A complete web based strategy can be an excellent forefront to a solid Internet marketing strategy. The goal should be to be able to reach all of your customers through different "vehicles" to promote your products, services and even your customers. The focus the past year has been on social media marketing, and the year before that there was a great increase in email marketing. This year, the focus has shifted to search engine marketing, and it is important to include this in your strategy.

Here are benefits to good search engine marketing:

• Search engines are the number one resource for people to find websites
• Targeted search engine marketing can have a high conversion rate
• Search engine marketing can be completely free (do not have to use pay per click)
• You win search by writing about what people are looking for

If your website is not winning the traffic through search that you're looking for, contact Fusework Studios about putting together an Internet marketing strategy including search engine optimization.

Previously, I discussed how Indianapolis web development has changed, and I provided a theory on what the next trend will become. I talked about how business blogging and social media community interaction has become the latest trend in providing relevant information to customers. Now we will see search engine marketing at the forefront in how web development is approached for businesses.

Customers have been using search to find goods and services rather than looking for specific businesses. While it is important for your business to be visible (e.g. Fusework Studios) in the search engines, it is even more important that your business is found for specific keywords based on your goods and services.

The next phase in Indianapolis web development will be about playing an integral role in search engine marketing and finding ways to get new content out and fast for what customers are looking for. Search engines are looking for sites and blogs that update often and have relevant content to what their users are searching for. It's not about "if you build it, they will come" anymore.

Early on in web development, it was about telling your story -- the whole story. Unfortunately, this requires time and money to be able to put all that work together. When print marketing is put together, it is customary to hand out a brochure, poster or some form of quick communication about the product or service. I recommend you actually follow suit for initial website release, and over time, you can add the additional content you probably would have initially included before.

The reason is Google and other major search engines value up-to-date content. New content is very important. The sites and blogs that are most active about putting content up for their visitors are getting special treatment because they are viewed as more likely to be current for their customers - those people that search. There is no magic tool or button you can use to get these results. It's about building upon a foundation to be found in search.

Contact Fusework Studios for more information about building a strong foundation to win customers through search and inbound marketing.

The year 2010 brings on new opportunities for businesses across the country including Indianapolis. The economy is slowly on the mend. Jobs are starting to come back. Businesses are strategizing on how to attack their marketing plans and grow. Indianapolis, in my opinion, is no different from this trend.

When I first came onto the web development scene, it was primarily about having a website. Your website was more of a brochure. There was little thought to a full web based strategy or social media community involvement for businesses. The primary focus was having a great looking web design and plenty of content for people to read.

Then came the next phase which was to measure the analytical data provided for your website. Soon, it was found that people often didn't spend more than 1-2 minutes on the site. This didn't help support the theory to have more than twenty pages of content. The next step was to find a way to convert those visits into money by creating calls-to-action. These calls-to-action were provided as forms, buttons and/or videos.

The most recent trend is how to use social media marketing and business blogging to benefit your business. Search engine marketing is taking the forefront, and more businesses are implementing corporate blogs and social media as a part of their web strategy. I believe this trend is going to add a new twist to how websites will be developed beginning in 2010.

With Google Live Search and the rise of blogging as the premiere method in getting recent and relevant content, the next trend is all about flexibility and the process of getting search content out to the masses. It will be about monitoring what people are looking for and providing that information. Businesses will be taking an ever-more increased role in talking WITH their customers (not just TO their customers). Websites and strategies will be taking on a new look to feed how people will find out about their business(es), goods and services.

I will be touching on how to take advantage of this new trend in my upcoming post. For now, I wanted to get you thinking about how sites will be developed differently with this in mind. I'd be interested in hearing some thoughts from you on what you see coming in the next year.

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!

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.

 

Search Engine Optimization has become a widely known term and may be mentioned over a few dinner tables in Indianapolis. Search Engine Optimization has become so popular that I am now receiving several emails every week from Search Engine Optimization companies.  These are very well written emails with clear calls to action and convincing case studies. Here is one such email marketing example:

Email marketing at its finest! In all honesty, I receive this exact same email marketing ploy several times a week. Whenever I hear "first page of Google" or "we will get you on top of Google," it causes me to stop and run the other way. There are so many factors with organic Search Engine Optimization and high search engine ranking that you can never promise to get a potential client the number one spot on Google, especially if you didn't even bother to ask what the desired keywords are! (That's a tip for all of you SEO spammers out there!)

