Lee Lefever does a great job (as always) making the complex simple in this video. “Web Search Strategies in Plain English” walks through the process we all use when devising our search queries. The vast amounts of content stored in the search engines requires us to add more and more search terms to ultimately find what we’re looking for.
Here’s a tip: think about reverse engineering this process in order to write page specific title tags that will most closely match the kinds of search queries that ultimately generate results. Check out the How To Do SEO videos for more about this concept.
And by the way, Common Craft (Lee’s company) has produced lot’s more very helpful “In Plain English” videos. It’s worth the time to check them out!
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Several years ago I wrote a newsletter for Newfangled called “Who’s Your Homepage.” I read a post today from Ian Lurie called “4 Metrics for Analyzing SEO Traffic (and one to ignore).” It reminded me once again of the value of content as it relates to ongoing search engine traffic. Ian was reviewing his site’s stats and was again reassured by one particular metric–keyword diversity. He points about the benefits of diverse keyword search engine traffic. I point out a few more in the Web Smart newsletter. I also explore opportunities to consider when sub-pages function as homepages (which is what happens when diverse keywords lead traffic to your site) in the sense that they give the first impression to a new visitor.
The very first agency website I reviewed for “The Crit” was Currency Marketing. I’m re-writing the post. My original post was far too brief for such an excellent example of agency positioning and such an exceptionally executed content strategy.
Positioning: Tim McAlpine founded his agency in 1990. But it wasn’t until 2003 that he took the bold step to re-position The McAlpine Group (their former name) as Currency Marketing, a specialized Credit Union marketing firm. It’s rare that creative firms overcome their initial terror at the idea of such focused positioning. Fears of opportunities lost or being passed over for other kinds of work (not to mention the fear of boredom from doing “just one thing”) often give agencies pause. It’s sometimes easier for agencies to warm up to the idea of positioning the way Tim did at the time, by maintaining two “brands.” In 2004 Tim created Currency Marketing for credit unions and Passport Marketing presumably for everything else. But three years later the fruits of Currency Marketing’s positioning were so profound he dropped Passport and now enjoys a laser focused specialization, which gives him valuable expertise and a leading position in credit union marketing.
Content: Any agency can (and should) pick a bold and narrow position and build their brand around it. But declaring a position is just the first step, proving it is what ultimately counts. That’s where a robust content strategy can be invaluable. And this is where Currency Marketing shines. I guarantee if you go to the Currency Marketing website and spend ten minutes (or many hours) you’ll be completely convinced that they have a profound degree of expertise and knowledge about credit union marketing. If you were a credit union looking for marketing help you would be sold before ever picking up the phone. The content of the site is focused, broad, and deep.
It’s focused because it always centers on credit union marketing issues. For example, in a recent blog post, instead of merely adding his two cents about the Seinfeld/Gates Microsoft ad (like everyone else) he asked the question, “Are your credit union’s marketing efforts worthy of comment?“
Their content is broad. They have a blog (that’s updated almost everyday), an e-newsletter, a podcast, whitepapers, and speaking seminars viewable as embedded slide shows.
And the content is deep. The blog is extremely robust, the podcast and newsletters are consistently created.
Currency has also created two programs that both extend their focused content and generate new business opportunities. The invented a “Young & Free” licensing program and a cuckoo marketing program for small credit unions. Not only do these two programs extend their offerings, they further demonstrate and prove their expertise and positioning.
Platform: From what I can tell their site is built on a Cold Fusion platform. I cannot discern the content management system though I assume it’s K1 Techology’s product. They’ve avoided all the main platform gaffes common to many agency sites (splash pages, Flash, overuse of graphics for text, etc.). They certainly have no barriers to getting their content online since the site is updated so consistently. They could stand to improve their page specific title tags and meta descriptions to improve search engine optimization. I also find it a bit strange that their newsletter links open up into a new browser window and have extended, encoded URLs. I assume this is for tracking/measuring purposes (which, if so, is great to see), but the new window seems unnecessary. I do like that they are using Google Analytics to measure their site’s traffic.
Design: I think the visual design of the site is very clean, balanced and easy to read. Navigation is fairly intuitive. I think their sub page navigation gets a little lost and could use a visual boost or get relocated closer to the main navigation bar. The only significant flaw is a problem with their home page call-to-action animation. There are a few different messages in rotation (which I’m not sure is a great strategy to begin with). One of these begins “Hi There…” and ends with a call-to-action link that goes to a quiz, but the quiz is not online yet. If a first time visitor happens to get this version of the animation and goes to the quiz page to find it’s not there, they might abandon the site without learning how powerful the firm really is. Another very minor detail is the e-newsletter list. The oldest is listed first, giving the impression that the newsletter hasn’t been published since February 2007. Since many people scan a site before digging in, it’s important to read a site quickly to find elements that may give an incorrect quick initial impression. Of course these are very minor flaws in an otherwise amazing example of strong agency positioning with a powerful content strategy to match!
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Only one article for this week’s Advertising Age digest–this rather thick issue was taken up mostly with GM’s 100th anniversary.
