Upcoming SlideShare
Applying SEO & Startup Tactics to Book Marketing
- Rand Fishkin, Wizard of Moz | @randfish | rand@moz.com Applying SEO & Startup Tactics to Book Marketing
- Slides online at bit.ly/mozbookmarketing
- Why Does Search Matter to Authors?
- More recent data is hard to come by, but it’s probable that 50%+ of book sales happen online, and many offline purchases are influenced by online exposure. Via DBW/Bowker
- Via a Survey I Conducted On Twitter
- Via SimilarWeb
- Via SimilarWeb In ecommerce, search is the traffic referral leader
- The Startup Marketing Model
- Identify Right Customers
- Right Customer Via Sarah C. Andersen
- Who are they?
- What social networks do they use?
- Where do they go on the web? Via Followerwonk
- Who are their influencers?
- Not Into Tools? Can’t Find YourAudience on Social? Have Conversations! So… What kinda sites do you dogs visit?
- Target the Right Audience in the Right Places
- YourAudience isAlready Spending Time at These Places: Via SimilarWeb’s Top Sites
- You Can Leverage that Attention by Contributing to…
- Massive Networks Like Facebook Via TheFinancialBrand Via SearchEngineLand Althoughwe’ve seenorganicreachdippingfor years,there’sbeena resurgencethanksto audienceoptimization
- Influencer Networks Like Twitter Via Analytics.Twitter.com
- Visual Networks Like Instagram Via Iconosquare
- Professional Networks Like LinkedIn We’ve seen a recent rise in engagement and CTR on LinkedIn for the right kinds of content
- AnImportantNoteonSocialNetworks-- Signal:Noise Ratio is Critical to Reach Because this post didn’t do well, Facebook won’t show my next few posts to as many users
- Video Sites Like YouTube Via Moz’s YouTube Channel
- Online Communities Like Reddit Via Reddit.com/r/books
- Q+ASites Like Quora Via Quora’s Mystery Novels Topic
- Niche Communities Like Inbound.org Via Inbound.org
- Comment Sections LikeAVC Via AVC
- Book-Centric Sites Like GoodReads Via Norwegian by Night on Goodreads
- Publishers thatAccept Guest Contributions Like Good Housekeeping Via Good Housekeeping
- Targeting Your Audience with Paid Advertising
- Ad Click-Through-RatesAreAbominable Via SearchEngineLand
- Half ofAll MobileAd Clicks areAccidental Via SearchEngineLand
- But,Ads are Getting Far More Sophisticated Via Sovrn
- And even though we don’t think they influence us, they do Via Harvard Business Review
- The Key toAd Buying is ROI $0.25 / Click X 200 Visits $50 TotalAd Spend= 200 Visits X 5 Sales = 2.5% Conversion Rate $50 ÷ 5 Sales = $10 Cost ofAcquiring a Customer (CAC) You want this figure to be less than you make per sale
- FacebookAds
- GoogleAdWords
- Google ShoppingAds
- Retargeting (Google,AdRoll) More on Whiteboard Friday e.g. I visited Squarespace while building this slide deck, and now their ads follow me around the web like a lost puppy dog
- TwitterAds Via NYTimes
- InstagramAds Good Guide to Instagram Ads from AdEspresso
- PinterestAds
- Google DisplayAds
- Custom/SmallAd Publishers Via Hark! A Vagrant
- Sponsored Content (Outbrain, Taboola)
- If You Have Email Addresses, You Can Also Use:
- Facebook Custom Audiences Via Facebook
- GoogleAdWords’Customer Match Via SearchEngineLand
- Newsletters & BookAnnouncements Via Dan Ariely (author of Predictably Irrational)
- Good, Free Mailing List Options: Mailchimp: Freeto2,000 subscribersor12,000 emails/month,great deliverability NewsletterforWP: Requiresabitofinstallation, butfreetounlimited numbersofsubscribers BenchmarkEmail: Freeto2,000subscribers or14,000emails/month, easyUI
- Attract an Audience to Your Platform
- Is your publishing platform holding you back? Sometimes, content isn’t the problem.
