Small Business Complete Consultation

What is Needed for Local SEO in 2015?

What is Needed for Local SEO in 2015?

Local SEO has evolved over the last several years from a fairly simple proposition to one that is a little more involved. While that may look "harder" on the surface, what it actually represents is a lot of opportunity for those who are willing to do what's necessary to get their sites to rank well locally.
There are several best practices that can help with this, and we've endeavored to list a lot of them here. Above all, be consistent, and do not stop! Several of these you might be familiar with, but others may be new.

2015 Local SEO Best Practices

1. Site speed - Make your site a speed demon: it matters as a Google ranking signal.
2. Mobile - If you're wanting to lose out on half the traffic on the Web these days, go ahead and forget about making a responsive mobile design of your site.
3. Do you on-page SEO - While it can be dead boring and tedious to do this, your title tags, descriptions, internal links and website schema are vital cogs when it comes to ranking your pages.
4. Reviews and Citations - Still important for 2015, with solid reviews becoming more so.
5. Quality inbound links - Get more high quality links preferably on account of your content, and whatever you do don't buy links.
6. Give your content a local flavor - As much for visitors as for anything, making sure your content appeals to the local audience is a good idea.
7. Geotag your images - Geo-tagging your images with local geographic information tells Google what it needs to know, and greatly enhances your chances of showing up accurately in Maps.
8. Encourage social signals - Besides likely being a search engine signal, social media can become a far-reaching evangelist for your brand.
9. NAP data - As always, making sure your business information is consistent across ALL your platforms is critical. You should probably start right here!

Local SEO in 2015 may be a tad bit more involved than in years past, but the rewards for getting it right are also greater. Don't let it wait another day!

Need help with your SEO plan and implementation go here to get your free site evaluation. Awareness is the key to change and what you don't know can kill your chances for online success.

Check Out These 4 Productivity Tools to Free You Up

Check Out These 4 Productivity Tools to Free You Up

Most of us really enjoy tools, particularly when they save you a lot of time and money. That's the best and highest use of these tools, to give us the information we need to make changes that can have a real difference in our businesses.
There are a lot of great tools available, and it can a little overwhelming just figuring out what you need. Not only that, many are hard to use, and involve a huge learning curve.
Every year there are incredible tools that can save you a lot of heartache and time, and you would be wise to save as many hours of manual labor as possible with the use of a couple of them. Here are 4 tools that can help with productivity, in no special order of importance.

4 Tools to improve productivity in your business

Canva - Not quite the Photoshop expert you want to be and don't have the time or resources to learn it? Don't worry, there's a free solution you can make use of called Canva. Canva helps you create awesome graphics using a simple interface anyone can use. No learning curve, and like I said, it's free!
SproutSocial - If you've ever seen this site, you know what a analytics wonderland it is, and how much you can use the intelligence it gives you. Not just an analytics tool, you can also use SproutSocial to post and engage with your audience right from the platform. Very cool tool suite.
Moz - Long a favorite among people needing to learn more about their site's SEO, Moz continues to offer great tools to gather data about your site, keywords, you're your competition in a comprehensive fashion. There's not a whole lot this suite of tools can't do in this realm.
Mention - Would like to know what people are saying when it comes to you and your brand? You can track keywords, brand mentions and more from nearly any device, as well as discover the sentiment of the mention, so as to save you time and reputation.
This is just four of the many tools you can get to help with productivity. Employ these or others to help you get some of your time back, which I'm, positive you can find a use for!

Learn What Social Proof is and How It Can Best Be Used

Learn What Social Proof is and How It Can Best Be Used

Once social media became the immense resource it is now, it was simply a matter of time before the concept of social proof, which is the tacit approval and conformation to a particular point of view or taste because many of their compatriots do, became an important commodity.
The ability to influence large groups of people with a notion totally supported by the crowd is a heady idea. There are many types of social proof out there, and they can bet put to use in the form of testimonials, expert endorsements, sheer numbers and more.
There are lots of ways to use social proof, for the time being let's consider 5 different types, and let you begin to grasp how you might use them in your business.

5 Powerful types of social proof

1. Celebrity social proof - You've seen this one a million times, as the latest, hottest celebrities tout products they like. Now I'm sure Peyton Manning eats pizza, but that's not why it works. It works because people LIKE Peyton, and trust him. Papa John is smiling all the way to the bank.
2. Scarcity ploy - In this consumer-driven society we live in we all live with the fear of missing out. This is because you or someone else has just informed them that they really need this right now, just like dozens others just like them have gone for this limited time, one-time only offer.
3. Expert social proof - There's something about placing your trust in someone who has been there, or is viewed as an authority or expert on the subject that conveys just enough trust to get people to buy into the offer. This is where the term "influencer" comes from, and is a powerful technique in sales these days.
4. User generated - Having your customers provide unsolicited reviews is something that happens often. (And much more often if you encourage the practice!) It's what you do with these that counts. Visitors to your page often see this as the tipping point because these unbidden "testimonials" carry an air of authenticity that a paid endorsement and other social proof only wish it had.
5. Peer pressure - The power of social media can extend into the personal lives of users, when they are recommending things to their friends. There is an unwritten obligation to take this more seriously, and maybe give it a chance, based solely on their friends recommendation. I guess the lesson here is be careful who your friends are!

