Arizona marketing companies number almost like the stars in the sky.  However, not all those Arizona marketing companies are really all about marketing.  Good marketing is something everyone thinks they can do but for you, it is not too long before new ideas can run out.  What do you do when your promotion efforts start to get a little stale?  Arizona marketing companies like ThriveMarketing, LLC know what to do.

Keeping a Website Fresh is a Necessity

Arizona marketing companies like ThriveMarketing know how important it is to conduct an occasional website analysis and makeover for several reasons:

• First, internet search engines, such as Google, recognize websites that become stale and unchanging, and they move them down the results list and away from any hard-earned SEO work you have accomplished in the past.
• Second, websites become visibly dated.  Dancing babies and waving flags were the cutting edge ten years ago, but today, they simply date a website.  Maybe that isn’t as obvious as putting classic Roman architecture next to art deco, but the astute marketer or any business that keeps up-to-date notices things like that.  You can train your eye to notice them too as you look through websites.
• Third, particularly now, it is important to keep up-to-date with an occasional website makeover to demonstrate the strength and innovation of your company in uncertain times.

All Arizona Marketing Companies Are Not Alike

When you are looking for a company to help you with your website marketing, you will find that a good online marketing company can make adjustments to your website that can dramatically increase its effectiveness as a selling tool and make your website significantly easier to locate.  There are a few basic rules we have identified that will help you make sure you are getting everything you want out of your website

Getting Bids: Is the lowest bid the right choice?

Instinctively, you will want to do some shopping around, as you should, and then possibly ask for bids to see who can work on your website with the least investment.  The results are often surprising because there is such a surprising range of costs.  You have to remember that in internet marketing, creativity is the key product and the level of creativity is not synonymous with cost.  In effective internet marketing, cheaper is not better.  In fact, sacrificing quality can be very expensive to your bottom line. Learn all you can about what you are asking to do if you are thinking of making modifications and improvements to your website business.

So, how do you tell the difference between marketing companies?

The differences become more evident as you meet with the people leading the marketing companies.  Simple tweaks and simple solutions are sometimes enough, but not usually.  Crossing the threshold from spending a little for a little, to spending a little more for a lot, can mean the difference in your website producing great results.

In the next article, we will discuss the three most important areas for focus when redesigning a website.

Website Review and/or Interview Us for Your Project

ThriveMarketing would like an opportunity to do an analysis of your website design and show you what can be done to make it a more effective selling tool.  You can request a proposal online.  We would love to show you how we can make your online efforts at marketing thrive!

• Call Toll-Free: 1 (866) 521-0827
• Call Locally:    1 (480) 704-4563

An online advertising agency can make sure your efforts pay off

An online advertising agency is an important and integral portion of your website efforts.  Without a knowledgeable online advertising agency, there are many wrong turns and pitfalls you may not even be aware of, and following 9 simple rules can make a lot of difference in getting the right people on your website.

Your website is important to your business but if it is not optimized for search engines, or worse still, is improperly optimized, then your efforts for having a strong, selling website have been compromised. By carefully selecting an online advertising agency, you can make your website assist you in your sales efforts, twenty-four hours a day, and seven days a week. Your online advertising agency will guide you through the process, but in the meantime, here are 9 of many guidelines you can consider as primary rules you want to watch out for.

9 Rules for Ensuring Website Efforts Pay Off

Rule #1:  Engage SEO experts in a timely fashion

Whatever your place is in the process of building your website, do not wait too long to employ Search Engine Optimization expertise.  Whether you are starting a new website or re-dressing an older one, SEO is a primary consideration and should be engaged right at the outset.  If you do not, you are losing valuable opportunities for your potential customers to find you easily so they can purchase your goods or services.

Rule # 2:  Don’t presume all online advertising agency skills are the same

Good online marketing can make your company more profitable than you may imagine.  Choosing an online advertising agency service provider is serious and, like everything else, they come in varying levels of quality and knowledge.  You should take it upon yourself to do a lot of research and ask questions of the companies you are considering.

Rule #3:  Be an active participant in the process

Intend to stay engaged in the search engine optimizing process.  The simple reason is you want to continue the efforts at placing proper keywords on the internet so the goods and services on which you depend for your success remain at the forefront.

Rule #4:  Targeting wrong keywords

Proper keywords, as well as proper keyword usage is at the forefront of any Search Engine Optimization effort.  For example, if you are an attorney in Washington, D.C., do not expect much from your efforts if they are led with the keyword “lawyer.”  Be specific about what it is you want to portray.  Check the keyword in the proper software (such as keyworddiscovery.com or wordtracker.com) to assure you will have visibility coupled with realistic expectations of making a difference to the search results.

