A secret way to improve your local business competitive advantage on the web is to spy on your competition and then simply outdo them. In this article we will look at how to do that using Google Trends.
Google Trends is often used to get trend information on hot topics and searches, but you can also use it to investigate the performance of your competitor’s website over a period of time.
Follow these three steps to get data on your competition:
Go to Google.com/ trends
In the search term box, type in the website address of your competition. You can compare two or more competitors by adding their website addresses.
In the new window that appears, click on the Websites link
Google Trends shows you the following data:
Daily Unique Visitors
The daily number of unique visitors that visits the site over a period of time is shown using a graph. You can change the time frame using the pull down menu titled “all years”.
By analyzing this data, you will be able to tell what years, months and days attract the most or least number of visitors and also if the traffic to the site is increasing or declining.
Regions
A list of countries where the site is most visited will also give you pointers on your competitor’s popular markets and you can even know which regions in a country attract the most traffic by simply clicking on the country link.
Also visited
This list shows other websites visited by the same people who visit your competition. This gives you insight into other sites your local business is competing with. You can use the same process to investigate them too.
Also searched for
This list gives you search terms that are used most by those visitors. You can use this list to add new keywords to your content to draw in more visitors to your website. Browse our Digital Marketing Services at https://www.RedCowAdvertising.com/
A final resource that helps you spy on your local business competition is the website called Alexa. Alexa is most popular for its ability to rank websites based on traffic flow.
Go to Alexa.com and type in your competitors website address in the search box and you will be given the following data upfront:
Alexa traffic rank
Traffic rank in the US
Number of sites linking into the website
To get more detailed information, click on the ‘get details’ button and you’ll uncover more secrets about your competition such as:
A brief summary of the products or services they offer, the percentage of traffic that comes from search engines, the number of years the site has been in operation, the demographics of the visitors they appeal to, how long each visitor takes on average on each pageview and to the site in total.
In-depth analysis of various categories such as:
Traffic stats- unravel the sources of their traffic
Search-find the top search terms driving traffic to the site from search engines
Demographics-discover who their most popular visitors are by age, gender, race, education and location
Contact- find out who owns the site, their contact and the size of their company
Reviews- check out positive and negative reviews about the site
Related links- shows the link network they have developed
Clickstream-shows you the sites visitors go to after visiting the competitors site (downstream) and the sites they visited immediately before landing on their site (upstream)
I hope that this series of articles on how to legally spy on your competition has given you the tools to measure the strengths and weaknesses of your competition and enabled you to compare your local business to theirs so that you can outsmart them. Browse our Digital Marketing Services at https://www.RedCowAdvertising.com/
If you have been struggling to improve your rankings and wonder why your competition always seems to outrank you, there are resources available that will unmask their strengths and weaknesses. In this article we look at how to do this using Quantcast.
The beauty of Quantcast is that it offers your local business great insight into the demographics of your competition. Demographics reveal the characteristics of your target market so that you can customize your marketing to reach out to them.
To get you started, go to Quantcast.com and type in the website address of your competition in search box at the top of the page. Quantcast will then show you some interesting information:
1. Traffic
The estimated monthly number of visitors per month in the United States. You can also view the number per day or week and the trends over 1 month, 3 months, 6 months and 1 year.
2. Demographics- the demographics are divided into the following categories
Male and Female
Age bracket-3-12,13-17,18-34,35-49,50+
Race- Caucasian, African American, Asian, Hispanic and Other
No kids and Has Kids from age 0 to 17under the age of 18
No kids and had kids from age 0-2
No kids and has kids from age 3-12
No kids and has kids from age 13-17
Annual income brackets $0-30k, $30-60k, $60-100k and over $100k
Educational level: no college, college and graduate school
To get a simplified overall view of your competitors demographics, click on the ‘demographics’ tab and Quantcast will display the people your competitor’s site is most popular with in the various categories.
Armed with this information, your business can tailor its marketing efforts to appeal to the same popular target markets and imitate the success of the competition. In our next article we will look at a third resource to spy on your competition called Alexa.
Browse our Digital Marketing Services at https://www.RedCowAdvertising.com/
If you have ever wanted to advertise your local business using the Google Adwords program, this article will show you how to create an Adwords account in three easy steps. It should take you not more than ten minutes to set up a new account.
Go to google.com/Adwords and follow these three steps
Step 1 Create an account
Create Google account: this is where you create a new account. Google asks you if
you have an email account and password that you use with its other services like Adsense, Gmail, Orkut or iGoogle or
you do not use these services
Chose the second option b) to create a new account.
Choose an email address name
Type in a password
Re-enter your password
Fill in the captcha section
Click ‘Create account’
Step 2 Set Time Zone and Currency
Note that you cannot change your time zone and currency and they remain permanent so think carefully as you choose them
Choose your time zone by selecting your preferred country and the right time zone for your location in the country
Choose the currency you would like to use to pay Google and the one Google will use to display all money values in your account
Click ‘Create’
.
