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A Better Link Strategy With Bloggers

Posted by Gareth Cutter

Link building is an important part of every popular e-commerce site's success. Its how new customers find you and how your web site appears on the first page of search engine results, so it’s important to get it right.

If you’ve been firing off link request emails to no response, follow these tips – soon you’ll have a net of links catching visitors’ attention and pointing them towards your web site.

Use the personal approach - short cuts are not appreciated by people online and sending a 'one size fits all' link request email will definitely rub them up the wrong way. Why? Because essentially it’s spam. Write personally, take the time to find out the contact’s name and refer to their blog by name in your email. This will create a warmer reception.

Send useful and relevant content - bloggers want to please their audience; entertaining and informative articles are integral to that. If you can make their job easier by sending informative material, they will most probably thank and credit you for your efforts with a link. Write strong, attention grabbing content and let it do the work.

Is the link not ideal? Ask politely for them to edit it - if the link is not pointing at the page where you are focusing your SEO efforts, a short polite email asking them to redirect it (and why) is better than not sending anything at all. Just don’t push them if they don’t – there’s such a thing as looking a gift-horse in the mouth!

Comment on their blog - show you actually value their content by responding to posts in a thoughtful and helpful manner. Directing them to articles that reinforce their main point always goes down well. Bloggers always notice comments and they might be driven to check your blog / web site out in return. Comment consistently, build a relationship and you’ll probably earn a link.

We hope these four pointers come in useful for you. If you have any questions about building links with bloggers, or any other aspect of e-commerce and online marketing, don’t forget to contact us – we always enjoy talking to people who are interested in what we do!

SearchSocial Media

Better Email Marketing & Blogging Costs Just 10 Pounds

Posted by Gareth Cutter

"Be prepared." The boy scouts have a good motto, but it's not like they own the copyright. It’s a concept every business should take to heart when it comes to planning their online marketing, whatever form that may take.

Boring Blogging and Effortless Email

In particular, we’ve got your preparedness for business blogging and email marketing in mind, because these channels are easy to put on ‘autopilot’.

Another blog post about the latest industry gossip?

Another email with special offers and new stock in?

Sure, these two approaches will get the job done but they’re unlikely to get it done to any degree of excellence, which is how you win new customers, gain media attention and become an even more successful business.

Proactive vs. Reactive Content

Are you sitting at your desk, waiting for the material to come to you? Or are you getting out there, thinking about how you can provide new and interesting content to the world?

You don’t have to be a genius to come up with original content. A combination of drawing on your personal experiences and planning ahead will generate content that actually starts a conversation and closes a sale.

A Good Workman Never Blames His Tools

Consider yourself lucky. Unlike, say, a professional mountain climber, you only need three tools to achieve your ultimate goal of a winning blog and email campaign (and you already have one of them in abundance). They are:

  • Brains
  • A diary
  • A calendar

(Forgive us if we skip over why your brains are important for this job).

The diary is simply for reflecting on what new things you’ve learned at the end of your working day. Did you test a copywriting technique that got a laugh (and a sale) from your customer? Then write it down there for safe keeping, because it’s useful material to write about.

The calendar, meanwhile, alerts you to events that could be exciting themes to write around and will help you plan when you’re going to be writing your content, and on what subject.

This will ensure that you’re prepared to produce content, which is better than scrambling frantically to create something that only just passes muster because you haven't posted or emailed in a while.

An ROI that’ll make you smile

Combined, these three tools will arm you with ample original material for your blog and email marketing campaigns, which in turn will increase your readership's loyalty and profitability, and you’ll wonder why you didn’t do it sooner.

But why stop there: your web site, direct mail, social media, even your pay per click campaigns could all do with a lift, right? The projected cost for this technique, based on a quick scan on Internet prices for a diary and calendar is less than a tenner. Put that figure into your ROI calculations and smile!

Email MarketingSocial Media

The Eye Of The Beholder: How A Great Story Can Generate Sales

Posted by Gareth Cutter

You’ll probably never hear a customer ask you, "Tell me a story; make me a promise" but we’ve seen visitors to our e-commerce clients’ web sites display this behaviour so many times that we’re positive it’s what they’re thinking.

Well, perhaps not in so many words, but the sentiment is there. Customers gravitate towards brands that have a story they can relate to, and can back it up with a promise (the ‘promise’ being our word for a guarantee that differentiates you from your competitors – crucial in a crowded online market place).

But what makes a good story? A good story should be short and sweet. It can be as quirky and creative as you like, but it must do two things:

  • Be relevant to your audience
  • Communicate an actual benefit of buying your product / service

Whether you are a new or established e-commerce retailer, think about what stories you have to tell: how did your business grow? Why was it set up in the first place? What kind of transformations do your customers’ lives undergo when they buy your products or services?

If you don’t believe that telling a story can make a difference to how people perceive (and desire) your products, take a moment to visit Significant Objects. This interesting web site has been pairing seemingly worthless products on eBay with imaginative stories from new and established writers and selling them for an average mark-up of around 2,900%. Hopefully it will inspire you to think about your own brand stories.

