A mobile website or mobile ready website is simply an internet site optimized for viewing on mobile devices or smartphones such as the iPhone, Android or Blackberry.  Because mobile gadgets are smaller than computers (with smaller screens), full websites are often difficult to view and navigate via mobile devices.  

Mobile websites provide a better way for consumers to learn about your organization when they’re on-the-go and typically consist of a “stripped down” version of a website, with less information, prioritized or more important to the mobile user.

Visit the Internet Marketing Dictionary for a detailed definition of a mobile website.
 

So why should your organization develop a mobile site? 

1. Because your current site doesn’t work well or look correct on mobile devices

I mentioned this briefly above.  And while it may be obvious, it is also the most significant reason you should consider a mobile site.  Maybe the fonts are too small, or the images too large, or the navigation and layout are too complex or awkward.  Roll over menus that work and look great when viewing from a computer, might be tedious or impossible to use via mobile.  Or, possibly, the site downloads painfully slow on a mobile device.  Regardless of the reason, if your prospect or customer can’t easily use your site or find what they’re looking for (without getting frustrated), they may just try your competitor’s easier to use mobile site!

2. The needs & behavior of a mobile web user are different from a traditional Internet user

While it is critical that your site be easy to view and navigate via mobile, it is also important to realize how mobile users are different from traditional computer web users.  Phone or mobile users are often away from their home or office (or at least away from their computers), with less time to spend surfing or looking for information.  Many times, they have a goal in mind and are looking for very specific information such as a location, news or event, contact, map, product, or schedule.  And often, they only have a few minutes to find what they want.

Because of these differences, your mobile design needs to focus on simplicity, presenting prioritized content that is relevant for the mobile user.  The Mobile Marketing Association suggests a less-is-more design philosophy for mobile web sites, focusing on the 3-5 most important reasons someone will visit your mobile site, and making those items visible upon entry, at the top menu level.  Eliminating side-scrolling and reducing down-scrolling also enhances ease-of-use via mobile.

3. Mobile internet use is growing rapidly!

Whether you like it or not, more and more people will be accessing your website via mobile devices.  In fact, as of last month (July 2011), 50% of all connections to the internet are from phones and mobile devices. 

Microsoft Tag recently developed the infographic to the right to summarize the explosion of the mobile web, which is already a large market, but growing more rapidly by the minute.  If you are still skeptical as to the importance of the mobile web, I’ve included a number of interesting statistics.

• 70% of the world’s population now have a mobile phone; 87% in the U.S. (per Experian)
• U.S. children are now more likely to own a mobile phone than a book, with 85% of kids owning a phone as to 73% having books! (National Literacy Trust)
• 55% of US consumers who purchased a new phone in 2011 bought a smartphone, up from the 34% last year (Nielsen)
• 38% of US consumers owned a smartphone as of May 2011
• Daily internet usage via handheld devices jumped from 29% in 2009 to 43% in 2010
• In the last year Google has seen a 400% increase in the number of mobile searches
• The #1 access method for local information is now the mobile browser

Despite the growing importance of mobile, less than 5% of businesses have mobile enabled websites today.  In fact, 50% of small businesses have never even checked the appearance or functionality of their site on a Smart Phone!

4. It’s fairly easy to create a mobile website

Assuming the functionality and content from your current site are up to snuff (you know what they say about ASS-U-ME), creating a mobile website is reasonably easy.  This is especially true with tools like Marketpath CMS, or other web content management solutions, that allow you to leverage both your existing website content and content management processes, without having to start from scratch or add new processes to update your mobile site.

Marketpath allows you to easily manage your mobile websites within Marketpath CMS, updating content for both your regular and mobile sites at the same time, while delivering to traditional and mobile formats.

So why not give mobile users what they want and enhance your brand equity and reputation at the same time?

If you've read any of Michael Gerber's books you'll know that one of his paradigms is to work on your business, not in your business. This simple statement escapes most programmers who one day stumble upon a great idea and believe they can build it. And build it they do with great fervor! They stay up late, night after night, avoid going out with friends and family, and dedicate a silly number of hours to their hot new endeavor.

And that's how it continues, week after week, month after month, until the programmer wakes up and realizes they are never going to actually sell anything. Not because they can't or because they don't want to but because they are stuck in an increasingly addictive cycle of innovation. In their highly technical mind, the product is never quite ready. "If I add this feature" they say, "then it will be perfect." And sadly, just one failed sales attempt triggers a longer continuation of this cycle. Programmers aren't built to be salespeople by default. Programmers are built to solve technical problems and leap over insurmountable obstacles in software.

It's Me

If you read the overview of this blog you may have made the connection that I am included in this group. I'm a programmer and I've been building my business for the last 10 years while I lived what I described above. In 2002 I started building a SaaS e-commerce platform for small businesses named NetEmporium. This stole away approximately two years of my life. I worked diligently every night and day to build it. In the end, I sold it to four companies and made a whopping $5,000 before scrapping it altogether. Hardly worth the effort.

Around that same time I built a SaaS collaboration tool that included email, calendaring, contacts, tasks, and more. This was one of the first SaaS collaboration tools available (besides Outlook for the Web) but again, I failed to sell it and only saw a return of a few thousand dollars. Shortly after that I built a SaaS web content management tool named WebTools. This is the grandfather of our current web content management system, Marketpath CMS. I made a few thousand off of that one too.

Needless to say, I learned this lesson slowly, always thinking I could build a great product and it would sell like hot cakes! Truth is, I did build a great product - some features of NetEmporium have yet to make their way into Marketpath StoreFront, our current e-commerce module for Marketpath CMS. But my problem wasn't building software it was selling it.

Incremental Development, Marketing, & Sales

One of our salesmen has mentioned multiple times that he wished he could code (develop software) because he wants to help out with our never ending list of feature additions and bug fixes.  Each time I've told him it's a curse and to stay away. The reason is simple - software will always have new feature requests and bugs but unless we have people that sell and market it well, there will be no reason to develop those features and fix those bugs. 

So, for those of you programmers dying to know how to be successful developing and selling a software product, take the following points to heart. They are simple, straightforward, and lack fanfare - which is what you need before you kill off a couple of your best years.

1. Prove the Market Need: Build software in small stages. You don't need to solve every problem with your software on the first push to production. You just need to solve one problem better than your competitors. Build that one feature really well and start selling it. If you get bites (and you won't need a great deal at this stage) then move on to the next round of development.
    
2. If you can't sell the early version, dump it.  You have to know when to kill an initiative before it drags you down too much. My grandfather once told me if you don't make any money in a business after a year, then find something new. Now, with software, if you can't make any money after a few months then that's the time to dump it. Don't get hung up on your own stubbornness.
    
3. Ignore the Feature-Creepers: Don't let would-be customers over-prescribe their own medicine. Every other customer will ask for a feature addition to your tool. Listen, but don't operate on the assumption that you need to build that feature. Your goal is to prove your product has a market. Once you do that then you can add more features. Find the customers that can use your tool as it is or else you'll be spending all your time adding features for that one customer (even though others might be able to benefit too, but this distracts you from your goal to sell, sell, sell.
    
4. Hire a Replacement. When you have increased your revenue by building your software logically and in small chunks, hire a developer to replace yourself. If you've made it this far (you're making enough revenue to hire a developer) then outsource that portion of your job to someone else. This allows you to focus on planning, marketing, and selling. Or, alternatively, bring on a partner who has experience building similar companies. Just know your strengths and weaknesses and hire people who are smarter and more skilled than yourself. If you can't lead the company yourself, you need to be very sure the person you bring on can. They should have a proven track record.  Don't fall for the "I understand the job and can do it" responses. Track records are worth their weight in gold.
    
5. Look for Investors. If you've proven that your product has legs then don't hesitate to look for investors. Capital is the life-blood of every business and without it your growth will likely trickle. I can attest to this. I've seen other local firms in my area excel with the proper capital resources while my own company grew much more slowly. 
    
6. Find Advisors. Everyone needs a shoulder to cry on and a helping hand when questions get to big. You can't always look to your staff for help (they might be the problem). Having a network of advisors who have "been there, done that" can be a tremendous aid to your venture.

The biggest thing to keep in mind, as a programmer and new entrepreneur, is that you cannot code your way into a profitable business. There are flukes to this rule, for sure. But 999 times out of 1,000 it holds true.

For the last ten years I've received my GMBK MBA, that is, the "Getting My Butt Kicked" MBA. I've learned the hard way many, many times. This is not the easiest path, though. When resources are stretched, I still sometimes jump in and do a little development. This is partly for my own enjoyment because every now and then, it's nice to hole myself up and escape for a bit. But I realize this adds almost zero value to the success and growth of my company. So I try to limit it as much as possible.

As you dive into your new venture, your million dollar idea, keep in mind these simple tactics. You'll thank yourself later.

It has been about two weeks since the launch of Google+ and it’s safe to say that it has been Google’s most successful “social” launch yet.  With the failed experiments of Google Buzz and Google Wave, no one was quite sure why a company such as Google couldn’t get social right.  However, Google+ has showed promise, ingenuity, and more importantly, rapid user adoption and growth.  Still in its infancy, Google+ is poised to hit 20 million users by this weekend, which is undoubtedly impressive considering it was limiting invitations to join the network for the better part of a week.    

If you haven’t gotten an invite to join, or you haven’t had the time (or desire) to join another social network, you’re still probably wondering why Google+ is any different.  Some people have coined it the “Facebook killer”, and while I think it is a bit premature to label Google+ as “David” to Facebook’s “Goliath”, there are a few reasons to take note of the service.

Everything is in One Place

Anyone with multiple social networks, or web-based services, knows that separate logins for everything can become a pain.  Google+ utilizes your already existing Google Account that ties into Gmail, calendar, documents, reader, etc.  If you’re an avid Google user already, adoption of Google+ is one-click away. 

Circles

To put it simply, Circles are a way to group your connections on Google+.  Facebook has groups and twitter has lists, but those features were implemented after users’ contact lists had already gotten out of hand, making implementing them effectively a time-consuming, and often difficult, endeavor.  Circles are available from the beginning, and with a drag and drop interface, it is truly easy to separate contacts and share content with certain groups of people.  I can now utilize my one account for business and personal fun, which has always been an issue for me with Facebook and Twitter. 

The Best of the Best

Google seems to really understand it when it comes to connecting online.  Twitter is great because I can follow anyone that I find interesting…there is no need to request a friendship.  Facebook is great because it makes sharing simple and easy (you get more than 140 characters).  Google+ seems to be a hybrid of the two services, which I love.  I can add friends, business contacts, and people that I’ve never met but find interesting into different circles which automatically formats my “stream” of information.  Also, I don’t have to click a separate link to watch a video or view a picture anymore; it is all displayed in a Facebook-like feed.

The Value of the +1 and Search

Google rolled out the +1 feature over a month ago, which is their version of the “like” or “tweet”.  It is fully integrated into the Google+ service already, and you can guarantee that Google is already taking these social cues into account within the search algorithm.  Data is everything to companies like Google, which is why these services can continue to be offered for free.  I would bet they care more about crafting a profile for each individual user so they can display the best search results (and deliver the best ads – $) more so than “dethroning” Facebook.  Now that all of the sharing, +1’ing, connecting, and socializing is happening on their servers, it makes it much easier to truly be effective.

Business Uses

So far, Google+ isn’t allowing businesses to set up profiles, even though I have seen a few businesses break the rule and set it up as a personal account.  Google has said they will roll-out the ability to create business profile later this year, so be patient.  It will be interesting to see how companies craft their Google+ strategy and if it will differ at all from the dreaded “Like us on Facebook” campaigns that seem to dominate marketing at the moment.

Google+ isn’t without its growing pains though.  Already users have complained that the sheer amount of data from some of the “tech celebrities” out there have caused them rethink their circles, as one user can dominate a stream.  I’d like to see Google implement a Google Alert style system here, where I can get all of the updates from any particular user as they happen, once an hour/day/month, etc…They already have the technology, so I don’t think it would be too much of a stretch to implement. 

What do you think?  Have you been an early adopter? What do you like/dislike?       

I was in a prospective client meeting yesterday where we were discussing a possible e-commerce addition to their existing website.  The company’s product list, although not too extensive, consists of a highly-specialized product…which isn’t exactly e-commerce friendly when you add in the fact that you probably can’t purchase these items with your American Express Business Card ($). 

After about 90 minutes discussing the current site’s limitations and the extensive goals for an online ordering system (there was quite a bit of custom development that would need to occur to make e-commerce work with the business model, which meant quite a hefty price tag for the development), I asked the question: “So, if we build this, you’re sure your customers will use it, right?” 

After thinking for a few moments, the CEO mentioned that their old site had an e-commerce system, but only a small fraction of their customer base utilized it.  When the e-commerce functionality was removed during the transition to a new CMS, only one client complained about it, and they still continue to order today.  It didn’t take too much more thought to realize that all of this discussion about added functionality was probably overkill. 