- SEO-friendly access for crawlers and searchers Great user experience on every device Compelling reasons to subscribe, share, & return Freedom from features that would annoy or dissuade visitors Content that’s consistently interesting, useful, and/or engaging to a distinct audience Does My Publishing Platform Provide:
- Platforms to Consider Include: Wordpress: Free,extensible, powerful,haslotsof plugins&developers Wix: Easytemplates,good support,strongdesigns, inexpensive Squarespace: Solidtemplates,easyto manage,inexpensive,
- Good Comparison of Options: Via ArtBizBlog
- I’m a Big Fan of Jane Friedman’sAdvice onAuthor Websites: Via JaneFriedman
- How do you build a platform that consistently attracts your audience?
- Publish web content Amplify Grow network Increase ability to rank in search engines Increase brand recognition Learn & iterate on amplification tactics Earn ongoing search traffic
- Content Can Mean Many Things
- Photos Via Maptia
- Animations Via BusinessInsider
- Data Via Our World in Data
- Tools Via NomadList
- Comics Via LawComic.net
- Communities Via Inbound.org
- For Most Writers, It Means Written Content
- Blog Posts Via WorldsBestDetective.com
- Guides Via Moz’s Beginner’s Guide to SEO
- Opinion Pieces Via The New Yorker
- Whitepapers Via PricewaterhouseCoopers
- Stories Via Radio Times
- Maybe a Little Bit of Promotion Via Neil Gaiman
- But (if you want to build a marketing flywheel) that can’t be your entire platform Via Rachael King I loved Rachael’s site, but there’s no flywheel happening, just promotion of her books and events.
- Content Forms the Backbone of What Gets Distributed on the Web Via Buzzsumo
- It’s What Gets Shared on Facebook Via Rand’s Facebook Page
- What Ranks in Google
- What Makes for Conversations on Twitter Via Medium
- What’s Shared Over Email Via A Smart Bear
- What’s Posted on LinkedIn, Google+, Snapchat, and Instagram
- But, Content Only Matters If It’s Seen Via Buzzsumo
- It’s Often the Same Effort to Make Content No One Sees, As Content Thousands Do
- Who will help amplify this and why? Start With a GreatAnswer to the Question:
- This is not a right answer: Museum goers will love this. And maybe museum curators, too. Via MattKelm
- This is a right answer: I did an analysis of all the recent major museum thefts Carolyn & Shelley have already expressed interest in seeing the finished piece
- SEO Best Practices Earn Ongoing Traffic by Leveraging
- Accessibility is Critical Via the YouMoz Blog
- Wordpress is a Great Shortcut Via Wordpress
- Google Search Console Can Highlight Many Problems Via Google Search Console
- Moz, ScreamingFrog, or OnPage.org CanAlso Be Useful for Crawl Issues Via Moz Pro, Screaming Frog Crawler, and OnPage.org
- Keywords Still Matter
- And Google is SmartAbout Matching Concepts & Topics to Keywords
- Titles and Headlines? Still Important. Page titles come from the HTMLcode, and (usually) appear as the headline of the piece.
- The Search Snippet? Still Important. Does the title match what searchers want? Does the URLseem compelling? Does your site sound trustworthy or sketchy? Is your result fresh? Do searchers want a newer result? Does the description create curiosity & entice a click? Do you get the brand dropdown?
- Meta Keywords? Useless. Via Google’s Webmaster Central Blog
- Keyword Stuffing? Will Only Hurt You. No one wants to click on a page like that (and Google penalizes these types of pages)
- Links Still Matter Via Moz’s 2015 Ranking Factors Link-based ranking factors
- Ask: Who Will Link to Me & Why? All these websites (and ~450 others) link to StopYoureKillingMe.com
- Stumped? Check Out 100s of Techniques on the Moz Blog Via Link Building on Moz
- User Satisfaction Matters If Google observes many searchers clicking this result, visiting the page, then bouncing back to the search results and, instead… Clicking this page, and seeming satisfied with those results… It’s very likely that, over time, KirkusReviews will outrank WaPo here.
