Weekend Favs April Twenty Eight
Posted on 28. Apr, 2012 by John Jantsch in Blog, DTM Favs, Small Business Internet Marketing, Small Business Marketing
My weekend blog post routine includes posting links to a handful of tools or great content I ran across during the week.
I don’t go into depth about the finds, but encourage you check them out if they sound interesting. The photo in the post is a favorite for the week from Flickr or one that I took out there on the road.
Good stuff I found this week:
Bringshare – Nice, clean looking dashboard of marketing reports for website, SEO, PPC, social and email.
Inbound Writer – Very interesting tool that actually helps you write better content by analyzing the real-time search interests of your chosen target market. WordPress plugin too.
Breezi – Very powerful, but easy to use, website builder tool. Not template driven, but very cool way for designers to get their designs turned into web pages.
Weekend Favs April Twenty Eight is a post from: Small Business Marketing Blog from Duct Tape Marketing
3 Tools To Instantly Boost Your Online Marketing
Posted on 02. Nov, 2011 by Lee Odden in Blog, seo tools, Small Business Internet Marketing, Small Business Marketing, tools
[Note from Lee: This week's guest post is from someone I've known from the Search Marketing world for a long time. Bryan Eisenberg is a Wall Street Journal & New York Times Best Selling Author, popular keynote speaker and well respected guru in all things related to marketing and conversion optimization. We serve on the SES Conference Board of Advisors together and as he's elevated his status in the business world, has always been helpful and full of practical advice. You'll see that in this post about several tools for which he is an advisor.]
True or false? You never seem to have enough time in the day to get your job done.
If you answered “true”, then lets explore some tools/services that will maximize your time and effectiveness. Marshall McLuhan said “We shape our tools and afterwards our tools shape us.” If the explosion of tools to improve your website and marketing efforts over the last 3 years is any indication of how we are being shaped then there may be hope for the time and resource starved.
If you agree that content is king then we should serve a feast that uses our customers’ own words. All we have to do is leverage all the social and search data that uses our customers’ words. I offer that as a common sense recommendation. However, all too often I see people (even experienced SEMs) failing to leverage this data in their everyday workflow. Don’t you think that access to search and social intelligence while writing content that it would make you a more effective writer?
A recent study I co-authored helped prove that it provided: a significant and consistent impact on search engine results, an increase in reader engagement. and an increase in conversion. It did all that and improved content relevance across a variety of writers and online content types who used a new content coaching tool called Inbound Writer. It’s free for up to 8 documents and month and costs only $19.95 for unlimited documents.
Never write an ad your landing page can’t cash! Do you know who the most successful PPC advertiser of all time is? Amazon! That is because they built their PPC program opposite of the way most people do it. They built and continuously optimize each of their product and category pages to convert at maximum efficiency. They have loads of content to help customers make a buying decision. Only then do they focus on what ads would drive you to that page and then what keywords should trigger that ad. Most advertisers start at the keyword first. One way to avoid that mistake is using a tool like TagCrowd.
TagCrowd will make a word cloud from any text you paste in (i.e. a press release), a plain text file you can upload or a web page url. The larger that words appear on the tag cloud the more times those words appear on the page (tweak the setting for a minimum frequency of 2 or 3 to filter out some noise). One quick look at the tag cloud should give you a good clue about what your landing page is about. Use those words in your ads and as starting points for the keywords you’ll target.
Example of TopRank Newsroom Tag Cloud
What if you could get an army of writers who would compete on a regular basis to improve the effectiveness of your PPC and FaceBook ads and the only time you ever paid them was when they beat your best effort? Well thanks to crowd-sourcing company BoostCTR you can take advantage of that opportunity today. While this company is relatively new, they have been producing guaranteed lifts in click through rates (CTRs) and conversions (by around 30%) for their clients. In fact, they are so confident about their service you can get started with a free trial. You pick the ad group you want their network to optimize, then they will start a contest where their writers compete in an A/B test against your best “control” ad (you pick which of the variations you choose to be included in the contest) and you only pay when you have a winner.
