Netmarks 2016 Guide to

The 6 Fundamentals
of Digital Marketing
 Table of Contents Introduction
Introduction Over the last several years, weve had an opportunity to talk to tens of
thousands of companies about their online presence. In that time, we have
1 - A User Centered Website also seen some dramatic shifts in digital marketing strategies. When we
Good Hosting opened our digital doors back in 2007, some of the techniques that worked
Effective URL for our clients were very different from the majority of techniques that
Strong Website we use today. Thats because we are always adjusting and adapting to new
Useful Content search engine updates and best practices so that we can keep helping our
clients see positive results. In fact, the fundamentals may be the only things
that have remained constant.
2 - SEO - Search Engine Optimization
Relevant, Useful and Important During our years in business, we have spent hundreds of thousands of dollars
Start with a Strategy on research and data to ensure that we are always ahead of the curve,
Optimize Your Website allowing us to provide quality service to our clients. Part of what weve
- Titles & Meta Descriptions discovered is that the fundamentals will always be the foundation of online
- Up-To-Date Sitemap success, regardless of any new updates or design trends that pop up. With
- Relevant Content this in mind, we wanted to make information readily available to anyone who
- Keyword Targeting wants to learn more about the basics of digital marketing.
- Gain Links
The purpose of this guide is not to give you a full digital marketing strategy, it
is to inform and instruct you on the key concepts of website optimization and
3 - SEM - Search Engine Marketing advertising on a basic level. This guide is meant to help those just starting out
Differences Between SEO & SEM to have a sound understanding of what to know and what questions they can
Key Components for Success ask as they put resources towards making their business more successful.
- Cohesive Campaigns
- Relevant Ad Placement These fundamentals will help you solve the two most
- Ad Rank & Ad Positioning Google Ad Rank important questions of online marketing:

4 - SMM - Social Media Marketing How can I get more traffic to my website?
How can I increase my website conversions?
Best Practices
Platforms
At Netmark, our main goal is to help businesses
experience the online success they deserve. We hope
5 - UX Design - User Experience Design this guide gives you a bit more direction as you strive
Scientific Approach to make your business grow.

To your future success!

6 - Email Marketing
Key Elements ~ Dan Morley
CMO, Netmark DIGITAL MARKETING
Special Tricks

Conclusion
2 3
 A User-Centered Website
A User-Centered
Website You may be wondering, what does a hosting site do? In short, they keep
your website up and running, meaning that your site cannot survive and
Having a quality website is critical to success in the online world. After all, thrive without them. The hosting platforms mentioned above have different
your website should be at the center of your online presence. If we are to strengths and weaknesses. You need to do some research to
liken your online presence to hosting an event, having a good website is like determine which hosting service is right for you.
finding the right location for your event. Despite all of your planning the
success of an event can all come down to location, location, location. The Going back to our event analogy; strong hosting for your Picking a hosting
right venue can make a good event even better and a bad venue can make an website is in direct correlation to the environment, location,
otherwise well planned event fail. and resources of a venue. Picking a hosting platform with the
platform with the
right resources for your business will set the stage for your right resources for
If you already have a website, you should start by taking a moment and really website and business in the digital realm. Using a good venue your business will
looking at it. As you look at it, ask yourself some key questions. Does my i.e. hosting service makes all the difference for your
website serve the purpose I originally planned for it? Does it convey what the guests. In a business situation, the hosting platform will take set the stage for
purpose of my business is? Whom do I want to visit my online business? Am I care of essentials like file storage, email hosting, server space, your website and
providing content that those types of visitors want? What is my website really databases and more. They provide these types of resources so
that you dont have to provide them yourself. Below we have business in the
being used for? These are all essential questions to ask yourself about your
website in order to make sure that it is user-centered and listed a few key metrics and questions to guide you as you find digital realm.
effective. the right hosting platform for your site.

Generally speaking, the end result of all of your work Basic Metrics to Look For in a Hosting Company:
on social media, search results, and online ads is to get
customers and potential customers to your website. That An uptime of 99.9% this means that your website will be up and
running on their servers 365 days a year. Anything less can and will be
is because, ideally speaking, your website is where your
damaging to the business.
potential customers can be converted into the real deal and
Unmetered/unlimited bandwidth
where current customers can find what they are looking for.
Unmetered/unlimited webspace or disc space
Quality customer service
If you dont have a website, we encourage you to use the
High ratings
following steps to help your website be exactly what your
customers both current and future are looking for.
USER CENTERED WEBSITE Additional Questions to Consider:
However, we also encourage you to make sure that you are
not spending all of your budget on a website that nobody can How many domains can you have?
find. Hold some budget back for marketing your site. Do they support e-commerce functionality?
How much does it cost?
Step 1: Have Good Hosting
Step 2: Choose an Effective URL
When it comes to your site running well, hosting makes all the difference. In
our opinion, some of the best hosting sites are: A URL is basically a global address for specific documents, pages, or other
Bluehost* resources on the World Wide Web. Put more simply, your URL is what is
Go Daddy* commonly referred to as your website address and people use it to locate
HostGator*
Amazon Web Services*

