Breakaway Media » microsites

WordPress for Microsites and Landing Pages – part 2

Glenn McCreedy — Sat, 05 Dec 2009 02:22:47 +0000

In Part 1, we talked about getting started with WordPress to develop your e-commerce microsites and landing pages. In Part 2, we complete the process of how to get these up and running.

Installation and Activation–WordPress, Themes and Plug-ins
Being open source, WordPress is free. One advantage of using the Web hosting services of a company like Media Temple is that you can install WordPress and other applications with one click. Updating with later versions is equally simple. To transfer files between your computer hard drive (local) and your host server (remote) files locations, and to work directly with your files on the host server, you’ll need an FTP client. I use FileZilla, it’s free open source software and has a nifty interface. There are many FTP clients for which you can purchase licensing rights. Go to http://filezilla-project.org/ to download the program. They also offer a FileZilla Server version (Windows only).

Once you have WordPress installed and activated, you’ll likely want to replace the default theme with the theme of your choice. There are literally thousands of themes available for download on the Web. Some are free but you may find that the premium themes available for a fee will suit you better. You often get more robust support from the theme developers that can include support forums and better, more timely responses to your inquiries and requests. Here are some links to compilations and reviews of free and fee-based themes and plug-ins:

I chose the Solostream WP-Chatter Premium theme for the Breakaway Media Web site. Solostream also offers a choice of other themes including magazine-style, portfolio, and two newer themes–Sublime and Genius. Again, full disclosure: I’m an affiliate of Solostream. In a later article, I’ll talk about affiliate programs and how you can develop revenue streams by selling other companies’ products and services through your microsites and landing pages.

Premium themes will generally cost anywhere from $49 on up for a single site license and $79 on up for a multi-site or developer’s license. Get the multi-site license unless you are buying the theme specifically for one site. With your new theme activated, download the recommended plug-ins and get them installed and activated. These plug-ins and their associated widgets expand your functionality and greatly increase your choices, allowing you to customize the look and capabilities of your site or landing page. I’ll get into WordPress plug-ins and widgets in more detail in WordPress for Microsites and Landing Pages – part 3.

With your tools at the ready, now you can begin to add the content and sales vehicles which you have developed and tailored to your target/niche audience. Read more about the importance of content in my article on this site, Microsites and Landing Pages.

Go for it!
So get started — sometimes the hardest part is beginning to move forward. Once you do, you can always change or reverse course or take a “side street” and try something different. Keep trying different things until you get a winning system. A bit of advice–don’t let the drive for perfection or having the “perfect” combination of elements and tools keep you from starting. It’s a learning process, but with WordPress you’ll find the rewards of running your e-commerce business with microsites and landing pages will come in time.

In WordPress for Microsites and Landing Pages – part 3, I’ll get into specifics on how you can use microsites and landing pages to increase your revenues, build new revenue streams and support for your organization and otherwise meet your sales and marketing goals.

WordPress for Microsites and Landing Pages – part 1

Glenn McCreedy — Sat, 05 Dec 2009 02:22:30 +0000

Ironically, one of the beauties of using WordPress to create microsites and landing pages is that WordPress is essentially a blogging platform. An open-source content management system application, WordPress offers a simple, uncomplicated interface to create and maintain functional and aesthetically-pleasing Web sites quickly and easily. WordPress has come a long way from the days when I first started using it in 2005 with version 1.0 We are now into version 2.9 and the evolution has been amazing.

Getting it Going
Getting your microsite or landing page set up with WordPress is a several-step process. It may seem somewhat complicated at first, but with some dedication to learning the basics and a dose of persistence, virtually anyone can do it.

We assume that you have first done your search engine marketing homework and judiciously selected your domain name(s) based on targeted, relevant keywords. Go to a domain registrar like GoDaddy.com and register your domain. I have several domains registered with GoDaddy–the fees are reasonable and their services are good quality. A dot-com domain will set you back all of several dollars and you can buy multiple domains at a discount. You can get dot-biz or dot-info domains for even less.

You don’t have to register your domain with your host server company, in fact, I recommend you don’t–I think it’s better to keep the two separate and you’ll probably save money in the deal. All you need to do is use the domain name system settings of your host server company wherever your domain is registered. Once you’ve reset the DNS, propagation of the domain at your host server will take anywhere from an hour to a day or so, and you’ll be ready to move forward and install WordPress.

