Use Yelp For Local Keyword Research

I was doing some research for a Des Moines SEO case study and came across this nifty feature in Yelp. Finding and targeting local keywords is essential in a local internet marketing strategy. Yelp gives you a good insight into what people are searching for locally in your area.

To find these results you need to navigate to a city and scroll down to the bottom where the business listings are… Click on “Top Searches”

See what people are searching for in Des Moines, IA.

Do you have questions about using Yelp for local keyword research? Not sure what local keyword research is? Leave us a comment or jump into the forums!

Google Wave Adds Templates

I’ve been using Google Wave on a daily basis and was pleased to see the addition of templates when I logged in earlier this week.

These Google Wave Templates include Discussions, Task Tracking, Meetings, Documents, and Brainstorms.

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Importance Of Local Listings

Are local listings part of your local internet marketing strategy?

Embed Chat In Your Website

A few days ago over lunch I held an impromptu mastermind session over at our new internet business community Lunchtime Mastermind. After a few minutes of research I landed on Chatroll – one of my new favorite tools. Chatroll allowed me to create a chat room (with tons of great options) and embed it in my website in about 5 minutes – for free.

Why would you want this? You could use it for many things – from covering live events to live Q&A. In our instance we want a way to easily have mastermind sessions with our members.

Chatroll Features:

• Easily embed in any website (including a great WordPress Plugin)
• Customize color and size to match the look and feel of your site
• Moderate with 1-click delete, custom profanity filters and IP block
• Manage read, write and moderate permissions with fine-grained access controls
• And Tons More

One feature we are integrating into our mastermind group now is single sign on. Using this our members will be able to log in to our mastermind chat sessions using their WordPress membership account. Sometimes technology makes it easy

Do you have questions about Chatroll? Let us know in the comments or jump into the forums!

SEO For Small Businesses – Webinar Recap

Yesterday we had another great webinar over at the LunchTime MasterMind. If you are intereseted in listening to an audio recap – head on over to check out SEO For Small Businesses.

Here are the slides we used for the webinar

If you have any questions – jump into the forums or comments to let us know!

Good Email Marketing From Newegg

I needed a wireless router for my garage so naturally I head to Newegg – everyone’s favorite geek store – and ordered one a couple days ago.

(Ironically it’s being delivered as I write this)

The day after I ordered – I got this email from Newegg…

Click To Enlarge

Why Is This Good?

1. It’s highly relevant – both the timing and content
2. It’s an easy upsell – maybe I forgot to order an adapter!
3. It adds value beyond the product I purchased

Do you have examples of good email marketing? Let us know in the comments or jump into the forums!

Small Business SEO Webinar – March 24

We have teamed up with our internet business podcast parter Doug Mitchell to bring you a Free Small Business SEO webinar…

We’ll be covering everything you need to do to start optimizing your business for search – organic, mobile and social – by creating good content and optimizing your website.

Would you like to join us? Sign Up Here

It’s next Wednesday, March 24 at 12:00 Noon Central Time

Sign Up Now

Good Email Marketing Example – Ace Hardware

Here is a good email marketing example from Ace Hardware

Why does this work? It’s seasonal and it’s good, informative content that shows you why you need their products. They didn’t just send a promo for me to by grass seed and fertilizer – they are telling me why I need it through informative content.

5 Hard Truths About SEO

1. It’s a LOT of hard work
2. It takes months and years to yield results
3. There are no guarantees (so don’t fall for that from an “SEO” consultant)
4. It’s always changing
5. SEO projects never end – they are iterative -> implement, analyze, repeat

Got anything to add? Leave a comment or jump into the forums!

How Can I Get More Traffic To My Website?

The most commonly asked question of me is “How can I get more traffic to my website?“…

After which I immediately follow with “What are you going to do with it?“…

At this point I generally receive blank stares followed by a request to elaborate.

Here’s the thing – most website owners think that getting “hits” to their website is the most important thing in a web strategy. They don’t care what they are going to do with new visitors – just that they come.

This is a fundamental flaw in your web strategy. Granted – traffic is important but the most critical aspect in your web strategy is doing something with the traffic you get. By “doing something” – we mean accomplishing and executing on your website’s goals (you do have goals for your website, right?).

What’s the point of getting an extra thousand visitors to your site if you aren’t doing anything with them? If they aren’t signing up for your email list, buying your widget, leaving a comment, subscribing to your RSS feed, or whatever – than what’s the point?

Why do you need to generate more traffic when are doing nothing with the traffic you are getting now?

Our colleague Brian Kaldenberg maintains the idea of “It’s easier to double your conversion rate than to double your website’s traffic”. What he means is that it’s easier to optimize your website to meet your goals than it is to get more people to come to your site. It could also be more profitable…

Lets get technical…

All of this data can be found inside your web analytics.

Let’s assume your business, Acme INC, sells a single widget for $97. Currently, your conversion rate – percentage of website visitors who end up buying your widget – is 3%. And let’s say you get 2,000 visitors to your website every month. If we do the math…

• 2,000 visitors * .03 conversion rate = 60 widgets/mo sold on your website
• 60 widgets * $97/ea = $5,820/mo revenue generate by your website

So what Brian is saying above is that it will be easier to increase your conversion rate to 6% than it is to increase your website’s traffic to 4,000 visitors per month. Here comes more math

If you Acme INC doubles their conversion rate to 6%…

• 2,000 visitors * .06 conversion rate = 120 widgets/mo sold
• 120 widgets * $97/ea = $11,640/mo

But guess what – you can optimize your website RIGHT NOW and increase your conversion rate. Doubling the traffic to your website will take a lot of hard work, great content, advertising, and patience (like years). Both are important – but don’t you think Acme INC would like a 6% conversion rate BEFORE they double their traffic?

• 4,000 visitors * .03 = 120 => $11,640/mo
• 4,000 visitors * .06 = 240 => $23,280/mo

For Acme INC doubling their conversion rate before they generate more traffic is a difference of 12,000/mo … doubling their revenue.

Wrapping Up

Back to our main point… Instead of asking “How can I get more traffic to my website”, you should be asking “How can I convert more of my website traffic into my goals”.

Once you’ve optimized for conversion – than you should start generating more traffic. Look at the numbers and make data driven decisions.

If you have any questions, please let us know in the comments or jump into the forums!

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