4 5
 A User-Centered Website A User-Centered Website

your site. In fact, the word locater is even in the name: URL stands for physical assets. As mentioned above, you may choose to use capital letters to
Uniform Resource Locater. Netmarks URL is Netmark.com okay, technically delineate words within your URL. Whatever you decide, however, make sure
our full URL is http://www.netmark.com/ but were trying to keep this simple. that you are being consistent in your use. To really be effective, it needs to
Following these tips will help you create an effective URL. be both clear and memorable. You should also determine if you will want to
pursue your URL as a keyword for search results because this will affect how
Make it Relevant you use your URL on your site and elsewhere.
Your URL should represent either your company name or what
visitors will find on your website. It is common practice to use Keep the User in Mind
Long and/or your company name with no spaces followed by a domain name In short, you need to keep the user in mind when creating and branding your
like .com or .org. However, there are times when it makes more URL. When your URL is memorable and easy to type, people are more likely to
difficult URLs can sense to have a URL that is related to what you do instead. visit your website directly because strong URLs make it easy for users to get
cause problems Either way, your URL should be relevant to your company. If you to your site.
and introduce choose a URL that is not readily associated with your business,
you may need to pursue a variety of branding opportunities to Some Examples of Strong URLs Are:
opportunities for connect your web address to your business in peoples minds color.adobe.com* Very simple and highly relevant to the sites content
typos to land people making your URL relevant to your company. Believe it or not, especially since Adobe is already branded in most peoples minds.
there was once a time when nobody know what the URL Google. www.mashable.com* Easy to remember and has been
in the wrong place. com was for. branded in the minds of users.
www.idahofallsfamilydental.com* This example URL has
Keep it Short and Simple very strong ties to both an industry family dentistry and
There are a lot of good reasons to keep your URL short and simple. Of course, a location Idaho Falls making this a very strong URL.
short is relative but you need to make sure that your URL is short and simple A strong, effective
enough to be typed without difficulty. Long and/or difficult addresses can Some Examples of Weak URLs Are: website should be
cause problems for users and introduce opportunities for typos to land www.manyonline.org* Without strong, targeted branding,
people in the wrong place.
at the center of your
most people would not associate this URL with the Museum
Association of New York. online presence.
Things to avoid in your URL: www.a4pt.org* This URL is so simplified that it could lose all
Words or names that are difficult to spell meaning without strong, targeted branding.
Excessive and/or irregular repetition of letters www.commoncompanyname.com* Using a common name
Long strings of words for your URL gives no indication of what your company is or
Hyphens and underscores does, and can become confused with similarly named companies.

When listing your URL on both physical and digital assets, you may choose to Step 3: Build a Strong, Effective Website
capitalize the beginnings of words to help separate them in peoples minds.
For example, if your URL is something like manywordsstrungtogether.com*,
you may want to think about listing it as ManyWordsStrungTogether.com*.
The capital letters wont affect peoples ability to get to your site, but it will As we already mentioned, a strong, effective website should be at the center
help separate the words in their minds. of your online presence. All of your social media outreach, search engine
results and online advertising should be geared toward directing qualified
Make it Effective traffic to your site so that you can sell your products or services.
Your URL will be present in many different locations. In order for it to be
effective, youll need to think about how your URL will be used on your In order to accomplish this, your website needs to be built on a strong
social media platforms, on other websites, and even on signs and other foundation on a strong Content Management System (CMS). Some of

6 7
 A User-Centered Website A User-Centered Website

the best and most commonly used CMSs are WordPress*, Wix* and Joomla*. office options, youll want to make sure that you choose a CMS that is
Finding the right CMS for your website is the key to effectively managing designed to support these functions. This will allow your website to function
your time while still having a great website. Even if you know how to code, correctly without having to spend a lot of time on custom coding.
manually coding your website can drain a large amount of time and energy
that could be directed more effectively elsewhere in your business. One of Step 4: Create Useful Content
the main benefits of these CMSs is that they do most of the background
coding and programming for you.