Are You Making Any of These SEO Blunders?

Are You Making Any of These SEO Blunders?

Getting ranked well in the search engines is not an easy task, so to shoot yourself in the foot by making costly SEO mistakes is, well; not advised.
Many times it's unintentional, and other times it merely misguided. However it occurs you can be sure the results are the same: lost rankings, penalties and lost revenue.
So in the spirit of helping you avoid these expensive and foolish mistakes, let's take a peek at 5 common SEO goofs that can cost you big!

5 SEO Blunders to avoid at all costs!

Poor On-Page SEO - Simply put, Google has more than 200 ranking factors that it uses to properly categorize and rank your website. Much of this can be found in the on-page SEO that is done, not done, or done badly. Make sure each page has a proper title tag and description, images are properly tagged, and make sure page load times are good.
Not diversifying your keywords - The days of stuffing your pages with the keyword you wished to rank for are gone. You still need keywords, but make an effort not to hit visitors over the head with them, and be sure to include relevant verbiage throughout the page as well.
Duplicate content pages on your site - An easy way to get penalized by Google is having duplicate content on your site. It appears to them as though you are trying to get more pages ranked for the same keywords by using the same content. Whether or not it's your intention, it will cost you. Try looking in your Google Webmaster Tools account to tell if they find any issues with this.
Bad link profile - If you are in the practice of buying links for your sites, your days are numbered as far as rankings in Google are concerned. The algorithm is getting better and better at ferreting out bad links and imposing penalties on the sites that are using them. A word to the wise…
Indexability issues - If Google can't find or read your pages, you might have a problem. (You WILL have a problem!) There are a number of ways this can happen, from broken links to faulty redirects, too much flash and even blocking the search engines entirely. Hopefully this one you'll not fall victim too!

5 E-Commerce Solutions You May Want to Look Into

5 E-Commerce Solutions You May Want to Look Into

How many of us are born knowing how to setup and implement an e-Commerce system? I thought so. But really, choosing and setting up an e-Commerce solution for your small business doesn't need to be such a challenging endeavor. All it takes is finding the right system, and we're going to take a look at several of those right here, right now.
When comparing solutions make sure you keep your own needs front of mind, as it is super easy to opt for a solution that is a lot more than you really need. That said, let's look at 5 e-Commerce solutions that are excellent for startups.

5 Terrific E-Commerce Solutions for startups

Volusion - Volusion is a good spot to get your feet wet. Very economical at just $15 a month and no transaction fees, they have lots of of templates, a powerful website builder, along with numerous other features including SEO built right in, and a shopping cart, as well as 24/7 support.
Square Market - This choice provides you with a way to get your storefront up in minutes, with a wealth of features including personalized store logo and images, flexible promotional codes, adjustable tax rates, size and color options, social media links, online marketing tools, mobile-ready storefronts and more. There's also no monthly fees, and merchants are charged 2.75% per sale.
Shopify - Another entry-level solution that gives a 14-day free trial, and charges $14 a month with no transaction fees. With more than 100 templates to choose from, Shopify is drop-dead easy to set up, and Shopify Mobile (Shopify's own mobile credit card reader) and Shopify POS (Shopify's iPad point-of-sale system) can make selling anywhere a reality.
WooCommerce - For the WordPress users among us, and there are many, WooCommerce is a top choice. Seamless integration into your existing WordPress install, and the additional benefits of the countless plugins WordPress has to offer.
BigCommerce - One of the first and now serving the mid-level market and over 55,000 websites, BigCommerce has a whole lot more features, but can also be a tad more complex. Primarily intended for mid to high volume businesses. Prices start at $29.95 with a 1.5% transaction fee.

Take a Look at Website Design Trends for Small Business in 2015

Take a Look at Website Design Trends for Small Business in 2015

As 2015 is now fully upon us, we thought it useful to look at several web design trends taking hold for small business sites. Many of these you may have seen before, but were unacquainted with the reason for them or the usefulness they may provide. Others may not work for you.
Some have come about due to advances in technology, and others are merely cosmetic or related to user experience. Still, judge each with an eye open as to their best uses for your particular site, and not necessarily for any buzz or good press. Even though infinite scrolling may work for Facebook doesn't mean it's suitable for your site.
So let's jump right in and see what's trending now in web design for small business in 2015.

5 Trends in small business web design

Employing Infinite scrolling - Infinite scrolling has become all the rage over the last year or so. The ability to keep the reader engaged over one long stream of content can work for some, like Facebook for instance, and not for others. Make sure it serves your ultimate visitor goals before you use this.
Responsive design - Undeniably, a responsive site is no longer an option for 2015. With more than half the Web traffic originating from a mobile device, it's crucial that your site show up well on all platforms.
A clean spare look - Lots of white space and lean blocks of text are what readers want these days, and the extra space gives your pages an uncluttered, relaxed feel. This works with the mantra of keeping things simple and direct, and leaving your visitors with fewer distractions and choices.
Play with fonts and color - Don't feel totally constrained in regards to fonts and color. Make a statement and paint your web canvas with the look and feel of the message you want to convey. This doesn't mean making large textual sections in a stylish, hard to read font, but selective use of creative fonts and colors can spice things up quite nicely.
Make social media prominent - We operate in a social Web, and you need to facilitate this on your site. Employ obvious and easy to use social media buttons on your pages, and encourage their use!

