Marketing Tips, Articles, and Useful Information

As a freelance commercial writer and copywriter, I've become something of an information junkie. I read a lot about copywriting, surf a lot checking out marketing programs and web sites, and write a lot. If I think something is useful, I'll post it here. Short pieces and links to other sites will be right on this page. A list of articles is included at the bottom of the page. If you find something particularly helpful or have a question, let me know.

Keys for Successful Internet Marketing

I plan for this to be an on-going list.  As I come across information I think is particularly useful when trying to maximize your Internet marketing, I'll post it here.

Traffic Doesn't Help If It Doesn't Convert 
Maybe optimizing your current web site for search engine placement isn't the right thing to do. (Gasp!!) Sometimes the user experience that is right for your market and product or service isn't right for search engines.  While generally, the two goals are not mutually exclusive, sometimes you need to go with what results in conversions.

One solution is to build a small simple web site for SEO. Include quality content on the site using straightforward navigation. Then include a link to your main web site for detailed information and the experience you've found results in conversions.  This will get you found on the Internet and still preserve what you know works for your users.

Meta Tags Are not All Created Equal 
In part because of keyword spamming practices, Google pays little to no attention to the keyword meta tag.  The title and description tags though are very important.  All search engines use them to some degree. The description tag is often displayed in search results.  Alt tags for graphics are also important if your site is graphic-intense.  If you don't use them, search engines may consider your site as lacking content and you won't rank well. Alt tags are also important if the site user is using a reader to access your web site.

Keep It Simple
With all the bells and whistles available to web designers and developers, it's sometimes difficult to get a simple, straight-forward web site. Unfortunately, many search engines have difficulty with complicated sites. Clean use of html coding assures that spiders can find and index the content you've worked so hard to create. In other words, if your site doesn't need Flash or involved Java-script to effectively communicate with your intended audience, then don't use it. If those sorts of effects are expected in your market, talk to your web developer about making the site search engine friendly without sacrificing function. You may also want use strategies such as pay-per-click ads, direct mail, and directory listings to drive traffic to your site rather than relying on natural search.

 Copywriting, General Business, Marketing Articles

• Effective Business-to-Business Use of Direct Marketing
  
  Find out how to use direct marketing in a B2B marketing environment.
• Copywriting for the Unsophisticated Buyer
  
  Find copywriting strategies for prospects that don't know you.
• Finding Expert Advise
  
  Finding a mentor or other source of expert advice can easily become a problem. Here are some criteria to make finding a source of advice easier.
• Web Site Planning
  
  Find out which Internet professionals perform which jobs and how to plan your web site development or update.

Check out my blog for additional short pieces about copywriting, Internet marketing, and business to business marketing. As a business blog, this isn't used os an online diary. I do post quick items that are top of mind and may grow into articles or longer items that I'll post on this page in the future.