Internet Marketing Start to Finish

This book is designed to help companies view Internet marketing strategically, bring together marketing, sales and operations functions that were previously separate and siloed, and systematically capture and apply data to drive dramatic improvements in performance. Drawing on their extensive experience with enterprise clients, Catherine Juon and Dunrie Greiling show how to implement a more iterative, measurable, and repeatable approach to Internet marketing, gain better information about which online strategies are working best, deliver better-qualified leads to sales, build an online sales engine to track every customer relationship from the very outset - and, above all, grow profits. Rather than covering individual Internet marketing tools in isolation, they show how to integrate the full strategic toolkit: social media, pay-per-click, Google AdWords, SEO, site usability, Google Analytics, audience analysis, CRM, lead generation, site navigation optimization, and more. Readers learn how to use metrics and data analysis far more effectively to inform adjustments in both long-term strategy and short-term tactics. Along the way, the authors offer new solutions to challenges discussed in no other book - including the challenges of marketing, advertising, and pricing when Google flattens all channels and geographies into a single gigantic marketplace

"Drive measurable, repeatable online sales with search marketing, usability, CRM, and analytics"--Cover.

1 Why Online Sales Matter ... 1 First Things First ...2 Internet Research Equals Internet Sales ...2 Advantages of Internet Marketing ...3 The Bird's Eye View ...4 Standard Practice ...4 Your Online Sales Engine ...5 Back to Basics: Business Strategy 101 ...7 The Customer Is King ...7 Understanding the Buying Process ...7 Remove Organizational Silos ...8 Get the Most Bang for Your Buck ...8 Find Out What's Working ...9 Lessons We've Learned ...9 Keywords, Keywords, Keywords ...9 Paid Search Mismatches ...10 Get the Fundamentals Right First ...11 Bigger Is Better ...11 Content and Inlinks ...12 Websites Are for Spiders and People ...12 Small Business Safety ...12 Budget for Marketing the Website Itself ...13 Learn by Example ...14 B2C Example: Happy Puppy ...14 B2B Example: TropiCo ...15 Online Sales Engine Success Stories ...15 Case Study: Moving into New Global Markets ...16 Case Study: Manufacturing Company Improves Sales ...16 Case Study: Large Childcare Provider Increases Web Conversions ...17 Case Study: Major Software Company Grows Sales ...17 Summary ...19 2 What an Online Sales Engine Can Do ... 21 What Is an Online Sales Engine? ...22 Why Adopt the Online Sales Engine? ...22 The Online Sales Engine Components ...23 The Components Form a Process ...25 Avoid "Dangerous Data" Nightmares ...25 Case Study: Identifying Junk Leads ...26 The Customer-Driven Process ...26 1. Define Your Goals ...27 2. Configure Tracking and Set Goals for Metrics ...28 3. Conduct Research and Improve the User Experience . .30 4. Sell Online ...32 5. Manage Your Website ...34 6. Increase Visibility with SEO and Paid Search ...34 7. Revisit the Metrics ...38 Close the Loop with Metrics ...38 Maintain Your Analytics ...39 The ROI-Driven Process ...39 Summary ...40 3 Building a Metrics-Driven Practice ... 