NZS.com Newsletter May 2009

May has started out as a whirlwind month for NZS.com! We've launched some exciting new developments on the site, welcomed a new editor to the team, and put a fantastic prize up for grabs at the upcoming Bizzone Business Expo.

In this month's newsletter we give you the opportunity to join us at the Bizzone Business Expo in Auckland as our guest, we describe NZS.com's exciting new Website Resources, give some helpful pointers on managing your Google Adwords advertising campaigns, and explain how to decide who should manage your mission when it comes to your business website.

Contents:

• Top Ten Sites
• Win $4000 of online advertising with NZS.com!
• Taking your website and business to the next level with NZS.com
• Buying Online Advertising with Adwords
• Manage Your Mission

The roar of a fire. The warm breeze of a heat pump. It may be getting colder outside, but this month NZS.com is here to help you warm up your home! Check out the top 10 most popular websites from our climate control category this month.

Rank	Site Name	URL
1.	The Fireplace	www.thefireplace.co.nz
2.	Fireplace Surrounds	www.fireplacesurround.co.nz
3.	Dr Flue	www.drflue.co.nz
4.	Heatsmart Central Heating Systems	www.heatsmart.co.nz
5.	Wagener Stoves	www.wagenerstoves.co.nz
6.	Energy Savings Centre	www.theenergysavingscentre.co.nz
7.	Air Con New Zealand	www.airconnz.co.nz
8.	Real Fires	www.realfires.co.nz
9.	Home Heating & BBQ Shop	www.homeheatingshop.co.nz
10.	Luminair Technologies	www.luminair.co.nz

NZS.com is proud to announce that we have offered $4000 of online advertising to the winner of the Smart Marketing prize at the Bizzone Business Expo in Auckland later this month.

To be in to win all you need to do is attend to the Auckland Bizzone Business Expo between May 27 - 29 and enter the draw.

We're even offering free expo entry tickets worth $20 each, so to attend the expo as a Guest of NZS.com just follow this link and register.

The expo is the largest business to business marketplace held for business owners in New Zealand, and the three-day Auckland show is expected to attract more than 200 exhibitors and 7,500 attendees.

The show will bring together every kind of product and service required by a business owner or manager, offering free advice and tips and the latest smart marketing tools to help you run a more effective and profitable business.

We look forward to seeing you there, so make sure you come and see us at Booth 359a!

We've launched a brand-new Website Resources offering on NZS.com where you can directly promote your website and business for free!

The Website Resources section is produced by Kiwis, for Kiwis, and is all about helping New Zealand businesses promote their websites and gain greater exposure on the web.

Once you register for the NZS.com Website Resources you'll have the opportunity to claim your website, add business details and promote your website by entering your own marketing content. You even have the option of including links to your businesses social pages live on your site profile.

You can read more about the benefits of registration directly on NZS.com. Keep an eye out for even more benefits coming soon as we'll be adding new options over time.

If that wasn't enough, we're also building a comprehensive set of website articles, tools and tidbits to help you improve your web presence. The NZS.com Website Resources section now contains articles and inside tips on web design, how to increase traffic to your site and how to understand web industry tools for New Zealand business owners and webmasters.

From tips on Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) to statistics analysis, link building to screen resolution optimisation, NZS.com is creating a user-friendly centre for New Zealand web operators and webmasters alike who are interested in improving their web presence.

Finally, NZS.com director Mark Rocket has put his many years experience on the web into a single resource available to you.

The First 15 is a succinct introduction on how New Zealand websites can enhance their performance, usability and visibility. This resource is a must read for all website operators and webmaster in New Zealand.

You can read the First 15 here.

So what are you waiting for?

Register now to start making the most of the new NZS.com Website Resources.

When it comes to managing your Google Adwords advertising campaigns, there are several strategies you might consider utilising in order to get the best conversion rates.

Firstly, the key step to creating an Adwords campaign that will work is by putting some time into keyword research. Don't just target the keywords you want to rank in - they may be very competitive, very expensive, or not commonly searched. Use helpful web pages like the Google Adwords Keyword Tool. The Keyword Tool will let you enter a range of keywords you'd like to target, and show you both the search volume per keyword, and the advertiser competition. Additionally, it will produce synonyms and other search terms which you may not have thought of, but are used by your target market. You can use this information to gauge how effective targeting a particular phrase will be for your campaign.

Furthermore, delete irrelevant keywords. Look at your keyword list and delete any phrases that are not completely relevant to your content. Targeting too many words which don't relate 100 percent to your website will negatively affect your campaign. While you may get more clicks, they are unlikely to convert to sales because your website doesn't offer exactly what the visitor is looking for.

Depending on the goals of your advertising campaign, you may wish to use a cost-per-impression strategy instead of a cost-per-click one. The former Adwords campaign type can give you targeted brand awareness for a cheaper price. Instead of just appearing on relevant search engine page results, your ads will appear on actual relevant websites. This will put your brand in front of people who may be interested in your product or service, but had not thought about searching for your specific term.

Limit your daily budget. If you don't cap your Adwords spending budget on a daily, weekly or monthly basis, your campaign costs can skyrocket without you even knowing about it. Set yourself an Adwords budget and stick to it for the duration of your campaign, re-evaluating at the end. If you aren't getting clicks on a small budget, don't count on increasing your spending to fix the problem. If your campaign hasn't worked, take a step back and look at your strategy after seeing the campaign through as planned.

Whether through trepidation or misconception, many small company owners leave their business web presence up to younger marketing staff they believe best understand the web space.

However, even if you're not tech-savvy, you don't have to be apprehensive in taking the reigns when it comes to making a good impression for your business.

Ideally, your web chief may be someone very senior in the company - perhaps even the managing director because they understand the core market the best. This doesn't mean all CEOs need to go out and learn HTML coding or start using Twitter, although neither could hurt. But top-level staff can have an active role in your company's site development and modification.

Understandably, not all CEOs have time to keep a close eye of every aspect of their company's website. But if you are a managing director of a small company, there is one aspect of your website you'll always want to take care of yourself: your mission statement.

While a general 'About Us' tells visitors what your business offers, a mission statement goes one step further. Think of your mission statement as an open letter to potential clients, and your first point of personal connection.

The goal of a mission statement is to let a visitor and potential client see into your personality, and understand your business' ideals and goals before even contacting you.

In short, they want to know you'll do the best in the industry for them, so in your mission statement consider discussing the roots of the company and why it is successful. You may want to delve in to how success was first obtained, and how it has been maintained since then with a few examples, and then finish the statement off with how you can take this experience and apply it to a client's needs better than any of your competitors.

One of the main things to remember when polishing your mission statement is to try and keep it short and sharp, and think of it as your chance to win over a client in a one-on-one meeting. With that in mind you'll find it easy to make your mission statement your first point of call in putting your best foot forward with potential clients.

We're always interested in your feedback, so if you have anything you'd like to hear about in the newsletter be sure to let us know.

We're interested in your opinion, if you have anything you'd like to hear about in the newsletter, let us know.

Images from Flickr: Adwords, Mission.