^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
| The deadlock Despatch |
| --------------------- |
| February 1999 |
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
From Jim at The Art Of Business Web Site Promotion
Co-authored by Wanda Loskot at Success Connection
___________________________________________________________
In This Issue:
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
1. Help Us To Help You -----------------> (No vote)
2. How To Choose Your Keywords ---------> 1 2 3 4
3. META Keywords In Perspective --------> 1 2 3 4
4. META Description Rules --------------> 1 2 3 4
5. UPPERCASE lowercase -----------------> 1 2 3 4
6. How Smart People Track Success ------> 1 2 3 4
7. The Website Garage ------------------> 1 2 3 4
8. WOW! Quality customer service -------> 1 2 3 4
9. "Scientific Advertising" ------------> 1 2 3 4
10. The Power of Personal Notes ---------> 1 2 3 4
11. How To Leave Good Phone Messages ----> 1 2 3 4
12. Negotiating: How to make Money Fast -> 1 2 3 4
14. Monthly Telephone Conference --------> 1 2 3 4
Rating: 1 - this was boring / I didn't understand it
2 - I read this with mild interest
3 - good stuff, I found this useful
4 - Outstanding!!
___________________________________________________________
1. Help Us To Help You
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
All this info is free. All we ask is that you take a
moment to tell us what you think of it, so we can make
the next issue even better. Here are three methods of
helping yourself (we'd love you to use all three!):
Method A: rate this issue.
In the contents section above, delete as
necessary then hit 'reply' (deleting the rest of
the newsletter will be helpful). For example:
2. How To Choose Your Keywords -------> 4
3. META Keywords In Perspective ------> 1
4. META Description Rules ------------> 3
etc...
Method B: suggest a topic
The sayings that tend to stick in my mind are the
simple ones. Here's one coined by a long-lost
school friend: "If you don't ask, you don't get."
So go ahead and tell us what you'd like to see,
it only takes a moment.
Method C: contribute some info
If you have a good tip, let's hear it! If we use
it, your Web site gets a mention and thousands of
Despatch readers flock to your site (if they know
what's good for them!)
___________________________________________________________
2. How To Choose Your Keywords
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
I spend a lot of time talking about how to place keywords
for search engine positioning, but which keywords will
produce the best results?
Popular train of thought
------------------------
It's tempting to think "what are the most popular
keywords?" and then spend hours studying the various search
engine 'voyeur' pages and maybe the Yahoo Top 200 (see my
Online Cool Tools section). You might even be tempted to
ask me, as several people have done, "Is there a large
database available with collections of these keywords, in
large numbers?" Well, if you pay big bucks to one of the
search engines for banner advertising they might give you a
few hints. Once upon a time somebody told me he'd set up a
script on his server that harvested keywords from the three
main voyeur sites at the rate of 12,000 per day but he went
quiet after a week or so, I can only presume his account
was closed or his server exploded.
If this is the kind of strategy you've been working on then
I suggest you're in the wrong frame of mind (unless you
haven't set up your site yet and you're looking for what
might sell well). Granted, if you get high listings for any
popular keyword(s) then you'll get a lot of traffic, but
the question is: will that traffic bring you sales?
Targeted Traffic
----------------
You should look at the problem from a different angle.
Quantity of traffic is important but, unless you're selling
(banner) advertising, the QUALITY of your traffic will have
an equal impact on your ultimate goal - SALES. This is what
targeting means.
Example: you have a B&B in London.
Strategy A. You position your listings targeting simply
the word 'hotels', which brings you 2,000 visitors per
week and 1% sales from those visitors - 20 sales. There
were a lot of hotel seekers but they didn't necessarily
want a B&B in London.
Strategy B. You target 'london b&b', which brings you
400 visitors per week, but 5% - 20 sales. There were
not so many London B&B seekers, but more of them found
what they were seeking on your site.
Conclusion: both methods produce equal results in terms of
sales. Strategy A will make your log stats look good, but
Strategy B will make it easier to get those top listings
because there's less competition. The sensible course of
action is to combine the two...
Action Plan
-----------
* Step 1: switch your computer off.
Keywords are not a technical thing, they're a human thing,
you're trying to guess what people are thinking. A mind
reader would would do very well at site promotion.
* Step 2: do the obvious ones.
The high-traffic keywords are the ones that pop into your
head with very little thought. Keyword phrases are a Good
Thing. Spend no longer than five minutes and keep the list
short.
* Step 3: do the clever ones.
Take your time and think very carefully about why people
might want your product and what problems it might solve
for them (you've already done this, of course, when you
created the hard-hitting copy for your site) then list
these needs as your keywords. For example, massage oils
might solve: sports injuries; muscle tension; relaxation;
skin care.
