By Jeanine Leder, Business.com Account Manager

Running a successful PPC (Pay-Per-Click) campaign in today’s highly competitive marketplace requires specific knowledge about the demand and marketability of the product or service you are selling. To achieve the very best ROI on your advertising dollar, it is important to make sure your PPC campaigns are closely monitored and optimized.

Here are the Top 5 best practices Business.com follows to optimize our advertisers’ Pay-Per-Click campaigns:

1)      Data Analysis – Allocate a set period of time each day to collect and analyze keyword data, click volume, conversion rates, sources of traffic and daily uptime of the campaign to determine where the client’s budget is best spent.  Compare how these metrics measure up against the advertiser’s individual goals to ensure that we are delivering the highest ROI.

1. Keyword Data – Business.com performs keyword research at the campaign level to draw the most appropriate audience to achieve the optimal CPL.  Account managers have narrow, specific keyword lists for those clients focused on low CPL and profitability, as well as large broad keyword lists for those clients desiring high traffic and brand awareness. Using the Google Adwords Keyword Tool, relevant keyword lists can be produced using “exact match”, “phrase match”, or “broad match” options to generate the keywords to match the campaign goals.
2. Conversion Rates/Sources of Traffic – Using some form of conversion tracking is critical to track metrics down to the keyword and category levels. It also provides you with visibility into how individual traffic sources are performing so that you can focus on those  sources that are delivering the highest ROI.

2)      Category Relevance – We find that campaign goals and target audience can vary wildly depending on the advertiser, the product or service and so on. Identifying your goals before launching a new campaign ensures that you are starting out your campaign on the right foot.  When we launch a new advertiser campaign on Business.com, we spend time getting to know the client’s business and their specific goals for the marketing campaign. Based on the information gathered from the client, we recommend all categories that may produce high conversions.

3)      Landing Page Evaluation – A landing page is the page that a potential customer comes to after he/she clicks on an ad. High quality, relevant landing pages drive the highest conversion rates.  Our team of account managers are trained to recognize the features of an effective landing page and work with clients to optimize the landing page to maximize ROI on the campaign. For more information on landing page optimization, read our earlier blog post.

4)      Ad Copy – Writing effective ad copy to reach the targeted audience(s) is not an exact science. Account managers work with clients to test different ad copy to find out what converts.  When writing ad copy, put yourself in the shoes of your audience. How do they think?  What would persuade them to click on your ad?  Be sure that your ad copy is clear and relevant to your landing page, but don’t hesitate to get creative and use an eye grabbing phrase that will lure the audience in and get the click.

5)      Budget –Close monitoring of budgets is key to ensuring that your company’s marketing dollars are being used effectively.  All of the steps above will give you the information that you need to make budgeting decisions based on your ROI.

A successful online marketing campaign does not happen overnight. It is rarely a case of “hitting the bullseye” right out of the gates.  It takes time, trial and error, close analysis and a bit of money to get things running smoothly and profitably.  Following the 5 tips listed above will help to get you rolling in the right direction. Tell us where you’ve found success with your PPC campaigns.

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[Asaad Bhamla is a new guest blogger and a Business.com marketing consultant who works with small and medium-sized businesses to meet their search marketing goals. He blogs about new business trends at The Online Economy, to learn more click here. ]

A pay-per-click advertising campaign is an effective way to immediately drive traffic to your company’s website. But whether that traffic converts into an actual lead or sale depends on your overall strategy and execution.  I’ve interviewed Greg Pritchard, one of Business.com’s dedicated campaign optimization specialists. Greg helps clients optimize their PPC campaign for success, striving to meet and exceed their goals every day. Greg shares proven strategies and actionable tips and tactics you can use today. Here are just a few things he shared with me:

Q: What is the most important step a new advertiser should take when setting up their PPC campaign?

A: Know what is going to determine success for you. My advertisers have goals such as lead generation, ROI or brand awareness. Based on your goals, set up conversion tracking to measure key metrics like cost-per-lead, bounce rate, time spent on a page,  etc. This will let you track the success of the campaign and make necessary adjustments. 

Landing pages are another important factor in the success of a new campaign. Make sure there is a clear call to action that correlates with your ad copy. Ideally, if this is a lead generation campaign, there should be a lead capture form on this page.

Q: Once a campaign is up and running, what strategy do you use to optimize campaign performance?

A:  Business.com offers a number of different metrics to measure a campaign. Within the account management dashboard there are performance indicators. These are based on the click through rates of an ad. This is an easy way to monitor the performance of specific keyword categories and ad copy. Performance can be improved by more tailored titles and ad copy. The higher the performance indicator the more traffic an ad will drive at a lower CPC.

