Too many businesses are losing money online or spending it unnecessarily, and too often it's the result of lies, scams or well-intentioned but woefully inept consultants who promise the moon but don't know how to deliver. Here are some things small business owners should watch out for to avoid getting scammed and some good advice on how to make better decisions for their website, SEO, social media marketing, mobile marketing and PPC.
- 1. w w w . k a t a n d m o u s e . c o m The Good, Bad &
Ugly of Internet Marketing By Kathy Long
2. w w w . k a t a n d m o u s e . c o m Interludeclick to enjoy
3. w w w . k a t a n d m o u s e . c o m Why am I on my soapbox? 4.
w w w . k a t a n d m o u s e . c o m Why? Scams Lies Well
intentioned, but misinformed 5. w w w . k a t a n d m o u s e . c o
m True If you pay peanuts, you get monkeys." 6. w w w . k a t a n d
m o u s e . c o m True If you pay premium, you get peanuts." 7. w w
w . k a t a n d m o u s e . c o m 5 Essential Elements for Online
Success Messaging Website Visibility (SEO) Social Media Marketing
Mobile PPC 8. w w w . k a t a n d m o u s e . c o m Messaging 9. w
w w . k a t a n d m o u s e . c o m Messaging Your messaging lets
the person receiving your message know how your offer will help
them, why they should choose you over others, and why its worth
spending money on. 10. w w w . k a t a n d m o u s e . c o m No
competitive analysis, therefore no differentiator No value
proposition No consideration for customer Not evident enough No
call to action Bad & Ugly Messaging 11. w w w . k a t a n d m o
u s e . c o m The Good Messaging You have what I need! You really
can! Youre better! I know what to do! 12. w w w . k a t a n d m o u
s e . c o m Messaging Value Proposition Differentiator Proof Points
Call to Action All for the right person at the right time. 13. w w
w . k a t a n d m o u s e . c o m Messaging Framework 14. w w w . k
a t a n d m o u s e . c o m Messaging Framework Click to download
15. w w w . k a t a n d m o u s e . c o m Example Chiropractor 16.
w w w . k a t a n d m o u s e . c o m Click to view 17. w w w . k a
t a n d m o u s e . c o m Click to view 18. w w w . k a t a n d m o
u s e . c o mClick to view 19. w w w . k a t a n d m o u s e . c o
mClick to view 20. w w w . k a t a n d m o u s e . c o m Give
interior pages the same importance Blog should be integrated with
the rest of the site Calls to action should be there Messaging
about who you are should be there Not Good 21. w w w . k a t a n d
m o u s e . c o m $10K a month on PPC ads that led women to this
page on keywords: Endometriosis surgeon Endometriosis treatment
Endometriosis pictures Endometriosis symptoms Poorly converting
home page 22. w w w . k a t a n d m o u s e . c o m More targeted
messaging resulted in cost per conversion drop from $350 a to $169
Better converting home page Addresses the pain immediately. You
say, Ive come to the right place. 23. w w w . k a t a n d m o u s e
. c o m More targeted messaging resulted in cost per conversion
drop from $350 a to $169 Better converting home page Sets the
differentiator and value proposition. You say, I found the best.
They have a solution that works. 24. w w w . k a t a n d m o u s e
. c o m Website 25. w w w . k a t a n d m o u s e . c o m Website
Your website lets the visitor know how your offer will help them,
why they should choose you over others, and why its worth spending
money on. Messaging uses words. Your website takes those words and
places them into design and layout. 26. w w w . k a t a n d m o u s
e . c o m Bad & Ugly Website Pretty trumps purpose Ugly Message
isnt clear No consideration for customer as buyer and user Suffers
from technologyitis No visibility 27. w w w . k a t a n d m o u s e
. c o m The Good Website Professional looking Message is clear Each
page speaks to a specific audience Great usability Can be found
online As good or better than competitors 28. w w w . k a t a n d m
o u s e . c o m Website Cautions Your website is your most
important marketing vehicle, so Pretty is is not as pretty does The
kid next door may be clever and may be artistic, but doesnt know
your business, and doesnt know marketing 29. w w w . k a t a n d m
o u s e . c o m Website Cautions Your website is your most
important marketing vehicle, so 1. Everyone says they do SEO 2.
