DIY B2B Direct Marketing and SEO

A website is very much like any other piece of direct marketing. But it isn’t a one-off campaign, it’s permanent and ongoing.

So it’s a good idea to revisit your site with DM in mind every now and again to make sure your focus is correct, especially when several people have their fingers in your website pie!  

If you’re doing a proper job of it you’ll be updating your site regularly with fresh content, making frequent amends to existing content, removing and adding special offers, links… etc etc. Here’s some sensible guidelines to help check the fundamentals of your website are still working hard from a DM perspective:

• can visitors still navigate easily or has it all got a bit too complicated?
• does every link work?
• are your calls to action in the right place / still there?
• has essential information fallen below the fold when it should be above?
• are your key words and phrases still in place, in the right density?
• is your content in priority order for SEO?
• are you focusing on the right key words and phrases or have things changed? 
• is your message clear or have you muddied the water with too many edits?
• are your images still relevant?
• does your meta data need updating in line with your key words and phrases?
• could your source code do with tidying up so it complies with web standards? 
• are your footer links up to date?
• is your sitemap up to date? 

If it’s relevant, check it. If it doesn’t seem relevant, check it anyway just in case! At least you’ll know you’ve shone your direct response torch into every dark corner and put everything possible straight.

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Like most business owners I’ve had hosting issues in the past, some of which have been horribly stressful. When your site disappears for no apparent reason and your host isn’t answering calls or emails, it’s hard to stay calm. And if they ‘forget’ to renew your url, solving the issue can be a real pain. So a good host is like gold dust. 

There are thousands of hosting companies, all of which make the same claims about brilliant efficiency, customer support and up-time. Word of mouth is probably the best way to identify a rock solid host for your commercial website. Here’s my contribution.

Unlike many hosting company sites, Heart Internet’s interface is beautifully simple and clear. Their facilities are excellent, it’s easy to find everything, there’s a choice of flexible deals and the prices are pretty good. Not the cheapest… but hosting is far too important to cut corners for the sake of a few quid. Plus they’re UK based, which feels good. If the worst happens I can always turn up on their doorstep and weep uncontrollably until they put things right!

If you’re looking for a great UK host, here’s a link to Heart Internet.  

The WordPress team releases regular updates and it’s wise to upgrade your blog every time  a new version is launched.    

Why? Because if you don’t you leave your blog at the mercy of hackers, infections and other malicious mischief. I know two people who’ve been infected via weaknesses in old versions of WordPress.

As well as security fixes, updated versions include fresh functionality. And it’s easy – as well as free – to upgrade your blog in one click via your WordPress Dashboard.

If you haven’t done it before, check the instructions on the WordPress website first.

Great special offers are strong medicine. They draw publicity and attention as well as driving sales.

Here’s my latest, a Karma-driven offer that’s completely genuine, provides a valuable service and makes me feel good into the bargain. 

I’m devoting one day a month to free charity copywriting.

If you’re a charity in need of direct marketing and direct response focused expertise, a keen eye for SEO and masses of experience just email me at info@helpinthecity.com with the details of your copywriting project and we’ll take it from there. 

First come, first served.

I usually charge £60 an hour so you’ll get £420 worth of copywriting  / editing expertise for free. That’s enough to:

• write or edit a twelve page website av. 350 words per page, or create twelve 350 word web pages
• create ten press releases of around 500 words each
• write eight articles about 750 words each
• create twelve 350 word blog posts
• edit a twenty page corporate brochure

All written beautifully, delivered by 5pm the same day.

My first slot is August 12th 2010 so I’ll need your brief by the end of play on 10th August to give me time to digest things.

You’re very welcome!

Images don’t contribute much to SEO because search engines can’t ‘see’ pictures or analyse their content. But you can make the most of your on-site images by ensuring their ALT attibutes make sense.  

Provided your images’ attributes are descriptive and accurate, search engines will find it a tiny bit easier to rate and classify your website correctly. 

It always helps to have a suitable tool handy. This one checks your website images and tells you how clearly - or otherwise - they can be’ seen’ by Google and co:  http://www.feedthebot.com/tools/alt/