Q2 Marketing Blog» Q2 Marketing Blog – Technology Marketing, Public Relations, Brand Consulting

How Important is a Web Site Audit

Becky Sheetz-Runkle — Tue, 27 Jul 2010 12:32:46 +0000

Regular web site audits can be extremely valuable to a successful, ongoing internet marketing strategy. So what exactly is a site audit and how do you know if you need one?

Find out here: http://seo-software-review.toptenreviews.com/how-important-is-a-site-audit-.html.

SEO, PPC, Social Media & More–Find the Top Online Marketing Firms

Becky Sheetz-Runkle — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 13:36:35 +0000

Here is a TopTenREVIEWS review of the top internet marketing companies. Various service areas are evaluated, including search engine optimization (SEO), pay per click (PPC), link building, social media optimization and more.

Read the online marketing services firms review.

Web marketing: Customer Acquisition Vs Cheap Sales Tactics

Becky Sheetz-Runkle — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 13:29:56 +0000

We all know how important customer acquisition is these days—for our clients and for ourselves. But some companies are getting carried away and making a big online marketing mistake.

Many are getting caught up in optimizing their websites for lead generation and sales conversion. And they’re forgetting there’s much more to a website strategy. Effective websites must also serve existing customers and create a brand perception of trust and credibility.

Keyword Optimization—Low-Cost, Qualified Leads

Becky Sheetz-Runkle — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 19:23:21 +0000

There’s a low-cost, recession-proof way to drive qualified leads to your web site.

“[In this economy] there is a greater focus on customer acquisition. Search is the best tool for that.”

–David Hallerman, senior analyst, eMarketer

Q2 Marketing is offering a proven recession-proof keyword optimization program you can implement immediately to begin driving measurably increased qualified traffic to your web site.

You’ll receive a full listing of keywords, prioritized by daily searches, predicted daily searches and Google KEI (keyword effectiveness index). And you’ll know at a glance, based on the straight-forward, easy-to interpret numbers, which are the most effective for your web site and which ones to be sure and include.

The Q2 Keyword optimization program. It’s fast, affordable and will boost qualified leads to your web site. That’s good news in any economy. Contact sales@q2marketing.com for more.

Last things you need before you begin to blog

Becky Sheetz-Runkle — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 15:11:34 +0000

This series grew out of my heartfelt conclusion that B2B and B2G blogging isn’t for everyone. Sometimes I get the sense that non-bloggers feel guilty about not yet joining the fray. Conversely, a hearty helping of business-to-business bloggers that, it turns out, have very little to say, have jumped in. The series began by highting the four attributes a would-be blogger absolutely must have:

Strategy
Discipline
Desire
Content

But, from there it grew. Because in addition to these, skill and content targeted to audience are essential, as we explored in part two. But wait, there’s more. Here are our final two attributes you need if you’re going to blog. At least for now.

7. Patience. You aren’t going to experience a groundswell of traffic to your site overnight. You probably won’t experience much traffic for the first number of months. Patience is a prerequisite. This ties into the discipline mentioned earlier. Know that this requires a big picture, long term perspective. We all want thousands of unique visitors each day. But remember one qualified inbound lead as a direct result of your blog has greater value than one thousand passive readers.

On readership, promoting the blog is an entirely different story. A story for another time.

8. Metrics. All good marketing is about metrics and blogs are no exception. One of the single greatest assets of web marketing is measurement. Google Analytics, which is free, will give you great data on traffic to your blog, most popular pages, time on site, referring sites and more. Use this information to understand the types of topics of most value and interest to your readers. When quantifying the value of your blog, refer back to your strategic objectives and make sure your goals are in alignment with your initiatives. And the most important metric of all: are you getting qualifed leads?

Blogging? Do you have the 4 most important ingredients?

Becky Sheetz-Runkle — Mon, 08 Jun 2009 14:50:06 +0000

Business-to-business blogs are everywhere these days. But that doesn’t mean that blogging is really for everyone. Maybe it’s a fit for your and your business. Maybe it’s not. This article highlights the four most essential attributes needed before blogging. We’ll review even more in part two. If you’re missing any one of the four below, regroup and consider if blogging makes sense for you.

1. Strategy. We hear all the time that executives are told they need to blog. They feel this overwhelming urge to keep up with the Joneses and their blogs. But what is too often missing from these recommendations is the strategy behind the blog.

This is true with any marketing activity. It’s not enough to produce a brochure for its own sake or build a web site for the sake of having a web site. How will the blog help you close sales, boost your credibility, fuel search engine optimization, or create awareness for your products? Start here because the next three attributes are irrelevant without a sound strategy.

2. Discipline. Be honest. Are you the type of person who bounces from one thing to the next? Or are you the type who can stick things out and stay the course? Blogging must be consistent, as we all know. Some advise for a daily posting. I think that makes sense if you’re a social media professional or professional blogger. For the rest of us, two to three times a week is a better and more realistic goal.

If yours is going to be a multi-author blog, you’ll need an accountable project manager to build the schedule and keep contributors on track. Contributions should reflect the strategy you’ve carefully planned.

3. Desire. You have to like to write. You have to want to push out to the world information, trends and issues that are hot in your industry. It’s like going to the gym. If you hate it, or you’re ambivalent, you won’t keep doing it.

4. Content. Not all industries lend themselves to B2B blogs. That’s not to say you have to be Guy Kawasaki to create and nurture a blog that people will read. But generally speaking, determine the theme of your blog. Will you cover specific industry verticals? Will your approach be skeptical? Will you provide actionable tips readers can use to help build their own businesses? And importantly–what’s stand-out about the way you will provide information to your world?

Come back later this week for other essential ingredients for a blog that drives revenue for your business.

Q2 Announces Launch of Johnston McLamb Website

Pamela Girardin — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 15:42:55 +0000

Q2 is pleased to announce that Johnston McLamb’s new website is now live. Johnston McLamb hired Q2 to completely redesign the site as well as incorporate SEO in the form of keyword/phrase research and optimized web content. The site is already receiving rave reviews and Johnston McLamb looks forward to leveraging their new site to help drive sales and recruiting objectives.