I hope these tool recommendations were useful to you. As an online tool junkie I review tons of other great online marketing tools you can leverage to improve your website and marketing efforts but hopefully these 3 will give you a good head start over your competition.
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3 Tools To Instantly Boost Your Online Marketing | http://www.toprankblog.com
The Science and Results of Real-Time Content Optimization
Posted on 10. Oct, 2011 by Jay Baer in Blog, content marketing, content optimization, real-time, Search Marketing Advice, Small Business Internet Marketing, Small Business Marketing
I’ve been writing Convince & Convert for more than three years, and I continue to be grateful and delighted that you choose to spend time here, when faced with a tsunami of blog options.
I continue to find it fascinating, however, that even though this blog is probably considered successful within its very small niche, approximately 70% of the visitors here are first-timers (according to Google Analytics). And approximately 35% of you came from a search engine.
You know what drives magazine subscriptions? Newsstand sales. Readers don’t start loyal. They sample the product first, and decide they want consistent consumption. Blogs work the exact same way, except Search is our newsstand.
I’ve read several posts from other bloggers eschewing the need to pay attention to the principles of search optimization, arguing that the “community” and “engagement” and “sharing” will supersede the impact of search.
They are wrong, and a new research project I just finished proves it.
Real-Time Content Optimization
For a seven week period, I worked with InboundWriter – an easy-to-use tool that helps optimize your writing. During that period, I created seven new posts here using InboundWriter, and rewrote five classic posts to make them more search friendly.
The results were significant and immediate.
- Traffic from search for the posts I rewrote using InboundWriter increased by an average of 33%
- Four of the five rewritten posts achieved top 10 Google rankings for key phrases I targeted
- Six of the seven newly written posts achieved top 10 Google rankings for key phrases within 48 hours of publication
And these results weren’t unique to Convince & Convert. Our research also included content from toy e-tailer ebeanstalk.com and blog network linkorbit.com. In each instance, we found increases in search traffic – and in some cases significant bumps in time spent on site.
Specificity Creates Satisfaction
Whether they can precisely articulate it or not, the reality is that readers are looking for something when they come to your blog. If you can give them content that is focused and uses the words and phrases that they use, you have a better chance of attracting and keeping those visitors.
As conversion optimization guru Bryan Eisenberg (and co-author with me and Pelin Thorogood of the study) says:
“More and more marketers are realizing the benefits of content strategy and optimization as a way to drive online results. This study shows for the first time the value of leveraging real-time search intelligence during the content creation process, as opposed to in separate steps or not at all.”
There are several ways to make your content more search-friendly, but InboundWriter (in public beta) is perhaps the easiest to implement – especially for writers without SEO background. The InboundWriter website (or WordPress plug-in) recommends appropriate keywords based on your sample copy and an examination of other (even competitor) websites you select. Then, the system gives you a live, real-time SEO score (1-100 scale) that changes as you write and edit. It’s intuitive for all, and is completely free for the first batch of documents you create each month. The full-blown plan is $19.95/month.
To read the complete research paper, including methodology and metrics for each participating site, please visit http://www.inboundwriter.com/impact.
(Disclosure: I was paid to help draft this research, but began using InboundWriter – and seeing results – before beginning a consulting relationship with them)
The Science and Results of Real-Time Content Optimization
Posted on 10. Oct, 2011 by Jay Baer in Blog, content marketing, content optimization, real-time, Search Marketing Advice, Small Business Internet Marketing, Small Business Marketing
I’ve been writing Convince & Convert for more than three years, and I continue to be grateful and delighted that you choose to spend time here, when faced with a tsunami of blog options.
I continue to find it fascinating, however, that even though this blog is probably considered successful within its very small niche, approximately 70% of the visitors here are first-timers (according to Google Analytics). And approximately 35% of you came from a search engine.
You know what drives magazine subscriptions? Newsstand sales. Readers don’t start loyal. They sample the product first, and decide they want consistent consumption. Blogs work the exact same way, except Search is our newsstand.
I’ve read several posts from other bloggers eschewing the need to pay attention to the principles of search optimization, arguing that the “community” and “engagement” and “sharing” will supersede the impact of search.
