It's Not the CMS That Counts; It's How You Use It!

Tuesday, February 23, 2010 by Brandon Coppernoll
Inevitably in this business, I get pulled into the never-ending debate on what is the best content management system (CMS). I get asked which are best for search engine opimization, social media community integration and flexibility. Every website design or website development company has their preferred CMS they design and implement for. Some of these are proprietary, but most are likely third-party provided. At Fusework Studios, we have a proprietary software, but there are some cases in which we go with third-party integration.

Almost all content management systems now have tools for search engine optimization and other tools to complement your web based strategy. A company can spend from nearly no money to thousands of dollars for the top-of-the-line CMS. Unfortunately, all that money will do no good without a keyword and search marketing strategy behind your content.

Tips to utilize your CMS' capabilities:
  • Title your pages with keywords in mind
  • Use keywords in your links
  • Use keywords early in your content (first or second paragraph)
  • Use keywords in header tags
  • Create inbound marketing by generating buzz or links to your content (preferrably with keywords) by utilizing your social media community tools
  • Utilize business blogging to drive traffic to your site
For a successful web based strategy, you cannot rely solely on one marketing medium. All of the tools around the web, including your CMS, play an integral role in Internet marketing.

Contact Fusework Studios for tips or if you have questions regarding search engine optimization and your content management system.

Fusework Studios Launches Web Site for IU Kokomo

Thursday, January 21, 2010 by Nellie Stout

Original article by Indiana University Kokomo: http://www.iuk.edu/news/?naid=19&ncid=.

Kokomo, Ind. - Indiana University Kokomo has launched a new and improved Web site, www.iuk.edu, featuring easier navigation, online video, vibrant flash images, and socia media integration.

"The new site will allow us to share IU Kokomo in a more engaging and dynamic way. It brings with it a content management system that allows us to better manage updates and changes, as well as the ability to implement analytics that measure site usage and give us the tools to make constant improvements that better serve our users," said Katrina Janes, director of the Office of Communications and Marketing at IU Kokomo. "The redesign and launch of a new university Web site is a huge undertaking, and we are very excited to unveil this new Web presence to the students, campus and community that we serve."

The site, developed by Indianapolis-based Fusework Studios, provides easier navigation for the user, improved search functions, and a consistent look, design, and feel. The first step in the redesign was an audit of the old Web site that included an evaluation of its strengths and weaknesses. This evaluation enforced the need for IU Kokomo to clearly indentify and match target audiences with specific marketing objectives, as well as the need to transform the site from a static information source to a dynamic and engaging marketing tool.

This direction is supported by a recent TeensTALK®survey of high school sophomores which found that 74 percent of the respondents conducted general college research on the Web, and 67 percent visited a specific college Web site. It is clear that higher education institutions are positioning their Web sites as a primary marketing tool and relying more on electronic communication tools. The average Web user today is highly skilled and able to communicate through many technological formats, from text messaging to IM to Twitter. This is particularly true for prospective and current college students.

"This was a huge project and encompassed two years from vendor selection to launch. Every unit on campus participated," said Paul Nowak, vice chancellor for external relations. "A special recognition is due to our marketing and IT departments, and especially Rudy Kizer, our campus Web manager, and Katrina Janes."

Indiana University Kokomo serves a seven county, primary service area in north central Indiana. The campus offers more than 40 academic programs including four graduate degrees.
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Fusework Studios provides service in Business Blogging, IT Services, SEO Indianapolis, Indiana Website Design, Indiana Website Development, Web Based Strategy, Social Media Marketing, Indiana Video Production, Email Marketing Strategy, Corporate Blog, Internet Marketing Indianapolis, and much more.
 

Indiana Video Production is not dead

Tuesday, January 12, 2010 by Laurie Buschmann
Indiana Video Production - Take Action!Indiana video production is alive and well, and there are many production houses in central Indiana that do a fine job at it.

