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Video has progressed quickly from a "nice-to-have" feature on a Web site to an essential, competitive differentiator that drives SEO and increases brand identification. What has been SEO implications make it too appealing to ignore.

Ever since Google integrated video into its universal search offering in 2007, websites featuring video have gained a significant SEO advantage. When a company integrates relevant videos that match the content of its website, search engines find and index the video within the site’s context. This improves your overall website and video search ranking as it relates to your business’ keywords, and also allows search results to be presented with matching videos, making them more appealing, thereby increasing search-based traffic.

And, because YouTube is now owned by Google, almost 40 percent of users who search Google see video options in their results.

Would you be inclined to click on a video in a list of search engine results?

Would your clients?

Getting right to the point: When is the last time you updated your site?

Regardless of your website's purpose, (information, support, samples of your work, e-commerce, etc., ) it is important to make sure that your site is fresh, and has accurate and meaningful and TIMELY information posted.

Have you reviwed your site lately? Common mistakes among even the most diverse client base include outdated contact information, outdated product information, and no new information in your news section, BLOG, case studies, client spotlights, and portfolios.

Keeping you information up-to-date says so much about who you are as a company. The information you provide will be more valuable to your exisitng clients and the PROSPECTIVE cliients who may be visiting your site. To those anonymous sets of eyes, viewing out of date or "stale" information can be a huge tip off to the fact that your compnay may have issues in other areas. Think about your own web site surfing experience. How do you view a company that has outdated marketing materials?

I realize we are ALL very busy working IN our businesses, but now it may be prudent to put some time aside to work ON your business.

Have you updated your site lately?

Have you taken a look at your Web site statistics lately?

Have you taken a look at your Web site statistics lately? As Web users get increasingly surfing-savvy, they are spending less and less time perusing sites they come across. Their initial visit may last as little as 10 seconds. If your site doesn't immediately rivet a visitor's interest, he or she is gone -- possibly never to return.

You have as little time to lock-in interest as does a highway billboard. And, once you gain that interest, you need mechanisms to guide a visitor to action: purchase your product, generate a lead, inquire about your services -- whatever you deem a successful outcome of a Web visit.

Statistics show that it is not uncommon for only one Web visitor in 500 to take action on a Web site. For some reason, most Web site owners find this an acceptable ratio. As a comparison, say you operated a traditional retail store on Main Street U.S.A. If 499 persons out of every 500 who walked into your store immediately left -- without even a glance at your merchandise -- would you find that acceptable? Of course not. You'd go out of business rather quickly.

So how do you halt the "revolving door" on the Web?

A critical step is to give your Web visitors an alluring and easy way to interact with you. And we're not talking about your site's "Contact Us" link.

The vast majority of Web sites rely on their site's "Contact Us" page for inbound inquiries. This is one of the biggest mistakes a company can make.

Statistically, the "Contact Us" page is one of the least visited pages on a Web site. Why? When a person is making an initial evaluation of a company's products or services, the last thing he or she will do is pick up the phone or send an e-mail. Consciously or unconsciously, he or she doesn't want to be bombarded with a sales pitch or get on another "spam" e-mail list.

So, if not via the "Contact Us" page, how do you encourage someone to engage your services? It's easier than you might think...

Even in today's high-tech interconnected world, still the most powerful word in all of marketing is "free". Give your Web visitors a taste of your services. An easy way is to create a couple-page PDF with some tips or insights about your industry -- and offer it as a free download on your Web site.

One of our clients is a company called Hayward Turnstiles, Inc. Visit www.haywardturnstiles.com and notice the small button in the upper right that says "Download our FREE Turnstile Guide". Simple techniques like this can be hugely successful at bringing the "revolving door" to a rapid stop. They jump-start the interaction, generate leads, create fertile and fresh databases for permission marketing e-mails and e-newsletters -- you name it.

Instead of a 1-in-500 interaction ratio, maybe it becomes 200-in-500. Now isn't that much more reasonable?

This is just one of many business-building techniques we offer our clients. ImageWorks specializes in making sites work for companies -- not just be pretty pictures on the screen.

So stop the revolving door. Lock in business. With a few small techniques, it's easy.

From Seth's Blog: "A meatball sundae is the unfortunate result of mixing two good ideas. The meatballs are the foundation, the things we need (and sometimes want). These are the commodities that so many businesses are built on. The sundae toppings (hot fudge and the like) are the New Marketing, the social networks, Google, blogs and fancy stuff that make people all excited. The challenge most organizations face: they try to mix them. They attempt to slap new marketing onto old and end up with nothing but a failed website. This classic book explores the 14 trends that are changing our world and how organizations can either embrace them or be punished by them." For anybody who has ANYTHING at all to do with marketing, this is a must read. After you've read it, you won't have any more excuses about not understanding new media! Now shut up and sell. Jeffrey

Jeffrey Cohen is the director of New Business Development at ImageWorks, LLC in Vernon, CT. ImageWorks has been providing state of the art web development solutions for 10 years. ImageWorks can provide web solutions for both large and small companies. Visit our portfolio on our website. If you have any web design, development, hosting or internet marketing needs including myspace design, marketing and BLOG design, we can assist. For help with web issues or to leave a reply to this blog post, contact Jeffrey at JCohen@ImageWorksLLC.com.

