Sitewire

Who loves Spyware?
- Scott Kaufmann

Of course you don't, and I don't, but is there anyone that does? Probably not. I don't even think the people that design and develop the newest, most devilish adaptations of your favorite nuisance actually like it. The world of Spyware has taken off lately, and perhaps has taken over SPAM as the hot topic of technology discussions and marketing roundtables. Don't think that you're alone in your battle with the beast; both Congress and Microsoft have made the battle against Spyware a large priority lately. The House Commerce Committee Chairman, Joe Barton said, "This [anti-Spyware legislation] is on the fast track, and we hope to be marking this bill up in the very near future." But if the results of an anti-Spyware bill are as effective as the anti-spam legislation, don't expect Spyware to be wiped off the face of the planet. However, Microsoft is actually providing some relief.

Microsoft recently launched its own free anti-Spyware solution for all registered windows users. Seriously, Microsoft actually did something to try and help. (Don't try and download this program if you have a pirated version of Windows on your machine though; there is a pretty strong verification system in place.) I have been using it for about two weeks at home and haven't noticed one instance of Spyware getting through. The new software updates itself frequently with the newest Spyware definitions as many popular anti-Spyware software solution suites do. Also, Windows XP Service Pack 2 also has some Spyware protection functionality, but is far from a cure-all. However, coupled with their anti-Spyware software which is still in Beta testing, the solution is working well for me - and best of all it's free. So where can you get it? Click here for the super secret download link. However, please be forewarned: it is still in Beta testing, so there may be a couple of bugs here and there.....

Here's a parting thought. Sometimes you don't notice the true power of the things you can't see. Examples abound - skeletons in your closet, side impact airbags, the bacteria in Mexican water...

See you next time.

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The Integral Internet Marketing Plan
- Katie McNally

With the current marketing climate and mature state of the internet, the question businesses are asking themselves is no longer, "should I be marketing via the internet," but "how should I be marketing via the internet?" The answer to the latter question is no longer one-phrase answers such as search, pay per click, banner ads, rich media, email, newsletter or affiliates. The right answer involves a plan. Just as you would never have started your business without a business plan, you should never embark on an internet marketing course without an internet marketing plan.

Your plan should take the following into consideration: each of the avenues available for advertising via the internet, which avenues best communicate your service or product offering, the identity of your target internet audience, how to reach that audience, and most importantly, how to measure results. Once all of these questions have been answered, separate strategies must be developed for each avenue of advertising with their own set of expectations and goals. Each of these individual plans then combine to create your master internet marketing plan. Internet marketing is no longer one piece of your overall marketing strategy. It is a stand-alone entity that requires more than a piece of a plan. Internet marketing is the most cost effective, targeted and measurable way to communicate to your users. The answer to the question "What is the best internet marketing strategy?" is that it is tailored to your specific business objectives and target audience. Basically, there is no simple answer. It requires in-depth research into who you are trying to reach and how best to reach them; essentially converting them to your desired action.

An example of an ill-thought out marketing strategy that happens all too often is to spend thousands of dollars on a Web site and not be able to send any users there. Similarly, it doesn't make any sense to spend thousands of marketing dollars on a billboard out in the middle of nowhere where no one will ever see it. So, your internet marketing efforts are not complete once you have created a place for your products or services to be offered on the internet. You must send targeted users there. Furthermore, your job is not done once you drop a user off at your Web site. You must convert them to your desired action.

How do you manage all of this?

• You must create a comprehensive internet marketing plan that specifies the action you want your users to take
• Create a forum for that action to take place
• Identify the most productive avenues for your business to market through via the internet
• Create a system for tracking results through every internet advertising avenue and through every step of your Web site conversion process
• Continually streamline the conversion process on your site based on the tracked results
• Finally, the ideal internet marketing process is completed with an effective process for remarketing to users for repeat business or referrals

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Google Rankings and Your Bottom Line
- Mike Marti

I recently read an interesting article by Adam L. Penenberg of Wired News who conducted a study on how much Google affects a company's bottom line. According to Neilson Net Ratings, 40% of shoppers choose Google to locate stores and comparison shop. This means the difference between obtaining high or low rankings can literally make or break a thriving online business.