Step 3 Verify Account
Google congratulates you on opening your new Adwords account and requests you to open your email to click on the confirmation link they have sent you. They do this to make sure that the email address you provided is correct.
Go to your email account, open your inbox and click on the verification link sent by Google
Google confirms that your email address is correct and that your Adwords account is now active.
You can now go ahead and create advertisements with the Google Adwords program that will drive traffic to your local business website. Browse our Digital Marketing Services at https://www.RedCowAdvertising.com/
A common mistake business owners make in video marketing is to make a great video, upload it and then do nothing, and yet wonder why they never sell anything. The truth of the matter is that any self-respecting local business wants to ring up sales not just to entertain or inform people.
The problem is that we are often reluctant to pinpoint exactly what we want to accomplish. So as a business owner, ask yourself: what exactly do I want the viewer to do after seeing this video?
Do I want them to opt-in to my email list?
Do I want them to buy a product?
Do I want them to visit my blog?
Do I want them to join my Facebook fanpage?’
Do I want them to Tweet me?
Once you know the specific action you want your potential viewer to take, then tell them to do just that. Craft your copy to include your call -to -action message in these three areas of your video:
Within your video content
Within your annotation text
Within your description
Here are a few call- to- action sentences you may use:
This video shows just one use of our product. Get more free tips when you purchase this amazing product by visiting my blog at abc.com/blog
Click here to watch more cosmetic surgery videos
Sign up for our free newsletter on interior decoration by clicking this link
By doing this, you will be able to see tangible results from your video marketing. Better yet, you will be able to accurately measure how effective a particular video campaign helping you to know what works and what doesn’t work. For example you will know which copy works better, which videos bring in more sales conversions, which videos generate more opt-ins and so on. Browse our Digital Marketing Services at https://www.RedCowAdvertising.com/
“The money is in the list.” Almost everyone marketing online repeats this statement over and over again, but in reality the money is in the list only if people actually open your emails. If your subscriber doesn’t open his mail, your business will not make a sale.
The average person gets around ten emails a day and if he has multiple email accounts or forgets to open his emails for a couple of days, then he is in all likelihood going to be staring at an Inbox full of over 20 messages. Considering these facts, why would he open your business email and not those from others?
The secret to getting your emails opened is found in the title and first line of your message. These are the two parts of your message people see first as they scan the list of emails in their inbox.
Use these tips to create strong and compelling titles and first sentences for all your emails:
1. Use power words- these are words that are grab people’s attention
Create curiosity E.g. Did you get this product? Guess who’s coming to town?
Use Humor
Create shock factor E.g. Facebook overthrows Google
Stir Controversy
State Facts e.g. 10 people will die of cancer today, Fly to London for $500 this month
Employ Boldness E.g. New, important, Open now, Here it is, Free, Discover, Secret
2. Format your title
Use Brackets or parentheses. Believe it or not, these actually double your open rates.
For example instead of writing your title as-
Important garden chairs on sale, you would rewrite that as
Important (garden chairs on sale) or (Important) garden chairs on sale
Capitalize one or two words in your title. Using the above example, the title would now read (IMPORTANT) Garden chairs on sale
Use quotes to also get attention. E.g. New “Italian Cooking” EBook.
3. Short titles. Use no more than 40 characters and make sure your title hits your subscriber’s sweet spot of need. Keeping your title short enables it to be read faster and keep the readers attention.
I hope you now realize that your business’s emails have to be captivating enough to grab your subscriber’s attention and that it only takes a little creativity to increase your open rates.
Browse our Digital Marketing Services at https://www.RedCowAdvertising.com/
An email list is a great way to create a continuous stream of income for your local business because you can automatically communicate with a targeted list of people over and over again without starting the whole sales process from scratch.
But how exactly does one build that coveted email list? First one needs to drive traffic to your squeeze page and secondly one needs to get them to sign up on that squeeze page.
Here are ways to drive traffic to your squeeze page:
Social media- you can drive your Twitter and Facebook followers to your squeeze page through your tweets or your business’s fanpage. The wonderful thing about generating leads this way is that your followers can help you drive even more traffic for free due to the viral nature of social media.
Article Marketing- this free method works by submitting articles related to your business to article directories and providing a link to your squeeze page through the author resource box or through anchor text links.
Video Marketing- uploaded videos on YouTube or other video sharing sites should have links that direct people to your squeeze page
Pay per click – if you can afford it, this is a very quick way to drive traffic to your squeeze page. You can place ads on search engines, social media sites or specific websites that have high levels of traffic in your target market.
Affiliate traffic- you can sign up affiliates who will do the work of driving traffic to your squeeze page in exchange for a fee per signup. You obviously have to consider the cost to benefit ratio before you use this method.
Having driven traffic to your squeeze page, it is now time to persuade people to sign up. How to do that is covered in our next article, “How To Build Your Local Business Email List: Part Two- Super Squeeze Pages”
Browse our Digital Marketing Services at https://www.RedCowAdvertising.com/
Email marketing is a very cheap way to generate sales for your local business as you can use your email list for successive marketing campaigns without going back to the drawing board to get new prospects.
