Chapter 5: Digital media and the marketing mix
What is Marketing Mix history?
The marketing mix – widely referred to as the 4Ps of Product, Price, Place and Promotion – was originally proposed by
Jerome McCarthy (1960).
The popularity of the mix as a guide for the application of marketing techniques is driven by the apparent simplicity of
the framework.
However, in the 1980s the 4Ps were challenged for not referencing the importance of customer service.
Main topics:
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Product
Price
Place
Promotion
People, process and physical evidence
What is Marketing Mix?
The result was that the mix was extended to 7Ps, which includes three further elements (the service mix) that better
reflect service delivery: People, Process and Physical evidence.
Marketing mixes the series of seven key variables (Product, Price, Place, Promotion, People, Process and Physical
evidence) that are varied by marketers as part of the customer offering.
Since the 1990s there have been more changes in marketing thinking and research and the outcome has been a shift in
emphasis in the application of the marketing mix towards the development of relationship building.
Lauten born suggested the 4Cs framework, which considers the 4Ps from a customer perspective. In brief, the 4Cs are:
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Customer needs and wants (from the product)
Cost to the customer (price)
Convenience (relative to place)
Communication (promotion)
Digital media and technology provide many new opportunities for the marketer:
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To vary the application of the marketing mix;
To develop new routes to delivering competitive advantage;
To create new market positions;
To build and service relationships in increasingly innovative ways;
To cut through the barriers of time and space and offer continuous and instantaneous access to products and
services.
Product
➢ The product variable of the marketing mix refers to characteristics of a product, and has implications for service
or branding.
➢ Product decisions should be informed by market research where customers’ needs are assessed, and the
feedback is used to modify existing products or develop new products.
➢ Product variable: The element of the marketing mix that involves researching customers’ needs, developing
appropriate products and communicating their features and benefits.
➢ There are many alternatives for varying the product in the online context when a company is developing its
digital strategy; product decisions can usefully be divided into decisions affecting the core product and the
extended product.
➢ Core product: The fundamental features of the product that meet the user’s needs.
➢ Extended product: Additional features and benefits beyond the core product.
Implications for digital technology for the product element of the mix
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Options for varying the core product
Options for offering digital products
Options for changing the extended product
Conducting online research
Speed of new product development
Speed of new product diffusion
1- Options for varying the core product
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Some of the markets transformed most by the Internet are those where products can be transformed into
digital services, such as music, books, and films.
Digital technology also introduces options for mass customization of products, particularly digital products or
products that can be specified online.
Mass customization Using economies of scale enabled by technology to offer tailored versions of products to
individual customers or groups of customers.
• The Internet has provided a channel through which manufacturers can not only sell the personalized products
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but also use the Internet as a source of information for developing highly targeted products. For example, ASOS .
Companies can also consider how the Internet can be used to change the range or combination of products
offered.
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Some companies, such as fashion retailers, may only offer a subset of products online, whereas furniture
retailers may use their website to expand their ranges and customer choice.
Bundling is a further alternative, bringing together a range of products.
Bundling: Bundling combines several product or service options into a package of services, typically at a
discounted price.
Koukova found that the Internet has encouraged the bundling of information-based products, such as
newspapers, books and music videos, in physical and digital formats. For example, Disney Corporation
The benefits for the sellers are that digital products provide opportunities to leverage advantage as there are
marginal costs involved with supplying digital versions and considerable cost savings if customers switch to the
digital offer.
Therefore, the introduction of physical and digital product bundles offers much scope for new approaches to
product delivery and pricing strategies.
Finally, websites and mobile apps provide a platform for providing information about the core features of the
product.
However, the availability of information can impact on price as the price has become more transparent
2- Options for offering digital products
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Publishers, TV companies, media owners and other companies that can offer digital products such as published
content have great flexibility to offer a range of product purchase options at different price points, including:
Subscription. This is a traditional publisher revenue model, but subscription can potentially be offered for
different periods and at different price points
Pay-per-view. A fee for a single download or viewing session at a higher relative price than the subscription
service
Bundling. Different channels or content can be offered as individual products or grouped at a reduced price
compared to pay-per-view.
Ad-supported content. There is no direct price set here. Instead, the publisher’s main revenue source is through
adverts on the site such as Google AdSense.
Other options include affiliate revenue from sales on third-party sites or offering access to subscriber lists.
