Slides supporting the Feb. 1, 2015 Jumpstart session.

1. Jumpstart
www.happyforachange.com
Tom Hartman
Head of Operations (Uniseo)
Lead Web Developer (RedstoneX)

2. Today’s Agenda
• Starting Your Website
• Improving Your Website
• Useful Tools
• Questions and Answers

3. Starting Your Website
Look before you leap.

4. Is a Website a Good Idea?
• Is my audience mostly online or offline?
• Do I have the time, money and energy to
invest?
• Can I afford to fail?
• Am I willing to learn from others?
• Can I trust others to work on my behalf?

5. What is My Ultimate Goal?
• Do I want to make money?
• Do I want to spread information?
• Do I want to provide entertainment?

6. How Will I Know When I’ve Succeeded?
• How much money do I want to make? And
how often?
• Do I want to reach a large number of
people or just a certain group or type of
person?
• Is this an ongoing project or a short-term
one?

7. Objectives vs. Strategy vs. Tactics
Objective
Strategy
Tactics
Determine an Objective
(What do I want to achieve?)
Define a Strategy
(What is my plan of action?)
Decide on Tactics
(How do I complete my strategy?)
This is the ultimate goal you’re trying to
achieve.
All strategies and tactics you use must
have this objective at their core.
Your strategy is a set of tactics and how
they will be deployed in order to achieve
your objective.
A strategy needs to be measurable in
some way to keep track of your progress.
Tactics are mini-strategies. They are
short-term methods that, performed
according to a strategy, lead to the
completion of that strategy.

8. Overseeing a Strategy
Objective
Strategy
Tactics
Can my objective
be accomplished
reasonably?
Will I know
when my
strategy has
succeeded?
Is my strategy
moving me
towards my
goal?
Are my tactics
helping to
complete my
strategy?
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
No
Choose a new
objective.
Define a
strategy that’s
measurable.
No
Get rid of any
wasteful tactic.
No
Define a more
focused strategy.
No
(start here)

9. Improving Your Website
No such thing as a finished website.

10. Does my Website’s Design Need to be
Revamped?
• Is the design of my website helping or
hindering my success?
• Is the text easy to read?
• Do all my images support my goal?
• Are my colors distracting or alluring?
• Is my layout intuitive?

11. Is my Website Properly Optimized?
• Can my website be found by search
engines (SEO)?
• Does my website take too long to load?
• How many clicks does it take to get from
my home page to the content people are
looking for?

12. Advantages of
Search Engine Optimization
Visibility Targeting
Investment
• Can use programming and
content methodologies to
target multiple keyword
groups
• Ability to segment users
• The higher you rank, the more
credibility you have
• Much cheaper over time (and
sometimes free)
• Cost is not measured per view
or visit

13. Limitations of
Search Engine Optimization
Management
Visibility
Targeting
Investment
• A lot more guesswork involved
when SEOing a website
• Can be very difficult to find
out what keywords to target
• Unpredictable ranking due to
algorithm changes
• Competing with black hat SEO
marketers
• SEO is not generally optional
• Sometimes requires a large
budget to compete
• Competitors can drive up your
costs by clicking on your ads
• Can be very time consuming to
setup
• Can take months to a year
before results are seen
Time

14. 1. Page Crawling
Search engines uses automated web crawlers called spiders or bots. They
jump from a link to another following every link they find to a new page.

15. 2. Indexing
Once a bot lands on an indexable page, they store the information in the
search engine’s database.

16. 3. Process Queries
The search engine process all the pages the bots queried to figure out what
the page is about.

17. 4. Provide Relevant Results
The search engine then determines how popular that page is, and for which
keywords it should be shown using a complex and ever-changing algorithm.

18. SEO
On-site Off-site
(Linking & Social Signals)

19. The Foundation of an
Overall SEO Plan
1. On-site Optimization
– Keyword optimization
– Structure optimization
– HTML tag optimization
– Content optimization
– Strategic linking: Internal links & outbound links
2. Off-site Optimization
– Strategic linking: Link popularity
– Social signals

20. Keyword Analysis
Or what people type when they search.

21. 4 General Categories
of Keyword Terms
1. Generic
2. Primary
3. Secondary
4. Long Tail (or Tertiary)

22. Generic Keyword Terms
The term used for a category at its highest level. This
is the widest possible range.
Examples:
• Single Words (Cars, Jobs)
• Individual Terms (Real Estate)
• Feelings (Love, Hate)
• Locations (Montreal, Africa)

23. Primary Keyword Terms
The most direct phrases used in a search (query).
Examples:
• Nurse Jobs
• Health Insurance
• German Cars

