Our client Cartridge Shop launched their new website this week offering fantastic prices for Printer Ink Cartridges to consumers and businesses. Their new site incorporates best practise not only for web design and SEO but also for usability.

Cartridge Shop want to make the process of finding and buying printer cartridges as easy as possible so they have introduced a unique ‘cartridge finder’ facility on every landing page which quickly allows customers to find exactly what they are looking for at the best prices available. In addition, their home page has been improved to present ink cartridge brand images for immediate recognition. They offer he best online prices on top brands such as Brother, Canon, Dell, Epson, HP, Jettec, Kodak, Kyocera, Lexmark, Konica Minolta, Oki, Panasonic, Philips, QMS, Ricoh, Samsung, Tektronix, Xerox and many more.

Cartridge Shop also offer excellent prices on compatibles and we would highly recommend them as a supplier, not just because they are our client, honest!

Check them out and see if you can get your printer cartridges cheaper than your previous supplier.

PAY-PER-RESULTS SEO (PPR) has changed the lives of my staff at Strategy Internet Marketing in just a year since we launched it. There are many more of them, they are better paid, and there is a
buzz about the place.

In an industry that has suffered from snake oil merchants but still demands that clients take all the risk by paying fees, it struck me that there must be a way of sharing the risk. We first dreamed up a pricing model which was a hybrid mix of fees and results in order to share the risks with the client. This was successful and, after trials, we went the whole hog and priced just on results. The clients love PAY-PER-RESULTS SEO (PPR), they know your skills, reputation and fees are on the line – if you don’t perform you don’t get paid. That rather focuses the mind on the job in hand. And that has brought us talking to some of the biggest names in UK business from groceries to electrical goods and from cosmetic surgery to finance.

Interestingly, it has also brought to the table many clients who, while they may be spending a lot on PPC, have been shy of trying organic optimisation. There are many prospective clients who have been burned in the past by the snake oil merchants promising the earth and not performing. You know the sort – “you will get a guaranteed top 10 position or your money back”. Getting a top ten position (particularly for a poor key phrase) is just bunk. What clients want is traffic, and good quality traffic that will buy the goods or services that they are selling. And they are happy to pay if you can bring them that traffic. Look at the success of PPC; this is a results based model and some clients are paying literally millions of pounds a year on this service.

We started with charging on increased visitors, and we probably have half our clients on this basis. But we don’t just go for volume of visitors; we also increase the quality of the traffic.

“…fees are on the line - if you don’t perform you don’t get paid”

Recently we have added a second pricing model, which we have dubbed PAY-PER-ENQUIRY SEO (PPE). This is based on the increased number of completed enquiry forms on the client’s own web site. Here we are taking a further risk as the visitors we attract have to be interested enough to complete the enquiry form. Many have shown an interest in this pricing model and we have started to take on clients with this.

Of course, we still do a fee based service too, and some clients prefer this because it allows them to budget accurately.

The important point though is that these are just pricing models. What we do in terms of organic optimisation on a client’s web site is the same regardless of which pricing model he has chosen. We still do a Strategic Action Plan and agree Objectives and Key Performance Indicators (KPI’s); we still research the competition; we still do deep, multilevel keyword research using many databases; we still obtain quality relevant inbound links, and still produce detail reports. The quality of how we do organic optimisation doesn’t change - there are just different ways of pricing it.

This pricing innovation has got Strategy Internet Marketing noticed, and brought us clients. And we plan to continue innovating, not just in pricing but also in ways of optimising, the types of service we provide and in levels of customer service too. Innovation brings results.

Don’t worry about my staff coping with more change though – they love the extra rewards and the buzz and embrace innovation.

See us at Stand No.1 at the Online Marketing and Media Show 08 on 24/25 June.

Good links will get you better rankings.

Great links will shoot you to the top!

Why? Because links are something that search engines use (particularly Google) in order to understand what your pages are about. They are a kind of vote of confidence expressed by one site to another which is why better links have more power to influence your rankings.

Google was invented by a couple of PhD students at Stanford University, Sergey Brin and Larry Page. They decided that one of the ways to distinguish one page from another in terms of its authority on its topic was to base it on a kind of academic model. Academic papers are backed up by citations and in the same way web pages could be backed up by authority links from on-topic sites linking back and providing a vote of confidence in the page’s relevance to its topic.

This is why relevant links are so important and why some links carry more weight than others. Links from authority sites such as government sites and academic institutions carry more weight than commercial sites. Commercial sites that have established their own authority on their topic provide more weighty links than a new website that is still getting bedded in. Getting the only link on a page that is written about a particular topic carries more weight than a links page with tens of links on it.

Do you see how it goes…..?

Generally, the more links you get the better but specifically the more weighty the link, the faster you will get results.

You need some kind of website analytics package in order to know who is visiting your site - there is no other way of knowing! 