Points to note:
a) The other sites that pop up under these keywords are the
ones you want to be seeking links from.
b) I'm not an expert on massage oils, but you are an expert
on your product, so make use of your knowledge.
* Step 4: trim the fat.
Most people who hire me for consulting start off by listing
their company name in their keyword list, but unfortuntely
Microsoft, Seagate and IBM are not on my client list
(yet!). There are very few company names that I would
consider keywords and I hate to burst your bubble but yours
ain't one of 'em. You probably have keywords within your
full company title, which is a good idea, for example
"Softsoothe Massage Oils". 'Massage Oils' is a keyword
phrase, 'Softsoothe' is not.
Common words like: internet; web; service; computer;
software do not belong on your list because they'll either
be ignored or buried beneath millions of other listings.
* Step 5: finishing touches.
Common mis-spellings do belong on your list: 'sattelite' is
fair game for a list that already contains the correct
spelling 'satellite'.
You should use plurals wherever possible, for two reasons:
a) When people (especially newbies, of which there are
many) type in a search string, they want and expect a LIST
of results, so the natural urge is to type the plural.
b) It usually involves sticking an 's' on the end of the
singular word so, more often than not, your plural will
catch searches for the singular as well.
* Step 6: switch your computer back on
Check the current top listings using your keywords to see
if there are any extra ones to be squeezed from the top few
sites, then apply your killer keywords to your site, in the
style of http://deadlock.com/promote/
Final Word
----------
It's all about being in the right frame of mind - thinking
like your customers, from the other side of the serving
counter.
Your keyword list is the foundation of your promotion
strategy. You'll be spending a lot of time registering with
search engines, but if you've made a slapdash attempt at
your keyword list you won't be getting the most out of all
that hard work.
I put the 'check the other listings' tip right at the end
on purpose. Take a look, but don't base your whole strategy
on other people's keywords. What's good for them isn't
necessarily good for you, and besides, the way to get ahead
of them is to be different and better.
___________________________________________________________
3. META Keywords In Perspective
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
<META NAME="mania" DISTRIBUTION="global" CONTENT="The whole
world has gone META keynuts! The mentality is: META
keywords are technical, therefore they must be of
overriding importance">
Sure, you should have META keywords and they need to be
structured properly, but you should know where META
keywords rank in the scheme of things. I would rate them
less important than keywords within the text of the page
and not fit to lick the boots of page <TITLE>s.
That said, here are some freeeeequently asked questions
about META keywords:
* How many repetitions are allowed?
Infoseek said "seven", then "no, three" in August '97,
then "no, not three, that was a mistake" two days later.
Excite say "we decrease the weight of each subsequent
repetition of a word". Alta Vista seem to have gone a bit
haywire and started to decrease relevancy for repetition
somehow.
The moral is, they're all doing *something* about it. My
recommendation is 2-3 repetitions within the META
keywords tag. Of course, you can pepper keywords many
times throughout the <BODY> of your page and ALL the
search engines will take notice, whereas some search
engines are blind to META tags, which is why I rate
<BODY> keywords higher than <META keywords.
* Should I use commas?
Yes.
If every one of your keywords was a single word then you
wouldn't need to. However, you're almost certain to have
keyword phrases on your list which you'll be wanting to
enclose with commas to show the phrase as a single
entity. Semicolons are no better than commas.
* Do keyword phrases count as repetitions?
Yes.
"sail boats, row boats, speedboats" would count as three
repetitions of 'boats'. That's an accepted fact.
* What happens when you're penalised?
In the mildest case you might overdo the repetition and
get a poor listing (see above: how many repetitions...)
ie. the same penalty you'd get for having *not enough*
keywords. In a slightly worse case the page(s) you submit
simply won't get listed, in which case you can rearrange
your HTML and try again, which is actually a milder
penalty than getting a poor listing.
In the most extreme cases, a whole domain gets
blacklisted by the search engine staff. This only happens
to very aggressive marketers, I'm talking about people
(often in the XXX categories) who submit hundreds of
spammed documents, enough to draw the staff's attention.
Weeding takes place on a regular basis. The staff do
actually check their databases and kick out semi-spammed
documents, so keep popping back to check your listings.
Infoseek is a case in point at the moment, the odd prize
rose bush has been disappearing lately in their weeding
frenzy.
PS.
<META NAME="mania" is an attempt at humour. It's not a
real META tag, OK?