I'm often asked "Why should I Blog...I Don't see the value in it, and I rarely read other peoples blogs." Well, for starters, you are not other people. And other people are reading Blogs. Once again, it's not about you, it's about your customers. Also, the word "rarely" is not "never", so there are in fact times, when you do seek a Blog article. And trust me, there will be times when a potential client of yours is seeking information about your company as well. Here then, are a list of 5 reasons to Blog, even if no one reads it.

1) SEO Benefits: The effects of Blogging and SEO benefits are many. Articles are picked up, reported on, indexed, copied, and referenced. And your brand is associated with the information every time. When you add the fact that the information has an infinite search life, what you do today can be seen for years.

2) Crisis management: Do you have some important information you need to get out NOW? Your Blog may be the best, fastest way to announce it to the world.

3) Re-Purpose content: White Papers, News Letters, Other Blog entries - All of them make great additions to your Blog, and give you credibility, show you as credible, and keep you connected.

4) Differentiation: Are you different from your competitors? Your Blog is a great way to flex your service "muscles" by demonstrating your strengths and keeping you ahead of the competition.

5) PR Opportunities: Have you won an award? Have you hired someone? Never before has the execution of a massive outreach of information been at your fingertips so quickly.

One of the keys to generating more business from your Web site is to increase the amount of traffic you get from relevant keyword searches. That is, when someone types in a phrase representing the products or services in your industry, you want your Web site to come up prominently in the results listings. Experts in "Search Engine Optimization" or "SEO" know that one of the secrets to high rankings is to make sure the text of your Web site includes lots of the same phrases that people are searching for. And there's a great tool that can help. The tool is called NicheBOT Classsic. It's a handy Web site that provides a precise, constantly updated listing of keywords for every industry. And it's free for your use. Give it a try. Go to: www.nichebotclassic.com. Type in a word or phrase that pertains to your industry and -- presto -- you'll see the actual words and phrases that people are typing into search engines, worldwide. If you make sure those words and phrases are sprinkled throughout your Web site text, your search engine rankings will steadily go up. So will traffic to your Web site. And, ultimately, your business should also get a boost.

Jeffrey Cohen is the director of New Business Development at ImageWorks, LLC in Vernon, CT. ImageWorks has been providing state of the art web development solutions for 13 years. ImageWorks can provide web solutions for both large and small companies. Visit our portfolio on our website. If you have any web design, development, hosting or internet marketing needs including myspace design, marketing and BLOG design, we can assist. For help with web issues or to leave a reply to this blog post, contact Jeffrey at JCohen@imageworksllc.com.

More and more I am asked about Blogging. "Should I do it?", "What's the benefit?", "What does it all mean?", etc., etc., etc.,. The reality is this. If you have some words of wisdom, why not share them? You never know who may be listening.

If you are trying to establish yourself as an expert in your field, it has never been easier. The opportunity to actually put into words for others to read any thoughts you may have is as simple as some keystrokes and a click.

Personally, I subscribe to all sorts of Blogs for all sorts of reasons. Hobbys, professional information, competitors strategy review, lots of things. Sometimes, I even have to read a lot of things I'm not really interested in to find what it is I'm looking for. And then, I come across the nugget and it was all worth it.

Recently, I ran into this article by a Blogger, about his experience in Blogging. Seth Godin's Blog about marketing. Seth...I may not have read all 3,000, but I've read most, and I still refer to the one's that I need to when I'm selling or trying to teach clients about marketing. Here's to 3,000 more.

Sure, there's a lot of junk out there, but the cream always rises to the top.

http://sethgodin.typepad.com/seths_blog/2009/02/luckiest-guy.html

Many marketing folks are finally starting to sit up and take notice of the fact that traditional copywriting techniques do not work on the web. The reasons are varied but include the nature of the web. When leafing through a magazine for example, you will likely give some focus to a full page ad, or if there's a billboard between your home and your place of work you might not notice it today, but you probably will tomorrow or the next day. it's a different ball game when it comes to the online world.

When surfing hundreds (sometimes even thousands) of pages per day, the chances of coming across the same message once you've left a website are pretty small. With each web page it's either now or never. You can lose the reader if you haven't engaged them sufficiently.

So, how do we solve these issues?