Free / $0 3. Free DIY website builders from Intuit, Godaddy, etc.
are limiting = 30. w w w . k a t a n d m o u s e . c o m Website
Scam Selling it as custom but using packaged templates The sad
truth is that the designer probably bought (or downloaded illegally
for free) that template for $30, modified it for an hour or two,
then was trying to submit it as his own custom web design and sell
it off for about $2,000.
http://www.rickydeez.com/web-design/web-template-scam/ 31. w w w .
k a t a n d m o u s e . c o m Well-Intentioned Selling you on
custom when a template will do Custom Template 32. w w w . k a t a
n d m o u s e . c o m Building a website from scratch without a
template is like rebuilding your house to get new carpet. Rarely do
you need that. Well-Intentioned 33. w w w . k a t a n d m o u s e .
c o m Template 34. w w w . k a t a n d m o u s e . c o m Knock- off
35. w w w . k a t a n d m o u s e . c o m Template 36. w w w . k a
t a n d m o u s e . c o m Knock- off 37. w w w . k a t a n d m o u
s e . c o m DIY? 38. w w w . k a t a n d m o u s e . c o m 39. w w
w . k a t a n d m o u s e . c o m 40. w w w . k a t a n d m o u s e
. c o m 41. w w w . k a t a n d m o u s e . c o m Should you DYI?
Know your competition. Know your strengths. Are they equal? Then
you can try it yourself with a Self-hosted Wordpress + theme 42. w
w w . k a t a n d m o u s e . c o m DYI? Understand that its going
to take you a LONG time. Is your time better spent making money and
letting someone else make YOU money? 43. w w w . k a t a n d m o u
s e . c o m Pro Sites (not always all theyre cracked up to be) 44.
w w w . k a t a n d m o u s e . c o m Beautiful! Functional! But
what if I need to call them? Did our tax dollars pay for that?
http://www.milwaukeepolicenews.com/ 45. w w w . k a t a n d m o u s
e . c o m Beautiful! Non-Functional. Suffering from technologyitis
http://www.jacquico.com/ 46. w w w . k a t a n d m o u s e . c o m
This site has almost no custom design, and yet a few SEO tweeks and
more substantial messaging tweeks, had her phone ringing off the
hook in 5 days! 47. w w w . k a t a n d m o u s e . c o m The
Essentials of Web Design That Works/ Web Design Elements: Examples
And Best Practices Neuromarketing: How Your Brain Sees Your Website
12-annoying-things-about-your-website-that-drive- people-away/
Website Design Essentials: Define Your Sites Purpose and Goals Web
Design Essentials Discover the Ingredients That Will Make Your
Website #1 What Constitutes Good and Bad Web Design? Web Design
Resources 48. w w w . k a t a n d m o u s e . c o m SEO 49. w w w .
k a t a n d m o u s e . c o m VISIBILITY Your website needs to be
found by your customers online wherever your customers are looking
for services like yours. That may be the search engines, a phone
app, a directory, Facebook, and more. 50. w w w . k a t a n d m o u
s e . c o m VISIBILITY Press #1 to claim your free Google listing.
51. w w w . k a t a n d m o u s e . c o m SEO Scams Telemarketers
promising you first page Ads for TopSEOs.com Linkbuilding for $49
month 100 backlinks a month 52. w w w . k a t a n d m o u s e . c o
m SEO Scams Your website submitted to 50,000 online directories!
Your website submitted to 500 search engines! Guaranteed first page
listing! 53. w w w . k a t a n d m o u s e . c o m Beware of over
optimization. We not only serve patients in Los Gatos, we also
welcome patients from Los Gatos and Los Gatos, San Jose, Campbell,
Cupertino, Saratoga, Santa Clara . 54. w w w . k a t a n d m o u s
e . c o m SEO firmed getting sued Search engine optimization
company The Rainmaker Institute, which markets its services to law
firms and bills itself as a "law firm marketing provider", has
found itself on the receiving end of a RICO lawsuit for providing
SEO services that violated Google's webmaster guidelines. The
Rainmaker Institute charged Seikaly & Stewart of Farmington
Hills, Michigan, $49,000 for optimization services to increase
their firm's visibility in Google.
http://searchenginewatch.com/article/2287006/Attorneys-File-RICO-Lawsuit-Against-Law-
Firm-Marketing-Company-for-Spammy-SEO-Practices 55. w w w . k a t a
n d m o u s e . c o m SEO Scams From a well-known, successful SEO
company This is their promise: We ensure that any backlinks we
acquire for you are related to your website and are highly relevant
in order for you to attain the greatest, maximum exposure.
