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E-commerce Link : A Custom Fit

Combat 'customer poaching' with content that drives sales and leads

December 2008 By Jeff Molander

Most importantly, when selecting words to link, focus on phrases typical to how customers search for your e-commerce offerings. Search engines approve highly of such relevant use of links and rank everyone's content accordingly. Properly (based on relevance and keyword choice) optimized and linked pages boost both your search engine optimization and paid search rankings.

Paying for Content
Implementing a simple blogging strategy involving content swapping and strategic linking is effective, but combining this with custom publishing is pure dynamite. Affiliates have known this for years. And it's given rise to a black market for links which search engines are forced to address, so beware of "link buying" schemes.

Today, savvy marketers are finding ways to produce and place custom content on the Web that search engines approve of. Some marketers are buying up domains/URLs and building content-rich sites on them. Is it possible to invest in such a tactic on a shoestring or experimental basis? Yes, but be careful of paid content services like ReviewMe and PayPerPost, whose bloggers have been targeted for delisting by search engines.

Operating a handful of your own free-standing, content-rich Web sites sounds daunting, but it's within your grasp and a better investment. Using free software like WordPress is simple, and you can run a handful of blogs on a $4.99-per-month hosting platform. Hire someone tech-savvy to install software, tweak a design template, and you're off and running for a few hundred dollars.

You'll also need an editorial plan for each of your blogs. Remember, you know your product niche—and the needs, desires and curiosities of target customers—better than anyone. Let this drive your content plan, and consider low-cost, work-from-home human resources available to you through services like Elance.

Become the Authority
It's been said that the most powerful sites on the Web today are those that provide aggregated and "filtered" (edited by a human) content—making them authoritative, easy to use and popular. While it's not for novices, it should be considered.

TheIndustryRadar.com is an example of such a site, providing health care industry HR and benefits news and opinions. It's owned by a consulting firm in the same industry and is now positioned as the central point for respected news and information in the industry (and all the linking and search marketing power that goes with it). Operating such a site isn't a trivial venture, but RSS-powered (real simple syndication) technology works behind the scenes to do the heavy lifting. The ROI can be significant.

Leverage Your Content
Using an integrated approach to custom publishing is critical. Any content you own, create regularly or customers create for you (i.e., testimonials, reviews, fan mail) should be leveraged across marketing strategies. An article or video that is being used to send traffic from a strategic blogging partner can be used by affiliates to "presell" or motivate potential customers.

Measure Your Success
Content-focused strategies are effective but not a silver bullet. Create goals, but don't expect instant success. Use your marketing analytics tool's conversion tracking to see increases in the following:
  • Natural search sales and/or lead conversions
  • Paid search sales/lead conversions
  • Sales and leads coming from your blogs and those coming from marketing partners
You also should use a free search engine penetration/ranking monitor to see increasing coverage and improved ranking on search engine results pages. Take the time to review your affiliate program to look for the increase of affiliate leads, sales output of affiliates and the number of new, productive affiliates. Lastly, consider the use of Google tools—specifically:
  • Google Toolbar helps visualize improved Web page PR scoring (relevancy that powers SEO and paid search placement).
  • Google Alerts tracks increased placement/mentions and reputation in the blogosphere.
If you keep costs down by using existing tools like your Web analytic tool's "action/conversion beacon," you'll get the job done easily and at low cost.

Jeff Molander is CEO of Molander & Associates Inc. He offers advice and education to multichannel business executives seeking better customer acquisition strategies and can be reached at jeff@molanderassoc.com. More on how marketers can drive sales/leads with RSS can be found at www.jeffmolander.com/rss. 
 

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