Brogan, Search Engine Land, Copyblogger. What do they all have in common?

Great content.

I find it funny when I meet with people to discuss online marketing, and they don’t want to create content. Either they don’t have time, they don’t know what to write about, or they’re worried about what people might say.

Trying to achieve success without creating content is like trying to lose weight without going to the gym. It’s not going to happen.

What kind of content should you create?

It depends what your goals are. If it’s search engine traffic, text based content like blog posts might be the best approach. If it’s social traffic, blog posts, video, audio, and images would be good choices. If it’s for lead generation, try a white paper or ebook.

The really successful ventures will find ways to create all of the above.

But I don’t have time

Make time. Or hire someone to do it for you. This is an activity that you must work into your schedule. Start with at least one new piece of quality content each week. That will be enough to keep the content on your website fresh, keep the search engines coming back to index your site, and hopefully – build your presence online.

Note: if you work in a highly technical or tightly regulated industry, be sure the writer you hire has a solid knowledge of your industry, otherwise it can get dicey.

Pro tip: don’t wait for inspiration to come to you, instead, head down to your local bar or coffee shop and have an all night brainstorming session. Then, create an editorial calendar for yourself. Then stick to your schedule.

Photo Credit

There’s no future in SEO

Colin — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 04:01:00 +0000

This statement may come as a surprise to some of you, as I happen to do a lot of SEO. And I do truly believe in its importance and power in the online marketing mix. But I do not believe in its future.

Why?

Because when you get down to it – SEO is not very difficult, and the profession has quite a bit stacked against it.

For one, SEO friendly development platforms are now very common. Drupal, WordPress and Joomla all get you started with an SEO friendly framework, all without any custom coding. Typically, this takes the need to optimize code (one of the most technical aspects of SEO) right out of the picture.

Secondly, the general public has become much, much smarter about how the web works, and more importantly, how search engines work. Plus, there are many great SEO resources online, which give you all the information you need to learn SEO – and most are completely free! SEO does take quite a bit of time to learn, however. But if you’re somewhat computer literate, and have an understanding of the English language, then you can do it.

When I meet with potential clients, and they already have a working knowledge of SEO, I start realizing that leveraging my career on a single marketing tactic is probably not the best idea.

Finally, when you boil everything down, good SEO is a foundation to be used with other online marketing tactics, such as content marketing, pay per click, or social media. When it comes to Internet marketing, a single tactic just doesn’t cut it anymore.

Because of this, I prefer to say that I practice Internet marketing, or, as my friend Cameron Gawley would say – Digital Strategy.

So what is the future?

The future is in the generalist. The marketer who’s good at executing and strategizing with a variety of online tactics. If you think you’re good at SEO, you better start learning social media, or blogging, or pay per click management, because it’s all important, and it frequently overlaps.

Having a general understanding of many online marketing tactics means you can provide a more well rounded campaign for your client or your company. It also means you’ll never run the risk of putting all your eggs into one basket – something I never recommend doing.

Hardcore SEOers will argue my point, as I have greatly simplified the full scope of an expert SEO campaign. But as search engines become more intelligent and the general public becomes more aware of how to market online, all signs point towards SEO no longer being a viable standalone profession in the near future.

Photo Credit

10 Warning Signs That Your Internet Marketer Is a Dunce

Colin — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 03:44:38 +0000

A Dunce In The Wild

Much like the Social Media Marketing scene today, the Search Engine Optimization (SEO) industry is still rife with cheats and dishonest marketers, who would love nothing more than to slowly drain your bank accounts while providing little to no value in return. These marketers, and I hesitate to even call them that, take advantage of those who are unfamiliar with industry terminology, and how to do business online. It's for that reason that I've created these 10 warning signs that you're working with an Internet marketing dunce.

1. They don't ask business questions

Let's be honest. You're not starting an Internet marketing program for your health, or because you have some unnatural obsession with Google. You're doing it because you want to make money. You want to start, grow, or improve your business, and through some form of research, you've determined that your best bet is to forage into the online universe. When you meet with prospective SEO's or Internet marketing agencies, the good ones will ask you business questions like, "How much is a conversion worth to you?" or "What's the most profitable segment of your business?"

2. They don't ask tough questions

As an Internet marketer, I don't expect you to know everything that I do. If you did, you wouldn't need to hire me, right? A good SEO will ask the tough questions that can only come with experience and skill. If you say, "I want to increase my traffic", I ask, "why do you want to increase your traffic?" Is it to sell more widgets? To build a community? To attract investors? It's not enough to say, "I want to increase my traffic" – there's always some underlying reason for that goal.

3. They guarantee rankings – and it's all they talk about

Yes. Rankings matter. It's the Internet marketers job to provide visibility in the search engines for your website. And if you're not on the first page, you're not getting traffic. It's that simple. However, it's also the Internet marketers job to make sure your website is ranking for relevant keyword terms that convert AND provide traffic. Not to mention that sometimes, your website will convert better when it's ranked #3 for a term then it ever will at #1. Focusing on rankings is not healthy. It's a means to an end, so focus on the end – not the means.