If your prospective Search Engine Optimization company does not ask a lot of questions and do a lot of research before identifying if the return on investment will be worthwhile, stop and run the other way! There are agencies in Indianapolis with Search Engine Optimization experience and successful SEO case studies to prove their expertise.

My advice: Don't get help from a spammer.

In most cases if a customer is using search engines to find you by your business name, it's because they already know about you but may not know your web address. It's simply the easiest way to win search. In order to bring in customers that may not know much about your business, the best way is to utilize keywords that best describe areas of your business for which you want to be found. Developing a web business strategy around specific keywords and phrases of your products and services will provide you more ROI in the long run.

How can this be accomplished?

• Start a corporate blog and set a goal of 10-15 keywords or phrases to focus on
• Consistently post content to your blog, site and social media profiles
• Focus energy on conversion - whether it's a sale or conversion form on your site
• Consider digesting ideas from an internet marketing agency regarding a full spectrum of ideas, not just getting you to the first page of search listings
• Understand that the goal should not solely be getting to the first page of Google but to convert qualified traffic

We encourage social media optimization revolving around these keywords. First create a goal to strategize on how you would like to be found using search. Corporate blogging is a great way to fortify your brand and online presence and blogs that are consistent in producing content will get more attention from search engines. The final step is to use social media to enforce your blogging efforts and to drive traffic back to your site. All that is left is conversion.

Search Engine Optimization in Indianapolis can be tough to find. Not only is it hard to get help with Search Engine Optimization (SEO) in Indianapolis, but it can be difficult to find agencies who are experienced and have successful SEO track records. In fact, a quick trip to the source code of some of the large Indianapolis website and internet marketing firms, will result in a suprising summary:

Many Indianapolis website agencies do not use Search Engine Optimization on their own websites or their client websites!

When I first realized this, it was a pretty big shock to my SEO system. These big time Indianapolis companies are selling expensive websites and internet marketing plans, but they completely ignore one of the most important aspects of a website: Search Engine Optimization!

You can have the nicest looking website in Indianapolis, but without proper Search Engine Optimization there is a chance no one will ever see it! It is important to review keywords and phrases that someone outside of your company would use to search for your product or service. Then research those keywords to determine which receive the most searches and what keyword phrases related to your business you may be missing. After going over a detailed report, it's time to plan your content and meta tags around your chosen keywords. That's just for the inside of your website, we could talk for hours about ways to externally improve your search engine ranking.

People search Google for almost everything these days, so don't forget the importance of ranking high in search engine results. You may have just searched the Internet to find a Search Engine Optimization company in Indianapolis. No more searching to find the best Indianapolis Search Engine Optimization firm, you can get proven and experienced Search Engine Optimization in Indianapolis at Fusework Studios.

There are many business out there spending thousands and thousands of dollars on pay per click campaigns and Search Engine Optimization. Do these methods work, of course they do. Google wouldn't be worth billions if their pay per click methods didn't work. There are also many search engine optimization companies who do a great job and definitely help with your Website strategy of driving traffic to your site.

I am here to tell you there is another solution. It will take a little more work on your part, but it will cost you significantly less and I believe that it will deliver better results. This magic solution is something that has been around for years. It is the practice of blogging.

I have seen companies hire web consultants, social media agencies, and every other specialty out there and not have the results that a simple blog post can bring. Why do you think I try and blog each and every day. Sure I want to connect with you, the reader. I also want to educate potential customers to the many possibilities of Internet Marketing, but I also want you to find Fusework Studios when you search for Indianapolis Search Engine Marketing. 

That is why my team blogs each and every day. You see when you blog you create new fresh content for your Website. Who just happens to love new and fresh content? Yep you guessed it, our good friends at Google.

When most companies launch their new Website is is fantastic. It has fresh content, it looks great and is easy to use, but what happens over time. Employees leave, new products are introduced, but the site never changes. It started out with 15 pages of information for Google to index, but those 15 pages haven't changed for years, so why should the search engines care.

That's where blogging comes in. Every post is a new page for Google to index, it's new fresh content, and it gets rewarded. At Fusework Studios we use an even more advanced strategy that allows each post to become even more effective. Any way you choose to approach it, blogging can dramatically change your search engine placement and success.

Is it for everyone? Absolutely not. You have to make an effort. You have to make time to type a new post; to be creative and to care about your web business strategy. However, if you are willing to take this leap, you can win search at a fraction of the cost of other solutions.

Search Engine Optimization, Social Media Advertising, Blogging, Pay Per Click, Interactive Strategy, Email Marketing, the list can go on and on. These days it seems everyone has a new area of expertise for generating traffic to your site, or your social networks.