What to Do When Your Site Loses Ranking

What to Do When Your Site Loses Ranking

Maybe this has happened to you: you awaken one morning to find your site has disappeared from the search engine universe, nowhere to be found. Even though it's only dropped a few pages, it might as well be a thousand.
Before doing anything radical and reactionary, we would like to offer you some sensible steps to take that can minimize the freefall your pages may be in.
Search engine shifts happen, and while you can't control Google, you can take action to minimize the effects such a shuffle in your ranking has on your business. To help with this we've come up with 5 ways you can make the best of a bad situation.

5 Strategies to minimize a drop in rankings

1. Have a site and rankings monitor in place - It's a very good idea to have your site's search engine position monitored, so you can not only see when there is a huge problem, but also the trends that are taking place over time with your rankings. There is no substitute for this kind of intelligence.
2. Plug into social media more - There is a vast audience out there you can turn to for help with traffic and links, and this is social media. Although it may be harder in some ways to convert this traffic, the mere fact that's coming is a sign that your pages are still relevant, and this matters to Google.
3. Look at your Google Webmaster Tools - This is a valuable resource that can help you spot penalties and SEO issues very quickly. If you are not signed up for this, avail yourself of it immediately. It is free and is packed with useful assistance.
4. Look into your SEO - when there are ranking problems, it's always wise to look in the mirror first. See what if any SEO issues you can find with your pages, such as missing title tags, descriptions, alt tags, flash and some of the other 200 or so ranking factors. Like it or not, these issues are part of how Google ranks you pages.
5. Produce more content and links - Make it your mission to carry on and create good content and incoming backlinks. It might be a smart idea to expand your topic and keyword profile at this point, while still remaining relevant, to see if these pages begin to rank well.

Why You Need to be Using Online Coupons

Why You Need to be Using Online Coupons

We hope you haven't made the mistake of assuming that online coupons are no longer a viable method to use in your marketing mix, because you could be making a costly mistake!
The fact is, 55% of all internet users now routinely access and u
se online coupons, resulting in more and higher sales. Clearly the consumer has gotten more comfortable couponing, and now make searching for coupon deals an integral part of the shopping process.
Think of coupons as advertising, and an effective form of it at that. They are also a terrific source of intelligence about your business and products, and shed a lot of light on what your customer base is really after. Let's look at 7 top places to put your coupon offers, and get you started on the road to greater profit.

7 Hot spots to advertise with your coupons

Valpak - An offline service that reaches consumers through the mailbox, Valpak is a trusted direct marketing mailer, that consumers are used to seeing.
Red Plum - Another offliner that is now online as well, Red Plum is known for physical coupons that come in your Sunday newspaper. They also have an online and direct mail component.
Groupon - The first of the big online couponing sites, Groupon has become a trusted behemoth in the couponing sector, offering many daily deals and other offers.
Living Social - Another of the original online couponing companies, Living Social makes a speciality of the deal of the day market.
Yelp for Business - Not only is Yelp a major player when it comes to citations and online reviews, Yelp Deals allow you to offer coupons much like Groupon but a bit less expensive. A good one to use if you have a good set of reviews there.
RetailMeNot - This is a truly monstrous site, with over half a million coupons available. Many are from major stores whose names you will recognize, and many more from small vendors.
Your email newsletter - Make sure that if you have a current email list you are sending offers to them. This form of email advertising works very well, and results in better open rates, higher transactions, and significantly improved customer loyalty.

How's that 2015 Marketing Plan Working Out So Far?

What's in your Marketing Plan for 2015?

Having a comprehensive and workable marketing plan together for your online business should be one of the first orders of the day for 2015.
Having a clear and precise roadmap of where you're going and how you want to get there is vital to your short and longer term success.
But what should you really include in your plan for marketing in 2015? What specific items or initiatives stand out as things that will propel your business to where you want it to go, and not merely stand pat. Let's have a look at 5 things you'll want to consider when crating your 2015 marketing plan.

5 Ideas to perhaps include in your 2015 marketing plan

Create a content marketing initiative - If one of your goals in 2015 is to create and post more content, and it should be, understand that doing so can help in several ways. Not only for the immediate benefits of new and fresh content for your web properties, but also providing you the ability to repurpose some of that into various forms, multiplying your efforts.
Get into video if you haven't already - And if you have, get further involved! This is a visual Web, and people would rather watch than read, sad to say. But you need to give them what they want, so make sure video and visual content takes on a significant part in your 2015 plan.
Check out your SEO - If you are not getting the organic search rankings you are after, it might be time to either do some SEO yourself, (if you are able) or hire it out to someone who knows how. This can pay dividends for some time moving forward.
Look into alternative sources of traffic - Google isn't everything, and there are many other viable sources of traffic out there that can drive loads of visitors to your pages. This might also be the time to get into paid traffic, as there are more and cheaper ways to make it happen than ever before.
Adding any new products this year? - If you are planning to add another product, or several, this year, make sure to account for this in your plan, as it certainly will need some time and money as well.