4. They talk about time frames shorter than 6 months

Despite the fact that Google and Bing are trying to incorporate more real-time offerings into their search platforms, search engine opimization is a very slow process. If you've got a brand new site, expect to wait a year before you see any major search results. If it's an existing site, or a site with poor or even no optimization, expect six months. If you run into an SEO who guarantees 1st page placement in Google within a month, run far, far away.

5. They don't give you a plan

Just like any other form of marketing, good SEO requires a plan. If the Internet marketer you're talking to won't provide a plan, don't hire him.

6. They don't report

You want to know what you're getting for your money, right? If you're not measuring your marketing activities, then how do you know they're working? How does the Internet marketer know they're working, if they're not measuring and reporting? If you're flying blindly into the wind, you're just more likely to crash and burn.

7. They refuse to discuss tactics

Good SEO is not a mystery. If you're inclined to, there are hundreds of places you can turn to online for free and in-depth tutorials about how to do it right. Of course, it will take you a lot longer to produce results, but if you're on a tight budget – it can be done. A good SEO is confident in his skills, and unafraid to educate his client when necessary. There are no more trade secrets in SEO.

8. They don't talk about anything other than SEO

Search Engine Optimization is one component of a good Interent marketing campaign. Maybe your business needs some Local Business optimization, or Social Media Marketing, or Pay Per Click services, or Conversion Optimization, or a new Website Design. If your prospective Internet marketer can't recognize these needs, or refuses to acknowledge them… well, you know what to do.

9. They guarantee an oddly specific number of backlinks

Hey, I can guarantee that I can get you 200 backlinks. And I can do it tomorrow. Interested? I certainly hope not! Those 200 backlinks will be some of the lowest quality, most spam-tastic links you could possibly get. In fact, they may do your website more harm then good . But hey, I got you 200 links, right? It's exactly what I promised! Don't fall for these scams. Getting good, quality links that help your website is hard work. Really hard work.

10. They don't practice what they preach

If your prospective Internet marketer pitches you on a dozen essential initiatives, but you find they're not doing a single one on their own website, well my good friend, you've found an SEO that's all talk and no walk. It's easy to talk theory. It's a lot harder to show documented and proven results. An Internet marketer with no documented experience is liable to do much more harm than good to your website – and your company.

If you encounter any of these warning signs in your search for an Internet marketer, make sure you run far, far away. The last thing you want to do is waste money on marketing that's ineffective and misguided. Make sure you're selective, ask the right questions, and above all else – watch for the warning signs.

Photo Credit

How to optimize page titles when there’s no measurable search demand

Colin — Tue, 08 Sep 2009 02:18:12 +0000

I came across an interesting dilemma the other day. I was asked to create an optimization report for a client where little to no measurable search demand existed for the service being sold by the website. Typically, in these situations all optimization is based off of keyword research done through Wordtracker or SEO Book’s Keyword Tool, which shows a quantifiable number of searches per keyword phrase. This makes it easy to determine the demand for a particular phrase, and thus, an entire website. So what is an SEO to do when it seems as if no search demand exists?

Get creative, of course!

There are a couple of different tactics you can take when attempting to optimize a site that doesn’t appear to have search demand. The first is a branding based approach. Depending on the type of site or service your optimizing for, this can be a good tactic. Instead of optimizing for a commodity or informational based search, you’d be hoping to manufacture a search market through other tactics like social media or traditional advertising. The theory is that as consumers learn about your brand, they’ll begin searching for you by name – so it would pay to be optimized for that.

A great example of this currently is Peter Shankman’s Help A Reporter Out service. There is no search demand for the service that Mr. Shankman currently provides – a way for journalists to connect with sources. However, Shankman has done a fantastic job marketing the service through other channels, and has created a search market for his branded terms.

You can see on his website that he optimizes for three phrases, “Peter Shankman”, “HARO” and “Help A Reporter Out”. A searcher could use any of those three terms to find his website.

A second tactic, and one that may work out just fine is to simply guess. Google is known for stating that up to 25% of daily searches have never been searched for before. That’s a powerful statistic. Because of the sheer volume of long tail and new searches that are conducted daily, it’s impossible to know for sure exactly what people are searching for. So, as an SEO you should take your best guess, and optimize for long tail terms that are consistently searched for. Terms like “top”, “best”, “professional”, “company”, “service”, and any localized terms are good places to start. Beyond that, try product or service terms or any phrases that might describe a particular need. This tactic does require that you spend extra time testing and measuring the performance of your target keyword phrases. You’ll need to adjust consistently overtime to get the right combination of phrases for your website.

How would you optimize a website with no measurable search demand?