Friday, August 29, 2008

#4 - 25 Things Your Webmaster Will Not Tell You

#4 - Your Flash Website Is Making It Nearly Impossible For Brides To Find You!

Are you aware that if your website is build entirely in FLASH or uses a FLASH "enter here" or "splash" page, you are making it is harder (if not impossible) for brides to find your website on major search engines such as Google, Yahoo!, or MSN? The fact is that a website designed entirely in FLASH is almost invisible to search engine spiders. Few webmasters will tell you this.
If you don't care about traffic from search engines or if you have a huge pile of cash in your advertising budget - because that's what you'll be using to drive people to your website - then your FLASH site is fine.

But 80% of the people who log on to the Internet start at a search engine. They are SEARCHING for something.

Many of my clients get 60-80% of their traffic from search engines. That quickly translates into thousands of dollars in new business each year.

One caterer who signed up for my ADVANTAGE program attributes over a million dollars a year in sales to inquiries that have come in from Google.

Experience will show that if you're top ranked in a competitive keyword position it can easily translate into tens of thousands of dollars in new business monthly.

If you're stuck because you have an all FLASH website, my advice is to build a more search engine friendly html static site and start a blog based on your current website. The investment is well worth it.

Marketing to brides online will become tougher in 2009. Don't let the competition eat-your-lunch, join my ADVANTAGE program today.

Looking for the latest wedding industry statistics?

Tuesday, August 26, 2008

#3 - 25 Things Your Webmaster Will Not Tell You

#3 - What You Consider A Good Website Design And What Actually Works Might Be Two Very Different Things


The gap between what actually works and what you think will work can potentially be a huge problem. If you don't have marketing design experience or the time to keep up with the latest techniques in online marketing, the best way to close this gap is to find someone who does!


Most webmasters will recognize they don't have expertise in this area and will welcome the input.


You want to design a website that presents your business professionally, loads quickly, is easy to use, gives clients the information they're looking for, generates interest in your business, and of course one that generates inquiries.


If you miss the mark in any of these areas, you'll lose a lot of sales to your competition. You'll also have wasted a good portion of the money you spent on advertising and promoting your website.


Poor design leads to poor CONVERSION. All the traffic in the world is useless unless it attracts inquiries that convert into sales.

Sunday, August 24, 2008

#2 - 25 Things Your Webmaster Will Not Tell You

Your Website Must Be Better Than The Competition

I bet your webmaster can't even tell you three of your biggest online competitors!
It would be foolish to think your website is the only one brides are going to visit when planning their wedding.

Chances are they've found three to six of your competitors and they might have even bookmarked their websites.

First, be sure your website has a "Bookmark Our Website" option prominently displayed.
Then, know that your website has to be better than your competition's. If it's not, you will lose sales and market-share to your competition. In today's competitive online marketplace making a good impression online is a must.

Here's how you can make it happen: Find five of your competitors online. Have a professional analyze their website for strengths and weaknesses to help you develop your strategy. Then consider how you can make your website better than the competition.

Your website should look fresh, be updated often, and have better marketing copy than your competition. It should have better features, colorful and sharp graphics, easier navigation, and offer a more compelling reason to choose you and your services over someone else.

Friday, August 22, 2008

#1 - 25 Things Your Webmaster Will Not Tell You

#1 - Your Webmaster Probably Knows Very Little About Online Marketing

The fact is that online marketing is outside the expertise of most webmasters. In most cases, relying on your webmaster to develop and execute your online marketing strategy is a big mistake.

I can't tell you how many people have told me, "We love our website, it's great, but we're just not getting any inquiries."

Webmasters typically don't talk about, let alone focus on, conversion. They don't understand that traffic is great, but if it doesn't convert into an inquiry or sale then it doesn't mean anything.

They don't know how to write compelling marketing copy, the type that makes a bride want to get more information about the company. They don't understand the importance of testing, analyzing and measuring results, so that you are continually getting the best results from your website, staying competitive and online advertising.

Webmasters may be talented programmers or graphic designers, but they shouldn't be managing your online marketing.

Marketing To Brides: Does FLASH Help or Hurt Your Business

I have a couple computers that I work on. One desktop in my office and a laptop.