It is also important to maintain the highest rank possible on a page. We have noticed that advertisers who capture one of the top three spots receive better ad performance and higher conversion rates.

Q: Tell me about a specific optimization tactic that you’ve seen success in.

A:  Creative cross marketing can drive quality leads from sources you might not have thought of.  For example, target your ads for printers to new businesses in the “Starting a Small Business” category. Many of our advertisers have been happy with the results of well thought out cross marketing.

Q: What does successful ad copy look like?

A: Effective copy can significantly improve conversions and lead quality. Here is an example of ad copy that was successful on a client’s campaign;

100% US Based Outsourced Call Center – One World Direct®
2010 ATSI Call Center Award Winner. Top Companies Choose OWD For 24/7 Inbound Call Center Services. Click For Pricing!
Inbound | Customer Service | Email & Web Chat | Get A Quote 
www.owd.com

Ad copy should include a direct call to action that will entice the user both to click and to convert (“Click For Pricing”). Key aspects of the brand’s value must be identified in the title (in this example, 100% US based). Also include key “trust indicators”, like the ® symbol and the recent award in the description. Finally, leverage multi-links that illustrate the broad variety of services provided by OWD and provide an additional call to action (“Get A Quote”).

These are a few tips to get you started. If you have any questions about managing your PPC campaign or want to share your success stories, please leave a comment below and I’d be happy to answer them for you.

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This is the beginning of a series that will feature several how-to videos speaking directly to small businesses and addressing their online marketing needs. We know small business online marketers are strapped for time, so we have committed to delivering the most pertinent information in 5 minutes or less. Discover specific tactics and strategies you can implement today to begin boosting your online marketing performance tomorrow. If you would like to jump ahead in the series visit our YouTube channel here.

Looking for a crash course in online marketing? We’ll cover topics such as search engine marketing, pay-per-click (PPC), search engine optimization (SEO) and social media.

In our first featured video, our very own Business.com expert Matt Gussin Manager of Account Management walks you through the process of setting up a PPC campaign from start to finish in “Guide to Pay-Per-Click Advertising for Small Business”. 

Matt reviews the basics and more advanced topics of starting a PPC campaign including how to plan a paid search campaign, how to optimize your ad copy and how to select the proper keywords to maximize ROI.

Tell us what you think! Did you find this video helpful? What other subjects would you like to see covered?

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This is part two of a two-part blog post – Recapping the Business.com and BtoB Webinar, ‘Finding B2B Marketing Success Integrating Social Media and Search’

As promised, we’ll address many of the additional questions asked during Thursday’s webinar that we were unable to answer during the Q&A. To view the on-demand version of the webinar, click here.

In reviewing the questions, we evidenced a common desire among marketers to understand more clearly how they can measure social media and better integrate it with their search marketing efforts, a trend supported by the responses of more than 450 marketers in our recent co-sponsored survey.

In fact, our survey revealed more than half of B2B marketers currently do not use a social media monitoring tool to measure their social media efforts, even though three-quarters of marketers are currently using social media to enhance their search marketing efforts.

It’s clear marketers understand that (1) social media is an important part of an online marketing program and (2) that social media can be used to enhance search marketing efforts. However, when it comes to truly executing on the measurement of efforts, many marketers are unclear how to proceed. Our in-webinar poll reaffirmed this assumption in showing that 41% of marketers are currently not measuring their social media efforts; only 27% are using a social media monitoring tool.

Many attendees asked us similar questions surrounding the measurement of social media and the integration of social with search; to better educate our attendees and B2B online marketers, check back in the coming weeks for our upcoming solution guide detailing the top social media monitoring tools available for B2B marketers.

In the interim, we’ve addressed some of the main questions asked during the webinar. If you have additional questions on this webinar, feel free to contact us directly or comment on this blog post.

Q: How did you define/determine ‘The Best’ and ‘The Rest’?

A: The two groups, ‘The Best’ and ‘The Rest’ were a result of respondent segmentation on this within the Business.com and BtoB Survey: “What has been the overall impact of social media channels on the search performance of your business website(s)?”

Respondents who answered as having a positive impact (either ‘very positive’ or ‘positive’) were grouped into the segment ‘The Best’ (n = 205). Respondents answering anything other than these two choices (neutral, negative, very negative or don’t know) were grouped into ‘The Rest’ (n = 259). Data was then rerun for each segment and statistical significance was analyzed.

Q: For the BtoB/Business.com Survey, you said that the survey consisted of 464 people. Was that a random sample? How did you find the participants?

