Marketing 101

Specified construction product marketing information - for the sales and marketing manager wanting to increase specifications (and sales) of their products through their website.

This section of 4specs is intended to help the marketing and sales manager of a construction product manufacturer increase their knowledge of how to get their products specified by architects, engineers and specifiers. Most of our newsletters are listed here, categorized by the information they contain.

About 4specs - and some information about how to better optimize your web performance. We use these slides to explain about 4specs and to show screen shots of Google Analytics and basic search engine optimization

Your Website Is Up. What's Next?

• A summary of our talk at the CSI Convention in 2004. It sums up what we think a marketing manager needs to know to effectively use the Internet in marketing to architects, engineers and specifiers.
• Are you planning a major revision or update to your site? I look at a 1,000 websites a month and see lots of websites that could be easily improved.
• What Should You be Planning for 2008 Web Site Revisions?
  • Make Your Next Web Site Easy to Maintain
  • Set up Google Analytics in 20 Minutes - or less and it is free
  • Basic Search Engine Optimization - get more free users from the search engines.
  • Getting Your Specifications Written and Online

 

Website Analytics (Statistics)

If you do not know how your visitors got to your website, how can you increase the number? Otherwise stated, unless you know your website stats, you are shooting in the dark and probably wasting your advertising dollars.

• How to Understand Your Web Site Activity
• Set up Google Analytics in 20 minutes or less
• 4specs' Server Statistics - our actual website stats from last month. 4specs uses a simple and free tracking program for most of our stats. This page will give you an idea of what is available for your site. Talk with your web consultant or IT department.
  • 4specs Summary Spreadsheet - you need to have one like this for your stats.
  • Your Website Stats - a sample of the spreadsheet you need to build to track your site activity and to analyze the cost per referral of driving users to your site.
  • 4specs User Session Statistics - our daily user sessions for the past 28 days.
  • 4specs Overview - from Google Analytics for October 2006. Google purchased Urchin and is providing the analytics for free. One of the best around.
• Tracking Website Stats - another newsletter article
• Your Website Is Up. What's Next? Our perspective about using the Internet for marketing to architects and engineers. These articles formed the basis for my talk at the CSI Convention at Chicago in April 2004.
• Site Maps - an easy way to get more search engine visitors
• How Does a Specifier Use Your Website?

 

Making Your Website an Effective Tool in Getting Specified

• What is the Purpose of Your Website?
• What Does an Architect or Engineer Want to Find on Your Website?
• Get Specified - Information for manufacturers wanting to get their products specified by architects and engineers.
• Getting Your Products Specified on LEED Projects
• Glossy Brochure or 3-Ring Binder - which does your user want?
• WebFormat™ - our suggested website design.
• Marketing in the Future - The Next 5-10 Years
  • Part 1 - What is Happening
  • Part 2 - What is Driving The Changes
  • Part 3 - Hot, Warm and Cold Mediums
  • Part 4 - Getting Your Rep in Front of Architects and Specifiers
  • Part 5 - Tracking Website Stats
• Winning Through Faster Website Updating
  • Winning through OODA - November 2006 Newsletter
• Complete List of 4specs Newsletters and Articles

 

Get all the Free Referrals You Can From the Search Engines

Paid advertising can be expensive. Through effective design (or redesign) of your website, you can substantially increase the number of free visitors. For one advertiser, several simple changes (costing perhaps $500) increased the number of free referrals from Google from 100 per month to 100 per day!

• Google Webmaster Guidelines
• Search.MSN Guidelines

 

Get What You are Paying For in Internet Advertising

• What is a Referral?

 

Resources I Use

• High Rankings Advisor
• Jakob Nielsen - UseIt Column - 3 or so newsletters a month and a great archive of past newsletters.
• Pay Per Click Analyst
• Search Engine Watch - a free website covering the search engines
• SearchEngineNews - Subscription based newsletter covering the latest in Search Engine News. $97 for 6 months.
• WebmasterWorld - A good general resource
• Web Page Analyzer - Web Page Speed Analysis

 

---