After further discussion, we did determine that it was going to be important for growth to allow for online ordering, so I suggested sending out an online survey to their client base to find out what they would like to see in an online ordering system.  Letting their customer’s guide the design process to ensure they get a tool they enjoy working with will ultimately lead to a more successful (and economical) project.

I think a lot of companies make this same mistake.  Getting caught up in the day to day aspect of their business can sometimes hinder the growth and decision making.  Assuming that they know their business and what will be best for it, they don’t take the time to get an outside perspective and listen to who matters the most…their customers.

As an individual running the sales and marketing department for a small business, I am always looking for cost effective ways to enhance my knowledge and ability to market, while keeping costs down.  The great thing about being in business today is that there are lots of free online marketing tools and resources that can both educate and provide usefulness to an online marketer.

Below are my first five (5) free tools that any small business marketer should be aware of and possibly using regularly in their day to day marketing.  Next month I'll list of another group of free, useful tools for your business.

1.  Google Alerts

I'll start with a simple, but very useful tool that has been around a long time- Google Alerts.  Google Alerts allows you to sign up for free email updates on the latest (and relevant) Google results for whatever keyword/topic (business, product, technology, individual, etc.) you wish to follow.  Then, when your keyword shows up in Google, you get an email with the new information sent to you. 

This is an amazingly easy and valuable tool that allows you to monitor the web for new news, PR, website updates, and more.   I use it for tracking information on my own company, competitors, customers, industry trends, research and general topics that I what to stay on top of.  Below is an example of an alert I received for "Marketpath," letting me know that our press release had been picked up and posted on an industry technology website.

You can also be creative and use Google Alerts as a marketing tool, to drive traffic to your own website.  Think about it- it makes sense.  Every time you post content on your website with a certain keyword (phrase), Google will send an automated alert to everyone who subscribed to Google Alerts for that keyword. The individual subscribed to the alert, because the keyword is relevant to them. If your content (post, PR, etc.) is also relevant for the keyword, Google Alerts will connect your site to that highly pertinent reader of your content.  Check out this article for more information.
 

2.  RANKS.NL Keyword Density Tool

This is a great tool that provides lots of useful information about any website or web page, in regards to how the site or specific page is optimized for search (SEO).  Just type in your company's URL or the URL of a competitor or related industry site, and you'll get good data about how that site is viewed by Google and other search engines.  Information includes:

• Key words and phrases it looks like the site is optimized for
• Keyword density for those phrases
• Google page ranking for any term the site ranks for
• Links in and out of the site
• Google's PageRank for the site
• Alexa's site rankings
• Site load times

If you are a novice to all things SEO, the information on this site will help you learn.   If you already have some basic SEO and key word experience, RANKS.NL will provide insight and ideas into how best to optimize your site for search and how other sites (competitors, industry sites) are hoping to compete for different keywords.

3.  Google Analytics

One of the great thing about interactive marketing and the web is that it allows markers to more easily measure their marketing activities and results.  Yet, even in 2011, many small businesses don't pay attention to what is happening on their website.  With Google Analytics, tracking your website marketing is both free and easy.

In simple terms, web analytics will let you know who has visited your site, what they did when they were there, and where they came from.  More importantly, it will tell you how your prospects found you (which sites and key words), what content they value, and whether you converted them to leads or sales once they got to your site.  By properly utilizing Google or other analytics tools, you'll be able to understand both your visitors and which initiatives are impacting them.  Combine that knowledge with a web content management system that allows for quick and easy changes to your site, and you'll be on your way to improving your marketing bottom line.   

Google Analytics isn't quite as simple as some of the other tools on this list (you'll need the analytics code put on each page of your site), but it is probably the MVT (most valuable tool) of free online tools.  Google also provides great resources to quickly get you up to speed.  For starters, try the Google Analytics product tour.

4.  Pressrelease.grader.com

If your business ever produces press releases and utilizes them to generate website traffic or as part of your search optimization (SEO) strategy, then you should take a look at Hubspot's free tool.  PressReleaseGrader evaluates your press releases and provides you with a marketing effectiveness score for that release.  It also provides details as to which elements your release contains or is missing that might impact its effectiveness, including links, content, and key words.

5.  Google Places (Local Business Listings)

If you want people (customers, prospects, vendors) to find your business, based on where it is located, then your business should be listed on Google Places.  If you are not currently listed then you may already be at a competitive disadvantage.  Think about this:

• 97% of consumers search for local businesses online
• 20% of searches on Google are related to location

Those are significant numbers you could be missing out on, as Google and other search engines emphasize local search.   Listing your business won't guarantee any success, but can provide the following benefits:

• Increased local traffic to your website. If your listing contains the right keywords and information about your business, you can attract prospects to your site.
• Getting listed on online maps and directories. This helps customers and prospects locate you more easily. Some search users also prefer company listing with maps vs. listings without. You want your company in both types of search results.
• Provides promotional vehicle. If you choose, you can also leverage your local listing for promotional offers and advertising (not free).

Setting up your business on Google Places will take some time, but it is something every local business should do.  I'd also suggest looking at similar local listing such as Bing Local and Yahoo Local, as they should provide similar benefits.

There you have it- the first listing of my favorite free marketing tools.  Next month, I'll write about my second group of free tools.  Until then, can you list your favorite free marketing tools?
 

Whenever I talk to a small business owner or head of marketing about the benefits of blogging, they usually don't see the full value they'll get by implementing a consistent company blog.  They tend to understand a few advantages they'll see, but rarely do they see the big picture of how a well-run business blog can impact their company's marketing program.  So here are my top eight (of many) reasons your business should be blogging.

1. Blogging can drive traffic by enhancing natural SEO

   
   

   Probably the most significant reason your company should be blogging is because it can positively impact your website's natural (not paid) search engine optimization (SEO), so that your blog and website receive higher rankings on search engines, such as Google.  Blogs help to optimize your site in a few significant ways.  First of all, if your blog is also part of your website, every new post will also be adding relevant and valuable content to your site, which Google values as part of their search criteria.  Second, new blog pages are more likely to be found via search, than a regular web page with the same content, as most of the search engines look at blog content as more current and therefore more relevant vs. typical webpage content.  

   Third, and most important, is that your blog (which should include relevant key words and content for your business) can help build backlinks to your website and to specific pages with related information on your site.  Google, and other search engines, like relevant links and key words, as well as fresh content - and a good blog has them all!  And if your blogs are interesting, then your readers will forward and share them via their blogs, social media sites, email and twitter, all of which will result in more links and visibility for your business.

   Finally, blog posts are available and add value through search long after they are written, so they can drive relevant visitors to your site months, and even years after you first post them and have long forgotten about them.  Through the miracle of search, they live on!

2. Blogging can drive traffic via your blog's followers (readers)

   
   

   Another, more traditional way your blog can drive traffic to your website, is by generating loyal readers, who follow or subscribe to your blog via RSS.  The nice thing about loyal blog readers is that they often become loyal customers or referrals for your business, and are also more likely to forward or post your blog elsewhere.   

3. Blogging can give your business credibility

   
   

   Static websites, with little information, tend to give visitors to your site a poor first impression of your company.  Business blogs do just the opposite, positioning your company as an authority in your field and as a reliable source for information.  By blogging about important topics and trends in your industry, you immediately enhance your reputation, which can lead to secondary marketing opportunities and fewer objections to overcome during the sales process.  The same benefits apply to individuals who blog for your company, as they will be viewed as subject matter experts on topics they frequently blog about.

4. Blogging is learning!

   
   

   Forcing yourself to consistently blog helps to keep you on top of your business.  Like it or not, if you blog, you will also learn.  You'll learn from customers, peers, and competitors who post and reply to your blogs and you'll also learn through the research you do on various topics you plan to write about.  The great thing about your blog is that it will keep you from procrastinating on the important research you know you should be doing anyway on various current topics.

5. Blog content can be re-used (many times over)

   
   

   One of the best side benefits of blogging is that your work and content can be re-used many times over.  Your blogs can, and should, be used for content on social media sites like Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter.  Those sites are also great ways to encourage more readership and sharing of your blog.  But don't stop there.  Your blogs can also be used as part of your e-Newsletter or repurposed for white papers, case studies and traditional marketing literature.  You can even repost the same blog in the future with updated commentary, when the topic is an important one.

6. Blogging and PR work together

   
   

   Your blog and your PR strategy should be tightly connected, especially if you are a small business with little or no PR budget.  Your blog is a great way to post news and events about your company, while also linking to formal press releases for more information.  You can also get greater visibility for important news, product launches, etc. by linking to them via related blog topics.  For example, if an auto manufacturer is blogging about the benefits of hybrids vs. traditional cars; wouldn't that be the perfect place to link to their recent press release about the launch of their new hybrid or to an industry write up on the vehicle?      

7. Blogging drives "Calls to Action" and sales leads

   
   

   Unless it is a news blog, announcing a new product or feature, your blog should never blatantly be used for your sales or marketing pitch.  Rather, your blog should provide your target audience with valuable information and/or opinions.  If you are always selling, you won't have many readers for long.  You can, however, lead your readers (via links) to associated content about your products, if your product or service relates to your blog topic and you are not selling too hard.   As an example, if you're writing a blog about the topic of business blogging, it might be the perfect place to link to your business blogging software that makes successful blogging easy.

   Another non-intrusive strategy for generating leads and sales via your blog is to include "calls-to-action" on your webpage, but not within the blog itself.  This strategy works best if your call to action is specific and closely related to the actual blog topic, while also being easily visible.  The challenge in this case, is not just posting a generic call to action that really doesn't have much to do with the topic of interest to your reader.    

8. Blogging Works!

   
   

   And my final reason that your company should be blogging is that blogging works!  It is that simple.  A well thought out blogging strategy can significantly impact your online marketing results.  If you don't believe me, check out this research from Hubspot.  Companies that blog have far better marketing results than those that don't. The average company that blogs has:

   • 55% more visitors to their website.
   • 97% more links to their website (a primary factor in search rankings)
   • 434% more indexed pages by search engines

There you have it- my top eight reasons your business should be blogging.  I know there are many more reasons to blog that I haven't listed or even thought of.  What are your reasons?

Last month I discussed the critical components you should consider when developing your internet marketing strategy and plan, as well as the best places to start: your website, search engine optimization, and analytics.  Today I'll cover a few success factors that cross all the components of your plan, regardless of which elements you focus on first.  Keeping these basic principles or success factors in mind throughout your planning and implementation won't guarantee success, but they can improve you odds.

Content is King

Regardless of whether you are emailing prospects, writing a blog, posting on Facebook, Tweeting, or adding a new page to your website, the quality of your content is the most important factor in your marketing success. The reason is simple.  You can have the most technically advanced website or marketing software, but if your audience doesn't care about your message, none of that will matter.  So start with your content strategy, thinking through why you audience will want to read or listen to what your company has to say, and ask yourself two basic questions.

1. What content will position us as a credible company and as an expert in our field?
2. What can we give our customers and/or prospects that is valuable to them?  (unique information they can't get elsewhere, promotions, etc.)

As you develop your content plan, also determine who can create important content for your organization and how you can hold them accountable.  Then begin developing an ongoing content calendar that applies to both traditional and online marketing.  Finally, think through how you can share and reuse content across your various initiatives.  Blog posts, for example, can be re-used for email articles   or in print newsletters and can be tweeted.

Calls to Action (are Queen?)

As you are considering your content strategy, you'll also want to think through what you want your audience to do when they are reading your email, blog or tweet or searching through your website.  This may seem obvious, but many business websites, for example, can look nice, yet have very few calls to action.  So your marketing doesn't fall into this trap, ask yourself this simple question.  In a perfect world, what would I want my audience to do after interacting (reading, viewing, listening) with my content? Buy, call us, register, click through to another area, fill out a form, provide information?  Once you know what you'd like your audience to do, start to think through how you can in influence them to interact with your company.  Think back to your content strategy and what you can do to add value for your audience.  Put yourself in your audience's shoes and consider whether this type of call to action would convince you to act.  Remember, you must give your audience something they believe is valuable enough to make them want to interact with you.  What value can you give them?

Measure & Measure Some More!

Regardless of where you start with your interactive plan, you must start measuring your results from the beginning.  It is amazing how many small businesses have websites or Facebook pages, but have no idea whether those initiatives are actually adding value to the bottom line.  It is possible that your Facebook page (or other initiative) is actually hurting your business because it gives people a poor impression of your company or brand.  Let's hope not, but it is possible.  Just doing something (pick any marketing activity) to cross it off your list is not a great strategy.  Instead, think what results you hope to achieve and begin measuring from the start.

The good news is that almost all internet marketing activities are easier to measure than traditional marketing.  So measure from the start, whether you are measuring sales or softer metrics like leads, registrations, page views, or click-throughs.  Then make changes to your marketing and measure again, learning and improving along the way.