43 The New Era of Website Metrics ...44 Which Metrics Matter Most? ...44 Influencing Leads and Revenue ...44 The Conversion Funnel ...45 Lead-Generation Businesses ...46 E-Commerce Businesses ...47 Choosing a Contact Method ...47 What to Measure ...49 SEO Key Performance Indicators ...50 Paid Search KPIs ...53 Use Business Analysis to Define Your KPI Benchmarks and Goals ...55 When to Measure Matters ...56 Integrating Web KPIs into Business Decision Making ...58 Case Study: Landing Pages with Custom 800 Numbers ...59 Web to Lead to CRM Analysis: Close That Loop! ...60 The Impact of Internet Marketing on Sales ...60 Case Study: Reviewing Customer Conversion Data in Salesforce ...62 Moving Data into Salesforce ...63 KPI Reporting on Leads and Sales ...64 Quantity Versus Quality ...64 Projections for Future Gain Based onPast Performance ...65 Summary ...67 4 Breaking Down Silos to Get the Metrics You Need... 69 Do More Than Gather Data: Build a Team ...70 Web Analytics: Types, Purpose, Popular Tools for Each ...70 Logfile Versus Script-Based Analytics Tracking ...71 Click Analytics ...81 Call Tracking: Why It's Essential and How to Select Granularity Needed ...82 Measuring If the Phone Rings (Memory Doesn't Count) .82 Selecting the Granularity Needed ...83 Lead Management: SFA/CRM Integration ...84 CRM Products ...84 CRM Basics ...85 Next Steps for Follow-Up ...86 Next Steps for Analysis: Quantifying "Assists" Through Lead Attribution ...88 A Case Study in Lead Management ...90 Summary ...91 5 The Audience Is Listening (What Will You Say?)... 93 Where Do You Start? ...94 Start with the Tasks and Goals of Your Potential Audiences ...94 Other Important Audiences ...95 Listen to and Watch Your Audience ...97 Develop Website Personas ...100 Persona and Scenario Development Process ...101 Sample Personas ...102 Adapt Your Website to Your Personas' Needs ...105 Next Steps: Gather More Feedback ...105 Consider Their Path to Your Content ...105 Case Study: Persona-Driven Redesign ...107 Speak Your Audience's Language: The Real SEO ...109 Do Your Keyword Research ...109 Evaluate Your Keyphrases in the Context of the Entire Word Market ...110 Case Study: Word Market Focuses Tutor Time on the Right Descriptors ...113 Summary ...114 6 Putting It All Together and Selling Online ... 117 Designing Your Website ...118 Incorporating Information Architecture Techniques ...118 Experiment with an Unconventional User-Driven Architecture: McKinley.com ...119 The Information Architecture Process ...120 Investigate and Inform Your Information Architecture . .122 Develop a Website Skeleton or Wireframe ...122 Test the Information Architecture ...126 Graphic Design Comes Later ...127 A Process Overview ...127 Information Architecture Case Study ...128 User Personas and Keyword Analysis ...128 High-Level Information Architecture ...128 Page Templates with Content Specified ...131 How the Website Mission Can Affect Information Architecture ...133 Designing Your Landing Pages ...133 Landing Page Basics ...134 The Design Cycle ...138 Getting More Granular: When Do You Need a New Landing Page? ...138 Long-Term Maintenance Is Critical ...139 Optimizing Your Landing Pages ...140 When to Optimize ...141 Use Your User Research ...142 How to Measure ...143 You Have Data. Now What? ...145 Summary ...145 7 Making Websites That Work... 147 Improving User Experience and Conversion Rates ...148 The Basics: What to Fix Before Testing ...149 Follow Web Conventions ...149 On Key Pages: Form Optimization Basics ...150 Template-Level: Automated Attention Analysis ...151 On Every Page ...152 Beyond Best Practices: User Research ...155 Where Do Surveys Fit In? ...155 Quantitative User Research: Form Analytics, and A/B Testing ...156 Qualitative User Analysis: Observations, Usability Tests ...158 UX Checklist ...161 Website Planning and Maintenance ...162 Plan for Graceful Failure ...162 Website Maintenance Tasks ...165 Planning a Website Refresh or Relaunch ...168 Case Study: Poor SEO Execution Hurts ...173 Summary ...175 8 It's All About Visibility ... 