In this age of social media marketing, business blogging and email newsletters, it's important to remember the viability of video in your Internet marketing efforts. 

You've heard it before, "Video tells a story."  But more than that, it's a necessary tool that can impact your bottom line in a variety of ways.  Through visuals and sound, your customers can:
  • Learn more about your business (history, products, process, etc.)
  • Hear testimonials from your customers about how great your product/service is
  • See step-by step how your product works, so customers will buy it themselves
  • Follow how-to instructions for accomplishing a certain task
  • Be inspired and empowered to donate to your cause
  • Be entertained by a different type of advertising
  • Advertise for you by sharing your video across their social media networks
  • And the list goes on....
Doing video is a no-brainer, so let us show you how easy it can be. Just think of all that content that's just waiting to be put out into the world.

Add video production to your web based strategy for 2010, and contact Fusework Studios today to get started.

Organic Search Engine Optimization and Quality Content

Tuesday, December 8, 2009 by Kevin Hood
Organic Search Engine Optimization and Quality ContentWith regards to business blogging and organic search engine optimization, they always say, "Content is King." You need content, content and lots more content to rank high in the search engines. The more pages you have, the better you will probably do.

However, does the quality of the content matter? You want your posts to be well written, interesting, add value and make readers come back for more. But does that matter to the search engines? Not really.

The search engines care much more about who is linking to you, versus the brilliant idea in that blog post you spent three hours revising. Yes, it's a little sad that Google doesn't love your idea and place your blog post at the top of the search results. But as SEO expert Rand Fish pointed out in his recent article, "Great Content Equals Great Rankings, Right? Wrong.," that's how marketing has always worked. The best restaurant is usually the local hole in the wall that no one has heard of, and sometimes the worst eateries are the chain restaurants who advertise and get virtual back links from commercials.

With this in mind, it's probably not a good idea to start writing tons of blog posts with sloppy content and little value. However, keep it in mind when you are stressing for hours over one little blog post. Of course you want your customers to like your corporate blog, but organic search engine optimization should be at the focus. Write more content, have an Internet marketing strategy to get links to your content, and don't worry as much about what you write. You can write blog posts until your nose bleeds, but if no one is linking to them, Google won't care.

WHAT WOULD YOU DO FOR A TWITTER FOLLOWER? WIN A SAMSUNG 32" HDTV! Part 2

Monday, December 7, 2009 by Bruce McClain
It has been 5 days since I announced my goal of becoming one of Indy's 10 most followed on the social networking site, Twitter. At this point, my mission is not playing out as I had planned. I have gained 15 followers, but that is about my average anyway. I don't believe these followers are happening as a result of my contest.

If, on January 3rd, I am in the top 10 on wefollow.com for Indy Twitter accounts, I will give away a brand new 32" HDTV to one of my followers. I had hoped that was a big enough prize to get people involved. At this point, it hasn't taken off. 

I have tweeted about this once a day on my twitter account. I don't want to be too pushy and my goal has always been to provide quality content about the Internet marketing industry on my Twitter account.

This week, I am going to ask for a little more participation from my current followers and see if this makes a difference. This whole thing is an experiment to see what happens when people or businesses offer prizes for followers. 

If you want to see what happens, please continue to follow our blog, and of course, you can always follow me @brucemcclain.

Google Real Time Search Makes Social Media a Lot More Relevant

Monday, December 7, 2009 by Kevin Hood
This is not only huge for organic search engine optimization, but also for your social media optimization. Google just announced a real-time search feature integrated near the top of every Google search results page. It features the latest news from major newspaper websites, popular blogs and even Twitter. If you search for "tigers mistress," you will currently see a link to a news site, a link to Perez Hilton's blog and random Tweets from people talking about the recent Tiger Woods scandal on Twitter.

Imagine if someone searched your company name and found an interesting Tweet near the top of Google from you, and decided to follow you? Getting followers from search engines, pretty cool right? But what if someone mentioned your company name in a negative light on Twitter, and it showed up on the first page of Google?! 

