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Hub You - Understanding the True Value of a Resource Library for Your Website
Marketing is always a fun thing to do. It allows you to talk about your business and your passion. As a scrapbook business owner, your enthusiasm for scrapbooking is the driving force behind your marketing efforts.If you don’t have experience in marketing though, you might be wondering what the big deal is and why you should even concern yourself with marketing your business.Marketing is not an option—it’s a necessity. Growing your scrapbook business will take time. Marketing can drastically decrease that time. Even though you may earn a few new customers here and there, your scrapbook business risks turning stale. Why? Because you’re not spreading the word about it.New business owners believe a pre-conceived notion that you have to have a certain
Bed, Bath, and Beyond opens its resource library with a friendly "Need help shopping?" and follows it up by telling visitors that they can "browse through the sections below for helpful shopping hints on a variety of topics." There is no mention of specific sales at any point on this page, which is found at http://www.bedbathandbeyond.com/ShopGuide.asp?order_num=-1&.
Taking a deeper look, one will find that the targeted phrase "window treatments" brings up Bed, Bath, and Beyond's guide on the subject on the first page of Google. This phrase has the im
Being topical this time, the England football team has to come to terms with failure, and all those pictures of footballers and fans in tears is a powerful picture of how we can get hurt and disappointed. It would be rare for anyone not to feel similar, but what we need to do is to think about how we will react.There are many ways to deal with disappointment and many times I have spoken with people who didn't get a promotion and their way of dealing with it was to disengage from the company, to moan and do the minimum. Sometimes this would coincide with a new boss taking over their team, into the job they had hoped to get. What sort of impression does this give to their boss - someone who is not interested and helpful in the job and who makes n
Benefits of a Resource Library
While it's true that a resource library, on the surface, exists to benefit site visitors, it doesn't end there -- they also provide benefits that can directly impact any business. First of all, they spread goodwill among a business's prospect base - and its non-prospect base as well. The site is seen by visitors as offering free information about important subject matter - and that makes it a more attractive site to return to in the future when a purchase will be made or a service established.
Second, with a solid resource library, the site puts itself in a great position to organically attract important inbound links. Outside sites will notice the offerings of important and unbiased information and link to individual articles or to the resource library as a whole. This will boost traffic and rankings overall.
Third, if the articles in the section are optimized properly, they will also boost rankings for popular and competitive keyphrases, driving additional targeted traffic to the site. The traffic may enter the site at the articles, but visitors are then likely to click for further information about the site itself.
A Common Objection to Adding a Resource Library
The most common objection a search engine optimization company hears when recommending that a site add a resource library is "I want to sell my product, not educate." However, this is shortsighted. It is important to reach buyers at all stages of the sales cycle. For example, if someone is just starting to investigate a product or service, a site with an appropriate informational article will reach him or her at this critical early stage. The prospect will then likely remember the experience when he or she is ready to buy and will return to the site.
In addition, a site with a resource library can help a salesperson save valuable time. With quality articles freely available on the site, the salesperson will no longer need to take the time to explain the basics to a prospect - the site will have already taken care of that. Instead, the salesperson can focus on speaking to the people who are ready to make a purchase.
Examples of Successful Resource Libraries
There are several sites that serve as great examples of this approach. Let's look at three of them – Bed, Bath and Beyond; Lowe's; and Step Two Designs (an Australian consulting firm).
Bed, Bath, and Beyond opens its resource library with a friendly "Need help shopping?" and follows it up by telling visitors that they can "browse through the sections below for helpful shopping hints on a variety of topics." There is no mention of specific sales at any point on this page, which is found at http://www.bedbathandbeyond.com/ShopGuide.asp?order_num=-1&.
Taking a deeper look, one will find that the targeted phrase "window treatments" brings up Bed, Bath, and Beyond's guide on the subject on the first page of Google. This phrase has the imp
I can't picture a single internet marketer out there who is not into what he is doing for the purpose of pure profit. Sure it's enjoyable coaching and instructing people on how to duplicate profitable functions; but the bottom line is that selling products earns money.You have to sell. There is no way around a good set of sales skills and being able to convince your targeted audience that your product provides the best benefits out of all other products in the category.The only trick to selling is your drive to sell; I mean your passion. Are you passionate about the products you sell? You don't have to be obsessed or start having dreams (possibly nightmares) about the benefits and features of every single e-book or subscription you are promoting. But you
Second, with a solid resource library, the site puts itself in a great position to organically attract important inbound links. Outside sites will notice the offerings of important and unbiased information and link to individual articles or to the resource library as a whole. This will boost traffic and rankings overall.
