Sweetmantra: Internet Marketing Advice

Surprising Findings From my Blog's Traffic Statistics

I recently checked the traffic statistics for my blog, Sweetmantra, and was so surprised by some of the numbers that I thought I'd share them with you.

For the last year or so, I've been using Google Analytics to measure and analyze the traffic to my blog. (As an aside, Google Analytics is a terrific - and free - tool.) To be honest, though, I don't spend a lot of time checking the traffic statistics for Sweetmantra because "traffic" is not the main reason I blog.

Nevertheless, when I checked the source of traffic for last month (July 2007), I was rather surprised.

• 65% of my traffic came from organic search results (i.e., search engine queries)
• 18% came from type-in traffic (i.e., people who typed the URL "www.sweetmantra.com" into their Web browser)
• 17% came from referrals (links) from other Websites and blogs

What was I surprised about?

Well, first of all, I was pleasantly surprised by how much of my overall traffic I was getting from search engines. For me, this further proves how search engine friendly blogs are compared to 'traditional' Websites. It also means that a lot of these visitors are probably stumbling across my blog and discovering me and my work for the first time. Thanks to search engines, I'm reaching a new audience, and at little to no cost.

I was also intrigued by the referral source details. Getting traffic from links from other sites and blogs is key to how the Internet works and a great way to generate traffic. Nothing new there. What surprised me was how much traffic was generated by a single blog that linked to my blog. Although I received traffic from 52 different third-party Websites and blogs last month, a tourism Internet marketing blog located at tourismkeys.ca (that I had never heard about and had never contacted) mentioned one of my posts on June 27 and this accounted for 9% of my referral traffic (i.e., 1.5% of my total traffic) in July.

I should also note that I continue to get a steady stream of blog visitors from my profile on two popular social networking sites: Facebook and LinkedIn. If you have a Website and/or blog and aren't linking to it from your profile on these two social networking sites, you're likely losing a great traffic building opportunity.

When was the last time you checked your traffic statistics? You just never know what pleasant surprises and learning may be waiting for you.

Crossing 10,329 Miles with Communication Consultant Lee Hopkins

Last week I had the honour and pleasure of being interviewed by Australia's Lee Hopkins for his provocative Better Communication Results podcast. Despite the fact my Skype connection kept disconnecting us every 6 minutes or so, Lee and I had a lively 30-minute discussion about search engine optimization, business blogs, and social media.

One of the questions Lee asked me triggered me to tell the story of a friend who recently launched an online store and was looking for help with the search engine optimization.

Because my friend's store was created using a database-driven e-commerce solution that was not designed with search engines in mind and would therefore be impossible to properly optimize for search engines, I recommend that my friend focus his efforts instead on creating a blog related to the product he was selling.

I told my friend that this would be a far more effective way to generate targeted traffic than trying to optimize the existing site. Not only would it be good for the search engines, it would also be good for prospective customers. This is not the first time I've made this recommendation to someone, nor will it likely be the last. That's right, yet another great reason to consider launching a blog.

You can download an MP3 file of the full interview (14 MB) or, better yet, subscribe to Lee's podcast feed so you can receive this and future episodes of his Better Communication Results podcast.

15 Cool Things I Learned at the 2007 CMA Annual Convention

I had the privilege of attending, and speaking at, the 2007 Canadian Marketing Association Annual Convention in Ottawa earlier this month. Here are a few fascinating tidbits I gleaned from the many excellent talks and presentations I attended:

• Marketers need to learn how to 'outsource' the marketing to the consumers.
• Marketers need to develop mechanisms to detect and nurture the brand ambassadors (i.e., those consumers who will willingly act as promoters).
• Mass advertising for the iPod didn't happen until 9 months after the product launched; until then it was all 'word of mouth' marketing by brand ambassadors.
  (Source: Dr. Joe Plummer, Advertising Research Foundation)

• "Don't fear theft of your ideas; fear obscurity."
• To today's 'Net Generation,' "choice is like oxygen."
• Google is the world's fourth largest computer hardware manufacturer (of data servers).
  (Source: Don Tapscott, New Paradigm)

• People want more of what they can get less of.
• 90% of people look for less risk (try to avoid risk) when it comes to making a decision.
• You are four times more likely to be a CEO in North America if you are over six feet tall.
  (Source: Heath Slawner, Hart Resource Development)

• 50% of complex search queries (in search engines) go unanswered.
• 40% of the Web is not searchable...yet.
  (Source: Owen Sagness, Microsoft Canada)

• WestJet receives 1,000+ unsolicited resumes a week.
• The airline has a Department of Culture that is responsible for "creating a remarkable (workplace) environment."
• WestJet holds retirement parties for the planes it takes out of service. At the last retirement party for a plane, over 600 employees showed up.
  (Source: Richard Bartrem, WestJet)

• 74% of bloggers say they are open to receiving product or service information from companies, but only 9% actually do.
  (Source: David Jones, Fleishman-Hillard)

Next year's CMA Annual Convention will be held in Toronto in May, 2008.

