by Marketing Manager | How To's & Info you can use, Search Engine, Search Engine Marketing, Search Engine Optimization
Boosting your search engine ranking does not have to be an impossible task for small businesses. While you don’t have the budget of larger companies, you can still use many of the same strategies. The great thing about SEO is that it delivers long-term results that don’t require you to pay for every single click like PPC ads would. The following are some of the best methods to optimize your small business’ website to boost your search engine ranking: 1. Research Your Keywords A crucial part of SEO is using the right keywords. One of the best ways to find the right keywords is to figure out what your potential customers search for. Start by typing a few words into Google’s search bar and then look at the suggestions from autocomplete. You should also use keyword research tools to help you. There are both free and paid options available, so you can easily find one that meets your budget. 2. Consider Long-tail Keywords As you look for keywords, don’t forget to consider long-tail keywords. These will have a higher chance of conversion as they are more specific. After all, this helps increase the chances of selling the product that the searcher wants to buy. As a bonus, it is easier to rank for long-tail keywords as there is less competition for them due to their specificity. 3. Optimize SEO on the Page Your on-page SEO efforts focus on ensuring that all of the headings and titles on your website have been optimized. You essentially want to structure your content to have a better chance...
by Marketing Manager | Analytics, Content Curation, Content Marketing, Google Tools, How To's & Info you can use, Internet Marketing, Marketing Tips, Search Engine, Search Engine Marketing, Search Engine Optimization, Trends
Every website wants some love from Google. A high rank on Google’s SERP can mean the difference between getting organic traffic every day and never seeing a single visitor on your site that you didn’t pay for. The catch? Google’s playing hard to get – or it might be if you are making some common mistakes that send signals that your website isn’t the authoritative, worthwhile destination you want it to be. The good news is that these mistakes are easy to correct. Here are 7 things that Google hates and some quick ways to stop doing them and start getting the organic traffic you need. #1: Poor User Experience When Google’s algorithms return a list of search results, the company’s goal is always to deliver an optimal experience for any user who clicks on your website. If your page is slow to load or difficult to navigate, Google hates it and will likely relegate your site to oblivion on the second or third (or lower) page of search results. Fortunately, there’s an easy fix. Start by using Google’s PageSpeed Insights to ensure your page has a speed of 80 or higher. You should access the Core Web Vitals Report on your Google Search Console to identify additional problems. Finally, make sure to optimize your images by using the smallest file size that delivers the results you want and minimize redirects both internally and in your outgoing links. #2: Lack of Quality Backlinks You already know that high-quality backlinks are an essential element of SEO. If authority domains are not linking back to your site, it can negatively...
by Marketing Manager | Content Curation, How To's & Info you can use, Search Engine Optimization
Being a content creator can feel like the Indy 500. The gas pedal is on the floor, but it’s just left turn after left turn. And every time you lift your head and look around, you’re on the same oval track, unable to punch through the pack of cars keeping pace around you. In the world of content creation, that unending oval track is the hunt for higher Google rankings. It’s maddening to feel like you’ve done everything right, but still find yourself unable to punch through to the top three spots on the search engine results. Today, we’re going to talk about how you can optimize your old content to improve your SEO and get onto that racetrack’s podium. What Content Should You Update? “All of it” is definitely not the answer. You don’t have time for that. Instead, look for content that is already ranking for a good keyword on the first page of search results — but not in the top three positions. It may seem counterintuitive to focus on content that is already doing well, rather than on a blog post on page two or three. Here’s why it’s not. The jump in clicks that you’ll see by moving from position five to position three is significantly higher than the jump you’d see by moving from page three to page two. The average click-through-rate (CTR) for a result in position one in search results is 34.2%. In position four, it’s 8.1%. By time you get to the second page of results, CTR is under 2%. By getting from position...
by Marketing Manager | Google Tools, Search Engine Optimization, tools
As a small business owner, you probably know the value of SEO for getting more website traffic that you can convert to customers. So maybe you started with a little research, figuring you’d like to DIY your digital marketing efforts for a while and see what you can learn. You checked out a few of the “big names” in SEO, and were immediately overwhelmed by the sheer volume of features that each site promised. Then you looked at the pricing and — no thank you! Fortunately, there is a wide variety of free resources available, from Google’s own tools to third-party extensions that run right on your browser. Here are 7 of the best free SEO tools that you can use for keyword research, backlink tracking, and more. #1 Google Analytics Diving into Google Analytics can become a full-time job. But busy small business owners can benefit from this free tool, without becoming Analytics experts. Once you have your website synced up to your Analytics account, you’ll be able to access data like users, sessions, bounce rate, and session duration. By tracking this information, you can see how your site content is performing over time. You’ll also be able to see how you get your traffic — through social media, referrals from other sites, direct traffic, or organic search. You’ll get helpful data about what time of day your users are on your site — helpful for planning launches or desktop push notifications. You can even see what type of device your users are using. Maybe your site gets more mobile traffic than you thought,...
by Marketing Manager | Blogging, Content Marketing, E-Mail Marketing, Marketing Tips, Search Engine Optimization, Social Media, Video Marketing
Digital marketing isn’t optional. The fact remains, though, that only 84% of businesses have a content marketing strategy as of early 2021. 16% don’t. If you’re one of the people who has put off digital marketing or done it haphazardly, it’s time to get serious about it. You may have claimed your Google My Business listing – and that counts as digital marketing. It’s also the bare minimum you can do. So, with that in mind, let’s talk about why every small business – including yours – needs digital marketing, and which marketing strategies we recommend. What is Digital Marketing? Some small business owners don’t understand what digital marketing is and that’s part of the problem, so, let’s start with a definition. Digital marketing is the sum of any efforts you make to promote your business online. It may include: Email marketing Blogging Search engine advertising (PPC) Social media posting Social media advertising Business listings SEO Video marketing The key to making the most of digital marketing is choosing the strategies that are most likely to deliver the results you want. Target Local Keywords The first thing you need to recognize is that in the world of digital marketing, everything is local. If you try to compete for the same keywords used by big corporations with huge marketing budgets, you’re going to lose. You’ll get far more bang for your buck if you think local. Local keywords should be a combination of industry-specific words that identify what your business does and local words that let people know where you are. For example, a dentist in Minneapolis might target words...
by Marketing Manager | Customers, Marketing, Marketing Tips, Search Engine Optimization
The first quarter of 2020 brought us an unprecedented situation with a global pandemic that shut down parts of the country and created economic uncertainty and record unemployment. For a lot of businesses, that meant taking a new approach to marketing. Now, more than eight months into the pandemic, the road ahead is clearer than it was then. With multiple new vaccines announced and an end in sight, we still have a rough road ahead in many ways. So… the big questions are: What will businesses be doing to get back on track? What will the new normal look like? What are the ideal first steps (in the next 90 days) to set your business up for success? With that in mind, I have some thoughts on what you can and should do in the next 90 days to get (and keep) your business on track for success. Audit Your Marketing Plan The first thing I suggest is a thorough audit of your marketing plan. A lot of companies hit the pause button — or drastically reduced their marketing spending — when the pandemic hit. For obvious reasons, that’s not a long-term strategy. I suggest creating a short-term plan that takes the current climate into consideration, and then mapping out some long-term plans as the situation evolves. With COVID cases spiking in the final quarter of 2020, we’re not in the “after” yet — but it’s getting closer every day. Evaluate Your SEO In the early days of the pandemic, you may have been reluctant to drastically rethink your SEO, both on...
