Social Media Tips | Small Business Marketing

Social Media Marketing Tips for Small Businesses

We live in times where getting to your perfect customer is literally a push of a button away. Everyone is on social media – or at least everyone that you are interested in. What is more, social media has become a convenient as well as 24-hour powerhouse where users are actually engaged throughout the entire time. There are more than 2.1 billion users of smartphones out there and the wide majority of them use social media apps. You can do the math yourself.

With this said, we are here to take a look at some fundamentals as well as to provide you with a few hints that you can take advantage of when it comes to making your own website a social media magnet.

The Mobile Moments

About 54% of people are estimated to shop in the Mobile Moments. This is a term introduced by Google and it represents people who shop on their phones. So, before you go ahead and start optimizing, you might be curious to know how many people actually populate some of the networks? Well, Instagram boasts over 300 million users. WhatsApp has more than 700 million and the Facebook messenger is used by more than 600 million people. Keep in mind that these are not even the biggest ballers in the game. We have venues such as Facebook itself, Snapchat, Twitter, LinkedIn and what not – a haven for social media marketers.

But how do you encapsulate the potential? How do you take advantage of all these numbers and grow your business? Let’s take a look at a few tips.

Have a BLOG!

BLOG! This is the first thing to consider. All business owners should have blogs. This is a great way to engage audience. Regardless of the industry that you are in, there is always something interesting that you can write about. You don’t have to be an award-winning novelist to do so. What is more, people are drawn to expertise and you can write about what you are knowledgeable in – your own filed of expertise.

For instance, if you have a private dental practice, there is nothing better than to start engaging your audience through your blog. They would much rather prefer reading about the different ways to avoid a cavity coming from a professional and experienced dentist than from an issue of Style Magazine, for instance.

What is more, this is going to help you enhance your Google ranking as blog entries are actually indexed every single days.

Constantly Add Value

You need to be adding relevant content that doesn’t just jive with your brand but it also incorporates substantial value to your readers. A proper blog which is done right could easily round up thousands of visits every single month.

You can easily get one set up through your regular hosting provider or use a specialized service which is rather inexpensive. The entire thing is literally a phone-call away and you can easily handle the “development” on your own.

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SEO Trends | Digital Marketing

10 SEO Trends That Will Influence Digital Marketing

As digital marketing has grown in importance for today's businesses, so has the role of search engine optimization. SEO plays a huge role in getting people to your website, blog post, guest articles and other content assets. And if you don't play by Google's rules, you'll see your web traffic plummet.

The most successful marketers are on the cutting edge of the latest algorithm changes and best practices so they can make sure their clients' content is visible. Here are the up-and-coming SEO trends that 10 Forbes Agency Council members believe will impact their work this year.

1. Voice Search 

Voice search services, including the use of virtual assistants like Siri, Alexa and Google Assistant, make recommendations based on organic search results. Optimizing keywords as conversational phrases will lead to long-tail success. Typically only the No. 1 ranked result becomes the recommendation, and getting to the top position is easier if you match conversational phrasing exactly. - Tom Kuhr, MomentFeed

2. Video Engagement 

Users' engagement with video has been trending upwards fast. Faster internet speeds, user-friendly social media and smartphones are helping video content grow in popularity. Search engines will recognize this trend in user behavior and reward companies that appeal to current user preferences. I predict that we'll see vast improvements in video and image recognition by search engines. - Ahmad Kareh, Twistlab Marketing

3. Filtering Out Non-Credible News Articles 

With the onslaught of media criticism, many companies have taken a beating for allowing fake news. Content farms and scammers have played the system and disguised themselves as credible. Search giants will further scrutinize content to prevent such errors in the future. Having a well-written article will no longer be enough. It will have to be supported by other credible sources. - Ricardo Casas, Fahrenheit Marketing

4. Increased Focus On Structured Snippets 

Google's first priority used to be to deliver information to searchers as quickly as possible in the form of search rankings. Now Google is delivering a tremendous amount of information directly inside the SERPs with custom widgets and Structured Snippets. If you have top-ranked content ranking for high-volume search terms, you may deliver that info to the user without them ever hitting your site. - Todd Saunders, AdHawk

