Is Your Web Site a Good Lead Generator?

What those potential customers see in their first visit to your site likely will make or break the opportunity you have to do business with them. If they don't like what they see in the first 30 seconds or few minutes, they can easily back out and visit one of your competitors.

Aside from having a professional appearance, your site should speak to that audience in the way they want. You may prefer to limit the amount of technical information that your company provides online, but it's technical detail that business-to-business buyers say is most important in their expectations of a web site. Being able to buy online is way down the list of requirements; it's having the ability to access enough information about a company's products to determine the potential fit that is key.

Other ways to make a good, first impression:

• Have site content that clearly explains what you do on the home page, without requiring the site visitor to hunt around.
• Provide logical navigation to all areas of your site so visitors can easily find the information they need.
• Give a good call-to-action and a way for prospects to contact you on every page.
• Put your best foot forward with professional photography and graphic design - it may be the only chance you have to wow a prospect.
• Have your site tested in multiple browsers so that you know site visitors will get the experience you intend no matter what type of computer they use.
• If you have an e-mail contact form on your site, make sure someone within your company has responsibility for following up on all leads in a timely basis that come through that form.

For assistance in improving your site's "first impression", contact Pilot Fish at 877-799-9994 ext. 2104 or fill out this form.

B2B Buyer Report Supports Importance of Search Engine
Optimizaton

A new survey of business-to-business (b2b) companies highlights the importance of investing in a web site that is designed and optimized to perform well on the major search engines and that has visibility on other related industry sites.

According to the Business to Business Survey 2007 by Enquiro, 65.3 percent of b2b buyers say they would start their research with a general search engine. Depending on which phase of the purchase cycle the buyer is in (awareness, research, negotiation, purchase), other online sources (b2b vertical web site, vendor web site, and industry information site) come into play as well to provide the buyers trusted information.

The survey points to the importance of having a company's web site perform well on search engines and industry portals. The two factors cited as most influential in a buyer's decision-making are the vendor's web site and word-of-mouth recommendation. Given that nearly two-thirds of the survey respondents would begin their research with a search engine, it is critical that company web sites be found easily in the search engines.

Also covered in the survey was the type information that b2b buyers consider most important. In all cases, b2b buyers said they preferred to get information in a text format that could be downloaded and was portable. The reason cited for this preference was that in most cases, the person doing the product research is not the person making the purchase decision; therefore, the information needs to be available in a format that can be easily shared.

For assistance in making your company's web site more user- and search engine-friendly, contact Pilot Fish at call 877-799-9994 ext. 2104 or fill out this form.

POSTED BY ANGELA CHARLES -- click here to comment

Multiple Tools Enable Broadest Marketing Reach

Companies truly committed to marketing understand that there's no guaranteed one way to generate leads. The best marketing programs recognize that people vary in their sensitivity to various marketing stimuli, that a combination of public relations and advertising methods is the best way to target the broadest audience.

For example, some people respond well to advertisements in print magazines; others only read the articles, some of which might be generated from a company's public relations activities.

Activities like direct mail and trade shows further enforce brand awareness and can lead a prospect who has seen a company's name several times in other ways to finally take action. It's understood that the more times you "touch" your prospect, the more likely they'll contact you.

Internet visibility works in much the same way. There are multiple opportunities for prospects to see you, if you take advantage of all that the Internet offers.

The most important is having a search engine optimized site. That means, making sure your content and site coding is written in a way that enables the major search engines like Google and Yahoo to properly index your site and rank it high enough that your site can easily be found.

Another path through which prospects should find your site is via industry portals and directories. In addition to providing visibility to an already-qualified audience, these sites also provide an important association by which Google will measure you when determining how important your site is compared to others in your industry.

Marketing material that you have ready at hand can be multi-purposed for widespread visibility online. For instance, new product press releases, white papers or company news can be posted on article submission sites. Company videos can be posted on video sites like YouTube or Google Video with links back to your web site. Technical tips or expert advice from important company executives can be disseminated via Internet blogs. Product updates can be sent out via e-mail.

Recognizing the validity of all these various forms of information distribution, Google has begun implementation of its Universal Search, which pulls content from its vertical search engines (like News, Images, Video and Maps) and displays a combination of these types of content in the main Google search.

Internet offers the ability to effectively reach your prospects with multiple touches - now you just have to do it.

POSTED BY ANGELA CHARLES -- click here to comment

Visibility, contact info rate as most important functions
of web site

The two most important functions of a company web site are visibility and ease-of-contact. First, it's critical that a company's web site have visibility Internet-wide. That's different than just being able to type your business name into Google and seeing a link to your site. Many people seeking your products or services may not know your business by name. They'll use product terms to find companies that supply what they're looking for.

Internet-wide visibility requires the development of a site that is search-engine friendly, meaning that the major search engines like Google and Yahoo give it a position on the first 3 pages of results for keyword searches relevant to that business. Internet-wide visibility also means links and listings on all the primary business and industry web sites. The more places that your online prospects see your company name, the more chances you have that they will visit your site and contact you.

