What You Need to Know About Page Titles and Meta Descriptions

Posted on May 10, 2012 by allegraaz

Widely considered the most important element of a website is the page title. This should include your company name  and your best keywords or keyword phrases. Keep the page title to about 70 characters or less so that it is fully displayed in search results.

Examples of possible page titles if you’re a cosmetic/family dentist in Burlington, Vermont:

Cosmetic Dentist Burlington, VT

or

Smile Dentistry Teeth Whitening Burlington, VT

As for meta descriptions, simply write a relevant descriptive paragraph of up to 160 characters. Use your best keywords/keyword phrases. Write a meta description for each page, based on what the page describes. In other words, one meta description isn’t enough for your entire site because search engines could bring up any page, not necessarily your home page. In addition, a meta description will appear in search results below the website listing to give a searcher more detail.

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4 Keyword Tips to Improve SEO

Posted on May 3, 2012 by allegraaz

KeywordsOne important factor behind SEO success is having keywords and keyword phrases that are liberally sprinkled in strategic places throughout a website … the places and ways that matter most to search engines. Here are some tips to consider:

• Be selective. Quality of traffic is more important than quantity, so limit your keywords and keyword phrases to the most relevant to your business.
• Density, frequency, placement and prominence. All mean something slightly different and are important to search engine “crawlers.” Simply put, use keywords frequently, place them at the top
of your pages and repeat them throughout your site. Caution: Avoid overuse. Keyword “stuffing” can be a red flag to search engines. Viewed as spam, the site could be excluded from a search engine’s database.
• Include your business physical address twice on all pages and in the footer. Spell out your state or province in one of the addresses (Texas or Ontario) and abbreviate it in the other (TX or Ont.). Variations help to match the range of terms a user might type into the search bar.
• Add a geography section like a “Contact Us” page that includes all of the cities, counties and suburbs you serve. Include additional ways in which people might search (New York City and NYC). While most SEO is page by page, the geographic relevancy of a business helps to optimize the site in a more global way.

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Blah Blah Blah Marketing

Posted on April 27, 2012 by allegraaz

Nuts

Really?

Check out the photo on the left. Does this kind of advertising drive you nuts too? Seriously…84% less packaging than glass jar by weight. Same amount of nuts. This is supposed to entice me to buy this product??? I’ve racked my brain and the only POSSIBLE benefit I can see would be if I was stockpiling protein foods in preparation for 12/12/12 and didn’t want to overburden my pantry shelves.

And remember the old jingle “two scoops of raisins in every package of Kellogg’s Raisin Bran”? Even as a 7 year-old kid, I knew that a scoop wasn’t a standard unit of measurement. I also figured that if the folks at Kellogg’s were putting “two scoops into every package,” the raisin-to-flake ratio would be better in the small box. (I pointed this out to my mother in the grocery store as she was reaching for the Family-Sized box. She didn’t buy into my logic.)

Of course, advertisers are not the only ones who are guilty of this sort of faux-benefit blah blah blah. The branding folks do it too. In a terrific video by FastCompany, Dan Heath shows how a great mission statement like:

“Our mission is to serve the tastiest damn pizza in Wake County.”

can morph into corporate-speak gobbledygook:

“Our mission is to present with integrity the highest quality entertainment solutions to families.”

Sound familiar? So what about us marketers? Surely we always craft clear, concise content that evokes emotion and makes the reader scream “Yes! This is EXACTLY what I am looking for! Sign me up!” We never, ever use words like:

  • Leverage
  • Synergy
  • State-of the-art
  • Value-add
  • Ahead of the curve
  • Utilize
  • Cutting edge
  • Robust
  • Innovative
  • Monetize

Guilty of using these too often? Most of us are. The end result? The piece we have worked so hard to create shouts “WE ARE EXACTLY THE SAME AS EVERYBODY ELSE!”

So think about your offers, your messages, your words. In their book, Content Rules, authors Anne Handley and C.C. Chapman remind us “Produce great stuff, and your customers will come to you. Produce great stuff, and your customers will share your story for you. More than ever before: Content is king! Content rules!”

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5 Tips to Strengthen Your Elevator Speech

Posted on April 20, 2012 by allegraaz

Elevator Speech for Face to Face MarketingThe experts give differing guidelines for crafting an elevator speech, but there are some basics that nearly all agree upon:

Shorter is sweeter. The general recommendation is to keep it between 30 and 60 seconds. Some go as far as suggesting it be up to three minutes, but when’s the last time you paid attention to a three-minute commercial?

Familiarity is comforting. Second Wind, a network of over 800 small to medium-sided agencies, recommends finding the right words and using them every time so you can easily remember and repeat them. Seeing and hearing those same words across all your communication channels ensures delivery of a consistent and familiar brand message to supporters.

People love a good story. Make it memorable by focusing on what makes your organization special. If you’re able to tell the story with humor or in narrative form, that’s even better.

Add a dash of humility. Be clear, confident and slightly proud. It’s best to be humble without outright bragging.

Find the passion. For others to care, your elevator speech should address a want, need or desire of your supporters. If you can figure out what it is and how you can meet it, you’ll come across as more passionate about your organization … and begin to create interest.

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3 Tips to Avoid Email SPAM Fines

Posted on April 13, 2012 by allegraaz

Staying on the right side of the CAN-SPAM Act = the law that outlines the rules for commercial email – pays for marketers who follow best practices. Breaking the rules can be costly… up to $16,000 per infraction.

Here are three tips from email provider Constant Contact to help avoid fines:

From Name – The email sender – your business o organization – should be clearly identifiable in the From Name and when possible, in the From Address.

Forward - When you use incentives (a prize or discount) to prompt your contacts to forward emails, the forwarded messages will likely be non-compliant.