- Google Calls This Pogo-Sticking Via Bill Slawski on Moz
- Make the Back Button Your Enemy NPR’s clean design, well-respected brand, options for listening or reading, solid visuals, and quality writing compel me to want to stay. If only they’d used good keywords in their title, they’d probably be on page 1
- DO NOT Split Up Your Content & Promotional Sites Tragically, Rachael is likely costing herself valuable branding and lots of lost search traffic by having two separate sites. Via Rachael-King.com and SoundofButterflies.Blogspot.com
- Consider Which Page You Want Ranking for Your Book IMO, Kate Beaton has this right. Get your own site ranking at the top, rather than Amazon, because then you control the user experience (and can use anAmazon affiliate link to get greater revenue from your sales)
- You Control Much of This Through How You/Your Publisher Choose to Link in Press & Bios
- MoreAbout SEO: Prefer text + visuals? See Moz’s Beginner’s Guide to SEO Prefer video? See Skillshare’s SEO that Matters class
- Use Data to Learn What Works vs. Doesn’t
- GoogleAnalytics Looking at “site content” (under “behavior”) can show you which pages are attracting and engaging visitors, and which ones aren’t.
- Jetpack Apopular alternative to GoogleAnalytics, many site owners appreciate the simpler, more intuitive reports despite fewer bells & whistles. Via Jetpack Stats
- Bit.ly I track all my content that I share to get a sense of what works, and where it performs best
- ANeat Hack You Can Do with Bit.ly Just add a + to the end of any bitly URL: http://responsivecitypress+
- Buzzsumo Buzzsumo is invaluable for seeing content on any topic or from any site that’s performed well on social networks Via Buzzsumo Pro
- Converting Visitors to Buyers
- We need to identify the traits that separate customers who’ll buy, love, and amplify our books from those who won’t.
- My Favorite Process: From Conversion Rate Experts’ case study Boom. And Shakalaka.
- Haven’t heard of the book Heard of it, but didn’t buy Bought, read, & loved the book What do you think the book is about? How’d you hear about the book? What first made you interested? What would make you more likely to check it out? What are your biggest objections to purchase? What objections did you have to buying? What would have made you change your mind? What objections did you have and how did you overcome them? What did you love most about it? Can we share your story as a testimonial?
- Create Messages and Sales Pages that Overcome Your TargetAudience’s Objections Benefits that speak to Nir’s audience Authorities that Nir’s audience knows, likes, and trusts Multiple ways to get the book, even for non-readers Via Nir Eyal
- Use These Messages on YourAmazon and Publisher Pages, Too! Via Hooked on Amazon The same messages and editorial reviews work here, too
- Retain, Delight, & Grow Amplification
- How do you know what to create? Or where to invest?
- What do you hate doing? Via Tech Noir
- What do you love to do? Via Dsgnblog
- What skill, talent, or creation can set you apart from the crowd? Via Rand’s Blog One of my strengths is an ability to be contrarian, and to create homemade graphics that convey those opinions
- Improving the flywheel is an iterative learning process No one starts out great at this.
- This is Geraldine’s Blog: Everywhereist.com
- Geraldine started the website in 2009
- For 2 years, she rarely broke 100 visits/day
- She had a few successes
- But traffic fell back down after these viral spikes
- In Jan. 2012, she was featured on Time’s “Best Blogs” list. Readers came by the thousands, and many stuck.
- These days, she consistently breaks 100K visits/month (even when she took time off to write her book).
- Thanks to the audience she built and the flywheel of her blog’s content & distribution channels, Geraldine’s got a great opportunity to publish and market her work.
- Failure + Learning x Time = Success
- Rand Fishkin, Wizard of Moz | @randfish | rand@moz.com Bit.ly/mozbookmarketing
Login to see the comments