Likewise, using keywords that are effective, but off-target for your business, buys you no new customers.  Always select keywords that will optimize your website for specific, relevant, and sales-oriented searches.

Rule #5:  Too few and too many keyword repetitions

Too few keywords and you get skipped in the search engines.  Too many and the search engine sees your site as spam, and you still get skipped.  There is a standard for use somewhere between three or four and seven or eight and it varies from time-to-time.

Rule #6:  Know how to use meta tags

It might surprise you to learn that many who are experienced at putting together websites do not even use the meta tags, of which there are three that are vital.

The meta title is a place where your keyword needs to reside.  It appears on your finished website in the top browser border or tab and is searched for by all search engines.

Don’t try to make the title do too much; it is a temptation to jam all your keywords there.  That is not effective.  Also, do not have the same title, such as your company’s name, on all pages.  It serves no purpose for search engine optimization.

Second, the meta description, also embedded in the HTML code, will appear in the search engine under your listing header.  If you do not supply one, part of your website copy will appear there at random — or not.  You need to compose this copy carefully, with keywords — from your keyword research in mind — as it is the first impression the searcher gets for your company.  It also needs to contain prominently the keyword you are using — preferably as the first word(s).

Third, your keyword(s) themselves should be listed in the HTML as meta keywords.  This, too, is easy to overlook.

Rule #7:  Don’t put key elements in graphics, Flash, or JavaScript

Using keywords, company names, and other vital information in graphics, Flash, or JavaScript makes them invisible to the spider-crawling of the search engine.  They may look really spiffy, but they will not do you any good.  At the very least, have an alternate HTML version on the site so the search engines can see it and index it.

Rule #8:  Don’t have multiple domain names feeding your homepage

When the search engine finds them, it will consider your content “duplicate” and, in all likelihood, it will eliminate it from the search results.  That would be a disaster and may be a result that is quite the opposite from what you intended by having multiple domain names.

Rule #9:  Expect results

There are many, many such rules to be followed in order to make your website a success.  We view these as being among the most important.  By following a few rules to guide your success, you and your online advertising agency can work wonders at gaining first-class visibility for your website.  Whether you are selling goods or services, a properly optimized website puts dollars in your pockets.  ThriveMarketing would love the chance to perform an evaluation of your website.

Visit our online advertising agency to request a proposal and let us see what we can do to enhance your website.

• Call Toll-Free: 1 (866) 521-0827
• Call Locally:   1 (480) 704-4563

The movie, He’s Just Not That Into You, also speaks to  this phenomenon of dating online in 2009. Drew Barrymore’s character laments to her friends (paraphrasing):

“He MySpaced me and then messaged my BlackBerry, so I texted his cell and then he emailed my home account and I left a voicemail…I remember the days when there was one home line and one answering machine and inside that answering machine was one cassette tape where he did or didn’t leave you a message. Now you have to go around checking all these different portals just so you can be rejected by seven kinds of technology.”

Ok, now for the oh-so-very-hokey hoedown video parody:

Or is it the biggest shift since the Industrial Revolution?

Watch the video and decide for yourself.

Surprise, only 5% of Twitter users are teens. They’re even less likely to use Twitter than Baby Boomers who are over the age of 65!

The most likely to use Twitter?   Those aged 25-34 and 45-54.

Consider this when deciding if Twitter is right to reach your audience:

Graph 1: Shows that teenagers are less likely to use Twitter (as of right now) than any other demographic, including seniors.

Twitter Users by Age

Graph 2: Shows that 5% of Teenagers Tweet!

Teen Twitter Users

An internet advertising consultant needs to provide enhancements

For a successful internet advertising consultant, the style of the copy has to be as important as the words it contains. Internet advertising consultants, contrary to popular belief, are just as much about making technical enhancements to a website, but must result in a click-through that results in sales.  Services need to include web design and layout and usability in addition to copy content that is a cut above the competition.  Good copy is a basic requirement.  If the quality of the copy is not good, then it does not matter what it says; it is not enticing to read.  In addition to good organization–in order to draw the customer/reader into the website–optimized website copy must be creative, informative, and technically helpful.

SEO Writing Tip # 1: Creativity is paramount

If you write in the style of Charles Dickens and get paid by the word as he did, then just about anything you write is going to be a winner.  Otherwise, an internet advertising consultant wanting to provide excellent copywriting services needs to be a lot more creative with his organization and content.  There is no question that content is the key but a copywriter who remains ahead of the pack has to devote more energy into the organization of the message.  The writer has to be in command of the language.

Internet advertising consultant services is about placing high quality search keywords; the writer still must organize the content that draws in the potential customer.