Seven Fast Tips for Using Blogger

Now that I've established that Blogger doesn't suck anymore, I thought it would be helpful to share a few quick and easy tips to help you get the most out of Blogger, Google's free blogging software.

1. Tweak the Navbar
   The Blogger navigation bar at the top of every page doesn't have to be a 'loud' blue and orange. While you can't eliminate the navigation bar entirely, you can make it less obvious and tie it closer to the look and feel of your blog. To do so, simply log in to your Blogger account, then navigate to Dashboard > Layout, then click on "Edit" on the Navbar. In addition to the default blue colour scheme for the Navbar, you can also choose tan, black, or silver.
2. Finesse Your Photo
   For the photo of you, the blogger, use a JPEG that is exactly 88x88 pixels in size. This size will look best both on your blog (where more people are likely to see it) and your User Profile page. To change your photo, navigate to Dashboard > Edit Profile.
3. Create Search Engine-Friendly Tags
   Since page titles are very important to search engines, and since Blogger automatically incorporates tags into page titles, make sure you create tags that accurately reflect the content of your blog. This will help increase the traffic you get from search engines.
4. Use a Compelling Description
   The description you use for your blog in the top header section will likely be used by search engines when they display your blog in search results. Make sure you craft your description to be compelling to readers (to motivate them to click) and search engines by including the most important keywords here. Go to Dashboard > Settings to add or modify your blog description.
5. Use Your Own Domain Name
   Just because your blog's URL is likely to be some variation of yourblog.blogspot.com this doesn't mean you can't have a snappier and more memorable URL for marketing purposes. Simply register a domain name like TheBestBlogEver.com (for $10 or less at registrars like GoDaddy) and forward this to your blogspot.com URL. (Blogger also now supports using a custom domain for serving your blog, however configuring this is not for the faint of heart.)
6. Protect Yourself From Spammers
   If you want to provide your email address to your blog visitors but don't want to get bombarded by spammers using email address harvesting software, modify the way you display your email on your blog as follows: billgates[at]sympatico[dot]ca or billgatesNOSPAM@NOSPAMsymptico.ca.
7. Measure Your Traffic
   Blogger doesn't offer any Website traffic statistics (yet), but that doesn't mean you can't measure your blog traffic. Use a free and basic service like Site Meter or, if you're a data junkie, try Google Analytics.

Blogger Doesn't Suck Anymore or: How I Spent My Christmas Holiday

Until recently, if you were an aspiring blogger and you asked me my opinion of the blogging software Blogger, I would have gone into a mini rant about how surprisingly clunky and user-unfriendly it is, especially considering it is hugely popular and owned by Google.

Then I would have added that, of course, you get what you pay for. (Blogger is free.) And finally I would have suggested that you'd be better off paying $5 a month for a service like TypePad instead.

That was until this past Christmas.

In December, Blogger officially launched their new - and vastly improved - software, and I had a really good chance to give it a workout since I spent some of my Christmas holiday helping my Dad set up his first blog, In A Mellow Tone. (He prefers to call it a Website, but that's another story...)

The new Blogger is much easier to use (especially for non-technical folks) and offers some customization and configuration features that rival those of paid services like TypePad. Best of all, it's still free.

For full-blown professional or corporate blogs, I still recommend more robust and configurable paid services like TypePad and Movable Type (along with WordPress, which is 'free' but requires considerable technical prowess). However, for personal or modest little blogs like my Dad's, the new Blogger offers more than enough bells and whistles and is extremely easy to use.

If you haven't played around with the new Blogger yet, I highly recommend it. It's a great way to start the New Year.

Seven Things I Learned at the 2006 Digital Marketing Conference

Last week's CMA 2006 Digital Marketing Conference was information-packed and very inspirational, and I'm not just saying that because I am a member of the Conference Committee!

While I learned a lot more than just seven things at the Conference (I took 15 pages of notes), there were a number of key points made by various speakers that really struck me:

1. The Internet marketing talent shortage is now a reality the world over. Get used to it.
2. The number one thing that is holding clients back from investing more in Internet marketing is lack of knowledge. As Steve Levy of Ipsos-Reid so succinctly put it, "clients need to be educated before they are sold."
3. Marketing in the age of the Internet is all about conversations.
4. It's not about the Web page, it's about the clicks.
5. Podcasting is in its infancy like the Web was a decade ago. Now's the time to get in.
6. It's not about people coming to the content, but content coming to the people.
7. RSS readers will become the new portals.

For an excellent summary of the presentations given at the Digital Marketing Conference, and to continue the conversation, be sure to check out the Canadian Marketing Blog.

Defining Success Metrics for Corporate Blogs

I was recently asked to help someone define success metrics for a corporate blog. I thought this was such a great topic that I'd share my answer with a wider audience.

