CREATING  THE  LEADERS  OF  THE  DIGITAL  ECONOMY  

 
 
 

Web  Strategy  3.0  

e-­‐Business  Leadership  through  Customer  Centric  
Internet  Platforms  
By  Lars  Hilse  

   

Lars  Hilse  ±  Web  Strategy  &  E-­Business  Development   US  +1  206  203  5212    
Eichstr.  10  B  |  25767  Bunsoh  |  Germany   UK  +44  845  5089559    
    DE  +49  1801  5557775788    
     
WWW.LARSHILSE.COM  
 CREATING  THE  LEADERS  OF  THE  DIGITAL  ECONOMY  
 
 
Contents  
About  Lars  Hilse  .......................................................................................................................  4  
Executive  Summary  .................................................................................................................  5  
Step  1:  Attracting  (the  right)  people  to  your  website  ....................................................................  6  
1.1   Speaking  to  over  2  billion  prospects  ..............................................................................  6  
1.2  Social  Media  Marketing.....................................................................................................  6  
1.2.1  Facebook  ..................................................................................................................  6  
1.2.2  LinkedIn  ...................................................................................................................  7  
1.2.3  Twitter  .....................................................................................................................  8  
1.3  Corporate  Online  Reputation  Management  ..........................................................................  9  
1.4  Search  Engine  Optimization  .............................................................................................10  
1.4.1  The  technical  aspect  .................................................................................................10  
1.4.2  The  Keywords  and  Content  ........................................................................................10  
1.4.3  Your  Competition  ......................................................................................................11  
1.4.4  Mobile  Search  Placement  ...........................................................................................11  
1.5  Email  Marketing  .............................................................................................................11  
1.6.  Mobile  Marketing  ...........................................................................................................12  
1.7  Search  Engine  Marketing  &  Paid  Inclusion  ..........................................................................12  
1.8  Offline  Marketing  and  the  internet  ....................................................................................13  
1.8.1  Offline  Advertising  ....................................................................................................13  
1.8.2  Event  Marketing  .......................................................................................................13  
Step  2:  Your  Website...............................................................................................................15  
2.1  Advanced  Web  &  User  Interface  Design  .............................................................................15  
2.1.1  Accessibility  .............................................................................................................15  
2.1.2  Mobile  Devices  .........................................................................................................16  
2.1.3  Navigation  and  Menus  ...............................................................................................17  
2.1.4  Search  Ability  on  your  site  .........................................................................................17  
2.2  User  Experience  .............................................................................................................18  
2.3  Web  Analytics  ................................................................................................................18  
2.4  Proactive  Website  Visitor  Engagement...............................................................................19  
2.5  Corporate  Blogging  .........................................................................................................19  
2.6  The  Community  Aspect  of  Your  Website  ............................................................................19  
Step  3:  Your  Customer  Relationship  and  Knowledge  Management  .................................................20  
Step  4:  The  Community  Metric  in  your  Strategy  ..........................................................................21  
Free  Market  Research  ...........................................................................................................21  
Improving  Your  Products  &  Services  (crowdsourcing)  ...............................................................22  

Lars  Hilse  ±  Web  Strategy  &  E-­Business  Development   US  +1  206  203  5212    
Eichstr.  10  B  |  25767  Bunsoh  |  Germany   UK  +44  845  5089559    
    DE  +49  1801  5557775788    
     
WWW.LARSHILSE.COM  
 CREATING  THE  LEADERS  OF  THE  DIGITAL  ECONOMY  
 
 
Enhancing  Customer  Support  ................................................................................................22  
Your  Community  on  Your  Portal  .............................................................................................23  
Step  5:  Putting  it  all  together  ...................................................................................................23  
Risks  .....................................................................................................................................24  
Compliance  and  Regulatory  Issues  .........................................................................................24  
General,  Legal  Requirements  for  operating  a  Website  ...............................................................24  
 

 
A  print  version  of  this  publication  will  be  available  under    
ISBN  978-­0-­557-­57342-­4  starting  Aug.  1st,  2010  
 

   

Lars  Hilse  ±  Web  Strategy  &  E-­Business  Development   US  +1  206  203  5212    
Eichstr.  10  B  |  25767  Bunsoh  |  Germany   UK  +44  845  5089559    
    DE  +49  1801  5557775788    
     
WWW.LARSHILSE.COM  
 CREATING  THE  LEADERS  OF  THE  DIGITAL  ECONOMY  
 
 
About  the  Company  
Lars   Hilse   ±   Web   Strategy   &   E-­Business   Development   Consultants   is   a   management   consultancy  
founded   in   2008   to   advise   and   assist   organizations   during   the   creation,   evolution   and   unification   of  
their   web   related   marketing   and   product   distribution   efforts,   in   particular   with   the   seamless  
integration  of    

complex  workflow,    
customer  relationship  management,    
customer-­service,    

and  other  related  issues.  

The  services  we  provide  include  ±  but  are  not  limited  to  ±    

status  quo  assessment  upon  which  we  improve  internet  related  strategies,  
interim   placement   at   management   and   C-­Level   to   help   clients   during   the   creation   or  
evolution  their  processes,  
crisis  management  for  organizations  in  temporary  turmoil,    
advisory  board  member  placement  to  help  organizations  evolve.  

Our  customer  base  is  in  the  financial  services,  public  health,  military/defense,  HR,  politics,  legal  and  a  
variety  of  other  sectors  spread  across  the  Americas,  Europe,  Middle  and  Far  East.  

About  Lars  Hilse  

Web  guru  &  insurance  pro  with  a  passion  for  psychology  and  quantum  mechanics  
Hilse   was   born   in   1979   and   started   his   career   in   the   German   insurance   sector   in   1999   where   he  
specialized  in  corporate/industrial  risks  and  asset  management.  

The  profound  knowledge  about  customer  service  &  relationships  (CRM),  knowledge  management  and  
other   demands   of   large   organizations   he   ascertained   therein   -­   combined   with   his   lifelong   passion   all  
things   web   -­   quickly   made   him   a   globally   recognized   authority   in   context   to   developing   highly  
individualized  and  exceptionally  successful  concepts,  strategically  positioning  his  clients  well  ahead  of  
their  competition.  

Beside   his   utilization   of   social   media   for   business   purposes,   Lars   experiments  with   several   platforms  
regularly,   drawing   comparisons   between   them   but   also   making   out   key   differentiators,   especially   in  
inter-­cultural   aspects  and   how   to   utilize  those   most  efficiently  to  create  a  competitive  advantage   for  
his  clients.  

Praised  for  his  enlightening  and  motivational  speeches  DERXWVHDUFKHQJLQHRSWLPL]DWLRQDQGWKH³Qext  

JHQHUDWLRQZHEVWUDWHJ\´KHLVDOVRDXWKRURIWKHERRN³$GGLQJWKH(WR\RXU%XVLQHVV6WUDWHJ\´,6%1
978-­0-­557-­08080-­9)  as  well  as  publisher  of  several  market  segment  relevant  white  papers  about  the  
internet-­  and  web  marketing  industry.  

The  extraordinary  strategies  he  develops  with  his  clients  are  backed  by  KLV³EHU-­human-­WKLQNLQJ´skill  
deriving  from  his  hobbies  psychology  and  quantum  mechanics.  This  talent  gives  him  the  capability  to  
make  out  problems  or  flaws  inside  organizations  and  deliver  holistic  solutions,  effortlessly  intertwining  
even  the  most  complex  or  unthought-­of  issues.  

Lars  Hilse  ±  Web  Strategy  &  E-­Business  Development   US  +1  206  203  5212    
Eichstr.  10  B  |  25767  Bunsoh  |  Germany   UK  +44  845  5089559    
    DE  +49  1801  5557775788    
     
WWW.LARSHILSE.COM  
 CREATING  THE  LEADERS  OF  THE  DIGITAL  ECONOMY  
 
 
Executive  Summary  
ˆ‡™Dz—•–Šƒ˜‡•dz–‘ƒ……Žƒ‹‹‰‹–ƒŽ…‘‘›‡ƒ†‡”•Š‹’  
The  fundamental  must  haves  in  any  modern  web  strategy  can  be  segmented  as  follows:    

1. Getting   (the   right)   prospects   to   your   point-­of-­sale,   your   website,   through   a   variety   of  
marketing   channels   like   Social   Media   Marketing,   Search   Engine   Optimization   and   Marketing,  
offline  marketing  efforts,  etc.,  
2. Converting   prospects   to   leads   directly   on   your   website,   for  instance  through  proactive  
website  visitor  engagement,  
3. Ensuring  the   continued  customer  relationship   through  the  implementation  of  a  customer  
relationship  management  system  and  associated  strategy  built  around  your  existing  business  
processes,  

along   with   offering   your   customers   and   prospects   plenty   of   unique   incentives   for   them   to   return   to  
your  website  regularly  and  giving  them  many  opportunities  to  engage  with  and  see  your  brand  on  the  
web.    

Your  web  site  has  become  a  mere  aspect  of  web  strategyǥ  
so   have   social   media   marketing,   search   engine   optimization,   e-­commerce   and   all   other   aspects  
involved.    

