SEO | The Ultimate Internet Image

Inbound Marketing: Laying the Groundwork for Page One Dominance

July 29, 2010 By admin Leave a Comment

The Initial Inbound Marketing Consultation:

Discussing Inbound Marketing Strategies, AdWords,

Social Media, SEO Factors, and a Secret Ingredient

Whenever I meet with a prospective inbound marketing client for the first time the conversation invariably settles upon what the most effective marketing strategies, those required to build a significant Internet presence, what we at UII refer to as The Ultimate Internet image.

The most common advertising and inbound marketing related questions I am asked in the initial consultation have to do with getting to Google’s page one as soon as possible, and staying there.

AdWords: Many prospective clients invariably ask about paid advertising and, in particular, Google AdWords (PPC or pay-per-click) as a means of getting to page one quickly. My response is always the same:

“It depends on what your goals are, short term and long term, how deep your pockets are, and how thick your skin is.”

That is not always a popular answer…but it’s the truth!

There is no faster way to get to page one and stay there, guaranteed, than to pay for it. However, if a prospective client isn’t familiar with PPC advertising, the risks as well as the rewards, it is generally not a great place to start an inbound marketing consulting relationship. That being said, I do work with clients with sizable AdWords budgets from day one and they’ve done quite well.

However, you must have clearly defined parameters going in and there has to be a degree of comfort and confidence that usually takes time to build with a new inbound marketing consulting client.

OK! Back to organic inbound marketing strategies!

Social Media: Once we dispose of the AdWords question, the next question that comes up has to do with social media.

Social media is everywhere!

Social media is on Primetime TV with various NCIS characters checking their Facebook pages while solving crimes and being “friended” by employers and fellow employees. When I say social media is everywhere, I mean it’s everywhere! It is rare for the nightly news to run without some mention of Facebook or Twitter or YouTube. The problem is, many prospective inbound marketing clients have seen and heard the hype, they have been exposed to the sales pitch, but they understand very little about how it works or what it takes to pull off a successful social media management campaign.

Notice I didn’t say social media marketing campaign?

That’s because, if you have read any of my previous posts you already know this, social media marketing is an oxymoron. Why? Because, in every instance, attempting to market anything overtly via social media is not only ineffective…it is indeed moronic.

I probably lost a couple of readers with that statement…but so be it!

Advising a client to market anything other than a solid Internet image, an online presence via social media is playing Russian roulette with your client’s brand. Social media marketing puts your client at risk for Terms of Service (TOS) violations and having your client’s brand name permanently banned from the social media platform in question.

It is an unnecessary risk and it is a disservice to your client.

Enough said!

Finally, after we have gotten through paid advertising and social media, we get around to talking about websites, which we will cover in great detail in an upcoming blog post, and then to the best ways to get to Google’s page one organically.

The best ways to get to page one of any of the search engine results pages or SERPs, and stay there, are:

