Sweet Spot Marketing « Sweet Spot Marketing

Archive for the ‘Sweet Spot Marketing’ Category

Understanding Alexa Rank

Friday, January 8th, 2010

Alexa.com is a website which provides information on traffic levels for websites. The Alexa rank is measured according to the amount of users who’ve visited a website with the Alexa toolbar installed.

More simply, Alexa is a ranking system which is based on the level of traffic each website receives from the number of people who have the Alexa toolbar.

Alexa Bias

Undoubtedly Alexa rankings are skewed towards websites which have a large webmaster/tech audience. This is because a more web savvy audience is much more likely to have the Alexa toolbar installed than whose visitors are unaware of Alexa.

As such, many have indicated that Alexa is a vastly inaccurate method of measuring a website’s reach, traffic and potential. Ultimately the web has a finite amount of website ranking systems for measuring site value. Sweet Spot Marketing looks at the Alexa ranking as it might compare with your competitors sites in the same industry.

Alexa Results

Think of Alexa Rankings like a Golf score – the lower the better. As you might image, SweetSpotMarketing.com falls into a more tech savvy category than many other websites. Internally, we have several employees who have downloaded the tool bar. Also, many of our friends, clients, and general site visitors are perhaps more apt to have the tool bar installed.

Back in September of 2008, our domain name was actually SweetSpot-Marketing.com, our company site was in its infancy and our Alexa Rank was over 17 million. A year later we have a new domain, but more importantly our Alexa Rank moved into the top 200K sites.

Sweet Spot Alexa Rankings

How do I improve my Alexa Ranking?

There are methods which will allow you to bring an Alexa ranking in the millions down to the sub-million level for most any site (tech or not). Getting past the 100,000 or 10,000 mark is a considerably more difficult process these days. If you are interested in knowing who the best of the best are, Alexa ranks the top 500 sites for you.

Before getting into tips for improving your Alexa ranking, it’s important to first emphasize that you should devote most of your efforts in growing your site audience alongside strategic implementation of original content.

Having great content always leads to natural traffic and naturally increases links. In the long run, focusing on maintaining a site which attracts a larger audience will ultimately improve your Alexa ranking beyond what any one person can do alone. The power of many always trumps the power on an individual on the web.

Step 1: Start using Alexa yourself. If you are using Internet Explorer, visit Alexa.com and download the Alexa Toolbar. A better option, if you’re using Firefox, is to download the Search Status extension. This Firefox add-on will give you other data beyond Alexa ranking.

Step 2: Encourage others to use the Alexa toolbar. If you are part of a larger corporation that employs several people, then have an IT person install the toolbar on everyone’s computer for them. Imagine the potential if everyone’s default home page was the company website!

Step 3: Setup an Alexa profile and verify your site. By signing up at Alexa.com and verifying your site (simple file upload) you can customize what Alexa info is presented about your site.

Step 4: Get others to rate your Alexa profile. This may be a roundabout way of improving your score, but letting Alexa know that others care about your site is positive. It definitely can’t hurt to generate some positive PR even if it does not directly impact your ranking like site visitors do.

Step 5: Use an Alexa widget. Alexa currently provides 3 widget options depending on what information you may want to share. Some webmasters think Alexa can monitor these widgets so each click counts as a visit, even if the visitor does not have the Alexa toolbar installed on their computer. Don’t be totally consumed with improving your Alexa rank (remember the bias) to the point that it begins to hurt your website and negatively impact user experience. If you can place the widget in a non-distracting location on the web, this tactic may work for you, but it’s not for everyone.

Step 6: Use Pay-Per-Click Campaigns. If your site is relevant to a more tech savvy crowd, then buying traffic on search engines will likely bring in more Alexa toolbar users. It’s a side benefit of non-converting PPC traffic if you are looking for a silver lining.

The easiest way to know if any of the tips mentioned really work is to actually try them for yourself and monitor the results. As a Sweet Spot Marketing SEO client we monitor this trend for you.

