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INTRODUCTION xi 1 THE BENEFITS OF ONLINE MARKETING 1 What Is Online Marketing? 2 Prerequisites for Successful Online Marketing 2 Adequate human resources 3 Consistent communication 4 To sell or not to sell online 5 What Sells and What Doesn't Sell Online 6 2 ATTRACTING YOUR TARGET AUDIENCE 11 What Are the Characteristics of Your Ideal Customer? 11 How to Target Different Types of Audiences 12 Women want to save time and money 13 Seniors prefer simple sites 13 Teens represent a large, racially diverse generation 14 Get the Word out through Those You Know 15 How to Personalize Your Website 16 Learn from Amazon.com 17 Organize and customize content 18 Focus on the customer 19 Testing Your Website's Appeal to Your Target Audience 19 Banner Ads Rely on Placement 20 3 CREATE EFFECTIVE CONTENT 25 Survey Demonstrates Importance of the Web 25 Key Components of Great Web Content 26 Low-Cost Ways to Generate Fresh Content 28 Dangers of Changing Your Home Page Too Much 29 Visitors could become confused 30 You could hurt your search engine position 30 Benefits of a Flexible Home Page 31 Test campaigns and track successes 31 Keep focused on your target audience 32 Keeping Content Fresh with a Blog 32 Ways to Generate Content If You Don't Write 33 Buy content 33 Have customers generate content 34 Link to other sources of content 35 4 GENERATE FREE ADVERTISING 37 Pinpoint Marketing versus Interruptive Marketing 37 What is pinpoint marketing? 38 Day-part marketing 38 Embedding Marketing Messages in Content 39 Establishing Credibility 40 How to get your content onto other sites 40 Swapping Advertising 41 How to Generate Word-of-Mouth, Viral Marketing 41 Offer something for free 43 Utilize message boards and chatrooms 43 vi LOW-BUDGET ONLINE MARKETING FOR SMALL BUSINESS CONTENTS vii Choose a memorable domain name 44 Small Businesses Go Social to Generate Free Advertising 45 Consider Location-Based Applications and Websites 46 5 EMAIL MARKETING 49 Stats to Support Email Marketing 49 Permission-Based versus Spam Email 50 Building Your Email List 51 Goal-Oriented Marketing 53 Email Newsletters 53 Content ideas 54 Why short is sweet 54 Timing and frequency 55 Email List Hosting Services 56 Testing and templates 56 Tracking success 57 Targeted content 57 Writing an Effective Subject Line 58 Taking a tip from viruses 60 Learning what works 61 6 BUILDING AN ONLINE COMMUNITY 67 What Are Online Communities and Why Are They Important? 68 Community-Building Technology and Ideas 68 Message boards 68 Content 69 Calendars 70 Contests 70 Chatrooms 71 LivePerson instant messaging 71 Community Editors 72 Buying Ad Space on Other Community Websites 73 Using Online Communities to Assist with Customer Support 73 7 CO-BRANDING STRATEGIES 77 Why Co-Branding Is Different Online 78 Integrating Partnerships into Your Website 78 The Power of Co-Branding 80 Co-Branding Guidelines 81 How to Integrate Partner Products 84 Do it right the first time 84 Take a tip from newspapers 85 Complementary Partnerships Work Best 85 8 GETTING TO THE TOP OF THE SEARCH ENGINES 89 Choosing the Right Keywords 90 Optimizing Your Website 90 Home page text 90 HTML tags 91 Flash pages, image maps, and heavy graphics 94 Redirects, pop-ups, and pop-unders 95 Back buttons 95 Text links 95 Site maps 95 Frames 96 Link Popularity 96 Keeping Content Up-to-Date 99 Positioning Your Website in the Local Market 99 How YouTube Helps Your Ranking 100 How Long Does It Take? 101 Paying for Positioning 102 Success with Keywords 102 CPC versus CPM ad buys 102 The use of landing pages 103 Writing effective ad copy 103 9 COST-EFFECTIVE MEDIA-BUYING STRATEGIES 107 CPM, CPC, and CPA Ad Buys 107 Testing, Testing, Testing 108 viii LOW-BUDGET ONLINE MARKETING FOR SMALL BUSINESS CONTENTS ix How to Make a Banner Ad Successful 109 Target Your Ads for Success 110 Track Results 111 The Power of Customer Referral 112 10 BASICS OF GOOD WEB DESIGN 115 Simple Sites Are Best 115 Keep the User in Mind 116 Guidelines for Effective Web Design 116 11 WORKING WITH YOUR WEB DEVELOPER 125 Stay Away from Technical Lingo 125 Be Prepared and Define Your Goals 126 Use Examples of Other Sites 126 Get 24/7 Tech Support 126 Put Everything in Writing 127 Keep Your Developer Informed 127 The Price of Web Design 127 12 THE POWER OF THE WEB 129 The Internet Reaches Everyone 129 Crossing the economic barrier 130 Breaking the language barrier 130 What this means for your small business 131 Key Points about Online Marketing 131 REFERENCES 133 WORKSHEETS 1 Discovering Your Target Audience 22 2 Planning Your Email Campaign 65 3 Finding the Right Co-Branding Partner 87 4 Search Engine Submission Readiness Check 105 5 Testing Your Website for Usability 119 6 Rate Your Website's Marketability 122