SEO: I am talking about a well designed program from the bottom up and that sometimes means dismantling the existing Internet image and starting over from square one with the proper foundation and the right architecture. This is a radical approach but if your client is nowhere to be found on the SERPs for the keywords necessary and their PR (page rank) is 0/10, what do you have to lose? Better to start fresh and do it right. If you do so, Google, Yahoo, and Bing will reward you, at least in the short term, and certainly long enough to get the ball rolling in the right direction.
Links: There are a number of different kinds of links and we will discuss them all in depth later. For now, all your new inbound marketing client needs to know is that links are the way the Internet confers authority on your site, on your Internet image. Links are the Internet’s way of saying: “This webiste offers something of value, it has something to offer!” Links from the right kind of sites, related sites with an equal or higher PR than your own, will enhance your Internet image and your authority online.
Pages: Pages alone are not enough. However, pages are generally a reflection of the time and attention paid to the site by the webmaster, owner of the business, inbound marketing consultancy, or whoever is responsible for its upkeep. After all, if a website is getting enough attention to build pages on a consistent basis, chances are also very good that the type of content offered on those pages is good. Usually…not always…but usually. Interestingly, if your site has a lot of pages the new ones will get indexed quickly. There are a number of advantages to developing a big site filled with quality content as quickly as possible and then continuing to build over time.
Content: Some say Video is King and others say Content is King. The fact is, both are so incredibly important you simply cannot have an effective inbound marketing campaign without both. Content affects your message and, without the proper message conveyed in just the right way, your blog posts, articles, descriptions, and so on will not be read. If your video does not offer quality content, it will not be watched. Video without great content is useless. Articles without quality content are useless. Blog posts without quality content are useless. Meta descriptions without….Well, you get the picture. Additionally, the more content you add, the more often you add it, and the more related pages it builds, the higher your ranking is going to be.
Longevity: Longevity is one of those things you just can’t push. The time your website has been around is pretty much set in stone. That being said, you can tweak it a bit. Interestingly, many webmasters and inbound marketing consultants fail to take advantage of these small adjustments that, cumulatively, make a big difference. One of the best things you can do in this regard is to purchase your domain name for at least two and, optimally, five years…up front. Domain age is a crucial factor and it has been noted by many SEO authorities that investing in your domain reflects well on your site and the search engines reward you for the investment. There are other factors and we will discuss them in our next post.
There are reportedly as many as 200 different SEO factors that affect your overall ranking. That’s right, 200! Some of the others include:
- Keyword in the URL
- Keyword in the Domain name
- Keyword in the title tag – close to the beginning (10 to 60 characters)
- Keywords in Description – It is said Google no longer relies on it but they do in fact still use it on occasion
- Keyword in the keyword meta tag – be careful with this one of you can be penalized for getting it wrong (see link in resources below)
- Keyword density in the body text – Careful! 5-20% of all keywords in total but watch for % threshold
- Keyword density for individual keywords – 1% to 6 %
- Keywords in Heading tags – H1, H2 & H3
- And so on! Like I said…200!

There are many more issues covered during the initial inbound marketing consultation, particularly as we begin the process of building an inbound marketing strategy designed to get our client to page one.

The SERP page one ranking for the various keyword phrases determined to be of greatest significance for lead, appointment, and traffic generation, and ultimately converting the leads to sales, is crucial to our new client’s success.

Every factor must be addressed, all 200 SEO factors as well as the additional inbound marketing components mentioned above and others we have yet to discuss.

Ultimately, your inbound marketing client’s success is based on how well you communicate what you will be doing and how your new client can help. Significantly, there is one final component that is necessary, one characteristic that can make your job easy and your inbound marketing strategy a success.

Without it, your inbound marketing strategy will certainly fail!

And that secret ingredient is:

Patience!

All of the above will come together if patience is part of the overall marketing strategy. With the addition of quality video and articles (which we will discuss next), along with an ongoing blogging strategy, your inbound marketing strategy will surely succeed. However, if your client is not willing to invest the one ingredient that must come from them, you should part friends before you begin.

Without patience in the mix, there is no amount of money that will be worth the aggravation of attempting to deal with an impatient client.

Key Point: If you explain things clearly up front and do not make promises you have absolutely no control over, you will have a great relationship and your new inbound marketing client will allow you the time and the flexibility you need to deliver amazing results.

However, if you make outlandish claims in order to make a quick sale, it will come back to bite you (you know where) every time.

Ultimately, and I am certain this goes without saying for the vast majority of inbound marketing consultants out there: be honest; be realistic; and, do your homework. If you do those three things, you will have a client long term and you will be able to deliver results that will make you look like a super hero; and, you will make your client a lot of money!

How great is that?

Next we will cover video marketing and distribution followed by article marketing and distribution. Then, we will discuss various website options and why I do everything but stand on my head to get new clients off the idea of a static website on into something far more effective. Then, we will cover linking and how to get more sites to link to you.

An aside: Don’t always believe what Alexa tells you about links, or traffic for that matter. Use Google Analytics and Quantcast, as well as one or two others that we will discuss in the coming weeks, for a more accurate picture. Google and Yahoo also seem to keep better track of links and reflect a more accurate number of indexed pages. We will discuss how to use all of these measures, and more, very soon.

