Advertising

Posted by earthskater

Justifying A Search Engine Marketing Budget

Advertising, Marketing, PPC, SEO

How do you justify the investment of Search Engine Marketing, SEO, Content Marketing, and other traffic generation methods to your VP of Marketing, CFO, President, or CEO.   And how do you quantify the value of search engine traffic?

How To Calculate What Your Visitors Are Worth

Some search engine optimization firms charge on a pay-for-performance basis.

A top 10 ranking would almost definitely produce more click throughs than a top 30 ranking.  Typically, they are the only rankings that generate real traffic for your website.  If we use the figure of 200 monthly visitors from one top 10 ranked keyword that is relevant to your business, the value begins to become more clear.   Factor in the sales that those clicks generate and you are close to the numbers.

Don’t forget that once you achieve a top position, little effort is required to maintain that position. So, in reality, it could generate as many as 2,400 visitors in a year.

Analyze your log files. How many visitors do your top 30 search engine positions bring in each month? Now multiply the average of number of monthly visitors these search terms bring in by 12. This is your average return-on-investment of each top position for a whole year.

How much does it cost you to acquire a visitor at present?

Top positions in pay-per-click search engines, may cost you from $2.50 to $10 per click.

As you can see, search engine optimization clearly produces an excellent return-on-investment.

Don’t forget that search engine positioning is effective, because the traffic is very targeted. Prospects who find your site through search engines are actively looking for information on products and services just like yours.

Search Engine Optimization Is A Science

Just like other forms of marketing and advertising, search engine optimization requires persistence and a lot of testing.

The optimization process is complex and time-consuming. You’re trying to align your Web pages with the ranking algorithms of the search engines, while at the same time trying to out-smart your competitor’s optimizers.

But the fact remains, search engine optimization is cost effective, and should not be ignored.

Call 877-627-2492 to discuss your marketing plan today.

Posted by earthskater

Increase Revenues with These Expert Insights (Part 1)

Advertising

In addition to successfully setting up  an online store, you need to keep strategies in mind that can help you come up with a profitable business plan. An online business may seem easier to handle, but competition in the market can make building a lasting impression difficult. Moreover, generating profitable returns on investments can become problematic as well.

However, a few things can be kept in mind for increasing revenue. Integrating these tips and tricks within the business plan can help your online business or web store establish strong roots in the competitive virtual market.

Focus On The Small Things

Most online businesses tend to jumble up the front pages of their websites with information about all the products and services they offer. This results in unappealing jargon. Here, visitors see a wide variety of products carrying minimal details. The right thing however, is to focus on the small things. Consider highlighting one set of similar products, with complete details and key benefits. This will allow users to explore your website easily and be more willing to purchase your products and services.

Highlighting the Benefits

The first thing a visitor sees on your website is the headline. Make sure that it is gripping and interesting. Focus on highlighting the benefits customers will be privy to instead of advertising the benefits of the product itself. Consider this headline “Get the Perfect Storage for Toys” and now, compare it to this, “It’s True! Now You Can Make Clean Up Time Fun For Kids!” The latter headline compels visitors to click out of curiosity and you stand a chance of converting them to customers.

Customer Testimonials

Using customer testimonials on the website makes visitors more comfortable with your services. If they see a genuine statement highlighting the product or your services, then they are more likely to choose you based on credibility. Moreover, you can enhance the integrity of your services by adding company credentials, experience and background history in the “About Us” section.

 

For more information and tips on increasing revenue, read the second part of our blog [insert hyperlink to part two] on this topic!

If, however, you are convinced with these insights and are hoping to collaborate with an effective team that helps you stand out from the competition, look no further than Earth Skater! We not only provide the best online store hosting services in the market, but our team gives special importance to customer service. Whatever your requirements are, we are here to help with web design layouts, customer support systems, and affiliate tracking program among other services. Get started on standing out from the competition today! Feel free to contact us to set up a meeting or if you have any questions, we will be happy to respond!

Posted by earthskater

13 Tips To Create Professional Looking Newsletters

Advertising, Email / Newsletters, Marketing

1. Design Scannable Newsletters

According to studies by usability expert, Jakob Nielsen, about 50 percent of readers skimmed or partly read the newsletters. Only 23 percent of readers read the newsletters all the way through. The remaining 27 percent were never opened.  Make the text easy to scan by:

  • using short paragraphs
  • using bullet points
  • including plenty of white spacing between topics
  • highlighting topics with uppercase or bold text in HTML newsletters

2. Insert Line Breaks

Improve the readability of your newsletter by formatting it with hard line breaks at 60/65/70 characters per line.

3. Include Newsletter Title In The Subject Field

Include your newsletter title at the beginning of the subject field. This will help the reader differentiate your newsletter from junk emails. It will also allow them to filter your newsletter into a separate folder with the use of filters.

4. Make Your Subject Field Sell!

Advertise the most enticing story of each issue in the subject field. You literally have seconds to grab the readers attention, so make it count.

5. Include A Table Of Content

If the newsletter is long, include a table of contents at the top. This will allow readers to scan the topics to see if anything in the newsletter catches their interest.

