The Power of Press Releases
c/o: depositphotos.com
Do you write press releases for your company? Some people believe that press releases need to be long, informative and formal, but they don’t. They can be short, fun and creative, just like a blog post. Remember, it’s not the size of story but the story itself that matters. The bottom line: you should consider press releases to help market your business and brand your company’s image.
In the past, press releases were designed to bring companies a bit of media exposure, but nowadays, exposure comes from online. Thanks to the internet, your press release can be seen by the general public without it having to be touched by a news reporter or journalist. In today’s world, press releases are designed to bring in more readers from various outlets, create more backlinks to your website and generate greater exposure for your company.
Many people worry that they have to pay professionals to generate a press release, which is an added cost. While you should always have a good writer take charge of your content, anyone can produce a great press release to benefit your company. What we’re trying to say is that you shouldn’t assume that press releases are another expense; tackle one on your own and see the impact a PR can have on your business.
Make sure that when writing a press release, it is formatted correctly, has an interesting and informative headline and that it is relatively short. The PR should use the first two lines to explain the announcement and the remaining two or three paragraphs to talk about the announcement, whether it be a sales event or new product offering.
Once completed, you will need a distributor to get your press release out there. Some are free, while others charge for their service. You should see anywhere from 100 to 500 backlinks within a week’s time, but keep in mind that some free services don’t allow links in their PRs until you pay the fee. If you test out the waters and find that PRs work for your company, you will want to invest in some type of PR distributor for maximum exposure.
Press releases are just one more way to market your business, share an announcement and get people talking about your service. Yet instead of having one small piece of media coverage, you now have access to an entire online audience.
Blog sponsored by: WSI Web Sales Now
Why Quality Content Still Deserves the Crown
c/o: 123rf.com
For quite some time, it seemed as if we had lost our focus. Some websites that were making it to the top of the search rankings were SEO cons. Websites were able to get content from content farms just for the sake of having information on their site. That was, until many updates were made in 2012, including the Google Panda and Penguin updates. Now, content is more important than ever, as it should be. After all, each website is unique, and your content shows it.
The phrase “content is king” has been used by webmasters and SEO experts for quite some time. People who take the time to understand what SEO really is and how to optimize their website will have the biggest rewards. It doesn’t always come easy, but the effort is worth it. Although the Google updates hurt some well intentioned webmasters, in general they have placed much stricter requirements on web owners to produce quality websites. If you don’t follow these new guidelines, your website will be penalized.
Now, remember that quantity is not the same as quality, and it’s quality that you should focus on. Always ask yourself, “Is this content worth reading? Does this content offer valuable information? Would I want to take the time out to read it?” Engaging. Creative. Unique. Exciting. These are all factors you should strive for in content. And be sure to post regularly to keep the content fresh. This approach will help your organic search rankings and keep customers coming back for new information.
There are many reasons why quality content is still king, and why we should have never lost its relevance in the first place. Fortunately, many websites have continued producing great content, and now they won’t be knocked out of the park by websites with little value. Remember, you can’t just claim you are an expert in your field; you must show it. You can’t just bring in new customers by being a static site; you must invite them with easily digestible and interesting content. Well, what are you waiting for? It’s time to get writing!
Keywords: Why are They Important?
c/o: Ayhan Yildiz
You probably hear a lot about keywords, but why do they matter?
First, consider that the internet is based on information. In order to organize, sort and make sense of this information, it is categorized into keywords. That’s exactly how search engines work. They scan for particular keywords and rank websites based on these keywords. In order to make your website strong and have it come up in the search rankings, it’s important that you know which keywords to use and how to use them effectively.
Now that you have a basic understanding of keywords, let’s take a look at the various reasons why they matter.
Keywords Help Your Site Rank Better
Search engines are machines, which mean that you must know how to use keywords so that they are recognized by the search engines and allow your website to rank well. This then becomes a domino effect. The higher up your company ranks on the search results, the more people will visit your site.
Keywords Help You Target a Particular Audience
It can be difficult to target a particular group of people, but the best way to do this is by using certain keywords that your audience will be using. These keywords are called long tail keywords because they include several popular keywords in one phrase and can help you focus on a smaller audience.
Keywords Tell You More about Your Audience
Not only can you use keywords to target a particular group, but also you can learn more about your audience. For example, you can use a keyword search tool to see what keywords your users are searching for. You can then use these keywords in your website content to bring more relevant users to your site.
Keywords Help You Organize Content
If you want to have a good flow on your website, it’s important to have your information organized. Organizing your content using keywords is the best way to do this. It provides a clean, user-friendly interface for your users, enhances their experience on your site and allows them to find the information they’re looking for. Using keywords on your site to organize information also improves your SEO.
Blog sponsored by: WSI Web Sales Now
Is the Internet the New Yellow Pages?
c/o: Florin Florea
Is the internet the new Yellow Pages? Some experts believe so. Consider that recent statistics report that 80% of households have a computer, and out of this number, 99% of users have an internet connection. It’s safe to say that the majority of people not only have a computer in their home but also have access to the internet. With the ease of searching online for businesses, products and services, it’s no surprise that the traditional Bell Yellow Pages is quickly being replaced by the internet.
Yes, the internet does offer its own version of the Yellow Pages, and this site has proven to be extremely useful for businesses that want to come up in local searches. But the internet itself is like one large address book, especially with the variety of tools that are coming onto the market by leaders like Facebook and Google.