If you have questions, contact me anytime. Please leave comments or feedback…I would love to hear from you!

John Zajaros
The Ultimate Internet Image
Lakewood, Ohio 44107
Skype: johnzajaros1
216-712-7004

Resources:

Check out Vaughn’s Summaries for all 200 SEO Factors

Google Analytics

Quantcast

Alexa

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Filed Under: AdWords, How to Prepare an Inbound Marketing Consultation & Competitive Analysis, Inbound Marketing, Inbound Marketing and AdWords, Inbound Marketing and Patience, Inbound Marketing and SEO, Inbound Marketing and Social Media, Inbound Marketing and Video, Inbound Marketing Consulting, Inbound Marketing Strategies, Internet Marketing and SEO, Internet Marketing and Social Media, Organic Listings and Inbound Marketing, SEO, Social Media and Business, Social Media and New Media Marketing, The Ultimate Internet Image, Ultimate Internet Image, Ultimate Internet Image and Inbound Marketing, Ultimate Internet Image and SEO, Ultimate Internet Image Consultation, Ultimate Internet Image Consulting, Video Marketing and Social Media Tagged With: How to Prepare an Inbound Marketing Consultation & Competitive Analysis, Inbound Marketing, Inbound Marketing and SEO, Inbound Marketing and Social Media, Inbound Marketing Consulting, Organic Listings and Inbound Marketing, SEO

Outbound Marketing, Inbound Marketing and the Ultimate Internet Image

December 15, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

The Questions Every Business Must Ask Before, During, and After Each and Every Inbound Marketing Campaign

Many companies pay huge sums of money, either to search engines such as Google, Yahoo, and MSN (Bing) for pay-per-click sponsored advertising or to SEO firms, to get to page one, the first page for various coveted keyword phrases responsible for generating leads, traffic, prospects, and ultimately, sales.

While both inbound marketing strategies may be effective, they are certainly not the most effective methods overall, both in terms of costs and/or results, for dealing with the marketing conundrum, the puzzle presented by Google and the other search engines.

The puzzle?

How does a business, either an online, Internet-based company or a traditional brick and mortar business, get the most exposure in the least amount of time and for the least amount of money?

In other words, how can a company optimize not only exposure, the ultimate Internet image and presence, but how can I do it in a cost effective manner?

How does a company optimize the ROI, return on investment?

These are the questions every company, online or offline, participating in online marketing or, as it is now referred to, inbound, new media marketing, needs to be able to understand and address. Unless a company can properly address these questions, these issues that cut to the heart of both short term and long term Internet marketing strategies and efforts, they are going about it in the wrong way.

As noted previously, there is a revolution underway, a transition within a transition. The Internet has forever altered how we spend money on sales and marketing campaigns. The shift is two-fold at its most fundamental level, and there are transitions within transitions, the state of Internet marketing, and thus the state of inbound marketing, is fluid, in a constant state of flux, evolving as knowledge of how to fully optimize the platform and its strategies are understood at a greater and deeper level.

The initial transition has occurred within and away from outbound advertising, the traditional in-your-face, intrusive advertising (e.g., Yellow Pages, television, radio, billboards, etc.), to a consumer oriented, search driven marketing strategy, later to be referred to as inbound or new media marketing. Within this transition several more have taken place. However, the most significant and interesting shift has been in the social media milieu because it is reshaping the Internet at a fundamental level. As the latter continues to occur, how we target and reach various segments of the Web 2.0, social media population is defining inbound marketing.

The use of social media and video marketing, along with the emergence of the blog, social bookmarking, and the mini or micro-blogging phenomenon have reshaped the strategies of companies big and small, both traditional brick and mortar companies moving online and emerging Internet marketing concerns across a variety of niches.

Ultimately, the transition is far from over, yet one thing is a certainty, the old media style of advertising, the outbound method of marketing is fading and the new media, inbound marketing approach to client and customer acquisition is here for the foreseeable future. The ROI may be incredible, given the proper strategy and an understanding of inbound marketing.

