Express Marketing Memo

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Keyword research is a form of marketing research, with the goal of learning what terms your prospects use to find your product, service or small business online. But that’s just the beginning. Keyword research will also show you the amount of competition for each keyword you’re targeting.

Your keyword research goal is to find the terms with the highest search activity and the least competition.

“Long tail” search terms are three to four words long and very specific. For instance, the term “pricing baseball cards” is very specific. It has a Google keyword effectiveness index of 878 according to Wordtracker, meaning it has very high search activity and little competition. Remove “pricing” from the term though, and you’re left with a poorly performing term with a keyword effectiveness index of only .05.

Effective Keyword Phrases for Marketing your Small Business

Optimizing for a highly effective keyword phrase can land your Web page near or at the top of the search listing. Settling for a poor performer with either low search activity, high competition or both, may well land your Web page at the very bottom of the search results.

Photo Credit: Bird Watching by squacco on Flickr. (Creative Commons)

Related Articles:

Long Tail Search Strategy Works for Search Conference
Choosing the Right Keywords for Your Demographic
If Content is King, How Powerful is Your Web Site Copy?
Effective Results Driven Web Sites

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Your customers aren’t the only ones making use of social networking sites like Facebook, LinkedIn or MySpace. The article “Journalists + Facebook = Scoops” on Scientific American asks the question, “Should journalists be hanging out on Facebook?”

Let’s skip the “should they be there” question and consider the FACT that journalists are already there. Does that worry you a little? Or open your mind to a few interesting possibilities?

I was made aware of this article via Friendfeed, an application that at first glance is overwhelming … a clear case of information overload. Ok, it was the same at second and third glance too. But thanks to Ed Dale of Thirty Day Challenge fame, I’m beginning to find my way around and finding that Friendfeed may have enormous potential as a market research and tracking tool, as well as be a convenient way to disseminate information.

Let’s face it, social media is rapidly changing the way we communicate with our market and opening new avenues for public relations. The traditional press release is still alive and well, but the way it’s distributed is changing. The information it contains is evolving. The smart small business owner will take note of these trends and consider the implications for his business.

Do you devote a portion of your week to learning about technologies, applications, or ideas that could improve how you share your message and market your business?

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If you’ve ever wondered just how important the Internet is to the overall marketing strategy for your local small business, wonder no longer. Is the Internet a transactions platform or a marketing platform that drives local transactions? Read more in today’s post on the Local Wisconsin SEM Blog.

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What is the biggest challenge your small business is facing? For some, it’s imagination – the ability to think “outside the box.” For others, it’s growth – minimizing the “overwhelm” during the transition from independent professional to having a scalable business model. Maybe your challenge is diversification – needing a more diversified product or service line, or a more diverse client base. Or what about unique challenges of the family business – the extreme loyalty to family member wants and needs at the expense of best business practices?

I’m barely scratching the surface here. This list could go on for pages. My point is that we all face unique business challenges – and they will remain challenges until we meet them head on. The first step toward victory is to identify the challenge.

Many times these challenges are met with a cry of “we need more customers,” or “if only business would pick up.” (After all, we all like to eat!) But none of the challenges I’ve mentioned can be overcome simply by marketing the business more aggressively.

The current challenge I’m meeting head on is developing a scalable business model. Express It Write has grown to offer far more than professional copywriting services. It’s no longer a one-person operation. Assistance from graphic designers, writers and other professionals used to be needed every once in awhile. Now, it’s a constant and because of this I’m striving to structure our workflow more efficiently.

Within the next few months, my associates and I will be announcing a new business name and unveiling a new Web site, one more in line with our mission of providing comprehensive small business marketing services, rather than “copywriting plus.”

Without taking time this year to step back and analyze where we’ve been and where we want to go, this never would have come about. So I challenge you … take some time to step back from day-to-day operations long enough to identify your true business challenges. Take some time to work ON your business, not just IN it.

What is your biggest challenge?

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They go by several names … Domain Renewal Group, Domain Registry of America, Liberty Names of America and probably a few others that I’m not yet aware of. Regardless of the name, they operate in the same manner – by sending out what looks remarkably like a time-sensitive invoice for a domain renewal.

In reality, paying that invoice begins an overpriced domain transfer – and undoing that mistake will be a major hassle. Often the transfer fails, but the fine print says that the fee is non-refundable.

If you receive an invoice from anyone other than your Web host or domain registrar, you’ll save yourself a headache if you simply send it through the shredder.

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