5. Google's Mobile-First Algorithm 

SEO practitioners are finally being forced to adjust to the reality of a mobile-first algorithm on Google. Before the update rolls out in July, it's essential to review mobile ranking factors and adjust priorities. Page speed, for example, has been confirmed as an official mobile ranking factor, which has reoriented the way SEOs are prioritizing website and content updates. - Nina Hale, Nina Hale / Performance Digital

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Virtual Reality | Digital Marketing - Infographic

How to Use Virtual Reality in Your Digital Marketing
Infographic: Click Here

SEO Fundamentals | How SEO Works

The 8 Things Most People Get Wrong About SEO

The fundamentals of SEO have remained more or less the same, despite two decades of progression. And, in part because people never bothered to learn how SEO really works and in part because of myths that are still circulated by uninformed writers, most people still don’t fully understand how those fundamentals work.

There are eight main points that most people get wrong about SEO:

1. It's a gimmick, trick, or scheme. The way some people talk about SEO, it’s natural to think it’s some kind of gimmick. It may have been presented to you as a sequence of tricks designed to get your site to rank above others in search results; but this is only partially true. The white-hat search optimizer isn’t trying to deceive Google’s search algorithm or game their way to the top. Instead, they’re trying to figure out what website features and content are most important to users (and search engines), and provide it to them. Most of the time, this results in organic, well-intentioned website improvements—not spam, hacks, or short-term tricks.
2. Keyword rankings are all that matter. Yes, one of SEO’s biggest priorities is getting you ranked as high as possible in search engine results pages (SERPs), but this often leads to an error in prioritization, with marketers believing keyword rankings are all that matter. In fact, there are dozens of metrics and key performance indicators (KPIs) you should be measuring to gauge your campaign’s success, and keyword rankings are only one of them.
3. Google penalties are a major threat. The way some people write about Google penalties, you’d think they were handed out more often than speeding tickets. But the reality is, the most severe Google penalties are a result of a manual action—in response to truly egregious behavior that most webmasters know to stay away from. Automatic penalties, or temporary ranking drops, are more common but far less severe. If you follow best practices, you have nothing to worry about.

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SEO - Search Engine Optimization | Google Search

Everything you Need to Know About SEO Ranking in 2018

SEO is essential if you want to rank in search engine results. With algorithms constantly changing, sometimes you need to go back to basic to learn how to rank in 2018.

This SEO ranking guide will arm you with the tools you need to increase your position in SERPs.

The aim of SEO is to rank. The earlier your website appears in the search engine result pages (SERPs), the more traffic you will get.

The more visitors that come to your site, the more conversions and brand awareness you’ll build.

Algorithms decide where pages rank by assessing their relevance to specific search terms. First, algorithms called crawlers index the data on the page. Then, other algorithms take over to assess the quality of the page itself.

During this process, these algorithms take many different factors into account. The quality of your content, how relevant it is to the search term, and the quality of backlinks leading to the page are some determining factors.

Although each search engine ranks in a slightly different way, there are certain SEO guidelines that are sure to improve your ranking position.

SEO should be at the core of every digital marketing strategy. Of course, there are a lot of bases to cover if you want to know how to rank in 2018.

When you’re just getting started, SEO is overwhelming. Every expert was a beginner at some point. 

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Content Marketing | Content Strategy

Five Ways To Write SEO Content That Converts

An SEO powerhouse may rank well in search results, but that doesn't mean the website gets the conversions it deserves. Finding a balance between form (user design, infographics, videos) and function (Google-friendly SEO, content length, authority) is difficult for small businesses and their marketers. It's great to have an attention-grabbing, visually appealing site, but that doesn't guarantee a local search presence for small, competitive companies.

At our web design and marketing agency, we work with businesses to improve their SEO, with one of these areas being content marketing. Placing a priority on using conversion-based content is one way to change visitors into conversions while staying within Google’s ever-changing guidelines.

The challenge is writing content that is informative, engaging, rankable and visually appealing enough that it convinces visitors to contact you or fill out a form. Here are five ways I recommend writing SEO-ready content that actually converts.

