The Small Business Guide to Online Marketing. Lola Bailey

      Source: www.flickr.com/photos/toprankblog

      The above image shows the cycle of content creation, search engine optimisation (SEO) and promotion via social networks that facillitate a continued insight into content marketing. Read more at www.toprankblog.com/2010/05/beyond-google.

      Spend any amount of time on social media and you will invariably come across the oft-repeated maxim ‘Content is King’. It’s true. But what is this mysterious ‘Content’?

      For internet marketers, content is any kind of material you create on behalf of your business. This could include a simple advert, a YouTube video, a Facebook page, a SlideShare presentation, a Tweet or Twitter promotion, a mobile app – anything, in essence, that aims to attract people who are potential customers. If it leads them towards your brand and to greater levels of engagement with your brand or business, then it must be good.

      Online, it is less about pushing out messages and more about pulling in customers and potential customers. This is done through material that entertains, amuses, informs and serves a function, but also answers a need. In some way the material must provide added value to such an extent that it is welcomed, asked for again and shared with others. The traditional model of advertising – of promotional messages – has been used since the genesis of time by marketers and is based on this premise: in exchange for subsidising content produced by a third party broadcaster, publisher etc., the advertiser earns the right to interrupt the consumer’s experience with adverts. This is the case with television advertising. Online, however, customers simply click it away. They are becoming increasingly resistant and hard-to-win-over to advertising messages of this sort, resulting in a gradual erosion of trust in the advertisers themselves.

      Time was, when everything and everyone had a defined role. There were those who produced, those who consumed and those who paid. Online however, everyone is a content producer, consumer and payer. We see ‘consumers’ creating their own content in the form of blogs, videos, and photos posted to Flickr. They create branded videos on YouTube, they write customer ratings and reviews, publically declaring themselves as “fans” and openly discussing good and bad product experiences. Consumers now ‘own’ brands, virtually. Companies that originally dismissed social media as a serious marketing tool now ensure they have a distinct presence on all social media sites. Marketers are bypassing the middlemen and are creating content themselves, to get ever closer to, and in more direct contact with, the selected audience, as well as gather vital data for future marketing initiatives. Entertaining YouTube videos, information-orientated how-to microsites, useful mobile apps and a variety of other services that only conceptually relate to their brand – and are not meant to directly sell the product (yet) – are all developed by present-day internet marketers.

      Online, it is the best material which will pull in the right people; those who are most likely to buy your product or service and tell others about it, eventually becoming your advocates. In a crowded market place your content must be outstanding in order to stand out.

      2. Search analysis

      So, you have managed to create lots of outstanding content. Is that enough? No! The next step in the process is to have a search strategy in place. This allows potential customers to find your content online. Most clicks are made on the first page of Google, so therefore, this is where you need to be.

      Sadly, there are still too many people who believe all they need to do is build a website and let their designer get the site well placed with search engines. “Can’t I just pay someone to register the site with lots of search engines?” is a question I have been asked on many an occasion. The short answer to this is no. The proliferation of advertising offering to guarantee top ten placements in a gazillion search engines – no doubt aimed at the very people likely to ask this question – has given rise to this misconception.

      Search engine optimisation (SEO) – the practice of getting your content found online – isn’t rocket science, but unfortunately neither is it child’s play.

      The overwhelming majority of sites do not have a chance in the search engine rankings, simply because they make simple mistakes. Designers need to make the websites they build easy for search engines like Google to find and index. The role of metadata, links, keywords – all the things you are going to learn about in this book – are necessary for good SEO results.

      3. Performance measurement

      “You cannot generate sustainable improvements without measurement.”

      – Lola Bailey

      In our knowledge-based society, information is power. Tracking your key performance indicators – as I have briefly discussed already – is particularly important, as doing this will enable you to concentrate on the elements of your business that lead to increased sales. Happily, there are several programmes online that will help you measure just how well your business is doing. In spite of this, many of the small businesses I have worked with do not track their performance. The top reasons cited by them for not tracking their performance indicators include “too many metrics”, “confusion”, and “not knowing how to do it”. Most people know they want a return on investment but are not sure how to measure this return. In this book, I will show you how and why you should track your performance using the free programme, Google Analytics.

      Chapter 2: The Importance of Superior Content

      We have touched on the importance of content for your business, so now lets look at how you can structure your content, so that it offers your blog or your website the best chances of getting found. In this chapter you will be given:

      A simple framework for writing your website content

      Give your content a unique voice

      Think of ways to offer solutions to a need that is not being addressed, or a better way to meet a need. Listen to the everyday conversations that are being had about your product or niche and visit relevant forums to identify common themes and potential opportunities. One of the key reasons why businesses online do not reap their potential is due to the lack of good quality content on their sites. So how can you avoid this?

      Make sure your content is useful

      Think about how you can create content that answers a practical question from the customer that they may not ordinarily think of asking you. The idea here is to answer the question: “What else can you do for me?” To help you brainstorm ideas, here are a few suggestions of what your content could offer:

      Convenience: What can you offer to your