5 Essential tips for Video SEO

Check Out These 5 Tips for Video SEO

There's honestly no point in going to the trouble of creating a great video just to have it languish deep in the search results where nobody will find it. Making your videos to rank well in YouTube and Google isn't as hard as you might think, and in fact can happen quite quickly if you know what you're doing.
So to get going on making that happen let's have a look at 5 tips that can help you rank your videos better.


5 Essential tips for Video SEO

1. Making a good video - Good videos are some of the best video SEO you can do, and the benefits of having a video that is popular are enormous. Strive to put your best foot forward here, and the rest might take care of itself.
2. Do keyword research - If you want to rank for a specific keyword, you'll need to do your research to make sure you are targeting the best phrases you can. This will allow you to find other keywords you can use in your description, tags and other videos as well.
3. Optimize your titles and descriptions - Using the previously mentioned keywords in these is paramount, as well as being sure to include any links you'd like people to visit at the beginning of your description, as well as the YouTube video link at the end. This is so that if anyone uses your content, you'll be linked back to.
4. Get social signals - A major part of ranking videos these days is the presence of social signals. Shares, views, embeds, channel subscribes and comments all play a large part in where your video winds up. Try not to artificially inflate these with fake views and comments, as these are easily discovered and will not help your cause.
5. Get links - Oftentimes you will not need to do this last step, if you have done the previous ones, but in the case of hard to rank for keywords, you might need to build backlinks to your video. Again, try to do this organically and not artificially, or it could have the opposite effect of what you've wanted.

7 Tips for Better Conversion Rates for Your Checkout Pages

7 Tips for Better Conversion Rates for Your Checkout Pages

Going to all the effort of getting a prospective buyer to the checkout page, and then seeing them abandon the cart, as some 67 percent of them do, is a real problem.
Some of this is natural: second thoughts, distractions, and the like. But what we should minimize here is the things you might be doing to sabotage your own sales. Listed below are 7 ways to improve your checkout page conversions you may not have thought of.


7 Easy checkout page conversion tips

1. Free shipping - Whenever possible, you need to be able to offer free shipping for any physical product that you can. Obviously if you're selling tractors, we can fudge some here, but high shipping costs and the lack of perceived value in that are the #1 reason people abandon shopping carts.
2. Words matter - The text you use on your calls to action and especially any purchase buttons should be carefully planned and tested. It can be the difference between a purchase or an exit.
3. Clutter free forms - Make certain you're not asking for anything you don't absolutely need in your shopping cart forms with respect to information. People are only going to give you what's necessary for the transaction, and if you press for more, they're outa there.
4. Reassurance works - Trust seals and especially guarantees near the credit card fields make a big difference.
5. Easy contact information - Give prospective customers ways to contact you if they need more information. This can be an email, phone or webpage.
6. Images sell - It's good for a person to see what they're buying before they pull the trigger. Including a small product image on the checkout page can suffice.
7. Live chat - If you discover that your product offering is receiving a lot of questions, check your sales copy and think about offering a live chat solution to help. The simple act of connecting with another human may be all the push they need to complete the sale.

Here is a beautiful info graph showing you the way 

See These 10 Email Marketing Best Practices

See These 10 Email Marketing Best Practices

Email marketing can be quite a tricky business, and what is acceptable is subject to change over time, so it's a smart idea to revisit email marketing best practices routinely. What works best is affected by other aspects and technology changes, so if we want to get the very best results we need to keep current.

Ten best practices for email marketing

1. Craft an attention-getting subject line - This is task one, as if you don't make this something that compels an open, you're finished. Use short, bold and punchy text
2. Mobile optimized emails - If you're not mobilizing for mobile now, you're losing out, as some 67 percent of all emails are now opened via a mobile device.
3. Let them know who it's from - Having a bland perfunctory "From" address may lead to your emails never getting opened. Make it identifiable.
4. Utilize several calls to action - If you really want the click, sell it, and make sure you have one of these above the fold.
5. Make the body text brief and to the point - No one is looking forward to reading a thousand word email, so don't be that guy! Say what you need to say, using bullet points if you have several points, and ask them to click elsewhere for more.
6. Include videos and pictures - Visual content is extremely popular these days, and there is a lot of evidence that it converts much better than mere text.
7. Emphasize benefits to reader - Don't spend time talking about you: all they really want to know is what's in it for them, so be sure not to disappoint.
8. Don't send too little or too much - This is one you need to test, as all audiences are a bit different, but rest assured that once a month is too little, and a dozen times a week is excessive.
9. Encourage and enable social sharing - Using social sharing effectively doubles your click through rate. Any more questions?
10. Create compelling content - Delivering valuable, timely content your readers can use will do you more good than almost any other of these best practices. Become somebody they would like to hear from, and you're halfway home.

6 elements of a Converting Landing Page

6 elements of a Converting Landing Page

It is easier than ever to set up a landing page these days, with oodles of tools to choose from to generate beautiful pages in a few simple clicks.
But let's suppose you want it to actually convert customers into sales or other actions? That's a bit more involved, and has a few indispensable steps connected to it. Let's see what goes into a highly converting landing page.