1. Hook Them Early

It's high summer. Your air conditioner is busted. Discluding AdWord pages, do you want to waste time getting suckered into keyword-stuffed, high-ranking HVAC websites that repeat the same information over and over again? No. You want to open a page that says the company provides emergency air conditioning maintenance in your area and to call this number right now.

SEO can be a distraction. It takes away from conversion- and design-friendly elements on the top of a page. It's smart to weave the SEO tactics in there, but always picture your mobile and desktop pages through a potential customer's eyes. Use your big hitters early on. These include a straightforward headline, a nice banner image, testimonials, charts, bullet points, stats -- leave the company history and technical rants for later on. If visitors scroll that far down, they're likely interested enough to continue reading and will probably convert anyway.

2. Write Logical Content

The disgruntled homeowner wants to know if you are a reputable business that can fix his AC unit over the weekend. A good page will satisfy the homeowner's concerns.

Conversion pages -- or pages that lead to forms or phone numbers -- need to flow in regards to design and content. Most visitors skim website content, but there still needs to be a sense of order. One paragraph leads to the next, each section transitions to the next logical point down the conversion rabbit hole.

An example of this top-to-bottom flow might include: who you are, the services you perform, evidence that you know what you're doing, proof of it in the form of testimonials or reviews, and your contact information. A decent SEO writer has an abundance of opportunities to optimize those sections without slowing down a reader's progression.

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Inbound Marketing | OutBound Marketing

Inbound Vs. Outbound Leads: Which Are Better?

These days, most marketers talk up the value of inbound marketing over outbound marketing. In case you aren’t familiar, outbound marketing tactics are more conventional marketing and advertising methods that require some form of targeted outreach, such as billboard ads or radio spots.

Inbound marketing tactics are more concerned with establishing a presence that naturally invites people to your organization, usually through the provision of valuable materials (like informative content).

Each strategic umbrella has advantages and disadvantages, of course, and both are designed to attract more leads for your business.

So which group of strategies will attract better leads for your organization?

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SEO - International Search Engine Optimization

SEO for multi-language websites: How to speak your customers’ language

As with international search engine optimization (SEO), there are many scenarios, and the right solution depends very much on the specific situation. Do you target one country where users speak multiple languages? Do you target specific languages around the world? Do you want a specific language for a specific country? In many cases, the solution will be a combination of all of these.

Combining international and multilingual SEO can get complicated. Mistakes can cost time and money while slowing your progress towards your SEO objectives. But knowledge is power, and ensuring you understand the options is key to success.

Creating content in multiple languages

There are a few common scenarios when creating content in multiple languages. Determining which of these matches your situation is key to making the right decision when building your site and tackling your website SEO.

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SEO - Find and Fix Structured Data

SEO for Rich Results: How to Find & Fix Structured Data Errors

Using structured data on your website is an essential part of SEO.

At its most basic, structured data helps engines understand your content better (a must as semantic web technologies continue to evolve).

Structured data is also your ticket to scoring rich results features in SERPs.

Structured data checks should be a regular part of your SEO routine. This article will teach you how.

1. Use a Structured Data Testing Tool to Find Errors

Structured data tools help ensure that search engines understand your marked-up content. They’re also a great way to double check your pages for valid markup and find errors that are easy to fix.

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SEO - Engagement Metrics | Internet Marketing

7 User Engagement Metrics That Influence SEO

Would you like more traffic to your website?

Of course you do. I have yet to meet a business owner who doesn’t.

And yet, most small business owners aren’t doing any search engine optimization for their websites. Only 28% of them – about one out of every four – do any search engine optimization at all.

If you’re in this group of owners who aren’t doing any SEO, maybe it’s because you’re worried it will be too technical. Or you don’t trust the advice you’ve gotten before.

Or maybe you’re leery about changing your website just to please a search algorithm bot. 

Good SEO involves making some changes for the bots, but your site visitors should figure into this, too.

How people behave on your website – how they interact with it (or not) – effects how well your site does in the search results.

This makes a lot of sense in the broader view. After all, Google is obsessed with delivering the best results for each search. So is it any surprise that they’re watching how people behave on your site? That they’re ranking your site based on whether visitors seem to like what they see - or not?

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