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Category Archives: Online Marketing

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Mobile vs. Desktop Browsing: Is Time Spent On Site a Useful Metric?

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As smartphone and tablet adoption increases, businesses are finding that they have to track and optimize their sites for additional metrics. While desktop browsing still far exceeds mobile browsing, mobile Web usage is expected to overtake desktop usage by 2015. Businesses that have begun tracking mobile metrics and optimizing for mobile behaviors stand to benefit the most from this revolution in Internet access.

Mobile Behavior

Time on Site: Mobile vs. Desktop Visitors

One key metric for measuring visitor engagement is the time spent on site. Typically, more time spent on a website means that more pages are likely to be visited, leading to an increased chance of conversion.

Mobile users tend to spend less time on site than desktop visitors do—in some cases, as much as 40 percent less time. Many factors contribute to this, including:

  • Simple Navigation
  • Quick Conversion Funnel
  • Savvy Navigators
  • Increased Download Speed

Simple, Streamlined Navigation

A best practice for a mobile site’s homepage is to place the navigation menu at the top so that visitors can easily navigate as soon as they land on the site. Many sites also replicate the same navigation menu and place it in the footer on internal pages of the site. Adding a site search, especially with auto-complete functionality, is another good practice for mobile sites.

Quick Conversion Funnel

Mobile visitors who are ready to convert want a quick conversion funnel, so it’s best to map out how a mobile site will have the shortest path to conversion possible. It may be as simple as including a click-to-call phone number in the header, having a prominent call-to-action button linking to a lead generation form in the content of each page, or integrating PayPal’s Express Checkout for Mobile Devices.

Savvy Navigators: Mobile vs. Desktop Visitors

Sometimes visitors spend less time on a site because they know how to find what they seek right off the bat. Today’s mobile users include a large percentage of tech-savvy individuals who may know how to navigate websites better than those still tethered to personal computers. As smartphones penetrate deeper into the market, this factor will become less significant.

Download Speed: Mobile vs. Desktop Visitors

Smartphones employ the latest technology, while many desktop visitors may be accessing the Internet on older, slower systems. This means that what appears to be a difference in time spent consuming content may actually represent a difference in download speeds, with mobile users able to receive and consume content faster than those using a desktop computer.

Mobile Devices are Not Created Equal

When analyzing mobile behavior by device, one key insight emerges: smartphone and tablet usage varies. In fact, tablet behavior more closely correlates with that of desktop usage than that of smartphone usage. Businesses seeking to maximize the value of their mobile market should segregate their data to allow for a better understanding of the needs and behaviors of users on different devices.

Time on site can be an important indicator of visitor engagement, but as the above factors indicate, it must be considered within the context of the user, the device used, and the site goals. Businesses should be tracking time on site by device and optimizing for mobile usage in order to respond to this rising market that will soon eclipse desktop browsing.

Posted in Mobile, Online Marketing | Tagged , ,

 

The Blogging Gospel According to Seth

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One of the reasons we love blogs so much at Fathom is because they are such an excellent means to provide fresh content to your website on a regular (weekly? daily?) basis. That is, as long as your blog is on your domain and NOT on some massive blog-hosting platform. You want all that fresh content featuring your important keywords to be generated right where you live for search engine cumulative effect, and it does truly work over time.

Another strong point about blogs is that they can establish oneself as an expert in an area. Seth Godin, for example, is a really respected guy in the online marketing world, and his blog is rated by many to be the best in the industry. He blogs about all things marketing-related, but in a syncretistic manner using all sorts of subject matter to make his point, which makes for entertaining reading. And reading should be entertaining!

I came across this interesting article on Neil Patel’s website QUICKSPROUT, illuminating 10 things any blogger can learn about blogging from Seth, and although the whole “list” aesthetic of many online articles is getting old, some of the points mentioned are quite empowering. A few I found encouraging were: blog every day; write like you talk; avoid time-sucking meetings and television and blog instead; edit, edit, edit!

None of these points offers any new revelation, and they’re all pretty much common sense. But as C.S.Lewis once wrote, “good teachers don’t teach you anything new, they simply remind you of what you’ve forgotten.”

So bloggers, start your engines. You CAN use blogging as an effective content marketing strategy to increase your content, site rankings, and expertise quotient in your industry—no matter what business you happen to be in.  Go for it, just like Seth.