It is a given that some of the organization is going to be dictated by the placement and frequency of search keywords.  The ideal is to be able to read the copy and read through the placed search keywords seamlessly.  Much of the optimized copy on the internet stumbles on the keywords because they look and read out of place with the rest of the content.

Be a little bit creative in forming and placing the terms.  Anything that causes the reader to stumble gives him or her an excuse to quit reading your message.  In addition to boring material, too much of the copy in the internet (and everywhere else) includes poor sentence structure, lack of sentence variety, and poor grammar.  Good writing must remain faithful to the basic organizational rules.

Writing is not really about writing; writing is about getting your thoughts well-organized. It is also about given yourself permission to be a little creative, inserting humor, adopting a memorable metaphor or other symbol and chunking the knowledge in a way that the brain finds easy to digest.

Don’t write like a brainiac, unless you want only brainiacs to read it

One of the mistakes many aspiring writers makes, especially when writing about technical subjects, is striving to sound too technical.  The reader can’t help thinking, “Can’t you just tell me about the product in plain English?”  Yes, please!  That’s all most readers want.  “Help me to understand why I need this product and why I should pick it up from you.” The reader finds your true creativity and quality in simplicity and clarity.

SEO Writing Tip #2: Be informative

When you search highly competitive keywords, the websites that appear first in the results list will almost always be ones that are known to carry good, solid, usable information.  Searchers want to learn something about what they are searching. That is the whole reason search engines were developed.  If you are not providing that in your message, then you are missing a great opportunity to persuade your prospective customer.  Choose the right words.  Use the words the searcher would use. There is no need to use complicated words if a simple one will work.  Nowhere is that more true than in copy intending to make sales.

Tip #3: Being technically helpful is like wrapping it up with a ribbon

If your website is also technically savvy about the products, you just became a resource for searchers.  Being a resource means you will become a choice and hopefully, a bookmarked website. That is going to make sales conversions a lot easier.  Furthermore, if you win the coveted bookmark competition you will also eliminate the competition that shows up in the search with your company.

Put yourself in the buyer’s position.  If you are already an avid golfer and an expert at golf and golf equipment, would you be likely to be searching it on the web anymore?  One of our clients who owns a fishing products website is rapidly growing in sales because he values being a technical resource to new shoppers.  In this way, he continues to sell more products in a wider spectrum through tips on combining products that produce results in catching fish.  That extra measure of value is what really makes his search engine optimized copy, and his website, excel.

Provide a solid backstop for search terms

In great internet advertising consultant services, the keyword terms are the tails– and the backstop copy in which they reside are the dogs.  Make sure that you know which one does the wagging.  It is not enough just to have the search terms.  Great website copy needs to be creative (in order to be eye-catching), informative (in order to bring the customer into the clickable leads), and technically helpful (to win the coveted, bookmark prize). In order to balance all these demands, find a consultant that really knows what he or she is doing with site optimization.

The memorability and usefulness of the copy is indeed what is important. The keywords have already brought the customer to your page.  Now you must do something with them.

For more information on how ThriveMarketing can help you with your Search Marketing:

• Request a proposal
• Call Toll-Free: 1 (866) 521-0827
• Call Locally:   1 (480) 704-4563

Phoenix, Arizona is Number 5 on the list and nicknamed “The Expander” because it has grown by 50% over the last twenty years. This quick growth rate means that the city has all the basic services a company needs to get started.  The article also mentions Phoenix’s strengths in the tech industry.

The complete list of best places to start a business are:

1. Las Vegas
2. Portland
3. Orlando
4. San Diego
5. Phoenix
6. Chapel Hill, N.C.
7. Atlanta
8. Madison, Wis.
9. Youngstown, Ohio
10. Austin

Phoenix, Arizona marketing agency, Thrive Marketing, helps Start-up’s with logo design, website design, shopping carts, copywriting services for websites and brochures, marketing materials, tradeshow booth and materials, and much more – all at very affordable rates.  Check out our Portfolio and Request a Proposal today.

Search engine marketing consultants are not all alike

Search Engine Optimization is not a myth

A search engine marketing consultant can show you how SEO can work for your website.

In our last article, the second of this series of three “Internet marketing firms can guide proper search term analysis that will increase your business – dramatically” we discussed the importance of how the words on your website and the format in which they are presented can make a great difference to the website’s popularity in the search engines.  In the first article of the series, “An Internet advertising agency can vastly improve your visibility on the internet,” we discussed what search engines do and how they are programmed to decide who appears first in the search results list.  In this article, we will focus on understanding the overall concepts of search engine optimization, how to find an agency who can actually make a difference, and the importance of maintaining your website after the initial optimization.