___________________________________________________________
4. META Description Rules
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
I consider the META description tag more important than the
META keyword tag because it influences the human being to
actually click to visit your page. A #7 listing will beat a
#1 listing if the description is more appealing.
* How long?
These are the approximate maximum numbers of characters
for META descriptions:
Hotbot: 250
Lycos: 200
Infoseek: 185
Alta Vista: 150
...but I doubt if you'll want to edit each page every
time you submit it to each engine, so to avoid your
description being chopped off prematurely (ouch!) you
want to go for the lowest common denominator, Alta Vista,
at 150 characters or less (including spaces).
* What to write?
If keywords fall naturally into your META description,
then all well and good. However, this is not your main
concern. Your real objective is to write something
that'll make the user's mouse finger itch.
Your description is the "teaser" for what's on the page.
For example: "Massage oils: photos and quick price list,
with links to aromatherapy and sports injuries info."
Your description is NOT a pompous boast about your
company: "Softsoothe is the premier company on the net
for massage oil products and accessories. Over a million
sold!" just doesn't do it for me I'm afraid.
Use a fresh META description for each of your pages. If
you don't and your pages appear on a results list one
after the other, with the same description, your user
will be bored before they even reach your site.
Avoid sensational words like premier, fantastic and best,
because they don't mean anything to the user - that's
only your opinion, and of course you're going to be
biased.
___________________________________________________________
5. UPPERCASE lowercase
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Q: For an identical keyword, which will draw more traffic -
UPPERCASE or lowercase?
A: Whichever is more relevant to the search string used.
Examples:
* For a search string of 'Massage Oils', your keywords
'Massage Oils' will appear above both 'massage oils' and
'MASSAGE OILS'
* For a search string of 'MASSAGE OILS', 'MASSAGE OILS'
will come out on top because it's an exact match. All
other permutations will appear more or less randomly,
below the exact match.
So, the case you should use is the one that's going to
match the majority of user requests. The choices are:
UPPERCASE; lowercase; Initial Caps. This is where you can
really put the voyeurs to good use. You might be surprised
at the amount of UPPERCASE that appears, but lowercase is
still the champion.
Verdict: use lowercase in your META keywords tags.
Should you use lowercase in your <TITLE>s too? Maybe. I
personally use Initial Caps in my <TITLE>s for two reasons.
First, I like to write all my titles and headings with
Initial Caps, as you can see in this newsletter, and I
never sacrifice my layout on the altar of promotion.
Second, I believe (by instinct, not evidence) that Initial
Caps are more striking than limp lowercase and ANTISOCIAL
UPPERCASE.
___________________________________________________________
6. H.S.P.T.S. - How Smart People Track Success
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Wanda got scolded by a reader for criticising the hit
counters without offering a useful alternative, so here's
the sequel.
What you need to know
---------------------
There's a mind-boggling array of info you can get from log
stats, but these are the most important:
* Home page accesses
This tells you roughly how many people have visited your
site. An overall head count.
I say roughly because if a visitor has his browser cache
switched off he'll record multiple accesses. On the other
hand, a few people might click straight in to a sub page
and leave again, without loading the home page. On the
whole though, nearly everyone will visit the home page,
so it's a pretty good yardstick.
* Sub page accesses
These stats tell you which parts of your site are the
most popular, and will show you the effects of any
changes you make. For example, if Page One has been
consistently out-performing Page Two, then you make some
changes to Page Two and the ratio jumps, you know you've
done something right (and vice versa).
The goal is to manoeuvre your visitors to your order form
page, of course.
* Referring URLs
Where the user came from, which will usually be a)
another site - a great way of discovering good samaritans
who have linked you and b) search engine listings,
including the search term used - the search engines that
DON'T appear regularly on your list are the ones of most
concern.
* Links followed out of site (minor interest)
Very useful if you're charging for (banner) advertising.
Tools
-----
WebTrends -
http://www.webtrends.com/products/webtrend/info.htm
I've seen it in action on a few sites. It's one of the most
popular log management tools around.
Advantages: The charts look very pretty, all colour-coded
and neat. I would imagine it's easy to install. It can
handle raw log files up to 10Gb (which is BIG). It's very
comprehensive, it tells you everything short of the users'
average inside leg measurements.
Disadvantages: The price - $300 upwards. The working
reports that I saw were fixed, it was impossible to choose
which tables to view and which to skip, with the result
that the report page took ages to load and there was a lot
of scrolling before I got to the bits I wanted.
AX, by Fluid Dynamics - http://www.xav.com/scripts/axs
This is what I use, and it's much less-known.