The next article in this series: The Use of Video and Social Media to Achieve High Levels of Search Engine Visability! will deal with how to integrate these two powerful models into your inbound marketing to create the Ultimate Internet Image long term!

Professor John P. J. Zajaros, Sr.
The Ultimate Internet Image – International
216-539-7412
Skype: johnzajaros1
johnz@ultimateinternetimage.com

PS, Call for a free consultation and video marketing strategy workup.

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Filed Under: How to Build an Internet Marketing Business, Inbound Marketing, Inbound Marketing and Video, Internet Marketing and SEO, Internet Marketing and Social Media, Outbound Marketing Inbound Marketing and the Ultimate Internet Image, SEO, Social Media and Business, Social Media and Marketing, Social Media and Web 2.0, Ultimate Internet Image, Ultimate Internet Image and Inbound Marketing, Ultimate Internet Image and SEO, Ultimate Internet Image Consultation, Ultimate Internet Image Consulting Tagged With: Inbound Marketing, Inbound Marketing and Social Media Marketing, Internet Marketing and Outbound Advertising, Internet Marketing and SEO, New Media Marketing, Outbound Marketing, ROI, Social Media and Video Sharing, The Ultimate Internet Image, Ultimate Internet Image Consulting, Video Marketing, Web 2.0

More Traffic and More Leads for Your Traditional Brick and Mortar Business

December 11, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Ultimate Internet Image: Inbound, Internet Marketing and a Page One Ranking Equals More Traditional Brick and Mortar Business

More leads and more traffic, particularly in todays economic climate are invaluable, they can quite literally mean the difference between making money and going under! Just as important as recognizing the need for more traffic and more leads, which in most cases is glaringly apparent, is to find the right Internet marketing consultancy, an Internet marketing company that understands traditional brick and mortar businesses and can help you make the transition into inbound, search driven Internet-based marketing, what some people are now referring to as new media marketing.

The need for more than a simple website should be apparent to anyone who has one. A website without traffic and consequently a website that does not in turn generate traffic to your business is a worthless as a menu in a restaurant without diners, an auto body shop without damaged automobiles or a car dealership without customers. The website is, in fact, only a first, rather tentative step into the world of inbound marketing.

To establish your brick and mortar business as a legitimate online presence takes creating the ultimate Internet image, hence the name of our company.

Without the proper Internet image, without the ultimate Internet inbound marketing formula, you have a website, and empty vehicle with little or no hope of moving up in the search engine rankings.

To move up in the search engine rankings, to establish your company online and achieve the ultimate Internet image, you must have a properly orchestrated inbound marketing strategy, one that incorporates search engine optimization, article marketing, video marketing, and the proper Web 2.0 strategy and image.

It is no longer enough to simply slap up a 2-5 page website and wait…the competition is to fierce, there are simply too many voices screaming for attention!

Ultimately, it is not the loudest Internet presence that wins the battle for more leads and more traffic online, it is the ultimate Internet image, it is the best presented package of a properly optimized website with a relationship building blog, along with the proper balance of article and video marketing, and all tied together in a cohesive strategy designed to increase search engine ranking and get your business to page one organically; that is, without the use of incredibly expensive, sponsored PPC or pay-per-click advertising.

Interestingly, clients know which ads are paid for and which ads are organic. Meaning, in the prospective clients’ eyes, the left-hand side, the organic listings, “earned” their ranking. Whether or not this is a valid consideration, consumers place more weight on an Internet presence on the left side of the page, an organic listing versus a sponsored link.

Meaning, if you are paying for advertising, in a subtle way it is counted against you. Strange but true!

So, where do we need to be? Yes, absolutely, to get more leads and more traffic, on page one and in the organic listings!

How do we get there? Well, some of this has been covered above and the remainder will be covered in the next few blog posts dealing with the Ultimate Internet Image, inbound and Internet marketing, and the generation of more leads and more traffic. All of this is designed to get you to page one and keep you there long term which will translate into more leads, more traffic, more business, and more profit!