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leadership,  increase  your  market  share  and  stand  out  in  your  business  vertical.    

Because   web   strategy   is   something   highly   individual   we   have   only   outlined   a   general   procedure   and  
shed  light  on  some  of  the  factors  which  should  at  least  be  included  in  your  marketing  and  sales  mix.    

³,QGLYLGXDO´ LQ WKLs  context,   does   not   refer  to  individuality  you  need  to  maintain  in  your   vertical   but  
also   refers   to   the   individual,   manifested   and   long   developed   business   processes   which   need   to   be  
respected  during  the  planning  and  execution  of  your  new  web  campaign.    

Diversify  your  budget  and  efforts  -­  ‘ǯ–dedicate  all  your  resources  to  ƒDzŠ›’‡dz  
Particularly   during   the   last   few   months   we   have   seen   a   variety   of   organizations   follow   the   Facebook  
hype,  dedicating  a  majority  or  their  resources  and  budget  towards  this  one  portal.    

The  consequence  was  that  many  of  them  neglected  what  should  have  been  their  primary  focus,  their  
corporate  website  which  represents  the  center  of  the  entire  strategy.  

7KDWEHLQJVDLGLW¶VDERXWXWLOL]LQJWKHVRFLDOPHGLDODQGVFDSHEXWZKDW\RXKDYHWRNHHSLQPLQGLV
that  the  most  efficient  place  you  can  covert  leads  to  actual  business,  thus  being  able  to  create  an  ROI  
calculation,  is  ±  and  will  be  ±  your  corporate  website.    

An   important   aspect   to   keep   in   mind   in   this   context   as   well   is   that   only   your   corporate   website   will  
consistently   remain   in   your   sphere   of   influence   while   your   social   media   and   other   proprietary  
endeavors  may  be  subjected  to  third  party  influence.    

   

Lars  Hilse  ±  Web  Strategy  &  E-­Business  Development   US  +1  206  203  5212    
Eichstr.  10  B  |  25767  Bunsoh  |  Germany   UK  +44  845  5089559    
    DE  +49  1801  5557775788    
     
WWW.LARSHILSE.COM  
 CREATING  THE  LEADERS  OF  THE  DIGITAL  ECONOMY  
 
 
Step  1:  Attracting  (the  right)  people  to  your  website  
Making  the  most  out  of  the  Internet  &  its  unification  with  offline  marketing  
The  secret  here  is  to  diversify  your  communication  efforts  so  that  these  reach  the  most  popular  places  
on  the  web  giving  

Prospects  the  opportunity  to  be  made  aware  of  your  brand  and  value  proposition,  and  
([LVWLQJFXVWRPHUVWKHRSSRUWXQLW\WRVHHWKDW\RX¶UHRXWWKHUHDQGDYDLOable  to  them.    

Because  of  the  individuality  of  each  business  and  their  vertical  you  have  to  prequalify  which  platform  
you  want  to  spend  which  amount  of  effort  on.    

For  instance:  Facebook  and  Twitter  will  be  the  right  places  to  look  at  if  your  primary  engagement  will  
be   within   the   B2C   field   while   B2B   savvy  business   will  probably  want  to  look  at  building  relationships  
using  LinkedIn,  simply  because  it  offers  access  to  the  decision  makers  of  a  variety  of  organizations.  

1.1 Speaking  to  over  2  billion  prospects  

New  York  =  8,363,710  citizens  |  The  Web  =  2,000,000,000+  users  
When   planned   and   executed   correctly   your   web   strategy   can   grant   you   access   to   over   2   billion   web  
users.    

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While   a   majority   of   these   internet   users   will   speak   English   to   a   certain   extent,   the   queries   they   will  
submit  to  their  domestic  versions  of  Google,  Yahoo,  Ask,  etc.  will  be  in  their  mother  tongue.    

This   is   one   of   a   few   dozen   problems   you   will   be   facing   when   trying   to   set   your   business   up  
internationally   through   the   web   and   which   requires   you   to   think   outside   the   box   about   how   to   work  
around  this  and  many  other  issues  involving  demographical,  geographical,  cultural  and  related  topics.    

1.2  Social  Media  Marketing  

Social   Media   Marketing   is   one   of   the   hottest   issues   amongst   many   marketing   executives   at   the  
moment.    

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tempting  and  ±  at  the  first  glance  ±  represent  a  good  opportunity,  the  ROI  is  actually  hard  to  measure  
yet   Social   Media   Marketing   should   be   present   at   all   times   in   your   marketing   mix   simply   because   it  
offers  a  great  opportunity  to    

draw  new  prospects  to  your  online  operation  and    

have  brand  visibility  on  the  social  web  

1.2.1  Facebook  
)DFHERRN)%RIIHUVQXPHURXVSRVVLELOLWLHVWRLQFUHDVHYLVLELOLW\WKURXJKHQJDJLQJ\RXUEUDQG¶VIDQV
for  instance  by  creating  a  group  for  your  brand.    

When  you  update  your  FB  fan-­SDJH\RXUXVHUVZLOOEHQRWLILHGRQWKHLU³ZDOO´ZKLFKDOVRRIIHUVWKHP

WR³OLNH´ZKDW\RXKDYHSRVWHGRUGLUHFWO\HQJDJHZLWK\RXE\FRPPHQWLQJRQ\RXUQHZV  

Lars  Hilse  ±  Web  Strategy  &  E-­Business  Development   US  +1  206  203  5212    
Eichstr.  10  B  |  25767  Bunsoh  |  Germany   UK  +44  845  5089559    
    DE  +49  1801  5557775788    
     
WWW.LARSHILSE.COM  
 CREATING  THE  LEADERS  OF  THE  DIGITAL  ECONOMY  
 
 
%RWKWKH³OLNHV´DQGWKHFRPPHQWVZLOOLQWXUQEHYLVLEOHWR\RXUIDQ¶VQHWZRUNRIIULHQGVDOORZLQJD
significant  spread  of  your  brand  on  FB.    

Based   on   our   experience  you  can  usually  ascertain  a  user  base  of  a  few  hundred  fans  within  a  few  
weeks.   It   then   depends   on   your   engagement   with   the   existing   base   community   on   whether   your  
number  of  fans  increases  progressively.    

Allowing  your  employees  to  use  Facebook  during  work  

This  is  a  truly  controversial  issue  because  when  spending  working  hours  on  FB  your  employees  will  not  
be  working  on  their  day-­to-­day  tasks.    

Their   profiles,   however,   will   have   their   affiliation   with   your   company   visible   and   thus   increase   your  
brand  visibility.    

  PROOF  OF  CONCEPT  

  Upon   several   assignments   we   have   been   asked   whether   it   was   feasible   to   let  employees   use   FB  
during  working  hours.    
 
On  these  assignments  we  usually  made  it  possible  for  the  employees  but  regulated  environment,  
  governed   by   a   unique   Social   Media   Policy   developed   together   with   Legal,   Human   Resources  
Departments  in  cooperation  with  the  employees  and  associated  unions.    
 
Core  component  was  the  obligation  of  the  employees  to  engage  only  in  work  related  groups  (using  
  these  as  resources)  and  the  companies  own  presence  on  FB,  thus  increasing  brand  visibility.  

1.2.2  LinkedIn  
Unlike   FB,   which   can   be   classified   as   a   social   network,   LinkedIn   (LI)   can   be   referred   to   as   a   sole  
business   network,   hardly   allowing   its   members   to   utilize   it   for   anything   else   than   business   related  
engagements.    

LI  is  about  building  and  maintaining  professional  relationships  between  professionals.    

7KH NH\ EHQHILW IURP DQ RUJDQL]DWLRQ¶V SRLQW RI YLHZ LV WKDW your   brand   will   be   visible   to   all   your  
HPSOR\HHV¶ FRQQHFWLRQV RQ /LQNHG,Q DQG HYHU\ HQJDJHPHQW WKH\ PDNH ZLWK RWKHUV ZLOO VWUHQJWKHQ
your  brand  visibility.    

Especially   key   level   executives   should   be   encouraged   to   create   and   maintain   a   LinkedIn   profile  
because  they  will  be  the  people  which  will  be  approached  first.    

Your  Organization  can  have  a  Profile  on  LinkedIn  too  

LinkedIn   does   not   only   entitle   individuals   to   a   profile   but   also   lets   organizations   create   so   called  
Company  Pages  on  LI  which  other  individuals  can  follow.    

When   people   start   following   your   company   it   will   be   made   available   on   their   social   stream   which   is  
visible  to  all  their  connections.    

Lars  Hilse  ±  Web  Strategy  &  E-­Business  Development   US  +1  206  203  5212    
Eichstr.  10  B  |  25767  Bunsoh  |  Germany   UK  +44  845  5089559    
    DE  +49  1801  5557775788    
     
WWW.LARSHILSE.COM  
 CREATING  THE  LEADERS  OF  THE  DIGITAL  ECONOMY  
 
 
Further,  the  LI  company  pages  let  you  publish  updates  about  your  organization,  for  instance  projects  
\RX¶UH FXUUHQWO\ ZRUNLQJ RQ RU WKH ELGV \RX KDYH UHFHQWO\ ZRQ PDNLQJ LW DQ LQWHUHVWLQJ SODFH WR
encourage  interested  press  representatives  to  follow.    