How to Create an Bursting Content Calendar for 2015

How to Create an Bursting Content Calendar for 2015

Now that we all agree that terrific content is a necessity going forward in 2015 and beyond, the question then becomes exactly how do we implement this initiative with the time and talents we have available?
While there will always be changes happening, such as the need for longer and better quality content, the changing mediums in which that content can be delivered and more, it's beneficial to plan how we can fill up our content marketing calendar in 2015.
So let's jump right into what you will need to consider when doing your content marketing planning.

7 Tips for content marketing planning in 2015

Video - It's been said every year for quite a while, but video simply refuses to cool off. It will see another surge in growth this year, and is a perfect vehicle for delivering content. Make it your business to either start or maximize your video marketing footprint this year.
Utilize and expand your social media - Social can do many wonderful things for content marketing, Not only does it inform you well about what your audience is thinking about, it is a perfect vehicle for promotion and reach.
Look back at 2014 - Take a trip down memory lane and figure out what worked well for your audience in 2014. This can easily be done by looking at site analytics and customer comments, to see what struck a chord last year.
Ask the horse's mouth - Ask your audience directly what they like or want to see, by using a poll, quiz, contest or survey. Bribe them if necessary!
Repurposing your best content - Take popular pieces of content and repurpose them into different media. For example, slice up a good post into social media posts, videos, Tweets and even memes.
Curate great content - Another terrific method for providing value for your audience while at the same time boosting your own authority and content is by curating content you find on the Web.
Try new flavors of content - If there is some channel of content creation you've yet to explore, such as podcasts or long form content like whitepapers, perhaps it's time. Your audience might be hungering for this!

Not Sure About your Keyword Research? See How to Do it in 2015!

Not Sure About your Keyword Research? See How to Do it in 2015!

Quite a few people are asking if keywords remain relevant in 2015, and the simple answer is, yes. Keywords still play a key role in online marketing, no matter the medium, whether for ranking pages on your site or blog, videos, imagery, paid search or more, you will find that keywords are one of the main items you will want to keep in mind when planning your web content.
Like it or not, keywords are still the primary way Google ranks your content, whether that's in the form of web page, blog post, video or anything else. Google's ranking algorithm considers how well you are optimized for the particular keywords, and ranks you in the search results accordingly. For this reason it's imperative to make sure we are targeting the proper keyword from the outset.
To help with that, let's look at 5 items you'll want to consider as you select the keywords for your content.

5 Things to think about when embarking upon keyword research

1. Decide what you'll use keywords for - Presumably you have a plan for these keywords, and if not, this is a great time to clarify this. Will they be used for new content, web pages, social media, visual content (videos and more) or what? Knowing this early on is helpful, especially when it's time to cross-promote.
2. Identify the keywords common to your market - Simply by looking at the top site in your market you'll be able to identify several of the more prominent phrases people are optimizing their content for. This will give you a decent starting place for your research.
3. Take a look at your competition - This can be done with the help of tools, or again by taking a close look at their pages. Check under the hood for title tags, page descriptions and keyword tags, if they made use of them.
4. Employ tools to help do the work - Luckily for us there are lots of keyword research tools out there, most of them sport a free version, such as the Google Keyword Planner, SEMRush, and KeywordTool.io.
5. Discover the intent - Now comes the hard part, where you actually have to use your brain. The best keywords are those that people are searching on with the intent to take action. This usually isn't the keywords everyone else is using. This is where you take your list, and attempt to get inside the mind of a searcher and discover their intent. Doing this will help you outstrip your competition quickly!

Don't get overwhelmed this is one place I highly recommend hiring out unless you really truly know what you are doing. Wasting money and choosing  the wrong keywords can damage your organic reach. If you are looking to add this to your and want help go to ppc and display ads help 

Look at These 5 Ways to Screw Up Your SEO

Look at These 5 Ways to Screw Up Your SEO

Performing SEO can be complicated business, and the effects what you or someone you hire does may have lasting and significant impact for your pages.
Whether do it yourself or hire your SEO out, you've got to be aware of what not only just doesn't work, but also what may indeed be counter-productive, and harm you even more.
Let's have a look at 5 SEO mistakes that are easy to make and sometimes hard to undo.
5 SEO mistakes to avoid at all costs!

