Credible Content: Walmart Enlists Customers to Help Fellow Shoppers

January 20, 2012Joanne CostinLeave a comment

I don’t know about you, but when I shop online, I gravitate toward reviews. They contain sweet bits of information that manufacturers sometimes forget, or would rather not disclose: like how many hours will it take me to put that stereo cabinet together, and what is the size of that center opening, because I need to fit a big fat stereo receiver in it.

Reviews are a reality for B2C marketers and the smart ones have embraced the opinions of the online public. They know they can give consumers the confidence to click on the “purchase” button or send them running to another product. Walmart takes reviews to the next level with its Customer Q&A Exchange. Who better to answer questions about its products than customers who have already purchased them? Credibility is powerful content.

I don’t want to know how long it takes a Walmart employee to put together this stereo cabinet. I want to know how long it will take someone like me. “About an hour,” said one of the reviewers. I can only hope.

B2B marketers need to recognize that reviews and customer-generated content are coming to websites near you. Bring your own credible content to your website.

Not Enough Leads from Your Contractor Website? Here’s Help.

January 18, 2012Joanne CostinLeave a comment

In his recent enewsletter Michael Stone of Markup and Profit reported the results of a survey among his contractor subscribers. Eighty-four percent of those surveyed said they get no leads or less than 25 percent of their leads from their website. So I thought I would provide some ideas for fixing this common problem.

Too few leads could be a sign of three things – either your site is not getting traffic; your site isn’t what visitors are looking for; or visitors are frustrated and move on.

Step Number 1: Check the traffic

Check your traffic stats using Google Analytics or another analytics program. If your traffic numbers are low that’s the first thing you need to address.

Step Number 2: Add Content

If the problem is low traffic volume, one solution is to add content to your website. Optimize pages for keyword phrases so your business has a better chance of ranking with the search engines. In a Hubspot Survey, websites with 300 pages or more indexed in Google generated significantly more leads. A good way to add pages is through a blog. Companies that blog generate 67 percent more sales leads than companies who don’t.

Step 3: Try Paid Search Ads

It can take time to improve your rankings in Google by adding pages or a blog. In the mean time, you can boost traffic with paid ads focused on various keywords. The results are immediate and you can quickly see if there is also an issue with converting visitors to leads.

Step Number 4: Evaluate Your Calls to Action

If your site generates traffic but you are not converting visitors into sales leads, you need to take a look at your website. Do you have a strong call to action? Do you have a call to action for someone who isn’t ready to buy, as well as for someone who is? People need to know what to do next when they visit your site. If they don’t find it, they will quickly move elsewhere. The buying process can be long. An email newsletter can help you nurture leads. Include a strong reason to sign up.

Step 5: Critique Your Home Page

Examine your home page critically. Eliminate unnecessary words. Skip the friendly “welcome” greeting and get to what visitors want to know. Tell them how you can help. Establish authority with third party recognitions and memberships.

Step 6: Trim Down Your Form

Does your contact form ask too many questions? Eliminate any “nice to know” information and focus on the essentials. Email address and name.

Step 7:Make Phone Numbers Prominent

Phone numbers should be prominently place on all pages of the site.

Step 8: Respond quickly

Lastly, when you do get a lead, you must respond quickly. A Harvard Business Review study of 1.25 million sales leads from 29 B2C and 13 B2B companies showed that firms which responded within an hour were nearly seven times as likely to qualify the lead.

I hope these suggestions help. Would you like us to create more content about online lead generation?

Steal the Voice of Your Top Sales People for Web Content

January 17, 2012Mary KlestLeave a comment

The way information is presented on websites is changing. In part due to the increasingly social aspect of client/customer relations created by social media channels such as Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn. For this reason, listening to the voice of your top sales person can give insight on how to write content for your business website.

How to Find Effective Keyword Phrases for B2B Products and Services

January 12, 2012Joanne Costin1 Comment

Keyword phrases are the gold of SEO content writing. Select the right keyword phrases, write useful information around those key phrases, and watch the traffic come to your website. If your SEO content writer has been using the same keyword phrases for six months or even a year, it’s a good idea to head back to Google Adwords for a checkup. Go to the Google keyword tool and see how things have changed. Are new related keywords popping up? Has the competitiveness of certain keywords changed? What are the trends?

Everyone wants to rank for the broad keywords, but competition is keen. B2B content marketers need to look beyond the obvious. A simple spreadsheet can help you organize keywords into stacks or groups of related keywords for more effective SEO content writing. Here are five ways to develop and organize keywords for B2B products and services.

1. Keywords related to problems

What problems do your products or services solve? Searchers in this group don’t know what the answer might be yet, they just know they have a problem.

For example, a restaurant owner is throwing away too much food at the end of the day. He types in “how to reduce food spoilage.” For a company that sells food storage solutions, this might be a keyword phrase.

2. Keywords related to solutions

People in this category have some idea of how to solve their problem. For example the same restaurant owner might type in “Food Storage Solutions” or “best inventory management for restaurants.”

3. Product or brand keywords

People who already know the solution for their problem might type in a specific product category or brand name. For example they might type in “Rubbermaid Commercial Food Storage” or “Commercial Restaurant Storage.”

4. Service keywords

A service-related search would include service terms rather than specific products. A restaurant operator might type in”menu planning“, “foodservice purchasing“, or “foodservice consulting.”

5. Keywords related to cost

Searchers who are checking out costs are definitely in buying mode. Is your website optimized to capture traffic from these potential buyers?

6. Keywords based on your own site analytics

Check your analytics to see what terms drive people to your site. You may find some golden keywords you didn’t even know existed.

The important part of effective keyword research is to put yourself in the shoes of a potential buyer at various stages of the buying process. Then, use keyword research tools to prioritize your keywords based on the number of searches and competition. But remember keywords are a moving target. Continue to monitor regularly to avoid missing a an opportunity.

Who does your keyword research? While clients may give us a few keywords, at Content for Biz we always do our own keyword research. We believe this is an important factor in the success of any SEO writing project.

It’s the start of a new year. What better time to find some new keyword phrases that can help you drive business in 2012.

2012 Content Strategy Trends for B2B

January 9, 2012Mary Klest1 Comment

B2B companies will continue to rely on quality content in varied forms to differentiate themselves and their products during 2012. The website is still home base for most companies, but social media and branded content are augmenting their online presence. Marketing budgets are increasing in these areas.

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