6. Fix Long Links

Long hyperlinks may be broken when you format text emails, you may want to ensure you use short links or use a redirect to avoid potential issues.

7. Avoid Spam Filters That Flag The Certain Words

Do not use words that you think may cause an issue with spam filters.  Use alternative wording instead.

8. Avoid Spam Filters That Flag Chain Letters

Some spam filters are flagging emails that asks readers to forward the newsletter on as chain letters.

Avoid using the word “forward” and any of the following words in the same sentence, “all, anyone, every, friends, many, others, people.” Instead of “forward,” try using “pass,” “share,” or “send.”

9. Reduce Remove Request Emails

There are two methods to reducing the number of remove email requests from your subscribers:

  • Include a removal notice at the top and bottom of the email.
  • Place the bottom removal request at the very bottom of the email, rather than a few paragraphs from the bottom.

10. Design User-Friendly HTML Newsletters

Format your newsletter to mobile friendly or at least readable on small screens.

11. Create HTML Friendly Newsletters

Gmail, AOL, etc, protect users by eliminating potential security hazards. Avoid these tags in your newsletter HTML:

  • ActiveX
  • Audio
  • External Style Sheets
  • Frames and IFrames
  • Java
  • Meta Refresh
  • Scripts: JavaScript, Perl, VBScript, etc.
  • Tooltips
  • Video

In addition, the following HTML tags are the only ones supported by AOL email clients:

  • Big: Big
  • Body: Body
  • Bold: B
  • Break: BR
  • Center: Center
  • Font: Font
  • Header: H1, H2, H3
  • Hyperlink: A
  • Italics: I
  • Paragraph: P
  • Small: Small
  • Strong: Strong
  • Subscript: Sub
  • Underline: U

12. Include Text Version of HTML Email

Include  a link to a text version of your newsletter hosted on your website or newsletter systems site.

13. Spell Check Your Content

All modern editors include spell check so this should not be an issue, however, grammer is a whole ‘nother topic.

BONUS:

FREE TRIAL iContact Newsletter System

Call 877-627-2492 to discuss your marketing plan today.

Author: Michael Wong is the editor of GoDefy.com – the world’s first internet marketing comparison shopping search engine and Mike’s Marketing Tools. Michael is also the author of the leading SEO book and numerous marketing tips. Visit his web sites at http://www.goDefy.com & http://www.Mikes-Marketing-Tools.com

Edited by Earth Skater 2/5/15


Posted by earthskater

Top 5 Ways To Promote an Event on Facebook

Advertising, Marketing, Social Media

So you have an event and you want to maximize attendees and exposure.  Facebook is one of the best ways to promote and advertise your event.

Top 5 Ways To Promote an Event on Facebook:

  1. Optimize your Facebook Event Page banner graphic

  2. Make sure to pick a short and memorable event name
  3. Add data to help Facebook share your event like event category, location information and popular related keywords
  4. Cross-Promote With Event Co-Hosts
  5. Facebook advertising for your event

Read more about promotions for Facebook Events here https://blog.bizzabo.com/how-to-promote-an-event-on-facebook

Posted by earthskater

5 Tips If You’re Serious About Starting an Online Store

Advertising, E-commerce, Marketing, SEO, Social Media, Web Design

achieve-success

If you are serious about starting an online store, then these 5 tips will help you, think of them as a checklist you should be able to pass easily and know the reason why you will succeed.  If you can’t pass this checklist easily, then you have to rethink your business plan and if you are truly ready to start an online store yet.

  1. Do you absolutely know the product(s) you are going to sell?  You have to know the product and related products you are going to sell in your niche market, know your competitors, know the CEO’s of those companies, and decide now if you plan to become a market leader or not, and what it may take to get there.  This is where you must think as big as you can, regionally, nationally, globally!
  2. Is it your own product or not?  If it’s your own product or you have a good  vendor that is great.  If you are an affiliate or drop shipping that is not as good typically.
  3. No mall websites!   If you are a beginner entrepreneur and want to start a mall type of website like Walmart or Amazon or eBay, with tons of categories and products, we advise you to stop now; this concept is difficult even with a huge budget behind it.
  4. Can you afford to do it yourself?  Yes, the question is can you afford to, because doing it yourself while it may seem free, actually may cost you the precious time you need to get started right away by going forward with a weak website with poor design and content.   Can you afford to have a designer do it at the cost of a few thousand dollars?  If so, then do it as that what it takes to be a market leader.  Otherwise, choose Earth Skater as the budget solution where we handle the online store setup for you at no charge as part of our complimentary setup service.
  5. Can you afford to market it or can you learn to market it?  If you can afford to market it and advertise with a budget that makes sense for your business, then you must start experimenting with your propaganda/message immediately, don’t make any long term commitments, and find the best team to work with.  Either way, or if budget is a concern, you must to learn to market and advertise your business because you are the business owner, you know your business the best.  Social media and blogging are the avenues you must follow in today’s market.

Follow us on Facebook to stay in touch: https://www.facebook.com/earthskater/

Earth Skater specializes in setting up online stores for small business owners with our amazing and complimentary website setup and transfer.  We’ve helped hundreds of merchants make an easy transition to a flexible and full featured website and online store platform.

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