The digitization of products presents opportunities to some industries and threats to others. For example,
Newspapers.
3- Options for changing the extended product
➢ When a customer buys a new computer or mobile phone it consists not only of the tangible product, and
peripheral devices, but also the information provided by the salesperson, the instruction manual, the packaging,
the warranty and the follow-up technical service.
➢ These are elements of the extended product that Chaffey and Smith suggest of how the Internet can be used to
vary the extended product:
• Endorsements
• Awards
• Testimonies
• Customer lists
• Customer feedback
• Warranties;
• Guarantees;
• Money-back offers;
• Customer service
• Incorporating tools to help users during their selection and use of the product.
➢ Once customers are attracted to a site and have begun to learn about the brand then the companies can offer
freemium content or sample content or trial products.
4- Conducting online research
➢ Digital channels provide many options for learning about product preferences and it can be used as a relatively
low-cost method of collecting marketing research, particularly when trying to discover customer perceptions of
products and services.
➢ Options for performing new product development research online include:
1. Online focus group.
2. Online questionnaire survey.
3. Social media listening.
4. Customer feedback or support forums: Comments posted to the site or independent sites may give suggestions
about future product innovation.
5. Web analytics: A wealth of marketing research information is also available from response data from email and
search campaigns and the website itself.
5- Speed of new product development
➢ Digital channels give instant access to target markets and provide platforms, which enable new products to be
developed more rapidly as it is possible to test new ideas and concepts and explore different product options
through online market research.
➢ Companies can use their own panels of consumers to test opinion more rapidly and often at lower costs than for
traditional market research.
➢ Another aspect of the velocity of new product development is that the network effect of the Internet enables
companies to form partnerships more readily in order to launch new products.
6- Speed of new product diffusion
There are three main laws that are relevant:
1. The law of the few This suggests that the spread of any new product or service is dependent on the initial
adoption by ‘connectors’ who are socially connected and who encourage adoption through word of mouth and
copycat behavior.
2. The stickiness factor it refers to attachment to the characteristics and attributes of a product or a brand.
3. The power of context like infectious diseases, products and behaviors spread far and wide only when they fit the
physical, social and mental context into which they are launched.
The Long Tail Concept
Branding
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Branding: the process by which companies distinguish their product offerings from the competition by the sum
of the characteristics of the product or service as perceived by the customer.
Branding is important online and offline as it helps customers differentiate between products and services from
different manufacturers and producers.
Branding is how companies set themselves apart from their competitors. ‘Branding affects perceptions since it is
well-known that in blind product testing consumers fail to distinguish between brands.
Consequently, how a brand is developed and presented online is particularly important because a website visitor
has limited physical cues to help form an opinion about a company and its services, such as talking to a sales
representative or the atmosphere of the physical store.
Branding can add value across the supply chain, act as a barrier to competition, increase consumer trust and
generate high levels of profitability.
Branding in a digital environment
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A brand is far more than the name or logo associated with a company or products.
Traditionally, manufacturers and producers develop their products and services into brands in order to create
unique market positions in the minds of their customers.
From a manufacturer’s perspective, at a basic level, there are product categories such as washing power, soup,
cars and computers.
To identify a unique position within such basic categories, a manufacturer builds a brand around the basic core
product in order to distinguish their offering from the competition. (Unilever- the Persil & Procter & GambleAriel).
In addition to manufacturer brands, there are also own-label brands which often provide lower-cost alternatives
to the customer than the category leader brands, which are often highly priced.
For physical products, brand producers take the core product, create a brand name and guarantees, design
quality, packaging and delivery.
All businesses are perceived as brands and the online presence is increasingly important in governing brand
perception.
The company’s website, mobile apps and social media presence all affect the perception of the brand and are
part of the experience of a brand. Social media provides a new platform to interact with brands.
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A key concept at the heart of creating a brand is positioning and ‘creating a unique position in the marketplace
involves a careful choice of target market and establishing a clear differential in the minds of the people’.
Brand Equity
➢ Brand equity: The assets (or liabilities) linked to a brand’s name and symbol that add to/subtract from a service.
image and then augment the product through service,
➢ Brands Organizations are able to get into the minds of the customers, to position their brands, using a range of
brand elements contributing to brand equity:
• brand domain: where the brand competes;
• brand heritage: the background and culture of the brand;
• brand values: the core characteristics, e.g., price, quality, performance;
• brand assets: distinctive names, symbols, images;
• brand personality: the character of the brand;
• brand reflection: how the customer perceives themselves as a result of buying the brand.