Third, if the articles in the section are optimized properly, they will also boost rankings for popular and competitive keyphrases, driving additional targeted traffic to the site. The traffic may enter the site at the articles, but visitors are then likely to click for further information about the site itself.
A Common Objection to Adding a Resource Library
The most common objection a search engine optimization company hears when recommending that a site add a resource library is "I want to sell my product, not educate." However, this is shortsighted. It is important to reach buyers at all stages of the sales cycle. For example, if someone is just starting to investigate a product or service, a site with an appropriate informational article will reach him or her at this critical early stage. The prospect will then likely remember the experience when he or she is ready to buy and will return to the site.
In addition, a site with a resource library can help a salesperson save valuable time. With quality articles freely available on the site, the salesperson will no longer need to take the time to explain the basics to a prospect - the site will have already taken care of that. Instead, the salesperson can focus on speaking to the people who are ready to make a purchase.
Examples of Successful Resource Libraries
There are several sites that serve as great examples of this approach. Let's look at three of them – Bed, Bath and Beyond; Lowe's; and Step Two Designs (an Australian consulting firm).
Bed, Bath, and Beyond opens its resource library with a friendly "Need help shopping?" and follows it up by telling visitors that they can "browse through the sections below for helpful shopping hints on a variety of topics." There is no mention of specific sales at any point on this page, which is found at http://www.bedbathandbeyond.com/ShopGuide.asp?order_num=-1&.
Taking a deeper look, one will find that the targeted phrase "window treatments" brings up Bed, Bath, and Beyond's guide on the subject on the first page of Google. This phrase has the im
An internet shopping cart setup can learn much from the bricks and mortar world. McDonald's do it with their Happy Meal. Travel agents do it with their package deals. What are we talking about?Bundle offers or the upsell - an amazingly simple way to increase sales value and revenue yet so under-developed in many internet shopping carts.The simple strategy involves adding on value or related items once a customer has already decided to purchase.If for example you are selling exercise equipment, exercise clothing, or body care products could be put together with the original purchase at a discount price to make a Bundle Offer.Good internet shopping cart software packages should have this feature included with simple setup instru
A Common Objection to Adding a Resource Library
The most common objection a search engine optimization company hears when recommending that a site add a resource library is "I want to sell my product, not educate." However, this is shortsighted. It is important to reach buyers at all stages of the sales cycle. For example, if someone is just starting to investigate a product or service, a site with an appropriate informational article will reach him or her at this critical early stage. The prospect will then likely remember the experience when he or she is ready to buy and will return to the site.
In addition, a site with a resource library can help a salesperson save valuable time. With quality articles freely available on the site, the salesperson will no longer need to take the time to explain the basics to a prospect - the site will have already taken care of that. Instead, the salesperson can focus on speaking to the people who are ready to make a purchase.
Examples of Successful Resource Libraries
There are several sites that serve as great examples of this approach. Let's look at three of them – Bed, Bath and Beyond; Lowe's; and Step Two Designs (an Australian consulting firm).
Bed, Bath, and Beyond opens its resource library with a friendly "Need help shopping?" and follows it up by telling visitors that they can "browse through the sections below for helpful shopping hints on a variety of topics." There is no mention of specific sales at any point on this page, which is found at http://www.bedbathandbeyond.com/ShopGuide.asp?order_num=-1&.
Taking a deeper look, one will find that the targeted phrase "window treatments" brings up Bed, Bath, and Beyond's guide on the subject on the first page of Google. This phrase has the im
Have you ever wondered how to differentiate yourself from the competition without reinventing the wheel? Are clients clearly happy with the work you do, but don’t seem to be sending you business building referrals? If given the choice between two sellers, would you buy from the one that advertised in your trade publication or the one that was mentioned or interviewed in one of the publications’ articles?We’re all influenced by the media. We may not like that idea, but when a product/service or provider is mentioned in an article or news segment, it puts them in a uniquely credible light. Someone else seems to think their opinion counts, so maybe you should too. One way to differentiate yourself from the competition and build credibility with existing and p
In addition, a site with a resource library can help a salesperson save valuable time. With quality articles freely available on the site, the salesperson will no longer need to take the time to explain the basics to a prospect - the site will have already taken care of that. Instead, the salesperson can focus on speaking to the people who are ready to make a purchase.
