Web Strategy

You're responsible for the direction of your online strategies for your company or organization, specifically using social media and computing tools to reach, connect, and build communities around your brand. Most folks at your company know this space is important, but don't know how to do it, they are relying on your expertise to think holistically, integrated, and strategically.

Build your network before you need it.

Good idea... One that I should practice more often, although I'd hope aWeber would take care of this for me :)

Always test your email delivery and design with outlook, because so many people use it. Here you can see Adobe never tested their email in Outlook.

Some good tips

Marketers must make every e-mail count in a down economy, say experts. But what does it take for messages to reach their target? Four industry pros zero in on the best tactics.

I had the opportunity to do a podcast with Avinash to discuss some areas where marketers are doing things right and wrong but all of them are simple but extremely powerful uses of web analytics to make their websites and businesses better on the web. We also took some live Twitter questions as we were doing the podcast. But stop reading this and start listening to Avinash - its 25 minutes long but positively electric!

That is disturbing!

I've been looking at Feed Rinse - That looks very cool. Wonder if they have an API... Could use that in a project I am working on. Thanks for the add Shey.

As the evidence shows, a white paper can be a powerful and persuasive marketing vehicle. Provided, of course, that the reader actually reads it.

Twitter is one of the most satisfying ways to spread your website or idea. In addition to referrals, you can also gain loyal users, expert opinions, and possibly friends. It's unlike any other medium in its ability to propagate interesting things. Word of mouth has always been the best advertising and Twitter is the best vehicle on the internet for word of mouth.

Spreading your links and ideas virally with twitter

More on web analytics...

"We have the data, we have the pretty reports. But we do not have an educated team who can take the resulting statistics and turn them into meaningful plans. The process of creating Web strategy and executing on Web tactics has gone missing."

Learn what bounce rates are, how they affect you, and what you can do to improve your user's experience.

Bounce rates can be an important measurement for your website and web pages. They can help determine whether a certain ad campaign is successful, whether you're targeting the right keywords, or whether changes you make are improving your site. Knowing the bounce rate of your site and individual pages can give clues about what is and isn't working for your site.

Google Analytics tips - ESSENTIAL knowledge for an effective web strategy

So you've just gotten access to the shiny new version of Google Analytics? Here are the 27 essential features of the best analytics software money can buy (it's free, of course), and how to utilize them to your advantage.

But one problem nags at me. Local merchants like "Joe The Plumber" usually don't have a web presence and many don't really even want one. But if you are going to buy cpc advertising, then you'll need a place for the clicks to go. The local ad agencies and local oriented web services are happy to create a web presence for local merchants, but they are often poorly designed and there's no standardization of them.

Know your objectives in advance. Start small, when possible: think "proof of concept." Track the metrics obsessively. Make sure that your interactive marketing efforts are tied to the sales funnel (e.g., your vp of sales ought to be able to determine where most leads are coming from online). Report frequently.

Although social media channels seem to be mostly qualitative in nature, user activities can be easily quantified. Although users interact with channels in different ways, four common factors quantify social media success: Attention, Participation, Authority, and Influence.

Great rundown of two successful social media press releases from a skeptical PR consultant

success story of using social media press releases

be a long slog. But I've also often said that its Web-friendly, social nature will put the SMR on "the right side of history." Experiences like Beth and April's are further evidence that change is a'foot.

The influence of search visibility as well as word of mouth on social media sites (the social web) is too significant for companies with any kind of brand equity to ignore. Lucky for readers of this blog or those you pass it on to, there are two upcoming opportunities to learn in depth about how to tackle online reputation management.