If you want to make more sales, get more leads or sell more advertising (who doesn’t?) then you need to get more visits from the right people - analytics packages can tell you what you need to know about what actually happens on your website so that you can make informed decisions and grow your business.

BUT not all website analytics packages tell you what you need to know.

You might have a free package with your hosting - webaliser is a common one, so too is AWStats but there are many more.  If you have a package available already take a look as it should show you some interesting things about what has been happening on your site up until now.

If you are serious about improving your website then you would benefit from packages that are a little more sophisticated - there are many out there, from free to mega bucks but it really does depend on your needs and most importantly what you plan to use the information for.  Don’t get caught in an information overload as there are stats available enough to drive you insane even on a tiny site!  As with all data analysis ask your self…. “WHAT do I need to know” and also “WHY do I need to know it”.    

Some people like visuals so look for the charts and graphs that you like, others want detailed visitor paths, others want to be able to tag search behaviour and interact with the data…. there is no one perfect package but there are lots of options and I suggest you check some out for yourself before you invest in buying a package. 

If you want to learn more about your website then an excellent freebie is Google Analytics - there are lots of graphs, charts and tables and many options to look at the data in ways that will help you improve your business.  Its a good place to cut your teeth and probably find some surprising results…

Here are some results that we have highlighted to website owners:

• 90% of your search traffic comes from the middle east because your business name is the same as their local stock exchange (lots of traffic but all irrelevant).
• the only search terms used to find your site include your company name (very common)
• the .com version of your site is pointing to a devil worship site! (make sure you know who controls your domains)
• an article written 12 months ago brings significant relevant traffic (write more articles).
• several people are blogging about your website which is boosting your rankings AND bringing you traffic (this is great).
• 80% of search traffic comes from Google, the next most popular source is AOL (why not Yahoo or MSN?)

The list of leassons learned is endless and you will soon learn what helps you the most.  Your website is a marketing tool and no matter the size or type of business you have it is possible to get more business through the web - it COULD BE your most successful channel so learn to understand your website, make informed decisions about improvements and make your business more successful.

If you don’t have the time or inclination to get down and dirty with your website analytics we can help you as traffic analysis and continuous improvement of client’s websites is integral to our approach.  Check out how Strategy Internet Marketing can help you make more of your online business by driving more traffic to your website and increasing your conversions.

What is all the fuss about blogging… is it really necessary?  The short answer is ‘no’ its not absolutely necessary but think about the benefits it could bring to your relationship with your prospects and clients…

I have wanted to write our blog regularly but I haven’t - why not? because its a real commitment to post regularly and I have felt that its important to blog regularly.

I have changed my mind, I would rather blog irregularly than not at all!

A blog on a website allows an oppotunity to create a conversation with your reader, its more personalised than a regular web page because you can share your thoughts, opinions and recommendations in a quick and easy fashion.  A blog will have more of a personaility because you can mix up the topics, talk about business issues but also personal stuff and even tell some jokes - blogs should be easy to read and dip in and out of.

Here are a few benefits of a blog:

• Develops a relationship with your readers by commuincating with them in a more personalised way.
• Adds value to a reader’s experience by sharing knowledge and tips.
• Allows readers to get to know you and your company so they can understand more about how you work.
• You can even make money by making recommendations and including affilate links!

Engaging an Internet Marketing Partner involves a significant amount of trust.  Trusting that we know what we are doing, that we will deliver a good service, that we will get the results you want - this is one of my personal motivations for blogging - because I think a blog is an excellent vehicle for you to learn more about Strategy and feel more comfortable in your decision to work with us. 

Therefore I would say that a blog is not essential to a website, its a choice to add another dimension to the way you communicate to your prospects and clients.  It is also good for SEO but that shouldn’t be the first reason you do it!

After intensive and very successful beta-testing, a “third way” of Internet Marketing is being launched at E-Commerce Expo 2007 by Strategy Internet Marketing: Pay-Per-Results (PPR).

John Courtney of Strategy Internet Marketing commented: “Until now there have been two main methods of Internet Marketing: Pay-Per-Click (PPC) and generic Search Engine Optimisation (SEO).� Pay-Per-Click has become very popular because the client only pays every time a prospect clicks on his advert.� Search Engine Optimisation, while very effective, is traditionally priced with up front fees which puts some clients off as it demands a financial commitment and the SEO company is paid regardless of how well they perform.

This Pay-Per-Results (PPR) method is really combining the best of Pay-Per-Click and the best of Search Engine Optimisation. We are only obtaining generic listings but we have priced it like PPC.

One electrical e-commerce client that Strategy Internet Marketing has been working with over the past few months on Pay-Per-Results (PPR) has seen dramatic increases in both traffic and sales and a substantial return on investment.�

Strategy Internet Marketing is a division of Strategy Consulting Limited which has just celebrated its 10th Anniversary.

FURTHER INFORMATION AVAILABLE FROM JOHN COURTNEY ON 07976 436757 OR 0117 377 8237 OR ON STAND 103 AT E-Commerce Expo 2007