Examples of Successful Resource Libraries
There are several sites that serve as great examples of this approach. Let's look at three of them – Bed, Bath and Beyond; Lowe's; and Step Two Designs (an Australian consulting firm).
Bed, Bath, and Beyond opens its resource library with a friendly "Need help shopping?" and follows it up by telling visitors that they can "browse through the sections below for helpful shopping hints on a variety of topics." There is no mention of specific sales at any point on this page, which is found at http://www.bedbathandbeyond.com/ShopGuide.asp?order_num=-1&.
Taking a deeper look, one will find that the targeted phrase "window treatments" brings up Bed, Bath, and Beyond's guide on the subject on the first page of Google. This phrase has the im
The registry of ru-domains reports, that the number of domain names registered in Russia's national domain, the ru-domains, has increased 19.82% in the first half of 2004 to 256.356 ru-domains.Ru-Center compares this to the growth of 2003, which was 16.02% for the first half of 2003.The increase among ru-domains in Russia is coincident with the rising numbers of Russian Internet users. Ru-Center explains, that the weekly users numbered 5.9 million June 2004 , 1.4 million more than one year earlier. The number of Russian Internet users is expanding 30% a year.ICANN accredited registrar Secura is accepting registrations of ru-domains by non-russian enterprises and private people. According to the experience of this registrar, the ru-domains ow
Bed, Bath, and Beyond opens its resource library with a friendly "Need help shopping?" and follows it up by telling visitors that they can "browse through the sections below for helpful shopping hints on a variety of topics." There is no mention of specific sales at any point on this page, which is found at http://www.bedbathandbeyond.com/ShopGuide.asp?order_num=-1&.
Taking a deeper look, one will find that the targeted phrase "window treatments" brings up Bed, Bath, and Beyond's guide on the subject on the first page of Google. This phrase has the impressive monthly search estimate (using data from WordTracker) of 55,304. Note that this page, which is an unbiased article offering tips on choosing different types of window treatments, and not a retail sales page, is what achieves the rankings.
The home improvement chain Lowe's actually has several resource libraries available on its site, from buying guides to an extensive how-to library. Its buying guide page, found at http://www.lowes.com/lowes/lkn?action=howTo&p=HTindex/BuyingGuideIndex.html, notes, "Work Smarter: We'll help you find the right equipment and tools you need for all of your projects." And the company's article on choosing floor tiles appears on the first page of Google for the targeted phrase "tile floor," which has a monthly search estimate of 2,046. Again, it's an informational page and not a product page that gets the great rankings.
Both of the above examples are great, but you don't need to be selling a product online - or even be in the retail business at all - to use a resource library to your benefit. Step Two Designs is a consulting firm that offers a resource library of whitepapers on its site at http://www.steptwo.com.au/papers/index.php. Its article "How to Evaluate a Content Management System," for example, establishes its usefulness right at the top, stating that "No vendors or products are mentioned in this article: this is not a survey of current commercial solutions. Instead, it provides tools to assist you to conduct a review of suitable products."
This article appears on the first page of Google for the targeted phrase "content management systems," which has a monthly search estimate of 2,356. While this may be a lower number than the Bed, Bath and Beyond example, a consulting firm's average sale will likely be greater than that of a single purchase from a retail outlet, and so these visitors are potentially more valuable. Even in this type of business, a resource library will quickly prove its value.
Conclusion
Resource libraries clearly offer something of value for everyone involved. Prospects appreciate their existence, search engines reward sites that have them, and salespeople are relieved of the burden of explaining basic concepts to early prospects. You can either create your articles in-house or, if you're not sure where to start, hire a search engine optimization company to help you with everything from idea generation to writing. In either case, with just a little bit of effort your site too can realize the benefits of establishing this type o
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