While I believe in almost all of these Internet Marketing Strategies, I often wonder when do we talk about your Corporate Internet Marketing, or you Social Media Strategy, why do so many Internet Marketing companies fail to talk about the most important piece to the puzzle, CONVERSION.

Sure I can drive thousands of visitors to your site. I have used Google's pay per click service with great success. I have seen companies drive a 100,000 visitors a month to their site using this service. I worked with one company in particular who would spend over $40,000 per month, just to generate traffic. Believe me, it does work.

However, when I asked this company the percentage of visitors they converted on their marketing objective they had no idea. After further review, we discovered it was less than 1%. I may not be a rocket scientist, but that seems like a waste of money. What about CONVERSION?

I now see all these companies who claim they are a Social Media Agency. I even saw a proposal that promised to increase the number of fans a company had on Facebook, and to increase their Twitter followers. Again, this is not a bad thing, but what about CONVERSION?

You need to have a Web Business Strategy for how you are going to convert your traffic to be customers or clients. You need to give them multiple opportunities to execute your objective, and you need to make it so straightforward your visitors have no doubt what you want them to do on your site.

As you make your plan, think about the typical grocery store. Where do they put all of everyday items like milk, eggs, meat, etc? Yep, you are correct in the back of the store. Do you think they have a strategy behind that. Absolutely. They are trying to convert their business objective, and to get you to purchase, look at, smell, and sample, other items on your way to the things you really need. They are all about CONVERSION.

As you look at this blog post you may notice small buttons, or self promotional ads all over the page. Do you thing that we just put them there for design purposes? Absolutely not, we have an objective in mind. We blog to get you to our site. We want to get you to our site to tell you more about Internet marketing and what we do as a Internet Marketing Agency in Indianapolis Indiana. We hope you find the information helpful and also candidly we want you to talk to us more and ultimately become your trusted business partner.

So before you spend next years advertising budget with Google, take a few moments to think about what you will do when you drive traffic to your site. Google may be great at driving traffic, but what about CONVERSION?

The Wikipedia definition of interactive advertising agencies is an interesting one. It discusses the nearly meteoric rise of these types of businesses due to the explosion of technology and social networking. It explains these companies differentiate themselves by use of web design/development, search engine marketing, internet advertising/marketing or e-business/commerce consulting.

Just as any business would have a board of advisors such as accountants, attorneys and other business professionals to help them make decisions, consider employing the services of an interactive advertising agency or social media agency to help develop an interactive strategy, brand awareness and online reputation management plan that will help give your business a meteoric rise and turn web conversions into a return on your investment.

Ways to identify a strong interactive agency:

• Ask for references;
• Ask for a portfolio/case studies;
• They lead with ideas and follow up with steps to turn those ideas to reality;
• Look up their social media presence;
• And do they practice what they preach?

Today I had a discussion with a fellow co-worker about what I should write about as I was drawing a complete blank. He had a suggestion that really struck me about how you have to have an attitude of continual learning in our industry. You have to have an open mind to learning each and every day in our field whether it's internet marketing, social media or website strategy.

Primarily my background comes from the development of applications to be used in social media and websites, but I have forced myself to come out of my comfort zone to learn more about social media and internet marketing to understand the value and impact of what I build has on the complete internet marketing picture.

There is so much to learn about, and I hope this quick list gives you insight as to why continual education is so important:

• Search engine marketing - How do you optimize your content for search engines? Why is it important?
• Internet brand management - How does the world perceive your brand? What are things you can do to improve or enhance brand recognition in a postiive light? Is this just for corporate use, or can the same practices be used for personal use?
• Social media optimization - With so many communities and tools how do you know where to target your efforts? What tools are best? How do you encourage interaction with your brand?
• Websites and business strategy - Which is more important: design, content or functionality? How do you optimize conversion? What is your conversion? How do you retain customers while still impacting new customers?

When you turn on the news you will no doubt see everyone's take on the economy. I know I see it every day when I read the paper or watch the news. You will see businesses cutting back and finding new ways to save money. I'm not an economist by any means, but I'm weary that many companies may be missing out on another vital part of economics which is known as opportunity cost.

The truth is there are about 100,000,000 sources you can ultimately find whether it's a company or an individual to build you a Web site. Freelance individuals may save money in the short-term, but are you really getting the best for your budget?

