Improve Rankings with Social Media, Lesson #6

No matter what business you’re in, a primary motivation in your social media strategy must be to improve your website rankings.  SM is a fast, cheap and easy way to create content and links that are attributed to your website.  To maximize the impact of your SM effort originate all your post on your Word Press blog.  This is only true if your Word Press blog is self hosted under your website URL.

Many of you have proprietary website platforms.  Your vendor will want you to use their “blogging” module.  Don’t do it.  Insist on a Word Press blog.  It will index better giving you a better chance of getting on the first page of search results.  Word Press is free so don’t let them charge you a lot.  If they won’t do it move your website to a vendor that will give you a Word Press blog and website.  You’ll be glad you did when more people start finding you on the Internet.  http://on.mash.to/nfJrUW

Make Social Media Posts Regularly to Build a Following, Lesson #5

If you are making social media posts to build your online presence be sure to post regularly. This helps you build a following.  Frequency depends on your industry and what you have to say but do your best not to have long gaps in your posting activity.  http://on.mash.to/q0gsRY

Local Google Search Optimization

I learned last week that there are still a lot of people out there think Internet marketing is a national or global effort.  Many think that if they attempt to promote their business online they will start getting telephone calls from Denver or Cleveland.  This is not true.  In fact, the entire focus for the search engines has been to give the searcher the best results possible and that result is to display a local business on the first page.

There are some things that need to be done on your website to be sure the search engines understand your specific trading area.  You can also purchase pay-per-click advertising for specific communities surrounding your business.  You would be amazed at how affordable this advertising can be and how well we can do in increasing your website traffic and sales opportunities.

We can help you put together a plan to use the Internet to bring local customers to your local business.   Contact Us Now!

Efficient Internet Display Advertising

What would you say if I told you that we have a system that will display an ad for your business to people who have visited your website on dozens of websites?  What would you say if I told you the cost could be as low as $1 per thousand impressions?  What would you say if I told you this system has increased website visits and lead generation by as much as 30% in some cases?  What would you say if I told you this will work on any website and is simple to implement?

How does it work?  We place a small bit of code in the HTML code of your website.  That code places a cookie on the computer of every visitor to your website.  The purpose of the cookie is to tell any participating advertising supported website visited to show YOUR AD to the visitor.  We are all busy and pre-occupied with our lives.  We forget the businesses and service providers we seek out to help us solve problems at home and work.  This system serves as a reminder to your website visitors that they visited your website and when they get closer to making a buying decision they should remember to contact you.

In the old days this was called Top-of-Mind advertising.  With all the distraction in life these ads can be very helpful reminders.  They can bring you more business.

Contact me if you would like more information about this powerful and effective advertising opportunity.

Why Aren’t Business Owner’s Focused on Content

I received and email this morning from one of the local marketing agency that occasionally asks for help with Internet marketing.  The request here was for some insight on selling content marketing to a client that was very reluctant to “pay” for website content.  My answer is below.

Jane:

Here are two link to my blog that talk about content marketing.  http://www.wsiwebsalesnow.com/index.php/seo/what-is-content-marketing/ http://www.wsiwebsalesnow.com/index.php/seo/why-is-content-marketing-important-2/

The importance of content becomes clear when the client understands that Google reads and saves every word on every page of every website and that Google then uses that information to compare their “business” to his or her competitor’s businesses. Many people have trouble believing that Google actually reads and saves all the content and meta data on all the websites in the world.  Who could blame them it seems impossible.  Google then uses that information to decide whether or not to give you a first page search appearance.  This is a difficult fact for many to accept.   Nonetheless Google does this.

Content written by a search engine optimization expert is critical because the rules for the client to get full credit for content are complex.  There can’t be too many or  too few keywords on a page, the same keyword can’t appear too many or too few times on the page, the keyword can’t have too much or too little supporting text surrounding it on the page.  There are many more technical rules as well. This is complicated and largely unappreciated for its importance and impact on the performance of the website.