If you dont have any web design or coding experience, we would strongly Once you have the right hosting platform, a solid URL, and a strong website
suggest that you have your website designed by a web design company. to send your users to, its time to fill it up with content. If we go back to
However, youll want to make sure that they build your site with a CMS that our event analogy, content correlates to the drinks, appetizers, entres,
you can learn how to update yourself. You generally dont want and desserts that you serve in order to satisfy your guests once they are
to be responsible for making big changes to your site, but being at your venue. But you may be asking yourself, what is content? To put it
able to make small updates without working through a third simply, content is information that you present in order to help your clients
The wholepoint of party can be very beneficial under specific circumstances. and prospective clients. Content comes in a wide variety of forms from on-
page text to infographics and videos. This section is not intended to be a
your CMS is to make comprehensive look at content marketing, but it should help you understand
Most hosting services will allow you to connect your website
website creation directly to your chosen CMS, but its important to make sure that the basic idea.
easier, not more you can use the two together. The whole point of your CMS is to
make website creation easier, not more complicated. In our experience, content should be used to strategically funnel your
complicated. website visitors toward the actions you want them to take. To this end, we
Some additional ways that a good CMS can help you include: suggest creating a variety of content that fits into different sections of what
we call the content funnel. Each piece of content should be designed to help
Pre-Designed Themes your website visitors in some way. The main portions of the content funnel
A pre-designed theme is essentially a template that can be used with a and the ways you can help your visitors are to:
specific CMS to build a strong, attractive website more quickly. Some of these
themes are available for free, but most range in price from $50 to upward Inform
Instruct Inform
of $100 depending on the developer and the features that are included in
the theme. Generally speaking, you get what you pay for so it can be a good Solve
idea to invest in a quality theme. ThemeForest*, TemplateMonster* and Wix Sell Instruct
Templates* offer many attractive, effective, and mobile friendly templates
that can be used to create a strong website. Many of these themes are also Depending on their needs, visitors to your site
designed to be responsive and look good on a variety of mobile devices as may enter at different points in this funnel. The Solve
well as in web browsers. best results come when you provide content that
addresses their specific needs at the point at which
they enter your funnel. Keep in mind, that users are
Sell
CMS Plugins
Most CMSs offer a variety of plugins that can be used to help you create generally looking for a solution to a problem and you
landing pages, slideshows, and more. Most of the plugins are quick and easy can provide that answer. As with any other strategic funnel, the upper levels
to install, but you may need to take some time to learn exactly how to use the are designed to expose a large number of people to your information. The
plugins to your advantage. trick is to use upper level content to help create more qualified traffic to your
lower level content. Content can take a wide variety of forms, but its your job
E-Commerce and Back Office Options to make sure that it is the relevant solution your users are looking for. And,
If your website needs to have ecommerce functionality or any other back yes, one piece of content can sometimes fill more than one of these needs.

8 9
 SEO - Search Engine Optimization
SEO
Search Engine Optimization into customers. Dont get so stuck on rankings, specific keywords, and overall
traffic numbers that you lose sight of the overall results that can come from
your SEO strategy.
If you have looked into digital marketing in recent years, its possible that
youve heard the phrase SEO is dead. However, nothing could be further Taking it back to our event analogy, SEO is all of the planning that goes in
from the truth. Search Engine Optimization has been the lifeblood of ahead of time to make sure that the event runs smoothly and
being found through search engine searches for well over a decade and it that people are aware that the event is happening so that they
will continue to be important for years to come. The dead part of SEO is can attend. For example, if youre hosting a public event, you Dont get so stuck
attempting to manipulate the signals that search engines use for ranking would want to have the event fully planned and scheduled on rankings,
sites. In recent years, Google and other search engines have caught on ahead of time so that there are fewer opportunities for
to these manipulated signals and worked to minimize the effect of the problems to arise. Youd also need to follow applicable deadlines
specific keywords,
manipulation and/or penalize those sites that have used those practices, and guidelines in order to make sure that the local newspapers, and overall traffic
especially in excess. magazines, and event listings are able to publish information numbers that you
about your event in their events calendars so that people who
Relevant, Useful and Important might be interested in your event can hear about it. lose sight of the
overall results that
Start with a Strategy can come from
In its true form, however, SEO is making sure that your website is following your SEO strategy.
specific, best practices so that Google and other search engines can see
and rank your website. Put another way, SEO is creating or Establishing an SEO strategy is like planning your event. The
improving your website sometimes in ways that arent more thought you put into who you want to attend and how youre going to
visible so that the search engines recognize it as being let them know about your event, the more successful youll be.
relevant, useful, and important in regards to the question
asked by a searcher. Your SEO strategy should begin with these questions:

When a search engine thinks that your site is relevant, Who is your ideal customer?
useful, and important to a search query, it should rank well Where are they located?
in the Search Engine Results Pages (SERPs). Unfortunately, Where do they spend their time online?
SEO is not a one and done process. It can be a relatively What words and terms might they use to search for companies like yours?
slow process at the outset and requires consistent effort What is their likely intent behind each search query?
to maintain. Search engines are constantly evolving, and
SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMIZATION
your SEO strategy has to be able to evolve with them. The Optimize Your Website
power of a good SEO campaign is unbeatable, but it is a very
competitive and fast paced environment.

You should also note that successful rankings and traffic from SEO seldom Once you have a strategy in place, youll need to optimize your website.
happen overnight. Instead, you will need to consistently work on your site Doing so is like following the rules and guidelines established for having
to make sure that everything is working properly and being seen by search your event listed in event calendars and listings. Typically, you cant just call
engines. Additionally, you should understand that SEO isnt really about being the publisher of an event calendar on the day of your event and expect it
ranked number one for one specific keyword. In fact, the best SEO strategies to be listed. Similarly, you cant expect SEO to launch you to the top of the
target many different keywords and focus on garnering better traffic, not just search results overnight. Below, weve provided you with some of the most
more traffic for your site. Think about it, would you rather have 1000 visitors foundational ways in which you should optimize your website to yield long-
with only 10 converting into customers or 800 visitors with 15 converting term SEO results.