➢ These principles of branding apply on-and offline, but online brands increasingly need to ensure integration
between the perception of their offer in both digital and physical environments.
➢ For start-up and established online brands, the issue of branding is more complex.
Brand Experience
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The Internet and digital technologies have changed the global brand landscape. e.g., Google, Amazon, eBay and
Facebook.
Digital technology has also brought distinctive features to the online brand experience.
Brand experience: The frequency and depth of interactions with a brand can be enhanced through the Internet.
An online brand is very similar to its offline counterparts insofar as it incorporates a name, set of symbols and
product/service components. But the major difference is the context in which the customer experiences the
brand. Online context tends to be:
information rich;
dynamic;
characterized by excessive information flows;
technologically innovative.
On the negative side, the virtual nature of the digital marketplace means there is a lack of physical cues and
heightened challenges due to the intangibility of the environment and increased uncertainty of what engaging in
an online experience will deliver.
On the positive side, digital environments create opportunities for increased interactivity and real-time brand
experiences, which can be empowering for the customer.
Success Factors for Brand Sites
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For the site itself, it is not the quantity of visitors that is important; rather it is about the quality of visitors, since
brand sites are most likely to attract brand advocates, who can be important in influencing others to make them
aware of the brand or trial the brand.
• Brand advocate A customer who has favorable perceptions of a brand who will talk favorably about a brand to
their acquaintances to help generate awareness of the brand or influence purchase intent.
• Brand owners should determine the type of content on a brand site that will encourage brand loyalists and the
neutral consumer to visit and then return to the brand site.
• Encouraging visitors to return is key, and he suggests different aspects of a quality site experience to achieve
this.
• Some of the methods include:
1. Creating a compelling, interactive experience including rich media that reflects the brand.
2. Considering how the site will influence the sales cycle by encouraging trial.
3. Developing an exchange (permission marketing) program on your website to begin a ‘conversation’ with the
most valuable customer segments.
• Additionally, we would stress the importance of achieving customer engagement with brand sites to encourage
participation or co-creation of content. Once engaged in this way, visitors are more likely to return to a site to
see others’ comments.
• The success factors a brand use should closely interlink with the brand’s identity.
Brand Identity
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Brand identity: The totality of brand associations, including name and symbols that must be communicated. The
authors refer to it as a set of brand associations that imply a promise to customers from an organisation.
Researchers emphasize the importance of developing a plan to communicate the key features of the brand
identity and increase brand awareness.
Brand name for online brands
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Researchers suggest two rules for naming online brands:
The Law of the Common Name.
The Law of the Proper Name.
Research has found that the characteristics of the word chosen to represent a brand can influence consumer
behavior and be linked to the propensity with which a buyer will engage with a brand.
This study suggests that in order to increase the likelihood that a consumer will engage with a new brand, it
should be easy to pronounce, have interesting arrangements of syllables and consonants so as to make the
name easy to recall but should not be too similar to other words.
Price
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Price variable the element of the marketing mix that involves defining product prices and pricing models which
ultimately differentiate a brand.
Pricing models Describe the form of payment, such as outright purchase, auction, rental, volume purchases and
credit terms.
The Internet has implications for pricing in many sectors.
Original research suggested two approaches commonly adopted for pricing online:
start-up companies have tended to use low prices to gain a customer base
existing companies just transferred their existing prices to the web
However, as organizations are increasingly developing multichannel strategies to give their customers more
opportunities to interact with brands, it becomes more difficult to justify online and offline pricing policies,
especially in consumer markets.
For companies selling goods and services, it is becoming harder to legitimize differential online pricing as this
can reduce buyer confidence and trust.
The Pricing element of the mix invariably relates to the Product element (even when the offer is a service), since
online pricing depends on the range of products offered and the point at which a product is in its lifecycle.
Extending the product range may allow these products to be discounted online.
Some organizations have launched new product online that have a lower Price element.
Increased price transparency
Downward pressure on price
Innovative pricing approaches
Alternative pricing structure or policies
Price elasticity of demand Measure of consumer behavior that indicates the change in demand for a product or
service in response to changes in price.
Price elasticity of demand is used to assess the extent to which a change in price will influence demand for a
product.