Believing in SEO

There are people around who will be quick to tell you that as far as SEO goes, there is nothing one can do; it’s hopeless; it doesn’t work; it is a sham and rip-off.  Primarily, those people are the ones who have had no experience (or a bad experience) with search engine optimization. All this negativity about it only indicates one thing: many do not have experience with how the competition’s website was able to move ahead of them through search engine optimization.  Not only does SEO work, it may be the most efficient and cost-effective marketing dollar spend a company can make toward its internet selling strategies.

SEO works and surprisingly well.  Still, expectations must be set properly with orientation and education about what happens to the website listings and when they are likely to occur.

With SEO, there’s no such thing as instant success

SEO modifications take time.  As discussed in the “Internet marketing firms can guide proper search term analysis that will increase your business – dramatically,” websites information searches are searched within the search engine’s database – not on the internet.  The way the search engine database is indexed is complicated.  The efforts you make to optimize your site can be neutralized or negated by other conditions on your website.  It is possible to carry out a search engine optimization process on your site only to see it be ineffective.  That certainly doesn’t mean SEO doesn’t work; but it can mean the person doing it really didn’t understand all the things he or she needs to correct on the website to avoid negative search impacts.

Finding the right SEO marketing firm

Our personal prejudice at Thrive Marketing, built through our own experiences, is that among the primary skills a search engine marketing consultant must include is an expertise in marketing and customer service. Search engine optimization is a complicated process involving not too well understood methods of searching, but the end result must be to improve the marketing and customer service presence on your website.  Website success is about finding you and leaving with a happy buyer.

Some copy development skills are vital

The second most important characteristic of a search engine marketing consultant is to have a great enough skill in writing that the SEO copy reads as seamlessly as any other piece of informative copy, but contains all the necessary keywords and keyword placement.  Ideally, a reader should not be able to determine the keywords in use just by reading the article.  The article should be informational (as this is also a search criterion).

SEO Copy structure is important

As mentioned in the last article, page content should usually be between about 500 and 800 words but the keyword should not appear any more than about six to ten times, divided between body copy, headers, links, HTML descriptions, and meta-title.  If done properly, the search term being optimized should not be obvious to the reader.

Maintaining optimal optimization

Believe it or not, websites get stale.  Even a top scoring website, if left without changes and updates for a while, will start to fall in the preferred search results.  The reason is that the search engines recognize stale sites and downgrade them.  Second, search engine parameters change from time to time.  To keep a site optimized, it needs to be checked for optimization every few months and the content modified on a regular basis.  Third, websites containing informational content will rate higher than those without it.

Remember, good marketing sense is important, too

Websites should be freshened from time to time–not just for search engine optimization–but because it makes good marketing sense.  When requesting estimates on website work, and researching the cost of SEO processing, be sure to include maintenance in the scope of work.  As said before, SEO and SEO maintenance are some of the most efficient spends in internet marketing.

Having an understanding of SEO and how it works, finding a search engine marketing consultant, and maintaining your website with fresh copy that matches current search criteria are all important parts of internet marketing.  A good search engine marketing consultant with marketing and customer service experience can work wonders with your website in the search engine results.  SEO really works; it is no myth.  However, you still have to be realistic about what you put into your site and the time and effort it takes to keep it fresh.

For more information on how ThriveMarketing can help you with your Search Marketing:

• Request a proposal
• Call Toll-Free: 1 (866) 521-0827
• Call Locally:   1 (480) 704-4563

If you are having trouble getting people to say yes, you don’t need to change what you are proposing; you need to change how you present what you have to offer.

Robert Cialdini Ph.D., a professor of psychology at Arizona State University, summarizes the concept behind his “Principles of Persuasion.”

Principles that can change the way you think about marketing.

Influence is an art – the following six principles are the canvass to enhance your business, sales and marketing skills!

1. Principle of reciprocation. I’m obligated to give back to you what you first give to me.

This rule requires that one person try to repay what another person has provided. By obligating the recipient to an act of repayment in the future–the rule for reciprocation allows one individual to give something to another with the confidence that it is not being lost. This sense of future obligation according to the rule makes possible the development of various kinds of continuing relationships, transactions, and exchanges that are beneficial to society. Extended to marketing and sales, this is a very powerful principle that companies use all the time!

• Free product samples…
• Free test drives…
• Free workouts…

…are all implemented to get the customer to try the product or service, but also so that we become indebted at a psychological level. Another key example is business relationships…if someone refers a customer to us or utilizes our services, then we will remember that particular person when we need their product or service or we will refer someone over to them that does.