Don't Forget Business Processes

Remember from the start that technology is Not a silver bullet. It can be used to enhance a process or to better measure the process or process results, but it is Not a substitute for good business processes.  Whether we're talking about updating your website, writing an online press release, or tweeting an announcement, you still need to think through how the process will work in your company.  As you develop your internet marketing plan, always think through and define new processes and how current processes will change (improve).  Remember that a good process is defined, has an owner, and is measurable.  If you don't consider these things, technology with will just make a bad process faster!        

Keep it Simple (Ease of Use that is)

My final success factor for your internet plan relates to all the other factors mentioned above and to the various systems and technologies your small business with use for all your internet marketing.  Because most small businesses are limited in both technical and marketing resources, it is critical that their systems are easy to use and intuitive.  Whether you are looking for an easy to use web content management system or a simple email marketing tool, make sure you participate in a live product demo, so that you can see for yourself whether the toolset is really user friendly. If the system is not easy to use for non-technical people, it simply won't be used, regardless of how much functionality the system might have.  So look for easy to use marketing solutions; tools that allow you to effortlessly update content and calls to action, painlessly connect to your processes and clearly measure your results!

There is a good chance that if you're even thinking about redesigning your website, your current site is underperforming and not helping to convert visitors to customers.  There are many things that can cause a site to underperform, and fixing these issues might require more than a design face-lift. After all, a pig wearing lipstick is still a pig, right?  Over the next few weeks, I am going to focus on seemingly simple topics that can help you increase your conversion rate.  This week's topic is realizing that true conversions don't occur on your homepage.  

Often times during website redesign projects the majority of the attention is given to the homepage.  While the homepage is the flagship of your brand, the point of your homepage is to get visitors to click- through to other information, leaving the page that the majority of discussions stemmed from.  Now, I'm not saying that the homepage is unimportant.  The site's usability is determined by the homepage layout.  Factors like branding, menu layout, and site hierarchy are all determined during the design phase of the homepage...but more needs to be taken into account.  Make sure you determine how you want users to interact with your site.

As an example, let's say that a successful conversion for your site is getting someone to swap their information for a whitepaper download.  This can be a very powerful lead generation technique.  You get their name, organization, contact information and the topic they are interested in (based on the topic of the white paper), and they get the download.  Even trade, right?  So, where do you put this form and download button?  Well, if you want it to do well, you'd put it on the subpage the user was already interested in that had information about the same topic.  This content should spark interest and convince the person that giving their information is well worth the trade.

Your homepage should guide users to the specific content they are interested in, not try to convert every visitor that gets there, especially if your business has a multiple service offerings.  Sure, including calls to action, such as "See a Demo", "Find out why", and "Schedule Today"  can all help point users in the right direction, but the targeted content on those linked pages is what will truly help convert a visitor to a customer.

Every few years marketers coin a new phrase that starts to stick. The next thing you know you're throwing the phrase around like an old dodgeball (the old kind that was made of hard rubber and really hurt when it smacked you in the face). If you know the phrase, it doesn't land hard, but if you don't, you look a little silly nodding your head like you understand while your brain tries to decode it. Today's phrase is "Web Engagement Management."

In a nutshell, if web content management was Barry Bonds before "supplements," web engagement management is Barry Bonds after. Web engagement management (WEM) has web content management at its core but extends on that core by adding measurement and personalization. It also ties in social media, lead generation, and testing best practices. CMS Wire has a nice article about it: The 5 Pillars of Web Engagement Management. What does this all mean? It means your job as a marketer is about to get harder and more confusing... at first, anyway.

WEM is about observiing, measuring, and responding to your website visitors' behaviors. It is about knowing them and targeting content that is highly relevant and gets them to convert more often. But that's fairly standard stuff when it comes to website marketing. We've been doing that a long time, so what's different? WEM, as a tool, brings together previously disparate technologies to capture and manage the distribution of leads, personalizes the visitor experience by pulling external profile data, and manages the new two-way, three-way, or X-way conversations from outside social channels (Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, etc).

This is where website marketing has always been difficult. Plugging into external systems is expensive, difficult, and often takes a great deal of time to build. In addition, having the broad vision and understanding of how all these puzzle pieces fit together is not typically in the standard marketer's toolbox. The great direct marketing folks (whether snail mail or email) get it and don't have much trouble making these connections. Those who have more focused or single channel roles, though, will have a harder time seeing this large marketing maze in their minds. So, there is a lot of learning to do.

The bad news is that web content management toolsets who claim to be evolving into web engagement management don't make it easy... yet. There are tools available that offer these types of integrations but they are typicallly reserved for the big guys with deep pockets and they are still separate tools. If you are one of these big guys, then good for you. For the rest of us, we'll probably just need to wait a bit longer until the tools have caught up with the need or jump in, get your feet wet, and start learning now.

The goal to all web content management software companies, inclluding Marketpath, is to build web engagement management into the core of their systems and to simplify the difficulties of execution. It willl take a few years before all the kinks are worked out and the systems operate in a standard simplistic fashion. But if you wait until then, you will very likely be leaving money on the table. Get started now and work with the tools available. Your early adoption now will mean experience and better decision making later when all the other marketers are just getting started.

Over the next few weeks, everyone that uses Google will begin to see its new "+1" feature showing up in search results and across the web.  This new feature can be thought of as the Facebook "Like" button, as it is simply a recommendation for whatever type of content the +1 icon is attached to.  Once activated, the button will change colors, letting you know that you have "+1'd" the article, ad, webpage, image, or video (and on and on).  If one of your friends or contacts happens to come across that particular piece of content that you "+1'd", they will see your name as someone who recommends that information.  Each time you "+1" something, you're basically leaving your mark to all that follow that you trust this piece of content, and that it is worth checking out.  It's a much more passive way to recommend something to your network than sending an email, or a tweet, or posting on Facebook.

We've seen Google dip its toes into the "social pool" before, often times with failed results.  Google Buzz, which was launched last year, didn't really ever gain traction compared to Facebook, Twitter, and 4Square - all of which it was trying to compete with or replace.  Google Wave was another foray into the social collaboration world that crashed and burned.  On the other hand, the new +1 feature might have some added benefit in the search engine optimization world, which would make it a very enticing new avenue to pursue.  It is far too early to tell, however, how Google will utilize these "+1's" in its algorithm, but I would fully expect Google to factor the data in at some point.  There is already plenty of speculation out there about what Google has up its sleeve, like in this article from CMS Wire, or this one from Search Engine Land.

With so much attention being given to social media these days, it will be interesting to see how all of this plays out in the corporate marketing world.  Will we soon see TV ads ending with "Like us on Facebook AND +1 us on Google?" Will the social media experts out there begin to measure how many "+1's" you have and try to assign a monetary value to it?  Or, will this be another failed attempt at seamlessly bridging the gap between social media and search?

There has been a lot of news lately about the recent Google update that was aimed at devaluing content farms out on the web.  Sites that simply aggregated content from other sources were hit hard in the rankings for terms that drove most of their traffic.  While there were undoubtedly some good sites that were adversely effected by the update, the change in Google's algorithm just reinforced one of the lessons that Google's engineers, like Matt Cutts, have been preaching over the years...Google's mission is to deliver the best sites on the web to the people using its search engine.  These sites offer unique content, case studies, and add something of substance to the conversation.  This has always been their mission, and no matter what they decide to change in their algorithm, you can rest assured that their mission won't change.

Even though your site probably wasn't affected by the recent update, use this opportunity to look at your site.  Sure you want it to rank for your related key phrases, but does it really deserve to?  The key here is to be honest.  When is the last time that you updated the content?  How long has it been since you changed something on your homepage?  What value are you offering to a searcher who lands on your site for the first time? 

If your site doesn't earn a passing grade on these three simple questions, don't worry, there is help out there.  First things first, you need an internet marketing plan.  Jumping in head first without some sort of process or idea of what to update is a recipe for disaster.  Once you have the plan, you need to assign the roles within your organization or who is responsible for content creation and updating the site.  If your site isn't utilizing a content management system, it is time to invest in one.  This will allow for quick and easy updates, and depending on which system you choose, won't be a burden on your IT staff. 

Your website is a living breathing marketing tool that deserves attention.  It is the hub (or should be) of all other marketing efforts.  The Internet landscape is constantly evolving and because of this, the days of a static, brochure website have come and gone.  It is time to embrace being the expert of your industry and add something to the conversation.  If you can commit to a schedule of content creation, you can rest assured that Google will probably take note and reward you for your efforts.

The office got a big boost today when we had Comcast Business Class installed.

There are nine people in our office so this is less about bandwidth consumption at the office and more about external connectivity outside the office. When our people can work efficiently anytime of the day from anywhere in the world, we become much more productive. Everything works smoother - website browsing, file uploads, VPN, online backup, email, watching Family Guy reruns, playing Call of Duty, and many other equally important tasks.

I feel sort of like we just moved into a bigger house. What are we going to do with all this room! I'm sure we'll figure out how to fill every corner with junk!

Last month I discussed various questions a small business should consider, prior to developing their internet marketing strategy and plan.  At this point you should already know the basics such as your brand positioning, target customers, high level goals, etc.  Now it is time to develop your action plan. 

But where should you begin and what components should you include in your plan?   This is where things get a bit tricky and overwhelming.  As the web has become more and more critical for businesses and people in general, it has also gotten more complex.  To start with, let's list the basic components of internet marketing that should be considered.  This certainly isn't all inclusive, but it covers the basics and is a good start for a small business.

• Website
• Analytics
• Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
  • On-site (optimizing your own website)
  • Off-site (link building, social media, etc.)
• Email Marketing
• Blogging
• Online Advertising
  • Pay-Per-Click (PPC) or Paid Search
  • Onsite (banners, etc.)
  • Affiliate Advertising
• Social Media/Marketing
  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • LinkedIn
  • Other
• Public Relations (PR)
• eCommerce
• Mobile Marketing
• Video Marketing

Hopefully your business is already involved with some of these web marketing components already.  But if your business has just recently launched or has been around awhile, but relied exclusively on traditional sales or marketing tactics, you may not know where to start. 

So here is my suggestion.  First of all, plan on starting with the basics and adding new components (initiatives) only after your understand and see value in what you have already bitten off.  I've seen a number of organizations that can say they are doing lots of things like social media or online PR for instance, but in many cases, they really don't know if those initiatives are adding any value to their business.  Also keep in mind that most small businesses are not utilizing all the components I listed above.  Some components are better suited than others for the type of organization you're in and the make-up of your company. 

With that said, I suggest you start with the first three components I have listed above, which are all closely related: your website, search engine optimization, and analytics.  Starting with your website is a no brainer.  In today's day and age, your website is the face of your company.  Whether you send a prospect there for information or they find it on their own, they will form an opinion of your company based on what they see.  If you want credibility, you must have an informative, professional looking website.  Your site will also become the center point for all your future online initiatives.  If you look at the list above, almost all the other elements drive people to your site (SEO, email, blogs, advertising, PR) or leverage your site to increase participation in their activity (social media, email, blog registration).  So spend the time and money to create a professionally designed website and have a plan to manage it. Think through both your human resource requirements (internal and/or external) and how you can leverage a web content management solution that simplifies your online marketing and allows you to keep fresh content in front of your target customers.

Search Engine Optimization or SEO is the next component you should start with and it should be part of your basic website planning.  SEO can be very complex, but I am only suggesting you start with the easiest component of SEO, what I call on site SEO or onsite optimization.  On site SEO is simply the process of optimizing your website, based on your specific business and services, so that people (prospects, customers) can easily find your site via search on the various search engines such as Google, Yahoo, Bing, etc.  Optimizing a website requires the website designer or developer to understand two things:

1. Your business and how people choose to find it on the web  -and-
2. The components that need to be included on your site, which search engines utilize in their search (page rank) algorithms. 

Some of these components are URLs, title tags, Meta descriptions, page titles and relevant content.  Off-Site SEO, which refers to search engine optimization techniques that are not performed on your own website (linking strategies), should be considered later, but start by getting your site optimized first. To learn more about SEO, check out Google's SEO Starter Guide.

The last element you should start with is an analytics tool, so that you that you can understand the results of your internet marketing initiatives.  Measure from the beginning so that you have a baseline and understand the value your site brings to your business.  Set some basic goals and adjust them as needed.  Many small businesses have some sort of analytics in place, but it is amazing how many of them never look at the results.  Basic information such as the number of visitors you get or the pages they visit can help you understand what people are using your site for and how certain content can change the results.  Start with the basics and try to add more valuable metrics over time such as registrations, leads or sales.  Google Analytics is free and provides better data than most small businesses know what to do with, but there are lots of great analytics vendors if you need something with greater functionality.    

If you don't start out on the right foot with your website, on-site SEO, and analytics, it will be more difficult to be successful with any of the other marketing elements listed about, so get these right first.  Next week I'll follow-up with my success factors that cross all the components of your internet marketing plan.