For about a month now I haven't been able to get FLASH to play on my office desktop. I'm a pretty technical guy and I've done everything: (1) downloaded a new version of FLASH, (2) downloaded the latest Internet Explorer browser, (3) adjusted my security settings in IE, (4) un-installed, re-installed Internet Explorer, (4) spent about two hours looking for "fixes" at the Adobe site and Microsoft site, (5) tried most of those fixes and wasted another three or four hours, (6) now need to play with a Windows registry editor (which I'm SURE is not the problem, because FLASH works on my alternative browser, Firefox).

I'm wondering, would a bride with the same or similar problem go to all this effort to view your website.

You may think your FLASH site is cool but I'm convinced most FLASH websites LOSE more business than you ever gain.

Add to that the fact that FLASH websites are virtually invisible in the search engines, and don't believe the latest "Flash friendly techniques..." or you're a fool, and today... FLASH is still a BIG MISTAKE in my book.

Wednesday, August 20, 2008

Marketing To Brides - Internet Marketing Tips for Wedding Professionals

Why is it some people are having their best year ever while others are struggling?

The answer is simple: they have harnessed the power of the Internet to drive down their costs while increasing their brand name and overall visibility.

As a result, they get more inquiries, they book more weddings.

Subscribe to my free Internet Marketing for Wedding Professionals newsletter and learn how you can book more weddings, cut your advertising costs, and get better results from your website.

If you are serious about marketing to brides subscribe today. There is no cost, no obligation, and you won't get a sales call.

Internet Marketing for Wedding Professionals is published every Monday. Subscriptions to my newsletter are free. None of the information subscribers provide is ever sold, exchanged, or otherwise distributed. A one-click unsubscribe option can be found in each issue.

Tuesday, August 19, 2008

Wedding Industry Statistics

What's happening in the wedding industry? Is the recession (err... "economic downturn") having an impact on your business? Have you taken a look at the most recent wedding industry statistics?

Almost all of my clients are having their best year ever. Don't get me wrong, marketing to brides is tougher than ever before, but with the right Internet strategy people are reaching into their marketplace, finding online brides, getting them to their website, and getting inquiries and booking weddings.

If you're not already subscribed to my free Internet Marketing Tips for Wedding Professionals newsletter subscribe today. It's absolutely free.

Monday, August 18, 2008

A little while back I started an Internet marketing tip of the week. It's always something short, to the point, and valuable information you can use to help you stay on the right track and get better results from your website and Internet marketing efforts.

Marketing to brides is very competitive. You'll need to stay on top of these things if you want to stay ahead of your competition.

Here are my Internet marketing tips for wedding professionals.

Wednesday, August 13, 2008

Does Google See Your Blog?

Does Google see your blog?

How many of your posts does Google have indexed in it's database?

Here's how you tell.

1) Go to GOOGLE.COM

2) In the search box type: site:yourblogaddresshere

3) To use my blog as an example, site:weddingbiz.blogspot.com

4) Look at the search engine results page and you'll see all of the pages Google has indexed.

5) Indexed is different from "top ranked" but getting "IN" is the first step.

6) Google has a BLOG directory in addition to it's main index/directory...

http://blogsearch.google.com/

Here's my two-cents worth and a common blogging mistake.

Sunday, August 10, 2008

#7 - 25 Things Your Webmaster Will Not Tell You

Taking A Casual Approach To Your Online Marketing Is A Big Mistake

Take your website and online marketing seriously and you'll get great results.

Take a casual approach and you'll find your competition taking market-share and sales away from you.


If you don't know how many inquiries a week you're getting from your website, if you don't know where they're coming from, if you don't know where the hottest places to advertise your website online are, if you don't know how many visitor sessions you have daily - on average, if you don't know your conversion ratios, if you don't know the top 10 keywords you're targeting at Google, Yahoo!, and MSN are - you're not taking your online marketing seriously.

Saturday, August 09, 2008

EMAIL Rules from Bob Parsons

I love Bob Parsons, the CEO/Founder of Go Daddy.

Here's what he has to say about EMAIL and I'd have to say I agree with him!

I turned the auto-load off so press the PLAY button to watch it.