—”–Š‡”‹…”‡ƒ•‹‰›‘—””‰ƒ‹œƒ–‹‘ǯ•˜‹•‹„‹Ž‹– y  on  LinkedIn  

Similar   to   the   concept   on   Facebook,   LinkedIn   also   allows   you   set   up   groups   which   offer   discussion  
forums  and  other  aspects  of  communicating  with  other  individuals.    

In  context  to  your  brand  you  may  want  to  start  by  creating  an  alumni  group,  which  is  going  to  become  
a   place   for   all   your   past   and   current   employees   to   meet   up   and   have   a   closed   environment   to  
exchange  knowledge  and  thoughts.    

Also,  you  can  use  the  alumni  group  to  publish  news  regarding  your  organization.    

Brand  Groups  will  enable  you  to  engage  with  individuals.  As  we  had  stated  when  starting  this  chapter,  
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This,   in   turn,   gives   you   access   to   their   perception   of   your   brand   and   access   to   intelligence   about  
product  perception.  Further,  the  engagement  your  brand  will  receive  is  of  higher  quality  because  your  
members   will   take   more   time   to   answer   potential   questions   you   have   towards   them   with   more  
diligence.    

1.2.3  Twitter  
Twitter   has   several   success   stories   of   brands   interacting   with   their   community.   But   Twitter   is   not  
limited  to  this  aspect.    

7KH PRVW LPSRUWDQW DVSHFW RI 7ZLWWHU LVWKHPHDVXUHPHQWRI\RXUEUDQG¶VUHSXWDWLRQDQGDVVRFLDWHG

tools   like   HootSuite,   CoTweet,   and   similar   allow   you   to   execute   a   Corporate   Online   Reputation  
Management  Strategy.    

•‹‰™‹––‡”–‘‡‡’›‘—””ƒ†ǯ•…‘—‹–›‘–‘’‘ˆ–Š‹‰•ƒ†‡‰ƒ‰‡‡–  
When  your  company  has  something  to  say  you  should  make  Twitter  one  of  your  prioritized  channels  to  
convey  what  you  have  to  say.    

Twitter   is   still   often   misconceived   as   a   kids   tool   and   it   is   thus   still   widely   believed   that   the   primary  
audience  consists  of  immature  kids.    

The   truth   is   that   the   people   following   your   brand   will   probably   consist   of   industry/business/financial  
analysts,  the  press  and  other  entities  writing  about  and  regularly  engaging  with  you.  

Another   important   aspect   is   using   the   same   corporate   channel   to   engage   with   your   customers  
and   community   keeping  them  up  to  date  with  news  on  your  organization  but  also  offering   them   a  
point  where  they  can  connect  with  your  brand.  

The   benefit   of   Twitter   in   this  regard   is  that  the  engagement  with  your  brand   will  consist  of  no   more  
than  140  characters,  keeping  the  effort  for  communication  brief.    

Keep  in  mind  that  the  more  you  engage  with  customers  and  community  the  higher  the  spread  of  your  
EUDQG¶VYLVLELOLW\RQWKH7ZLWWHUSODWIRUP  

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 CREATING  THE  LEADERS  OF  THE  DIGITAL  ECONOMY  
 
 
Twitter  as  a  tool  to  proactively  sell  your  products  or  services  
Twitter   can   be   used   as   a   bidirectional   communication   instrument.   Above   mentioned   tools   also   allow  
you  to  VHDUFKWKH³7ZLWWHU8QLYHUVH´IRULQIRUPDWLRQUHOHYDQWWR\RXUILHOGRIEXVLQHVV  

Once  you  have  identified  the  users  you  want  to  address  you  can  incentivize  these  users  or  otherwise  
engage  them  in  a  discussion  proactively.    

Due   to   the   fact   that   this   procedure   has   not   been   widely   adapted   your   brand   will   receive   not   only  
recognition   by   the   user   you   have   engaged   but   this   step   may   also   be   widely   recognized   by   the  
blogsphere  and  associated  social  media  instruments  and  communication  outlets.  

 
PROOF  OF  CONCEPT  
 
A   domestic   tourism   marketing   corporation   hired   us   to   develop   a   unique   social   media   concept  
  which  they  would  include  in  their  portfolio  of  services.  

  One  of  the  two  dozen  ideas  we  qualified  consisted  of  continuously  searching  the  twitter  stream  
for  the  NH\ZRUGV³YDFDWLRQ´DQGUHODWHGWHUPV  
 
Twitter   users   mentioning   these   words   would   then   receive   a   discount   for   their   next   vacation  
  booked  through  this  tourism  marketer.    

  The   result   was   a   significant   and   sustainable   spread   of   the   brand   in   the   Twitter  
Universe  and  in  the  trial  period  generated  25,000  EUR  of  business.    
 

1.3  Corporate  Online  Reputation  Management  

10  years  ago  a  bad  mention  could  reach  hundreds,  today  in  can  reach  millions  
The   worst   enemy   your   corporate   reputation   had   to   fear   only   a   decade   ago   was   word-­of-­mouth  
propaganda  which  could  reach  a  few  hundred  people.    

Today  any  influential  individual  can  diminish  your  organizations  reputation  by  sending  out  a  tweet.    

Being  aware  of  what  is  being  said  about  your  Organization  
Whether  you  decide  to  engage  or  not  is  entirely  up  to  you.  However  you  should  have  a  constant  eye  
on  what  is  being  written  about  you  and  your  brand  in  the  social  web  at  all  times.    

There   are   two   primary   channels   you   should   keep   in   mind   when   developing   a   corporate   online  
reputation  management  campaign.    

One  of  these  is  the  more  static  channel  of  blogs  and  websites  which  you  can  monitor  using  a  service  
FDOOHG³*RRJOH$OHUWV´RUVLPLODU  products.    

*RRJOH$OHUWVLQSDUWLFXODUOHW¶V\RXPRQLWRUDOOZHEVLWHV*RRJOHLQGH[HVDQG\RXZLOOEHSURYLGHGZLWK
a  daily  report  by  email  of  mentions  about  the  keywords  you  want  to  monitor.  Recently  Google  added  
the  possibility  of  receiving  this  information  via  RSS.    

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 CREATING  THE  LEADERS  OF  THE  DIGITAL  ECONOMY  
 
 
The  second,  and  probably  more  important  channel,  is  the  micro-­  and  blogging  sphere  which  you  can  
monitor  through  free  or  commercial  tools.    

Our  experience  has  been  that  the  free  tools  are  as  effective  as  the  commercial  ones.  The  commercial  
onHVMXVWRIIHUDIHZIHDWXUHVWKHIUHHRQHVGRQ¶W:KHWKHUWKHVHDUHZRUWKWKHEXGJHWLVXSWR\RX  

One   of   the   primary   tools   to   monitor   blogs,   microblogs   (i.   e.   Twitter)   and   other   related   websites   is  
Social  Mention.    

This  tool  updates  all  mentions  and  keywords  you  monitor  in  real  time  to  your  screen,  allowing  you  to  
keep  up  to  date  about  your  brands  reputation.    

1.4  Search  Engine  Optimization  

ˆ›‘—†‘ǯ–•Š‘™—’‘–Š‡ˆ‹”•–•‡ƒ”…Š”‡•—Ž–•›‘—”…‘’‡–‹–‹‘‰‡–•–Š‡…Ž‹‡–  
When  people  submit  a  query  to  search  engines,  most  of  the  times  they  will  only  look  at  the  first  three  
results  and  then  refine  their  search.    

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context  to  certain  relevant  search  terms.    

These   leadership   positions   can   sustainably   be   attained   by   organic   search   engine   optimization   which  
involves  the  technical  and  content  restructuring  of  your  website.  

Another  way  to  show  up  first  on  Google  and  Yahoo  is  to  participate  in  their  advertising  programs.  By  
giving  money  your  result  then  shows  up  on  a  leading  position  on  search  results.  These  are  momentary  
efforts.    

1.4.1  The  technical  aspect  

Technically  search  engine  optimizing  a  website  involves  many  aspects.    

Should   your   website   fail   a   thorough   analysis   you   should   use   the   opportunity   to   move   forward   to   a  
content  management  system  (CMS)  which  includes  search  engine  optimization  out  of  the  box  because  
the  effort  of  touch  all  relevant  points  would  supersede  that  of  starting  out  from  scratch.    

Since  the  market  for  CMSs  is  constantly  evolving  you  will  have  to  do  a  lot  of  research  and  really  test  
WKHV\VWHP\RX¶UHJRLQJWRLPSOHPHQW,W¶VSDUWLFXODUO\LPSRUWDQWWRJHWDIHHOIRUWKH6(2FDSDELOLWLHV
of  the  programmers  and  architects  of  the  system  and  what  efforts  the  company  or  open  source  project  
has  dedicated  towards  this.  