6 Ways to convert visitors to your landing pages

1. A killer headline - You never get a second chance to make a first impression, and this is the element your visitor sees first. You should make this headline not just get them to read on, but also understand that they need to take action on this offer.
2. Use compelling images and videos - There's no doubt about it: videos on your landing pages convert far better than those without, so don't ignore this!
3. Emphasize the benefits - People want to know what it will do for them, not what it will do. See the difference? Make liberal use of bullet points to indicate this, rather than a long block of text.
4. Use a clear call to action - If you tell people in no uncertain terms precisely what you want them to do next, you'll find that much more of the time they will do it. Don't be shy about this. Also make your buy or download buttons stand out from the rest of the page, using color and persuasive text.
5. Use customer testimonials - Using terrific testimonials from previous customers is a great way to use social proof to make it easier for people to click that button. You don't need a lot of them either; one or two will do.
6. Employ scarcity - Like it or not, scarcity tactics work, and people will click on your offer versus missing out, if you have done a good job telling them exactly why they need this now! Word of caution however: be truthful. If you use false scarcity, they won't trust you next time around.

Facebook for your business what you should and shouldn't be doing

Facebook for your business what you should and shouldn't be doing

Facebook is an incredible platform for business, despite what you may have been told. Although many would have it remain the world's largest kitten and baby photo repository, it has definite uses for business, and smart marketers are making very sizeable gains by utilizing Facebook.
There are some definite do's and don'ts with regards to using Facebook for business, and the thing you don't want to do is to have yourself or worse, your brand, viewed as a marketing parasite that's only there to take their money. (Whether that's true or not)

Have a look at what to do and what not to when marketing your business on Facebook!
Be sure to

• Be quick to respond - If you leave people waiting for days or weeks before you get back to them, you've already lost.
• Briefer is better - Research now shows that posts of less than 80 characters are 66% more likely to be engaged with.
• Build your page organically - Building a popular page on Facebook is better done through having readers recommend and share you. You can help it along somewhat by running a Like campaign to a targeted group.
• Ask questions - This will engage like nothing else!
• Post great content - No one will share your content if it's sub-par. Make sure you are sharing something you would want to read, and more importantly that your audience would as well.
• Have a regular posting schedule - You'll need to test this for yourself to see what your audience wants, but it's safe to say that 1 time a week isn't enough, and a few dozen is too much, unless testing proves otherwise.
• Use the Facebook ad platform - Probably the best PPC platform available to the public at large, it's a terrific way to expand your reach.
• Be sure to share - Let the world find out about your content by sharing it across all your channels and platforms.
• Engage - Get acquainted with your audience and directly talk to them, It will pay off.

Be sure not to

• Sell all the livelong day - Nobody wants to be constantly sold to, so don't do it! Adopt the 80/20 rule as regards content to offers.
• Ignore questions or problems - A surefire recipe for disaster.
• Make huge posts - This isn't the place for long-form content. Link out to it on your blog if you need to.
• Buy Page Likes - This is like buying fake sales. A page with thousands of fans but minimal to no interaction is a dead giveaway.
• Post content not related to your business - This isn't your personal Facebook page, so don't treat is as such. Make it about your business and you'll be rewarded.

You Don't Ever need to Buy These SEO Services Again

You Don't Ever need to Buy These SEO Services Again

It's oftentimes challenging to know what exactly to do when you're working to get your site ranked in the search engines. You'll hear a lot of advice, some of it actually good, but exactly how do you know what to listen to and what not?
Unfortunately there isn't any easy answer. A lot of the SEO advice you see comes with a price tag, that is, someone wishing to sell you something. SEO is one of those things that morph over time, and there's no certainty that what worked last year has any hope of doing anything for you now. Worse, it could hurt you irreparably.
So instead of raise the white flag of surrender, let's take note of 5 SEO services we know no longer work, so you aren't tempted to spend any of your precious marketing budget on them.
5 SEO Services to Skip

1. Anything starting with Y - Specifically, Yelp, Yext and the YellowPages. We'll give Yahoo a pass for the moment. These companies all want to help you get a more robust presence in local search, but the fact is they are having a hard time remaining legitimate themselves. Get listings and reviews the old fashioned way - earn them!
2. Avoid search engine submission services - You can do this yourself, and the thing is is you really don't even need to. The search engines, especially Google, prefer to find your pages on their own. Just give full attention to creating great content, and announcing it via your social media platforms, and the hard work is done. Not so hard, right, and it was free.
3. Don't spin your content and shoot it out all over the web - One time someone thought that since a little content was great, a lot would be greater. Doesn't work that way. This was the basis for the recent Google Penguin update that purged the internet of a lot of sites containing duplicate and spun content.
4. Don't build link farms - Farms are great, for corn. Thinking you will game Google by building linkwheels and site pyramids is a fools wager. This did work for a time, but that was a long time ago.
5. Don't buy links - Google can tell if you purchase links, and the best you will achieve from that is that they won't do you any good; the worst, well, you won't be able to find your site in Google. Enough reason? Thought so.