(reworded so it cant be tracked out of respect for the firm, hoping
they changed their evil ways) This is the result. 56. w w w . k a t
a n d m o u s e . c o m Beware of those promising the moon 57. w w
w . k a t a n d m o u s e . c o m Beware of pushing out CRAP for
content to get SEO benefit (backlinks)
http://www.velocitypartners.co. uk/featured-post/crap-the-
biggest-threat-to-b2b-content- marketing/ 58. w w w . k a t a n d m
o u s e . c o m Good SEO cant be cheap. SBSM Mailbag: How Best to
Charge Small Businesses for SEO Services? SMALL BUSINESS SEO:
COSTS, EXPECTATIONS & REALITIES I generally wouldnt trust an
SEO company that only charges $300/month. $300 is closer to the
hourly rate, not the monthly rate, for a good SEO consultant. An
SEO thats only charging $300/month probably isnt doing much for
you, doesnt understand the true value of his/her time, and may have
a very basic, limited definition of what SEO is. Matt McGee, Top
Local SEO 59. w w w . k a t a n d m o u s e . c o m Good SEO can be
cheap depending on: The Vertical The Competition The Location 60. w
w w . k a t a n d m o u s e . c o m How to hire an SEO
http://www.portent.com /blog/seo/how-to-hire- an-seo-company-2012-
edition.htm 61. w w w . k a t a n d m o u s e . c o m Think about
ROI, not cost. If you spend X and get back 3X or 5X or 10X, the
actual amount that X is really doesnt matter. 62. w w w . k a t a n
d m o u s e . c o m Rules of the game Educate yourself! Do your
reading & listen to experts. Stay one step ahead of the
competition. CHASE CUSTOMERS NOT RANK! 63. w w w . k a t a n d m o
u s e . c o m Make sure you have a smart consultant who understands
how to win the game. This? Or this? 64. w w w . k a t a n d m o u s
e . c o m Just dont go to sleep! 65. w w w . k a t a n d m o u s e
. c o m If you want to wow the search engines, you have to wow your
customers. Build a site that they want and can use. 66. w w w . k a
t a n d m o u s e . c o m SOCIAL MEDIA 67. w w w . k a t a n d m o
u s e . c o m The Bad & Ugly Social Media No one is liking a
muffler repair Facebook page Competing against Fortune 500 for
airplay Very time consuming Difficult to build a following and get
engagement No obvious ROI 68. w w w . k a t a n d m o u s e . c o m
The Good Social Media Builds trust Helps with SEO Gives your
customers a chance to meet the real you Build relationships with
customers Increased visibility 69. w w w . k a t a n d m o u s e .
c o m SOCIAL MEDIA Hands down, the biggest mistake small businesses
are making on social media is not using social media. Steve Strauss
author of Small Business Bible 70. w w w . k a t a n d m o u s e .
c o m SOCIAL MEDIA bad decisions 71. w w w . k a t a n d m o u s e
. c o m You hire the proverbial kid next door. Doesnt know how to
respond to problems. Does not represent your business well. Doesnt
understand the medium. 72. w w w . k a t a n d m o u s e . c o m
They hired someone inexperienced, could have been a teenage, or it
could have been the business owner. Whats missing? 73. w w w . k a
t a n d m o u s e . c o m 74. w w w . k a t a n d m o u s e . c o m
75. w w w . k a t a n d m o u s e . c o m Uh oh. Trouble brewing.
Reputation at stake. 76. w w w . k a t a n d m o u s e . c o m Good
reputation reclaimed. 77. w w w . k a t a n d m o u s e . c o m
Before you hire a Social Media Expert From 10 Questions You Should
Ask Your Social Media Expert, Guru or Wizard Great questions to ask
before you hire! 78. w w w . k a t a n d m o u s e . c o m Beware
the buy 10,000 Twitter followers for $60 scam. 79. w w w . k a t a
n d m o u s e . c o m Stop thinking you need all those followers. A
few who ENGAGE with you is better than thousands who dont. 80. w w
w . k a t a n d m o u s e . c o m Be social! ENGAGE! 81. w w w . k
a t a n d m o u s e . c o m Dont treat all social media platforms
the same. http://www.linkedin.com/today/post/article/201308221735
00-10486099-storytelling-in-2013 See now most people treat social
media as a distribution channel. They think oh, Ill make a Facebook
post or a Tweet that links back to a form on my website. Theyre
looking at social as just another way to blast you with the same
shit The trick here - the way to truly succeed and provide value -
is to lean to natively story tell on each platform and respect the
psychology of what makes a Facebook user different from a Pinterest
user and more different still than an Instagram user. 82. w w w . k
a t a n d m o u s e . c o m Dont buy into the you need to be
everywhere hype. You only have so much time. Use it wisely. Pick
one platform, the one where your customers are. 83. w w w . k a t a
n d m o u s e . c o m Identify your ideal community. Be there and
be there for them. 1.Who are they? 2.Where do they hang out? 3.What
do they talk about? 4.What questions do they ask? 84. w w w . k a t
a n d m o u s e . c o m Companies should focus more on how to BE
social, and less on how to DO social media.