Some  of  the  fundamentals  include  the  automatic  generation  and  updating  of  your  XML  sitemap  which  
will  make  it  easier  for  search  engine  to  index  all  pages  of  your  site.  

1.4.2  The  Keywords  and  Content  

Another  very  important  aspect  of  search  engine  optimization  is  the  determination  of  the  keywords  you  
want  to  rank  highest  for.    

In   context   to   your   keywords   the   saturation   of   these   and   associated   terms   in   your   content   plays   a  
major  role  in  the  search  engines  defining  where  you  rank.  

'HILQLQJ\RXUNH\ZRUGVFDQEHVXSSRUWHGE\EDVLFWRROVOLNH*RRJOH¶V$G:RUGV.H\ZRUGWRRO6HDUFK
³*RRJOH .H\ZRUG 7RRO´ RQ *RRJOH ZKLFK ZLOO JLYH \RX DFFHVV WR WKH SRSXODULW\ RI FHUWDLQ Neywords,  

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 CREATING  THE  LEADERS  OF  THE  DIGITAL  ECONOMY  
 
 
show  you  the  searches  submitted  for  that  word  for  the  past  month  globally  and  domestically  and  will  
also  suggest  an  extensive  list  of  alternatives,  ranking  lower  competition-­wise.    

1.4.3  Your  Competition  

The   SEO   results   you   or   your   team   can   produce   rely   largely   on   the   amount   of   effort,   resources   and  
budget  you  can  dedicate.  

A  major  aspect  of  creating  the  search  engine  strategy   LVDQDO\]LQJWKHFRPSHWLWLRQ\RX¶UHXSDJDLQVW

and  you  should  thus  closely  scrutinize  the  efforts  your  rivals  are  undertaking  in  context  to  SEO.    

Pre-­evaluating   what   is   being   done   by   others   will   give   you   insights   into   whether   it   makes   sense   to  
compete  for  major  search  words  in  the  first  place  or  it  makes  more  sense  to  dedicate  your  effort  to  a  
larger  quantity  of  less  prominent  keywords.    

The  less  prominent  keywords  are  often  neglected  and  thus  offer  a  great  opportunity  to  get  your  hands  
on  the  business  your  competition  is  not  paying  attention  to.  

1.4.4  Mobile  Search  Placement  

Relatively  new  to  the  search  engine  optimization  sector  is  the  mobile  search  placement.    

With   an   ever   increasing   number   of   mobile   devices   hitting   the   market   and   people   utilizing   localized  
searches   to   find   the   nearest   Italian   restaurant   or   drug   store   you   have   to   keep   the   optimization   in  
context  to  your  positioning  in  mind.  

The   big   map   service   providers  Google   and  Bing  will  most  likely  have  included  your  business  address  
already  in  their  services.    

Our  experience  has  shown,  however,  that  it  makes  sense  to  review  your  listing  because  a  lot  of  times  
the   placement   will   be   not   entirely   correct   and  the  data   associated  to  the   listing   may   be   incorrect   as  
well.  

1.5  Email  Marketing  

Believed  dead  by  many,  Email  marketing  still  represents  a  major  way  of  keeping  your  community  and  
followers  up  to  date  about  current  issues,  deploying  coupons  to  incentivize  users  to  return  to  your  site,  
and  many  other  opportunities  of  recalling  your  brand  into  memory.  

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professional  will  adapt  their  email  newsletters  and  the  strategy  behind  their  distribution.  

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HOGHUO\ SULPDULO\ EHFDXVH WKH\¶UH XVHG WRUHFHLYLQJDQGGLJHVWLQJWKLVZD\DQGWKHWUDYHOHUVEHFDXVH
they  spend  a  lot  of  time  in  transit,  a  majority  of  which  they  have  no  internet  connectivity.    

Delivered  email  gives  them  the  opportunity  to  read  information  offline  which  is  a  good  way  to  use  time  
\RXFDQ¶WVSHQGRWKHUZLVH  

Adding  a  new  skin  to  an  old  technology  

The   rules   that   have   changed   are   numerous,   yet   the   primary   things   you   want   to   keep   in   mind   when  
revamping  this  technology  are    

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 CREATING  THE  LEADERS  OF  THE  DIGITAL  ECONOMY  
 
 
to   add   redistribution   features,  making  it  easy  for  users  to  forward  the  entire  newsletter  or  
parts   of   it   to   other   likeminded   people   in   their   network   as   weOO DV EXWWRQV IRU ³7ZHHWLQJ´ RU
³6KDUHRQ)DFHERRN´EXWWRQVDOORIZKLFKZLOODOORZJDWKHULQJQHZVXEVFULEHUV  
to  have  both  HTML  and  text-­only  versions  in  the  same  distribution  to  allow  Blackberry  
and  other  mobile  users  low  download  rates  when  traveling  

 
PROOF  OF  CONCEPT  
 
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client.    
 
We   got   so   much   feedback   which   we   almost   entirely   incorporated   into   the   new   distribution  
 
which    
 
increased  the  opening  rate  to  45%  
  raised  the  subscriber  rate  by  14%,  sustainably  increasing  with  every  issue  
gave  new  sales  perspectives  to  our  client  
 
Especially  the  inclusion  of  Facebook  and  Twitter  tools  led  to  a  large  reach  on  this  portal.  
 

1.6.  Mobile  Marketing  

Mobile  marketing,  in  reference  to  SMS  and  MMS  messaging  still  plays  a  role  depending  on  the  target  
DXGLHQFH\RX¶UHWU\LQJWRUHDFKLQFRQWH[WWRERWKGHPRJUDSK\DQGJHRJUDSK\  

Even  in  Europe  there  is  a  certain  audience  you  may  want  to  keep  up  to  date  about  special  offers  and  
coupons  through  these  marketing  channels.    

However,  this  instrument  of  delivery  in  general  is  declining  due  to  the  penetration  of  mobile  internet  
enabled  devices.  

1.7  Search  Engine  Marketing  &  Paid  Inclusion  

A   few   chapters   earlier   we   covered   the   importance   of   search   engine   optimization   which   offers  
sustainable  positioning  on  results  deriving  from  queries  submitted  to  search  engines.    

Sometimes   these   rankings   are   not   possible   due   to   too   much   competition   for   a   certain   keyword.  
Another  way  of  achieving  top  rankings  is  to  pay  for  them,  each  click  or  impression  at  a  time.    

The  biggest  search  engines  offer  programs  in  which  you  can  have  a  link  to  your  site  included  against  
money.    

When  do  SEM  and  PI  prove  valuable?  

In   most   situations   we   would   suggest   going   for   the   SEO   way   simply   because   the   investment   is  
sustainable.    

Some  of  the  situations  in  which  SEO  is  not  feasible  are  if  you  have  a  certain  offer  you  want  to  put  up  
to  potential  clients  which  is  limited  time-­wise.    

Another  case  is  when  your  competitors  want  to  use  your  search  term  to  benefit  from  it.  

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 CREATING  THE  LEADERS  OF  THE  DIGITAL  ECONOMY  
 
 
 

 
PROOF  OF  CONCEPT  
 
2QHRIRXUFOLHQWV¶FRPSHWLWRUVXWLOL]HG*RRJOH¶V$G:RUGVSURJUDPWRSXVKWKHPVHOYHVLQIURQWRI
our  organic  search  results  we  had  achieved.  
 
We   had   no   other   choice   but   to   initiate   a   campaign   ourselves   to   push   the   competitor   off   their  
 
positioning  by  increasing  the  campaigns  price  per  click  to  an  astronomical  value.    
 
The  competitor  cancelled  his  campaign  shortly  after  we  initiated  our  countermeasures.  
 

1.8  Offline  Marketing  and  the  internet  

Newspapers  and  other  offline  media  will  be  with  us  for  a  very  long  time  and  continue  to  present  a  very  
beneficial  opportunity  to  communicate  with  an  exceptionally  targeted  audience.    

Usually  these  types  of  advertisements  offer  you  a  certain  amount  of  space  to  convey  your  message.  
The  bigger  this  amount  of  space  gets,  the  more  expensive  the  advertisement.  

The  internet  offers  you  a   great  solution  to  cope  with  this  problem.  An  efficient  campaign  based  on  a  
dedicated  campaign  leading  to  a  specific  landing  page  will  offer  you  even  more  advantages.    

An  example  would  be  an  advertisement  campaign  for  a  product  or  service.  The  advertisement  would  
EHFUHDWHGWRUDLVHWKHUHDGHU¶VLQLWLDOLQWHUHVWDQGRIIHUWKHPDGHGLFDWHGGRPDLQWRJRWR  

This   domain   would   then   be   forwarded   to   a   dedicated   landing-­page   on   the   corporate   website   from  
which  all  following  actions  can  be  measured.  

Because  this  dedicated  domain  leaves  a  clear  indicator  as  to  where  the  hit  to  the  website  came  from  
WKH FDPSDLJQ¶V RXWFRPH FDQ   be   segmented   and   its   success   be   set   in   context   to   which   publication  
drove   most   traffic,   which   converted   the   most   leads   as   well   as   giving   insights   into   other   behavioral  
patterns  of  the  readers.  