Oneupweb found that the first month a site appeared on the second or third page of Google results, traffic increased five times from the previous month, and in the second month, traffic was nine times greater. The number of unique visitors tripled when a company moved up from page two to page one, and in the second month doubled again to more than six times the traffic it received before it broke the top 10. More importantly, Oneupweb discovered a correlating impact on sales: 42 percent more the first month, and nearly double the second month.

A recent case study was done on Eastwood a seller of automotive refurbishing tools. In the five years since the company revamped its Web site to become friendlier to search engines, it has seen online sales climb to 44 percent of total sales, which have also increased 40 percent. With 267 words or phrases related to auto refurbishing in Google's top 10 (It's No. 1 for "auto tools" and "auto powder coating," for example), and 421 related keywords in the top 30 of all search engines, the site attracts about 1 million unique visitors a month.

Now that's what I call site optimization! This is a great example of how important it is to utilize every page of your Web site for search engine optimization. This also proves how a large site with lots of informative content can really prosper in search engine rankings.

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Sitewire is "The Customer Factory"
- Jay Feitlinger

What an amazing month it has been on the business development team. For those of you we have not had the pleasure of meeting yet, I wanted to introduce Sitewire's business development team, consisting of Kimberly LaVasseur, Sitewire's newest addition Elif Affan, and myself, Jay Feitlinger. First, a special thank you and welcome to our newest clients: DeVry, Shea Homes, World Nutrition, Phoenix School of Law, TPC, ITT Technical Institute, and In Celebration of Golf.

The 3 of us enjoy assisting our new clients in analyzing their unique marketing needs and consulting on those solutions Sitewire recommends from an online marketing perspective. We spend a considerable amount of our time staying abreast on the future of internet marketing and we enjoy sharing those highlights with you and consulting on ways to increase your revenue stream.

At Sitewire, our focus is to bring you qualified customers in a more economical and efficient online method than any traditional sales and marketing channel. A "customer factory" if you will. We have three distinct sets of expertise upon which we base our business, and all can be simply explained as follows:

• ATTRACTION - We bring you targeted, new customers. Some Examples:
• • Educational institution looks to add students to its roster. Sitewire delivers hundreds of highly qualified leads/month & is their top-producer of leads converting to students.
  • Publishing company wants to create affinity with its international reader base. Sitewire delivers over 10,000 new reader "members" every month to their database through online marketing initiatives.
• CONVERSION - We grow your relationship with established customers. Some Examples:
• • National insurance company wants to communicate more effectively online with its brokers, direct customers and end user customers. Sitewire delivers recommendations to enhance all areas of the online user interface so that people get to the information they want fast and easily.
  • Software manufacturer is interested in generating more downloads from the prospects reaching its Web site. Within three months, Sitewire doubles the number of downloads among the same number of prospects reaching the site.
• RETENTION - We create incremental transactions, both online and offline. Some Examples:
• • National packaged goods company wants to boost its sales through its affiliate program. Sitewire delivers by taking complete management and marketing control of the affiliate program and logs 200 percent sales growth over the previous year.
  • Golf management company wants to convince its golfers they should play their courses, not others. Sitewire delivers an online loyalty program that has generated thousands of loyal members and measured incremental revenue of over one million dollars.

Day in and day out we employ online marketing techniques all aimed at specific business objectives that we set with you. We measure performance regularly and agree on success criteria prior to the start of our relationship.

If you have any interest in exploring other opportunities that Sitewire can assist with, please let us know by either contacting your Sitewire main point of contact, or sending an email to our marketing manager Elif Affan. At no cost to our current client's, if Sitewire is not already providing the service, Elif can analyze your online presence from both an attraction and conversion perspective to give you an idea of your current situation and recommendations.

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After 5 Showcase at Sitewire
- Elif Affan

Sitewire is proud to be this year's sole sponsor of the Greater Phoenix Chamber of Commerce Business Technology Forum, which will include a series of breakfasts, luncheons and showcases geared towards enabling Valley entrepreneurs to stay abreast in the latest and greatest technologies so that they may effectively meet their business goals.

We are excited to be hosting the Forum's first After 5 Showcase event of the year on Wednesday, March 30th, from 5 to 7:00 PM.

This open house event will give you the opportunity to get to know the Sitewire team while enjoying several "Tastes of Tempe" from around the downtown Tempe area. Please join us at our company headquarters located at Mill Avenue and 4th Street, directly above Rula Bula and two doors down from Ra Sushi. We hope to see you at this great event!

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