How to Come Up with Social Media Posts that Get Clicks

How to Come Up with Social Media Posts that Get Clicks
It's tough enough making sure you are fitting enough time into your day to make your social media efforts happen. It's a tragedy if all of that effort is wasted!
After wracking your brain to make clever and useful posts for your Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and Google+ account or whatever combination you happen to use, if no one is moved to click on the links you've placed in those posts it's simply not worth the time.
So now what, should you junk it all? No, instead use the following 3 tips to goose your social media audience into clicking on your links and heading where you want them to go!
3 Tips to get more clicks from your social media posts

1. Ask for the click and share - First and foremost, the easiest way to get more clicks from your social media posts is to just ask for them. Carefully compose your calls to action so that there's no question what you want them to do. This goes for sharing, also. Subconsciously, if you make the suggestions they will be far more likely to act upon it.
2. Give them something to look at - These days all of us love to watch videos, look at images, pore over infographics and otherwise engage visually. Oftentimes you can kill two birds with one stone with just the promise of a video or infographic that can be had for a click, which gets you both what you want.
3. What's in it for me? - People need a compelling reason to click through. This is where you can make the decision very easy for them by offering a helpful bribe that practically guarantees the click. The only way this doesn't work is if your call to action is weak or nonexistent, or you don't deliver real, relevant value. There's nothing that will draw the ire of a reader faster than a marketer who is trying to deceive, so be sure the bribe matches their interests.

Here's a link to a recent article from NewsCred and 56 reasons content matters

3 Killer Ways to Use Google Hangouts in Your Business

3 Killer Ways to Use Google Hangouts in Your Business
Google Hangouts are a terrific platform for melding your online video marketing with your social media. Directly connected to your Google+ account, it has the advantage of being very easy to use, and fast. You can go online and create a Hangout, and start broadcasting in minutes, and then after that find it uploaded to your YouTube channel for you! Actually sounds like a perfect business medium to me.
Hangouts are easy to conduct, and once done they are immediately loaded to your YouTube Channel, allowing a seamless transition for you to be able to market with it.
If you haven't already thought about using Google Hangouts for your business, here are 3 reasons why you should.

3 Great Reasons to Incorporate Google Hangouts into your Business

1. Great alternative to webinars - Small businesses often can't afford the expense of using services like GoToWebinar, which can run you north of $500 a month if you have sizeable audiences. Hangouts are free, drop-dead easy to start, and require no elaborate tech setup. What's more, Google will record it all for you and send it to your YouTube account when you're done. Hangouts are an effortless way to hold a "webinar" without the expense and expertise required of other platforms.
2. Give a glimpse into your business - Hangouts are an easy way to show off your latest products, introduce new services, and give a look inside your business. Using hangouts for instruction and customer service are fantastic ways to increase your brand authority and give customers top-notch service. This is especially valid if you use social media in partnership with Hangouts to widen your reach.
3. Engagement and fast service - Hangouts are really good for engaging with your audience, especially a small one. Being virtually face to face with your audience is invaluable, and has a great many benefits with regards to your efforts to brand yourself in your chosen market. Hangouts also make it possible to be a participant in what is becoming known as Agile marketing, that is, the ability to quickly respond to trends and market events with answers and solutions. This ability on your part will resonate wide within your market.

How to Avoid Making These 7 Linkedin Mistakes

How to Avoid Making These 7 LinkedIn Mistakes

LinkedIn has quickly become a social media powerhouse among professional and business people. The days of it being merely a place to dump your resume are long past, as LinkedIn now drives four times as many visitors to your home page as Facebook and Twitter combined. In addition to that, newer initiatives on the site like the ability to post content and the new ad platform bode well for the future prospects of the platform as it pertains to business.
Unfortunately, a lot of us are strapped for time and already burdened with way too many tasks, fail to take the time to optimize our LinkedIn so as to receive the full benefit it offers. Let's attempt to help you change that right this moment.
7 Ways you can really blow it with LinkedIn

1. A lousy picture - You get one chance at this. Make your photo on LinkedIn one that speaks to your professional demeanor and will get you connections. The photos from your last big party are most likely not what we're going to use here.
2. Use your headline well - You've got a mere 120 characters to tell the world what you're about, so think it over and don't settle for bland. Give an accurate headline, truthful and yet enticing, all at the same time.
3. Not taking advantage of the Summary Section - Here you have 2000 characters to make a statement about you and your skills. Use as much as is necessary to sell the world on you. Consider it an elevator pitch if you will, and do your best to craft one that draws interest.
4. An incomplete profile - Do this and you're telling the world that you really don't care about the way people view you, which is generally enough reason for them to move on.
5. Not posting links - LinkedIn offers you a great chance to link to your website and social media channels. Take advantage of this. If someone is interested enough in you to want to visit your site, don't make them head over to Google to find you. Drop a link!
6. Don't spam the community - Many have tried and all have failed. LinkedIn users can smell spam at a distance, so don't even consider it. It's just too valuable to do it legitimately.
7. Not being present - Not updating your account for months at a time is a sure sign of a person unclear on the concept. Update often, make connections, and use the platform the way it was intended to be used. It will pay off for you!