In our previous article, we tackled how to drive traffic to your squeeze page and in this article we will look at how to create a compelling squeeze page that gets people to sign up to your list.
As you know, a squeeze page is designed specifically to get people to opt-in or sign up and there are some simple ways to increase your conversion rates.
No distractions- a common mistake is to try and put too much information on your squeeze page but this only distracts your prospects and lowers opt-in rates. The only information that should be there is a clear message for just the name and email address of the prospect in exchange for the free product/service you are offering. This is not the place to start putting ads or links.
Create a valuable product/service to give away for free to make people feel they are getting a good deal when they sign up. That free offer should offer amazing value in the eyes of the prospect. You can create a report, a video, a coupon or whatever suits your kind of business and budget.
Reverse squeeze page- you can use this technique that uses reverse psychology to get sign ups. Basically you offer the first part of your free offer directly to your prospect and then offer the second part if they sign up. This actually helps you filter your traffic to create a more targeted email list of potential buyers rather than mere window shoppers
Create a professional looking squeeze page. Choose clean and modern designs that don’t look hyped up or phony as prospects will be suspicious about the credibility of your business. Browse our Digital Marketing Services at https://www.RedCowAdvertising.com/
Backlinks are an important part of SEO, but just not any backlink will do. The quality of your backlinks is definitely more important than the quantity. Two quality back link will boost your rankings more than four poor quality backlinks.
High authority websites with a high page rank are respected by search engines and they place greater value on backlinks from them. Here are sources of high authority websites your local business can link to.
Government sites. These are sites with a .gov domain name. These sites would work well if your business services government agencies as your association with them would provide an open door to getting listed or mentioned on their sites which would help your business website capture that all important high quality back link.
Educational sites. These are sites ending in .edu and are a good option if your business has an instructional or research-related element.
Directories- there are certain high authority directories that can provide quality backlinks. The Yahoo directory costs about $300 per year to be listed on, while DMOZ directory has people to personally review and approve every website that seeks to be listed.
Article directories. Submitting quality articles to article directories that have high page ranking is a great way to get backlinks and greater exposure for your local business. People will click on your link within your author resource box as they read your business article within the site or from the site that has grabbed the article for republishing elsewhere.
Forums, blog, social sites- as you join forums, blogs and social sites related to your local business niche, you will find opportunities to comment, ask questions, provide answers and connect with others.
If the site allows it, you can add a link to your local business. Browse our Digital Marketing Services at https://www.RedCowAdvertising.com/
YouTube provides your local business a chance to get before the eyeballs of millions of people all across the globe, a much more powerful marketing tool than you could possibly imagine.
But how does a small business owner hit it big on YouTube, especially when the most popular videos seemed to be rather outlandish such as talking bobble heads?
Here are some key ingredients to getting your video noticed on YouTube:
Choose the right keywords.
To help your business video get found in YouTube’s search engines results, you will want to use keywords that filter through the millions of viewers to target the small number of specific people your business niche reaches. Using longtail keywords will yield highly targeted viewers. For example it is better to use the keywords “real estate Atlanta, GA” instead of “real estate”.
Put a quirky twist to your message
This is where most businesses get their video marketing messed up because they don’t understand that YouTube has a strong entertainment factor and that’s what attracts viewers. No matter what you’re selling you must have an amusing twist that engrosses people attention, even if you’re selling something as mundane as industrial equipment. And that’s when the viral power of YouTube will skyrocket your views.
Create a YouTube channel
This becomes like your own TV station where all your uploaded videos get stored and where viewers can join as subscribers. Your subscribers are like your fans and followers whom you can interact with and who will spread the word around about your business.
Network amongst the YouTube community
You can get your business noticed in the hallways of the YouTube community by contributing comments on other people’s videos, sharing with others within groups related to your niche or creating a group if one doesn’t exist yet. Soon you will become a go-to authority in your field that will boost your local business’s presence on the site. Browse our Video Marketing Services at https://www.RedCowAdvertising.com/
When I think of ways to get my email list subscribers to click my links and take action that will generate sales, I often remember the saying that goes “you can get a horse to the well, but you can’t force it to drink.”
That analogy is so true in email marketing because you can have a list with thousands of people on it, but that doesn’t mean anything unless you’re able to turn that list into hard cash when you need to.
Here are ways to get people to take action
Give them clear cut calls to action. This might seems obvious but unless you tell people to take specific action, they won’t. People often need to be taken by the hand and shown exactly what they need to do. You therefore need to include action sentences such as: Click here, Buy Now, Place your Order Here, Click this link, Here’s how to get your product.
Provide money back guarantees. These put your prospects at ease and give them confidence to whip out their credit cards. Offering a solid and genuine guarantee protects your prospect from bad deals and getting ripped off. You can offer a 30 day guarantee where they can get a full refund if they are not happy with a product or service.