1.8.1  Offline  Advertising  

Offline   advertising   still   represents   an   important  part  in  an  overall  marketing  strategy  mix  due   to   the  
possibilities  it  bears  in  context  to  segmentation  and  addressing  a  dedicated  audience.    

7KHZD\WRLQFRUSRUDWHLQWR\RXUZHEVWUDWHJ\LVWRUHGXFHWKHFRQWHQW\RX¶UHWU\LQJWRFRQYH\LQWKH  
advertisement   itself   and   through   a   link   to   a   dedicated   domain   monitor   the   outcome   of   prospects  
coming  to  your  online  presence.    

This,  in  turn,  will  allow  you  to  channel  the  incoming  prospect  to  a  dedicated  landing  page  giving  them  
more  in-­depth  information  on  the  headline  you  used  to  raise  their  interest.    

The  raised  interest  is  caused  by  the  fact  that  your  advertisement  stood  out  because  you  were  able  to  
use   large   fonts   for   your   initial   trigger   which   suggested   them   to   read   more   information   about   your  
offering  on  the  (hopefully  easy  to  remember  or  catchy)  domain  name  you  provided  them  with.    

1.8.2  Event  Marketing  

Event   marketing,   in   this   example,   refers   to   associated   efforts   to   place   your   brand   on   tradeshows   or  
conferences.    

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 CREATING  THE  LEADERS  OF  THE  DIGITAL  ECONOMY  
 
 
These  are  interesting  venues  due  to  their  very  targeted  audiences  and  present  good  opportunities  to  
experiment  with  incentives  because  of  the  high  chances  of  lead-­conversions.    

Again,  it  is  important  that  you  present  your  prospects  with  a  dedicated  landing  page  which  brings  the  
conference   where   you   met   them   back   to   mind   because   the   chances   of   them   recalling   your  
conversation  during  that  event  will  increase.    

When   giving   away   presents   make   sure   they   are   something   unique   or   useful   and   that   they   are  
somehow  related  to  the  dedicated  landing  page  for  this  event.    

Having  this  dedicated  landing  page  for  conferences  is  particularly  important  because  most  conferences  
and  tradeshows  tend  to  have  a  very  diverse  audience  in  geographical  aspects.    

While   advertisement   campaigns   in   newspapers   can   give   you   reports   of   success   in   context   to   their  
geography  (regional  newspaper  or  magazine)  when  people  leave  the  conference  they  will  travel  back  
to  their  office  and  will  access  your  website  from  there  to  obtain  more  information.    

Because  these  office  locations  are  spread  across  the  globe  you  will  not  be  able  to  track  anything  but  a  
sudden  increase  of  visits  to  your  general  website  from  a  diversity  of  locations.    

   

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WWW.LARSHILSE.COM  
 CREATING  THE  LEADERS  OF  THE  DIGITAL  ECONOMY  
 
 
Step  2:  Your  Website  
Your   corporate   website   is  the   heart   of   your   web   strategy   because   it   represents   your   point-­of-­sale   in  
our  description.    

All   marketing   efforts,   all   advertisements   are   directed   to   this   one   entity,   so   it   better   look   pretty,   be  
accessible   to   the   disabled,   be   open   24/7   and  offer   a   great   experience   to   be   at   featuring   exceptional  
customer  service.    

Sounds  too  much  like  a  real-­life-­boutique?  Well,  it  is.    

Modern  websites  have  to  complexly  intertwine  a  variety  of  aspects  and  respect  several  standards.  And  
LI\RX¶UHRIIHULQJDQH-­commerce  solution  where  your  clients  have  to  pay  for  services  or  products  you  
better   make   sure   that   their   credit-­card   or   associated   data   is   safe   and   convey   that   safety   to   them  
gaining  not  only  their  money,  but  also  their  trust  upon  which  you  can  build  a  sustainable  relationship  
with  your  new  customer.    

2.1  Advanced  Web  &  User  Interface  Design  

:KHQGHVLJQLQJ\RXUZHEVLWH\RXGRQ¶WRQO\ZDQWLWWREHDPHPRUDEOHH[SHULHQFHIRU\RXUYLVLWRUEXW
also   ensure   that   they   can   use   it   properly   and   make   sure   that   all   the   information   they   may   be  
searching  for  is  available  to  them  at  the  touch  of  a  button.    

Modern   websites   are   usually   designed   to   present   all   information   at   a   maximum   of   two   clicks   away  
from  the  ³KRPH´  page  which  proves  to  be  hard  to  achieve  when  you  have  to  convey  a  large  quantity  
of  information.    

If   you   are   in   that   specific   situation   think   about   splitting   up   your   websites   and   adding   intelligent  
algorithms  to  the  backend  which  will  start  a  dialog  ZLWKWKHYLVLWRUDVNLQJWKHPZKHWKHUWKH\ZRXOGQ¶W
prefer   to   visit   your   dedicated   page   for   the   content   they   were   searching   for   presenting   a   link   to   that  
segment  or  product  specific  website.    

Incorporating   aspects   of   modern   user   interface   design   standards   is   inevitable   as   well   and   can  
determine  whether  the  website  fails.    

2.1.1  Accessibility  
Up  to  25%  of  your  website  visitors  have  some  kind  of  disability.    
They  may  either  be  blind,  deaf,  dyslexic  or  impaired  otherwise.  But  also  technical  aspects  like  a  slow  
internet   connection,   viewing   your   website  with  a  mobile  device   and  others  may  present  barriers  you  
GRQ¶WZDQWWRKDYH  

Accessibility   refers   to   having   your   website   coded   and   presented   by   standards   which   allow   impaired  
users  equal  access,  something  a  lot  of  organizations  are  paying  little  to  no  attention  to.    

:KLOHZULWLQJWKLVSDSHUZHDQDO\]HGWKHZHEVLWHVRIWKHZRUOG¶VELJJHVWFRPSDQLHVRI
which  82%  were  not  compliant  to  accessibility  standards.  In  particular  Wal-­0DUW¶VZHEVLWH
stood  out  with  over  16  critical  accessibility  errors.  

Have  you  ever  thought  you  could  get  a  lawsuit  for  having  an  inaccessible  website?  
It   also   has   a   legal   background.   Several   countries   have   gone   as   far   as   to   threaten   online   service  
providers  with  legal  actions  if  their  web  offering  is  not  accessible  by  certain  standards.  

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    DE  +49  1801  5557775788    
     
WWW.LARSHILSE.COM  
 CREATING  THE  LEADERS  OF  THE  DIGITAL  ECONOMY  
 
 
To  be  on  the  safe  side  of  things  you  may  want  to  reach  out  to  your  federal  government  and  ask  them  
for  guidelines  which  they  have  developed.    

Our   experience   is   that   most   countries   have   at   least   worked   out   a   set   of   regulations   for   government  
websites   which   are   usually   very   helpful   for   designing   your   site   to   be   compliant   to   international  
accessibility  standards.    

Other   than   that   we   have   used   the   guidelines   released   by   the   W3C   to   help   our   clients   design   their  
online  presentations  to  meet  these  standards.    

2.1.2  Mobile  Devices  

’’Ž‡ǯ•‹Š‘‡‹•–Š‡…‡–‡”‘ˆ–Š‡—‹˜‡”•‡  
7KH QXPEHU RI PRELOH GHYLFHV LV LQFUHDVLQJ SURJUHVVLYHO\ $QG ZKLOH ZH¶UH VWDWLQJ WKH REYLRXV WKH
iPhone  is  not  the  center  of  the  universe.    

Regardless  of   which   client   we   have   visited  worldwide  their  main  concern  was   to  have  an  iPhone   app  
EUDQGHG IRU WKHLU RUJDQL]DWLRQ DVVXPLQJWKDWWKH\¶GKDYHFRPSOHWHGWKHLUVHUYLFH RIIHULQJWRVPDUW-­
phone  users.    

The  truth  is  that  the  iPhone  globally  only  has  a  m arket  share  of  13%  
A   majority   of   the   market   is  scattered   among  older  devices   with  less  computing   and   graphical   power  
and  that  is  where  the  problem  begins.    

These  devices  have  a  variety  of  screen  resolutions  and  an  even  higher  variety  of  compatibility  issues.  
While  some  support  Java  others  only  support  Flash.    

:KDWZHOLNHWRUHIHUWRDVD³FULWLFDOSDWLHQW´LVWKHHQWLUH%ODFNEHUU\VHULHVRIVPDUW-­phones  because  
not   only   their   compatibility   issues   vary   from   device   to   device   but   they   can   also   have   regulations   in  
context  to  content  delivery  implied  by  the  Blackberry  Enterprise  Server.    

Making  it  right  for  everyone  

Without  killing  your  entire  web  budget  for  two  dozen  different  versions  of  your  website  you  may  want  
to   find   a   compromise   along   the   line   classifying   mobile   devices   into   2   categories   where   category   one  
represents  older  smart-­phones  having  a  menu  selection  available  based  on  the  numerals  rather  than  a  
QWERTY  input  basis.    