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Price elasticity of demand is determined by the price of the product, availability of alternative goods from
alternative suppliers and consumer income.
A product is said to be ‘elastic’ if a small change in price increases or reduces the demand substantially.
A product is ‘inelastic’ if a large change in price is accompanied by a small amount of change in demand.
Social Media Marketing
Praise for Social Media Marketing: The Next Generation of Business Engagement
“Social media has become a primary tool for higher levels of fan engagement, directly driving lead generation through
interaction and content sharing that is especially relevant to media companies. Social Media Marketing: The Next
Generation of Business Engagement deconstructs the tools and techniques, showing you how to apply social technology
to your business.”—Johni Fisher, CEO, Loope, Buenos Aires.
“Innovation is not a one-way street where you walk alone! Take your customers on the journey, and see the difference.
Social technologies, clearly explained in Dave’s book, enable you and your customers to work as a team.” —Kaushal
Sarda, Founder, Uhuru, Bangalore.
Social Media
Websites and applications that enable users to create and share content or to participate in social networking.
Social Media Marketing
Social media marketing (SMM) is a form of internet marketing that uses social media apps as a marketing tool. These
social media platforms enable brands to connect with their audience to, build a brand, increase sales and drive traffic to
a website.
We can Divide this course in Three major Parts
1. Social Business Fundamentals
2. Run a Social Business
3. Social Business Building Blocks
Social Business Fundamentals: Part I will get you up-to-speed quickly on the primary aspects of social
technology and how it applies to business.
Run a Social Business: Part II takes you deeper into the application of social technology to your business
or organization, showing you how business decisions are informed through collaborative software and
surrounding processes.
Social Business Building Blocks: Part III takes social technology as it is applied to business down to its
basic elements. Engagement and Customer Advocacy, Social CRM, social objects, and the social graph
are all covered (and defined) to give a you a solid understanding of the principles of social business and
the use of social technology.
Social Media and Customer Engagement
Social Feedback Cycle
Open Access to Information
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it forms the basis of social business
social feedback loop really represents is the way in which Internet-based publishing
social technology has connected people around business or business-like activities
social connectivity applies between a business and its customers (B2C), between other businesses (B2B
Social Business: The Logical Extension
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Social business follows right on the heels of the wave of interest and activity around social media and its direct
application to marketing
Social business is the logical extension of THE SOCIAL FEEDBACK CYCLE
Social business takes social concepts—sharing, rating, reviewing, connecting, and collaborating
becomes more about change management than marketing. That’s a big thought.
Ideas for product or service innovation
Early warning of problems or opportunities
Awareness aids (testimonials)
Market expansions (ideas for new product applications)
Customer service tips that flow from users to users
Public sentiment around legislative action, or lack of action
Competitive threats or exposed weaknesses
Social Business Is Holistic
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Larger than the loop that connects sales with marketing
one of the areas considered as part of traditional Customer Relationship Management (CRM)
The Social Feedback Cycle literally wraps the entire business.
The Connected Customer
If Customers will well connect on social media, then social business takes two added steps.
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First, social business practices provide formal, visible, and transparent connections that link customers and the
business.
Second, because employees are connected and able to collaborate—social business and Web 2.0 technology
applies internally just as it does externally
The Social Web and Engagement
This next section provides a conceptual starting point in understanding how the critical activities of engagement and
response are enabled through the adoption of social technology and supporting processes.
It’s a different viewpoint than that which applies to “engagement” in traditional media.
Engagement on the Social Web means customers or stakeholders become participants rather than viewers.
The Engagement Process
Engagement is central to the effective use of social technology and the creation of social business.
Consumption
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The first of the foundational blocks in the process of building strong customer engagement is consumption.
Consumption, as used in the context of social media, means downloading, reading, watching, or listening to
digital content.
Consumption is the basic starting point for nearly any online activity, and especially so for social activities.
Curation
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Curation is the act of sorting and filtering, rating, reviewing, commenting on, tagging, or otherwise describing
content.
Curation makes content more useful to others.
Curation also happens more broadly, at a general content level.
Curation is an important social action in that it helps shape, prune, and generally increase the signalto-noise
ratio within the community.
Creation
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Beyond curation is what is more generally recognized as “content creation.”
content creation requires that community members actually offer up something that they have made
themselves.
“You can upload your photos!” by itself is generally not enough. How do you encourage creation.