For more information and a guaranteed page one listing contact:

John Zajaros
Director of Marketing
216-539-7412
Skype: johnzajaros1
johnz@ultimateinternetimage.com

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Churches, Blogs, and Internet Marketing

August 23, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

You might wonder what churches, blogs, and Internet marketing have in common. In fact, I would be kind of surprised if you did! In order to explain myself, to explain the link between these three entities, I have to give you a little background. So here goes!

Every night, TuffGuy (my little Puggle) and I set out on a midnight stroll around Lakewood. Lakewood is a semi-urban community just west of Cleveland on the southern shore of Lake Erie. Interestingly, many people refer to this area as the “North Coast,” when in fact it is just the opposite. Perhaps that is a topic I can use in a future article, video or blog post? Who knows? But for now, suffice it to say, Lakewood is a medium-sized, semi-urban suburb just west of Cleveland.

So, every night as the clock strikes 12, this 54-year-old grandpa and his little dog, TuffGuy, set out to do what would have been impossible only a year before. By that I mean, a little over a year ago I was in a wheelchair, permanently catheterized, or so I thought, with little hope of making it to the end of my driveway, much less completing a 5 mile walk… little dog or no!

Interestingly, the walks have become one of the high points of my day, a time to reflect, think, plan, set goals, and create. Whether it is because of an increase in activity, with the resulting increase in oxygen and blood flow to the muscles and the brain, or simply more than my fair share of endorphins and enkephalins being dumped into my system, the walks have become a very productive part of my day, my mood at times bordering on euphoric.

Not only have I experienced more than my share of physical benefits, as the result of my increased activity, but the thoughts and observations experienced along the way yield a constant stream of new, and often very profitable ideas.

The other night, I noticed something about the churches I passed; and, I was immediately struck by the contrast in their appearances. Not only the contrast, but how the contrast seemed appropriate to me as a blogger, an Internet marketer, a marketer in general, and as an entrepreneur.

Let me explain!

We pass approximately 15 churches along our route, from the huge Roman Catholic Church they are trying to save with the incredibly ornate marble columns (another lesson), to the store-front Christian Church just beginning the long road towards a home of its own and a congregation.

The striking thing about the churches, and their respective appearances, is what the appearance says about its caretakers, without a word spoken…hallelujah or otherwise!

At the risk of sounding like ex-president Richard Nixon:

“Let me make one thing perfectly clear!”

This is not an article about religion, and it is certainly not in any way meant to disparage or diminish anyone’s personal beliefs, it is simply an article about observations made, and the associations along with them.

Okay, back to churches, blogs, and Internet marketing…and how they are related!

As stated above, the variation and the contrast in appearance from one church to the next is striking. Once noticed, my mind simply took the next step, the leap forward, and made the connection with blogs and Internet marketing. You see, the churches are very much like blogs, they are made up of congregations and they reflect the attention of their owners…or pastors.

One church:

Simple but immaculate, the sidewalks weeded, the hedges trimmed, the stone work well maintained, and the marquee out front updated.

The next church, less than 100 yards away:

In a sorry state, the contrast between the two immediately apparent, its woodwork peeling and in need of paint, the sidewalks cracked, weeds growing up between them, the marquee’s message dated and it’s letters mismatched.

The welcoming look of the former replaced by a less than welcoming, almost deserted look to the latter. This goes on block after block, church after church…not only in Lakewood but across the region, probably across the country and around the world.

The symbolization, the metaphor of blog for Internet church was striking, immediately apparent, at least to me!

Go with me for a moment, think about this!

A perfect vehicle used to take a “walk” through the Internet community, the figurative “Lakewood online,” with TuffGuy or your own little dog, is StumbleUpon!

Let’s stay consistent and type ”religion” in as the search term, or rather the “stumble” term we want to pursue. We can, in fact, do this for any term and come with a myriad of blogs, all related to our keyword, our search.