Posted in Content Creation, Content Marketing, Online Marketing, SEO | Tagged ,

 

Do You Smell That? It Could Be Your Stale Content

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Once you create quality content for all the pages on your website you’re finished, right?

Wrong. Your content is not something you can just write and ignore. You may not realize how quickly your content can go stale.  Just like the brown bananas in your kitchen, if you let your content sit for too long without edits, it can go stale. Fresh content is key to keeping your site relevant.

While it may seem like a hassle to continually track all of your content, if you take the time to do it right maintenance will be much easier.

Creating a Content Inventory Spreadsheet

First, it’s important to log all of your existing content on a spreadsheet or chart. The important information you need to include:

  • URL – Add the page URL for tracking purposes
  • Page description  – Include a quick description of the page’s content
  • Page level – Note where the page occurs on the site
  • Content function – What kind of content is on the page?
  • Content owner – Who is responsible for the up-keep of the page’s content
  • Date of creation – The date the content was originally developed
  • Update frequency – How often will the page need updated to stay relevant?
  • Current status – Is the page current, or does it already require edits?
  • Notes – Add any additional information that will be necessary to know

If your website has numerous pages, it can seem overwhelming to create a spreadsheet like this. However, if you start with the primary pages and slowly work through content page by page, you will eventually have a working inventory of all your content.

A content inventory spreadsheet is meant to guide you when it comes to making site updates and creating new pages. Pages that have a high update frequency will be your major priority. These pages usually include upcoming events, press releases, employee directories and things that could quickly change within your company.  When it comes to content creation, use your inventory as a reference as to what your website is currently lacking.

While the process of a content inventory is tedious, the benefits far outweigh the boredom.

How do you currently keep track of content on your website?

Posted in Content Creation, Online Marketing, SEO

 

The UFC: Black Belts in Social Media Marketing

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According to Ultimate Fighting Championship President, Dana White “Twitter is the greatest Marketing tool in the history of the world”.

Dana White’s social media presence is most prominent on Twitter where the outspoken head honcho at the UFC regularly posts the latest fight announcements, UFC events, and fan contests to his nearly 2 million followers. White is notorious for his fan interaction on Twitter, and it’s common to see him engaged in heated Twitter beefs with MMA (Mixed Martial Arts) fans. Often responding to negative messages from folks with his own not so sweet tweets (see screen shot). White does what most company executives would avoid. However, it is in part his brashness and willingness to interact with fans that makes Dana White so popular among fans – and the UFC such a force in social media.

 

Tune into any UFC event and you’ll notice that when fighters are introduced their Twitter handle is prominently displayed on screen alongside their name.  Not only does the UFC promote several Twitter accounts for various marketing efforts, but the organization also encourages all of its fighters to have an active Twitter account. The current UFC roster contains over 300 fighters, so the idea is brilliant in that fans can interact with fighters after seeing them perform, and the UFC can expand its social media marketing efforts even wider through its employees (something all companies should consider doing).

While it’s obvious how much Dana White loves Twitter, the marketing gurus social media presence doesn’t stop there. Perhaps even more prominent is the UFC’s Facebook page. With over 8 million “Likes” the page is one of the most popular business pages on Facebook, and a large part of that success is due to what the UFC offers to fans of the page.

The UFC currently live streams free preliminary fights for fans of the page. If you’re not familiar with the UFC, “prelim fights” are not aired live on their Pay-Per-View, but as all MMA fans know these fights are often exciting with lesser known fighters giving it their all in hopes of breaking to thru to the main card.  The innovative idea constantly pulls in new fans and draws existing fans back to the page, giving the UFC yet another opportunity to promote their events online and drawn in additional PPV buys.

In addition to the UFC’s YouTube channel that promotes upcoming matches, Dana White also regularly posts a popular video blog that gives viewers a fascinating behind the scenes look at the UFC. The blog follows White in the days leading up to an event at press conferences, weigh-ins, cage side, and even backstage.  This allows fans to get an up close look at what happens before and after the fights.

Through all these efforts, it’s clear that the UFC understands the power of social media and engaging fans online. And just as UFC fighters use a mix of martial arts disciplines to succeed in the cage so does the organization mix social media marketing efforts to propel business.

