Top Trends for 2005
Top Five Trends in Internet Marketing Strategy for 2005:
Natural Search Engine Optimization is gaining ground fast. A PR agency I trained on optimized press releases this week told me that for the first time their clients in the tech and industrial field are asking about SEO. Many don’t even know exactly what it is yet, but they know they need it.
Companies will invest in upgrading and optimizing their websites, using persuasive architecture and optimized content, so they can capture the 76% of searchers who click only on the natural search results, as opposed to paid results.
Optimized content generation will make an appearance as a line item on website redesign budgets.
Usability testing of websites
Jupiter Research estimates that corporate America will spend $2.6 billion on search engine marketing (SEM) in 2005. Clearly, the market has recognized that internet search engines like Google, Yahoo! and others are effective in delivering consumers to company websites. Source: American Marketing Association
And since most websites lose over 60% of their visitors right off the home page due to problems like confusing navigation and lack of relevant content, all this money is being wasted.
Usability reviews and testing will be in corporate website budgets in 2005 so that the site actually becomes an effective marketing tool.
Optimized Press Releases:
News search engines have more readers than CNN and the BBC. They are the number one choice for news in the 18 – 54 age group. Even loyal newspaper readers go online for their news and read their paper as a leisure activity.
Source: Pew Internet and American Life and Yahoo media research study
An optimized press release ranked high in the news engines is the best way to get fast search visibility and have qualified prospects find your news.
Businesses wanting to reach their market online will invest in optimizing their press releases for the News Engines.
Business Blogging
Bloggers came into the mainstream with this election. People became aware of the power of blogging, Corporate America was quick to see the value in this tool. Business blogging is becoming a hot new marketing and PR tool.
The first Business Blogging Summit is scheduled for Seattle next January 24-25, 2005. This event will show you how your business can leverage current real-world blogging techniques, tools and platforms to promote and enhance your ventures.
Just one example: The BTI Communications VoIP Insights Blog has given them 27 #1 positions and 43 page one rankings in three months. This is a remarkable result in the fiercely competitive VoIP market.
Content about VoIP has mushroomed in the last three months so gaining increasing visibility in this space has been harder and harder to get.
RSS and syndication
Syndication of content through the use of RSS feeds is set to become one of the hottest trends of 2005. Not only can your public subscribe to your RSS feeds directly, your content can reach a wider audience through other websites using the content. RSS can also be used to assist relevant journalists by offering them a feed of industry information.
