Be a Star!

So you've decided you want to include video on you website. Fantastic! Before you pull out your camera and start shooting videos though, you'll want to keep a few things in mind. A great video be a huge boost to your business, but a poor one may actually hurt you. Consider hiring a videographer to get a more professional look. Odds, are you can find a local college student who will do great work for you at a fantastic price. Make sure you check out your videographer's previous work before hiring him for the job.

Once you have someone to shoot the videos, you'll want to spend some time coming up with a good script. What makes your business unique? Why do customers choose you over your customers? What specials do you have running? These are just a few of the questions you should answer in your script. Get input from other people in your business to make sure you have all the important points covered.

Once your ready to begin shooting pick someone photogenic to represent the company. Ideally you want the person who is most involved with bringing on new customers to be the star of this video. When talking look directly into the camera and lift your chin slightly. Take a minute to think of your ideal customer, and not just a vague representation. Pick an actual client you have great report with. Now speak from the heart directly to them. This will allow you to be sincere and connect with other customers ready to do business with you.

Today I'm going to share one of the most effective tools you can use while building your website. Are you ready? It's video! Very few websites are taking advantage of the power of video. And of the handful of sites that do have video, very few use it well. Video allows you to-

• Instantly connect with your prospects. In any transaction it is crucial for both parties to establish and build report. Now, you can do that on autopilot 24/7. A video of you talking about your business will let site visitors get to know and trust you, even if they are surfing the web in their pajamas at 2:30 in the morning.
• Establish yourself as an expert. Who are we used to seeing on TV? Actors, newscasters, and experts. By appearing in a video people will naturally put you in the same category as these professionals, and everyone wants to hire an expert!
• Show off your products and services. Take site visitors on a tour of your facility or let them see how you manufacture a product. They'll be more likely to purchase whatever it is you're selling.
• Share testimonials from other satisfied customers. Social proof is very persuasive. Kick it up a notch by posting short video clips of people raving about your business rather than just posting quotes.
• Keep visitors on your site longer. The more time people spend on your site the more likely Google is to give you favorable rankings. Also, the more likely that visitor is to become a customer.

Stay tuned for more information on how to most effectively use video on your website in coming weeks.

Internet Lessons from the Model T

We love choices! When Henry Ford first developed the modern assembly line and started pumping out Model T's he completely took over the automobile industry. No one could compete with the price and quality Henry Ford was offering, but his domination of the auto market didn't last forever. What was caused the downfall of the Model T? Everyone was driving the exact same car! Ford even quipped, "The Model T comes in any color you'd like, as long as it's black." Eventually other car companies stared offering more choices in color, style, features, etc. and the Model T faded from glory as consumers were given more options to pick their dream car.

Similarly, you want to give your customers options, especially when it comes to providing ways for them to contact you. Some customers may prefer to give you a call after checking out your website, while others would rather send you an email, yet a select group may just want to head right to your store. Don't miss out on interested customers just because you've failed to make it convenient for them to contact you on their terms. Include your phone number, driving directions, and a lead form on your site. A lead form may be one of my favorite ways for a customer to contact me. It's non-threatening and instantly gathers key information from a prospect. Watch for next week's post too and I'll show you how to grow a list of customers using a lead form that can become one of your greatest assets!

Analyize This!

I used to hate marketing.

Why? Because you can't tell how effective it is. Is that giant billboard with the painting cows really helping you sell more chicken sandwiches? And if so, enough sandwiches to cover the $700 monthly expense? That's a lot of chicken! Of course that's just one example. Magazine ads, TV spots, radio blurbs, they're not free and may be costing you more than they are worth. The landscape is changing however, and now marketing comes with proof! By getting the right analytics you can see the powerful effects marketing can have on your business.

While old media still lacks many essential tracking features, online marketing will let you know exactly the kind of results you are getting. Using another Google tool, Google Analytics, you can track how many visitors come to your site each day. Beyond that you can see what pages they view, how long they spent on your site, where they came from, and much, much more! If you also display a different phone number on your site you can track how many calls you get from your web marketing each month. Now you can compare the number of calls you get to the number of visitors you get to your site. This will let you start to see how effective your site is in bringing in new business each month as well as what you would be willing to pay for additional web traffic.

