Professional Web Services

The Number One Rule For A Professional Business On The Internet: Be Found Online
By: Jim Warholic

Many B2B and B2C companies lose track of the number one rule when a website is first launched online. Much effort goes into the Wow factor, with trying to make the site a flash advertisement or spending ten or twenty thousand dollars or more with a graphic design artist that knows very little about marketing from a SEO, Search Engine Optimization standpoint. In fact many of these graphic designed sites provide very little substance when it pertains to SEO. Most of these websites can not be found online.

The majority of companies in the world are the small business types. They do not have the brand recognition of a Sears, Wal-Mart, Best Buy, or Dell. Because of the brand recognition from large companies, it is very easy to find these sites online. On the other hand, small business sites may be known by their company branding in a particular market segment but not by new customers searching for what products or services are provided.

Web branding is particularly a problem in the consumer services fields such as: Realtors, Attorneys, Insurance Agents, Doctors, and Dentists. Many of these consumer services fields have taken a cookie cutter approach to building a website. In many instances the websites are built using a frame approach. This makes it very easy to put the website together for new individuals but the content is not original and can not be properly cataloged by the search engines to be included in the results for the business keywords and key phrases. Take for example a Realtor with a website from a company that produces thousands with a template driven frame system. The only difference between Realtor number one and number two is the picture and maybe the graphics on the pages. All the content within the pages are the same for all Realtors using this approach. With the large increase of Realtors in California alone, how much sense does it make, that a new site with the same content is going to show up in the SERP, search engine results pages?

To be fair, while this frame approach does have certain drawbacks from a search standpoint there are some good qualities to consider. Many of the sites have built in CRM, Customer Relation Management software that makes it very easy to maintain contact with leads and customers on an ongoing basis.

Customized Websites Internet Marketing Solutions

No need to re-invent the wheel. Customized Real Estate Websites and others can be designed and built around the frames of the cookie cutter style. This has the advantage of being able to include the CRM software and other marketing and advertising features. This certainly takes more work but the payoff in the long run will be worth it. Search Engines will begin to catalog the information and include it in their search results pages. People searching for the product or service will find the website, particularly if it is targeting a local market segment. See: Local Search Marketing And Advertising

Balancing Internet Marketing And Advertising With Eye Candy

Website functionality and visually appealing features must be balanced by the first rule: being found online. If a website is nothing but eye candy the search engines will not find and catalog it, versus having an all text site will get pretty drab and boring, with very little in the way of conversions (Having a visitor go to the next step i.e. make contact, purchase a product, sign up for a technology and online advertising newsletter, or obtain more information.)

Content Management for Increased Sales

Internet marketing and online advertising is very fluid in the dynamics of search today. Maintaining fresh content is a key to increasing the online sales that can be generated through a website. Updating a site regularly has at least two significant advantages over others. 1: Content will be fresh for regular visitors and will likely result in return trips. 2: Search engine algorithms view updated content as a positive when it comes to ranking in the SERP.

No One Said Search Engine Marketing Was Going To Be Easy
Internet Marketing services Online Advertising Strategies Web Branding solutions

There are well over one hundred factors that play into obtaining good rankings in the SERPs. The time and money costs can be significant for business today. The solution is to leverage the talents and expertise of someone with experience that have put in thousands of hours of testing, analysis, and proven ethical concepts to improve the bottom line for your B2B or B2C business. Contact Professional Web Services, Internet Marketing Services, Online Advertising Strategies, and Web Branding Solutions.

More Sales For You!

Is your business website information out of date? If so, you may be guilty of false advertising especially when it applies to the consumer market place.

Many B2C websites have appeared in recent years with products, services, price lists, and pictures representing the actual consumer goods that a business sells. Many websites are put together as a means of having an Internet presence without understanding the full implications of not maintaining the site. Little or no thought has gone in to the general upkeep of the site. Overlooking the general upkeep can get you in a world of hurt.

The FTC has Facts For Businesses, a set of general guidelines that are quite helpful.
Advertising and Marketing on the Internet: Rules of the Road

Advertising must tell the truth and not mislead consumers.
In addition, claims must be substantiated.

GENERAL OFFERS AND CLAIMS
PRODUCTS AND SERVICES

The Federal Trade Commission Act allows the FTC to act in the interest of all consumers to prevent deceptive and unfair acts or practices. In interpreting Section 5 of the Act, the Commission has determined that a representation, omission or practice is deceptive if it is likely to:

* mislead consumers and
* affect consumers’ behavior or decisions about the product or service.