Category   two   would   be   a   fallback   for   more   modern   devices   into   which   the   Blackberry   should   fall   as  
well.   These   devices   have   QWERTY   input   and   can   handle   most   modern   aspects   of   websites   but   you  
should  cut  all  content  based  on  Java  and  Flash.  Not  only  do  these  devices  have  issues  with  displaying  
that  content  properly  but  a  large  variety  of  BlackBerrys  on  the  market  are  not  3G/UMTS  capable,  thus  
leading  to  unacceptable  loading  times.    

The  third  category  we  have  not  pointed  out  above  will  be  the  iPhone  and  Android  devices.    

Our   experience   is   that   implementing   an   introduction   page   upon   device   identification   giving   the   user  
the   opportunity   to   choose   between   the   standard   and   mobile   version   of   the   website   is   the   key   to  
success.    

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WWW.LARSHILSE.COM  
 CREATING  THE  LEADERS  OF  THE  DIGITAL  ECONOMY  
 
 
2.1.3  Navigation  and  Menus  
With  650+  million  social  ‡†‹ƒ—•‡”•‰—‡••™Š‘ǯ•‹ˆŽ—‡…‹‰‡•‹‰  
2YHURIWKHZRUOG¶VLQWHUQHWXVHUVKDYHD)DFHERRNDFFRXQW$QGUHJDUGOHVVRIKRZDFWLYHWKH\
DUHWKH\¶UHJRLQJWREHDFTXDLQWHGthat  a  main-­menu  is  horizontal  and  on  top  of  the  website.  

Submenus   are   vertical   and   on   the   left.  Proprietary  information  is  on  the  right  hand   side  of  the   main  
FRQWHQWLQWKHPLGGOH7KDW¶VMXVWWKHZD\LWLV  

Now,   it   may   be   disputed   whether   Facebook   is   right   with   their   design   policy.   Fact   is   that   all   social  
media  portals  adapt  to  this  trend,  driving  this  trend  forward  even  further.    

‘ǯ––”›–‘„‡ƒ–”‡†•‡––‡”Ȃ  Just  comply  

When   designing   your   site   you   will   want   to   stick   to   what   is   pointed   out   above   simply   because   if   you  
GRQ¶W\RX¶OOORVHZHEVLWHYLVLWRUVLI\Ru  experiment  with  alternatives.    

Before   you   start   doing   anything   spend   a   decent   amount   of   time   figuring   out   what   content   goes   in  
ZKLFK VXEPHQX 'RQ¶W XVH \RXU ORJLF ZKHQ HYDOXDWLQJ WKLV FULWLFDO DVSHFW XVH WKH UHSRUWV \RX KDYH
about  your  website  visitors.  

When  designing  your  horizontal  main  menu  you  will  not  want  to  have  any  more  points  in  there  than  
necessary  because  the  user  will  feel  over  killed.    

2.1.4  Search  Ability  on  your  site  

Hopefully  all  your  content  is  only  2  clicks  away  from  the  user  and  your  2-­click-­policy  is  based  upon  the  
analytics  reports  of  your  web  users  in  the  past.    

(VSHFLDOO\WKRVHWKDWLQFRUSRUDWHWKHFRQFHSWRIFRUSRUDWHEORJJLQJZKLFKZH¶UHJRLQJWRDGGUHVVODWHU
in   the   paper   will   find   it   hard   to   reference   the   links   to   posts   and   detailed   content   though   as   a  
consequence  of  which  your  visitors  will  have  a  hard  time  finding  the  right  content.    

7KDW EHLQJ VDLG LW¶V WLPH WR ILQG DVROXWLRQWKHHDVLHVWRIZKLFKLVWKHLPSOHPHQWDWLRQRIDIXQFWLRQDO

search  box  on  your  website.    

This  will  allow  your  visitor  to  enter  their  search  term  and  then  be  presented  with  search  results.    

Most  search  boxes  will  not  allow  you  to  rearrange  the  results  presented.  The  results  may  thus  be  non-­
relevant  in  some  cases.    

When   using   a   search   box   make   sure   it   will   also   allow   referencing   tags   attached   to   website   content.  
This  way  you  can  influence  the  results  by  posting  your  pages  with  tags.    

Include  searches  in  your  TITLE-­meta-­tag  

)RUIXUWKHUGHWHUPLQDWLRQDQGGHFLVLRQVLW¶VLPSRUWDQWWRHQVXUHWKHSURWRFRORIVHDUFKes.  For  the  sake  
of   the   proactive   website   visitor   engagement  which   we  will  cover  a  bit  later  and  deciding  upon  which  
YLVLWRU\RX¶UHJRLQJWRHQJDJHLWLVLPSRUWDQWWRNQRZZKLFKTXHU\WKH\VXEPLWWHGWR\RXUVHDUFKER[  

Lars  Hilse  ±  Web  Strategy  &  E-­Business  Development   US  +1  206  203  5212    
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    DE  +49  1801  5557775788    
     
WWW.LARSHILSE.COM  
 CREATING  THE  LEADERS  OF  THE  DIGITAL  ECONOMY  
 
 
2.2  User  Experience  
,W¶VOHVVDERXWPaking  the  user  feel  welcome  than  about  giving  them  a  memorable  experience  of  their  
stay   either   by   a   unique   and   eye-­catching   design   or   feature   your   website   has   which   will   leave   an  
irreversible  impression  in  their  mind.    

Other  crucial  aspects  of  creating  a  memorable  user  experience  are    

the  choice  of  colors,  fonts,  font  sizes,    

structure  &  segmentation  of  content  
multi-­media  content,  for  instance  video  as  an  alternative  for  product  presentation  

Based   on   our   experience   the   higher   the   level   of   convenience   and   uniqueness,   the   higher   the  
conversion  rate  of  prospects  or  website  visitors  is.  

2.3  Web  Analytics  

Thorough  reports  about  your  websites  performance  are  essential  to  create  and  manifest  a  sustainable  
success  in  web  strategy.    

These  reports  can  give  you  insights  not  only  about  the  behavior  of  your  users  while  on  your  website  
but  they  will  also  let  you  determine  how  your  website  content  is  conceived.  

/HW¶VVD\\RXKDYHDSDJHRQ\RXUVLWHWKDWWDNHVDQDYHUDJHKXPDQEHLQJWZRPLQXWHVWRUHDGEXW
the  average  duration  on  this  page  is  50  seconds;;  this  is  an  indicator  that  the  users  bounce  before  they  
have   completed   reading   the   content   and   that   at   some   point   (about   half   way   through   the   text)   they  
have  lost  interest.  

Further,  web  analytics  allow  you  to  determine  the  outcome  of  a  marketing  or  advertisement  campaign,  
primarily  in  context  to  geography  and  thus  play  a  major  role  determining  how  the  advertisement  in  a  
local  newspaper  was  accepted  and  what  its  ROI  is.  

For  the  sake  of  crowd-­sourcing  you  may  want  to  involve  as  many  departments  of  your  organization  in  
the  process  of  determining  the  figures  in  the  reports.    

Documentation   of   associated   campaigns   is   also   important   to   determine   the   source   of   peaks   hitting  
your  website.  These  numbers  may  also  prove  important  for  your  webmaster  or  web  hosting  provider  
as  a  heads-­up  info  in  context  to  potential  expansion  being  due  for  the  server  architecture.  

Modern  Web  Analytics  are  real  time  

Real  time  analytics  play  a  major  role  determining  the  prospects  you  want  to  engage  in  your  proactive  
website  visitor  engagement  policy.    

Real  time  analytics  give  you  multiple  indicators  whether  a  website  visitor  is  a  valuable  prospect  or  a  
stray.    

Besides  giving  you  metrics  on  a  variety  of  technical  details  it  may  prove  to  be  important  for  the  above  
decision  to  know  where  the  visitor  is  from  in  a  geographical  context  which  is  also  provided  by  modern  
real  time  analytics  tools.    

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WWW.LARSHILSE.COM  
 CREATING  THE  LEADERS  OF  THE  DIGITAL  ECONOMY  
 
 
 
PROOF  OF  CONCEPT  
 
A  client  who  hired  us  to  reorganize  and  redistribute  their  entire  web  marketing  campaign  decided  
  to  include  proactive  website  visitor  engagement  to  increase  lead-­conversion  off  their  website.  

  Since  the  company  had  offices  in  only  3  cities  they  had  to  determine  the  value  of  a  visitor  based  
on  their  geography.    
 
Real  time  analytics  let  us  set  triggers  to  the  three  cities  of  operation  and  prioritize  visitors  based  
  on  their  distance  to  one  of  these  cities.  

  The  outcome  was  the  first-­ever  possibility  for  the  client  to  engage  proactively  with  their  
customers  and  increased  their  website-­lead-­conversion  by  530%.    
 

2.4  Proactive  Website  Visitor  Engagement  

Proactive   website   visitor   engagement   refers   to   the   process   of   the   website   operator   sending   a   chat  
request  or  invitation  to  a  website  visitor  based  on  the  visitor  viewed  prior  and  other  behavioral  factors  
and  metrics  relevant  to  the  website  operator.    

