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Showing posts from September, 2017

How to Write Like an SEO Pro

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As professionals, we highlight our strengths to further our careers. Owning and operating a business is a classroom unlike any other. But there is always more to learn. Internet marketing is an integral part to furthering your businesses success. Like and skill, effective internet marketing and Search Engine Optimization (SEO) takes knowledge and practice. This article will hopefully teach you a new skill by highlighting the basics of writing content which can be used for SEO purposes. Writing for SEO Writing for SEO serves a purpose and the purpose of SEO is to improve your business. Thinking of “seo writing” as a style will help you to produce more effective content that Google notices. In the old days of SEO, keywords reigned supreme. Previously, in order to write a strong SEO article one simply had to jot down a bunch of keyword heavy sentence and then call it a day. But the rules have changed. Google’s algorithim is becoming increasingly more sophisticated and the emphasis o

Why Business Professionals Should Tweet

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With all of the interest in Twitter, still, many business professionals admit they don't have an account – deeming Twitter as irrelevant to their practice. Irrelevant? Not So Fast… The Twitter 140 Character Limit Many Twitter users have discussions on Twitter – long conversations drawn-out due to the 140 character limit. However, businesses on Twitter in social media marketing campaigns and use it to advertise and broadcast their brand or service. Fortunately, you can include a link with a tad-bit of information or a tease if your will. When you look at your Twitter timeline — the tweets you see of the people you follow – you'll notice that the majority of them will include a link of some kind. These links take you to the full story of the advert or broadcast — using the tweet to entice the reader or follower to click the link for more information. There are sites on the web that will let you shorten the URL link as well; sites such as tinyurl.com and others allow you

What Social Networks Mean To You As A Business Owner

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In recent months, we have seen a rush by various social networks to monetize their user base, and though we understand that they can hardly provide their services for free, we are seeing a rather disturbing trend evolve. For example, YouTube will now play pre-roll videos before the sports clips that they host, and Facebook created the Edgerank algorithm, which monitors what is offered, displayed and placed on your News Feed. On top of that, Twitter has started to add content to your timelines, content that has nothing to do with you. On their own, these things are not necessarily alarming, but the issue is that with this clutter showing up on our social networks, we are seeing a decrease in the presence of original content. Now it needs to fight with the ads that the social networks really want to show. So how can you get your content, carefully created, curated and designed to bring people to you, out there? The answer comes from the late Jim Henson, who famously said, "If

The Case for Case Studies

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Standing the test of time is a naturally human trait. Ever since Keats conceptualized the ongoing quest for a semblance of immortality in Ozymandius we have ever been working toward the same goal in a different form. With technology, the field has changed from monumental sandstone structures to evergreen website content that generates traffic no matter the year. While it certainly is a longer process to produce articles that can stand such a desire, there is content that automatically lends itself to such a design. Case studies are the reflexive go-to when faced with the desire to immortalize work that will stand the test of internet aging by still appearing relevant in 6 months' time. The Creation In and of itself, the case study is a very simple creature. To make one, simply describe a problem, offer solutions, test these out and then present the results and your conclusion. It’s very much like a watered down scientific method, but Instead of requiring years of study in a

Combining Social Media Marketing with SEO

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In today’s society SEO and Social Media Marketing have become extremely important for organizations to take part in. Due to this, it is only logical that organizations are starting to talk and think of ways to align these two. Back in 2013, Eric Schemidt, Google chairman, stated that, “within search results, information tied to verify online profiles will be ranked higher than content without such verification… The true cost of remaining anonymous might be irrelevance.” Recently, Google actually decided to remove Authorship tags. However, they believe that this isn't really what matters. This is only changing the strategy not the actual algorithm.  The majority of the larger brands have come to the realization that they need both of these marketing services, and they have come to create cross functioning teams that are strictly designed to deploy this alignment objective. However for small to medium businesses, this alignment can be complicated. Often times these businesses ac

Messaging Your Brand

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Every brand begins with establishing a consistent voice. The message that you send with your voice should revolve around a firm's value, the reason why it is useful to others. You also want your voice to demonstrate the values, or beliefs, of a brand. Brands must articulate a promise and stir up consumer desire to use the service. Sum up everything your brand values into one united front. Your message must lead the charge to success. The Many Forms of Messaging The message that you use is going to be found on your website and in other marketing material. Make sure that your tagline, slogans and headlines promote your values and value. Create a persuasive message by providing brief and essential information. Simplify every aspect of your brand for quick perusal. Oversimplification is a GOOD thing Beyond oversimplifying your message, you also want to be remembered. You want your audience to want your product. The world already offers a jumble of communication, and creating a

Maintaining a Healthy Relationship with Google

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As the internet becomes more of a vital part of the functioning of any good marketing campaign, the importance of Google cannot be overstated. Marketers spend much of their time essentially pandering to Google, looking for new means by which they can utilize this powerful tool to leverage a bigger audience for their clients. This often entails a lot of time and a lot of money, as the algorithms that Google uses to determine where a page will appear in it's search results (and thus, how "visible" it is) are incredibly complicated and Google is not exactly forthcoming with information and details. As we recently saw, Google can also change the whole proverbial landscape with one simple change. Authorship, or the authority of the author or proprietor of the content, has been a key part of how high a site ranks in search engine results for quite some time. In fact, it was a key element, which led many to target marketing campaigns and design their websites and content w

Is Free Social Media Marketing On Its Way Out?