The UFC’s immense social media success speaks to its overall non-stop barrage of marketing which has helped further expand the organization worldwide with events held in Brazil, Japan, Australia and Sweden this year alone. In addition to recent plans to broadcast UFC programming in India and the rest of the sub-continent, the organization recently landed a groundbreaking 7-year deal with FOX to further position MMA as the fastest growing sport in the world.

As an MMA fanatic and an online marketing geek I found the UFC to be a great example of effective social media marketing that not only got my attention, but one I think other companies could learn a few techniques from.

 

Posted in Online Marketing, Online PR, Social Media

 

Fathom Remembers the 100th Anniversary of The Titanic

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“This Day in SEO History” pays tribute to the 100th Anniversary of the tragic sinking of the Titanic, built in Belfast, Ireland, and designed by naval architect Thomas Andrews – a man with two first names!

Captain of The Titanic

Websites can be like The Titanic, too

The Titanic sank on its maiden voyage from England to New York City when it struck an iceberg that punctured its watertight compartments. In less then three hours it sank to the bottom of the icy ocean and hundreds of lives were lost.

Websites can be like the Titanic, too. They can be unwieldy with too much content and unnecessary pages and features. Visitors get stuck in the lower decks of the site, or get lost in the fog bank of bad branding – and want to abandon ship (or website)!

Watch the fifth volume of “This Day in SEO History,” starring our very own Amanda “Rose” Jerele, and learn how SEO and Design & Usability are like life rafts that can fix a sinking ship (or website).
Visit us today to learn more about the vast depths of online marketing tools that can help save your website from sinking!
And be sure to stay tuned for a SPECIAL SURPRISE FEATURE at the end!

Posted in Internet Video Marketing, Online Marketing, Online Video | Tagged , , , , , , ,

 

Why We CRO (Conversion Rate Optimize) for SEO

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Long gone are the days of online marketing campaigns that strictly revolve around keyword rankings and organic traffic – with little to no focus on conversions. Keyword ranking reports and traffic are still important indicators of success, but as we have learned, there is so much more that goes into creating and managing a successful online marketing campaign.

SEO has changed a lot in the last few years, but it is still the cornerstone to a solid foundation that helps generate revenue on the Internet. A solid SEO foundation can add a lift in performance to all other forms of marketing (paid, email, social, video, and offline).

As Fathom has evolved our SEO product into one of the most comprehensive online marketing solutions in the market, we want to take time to get you up to speed on an area we feel very strongly about; Conversion Rate Optimization (CRO).

We Conversion Rate Optimize client websites (existing sites and re-designs) as part of our online marketing program that reflects our brand promise – Simple, Accountable, Results That Matter

Simple

Conversion Rate Optimization requires a full team of experts to plan and implement tests that provide a boost to conversions. Conversions are top of mind for our team which includes: Senior Account Executive, Online Marketing Specialist, Copywriter, Technical Marketing Specialist and Conversion Specialist. Trying to weave in CRO to your existing marketing team can be a daunting task – especially if there is no existing design, usability or technical background.

Our goal is to make this skillset simple for you, and let us do the homework and heavy lifting while proving why you partnered with us. We have proven conversion best practices and success stories in place and are constantly challenging ourselves to do more, and also utilize the best tools to help us along the way.

Our process starts with “Challenger Sale” type research and discovery. We aren’t afraid to share new insights about your business and industry as a result of our research. We then move on to developing user personas that guide our entire team with focus on increasing conversions tied to the problem-solving content, engaging social conversations, and relevant links and PR opportunities we pursue on your behalf. Our process then ends with improved conversions that affect your bottom line.

Accountable

Our monthly reporting includes your standard web stats and rankings dashboard, but more importantly includes reports on all of your conversion goals and key performance indicators. We work with our clients to establish accurate lead values and determine the Return on Investment (ROI) for our efforts. If we aren’t working towards generating a positive ROI that meets your business objectives, we aren’t satisfied.

We track conversions all the way down to the keyword level and are serious about the role keywords and high quality content (that is also persuasive) play in the conversion funnel. Bottom line – all of our tactical online marketing efforts have a purpose in generating traffic, which leads into the third part of our brand promise…

Results That Matter

After we have established the overarching business goals, lead values and other key performance indicators that hold us accountable – we build quarterly plans that focus on what matters to you (visibility and revenue). Our testing methodology looks to lift conversions for your existing traffic, and the new traffic we are driving to the website. When we optimize lead capture forms and conversion funnel flow, all other forms on online marketing can benefit.