You’ll need a host server account with a company like Media Temple, BlueHost or HostGator. Full disclosure here (if you haven’t heard, there are new FTC rules governing endorsements and testimonials) — I use Media Temple and you may have noticed the mt-media temple banner ad on this site. I get a referral credit sent to my account when people sign up for their service through the link. I’ve used Media Temple since 2005 and their (gs) Grid Service is superb.

(gs) is a cluster-based service powered by hundreds of servers working in tandem to ensure power, burstability and reliability. I’ve also used BlueHost at the University of Arizona and their service also performed admirably. Hosting service fees will vary from about $75 to $250 a year or more, depending on how robust a service you need for your business, whether you pay upfront annually, and other factors.

In WordPress for Microsites and Landing Pages – part 2, we’ll talk about selection and installation of your WordPress themes and plug-ins and customizing your microsites and landing pages.

Microsites and Landing Pages

Glenn McCreedy — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 05:57:57 +0000

Yes, it’s a golden age in online marketing. We’re seeing something of a resurrection of Web site marketing in the form of microsites and landing pages. New marketing programs are getting a jolt of Web juice with these new strategies.

Okay, first microsite and landing page 101. Use the KISS principle — a microsite may be a site with only 2, 3, 4 or 5 pages. A landing page is exactly that. A page that your buyer lands on when she clicks on your Google AdWords ad, your affiliate link, a link on a blog, or a link in an article you’ve written for one of the e-zines, for example. This is all about marketing to the niches. These marketing pages or sites can be and should be separate from your e-business site, or maybe lie on top of it. For many organizations, this can seem counter to the organization’s Web Strategy, but when you are going for “The Long Tail”, going this route makes an awful lot of sense and serves your buyers needs very well, and that drives sales, support and involvement.

How do you drive organic traffic to your microsite or landing page? It’s probably very similar to what you are doing already. Go to the basics of search engine marketing.

Develop a business case and create your success metrics. A caution–don’t get tied up in or get crazy about analytics. Use them but making them your success metrics (“I need to get 10,000 hits a month on my site”) could be diffusing your focus or getting you off track (why focus on this when maybe there are 300 customers out there in your niche that you need to attract and once you’ve got them, you’ve done your job?).

In whatever you do, lead your Web site visitors and your constituencies to a place where they help you reach your real organizational goals. That means doing your homework and lining out those goals–the real goals (it’s common in some marketing departments and offices to think that attending 4 trade shows, printing up 500 T-Shirts and placing 10 magazine display ads a year are the real goals–they’re not).

Then identify your buyer’s personas. In developing your marketing and PR plan, this is the most important step you can take. Just keep in mind that the product or service you sell takes a back seat to identifying your buyers, who they are, what they are passionate about, and what problems and challenges they face. Really delve into that so that they live for you. Once you get that, then developing the products and services you offer and how you present them becomes a natural exercise and fit to your buyers.

Your search engine marketing process really starts to kick in now. You continue to do your research and find targeted keywords and use them so that the search engines rank your site high in the search rankings for your targeted niche. Post on other people’s blogs with a link at the end so people can contact you (this is a link to your microsite or landing page). Post on forums and build trust with other people on the forums you belong to. Set up your Squidoo page, your blog pages, and finally, your sales page because you are going to want to carry your buyers to the point where they actually buy your product or service, commit to supporting your organization or however you want to close the deal.

Wherever your content appears, so does the link to your microsite or landing page. Here’s another idea: write about your process for the niche you inhabit and giveaway or sell those pdf-formatted reports or e-books (I think giveaways are better). Your landing page could be a free offer to that report in exchange for a name and an email address. Build a list and use an autoresponder like Aweber or Mail Chimp to send targeted, useful emails to people on your list–always giving them useful, interesting, engaging content–the sell takes a backseat until you bring them to the buying stage. Always, always, always, building relationships with your customers so that they will continue to buy from you and help you in your word of mouth marketing.

So your microsite and landing page strategy keys in with a call to action, great content (always great content!) and converts your visitors into customers. I’ve seen many, many campaigns that use only microsites and landing pages to successfully meet their goals. When you are talking about niche marketing, it makes sense, doesn’t it?

So, welcome to the golden age of online marketing. Start setting up your microsites and landing pages and see what a difference they make in your niche marketing. In a later post I will talk about the nuts and bolts of setting up your microsites and landing pages. I’ll use my own microsites and landing pages as examples as I continue to bring them online.