Quality guarantees. This is useful for certain products especially technical gadgets, machinery, automobiles and food products. Assure your clients with warranties, quality certifications etc
Offer to covers extra costs like shipping and handling so that your customer feels your business is covering more risk in the transaction than they are. This will also give you an edge over your competitors who may not be willing to foot these expenses. As you go the extra mile in customer service, customers will choose you over other local businesses.
Offer bonuses such as accessories related to your offer for free. For example, a coffee shop may offer a free mug on all purchases of fresh roasted coffee beans. You can also increase your sales by offering bonus packages where you sell a product package for a discounted price.
For example, the coffee shop could offer a three- pack package of fresh roasted coffee beans in different aromas for a discounted price that results in a $10 saving to the customer. Browse our Digital Marketing Services at https://www.RedCowAdvertising.com/
Video marketing is a powerful medium to use to market your local business, especially if your products or services are best represented in an audio-visual manner.
For example, a landscaping business would find videos as the best way to show a garden makeover compared to using an article or report.
However video marketing should also be geared to please search engines so that your videos achieve higher search engine rankings. Here are 8 important ways to optimize your videos on a video sharing site and on your business website.
1. Title-use your business’s primary keyword in the title of your video. For example if your keyword is ‘plant roses’ then your title could read “How to Plant Roses in Spring”
2. Description- use your primary and secondary keyword in the description area. This is the area beneath your video where you describe what your video is all about and what you would like your viewers to do.
3. Tags- make sure to input your primary and secondary keywords in the tag box of every video.
4. Comments-encourage viewers to leave comments beneath your video. This spurs conversation and greater traffic to your video.
5. Favorite-encourage people to favorite your business video. They simply click on the favorite tab below the video.
6. Traffic- drive as many people to your video as possible from your website, emails, social media accounts, articles and other sites. This will drive up the number of views for your video and improve its rankings
7. Like or thumbs up-encourage people to leave a like or thumbs up for the video. They do this by clicking the thumbs up icon. This helps to rank your video for popularity.
8. Links- link to and from external sites using your primary keyword in the anchor text. This helps to build up your backlinks. Browse our Digital Marketing Services at https://www.RedCowAdvertising.com/
A common mistake business owners make when choosing keywords is adopting a hit and miss technique.
They don’t really take time to research for the right keywords that will make the difference between the success or failure of their websites.
It is no surprise therefore that 95% of people who try to make money online fail in their efforts.
Here are 4 important reasons to choose the best keywords for your business:
Quality traffic.
The right keywords will bring your site the right sort of traffic which is people who are searching for exactly the same information that your website is all about. You would rather have relevant traffic of 500 people per day than a chaotic and irrelevant crowd of 5000 people.
Moderate competition.
The best keywords to choose are those that give your business a high chance of ranking highly in search engines against fewer websites. By using the right combination of keywords you will be able to compete successfully with other business owners in your niche. The right keywords will also enable your business to bid on Adwords at affordable prices. This does not mean we want keywords with absolutely no competition, because that means there is no business market in that field. A low to moderate level of competition is healthy to your business.
High traffic.
Only about 10% of all keywords have high levels of traffic so it’s critical to choose keywords that are actually going to generate traffic. There is nothing as disappointing to a business owner than investing so much time and effort to create and optimize a website and then have very little traffic. The right keywords generate organic traffic from searches and links.
Profit.
The right keywords have a strong money-making potential while the wrong ones have a poor cost to benefit ratio. Targeting profitable keywords will generate greater income for your local business. Browse our Digital Marketing Services at https://www.RedCowAdvertising.com/
If you are new to the concept of social media marketing, then the concepts might seem completely foreign to you.
Luckily, once you understand just a few basics about how to use social media marketing to your advantage…
…you’ll enjoy increased business success faster than you can probably imagine.
Here are the three top ways to use social media marketing to your advantage – no matter what line of business you are in!
Not On Facebook? Open An Account!
Yes, Facebook started as a way for college students to communicate – but it’s so much more than that now!
If your business does not have a Facebook presence, you are making a major marketing mistake…
…and even worse, you’re probably paying more than you should to market your business.
Facebook is an inexpensive way to reach a wide range of clients and truly connect with them.
With Facebook, you can broadcast catchy new marketing campaigns as soon as you think of them.
You can let your friends and fans know about new products you have, and you can clue them in to an upcoming sale.
You can give them a sense of pride for dealing with a local business.
Whatever the case may be, Facebook can be your new best friend – literally.
What’s So Great About Twitter? Tweet For Success!
Twitter is one of the best ways to keep your contacts updated about anything.
Whether you’re changing your hours, running a lunch special, or offering a bargain on a repeat service for existing customers, tweeting to customers gives them an immediate reminder that you are thinking of them, and value them.
It also gives you a platform for creating a feeling of immediate need, for whatever it is you’re offering, within your customers’ minds.