Keywords and anchor text - Google has now polished the search engine algorithm to the point now where it can easily detect heavy-handed attempts to game the system. No longer can you get away with much, and the resulting penalties can be harsh if you're caught trying. Instead, aim for natural keyword profiles with plenty of related verbiage, and together with that, a diversified and sensible anchor text policy using naturally occurring keywords, naked URLs, and other generic terms.
Avoid using Tags - The primary reason you'll need to avoid the use of tags is that they automatically create a duplicate content issue for you. Use categories instead. And if you use a tag cloud you've only added to the problem by using valuable front page real estate as well.
Don't use Flash - In the quest for some stunning visual effect, many designers are tempted (or forced) to use Flash. The damage done to your SEO and mobile can make it very unwise to do so.
Ignoring Mobile - It's not an option. More than 60% of web users access via mobile, and now Google has even gone to the point of ranking unresponsive sites lower in their mobile search, and labeling them with a rather unflattering tag that this page "May not work on your device".
Not taking advantage of internal linking - The best way to secure better rankings as of late is to make sure your pages are optimized well, and the primary element here is sound internal linking. Google loves this, and it is a far easier get than valuable external links.

The Perfect Client Thank You - Use Social Media

The Perfect Client Thank You - Use Social Media

One fantastic idea that is clearly under-used is the practice of using social media to thank your clients and customers. Not only is the social media real estate free, it's immediate, and can have a massive reach if done well.
Not just that, there are rumors that non-linked social mentions will be a factor going forward in Google's search algorithm.

Let's have a look at 7 ways you can integrate this into your business.

7 Ways to thank your clients using social media

Twitter - Giving your client a shout out on Twitter can be a terrific way to show your appreciation. This works well with links and images of the work, and can lead to more work if you have a large following.
Endorse them on LinkedIn - This is one of the purposes of LinkedIn, and it is well set up for this. You can leave a review on your page, their page, your groups, or post in status feed. This could easily result in more work for them!
Leave on online review - Leaving a review on a site like Yelp can help both you and your client! All small businesses need online citations in the form of reviews.
Use Facebook - Posting about them on your Facebook business page can bring the news to a lot of people quickly.
Record a video Testimonial and put it on YouTube - An excellent way to show your thanks is by creating a video testimonial. This can be shared and potentially enjoy a very wide reach.
Share an image on Pinterest - Pinterest users are very eager to buy, and sharing images of their work for you there can work really well. Especially with the female demographic! (70% of Pinterest users)
Feature them in your company newsletter - If you distribute a company newsletter, a short spotlight on your client can easily garner them more leads, and you as well!

Should You Do It Yourself or Have it Done For You in Your Small Business

How to Decide Between DIY or DFY in Your Small Business

When you're just starting out with your small business, the temptation is omnipresent to attempt as much as you can yourself. This is not just from a cost standpoint, but also a sense that you can do this. While it's a good idea to have a basic grasp on things, there are many things you'll need help with, and just don't make sense to try and learn.
For example, coding a website from the ground up takes a skill set you probably don't possess, and would take a while to learn. Easier to hire that out. This isn't always the case however. Some things you can and should do. Let's look at several of the factors that will inform your decision as to whether to go with DIY or DFY.

Is DIY or DFY best for your small business?

• Ask yourself what you truly want to do in your business. Do you want to be the one doing almost everything, or do you not want to "work" in your business much at all, wanting instead to be the executive or visionary.
• Brutally assess your skill sets, and weigh whether or not it makes sense expense and time wise to do a particular task.
• If you do hire out, seek to get personal recommendations whenever possible, and never pay in full upfront. Schedule payments on a staged delivery basis, to ensure that the work will actually get done and that you won't get taken for a bundle.
• Think carefully before opting to write your own copy, in particular sales copy and emails. These are two areas crucial to your income, and if you don't know what you're doing, it will show in your receipts!
• Look to maintain a unified look and vision to all your online properties. When you have several people working on your business, it's easy to lose your look and become fragmented. Stay clear about what you want to see!

Each business is different, and solutions vary. There is no one size fits all here, but no matter which road you choose, remembering that the buck stops with you helps keep things in perspective!

You will have to pick the best solution for your business and sometimes outsourcing to another company, employee or friend could free up your mind to create a better business. If you are looking for a team I can definitely help you just go to this website and fill out the contact form and someone will be in touch to set up a getting started strategy session.

Have you tried Using Google Webmaster Tools for your SEO?

Have you tried Using Google Webmaster Tools for your SEO?

If you are a newcomer to Google Webmaster Tools or haven't even given it a test drive yet, you should know that there are a number of very useful tools that will help you with your site's SEO.
What better place to find out what's ailing your site than where it matters most, Google. After all, they are dealing out the search rankings, and it's good to know what they think about your pages.
Google Webmaster Tools is a huge suite of tools. For the time being let's concentrate on 4 areas that will give you a lot of bang for your buck.

4 Great Google Webmaster Tools reports to inform your SEO

HTML improvements - The HTML Improvements report is a very handy tool indeed for SEO. It can show you things you need to be aware of, like how well or even if your Meta data is optimized, title and descriptions deficiencies, as well as duplicate content issues. Well worth a look.
Search Queries - Probably the most useful report, Search Queries returns loads of data including impressions, clicks, click-thru-rate, keyword terms searched, image and video SEO and more. The keyword section only goes back for 30 days, but it does give you some data you can use with other tools.
Crawl errors - The Crawl Errors report will show you which of your pages aren't resolving to their requested URL. This typically shows up in the form of a 404 Page not found error. It's extremely helpful to have this information, as it may be a simple matter of fixing a URL, link or redirecting.
Links to your site - This one returns a list of sites that are linking to your pages, and will show you what pages are drawing the most interest. This can be, and often is, quite surprising, as pages or content you may not have thought was significant may very well be drawing loads of traffic to your site!
Google Webmaster tools are a very useful tool for telling you what you need to be concerned with and fixing within your SEO. It should be your first stop, even if you do eventually use a more sophisticated paid tool to dive deeper.