Advantages: It's FREEEEE! The reports are fully
configurable via a handy Web control panel so you can
quickly pick the reports you want which saves a lot of
waiting for the reports to load and you don't have to
scroll forever to find what you want. There aren't many
slow-loading graphics involved. It's a great way to learn
Perl!
Disadvantages: You do need some knowledge (or willingness
to learn) of scripting in order to install and perhaps
modify it to your needs, it's not something for a novice to
tackle. It starts to struggle when the log file gets to
about 3Mb/16,000 records, but it's a simple matter to reset
it.
___________________________________________________________
7. The Website Garage
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Reader's Tip:
"It's great to say that I like your newsletter more than
any other that I've seen (so far!)" - wrote to us
recently Andrew Larder. Thanks Andrew!
"I saw this website called Website Garage. - Andrew
continues. "I don't know if you've seen it, they do a "tune
up" on your web page! They check the page for load time on
several different modem speeds, and recommend ways to
compress space wasting picture files, etc. I reduced the
load time on one page from 89 seconds to 34 seconds, based
on a 14.4 modem! They also spell check the page, check the
number of links from other sites, and look at the HTML code
for common errors. VERY COOL!!!!"
http://www.websitegarage.com/ref.cgi?banner=refebe0490e
Jim says: this is certainly the most comprehensive
validator around at the moment, fun and valuable,
but don't let it make you lazy.
There's no substitute for your own care and
attention when you're building your pages. Just
because it's technical doesn't mean that it's
100% guaranteed to be the last word on page
design. Granted, the people who created the tools
do know a thing or two about what's good and bad,
but they're humans, just like you.
___________________________________________________________
8. WOW! Quality customer service
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Here is another true story from the Customer Edge:
The following example of customer service happened at a
Lexus Automobile dealership in Louisiana.
A female customer had owned her new Lexus for about a week
when she returned to the dealership in distress. She wore
only one brand of designer shoes, and the heel of the
right shoe would get wedged below the accelerator pedal,
causing her to have difficulty with the accelerator and,
ultimately, to break the heel on the shoe. The service
manager at the dealership recorded the problem and offered
to make restitution for the shoes.
The woman assumed this would be the last she would hear
from the Lexus dealer. A week later, however, a design
engineer from the Lexus factory in Japan showed up at her
doorstep. He asked to see the shoes, and he made
measurements and drew sketches of them. The engineer left
without saying a word.
A month later, the woman was contacted by the Lexus dealer
and asked to bring her car in. The engineer had redesigned
the accelerator pedal to ensure that shoe heels would not
get wedged any longer. They replaced the accelerator
pedal in her car, and that retrofit pedal is now standard
in Lexus production.
For more examples of awesome customer service examples
visit http://www.customeredge.com
___________________________________________________________
9. "Scientific Advertising" continues
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
If it comes to a marketing advise, there is nothing more
powerful than the advertising bible of Claude Hopkins
titled "Scientific Advertising" which Wanda is reprinting
chapter by chapter on her site.
So far you can read the following chapters:
1 - How advertising laws are established
2 - Just salesmanship
3 - Offer Service
4 - Mail Order Advertising - What It Teaches
5 - Headlines
6 - Psychology
7 - Being Specific
8 - Tell Your Full Story
To make it even more special you can find there a special
report "100 of the most memorable headlines ever written".
Here is a direct link to a table of content:
http://loska.com/hopkins/one.html
___________________________________________________________
10. The Power of Personal Notes
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
We often look for extraordinary ways to WOW! the prospects
to get their attention and appreciation - discounting the
most obvious and most effective tool: a personal note.
Yeah, with the advancement of the e-mail many people forget
how powerful a personal note can be.
It is nice when someone sends you a short note thanking you
for your help on the project or for the lovely dinner you
shared. Doesn't it make you feel good - even great? Sure it
does. Do you appreciate when your bank sends you a card
thanking you for your business? Aren't you more likely to
remember that nice salesman who dropped you a note? More
likely to call him again? Maybe even send him a referral?
Ah-hah! Referral...
Now I got your attention!
It takes only about three minutes to write a note, fold it,
stick it in an envelope and mail it, but the power of it is
awesome. It is one of the ultimate success weapons. People
who send Thank You notes are thought of as gracious, well
mannered -- and since so few do it -- also a clear cut
above the rest.
You see, personal notes build relationships, the most
important element in any business. They demonstrate your
commitment to your contacts and to the service you provide.
They are also the perfect way to introduce new products and
services to your customers. In other words writing notes is
a cornerstone of any business.