Find Someone To Manage Your Social Media
As the owner or manager of a small business, you have enough on your plate.
You probably work long hours, and the last thing you want is one more task to take on – especially one that might seem completely foreign.
Get a marketing company with a good reputation to take on the task of maintaining your social media marketing.
You’ll reap all the benefits, and your return on investment will be incredible. Browse our Digital Marketing Services at https://www.RedCowAdvertising.com/
So, you are trying to increase traffic on your small business website!
That's a great idea, but one that can quickly start to feel complicated.
If you've started the process of building a better site, and you feel like you're stuck, you might wonder what to do next.
SEO marketing is definitely something to consider.
In case you're not aware, SEO marketing is a process that improves the visibility of your website or web page in search engines.
When your site appears earlier and more often in the search result list then it will generate more visitors.
With a small (or large) investment, depending on your funds and your needs you can boost the exposure your business gets on the ever growing internet!
So how do you achieve more visibility?
Consulting firms that specialize in SEO can help your small business improve drastically.
Some offer only SEO services while others offer SEO services as part of a larger menu of marketing campaign strategies.
Effective SEO marketing may require changes to the HTML code of the site; you may need an SEO consultant when developing your website design.
This may require more money than you can afford to spend but don’t worry there are plenty of tutorials on SEO marketing.
There are also numerous consultants that can help on an hourly basis.
This is likely your best option to start with so you spend as little money as possible when starting up your SEO marketing efforts.
Tips to Remember
You do not need to start with a web presence.
You can build your presence as you go.
Follow the advice your SEO team gives you – they've been where you are, time and time again.
There are numerous advantages to SEO marketing for your small business.
These include long term results, lower costs than a PPC marketing campaign and most importantly an SEO marketing campaign offers immediate results.
Some aspects that may initially seem to be disadvantages are that the initial process of optimization can be long, it may be complicated and changes must be made to your website often.
Keep in mind, an experienced SEO professional can handle all this for you and make the process painless.
When you use SEO techniques, you get a great return on investment so long as you do it right.
Use a customized plan, and remember to be flexible.
The internet is changing all the time – trust your SEO to a professional so you can focus on running your business. Browse our Digital Marketing Services at https://www.RedCowAdvertising.com/
Social media marketing is an approach to marketing that uses social media outlets like facebook, twitter, foursquare and others in an attempt to promote a change in people's behaviors…
…so as to encourage in some way the betterment of the individual or of society, as well as the betterment of the business atmosphere through a feeling of interconnectedness.
The same methods used in conventional commercial marketing are used in social media marketing – but with a twist…
…the end-goal is often to benefit the person or society as a whole in addition to the organization that is doing the marketing.
Social media marketers attempt to influence a social change in the business atmosphere in several ways.
They use specific call to action marketing methods, and they offer rewards to those who want to participate.
Let’s pretend we’re talking about a company that wants to reward customers and spread a social message at the same time.
That company may try to make a change by:
* Changing internal attitudes (e.g. educate about the harm of cigarettes to convince people to stop smoking for their own personal safety)…
…while offering rewards like a gym membership free for a month with proof from a witness that smoking has ceased.
* Removing the need for the individual to change or to convince them to stop using a product in the first place (e.g. creating a 100% safer cigarette or a cigarette substitute).
As you can see, the two examples provided are very different.
The gym wants clients, and they want to promote better health.
The cigarette substitute marketer understands people like to smoke and wants to give them a (we hope) healthier alternative.
Some examples of how social media marketing is used include:
* requesting that people not smoke in public areas (All kinds of businesses can promote non-smoking and offer rewards that can help people quit)
* convincing people to obey speed limits (Police departments and school systems like to give messages like this)
* encouraging the use of contraceptives (Public health messages)
* encouraging people to come try a new product, or sign up for a trial service (any business could use this!)
Social media marketing combines a mix of traditional marketing principles that include the “four Ps” of marketing. These are:
1. Product: Ranging from tangible products to intangible ideas.
2. Price: What the consumer needs to do in order to obtain the social marketing product.
3. Place: The way that the product reaches the consumer.
4. Promotion: Using advertising, public relations, promotions, media advocacy, personal selling and entertainment vehicle to create and sustain demand for the product.
In addition, some social media marketers add four additional “Ps” to contribute to a successful program (this applies particularly to nonprofits):
1. Publics: External and internal groups involved in the process/target and secondary audiences, staff, supervisors of program.
2. Partnership: Organizations and audiences with similar goals.
3. Policy: Advocating change in social policies to precipitate and encourage changes.
4. Purse strings: Discovering funding (corporate sponsors, state grants, etc.) for the program.
According to a 20-page publication published by Turning Point designed to help people apply effective social marketing to their public health programs…
…and practices, the following table summarized exactly what social marketing is and what it is not:
Social Media Marketing IS:
* A social or behavior change strategy
* Most effective when it activates people
* Designed for those who have a reason to care and who are ready for change
* Strategic, and requires efficient use of resources
* Integrated, and works on the "installment plan"
Social Media Marketing IS NOT:
* Just advertising
* A clever slogan or messaging strategy
* Reaching everyone through a media blitz
* An image campaign
* Done in a vacuum
* A quick process
Behavior-induced change is not easy – and the proof of the pudding is to ascertain whether your marketing plan made a difference.