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Step 1 is providing tools, support, help, templates, samples, and more.
The less work your members have to do the better.
Collaboration
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Finally, at the top of the set of the core social-business building blocks is collaboration.
Collaboration is a key inflection point in the realization of a vibrant community and the port of entry for true
social business.
Collaboration is necessarily stronger social actions than all other engagement processes.
Collaboration occurs naturally between members of the community when given the chance.
The Engagement Process and Social Business
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Taken together, the combined acts of consumption, curation, creation, and collaboration carry participants in
the conversations around your business from readers to talkers to co-creators.
Two fundamentally important considerations that are directly applicable to your business or organization come
out of this.
First, your audience is more inclined to engage in collaborative activities—sharing thoughts, ideas, concerns—
that include you.
Second, because your customers or other stakeholders have moved from reading to creating and collaborating,
they are significantly closer to the steps that follow collaboration as it leads to engagement: trial, purchase, and
advocacy. consider the following for better understanding
You don’t get to the really good results until you go through the necessary venting of people you’ve previously
ignored: Opening up a dialog gives you a natural way to enable venting and healing.
The way you deal with negative issues is an exhibition of your true character: become a master and reap the
rewards.
It’s your job to understand what was really meant, given whatever it was that was actually said. “I hate you”
isn’t always as simple as it sounds: This kind of seemingly intense negativity may arise because the customer
involved likes you enough to actually feel this way when things go wrong.
Ultimately, your customers want to see you do well: They want your product or service to please them.
Backwards mapping
What is Backwards Mapping? • Backward design begins with the end in mind: • What standards do I want my students
to master? • How will my students demonstrate their understanding when the unit is completed? • How will I ensure
that students have the skills and understand the concepts required on the summative assessment?
Why is it called Backward Mapping? • In theory and practice, the unit begins at the end. • It is based on the concept
that both the students and teacher will have a much firmer and clearer grasp of where the learning is going if the goal or
summative assessment is clearly articulated right from the beginning.
Let me get this straight… • You want me to plan assessments BEFORE the lessons??? • YES! You need to decide on what
is essential for students to know and then decide how you will know when students have reached that goal. Designing
your assessment must occur in the beginning to give both you and your students a clear destination for the unit. Once
the destination is clear, the teacher is able to create the best roadmap to get there.
Step 1 – Learning Targets • Decide on the themes, standards and essential questions for the unit. • What do your
students need to know at the end of the term or year. • Use the Common Core to pull out standards and objectives for
the time period.
Step 2 – Assessment Evidence • Design a summative assessment for the end of the unit. • How will we know if students
have achieved the desired results and met the standards? • What will we accept as evidence of student understanding
and proficiency?
Step 3 – Learning Plan • Review your learning targets and choose outcomes, strategies and best practices to teach
them. • What knowledge will students need to perform effectively? • What activities will be needed to allow students to
construct their own learning? • What will need to be taught?
Begin with the end! “To begin with the end in mind means to start with a clear understanding of your destination. It
means to know where you’re going so that you better understand where you are now so that the steps you take are
always in the right direction.” • Stephen R Covey, • “The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People”
The 3 I's of Digital Marketing
Towards attaining their objectives, digital marketers might be guided by a methodology for digital marketing. The three
concepts of this methodology—initiate, integrate, and iterate—are at the heart of the essential elements of digital
marketing. The 3i Principles are the name given to this as a whole. A digital marketing plan or campaign should be
thought out from beginning to end using the concepts. By reflection on what works and an awareness of what needs
improvement, this aids marketers in making sure they are reaching important goals.
Let's examine each of the tenets in further depth and learn the crucial inquiries we ought to be posing while applying the
3i technique.
Initiate
When you build your approach backwards towards your goal, you want to start with what the consumer genuinely
wants. Do you know who they are, what they are interested in, what speaks to them, and what items have they already
tried? How can you use digital platforms to take activities that will benefit your company and the consumer experience?
Customer research may provide this information, and you should use it to learn more about your target audience's
preferred communication style. Insights for directing your strategy can be gained via consumer research, historical data
gathered from your campaigns, and any internal or external corporate research that has been commissioned. It's a good
idea to do some study on any obstacles your plan has to go through in order to effectively reach the target audience.
You boost your chances of success by beginning with the consumer and turning the customer perception and insights
into a concrete digital strategy.