Our conversion optimization isn’t a one and done process. We take an iterative approach to improving conversion rates over time by continual testing, reviewing analytics, generating heat maps, reviewing form analytics, coordinating user testing, eye-tracking simulations, and incorporating other site feedback tools.

Getting Started with Conversion Rate Optimization (CRO)

There are a variety of affordable testing tools to help you get serious about conversion rate optimization. A few of our favorites are Crazy Egg, Visual Website Optimizer, Google Website Optimizer, Attention Wizard, ClickTale, Userlytics, and Cacoo. Remember the tools are only as good as the operator experience behind them, and the analysis and action that spawns from their usage!

If your online marketing efforts are operated in silos by different teams that don’t have proper coordination or end results in mind, it might be worthwhile to determine what you can do better to holistically manage those efforts. Adopting a conversion and testing culture for your business takes resources, time and money. If it’s not something you can easily incorporate, look to the experts and start a dialogue on when and where conversion optimization makes sense.

Conversion Optimization Discussion

Fathom’s own Mike Perla, Director of Conversion Optimization & Creative, has coordinated a professional group dedicated to Conversion Rate Optimization. Please visit www.CROPA.net or the CROPA group on LinkedIn to learn more about the topic, join the ongoing discussion, and view archived webinars provided by industry professionals.

Posted in Conversion Optimization, Online Marketing, SEO, Usability

 

Mr. Hymen Lipman, “The Father of Modern Content Editing” – This Day in SEO History: Vol. 4

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Welcome back for another educational and whacky edition of “This Day in SEO History!” Did you know that March 30th marks the 154th anniversary of the patent for a pencil featuring a built-in eraser, invented by Mr. Hymen Lipman in 1858?

I know what you’re thinking; Slymenstra Hymen was that woman (?) who used to sing and fire-dance for the heavy metal band, Gwar. Well, my friend – that is incorrect… Although she may have had a built-in-eraser attached somewhere to that costume…

Before Lipman invented the pencil-with-eraser, people were having big trouble when they created content. The SEO world owes Hymen a big shout-out because his content-editing tool was the beginning of word processing & content management systems. Today, online marketers edit website content to increase search engine rankings and to add-in strong keywords.

Check out This Day in SEO History: Vol. 4 – “The Father of Content Editing,” written and starring our own Father of Content, Daiv Whaley, and produced by the most rockin’ production intern in the world, Victoria Wilhelm.

Happy unofficial Annual Pencil Day, everybody!

Shoot us a comment below to give us your take on SEO History! And don’t forget to subscribe to our YouTube channel. Thanks for watching, and stay tuned for more educational <and historical> content from Fathom!

Posted in Content Creation, Internet Video Marketing, Online Marketing, Online Video, SEO | Tagged , , , , , , , , , ,

 

Your Crash Course on Buyer Personas

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In today’s competitive buyer-driven business world, it’s more important than ever to really understand your customers at a deeper level. That’s where buyer personas come in handy. But do you know what buyer personas are or how you can use them? And do you know why they’re important to incorporate into your online marketing efforts?

What is a buyer persona?

Not to be confused with a target market, a buyer persona is a group of people within a target market who share common demographics, problems, desires, motivations, goals and needs. Personas go beyond the basic demographics and help you get personal with customers.

Why are buyer personas important?

Personas help you develop and market content to someone rather than to everyone. Why is that important? Creating a piece of content that addresses the needs of everyone is difficult, if not impossible. While it might work in some instances, in most cases you won’t truly be able to connect, build trust and influence anyone if you’re writing for everyone. You need to be able to address specific needs of specific types of people individually.

How do you develop personas?

There are many different ways to develop personas and at Fathom, we’ve been developing personas based on four buying personalities: Methodical, Competitive, Spontaneous and Humanistic. No matter how you decide go about this, you’ll need to understand what each personas goals are when they come to your website, what they’re influenced by, what motivates them, as well as basic demographic information to help you visualize this person.

What do you do with personas?

