The document discusses best practices for online marketing and web presence for membership organizations. It covers challenges organizations face, the competitive landscape, and characteristics of web users. It then details the "10 Web Marketing Fundamentals", including using strong headlines, clear calls to action, consistent branding, and optimizing for search engines. The document emphasizes focusing content on visitor needs and adopting a privacy policy. It also briefly discusses search engine marketing strategies.

1. Web Marketing Fundamentals Online Best Practices for Membership Organizations Schipul The Web Marketing Company Ph. (281) 497. 6567 Tf. (877) 724.4785 Fx. (281) 497.1083 www.schipul.com

2. What we’ll Cover … Challenges of managing an association online Competitiveness among membership organizations An overview of Web user characteristics The ten Web Marketing Fundamentals Bonus: Search Engine Marketing!

3. Challenges of managing an association online Time and bandwidth pressures on staff Lack of automation for burdensome tasks, such as event registration Processes not in place to ensure association data is always updated and secure

4. Competitiveness among Member Organizations How many of you consider yourselves to be in a competitive marketplace ? Gale Research, publisher of the Encyclopedia of Associations says you have no shortage of competition : The U.S. has 147,000 associations Approximately 1,000 new associations are formed each year

5. Investing in Technology The Adoption of Technology is Accelerating : Associations in the U.S. invest $2.2 billion annually in technology 81% of U.S. associations use Web sites and e-mail to share information with members

6. The Key Question… As we enter the second decade of the Internet age, here’s the key question that should be keeping you up at night : Is your organization strategically using technology to become more competitive …. Or are you simply using it to disseminate information ?

7. First Things First Leading organizations are finding creative ways to deliver these services online : Online professional development courses Online forums and tools for information sharing Job listings and resume boards Grassroots mobilization Impromptu meet-ups Blogs , Podcasts, Wikis & RSS

8. Characteristics that drive web users They are incredibly smart They use search engine tools to navigate Their smarts are exceeded only by their impatience

9. 10 Ways to Achieve Marketing Success Grab ‘em Don’t mix messages Feature a call to action Retain your branding Make it easy to contact you Use expected colors and imagery Optimize for search engines Feature testimonials Focus on the visitor Adopt a privacy policy www.schipul.com/en/art/?1 for more detail

10. Grab ‘em With a Strong Headline A good headline … Is focused on the visitor , with words such as “ you ” and “ your ” Is the dominant element on the home page Appears larger than even your logo, company name or tagline http://www.passaicparc.com/killer/caples.html

11. Put Your Product/Service on a Pedestal Feature what you offer Use pictures Use relevant text Link directly from those images on the home page to detailed pages with extensive information and more pictures

12. Feature a Clear Call to Action Tell the site visitor , on the home page , exactly what you want them to do Visitors will read your site content at length if it answers their questions Be sure to ask for the business at the end of the page or article

13. Don’t Stray from Your Branding Building upon your existing brand identity is key to immediately establishing trust … These elements need to be consistent with your brand’s off-line identity … Brand logo Brand name Key messaging Graphics

14. Make it Easy to Contact You Your visitors don’t want to dig for the basics , so make sure it’s easy to find the following : Telephone numbers Contact forms (mini and full) E-mail links Physical address of your place of business in an easy to copy format

15. No Surprises Use industry-appropriate color and imagery Give your visitors what they expect exactly as they expect it Don’t attempt to re-brand your industry This is your opportunity to be consistent and professional at the beginning of the sales process

16. Optimize for Search Engines Search engine optimization is the art and science of increasing your website’s visibility in the major search engines across a strategically defined set of keywords and phrases that apply to your products or services

17. An estimated 77 percent of Internet users employ search engines to find Web sites If you are not listed on Google or Yahoo , you are invisible It doesn’t matter how well known your brand is ! Visitors will not guess your site name but will go through Google or Yahoo just to be safe Optimize for Search Engines

18. Feature Testimonials Assure visitors that you are a “real” company with a solid reputation Gain client approval to use a quote Even better, use client logos and link to their Web sites Never assume that everyone knows you want their business

19. Focus on the Visitor Cater to what the visitor wants and needs from your site , then give it to them… If you are a association , offer online registration and case studies If you are a plastic surgeon , offer dynamic before-and-after photo galleries If you are targeting the younger generation , offer games or social software tools (myspace.com) that feature your brand

20. Adopt a Privacy Policy Respect the privacy of your site visitors with a privacy policy Link to a written privacy policy at the bottom of every page Be sure policy is written in normal language , not legalese

21. Unique Content Links to Your Site (ask!) Design Fundamentals make a difference Marketing to Search Engines

22. Who Searches Where? Top Search Engines by Search Share, January 2005, U.S., Home & Work Search Engine Searches* in thousands Share of Total Searches Google Search 1,923,153 47% Yahoo! Search 868,174 21% MSN Search 523,188 13% Total 4,085,880 81% Note: Searches are the total number of queries conducted at a search engine during the specified reporting period, excluding internal site searches.

23. SEM (Search Engine Marketing) What Matters? Search Engines measure popularity through links Don’t be a copycat – unique content matters

24. What are you telling the search engines? Find out what you are saying to the search engines Keyword Density Bloggers Linking to you? Test Your Associations Web Site Here: http://www.schipul.com/en/sem/keywords/

25. Buy your way to the top!

26. Links from a high powered site to your web site ! Often overlooked quality links Make sure your link – is done right ! Organization sites typically rank well.

27. Front Page? Google? Term: Kingwood Writers Link directly from directory view page Organization sites typically rank well .

28. The Popularity of Business Directory Listings! 1654 views in October 983 views in the first ten days of November Launched in September , it is been in the top three activities accessed on the site each month !

29. Exactness of speech? ? Am I a Picture Framer or Web Developer ? You are what they say you are!

30. Converting a visitor to a contact ! Find out what works and you can optimize your dollars .

31. Schipul – The Web Marketing Company 11999 Katy Freeway, Suite 386 Houston, TX, 77079, US Creators of www.tendenci.com Web Based Association Software v. (281) 497-6567 f. (281) 497-1083 THANK YOU!