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Finding the right resource for each facet of web strategy can be a daunting task. AgencyCritique's recommendations consist of companies that I have carefully and personally vetted.
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At the core of any web strategy is a well defined content strategy. And writing content for the web can be a challenging, time consuming endeavor. Web copy functions in many ways and is read with varying degrees of thoroughness. At first it’s usually scanned quickly, but once there’s interest a reader may go very deep. Web copy also gets read from many directions and perspectives, one page does not always follow predictably from another. In fact, sometimes a deep level sub-page may be the first page viewed, especially when traffic originates from search engines. On top of the structural issues, there are also technical search engine optimization matters to consider. And the larger the website, the more complex the inter-relationships of its pages become.
Kristina Halvorson is a web copy expert. She founded Brain Traffic as a specialist in writing copy for the web. Brain Traffic offers content strategy and website copywriting services as well as web copywriting seminars.
Brain Traffic clients include large companies in the healthcare, financial, high-tech and medical fields. They usually have complex sites, sometimes with thousands of pages. Brain Traffic knows and believes in the power of content on the web. They’re clients know this too, and look to them as a valuable adviser and implementation partner. They don’t just take copywriting orders for “x” number of web pages. They help craft and implement the overall web content strategy.
Most adverting agencies would not have sites large enough to qualify as a Brain Traffic client themselves, but many of your clients may very well may need their help. Especially if you’ve done your job persuading them of the importance of a robust content strategy for their web marketing.
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.
[Disclosure: High Rankings is a client of Newfangled Web Factory]
I’ve been following Jill Whalen’s High Rankings Advisor Newsletter for many years. Jill is a fixture at just about every search engine optimization conference I’ve heard of. One of things I appreciate about Jill is her no-nonsense approach to SEO. As part of her email newsletter she answers questions from subscribers. As you can imagine there are tons of questions out there. People will do just about anything for a top ranking on Google. But Jill won’t green light any sketchy SEO practices. And she doesn’t play off people’s fears that their URL structures are hurting them, or that they don’t have the perfect keyword density on their pages. She stays true to the basic formula that, so long as the most egregious technical problems are addressed, a steady stream of quality content and inbound links will produce the best results.
But while High Rankings isn’t going to set off alarms if you haven’t squeezed every ounce of SEO potential out of every page, they are going to go deep into analyzing effectiveness and advising their clients on best practices. When you visit the High Rankings website you notice that they have an amazing number of training and educational opportunities and services. Not to mention their famous High Rankings Forum. As any good SEO consultant knows, there is ultimately only so much they can do for their clients; successful search engine optimization comes from clients that learn how to develop excellent content and then leverage that content with the best SEO practices available. So High Rankings emphasizes training and instruction as much as selling their own services.
Web strategy is measurable. And unlike most other forms of marketing, it can be measured almost instantaneously. Website traffic can be viewed and analyzed in just about every conceivable way. Search traffic can be broken down by search engine and by search terms. Effectiveness of traffic (how “sticky” visits are) and goal conversions such as newsletter sign ups, downloads, or purchases are easily quantified. Website analytics packages like Google Analytics provide more reports and views than most people know what to do with.
EpikOne is a specialist in Google Analytics implementation and analysis. They also specialize in Urchin analytics, in fact this was their original specialty before Google bought Urchin. As a result of their previous close relationship with Urchin, they now have deep connections with the Urchin/Google Analytics team at Google.
EpikOne offers very affordable help with Google Analytics implementations and robust analysis of website traffic patters. They offer many training and educational opportunities through multi-day boot camps, seminars, and webinars.
As an agency resource EpikOne is a great fit. They work effectively as a “fear-free” agency choice since their tight focus on analytics will never threaten the agency/client relationship. EpikOne can also run SEO and SEM marketing campaigns. And with their emphasis on measurement and analysis you know their campaigns will be rigorously monitored and optimized.
Newfangled Web Factory - [full disclosure: I am the owner of Newfangled, I founded the company in 1995]
Newfangled has been partnering with advertising agencies, helping them with website development since 1995. Newfangled understands the complexity of the agency/client relationship and works effectively as a partner to small to mid-sized firms (usually 5-30 employees). Key to Newfangled’s ability to service agencies and their clients is its graysceen prototyping process. Additionally, Newfangled includes its mature and robust content management system in every project they do. While not the cheapest option available, their pricing (published on their website) is conservative enough to fall well within most professional web development budgets, making them a preferred choice for agencies needing an experienced, dependable, and understanding partner.