A: Participants were recruited through multiple BtoB Online E-mails that went out from July 1 – 16. Recipients were asked to complete the survey and were provided with an incentive to be entered into a raffle to win an iPad.

Q: Also for the BtoB/Business.com survey, what types of businesses participated and what industries were represented?

A: Respondents were primarily B2B decision-makers in an executive or managerial role that were overseeing or managing directly both paid search and social media marketing.  Responses on key variables were not significantly different between B2B and B2C respondents so that data was pooled for analysis purposes.  Although there were some specialty marketers, many (33%) were general B2B marketers and had cross-channel roles and responsibilities.  Most companies had fewer than 250 employees (59%) and were from a variety of industries, including high/tech, advertising and media.

Q: Must you post on multiple social sites, or is it beneficial to focus on Facebook and Twitter? Is it necessary to also go to Digg and others? Or should you stick to one venue?

A: Again, it all depends on what your overall goals are for your social media efforts – let your objectives determine the appropriate social media channels. We found within the study that The Best marketers were using, on average, more social media channels than the rest, so definitely don’t be afraid to use more than one social media channel and continue to try out and test new channels that might fit with your overall goals.

Q: What is another option besides CTR that will help track views/sales?

A: Some social media monitoring tools like Radian6 or Viralheat are CRM compatible and will allow you to link social media activity to clients and prospects, better allowing you to capture the influence of your social media programs. The majority of CRMs (like Salesforce.com) will allow you to then pull reporting that can show activity impact among these contacts and revenue generation.

Q: In today’s economy, how can a company approach the resource issue of social media ($ or people) within the confines of existing resources… without more budget or staff (or agency expense)?

A: A few suggestions for increasing your social media footprint without increasing resource allocation are:

1. Will work for free – Check out your local community college or university to recruit interns to come on board at no cost to you in exchange for class credits.
2. Clearly define your social media goals – Companies who set up Twitter and Facebook accounts because they feel like it’s a “must” can easily waste valuable time and resources. Consider your social media efforts as an extension of your overarching online marketing goals to clearly understand which social media accounts are the most right for you.
3. Get other marketers on board – Now that you know what you want to accomplish with social media, let other team members know how you can use social media to assist with their marketing programs.
4. Establish KPIs for your efforts – Work with your colleagues to establish measurable KPIs for your social media programs.
5. Set up a free social media monitoring tool – There are many free and easy-to-use social media monitoring tools that take minutes to set up like SocialMention or Google Alerts to help you measure the success of your social media efforts. They are great resources for monitoring all the major social media channels for conversations and mentions about your brand, product or a competitor’s product.
6. You have a social media army – use it! – We hear you on the resource front – realistically, many companies are still lacking in a dedicated social media manager.

One way to lessen the load (or reallocate, in a way) is to educate all employees on your social media efforts and encourage them to participate. Train sales to share the latest press releases, news and product updates across their social networks; show them how to monitor the major social media channels for potential customers looking for your product or service. Let engineering or product departments serve as the ‘field experts’ for any feature and functionality conversations or questions raised in online communities and forums where they’re most likely already participating. You’ll quickly find you’re able to make a bigger impact with less stress on your end. It make take some up-front work to establish company ‘best practices’ for social media use and train employees, but the investment will pay off.

Q: How can I train for myself for social media without paying big bucks?

A: Start by using social media to find what you’re looking for! Webinars are great (and usually free) educational tools. I’d also recommend doing a quick search in YouTube to see if anyone has set up an instructional video you can watch.

 Some channels and monitoring tools also offer free demonstrations and information on their Web sites for getting started, so make sure to look there; finally, consider asking around in community forums like Business.com Answers or other online communities to see if anyone has additional advice for the best ways to get started, given what you’re looking for.

Q: I have heard that Facebook may not be as key a component of social media for B2B organizations with a niche market. Is that true, or should we have a Facebook page and post updates even if we only have 5 “friends”?

A: You need to start somewhere, right? Every company out there probably had just a few Facebook “friends” at the beginning stages of their Facebook efforts. As to whether or not Facebook is the place for you to focus your social media efforts, it depends on where your audience is and how they are using that channel. If your product has a viral element and your brand has a personality that matches that of habits and behaviors on Facebook, then it makes sense to continue there. However, if your business is more conservative and thought leadership is a key element of your marketing strategy, you may want to consider starting off with a blog or Twitter account.

Take some time to really think about the end goal for reaching your market with social media, and that will help dictate your use of social media channel. You may find you’re better served engaging in a tight-knit online forum or community where your audience has established itself.