For example, Facebook has a new feature called Facebook Places. Basically, it lets others know where you’re going, where you are or where you’ve been. For users, they can scroll over the place that you’ve checked into, see the map and learn more about the place. This is a great way to promote restaurants and local businesses in your area. No need for the Yellow Pages here.
Or how about Google Places? This highly popular branch from Google lets you search for business listings, read reviews and connect with people from all over the globe. And it won’t stop here. There are many other tools that users are utilizing such as Google Maps and FourSquare. And it’s these sites that are quickly moving the traditional Yellow Pages out.
Consider that several years ago, it was local directories that owned most of the local search share because of loyal customers who switched over to digital copies. But now, there are many other sites that people are using for their local business needs. Yellow page companies have tried to fight back by offering unique features like maps, but they keep getting passed over by other sites. Now that Facebook and Google have their own local search engines, it’s these sites that will become the new Yellow Pages.
Blog sponsored by: WSI Web Sales Now
5 Benefits to Having a Company Blog
c/o: Svilen Milev/http://effective.com
Everyone is doing it, even businesses. Establishing a company blog is just as important as having a Twitter or Facebook page. Many companies are jumping on board with a blog of their own, especially as Google has raised their criteria for ranking websites on high-quality content. Having a blog is a wonderful way to boost your rankings and make your company come to life, no matter how big or small you are.
Here are five ways that a company blog will help your social marketing campaign.
SEO Purposes – Having good SEO will give you better rankings in the organic search results since your site will have fresh, new content on a regular basis. The more content you have, the more likely other sites will link to your content, which also helps boost SEO. Make sure that you always include strong keywords, which can be found using Google AdWords.
Give Your Company a Voice – If you want your company to have a human voice and not just be a static site on the internet, having a blog will accomplish this vision. You can share your stances on certain events or ideas and just take the time to get known and liked by your community. Best of all, you can have a friendly and informal tone on your blogs, something that you can’t always do in business relationships.
Share Unique Knowledge – In addition to having a human voice and face, you can also share your knowledge and expertise in your field. You want to be the expert in your industry; the place your community comes to when they have questions or want the full scoop on a particular issue. Just be sure to hold up to your vision. If you accept questions on Twitter for example, be there to answer them.
Cost-Effective Marketing – Setting up a blog is free. It if it gets you good SEO, better search rankings and a human voice, why wouldn’t you want to set up a blog if it costs nothing? A blog is also free to run, unless you hire a third-party writer to submit content. Otherwise, you can maintain your blog and market your business without having to pay a dime, for blogging at least.
Establish Good Rapports – Finally, having a blog allows you to have good rapports with your target group. Whether you provide relevant content, how-to videos or share your political views, you’re allowing yourself to connect with your target group and establish positive relationships with them. Having this foundation makes your target group more likely to purchase your product or service, compared to competitors that don’t have the same rapport with their customers.
Blog sponsored by: WSI Web Sales Now
Mobile is Here in a Big Way – Black Monday Proved It
Mobile Device Purchasing Surpassed Projections
According to a number of sources roughly 30% of all online purchases yesterday (Black Monday) were made from a mobile device. For those of us that have been resisting this fast growing trend the data strongly suggests we need to get on board. It’s not just purchases that are being made from mobile devices that should concern your. All kinds of people are choosing the convenience of using their hand held device rather than firing up the laptop to look things up. If I think about it we consider my iPad a mobile device (which it is) and eliminate the searches I do for business on my desktop I’m doing 80% of my personal searches on a mobile device. These are mostly for personal information much of which involves products and services.
One reason I shy away from using my phone to search is so many websites have not been optimized or converted to display well on the small screen. It is frustrating to enlarge the image then scroll around trying to find the section of the page that has the information I want. I bail on the site and the company loses any hope of getting my business. If you don’t have a Mobile website your are losing business too.
At least for now those of you that invest in a mobile website will have an advantage in search results over your competitors that don’t. Google would rather show a mobile site at the top of the search results page than show a regular website. This happens for the reason I listed above. Google wants us to have a great search experience and showing a regular site on a mobile device is not a great user experience. So, match, set and point to the businesses that have a mobile site. They win!
Here’s the great news!!! Creating a Mobile website for your business is not complicated nor is it expensive. There are two reasons for this. A) The content should be abbreviated. People are looking for your key information not all of your information. Therefore, the site can be perfectly effective with just a few well thought out pages. B) There are a lot of great tools available for mobile site construction that help reduce the price. Creating your Mobile Website is not nearly as complicated or expensive as it was just 6 months ago. A small investment now will help your business be found more frequently in a mobile search. There are more and more mobile searches taking place so this has to increase your exposure in the digital marketplace.
So, all that being true what’s the problem, why are you waiting? This needs to get done you can’t ignore it any longer. It’s time to take action. By the way we can get you a a great mobile website with no muss and no fuss for less than $400. It’s easy just call 772-567-6768 now.
Thanks for reading.
WSI Web Sales Now Gets SEO Training
Having a great experience with Steve Scott at The Tampa SEO Training Academy. Continuing education is important for all professionals. With the rapid pace of change in Search Engine Optimization it’s important to get out of the office and do a learning from time to time. It’s been a terrific couple of days loaded with valuable information. There is more value coming for all my present and future clients. Thank-you Steve.