"Five Ways to Internet Wealth" is a recent favourite of mine. Apparently, all you need is an e-book, a one-page website (complete with long form copy), an autoresponder, a domain name and a few well-chosen keywords and punters will part with their money as if it's Las Vegas.

Sigh.

Anyone who has spent time trying to make money on the Internet knows one thing: It's not easy.

So, in the style of my nemeses, here is my:

Never to be repeated
Limited time offer
Endorsed by world Internet 'Gurus'
Sure-fire list
(tm applied for)
[insert testimonials from friends and cronies]

Of ways to:

Blow your budget on bad advice

MYTH #1 - Meta Keywords Help Search Engine Ranking.

No they don't, and they haven't since the turn of the century.

MYTH #2 - Splash Pages Must Be Cool.

No they don't, look at Google, Craig's List and Yahoo. Splash Pages must be useable. Splash Pages must be search engine friendly. Splash Pages are what people think they need, and what graphic designers like to sell them. Splash Pages are 'old tech'. Google it and see for yourself.

{Ed: So what's the problem, do you hate design or something?}  No, I love design and I even admire Splash Pages. But what if nobody shows up because your cool page has 15 words on it and the links can't be spidered by Google? Think this is an extreme example? In our experience, a full 75% of web sites are search engine deadends. This is especially so if you're relying on Flash to get your message (because Google can't read it).

MYTH #3 - Target The “Must-Have” Keywords.

Yes I know we've already covered this here. But here's the summary: Choosing the right keywords is about finding the gap in the keyword market. Unless you can launch a website with thousands of pages (for some keywords millions) AND you have high quality incoming links, you will NEVER rank for competitive keywords. But the good news is that there are many more niche keywords than there are 'high demand' keywords.

MYTH #4 - Website design is a beauty contest

Tell Craig's List and Google. They would rank last for artistic design, but they are two of the most successful web sites ever. It's in a graphic designer's best interests to sell graphic design. If your designer STARTS with a colour chart and image (rather than a target market and some keyword research) run for the hills. On a mound, you may find a real guru; one who calmly informs you of the meaning of (Internet) life: Be relevant to your audience, base your proposition on his and her needs (as expressed in keywords) and make your site useable. Use graphic design, grasshopper, to enhance your visitors experience.

Myth #5 - Build It And They Will Come

If you haven't identified a keyword niche/niches, constructed a theme around those keywords and made your site 'search engine friendly', no they won't. Your cool domain name, Flash movie and arty design will not help you if the site has no visitors.

Back in my 'old' days of database marketing we knew the differences only too well. B2C is about a brand's relationship with a consumer. B2B is about an organisation's relationship with another organisation. How does this relate to SEM?

In B2B

1. There are fewer searches, but each search has a higher potential value
2. There are multiple decision makers (the decision-making-unit or DMU)
3. The search intent is to research rather than to buy
4. Whereas B2C is about clicks and transactions, B2B is about leads and conversions
1. ..which means you need ' lead capture'  landing pages
5. The time from initial search to transaction might be weeks or months
1. ..which means that getting proxy indicators of interest is vital. Huh? Well say you're marketing an advanced building method to an architect. Assuming the architect has an immediate application for the product, he or she is part of a specifying team of professionals each of whom will play a part in recommending your product. But the architect won't ultimately buy the product, the building contractor will. Staying front-of-mind and getting referred to other decision makers is crucial. Proxy indicators of interest may include subscriptions to Blogs and newsletters, white paper and case study downloads.
6. Lead 'nurturing' is essential. Where B2C is literally a numbers game (high volume, low value leads), each B2B lead is as scarce as Gold.

• Leads are more important than traffic
• The more specific the keyword the better the quality (favours the Long Tail)
• There are multiple decision makers (the DMU)
• Landing Pages must be designed to capture the lead and NOT try to close a sale
• Engaging the visitor is essential (you want them to refer the site to co-workers and make repeat visits and/or subscribe)
• Did we mention conversions? OK, say it aloud 'Conversions NOT (just) traffic'

GOOGLE KILLED THE TRADE SHOW
90%+ of B2B buyers start their search online. rather than relying on trade shows and Sales Reps for information, the modern buyer is much better informed. Without effective call for Action(s) you may provide metric tonnes of information and devote your bandwidth to charity. It's all about engaging the visitor and exchanging information for contact details. The operative word is 'exchange' but it may be extended to 'fair exchange'. What does it take for you to give a website your contact details?

• Download a brochure? yes/no
• Download a Whitepaper? yes/no
• Get an obligation-free assessment? yes/no
• Subscribe to a newsletter? yes/no
• Access premium content? yes/no
• Trial a product, service or system? yes/no

As the years go on, we want more in exchange for our precious contact details. This is the challenge.

Since buyers search early in the Sales Process, they are often not ready to speak to a sales person. That's often where Blogs come to the fore. Hungry for inside information, buyers are more likely to subscribe to a forum, newsletter or feed rather than show their hand by contacting a sales person. This is often a reason to put some distance between your corporate website and your Blog or Wiki.