10 11
 SEO - Search Engine Optimization SEO - Search Engine Optimization

1. Utilize Relevant Titles and Meta Descriptions and other search engines to better crawl and index your site. By submitting
Your titles and meta descriptions are very important pieces of information an XML sitemap, search engines are able to discover and index all of the
because they show up in the search engine results. A pages title is the pages on your site more easily. When the search engines are able to crawl and
heading that shows up in the search results and it is also the name that index new and updated pages on your website and blog, your organic search
appears on the tab or window when you are on the page in a web browser. A rankings tend to improve.
meta description, on the other hand, is the information that shows up below
the title in search results. These two short pieces of information are generally 3. Have Relevant Content on Your Pages
the first impression you get to make on a potential website visitor, so make As weve already discussed, having relevant content on your pages allows
them count. your site to be relevant to searchers questions. On-page content needs to be
written and presented so that it can be used by your sites visitors to answer
Example: the questions they have. Search engines exist to help people find what they
Page: Netmarks Homepage (http://www.netmark.com/) are looking for on the Internet. Its your job to make sure that the information
Title: Netmark - Digital Marketing Agency on your sites pages is relevant to the questions your ideal customers are
Meta Description: Netmark is a premiere digital marketing agency likely to ask. Dont write for the search engine bots though. If your content
specializing in paid advertising, social media management, and website SEO. isnt useful to real searchers, they are unlikely to stay on your site and
become customers.
How it Appears in Search Engines:
4. Target Keywords That Are Relevant to Your Business
Google Result: Your on-page content should include the words and phrases that
you want to rank for. If you want people to find your site when Going after less
they are searching for Blue Widgets, then youd better have the competitive long
words Blue Widgets on your site.
tail keywords can
You should be aware that while ranking for general keywords actually be more
can be a great goal, it may not be practical due to competition
levels and varied searcher intent. Going after less competitive
productive and
Bing Result: long tail keywords can actually be more productive and result result in better
in better qualified traffic coming to your site. As an example, qualified traffic
instead of targeting just the phrase Blue Widgets, you may
want to target a phrase like Blue Widgets for sale in Your Town, coming to your site.
USA

5. Work to Gain Links from High Ranking Websites

Clear back in the dark ages of the Internet (circa 1997) Larry Page and Sergey
You should also be aware that search engines can display alternate text from Brin wanted to find a better way to organize the seemingly infinite amount
your page if they dont feel that your meta description is relevant to the of data available on the World Wide Web so that people could find what they
searchers query. were searching for. In the early days of their company a small endeavor
they named Google they started looking at links between websites
2. Submit an Up-To-Date Sitemap as votes approving of those websites. This groundbreaking idea would
A sitemap is essentially a list of all of the pages on your website. An HTML eventually become the foundation of most modern search engines.
sitemap is generally accessed via a link in the footer or header of your site
and helps visitors find a specific page that may or may not be accessible Over nearly two decades, this idea has been refined and become more
through your other menus. An XML sitemap, on the other hand, helps Google detailed and complex. Now, instead of simply counting the number of links

12 13
 SEO - Search Engine Optimization
SEM
leading to a specific website, search engines also look at the quality of sites
from which those links originate. If the links look spammy or are irrelevant Search Engine Marketing
to the website they link to, the links will be discounted and the site possibly
penalized for low quality links. Links from a .gov or .edu domain tend to be Search Engine Marketing (SEM) is a blanket term used to describe a variety
more trusted than those coming from more general domain of online advertising efforts. Like SEO, it is used to attract users to your site
types like .com because entities have to prove who they are in who will find your offerings valuable to them. When people think of Search
order to get these types of domains. Nevertheless, .com sites Engine Marketing, they usually only think of the ads that are placed at the top
Sites that are well that are well established and trusted by the search engines also and to the right of search engine results in search engines like Google and
established and have more weight when it comes to their links. Bing. However, the term is also commonly used to refer to paid advertising
on social platforms like Facebook, YouTube, Google+ and Pinterest; on many
trusted by the As illustrated in the graphic below, large numbers of links can websites; in many apps and throughout the digital world.
search engines have boost your importance but so can a smaller number of links
more weight when it from trusted and well established sites. In essence, getting links This type of online marketing is also commonly referred to as Pay-Per-Click
from high ranking and trusted websites is like bringing a popular (PPC) advertising because you generally pay a certain amount each time
comes to their links. friend or friends with you to a party: youre cool by association somebody clicks on your ad, although there are also options for paying per
and the hosts estimation of your popularity is increased. thousand impressions on many online ad platforms.

Whether youre referring to paid online advertising as SEM or PPC, there are
some key elements you should understand before you get started.