In The End of Consumer Surveys? Jack Neff examines how in the age of social media–where consumers freely discuss, comment, blog, tag, rate, and review their interests–there may be more to glean from reputation monitoring than from traditional surveys. The richness of online information, compounded with consumer’s generally cool reception to static consumer surveys is turning the industry’s attention toward new methods of conducting brand research and consumer satisfaction surveys. Greg Livingston also posted thoughts about this article on The Buzz Bin.
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I’ve been following Ian Lurie’s blog Conversation Marketing for some time. Ian founded Portent Interactive in 1995, the same year I started Newfangled. It’s rare to find Internet marketing experts with experience that goes back to the days before Netscape 1.0, but Portent is one of the few.
Before founding Portent, Ian held various positions most of which involved writing in one capacity or another (well maybe not the bicycle shop job). So it comes as no surprise that Portent’s core Internet marketing approach is driven by content. Portent’s staff is made up mostly of writers, strategists, technicians and a few creative folks. Their work is solidly focused in search (both SEM and SEO) and email marketing. This is right where it should be. Too many Internet marketing firms get caught up in the latest and greatest social media trends without mastering the fundamentals of content strategy and search marketing. Don’t get me wrong, Portent does integrate cutting edge practices like reputation monitoring and social media marketing but they always connect these efforts back to fundamental search-oriented strategies.
Portent is also a Google Analytics Authorized Consultant (and AdWords Qualified Company). This is something I always look for in an Internet marketing firm. It means they are going to be rigorous about measuring, evaluating, and optimizing every campaign they run for their clients.
Portent on SEO
Ian has a great philosophy about search engine optimization. If you’ve watched my videos on SEO you know how something as basic as optimizing your title tags on every page is one of the most common oversights in website optimization. In my conversation with Ian he mentioned that Portent’s advice is not to think so much about keywords phrases, but rather, keyword questions. This is a simple but powerful concept. Structuring keywords and title tags around the kinds of questions customers may have is much more likely to capture a visitor at the point of their intent. Wise advice from an expert who’s been around since the inception of the entire industry.
Portent on Email Marketing
In addition to SEM and SEO services Portent also focuses on email marketing. Not spammy, list buying, blast email, but rather house-list, CRM integrated email marketing campaigns. Email marketing may not be the most exciting new Internet marketing method, but like search, it’s still one of the most effective components of a web marketing strategy. Email may be common, but doing it well, with landing pages, testing, measurement and tracking is not easy and Portent’s expertise can maximize email marketing efforts.
Is Ian Irritable?
If you subscribe to Ian’s blog you’ll probably notice after reading a few posts that he likes to refer to himself as something of a curmudgeon. But don’t be fooled, he’s not so grumpy as he purports (sorry to blow your cover Ian). And if you catch him early enough in the morning he’s actually a very pleasant guy.
If you’re considering hiring portent keep in mind that, while they’ll may take on some smaller/shorter term engagements, they do their best work when engaged in larger/longer term relationships. This is absolutely the right philosophy. It’s very hard to make an impact when firing off sporadic random efforts rather than engaging in long term strategic initiatives that bear fruit over months, not weeks. It’s like getting a fly wheel moving. It may take some initial exertion to get the thing moving, but once it gains momentum it continues to spin with very little ongoing effort. Portent can get the thing going and keep it moving in the right direction.
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I was on vacation last week so I’m just now reviewing last week’s Advertising Age. Four articles caught my eye and they all carry a common thread–ad dollars shifting to digital due in part to measured improvements in effectiveness. There’s also a robust section on mobile marketing, but I’m still skeptical of the time lines being given for mobile marketing to gain traction. I still think mobile marketing won’t become mainstream in the U.S. for quite awhile.
It seems to me that brands are just now beginning to get real data to compare their digital campaigns with their traditional marketing channels. Not only is digital more measurable, but it’s also more effective. I have a feeling that as marketing budgets get tighter there will be more accountability for marketing expenditures. And if digital campaigns continually demonstrate better performance this may accelerate the shift toward digital.
Michael Bush adds that the ability to target more effectively in digital is pushing advertising budgets toward Internet marketing in his article, CMOs Up Digital, Cut Traditional.
In the article Marketers, Get Serious About Accountability Bob Liodice discusses the current level of measurement metrics being used and examined by agencies. He exhorts more focus and examination. His article touches on the industry’s slow movement toward measurement of digital campaigns.
In some sense though it’s just now that brands are getting substantive information about digital’s effectiveness and the early results are very positive–enough for significant reallocation if budgets. There is a potential for a fast updraft–as more money moves to digital, and better metrics combined with more experienced analysis continue to refine and improve results the trends will only accelerate.
Jean Halliday talks about GM and Google working together to consolidate and maximize their considerable search marketing efforts in the Digital section piece, GM Shifts Gears With Consolidated Global Search Plan. Again we see big brands pushing marketing dollars toward search marketing–which is the most effective form of online advertising by far.
