3W Design Group - Media

We just sent an abbreviated version of this email out to our clients and we think it bears repeating. I was disappointed when we had to cut it back for space constraints so here it is in full…Gregg

Dear Client

Lately, we’ve noticed a surge of email offers from Web marketing companies that promise to deliver high search engine placement by using specific, targeted phrases. They promise top results when you type in a specific (i.e. rarly used) set of keyword phrases. They actually deliver on their promise and you can prove it to yourself every month before you pay that bill, you type in those 3 or 4 phrases and there you are… right at the top of the page in Google and Yahoo. That company can honestly say they fulfilled their end of the deal. However the results will not increase traffic to your site, it just empties your pockets.

Here’s why. You cannot be sure that your prospective visitor will type in one of those 3 or 4 exact phrases. When you use one of these companies you’re gambling on a very, very long shot. Out of the 9 to 16 words in your 3 to 4 keyword phrases, you are betting that your potential visitor will type in those exact words. Did you know there are approximately 250,000 distinct words in the English vocabulary?

Is this type of service a fraud? We think of it more as a parlor trick, a sleight-of-hand. These services are created for nothing other than taking advantage of people who don’t understand how the search engines work.

The search engines are actually just computer programs that are constantly being updated by programmers so their listing results are always changing. Sometime a little and sometimes a lot. They are updated every month, every week, sometimes every day. How can you stay on top of these changes? We can help you.

We receive and read a 200+ page document about the search engines that’s updated and published every month. We recently renewed our 11th yearly subscription. We have been students of the search engines since 1997 (that means we have read over 24,000 pages since we started). The search names have changed through the years, but their basic function remains the same - to provide the best results to their visitors’ queries.

Based on what we know and what we continue to learn, we have created several relevant search engine services for 2008 that make sense to any business and budget. All of 3W’s search services are aimed at increasing targeted traffic to your website by using current and valid techniques. No tricks or shortcuts.

Please look over the services we have to offer below. Give us a call and we’ll get you started. Let us help you put the power of the search engines to work for your business.

Sincerely,
Barb and Gregg
3W Design Group, Inc.

Call us! 920-854-9459
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3W Search Engine Service Options:

Option 1. Monthly Search Engine Traffic and True Ranking Report
Tracks the major search engines - Google, Yahoo & MSN. Includes one submission to major searches and indexes.
This is for you if:
• You are a do-it-yourselfer and are able to update you own pages and code, or
• If you would like to monitor your own traffic and status and decide for yourself when action is needed to hire 3W to make adjustments in order to increase your standings.

Option 2. Home Page Adjustment
Use of current technologies including application of keywords, text, links and title in correct proportions. Baseline Search Engine Traffic and True Ranking Report - Includes one submission to major searches and indexes. 3 month follow up report with improvements suggestions for increasing traffic.
This is for you if:
• You are generally satisfied with your web site performance but may have noticed a recent drop-off in traffic or
• ou are not sure if your site is doing as well as it could be and would like an indication of how much better your traffic could be without spending a great amount to find out.

Option 3. Home and Main Pages Adjustment (6 to 8 pages)**
Use of current technologies including application of keywords, text, links and titles in correct proportions. Baseline Search Engine Traffic and True Ranking Report – followed by one submission to major searches and indexes. 3W will keep your site’s various content tags, keyword phrases and more on track with current search rules. Monthly Search Engine Traffic and True Ranking Report tracks the major search engines - Google, Yahoo & MSN. Included with monthly reports is commentary by 3W on progress and improvements made to improve traffic and rankings.
This is for you if:
• You have a nice web site that gives an excellent first impression, you are not satisfied with your current number of visitors, you are convinced that your web traffic and rankings should be higher but are at a loss for what to do next.
• You may have spent money in the past on getting top Google and Yahoo rankings but your traffic has not increased in general from Google and Yahoo.

Option 4. Google AdWords Campaign w/Home & Main Pages Adjustment (6-8 pages)**
Monitored Google AdWords campaign. Includes 5 monitored Google Ads. 3W will strive to place you with the best keyword phrases available for your business at the best bid prices. Twice monthly adjustments of keyword phrases and regular disposal of worst performing ads. Best strategy for Google AdWord listings is to avoid number one and the extraneous clicks/costs that come from being first. Use of current technologies including application of keywords, text, links and titles in correct proportions. Baseline Search Engine Traffic and True Ranking Report – followed by one submission to major searches and indexes. 3W will keep your site’s various content tags, keyword phrases and more on track with current search rules. Monthly Search Engine Traffic and True Ranking Report tracks the major search engines - Google, Yahoo & MSN. Included with monthly reports is commentary by 3W on progress and improvements made to improve traffic and rankings.
This is for you if:
• You are convinced that spending more of your advertising budget on web marketing is a far better value than print and is the best and easiest way to track your advertising dollar.
• You have a nice web site that gives an excellent first impression, you are not satisfied with your current number of visitors, you are convinced that your web traffic and rankings should be higher but are at a loss for what to do next.
• You may have spent money in the past on getting top Google and Yahoo rankings but your traffic has not increased in general from Google and Yahoo

Email us or call for pricing! 312-637-9391

In case you aren’t aware, 3W Design offers an excellent hosting service for new or existing websites. Gregg Luhring has thought of everything to make the somewhat obtuse world of hosting easy for our clients. In addition to 500 MB of storage, 10 custom email addresses, online retail packages and more, we offer free WordPress blogging software, so businesses can add a blog as a newsletter, online special page or more. And Gregg does not rest on his laurels. He is constantly looking for new features that will keep 3W’s hosting service robust and cutting edge. AND Gregg will make switching to 3W Secure hosting seamless and easy.