24. Secondary Keyword Terms
(a) Often use some form of modifier
 Adjectives, phrases, verbs, and so on.
 Emphasis on manner, time, place, degree.
 Answers questions: How? When? Where? How much?
Examples of modifiers
 Manner: Slowly, quickly, fast
 Place: In Boston, in Massachusetts, in the hospital, in space
 Time: Yesterday
 Degree: Affordable, discount, cheap, luxury, free, best, a lot
 Brand Names: Canon, Sony, Pepsi
Examples:
 Boston Health Insurance
 Affordable Web Design
 Used Digital Cameras
 Best Nursing Jobs

25. Secondary Keyword Terms
(b) Addition of a noun or verb
Examples
Affordable Web Design Firm
Boston Health Insurance Company
(c) Variations / synonyms
Examples
Boston Health Insurance Company
Boston Medical Insurance Company

26. Long Tail Keyword Terms
• Mix of terms that may or may not have been actively
targeted.
• Think of them more as bystanders who attract attention.
• A good reason to have a lot of text on the page.
Examples:
• “Where can I find a photographer in Chicago?”
• “Device to test diamonds for authenticity”
• “Insurance for people with asthma and poor health”
• “Some sort of device to cut cakes and serve it”

27. The Long Tail Itself

28. SEO & The Long Tail
• Long-tail terms are extremely important
• Visitors often arrive on keyword terms that you may not have
considered or conceived of
• Broad to specific searches
• Searches begin on the left and end on the right
• “Long-tail visits” lead to higher conversions

29. Social Media Marketing
The new kid on the block.

30. Advantages of
Social Media Marketing
Awareness
Authority
Reach
Community
Feedback
Conversions
• Enhances brand awareness
• Generates positive UGC
advertising
• Increases ranking in search
engines
• Unites consumers
• Improves customer service
quality
• Establishes subject matter
expertise
• Validates your business
• Provides additional value
• Assesses brand reach
• Increases visitor traffic
• Allows conversations
monitoring
• Encourages conversation
• Improves product, service
or message
• Generates new leads
• Produces more sales
• Reduce marketing costs

31. Limitations of
Social Media Marketing
Awareness
Conflict
Time
Backlash
Feedback
Infringement
• Can create negative brand
awareness
• Can generate unwanted UGC
advertising
• Bad news can go viral
quickly
• Can damage reputation
• Easy to look foolish
• Can’t use standard advertising
copy (message needs to be
tailored)
• ROI and attribution can be
difficult to justify to superiors
• Requires on-going efforts
• Can be very time-consuming
• Most content will only be
relevant for a short time
• Negative comments are
more visible
• Mismanagement of
negative feedback can lead
to more of it
• Can’t control conversation
• Trademark and copyright
issues may arise
• Consumers feel they have the
liberty to use your property

32. Highly Effective Habits of a Kickass
Social Media Page
Because great ideas are sort of stolen.

33. 1. Profiles Matter
Your profile is just as important as any post you publish, sometimes even
more so. Spend time making it all it can be and don’t be afraid to change it
over time.

34. 2. Keep it Focused
Don’t try to please everyone. Appeal to one or a select few of your personas.
Feel free to have multiple accounts on the same platform to target different
groups of people.

35. 3. Impress Yourself
If you’re not impressed with what your sharing then it’s probably not good
enough. Every piece of content should be worthy of a new follower.

36. 4. Visual Wins
We’re in a world of pictures and videos now, so keep the text to a minimum.
Every sentence you use should have a point and be associated with a piece of
media.

37. 5. Steady Flow
You don’t want to overwhelm your visitors with content, but you don’t want a
social graveyard either. Keep the pace of content you publish steady and
people will come to expect and look forward to it.

38. 6. Content Specific
For each type of platform, dedicate at least one type of content for it so that
people have a reason to visit your various accounts.

39. 7. Worthwhile Conversations
As much as possible, respond to people in a timely manner and make your
reply relevant. Your reply should also compel further discussion.

40. 8. Share Follower Content
You are the first member of your community, so act like you would like others
to by sharing content and participating on other pages.

41. 9. Work With Yourself
If you’re on multiple platforms, try to get traffic from one onto another. One
successful account can help a lesser one.

42. 10. Salvage Content Flotsam
Some of your content won’t be award-worthy. Go back over old content once
in a while and rescue it by publishing it elsewhere or revamping it. Don’t let
your efforts be wasted.

43. 11. Measure Everything
Actionable metrics lead to better insights. Better insights lead to more effective
content and content distribution.

44. Money Making Models
• Sell individual physical and
digital products
• Advertising (contextual,
native advertising,
advertorials, data sale,
affiliate)
• Direct or indirect service
offerings
• Subscriptions
• Website flipping
• Donations
• Investors

45. Useful Tools
• WordPress (Free)
• Google Analytics (Free)
• Google Keyword Planner (Free)
• CrazyEgg (Paid)
• Facebook Insights (Free)
• Site Explorer – ahrefs.com (Paid)
• Excel Spreadsheets (Free)

46. Questions and Answers