Now that you’ve developed your personas, what are you supposed to do with them? Pretty much everything! Everything about your online marketing efforts can be tied to personas. Website content, social media outreach, calls to action, pay per click campaigns, email campaigns, video marketing, and more, can all use the help of personas.  With the right buyer personas identified, you can develop the targeted messages needed to help your business succeed.

Posted in Content Creation, Online Marketing | Tagged , , , ,

 

Big Data, Big Hype? How To Harness It

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You need a full-blown process, team, partner to do it right. All aspects are critical.

 

Interest in “Big Data” is exploding. According to Google Insights, relative search volume for the term big data has increased steadily over the past year (see chart below). The high point was last Thursday when President Obama made his proclamation about big data.

 

There are lots of players in the mix, from storage and processing to boutique analytics firms and automation partners like Marketo.

Data analytics has been democratized. The access to and ability to process Big Data has opened up a big opportunity for commerce and industry. Naturally, the source of this ever-growing Big Data is the increasing volume of activity happening online.

However, my 15 years at The Nielsen Company taught me a profound respect for the quality of data and the rigorous methodology needed to make informed decisions. You need the right partners across the entire spectrum of this process.

Each player has a unique approach to apply to each part of the process; however, business owners need to keep in mind that it’s the results that matter—profitable revenue.

Below is a quick overview of what you need in place to execute a Big-Data strategy well.

  1. First, a big driver of Big Data for business is a dynamic and consistently thoughtful inbound marketing strategy. Businesses must have great content, be optimized for search, and engage in a social media strategy to communicate with potential customers and generate leads. This process emits digital signals which are the critical inputs for the big-data movement. With this data you can then supercharge RPM (revenue performance management) platforms, e.g. by protecting organic search-engine rankings from drops associated with over-optimization.
  2. Next, one has to collect all the signals—digital and even analog—to analyze and synthesize the data to develop insights leading to action.
  3. Segmentation is next. Your insights must go beyond a binary measure of who’s hot and who’s not. Knowing your personas and identifying the state of buyer consideration leads you to step 4.
  4. Targeting. You must develop custom messaging and enhanced treatment to continue nurturing or send buyers into a sales process for conversion. This output should also be continuously kicked back to refine #1.

The result
Following this process end-to-end with the right partners creates leads that convert and profitable revenue for marketing that even a CFO would love.

If you want more information, ping us to hear more about our new VisiOne 4CAST program.

Stay tuned: We’ll also soon be publishing a case study/white paper about a client’s success with Fathom’s results-driven predictive marketing in a heavily regulated and intensely competitive environment.

Posted in Analytics, Lead-gen, Online Marketing, Predictive Analytics | Tagged , , , ,

 

Fathom Now Offers Interactive Video Experience – INGAGE: Interactive Engagement

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INgage LogoDid you know that Fathom now offers an interactive video solution? We call it Fathom INGAGE: “Interactive Engagement.” You may be asking yourself, “What, exactly, is an interactive video?”

Interactive videos are clickable video players that allow the viewer to choose an individual path throughout the video, leading to heightened view times up to 5X  longer than linear business video, and increased conversions by an average of 35%.

So, how is this done? Interactive clickable objects within the player itself allow the user to choose the next preferred video to view. And not only do these buttons provide viewers with complete control of their video destiny, but they also can be hyperlinked to external websites, such as product pages, checkout pages and even landing pages.

And the best part? These applications are designed to convert! The implementation of form fields within the player itself tie leads directly to the video!
Through detailed analytics, you’ll gain valuable insight into audience viewing behavior, such as number of views and average length of time spent watching.

You’ll access critical-path and decision-point information, such as:

INGAGE Path Analytics, Decision Points

Gain insight into viewer decision points

  • Percentage of viewers who requested more information
  • How many users stopped viewing from each individual clip
  • The most and least popular path taken from each clip
  • (Most importantly) Conversion rates per clip.

Check out the interactive player above, and shoot us a comment below to let us know how you think an interactive video solution could help enhance the user experience of your site! And don’t forget to subscribe to our YouTube channel. Thanks for watching, and stay tuned for more educational content from Fathom!

Posted in Affiliate Marketing, Analytics, Fathom Company News, Internet Video Marketing, Online Marketing, Online Video, Sports/Entertainment | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , ,

 

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