Jan 13 2009
Out With the Old, In With the New!
2009 Is The Year Of….
This is just my opinion folks so feel free to blame the messenger if you disagree.
Things You Should Focus On in 2009
Local Search – make sure your business is optimized for Local Search. It does not matter if you are purely an online entity, you are local to someone, somewhere. The bottom line is traffic for your site whenever you come up in Local Search. If you have multiple locations, Netrafic has developed tactics to appear in local search in all your locations.
Social Marketing – You can no longer completely ignore creating a meaningful presence on major social networks. In 2008 we spoke about the importance of protecting you brand in social circles. In 2009 you must develop those online assets so the competition does not get too far ahead for key search phrases.
Video Production – If you have no video (or poor quality) circulating on the Net, then its time to get going. 2008 saw an explosion of mixed search engine results that included off-site video. Netrafic clients (with video) engaged in our link development program enjoyed search results that included video in addition to their website. If you don’t get going this year, you are behind.
Conversion, Capture, Contact Optimization – CCCO capitalizes on the traffic you are already receiving by optimizing methods to get your visitors to interact with you. Pick up the phone, fill out a form, join a group, download a white-paper, bookmark the site – these are all conversion methods. The best form of Conversion involves the Capture of post-visit data such as email address, snail mail address and phone numbers so you can Contact in the future for re-marketing purposes. Look for a new CCCO program from Netrafic in the near future!
Great Creative – Flash is no longer an issue as far as SEO is concerned. As long the the basic principals of designing a search engine friendly website are followed, Flash will not hurt your organic search rankings. This is great news, because great creative content is what Flash is all about. Focus on adding some life to your site in 2009 and watch your Visitor Time on Site soar, and your Bounce Rate drop!
Great Content – What??? You just said Flash was no longer an issue, what gives? There is always a “hitch in the giddy-up” and here it comes; add all the Flash you want, you will still need to include copious amounts of content for the search engines to consume. Help! Netrafic can point you and your web design team in the right direction.
Things to Stop Obsessing About in 2009
User Generated Content – UGC is a spectacular way to build a UGC website or social site. Its a complete waste of time and money for the common website. I watched as several sites insisted on adding comments, ratings, uploads, forums, and sharing modules to their sites. These modules attracted people, if you consider spammers to be people. In 2009 consider confining any UGC to comments on your blog.
Analytics Obsession – Pick a platform you like, and stick with it. Stop running multiple metrics – the numbers will NEVER match up. Stop looking at your stats 3 times a day. Don’t freak out when your numbers drop for a single day. In 2009, invest your time on improving the conversion of visitors that are on your site Right Now!
Page Rank – Its over. Not completely over (as in dead – done) but its time to stop obsessing over it. Google Page Rank or PR, is nothing more than an approximate measurement of the standing of a website. Its no longer the prime consideration when trading links (relevance is) and PR1 sites can be competitive in natural search.
Pay-per-Click Advertising – It’s become way too complicated – let a professional obsess over it. Turn your campaigns over to a specialist, like, um, Netrafic?