Soon, the City of Indianapolis will be launching a mobile app so residents can easily report problems, such as, potholes, unkept lots, and rogue animals. As a resident, I applaud the city's effort to more quickly and strategically solve problems. I really hope this app includes reporting people who forget how to drive in the snow or who speed up to block you from changing lanes when you clearly had your turn signal on. Probably not, though. I'll just continue to clinch my teeth, shake my fist and curse outloud (unless the kids are in the car).

51 million Americans ages 13 and older had a smart phone in the 3 month period ending in November 2010 (ComScore: via Information Week). If you haven't crunched the numbers that's a lot of smartphone users. Trust me, I almost majored in math. Now, according to the 2010 U.S. population census, Indiana has 2.07% of the total U.S. population - roughly 6.5 million people. The greater Indianapolis area has approximately 2 million residents (0.62% of the total U.S. population). So multiply that number by the 51 million americans with a smart phone (those mobile-using folks) and you get 316,000 residents in the Indianapolis area with smart phones. *

Besides being completely impressed with my elementary math skills I hope you see the impact this could have on your company. More and more users are consuming information on their phones and if they can't access information vital to doing business with you, but can access your competitor's, then they will quickly forget about you and jump the fence to the other side. Ooops. Sorry for your luck.

Indianapolis will use their new app in a different way and not for marketing purposes. Their app is built to help quickly identify problems, and then fix the problem so people don't have to look at ugly yards. A mobile website (which is probably more effective than a mobile app because it is device independent) will help you deliver your product or service message at just the right time. Here are a couple examples of how mobile users might get to your website:

Example #1
Joe Schmoe is a general contractor on a jobsite. His crew just broke the third Acme Pneumatic Hammer Drill and Joe is sick of it! He's heard of another brand (yours) and decides to look it up. Since he's on a jobsite, he breaks out his iphone with industrial strength rubberized protection case and jumps on the web. He Google's the name of your company, lands on your site and one of two things happen: 1) he sees a mobile optimized website and can quickly and easily find the information about your "better" product; or 2) he lands on your regular website, reception is limited and slow, and your full featured, beautiful website becomes a shrunken, barely navigable abyss of disconnected information.

Example #2
Jane Schmoe is dropping her kids off at school. She realizes, as little Sophie scrambles away, that her school clothes are getting a bit small. Since Jane has to wait for all the students to get into the building before she can leave, she jumps on her Android phone, goes to her local school uniform store's website and is either 1) redirected to a mobile optimized site that allows her to easily select new clothing and order right there; or 2) is sent to an old full featured e-commerce site where she has to constantly zoom in so she can actually click the links. After a slower loading time and difficult navigation, she gets to the clothing section, sees that all the cars are finally being let out, then abandons the website and stops at a competitor's store on the way home.

Example #3
You are speaking at a conference and have the audience's complete attention. They believe you are an expert - one that can help solve their problems. One by one, the audience is ready to sit down with you for a consultation and they begin pulling up your website on their phones. Will they be able to schedule an appointment or fill in a form expressing their interest to meet?

Pop quiz: of those three examples, which site do you think would convert better - mobile or standard?

Those are three different circumstances where a well-designed mobile website could have easily helped convert visitors into paying customers. So, the question becomes does a mobile website make sense for your company? The answer depends on your customer base, number of potential prospects, available market share, etc. If you sell million dollar industrial equipment and your customers are always mobile, then one lead from your mobile website would be easily worth the expense. If you are an in-home daycare and rely mostly on referrals and fertile parents then you probably don't need one.

In most cases, a properly designed and built mobile website doesn't have to be a huge, expensive undertaking. Mobile sites can be effective with the simplest implementation. Just like any marketing endeavor, though, you need to look at it from all angles and choose the path and strategy ** that best reaches your constituents and will lead to the most conversions. Good luck!

Notes:
* I realize this calculation is a big assumption on my part and there are many other variables involved but just go with it for now.
** You can read Kevin Kennedy's article, "Seven questions to ask before developing your internet marketing strategy," for a some good advice on strategy.

Last week I discussed the pros and cons of open source web content management platforms, such as Wordpress, Drupal, and Joomla.  To continue the conversation, this post will cover the pros and cons of Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) web content management systems (CMS). 

Advantages of SaaS CMS:

1. Low cost of entry - SaaS CMS is based on a subscription model, so there is no large upfront licensing fee.  Usually, a SaaS CMS project will have a small setup fee that covers the cost of implementation.
2. No Extra Burden on IT Staff (Supported) - When a support issue arises with a SaaS product, the burden to fix the problem no longer falls on internal staff.  The company that provides the platform is responsible for fixing the issue, most of the time at no added cost.
3. Highly Accessible - Since SaaS CMS is usually a virtual product, they are accessible from any computer with an internet connection. 
4. Security - Since all the development is handled by the company that owns the CMS, there is no need to worry about malware or buggy add-ons to the CMS.  If it is released by the CMS company as a feature add-on, you can rest assured that it won't expose your site to security threats.
5. Multiple Users Model - Most SaaS products have a multiple user model, where the price will increase with the number of users given access to the system.  This is great because it is often easy to add new users to help spread out the workload.
6. Subscription Fee Fits into Budget - Since support is often times included in the subscription model, you can rest assured knowing that the monthly fee will not increase even if something goes wrong with your website.
7. Ongoing Innovation - All software products have innovation, however, with the SaaS, new features are added quickly and often.  Usually these features are available to all users at no additional cost.
8. Speed of Implementation - Since the CMS is already developed, launching a new website can often times be done in as little as 30 days.  With custom functionality and e-commerce, the project lengthens a bit, but it is still extremely fast compared to traditional website development.

Disadvantages of SaaS CMS

1. No Local Data Control - Since SaaS CMS platforms are built and housed at Data Centers, the IT staff feels like it loses a bit of control when it comes to security.  However, SaaS CMS's are built behind firewalls and are often times more secure than a company's local servers.
2. Subscription fee is Added Cost - Since there are "free" systems out there, recurring cost is often times looked at as a downside to the SaaS model.  It is up to you to determine the value of the SaaS platform for yourself and your business.  However, I encourage you to read an earlier post about support issues.
3. Closed Development - Since SaaS CMS platforms are often times proprietary systems that belong to certain companies, they do not allow for an open source type development model.  This means that customers must request features to be added by the company, instead of searching the internet for a plug-in that is probably already developed. 

The importance and complexity of the internet continues to grow every day, making a company's internet marketing strategy an even more critical part of a business's overall plan.  The web's complexity can make things especially difficult for a small business, with limited marketing and technology resources. 

Over the next few weeks, I plan to write about the key components of an internet marketing strategy and various issues that should be considered when developing a small business internet marketing plan. But before you start thinking about specific strategies or tactics, you should first ask yourself (and answer) a few basic questions.

1. How will your on-line marketing plan work with your off-line or traditional marketing?
   Sounds like a simple question, but it really depends upon your business and objectives.  Will there be synergy between on-line and off-line working together or are there completely different objectives and targets you are trying to reach?  This leads to the next question.


2. Who are your target markets and customers?
   Are you targeting the same customers that you target off-line or different ones?  Is your ideal internet customer the same as your ideal off-line customer?  These questions depend greatly on your product and branding plans, but should be thought out prior to implementing specific tactics.


3. How will you find your customers and/or how will they find you on-line?
   This question gets to the heart of your online strategy and plan and will also help determine where your emphasis is and how will you drive traffic to your website.  Depending on your resources and business model, you may choose to prioritize an "Outbound Marketing" vehicle such as email, relying on internal or external sources (list, database, etc.) for prospect data or you may focus more on permission-based or "Inbound Marketing" techniques such as blogs, webinars, social media, twitter, and search engine optimization.  Your plan should include a combination of inbound and outbound vehicles, but where you begin and focus will depend on various factors specific to your business.
   
   If you or your company are novices to online or web marketing, you will also want to familiarize yourself with search engine optimization (SEO).  Understanding key words and SEO will help to determine how your company will be found online and how prospects think about your services or products.  If your company sells commercial kitchen products, for instance, it will help to know that 18,100 searches per month are made for the keyword phrase "commercial kitchen equipment," while the phrases "restaurant equipment" and "catering equipment" receive  165,000 and 135,000 searches per month respectively.  If you understand how people think about and search for your services, you can then develop a plan to better target those prospects. Google Adwords is a great place to start, as they offer a free tool that will provide you with key word search data for any term or website.
4. How will you support your Brand Positioning online?
   This is a very important consideration, so that you don't de-value your brand or confuse your audience for short-term gain.  For instance, if your brand is known as a high end, luxury product, you probably don't want your internet initiatives to focus mostly on price.  Or if your brand is known for providing the best service and customer support, your internet strategy should also be focused on providing innovative on-line service that out shines the competition.  Many companies have made the mistake in thinking that the internet is only about price and have damaged their long-term brand and/or company perception by completely changing their value proposition.
5. What resources do you need to succeed?
   Who will be responsible and accountable for implementing your company's on-line plan?  Your website, email marketing, and social media initiatives won't manage themselves.  So think through both the marketing and technical skills sets you need and whether your plan will be implemented by internal staff, outside support, or a combination of both.  And realize you can take very different approaches, in regard to insourcing or outsourcing, that can both be successful.  For example, you could outsource your website to an agency that handles every little detail or you could utilize a web content management system that allows your company to update and manage the site yourself, without any technical skill set necessary.  Both choices can be effective, depending on your personnel, budgets and long-term objectives.
6. How will you measure success?
   It is never too early to think about metrics.  Before you begin planning, try and prioritize some high level objectives.  That way, you can always go back to those goals as you are developing your plan.  Are you focusing on sales?   On leads?  Are you trying to drive business to a brick and mortar location? In regard to your website, email or social media initiatives, always think about what interactions you are trying to drive and what you want customers/visitors to do when they get to your website - buy, register, contact you, etc?
7. What is your competition doing online?
   Regardless of the situation, it is always wise to know what your competitors are doing.  Check out their websites, sign up for their email newsletters and social media, and figure out how your company can differentiate yourselves or one up the competition.  Time spent researching on the front-end will add much greater value when your plan is implemented.

These are only a few of the questions you should ask yourself before starting on your plan.  Some may be obvious and others quite simple, but considering them now, rather than later, will minimize your headaches along the way.
 

Recently, the SEO world was buzzing about a major website's search engine rankings being stripped away because of a seemingly massive breach of Google's Terms of Service. You can read a great take and explanation on the situation at SearchEngineLand.com. Here is the summary:

Basically, Google was turned onto the fact that JCPenney.com had been engaging in link spamming on a huge scale. Google's algorithms had begun to pick up this red flag of black hat SEO, noticing that links to the JC Penney website had begun showing up everywhere on the internet (especially on sites with zero relevance to JC Penney) with some very descriptive anchor text. Later, the Google web spam team manually removed the JC Penney rankings to finish off the demotion. JC Penney claimed ignorance and fired their search engine optimization firm, who of course took no blame as well. JC Penney had lost what we all assume to be a pretty staggering sum of money and a major revenue stream, and the search engine optimization firm went on their way, with no known punishment, looking for their next target...I mean client. So, in one sentence, JC Penney was caught buying links, which is a big no-no in Google's eyes.

Who can be blamed for this? Sure, most of the blame falls to JC Penney for not doing their research on their SEO firm. Some of the blame should be shouldered by the SEO firm itself, but of course it won't be. Who else is to blame? Well, in my opinion, Google...

Anyone who understands anything about search engine optimization understands that Google's ranking algorithm relies heavily on inbound links to a site (quality and quantity). Google states in document after document and video after video that if you want to rank something, it should be as easy as creating descriptive title tags and unique content. However, that isn't always the case. If you want to rank for a high-traffic, competitive term, you must have the links, or "votes" to do so. This is the idea that Google is based upon; it is why Google is the most trusted search engine in history. In theory, it works. It has worked. And it will continue to work (with the correct tweaking).  However, since gaining links naturally is difficult, companies feel forced to start throwing money at the problem.

Herein lays the problem. When SEO companies began to figure this out (years ago) they shifted their services to offer link building as their main source of income. Technically, these are paid links and violate Google's terms of service. However, as long as they can mask their links in what seems like good content, they can get their client's sites to rank for hundreds, if not thousands, of terms, most of the time without getting caught (insert sympathy for JC Penney here). The ability to rank any site for any term is a powerful skill to have, and with this skill came enormous monthly fees, and in-turn, enormous profit. These SEO companies are good; some of them are REALLY good. 100% proven track records, money back guarantees, case study after case study, white paper after white paper. Ranking #1 on Google has become like a drug to some of their clients, and when something like the JC Penney fiasco occurs, they all scramble to make sure their clients are reassured that they don't do anything to violate the Terms of Service.

