W2DotZero Selects Good Shepherd Alliance as Web 2.0 Business

After months of waiting and deciding, the UpClick Marketing team has selected The Good Shepherd Alliance (GSA) (www.loudounhomeless.org) as the winning Non Profit that will benefit from our new Web 2.0 social media marketing program called W2DotZero (www.W2DotZero.org). The program will build the online presence of GSA using our online social media marketing and search engine marketing techniques, thereby increasing GSA’s opportunity to meet many if its goals and objectives for 2008 and beyond.

We’ll optimize www.LoudounHomeless.org so that it ranks higher on Google, Yahoo and MSN search engines. We’ll also use Web 2.0 websites like FaceBook, YouTube and del.icio.us to promote GSA online. Other online marketing tactics will include:

• Creation of and frequent updates to a blog on the company’s website

• Search Engine Optimization for the non profit’s website

• External search engine optimization including link building and other “off-page” optimization tactics

• Local promotion on Google and Yahoo search engines

This is what Mark Gunderman, spokesman for GSA had to say when we made the announcement:

“We’re very pleased to be chosen as the winning Non Profit business for W2DotZero. Although GSA is the oldest, established in 1983 and largest emergency homeless shelter in Loudoun County with thirty six beds, we still have many hurdles to overcome that include raising awareness of the homeless plight in Loudoun County. We’re also focused on fundraising, establishing a core volunteer team and soliciting material donations. We’re county-wide with facilities in Sterling, Ashburn, Leesburg, Lucketts and Purcellville, and we’re optimistic about what W2DotZero can do for us.”

It was tough for our team to choose the winning business. We performed online analytics to determine the “online footprint” of all the participating businesses, but for the entire UpClick team it came down to helping homeless and indigent people in Loudoun County. We didn’t realize that many of the homeless include women and children who are victims of domestic violence.”

I’d also like to thank all the businesses that took the time to make their case at www.W2DotZero.org. Take heart because there are no losers. Do a search for ‘web. 2.0 Northern Virginia’ and you’ll see W2DotZero is ranked at least in the #3 spot on page one of Google. We also learned of one participating business that received new customers because they had found the business’ information on W2DotZero.org. Now that’s the power of the web.

Keep visiting for updates on W2DotZero and other blog posts.

Thanks.

Web design best practices to turn brochureware websites into lead generators for Northern Virginia businesses

I’m writing about this topic because more and more I’m being asked what can my website be doing for me and what should its goals be? I’m glad I’m being asked because, frankly, many businesses treat their websites like brochureware and don’t have specific measurable goals in place for their websites to gauge it's ROI.

So what does a website goal look like? It could be something as simple as measuring how many people visit your website each month. The benefit of measuring website visits (measuring it is quite simple and easy) month over month is that you'll see something is working or not working. The next question might be where on your website are people spending most of their time? By measuring the number visits to each page of your site, you’ll be getting very good business intelligence. For example, if two of the pages on your site are product pages and people are spending 3-5 minutes on them, then you know you’re onto something good. So what next? Now you can do any number of things to turn your passive page into a lead generator. The first thing you can do is to add a short form at the bottom of each page. Pro-actively ask for the visitor’s name, their telephone number, their email address and provide a field where people can write a reason as to why they’re contacting you. You’ll be surprised how many people will complete the form because they want to know more about your product, or a detail about the product. Would you ever think of owning a store without a sales associate to answer questions and help prospective customers with their questions? You’ve now turned your website from a brochureware website into a working-for-its money lead generator.

What I’m describing is not the same as having a contact us page with a form or email address on it. This is about capturing visitors’ contact information at the very moment they’re asking questions about a specific product or detail. It’s a subtle but very powerful difference.

Establishing metrics or goals for your website will give you powerful insights into your website, which in my experience changes the way businesses sell and even operate. There’s a culture change that moves to accountability, which is always good for business.

To learn more about web design for Northern Virginia businesses, please visit
http://www.upclickmarketing.com/search_engine_marketing/web_design.htm

Search Engine Submission for Loudoun County Businesses

Loudoun County businesses are missing a significant opportunity to reach their prospective customers through search engine submission. Small businesses in Loudoun County suburbs like Sterling, Ashburn, Leesburg, Chantilly, Dulles and others have as their neighbors many medium and large sized companies, and other small businesses who would be interested in buying their products or using their services.

Who is your next door business neighbor?
Local search has become increasing popular among all searches, even among many businesses selling to businesses. Yet, most small business websites are not optimized for local search engine submission. Google Local, Yahoo Local and MSN Live Local are investing more in developing their local search offering because they see it as an important part of search. So why aren't small businesses investing more in their websites for local search? I've spoken with local business owners who are satisfied with their website as brochure ware, and nothing more. Most businesses have no clearly defined goals for their website. A website goal could be as simple as getting 100 people to a website per month. An even better goal would be to have 100 people print a coupon from a website per month and bring it to the store. Small business owners who invest in the optimization of their websites will have a significant advantage over their competitors, especially in Northern Virginia where the demographic relies heavily on the Internet.

It all begins with Search.
Harris Interactive recently reported that 80% of all Internet activity begins with search! Wow! I should not be surprised by that figure, but I am. That's an incredible statistic. Recent comScore data (July 2006) asserted that 13% of overall web search is local, or approximately 849 million monthly searches vs. 6.5 billion in general web search. comScore also says that 63% of the US online population (roughly 109 million people) conducted a local search in July.

So what can a Loudoun County business do?
Invest in optimizing your website for the best search engine rankings for your keywords in your town or city, and surrounding towns. Invest more in your website. Invest in good content and people will return to your site as loyal customers. Build your brand. Offer them something or give something away for free. Give them a coupon to print from your website, or tell them they'll get 10% off their next purchase if they order from your website. They don't have to pay for it on your website, but they can order it. Poll your website visitors and ask them what they like about your site, and don't like.

Your website has the opportunity to be the best sales, marketing and consumer relations tool you could ever ask for. Take advantage of it.