Q: How do you build a Twitter following without a “personality” to drive the content?

A: Share really, really relevant and quality content. Twitter users follow other users who are sharing information they’re interested in. Share links to the latest articles, blog posts and videos you find or create that you think your target audience would find valuable.

You should also engage with industry thought leaders and other key influencers on Twitter who are sharing content your audience values. Follow them and publicly thank them and retweet their articles and content you find valuable. Just make sure to keep a healthy mix of what you’re sending out and what you’re retweeting of others.

Q: For B2B videos and webinars- is it better to cover products & services, or simply share expertise?

A: Both can be effective, as long as you know when and which to use. Webinars are powerful thought leadership vehicles and are a great way to share your expertise with a large group of potential customers and current clients.  And, since the majority of webinars can be archived and accessed on-demand, this thought leadership content can easily be incorporated into your Web site.

Product and service videos are a great addition to your Web site or YouTube. They allow clients and potential customers to gather information about your product and maximize the use of your services. If you have an upcoming product release or enhancement to share, you could consider a webinar to showcase the new release and give a quick tutorial of what clients and future clients can expect. Just make sure to be clear about the webinar content up front – don’t lead attendees in under false pretenses of thought leadership only to be presented with a product pitch or demo.

Q: How much do the social media theories apply to non-retail businesses? e.g. Selling technical software to financial institutions or specialized equipment to manufacturers.

A: Consumers aren’t the only ones turning online for purchasing information. According to an Enquiro Study, 83% of business purchasers first locate a vendor online. Furthermore, a recent Coremetrics whitepaper indicated 67% of Twitter users who become followers of a brand are more likely to buy that brand products, and 60% of Facebook users who become a fan of a brand a more likely to recommend that brand to friends.

In the end, a business purchaser is still a single person looking to gather information and make an informed decision. With the majority of people turning online to conduct that research and locate vendors, missing out on the social media conversation can mean missing out in general. By knowing your target audience and how they search for and interact with your product, you’ll best be equipped to determine the social media channels that are right for you.

Q: Is there a tool for tracking mentions/text for such “social” networks like Flickr?

A: Yes, there are many. Some of the free tools mentioned above are SocialMention and Google Alerts. There are also paid tools like Alterian’s SM2, Sysomos’ Heartbeat and Viralheat. Check out Chris Rawlinson’s blog post for 21 Free Social Media Tracking tools for more information, and stay tuned for the upcoming Business.com whitepaper detailing the top social media monitoring tools.

Q: Is there any point of setting up a Twitter or Facebook account if it is not frequently updated? And how often should these accounts be updated?

A: Would you be inclined to follow or engage with a stagnant account? If you’re going to invest the time into setting up these accounts, you should make sure you’re maximizing the use of Twitter and Facebook to achieve your goals. These accounts should be updated as often as you have something new or valuable to share with your audience. News? Discounts? Interesting research? It’s all worth sharing.

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This is Part One of a two-part post.

Thank you to everyone who attended yesterday’s Business.com-sponsored webinar, ‘Finding B2B Marketing Success Integrating Social Media and Search.’ We’re grateful to have had such a successful turnout and appreciative to Kate Maddox of BtoB Online and Ryan DeShazer of Gyro:HSR for such great content.

If you missed the webinar, check out the on-demand version.

What You Missed

Thursday’s webinar, ‘Finding B2B Marketing Success Integrating Social Media and Search’ showcased findings from Business.com and BtoB Online’s recent study of more than 450 B2B marketers, detailing how  marketers are using social media to enhance search marketing and what success metrics they’re using.

Kate Maddox, BtoB’s executive editor, began by detailing the current use of social media among B2B marketers, as found in the study. While it’s clear the use of social media is an understood ‘must’ for B2B marketers, its evident many marketers struggle to capture the impact of their social media programs in general, and the resulting potential for positive impact on online marketing efforts like search marketing.

Business.com’s Patricia Neuray, VP Sales and Marketing, focused on the key highlighted differences among B2B marketers who are currently seeing a positive impact on their search marketing efforts as a result of their social media efforts versus those who are not seeing a positive impact or are unsure of their impact. Neuray respectively labeled these groups ‘The Best’ and ‘The Rest.’

Neuray explored the reported ways The Best use social media to enhance paid search and search-engine-optimization (SEO) efforts. She capitalized on The Best’s best practices by sharing a few top tips for integrating social and search efforts, including keeping measurement simple and making sure measurement reflects set goals. Neuray also urged the audience to take the best of both social and search marketing.