Should Your Business Pay to Play on Social Media? You Bet!

Should Your Business Pay to Play on Social Media? You Bet!

Since there is no argument that now is the age of content marketing, the question then turns into how do we get our content noticed among the ocean of competing voices out there?
So what's the current best practice for getting your voice heard above the others vying for attention?
One way people are getting their content viewed and shared is through the use of something called paid social promotion. You might not have come across this before, so let's define it and see just what it can do for us.

Exactly what is paid social promotion?

Paid social promotion is the strategy of running social media ads to content you would like traffic to or have otherwise noticed. The advent of social networks like Facebook and others has made it quite simple to generate an incredibly wider reach than you might be capable of yourself, nearly instantly, and for a very modest investment. In fact, often times these ads pay for themselves several times over, often before the bill comes due!

Which social platforms do I need to use?

It seems there are new ad platforms springing up every day, but for our purposes we'll stick to a handful you may already have head of.

Facebook - Facebook's ad platform is by far your best option right now. The ability it offers to precisely target an audience, combined with the social and viral aspects of Facebook itself make this almost a no-brainer. It is very easy to use, and extremely affordable.
Twitter - Promoted Tweets work well for this sort of promotion, and you are able to target prospects by keyword and who they follow.
LinkedIn - Sponsored Updates from the LinkedIn platform are extremely powerful, and especially useful if you are a B2B.
Reddit - Reddit is loaded with rabid users, and using the niche ad option on their ad platform is the best choice here. This can send an avalanche of traffic in a short time!

7 Tips for Better Conversions and More Sales

7 Tips for Better Conversions and More Sales

Everyone would love better conversions. It's a necessity to remain in business, so the science of conversion optimization is taking on greater importance.
The littlest change can make a sizeable difference when it comes to conversions, so it would follow there are a number of elements we should be looking at.
For now though we will look at 7 tips for improving conversions to get you started down the road to more profits!

7 Smart tips for better conversion optimization

1. Don't give a lot of options - One of the most sure-fire ways to get people to abandon a cart or web form is to ask for excessive information. In the same way, even showing too many choices can freeze potential customers into inaction, and so lose the sale.
2. Test it all - Test every element of sales pages, as this is where you make your money. One single word misplaced can be the difference between a sale or nothing. Strive to use A/B tests, as they are less burdensome to run and can give you quick results.
3. Know your colors - Colors evoke emotions, and if yours are creating a message in opposition to your sales message, you have a problem. Be sure you understand the science of colors as they apply to sales.
4. Visual content is huge - Since it's been demonstrated that the brain processes visual media 60,000 times faster than textual data, it's important to understand that you need not only to have imagery in the form of videos and pictures, you also need the right ones. Test this carefully.
5. Take care with your calls to action - Don't use the stock buttons everyone else does. Be sure you test the shape, wording, placement and colors of your calls to action and buy buttons.
6. Remove navigation - Take away navigation to anything other than the action desired on pages where you hope to make a conversion. Your page should have one purpose, and one purpose only. Don't offer them a chance to be distracted by anything other than the task at hand!
7. Don't go with your gut - Trust the data, not your emotions. Many is the time marketers have fallen in love with text or visuals that turned out to be totally wrong. Let your testing tell you what works!

Building Your Brand Online for the Long Term

Building Your Brand Online for the Long Term

If you have an offline business and wish to take a version online, or simply want to begin a business online, you need to have an understanding of what exactly it takes to build your brand online.
In order to take your brand online you need to do some basic steps to get going.
Let's check out four steps to get you going with building your brand online.
Four easy steps to take your brand online
Here are some of the nuts and bolts you need to secure in order to successfully take your brand online.
Identify your audience and competition - For best results online, you'll need to have a very good idea who your ideal customers are, and in addition to that, who is also after their attention, or in other words, your competition. Knowing this information going in is very important.
Secure your Web properties - Purchasing a domain name for your brand that accurately reflects your business is essential. Have a website built. Don't choose a free site you see advertised, as this will severely limit your alternatives and you won't really own anything. Bite the bullet, secure web hosting, and get a site built that you can be happy with for a while.
Establish Social Media accounts - Social media is very important these days, because it can have a positive effect on traffic, authority, search ranks and a lot more. Deciding which social sites to make use of is up to you, but most likely you'll be using Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and YouTube. Create a presence on these sites and be sure to have consistency in your contact information across these as well as your website. Having this last element wrong could really cause search engine problems so pay attention to it!
Create content and engage - Begin posting and publishing across your new Web properties. This can seem tedious and unfruitful at first, but it's an important step. Cross promote from one to the other. For instance, announce a new blog post on Facebook or Twitter, etc. Once you start to have people comment and engage with you, you are ready to take your brand to the next level, that of establishing authority in your space, a topic for another article!