Social media is real folks; you just can't ignore it anymore. Google has also worked out deals with Facebook and MySpace to include public feeds in the real-time search results. If your corporate Internet marketing strategy does not include social media, maybe you should consider working with a social media marketing company. You need to advertise. You need to monitor your brand reputation, and you can make new relationships all at the same time.

Are you spending a lot of money on PPC Marketing? Why not throw a few of those dollars towards a social media marketing optimization plan and get even more search engine results in the top area of Google.

People can now find live information about you on Google. Does this sound scary? Maybe, but should you put your head in the sand and ignore it? No way! Take advantage of this new form of search engine marketing and free social media advertising in the place everyone wants to be - the top of Google!


Indiana Website Development Trends

Friday, November 13, 2009 by Brandon Coppernoll
Since I graduated in 2005, I immediately found a home as a database programmer for a local Indiana website development company. The company's primary focus was to build new websites using their proprietary CMS, and everything had to revolve around this software. The problem with this tactic and approach is that rarely does one piece of software accomplish everything you can dream about. 

We live in an age where SEO, social media communities and Internet marketing reign as kings, and website development becomes only a part of the overall web based strategy. To some, this may seem as a threat to the existence of traditional website development, but I do not feel any personal fear that this is the case. The role has changed, but the need is still very real.

More and more now the "custom development" tag and approach is becoming less prominent. Most ideas have been put to code before. The trick is how do you utilize or critique these tools from several third-parties and create something spectacular. One of the easiest examples of this trend is the inclusion of social media communities with corporate websites and corporate blogging. Unless your need is so specific, you're likely going to be using a third-party application already created for your corporate blogging needs.

Talk to Fusework Studios about website development and about creating a winning web based strategy. We would love to help your business be on the cutting edge of your online web presence.

Corporate Video Production Techniques Have Changed

Friday, November 13, 2009 by Laurie Buschmann

Fusework Studios' Tips for Corporate Video ProductionCorporate video production techniques have changed.  Let's face it.  Businesses are no longer hiring production companies to produce the token "Eight to Ten Minute Corporate Video."

In this new digital age of Internet marketing and fast-paced "get in and get out" media delivery, corporate video production is being looked at in a very different way.

Don't get me wrong, corporate video production is still VERY important to a company's marketing strategy, but now, media can be delivered in a whole new way.

Here are some pointers to remember when looking in to what makes a good corporate video.

1. Cut, cut, cut.
To be a good (aka successful) corporate video, we're looking at no more than three minutes of total running time.  And recently, the trend has been even shorter.

2. Conversion is key.
The old standby has always been to have a closing billboard or graphic on your video that includes your business' website address and phone number, but that doesn't help determine how successful your corporate video was for you. 

Now, you have got to put in some sort of point of conversion. In other words, the video should end with "Go to our website, and sign up for our seminar, using our VID3O discount code." This is completely measurable and will definitely let you in on how many people saw your video AND then were compelled to do something -- which is the whole point of creating the video in the first place.

3. Take advantage of the medium.
Video is still a viable marketing tool because it does something that print, stills and websites cannot do.  It brings images and graphics to life through animation and image movement.  Wouldn't you appreciate a client testimonial much more if you saw and heard a person delivering kind words instead of just reading those same words on a page? The impact of Audio/Visual is still very good.

If you're looking for an Indiana video production company to produce a corporate video, make sure this company is discussing these three points with you.  This will ensure that your corporate video strategy is "in sync" with the rest of your marketing objectives.
 


Best Day and Time for Your Email Marketing Strategy

Tuesday, November 10, 2009 by Kevin Hood
Best Day and Time to Send Email NewsletterYour email marketing strategy should include a schedule and analysis of the best time to send an email. Tuesday has historically been the best day to send an email, but the best day and time to send an email depends on a lot of factors. The retail industry has had recent success with sending email newsletters on Mondays and has coined the phrase "Cyber Monday." Business to Business email newsletters have usually done better on Tuesdays and Thursdays. However, several industries have the most success when they send their email blasts on the weekend.