For example, use keywords, phrases and terms discovered through monitoring social media conversations to enhance your SEO and paid search, and use paid search as a springboard to drive traffic to your social media efforts by including links to social media accounts and profiles in your paid search ads.

Yes, marketers love a good list of best practices, but they love the execution of best practices even more. Therefore, it’s not surprising Gyro:HSR’s Ryan DeShazer, Vice President, Global Practice Leader – Search, captivated the audience for the remainder of the webinar with real-life examples of how Gyro:HSR is currently leveraging social media to enhance search marketing for clients.

DeShazer shared four methods for effective search and social integration and illuminated each method with a client case study. According to DeShazer, marketers can best integrate social media and search by discerning the value of social media, uncovering the lingo, influencing the conversion and the new link graph.

To check out DeShazer’s case studies and learn more about his four methods for integration, download the on-demand version of the webinar.

Business.com encourages you to share your highlights, thoughts and feedback with us by commenting on this post.

We were overwhelmed by the great questions asked during the question-and-answer (Q&A) portion of the webinar. To see our answers to additional questions, make sure to check back on Monday for our Part-Two post.

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Years ago, search marketing was introduced to businesses as the newest online marketing channel to increase their bottom line. Since then, search has grown faster than traditional advertising and has become a staple marketing tactic for B2B marketers.

Now social media marketing is on the rise and shows similar promise – with marketers again wondering how they can leverage social media and even integrate search and social media strategies successfully.

Business.com and BtoB Online set out to provide clarity on the subject in our recent study of over 450 B2B marketers. The study, “The Impact of Social Media on Search” addressed specific methods companies are using to successfully integrate social media and search marketing and uncovered the types of measurable impact each channel is having on the other.

 Join our September 16^th webinar, Finding B2B Marketing Success Integrating Social Media & Search  as we share key findings of this study including:

• Specific ways B2B marketers are using social media to enhance search marketing
• The impact marketers are seeing on search marketing through social media use
• How the ‘Best’ B2B marketers are using social media to enhance search marketing vs. the ‘Rest’ and the resulting impact

“Social media continues to make huge gains among the myriad of online marketing tools available for integrated campaigns,” said Patricia Neuray, VP-sales and marketing at Business.com. “As 44% of the respondents have seen an increase in traffic from search engines since launching their social media efforts, marketers are allocating more budget to social media tactics and setting specific goals to measure the impact of their social media efforts.”

Register for this webinar and find out how marketers are successfully integrating social media with search marketing here.

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[ Ed: We are excited to feature Verse Communications, a Los Angeles based public relations firm, as our newest guest blogger. To learn more about Verse Communications, click here.]

SEO.  Google these three letters and you will find approximately 136 million results.  What does it mean, and more importantly, how does it translate to your business?  Simply put, search engine optimization means learn some basic algorithmic tips and you will generate more awareness for your business, increase search results and hopefully see an uptick in web traffic and lead generation.  When it comes to the public relations side of SEO, and related tactical initiatives such as issuing a press release, SEO can play a critical role.  There is a lot on the Web that delves into verbose detail regarding SEO and how it should be applied to your PR efforts, specifically press releases.  Unfortunately, too much information can sometimes be overwhelming, specifically to a small business owner who barely has enough time to execute their daily operations, let alone focus on the PR side of their business. 

Fear not, we have some basic search engine optimization tips to help make your company’s press release ‘pop’ a bit more, and it will only take you a few extra minutes.  Once you determine what the news is you are writing about (and make sure your press release is just that, newsworthy), here are key search engine optimization tips to embrace when fine tuning for that maximum impact.

Headers

For starters, your press release headline is the single most important piece when it comes to SEO.  Your Company name and the press release headline is the page title that search engines use to identify your release as an actual Web page, and in effect, rank you in search results. Make sure that header speaks directly to your news in a compelling, clear and concise manner (that is also what people will view when search results come up).  Use no more than 80 characters, with key words leading the way.

If you need another line to add more detail, write a sub-headline that also incorporates just a few key words (again, the most relevant words relating to the core of the release).  Also use keywords in the first sentence of the initial paragraph and throughout the body content of the release.  Note, do not repeat key words more than two or three times.  Otherwise, those slinky search engines will mark your release as dreaded spam.