Once they find our site and click on your link, it's critical that your prospect be able to easily contact you. That means providing every means of contact viewable directly from your home page: address, telephone, e-mail address or contact form. If you force a prospect to hunt around your site for a phone number, chances are you'll lose them before they ever pick up the phone.

POSTED BY ANGELA CHARLES -- click here to comment

Internet Made Easy: Leveraging Third-Party Tools Saves Money, Time

The true value of the Internet can be summed up in one word: Links.

Links are the shorthand that enable us to disseminate an enormous amount of information without having to recreate it ourselves.

If you want to provide your clients with directions to your plant location, you put a link on your web site to MapQuest. If you want to promote your presence at a trade show and provide prospects with registration information, you link to the trade show web site. A plastics resin supplier that wants to provide data sheets on its company's materials can link to IDES' Prospector database. Plastics and rubber industry companies can easily post their news releases on Polysort and link to them from their web sites.

These are just a few of the many ways that companies can leverage the power of the Internet to expand the value of their web sites for customers and prospects without having to absorb the costs or spend the time on reinventing the wheel.

The Internet has created an enormous opportunity for companies to easily tell their story to customers and prospects. There's value in creating unique content that lends credibility to your company as an industry leader. At the same time, there are tools available that make your information dissemination much more efficient.

For assistance in maximizing the value of the Internet on your web site, contact John Inama at

For assistance in maximizing the value of the Internet on your web site, contact John Inama at 877-799-9994 ext. 2104 or fill out this form.

POSTED BY ANGELA CHARLES -- click here to comment

Internet's potential requires attention to promotion

Ten years ago, we helped a local moldmaker develop its first web site. Prior to the Internet, the company had gained all its business from a five-hour radius of its sole location in the Akron, Ohio, area - the distance the company felt it cost-effective to send a direct salesforce.

A few months after launching its web site in 1996, the company called with exciting news. It had received a request for quote from a major Texas-based computer company with which it had had no prior contact or expectation of an opportunity.

A decade later, the Internet continues to deliver on the promise to bring together businesses that otherwise would never have known about each other.

But it's a bit more challenging today than it was in 1996. Any firm with a web site 10 years ago had very little competition online, and thus was considered pioneering - making opportunities like that described above not only possible, but common.

Because most companies have web pages today, being online no longer is a differentiator. Besides having an attractive, easy to navigate and informative web site, it's imperative that your company make its site easy to locate. That means an investment in search engine optimization so that Internet users can easily locate your site via Google, Yahoo and other search engines.

User surveys indicate that technical buyers also rely on business-to-business Internet directories, so links, listings or ads on sites like Polysort are equally important to get the right eyeballs to your site.

A web site absolutely has the ability to generate leads and new business - but it requires appropriate attention and investment to maximize its potential.

For assistance with your web design project, contact John Inama at John Inama at 877-799-9994 ext. 2104.

POSTED BY ANGELA CHARLES -- click here to comment

Effective Online Marketing Strategy Leverages Three Elements

Now that the Internet has taken hold as a legitimate marketing tool for businesses, your web site is competing for your potential customers' attention against many more competitors, both known and unknown.

With more than 3 billion web sites, it's getting more complicated to get your site in front of your target audience, and to get that audience to take the desired action once on your site.

Companies seeking better results from their web sites oftentimes get stuck focusing on one area and become disenchanted when their efforts fail to bear fruit.

Just like a young tree that needs well-nourished soil, water and sunshine to grow, your company's web site will bear fruit when you pay attention to the three elements required for success:

• User-friendly content that leverages the critical Performance Keywords important to driving qualified traffic and leads;
• Site design and structure that conveys a sense of brand leadership and accommodates the indexing needs of search engine robots;
• A comprehensive online promotion program that reaches all potential buyers throughout the Internet environment.

Because of the competitive nature of search engine visibility, a haphazard web site strategy -- one that fails to coordinate the three elements above -- no longer is acceptable for companies seeking true results from their Internet marketing dollars.

For more information about improving your web site's performance, call 877-799-9994 ext. 2104 or fill out this form.

POSTED BY ANGELA CHARLES -- click here to comment

How to save money and time on SEO

You've just recognized that your company web site needs optimization, and you need it now! The site's not performing on search engines, leads have dried up and you need something done.

