The Evolution of My Website

When I began my website as a requirement for my MKTG470 class where we were instructed to frequently blog and track our success, I was unsure how I would succeed. Yet after learning how to optimize my website using SEO and PPC tools, I instantly began to love Internet Marketing.

Google Analytics:

Google Analytics was one of the first tools we learned to use. It showed my website had 199 viewers, 64 of which came from my PPC Google AdWords campaigns. I used AdWords to create campaigns directed towards my “Pinterest” post and “Study Abroad” page.  To me, this 33% of PPC driven traffic proved learning to use AdWords can significantly increase website traffic.

Analytics also showed I had 885 total page views during the 199 visits. Not surprisingly the highest amount of visits went directly to my homepage. What I was glad to see though was that my PPC optimized “Pinterest” post came in second with 16.95% of total pageviews. I had also used SEO tools to optimize my “I Love JMU” page. This page came in with the third amount of pageviews at 12.77%.

Key Takeaway:

I think the greatest thing I learned this semester is that Internet Marketing as a whole can drastically affect the results of a website if done correctly. The combination website optimization along with the use of social media websites to generate buzz can make a major difference in the success of a website. Staying up to date with social media sites such as Facebook, as previously mentioned in my post about Deb Van Horn, can attract new followers to your company and constantly keep them updated.

Overall:

I now believe I could be very happy and successful with a career in Internet Marketing. When starting our Google AdWords assignment in which I had to create two campaigns directing traffic back to my website, I had no idea where to begin. After constantly checking on how my campaigns were performing, I began to get a hang of it and viewed obtaining clicks while keeping my costs low a fun challenge. I hope to maintain use of my website to share other information I learn in the future and continually track the progress of this site through Google Analytics.

One of the first pages I wrote for my website was all about why I love JMU. If you have ever visited JMU, I am sure that you completely understand and share my love for this amazing place. However, if you have never been here and searched the phrase “love JMU” to see what was so fantastic about this school, my webpage most likely would not have been seen since it was located on Google’s 11^th search engine results page. After putting to use the online marketing skills I had learned from Dr. Theresa Clarke in my internet marketing class, I was able to land a sweet spot on Google’s second SERP.

With the abundance of different websites on the internet today, the competition to be one of the top websites on a search engine results page is drastically increasing. For your website to appear higher up on the SERP and get better ratings, there are a few techniques you can use to make it appear there organically. Google Webmaster Tools can help you with these rating through the information you gain about your website after you have registered it.

One tool that I believe seemed to be very useful after reading Top Four Technical Benefits of Google Webmaster Tools is the Site Performance tool. Google announced last year that site load time would is now a factor in the organic ranking of websites. With the Google Webmaster Site Performance tool, the site owner can see how fast their website loads and how it compares to other website load times. It also offers tips on how site load times can be improved, in turn improving site ranking.

A second tool that is very useful is the Malware tool. Once you have your site registered with Google Webmaster Tools, Google will notify you if malware is ever detected on your site. If it ever is detected, Google Webmaster will show you the exact code it views as malware and gives suggestions on how to remove it. After exploring my own Webmaster Tools account, I found out that thankfully no malware has been detected on my website.

While searching my Webmaster tools account I was also able to see my top content keywords and search queries. To no surprise, ‘marketing’ was my number one content keyword. There was 100% significance with 223 occurrences throughout my website.

I also learned that I had seven other sites were linking to my website. Over time, I would like to explore these other websites and see what content I have posted is getting linked to most frequently. This way I will know which of my posts other users find most interesting and potentially expand on them.

I would like to take more time to go through all of the aspects of Google Webmaster Tools. I had not yet installed the page speed browser add-on, therefore there was no data available yet for my Site Performance tool. Once I download the add-on, I hope to learn how to improve my load time and page ranking.

Overall, I believe Google Webmaster Tools is extremely important for businesses and bloggers today.  It allows users to keep track of multiple different elements of their website and can help users optimize their site. It is truly amazing all the information that can be found out about your website, for free, simply by registering for Google Webmaster Tools.

Recently, I had the pleasure of hearing Deb Van Horn, human resources and marketing manager at Rockingham Group whose corporate office is located here in Harrisonburg, VA, come talk to our internet marketing class. Ms. Van Horn recently integrated the Facebook timeline into the Rockingham Group’s existing Facebook page. She wanted to get a brief start working on the timeline before Facebook automatically switched all companies’ pages over to it on March 31^st. When she presented to us, she showed us the current cover photo for Rockingham Group’s Facebook page. It was just a simple gray banner with their logo on it.

Checking back now a week later, Ms. Van Horn had already updated the page to look more professional with an image going along with the Rockingham Group logo. This is important because the aesthetics of a website create the immediate perception customers get about a company.

