What’s your best kept secret? via hansvanrijnberk (Flickr CC)
I dislike when people tell me they are the “best kept secret”. You are not. Unless you want to be. If you say you are the best kept secret, it’s because you don’t know how to tell anyone about what you are doing. And don’t blame your website. It’s not it’s fault.
Well sometimes it is. Sometimes your website can be invisible to the search engines and that is something you need to change right away.
How to know if your website is invisible? Check it with http://webconfs.com/search-engine-spider-simulator.php. Run the simple test. If the spider simulator can see your website, then it’s probably not the website’s fault that you aren’t being noticed. I would also recommend linking your website up with Google’s webmaster tools.
If you do have a website problem, we can help you solve it. We have a great web content management system here at Notre Dame. It’s very affordable and we’ve got a great system on getting a website up and running in no time. Or you can set up a blog at blogs.nd.edu. Contact Nick Johnson, our web director, he would be happy to chat with you about it.
Best kept secrets can be solved simply. And here’s the most likely problem. You aren’t producing enough content (text, photography, video, etc…). Or let me rephrase, you aren’t producing enough original content and then taking the steps to make sure people know about it (doing enough outreach).
So if I was in charge of program, dept, school, etc… and I needed people to know who we are and what we do, I would put together a strategic plan and then an editorial calendar.
Strategic plans are not brain surgery. They take some work but it’s nothing too hard. Some of the research on your target audience may take some time or if you don’t have time, then it will take some money. But having that research is invaluable to your strategic plan and ultimately your communication efforts. If you want to create that strategic plan or get some marketing research done, then I recommend you reach out to Amy Murrin, our head of accounts. She’s great at putting together a plan for you. Or you can reach out to me. I’d be happy to do it as well.
Here’s what I believe should be in your strategic plan or at least these basics.
What would you consider a communication success? This is your marketing goal or goals.
Who would you like to communicate with? This is your target audience. Can you describe them in detail? What do you want them to know and when? Given what you want them to do, what do you think is the best way to tell them about it? This is your messaging. Keep your message short and simple so people do not get confuse about what you are trying to communicate.
What would you like them to do? This is your call to action. Be specific.
Is someone else out there doing the same thing you are? These are the people that are in direct competition for the attention of your target audience. This is your competition. If you want to call this a SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats) analysis you can.
Where do you think they get their information? Thinking of your target audience, where do you think they get information about your subject? The things you do here are the tactics like your website, brochures, business cards, flyers, email, advertising, etc…
How are you going to measure if it’s working? Each tactic should have a way to measure it to see if it is working. Remember all measurement must point back to your overall communication goals.
Again, this isn’t hard but it does take some time and energy. But once it is done, it will help to guide you on all the decisions you need to make when it comes to communications.
And believe me, it can help tremendously when you are trying to make decisions about getting into social media.
Did I miss anything? Do you have anything to add?
The next blog post will be about daily communications and how it’s like a workout or more like how I workout. You need to do it daily.
Hi – an interesting post. However, I am not sure if you are up to speed about the use of Google Webmaster Tools. Many internet marketers and search engine consultants, like Plymouth SEO, are not so sure that giving that must trust to Google in the wake of the recent Panda and Penguin changes, is such a good idea. I have to say that the jury is out on this one. As ever, content is king. If you get your on page SEO on target (not overly optimised) and off page SEO in order. Google WILL find you. Just remember to submit your site to the search engines – there are free web submission tools out there also – just Google “free web submission” to check them out.
Great post Don. I think businesses need to focus on their websites and learn more about search engine optimization. You have some great tips for entrepreneurs looking to improve their sites. I use the free google webmaster tools as well. They have helped a lot with keyword research. Thanks again and cheers from Bozeman, Montana!
Hi.. great post about your tips admin..
i need more about .. and thanks
You wouldn’t think of a Hardwood distributor commenting on a Seo blog post. All you need is a good sitemap plugin. Really it does all the heavy lifting. If you can post frequent content, say a post of 1000 words of more citing at least two authority sites, like wikipedia or yahoo answers, the bots cannot get enough of you. they stand at the door waiting for more input. Forget “free Groogle tools”. Nothing is free. To get noticed.
Ranking?…A lot more work, and that’s what was so refreshing about you post..It takes work.
Great post, it gives businesses a clear understanding of how to market online. Getting to the top of Google searches takes a lot of work and even more patience. It’s important that businesses have realistic goals in mind as to where they want their marketing to lead them.