The important thing with tracking is to start! Any data you gather will help you be more efficient and give you a place to start from as you implement new campaigns.

YES! We have maps!

If you've done any Google searches lately odds are you've come across Google Places, formerly known as Google Maps. Based on your location Google will display a map that takes up 30% of the screen showing local businesses that match your search description. Most of the time this map will even show up before the organic, or non-paid listings on Google. How would you like to have your business show up on Google Places?

As an owner you can edit information about your place of business in Google Places provided you have a gmail account. In Google places you can describe your business, display store hours, upload photos and videos, and even offer online coupons. Your profile can help attract new customers to your business and establish your credibility. If you would like more information about Google Places and to see how you can get the most out of your listing contact VAMPAS Marketing today!

When SEO is Useless

Search Engine Optimization, the once mysterious field accessible only to elite computer programmers and Internet marketing gurus is becoming a household term. More and more people are competing every day to become "Number One" on Google. And while working for that top spot is a worthy goal there is a crucial step you must take to get the most out of your SEO efforts. Welcome to the art and science of Keyword Research.

Keyword Research

Don't worry this task is not as scary or time consuming as it may sound. Keyword Research boils down to finding out how many people are searching for specific terms or "keywords" each month using Google. This information is essential if you want your site to show up for keywords people are actually looking for.

Rank for Terms that Matter

I once had a friend who learned some basic SEO techniques and excitedly called me in to his office to show me the fruits of his labors. "Look" he said, "Links to my blog posts are the top three results in Google!" "Not bad" I replied, "what is the keyword term you are ranked for?" And that's where things started to fall apart. To see my friend at the top of Google you have to search for his full name and unfortunately he is the only person in the world searching for that keyword.

In similar fashion I see many businesses excited when a SEO firm offers to get them a top spot in Google (for a handsome fee of course). While there are many potential pitfalls in such a proposition the biggest one is that often the SEO firm will rank businesses for terms that get little or no traffic.

Google's Awesome Tool

Fortunately there is a free tool that will show you the traffic different keyword terms are getting, and it's easy to use! The Google Analytics Keyword Tool let's you type in keyword terms and it will show you how many people conducted those searches last month. Additionally, it will recommend other keywords similar to the one's you are researching. Within a few minutes you can sort out the keywords worth ranking for and the ones that won't help out your business at all.

It would be a shame to spend a small fortune securing a top ranking for "Albuquerque's Best Rated Salons" only to find out that 3 people search for that term a month. Whereas a term like "New Mexico Hair Salons" may have thousands of customers ready to buy searching for it every month.

Driving Business in the Door

If you're like most business owners you want the time and expense of putting up a website to pay off in a big way. You want it driving new customers in your door 24 hours a day 7 days a week. Unfortunately, I find that very few sites are actually set up to achieve this goal. Here are a few basics to creating a site that is crucial piece in your marketing plan.

• Display your contact information. It's surprising how many businesses have their phone number, address, or email buried on an impossible to find page and written in 4pt font. Ideally all of this information should be on your home page and every other page should have a clear link to it. If people can't find you they won't do business with you.
• Direct site visitors to take action. What do you want a customer to do who comes to your site? Call to place an order, visit your store, or ask for a free consultation? People often do what they are told. For example put "Call 555-555-5555 today, for a personal tour" rather than just displaying your phone number.
• Include a lead form on your site. At VAMPAS we recently upgraded one of our clients' sites and created links to a lead capture form on every page. The lead form simply asked for a visitors' name and phone number if they would like to learn more about the services our client provided. In the first week our client got five leads from the new form and three of those people became paying customers. This form alone helped create thousands and thousands of dollars in new revenue.

By implementing all of these suggestions you'll find that more and more of the people who visit your website will turn into paying customers