Iterate
After learning more about your audience, the channels they use, and how they interact with your business online, the
iterate step involves testing and optimizing your activities. You already know what you're going to do in terms of digital
message, targeting, and channels, but you want to be sure it will be successful. Hence, to increase campaign success at
the Iterate stage, you use the lessons you've learned from recent or past consumer interactions. In order to adapt and
improve your digital campaign so that it meets your goals, you must do A/B testing, build awareness of your brand, and
change your messaging and targeting.
On the Iterate stage, check to see whether they are interested. What can you modify to get them more involved if they
are not already? Did you take the correct route? Did you sell your goods in a way that resonated with customers? Do
you address the market's gaps? Is your writing compelling and intriguing enough? Are you correctly targeting your
audience? Are the keywords you've chosen getting the audience to take the intended action? After conducting all of this
testing, you can start to make improvements by doubling down on what worked and cutting back on what didn't, with
the goal of creating a more effective campaign.
Integrate
The moment has come to begin considering integration at this stage. The Integration stage is divided into two parts:
selling your approach to the company to acquire their agreement to proceed and integrating your results and strategy
throughout the various channels. You may use the data gathered during the Initiate phase to help you accomplish the
first portion. By demonstrating how your approach benefits the company, you can then apply the results to the larger
business goals and issues. You may also want to consider how these fit into the current procedures and team structure if
you want to use new channels or test out new digital marketing technologies.
Takeaway
The Digital Marketing 3i Principal technique may be thought of as a vital strategy for planning, carrying out, and
reviewing your digital marketing activity in order to get the best results. Reach out to Web Digitalize and expand your
company to new height.
Strategies on How to Become a Creative and
Profitable Online Presence
Offline / Online
Offline, bustling crowds pass by your
place of business. Some of the passerby
traffic notices you and walks in.
Online, people search for information.
"Location, Location, Location"
"Information, information, information"
Millions of people. Each searches alone.
According to qSearch, approximately 85% of the Canadian Internet population conducts at least one search at the top
engines each month (compared to 73% of the U.S. on-line population). Canadians conducted approximately 575 mln
searches last April, while 1.2 billion US searches made in May 2004.
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Google - Searching 4,285,199,774 web pages
28% of Google searches are for a "product/service name", 9% are for a "brand name" and 5% are searches for a
"company name".
85%* of all Web site traffic and 70%* of all online purchases originate from a search engine. (*Jupiter Research)
Micro Commerce opportunities for new products and services will generate an estimated $60 bln in revenue per
year by 2015 according to Gartner. A micro purchase is a purchase valued at less than $5 and conducted
electronically, where the settlement can be either prepaid, by subscription, on-the-spot, or invoiced.
For More Facts Visit http://www.itfacts.biz
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PR = Page Rank a system for ranking web pages developed by Google - http://toolbar.google.com
PPC = Pay Per Click online advertising payment model in which payment is based solely on qualifying clickthrough.
CTR = Click Through Rate advertising term indicating the percentage of viewers who click on a banner
advertisement and follow the link
BLOGS = a frequent, chronological publication of
personal thoughts and Web links
RSS = Real Simple Syndication
Key internet marketing strategies
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Search engine optimization (SEO)
- no cost per click
Search engine marketing (SEM)
- cost per click
Search engine optimization
What is SEO?
SEO is the act of modifying a website to increase its ranking in organic (vs paid), crawler-based listings of search engines
How do organic search listings work?
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A spider or crawler which is a component of a SE gathers listings by automatically "crawling" the web
The spider follows links to web pages, makes copies of the pages and stores them in the SE’s index
Based on this data, the SE then indexes the pages and ranks the websites
Major SEs that index pages using spiders: Google, Yahoo, AltaVista, MSN, AOL, Lycos
TOP Search Engines and Directories
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The TOP 8:
1. Google
2. Yahoo
3. MSN
4. AOL
5. Altavista
6. Infoseek
7. Lycos
8. Excite
represent 88.86% of all search engines.
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Web Directory – Yahoo, DMOZ, LookSmart
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What SE and Directories do you use?
SEO strategies/techniques
1. Domain name strategies
-Domain names are traffic magnets
> 63 million domain names registered
> 4.7 million domain names registered 1st quarter 2004
- Choose a domain name that will increase your search engine ranking. How?