Anchor texts

Provide readers with an easy way to get more information by using anchor text(aka hyperlinking a word to a specific URL). This achieves two critical objectives: 1) allows you to link out to more detailed information without making your release too verbose; and 2) has enormous potential to increase overall SEO for the site you are promoting (namely your own).Some additional things to keep in mind when playing that algorithmic game of SEO: Keep your overall press release compelling and focused.  Only write about the core news you want to convey, and do so in a clear and concise manner.  This is not a document to write narrative.  Review each and every word on the page and make sure it meaningfully adds something to your news.  If you are not sure how to accomplish this, consult a PR expert.

• Your overall press release should not exceed 500 words.  Search engines spider the first 300 – 500 words on a page.
• Write out full URL’s to important sites  
• Build important back links by linking relevant keywords that support your message to deep, specific pages of Web sites

Now that you know how to write a press release that can increase its visibility and improve the position of your site’s overall search engine ranking, it’s time to distribute it.  Remember, news writing should be short and to the point.

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Business.com has partnered with Marketing Sherpa to offer you this free download, Special Report: 20 Tips on Generating and Nurturing Leads. This 22 page report is full of in-depth marketing tips on how to convert leads into sales, lead scoring, SEO, and social media. Additionally, this report offers valuable case studies that will sharpen  your understanding of how to improve your existing lead gen strategy and increase sales.

 Key takeaways from this free report are:

• How to convert 11% more prospects in the final 72 hours of the buying cycle.
• How to uncover new opportunities within your lead gen pipeline and convert those to sales.
• Discover how a software company combined lead-gen revamp with automation and scoring tactics to deliver the most relevant information to prospects.
• Learn how a marketing team at an accounting and consulting firm shook up their staid marketing tactics and adopted a new, online thought-leadership strategy

Click here to get the full version of 20 Tips on Generating and Nurturing Leads.

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[Ed: Guest blogger Andrew Spoeth is an independent marketing consultant specializing in B2B demand generation, with emphasis on social media, marketing automation, and thought leadership strategy. 

Redesigning a website can be a lengthy, complicated process. Done properly, it can give a dramatic boost to your online presence. Over the years I’ve had the pleasure, and pain, of being a part of several redesign projects.

Here is a checklist for website redesign, a series of steps that developers will go through in a successful redesign project.

1. Document the reasons you’re redesigning the website.
   Having these listed will act as a compass through the lengthy project. When things get stressful, you’ll want this reminder.
2. Test the old site, e.g. with an online intercept survey.
   How easily can users find key parts of the site? Other testing methods include focus groups and eye tracking. For the survey, get enough data to make it statistically relevant. The qualitative, descriptive feedback from one-on-one sessions with customers is also very valuable.
3. Conduct a baseline analysis of the old site.
   A baseline analysis is a document which sets the bar by which the future site will be measured. It should detail how the old site has performed over the past year, including key performance indicators like visitors, bounce rate, conversion rates, pages/visit, etc.
4. Set targets for the new site.
   These should be actual numbers and be based on the baseline mentioned above.
5. Hire a design company.
   Choose a company which has experience in your industry and has demonstrated success in the past. Do they ask you the right questions? Do they understand your customer? Do they deliver on budget and on schedule?
6. Map out the new site’s architecture.
   Work on a whiteboard or a blank piece of paper. Use one box per web page, starting with the home page on top. Draw lines between the pages to show logical connections. An alternative process, called Card Sorting, starts with cue cards. Create one cue card per web page, lay them out on a large table and start grouping and arranging them.
   When mapping out the architecture, remember to keep the site compact, i.e. don’t create too many levels. This is bad for usability and bad for search engine optimization.
7. Do keyword research.
   Consider words being used by your customers, at conferences, etc. Take a look at your old site’s analytics to determine which keywords have been bringing traffic from the search engines, especially traffic that converts into real business. Also consider third party tools like Google’s Search-based keyword tool, Seo Book’s Keyword Suggestion Tool. And don’t forget Google Trends.
   How long should your keyword list be? That depends on your business model. But in most circumstances, a list of 20-30 is a great start. If you are not sure, then contact an SEO consultant to help out.
8. Audit all of your existing online collateral.
   This includes all old and existing web pages, online brochures, podcasts, etc. Make a list in Excel and leave a couple of columns for notes and an instructions, e.g. ‘keep’, ‘keep but edit’, or ‘throw away’. B2B sites should also make room for columns to describe the type of buyer that web page appeals to, e.g. technical buyer, economic buyer, and when in the buying process that web page would best be viewed, i.e. Phase I: Awareness of Problem, Phase II: Researching a Solution, etc.
9. Write content for the new site.
   Each page should have a clear purpose, give an opportunity to continue, and be optimized for 1-2 keywords identified in number 7 above.
10. Create wireframes, mock-ups, etc.
    Carried out for the most part by your design company, this is where your combined knowledge of the target market turns into a creative and user friendly design which works.  Have the design company give you at least a couple of unique designs for the home page to choose from.
11. Test the mock-ups for usability.
    Let some customers loose on these mock-ups. The pages only need minor functionality for now, e.g. be able to click on a couple of key areas. Make note of how easily and quickly key parts can be found.
12. Fix, adjust and iterate
    Based on the results of your tests, iterate until you have a design which you can live with for the next 2 – 3 years.
13. Build out and populate pages.
    A lot of this may be handled by the web design company. Take all of the freshly written content and place it in the built pages. When choosing file and folder names for pages, consider using the keywords you identified in the keyword research stage above.
14. Organic optimization (SEO)
    You’ve already written the content and used the right keywords. Now is the time to take it further by ensuring that each page’s title, description and header tags do the same. Include links between pages. Interlinking is great for usability and great for search engine spider ability.
    Don’t forget to create a sitemap. There are two types of sitemaps, one which is on your site and visible to the user, and one which is visible only to the search engines (an XML Sitemap).
    And, don’t forget inbound links coming to some of the old site’s pages. Put a redirect in place for each of those so the new visitors, and link power, know where to go.
15. New inbound links
    A site redesign is a great time to think about an inbound linking strategy. Build relationships with like-minded sites and blogs to attract keyword-rich links. Also consider submitting your site to respected directories such as Business.com and DMOZ.
16. Testing. Try to break it before the site is launched.
    Get a large group of people you trust to poke around, find broken links, etc. Use various browsers, operating systems, look at it on a smart phone.
17. Add tracking code to each web page.
    This will ensure you can measure what’s happening with the new site. For tracking software like Google Analytics, it will be a fairly easy process, i.e. same tracking code on each page which can be applied in the footer.
18. Launch day. Flick the switch, uncork the champagne.
    Don’t forget to take a screen shot of the old site.
19. Post-launch monitoring
    Make a schedule and force yourself to note the key stats at regular intervals after the site is launched. For the first few days, do it every day. After that, weekly. If you have budget, do a second intercept survey (see #2 above).
20. Take the time to create a Content Development / Maintenance plan.
    Use a calendar and map out when you’ll be adding new content. How often will the ‘latest events’ section be updated? Who will update it? When will you review the product descriptions? Or case studies?
21. Keep a journal of this whole process