I guess you can't really fault JC Penney for buying links, right? They were simply keeping up with the Joneses. If they aren't buying them, they are falling behind and losing revenue because it would be almost impossible to rank on page 1 for the term "Comforter Sets", or any of their other thousand products without the extra boost.

A truly organic search ranking, or what we like to call "Granola SEO" in our office, is hard to come by these days. Huge, measurable ROI is the main factor playing into this dangerous game of search engine Russian roulette, and until Google figures out a way to stop it all, which they work towards on a daily basis, companies will continue to take the plunge and contract with link building companies. If you're one of these companies, keep your fingers crossed that you hired the right SEO company and that your website isn't next. In the meantime though, listen to Google, get back to the basics of why you're in business and create some great, unique content that has some substance, because we're all tired of reading spam with your link in it.

UPDATE - One of our good friends in the SEO industry reached out to me about this article.  After hearing what he had to say, I must admit that I did paint a pretty bad picture of the entire link building practice.  There are "white hat" SEO tactics that are welcomed by Google, as it makes their job easier to wade through the sea of bad content on the Internet.  Press releases, partner site linking, and setting up social profiles to propagate content throughout the web are all ways that sites can be successful in the SEO world.  These are not link buying tactics.  There are companies out there that abide strictly by these rules and they should be looked to as the experts of the industry.

We see this often. A client purchases our design and development services, gets trained in our web content management system, and then flitters away to rarely use it again. Their website marketing efforts die right after launch.

Then at some point, a couple years or so down the road, they call and tell us that it's not working for them like they had hoped. Most fess up and recognize that they didn't dedicate time to add meaningful content and continuously improve the website over time. One former customer yelled and screamed that our business relationship was one-sided to the point it was insulting. Ouch. It's a good thing I take my jabs in stride (that customer never logged in once after launch).

The problem is simple. It is seen in many industries throughout the small business world. A company provides a high qualilty product or service, a buyer never uses it as it was intended to be used, and the buyer gets upset with either themselves for wasting money or with the vendor for the product not providing the expected results.

Web content management systems are no different. These are tools that provide users a mechanism for updating their website with content that, if meaningful and relevant to prospects and customers, will increase visitors, improve site engagement, and convert more visitors into paying customers or advocates. But this takes time and effort that most small business owners don't have.

Here are easy 5 steps you can take to avoid the same trap and to establish a rhythm and momentum for producing great website content:

1. Setup a Content Strategy

Evaluate the type of customers you have and want, then brainstorm questions they might have and information they seek. The best source for this might be your existing customers. Ask them two simple questions: 1) What problems did our product or service solve for you? 2) What more could we do to improve that product or service?

You'll get the information fairly easily from your customers. They know you and won't think you're trying to sell them on the product they already have. You might also gain some insight (likes & disklikes) that you wouldn't have gained otherwise.

Once you  have these questions, brainstorm topics that your customers and prospects might find interesting. Use the notes feature of your PDA or send yourself a quick email whenever a new topic pops into your head.

"Content Strategy" might seem a little overwhelming, so don't think of this as some exhaustive process. Keep it easy and keep the topics light. Otherwise you'll find yourself trying to write lengthy white papers you don't have enough time to finish.

2. Involve Your Whole Company

Whether you are a two man operation or have five hundred employees you have a wealth of knowledge within that can be tapped and leveraged. Use it. Ask your staff to contribute content. Let them come up with their own ideas and have fun with it. You're not writing novels, so as long as you proofread the posts before publishing you should be fine.

Keep in mind that not everyone will be a great writer. They may be passionate about their job but not able to communicate it well. Work with them and encourage them to keep at it and that they are not getting graded.

3. Set a Schedule

Without a schedule, you have nothing to hold your people accountable. So, setup a schedule unique to each individual. Require one post per month, bi-weekly, or per week. Our developers are required to write one per month because we keep them very busy with projects. Our marketing and sales staff are required to write one per week.

You should set incentives for employees. Instead of saying "if you don't write one per month...", try saying "if you DO write one per month, then I will....". For example, if an employee has contributed their quota consistently for 3 or 6 months, they get a $25 gift card. Or perhaps, the user with the highest trafficked post (most visitors) receives the prize. You could also provide incentives that aren't financial, such as, a prime parking space, or they get to wear jeans and a t-shirt for a week.

4. Reuse Content for Other Marketing Channels

If you have established rhythm and momentum writing new content then after a few months you should start accumulating a lot of great stuff. You can use all of this in your other marketing efforts. Send the best posts in your email marketing newsletters. Take one post and begin a larger, more in-depth effort to write a white paper. At the end of the year, you might even send a summary message or letter that has your best writing.

New content will spawn all sorts of ideas and may even change your business. Act on those.Stick to your schedule.

5. Promote Your Content

Producing great content is nice but if nobody finds it what's the point? All of your content should be broadcast to Twitter, Facebook, your email subscribers, your direct mail subscribers, local Chambers and industry organizations. There are many great organizations that provide free posting of industry news topics (keeping in mind the content is not blatant self-promotion).

Watch your website statistics to see what your top referrers are for these posts. This will help you know where to spend more time and effort in the future and what type of organizations to target with the posts. Of course, you need to watch for conversions too. More visitors does not mean more customers.

Ask trade organizations if you can provide some content for one of their newsletters, magazines, etc. This is not only a great way to spread your message but an opportunity to establilsh expertise in your industry.

However you approach writing content for your website, you won't get the job done without a plan. Spend an hour or two putting your plan together and then execute, execute, execute. After all, what good is a plan if there is no execution?

"Why should we pay a monthly/annual fee to subscribe to your CMS when there are systems out there that are free?" 

Well, well well...if it isn't the question that we run up against in most of our prospective client meetings.  It is actually one of my favorite questions to answer, not only because it means the client is doing their research into the content management industry (or having another vendor present a different solution), but it is relatively easy to make a strong case for the Software-as-a-Service model. 

First, let me just say that the majority of the time that Open Source is brought up, the client is referring to one of four CMS's: Wordpress, Joomla, Drupal, or Plone.  Each one of these systems has its strengths and weaknesses (I promise they all have downsides, no matter what that programmer tells you).  These systems are incredibly flexible and can seem to have an endless amount of plug-ins that can be utilized for increased functionality.  They are typically free from any sort of subscription fee, which is also very enticing. 

Software-as-a-Service Content Management Systems, on the other hand, are often times proprietary systems that rely on a single company's efforts to expand on the product functionality, which can be a bit limiting at times.  These systems, many of which have been in development for years, can also be incredibly powerful and flexible though.  The main difference, in the eyes of the customer, is that "pesky" subscription fee.

If you're a small business owner, marketing director for a mid-size company, or the Chief Marketing Officer for a fortune 500 company, you just want your CMS to work when you need to update your website.  You probably don't care about the technical specs, or how many developers contribute to the vast database of plug-ins, you just require simplicity and reliability.  My question to you, then, is "How important is support?"

Support is where Software-as-a-Service differentiates itself from Open Source Systems.  If your Open Source CMS system breaks, who can you call?  You can't call the developer of the plug-in that is broken.  You can't call Wordpress or Joomla.  You have to call whoever built your website in this system, and I'm willing to bet, the time required to fix your issue isn't free.

Software-as-a-Service CMS's come with unlimited support for the system.  If you have a problem, you can call the programmers who built the system and get it figured out.  There is no searching the web for help, scouring documentation that, depending on your technical skills, might as well be in a foreign language, or digging into your bank account to pay unexpected support costs.  Think of SaaS as a true website partnership with a CMS company.

With all of that being said, no CMS is the right CMS for every project. Since this post was primarily about supporting a CMS, I didn't get into detail about specific pros and cons of each type of system.  I plan on detailing this list over the coming weeks, so stay tuned.                      

1. Once it is built, sell it. This is fairly obvious but there are some OCD aspects to me that lead me to improvement after improvement. The problem is, those minor improvements won't sell any better than the first revision. They may improve the user experience and keep them from calling all the time for support but there has to be a stopping point and that has to be early. Once you get a few new accounts then make your tweaks and sell some more. Once you get a few more accounts, make some more tweaks and then get back to selling. Wash, rinse, repeat.
   
   Don't make my mistakes of washing.... then washing again..... and, oh crap, there's a little dirt still there so wash again.... rinse a little... wash some more.... rinse a little bit more. You get the point. In late 2008, I presented to a group of investors and the number one comment was "I'm sure you can build great software but I just don't feel you have the sales and marketing leadership." Wash... then rinse.... rinse... rinse.... rinse....
    
2. Don't reinvent the wheel. Several years back, rather than spending several hundred dollars per month on a CRM, we decided to build our own. Why not? We're fast, efficient developers and could build the core functionality within a week. The problem came once we started needing more. We got to a point where everyone hated the system and we were too busy to make necessary changes.We failed. I was told once by a man wiser than me that you shouldn't build an application or tool if one exists that is good enough. It doesn't have to be perfect. That advice made me ditch the tool and start using Salesforce.com.
3. Hire a bookkeeper. I am guilty of this until today because until today I managed all receivables myself. I just couldn't separate with this because I didn't want to pay someone something that I feel needs intimate knowledge of our customers and processes. But then again, needing intimate knowledge of customers and processes isn't very scalable. We did use a firm for all of our accounts payable and balancing but that didn't happen until I was in business for 8 years. Think of all the time I could get back had I simply paid someone to do the bookkeeping. My sole number one job is to figure out how to feed the funnel - not so much how to sort it out once its in there. Feed that funnel!
4. Always nurture your clients. This seems incredibly obvious - give your clients the love and attention they deserve. You'd be surprised, though, how quickly you can take this for granted. Clients can be demanding and you become less and less available (especially if you're doing your own books and building software that already exists). If you can't adequately give your clients the attention they need then you need to establish a system that helps accomplish that.
   
   As you grow your business, though, it will be impossible to be right there, a phone call away, for all their immediate needs. They will still expect that and will very likely complain a bit that you're not as available as you used to be. Don't fret, though. This is the time to have a quick conversation with them explaining how you desperately want to provide them the same level of personalized service - but because your business is growing and doing so well (much thanks to their early business) you have a slightly modified way of getting the immediate help they need. A simple phone call will help alleviate their frustration and establish a new acceptable path for them to get what they need.
5. Bring on the right partners. This is interesting because tomorrow I'm attending an Executive Roundtable put on by Katz, Sappler & Miller titled "The Art of Convicing Brilliant People to Jump Off a Cliff." Building your company requires you to hire brilliant people - probably much smarter than yourself. In early 2006, I brought on two fantastic partners to help get Marketpath's CMS initiative off the ground. These two provided all the expertise and skill needed to build a killer application. The problems started happening later, though, when our own networks were exhausted of sales leads and business life became a bit stagnant.
   
   Our very first sale went something like this, "This is great! We'll take it for all of our websites and we'll need a 5 year contract term." We did the math and that would have been nearly $200,000 for our first sale ($40,000 per year)! We were on cloud nine. Unfortunately, it wasn't quite that simple. We did end up with about $20,000/yr for that first sale, though and they are still a great client.
   
   We kept it up after that for about 6 months. Then we began the downward trend. We still brought on new accounts but not a rate quick enough to cover all the time we spent developing the application. And we all spent way too much time developing and not enough time selling (notice the recurring theme?).
   
   The point is this. Partners come in all different flavors. I've had several and I'm still happy with my choices. You have to be prepared, though, for the time when those partners have exhausted their capabilities and you need new talent to bridge the gaps. When you bring on partners to help you build your company make sure they fit your needs now but can also grow into whatever future needs may arise. But they won't be a one size fits all and you shouldn't expect them to be.

The Measured Marketing initiative, a joint effort between Techpoint, Ball State University's Center for Media Design and the Indiana Economic Development Corporation, was launched today.  The initiative shines a spotlight on 70 Indiana based, return-on-investment focused companies, and Marketpath is honored to be part of this group.    

With support from the Indiana Economic Development Corporation, Techpoint will conduct a national public relations campaign to help draw attention to the great products and services offered by Indiana's thriving Measured Marketing businesses. 

Download the full press release from Techpoint

or

Check out Techpoint's Website for more information on the initiative.

• Get discounts at participating locations (foursquare)
• Get random visits (meetups) when your friends see where you are
• Be a visitor when you see friends check into locations nearby
• Great for businesses (foursquare only at this time)
  
  • See who's checking in
  • Offer in-store specials (upsells)
  • Friendly competitions for your patrons to work for mayorships
  • If users know you offer checkin specials, they will likely return

• Friends learn your bad dining habits (i.e. Rally's on Mondays, BW3's on Tuesdays, etc)
• Aspiring burglars know you're away from home (Although foursquare has a nice post swayed against this idea)
• Too much checking in gets annoying - I don't need to know you're getting gas
• Easy to falsify mayorships

• My Health Care Manager- Leverages technology to help seniors navigate the difficult journey of aging with an innovative decision support system.
• LocalHealthNow.com- Offers innovative tool's that provide health professionals geographic, situational insight into currently occurring illnesses and outbreaks.