They are wrong, and a new research project I just finished proves it.
Real-Time Content Optimization
For a seven week period, I worked with InboundWriter – an easy-to-use tool that helps optimize your writing. During that period, I created seven new posts here using InboundWriter, and rewrote five classic posts to make them more search friendly.
The results were significant and immediate.
- Traffic from search for the posts I rewrote using InboundWriter increased by an average of 33%
- Four of the five rewritten posts achieved top 10 Google rankings for key phrases I targeted
- Six of the seven newly written posts achieved top 10 Google rankings for key phrases within 48 hours of publication
And these results weren’t unique to Convince & Convert. Our research also included content from toy e-tailer ebeanstalk.com and blog network linkorbit.com. In each instance, we found increases in search traffic – and in some cases significant bumps in time spent on site.
Specificity Creates Satisfaction
Whether they can precisely articulate it or not, the reality is that readers are looking for something when they come to your blog. If you can give them content that is focused and uses the words and phrases that they use, you have a better chance of attracting and keeping those visitors.
As conversion optimization guru Bryan Eisenberg (and co-author with me and Pelin Thorogood of the study) says:
“More and more marketers are realizing the benefits of content strategy and optimization as a way to drive online results. This study shows for the first time the value of leveraging real-time search intelligence during the content creation process, as opposed to in separate steps or not at all.”
There are several ways to make your content more search-friendly, but InboundWriter (in public beta) is perhaps the easiest to implement – especially for writers without SEO background. The InboundWriter website (or WordPress plug-in) recommends appropriate keywords based on your sample copy and an examination of other (even competitor) websites you select. Then, the system gives you a live, real-time SEO score (1-100 scale) that changes as you write and edit. It’s intuitive for all, and is completely free for the first batch of documents you create each month. The full-blown plan is $19.95/month.
To read the complete research paper, including methodology and metrics for each participating site, please visit http://www.inboundwriter.com/impact.
(Disclosure: I was paid to help draft this research, but began using InboundWriter – and seeing results – before beginning a consulting relationship with them)
Calculate Your Blogging ROI in 9 Steps
Posted on 26. Jul, 2011 by Jay Baer in Blog, Blogging and Content Creation, blogs, content creation, roi, Small Business Internet Marketing, Small Business Marketing, social media metrics, social media ROI, Web Analytics
Blogging isn’t free. Creating and sustaining a good blog for yourself or your company is a highly labor-intensive proposition. The people (maybe you) working on the blog could be doing something else that helps the company make money, save money, or both. Thus, blogging presents a serious opportunity cost to the company. Smart organizations methodically calculate the impact of blogging on the bottom line, making it easier to justify (or not) the resources allocated to the task.
Here’s how you might start to figure it out:
Blogging Expense Calculation
A. How many staff hours does it take per month to write, edit, track, manage the blog?
Let’s assume it’s 36 per month (3 posts per week at an average of 3 hours per post).
B. What do those hours cost the company in salary?
Let’s assume Susan spends 10 hours per month managing the blog, and her salary is $50,000. Paul spends 8 hours per month writing blog posts at a salary of $75,000. Shashi also spends 8 hours at a salary of $95,000. Warren spends 5 hours at a salary of $150,000. Olivier spends 5 hours at a salary of $40,000.
Divide each salary by 2000 (hours worked per year based on a 40-hour work week and two week’s vacation) to get average hourly salary compensation. In our example, it’s $25, $37.50, $47.50, $75, and $20, respectively. Multiply the hourly compensation by the number of hours devoted to determine the monthly salary expense (10 X $25 + 8 X $37.50 + 8 X $47.50 + 5 X $75 + 5 X $20 = $1405)
C. What do those hours cost the company in overhead and benefits?
Take your monthly salary costs figure ($1405) and multiply it by your company’s standard overhead calculation. This includes benefits, rent on a per-person basis, etc. Your accountant or CFO will know this number if you do not, and it’s typically 40% – 50%. We’ll use 45%, so the overhead and benefits cost of the blog labor is $632 ($1405 X 45%).