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The Talstone Group is heading in the right direction with their website. They’ve already done the hard part, choosing a bold and narrow positioning statement (they specialize in healthcare marketing). They also have a site platform that includes a news section and blog so they have the means to employ a solid content strategy. But they seem to stumble in implementation of a content strategy that accords with their clear positioning.
Positioning: As already mentioned Talstone specializes in healthcare marketing. Their portfolio shows many examples of work in the healthcare area. The only criticism I have of their positioning is their list of strategic capabilities. They list 53 distinct areas of service. For a six person shop this is seems like a stretch. Capabilities lists should usually follow the truism that “less is more.” If you have any distinct areas of service that relate specifically to an area of expertise, by all means list that. Otherwise a brief list of overall service categories is sufficient.
Content: Content is where this site falls short of its potential. First, the work section could use descriptive copy for each piece. So much goes into the final product of an agency’s work that there should be plenty to say. They do have an excellent case study under the “case studies” section. A few more would be welcome. They also offer an email newsletter for tips, information and white papers. I’d get this content onto the site. Most people at least want to see some samples before giving up their email address. Besides, it’s this kind of content that empowers a website.
The “News & Notes” section is out of date, the last news item is from November 2007. I’d guess that’s because they started their blog around that time and began paying it more attention than the news section. That’s fine, in fact I’d say agency sites that have integrated blogs could just go with a news category or tag and the separate news section out. In this case I’d just convert the existing news items to back dated news posts in the blog and kill the section.
The Talstone blog looks like it got off to a decent start, but posts have dropped off of late. I’d guess that’s because there wasn’t a strong content strategy behind the blog in the first place. The content of the posts consist of fairly random musings. Which is fine–general interest posts can add real personality to an agency blog. However, general posts ought to be sprinkled in among more regular, meaty, thoughtful, and professional posts. Since Talstone has a clear positioning statement they should be able to devise a corresponding content strategy–one that will demonstrate their expertise.
General content, or design oriented content is a common mistake for agency blogs and newsletters–especially when the agency doesn’t have a focused position. In these cases the time investment for generating regular blog posts becomes too great. It becomes difficult just to come up with subjects. And when the impact of the blog is so low it hardly seems worth it. Chris Butler wrote an excellent newsletter for Newfangled on developing a sustainable content strategy.
Platform: I don’t see any particular problems with the website’s platform. I can’t detect if there is a content management system underneath, but I assume there is since there’s a blog. As with most websites there’s a great opportunity to optimize the content for search by implementing unique, page specific title tags.
Design: I like the visual design, it’s clean, simple, easy to navigate, everything you hope for in a web interface. I get a little thrown off by the window shade navigation. The sections stay open even after clicking a new one–except when they don’t. And when a few sections are open at the same time it gets visually confusing as to which items are the main categories and which are the sub pages. It’s relatively easy to decode, but as Steve Krug insists about web design “Don’t Make Me Think.” Fixing the functionality so that only one sections stays open at a time and perhaps indenting the sub page titles would help. I also find that the diagonal line pattern in the main content area has a bit too much contrast on top for readability. All in all, minor criticisms for an otherwise well designed site.
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Every week advertising agency publications like Advertising Age include articles highlighting challenges to marketing in the digital age. This is the first post in an ongoing series. I’ll review Advertising Age and point out articles that address issues related to web strategy and digital marketing.
The August 25, 2008 issue has a few notable articles.
When big brands like GM decrease their marketing budgets it’s big news to the entire industry. Jean Halliday’s article “Spending slows 6.1% among automakers” tracks this downturn. A common theme I’m seeing, in articles that discuss spending cut backs (all too many of them), is how companies are looking much more closely at effectiveness. With tighter budgets, performance is being more thoroughly examined. And with digital media being so measurable it’s not surprising to see increases in these areas while other media channels are cut back.
The article “More Marketers Want to Get to Know You” by Michael Bush and Rupal Parekh also hits this theme. In addition to digita media being inherent more measurable, the use of CRM (customer relationship management) systems enable companies to engage their customers in far more direct and ongoing ways than was ever possible in mass media marketing.
Nat Ives has a piece about the resizing of some popular Magazine formats. While each magazine discussed showed an increase in overall circulation they all showed a down turn in newsstand sales–and perhaps more importantly, a significant decrease in ad pages. Clearly a reflection of the overall trends in media spending.
There were two articles about Facebook in the digital section. One concerning a new ad platform and the other a case study in how college recruiting is using Facebook. Advertising in social media is still an iffy proposition (as the first article points out), but the article about college recruiting is very helpful for any agencies that have university clients or that specialize in educational marketing. For the education industry navigating the social media landscape is not an option. Social media is way too important and influential among today’s students to ignore.
Finally, Steve Rubel has a column on cloud computing. I’m a fellow fan of web based applications. I have a goal of being completely platform and computer independent. He give a good overview of the trends in cloud computing. And yesterday’s announcement of Google’s new browser “Chrome” will have a huge impact in the practicalities of cloud computing.
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