- Use keywords, location, advertising terms, product names
- Choose a keyword that is important for your business.
2. Linking strategies
- The text in the links should include keywords
- The more inbound links the higher the SE ranking
- If the site linking to you is already indexed, spiders will also receive your site
- Quality of inbound links is critical
- How to increase links: a) creative content / copywriting b) good outbound links c) target a list of sites from which you
can request inbound links
- Links for the sake of links can damage your search rankings
“Link relevancy is critical in getting your site indexed by search engines”
“A small number of inbound links from high-quality, relevant sites is more valuable than many links from low-traffic,
irrelevant sites.”
3. Keywords
- The most important in optimizing rankings
- Research what keywords are people searching for using tools e.g., Wordtracker (www.wordtracker.com)
- Keywords are words that appear the most in a page
- The spider chooses the appropriate keywords for each page, then sends them back to its SE
- Your web site will then be indexed based on your keywords
- Can be key phrases or a single keyword
- Do not use common words e.g. ‘the’ ‘and’ ‘of’: spiders ignore them
- Write keyword-rich text
- Balance keyword-rich and readability
- Always have text in your page: at least 100 words. Keywords / Phrases Suggestion
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Choose your Keywords:
- Theme Related
- Popular
- Low Competition / Find Your Niche Market
4. Title tags
- Important in optimizing rankings
- The first thing that a search engine displays on a search return
- Must keywords in title to be ranked no. 1
- Should have the exact keyword you use for the page
- Every single web page must have its own title tag
- You can use up to 65 characters - example
http://www.ebay.com/ (title is littered with keywords)
5. Meta description tags
- Displayed below the title in search results
- Use dynamic, promotional language
- Use keywords
Meta keywords tags
No longer carry weight with major SEs
-A myth that meta keywords alone affect rankings
6. Alt tags
- Include keywords in your alt tags
7. Submit your website to SEs for indexing
- Submit your site to search engine directories, directory sites and portal sites
- Indexing takes time (~ 3 months)
SEO - What is NOT recommended
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Flash and shockwave - spiders do not pick up these files
Image only sites - spiders do not pick up images
Image maps - spiders cannot read image maps.
Do not use them on your home page or critical pages.
• Frames - only one page can be titled (titling is critical in search rankings)
1. If the spider cannot read the complete page (because of the frames), it will not be indexed properly.
2. Some spiders may not even read a frames web site
• Misspellings, JavaScript or HTML errors (validate your code)
• PDF files - Although some search engines can index them, the pages must be interpreted into HTML and can lose
much of their content.
- place PDFs lower down in your site
• Drop down menus – spiders cannot read them therefore make sure you have a SiteMap
In summary… Make Search Engines work for you!!!
Critical elements
- Domain name, links, keywords, title, meta description, alt tags, submitting your website to SEs
- Keywords galore: include in page copy, title, description, domain name, ALT tags
No-no's
- Flash, image-only sites, image maps, frames, password protected pages, code errors.
Search engine marketing
What is search engine marketing (SEM) ?
SEM is the act of marketing a website via search engines by purchasing paid listings.
What are paid listings?
These are listings that search engines sell to advertisers, usually through paid placement or paid inclusion programs. In
contrast, organic listings are not sold.
Paid listings:
1. Paid inclusions
- Advertising programs where pages are guaranteed to be included in a search engine's index in exchange for payment
- no guaranteed ranking
- payment made on a Cost Per Click (CPC) basis.
2-Advertisers pay to be included in the directory on a CPC basis or per-url fee basis with no guarantee of specific
placement.
2. Paid placements
- Advertising programs where listings are guaranteed to appear in organic listings
- the higher the fee, the higher the ranking
- e.g., sponsored links and Google’s Ad words
- can be purchased from a portal or a search network
- search networks are often set up in an auction environment where keywords and phrases are associated with a costper-click (CPC) fee.
- Google and Overture are the largest networks.
Other internet marketing strategies
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Usability driven information architecture
Effective copywriting, dynamic content through SE friendly web portals, BLOGS, RSS
Affiliate programs
Email marketing and online newsletters
Interactive customer relationships
Web traffic analysis and web analytics
Conclusion on SEO and SEM
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If budget allows, undertake both SEO and SEM as SEM enables ROI tracking (leads and conversions)
If budget is lower go for SEO
Recommendation for
- SEO for organic promotion
- SEM for campaigns and international markets