This website redesign checklist was adapted from a post on Marketingfinger.com.

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The old adage, ‘good things come to those who wait,’ proved true as B2B search marketers gathered last Wednesday, June 23 in San Francisco for the long-awaited conference dedicated solely to B2B search marketing – the B2B Search Strategy Summit.  The online marketing event space may be littered with online marketing events and educational organizations, but one marketer, Mary O’Brien, identified a growing need for a more tailored and advanced conference geared toward B2B marketers.     

 So, at long last, a B2B-specific search marketing conference was born, and on Wednesday, I found myself in a packed room, surrounded by B2B marketers all eagerly consuming and voraciously scribbling and typing their favorite tips, stats and case studies shared by some of the biggest names in the industry.     

 The takeaways from the B2B Search Strategy Summit were many, but there are 5 in particular I’d like to highlight:     

 Takeaway #1 – Know Your Audience (or, C-Suite Decision Makers are Rolling up Their Sleeves & Getting Their Hands Dirty)     

 Without a doubt, one of the themes all speakers both placed emphasis and agreement in was to ‘know your audience.’     

 Throughout the day, this seemingly simple and intuitive theme was referenced time and time again as the foundation for everything in search marketing from landing page selection to ad copy optimization.     

 Gord Hotchkiss of Enquiro first introduced the theme during his morning keynote with an interesting statistic from a 2009 Forbes Insights Study: 53% of C-Suite executives reportedly take the first pass at finding information online, with 26% starting the process and then delegating appropriately.     

 No longer are C-Suites sitting idly as others do their work; more than 4 out of 5 are actively online searching for relevant information needed to make key business decisions or purchases. So how many marketers are currently catering their search marketing to this audience?     

 Takeaway #2 – Understanding Your Audience’s B2B Buying Cycle is Key to Optimizing Your Search Marketing Campaign Structure      

 To know your online audience is not enough, at least for Connie Stack of Wordstream and Angela Sanfilippo of You Send It. Both eloquently illustrated the importance of also understanding the intent and behaviors of your audience as they navigate through the B2B buying cycle in order to fully optimize and tailor search marketing efforts.      