These   tools   can   also   be   used   in   a   bidirectional   manner   giving   the   website   visitor   the   opportunity   to  
engage   with   the   website   operator   which   has   proven   to   be   fairly   unsuccessful   due   to   the   amount   of  
non-­business  related  questions  being  asked.    

Based   on   the   real   time   analytics   data   available   about   the   users   behavior   the   engagement   and   the  
website  operator  being  able  to  use  this  during  the  chat  the  chances  of  selling  and  even  up-­selling  are  
tremendously  high.    

2.5  Corporate  Blogging  

Your   conventional   website   has   a   limited,   static   number   of   pages   in   context   to   which   search   engines  
can  add  you  to  query-­results.    

When  having  a  blog  seamlessly  integrated  into  your  website,  each  blog-­post  you  published  is  indexed  
as  an  additional  page,  each  of  which  can  give  you  traffic.    

The   seamless   integration   of   the   blog   in   your   corporate   website   allows   you   to   have   it   appear   under  
your  brand.    

Content  you  publish  will  be  subject  relevant,  so  the  user  getting  to  this  blog-­post  by  a  search  engine  
query  will  most  likely  be  interested  in  your  organizations  products  or  services.    

Because   blogs   are   rated   as   news   sources   by   major   search   engines   the   content   published   therein   is  
indexed  extremely  fast,  usually  within  a  maximum  of  60  minutes.    

When   blogging   make   sure   to   only   publish   subject/industry   relevant   information   and   that   there   is   a  
certain  density  of  the  keywords  included  in  your  overall  SEO  strategy.    

2.6  The  Community  Aspect  of  Your  Website  

One  of  the  most  important  aspects  of  web  strategy  is  to  stage  a  wide  variety  of  possibilities  for  your  
users  to  engage  with  your  brand  to  ensure  a  residual  stream  of  visitors;;  regardless  whether  they  are  
new  or  reoccurring.    

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 CREATING  THE  LEADERS  OF  THE  DIGITAL  ECONOMY  
 
 
Depending   on   your   organization   and   the   mindset   therein   are   projects   of   a   white   labeled   and  
industry/business  vertical  relevant  community  being  fed  with  user  contributed  content.  

Once   the   critical   mass,   the   point   at   which  the  user   engagement  starts  to  increase  progressively,   the  
portal   will   start   to   attract   a   lot   of   search   engine   traffic   based   on   the   discussions   being   lead   and   the  
information  being  exchanged.    

Due   to   the   fact   that   the   portal   belongs   to   your   organization   you   will   be   able   to   use   the   advertising  
space   free   of   charge   and   since   the   search   engine   traffic   you   receive   will   be   all   industry   relevant   the  
visitors  will  click  on  your  advertisements.    

Let  the  customers  do  the  customer  services  themselves  

Another   aspect   of   building   a   community   around   your   brand   is   to   create   a   community   around   your  
customer  service.    

The   owners   of   your   product   will   confront   you   with   problems   they   may   be   experiencing   with   your  
project  upon  which  you  react  presenting  them  with  a  solution.    

7KLV FRQFHSW LQYROYHV D FHUWDLQ ³FULWLFDO PDVV´ ZKLFK KDV WR EH EUHDFKHG DIWHU ZKLFK WKH FRPPXQLW\
users  will  start  helping  each  other,  reducing  your  costs  for  customer  support.    

The  most  appealing  aspect  of  the  web-­based  customer-­self-­help-­concept  is,  however,  that  the  portal  
is   entirely   in   your   sphere   of   influence,   giving   you   the   opportunity   to   manage   and   moderate   the  
direction  the  community  is  taking.    

As   pointed   out   above,   users   will   start   searching   the   web   for   problems   related   to   your   products   or  
services  and  due  to  the  massive  amount  of  user  contributed  content  your  website  will  show  up  first  in  
search  queries,  thus  all  the  discussions,  questions,  etc.  will  take  care  in  your  sphere  of  influence.    

Step  3:  Your  Customer  Relationship  and  Knowledge  Management  

The  more  information,  the  higher  the  value  of  your  company  
Should  it  ever  come  to  a  merger,  acquisition  or  execution  of  your  exit  strategy  the  price   you  can  ask  
for  your  company  increases  with  the  amount  of  information  you  have  both  about  intellectual  property  
and  internal  information  and  the  information  related  to  your  customers.    

Part  of  your  web  strategy  efforts  should  thus  be  dedicated  towards  implementing  CRM  and  Knowledge  
Management  Systems  which  allow  you  to  retain  this  information.    

%HFDXVHWKH\ZLOOEHXVLQJWKHV\VWHPLQWKHHQGLW¶VLQHYLWDEOH\RXLQYROYH\RXUHPSOR\HHVGXULQJWKH
planning  and  deployment  of  these  systems  and  that  the  systems  are  built  on  top  of  existing  business  
processes.    

We   have   seen   about   half   a   dozen   CRM   campaigns   fail   because   the   system   oppressed   new   business  
processes  upon  employees  which  made  them  deny  the  use  of  the  system.  

Another  often  neglected  benefit  of  a  KM  is  the  cost  reduction  aspect  due  to  the  fact  that  the  number  of  
multiple  project  initiations  declines.    

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 CREATING  THE  LEADERS  OF  THE  DIGITAL  ECONOMY  
 
 
This  relies  on  the  KM  being  accepted  by  your  employees  and  system  relevant  factors  like  good  search  
ability  presented  by  the  system.    

Step  4:  The  Community  Metric  in  your  Strategy  

–ǯ•‘–Šƒ”†–‘„—‹Ž†ƒ…‘—‹–›Ǣ–Š‡’”‘„Ž‡‹•‰‡––‹‰‹–‹˜‘Ž˜‡†  
Pretty  much  each  of  our   customers  has  requested  to  have  us  incorporate  the  community  aspect  into  
their   web   strategy   which   is  great.   However,  it  took  us  a  while  tRFRPPXQLFDWHWRRXUFOLHQWWKDWLW¶V
the  involvement  of  the  community  that  raises  the  value  of  the  brand  and  that  this  involvement  is  the  
problem.    

When   starting   a  community   around   your  brand  you  want  to  start  thinking  about  the  touching   points  
you  have  with  your  customers.    

Do   you   have   a   customer-­self-­service   concept   inform   of   a   discussion   group   you   could   use   to  
engage?    
How   strong   is   your   brand   in   context   to   social   media   and   how   visible   and   active   are   you   on  
Facebook,  Twitter,  LinkedIn  et.  al?    
How  big  is  the  list  of  active  customers  in  your  CRM  which  you  could  potentially  inform  about  
WKHQHZDSSURDFK\RX¶UHWDNLQJ"  

These   are   some   of   the   most   crucial   questions   you   need   to   answer   before   you   start   taking   the   next  
step,  setting  up  a  community  strategy.    

After  you  have  done  that  comes  the  hardest  decision  you  want  to  take:    

1. Do  you  create  a  branded  community  which  is  fully  integrated  into  your  website,  bringing  you  
search  engine  traffic  and  new  customers,    
2. Or   are   you   going   to   have   an   unbranded   but   industry   relevant   community,   which   will   also  
JUDQWLQJ\RXDFFHVVWR\RXUFRPSHWLWRU¶VNQRZOHGJHH[FKDQJH"  

:KLOHJHQHUDOO\QRWKLQJNHHSV\RXIURPLQLWLDWLQJERWKXQOHVV\RXKDYHWKHUHVRXUFHV\RX¶UHJRLQJWR
get  to  a  point  where  the  two  fundamentally  different  concepts  get  mixed  up  blowing  the  cover  of  the  
unbranded  community  wide  open,  most  likely  subjecting  you  to  ridicule.  

Beside  the  above  there  are  several  other,  more  unique  ways  in  which  a  community  can  help  you  get  
brand-­visibility   and   knowledge   exchange,   yet   covering   these   in   this   paper   would   prove   to   kill   the  
concept.    

Below  are  a  few  of  various  benefits  which  general  community  building  can  provide  you  with.    

Free  Market  Research  

Spending  huge  budget  on  market  research  is  inevitable  and  probably  always  will  be.  But  why  not  think  
outside  the  box  for  a  while  and  have  your  community  do  the  market  research  for  you?  

$V ZH¶YH ILJXUHG RXW DERYH VRFLDO PHGLD SRUWDOV RIIHU JUHDW RSSRUWXQLWLHV WR HQJDJH WKH FRPPXQLW\
and  some  of  the  largest  brands  are  utilizing  this  approach  already  and  very  successful  as  well.    

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 CREATING  THE  LEADERS  OF  THE  DIGITAL  ECONOMY  
 
 
6LPSOH SURGXFW UHODWHG TXHVWLRQVOLNH ³:KDWDUH WKHSUREOHPV\RX¶YHEHHQKDYLQJZLWKWKLVSURGXFW´
will   prove   to   get   you   100s   of   answers   in   a   few   hours.   While   these   answers   are   not   nearly   as  
representative  as  market  surveys  and  studies  they  give  you  information  directly  from  the  base.    