Tags: Alexa, Site Ranking
Posted in Search Engine Optimization (SEO), Sweet Spot Marketing | Comments Off

Sweet Spot Marketing voted as a KC Smart Company to Watch

Monday, November 23rd, 2009

Sweet Spot Marketing is proud to announce it was selected by the KC Small Business Monthly (Thinking Bigger Media) as a 2010 KC Smart Company to Watch.

This is a tribute to the efforts and hard work put forth by the Sweet Spot Marketing Team. 2009 has been an exciting year for us and is a great honor to be included as one of the top growing companies in Kansas City to watch in 2010.

Thanks to our vendors and customers for a great 2009. We look forward to continuing our success in 2010 by helping our customers achieve greater success in their Pay Per Click and Search Engine Optimization efforts.

Tags: Sweet Spot Marketing
Posted in Sweet Spot Marketing | Comments Off

What Can I Do To Gear Up My Marketing Plan for 2010?

Tuesday, November 17th, 2009

It’s that time of year again. The time companies gather management in a conference room to figure out their marketing budgets for 2010. For many small to mid-size companies, this year might be the first year you have considered devoting much attention to online marketing.

If you haven’t thought about integrating a Pay-Per-Click, or SEO marketing campaign into your 2010 marketing budget, the good news is you are not too late. In fact, the state of our economy might have you looking for ways to do more with the same or less budget. Thankfully, online advertising is a great way to get a lot of bang for your buck.

A June 2009 survey by the Association of National Advertisers (ANA) revealed that the No. 1 strategy for marketers, who wanted to improve effectiveness without spending more, was shifting from traditional to digital media. More than one-half of respondents also reported shifting spending away from brand-building initiatives, and 38% were putting more spending into lower-cost media. Marketing online fits all 3 of these criteria.

If your company understands the benefits of online marketing, but has yet to jump in the game, adding Analytics is something basic you can do to measure and get a taste of what power these online tools have. The reason many companies are falling in love with online marketing is the transparency and accountability factors in near real time.

Compared with traditional advertising mediums, online marketers have much more data to analyze and measure ROI with. In fact, this is why many companies rely on a full-time agency for online marketing. Sweet Spot Marketing dissects and makes real-time changes to optimize your budget spending every day. This is why we are a valuable resource for so many companies.

Install Google Analytics For Your Website:

Part of any marketing process is testing and measuring results. Why wait for your agency to install all of these tools for you? Google Analytics is free, simple to install and it will help the marketing agency you bring on board with great data.

Trust us, when a client tells us they have Analytics already installed before we enter the picture, it makes us very happy. It also brings clients results quicker. Anytime we can make quicker and more educated marketing decisions in the first month rather than implementing changes and waiting to see how our marketing impacted results makes everyone happy.

Sweet Spot Marketing is here if you ever need us. We can manage your online marketing plan to meet your goals. Feel free to give us a call (913) 859-9886

Tags: online marketing
Posted in Pay Per Click (PPC), Search Engine Optimization (SEO), Sweet Spot Marketing | Comments Off

Sweet Spot Marketing Takes Control Of Google Maps

Tuesday, September 15th, 2009

As part of Sweet Spot Marketing’s commitment to its clients, the Sweet Spot team is beginning to manage Google Maps Listings as part of its standard PPC package.

Google Maps Listings are not directly related to PPC efforts but having one can help improve your business’s overall search engine presence. When your search engine presence is greater, your PPC ads perform better. Think of it as a double whammy. Not only is your paid ad appearing to customers, but your map listing is as well. This gives you an additional chance to convert a Google user to a customer.

Most businesses do not realize it, but they have a Google Maps Listing already. However, it is most likely considered to be an “out of control” listing. Google scans business directories, yellow pages and white pages and puts your business on its map. Sometimes this information can be wrong and it doesn’t contain all the possible features of a listing. It is the responsibility of the business or representing agency to verify the listing and claim ownership of it. Until you do, you cannot fully take advantage of your Google Maps placement.

The first benefit of a controlled listing is the ability to correct any inaccuracies about your business. Once you have verified that you own your business through Google, you can edit your listing’s address, phone number, email and website. This information is often times out of date and can send your potential customers on a wild goose chase.