With B2C the process ends shortly after the click. In B2B the click is just the beginning ...

During the research phase keyword strings tend to be very specific. This favours web pages with rich content, and the landing page is rarely the Home Page. This is a crucial point. Most of us 'see' our website as a hierarchy built from the home page 'downwards'. But when we search a keyword, we land on the most relevant page.

LEAD DIES OF NEGLECT
Where is your call for action?  Unless it is on every page, you may be providing valuable research information to prospects, but you have little prospect of converting the visit into a lead.

What? Well, according to Google "Technically, a Googlebomb  refers to a prank where people attempt to cause someone else's site to rank for an obscure or meaningless query". In this case, the joke's on scientology - as you will see if you search Google for the term "dangerous cult".

So a concerted effort by motivated people can manipulate search engine rankings? But, of course.

Click here to see what the bombers have been up to.

Unfortunately, it's the same on the Internet. We click on an adword for a very specific proposition only to land on a generic page. Or we click on a search result and can't find the keyword anywhere on the page.

We are not known for our patience as Internet 'browsers'. We click back faster than you can say 'no way'.

Where we land is important. How,  as Internet Marketers,  we deal with each landing is crucial.

A lot is written about landing pages, and much of it is well-intentioned but wrong. B2B clients don't - just don't - respond positively to long form copy. One glimpse at 20 word sub-heads, different font styles, testimonials and cheesy stockshots and they're off.

What works brilliantly for Readers' Digest won't work at all for IBM. Not only is a landing page about relevancy, it's also about credibility. Trying too hard can signal desperation if not outright scam.

What makes a great landing page is simple. It's the ability to get the visitor to act.

Given the principle that a landing page should relate - and relate directly - to the keyword, how do you secure this 'act'?

This is where language is important. Nobody 'gives' you their contact details. But they may be persuaded to to exchange them. Exchange is a good word. It means we have to provide some benefit in order to get some action. How many landing pages expect you, the visitor, to give without receiving? Too many for sure.

In B2B, sales are usually way too complex to be closed without an exchange.

Many sites hit you with a complex form or tortuous click through routine before you've even read about the potential benefits.

So, relevancy, usability, an appropriate tone of voice AND an effective call for action are the goals.

Of course, we have no means of controlling the landing page for visitors from search engine queries. But that's no excuse for leaving the visitor in no-man's land. Clear navigation on all pages is the first step. And navigation that relates to keywords not only makes good sense to help direct traffic, it aids SEO too.

The more competitive a keyword the harder you will have to get and sustain a ranking. Many of the pages that appear at the top of the Google search list will have a lot of relevant content, be well optimised and have a powerful link profile. This will make it difficult outrank them.

Obvious (generic) keywords have lower conversion rates compared to more specific keywords. Remember, targeted keywords generate targeted visitors, who are much more likely to be receptive to your call for action.

It helps you to identify keywords that are relevant, targeted, and  less competitive. By finding the right mix you can rank well more quickly,  actually increase the number of visitors, and improve your conversion rates.

There's still a lot of confusion about search engine optimisation (SEO). Many clients (and sadly many designers) think that it's as simple as adding keywords into the head of the home page of the website. The bad news is that these 'meta' keywords are not accounted for in rankings due to widespread abuse. That's been the case for many years. SEO is a lot more complex these days and includes a number of technical factors as well as the actual content of the site.

For those that make the investment in producing high volumes of relevant content there is a hidden and cumulative benefit. For many websites, over 80% of visitors may come from searches for one-off keywords. Only now are search marketers understanding this gold mine. These searches find natural keywords within the text. Remember, a 'keyword' may be a word, words or phrases (term). The word 'long tail' comes from the tally of visitors a site might attract. There might be several hundred visits from searches for generic keywords, and several thousand visits from one-off keywords.  These long tail search terms produce highly targeted visitors and while each individual term will not produce more than one or possibly two visitors over the space of the month, they do all add up. It is virtually impossible to research long tail keywords because of their infrequency, but by constructing a 'theme' you can tap into this rich seam.

It makes a lot of sense. Your closest network is the one in your address book. Quite how the players will tap into the extended network is yet to be revealed. Already in gMail there is gTalk instant messaging and file transfer and Google docs - documents and spreadsheets you can share and update with others. gMail has quietly but aggressively entered the business email market, with free 'real domain' email hosting for soho and cheap enterprise email options. Yahoo also has a big presence in paid email.

• 71% had 'no explicit' keyword strategy. Of the balance, only 60% had conducted formal research to determine these keywords.
• 40% of those without an explicit strategy considered meta keywords tags to be the 'primary determinant' of search engine ranking*.
• Paid Placement (such as Google's 'adwords') were subcontracted to external specialists in 45% of cases. Advertising agencies were the nominated supplier in 80% of cases.
• Just 25% of the respondents were familiar with the term 'long tail' and not one company considered it important enough to measure.

*Meta Keyword Tags have not been part of the major search engines' ranking algorithms since the late 90's early 00's.

For access to the complete survey findings, please contact us.