If you aren’t a 3W hosting client yet call us at 920-854-9459 or at our newly added Chicago number 312-637-9391. Gregg has a hosting plan for you!

Everyday I receive (via subscription) email article summaries concerning online marketing and statistics. Today from eMarketer Daily came the article Online Buying Grows, But How Much?. It features information from a Pew Internet & American Life Project’s latest online shopping survey. The article is worth the read from several standpoints. It highlights the the phenomenal growth of shopping online since 2000:

• The number of US consumers who have purchased online more than doubled from 22% in June 2000 to 49% in September 2007.

• Pew said that number extrapolated to 66% of Americans with Internet access having bought something online.

Of course, the public at large may have sensed this anecdotally, but seeing the numbers gives one a bigger picture. How can any brick and mortar retailer justify NOT having an online store? The old adage “location, location, location” takes on a new meaning in 2008 and I suspect this trend will continue.

One thing, according to Pew, that is holding down online buying is security issues, both real and perceived.

• The research center estimated that the percentage of online buyers would be as much as three percentage points higher, or 69%, if people were not as concerned about about sending personal or credit card information over the Web.

Another issue for online selling seems obvious.

• Broadband was the most significant common characteristic of online buyers compared with non-buyers. More than three-quarters of online buying US consumers had broadband, while little more than one-half of non-buyers did.

Another Pew report I ran across Information Searches That Solve Problems referenced broadband accessibility in an article on how individuals use libraries and the Internet, yet it is of interest to online retailers as well.

• A major focus of this survey was on those with no access to the internet (23% of the population) and those with only dial-up access (13% of the population). This “low-access” population is poorer, older, and less well-educated than the cohort with broadband access at home or at work.

The future exponential growth of online shopping seems to rest on the socioeconomic aspect of broadband accessibility. With talk of recession this may not be an obstacle that is easy to overcome in the short term. However, for retailers who make their goods available via the Internet, they will surely have a leg up in the long term.

OK, I’m bragging. I have checked off one of my 2008 New Year’s Resolutions…finish the event podcast for the Steel Bridge Songfest 3. 100 edited audio files and 17 completed podcasts later, it’s done and I have to say it’s the most comprehensive series of podcasts to date. It felt good to finish.

Being in the business of new media in 2008 means lots of deadlines, surprises and problem solving. All at at the speed of light. In addition, in order to keep up with the “new” part, I myself find needing to learn new things every day, every week, every month. Gregg challenges me and being a hugely competitive person I attack the challenge. But sometimes in my digital life, I yearn for analog. So I’m going to share two of my favorite non-digital passtimes that keep me sane.

Reading. I love reading. I fit it in when I dry my hair in the morning; before I fall asleep at night; driving in the car (I mean RIDING in the car); and at the Y when I am sweating and my glasses are slipping. My reading diet consists of easy fast reads like Patricia Cornwell, challenging recommendations from my college student daughter by Faisal Devji, and graphic novels by Marjane Satrapi. In fact I read lots of graphic novels and my new favorite is called Shooting War, which started as a web comic. Shooting War was written by Anthony Lappé and artist Dan Goldman. It takes place in the future United States America when president John McCain is in office. It will take your breath away.

Aside from reading, my other non-digital brain workout is Scrabble played against Gregg Luhring, the undisputed champion of the household. I usually lose to Gregg, but always argue for a new obscure word that I’m sure I saw somewhere. Also, Scrabble is not a game that can be played competitively with more than one glass of wine. So don’t try.

I would be curious as to what other ways people relax in a non-digital fashion. Remember this is a non-explicit blog and you don’t need to remind me of EVERYTHING. Drop me a line and let me know.

3W recently completed an event podcast for The New North Summit 2007 (a regional business conference) in cooperation with Marketplace Magazine. The New North Summit was held at the Blue Harbor Resort in Sheboygan, Wisconsin on December 14, 2007. It consisted of a series of daylong events: a speech by Wisconsin Governor Jim Doyle; a keynote address by Dr. Edward Gordon author of “2010 Meltdown - Solving the Impending Jobs Crisis”; a Workforce Development Panel chaired by Roberta Gassman; and much more. My associate Tommy Fix and I recorded both audio and video, brought it back to our studio in Sister Bay and mixed everything adding an original music score by Gregg Luhring. We then created a landing page where all the files can be downloaded, listened to or subscribed to via RSS feed. In addition, we have created a feed on iTunes so people can easily subscribe to and receive the audio files in their iTunes library. All in all we squeezed as much mileage out of the original audio files as we could.

Event podcasting is a great way to record an event for people to re-live or to be part of in the event that they were not able to attend. Check out The New North Summit 2007 and let me know what you think.

FYI: Unrelated Diversion of the Day: http://producten.hema.nl/

Thanks to Gregg Luhring!