Web Marketing ALL-IN-ONE FOR. DUMmIES 2ND EDITION

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3 Web Marketing ALL-IN-ONE FOR DUMmIES 2ND EDITION

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5 Web Marketing ALL-IN-ONE FOR DUMmIES 2ND EDITION by John Arnold, Ian Lurie, Marty Dickinson, Elizabeth Marsten, and Michael Becker

6 Web Marketing All-in-One For Dummies, 2nd Edition Published by John Wiley & Sons, Inc. 111 River Street Hoboken, NJ Copyright 2012 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc., Hoboken, New Jersey Published by John Wiley & Sons, Inc., Hoboken, New Jersey Published simultaneously in Canada No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, scanning or otherwise, except as permitted under Sections 107 or 108 of the 1976 United States Copyright Act, without either the prior written permission of the Publisher, or authorization through payment of the appropriate per-copy fee to the Copyright Clearance Center, 222 Rosewood Drive, Danvers, MA 01923, (978) , fax (978) Requests to the Publisher for permission should be addressed to the Permissions Department, John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 111 River Street, Hoboken, NJ 07030, (201) , fax (201) , or online at Trademarks: Wiley, the Wiley logo, For Dummies, the Dummies Man logo, A Reference for the Rest of Us!, The Dummies Way, Dummies Daily, The Fun and Easy Way, Dummies.com, Making Everything Easier, and related trade dress are trademarks or registered trademarks of John Wiley & Sons, Inc. and/or its affiliates in the United States and other countries, and may not be used without written permission. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners. John Wiley & Sons, Inc. is not associated with any product or vendor mentioned in this book. LIMIT OF LIABILITY/DISCLAIMER OF WARRANTY: THE PUBLISHER AND THE AUTHOR MAKE NO REPRESENTATIONS OR WARRANTIES WITH RESPECT TO THE ACCURACY OR COMPLETENESS OF THE CONTENTS OF THIS WORK AND SPECIFICALLY DISCLAIM ALL WARRANTIES, INCLUDING WITH- OUT LIMITATION WARRANTIES OF FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. NO WARRANTY MAY BE CREATED OR EXTENDED BY SALES OR PROMOTIONAL MATERIALS. THE ADVICE AND STRATEGIES CONTAINED HEREIN MAY NOT BE SUITABLE FOR EVERY SITUATION. THIS WORK IS SOLD WITH THE UNDERSTANDING THAT THE PUBLISHER IS NOT ENGAGED IN RENDERING LEGAL, ACCOUNTING, OR OTHER PROFESSIONAL SERVICES. IF PROFESSIONAL ASSISTANCE IS REQUIRED, THE SERVICES OF A COMPETENT PROFESSIONAL PERSON SHOULD BE SOUGHT. NEITHER THE PUBLISHER NOR THE AUTHOR SHALL BE LIABLE FOR DAMAGES ARISING HEREFROM. THE FACT THAT AN ORGANIZA- TION OR WEBSITE IS REFERRED TO IN THIS WORK AS A CITATION AND/OR A POTENTIAL SOURCE OF FURTHER INFORMATION DOES NOT MEAN THAT THE AUTHOR OR THE PUBLISHER ENDORSES THE INFORMATION THE ORGANIZATION OR WEBSITE MAY PROVIDE OR RECOMMENDATIONS IT MAY MAKE. FURTHER, READERS SHOULD BE AWARE THAT INTERNET WEBSITES LISTED IN THIS WORK MAY HAVE CHANGED OR DISAPPEARED BETWEEN WHEN THIS WORK WAS WRITTEN AND WHEN IT IS READ. For general information on our other products and services, please contact our Customer Care Department within the U.S. at , outside the U.S. at , or fax For technical support, please visit Wiley publishes in a variety of print and electronic formats and by print-on-demand. Some material included with standard print versions of this book may not be included in e-books or in print-on-demand. If this book refers to media such as a CD or DVD that is not included in the version you purchased, you may download this material at For more information about Wiley products, visit Library of Congress Control Number: ISBN: (pbk); ISBN (ebk); ISBN (ebk); ISBN (ebk) Manufactured in the United States of America