In addition, an act or practice is unfair if the injury it causes, or is likely to cause, is:

* substantial
* not outweighed by other benefits and
* not reasonably avoidable.

Under these legal guidelines there certainly are a lot of areas where having a misleading ad can bring about a lawsuit.

“But, I am not advertising on the Internet. I don’t use PPC (pay-per-click), newspaper ads, magazine advertisements, or any type of advertising. So, you see, there is no way I could be doing any type of false advertising.”

Think again

You have a website online with prices that are out of date, pictures that do not fully explain the details, and other descriptions that are flat out wrong. By just having an Internet presence you are in fact marketing your business online. Maybe it is not the best of marketing, but never the less, by having a business online the website gets picked up by search engines. Other websites and directories may also be linking to yours. If a new customer comes upon your site through any media form, even an E-mail signature block, and the information is not accurate or misleading, you may very well be guilty of false advertising.

Webmasters and Website Designers

Not only can a business be held liable for false advertising, but so can the webmaster or the designer of the website. See the FTC quote:

Sellers are responsible for claims they make about their products and services. Third parties – such as advertising agencies or website designers and catalog marketers – also may be liable for making or disseminating deceptive representations if they participate in the preparation or distribution of the advertising, or know about the deceptive claims.

* Advertising agencies or website designers are responsible for reviewing the information used to substantiate ad claims. They may not simply rely on an advertiser’s assurance that the claims are substantiated. In determining whether an ad agency should be held liable, the FTC looks at the extent of the agency’s participation in the preparation of the challenged ad, and whether the agency knew or should have known that the ad included false or deceptive claims.

Look at that closely again. Website designers and catalog marketers may be opening themselves up to legal action. By disseminating deceptive representations of products or services and they participate in the preparation or distribution of the advertising, OR simply know about the deceptive claims, they can be held liable.

Catalog Marketers

Catalog marketers have a responsibility to check out the claims. Products that sound too good to be true can come back to bite the catalog marketer.

To protect themselves, catalog marketers should ask for material to back up claims rather than repeat what the manufacturer says about the product. If the manufacturer doesn’t come forward with proof or turns over proof that looks questionable, the catalog marketer should see a yellow “caution light” and proceed appropriately, especially when it comes to extravagant performance claims, health or weight loss promises, or earnings guarantees. In writing ad copy, catalogers should stick to claims that can be supported. Most important, catalog marketers should trust their instincts when a product sounds too good to be true.

For the complete Internet marketing and online advertising information from the FTC click here for the Advertising and Marketing on the Internet: Rules of the Road in PDF format.

Note: Ignorance of the Law is no excuse.

Internet Marketing and Online Advertising Procurement

It is your desire to increase online traffic, Web business, and improve sales. Sometimes to do this requires stepping back for a moment and analyze the false honesty your website might portray. Taking a critical marketing approach, looking at the site from a consumer standpoint, and asking yourself the tough advertising questions may reveal a foundation that needs to be fixed. Fixing the foundation will be key for your future e-Business success.

For a Free, No Obligation, Website Analysis, contact Professional Web Services, SEO Internet marketing, Online advertising, and Web branding specialists.

People are tired of the same ole B2B and B2C Brand thing on the Internet.

When a friend was job hunting and was scheduled to have interviews at various companies he was excellent at analyzing the upper managers and VPs before he even met them. Some of the companies were on the Fortune 50 and it was very easy to find news articles related to the company or individuals in the search engines. The analysis came in the form of what was said in the self released press releases and many of the rote writing of the Bios.

Marketing Creativity

Creativity is not one of the stronger suits by many of top managers and it shows in the form of what I call “Bird Seed.” For those that do not know what Bird Seed is, just put together the uppercase letters and you will have it.

Internet marketing is becoming more about story telling, the good birdseed kind. When making a sales presentation to a customer in person the customer can get to know you. They can discover your mannerisms, learn how you respond to circumstances, and size you up on the type of character you are. Whereas, with the Internet and a company’s website a person visiting can only read and visually look at pictures or videos. Sales in this case is only one way. While websites can include avatar characters, instant messaging feedback, and eventually voice over IP embedded in the site, it can not fully interact with a potential customer.

Internet Sales, Marketing, And Advertising Concepts

The Internet is unlike any other form of advertising media. People talk about how to increase the stickiness of a website, and to a certain degree it is true that this marketing factor needs to be addressed, but for many different websites the stickiness factor is very overrated. Each industry has a unique set of keys that unlocks the door to a person’s mind. Typically there are two ways that a person finds a business online. One way is they already know your website address, OR a Search Engine Search was executed with certain keywords related to what the company does. In both of these instances a customer or new prospect was seeking information about a certain topic. Once that information is found a prospect may email or phone the company to make contact. Other times, a prospect will return to read more in-depth information related to the company or industry. Hence the website stickiness factor.