It's possible to turn the situation around, without losing your shirt in the process. For best results, take into consideration the following points as you begin your SEO project:

1. One-stop shopping: If you plan to redesign your site, select a web developer that also is skilled in SEO. Integrating optimization during the redesign process will save you time and money.
2. Research keywords: Don't accept an SEO plan of trial and error. Your SEO vendor should have a program to research appropriate keywords that will generate the best quantity and quality visitors to your site.
3. Ask for references: There are many companies that claim to do SEO. Ask for references, and check them. It's important to avoid companies that overpromise - they usually employ illegal techniques that can get your site banned.
4. Respect the timeline: Going from nowhere to page 1 on Google can take several months from the time your site is optimized. Don't delay the project further by second-guessing your SEO's recommendations or turning over the approval process to an in-house committee.
5. Don't mess with success: Many companies have the capability to update pages on their own site. That doesn't mean it's a good idea. If your site has been optimized by an SEO firm, it's important to consult with them before making any changes to pages they've optimized. Otherwise, you may unknowingly undo the optimization work you paid for.
6. Understand what you're paying for: If your site has zero visibility on the search engines, you need a professional SEO firm's help. Getting your site to perform on Google, Yahoo and MSN takes part science, part art, and someone experienced in the process. Legitimate SEO companies will charge anywhere from $4,000 and up, depending on the number of keywords and scope of project. As part of a full redesign of the site, this cost will partly be absorbed into the development of new content. If you truly want your site to generate leads, it's worth the cost.

For more information, about SEO, contact John Inama at call 877-799-9994 ext. 2104 or fill out this form.

POSTED BY ANGELA CHARLES -- click here to comment

Don't let panderers turn you off of SEO

I was deleting some errant spam that had found its way around my filters and came across a couple e-mails touting "quick fix" search engine optimization. In each case, the company touting its services claimed to be able to effect significant improvement in my web site's search engine position at a very low cost of less than $50 per month.

One company was offering to submit my site every two to three months to all the search engines, which "would guarantee higher visibility." They didn't really explain why, if the search engines have already indexed my site, that re-submitting them would change the ranking order (it doesn't).

In the other case, the company was more vague about how it could accomplish its task of first-place ranking on search engine results. But, it touted a very intriguing pricing strategy - I'd only pay for as many visitors as I'd wanted each month, so, presumably, they could "turn off" at will this promotion. It became clear that this was a bait-and-switch campaign. Sell the reader on the benefits of search engine optimization, but then actually deliver a pay-per-click advertising campaign.

Like fad diet ads in the Sunday magazine, search engine optimization spam has given legitimate practitioners a bad name.

It occurred to me that, as is our practice, we would arm you with the truth; so, here are the facts about optimizing your web site to perform on the major search engines:

You CAN improve your search engine performance. And, if you are serious about having your company web site become a reliable lead generator for you, this will require some investment.

Why is search engine optimization so important? Human nature. People naturally seek the path of least resistance. When seeking a specific product or service on the Internet, people generally will stop their search after the first three pages of results. They either find a suitable choice on those first three pages, or they decide to try a different keyword. Internet user studies support this. But, you don't need to read them to know it's true. Think about your own Internet research habits. At what point do you become frustrated and leave if you haven't found what you're looking for?

In optimizing your company web site, Pilot Fish uses our knowledge of user habits to position your company so that prospects find you before they become frustrated and abandon their search. Even so, it's not an easy fix.

To obtain the type of position that will help your web site succeed, it needs to have the right content. And, once you've got the visitor there, you need the right presentation to get them to act on the information you've presented.

Keep deleting that "quick fix" SEO spam - you're right in thinking it's a waste of your time to pursue. But, don't throw out the idea of search engine optimization. Done right, and your web site can be a top-performing salesperson for your company.

For more information about search engine optimization, contact John Inama at call 877-799-9994 ext. 2104 or fill out this form.

POSTED BY ANGELA CHARLES -- click here to comment

Research Lauds Vertical Search Engines

A recent article in B2B magazine cited vertical search engines or portals as an advertising medium that's gaining interest among business-to-business executives. According to industry research, vertical search engine advertising offers:

• Higher rate of relevancy: "Vertical engines attract people looking for a specific genre of information, unlike traditional search engines, that count both consumers and businesspeople among their users," the B2B article said.
• More affordable: Vertical engines can be much more affordable in the long-term than pay-per-click advertising on traditional sites.
• Better quality leads: Traditional search engines may charge less per-click for very specialized terms but, generally, the advertiser may get fewer qualified click-throughs, according to a recent Jupiter Research report.
• Custom options: Vertical search engines offer more advertising options than traditional search engines.
• Measurable results: Vertical sites usually provide advertising analytic tools to track the client's investment.

In our experience assisting companies with their SEO and Internet marketing strategies, vertical sites are also a preferred way to create incoming links that will improve your site's position on the major search engines. These types of sites generally are regarded as "expert" sites by the search engines, offering very relevant, targeted content that enables them to earn high page rank with Google and strong SE positioning on important industry keywords. Your company's association with these expert sites, via incoming links, helps your web site's relevancy rating in the eyes of the search engines.

As you plan your 2006 advertising budget, look for online advertising opportunities that maximize your reach and provide you the kind of positioning to drive traffic and leads to your web site. Programs on vertical sites that offer premium positioning on the home page or on the first page of a directory featuring a list of companies like yours are among the most valuable in directing qualified prospects to your web site.

POSTED BY ANGELA CHARLES -- click here to comment