Differences Between SEO & SEM

Lets start with some key differences between SEO and SEM.
As we discussed above, SEO is used to get your website to
rank in the regular search engine results, commonly called
organic search results in the digital marketing industry.
Conversely, SEM is paying to place your ads with your website
information in specific locations, including above or next to
search engine results.

Both the organic and the paid sides of search results can
be highly competitive, but they offer very different value
propositions. For example, while SEO tends to be highly
effective in the long term, it can take 6 to 12 months
SEARCH ENGINE MARKETING
or even more depending on competition levels to see
consistent results from your SEO efforts. You also must
continue to optimize and refresh your online presence
in order to maintain rankings. With SEM, on the other hand, you can see
placement of your listing almost immediately but maintaining that placement
requires upkeep and a constant infusion of money.

One of the best analogies weve heard for the difference between SEO and

14 15
 SEM - Search Engine Marketing SEM - Search Engine Marketing

SEM is to think of it like losing weight via diet and exercise or via plastic The best ad placements are contextual to what the person seeing the ad is
surgery. SEO, like losing weight through diet and exercise, takes time to be doing, seeing or reading at that time. Think of the last time you were late
effective, requires constant attention to details, and still requires work to getting to the theater. You probably didnt miss the beginning of your movie,
maintain once the desired results have been achieved. SEM is more like using but you may have missed some of the previews. Were you disappointed
liposuction to take the pounds off. The results are fast and dramatic, but at missing the previews? If not, do you know someone who would be? The
require money and constant upkeep in order to be maintained. answer is probably yes. However, the question that arises is, why? Why would
somebody be disappointed when they miss movie trailers? After
Key Components of SEM all, theyre just ads.
Why would
The answer may surprise you. Most people dont like to miss somebody be
the previews before a movie because they actually want to be
SEM is a simple idea that can have complex implementation. While we dont advertised to under these circumstances. The ads are contextual disappointed when
have the time to delve into all of the specifics of SEM implementation, lets
look at some of the key components that can make your paid
to what they are doing and it actually adds to the experience they miss movie
instead of detracting from it. Contextual advertising
online marketing efforts a success. advertising goods or services that are related to what somebody trailers? Theyre just
The Princess Theory Cohesive Campaigns
is doing, seeing or reading has been shown to be highly ads. But people want
effective. Because of this, context and relevance are the key to
refers to a little girls When you work in SEM, as in traditional advertising, you work success in online advertising.
to be advertised
princess-themed in campaigns. A campaign is simply a series of ads that share a to under these
common theme and are designed to work together. In SEM, you
birthday party create your ad campaigns to target specific, relevant keywords.
Understanding Ad Rank and Ad Position circumstances. The
When working with paid search platforms like Google AdWords
Everything matches The most effective campaigns are cohesive; they tie everything or Bing Ads, your ad position refers to where your ad falls ads are contextual to
your keywords, your ad groups, etc. together so that you
the theme. Similarly, arent putting out conflicting messages with your ads.
among the ads placed around specific search results. In a what they are doing
traditional advertising auction, the person who is willing to pay
your AdWords, the most gets the best placement. Thats not necessarily true in
and it actually adds
ad groups, and Here at Netmark, we sometimes call this the Princess Theory. ad placement bidding for search engines. to the experience
Chris Parrett, one of our SEM Specialists, says that The Princess
campaign as a whole Theory refers to a little girls princess-themed birthday party. Google Ad Rank and other search engines ranking
instead of detracting
need to match the Everything from the decorations to the cake to the party determinations actually involve a combination of different from it.
favors matches the theme. Similarly, your AdWords, ad
same theme. groups, and campaign as a whole need to match the same
factors. Remember, search engines are trying to give the best
and most relevant information they can to their users so that
theme. those users will return and use their services again. Thats why most search
Chris Parrett, Relevant Ad Placement
engines use custom algorithms to determine ad placement based on factors
like bid and relevance. And on most Pay-Per-Click ad platforms, including
SEM Specialist Another way to make sure that your ads are as successful as Google AdWords, you only pay when your ad is clicked on.
possible is to make sure that your ad is relevant to where it is
being placed. Going back to our event analogy, placing fliers for Google Ad Rank:
a golf tournament in a sporting goods shop is likely to yield better results Lets take a closer look at how Google Ad Rank is determined to illustrate
than placing them in a sewing machine store. Of course, you want people to how ad position is determined. Hal Varian, Googles Chief Economist, says
click on your ads. But, ultimately, you want people to see and click on your ad that they use a variation of whats called a second price auction for ad
who are interested in your solution. What you have to understand is that it placement. In a second price advertising auction, the advertiser doesnt have
doesnt matter how many people see your ad if the people who see your ad to pay their full bid, they only have to pay enough to beat the next highest
arent interested in what you have to offer. bidder below them.