If your target audience in fact is engaging in the desired performance, then you have succeeded in your endeavor.
If you can establish a cause-and-effect relationship between your social media marketing program and changes in the buying behavior of your clients or the action your nonprofit’s participants take, then you have succeeded. Browse our Digital Marketing Services at https://www.RedCowAdvertising.com/
Using SEO techniques to improve your page rank is the top way to get your business noticed.
Backlinking is a very important part of search engine optimization – and, while it is time consuming work, backlinking tells Google how popular your business site is.
The more popular Google believes your site to be, the higher page rank you will have.
I can hear you now - “Huh? Run that by me again?”
Let’s break some things down into parts, so you’ll have a better understanding of what your SEO professional is talking about when he or she talks to you about improving your presence on the internet.
Backlinks, also known as incoming links or inbound links, are links that come into your site.
These are built into other sites, pages, articles, or blogs.
While you might occasionally get a backlink from a satisfied customer who is talking about what a great experience they had with your business…
…in THEIR blog, that is just not going to happen enough to make a difference to Google.
Remember, the internet is growing exponentially every day.
How do you get backlinks, if not by accident?
Your SEO professional builds them for you by using hyperlinks and high quality, relevant anchor text on pages that link to your website.
Article Marketing is one way to build credible backlinks.
While you might be tempted to write all your articles yourself, and post them as they are on sites like…
…ezinearticles, ehow, or about.com, it is wisest to leave the article marketing to the pros.
Effective article marketing requires specific keywords as well as a specific percent of keyword density (2%-3%).
While the articles about your business or product need to be useful and informative, they also need to be engineered properly.
Page Rank is Google’s way of telling consumers which sites are best.
You want your business to rank well in several different searches related to the product or service you are offering.
Say you sell pre-owned cars in San Diego.
You want to rank well in searches like “pre owned cars san diego”, “used cars san diego”, “san diego used cars”, san diego pre owned autos” and so on.
While these terms may seem ridiculously redundant to you, covering all the bases can help get your site a higher page rank.
SEO marketing professionals have the fine art of page rank down to a science – just one more reason you need to work with a professional if you’re not doing so already.
Once effective backlinking has been put into place, your business will enjoy a higher Google page rank, and receive more internet traffic.
In turn, more potential customers will know you’re out there, and they will use your business simply because it was easy to find on the internet. Browse our Digital Marketing Services at https://www.RedCowAdvertising.com/
What’s the hottest new way to let people know about your products and services?
Video marketing just might be the answer to this ever-changing question.
If you are thinking about how to effectively use social media to market your business…
…and improve your overall return on investment, consider adding Video Marketing to your advertising picture.
What Good Is A “Commercial?”
Remember those old commercials for car dealerships, local restaurants, and tax preparation firms?
One minute, you were watching your favorite sitcom, and the next, you were using the commercial break to let the dog out, go get a drink or a snack, or hit the restroom.
If you’re thinking that video marketing and video SEO have anything to do with commercials like these, think again!
People actually choose to watch your videos and, better yet, they share them with their friends.
Now, take a moment to think about the kind of commercials that actually work.
Let’s use the Super Bowl – that annual television event every member of the family loves to watch – even mom, who doesn’t like football.
Why is everyone watching? It’s for the commercials!
Super Bowl Sunday is the day when new, superbly entertaining commercials come out.
Then, they show up on YouTube and other places around the internet. Can you get the same kind of effect, on a smaller scale? Absolutely!
Video Marketing and Facebook
Once you have a presence on Facebook, you can start to put up entertaining video clips that people will want to watch.
Do not, under any circumstance, put up something boring or use a “talking head”, unless it’s some kind of stand up comedy.
Take some time to look at what businesses who have a great Facebook presence are using, and think about whether something similar will work for you.
Get The Most Out Of Video Marketing
Getting the most out of video marketing can be tough on your own, which is why you need the help of an experienced internet marketing professional.
He or she can give you insight about what works, and best of all, let you keep on doing what you need to do to run your business each day.
The bottom line is, video marketing can work for anyone – do it right, and watch your business grow! Browse our Digital Marketing Services at https://www.RedCowAdvertising.com/
SEO or Search Engine Optimization is a growing marketing tool designed to improve the visibility of a website through search results.
Ultimately, an enhanced web presence can increase traffic and increase sales.
What SEO Does
SEO takes into account how different search engines work and what people are searching for.
Optimizing your website may involve editing coding and content to increase its relevance in specific search engines.
These tactics are accepted by the various number of search engines.
There are other tactics used to increase traffic to our website that are less accepted.