The Second benefit is the ability to take advantage of dynamic features. A small percentage of businesses have actually claimed ownership of their Google Maps listing. This presents a huge advantage for those who do. When your listing is controlled, you can add features like photos, logos, and videos. You can also add product categories that our relevant to your business. These categories tell Google what additional products or services you offer and help your business appear organically for these categories on standard Google search results.

The extra Google Maps features on a controlled listing can help your business standout from the competition. It also allows you to better serve your customers by ensuring Google tells them accurate information. Sweet Spot Marketing is ready and willing to help your business achieve success on the internet by helping you take control of Google Maps.

Tags: Add new tag, Google Maps
Posted in Local Search, Pay Per Click (PPC), Sweet Spot Marketing | Comments Off

How To Buy Search Engine Marketing

Tuesday, April 28th, 2009

Internet Marketing Agencies and their services has become a high demand profession in recent years. As traditional media continues to fall, Search Engine Marketing has grown at double digit rates and is projected to continue that growth over the next 5 years. As the Internet is nothing new, the concept of using keywords to advertise your business is new to a lot of companies. As more and more businesses understand the potential in the market, the need to understand what questions to ask is equally important.

Here are a few things you should ask of any Internet Marketing Agency when shopping around.

1) What kind of reporting is provided- It is very important to see where your money is being spent. This will allow you to see how much of your budget is going towards gaining clicks to your website and how much is being charged for the management of your account. Many companies will package their pricing based on your budget but not disclose how much is going to them and how much is allocated to the search engines. Asking for a detailed report showing you the keywords used to gain traffic to your site along with the number of clicks, the average cost per click, total amount spent, and if applicable, the number of conversions each keyword generated. These details will ensure you know where and how your search engine marketing dollar is spent and if it is effective.

2) Ask if you will have access to your account - When a Search Engine Marketing Agency signs you up, they should create a new account with the search engine you will be advertising with. Since you are paying for this, you should have access to the account. If you were to change companies or bring the management process in-house, you should be able to do so. Many companies will not provide you with access and the ability to move your account. The history of an account is very important. These details will show what has been successful or unsuccessful and could shorten the learning curve if a change in management is needed.

3) What kind of keywords will be used to drive traffic to your site – This is not who can provide you with the biggest list of keywords, but it is the quality that counts. You should be able to review and approve of any and all keywords used in your account. A list of three or four keywords is unacceptable. Many times, these are the most generic terms with the highest search volume and also the highest cost. The name of the game is ROI and you should have a keyword list that is monitored and updated to ensure you are receiving the maximum return on your investment.

4) How often is the ad text being updated- All keywords should have at least two ads being tested when it is searched. This allows the ability to monitor which ad is generating traffic and conversions. A major benefit of Search Engine Marketing is that ad content can be changed very quickly. If one or both ads are underperforming, they should be changed to help get the most of your internet advertising dollar.

Sweet Spot Marketing believes that the more informed and educated potential customers are, the likelihood of their success increases. It is disappointing talking to clients that have not had good experiences with other agencies and “lose faith” in Internet Marketing. Many would have had a better success rate if they would have asked the questions listed above and had a better understanding of what they were buying and what services were being provided.

Anyone can get you clicks and traffic to your site, that is the easiest part. What you should be paying for in an Internet Advertising company is the ability to drive relevant, quality traffic to your site from users that are proactively looking for your product or service and are looking to buy. You should be paying for someone to proactively manage your account and create positive returns on your marketing dollar.

Posted in Pay Per Click (PPC), Sweet Spot Marketing | Comments Off

Archive for the ‘Sweet Spot Marketing’ Category

Understanding Alexa Rank

Sweet Spot Marketing voted as a KC Smart Company to Watch

What Can I Do To Gear Up My Marketing Plan for 2010?

Sweet Spot Marketing Takes Control Of Google Maps

How To Buy Search Engine Marketing

Latest Blog Posts

Archives

Categories