The power of personal notes is unquestionable. But in order
to be consistent and rewarded by your note writing, you
must develop a systematic approach to it (however without
losing spontaneity. Here is my system that will make you
effective:
1. Use a broad tip pen for a bold, easy to read message
2. Make the note short - maximum 3-5 lines (see below for
my Menu of Personal Notes)
3. Have a unique close (no "sincerely" or "regards")
4. Write not only the date, but also a time of the day
(don't ask why, just try it, trust me)
5. Decide to write a minimum number of notes per day or
per week and do it.
Another important point: stay away from those preprinted
"thank you" notes. Many times they will be inappropriate
because not every note you will write will be a thank you
note. Besides the best "thank you" is the appreciation
expressed in your own words.
OK - OK - you can mail also personal notes by e-mail - but
please don't send them to a few people at once, using a
copy function of your software (I got a whole bunch of
holiday postcards like that and trashed them without
reading).
To get my FREE "Easy Menu of Personal Notes"- with 24
different messages for every possible situation (or just
almost every) drop me a line with the words "Personal
Notes" on the subject line - wtloskot@bellsouth.net
___________________________________________________________
11. How To Leave Good Phone Messages
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Here is another tip regarding our life outside of the
internet. Recently a few people missed one of my seminars
because I could not get back to them with information about
changes - they left messages on my answering machine in
such a way that I couldn't understand their phone numbers!
We use voice mail every day without thinking much about it.
But the impression you make on someone's mail or answering
machine can determine when they return the phone call and
whether or not they ever do. And it only starts with
leaving the phone number in such a way that a person can
understand it. A message can exhibit your enthusiasm or a
lack of it. It can project that you are competent and
confident - or that you are not. Here are some tips that
will make you a more effective on the phone:
- Put some enthusiasm into your voice. Don't become a
machine just because you're speaking into one.
- Speak clearly. You may want to tape yourself at some
point to see if you sound well - the result may surprise
you.
- If it does surprise you, don't despair but remember to
prepare, so that the next time you don't ramble or go on
and on. If it is important that you make a good
impression in a particular message and often it is!),
make an outline before calling and even rehearse.
- Leave your phone number, even for those who have your
number on their rolodex - remember that people often
check messages from a remote location. And don't rely on
anyone's memory. Thank to speed dial, we often don't
remember even the most important telephone numbers.
- When you leave your phone number, especially for someone
whom you are calling for the first time, say it slowly
and repeat it.
- Use the technology to advance the conversation. Instead
of "I'm returning your call" ask for something, even if
it is just a call back or when is the best time to call
again.
- Say "please" and "thank you". You are more likely to get
a quick response if you are courteous. It is so obvious,
yet it is amazing how few people remember that!
___________________________________________________________
12. Negotiating: How to make Money Fast
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
According to Roger Dawson, learning to improve your
negotiating skills is your highest and best use of your
time. Consider this - if you make $50,000 a year, that's
about $25 per hour. When you're negotiating a purchase or
sale of something, you're not making $25 an hour - you're
making $25 a minute, maybe even $25 a second!You can't make
money faster than you can when negotiating!
Learn the most important "Five Negotiating Gambits" from
Roger's weekly program on TPN Success Channel - starting
with "You should never jump on the first offer" through
"Nibbling" and "Flinching" to "Trading Off" and "Position
for Easy Acceptance".
All you need to do is just e-mail me with the word
"Negotiating" in the subject line -
wtloskot@bellsouth.net
___________________________________________________________
14. Announcing Monthly Telephone Conference!
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
People who are exceptionally good in business aren't so
because of what they know, but because of their insatiable
need to know more. They constantly improve and innovate the
way they run their enterprises.
I have a feeling that you will appreciate my new
educational conferences which you can attend FREE of cost
in the comfort of your home! Via telephone! Connect with
hundred of like-minded, success-oriented people to learn
the newest cutting-edge ideas that will help you become
more successful.
My first guest will be David Goldsmith from the Customer
Edge. You know him already from the awesome customer
service stories I share with you every month. David is a
corporate trainer and will share with us his ideas how to
make sure that our customer-vendor relationships improve
our bottom lines.
For more information about this conference (scheduled for
Wednesday, February 14 at 9pm EST USA) and the full
calendar of upcoming events go to:
http://loska.com/successconnection/events.html
___________________________________________________________
=================== Copyright Notice ====================
You may use all the advice in this newsletter as a part of
your marketing campaign. You may print it for your own
reference and you're encouraged to forward it to as many
people as possible ** IN ITS ENTIRETY **
You MAY NOT copy any part of the text itself on your Web
site / newsletter / book / magazine or any other commercial
media without permission from the authors.
___________________________________________________________
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