Also think about the many ways your e-commerce site could communicate your story: videos are cheap to make; stories can be sent in instalments to subscribers’ inboxes using auto-responders; web sites can be designed so each new page reveals a little more of the brand’s story, encouraging exploration of the site. The possibilities are endless, but the aim is the same: create a story and a promise that will get people talking about and buying from you online.

E-commerceSocial Media

Turn Friends Into Finances: The B2B Social Media Question

Posted by Gareth Cutter

The question is, ‘Is it really worth the effort?’

Perhaps you're an avid Twitter, Facebook and blog-user in your private time, or maybe you have only the faintest notion what those phrases mean. Whichever camp you're in, you're probably wondering how (or even if) social media can be usefully applied to a B2B company. We're here to show you how it can.

Some B2Bs can be remarkably hard on themselves, claiming they're not interesting enough to command a social media following. Others dismiss it as a drain of productivity; a waste of time, sceptical of social media's ability to generate actual finances.

So why bother?

For an initial expenditure of next to nothing, you get access to an entirely new audience to communicate with; social media is also remarkably easy to use.

  • Start Making Friends - Start by inviting and searching for existing contacts and develop it from there: invite the prospects you meet at networking events and business opportunities you acquire through marketing. Publicise your social media accounts on your web site; your email and marketing collateral, and provide an incentive to join to get a healthy following. Then use your accounts to develop promising business opportunities and increase your PR & networking potential.

  • Keep It Efficient - Because it's free, social media only costs you the time you put into it. Thankfully, it doesn't have to cost much: most of the main social media sites now integrate with each other, meaning you can update one account and have the rest update automatically. Broadcasting your news across social media suddenly shrinks from a fifty minute chore to five minute job.

  • Know Where To Go - You only need to use the main social media sites to achieve a satisfyingly broad coverage (Facebook, Twitter, Del.Ic.Ious, Technorati and LinkedIn are the big five). Keep it simple though: build social media around your business, not the other way round. Docnet doesn't have a Facebook page because we don’t find it relevant, but our staff use Twitter, Del.Ic.Ious and LinkedIn to spread news, attract interest and develop business opportunities. Pick and choose the channels you prefer, and add more later on if the need arises.

  • Get Known - Finally, in the world of B2B sales where competition is fierce and differentiation hard to come by, having a social media presence automatically singles you out as a different breed of business from the rest. It will also help you to publicise how ethical, environmentally-friendly, innovative, efficient and approachable you are by using it parallel to traditional PR and advertising efforts. This will ensure maximum coverage for minimum cost.

And if you still need persuading that social media can help your business? Speak to Docnet for a thorough, truthful diagnosis of your social media needs.

Social Media

Are Your Search and Social Media Strategies Out Of Focus?

Posted by Gareth Cutter

Is your search engine optimisation and social media out of focus? The lines between social media and search engine optimisation are blurred with one often directly influencing the other. This leaves some business leaders worrying whether they’re losing a clear perspective on their activities in these areas.

If you count yourself among this crowd, don’t be hard on yourself: the very fact that search engine optimisation and social media are in some ways interchangeable is more of a benefit than a hindrance to you. By investing time and money into one, you’ll actually achieve results in both.

If you’re still doubtful whether social media is worthwhile, think about it this way:

  • The higher your profile in social media (with Facebook fans and Twitter followers) the more likely your stories will be picked up and ‘catch fire’, so to speak. They can then spread far and wide in just a few hours. Widespread interest means more links and more links means better search rankings for you.

  • You can help this process along by using your personal social media accounts to publicise the news. So can your team. Provide an incentive for them to spread the message and get your stories mentioned on as many other people’s Twitter accounts and blogs as possible. This will also aid your search engine optimisation efforts.

Make sure you and your team is briefed on the search phrases you want to be ranked most highly for, and direct your social media activities around this knowledge.

Lines don’t always have to be sharply defined – allow the effects of social media and SEO to cross-over and your online presence will develop much faster.

Image Credit: OnTask via Flickr

SearchSocial Media

THE Five Tests To Help Increase Online Revenue In 2010

Posted by Gareth Cutter

Welcome back to the Docnet blog: we hope you’ve had an enjoyable Christmas break and New Year, and are ready to kick-start the new decade with some online marketing best practice and innovation tips for your web site.

To help get your momentum up, we’ve picked five simple tests to help make your web site more profitable in 2010, based on trends we’ve observed moving forward into the new year. Whether you want to do this yourself or get some outside help (get in contact with us and we can help ensure you do them right), the fact remains: online retail is evolving, and e-commerce web sites can’t afford to be left behind the curve.

1. Make customer registration on your web site optional.

While no self-respecting marketer would go out of the way to not add a customer’s details to a database, the sale is, ultimately, more important. Barriers to the sale might be reluctance to give up these personal details, or not enough time to register. Remove these barriers: provide an incentive to encourage as many visitors to register as possible, but allow them that choice.