The other tactics are known as Black Hat SEO techniques.
Black Hat SEO is another technique that uses methods such as keyword stuffing,
…article spinning and link farms that degrade the relevance of the results and the end user-experience of the search engines.
At one time, this was a good way to increase rank.
Today, search engines look for sites that use these tactics and remove them from their search lists.
It is wise to use only accepted methods so your website will not be removed from search lists, because if they're removed, your results will be the opposite of what you wanted!
SEO Consulting: The Easiest Way To Get Results
There are numerous consultants that offer both SEO techniques.
The prices and tactics they use will vary.
Be sure to do your research before choosing a company to work with and make sure you are aware of what services you are buying.
A business that relies only on search engine traffic can come up short when the search engine stops sending visitors.
When coupled with other successful marketing strategies search engine traffic can add to a business to make it successful…
…just one more reason a seasoned consultant or consulting firm is a sound investment.
SEO can be a very useful tool to market your business on the web when done correctly.
Your business is made more visible and more traffic via the internet as well as you storefront is likely.
With search engine optimization you can market your business to a wide audience.
You can decide how much or how little you want to spend on this marketing investment.
Do your research and watch the traffic increase to your website today! Browse our Digital Marketing Services at https://www.RedCowAdvertising.com/
Once you’ve made up your mind to use search engine optimization, there are a lot of things you’ve got to do –
…or, if you’re among the lucky – things your internet marketing agency has to do.
Either way, be sure to educate yourself about the process of Search Engine Optimization…
…and avoid making the kind of mistakes that will make you wish you lived back in the days of black and white TV.
While there are plenty of mistakes and errors to be made with anything you undertake, including SEO, there are some that require special mention.
Here are three of the worst SEO mistakes anyone can make – plus tips for avoiding them and getting the most for your advertising dollar.
Mistake #1: Failing To Hire A Reputable SEO Firm
When you look at SEO from a consumer’s standpoint, everything might seem to be pretty cut and dried.
You can blog, you can backlink.
You might even be able to build some code into your very own website.
The question is, do you know what you’re doing?
Is it effective, or is it a waste of time?
Do you have time to do research on a regular basis, and make changes to your site as required?
Failing to hire a good SEO team is absolutely the worst mistake any business can make –
…and it’s the best way to waste your own time and energy that could be put to use in the daily improvement of other business aspects.
Mistake #2: Failing To Take Your SEO Team’s Advice
Great! You’ve got people on your side, working diligently to get you a great Google page rank, and get your business noticed.
Now, if only you would listen to them!
Here’s the best advice any business owner can take, when it comes to SEO. Pay attention!
Your website is there to serve your customers.
Not to appeal to your own sense of what works.
If you’ve been in business for years and can remember old newspaper ad campaigns, read this again.
Your website needs to appeal to your customers, whether you like the way it looks or not.
It needs to be easy to navigate, and you’re going to have to come up with new content on a regular basis.
Finally, believe your team when they tell you that what worked six months ago is not going to work now.
The internet changes by leaps and bounds.
Let your SEO team focus on what they do best, so you can focus on running other aspects of your company.
Mistake #3: Failing To Utilize SEO Principles
If you don’t use SEO techniques like blogging, article marketing, video marketing…
…and social media marketing because they seem like a waste of time to you, you are only shooting yourself in the foot.
You might have gotten to the place you are in today by controlling every aspect of your business…
…but the fact of the matter is this: unless you get on board with SEO, you’re making a major mistake.
Give it a try – and we promise, we won’t say “I told you so!” Browse our Digital Marketing Services at https://www.RedCowAdvertising.com/
Social media marketing is a necessity for growing your business in today’s climate.
While just about everyone knows at least a few things about how to make social media marketing work well…
…hardly anybody has a good understanding about the type of mistakes that can be made, nor do most people know how to avoid those mistakes.
The good news is, we’re about to put you in the ranks of the few –
…here are three top social media marketing mistakes companies make, plus valuable insight for avoiding these mistakes.
Failing To Monitor Your Social Media
You’ve done a great job of setting up your Facebook page, and you’ve made friends and fans all over the place.
Don’t expect your social media marketing to keep on running on its’ own.
One reason social media marketing works so uncannily well is its’ “social” aspect.
You should be updating constantly (at least once every day or every two days) and you should be paying attention to what friends and fans are telling you.
Read the messages that come in – don’t just delete them!
Answer every message that seems to require a response.
If you fail at the “social” aspect of social media marketing, you’re just another company, just another cog in the machine.
One of the best ways to avoid making this mistake is to assign someone the task of monitoring your social media for you.
This way, you don’t have to wade through everything that comes in, and you can be a resource for the person or team who handles your social media marketing.
Your customers will appreciate the way you interact with them, and you’ll be getting an awesome ROI.
Ignoring Complaints And Failing To Admit Fault
This is one of the biggest social media marketing mistakes any company of any size can make.
Imagine you have a dissatisfied customer, who decides to spread his aggravation with your company all over twitter and Facebook.