Free Offers – Be extra careful how you phrase offers of “free” merchandise, and avoid claims that do not deliver what you say. Conditions must be described “in the same color, font and size,” and “within close proximity” of the related claim.

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FootSTEPS 2012: Ideas for Impact

Posted on April 6, 2012 by allegraaz

Allegra FootSTEPS 2012

FootSTEPS Conference attendees identify top stakeholders

We had a fabulous turnout for FootSTEPS 2012: Ideas for Impact on April 3, 2012. This interactive conference, designed to be a “day of development for development professionals” provided information, resources, tips, and tools to over 50 Arizona nonprofits.

Some background about the conference… As you may know, we had a tremendous response to our 2011 FootPRINT Fund program. We received over 100 applications from Arizona nonprofit organizations. As the grant requests came pouring in, we realized we just had to do something for every organization that applied for a grant. And so we

created FootSTEPS: Ideas for Impact, a free training and professional resource day packed with information to help Arizona nonprofit organizations “take the next steps” in their ongoing development and communication initiatives.

The day was a lot of fun for us and we are delighted to have had this opportunity to work with our friends (both old and new) in the nonprofit community. Thank you to all who helped make it a great day!

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4 (more) Marketing Formulas Every Marketer Should Know

Posted on March 31, 2012 by allegraaz

1. Average Order = Sales Dollars/Number of Orders

This figure can provide insight on which offers, media and sources drive the best customer sales.

2. Profit-Per-Buyer = Profit Dollars/Number of Buyers

The healthier this metric is, the more you can afford to spend on customer acquistion. Segment this data by sales period.

3. Marketing Cost-Per-Order = Marketing Cost/Number of Orders

The sum of your campaign (including fulfillment) is your marketing cost. Determining how this breaks down per order tells you how much it costs you to acquire a new customer – critical to calulating ROI.

4. Maximum Package Cost = Cost-Per-Response x Response Rate

Test out the ramifications on package cost of worst-case response performance scenarios.

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4 Marketing Formulas Every Marketer Must Know

Posted on March 23, 2012 by allegraaz

1. Response Percent = (Responses/Mail Quantity x 100)

In direct marketing, everything ties back to response rate. This formula does not apply to just direct mail; substitute any defined campaign for “mail quantity.”

2. Raw Cost-Per-Response = Cost-Per-Package/Response Rate

A basic way to evaluate the performance of an individual campaign.

3. Break-Even Response = Cost-Per-Package /Cost-Per-Response

This formula will tell you what your response rate you need to achieve to cover your package costs. Use the loaded cost-per-response if you want to extend the calculation to full campaign costs.

4. Loaded Cost-Per-Response = (Cost-Per-Package/Response Rate + Fulfillment + Telemarketing)

A more complete representation of the costs involved in direct marketing campaign.

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Beyond Your Basic Blog: Strategy and Tactics – Part 2 of 2

Posted on March 9, 2012 by allegraaz

In this two-part series, we first looked at how blogs fit into an overall marketing strategy. This week, we identify 5 practical tactics that you can use to take your blog beyond the basics.

Here are 5 easy things to do to make your blog more effective:

Think big picture with content. “Everything you choose to do with your content really depends on your purpose for blogging: what you hope to obtain – not just from one post – but as a whole from your blog,” says Kristi Hines, author of Kikolani.com, which was named by Social Media Examiner as one of 2010′s best social media blogs.

Don’t sell, but don’t be shy. “A blog isn’t about the hard sell,” says Chris Brogan, whose blog, chrisbrogan.com, is in the Top 5 of the Advertising Age Power 150. There has to be passion and interest and information in your blog.

Post to add value. While it’s commonly recommended that you set a posting schedule and/or editorial calendar for your blog, realize also that rules are sometimes meant to be broken. Don’t force yourself to post daily if you have nothing of value to say.

Use your blog for lead generation. “Blogs are a great way to establish thought leadership, and further, to encourage lead generation,” says Brogan. A well-written, authoritative blog builds credibility for the company. Before long, readers will come to think of you as a subject matter expert.

Promote it. What good is a blog if no one knows it exists besides your mom? Treat your blog as part of your overall marketing strategy and give it proper exposure. Here are some ways to get the word out:

  • include the link on press release
  • add the URL to print materials such as ads and business cards
  • note it on your website
  • add the URL to your social media pages and postings

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Beyond Your Basic Blog: Strategy and Tactics – Part 1 of 2

Posted on March 2, 2012 by allegraaz

blogIn this two-part series, we first look at how blogs fit into an overall marketing strategy. Next week, we’ll identify 5 practical tactics that you can use to take your blog beyond the basics.

Are you blogging as part of your marketing strategy? If not you may soon be headed in that direction. According to a survey conducted by Hubspot:

  • Respondents with a company blog grew from 48% to 65% from 2009 to 2011.
  • Companies that blog get 55% more website visits than those that don’t.

“Business and corporate blogs can be valuable assets to a company’s website, creating a strong platform for their content marketing,” says Kristi Hines, author of Kikolani.com, which was named by Social Media Examiner as one of 2010’s best social media blogs. “Corporate blogs can help your business build brand identity; build stronger relationships with customers, potential clients and others in your industry give your website fresh new content; and get you ranked for keyword search terms and phrases.”

Before staking your claim in the blogosphere, consider your strategy. Chris Brogan, whose blog chrisbrogan.com is in the Top 5 of the Advertising Age Power 150 says, “What’s the goal of the blog? What are you hoping to do with it? Think this through and check your efforts against it regularly. If you can set up metrics of any kind, these might help. My point is to pay attention to the strategy behind why you’ve bothered blogging in the first place.”

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