Integrating the timeline will better help the Rockingham Group compete in the local arena of customers who may be looking for a more well known company such as Allstate and Progressive. Rockingham Group frequently compares themselves with Allstate and Progressive in order to get insight on customers. By looking at their competitors, they are able to see competitors’ techniques on how to influence new sales.

Another way Rockingham Group tries to gain customers is through relationship building. This helps them gain retention and referrals of new and existing customers. Ms. Van Horn also told us how feedback can be a very important way to see what customers think of the service Rockingham Group is providing. She can use the Facebook platform to educate customers and build awareness. Fun and family oriented posts area always a great posts to have, not just strictly insurance oriented posts. From these posts, she can then see what people think about their company values or the services they have been provided. Facebook ‘likes’ can also be used to track where the customers are located to get a better sense of their demographic market.

The Facebook timeline also gives companies more control over what site viewers are actually seeing when they visit the Rockingham Group or other companies’ Facebook. Before the timeline, Progressive had a lot of negative comments on their website complaining about their service. Now with the timeline, customers searching Progressive will only see Progressives’ posts that they choose to have highlighted on their page. If they do get any comments, positive or negative, Progressive personally responds to the comments and complaints to create good customer rapport. Rockingham Group hopes to emulate this tactic to keep good relationships with their customers as well.

Learning about how the new Facebook timeline can help companies increase their website traffic and overall sales was very beneficial. I would like to personally thank Ms. Van Horn for taking time out of her day to inform our class on how the timeline is actually relevant in the marketing tactics of a local business. Hopefully I can use this knowledge in the future if I ever end up needing to make a successful Facebook campaign page for a company I work for.

About six months ago as fall was just approaching, I began online shopping for a new pair of brown, leather boots. I looked through Nordstrom’s shoe selection and found a pair that I thought could possibly be the perfect pair for me; however they were double the price I was looking to spend at the time so I chose to continue searching. Over the next month I noticed that every website I browsed seemed to be showing ads with images of the exact boots I had contemplated buying just a few weeks prior. Knowing a little bit about cookies, I assumed my web browser had recognized that I had searched for those boots in the past and displayed them in the ads knowing I had previously been searching for boots.

After reading the article, “Retargeting Ads Follow Surfers to Other Sites” in the New York Times, I learned that this technique was actually called retargeting.  Retargeting ads is when ads are tailored for specific products that an online shopper has perused online. I believe this can be an extremely beneficial marketing tactic, under the condition that it does not become abused by online marketers. For example, if someone is searching for products such as new clothes or accessories online, showing him or her ads with items that have previously been browsed but not purchased is a great way to create top of mind awareness and potentially obtain the final sale. However, if that person was looking for something personal or a gift for someone he or she might share a computer with, the ads could be shown to someone who should not be seeing them.

There is a simple fix to this problem if people did not want ads of past searches ever showing. All a person would have to do is delete the cookies in their web browser that allow programs to remember what they have previously searched. Users are also given the choice to ‘opt out’ of ever having cookies saved on their computer, though few people ever do this once they understand how the ads were selected for them. Once people knew how to do this, anyone who was wary of having their past searches turned into advertisements could eliminate that from ever happening.

Since companies have figured out a way to retarget their products to consumers who have browsed but not made a purchase, constantly reminding these potential buyers of their products in different advertisements could spark a final purchase of the product. As long as strict retargeting laws are not passed anytime soon, I believe this retargeting trend will continue in the future. As long as marketers refrain from crossing the fine line between persistent and overly pushy with their ads, retargeting will continue to become more widely used by companies everywhere.

With the recent passing of St. Patrick’s Day came the overabundance of companies trying to capitalize on the holiday using the ‘Luck of the Irish’ in their marketing schemes. While some businesses used the stereotypical images of four leaf clovers and leprechauns in their advertisements, the Irish alcohol brands of Guinness, Bailey’s, and Jameson turned to social media to gain a marketing advantage. Gone are the days of simply drinking green beer to celebrate this holiday. These alcohol conglomerates have devised innovative ways to gain customer interest and make them feel like they are participating in the Irish tradition of celebrating St. Patrick’s Day, even without leaving their homes.

For example, Jameson Irish whiskey might not be the go- to choice for casual drinkers on any average occasion. However on this Irish holiday, potential customers around the world could easily find recipes using Jameson with Jameson’s St. Patrick’s Day party guide that also offered party banners and a guide to Irish slang. Jameson had broadcasts from the Old Jameson Distillery streaming live on 35 different radio stations throughout 11 different countries. And for those who wanted to see what a real life Irish-style St. Patrick’s Day was really like, live streaming of ten different global Jameson St. Patrick’s Day parties were being broadcasted around the world.