First of all, instead of trying to SELL to a customer, today's successful marketers need to be more focused on generating leads which could end up in a sale further down the line.

Offering free downloads of white papers, videos that engage, or other free trials and offers are a fantastic way to engage your future clients, and a great way to capture their information so that with permission, you can continue to market to them, building trust and becoming a valuable source of information over time. What you are doing is recognizing that it's tough to get people to buy from one page, and reacting by reducing the size of the barrier making it really easy for consumers to become familiar with your company.

The bigger issue is that most traditional marketers think writing sales copy for the web is exactly the same as writing for print. Many make the simple mistake of copying and pasting their print-based marketing messages onto their websites, and then wonder why conversion rates are poor. It may be time to make the transition from writing print sales copy to online copy and stay one step ahead of your competitors.

Some key points to consider include:

1) Online customers aren't a captive audience. They come and go as they please, ultimately making an immediate sale harder. Generating leads by offering free trials, white papers, demos, or a free newsletter may ultimately be more important than blindly pursuing the big sales pitch.

2) Transparency is key to writing online sales copy. Don't make false promises because customers can readily read up on your products and services, immediately check a competitors site, use comparison websites and even Google customer review forums and user groups to get real information.

3) When writing an offer for your prospective clients, make sure it is clean, concise, and attention grabbing without being too gimmicky. Your headline is a promise to prospective readers. Its job is to clearly communicate the benefit that you will deliver to the reader in exchange for their valuable time. Write your headline first, and then make sure you are able to deliver on the promise you just made!

Jeffrey Cohen is the director of New Business Development at ImageWorks, LLC in Vernon, CT. ImageWorks has been providing state of the art web development solutions for 13 years. ImageWorks can provide web solutions for both large and small companies. Visit our portfolio on our website. If you have any web design, development, hosting or internet marketing and BLOG design, we can assist. For help with web issues or to leave a reply to this blog post, contact Jeffrey at JCohen@imageworksllc.com.

What is the Value that your Web site offers?

Although there are many design elements that people can employ to make their Web site have more impact, just as important is the focus of the message. I know many people agonize about the look and feel of the site, and focus on trying to find the right shade of blue, green, etc., but focusing on form instead of function is a mistake that all too many make. So, why do you have a Web site in the first place? Here's a hint: A Web site exists to provide something that's useful or interesting to visitors. Understanding that you need a well defined message before you worry about how to present it goes a long way to making your Web site project successful. Swanson's Unwritten Rules of Management states: "You can't polish a sneaker" - In other words, No matter how mach you try, it's still just a sneaker. What are you offering to your visitors? Why is it worth their time to visit your site?
Keeping some key principals in place about function rather than form will keep your project in line with your customers expectations, and allow for a Site that will help drive traffic to your door.

Rules of e-mail engagement

Your site is posted, your marketing machine is revved up, and you've been a good business owner and collected email addresses (with permission) of all your clients and interested parties. (You have been collecting email addresses, haven't you?). It's time for you to send out your e-newsletter, and you're all excited because it features some great information about YOU...but, will it be read?

Sometimes, it's easy to start talking (writing) about ourselves and forget what it is we are trying to accomplish. Wouldn't it be more effective to connect with our prospective and existing client base by talking about THEIR needs instead of OUR products? If you think they are the same, you are sadly mistaken. And, what about providing something actually helpful or interesting to a prospect and/or client JUST BECAUSE YOU CAN? Offering information to people because it actually helps is a good way to get on their radar. It increases your credibility, and helps you to obtain that "touch" with a client that we are all supposed to be maintaining 6 to 10 times a year, depending on who you listen to. (You are staying in touch with your clients, aren't you?) One more incredibly important feature of providing useful content...your e-newlsetter may actually get read! People will start looking for and expecting your information because it's informative, fun to read, or fills some need that the client has. Additonally, there are some best practices that should be followed. 1) Organize the content in a way that addresses VISITORS's needs, NOT your own. 2) Your e-newsletter is one piece of your overall communication strategy, making sure the look and feel is consistent with ALL of your marketing materials, both on and off line. 3) Consider a survey and asking for client feedback! What a quick and simple way to engage clients and find out their needs 4) ALWAYS, ALWAYS, ALWAYS (did I say ALWAYS?) make sure that your list is permission based, and allows for an opt-out function allowing clients to unsubscribe.

Jeffrey Cohen is the director of New Business Development at ImageWorks, LLC in Vernon, CT. ImageWorks has been providing state of the art web development solutions for 10 years. ImageWorks can provide web solutions for both large and small companies. Visit our portfolio on our website. For maximum ROI with your web design, development, hosting or internet marketing needs including myspace design, on-line marketing, Social Media and Blog design, or for help with web issues, contact Jeffrey at JCohen@imageworksllc.com.