What defines success for an email marketing strategy? The day and time you send an email newsletter campaign can have a great effect on the open rate of the email. Your clients may have more free time on Tuesday to open and read your email newsletter. With a cohesive email marketing strategy, a company will send emails to a small portion of their list on different days and determine the day with the highest open rates.

In addition to optimizing the day of the week for your email newsletter campaign, you can also delve further and optimize by testing the timing of your email. Email open rates can be improved by finding the best time of day for your clients to receive email. In addition, there are statistics that show the click-to-open rate can greatly differ depending on the time of day your client opens the email. Many companies have found the highest click-to-open rate at around 8 a.m. and lowest at 5 p.m with a difference of 10 percentage points. This shows that attention for an average email decreases during the workday, and they may be more inclined to click on an email call to action earlier in the day.

The time and day are just two of the many aspects you should consider when planning your email marketing strategy. Optimize and then capitalize on your internet marketing strategy.

Simple Opportunities for Organic Search Engine Optimization

Monday, November 9, 2009 by Derek McClain
Fusework Studios recently held an event for a local chapter of Business Networking International (BNI) at our office in Muncie, Indiana.  The event was designed to be an educational session on organic search engine optimization and business blogging.  The attendees were all local business owners and general managers that are typically not involved in the day-to-day management of their organic search engine optimization strategy.  Understanding this, we did not want to go into technical detail with all of the behind-the-scenes elements that search engines are seeking.  Instead, we focused on simple adjustments that can help make a big difference in organic search.  Often times the simple things are easily overlooked, and by pointing these things out, we were able to raise a few eyebrows and spark interest in our services.organic-search-engine-optimization-graphic

The feedback from our session was great, and it was incredible to see the reaction from the attendees when we uncovered some basic things their website had been missing.  I'd like to share just three pointers from the meeting that are often overlooked.
  • Domain Name - The value of a great keyword domain name is huge.  Consider registering a domain name that includes keywords for the services you provide and putting a microsite behind that domain name.  We recently employed this strategy with one of our microsites which can be found at InternetMarketingIndianapolis.com.

     
  • Title Tags - The page title or title tag absolutely cannot be overlooked.  This is a chance to include keywords relevant to the content on that specific page in one of the areas that search engines are looking at as a top priority.  Using the same title tag for every page or only including one word (such as "About") is not going to help.  Take some time when assigning a title to your new page.  We recently changed our title tag on the Fusework Studios TV website and are now ranking very high for Indiana film and video production.   

     
  • Headings - Pay attention to the headings used at the top of your web pages.  Avoid the standard "Welcome" to our website trap.  Instead, use this heading to include keywords related to your services.  When launching our new Fuseworkstudios.com website, we were able to include Internet marketing within our heading.  This is much better than "Welcome to our new web site."

     

Video: Search Engine Marketing and Masters of Business Online

Monday, November 9, 2009 by Derek McClain
Search engine marketing is a huge part of making an internet marketing strategy work for you.  Just like a business, if no one is showing up, it will not matter how great your website is designed.  In the video below, Evereffect President, Jim Brown discusses the importance of search engine marketing and how he got started in the industry.  Jim also briefly touches on a local internet marketing conference in Indianapolis, the Masters of Business Online.

 

Complete Internet Marketing and the Evolution of Programming

Monday, November 9, 2009 by Derek McClain
Things are changing in the programming world, and it is no longer just about finding the right website design company. Companies are now developing a complete internet marketing strategy and seeking an internet marketing agency to produce a total web presence.  Learn more about how social media marketing tools are being used to compliment websites by viewing the video below.