Guinness took another approach to the social media use of marketing their beer and aimed to achieve the Guinness World Record for the “Largest St. Patrick’s Day Celebration” ever. They wanted to make March 17^th the “happiest day of the year.” Guinness drinkers around the world were able to sign up for the campaign and learn more about the beer they were consuming. One of the more astounding facts that Guinness drinkers would learn is that about 13,000,000 pints of Guinness are consumed around the world on St. Patrick’s Day. That’s a lot of beer! Consumers could then share these facts through their favorite social media sites such as Facebook, Twitter, and Google+.

There was even on the go marketing emerging for those who are glued to their cell phones.  Bailey’s joined the ever expanding app world and created a free app in which people could edit their profile pictures by adding a “Kiss Me, I’m Irish” logo to it. By putting their logo right on consumers’ profile pictures, brand awareness would spread whenever a friend or family member of that user would browse their page and see the logo.

These are just some of the innovative techniques that companies used to lure customers in on St. Patrick’s Day and increase their sales. People ignore repetitive marketing messages, but through the use of these new social media marketing strategies, businesses can separate themselves from the crowd. As social media sites are rapidly becoming more relevant in today’s society, it is only a matter of time until more and more businesses begin taking full advantage of them for marketing purposes.

If a picture can be worth a thousand words, then a thousand pictures must create a lot of buzz. That is the exact tactic marketers are using behind the relatively new social media website, Pinterest. With Pinterest, users create online image collages called “pinboards” then can quickly and easily share those collages with other Pinterest users. I first started using Pinterest when I had heard about it from some of my friends last semester. I could follow what my friends had “pinned” to their boards and check out new recipes, crafts, and the latest fashions. Recently however, Pinterest has become a great platform for marketers to use to advertise their products.  By uploading picture of the products they offer, companies are able to drive traffic back to their website when Pinterest users “re-pin” the pictures.

Numerous companies have already begun doing this, one of the first being Whole Foods. Not only can they post pictures of some of the foods and other products they offer, but they are able to convey the lifestyle that Whole Foods entails. Causal pinners can get a feel for what the Whole Foods brand is really about and potentially be turned into loyal customers. As Pinterest is gaining popularity in the marketing world, more and more websites are being created to give tips on how to use this popular site to best market your business on Pinterest. Using these tips as a starting point, I believe that more companies will begin to use Pinterest to reach potential new customers that are causally browsing Pinterest. I am interested to see how Pinterest will expand as more companies get involved in using it to market their new products.

I have been using Twitter for almost three years now, and I am more addicted to it than ever. When I first started using it, I did not have a smart phone so all of my tweets were done from my laptop. Once I switched phones and got a BlackBerry, it was much easier to tweet on the go. Now, in my recent upgrade to an iPhone, I find myself checking Twitter multiple times a day to see what my friends are doing, what is going on in the news, and what my favorite celebrities and athletes are up to.

However, despite how much I check Twitter on the go, I did not realize until I had just spent the past hour exploring Twitter on my laptop how much more knowledge I can really get out of it. I usually refrain from clicking most links that are tweeted while I am on my iPhone because I usually only check it to kill some time and get some quick update. Over the past hour I changed this tendency however and decided to explore as many of the links I encountered as I could. I read articles posted by the Wall Street Journal and learned more about what is going on in the political race. I also caught up on what is happening with the Philadelphia Phillies as they head down to Clearwater, Florida to begin spring training.

Twitter is a great tool for companies and marketers because it is a very quick and effective way to send a message to a large group of people. People can learn about new products and services their favorite companies are currently offering and in turn, raise the company’s sales. I use Twitter mostly as a social network for now, but I can foresee myself continuing to use it for more knowledge based inquiries long after I graduate college.

This new theme is called Matala by Nicolo Volpato. I searched around and tried out many different themes on my site, but this one seemed to stand out to me above the rest. I love the bright colors of the header and the subtle matching design on the bottom of the page. It supports widgets, six post formats, and several customization options. At first I absolutely loved how bright and colorful it was, but the more I look at it I feel as though it may be a little too cluttered. I intend to search through the HTML coding of the theme in order to alter some of the settings to make my website more aesthetically pleasing. However, over the next few days I am unable to make this theme exactly how I want it to look, I will be changing it again to something more professional looking.

One thing I especially liked about this theme is that there are relatively few changes in the layout between my previous WhiteHouse theme and this new one. Visitors to my website still have access to my pages through the links in the main navigation bar and can still view the links and tweets in my right had side bar. I also like that I still have control over what my favicon is. If I do keep this theme, I feel as though my current favicon goes with the theme very well. As the semester continues, I plan to continue experimenting with changes to my website. I am interested to see  what other students have chosen as their new theme’s and if any students have as bright and colorful themes as mine.

Welcome to my blog.  I am currently enrolled in Strategic Internet Marketing (MKTG 470) taught by Dr. Theresa B. Clarke at James Madison University.  As one of the course requirements, all students will be completing some of the assignments as blog posts.  This is my first official blog post for Dr. Clarke’s course in the JMU Department of Marketing.