Web Marketing Holiday Prep, Part 3

A Little SEM Strategy Now Can Pay Dividends Later

If you haven’t already begun planning for the holiday buying rush, then it’s time to get moving. In this Part Three of Prepping for Holidays, I’ll show some of the things you can do to ensure online buyers find your products and services. (In Part One I talked about aligning your online and offline strategies, and in Part Two I covered how to spruce up your virtual store-front.)

In our free e-book, The Link Economy, Matt and I talk about how successful search marketing companies develop all of the components of a search marketing campaign at one time.

What we mean by this is a savvy marketer will sit down and plan out the campaign strategy, keywords, and content (i.e. blog posts, landing pages, offers) before implementing the campaign – often…

Web Marketing Holiday Prep, Part 2

Spruce-up Your Virtual Storefront for the Holiday Season

Rather than spend money in these tough times, consumers are saving it (savings accounts are the new black). Instead of resigning yourself to a red holiday season (in the bottom line sense of the word), now is the time to gear up and make the most of the holiday season.

And you can – with a few well-thought out strategies that I outline in this, Part II of Web Marketing Holiday prep. (If you missed Part I, wherein I talk about aligning online and offline strategies, you can find it here.)  This week: getting your online house in order!

First: Ensure your site is extra secure for online transactions.

I visited the website of a financial institution recently and was appalled to note that the little “lock” icon was missing from…

Web Marketing Holiday Prep, Part 1

Integrating Online and Offline Marketing Tactics

I know, I know: every day it seems you hear news about the dismal sales climate in the US. And it’s true: consumers are sitting on their wallets.

However, with a little strategic planning and creative thinking, you can help ensure that you finish the year with a bang. In this three-part series about prepping for the coming holidays, we’ll cover how you can drive traffic to your site and increase conversions.

And the first step is ensuring your holiday campaign components work – not just in driving traffic but actually work together without glitches and snafus.

Case in point: A few weeks ago I visited Williams-Sonoma at my local mall. While ringing up my purchases, the sales clerk informed me of cooking classes the store was holding – and gave me a flyer…