Never miss any tips sign up for our newsletter go here now

Want More Traffic? Craft Better Content

See How to Craft Content that Brings you Lots of Traffic 

You might have believed that you had content marketing covered when you've managed to post more often than once a week to your site or blog. The truth is, if you want it to actually bring the awesome results you're always hearing about, it's a bit more involved than just that.
The way to have this happen for you is easier than you might think, but requires a little outside the box thinking. In particular, you need to understand how to involve several different types of content into the mix, and use them together.
Let's see 7 ways you can create content that can attract more traffic, and not just one time!

7 Types of content that can bring loads of traffic to your site

1. Infographics - We are a visual Web, and infographics have grown to be one of the most popular ways to cram a lot of content into an interesting format. Even better, they are easily sharable, and can send tons of visitors to your site.
2. Make a case study - If you have had great results with a particular method or tactic, that could be just the ticket for creating an informative case study. Very hot right now!
3. Create a tutorial - Solving a problem for your audience with a step by step solution is a sure way to get a lot of traffic for a very long time.
4. Videos - People watch tons of video every month, and if you can create a smart, well-done explainer video for your site and market it wisely, you will have created a traffic stream that will shock you!
5. Record Podcasts - When people can't view your videos online, or if they are stuck with only their smartphone, they love to listen to podcasts. Easy to produce and distribute, they drive more traffic than you might think!
6. Interviews - Set up interviews with authority figures in your market and see your content get shared all over the internet.
7. Epic posts - Creating long form content that really tackles a subject thoroughly is an excellent way to have that content shared and get a lot of traffic. While this is not something you can likely do every day, it can also help establish your authority.

Want more tips and advice sign up for our newsletter here

Wanna Know What's Happening with Local Search Ranking Factors? Here You Go!

Wanna Know What's Happening with Local Search Ranking Factors? Here You Go!

It's that time of year again, when the SEO experts at Moz publish what has become the most authoritative report on the state of local search ranking factors for each year. The most up-to-date version came out in mid-October 2014, and reveals several interesting insights you'll want to know as you begin the new year. Moz surveys experts in the local search field and produces a report that details what they suspect Google is using to rank local pages.
Sometimes it can be difficult to wade through the SEO-speak, so in a nutshell, here are our takeaways from the latest report, issued October 13, 2014.

Top local search ranking factors 2014

• User Behavior on the site - What your users does once they arrive on your site appears to have a big influence in your ranking. Things like clickthroughs, getting directions, interactions with forms, etc. are receiving far greater attention from the algorithm.
• Proximity to the searcher - Google's algorithm is becoming more adept at GEOI locating your user, and sending them to appropriate results. They are even being able to detect desktop locations more effectively, a big change form even last year.
• Your domain's authority - This is rising fast. If you are a brand and are engaged in building authority and presence in the search engines, more and more Google is deciphering this and helping your pages to rank in front of the more spammy results.
• Citations still work - Citations are still a big part of the plan, and even unlinked citations from an authority site are appearing to be very useful and advantageous. Still strive to acquire more and better citations as part of ranking well locally.
• Your on-page SEO is the largest single factor - Still the largest single factor in ranking well locally is your on-page SEO. Make sure your NAP data, title keywords, GEO locators, and local engagement are up to speed to help you get great results in local rankings.

I would certainly encourage you to read the full report, which can be accessed through this page.

Easy Plan to Keep Up with Your Social Media

Easy Plan to Keep Up with Your Social Media

Okay, so you've got a couple social media accounts, and perhaps have even posted to them once or twice. So where is this surge of traffic and benefit you were supposed to reap? The truth is that if you're not making regular posts and sharing content, in addition to engaging with your followers you most likely won't make much of an impact.
Most businesses really don't have a plan with respect to social media maintenance. It seems an insurmountable task to maintain, especially if you're attempting to maintain several different platforms.
Let's take a look at 5 tips for making your social media less of a drag and more of a revenue and lead generating channel.

5 Tips for social media maintenance

1. Give consideration to your platforms - Unless you have a smart and large staff, you really won't be able to handle more than a few social media platforms simultaneously. Take a hard look at where your customers are most likely found, and start there. Make sure you are choosing at least a few of the major ones: Facebook, YouTube, Twitter and LinkedIn.
2. Schedule your postings - Having a calendar where you can see and schedule your postings can help in several ways. Not only will you feel less under the gun to come up with something wonderful right away, you'll be able to craft social campaigns and incorporate tools into your mix.
3. Cross promote - Use your various social channels to send traffic to each other. For instance, announce your blog posts and videos on Facebook and Twitter. Use LinkedIn in a similar fashion. Sending traffic to your YouTube videos can help in many ways.
4. Make sure you repurpose your content - Utilizing your content in various ways on your social media platforms only makes good sense. A long post can make a number of good snippets, meant to lead readers back to the site where they can read the entire version. You get the idea…
5. Share great content - Strive to share great content you find from other sources on the Web that your readers will enjoy. This is a great strategy to improve your own authority. Not only will this help you in the content creation process, but your readers will thank you!