http://www.convinceandconvert.com/social-
media-strategy/social-media-strategy-in-8- steps/ 85. w w w . k a t
a n d m o u s e . c o m Wait! You said no one is liking a muffler
repair FB page. But what about Brimfield Police? 86. w w w . k a t
a n d m o u s e . c o m Mobile Marketing 87. w w w . k a t a n d m
o u s e . c o m 88. w w w . k a t a n d m o u s e . c o m One third
of the New York Times traffic is coming from mobile devices. Mobile
visitors are reading content sitting on the bus, riding up
elevators, and waiting in store lines. 89. w w w . k a t a n d m o
u s e . c o m 59% of searches in Yelp are now on mobile devices.
90. w w w . k a t a n d m o u s e . c o m Facebook is now the #2
mobile app for local search behind Google Maps. This puts it ahead
of Mapquest, Bing, and Apple Maps. Yelp isnt even in the top five.
91. w w w . k a t a n d m o u s e . c o m Mobile Websites The
dilemma Responsive? Dedicated? 92. w w w . k a t a n d m o u s e .
c o m Dedicated: $10 - $25 a month or one-time cost to have it
built Responsive: $1000s to build 93. w w w . k a t a n d m o u s e
. c o m Dedicated Mobile Site Mobile Site Options Quick to build
Quick to load Easier to navigate. Less clutter. Convert better.
Designed for visitor on the go. If you have this and another site,
you must maintain 2 sites. 94. w w w . k a t a n d m o u s e . c o
m Responsive Mobile Site Options Much more difficult to build even
with a responsive template Harder to implement design and not as
flexible Slower to load Complete content for all search queries
Google prefers all content be on one site. 95. w w w . k a t a n d
m o u s e . c o m Responsive templates If youre building a new
website, absolutely settle for nothing less than responsive. Best
of both worlds? 96. w w w . k a t a n d m o u s e . c o m Best for
local businesses Best for informational sites 97. w w w . k a t a n
d m o u s e . c o m BIG MISTAKE! Make sure every page on your site
is accessible to mobile users. If you have 2 sites, one dedicated
to mobile, dont redirect all queries to mobile site. 98. w w w . k
a t a n d m o u s e . c o m BIGGER MISTAKE! Not having a mobile-
optimized site! 99. w w w . k a t a n d m o u s e . c o m Be Aware
1. Some Wordpress templates already have mobile functionality built
in. No need to spend extra! 2. Wordpress plugin exists that creates
a mobile version of your site for you. 3. If you go with a mobile
site service like Dudamobile, you still have to build it and you
may make the wrong decisions. Sometimes cheaper to go with a
developer, pay the cost upfront, eliminate the monthly fee and get
it done right! 100. w w w . k a t a n d m o u s e . c o m Paid
Advertising 101. w w w . k a t a n d m o u s e . c o m Google
Adwords PPC I dont need the SEO. I do get orders, from xyz getting
my site on page 1 of Google results. She not only needs SEO, she
needs help with her PPC! 102. w w w . k a t a n d m o u s e . c o m
$10K a month on PPC ads that led women to this COMPLETELY
IRRELEVANT page on keywords: Endometriosis surgeon Endometriosis
treatment Endometriosis pictures Endometriosis symptoms Remember
this? 103. w w w . k a t a n d m o u s e . c o m PPC requires
strategic thinking and lots of A/B testing and massaging of ads and
landing pages, always trying to increase the ROI. Dont make the
mistake of thinking its good enough. 104. w w w . k a t a n d m o u
s e . c o m And dont make the mistake of forgetting about mobile
advertising. Do a search for a local business on your phone. What
do you see first? 105. w w w . k a t a n d m o u s e . c o m Bottom
line Whatever kind of marketing you do should not be costing you
money, it should be making you money. And if you hire right, thats
what youll get. 106. w w w . k a t a n d m o u s e . c o m
Overwhelmed? Remember if youre in a crowd, being chased by a bear,
you only need to be 107. w w w . k a t a n d m o u s e . c o m one
step ahead of your competitor 108. w w w . k a t a n d m o u s e .
c o m Web Design SEO / Local SEO Social Media Marketing SEOcial
Mobile PPC www.katandmouse.com 408.647.2327
www.facebook.com/katandmouseo Twitter: @katndmouse