16 17
 SEM - Search Engine Marketing SEM - Search Engine Marketing

Varian gives an example where Bidder #1 bids $4, Bidder #2 bids $3, Bidder Interestingly, if your Ad Rank isnt high enough, your ad may not show up at
#3 bids $2, and Bidder #4 bids $1. In a traditional auction, each would pay all because Google feels that it isnt really relevant to the searchers query.
what they bid and be placed in descending order. In a regular second price Using information from Googles Ad Rank support pages and videos, weve
auction, on the other hand, their placement is still descending but bidder #1 put together the graphic below to help make it easier to understand.
pays $3, Bidder #2 pays $2, Bidder #3 pays $1, and so on. In short, you bid
what you are willing to pay as a maximum, but you actually pay just enough to
beat your competition. In this type of auction, the buyer often pays less than Google Ad Rank and Cost per Click
their full bid. With us so far? Good, because this is where it gets even more
Maximum Bid Quality Score Format Impact Ad Rank Appx. CPC
complicated.
2
$
1.73
$

Traditional Auction Second Price Auction High High = 20

Bid Payment Bid Payment Bidder #3

4
$ $
4 4
$ $
3 3
$
2.42
$

High Low = 18
Bidder #2
Bidder #1 Bidder #1
1
$
0.69
$
3
$ $
3 3
$ $
2
Medium Medium = 8
Bidder #4
Bidder #2 Bidder #2
4
$
2
$ $
2 2
$ $
1 No Not Relevant
Low = 5 Enough
Bidder #1
Formats to Rank

Bidder #3 Bidder #3

1
$ $
1 1
$
As you can see, your ad position is not just about what youre willing to
spend. Bidder #3 actually has a lower Cost Per Click (CPC) for a first position
ad placement than Bidder #2 has for the second position because their Ad
Bidder #4 Bidder #4 Rank is higher due to high estimated format impact. If Bidder #2 wants to
move to first position, they can improve the quality of their ad or modify
Your ad placement through Google AdWords takes into account more their ad formatting improving the quality side of their Ad Rank or
than your maximum bid because they want to show highly relevant ads to they can increase their maximum bid which will also increase their CPC.
their users. Therefore, your ad position is determined using their Ad Rank Interestingly, Ad Rank is calculated separately for every search query your ad
algorithm. The three core elements of your Ad Rank are: may be eligible for in order to determine if and where your ad will be placed.

1. Your maximum bid. While it is a complicated system, there is sound reasoning behind these
2. Your Quality Score including historic and expected click through rates ranking algorithms. To quote Varian, it all goes back to the ecosystem that
(CTR), the relevance of your ad to the searchers query, and the quality Google, our users and our advertisers all live in. When users see better ads,
and relevance of your landing page. theyre happier and theyre more likely to actually click on those ads and that
3. The expected impact of Ad Formats including phone numbers, makes advertisers happier, which makes Google happy because with happy
sitelinks, and the presence of your websites domain in the ad headline. users and happy advertisers, we have more people using our system.

18 19
 SMM - Social Media Marketing
SMM
Social Media Marketing sites so that those who follow you on more than one platform dont see
the same things in different places.
As any event planner knows, word of mouth advertising can be invaluable. Dont just talk about your company maintain appx. 80% lifestyle/industry
This has also been historically true for businesses. Good word of mouth can content to 20% company content in your postings.
bring in new potential customers and bad word of mouth can scare them Dont spam your customers spread out your posts to increase their
away. But do you realize just how much social media has visibility.
added breadth and volume to word of mouth? Online reviews
and social media conversations can make or break a business Listen Carefully
faster than almost anything else. Respond quickly to questions, comments, and concerns within a few
minutes, not hours or days.
In spite of or maybe because of this, many business Have someone available around the clock.
owners feel that using social media for their business is Always be polite, courteous, and professional in your interactions.
daunting and confusing. Well, you can start posting what
feels right, or you can learn how to post in strategic ways Social Media Platforms
that will help you engage your audience. The best Social
Media Marketing (SMM) is driven by a clear purpose. SMM
strategists can help you set clear campaign objectives that In SMM, sometimes
lead to the best results in the shortest amount of time and The six Social Media platforms that businesses most frequently
SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING
following a few best practices can really improve your social use are Facebook*, Google+*, LinkedIn*, Pinterest*, Twitter*, and its okay to think
media presence. YouTube.* While this is true now, it can always change due to niche because
the volatile nature of Social Media. Each of these platforms
offers different strengths and abilities to the businesses that
targeting your social
Best SMM Practices uses them. For example, Twitter can be a great way to directly media presence to
interact with current and potential clients who have questions, where your target
but Pinterest is generally better for sharing information about
Create a Great Resource: goods or services that lend themselves to visual advertising. customers are
Complete your profile for your chosen platforms and make sure that they already engaged can
are set for public access. Using some or all of these major social media platforms is a
Provide useful, relevant information to those who follow your profile. good idea, but you might want to consider if there is any benefit work great.
Post regularly and use up-to-date photos and content. to using social media platforms that are less mainstream.
For example, sites like Periscope*, Snapchat*, Instagram*,
Prepare Your Site For Social Sharing Tumblr*, StumbleUpon*, CafeMom*, DeviantArt*, and Flickr* all have good
Make it as easy as you can for others to share the content on your website. sized followings but arent as broad in their reach as the more mainstream
Embed social sharing buttons on every page of your site and blog. platforms. In SMM, sometimes its okay to think niche because targeting
Suggest to those accessing your content that they may want to share it your social media presence to where your target customers are already
with others. engaged can work great. Nevertheless, its important to never use more
social platforms than you can reasonably keep updated and engaging.
Engage Your Audience Overextending yourself can be just as bad as not having a social media
Post exclusive content and run exclusive promotions on different social presence at all.