7 About the Authors John Arnold is the author of Marketing For Dummies and the co-author of Mobile Marketing For Dummies. He is an engaging conference speaker, media contributor, and marketing consultant. He also spent 2 ½ years writing about marketing and answering reader-submitted marketing questions for Entrepreneur Magazine. Ian Lurie is CEO of Portent, a digital agency he started in He is a longtime Internet marketing geek, with a blog, a book, and occasional speaking gigs on the subject. If you care about this kind of stuff, Ian s been interviewed and/or written for The Seattle Times, the Puget Sound Business Journal, Direct Magazine, DMNews, and Visibility Magazine. Ian believes strongly that great marketing, online and off, relies on clarity and helps customers make good decisions about products, services, and people. His diverse background includes degrees in history and law; experience as an information designer, graphic designer, marketing copywriter, and programmer; two years working in a bicycle shop; and a brief stint as a political hack. As a child he used a TRS-80 Model One to print fliers advertising his lawn mowing business. The rest is history. Ian has spoken at SMX Stockholm, SMX West, SEMpdx SearchFest, and the WSA, and he contributed to the most excellent book you have in your hands right now. Ian s blog, Conversation Marketing, is on Advertising Age s list of the top 150 marketing blogs. You can visit it at com. You can visit his company at Marty Dickinson launched his first website MusicMates.com in 1996 as a hobby. Today, Music Mates is one of the largest musician referral sites in the country. Marty soon began helping other business owners with their Internet strategies through services, writing, and workshop-style training. Someone once asked him, We d like to hire you, but how do we know you will be around in six months? So, Marty formalized his Internet marketing services company by calling it HereNextYear, Inc. ( Since then, he has produced and managed nearly 100 of his own websites and has assisted with more than 200 client projects. One of Marty s greatest enjoyments is to share his strategies through public speaking and writing. In particular, nontechnical business owners appreciate his ability to present complex subjects in an easy-to-understand language. Elizabeth Marsten is the Director of Search Marketing at Portent Inc., a fullservice Internet marketing agency based in Seattle, WA. She oversees the pay per click (PPC), search engine optimization (SEO), social media, link building,

8 and copy staff and has spoken around the U.S., including SMX Advanced, Miva Merchant, PPC Hero, SMX East, SMX West, and Wappow! She is a regular contributor of PPC best practices on the Portent Inc. blog and the author of a PPC best practices ebook series. Her PPC marketing experience started with an interview for office manager, which she didn t get but was instead offered the position of PPC specialist (which she initially thought was pay per clip marketing until she Googled it. Google asked her whether she meant pay per click marketing; she did. From there on, she has lived PPC every day, all day, and still pretty much does. Her detail-oriented skills and obsessive need for order and structure have served her and her clients well in their campaigns, which have ranged broadly from office furniture and wedding invitations to glue guns and salt. Michael Becker is a leader in the mobile marketing industry, taking on the roles of industry practitioner, industry volunteer, and entrepreneur academic. Michael is co-founder of iloop Mobile, Inc., a leading mobile marketing platform solutions provider and winner of the Mobile Marketing Association (MMA) Innovation of the Year Award (2007). Michael sits on the MMA North American board of directors and global board of directors, founded and co-chairs the award-winning MMA Academic Outreach Committee, and founded and co-edits the award-winning MMA International Journal of Mobile Marketing, the world s leading academic journal focused on the use of the mobile channel for marketing. Also, Michael is a contributing author of Mobile Internet For Dummies, and the co-author of Mobile Marketing For Dummies. He supports the Direct Marketing Association Mobile Council, has written numerous articles on mobile marketing, and is winner of the MMA Outstanding Individual Achievement Award (2007).

9 Dedications John Arnold: To the One who causes all things to work together for good and reminds me that marketing is not the most important thing in life Ian Lurie: To my family, who make me want to be a better person, every day Elizabeth Marsten: my new husband, Ken Marty Dickinson: For my family, who has always inspired me to live a life of service to others, and my many business mentors who have shown me how Michael Becker: To all those looking to establish and develop flourishing intimate, interactive, relationships through a new, exciting, and rapidly maturing medium: the mobile channel

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11 Authors Acknowledgments John Arnold: I would first like to thank my wife and kids for being my cheering section. Everyone should be so fortunate to have a tireless team of supporters under their own roof. Next, I would like to thank Matt Wagner for running the ideal literary agency. This book wouldn t have been possible without his experience and guidance, and nor would any others. Finally, thanks to the outstanding team of authors who contributed to the content in this book. Thanks for loving your customers more than your technical prowess, and thanks for your technical prowess. Thanks especially to Ian, who contributed nearly half of this book s page count. Ian Lurie: I d be nuts if I didn t first thank my wife and kids, too. My wife Dawn put the kids to bed many more times than normal while I sat, typing frantically to meet deadlines. My son Harrison and daughter Morgan put up with me constantly multitasking, recording, or scribbling notes while I helped them with their homework. Thanks to John Arnold, too, for being a very tolerant and helpful editor and advisor while I peppered him with first-timer questions. Everyone at Wiley I ve never met face-to-face but who gave me such great advice during this process: Thanks for giving me such a fantastic opportunity. Finally, thanks to everyone at my company and to my clients. Your boss/ consultant was very distracted during the writing of this book, and you all kept things running regardless. You ve all taught me a lot in the past ten years. I couldn t have written a word without those lessons. Elizabeth Marsten: Thanks to Ian Lurie for hiring me and bringing me on board in the first place and to John Arnold for keeping us organized and on schedule. Thanks to my parents (who got the 1st edition dedicated to them), for paying for the college education that laid the groundwork for my acquiring some sort of writing skills. And much thanks to my new husband, Ken, who supports me in everything, all the time, no matter how annoying. Thanks big time to the team at Portent Inc., who all contributed in some way or another. Marty Dickinson: My first thank you goes to John Arnold for extending the invitation to me for being a part of this important and timely work. Secondly, I d like to thank Wiley Publishing for their process as a whole. The format in which we were to submit book content has made me a better communicator in anything I write or present on stage.