Many of the success metrics for blogs are similar to those that might apply to a Website, since blogs are a variation on a Website.

These 'shared' success metrics include:

Blog/Website Traffic

• Unique Visitors
• Unique Visits
• Repeat Visits
• Page Views
• Page Views per Visit
• Average Time Spent on site

Blog/Website Brand/Content Interactions

• Content Page Views
• Content % of Page Views

Blog/Website Responses (if applicable)

• Number of Desired Responses
• Conversion Rate from site visitor to Desired Response
• Cost-Per-Desired Response

In addition to the above 'shared' success metrics, there are a number of success metrics that are specific to the unique nature of blogs.

These blog-specific success metrics include:

• Number of Subscribers to the blog's RSS Feed
• Number of Overall Inbound Links to the blog
• Number of other Blogs that Link to the blog
• Number of Comments Submitted to the blog
• Number of Trackbacks Submitted to our blog

Not all of these success metrics will apply in every case, however these are some of the more common ones.

Blogging with the Whales

When I find myself discussing the merits of companies having their own blog as a companion to their corporate Website, I am often asked for examples of "real" companies doing so. (Most of the corporate blog examples I am aware of tend to be from Internet or technology related companies, which are sometimes not considered "real" enough companies by the folks I am speaking to. But that's a topic for another blog posting.)

I was on holiday in New Brunswick last week and stumbled across a seemingly unlikely but unquestionably "real" company that has its own corporate blog. There are at least a half-dozen small companies in the Bay of Fundy area that offer whale watching tours. Based on the limited information I had gathered from various regional tourism brochures, the whale tour companies all seemed to offer pretty much the same service for a similar price. So, like many other people would do in my situation, I turned to the Internet and explored the various companies' Websites.

The companies without Websites immediately lost my business. (That's a topic for another blog posting as well!) The remaining companies offered pretty much the same info on their Websites, with one exception. Quoddy Link Marine, to my pleasant surprise, also had a "Sightings and Updates" blog. The blog is maintained by Danielle, a marine biology graduate in charge of photographing, identifying and recording the whales and sharing that information with various marine research organizations. Danielle's blog chronicles through words and photos (by Danielle) the recent whale sightings and had been updated earlier the day I first looked at the blog with photos of whales that had been spotted that morning.

I was immediately captivated by the near-immediacy of this information and the fact it chronicled the spontaneous nature of whale watching. The "Sightings and Updates" blog also demonstrated to me that Quoddy Link Marine really cared about whales and the environment, not just selling whale tour tickets. Thanks to their blog, I also felt one degree closer to the people behind this tour company than with those from any of their competitors.

Needless to say, I chose to go whale watching with Quoddy Link Marine, not because they had a blog, but because of what the blog revealed to me about the company and its staff, something a typical corporate Website is not usually very good at. And in case you're wondering, the company and the whale watching tour lived up to my expectations. The afternoon we went out we played 'hide-and-seek' with a minke whale plus saw lots of harbour seals, harbour porpoises, and a young bald eagle.

Not only did I have an amazing afternoon on the sea, I also found a great example of a "real" company that has its own corporate blog.

Why the Hell Aren't You Blogging?

It's been less than three months since I launched this blog (and less than two months since I told anyone about it) and I can't believe how many wonderful (and sometimes unexpected) things have already happened because of it:

• I now dominate the Canadian and US Google search results for "Bill Sweetman." (This was not unexpected but I still didn't think it would happen so quickly.)
• I was invited to be an upcoming guest on Call For Help, an internationally syndicated television show. (Don't worry, I'll let you know more details nearer the time.)
• I was asked to speak at a Canadian Marketing Association event about blogging.
• I got mentioned (along with my blog) in seven other industry blogs.
• I got several new business leads, including one from Kansas City, Missouri. Go figure.
• I was contacted by a high school friend who now lives in Singapore and who I haven't seen in over 20 years.
• Not to mention the fact that this blog played host to 461 unique visitors from 9 different countries who looked at a total of 1,177 pages.

Suffice to say, I am overjoyed by the positive and positively remarkable responses to Sweetmantra. I'd also like to thank Ken Schafer for getting me warmed up to the idea of having my own blog by inviting me to be a contributor to the amazing One Degree and Mitch Joel for upping the ante by introducing me to the term "bloggus interruptus." In other words, they are to blame for this! Thanks guys.

If you don't have your own blog yet, why not? Let me know what's holding you back.

Integrating Alternative Media – Marketing Roundtables

I will be leading a discussion on blogging and podcasting at the 3rd annual Marketing Roundtables. The event is hosted by the Canadian Marketing Association and takes place on Thursday, June 8, 2006 in Toronto, Canada.

This year's roundtables focus is on integrating alternative media into the traditional mix. Sounds like the stage is set for a lively discussion.