The old saying “the more the merrier” is not always the case when referring to traffic entering your website.  As a business owner, you need to attract the right traffic.  Who is the right traffic?  Frankly, it is visitors who lead to sales.  To get traffic that will spend money with you after seeing your site, you have to target potential visitors that are relevant to your business through search engine optimization.  There are several tactics to utilize in SEO to make sure you as a business owner are luring in potential sales through your website.

Here are several helpful SEO tips to make sure your site is optimized to attracting new sales:

1.     Make sure your website copy is directed at your prospects

a.     Include keywords like town or county names if you service certain areas

b.     Include specific product and services throughout website copy

2.     Label each page within your site with specific title tags

a.     Add 3-4 keywords or keyword strings to each page

b.     Make sure title tag keywords are relevant to their page

c.     Use variations of specific/technical terms that end users may use

d.     Do not start every page with your Company’s name – you are losing valuable keyword space

3.     Write specific descriptions that match with each page on your website

a.     Do not have the same general description on each page of your site

b.     Google, Yahoo, and Bing will reward your site with higher ranks if you have specific descriptions for each page that match that pages content

c.     You will have a better chance of having several of your URL’s appear in search results with varying descriptions

4.     Use Google Analytics or other visitor tracking software to analyze visitor trends

a.     You can monitor what keywords visitors are using to enter your website

b.     Review visitors navigation paths to see where they are leaving

c.     Brainstorm and correct why they are leaving

If you are slightly confused on this, it may be best for you to consult with an agency providing SEO services.

NetWave Interactive Marketing is experienced with SEO on all levels, as most of our website projects have involved extensive search engine optimization. Contact us today.

Only brands that people hold a strong passion for will receive “natural” likes. People are more than willing to search for them. However, unless you are Apple or Starbucks then you probably need to influence your customers to “like” you. So how do you get people to like your Facebook page?

Where to start?

One very important step is to create a landing tab for your brand’s Facebook page. A landing tab should be set as the tab that a non-fan is automatically directed to when they visit your page. This tab should say something along the lines of “click like” and provide a short explanation of why. See the example below.

A landing tab can be simple and free or more involved and cost money. There are several websites that allow you to create free tabs. One site you may consider is ShortStack.com. The landing tab below was designed in Photoshop as a jpeg. Once uploaded to ShortStack you can then add hotspot links (clickable links). Paid subscriptions generally offer statistics on the views and clicks of your tab.

Besides giving a brief explanation of why one should “like” your page, you may want to consider running a campaign to raise likes. Contests, sweepstakes, and giveaways are all great ways to drive people to your Facebook page to capture that “like.” Be careful though, Facebook’s policy does make it clear that the Facebook features cannot be used in a contest or giveaway. For example you cannot tell users to comment on your status as a way of entry. The proper and appropriate way to go about promotions on Facebook is by using a contest or sweepstakes tab, which has a submission form on it. Again ShortStack and many other websites provide the tools for you to create your own tab.

So how do you keep the likes that you have?

Content is king. Put yourself in the shoes of your customers. What do you want to see in your news feed from a brand you like? Content should be relatable and mixed. Besides promoting your products and specials, you may consider showing a little brand personality every once in a while by discussing local or national news, events, or weather. Keep your followers wanting more by giving things away every once in a while. Don’t just post a status, post links, videos, and pictures.

Most important is the timing of posts. If you want to reach your audience you have to think like them; when are they on Facebook? In addition to that, you don’t want to be annoying with too many posts while at the same time staying fresh in their minds by posting daily.

To learn more about our social media services, call NetWave Interactive Marketing at 732.701.9797.

This highly respected Savings Bank selected Netwave Interactive over numerous competing agencies because of our banking experience, creative skills and depth of strategic marketing expertise. In five short months, we’ve rebuilt their mortgage site, revamped their advertising and commenced on a marketing research and strategic plan to reposition them in the changing financial services market.

One of NetWave’s fortes is technical/industrial marketing. We are able to convert technical subjects into viable, interesting website topics. A series of highly specialized flat sites on very specific chemicals has helped this chemical giant attract skilled chemists to their highly specialized offerings. It’s just one of the many technical sites we have built for our B2B clients.

This chemical manufacturer needed an updated site that would present its complex portfolio of products in a easy to follow manner. Visitors can view the products by category, chemical name, industry or application. We also developed a content management system that lets Jarchem engineers edit and update their product line via a custom designed editing panel.

1. Connect with your customers on new levels.

Don’t advertise to your customers, get to know them instead. Social media is the latest, cheapest and most engaging form of creative. Instead of a fancy tag line saying “We are the best and this is why,” ask your customers what they think of you. Social media is absolutely free to use and easy to learn, all you need is fifteen minutes a day and a little creativity. Here are three tips for business starting out with social media who want to optimize their experience.

•  Offer special promotions and contests for social media users and give back to the actual customers, not the people seeing your ad.
• Use multiple social media sites, link them together and expand your community. #AwesomeIdea!
• Ask for feedback and make your conversations as engaging as possible. Don’t say “We have a special on hardwood flood this month,” ask your Facebook friends and Twitter followers which they prefer better and why. Better yet, make a YouTube video on how easy it is to install hardwood flooring.

