More than Just Lines on a Map: Best Practices for U.S Bike Routes
PMA - Maximising Your Business Online
1. Blue Skies State of the Industry: Consumption time online is greater than all other mediums: social media accounts for 60% of time online eCommerce is booming Search Advertising and Online Advertising are growing significantly Maximising Your Online Business PMA – June 3 2010 Robert Beerworth – Managing Director
2. Blue Skies State of the Industry: Consumption time online is greater than all other mediums: social media accounts for 60% of time online eCommerce is booming Search Advertising and Online Advertising are growing significantly
3. What is online success? State of the Industry: We use online for... Everything. The world, really has changed and new wealth and opportunity is online.
4. Why are so many of us falling short? Total Confusion, especially around “Web 2.0” and Social Media. Poor Industry Advice and Guidance. Especially the web development industry We’re local, and the web isn’t. The website is the start and end of it. And the website has no traffic and no interest.
5. Why are so many of us falling short? Myth that if it is not eCommerce, there is no money or benefit to be made.
6. Is online too hard? Yes and no. It is no harder than any business/strategy. It takes a strategy, knowledge and a clear head.
7. Is the reward there? Yes and yes. Though the middle ground between success and failure is not that great. The website is pure science, not art: we can achieve anything online.
8. Let’s start with the basics. Introducing your new website. This is the centre of your investment online. Invest well and properly and you will receive reward: the Internet will do the hard work for you.
9. What are the keys to success? Whatever we do: We need a plan. We need traffic. We need usability.
10. What are the keys to success? Then we need a methodology: We need traffic. We then need to engage our traffic. We then need to convert our traffic. Make the website do something, not be something.
11. What are the keys to success? Build your website as a user, not a business.
12. What are the keys to success? Define your users and their requirements. Define your requirements: leads, downloads, phone calls, sales. Keep it simple and make every decision in-line with your goals. Marry your goals and user goals together. Don’t simply give them a page, and make them do the work. Drive them to your common goals.
13. What are the keys to success? Build a prototype and test it against your audience. Design buying funnels. NEVER start a website with designs. Outsource your content. Manage timeframes and have regular project drops.
14. What are the keys to success? No apologies: sell steak knives.
15. Miscellaneous Points. Only engage a great web developer: otherwise, you’ll be watching your competitors disappear into future. Don’t be driven by a Content Management System. Invest in rich content: video! Remove roadblocks. Build a database.
16. Miscellaneous Points. Avoid Flash. Traffic, traffic, traffic. Watch your conversion closely: refine performance marketing regularly. Syndicate your content: especially photography. Collect data appropriately and make your forms look fantastic.
18. eCommerce... Some high level thoughts: Start small. Free Delivery. Great customer care. Bundle. Drive it through performance marketing. Get it up for Christmas!
21. Traffic... Traffic is the make or break, and the hardest part of the web today. You must plan and invest in an aggressive traffic strategy: otherwise, don’t bother. Organic traffic simply doesn’t exist anymore.
22. Traffic... A few traffic rules: You need lots It must always be increasing It must be cheap traffic It must be the right traffic
23. Traffic... Search Engine Optimisation Medium to long-term Expensive Lots of traffic Focus on long-tail Consider universal search Search Engine Marketing Google, Adwords, PPC etc Short-term Can be expensive Only works if they’re buying on the same day Tighten the buggery out of your campaigns and landing pages QoSearch
24. Traffic... Affiliate Marketing Short, Medium and Long-term Performance based Need a compelling offer for affiliates Let others do the heavy lifting dgmpro.com Coupons Short, Medium and Long-term Performance based Is discounting good?
25. Traffic... Email Short, Medium and Long-term Low-cost Captive audience You get what you put in Consider solus emails for once-off campaigns. Syndicate content Push your content out: especially video and imagery.
26. Traffic... Blogging An aggressive traffic strategy: SEO Must invest in seriously good (and rich) content for it to work Great for media/PR Make sure it is setup right Competitions Huge traffic drivers Make sure you target the right audience
27. Is Social Media where it’s at? More than likely, no. Very few businesses have been successful: those that have are exclusively large. It taps a passive market, and not an active: active users are those searching for you. Get your 101 in order first.
28. Is Social Media where it’s at? If you’re going to do it however... Define your plan and make sure it makes sense. Look to build lists/friends: these are the people you can later market to. Consider competitions and giveaways: these drive traffic and attention. Make it PMA specific.
29. Is mobile worth it? Yes and no. Get the 101 right. Get a page with your contact details up, especially for local search.
30. How do I measure this? At the bottom line. If it’s not working, it’s not the Internet: it’s you.
31. Integrate. All roads lead to roam: drive users to your website, where ever you find them. Encourage users to recommend you. Talk clearly and simply: add benefit to your users.
32. And in closing... Good luck. Once you get it, it’s like falling in love all over again.