12 My clients and customers deserve some gratitude, too, for it is you who continue to give me the incentive to try new business-building strategies and share with you the ones that work. And, finally, special appreciation goes to my loving wife Sue, my princess Jessica, and son Douglas for keeping my feet to the fire to meet writing deadlines. I love you all. Michael Becker: I d like to acknowledge the everlasting and loving support of my wife and kids, who have put up with countless late nights and travel over the years as I ve pursued my dreams. They re incredibly dear to me, and I would be nowhere without them. I d also like to extend my appreciation to a number of my industry colleagues, including my co-workers at iloop Mobile: especially Matt Harris, who has demonstrated incredible leadership; Mike Ricci for his tireless creativity and edits; Chris Wayman for his pursuit of excellence; and the rest of the iloop Mobile team. I couldn t find a better group of people to work with. I would be remiss in not recognizing my associates at the Mobile Marketing Association, including Laura Marriott for her support over the years. I also want to extend my thanks to Michael O Farrell, Executive Director of the dotmobi Mobile Advisory Group, who invited me to contribute to the group. I d also like to recognize the team at the Direct Marketing Association, including Paul McDonnough, Lori An Pope, Ken Ebeling, Julie Hogan, and Ramnath Lakshmi- Raton, who have all given me the opportunity to contribute to the DMA s efforts in helping the industry embrace the mobile channel for marketing. Finally, I d like to extend my thanks to John Arnold, who invited me to contribute this effort and guided me through the entire process. His contributions to the work have been invaluable.

13 Publisher s Acknowledgments We re proud of this book; please send us your comments at For other comments, please contact our Customer Care Department within the U.S. at , outside the U.S. at , or fax Some of the people who helped bring this book to market include the following: Acquisitions and Editorial Project Editor: Rebecca Senninger (Previous Edition: Rebecca Huehls) Executive Editor: Steven Hayes Copy Editor: John Edwards Technical Editor: Michelle Oxman Editorial Manager: Leah Michael Editorial Assistant: Leslie Saxman Sr. Editorial Assistant: Cherie Case Cover Photo: istockphoto.com / Cary Westfall Cartoons: Rich Tennant ( Composition Services Project Coordinator: Patrick Redmond Layout and Graphics: Jennifer Creasey, Lavonne Roberts Proofreader: Cynthia Fields Indexer: BIM Indexing & Proofreading Services Special Help Amanda Graham Publishing and Editorial for Technology Dummies Richard Swadley, Vice President and Executive Group Publisher Andy Cummings, Vice President and Publisher Mary Bednarek, Executive Acquisitions Director Mary C. Corder, Editorial Director Publishing for Consumer Dummies Kathleen Nebenhaus, Vice President and Executive Publisher Composition Services Debbie Stailey, Director of Composition Services

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15 Contents at a Glance Introduction... 1 Book I: Web Presence... 7 Chapter 1: Internet Business Basics...9 Chapter 2: Making Money Online...23 Chapter 3: Designing to Sell...51 Chapter 4: Creating and Connecting Multiple Websites...75 Chapter 5: Creating Exceptional Copy That Sells...95 Chapter 6: Lead-Generation for Business Growth Chapter 7: Getting Help with Your Web Presence Book II: Search Engine Optimization Chapter 1: Getting Ready for SEO Chapter 2: Choosing the Right Keywords Chapter 3: Eliminating Search Engine Roadblocks Chapter 4: Making Search Engines Love Your Site Chapter 5: Understanding Blended Search Chapter 6: Writing Great Copy for Search Engines Chapter 7: Building Link Love Chapter 8: Analyzing Your Results Chapter 9: Hiring an SEO Professional Book III: Web Analytics Chapter 1: Getting Started with Analytics Chapter 2: Tracking Traffic Volumes Chapter 3: Measuring Your Best Referrers Chapter 4: Measuring Visit Quality Chapter 5: Using Conversion Goals Chapter 6: Using Goal Funnels Book IV: Online Advertising and Pay Per Click Chapter 1: Grasping PPC Methods Chapter 2: Combining PPC and Search Engines Chapter 3: Making Keyword Lists That Sell Chapter 4: Writing Ads That Earn Clicks and Pay You Back...397