5 Random Web Marketing Tips

TweetTo celebrate the holidays, I’ve been offering my friends who are professionals and entrepreneurs some free web marketing consultation. Here, in no particular order, are 5 tips I prepared for one friend who is an attorney and has a web site, blog, Twitter and Facebook presence:

1. Don’t tweet about your blog unless you’ve posted something new to it.
When you first start your blog, it’s great to tweet once, twice or even three times to let your followers know it’s there. After that, don’t keep tweeting about it unless you’ve posted something new. I don’t think it’s so much a question of spam, though some may consider constant tweeting about the same thing to be spam. I think it’s more about diluting your message. Either way, people will unfollow or ignore you, neither of which is good. Messaging when you have something new helps to keep your messages relevant and valuable.

There is still some debate over how many times is appropriate to tweet about new information in your blog or web site. I think once is enough. There is some honest opinion that more than once is good because you want to make sure everyone has a chance to see the message. I think three times should be the “unofficial” limit. Again, this is because you want to avoid being “spammy” and avoid diluting your message.

When you post something, it’s a good idea to use a URL shortening service. I recommend bit.ly because they let you see click-through statistics and they are taking some great steps to prevent phishing and other scams.

These same ideas can apply equally to Facebook or any other social site.

2. On web sites or blogs, text needs to be text.
This goes back to something I consider to be part of  Search Engine Optimization (SEO) 101: Search Engines don’t read text embedded in images and thus cannot index it. Even a web site for a professional servicing a local area needs to be well-indexed. After all, the better your web site places in search engine results pages (SERPs), the more likely you are to be found and get that new client. Your site will not be considered relevant by search engine logarithms if there’s no text visible to it to analyze and categorize the content.

3. Avoid the seemingly endless lists of links at the bottom of your web pages.
This was a method of SEO which was popular long ago and is now considered to be spam by the search engines. Having links in a block-formatted list really doesn’t do much good for your site visitors, either, because it’s hard for them to find the content they may want to read.

Instead of having an enormous list of links, create a menu system which is both user- and search engine-friendly. This will help your visitors (potential clients/customers) as well as let the search engines find your material. The added benefit is that search engines will find this method to their liking, which will help your ratings in SERPs.

One place where is it appropriate to have a list of links is the site map. Your web site should have an up-to-date site map full of text-only links to the content in your site. There should be a link from the home page to the site map, too.

4. Consider using a “Contact Us” form.
Different people like to communicate in different ways. On your site, give your visitors as many ways to easily contact you as possible. Provide phone number,email address, physical and mailing addresses as well as a “Contact Us” form. Put all of these contact points in an obvious place, visible above the fold, and in the same place on every page on the site if at all possible.

5. Consider making a Google Map showing your location rather than a “hand-drawn” image of a map.
It is very easy to create a Google Map and embed the map on your web site:

• Go to http://maps.google.com
• Search for your location, click on the letter corresponding to it
• Click on the “Link” link in the blue bar, upper-right of the page
• Copy the code in the “Paste HTML to embed in website” box
• Paste the code in your web site where you want the map to be

[iframe http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=south+pointe+casino,+las+vegas,+nv&sll=34.002581,-93.710632&sspn=1.750914,2.441711&ie=UTF8&hq=south+pointe+casino,&hnear=Las+Vegas,+NV&cid=16210623762068782240&ll=36.058259,-115.155945&spn=0.097142,0.145912&z=12&iwloc=A&output=embed 425 350]
View Larger Map

You can also do this similarly in Bing maps by using the “Share” link at the bottom of the page.

By using this type of interactive map you allow customers to save the map in their “Favorites” or “Locations” on the service. It also allows them to get driving directions so they can find you easier.

If you haven’t already, you should also consider adding your business to Google’s Local Business Center. This allows you to add your business along with some profile information. This takes just a few minutes, but it allows you to have some control over what people will see when they search and find you on Google.

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Does anyone else have any other tips to pass on to the professional or small business owner looking to improve their web presence and web marketing? Please feel free to leave them in the comments.

Tags: blog, in-house, marketing, sem, seo, social media