2. Access your web site via a Smartphone

A relatively simple test, but one that will give you a great perspective on how people view your site (literally)! Is yours designed with Smartphones in mind? This is particularly important if you’re selling music, DVD, books, games or events tickets, as more and more Android, Blackberry and iPhone users are purchasing these items via their handsets. If your site doesn’t display and function correctly on these handsets, you can guarantee you are losing out on sales.

3. Invite customer reviews

If you’re still reluctant to let the ‘unedited voice of the public’ on to your web site, it’s time to re-evaluate you attitude. So long as you do everything you can to provide an efficient service and stock high-quality products (which we’re confident you are doing anyway!), customer reviews are nothing to fear. They can go so far as to help improve your search engine optimisation and lend trust to your site, encouraging more sales – and who wouldn’t want that?

4. Cultivate a social media presence

While some marketers are still unsure exactly how to calculate the return on investment of having Facebook, Twitter and other social media accounts, you only need to look at these real-life business Twitter success stories to see what benefits it can bring. To nab a phrase from the Lottery, ‘you have to be in it to win it.’

5. Invite feedback on individual pages

If you have a large web site, it’s going to be tough to keep tabs on all the various links and features you have running smoothly. Why not invite your customers to give feedback: not just on your entire site, but individual pages as well, both positive and negative? There are now services that allow site visitors to report feedback directly, whether it’s pointing out an error in the copy, reporting a link that’s not working or just complementing you on the good work. This can give visitors the positive impression of contributing to the site, and help keep your caretaking responsibilities under control.

For more advice on how to kick-start your online marketing and e-commerce in 2010, why not get in touch with us for a 5 minute chat? Call 0845 521 0444 or fill in our simple contact form today.

E-commerceSocial Media

Special Offers Are Key To Brand Popularity Online

Posted by Gareth Cutter

Brand awareness is a valuable asset – but what is your brand being associated with online? Are your social media efforts simply about having a presence in the community, so that you don’t appear behind the times?

While keeping up with the Jones’ shows you are at least engaged with current trends – it won’t be enough to bring much return on investment.

This is because you can’t half-commit to social media. As time goes on, it’s becoming more and more evident that forward-thinking brands are the ones reaping the biggest gains from opening Twitter to Technorati accounts. In order to keep up, you’re going to have throw your hat into the ring – as well as your coat, shoes and keys.

Before you open an account or post your first ‘status update’, ask yourself: what value will my social media efforts have for my target market? Retailers are learning first hand that traditional offers and promotions are what really drive engagement online. For example, weekly promotional codes for exciting discounts released via Twitter are more likely to get people following your account than an update about your latest company lunch (as nice and ‘human’ as that may be).

That’s not to say that you should batter social media platforms with relentless discounts and special offers. This factory attitude will likely turn people off. Instead, intersperse these financial rewards amongst more informative posts: answers to frequently asked questions, top tips and the like. These provide useful, interesting content at no cost to you, giving your market another reason to stay interested; there’s even room for your more humorous, inconsequential posts to show the human side behind your company, which traditionally is much easier for people to engage with.

In short, treat your social media programme like a micro-environment for your brand where your target market can access exclusive offers and content, all of which is designed to create a positive experience.

The alternative is staying on the sidelines, but social media never has - and never will be a lucrative 'spectator sport'.

E-commerceSocial Media

What's Your 'Story'? - Generating Leads Through Social Media

Posted by Gareth Cutter

The words 'marketing' and 'social media' don't always sit well together in the same sentence - but social media has huge lead-generating potential when you market your business online. Strike the right balance between marketing and socialising and your business message will spread far and wide, picking up new clients and customers in the process.

Tell your story through social media

It may be through a promotional video that goes viral; a game or application that users can download from your Facebook page, or a head-turning blog post. The social media message can take any form. It’s finding that balance between the ‘social’ and ‘marketing’ elements that’s the hard part, especially for B2B businesses.

Generating interest in your business boils down to telling the world who you are in an engaging, transparent fashion. Google might not seem like an obvious example, but the stories that circulate around employee perks, the numerous charitable exercises it has embarked on and even the tale of its origins helps to create a compelling portrait of the people behind Google.

These stories will have circulated not only through traditional print media, but personal blogs and employee's Twitter accounts as well. All of which helps cement Google in the public consciousness as a prominent figure in the industry, and that keeps them front of mind when people need a search engine.

Every business has a story behind it. While your past might not be the most glamorous, the future can be. Start telling your business’ story (Who are you? How are your products / services helping the people around you?) in an enthusiastic and entertaining manner. The more prospects who hear about you through the different online channels, the increased likelihood they will have of turning into your customers.

The alternative is in two or three years’ time when people start asking why no-one knows about your business, you have to write yourself an alibi explaining why you weren’t telling your story earlier on.

Photo credit: bionicteaching via Flickr

E-commerceSocial Media

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