I think the primary obstacles we have in selling content marketing is twofold:  A) People think the website is an online brochure and the same kind of content that works in a brochure will work well on the website.  This thinking ignores that the most important reader of the website is Google and brochure copy is not valued by the search engine.  B) They really don’t believe that Google reads, remembers and compares their content to the content of their competitors.  They think it’s impossible for Google to do this.

Google knows exactly how many words are on every website and how “relevant” these words are to the business that is being presented.   To use an example you are familiar with, if you are a lawyer and you spend a lot of website content words talking about the attorney’s, their degrees and their experience Google sees, blah, blah, blah, attorney, blah, blah, blah, lawyer and you will get less ranking credit than if you talk in for specific “services” related keywords.  Google doesn’t care who you are, it’s too subjective.  Google cares about what you do and bases this decision on your keywords, and how well you support your relevance with the balance of your website content.   It’s easy to even pick the wrong keywords because of competition.

There really is there is no better value in online marketing than content marketing.  It can be costly to create but once it is on the website every time Google indexes the site the business gets credit for keywords and copy that are present.  As long as that content is on the website the client gets credit.  They own those keywords.

You would be surprised by the research I do for clients that shows a competitor with an ugly website, fewer pages and less overall appeal beats the pants off of what seems to be a bigger, better more impressive website.  Typically the most significant difference that gives the competitor the edge is optimized content copy on the website.   Even with the research I provide, many clients still resist paying for great optimized content copy.   This is a huge mistake.  It’s like going to a party to promote your law firm and talking about your dog all night there is no impact on your business.  This article give a good overview of a good content marketing strategy for small business.

If you build it they will come is not true for websites.  It must be built with optimized content or it will be a disappointment for the client.  “I spent all this money and the site isn’t getting me anything”.  There is almost always a reason for this that is sourced in the website that was built.

There are many other components in a successful search optimization campaign but content is a key factor.

Good luck.  Let me know if I can be of further help.

Some Social Sites are Better Than Others, Lesson #4

There are better Social Media venues for improving website rankings than Facebook.  They are:  Blogging, You Tube, Twitter and Linked In.  http://on.mash.to/pIXcdg

Facebook Advertising is Cheap and Targeted, Lesson #3

Facebook advertising is cheap and can be targeted based on demographic information gleaned by FB from the member profiles.  For example, if you target customer is 18 to 24 years old, female and lives in Orlando, FL you can have your ad only shown to those people.  This makes FB great for local business to consumer advertising. http://on.mash.to/nKkDIR

Your Google Click History

I was with a client yesterday who was testing her keyword ranking by typing in keywords checking where her company appeared on the page. We all do this if we are working to improve our online marketing.

The reason I bring this up is her results were wildly better than I was getting on my computer and in total conflict with the analytical data.

Why is that? First, she was logged into her google account. Second, Google learns what you like from your click history and tailors your search results to your preferences. Third, I bet she clicks on the result for her company enough that Google presents a lot of first page results for her company on her searches.

One way to avoid this is to log-out of your Google account when you check your keywords. You can also clear your search history from you browser.  Try it now you may be surprised.

Quality Content Brings Social Media Followers, Lesson #2

To build followers on social media sites write something good.  Ask your reader to retweet or forward your post.  If they like your post they are way more likely to send it on if you specifically ask them to do so.  More exposure will bring more followers.  Also, if you like something you read on Social Media give it a “like” and forward or retweet to our follower’s.  They are likely to return the favor when you put something good out there.   http://bit.ly/oqD63e

Facebook and Communication, Good Match, Lesson #1

Facebook is primarily for sharing information and creating a dialog with your community.   Let’s focus on community which is your group of followers.  These folks are going to see all the content you create so make it good and timely.  In many respects Facebook is email on steroids.  Like email people consume your message it moves down the page and out of sight and mind.  Your post will help you earn better search rankings.  It is probably best suited to companies in a buzz industry like bars, clubs, music etc. however it is a great way for anyone to improve their online presence and deliver timely updates and information.  http://bit.ly/rfID26