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Up until the past year or so, one of the most common pieces of advice to professional online marketers was to take advantage of social media. Why? It's free! Millions upon millions of people use it, and it is most definitely an untapped potential source for leads and sales. However, free social media marketing was highly recommended up until recently due to the fact that advertising in these networks was virtually unheard of. Instead, brands and companies began carving out their own tribes, complete with likes, followers, and a social reputation. The main idea was to continually grab more "likes" via Facebook and followers via Twitter. Ensuring that this was done was a surefire way to reach out to an extended customer base without having to invest a dime. Social media made it easy for brands and companies to reach their customers on a global basis, something that had never been done before. Business owners shouldn't be deterred at the thought of investing a lit

How to Use SEO and Public Relations Together

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Promoting a business can be done in a variety of ways, but simply putting an “open for business” usually isn’t enough. Implementing a modern and well-informed internet marketing campaign can benefit your business by attracting new customers and promoting a professional image. The old saying, “don’t put all your eggs in one basket” applies to internet marketing. It is important to diversify advertising mediums. If done correctly, combining traditional and emerging forms of marketing can be very effective. The purpose of this blog is to highlight the benefits of doing just this - combining traditional public relations (PR) with the emerging field of SEO. Traditional Public Relations If you were enrolled in a class called “Public Relations 101”, you would learn that traditional public relations focuses on communicating and promoting company news and events through news outlets such as local and national papers. Marketers and reporters alike would target journalists and editors to g

Getting Started With Professional Internet Marketing

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Once you have a business initiated, it is time to think about expanding and growing your business. Print ads, direct mail marketing and other techniques are cornerstones of any business's advertisement. However, in the current legal landscape more is needed than simply taking out a newspaper ad. A successful law firm must have a strong online presence. But creating a website isn’t enough these days. The internet is saturated with law firms and in order to stand out from the masses, you need a pre-planned, coordinated Search Engine Optimization (SEO) campaign. What is SEO? The internet still widely uses keywords to match users to websites. SEO is a technique used to help website appear higher in online rankings for particular keywords. Effective SEO raises a websites page rank, eventually helping it rise in it’s placement on a page. SEO can be done completely for free in house, but there are companies and consultants like 321 Web Marketing that know the “in’s” and “out’s” of t

Free Content Creation Tools for Online Marketing

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Professionals in need of great content for their online businesses often find there is much more to it than first meets the eye. Finding what is relevant to a company, producing such content and making it easily consumable online are just a few things the average content business owner has to think about when developing an online marketing campaign. Of course, the price is another, which is why the following tools are all free to use and can make creating high-quality content fun and easy. Design and Image Content These tools are a great for creating professional looking content without breaking the bank.  They are very "user friendly" so, you can rest easy giving creative assignments to your staff, allowing you to streamline your process.  The first thing people notice when they click on your site is the overall design and any obvious images. You want easy ways to make both pay off. Canva Canva lets individuals create digital or print media using simple drag and dr

Exploring the World of Social Media Marketing

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Social media has drastically evolved over the past few years. It has gone from a place where young people would gather in order to exchange ideas and interact with their peers to becoming a powerful tool for marketing and business. Like all tools, social media must be used in an effective way. Many businesses are still making the mistake of viewing social media as nothing more than a way to share photographs of cute kittens. For this reason, they have not integrated social media into their marketing strategy. This is a common mistake amongst small business owners. When social media marketing is done correctly, it is a way to participate in the online discourse about your business, it is a way to appeal to a mass audience. In the same way that businesses will first make a plan for traditional advertising, business owners must also make a plan prior to marketing on social media. Many of the elements of traditional marketing hold true in social media marketing. Branding oneself, iden

Cost-effective Marketing for Small Business and Firms

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Remember when billboards, milk cartons and bus stop ads were the only ways for a small business to get noticed? Then came the internet, and small businesses had seemingly found an easy way to reach potential clients. However, these days your site is likely to get lost in the shuffle. SEO (search engine optimization) changes every day, and it is a complicated and expensive challenge with no guarantee of success. Not to worry. There are still many ways you can get your name (or your web address) in front of the public: 1. Identify your audience Maybe you can sell ice cream in Alaska, but that doesn’t mean you should. If your business caters to local residents then you probably should build a strong local web presence. A web site is practically a necessity these days, but getting it listed in Zimbabwe probably isn’t required. Likewise if your service has worldwide appeal, you can’t limit your audience to a few dozen people. Ask yourself who your clients are: younger or older; weal