Which Landing Pages Elements to Test and Why

Which Landing Pages Elements to Test and Why

We know we will need to test our various landing pages for numerous things. The problem with that is most of us haven't yet learned not only what we need to test for, but also how to do it.
Testing your landing pages is by far the best way to improve conversion, and generate more leads and revenue. The cold hard fact is that if you fail to embrace this practice, you are putting your business in a very rocky position, as this means you are essentially rolling the dice with each and every attempt. Wouldn't it be smarter to create your own intelligence to give you the best results? In the hopes you said yes, here are a few items you'll definitely want to look at testing.
Let's take a peek at several of the items that should be tested on your landing pages.

What you should test on your landing pages

Your headlines - Crafting the perfect message in your landing page headlines is critical to their success. It can often be a matter of only a word or two, so test carefully.

Specific colors and elements - Color in particular can play a big role in conversions, and there is a whole science of color associated with consumer behavior. This, as well as other design elements need to be tested for the most effective combinations for your landing pages.

Visual elements - This means mainly videos and imagery. Frequently a video that is the wrong style or an image that doesn't convey what you want can send traffic running from your page.

Your sales copy - One of the more difficult elements to test, it is without a doubt one of the most important. Setting just the right message, at the proper length and tone is essential for success. This requires testing!

Prices - Unsure about the best price at which to offer your items? There is no better way to determine this than through testing. Your consumers will let you know in no uncertain terms, which price converts better.

Terms and conditions - Often you may wish to test a condition, guarantee or other terms. Critical stumbling blocks can be revelaed easily at this stage.

Test your call to action - Both the buttons themselves and text located on them should be tested. You'll be surprised just how big a difference this can make!

Why You Should Use Paid Search with Organic SEO

Why You Should Use Paid Search with Organic SEO

If you've ever seen the Broadway musical "Oklahoma", you might recall a song entitled "The Farmer and the Cowman Should Be Friends." This can also be said for organic SEO and paid search, as the same regions of the page that are being sought after by each of these can in fact work even better together!
For too long these strategies have been thought of as either/or, but the sharp marketer knows how to make this strategy work well for them. The number of ways in which SEO and PPC can help each other are many, and you should know this in order to make the best use of your marketing dollars.

Let's take a look at 5 reasons to combine PPC and Organic SEO

Get as much page one real estate as possible! - Obviously, having as many listings as you can on page one is the goal, and this can only help you dominate the traffic that this pages serves if your site is showing up all over the page. Not only that, this helps increase your brand authority.

Build brand exposure - The more times people come and see your brand the better for you. Moreover, your message is more likely to stay consistent and within your control if you are managing your entries on the paid along with the organic side of things.

A net gain in total traffic - Many don't take this approach as they feel it could cost them organic "free" traffic. Testing is showing however that in most every case there is a net gain in traffic, as the overall presence on the page results in more clicks. Not only that, your PPC costs will obviously go down, as many will be clicking the organic results!

Better conversion rates - One astonishing benefit to this is that companies who are employing this approach are discovering their conversions rates soaring by as much as 200%. Evidently more clicks plus more authority equals better conversions. Who knew!

Better keyword performance - The combination of data form both paid and organic sources can lead to a goldmine of keyword intelligence, helping you in both campaigns.

How to Optimize Images for Your Web Pages

How to Optimize Images for Your Web Pages

When was the last time you thought about optimizing your web images? That's what I thought. However, flippancy aside, leaving them un-optimized can significantly hurt your site in a number of ways.
It can have a definite impact on your site's SEO performance, in addition to the benefits that optimized images can bring your way.
Let's examine 5 quick tips for making sure your images are enhancing your site, and not detracting from it!

5 Practical tips for optimizing your web page images

Keep your image files smallish - This is among the easiest and best favors you can do for your page. Large image files can take ages to load on the page, causing annoyance, abandonment, and lost sales. Amazon calculated that every second lost while their images load costs them $1.6 billion per year!
Use keywords in your image filenames - This is an easy one to complete, yet many do not think of it. Not only is this a major on-page SEO item, it can help Google figure out where and for what keyword to rank your pages. Enough said?
Optimize your ALT tags - Taking care to optimize your image ALT tags, also known as ALT text, is another "make sure you do" item. This can be the difference in whether or not your images even show up in Google images or for that matter search, and is also an easy fix. Don't neglect this one.
Employ JPEGs if at all possible - There are several different types of image types out there, but for the most part, JPEGs have always been and continue to be the de-facto image type used on the Web. They are easily compressed, and have a small footprint, helping them to load quickly. If you can't use a JEPG, then opt for a PNG files next, and GIFs last.
Employ a Google Image Sitemap - Located in Google Webmaster Tools, you can deploy an Image Sitemap which will help Google find, index and otherwise categorize your imagery, thus enhancing your chances of having those images seen in Google images and search. A handy and Google-friendly way to optimize!