$QGEHFDXVHWKHLQIRUPDWLRQ\RXJHWWKHUHLVQRWDQRQ\PRXV\RXFDQHQJDJHZLWKWKHSHRSOHZKR¶YH
DQVZHUHG\RXUTXHVWLRQGLUHFWO\DQGIROORZXSRQLVVXHVWKH\¶YHEHHQH[SHULHQcing  with  your  products.  

One   example   is   Coca-­Cola,   which   is   doing   a   tremendously   good   job   involving   their   community   and  
thus  spreading  their  brand,  particularly  on  Facebook.    

A   simple   example   was   one   question   they   asked   their   5   million   members   strong   community   on   FB:  
³:KHUH KDYH \RX KDG \RXU ODVW &RNH"´ ±   Within   seconds   replies   started   to   come   in,   followed   by  
pictures  uploaded  from  around  the  globe.    

While   this   does   not   necessarily   represent   a   valid   market   research   study   it   does   show   the  
strengthening  of  the  brand  in  context  to  community-­involvement.    

Improving  Your  Products  &  Services  (crowdsourcing)  

,W¶V UHDOO\ ZRUWK ZDVWLQJ D WKRXJKW DERXW ZK\ QRW PRUH RUJDQL]DWLRQV DUH XWLOL]LQJ WKLV JUDQG
opportunity  of  getting  their  hands  on  inevitable  information  from  those  that  actually  use  their  products,  
specifically  after  two  best  seller  books  were  written  about  the  issue.    

2QH ZRXOG EHOLHYH WKDW DW OHDVW  RU DOO PDUNHWLQJ VWDII ZRXOG KDYH UHDG ³:LNLQRPLFV´ DQG
³.QRZOHGJHRIWKHFURZGV´EDVHGRQWKHDVWURQRPLFDO  number  of  copies  sold.    

However,   implementing   crowdsourcing   into   an   overall   strategy   does   prove   to   be   complicated,  

particularly   because   you   have   to   be   careful   not   to   reveal   too   much   information   about   the   upcoming  
product  or  your  intellectual  property  in  general.    

In  crowdsourcing  there  are  two  approaches  

1. The   proactive   approach   in   which   you   engage   your   community   to   give   ideas   about   product  
improvements  and  
2. The  passive  approach  in  which  you  take  the  information  already  on  the  internet  and  utilize  it  
to  improve  your  products  and  services.    

The  passive  approach  has  proven  to  be  exceptionally  valuable  in  automotive  manufacturing.    

Because   of   the   high   quantity   of   third-­party   OEM   components   being   built   into   a   modern   car   the  
manufacturers  themselves  have  no  real  insight  into  which  parts  may  conflict  during  operation   after  a  
certain  period  of  time.  

Enhancing  Customer  Support  

Beside   all   of   what   we   have   covered   in   the   prior   chapters,   your   web   strategy   can   also   help  
you  increase  your  customer  service  level  while  reducing  costs  for  customer  service.  

While  only  2  years  companies  did  whatever  they  could  not  to  put  a  form  of  contact  on  their  websites,  
modern  web  strategy  needs  to  convey  transparency  and  accessibility  of  an  organization.    

This   has   not   changed   the   fact   that   inbound   customer-­service   is   expensive,   but   cleverly   placed  
customer-­self-­help  concepts  can  help  you  reduce  these  costs  significantly.    

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 CREATING  THE  LEADERS  OF  THE  DIGITAL  ECONOMY  
 
 
Another   positive   aspect   is   that   the   expectations   of   customers   have   been   lowered   to   a   standard   at  
which  they  prefer  to  search  the  internet  for  a  solution  instead  of  calling  an  operator.    

The   concept   basically   implies   that   the   community   of   customers   on   your   site   help   themselves   to  
solutions  which  others  have  had  with  the  same  product  or  service.    

These   discussions   are   indexed   by   search   engines.   So   the   next   customer   with   the   same   issue  
submitting  a  query  to  a  search  engine  will  be  directed  to  that  specific  discussion;;  even   if   they   are   a  
customer  of  your  competitor.    

Your  Community  on  Your  Portal  

Particularly   issues   like   customer-­self-­service   to   reduce   personnel   costs   for   customer   support   issues  
can   be   the   primary   initiative   for   you   to   consider   implementing   a   community   aspect   to   your   own  
website.    

)XUWKHUWKHFRQWHQWFRQWULEXWHGE\WKHFRPPXQLW\¶V  members  will  lead  to  search  engine  traffic  being  

directed  towards  your  online  presentation,  increasing  your  chances  of  sales  from  it.    

 
PROOF  OF  CONCEPT  
 
One  of  our  clients  experienced  their  reputation  being  compromised  on  a  large  scale  on  third  party  
discussion  forums,  which  were  out  of  their  sphere  of  influence.  
 
The   solution   we   implemented   consisted   ±   amongst   others   ±   of   a   moderated   discussion   forum,  
 
directly  integrated  into  their  website  which  led  to  
 
Increased   search   engine   traffic   resulting   out   of   the   masses   of   user   contributed   content  
  which  generated  more  sales    
Increased   customer   transition   from   their   competitors   because   of   better   impression   in  
  context  to  customer  service  

Step  5:  Putting  it  all  together  

The  important  part  is  not   having  each  and  every  one  of  the  above  and  other   segments  in  place,W¶V
about  strategizing  your  efforts  uniquely  to  find  the  most  efficient  combination  of  the  above.  

The  assignments  we  have  completed  outline  that  there  is  a  very  thin  line  between  success  and  failure  
when  it  comes  to  implementing  a  web  strategy.    

No  matter  how  thoroughly  planned  the  entire  strategy  is  you  will  never  be  able  to  cover  all  necessary  
factors.    

Viral  campaigns,  for  instance,  have  to  be  scrutinized  and  can  easily  be  compared  to  the  fundamentals  
of   quantum   physics,   meaning   there   are   too   many   metrics   and   dependencies   between   these   metrics  
which  let  the  project  succeed  or  fail.    

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 CREATING  THE  LEADERS  OF  THE  DIGITAL  ECONOMY  
 
 
Risks  
8S XQWLO QRZ ZH¶YH SULPDULO\ WDONHG DERXW WKH EHQHILWV RI ZHE VWUDWHJ\ DQG WKH RSSRUWXQLWLHV
associated  to  the  few  instruments  we  have  pointed  out  above.    

Where  there  are  opportunities,  there  are  risks  even  though  in  this  case  they  are  ±  for  the  most  part  ±  
hidden  and  in  some  theaters  can  even  entirely  be  neglected.  

The   most   important   one   to   understand   is   that   there   will   always   be   other   channels   you   have   to   pay  
similar,  in  some  cases  even  more  attention  to  alternative  methods  of  marketing,  lead  generation  et.  al.  

Compliance  and  Regulatory  Issues  

Especially   the   financial   industry   is   subject   to   harsh   regulations   by   authorities   in   context   to   internet  
marketing.    

7KHVH UHJXODWLRQV JR DV IDU DV WR OLPLWLQJ ILQDQFLDO VHUYLFH SURYLGHU¶V SDUWLFLSDWLRQ LQ VXFFHVVIXO
marketing  tactics  like  social  media  marketing,  blogging  and  more.    

Based  on  our  experience  there  is  always  a  chance  to  work  together  with  the  authorities  to  find  ways  
around   the   implied   regulations   which   usually   consists   of   efforts   involving   the   protocolling   of  
conversations  led  on  platforms  like  Facebook  or  discussions  initiated  by  comments  on  blog  posts.    

In  multiple  cases  we  were  able  to  negotiate  major  parts  of  our  intended  measures  together  with  the  
US  based  SEC  and  FINRA  and  the  British  FSA.    

These   negotiations   resulted   in   competitive   advantage   for   our   clients   and   gave   them   a   head-­start   of  
several  months  until  their  competitors  figured  out  similar  ways.    

General,  Legal  Requirements  for  operating  a  Website  

Some   countries   have   strict   regulations   in   context   to   privacy   issues   or   the   publication   of   website  
RSHUDWRU¶VGDWD  

Mentioning   the   regulations   of   each   country   in   this   paper   would   surely   exceed   the   100   pages   so   the  
general   advice   is   this:   before   you   start   operations   in   another   country   (regardless   whether   your  
RSHUDWLRQV DUH ³RQO\´ ZHE EDVHG Rr   not)   make   sure   to   contact   a   foreign   attorney   in   that   country,  
experienced  in  the  field  of  law  practice,  or  contact  their  local  government  and  ask  them  for  documents  
they  have  about  operating  a  website  in  that  country.    

When  moving  into  Europe  you  have  to  keep  in  mind  that  there  is  both  EU  and  domestic  law  of  which  
both  apply  to  certain  aspects.    

In  some  cases  there  is  no  clear  line  drawn,  stating  whether  EU  or  domestic  law  overrules.    

In  any  case  it  makes  perfect  sense  to  contact  the  according  EU  department  along  with  the  government  
of  the  country  you  intend  to  start  operations  in.    

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