The total labor cost for your blog per month is $2037 ($1405 + $632).
D. What does the blog cost in design and technology fees?
If you built the blog internally, use the method above to calculate the labor/benefits cost of the blog’s creation. Or, if you had a third party create the blog, find out how much you paid. Divide either internal or external costs (or a combination) by 24 to find a monthly expense. (This is a two year amortization schedule for blog creation. Given that blogging continues to evolve and redesigns are common, I’m not comfortable stretching beyond 24 months).
Let’s assume that you had a Web development firm create your blog for $7,500. You did a slight update three months later for $1,000, making your total costs $8,500, and your amortized monthly cost $354 ($8,500 divided by 24).
E. What does the blog cost in hosting, maintenance, and app fees?
Let’s assume your monthly blog hosting is $19, and you spend $19 per month on Inbound Writer to help with you blog’s SEO, and you spend $19 per month on Formstack to create and manage landing pages to convince people to download your white paper. (both Inbound Writer and Formstack are awesome, by the way)
Your hosting, maintenance, and app fees are thus $57 per month.
Your total blogging cost per month is ($1405 + $632 + $354 + $57 = $2,448)
Blogging Revenue Calculation
Is that $2448 per month worth it? Let’s find out.
A. What revenue-oriented behaviors does the blog create?
Unless you’re selling ads on your blog, your blog’s value will primarily be derived in its ability to cause behavior among readers that leads to revenue. That often takes the form of lead generation, especially in B2B circumstances. This part of the process can differ quite a bit depending upon what type of company you are, whether you sell online, etc.
But, let’s assume you are the aforementioned Formstack, a provider of drag-and-drop online forms and landing pages (and a Convince & Convert sponsor).
On their blog, I’ve highlighted in orange three actions that can potentially create instantaneous leads or sales (in orange), and three other actions that might create leads or sales (in red). We’ll only concern ourselves with the more immediate potential in this analysis.
B. How many revenue-oriented actions are created?
Let’s assume that after visiting the blog, 30 people per month either call Formstack and sign up, subscribe using the “sign up now” button, or subscribe after visiting the Contact Us page. (this is not a real number, I’m using it for illustration purposes only)
To ensure that the blog had more than a middling role in driving those behaviors, you could set your Web analytics software (Google Analytics, for example) to only count people who have been on the blog more than 3 times, or have spent more than 3 minutes on the blog before clicking “Sign up Now” or any other attribute that indicates the blog was persuasive. For telephone sales, you might need to verbally inquire about the blog’s role unless you use a special tracking phone number than only appears on the blog (which would be a best practice).
C. What is the value of each behavior?
In Formstack’s case, it’s easier because customers can sign up directly online. They just need to know what the average lifetime value of a customer is (although this may require some guesswork for newer companies with less history). Let’s assume (again, not real numbers) that the average new customer spends $25 per month with Formstack, and remains a customer for 12 months. That makes the average lifetime value of a new customer $300 ($25 X 12).
However, not all of that $25 per month is net revenue to the company. Formstack has costs to provide the services to their customers, including technology, hosting, support, and other expenses. Most companies know (or can calculate) their true revenue after these expenses have been deducted (make sure you’re not double counting blogging expenses). In this example, let’s assume the true revenue after expenses per customer, per month is $19. That makes the actual lifetime customer value $228.
D. What is the total value of the behaviors?
In this example, Formstack would be generating $6,840 from the blog each month (30 sales driven by the blog X $228 average value = $6,840)
Calculating Blogging ROI
There is no debate about this last part. ROI stands for “return on investment” and not “return on influence” or “return on ignominy” or “rabbit on interstate”. The formula for calculating ROI is always essentially the same (with a couple of variations for finance geeks). The formula is:
REVENUE MINUS INVESTMENT, DIVIDED BY INVESTMENT (expressed as a percentage)
In this case, the monthly revenue is $6,840, and the investment is $2448. ($6,840 – $2,448 = $4,392. $4,392 divided by $2,448 = 179%) The monthly ROI of this blogging program is 179%.
How can you use this type of equation in your company?
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