barney

Hi ADGer's,


I would like your opinions and suggestions about the following topics.


A client of mine call me to upgrade her website. Anyway she isn't so happy
with the feedback received from the contact e-mail address *very less e-mail
received*. She ask me for a web marketing strategy and honestly I told her
that isn't my job but I will do the better to satisfy her needs. This client
is very important to me because I worked very well with her and I want to
make her happy with my web site. Last but not least, it's possible that in
the future times I will get many new client contacts from her, because she
was very happy with the web site design I made for her.


What's really an issue is that it is a Flash web site and you know better
than me that Flash text isn't indexed by search engines.
Anyway I've got a good result using the title tag but it doesn't suffice
yet. I've tried with google to see the result, here's the link:


http://www.google.it/search?hl=it&ie...lenza+immagine...


The word that is very important for her activity is wedding *wedding*.
Anyway I could try at least to append it to the other words used in the
title tag, what do you think about?


I considered ADwords from google and i suugested her to subscribe this
service. What is you opinion? have you tried it?
Anyway if she decide to subscribe ADwords I will do all the stuffs needed
for the subscrition.


Do you know other kinds of activities that they could bring this site into
the top ranking page?
Consider in your reply that she doesn't want to spend a lot of many. Thanks
in advance for your kindly replies.


cheers

barney

Hi Davide,


I'm going to concentrate on the comments above from your post.


A web marketing strategy should not solely rely on search engine ranking.
Never ever ever.


Your client should target HER market (not the whole world wide web by
relying on search engines) and perhaps use the following methods to bring
people to her web site - and in turn, contact her via her email address:


a) business cards & stationery with web site & email address listed
b) local paper advertising (not as expensive as other advertising)
b) networking / meeting people / giving them business cards


Those are some suggestions other than search engine listing - which is not a
reliable way of advertising.

barney

Hi Davide,


Unfortunately, many people make the same mistake as your client. They
expect that their web site will not serve as just a brochure, but as an
advertising medium and sales rep (in some cases). Wrong! Unless the
subject/content of the website is such that someone surfing the web will
naturally stumble upon it AND be interested in it, then the web site,
per se, is not necessarily a wonderful advertising medium and certainly
not the only medium in the marketing mix. And that ignores the poor
utility of Flash as a utility for indexers.


This is also true if the bueinsss is ENTIRELY web-based: Condiser that
even amazon.com does not rely on web advertising only. It drives
customers to its site using print, radio, TV, and targeted web media
(which is not the main part of the mix) as well as aggressive promotion.


If your client is in the wedding industry, then I would look to proven
advertising/PR strategies and venues appropriate to her business. What
magazines do her prospects read? Is direct mail an option? Trade shows?
Articles in local newsapers or regional magazines, etc.


It is often said that marketing is a 5% endeavor: Each particular thing
you do will advance you a little bit (about 5%). The more you do, and
the more different things you do the more you advance. Sure, some
banners, reciprocal links, search engine registrations and taking a look
at the Google right side ADwords listing feature can be part of the
effort but it is not likely to be a panacea. To expect a web site and
100% web-based marketing strategy to hit a marketing home run all by
itself (regardless of how ggreat the site design is) is 1999-2000 era
dot.com.disaster thinking.


All that said, the lowest cost items would be PR things that she handles
herself, reciprocal links that she negotiates herself, and search engine
registrations (which are more due diligence than proactive marketing in
my view). Marketing costs money. if she does not want to spend very
much, then bottom line is that she does not want to do much marketing.
That's her business and her decision; don't let her make you feel like
you are responsible for it.


Gary

barney

Hi there David,


The first suggestion that comes to mind would be putting together a
relatively basic HTML version in addition to the flash one you have already
implemented.


With the right metatags, a little web research and clever wording of copy
you would be almost guaranteed to receive better results than an equivalent
flash site.


Another equally important factor is working on a number of quality
*incoming* links to the site. If the target key word is "wedding[s]", try
contacting sites with content relevant to "wedding[s]" and ask them to place
a link for you. A few extra tips on this concept:


1. Avoid "link farms" like the plague. They can actually *harm* your search
engine ranking. Stick to quality sites [preferably with few outgoing links]
and they will all add up over time to improve your overall ranking.


2. If you are lucky enough to get the option, it is best to have your site
linked from a text link of the word "wedding[s]" if this is the keyword you
are targeting.


Hmmm. By no means a comprehensive answer, but I hope this info helps a
little


Best of luck.

barney

Since she isn't selling products on the web, she needs to concentrate on
marketing her business, not the website.
A website can be an important part of that plan, but she should never rely on
her site alone.
Guerrila marketing techniques can produce big results for small investments.
http://www.gmarketing.com/tactics/tactics.html
She needs to concentrate on the regional area that would use her services.
As far as getting the website listed high in Google, kill the Flash page as an
intro and split it into pieces and use those with the words. That will keep the
look but make it spider friendly.