 

Indianapolis Internet Marketing and Social Media Lunch

Friday, November 6, 2009 by Bruce McClain

Introducing the Fusework Studios "Lunch and Learn" 

@ Scotty's Brewhouse!  




Want to learn more about Internet marketing? Do you have burning questions about how to use social media tools effectively for your business?  If so, join us for some great food and a short presentation.  


I will start off with an overview of Internet marketing, discussing the importance of strategy in your marketing objectives. I'll cover a range of tools and tips in social media, blogging, and much more.  The owner of Scotty's Brewhouse, Scott Wise, will then share how his use of social media has changed the way he runs his business....for the better!


Feel free to bring along a friend or two and spend your lunch break learning information that you can't afford not to know!  We promise you'll leave with a new found knowledge of what Internet marketing can do for your bottom line.


Your ticket price includes your lunch at Scotty's Brewhouse!



I Don't Have Time for Business Blogging!

Thursday, November 5, 2009 by Kevin Hood
Business Blogging Time"I don't have time to blog for my business." That has to be one of the catch phrases of 2009. Heck, maybe it will make a Rolling Stone Top 50 List. It is probably the most popular reason for business owners or employees to not start a corporate blog.

It's a lame excuse. Every business provides a product or service. The majority of human beings on the planet Earth use the Internet, not the Yellow Pages or Highflyer, to find your product or service. You need to be found on the Internet, and business blogging is one of the easiest ways to improve your search engine optimization. You include keywords in your content, get links to your blog, Google starts to like you and then you increase your search engine ranking (and sometimes get two results for the same keywords).

So how do we find you time for your all important business blogging? I'm going to be honest; sometimes it's hard. You're out of the office for a few days on sales calls or busy with a project, and you really are stressed to find time to blog. We need to change your approach to blogging, so here are a few tips:
  1. Set a schedule to blog. Or, if you're not a fan of structure, promise yourself you will write a certain number of blogs every week. We have blogging lunches which helps increase our business blogging. 
     
  2. Take notes with blogging ideas. Not a day goes by that don't I come up with some good idea for a blog post, but I don't always write them down. Carry a notepad, use your phone or create a draft blog post with your idea. Just write the title and a sentence or two. Then, come back to turn it into a real blog post. If you know you have ideas ready to develop, it can motivate you to finish them and end up with more frequent blog posts.
     
  3. Turn your emails into business blogs. There are those projects, those quotes, those conversations where you spent hours selling why you are the best. You worked hard, it sounded good and hopefully got you the sale. Use that content in a blog post, just copy and paste! Don't feel like blogging? Find an email!
     
  4. Blog about another blog post. Giving links to another website with a similar topic can be good for your search engine optimization. Quote a paragraph of theirs and then give a paragraph of your own thoughts. Easy peasy!
     
  5. Embed a Youtube video and then comment about it. The video can be from a competitor, a partner or a customer. Add content with keywords, make it interesting, and off you are to the blogging for search races. Yee Haw!
     
  6. KISS (Keep It Simple Stupid). It doesn't have to be a thesis, or brain science, or rocket surgery ... it just has to be interesting and provide some kind of value. Don't sweat over it; maybe your next blog post will be better.
     
  7. Blog about employees, corporate events, industry news. The business blogging ideas are endless.
Hopefully, that gives you a few corporate blog ideas and attitudes to help you forget those lame excuses. A blog is kind of like the green beans you wouldn't eat as a kid. It tastes good and has value once you try it. Any Internet marketing strategy is a long term process, but with constant effort and best practices, you can turn business blogging into a return on investment. That's the bottom line, whether mommy wants you to blog or not.

Commitment Is Key to Internet Marketing Success

Friday, October 23, 2009 by Bruce McClain
I had the good fortune this week to attend the 2009 Masters of Business Online conference in Indianapolis, Indiana. This event is hosted by one of our peers in the industry, Evereffect. The President of Evereffect, Jim Brown, did a tremendous job of scheduling outstanding speakers and visionaries from the Indianapolis area to speak. If you haven't attended MBO in the past, make sure to do so next year.