177 Who Sees What and How ...178 What Search Engine Spiders See ...178 What Search Engine Visitors See ...179 Writing Web Content for Users and Spiders: On-Site Optimization ...181 Page-Level SEO Best Practices ...181 Page-Level SEO Guide: An Example ...183 Case Study: Call It What It Is to Increase Findability ...185 Special Considerations: Blogging for SEO Benefit ...185 Blogging Best Practices ...186 Get Out of Your Own Way: Make Sure Your Content Is Findable ...187 A Digression into the Guts of Web Code ...188 Watch Your Web Technologies ...190 Take Advantage of Universal Search: Tag Your Media Files with Target Keywords ...190 Have Fun with Widgets, but Avoid Putting Interesting and Relevant Content Inside Frames ...192 Don't Spread Yourself Too Thin: Consolidate Your Content Power on Your Main Domain ...194 Crawler Control: Speak to Your Spiders ...194 Increase Your Findability via Link Building ...200 How to Approach Website Owners for Links ...201 Increase Your Findability: Claim and Maintain Your Local Business Listings ...202 Monitoring, Responding to, and Encouraging Reviews Online ...203 Advanced Visibility Strategies: Going Social ...204 Extending Your Reach with Paid Search Advertising ...205 Search Engines as Paid Search Vendors ...206 Effective Paid Search Management ...206 Define Your Market ...208 Qualify Your Market with Specific Ad Copy ...209 Convert Your Visitors into Customers ...211 Revisit, Refine, and Refresh Your Campaigns ...211 Advanced Visibility Strategies: Display Advertising ...212 The Best Ways to Target Display Ads ...214 Summary ...215 9 Running the Feedback Loop ... 217 Revisiting the Project Goals ...218 Your Goals Will Change as Your Process Matures ...218 Analyzing Across the Online Sales Engine ...220 Pulling Data from Various Silos ...221 Common Data Analysis Pitfalls ...223 Proving ROI ...226 What to Consider When Calculating ROI ...226 When ROI Doesn't Matter ...228 How to Set Projections for Future Performance ...229 How to Set Projections for Future Performance ...229 Boardroom-Ready Reporting ...234 Provide Context for the Numbers ...234 Boardroom Reporting Best Practices ...236 Summary ...237 10 Special Considerations for International Organizations ... 239 Going Global in the New World Order ...240 The Return of the Silo Problem ...240 Triage for International Disorientation ...240 The Impact of Language, Culture, and Transparency ...241 Working with Translators and Localization Experts ...241 Case Study: Spidering to Keep All Localized Websites Up-to-Date ...246 Basic Mechanics for a Global Metrics-Driven Practice . .246 Use a Single Website Analytics Program Globally ...247 Set Your Web Analytics to Track Across Top-Level Domains ...247 Unify Your CRM or SFA Process ...248 Talk to Each Other! ...248 Basic Mechanics for Global Organic Search Visibility ...250 Focus on the Correct Search Engine ...250 Tune Your Social Strategy to the Right Channel ...252 Mind Your Website Top-Level Domains ...252 Basic Mechanics for Global Paid Search Configuration ...253 Create Regional Campaigns ...253 Set Geographic Targets ...254 Use the Right Language ...254 Working with Time Zones ...256 Basic Mechanics for Global Usability ...258 Before You Translate: Character Set Issues ...258 Working with Forms ...258 Working with Other Data ...259 A Note for E-Commerce Websites ...259 Making It Usable ...260 Summary ...262 Appendix: TropiCo's State of the Web Report... 263 Table of Contents ...264 Executive Summary ...264 About Part I ...264 About Part II ...265 About Part III ...265 Part I. The Year in Review: The Data ...265 General Traffic Trends ...265 Geographic Distribution ...266 Traffic Sources ...267 Quarterly Leads Trends ...268 Part II. How It Happened ...269 Paid Search (Setup, Management, and Expansion) ...270 Search Engine Optimization ...274 Usability ...275 Strategy, Analysis, and Reporting ...276 Local Search ...278 Referral Media ...279 Part III. Looking Forward to 2012 ...280 Localize the Online User Experience ...280 Engagement: Move Online Strategy Toward Interactive Brand Experience ...281 Maintain Momentum from FY 2011 ...281