What do you do? Should you ignore the guy and hope he goes away?
Absolutely not! If you make this mistake, people are going to start to wonder.
Be friendly and courteous, and show your customer you care about him. Make a public apology.
While eating crow might not feel the best, it’s a great way to show that “social” side of your business.
Who knows, you may even endear yourself to your customers, even more.
Everyone makes mistakes, so if you’re caught in a mistake, don’t lie or cover it up.
Handle it, and move on.
Failing To Provide Incentives
Don’t expect fans and friends to flock your way without providing them with an incentive to do so.
Offer special discounts to your loyal customers, and give out helpful hints on a regular basis.
My favorite greenhouse gives gardening tips every day, and for some reason, I can’t help but go there and buy more plants and products.
I also give them lots of recommends.
This is just one example of how much people love to believe that they are getting a value, and illustrates the fact they enjoy passing the things they like on to others.
This is one of the biggest reasons social media marketing works, so give good incentives, and watch your business grow. Browse our Digital Marketing Services at https://www.RedCowAdvertising.com/
Video marketing is super hot, and everyone wants a piece of the pie.
Chances are, you have been subjected to video marketing yourself – some good, and some terrible.
As you are planning your own video marketing campaign, set yourself up for success – not abject failure!
Here are three top reasons video marketing campaigns fail to work as intended.
Reason #3: Your Video Is Long and Boring
Why in the world would anyone want to voluntarily sit through ten minutes worth of someone droning on about whatever it is that he or she is (quite obviously) trying to sell?
And, why would that same beleaguered viewer want to pass a long, boring video on to a friends?
Keep your video marketing campaign interesting. Get to the point. Finish up in three minutes or less. Create interest and curiosity.
A long, boring video will tank, every time.
Reason #2: Poor Quality
If your video is hard to see, or is headache inducing due to a poor picture, people will leave.
It doesn’t matter how funny it is, how great your message is, or how good a job you’ve done with marketing it.
Be sure your video looks good, and that people can hear the message you are trying to convey.
Reason #1: Your Video Is Nothing Special
Ouch! Don’t take it personally if your first few attempts at creating a video don’t get you the kind of results you’re looking for.
Here are some things to remember that will make producing an effective video marketing campaign just a bit easier:
* There are a zillion videos out there on the internet.
Which ones are getting views? A new video that doesn’t convey a passionate message in an entertaining way is just not going to be watched and shared.
* Before you start, take some time to look at what others are doing.
What appeals to you? What doesn’t? Why?
* Use what you have learned to create something special and unique, and let your marketing specialist help you with this process.
Don’t be afraid to step out of the box!
We live in an age where fun and creativity are king.
Remember: You want your video marketing campaign to be enjoyed and shared.
Have fun with the process, and your business will benefit in remarkable ways. Browse our Digital Marketing Services at https://www.RedCowAdvertising.com/
There must be some reason why some small businesses outperform others.
Let’s pretend for just a minute that you own a small cafι in a part of town that is just about two blocks off the beaten path.
Lunchtime crowds could be a lot bigger!
You’ve noticed that your competition, who has higher prices and worse white bean chicken chili than you…
…and who is a whopping four blocks off the beaten path of the lunch time warriors has a steady stream of customers.
Why? Stop wringing your hands. You’re about to find out.
Social Media Marketing: What It Can Do For You
Social media marketing translates to success.
A successful social media marketing campaign can take your little bistro from barely making payroll to a booming success.
It can move you from the back lot to the spotlight.
“But” you might say, “I’m a bistro. How can social media marketing do all that for me? You people are crazy! I have soup to make. See ya later!”
As astonishing as this might seem, and as offbeat as some of the most successful social media marketing campaigns are, they work.
Stick with me, soupy sales, here’s why!
Social media marketing gives you the power to reach out to your customers any time of night or day.
Let’s say it’s 10 a.m. Bored office workers everywhere are looking forward to lunch.
In fact, they’re asking each other: “What do you think, where should we go for lunch?”
They check their twitter and facebook feeds to see what their friends are up to, and then, magic happens. They spot your tweet or your facebook status.
Their eyes light up, and they start to salivate. “Dude, let’s go to Soupy Sales! He’s got that awesome white bean chicken chili for lunch.
Perfect weather for it. Man, he’s on Facebook…we better get there before it’s gone!”
At 11:30, you start getting busy. At 1 pm, you’re completely out of soup, salad, bread, soda, and those cookies you thought might sell well.
And, best of all, you’ve convinced your customers that they should not pass up the opportunity to have lunch with you, because you’re just so popular.
While this is an admittedly simplified explanation of what social media marketing can do for you, it’s definitely food for thought.
Whether you sell soup or landscaping services, you need to get in the game and stay in the game with social media marketing.
So, find an expert, start a campaign, and watch your business grow faster than you ever thought possible. Browse our Digital Marketing Services at https://www.RedCowAdvertising.com/