Search And Be Found

Search is the one major factor that makes the Internet different. Imagine, customers are already actually looking for what it is that your company manufactures or the services provided. Advertising on the radio or television is targeted to a broad market spectrum and in most cases requires many viewings of the Ad for it to have a marketing impact. Newspaper and Magazine advertising is more targeted to a narrower band segment but even with this, the spectrum is not as tight as the Web. With keywords advertising from Google, Yahoo, MSN, and other Search Engine companies open to all, in every single industry, provides the highest ROI and the most targeted of any other forms of advertisements. In fact, with at least one search company, local advertisements can be targeted to state, city, or even the local neighborhood. Simply put, no where else can you reach this type of market segment customer target groups on a 24×7 real time basis like you can on the World Wide Web.

Sales And Marketing Ethics

People are becoming more critical of everything written and viewed online. With the email spam that seems to flood in with hurricane force into our mailboxes on a daily basis, is it any wonder that people are calling into question everything on the Web? Yes, the Web is growing by astronomical amounts but is the information trustworthy? Taking into account the ethics factor will become more important as time goes on.

Your Internet Marketing And Online Advertising

Getting your company marketing message out is a daily challenge. Putting ones thoughts down in written form is definitely one of the toughest feats to accomplish. Meeting this challenge is a must in the twenty-first century. Penning the message together in a unique style will add validity to the trustworthiness of the message, the character of the company, and the integrity of the individuals.

Spend the time today to do it the right way.

Professional Web Services, Inc. Internet Marketing Services, Online Advertising Strategies, And Web Branding Solutions. Reach: The eBusiness Professionals

The diversity of information online can not be contained.

Signed Jim Warholic

Looking for Internet traffic to your B2B or B2C website? Relevant consumer Web Traffic is the key.

How do you go about reaching the potential clients that do not know your name, website, or the products, software, or services you sell?

Think about what you do online yourself. How do you find the particular consumer items that you need?

“Well, that’s not hard to figure out, I do a Search engine Search for the Keywords Brand that I am looking for.”

That was the easy part. Now, think about your B2B or B2C business enterprise. What keywords would someone search for a product or service in your business? Answering that question may be a lot tougher than you can imagine. Take for example a manufacturing company that fabricates all types of metal products across a diverse number of industries. Each industry has a different understanding of the manufacturing processes involved. In fact, your idea of what it is that you do may be 180 degrees different than what your customer says that you do. Consequently, the searches a customer might do from one industry will be totally different than that of another.

This is quite a quandary. Reaching those customers will take a creative writing approach to Internet marketing.

Placing Marketing Sugar on the Website

Ah, something sweet. The taste of sugar to the search engines and your future customers is the key to being found. Including those keywords in just the right places, with in the correct context, with just the right measurements, are the main ingredients to cooking up a batch of tasty Internet marketing messages. Topping it off, requires different pipeline sales cookies for each customer’s industry.

Sure, there are other integrated Web elements that will help you start showing up in the search engines but the main ingredient still is content in the form of online writing. That is the very foundation. Without content, a website will not have the staying power to perform well for the long haul.

The online approach to marketing takes extensive time to write and edit content for the company website. Owners, presidents, and sales and marketing personnel need to implement more proactive strategies in their approach to the World Wide Web. The professional experts are sitting in your chairs. You are the Pro experts.

Take the time today to jot the notes down, write a paragraph or two, and start telling your company story. Good content managers can then use those writings and edit the message for the website.

Professional Web Services, Internet marketing and Online advertising services.

Article by: Jim Warholic

Writing is the chief form of communication when it comes to marketing and advertising a product or service on the Internet.

Marketing and advertising requires the written form of communication. This can not be overstated. Everything is tied together on the Internet with words. Words are the consumer cornerstone to reaching your audience online. With over 250,000 English words (not including the technical jargon) in use today, placing a small fraction of those in a succinct way, to reach your intended audience, is becoming more important as time goes on.

We can help you reach your intended audience with creative writing, call to actions, and working in a partnership form to create, edit, and update content on your website. With our diverse technical backgrounds, sales and marketing skills, and abilities to capture the essence of your company, products, and services; your website can become a 24×7 sales, marketing, and advertising machine.

Email us today for the marketing services, strategies, and solutions.