Periscope snapchat

20 21
 UX Design - User Experience Design
UX Design
User Experience Design conversion testing.
4. Collect enough data to draw real conclusions from the test results.
5. Review the conversion performance and make adjustments.
User Experience (UX) Design, unlike SEO, SEM, and SMM, is geared around
how visitors interact with your website. While some people think that UX While this process takes time, it can have a powerful effect on your
Design is only concerned with the aesthetics of a website how it looks conversion rate and ultimately your bottom line. For example,
good UX Design can actually improve the ratio of website if you currently have 1,000 visitors to your site in a week and
visitors who complete desired actions based on either subtle 1% of them are converting, thats 10 conversions in a week. While this process
or direct requests. In order to double your number of conversions to 20 at your takes time, it can
current conversion rate, you would have to figure out how to
Every website owner has specific things that they want their increase your weekly site traffic using SEO, SEM and/or SMM have a powerful
visitors to do. Whether that is buying something, registering to 2,000 visitors. This could potentially be a daunting endeavor. effect on your
for a membership, downloading a file or completing a If, however, you can improve your UX Design and increase your
contact form, these specific actions convert site visitors conversion rate to 2%, you can double your conversions without
conversion rate
into site users and customers. In the Internet Marketing doubling your visitors. and ultimately your
industry, these types of actions are collectively referred to bottom line.
as conversions. The goal of good UX Design should be to
increase the number of website conversions that take place
without necessarily increasing your website traffic.
USER EXPERIENCE (UX) DESIGN
In our event analogy, UX Design is like having the right
decorations and details the right centerpieces, the right
lighting, the right color scheme, the right MC to turn a generic event into
something truly memorable and remarkable. Having people attend a single
event isnt enough. They have to enjoy the event enough to want to attend
more events and maybe even tell their friends about them.

Scientific Approach to UX Design

Improving your UX Design can involve changing seemingly insignificant

details including button color, on-page images, and the wording and location
of your Calls to Action (CTAs). While these things may seem unimportant,
they can actually make a big difference in how users interact with your site.

We believe that in order to improve your conversion rate strategically, you

have to approach UX Design scientifically. We use a five step process to apply
scientific analysis in an industry that can be anything but scientific. Our UX
Design process is:

1. Create a hypothesis to improve a websites conversion rate.

2. Decide what needs to be tested in order to support that hypothesis.
3. Make the appropriate changes to the website and begin A/B

22 23
 Email Marketing
Email
Marketing

Sale
Free


Donate
Assistance
Help Fwd: and Re:
In essence, Email Marketing is a conversation between you and current or % Off Report
prospective customers. It can be used to attract new customers, but it can Reminder Webinar
also be used to maintain a relationship between your current customers and Days of the week Superlatives like perfect, wonderful, etc.
your business. When writing marketing emails, you have be very careful of
your tone because you dont want to sound like your sole This is by no means a fully comprehensive list, but you get the point. You
purpose is to make a sales pitch. have to legitimately get a persons attention in order to have a better shot at
having your email opened and read.
In our event analogy, Email Marketing is like sending direct
invitations to people who have either attended one of Ending with a Call to Action (CTA)
your events in the past or who have expressed interest in Just like on your website, requesting that people take specific actions can
your events or events like yours. You would want to send result in them doing so. By ending your email with a CTA, you give them a
invitations to these people to make sure that they are aware not so subtle hint of what they should do next. Will everybody perform this
of new events coming up but you would also want to make action? Probably not. But if you ask people to do something, more of them
sure that they arent just throwing your invitations away. will than would have if you didnt ask. After all, if you dont ask, the answer is
always no.
While Email Marketing may not seem as effective as it was
ten or fifteen years ago, it can still be a very relevant to Personal and Individual
EMAIL MARKETING modern digital marketing efforts. Your emails should be personable and, when appropriate, personalized.
People like to feel like they are receiving exclusive information. While most
When done correctly, it can be your chance to inform and people know intellectually that emails from companies tend to be mass
teach to build your company and its reputation in the minds of consumers generated, emotionally, they like to feel like they have been
and invite them to create or continue a relationship with you. singled out to receive this information. Avoid sounding salesy
and focus on sounding like a real person who is reaching out to Avoid sounding
Elements of Effective Email Marketing them on an individual basis.
salesy and focus
If you decide to personalize the marketing emails you send, on sounding like
make sure that your system is working correctly and your
Inboxes are flooded with new email every day. In order to be effective, you
information is up to date. Personalization can actually be a real person who
need to make sure that your emails utilize these elements:
harmful to your efforts if you have the wrong data or your is reaching out
system isnt working right because nobody wants to open an
A Strong Subject Line
email with the wrong name in the subject line or, worse, a place
to them on an
Your subject line is like a mini ad all by itself. If your subject line doesnt catch
a persons attention and, ideally, intrigue them, it is unlikely that they will holder like [NAME]. individual basis.
open and read your email. Take some time to craft your subject line so that it
is brief, pointed, and interesting. As you craft your marketing emails, make sure that you keep the
reader in mind. Ask yourself questions like what would I want to read? what
Avoidance of Spammy Words would get my attention? and how would I feel if this was sent to me?
Were all aware of how much email gets filtered out automatically by spam
filters. Even if your email makes it past the filters, there are specific words Effective Email Marketing can be a great source of qualified, interested
and phrases that a lot of people tend to ignore. Here is a brief list of spammy traffic to your site. Simply put, this is because people who have read and
words to avoid in your marketing email subject lines: reacted to your emails are more likely to complete conversions on your site.