• BlueLock- Cloud computing solutions
• Prevel Technology- New database technology that dramatically improves performance and reduces cost

• Exact Target- SaaS email marketing
• Cantaloupe- Online video management tools to integrate with email, websites, blogs and social media.
• Delivra- Affordable Email marketing.
• Marketpath- SaaS tools for web content management, ecommerce, blogging, and search engine optimization.  Marketpath helps small and medium sized organizations more effectively and efficiently run their online marketing. 

Basic website marketing consists of three core parts: visibility, engagement, and conversion.

Today's topic is conversion. Once you get people visiting your site and engaged in your content, your job is to get them to convert. But before we dive in let's define the term conversion as it applies to your website.

A conversion is an action a visitor takes within your website that leads to them give you information or money. The action could be:

• Buying a product or service
• Downloading a white paper
• Making a donation
• Signing up for a newsletter
• Watching a video
• Reading a case study
• Playing a game

1) Start with a Goal

The desired minimum outcome of any conversion is grabbing some sort of information from your visitor - a name, email, phone number, geographical area, etc - preferrably information you can use to contact them. The best outcome is your visitors making a purchase, becoming a member, volunteering their time, or some other result that benefits your organization.

2) Give

3) Keep It Simple, Stupid

K.I.S.S. - this is a phrase from my 11th grade geometry teacher. Not only a very smart woman, she was quite capable of breaking down complex concepts into simple illustrations or equations. Keeping it simple means to make your calls to action simple and obvious. Take this start now button, for example. This would fit very easily on a page that discusses some type of maintenance product or program, such as a lawn care treatment program.

Again, I recommend reading Robert Bly's bookThe Copywriter's Handbook - A Step By Step Guide To Writing Copy That Sells. Bly provides a great section on writing headlines and captivating taglines. You could easily apply this to calll to action buttons or links.

4) Measure

Once you have crafted your conversion goals, what you want to get from your visitors, then you'd better be sure to measure the results. For those visitors that convert, where did they come from, what other pages did they look at on your site, and how long were they on the site before they converted? Also check out the bounce rate or the drop off pages (i.e. where are visitors leaving your site). Those areas should lead you to improvements that keep visitors from abandonment.

My most important bit of advice on measurement is to not over analyze the results - at first. If you get 500 visitors each month and two leads, then it probably isn't worth the effort to create a bunch of reports detailing every aspect of their journey. But, if you have 50,000 visitors a month who, on average, visit up to three pages on your site and you only get two conversions, then definitely over analyze what's going on.

Paralysis by analysis is just a matter of perspective.

5) Report

If you have the resources, put together a weekly or monthly report that ties revenue to your website conversions. This may not be easy if you're a small business but if you are able to do this, then you'll have a clearer idea where you should spend your marketing dollars. Also, if you can tie revenue directly to leads originating from the website who then became customers, you will have great ammunition convincing the powers that be to spend more money.

Recently, in an effort to combat spam and false listings, Google modified the way they are ranking sites within the Google Local results pages.  Many of our local customers ask us "How do I get my website to show up on the map?  Well, here are a few easy tips that will help increase the chances of being indexed.

1.  Submit your site to the Google Local Business Center.  This is a profile that allows you to fill out, among other things, the name, address, hours of operation, billing options, and categories (catering, doctor, dentist, etc) of your company.  Google will verify the information you provide, so be thorough, yet truthful.  Also, don't create your own categories for your company.  Custom categories can be viewed in a negative light by Google, so stick to their suggestions.  

2.  Submit your site to FREE local directories:
               - InfoUSA - submit site here
               - Insiderpages - submit site here
               - SuperMedia - submit site here

Each of these directories help Google index their local listings, each one is free, so there is no reason to skip out on any one of the services.

There is one important note to keep in mind, do NOT add keywords to your business name in any of these sites.  What I mean by this is if your official company name is ACME, Inc., then use that as your name.  Do not add keywords to the end of this.  For instance, if you sold pet rocks, do not make the business name ACME Pet Rocks, Inc.

All of these steps take only a few minutes and can be very important in the overall visibility of your site.  Take advantage today!   

I attended the Techpoint Innovation Summit '09 this week and listened to a thought provoking speech by Harvard Business School Professor and bestselling author Clayton Christensen.  Professor Christensen, author of "The Innovator's Dilemma" and "The Innovators Solution" spoke on the topic of disruptive innovation and described a very interesting approach to thinking about product improvement and innovation.  You can view a portion of a speech in which the professor describes hiring a milkshake to do a job.

As I listened to Professor Christensen talk about milkshakes, I got hungry and also starting thinking about Marketpath, the company I recently joined, and how innovative an organization it is.  Sitting there, I quickly came up with the following list of Marketpath innovations:

• Marketpath introduced one of the first Software as a Service (SaaS) Web Content Management offerings.
• Marketpath launched one of the first Software as a Service (Saas) products in the State of Indiana.
• Marketpath introduced SEO friendly tools (including URL re-writing) into our CMS in 2007, allowing non-technical users to optimize natural search results and site traffic.
• Marketpath Storefront was launched in 2008, integrating our ecommerce platform with our Content Management product to bring ease of use and SEO tools to the world of on-line selling.
• Marketpath integrated Blogging Software into our Web Content Management System (WCMS) in 2008 to improve Search Engine Optimization (SEO) and increase usability.

All of the innovations listed above, and many others from Marketpath, were designed to allow non-technical marketers to successfully and easily run their interactive marketing programs.  In the future, look for more innovations from Marketpath that matter to our customers, but disrupt our competition and industry. 

Here's to innovation, disruption, and milkshakes!

DreamTrust needed a partner that could bring its product to life on the Web, helping fans visualize how the Pinhedz wall decals could transform their homes. To accomplish this goal, DreamTrust selected Marketpath, Inc., an Indianapolis based company specializing in website design and development services and on-demand Web content management and e-commerce solutions.

"We are excited to work with Marketpath to deliver this innovative new website for Harry Potter fans of all ages," said Rick Barretto, DreamTrust founder. "By partnering with Marketpath, Inc., who specializes in Web software and design, we'll bring our products to life on the Web with a richness that allows fans to envision how their favorite characters and scenes will look in their homes. Marketpath's software will enable our marketing staff to update and enhance the site easily without having to rely on technical developers and long timelines. Their software is extremely user-friendly, which lets us add new products and features quickly to the site."

DreamTrust Corp. offers hundreds of officially licensed images for sale from each movie in the series. Their patented Pinhedz material consists of self-adhesive, fabric matte paper that attaches easily to any non-porous surface. DreamTrust brings to life the Harry Potter images, varying in size from 12 inches to life-size pictures, and makes them available for the home or business.

Marketpath CEO Matt Zentz believes www.HarryPotterWallArt.com will be a huge success. "When you combine DreamTrust's vision and superior Pinhedz product with Marketpath's Web content management software and design expertise, the result is a website that should please our target audience. And with our help, Harry Potter fans should be able to immerse themselves in the film experience while in their own homes."

Basic website marketing consists of three core parts: visibility, engagement, and conversion.

Today's topic is visibility.If your website cannot be found then you can't engage visitors and you certainly can't convert them. So how do you get found? The answer to this question depends on the purpose of your website. Almost every website has an intended goal that may or may not be explicitly obvious, which is to influence users into taking some sort of action. Before you can do that, though, you must first get them to your website.

I like to think of the mechanisms driving visitors to your website as chauffeurs. Chauffeurs act as motivators that direct individuals to your organization's main website, to a landing page, or a microsite. They can be online and offline. Here's a list:

Online Website Chauffeurs

• Search engines
• Email marketing (newsletters, promotions, etc)
• Social networking sites
• Blogs
• Pay-per-click advertisements
• Podcasting
• Video magazines
• Banner Ads
• Backlinks from other websites 
  
  Offline Website Chauffeurs
• Radio ads
• TV ads
• Direct mail
• Trade shows
• Speaking engagements
• Public relations
• Business networking
• Billboards
• Seminars

All of these marketing methods may still provide brand recognition and may drive business directly. But more and more often, individuals who see your ads, see you speak, or read your blogs want to learn more about your organization anonymously. That is, they want to hide behind the cloak of web anonymity to see if you can fulfill their needs or wants before they ever engage in two-way communications - all because they know that if a two-way conversation begins, the hard selling tactics will also begin.

As a web marketer, you need to figure out which chauffeurs will capture the attention of your prospects. Once you have that part figured out, you need to make sure that every single point of contact with prospects involves a link to your website (i.e. front page, landing page, or microsite).

Here are a few steps you should take to boost your visibility:

Step #1 - Initial Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
Basic SEO is fairly simple with the right tools. You need to come up with search keywords that your prospects are using. Use Google AdWord's Keyword Tool to help find less competive keywords. If you mostly do business locally you should incorporate local terms. For example, we target "Indianapolis web content management." Another great tool is HubSpot's Website Grader. This will give you a website visibility grade and provide a great amount of information for improving overall ranking.

There are firms that can help you with this. Just don't get suckered into ongoing SEO fees unless there are very clear measurable results tied to your agreement (which most companies won't do). Many companies tout themselves as SEO experts and will charge the ongoing fee for "link building" or "ongoing optimization." Most are snake oil salesman. But some (actually very few) will engage with you and help you craft an SEO strategy that can work. Stay alert, though. If an SEO firm says they will boost your visibility but don't contact you for a month.... well, you should see the writing on the wall.

For most people, SEO is something that they can do with the right tool and a couple hours investment to read on up on the basics. Seriously, it's not rocket science. Type "search engine optimization" on any search engine and you'll find thousands of websites with free information on the subject.

Step #2 - Calls to Action
When you put together marketing pieces, what are your calls to action? To call a phone number? To come to your store? In most cases, you will want to have a very obvious link to your website, landing page, or microsite on all marketing pieces that prospects see. This gives them an opportunity to continue the anonymous engagement and investigate further. What do you put your website link on? Absolutely everything! If you've put out any sort of communication and haven't included a direct link to your website, you may have just lost new customers who may have had interest but aren't yet ready to talk.

Step #3 - Social Media
I'll admit, I haven't completely embraced social media as many in my industry have. The problem with social media is the amount of time it requires to successfully establish yourself and your brand. If you compare apples to apples (online social networking with offline networking) I will argue that offline networking has a more immediate and longer lasting benefit. To me, being able to shake hands with someone and look them in the eye provides a stronger connection than the virtual connections of online social sites.

That shouldn't exlude social media as a driver to your website, though. Becoming active to any extent in social media will help with SEO and brand recognition and can lead to some very interesting connections that weren't possible offline. If you are able to capture the attention of people you've made a connection with online then they are more likely to have interest in learning about you and your organization. Where do you think they go first? That's right, your website. The important thing is to make sure you provide links back to your website when you leave comments, setup profiles, etc.

I'm not going to go over these, but here are a few links to social media sites that may be of interest: LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Digg, and del.icio.us.

Step #4 - Stay Active
With the three previous steps, you need to stay active. Complacency will lead to lower visibility from search engines, direct marketing, and social media sites. With SEO, put in place rules that govern keyword use in any new content put on the web. With marketing communications, establish baseline calls-to-action for everything that include links to your website, landing page, or microsite. And for social media, stay in the conversation. Your old content will stay on the site but it's like a busy email inbox - once a day goes by, it's buried.

Keep an eye out for "Website Marketing (part 2 of 3) - Engagement" about how to better engage all those new visitors coming to your site!

The article "Gmail Glitch Shows Pitfalls" was on the Wall Street Journal's Evening Wrap email. Under the headline, it had "Failure Spurs Concern Over Reliability of Online Software." To sum it up, it tries to pitch online software (or Saas - software-as-a-service) as unreliable because of occasional temporary outages. In my mind, I can hear all the traditional IT folks saying "See? I told you so!"

I used to be a traditional IT guy at a University (a very cutting edge University at that). At one time I was responsible for a handful of enterprise applications, the client applications on individual user desktops, the hardware running both enterprise and client software, and the network that let them all talk. That's a big responsibility and one I didn't take lightly. I'll admit, though, I had the "I need to touch it and feel it" mentality - which basically means I wanted the software to be installed on my network and on my servers and desktops.

Software-as-a-service was just starting to come into use at the enterprise level but not for the apps I supported, so I didn't have a choice. But now, many vendors are offering their software over the web, such as, customer relationship management, web content management, accounting, and many more. The benefits are huge:

• No software to install, update, or troubleshoot
• No hardware to install, update, or troubleshoot
• Available from any computer with a functional web browser (not isolated to one client installation)

Let me translate this into financial terms:

• No capital costs to purchase software licenses that you may have to depreciate and will have no real value at the end of their useful life. Nobody is going to buy your 5 year old copy of MAS 90 or Microsoft Exchange.
• No contractors to pay to install and configure the software
• No ongoing support fees (depending on the vendor)
• No capital costs to purchase hardware that will lose tremendous value and be worth very little, if anything, at the end of its useful life
• All in all, much lower up front costs and subscription fees equivalent to many software maintenance agreements

Now, software-as-a-service does not fit every business. I know that. But before you drop $100,000, or $10,000 for that matter, you should put some research into a SaaS alernative. Your up-front and long term cost savings might be huge compared to all the costs of installed software.