Over the course of the day, I watched a great presentation from the CEO of Brandswag, Kyle Lacy, on the importance of social media. I had the opportunity to hear Jon DiGregory, Founding Partner of Cantaloupe, talk about video production and how it is evolving for the web. Another particularly interesting presentation was from the Founder of Slingshot SEO, Jeremy Dearringer, on how creating inbound links to your site is so important to your search ranking.

While each presentation during the day was about a different area, all of them had one particular theme that stood out time and time again...COMMITMENT.

You see, when you talk about organic search engine optimization, social media marketing or your overall Internet marketing strategy, one thing is always consistent; you need commitment.

I have blogged about this in the past. We have witnessed this over and over again with our clients. The more they commit, the better success they have. We can create the best Internet marketing plan for you, but if you don't commit to it, you will ultimately limit your own success.

If you think about this scenario, it is the same with so many things in life. Take for instance, weight loss. You can hire the best trainer to create a fantastic workout plan for you, however if you don't commit to the program, you will have little chance for success.

Even though each of my fellow Internet marketers had their own stories and products, each of them continually preached about one ever important thing...commitment.

Before you are ready to dive into your next web project make sure you ask yourself one important question.

Are you ready to commit?


Top 50 Blogs in Indiana - Local Internet Marketing Indiana Case Study

Wednesday, October 21, 2009 by Derek McClain
The Top 50 Blogs in Indiana contest has grown to a new scale this year.  What originally started as a list put together by a local blogger in the Indianapolis area has now become a sought after title and the who's who of bloggers in Indiana. 

The growth of this contest is a great example of Internet marketing in Indiana.  This web site will receive a huge amount of traffic because each blog nominated is going to have a share of followers in the local Internet marketing community.  Each blogger will no doubt reach out to its followers and ask for votes.  Simply put, this is the perfect place to find some of the best content on the web in Indiana.  

If you find the content on our blog to be helpful, please take a moment to head over to http://top50indianablogs.com/ and vote for Fusework Studios. 

We will be back later to follow up with this contest and share the results.  This will no doubt be another local Internet marketing case study!

Internet Marketing in Indiana

Friday, October 16, 2009 by Derek McClain
When looking for a company to help with Internet marketing in Indiana, you will likely have a long list from which to choose.  Some will tell you it's all about social media optimization, and others will say spend your money on Pay Per Click (PPC) search marketing.  Some will stress the importance of an email marketing strategy, while others will say it is all about having a business blogging strategy.  At times, it can probably get downright confusing.  Well, let me add just a bit more confusion and tell you that all of them are right!internet-marketing-indiana-business-woman-ejoys-benefits

You see, it is not just ONE of these things that leads to successful Internet marketing in Indiana.  It is a combination of all!  This is why finding a true Internet marketing agency in Indiana is so important. 

An Internet marketing agency can provide stratgies for all of these services.  They have either taken the time to develop this part of their business in house, or they have built partnerships with other agencies that specialize in a paticular area.  Either way, the ultimate goal is providing YOU (the consumer) with the best solution from the people with the most experience and success.  It is only then that you will enjoy ALL of the Internet marketing benefits that will help your company grow.

At Fusework Studios, we stress the importance of developing this complete Internet marketing strategy for you because we know that it's not all about ONE thing.  It's all about understanding your business and providing you with a package of Internet marketing services that will allow you to see the best end results. 

So the next time you are confused and everyone is telling you all about the latest trend, find a complete Internet marketing company in Indiana and enjoy all of the Internet marketing benefits you deserve!

Internet Marketing Indiana Keyword Phrase Should Be Good for SEO

Friday, October 16, 2009 by Kevin Hood
Internet Marketing IndianaInternet Marketing Indiana has to be one of my favorite keyword phrases ever. We just added it to our corporate blog yesterday, and with zero content, we are already ranking fourth on the first page of Google for "Internet Marketing Indiana." Of course, that high search engine ranking won't last for long without good quality content.