24 25
 Email Marketing

Conclusion
Special Tricks
Every business is different. Therefore, every business must approach their
digital marketing with a unique plan. Because everybodys path to success
Use the Second Subject Line
will be different, we didnt set out to provide a step-by-step guide to online
We are all consumers and weve all become more aware of when were
success. As Dan Morley, Netmarks CMO, said in his introduction to this
hearing or reading a sales pitch. To be honest, the attention span of most
ebook, we wanted to make information readily available to anyone who
consumers is somewhere between that of a goldfish and a
wants to learn more about the basics of digital marketing. We hope that by
puppy. We arent willing to give people (or emails) the benefit
To be honest, the of prolonged attention anymore. Instead, we make a judgment
reading this book you have learned some foundational information about the
basics the fundamentals of digital marketing.
attention span of call within 5-7 seconds. That is why you have to work hard to get
somebodys attention, and get it quickly.
most consumers The six fundamentals of digital marketing that we presented in this
book a user-centered website, SEO, SEM, Social, UX Design, and Email
is somewhere Its also important to remember that many people have their
Marketing can work together to help you create a successful online
inboxes set up to show a snippet of the body copy in addition
between that to the subject line. Used correctly, this can act as a second
presence. Each fundamental by itself can help you manage different aspects
of a goldfish and of your online presence, create relationships with existing customers, or gain
subject line and improve your open rates. Weve included some
new customers who are looking for what you have to offer.
a puppy. examples of correct and incorrect usage of the second subject
line below, changing the relevant text to red for emphasis.
When used together, however, these fundamentals can help your digital
marketing succeed like a well planned social event. No matter what industry
Using the Second Subject Line Correctly:
your business is part of, these six fundamentals can help create an interest in
your brand, products and services that has not been there before.
Exclusive Discount from [COMPANY NAME] - Have you visited www.samecompanyswebsite.com lately? If not, now is a great time to visit

Definitive Guide to Engaging Content Marketing - Hi Aaron, I thought you might appreciate a free copy of the latest marketing research

Using the Second Subject Line Incorrectly:

[COMPANY NAME] Invites You to Attend Leading Industry Events - If you have trouble viewing this email, read the online version. Dear John We hope that by
Its a New Year! Be Bold! Be Heard! With Custom Shaped Ear Buds!! - To view this email as a web page, go here. Forward to Friends Aaron reading this book
you have learned
As with many different aspects of Digital Marketing, youll need to perform
some A/B split-testing to know which messages work best for example,
some foundational
if using their name really matters but by utilizing the second subject line, information about
you often double your chance of getting the right message in front of your the basics the
reader.
fundamentals of
Utilize and Optimize a P.S. digital marketing.
P.S. Having a post script at the end of your marketing emails can actually
improve your engagement levels! Many people simply scan through an email
without reading all of the text, but a P.S. can recapture their attention at the
end of the email and give you a chance to summarize what the email is about
and point them toward the action you want them to take.

26 27
 Sources
SEO Diet, PPC Plastic Surgery Analogy
http://davidmcbee.com/seo-is-a-diet-ppc-is-plastic-surgery-infographic/

Ad Rank and Ad Position

https://support.google.com/adwords/answer/1722122
http://help.bingads.microsoft.com/apex/index/3/en-us/50825

Do you have questions

about digital marketing for
your business or industry?
We want to help!
Click Below to visit

or call
us at 800.935.5133

Disclaimer:
* Many of the example URLs in this work were not active sites at the time of writing. Any real URLs or
actual company names in this work are used for example purposes only. Netmark does not claim any
special affiliation or connection with these companies and has not received any compensation, in cash
or in kind, for the mentions thereof.
28