 Stack encouraged marketers to take the time to dissect the buying process and categorize keywords appropriately among the different phases of the buying process. From there, you can map content offerings appropriately to each keyword, thereby providing the foundation for ad copy, landing page selection and more.     

 She shared the below image, taken from The Google/Tech Target Behavioral Research Project, as a ‘how-to guide’ of sorts for implementing this process.    

Taken from the Google/TechTarget Behavioral Research Project: Phase 2 (p. 9, 2010) - referenced at the B2B Search Strategy Summit by Connie Stack, Wordstream

 Sanfilippo also shared a more strategic view of the benefits and expectations for organizing your search marketing campaign around the phases of the buying process – her distinction of the importance of branded vs. non-branded keywords in each of the phases is widely useful and insightful for both organizing and measuring campaign success.   

This is especially true for search engine marketers who use both general and vertical engines where branded vs. non-branded keywords play a unique role within each engine (and are often mistakenly evaluated alongside one another, leading to skewed performance analysis).   

Takeaway #3 – Don’t Just Know Your Audience: Show Them You Remember Them      

 Jay Middleton of Adobe gave us a glimpse into the future of B2B Search Marketing in his afternoon keynote session when he appropriately took the mantra of knowing your audience to the next level.     

Interaction is easy, but engaging your target audience centers around the ability to continue to build upon that interaction in a way that is meaningful and personal to that audience.     

The more data we as marketers can collect on potential customers and leads, and the more data we can use to guide their brand experience, the better we’ll be able to live up to this mantra.     

Adobe, Marketo and Salesforce.com were a few of the companies that showcased some of their best practices and resulting successes from taking the time to set up custom lead scoring, nurturing or marketing automation programs.  It was clear when these programs were coupled with relevant, valuable content for the audience, success quickly followed.     

Takeaway #4 – Don’t Throw Away Hard Work Just Because You Think Your Job is Done     

As marketers, we’re often held accountable for demand generation, lead generation and the lead nurture process. Beyond these responsibilities, we usually look to our sales force to carry their end of the bargain by closing the leads we determine sales ready.     

Presented by Lauren Vaccarello, Salesforce.com, at the B2B Search Strategy Summit

 Lauren Vaccarello of Salesforce.com challenged the audience to redefine their responsibilities as marketers and place an emphasis on knowledge transference and team work in closing sales.  

While the marketing automation process can often be a complex and somewhat technical process that few sales reps have interest in understanding, Vaccarello encouraged marketers to take the time to educate sales on the journey their leads undergo throughout this process to provide sales context for contacting and engaging leads.     

Back to Middleton’s point – it’s not only about knowing your audience but about showing them you remember them – and it’s up to the marketer to make sure sales has the information and understanding they need to provide a seamless experience.     

 Takeaway #5 – You Too Can & Should Be Using YouTube      

 Many marketers recognize YouTube as a powerful marketing mechanism; many struggle to understand how B2B can benefit from such a seemingly B2C tool.    

Presented by Greg Jarboe, SEO-PR, at the B2B Search Strategy Summit

Greg Jarboe from SEO-PR proved the efficacy of YouTube for B2B in sharing a cogent example of how he used YouTube to build hype for a high-end product before it formally hit the market.    

 Jarboe leveraged YouTube as a means for buyers and enthusiasts to preview product design, capabilities and engage with the product in a dynamic and exciting way, which resulted in thousands of views and, even better, a dozen pre-sales totaling more than $1 million.     

 Our blog post from Friday highlighted Cisco’s use of YouTube for engaging and clients and potential customers with a more down-to-earth and witty perception of the company. Launched on Friday, this video already has more than 28,000 views. 

If you’re saying, ‘good for them, but I just don’t see our products, services or company making for a compelling YouTube video…’ then I suggest you reread takeaway #1 above. 

What makes Jarboe’s and Cisco’s efforts and videos so well-received isn’t a product or service, it’s their understanding of what will engage, attract and entertain the audience. 

If you’ve taken the time to know your audience and understand what they find interesting, funny or engaging, then you too can use YouTube to your advantage. And, if you’re smart about identifying and catering to your opinion leaders and product evangelists, you can rest easy in knowing that if they find value in your video, they’ll be sure to share it with many, many others. 

 In retrospect, these 5 takeaways probably could have been shortened to 1: Know your audience. Marketers far too often associate the word ‘audience’ with a certain demographic or firmographic, and spend the majority of our time looking to reach those demographics and find that ‘sweet spot.’ 

But in the end, our ‘audience’ is, in its simplest form, a person at a company within that demographic or firmographic who is looking to solve a problem, relate to others and feel understood. 

  

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