2. Principle of scarcity. People want more of what they can get less of.

You have to convince prospects that your offer is unique and rare, and that they will lose something if they don’t take advantage of your offer. How does this tie-in to your marketing? Consider your USP (Unique Selling Proposition) and how you can convince your prospects that they will be losing out if they choose not to purchase. This can include money, health, youth, looks, success etc. Or, next time you write a promotion, try placing a limit on your offer, “limited to the first 1,000 customers,” and watch your response skyrocket.

3. Principle of authority. People want to follow legitimate experts.

It is important to position yourself as an authority with the media, your clients and your target market. Getting media publicity on TV or in your newspaper, giving presentations or workshops and even distributing a monthly email newsletter with an article like this one are a few ways to show your expertise. Don’t be embarrassed because you think you sound boastful! As strange as it sounds, you could also mention a weakness in your position, which will establish you as both powerful and honest. Immediately after admitting a weakness is when you need to deliver your strongest argument.

4. Principle of commitment and consistency. People have a tendency to live up to what they write down.

Simply stated – obtain anything in writing that might result in additional sales. For example, if you convince someone that overexposure to the sun is bad, then it’s easier for them to agree they need your products, whether it’s sunscreen, sunless tanner or a baseball cap. After making a commitment, taking a stand or position, people are more willing to agree to requests that are consistent with their prior commitment. This principle also applies to terms and payment for products or services rendered; though this doesn’t necessarily mean that you won’t get ripped-off, it does decrease the likelihood as it is physical proof you can take to court! To apply this principle to your marketing, add a money-back guarantee and/or warranty to show you stand behind your product/service.

5. Principle of consensus or social proof. People tend to follow others.

In the end, most people are followers. You might decide what you should do by looking at what others do in that situation. For example, you could decide to use a product or service that is strongly recommended by another business associate. This comes down to “Word of Mouth” and testimonials—provide those that are most similar to your prospects, and use clients who refer others to you as communicators for your services. Be sure to include testimonials on your company website, brochures, newsletters and any other marketing communication.

6. Principle of liking. People who like you will buy from you.

This last principle applied to business means that your prospects will buy from you if they admire and feel a bond with you. People want to do business with someone that they know likes them in return and that shows a genuine interest in helping them and their company. In one word, Relationships! Colleagues and associates will purchase products and services from those who go that extra mile to help their businesses. Those that are great at networking are often able to refer individuals to other business owners or influential individuals who can help grow their business. And like any great counselor, this involves listening more than talking!

Reciprocation, scarcity, authority, commitment, consensus and liking…all six are suggestions that will enhance your sales and marketing skills, build confidence and increase your chances for marketing success!

Located in Phoenix, AZ, Thrive Marketing is a full-service marketing and advertising firm specializing in website design, full-service search engine optimization and Pay-Per-Click (PPC) online advertising services. Thrive offers the expertise to assist with your marketing campaign so that you will see better results and a return on your investment. Every thing we do is done with the end result in mind: more clients for your business.

The investment in services also varies greatly in price depending on the agency from $300-$20,000+ per month. There are agencies that just do SEO copy, but not site architecture redesign or link building, but ALL of that can be important to SEO. Make sure you know what the agency’s capabilities are, and ask for references or case studies.

It is worth it. One client of ours went from paying steep PPC prices before we SEO’d their site and increased their SEO traffic by 20x, almost entirely eliminating the need for PPC. Their investment of SEO per year is $12,000/year, but they’ve gotten more than $130,000 per year in value (if you multiply what they were paying per click by the amount of SEO visits). That is a good value for them.

It’s like PR in the fact that you could pay $1,000’s for an ad, or you could get written up as a feature editorial worth several thousand dollars for the same ad space. PR can be MUCH more cost efficient than paying for an ad…

However, unlike PR, SEO is totally measurable and quantifiable (PR people are going to hate me – but it’s true, they can only count impressions, not visits to a website from a newspaper article).

With SEO, you can tell exactly how much your keywords have gone up or down in rankings. You can also tell exactly which keyword phrases (as well as if they’re paid or unpaid keywords, and what engines they came from) have contributed to your bottom line in the form of leads or sales. This way, you can justify to your boss and the other resistors in your organization that SEO efforts ARE paying off in terms of sales, email sign-ups, membership sign-ups, etc. And, show a RETURN on Investment (ROI).

If your ROI is positive, then it’s worth it, right? If it’s not, then figure out what keywords are ineffective, if you need to fix the conversion rate on your site, change, tweak and get it right.

It’s an ongoing process even if your ROI is positive… you should always continue to want to widen your reach and improve upon past results.