Part 2: Jargon, website promotion and updating strategies

Can you discuss the challenge of taking complex marketing strategies in a technologically advanced industry and explaining them to large groups of people who may not be up on the latest jargon.
Actually, I don't think that's a challenge at all! My very first job as an intern (many years ago) was at a high-energy physics research laboratory in England. I asked one of the scientists there to explain the linear accelerator to me and admitted that I might not understand much. He said "If I can't explain it to you so that you understand, then I shouldn't be doing this." I've used that mantra ever since.

But I do think there's one interesting comment about jargon in e-business. Many website owners are very used to their own jargon, and want to promote their site based on these keywords, which their audiences may not yet relate to or know.

I spoke to a group of bowling proprietors recently and was told by the meeting planner never to refer to a "bowling alley." Since these establishments now offer video games, family events, etc., they are repositioning, and want to be known as "bowling centers."

I did some research on keyword popularity which clearly showed that far more consumers online search for "bowling alley" than "bowling center." I then stressed that they needed to use "bowling alley" as keywords to attract people to their site, since this is the popular search term. Once they have people's attention, they can reposition to "bowling center".

You concentrate on promoting websites "beyond the search engines." Do you mean to say that to succeed, your clients must begin thinking outside the box?
I don't believe that search engines, certainly the free ones, are a very satisfactory way of promoting most sites. Getting good positioning in them is very chancy, and takes a lot of constant effort, unless you have very specific, and less sought after keywords.

I do use some of the paid search engines, where you can guarantee position based on what you're prepared to pay for a click. But even then, it's passive marketing, you're waiting for someone to realize that they have a need, and come looking for you.

I prefer to concentrate on focused, content-driven marketing, using opt-in sponsorship of quality e-zines offered to your target markets, lots of online (and offline) PR, again to publications that your target audience would be most likely to read. And nurturing your own in-house database of email addresses, since repeat business is cheaper to generate than new customers, those are always your best overall leads.

Almost every business that I meet is failing to really utilize email as a powerful and appropriate marketing tool. When we check reference logs for the sites that I work with, these techniques can generate as much, if not more traffic than the search engines.

If you think clearly about whom to target, this can get you outside your usual box. I was recently speaking with a manufacturer of equipment used in scientific and medical research. He traditionally sells to the scientists, but he mentioned that his equipment has been proven to help prevent carpal tunnel and other stress injuries. And so I suggested that this might be of interest to human resource professionals who deal with workplace injuries claims as that could be a whole new potential audience for him.

In your site articles, you also stress focusing on customer service on the Net. Since the Internet is inherently impersonal, is it one of the bigger challenges facing your clients?
Yes, actually I think it's really important to have a feel for when the Internet is not the appropriate way to provide service. My talks all go under the umbrella title "e is for everything?" because it's pretty clear that it's not! So, I think that autoresponders and email are great customer service tools when used effectively: personalized, providing value-added content, and reassuring the customer that they've been heard.

When you have a customer who's really unhappy, I suggest that you need a more personal intervention, preferably a phone call. But for everyday customer relationship building, there is a lot that can be done online, as long as you respect the visitor's privacy and comfort level with this means of communication.

What are the online key mistakes that you see businesses, both large and small, making?
I'd say:

• Not identifying all the potential markets and audiences for your site, and how to engage them in your content
• Not establishing all the outcomes that you want from your visitors, and clearly "asking for the business" on every appropriate page.
• Not making the most of all the promotional opportunities "beyond the search engines", including online PR and e-mail marketing.
• Not understanding and applying the information in your Web traffic analysis to make strategic decisions that can take your whole business, as well as your website, to another level.

Finally, is it important for companies to continuously review their strategies, and what their website provides in the ever-changing face of the Internet?
Yes, of course. With the employment law site that I mentioned before, we do continuous reviews of our online strategy, what's working, and what's not. As a result, we've experimented with different versions of the pages that sell our online tools. We've added new "calls to action" to many pages of the site where we were losing visitors. And we've been able to develop new and successfully selling products based on knowing what visitors were looking for but unable to find.

Of course, this goes along with continuing to build the free content on the site that establishes their expertise and allows us to attract some excellent PR coverage.

Thanks for your insight Philippa.