As for the Wall Street Journal article that started me on this little rant - every software has its down day. It's unfortunate, yet it happens. But when your application becomes unavailable, would you rather have Google working non-stop to get it back up or your already overworked IT guy who has a chip on his shoulder and has one foot out the door?

To the Wall Street Journal - inferring software-as-a-service is less reliable than its installed software counterpart is like saying Michael Phelps is more likely to smoke weed than Cheech and Chong. Everybody has their down-and-out moments but come on! Seriously?

I just read a blog post on CMSwire that outlined a few of the trends that are going to really drive content management in 2009.  Two of these three trends were about Web 2.0 integration and e-commerce integration and how each piece will become an extremely important part of each and every website over the next year.  Almost every content management system out there today can help someone effectively manage landing pages, text, pictures, and menu structure (to name a few things), but not every one can help with the two things mentioned above. 

Having your website, blog, and shopping cart all managed by the same system helps keep things organized and streamlined.  Managing products, content, blog posts and comments all from the same interface can help you and your staff save time and money.  It is all possible with the right, easy CMS.  Be ahead of the curve in 2009, be a trend setter.  Make your website work for you.    

What tools do you use to improve website visibility, engage visitors, and increase conversions? I break successful websites into those three areas of importance: visibility, engagement, and conversion.

Let's say you do some email marketing, have a corporate blog, use search ads, and build up your backlinks in order to increase visibility (see my post about website chauffeurs).

Once visitors arrive, you use a web content management system to keep your site updated with engaging and relevant content.

Then, when converting visitors into leads (or paying customers) you might post a form that gets stored in your CRM database, added to your email marketing database, and then you might send both yourself and the lead an email response.

I calll this cloud marketing. Just like cloud computing, cloud marketing utilizes the power of disparate applications and tools connected on the Internet. This is the "all of us is more powerful than just one of us" mentality.

Cloud marketing is expensive because it still requires developers to programmatically connect all the tools so they talk nicely to each other. Over time, though, more and more tools will be connected easily because of standards. Just like RSS, I envision a day when we can point one application to another and they will auto-discover eachother's features and be able to talk without the need of a contracted programmer. This will not only lower the cost, but also give smaller businesses a better ability to compete with the big guys. Here's one Indianapolis firm that's already doing it - 5Buckets.

NOTE: Here's proof of how fast the Internet moves. I started this article in November and didn't finish it for a variety of reasons. At that time, there wasn't much on cloud marketing and there definitely wasn't a Wikipedia entry. Now, however, there is. Started on December 1st - here it is: cloud marketing.

One of the first things you notice about a website is the color palette. The colors of your site can determine the 'mood' of your site. This is one of the most dominating elements of a website's first impression. The first step in designing a good website is choosing complimentary colors (i.e., colors that get along). We've all seen color swatches at the hardware store offering a small collections of colors that 'go well together.' This is important for setting the mood or theme of a room. Your website is no different. 

The following websites are GREAT resources for finding colors that blend well together:

1. www.colorcombos.com
2. www.colorblender.com
3. www.colorschemer.com
4. www.colourlovers.com

Color is used to evoke emotion. Consider the following examples. Which site is soothing and gives you a sense of warmth and which is loud and gives you a headache?

Well balanced color is essential to consistency and flow in a website. This was the reason we created "strict colors" within Marketpath CMS. With strict colors enabled, website content managers need not worry about matching colors on their own. We add your website's unique palette of colors to the editor so keeping your content consistent is a snap!

This morning I discovered Kyle Lacy's video blog.  Kyle is a social media evangelist who owns an online marketing company in Carmel, IN, and he has definitely been one of the key people who have shown me the ropes with social media.  Kyle's 'Vlog' (actually I hate that term - I'll stick to calling it a video blog) is fantastic, because he seems to be differentiating it from his standard text blog.  In his traditional blog he discusses various online topics, marketing topics, interesting posts on other blogs, and really anything else that he finds interesting.  His video blog is a bit different, in that it is dedicated to helping business professionals understand how to use social media to effectively impact the bottom line.  So the question remains..... Why do I need one? (or better yet why do you need one?)

Let's look at another example.  If you were visiting the greater Indianapolis area and you were to search for a local liquor store on google, there is an excellent chance that you would find Greenfield Liquors on the first page for most keywords.  The reason they consistently score so highly is that they have invested a great deal of time and money in their online presence with Smaller Indiana and their Compendium Blog.  One of the most interesting things they do on their blog is to include drink recipes.  More interesting still is that they use video in conjunction with the recipes and actually SHOW you how to utilize the liquors they sell.  So..... Why should you be doing this?

Video creates a TON of value for your customers (and potential customers)!  Kyle Lacy is providing a valuable resource for business professionals who are seeking to learn more about social media.  At the same time he is establishing himself as an expert in his field (actually he probably has already accomplished that, but the vlog can only help).  The folks at Greenfield Liquors are providing an awesome service to their customers as well; they're teaching them how to better enjoy the products they buy.  The fact that they are providing this service (and the fact that it helps them rank so highly on google) means that people looking for high-end liquor will be much more likely to buy it from them. 

Basically what I'm getting at here is that video is a great differentiator for your blog and for your organization.  While I don't have a date set in stone, I have been planning on launching a video blog for a while now and it IS coming.  So kudos to Kyle and Greenfield liquors for giving me an awesome topic and doing such fine work with their online marketing.  Keep it up!

Jeff Bowe, blogger and author of INFOCUS Selling, writes about how to captivate attention in one sentence. Jeff discusses developing an effective framing statement, the quintessential elevator pitch, and that you should develop your statement around just one burning issue. Adding any more will simply confuse your contact about what you do.

Most of us have been cornered at one time or another by someone who can offer anything and everything and will spend an hour tellling you about them all. By the end of the conversation you have no clearer idea of what they do and how they can help you. Clear as mud.

Now let's take a peek into the mind of Malcolm Gladwell from his book "Blink."  One of the experiments that Gladwell discusses was carried out by a researcher named Sheena Iyengar. Iyengar setup an experiment that involved selling jam at an upscale grocery store. Sometimes she sold six different types of jam and other times she sold twenty-four. Shoppers were allowed to sample each jam. The natural thinking behind this would lead us to believe that the more choices shoppers had, the more likely they would be to find something that closely matched their tastes. As a result of the experiment, the opposite was true.

Iyengar found that 30% of the shoppers who sampled from the six choices ended up making a purchase and only 3% of shoppers with twenty-four choices made a purchase.  This is a huge discrepancy that certainly proves, in the case of buying jam, that the more choices a shopper has, the less likely they are to buy.

Marketers have heard this type of suggestion for years - "Don't try to be everything to everyone. Focus on just one product or service." Yes, we want people to know about everything we have to offer, but telling them about all of it (especially in our first meetings) will only confuse them and lead them to checkout quickly. 

Many of the world's most successful businesses focused on one product or service, delivered it extremely well, and dominated their market. Often, once they began spinning off brand-extensions of their highly successful core product or service (variations), they experienced declines in sales and market share. Too many choices.

Lately, I've had discussions at my office that ended with looks of confusion and information overload. My first question is "Too much jam?" The world's marketing, advertising, office conversations, dinner talk, and many other forms of communication suffer from the "too many choices" or "too much information" plague.

Let's keep it simple folks.

I'm a big fan of search.  That may seem obvious, but when we consider how far we've come in the last few decades, it really is outstanding.  Search engine optimization is obviously good for business, but when you consider it in the context of the consumer it really is very important.  You have to look at the search market just like any other market.  It's always going to be difficult to get any group of people to do anything unless there is money in it.  It would be impossible for google to properly index the web if sites didn't take the proper SEO precautions.  With that in mind, there are literally hundreds of SEO guidelines and tools available to ensure that your site can be found.

I'm a huge fan of website grader.  My favorite part about this tool is that it takes into account lots of different types of content and then ranks your site on a scale of one to a hundred.  This is supposed to somewhat accurately decide how well you will rise through the search rankings.  I especially like this site because it takes into account how much of any given SEO strategy you are using.  For example, if you have a lot of links, but are weak in other areas you will still rank favorably, because links are important.  If you are using blogging as a tool for inreasing your search rankings, then it takes the ranking of your blog into consideration.  It's also nice, because it provides simple and measurable steps that you can take to get it right. 

I like to think of the web as a kind of 'economics of information.'  It's very similar to actual economics, except that instead of money you pay in knowledge.  Now, of course you can pay good money for SEO knowledge, but the beauty of it is that much of the good information is already available for free.  SEO can be a bit of a crap shoot, but if you are representing yourself honestly there is no reason to believe that anything is impossible.  Web 2.0 is here and there is MUCH more content than there once was.  There is really a world for everyone here, and proper SEO practices will ensure that the best content for you rises to the top.  Some terms are indeed very competitive.  This competition keeps the web healthy.  It's a big pie and there's enought to go around.

I think viral mareting is pretty much the coolest thing in the world.  You do something cool, you post it online, and a few days later it has spread all over the web, you're famous, and (hopefully) the cash starts rolling in.  The problem with viral marketing is that it's so difficult to figure out what's going to be a hit.  Sure, I submitt my blog posts to digg.com and link back to my blog whenever I post anything on the web, but this is hardly viral marketing.  It takes a certain EDGE, a certain out-of-the-box thinking that makes it worth sindication.

For my buck, the two most powerful viral marketing tools on the web are youtube and digg.com.  Youtube is fantastic because it is so easy to imbed videos on other sites.  This creates a syndication engine that exposes your content to an exponentially large audience.  I post it on youtube, everyone sees it there, some of them embed it in their blogs, websites, social media, etc. and before long everyone's seen it.  The problem with youtube is that there is so much content that it takes something extremely funny, shocking, impressive, etc. to inspire sindication.  The problem with most businesses is that they are beyond reluctiant to put something edgy out there for fear that it will make them look bad.  Unfortunately you have to have the guts to reap the rewards.

I must admit that I don't know exactly why digg.com is so freakin awesome, but it totally is.  I could spend days there!  Apparently a lot of other people do to, but I don't personally know that many.  It's more of a community within a community, and it's one that I've fully embraced.  For those who are unfamiliar, digg is basically a forum for posting cool stuff that you find on the internet.  You post it and then anyone else who likes it can 'digg' it, and the more diggs a post has the better it's supposed to be.  Digg seems to work a little bit slower than youtube in a viral sense, but the content is way better.  If you've got hours to kill digg is awesome.   My favorite digg submissions are the 'top 10' lists.  You pick the top 10 best or worst or whatever of any topic you like.  In fact, I'm currently working on my own 'internet marketing' top 10 list.  Feel free to help me out with some suggestions.

Well is it?  At last weekend's blogINDIANA conference Chris Baggot of Compendium Blogware argued that the blog is the perfect search result.  He argued that it is in google's best interest to provide information that people want.  Now I love to blog.  I find it fun and therepudic and extremely enjoyable, but I don't necessarily believe that a blog entry the most relevant organic result on any given topic.

That's not to say that I'm angry.  I'm glad that my old friend google loves blogs so much, because it helps me rank for many of the terms that are relevent to my business, but I have to think that if I were searching for 'indianapolis corporate blog software' that I would rather be taken to a page that had definitive information on the topic, not some random blog entry written by someone like me.  I know that google's love affair with the corporate blog is good for marketers, but is it good for the consumer?

With that in mind, how long can google's blog obsession last?  How long before blogs are relegated to the types of specialty blog searches of the past and what will those who have invested heavily in the blog as a marketing tool do if it someday goes away?  I don't have the answers to these questions, but for now I'm glad that my blogs are tops for search.  I'll rest easy knowing that a full featured content management system with blog technology is doing its job by positively impacting my marketing stra 

Two of the biggest elements of marketing are focus and creativity.  Focus is important because you want to stayed focused on particular marketing tasks, but it is also important because your overall messages to prospects and customers need to stayed focused on your core product or service offering.  Creativity is important because it takes a creative mind to put out quality, relevant, and purposeful content that stays inline with your focus.

Get Sleep - Stay Focused

How do you stay focused, especially if you are a small business owner?  There are probably millions of topics related to this but I'm going mention only one.  I finished an article in Fortune Small Business Magazine titled "Make Sleep Work For You." The article talks about how important 7-8 hours of sleep each night is to everyone. Our society is based on this "burning the midnight oil" idea where we think if we put in more hours, we get more done.