When writing content and blog posts to target a keyword phrase, there are several steps you can take for search engine optimization purposes.
  1. Begin the title of the article with the keyword phrase. The keyword should have a headline tag if the website is set up correctly.
  2. Begin the article with the keyword phrase and use it again in the first paragraph if you can get away with it.
  3. The keyword should also appear as the title of the web page by using the <title> meta tag. Your company name should be listed after the keyword phrase.
  4. Although Yahoo is supposedly the only search engine paying attention, it is still a good idea to use the keyword phrase in your description and keyword meta tags.
  5. Highlighting the keyword in bold can help improve search engine optimization.
  6. Insert an image into the article with a keyword rich file name, alt tag and description.
We'll stop there and keep it simple for now, but these rules apply when writing content for a website, business blogging or even when using social media sites that are indexed by the search engines. So for now, the organic search engine optimization tips end, and the monitoring of the "Internet Marketing Indiana" keyword ranking begins.

Get Back to Basics - Social Media Advertising Works When You Have a Great Product

Thursday, October 15, 2009 by Bruce McClain
I was on Facebook yesterday evening and came across the Ruby Tuesday fan page. On it, I found a coupon for their new Sunday Brunch. The coupon is "Buy One Brunch, Get One FREE." 

I have already enjoyed their brunch two times since they introduced it, so I immediately printed out the coupon!  Then, I promptly shared this link with all my Facebook friends.

Why did I print off the coupon? Why did I share it with my friends? Was it because of Social Media advertising? Yes, that was part of it. Was it because of Ruby Tuesday's Web business strategy? Of course, that was part of it as well. However, the #1 reason I reacted the way I did was because of the product. I LOVE THEIR BRUNCH.

You see, you can hire companies like Fusework Studios. We can help you create a fantastic Internet Marketing Strategy. We can help you with Email Marketing, Pay Per Click Advertising and the works. You can do every single thing right on the Internet Marketing front, but if your product is lacking, you will fail every single time.

Get back to basics. Make sure your product is the best in the business. Once that's done, execute your overall marketing plan, and enjoy your success! 

Then, kick back with me and enjoy a free brunch.

Complete Internet Marketing and Landing Pages

Monday, October 12, 2009 by Derek McClain
Landing pages are a key ingredient when creating a complete internet marketing strategy.  A landing page is developed to be a conversion generating tool for a specific call to action.  Whether it be an email marketing campaign, Google AdWords campaign or just a few graphics on your home page, they all must drive the visitor somewhere for conversion.  While landing pages play huge role in the success of a complete internet marketing strategy, they are often times overlooked. 

Next time you spend all of that time on planning and executing to get the qualified visits to your site, remember to spend that same amount of time on the page in which you are driving the traffic  Here are a few tips in creating a conversion friendly landing page:
  1. Make the Landing Page Relevant to Your Campaign - As obvious as this may seem, many times the home page of a web site is used as the landing page.  What's worse, more times than not it doesn't even mention the campaign that drove the traffic there!

     
  2. Make the Call to Action Clear - Now that your visitor is on the page, what do you want them to do?  It should be so clear, a monkey could figure it out. 

     
  3. Remove Points of Friction - If your goal is to obtain contact information, make sure you are asking for ONLY the information that you must have.  Eliminate unnecessary required fields in your form. 

     
  4. Remove the Navigation Bar - This can be very hard to part with and does not always HAVE to be done, but when doing email marketing or AdWords it can yield the best results.  Remember: everything they need to convert should be on that ONE page.

     
  5. Monitor the Analytics and Adjust - You must have Google Analytics installed on your landing page to get the most out of if.  Likely the first try is not going to be your best.  Remember to adjust and test new things to increase conversion.