2. Give your Email a makeover.

When we wake up in the morning, we put on a pot of coffee, let the dogs out and check our email. Ideally, this opportunity can only be derailed by the snooze button. Whether you email clients as a newsletter, with specials or simply a personal message from the CEO, you have the ability to be creative. Although Email may seem to be falling behind social media and mobile technology, it’s still one of the most effective ways to reach your customers directly. Unless you plan on going door to door or dropping thousands of dollars on a direct mail piece, Email is the way to go. Using websites like Constantcontact.com, your emails can be constructed efficiently and creatively. By linking your Emails to company pages, social media sites and blogs you are able to track customer navigation and show off your new Twitter account you are still trying to figure out. Other than a small monthly fee for lists and creation, Email is a low cost way to reach your customers all at once.

3. Share your company’s knowledge, passion and insight with your readers.

Blogger Erica Swallow of Southern Swallow Productions states “small businesses with corporate blogs receive 55 percent more traffic than small businesses that don’t blog.” Blogging is an exceptional way to cut your creative budget in half. Having a company blog is not necessary, although proven successful for small business by dramatically increasing placement on organic searches. These tips will get you on the right track:

• This is your chance to be creative, find a voice (theme) that relates to your business and won’t scare off your clients.

• Blogs are read by people who find your line of work interesting, so give them something interesting to read about.

• Linking to media (Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, YouTube) and your company website is a great way to increase blog and website placement in local searches.

• Blog as a human, not a robot. The only thing creative about a robot is the idea of one.

Now that you’re ready to Socialize, Blog and Email, there are two main points I hope you take away from this. The first is that by intertwining all your online media, you save on your marketing budget and increase customers, viewers and followers, while still being as creative as you’d like to be. The second is that you don’t need to pay for expensive creative to be successful. Integrating simple online tools into your marketing campaign is more than enough for small and rising businesses to stay profitable.

If you have any questions or would like to read more on this or other related subjects, Contact Us. Remember, no budget is too small to let your customers know they are important to you.

Gill & Chamas is one of the most successful and respected personal injury law firms in the state. However, their web site wasn’t much different than firms one third their size. That’s because many law firms use one of a handful of firms that focus exclusively on attorneys. Gill & Chamas selected NetWave Interactive because every NetWave site is custom built. While we’ve done numerous legal sites, we know that every firm is different and every firm deserves its own unique voice. This high powered firm chose us because we listened to their unique selling propositions and communicated that through a fresh and eye-catching site.

We are now assisting them in promoting a second office, establishing a statewide advertising program and an aggressive search engine optimization program.

When New Jersey’s largest podiatric practice, Foot & Ankle Care Associates wanted to revitalize their marketing program, they turned to Netwave Interactive Marketing. We first developed a marketing plan that defined the trading areas for each of the practice’s 6 offices.

We then implemented a strategic marketing communications program for each office. For Hoboken, that involved creatively placed advertisement of the floors and walls of the PATH station, as well as a bright new sidewalk sign to direct patients to their downtown office.

In Hillsborough, updated newspaper advertisements in the Princeton Packet helped announce the opening of their newest office. The Martinsville office was promoted via Bridgewater Mall floor graphics, while direct mail was implemented to promote Raritan and Manville. The practice’s main office in Piscataway was promoted via health fairs and some eye catching, portable graphics.

Collectively, the entire practice has been promoted via a modern new web site and an easily remembered domain: www.njfootdoctors.com. With a blog and google campaign to support it, the site regularly produces new clients. With an ad campaign in NJ Monthly, the practice is well on its way to its most successful year ever.

Novy & Associates, specialists in Elder Law, was in need of a full brand redesign. While Netwave Interactive was selected primarily for its web design capabilities, our multi-disciplined marketing skills were also put to use in a new logo design, business cards and stationary, brochure, design board for speaking engagements, e-mail blast setup, social media setup, and blog design. We worked closely with business consultant Marty Aronow and marketing copywriter Lisa McComsey to ensure a consistent message across all media.

By having a creative, multi talented staff skilled in marketing disciplines, Netwave Marketing provided the Novy and Associates team with an updated set of marketing tools within a matter of weeks.

Marketing’s always about deadlines. But every once in awhile, the deadlines become nearly impossible to meet, that’s when it becomes fun!

I received an email on a Sunday from the folks at The Cordero Group. It seems they needed a trade show booth, sales materials, a new logo, a sales presentation, and a new web site-all in two weeks! And the Easter Holiday fell smack in the middle.

Since Netwave Interactive never backs down from a challenge, we took it on. From a conference call on day one to frantic copywriting on days 2 and 3, we were off on an action packed fortnight. Thanks to rapid copy review from the client, the marketing message was clearly formed and our art department came up with a great logo that captured the essence of the company’s message. Five sales sheets and a company backgrounder were prepared in the first week.

Messages were condensed into two retractable 6′ panels for the trade show. We then leaned on our sign maker, to assemble them from our artwork in double time. With just 3 days to go, it was time to develop a 12 page web site in time for the show. Done! With a day to spare! The trade show materials arrived the night before they were scheduled to be delivered and with a quick ride up Route 18 to meet the client for the hand-off, they had everything they needed. Except for one glitch. Due to all the tornadoes in the Midwest, the business cards were delayed. However, by re-routing them in mid-delivery we were able to have them delivered directly to the show in Pennsylvania.

Whew!

While this is thankfully, not the norm, we share the story to let you know we can cover all the marketing bases for you in half the time!