Studies have proven otherwise.  When we consistently get too little sleep our bodies respond accordingly by losing our ability to focus.  This results in a subpar level of work and could even lead to fatal business decisions. The health disadvantages are also numerous. The World Health Organization has studied this so much that they have considered making sleep deprivation a carcinogen.  Studies show that a lack of sleep leads to an increased chance of diabetes and cancer and weakens your bodies immune system. Wow! 

Sleep is good. Get your rest and you'll be able to maintain a higher level of focus, make complex decisions easier, and even feel more energized throughout the day.  Some businesses actually put sleep rooms in the office so workers can take mini-naps throughout the day.

Generate Creativity

Being creative can be a huge challenge if you can't find your focus or inspiration. I don't remember where I read this but a simple trick you can use is to exercise for a short period of time just before you have to put your creative talents to work.  Exercising creates a higher level of activity in the brain and results in your ability to comprehend the bigger picture and piece together the fragments.  Sometimes I hit the stairwell and do a full flight or two to get the blood pumping. It really works so I encourage you to try it.

Being well rested and throwing in some exercise can help you produce higher quality marketing material in a shorter amount of time.  This helps me in my writing and planning activities. Now, if I can just find a better way to improve my visual creativity I'll be all set.

What would you give to be the best?  What would you do to establish your company as the premier expert in your field?  Sadly, the answer to these questions is often 'not much.'  Why is this?  Why are phrases like 'it sells itself' still in our vocabulary.  I am often baffled by stories of the pet rock and grey goose vodka (it typically scores well bellow cheaper vodkas in blind taste tests).  These companies made millions off of marketing alone. 

I'm definitely not saying that you should ignore the quality of your product offering or turn your back on innovation, but your marketing should be given just as much consideration.  Olympic athletes train with absolute conviction and total dedication.  That's what it takes to be the best.  Too many business owners are so afraid of making a bad decision that they're left with indecision and indecision is what drives people crazy!

Now my job is to consult with people about their online marketing.  I know that marketing decisions are sometimes hard to make.  How much should you spend on search marketing and SEO?  How much should I dedicate to web design?  Should I pay a consultant to monitor the content on my site and blog?  These are not easy questions to answer, but we must have the courage and conviction to face them.  The only way to truly grow your business is to pick a plan and stand by it with total conviction.  Go for the gold.

I thought of several titles for today's post.  "All my eggs in one SEO basket"  "Count your search chickens before they hatch" even "Humpty Dumpty had a great SEO fall"  Why? Because I got complacent.  I never considered that I was vulnerable.  I never considered that the world was plotting against me.  Let's face it, I just wasn't smart enough to see what I was up against.

I know that the content in my blog gets indexed by Google.  As most people can tell you I'm totally obsessed with my blog right now, so naturally I've been blogging about the importance of corporate blogging and neglecting other keywords like SEO.  Consequentially, we no longer rank as high as we used to for SEO.  I'm upset.  In fact I'm down right mad.  I want my ranking.  I had it.  I worked for it.  Now I've lost it.  Let me set one thing straight Mr. Google;  we are search engine optimizers.  We are SEO experts.  We have something to say about search marketing.  Is that enough key words for you?  Can I have my 1st page ranking, please?

Let this be a lesson to all you corporate bloggers out there.  Don't put all your eggs in one basket.  Spread your topics out over all aspects of your business, or your competitors will gain ground.  You will sacrifice all that you've worked for.  You'll be forced to whine and cry like I am.  You'll end up down on your knees begging for Google's forgiveness.  Heed my warning.

Blog Indiana 2008 is a 2-day conference for both experienced and new bloggers alike. Sessions will include topics such as blogging for beginners, using blogs in your business, monetizing your blog, political blogging and more advanced topics. In the past, most blogging and technology-related conferences have either been too expensive or too far out-of-state. Blog Indiana 2008 seeks to bring a low-cost, high-value conference to Hoosier bloggers.

Blogging regularly is a great way to increase search engine visibility and engage website visitors.  Blogging should be easy and yield positive results.  This is why we built a blogging component right into our content management system, Markeptath CMS.

Sign up for the conference now to better leverage blogging and improve you website ROI. 

Last night I joined thousands of other parrotheads to witness the Indianapolis performance of Jimmy Buffet and the Coral Reefer Band, and I came to an interesting epiphany; as much as I've always enjoyed his music, Jimmy Buffet is not a musical genius.  He is, however, a certified marketing genius.  What is the key to his success?  I argue that all of the success that Jimmy Buffet has ever had can be directly attributed to FRESH CONTENT!

Think about it.  The great thing about Jimmy Buffet is that he's always doing something new.  For example, at last night's show his big new push was for Landshark Lager, a new beer he released this year which is very similar to Corona.  You can bet that there were hundreds of signs, t-shirts, banners, hats, etc. plastered all over everything and everyone in the arena.

Imagine if the promotional memorabilia wasn't at the venue.  Imagine if JB wasn't promoting the new product on his website.  Do you think there would have been anywhere near that amount of hype?  Absolutely not!  Every business changes.  It's the only way to stay relevant in the market.  Your website marketing must reflect your most recent activity.  Your search engine optimization should be kept as up-to-date as possible to make absolutely sure that people looking for your company find it, even if you're not quite as famous as Jimmy Buffet.

Legs are important to most people, animals, and tables.  Legs are not important to the Higgly Town Heroes.  I have asked my four year old son repeatedly, 'How do they get places?'  He doesn't understand the question.  He says they just do.  Good enough, I suppose, for an animation and a four year old. 

But what about your wine?  Does your wine have good legs?  Many people think legs are a great indicator of a great wine.

What about your Internet marketing initiatives.  Do they have good legs?  Here's another way to ask the same question.  Does your Internet marketing program have a solid foundation with which you can measure, analyze, and make adjustments as necessary?  Can you measure website ROI?  If you said 'no,' then you are like most businesses that are trying to leverage the web as a marketing tool. 

A good place to start is with a marketing firm that will help you plan and establish baseline goals.  Most website development or design firms are not marketing firms.  Sure, they can build a killer website, but when it comes to getting a true return on investment, you need to have a strategy, a game plan, or..... good legs.  Be sure to select a partner that can help you build a strong foundation so you can measure true ROI. 

Marketing proffesionals all over the world are scrambling to beat their competition at the web race.  Who will finish first?  Who's marketing is the best marketing?  What techniques will put your company at the top. 

Search Engine Optimization is a buzzword that is currently circulating around the marketing world.  There are companies that charge tens of thousands of dollars, and still can't guarantee that your name will rank on the first page of the Google organic search. 

The truth is that there is no guarantee when it comes to SEO.  It is easy to rank for certain terms, because very few people are searching for them.  Other terms are nearly impossible to rank for. 

A good CMS is an integral part of attaining high organic search rankings.  If content has been posted recently, search engines look at it more seriously (would you rather read yesterday's newspaper or today's newspaper?).  Another powerful tool is the corporate blog.  I have a business associate who was able to significantly increase his search rankings simply by writing in his blog regularly.  We the people want new content!

In today's world we have phones that double as computers, cars that double as satelite receivers, and a new culture of users, young and old, who are becoming increasingly reliant on the web for their information.  The question for the marketing saavy becomes; how do I optimize my marketing plan to pursuade people to hear my message?  How do I set myself apart from the great abyss of multimedia content available? 

The answer is relevance.  If you provide relevant content on your site, people will come.  People will most definitely come.  This leads to the inevitable question;  what is relevent content?  For me relevent content is content that describes the current state of your business or organization.  There are sites on the internet that I go to several times a day.  I might visit others only once in my lifetime. 

The sites that keep me coming back are ones with a wealth of interesting and useful information that is updated regularly.  I am interested in returning to the site, because I know that I will consistently find new things that weren't there before.  I will obtain new answers to old questions.  The most heavily visited sites on the web have one thing in common.  They change constantly!

Probably not. So why would do so many marketers and business owners let their website visitors enjoy stale page content?  Visitors come for a reason.  They're evaluating whether or not there is something they want.  They arrive with questions or curiousity.  How well are their questions or curiosities answered?

If you look at a stale piece of bread from far off it is likely to appear normal.  But if you inspect it closely, or worse take a bite, you will certainly notice it is stale.

Website content is no different.  Visitors may, at first glance, think the content is fresh and updated, but with a closer look they will quickly get a sense that it is stagnant.  Everything from the design of the site to the copy contained within, a website needs to convey relevant, convincing, and updated information.

With stale bread you can always cut it up and make crostini.  But slicing stale website pages into little toasts isn't exactly an option.

Marketpath CMS is also software-as-a-service.  More often than not, people ask about the difference between our content management solution and installed CMS software like Adobe Contribute or Ektron.  

• It's incredibly easy! Requires no knowledge of HTML
• Fast setup and implementation
• 100% browser based so it is accessible from anywhere
• No upgrades to install because software updates are applied automatically
• No IT staff required
• Unlimited, easily accessible support

• Usually requires some HTML coding
• Can only be used on the PC it is installed on
• Requires IT staff to install, implement, train, support, and install upates.
• Per seat license fees
• Limited support options from vendor

In the end, serious Internet marketers will choose a solution that frees them up for valuable Internet marketing and not software configuration. 

Have you evear heard of people who paint their front door red when they pay off their mortgage?  Do you think this guy just paid off his car loan?

This may be fine for your house.  You are proclaiming to the neighborhood your independence from the bank.  But don't catch yourself making the same proclamations for your business in your Internet marketing conversations. 
 
I'm sure you're proud that you own your office building or have stayed debt-free for decades.  That can generate a wonderful sense of pride with you and your staff.  But keep it at that, inside company walls.  Don't waste your time telling prospects how well you've succeeded.  Instead, spend that precious energy engaging with their needs and showing the benefits and results of your product or service. 
 
It's not about you.  It's all about them.

4/8/2008 - Young Professionals of Central Indiana has chosen Marketpath CMS as their choice for getting the most out of their website.

YPCI's new website is intended to be a tool for both members and YPCI to continue to develop lasting connections in the Central Indiana business community. 
 
Paid members of YPCI will have access to additional features that are not available to non-members, including the ability to edit your profile (including a picture and contact information if you so desire) and to track both upcoming and past YPCI events.  Paid members will also have access to a member directory that includes information about the other members of YPCI (only that which members opt to have shown). 
 
The website also has greater functionality for the Board of YPCI and will allow them to better plan and execute events, as well as collecting information regarding those members who would like to become even more involved in YPCI planning and leadership.
 
For more information on YPCI, check out http://www.ypci.net/.

10/18/2007 - Servers Partners, maker of the easy to use office file server FileEngine©(http://www.fileengine.com), has chosen Marketpath CMS to manage their website content.

Marketpath has a strong relationship with Server Partners that has lasted many years.  We build custom applications and more to help Server Partners grow their business more effectively.

8/24/2007 - IUPUI Auxiliary Services has chosen Marketpath CMS as the preferred tool to manage eight of its organizational websites. 

IUPUI Auxiliary Services' business units consist of the IU  Natatorium, Indianapolis Tennis Center, Michael A. Carroll Track & Soccer Stadium, Mail Services, Food Services, Bookstore, University Place Conference Center & Hotel and the National Art Museum of Sport.

IUPUI Auxililary Services is a complex organization that blends business, sport and art to support the educational and cultural needs of the entire campus. By using Marketpath CMS, the Auxiliary business units have the abillity to provide University students and staff with frequent and relevant content updates while maintaining consistent branding across each of their sites.

5/30/2007 - Dominion Group, an Indianapolis-based provider of comfortable and affordable housing, launches a new website designed and built by Marketpath, Inc.  The new website incorporates an appealing, modern design with the ability to search for apartments by type and location. 

The Dominion Group website also includes a document management application that enables over 30 apartment communities to share business critical forms and other information.

Visit http://www.dominiongroup.net to learn more about Dominion Group.

4/30/2007 - Indianapolis, IN - Marketpath, Inc., an Indianapolis-based software development firm, has implemented Indy's first full-featured content management solution that offers an easier way to manage websites.

Outdated and stagnant websites are a major ailment for the Internet's business community and Marketpath has the remedy.  With sophisticated tools for editing and publishing website content, Marketpath CMS can lower website maintenance costs and the time to publish by virtually eliminating programmers.

Most website pages are 80% to 90% static information.  Companies can spend $100 per hour or more to keep those pages updated.  The money used for updates could be better spent on custom software development that connects and enhances relationships with customers.  Simple website updates should be left to capable marketing staff using a full-featured content management solution like Marketpath CMS.

Marketpath CMS allows users to manage everything from website pages, headers and footers to documents, images and navigational menus.  Marketpath CMS also provides visitor statistics so users can see what pages are receiving the most visits, where those visitors are originating and where visitors typically abandon the site.

Marketpath CMS not only makes website updates easier and more convenient through its browser based toolset, it also lowers website maintenance costs and decreases the time it takes to deploy those updates.

Click here for more information.....