Here's what a good social media agency can do for you that individuals often cannot provide:

• Discuss and develop internet marketing branding;
• Create and critique a strong Web-based strategy;
• Offer ways to maximize the ever elusive search engine optimization globally and in your local area;
• And ultimately be your partner and your guide.

When developing your yearly marketing plan and budget, and if a Web site is on your mind, consider the whole picture. Your Web site is not effective anymore if you don't have a Web strategy to optimize your return. It's not a matter of if you're Web site is the best looking or has the most information, but it's simply whether or not your customers can find you and know what to do when they get there.

Every day I am preaching social networking and blogging to my clients. And almost every day someone says to me, “I am so busy with my other responsibilities when would I have time to write a blog post?” My immediate response each and every time is how can you afford not to take the time to blog?

Each blog entry adds another page of content to your site. Another page of content on a site is one more opportunity for Google to notice you. One more opportunity for Google to notice you might result in you moving from page 2 on a Google to page 1. Moving from page 2 to page 1 could result in you receiving hundreds or perhaps thousands of additional hits on your site each month. These visits, (if you have a solid website strategy) will result in more success for your business.  All of this can happen from you taking a few minutes to write down your thoughts a couple of times a week.

In case you are wondering I have been typing this particular post for approximately 2 minutes. Just stop and think. How much time each day are you spending posting what your family did on Facebook? How many tweets of useless information are you sending each day that takes away from the precious bank of your time? Not to say these are bad forms of marketing, but so far I have yet to see social media advertising deliver the same impact that a few simple blog posts can provide.

Of course these are just my thoughts, but that's what a blog is all about, so I guess I am doing this right.  Jump start your search engine marketing strategy by blogging.  By the way, this took a total of five minutes and 15 seconds.

Indianapolis is a hotbed of Internet marketing activity.  Consider the following.

• Exact Target, one of the world's leading email marketing firms is headquartered in downtown Indianapolis.
• Compendium Blogware, business blogging SaaS provider also has it's HQ downtown.
• The Indianapolis Chamber of commerce is leading the way among other chambers by diving into social media through the creation of indylink.com an exclusive niche social community for it's members.
• Niche social media community, Smaller Indiana is a thriving hotbed of Indianapolis based Internet marketing experts.

I say this in response to a question posed to me recently by a client.   She said... "Do you think that going with a social media agency, or search engine optimization firm on the east/west coast would be a wise choice?"

My response: Contrary to popular belief, you don't have to hire a New York, Boston, LA or Seattle based marketing house to see solid Internet marketing results.  Don't go with a firm just because they have an address on the coast.  Sure, there are a lot of great thought leaders who have made the NYC or the Emerald City their HQ, but the vast majority of firms are on exactly the same footing as the rest of us. 

They have access to the same information and tools that the internet marketers in Indianapolis do.  When you're searching for an Internet marketing agency, social media marketing company, or search engine optimization firm, hire based upon a solid history of results and excellent client service.

I came across an interesting poll today from some of the leading SEO experts on how long does it take to rank well in Google following a new site launch.

What I found most interesting is that the majority of those that participated in this poll said three to six months followed by six to nine months. This makes it ever more important to have a strong search engine marketing and internet marketing strategy upon completion of your site.

Website strategy is often one of the more overlooked aspects of building a website. It's not surprising. I get very excited every time I complete a project.

If it truly takes time for your site to be higher ranked on Google after a launch, then social media and marketing becomes either your most powerful ally or worst enemy. Here are some ideas to essentially to resist this trend:

• Create a blog and talk about the project and the site.
• Interact with social media communities to drive traffic to the site and make it known.
• Hold a launch party to create buzz and excitement.
• Publicize the site any way you can including print, video, audio and word-of-mouth.
   

I recently was working with a client who had received an offer from a search engine optimization company via email. Everyone wants to be on the first page of Google, but if a company approaches you and does not provide a concrete plan you should consider staying away.

In this email, we reviewed some of the points that really showed how this was most likely an illegitimate offer:

• Email came from a "gmail" account rather than a company domain.
• Company name is very generic.
• No phone number. In this case the phone number was 000-000-0000.
• Many misspellings in the email.
• The absolutely promise that you will be on the first page of Google. This offer said they use all "white hat" methods to get the client to the first page of Google without any proof or steps on what they would do.

It is a very risky business for any search engine optimization company to promise the first page. The algortihms behind search engines can change weekly even daily, and these same search engines can often decipher fraudulent attempts to better your rankings.

When considering an interactive strategy with your internet marketing agency, discuss your overall goals and ask for true deliverables and a detailed plan on how to better your company's exposure on the internet.