Once again, immediately apparent is how similar the trip down StumbleUpon Road, Anytown, USA is to the trip down Detroit Road, Lakewood, Ohio or NetSurfer Road, Anytown, USA or anywhere else…churches and all! Some…no, all…reflect the attention of their owners, some inviting and even welcoming, while others seem almost deserted, not really the place I want to hang my hat, much less do business with.

Hence the final component, the thing that pulls this all together. Whether as a church in the temporal realm, or a blog and/or a website on the Internet, appearances, and particularly first impressions are crucial if one is to survive as a community…much less as an Internet marketer. Even if you are simply creating a vehicle for individual expression, a hobby and little more, a blogger with no real interest in making a living, an audience would still be nice. If, like the churches in a general state of disarray, you are less than welcoming in your appearance, what hope do you have of ever attracting an audience? On the other hand if you are a well-groomed, well-maintained, even beautiful “church,” you will have little trouble attracting new “members” to your “congregation.”

The secret here?

If you can call it a secret?

Take care of the little things, the corners!

Take care of the corners, as an old business partner of mine used to say, and the middle will take care of itself!

If, like the churches along my walk, your blog or website is in a general state of disarray and/or disrepair?

If you have weeds growing up through the cracks (broken links going nowhere and outdated banners)?

If you have a marquee with a dated message (poor or dated content and a poorly designed SEO strategy)?

It is imperative you hire a “landscaper” or a “handy-man,” even if it is someone from the “congregation,” to make the necessary repairs.

You only have one chance to make a first impression, make it a good one and your congregation will grow…fail and you will fail right along with it!

See you on our walk through Lakewood…or Anytown…TuffGuy and I, that is!

John Zajaros
216-712-6526
Skype: johnzajaros1
johnz@ultimateinternetimage.com
excellencepaidforward@gmail.com (personal email)

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Filed Under: Blogging for Business, Business Blogging, Churches Blogs and Internet Marketing, Internet Marketing and SEO, Internet Marketing and the Blog, SEO, Ultimate Internet Image, Ultimate Internet Image and SEO Tagged With: Blogging and Appearance, Blogs and Congregations, Business Blogging, Churches and Blogs, Churches Blogs and Internet Marketing, Inbound Marketing, Internet Marketing, Internet Marketing and SEO, Perception and Internet Marketing

What is The Ultimate Internet Image & What Do We Do for Online & Brick & Mortar Businesses?

June 16, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

The Ultimate Internet Image is a consulting and training company with one goal: Your complete satisfaction!

We are involved in and focussed on the various social media networks and social bookmarking platforms. Additionally, we are involved in developing an innovative, complete, and up-to-date strategy to keep pace with current trends and in order to assure you achieve The Ultimate Internet Image. We have just signed on a brilliant new programmer, already involved in creating social networking software geared towards simplifying and streamlining your online marketing experience. UII is focused on future, innovative applications development. The Ultimate Internet Image International is orientated towards marketing novices and newcomers, as well as seasoned marketing experts and software developers looking to stay abreast of the latest trends in inbound marketing.

Finally, The Ultimate Internet Image is an Internet marketing agency, an inbound marketing consultancy, and a digital marketing mastermind. UII can meet all of your web-based design requirements and assist you in meeting and overcoming your unique Internet application development challenges and concerns. The Ultimate Internet Image is also a full service SEO specialist, skilled in attraction and integration marketing, as well as various advertising strategies using Web 2.0 and social media networks and platforms.

Internet marketing is once again in a transitionary phase, shifting from a traditional, website centered approach, to a more complete and holistic blog and social media strategy. As discussed previously, this also entails a dynamic shift from an outbound, advertiser driven approach to consumer driven, inbound marketing. It is imperative both online and traditional brick and mortar businesses stay on top of this latest trend. UII will help you better understand and implement the various strategies necessary to achieve the ultimate online business presence.

Remember:

Your Success is our Success!

We look forward to serving you in the near future.

Call, Skype or email for a free consultation today!

Professor John P. J. Zajaros, Sr.
216-712-6526
Skype: johnzajaros1
johnz@ultimateinternetimage.com

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