It’s no secret that online SEO marketing and other forms of advertising expenses can dominate a significant portion of your operating budget, especially if you’re purchasing blocks of advertisements for TV or radio spots. Putting an ad in a local newspaper can run hundreds of dollars for just a few days of exposure, and that $1500 you paid for ads in Yellow Pages or on the back of your local grocery store receipts is hard to track.
Your goal should be to invest in an online SEO marketing strategy that captures the maximum Return of Investment. We are approached daily by companies asking how to increase their website traffic and sales leads. With SEO there are two different approaches you can take to perform organic search engine optimization and paid search traffic such as ‘PPC (Pay Per Click Ads)’ by Google. Before we get started, let’s discuss how SEO has changed the way businesses market online.
How SEO Marketing Has Changed Online Advertising Strategies
The competition for your prospect’s attention is unrelenting, so how can mom and pop shops compete with the big boys? The great equalizer is the Internet, but you can’t rely on the early years SEO strategies because market share is decreasing for small to medium-sized companies, while the top 10% of websites on the Internet continue to grab more audience. Not surprisingly, online SEO Marketing strategies have transitioned over the years, so what worked two years ago won’t necessarily work now. Heck, even what worked in 2020 may not work today.
Get Social Now – Don’t Become Endangered!
Successful marketing and SEO campaigns depend on accurately analyzing and predicting current market trends. This is proven by the explosive growth of mobile apps. As a technology lover, I use my cell phone for everything including playing games while waiting, saving my favorite wine so I can remember what I like and don’t like, ordering a pizza online, and even controlling my electric lawn mower from my chair while I sit out back and enjoy a cigar and whiskey!
Mobile Apps have caused an overall decrease in Internet use, and with mobile content predicted to double within a year, companies just now entering the Internet with e-commerce strategies will fall by the wayside, fast. Companies can face severe endangerment in just one or two years down the road if they don’t transition with the marketing trends of our new world. This is not to say that your company will be forced to close the doors if a website is not created or updated with quality useful content and resources, but you might find that it will become harder to get new customers in the door, and that results in stagnate sales.
The Sales Process Has Changed – Here’s How!
Years ago, we were told to complete a sale you have to deliver seven touches, meaning that you had to connect with the purchaser via phone, email, or in-person up to seven times before they said “yes” to buying your product or service. That number just became shorter as there is a whole new world to selling in the social media arena. Peer-to-peer recommendations have always been huge, but social media portals like Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube or any number of hundreds of other online social platforms, have exponentially magnified the need to incorporate marketing strategies that work TODAY.
Don’t Ignore The Negative!
When it comes to an online presence address the good and the bad! If someone has a bad experience with your company it can be an ugly thing to attempt to clean up. As an Online SEO Marketing Company, we recommended you address all issues presented on your website or your social media tools as soon as possible. Whatever the issue, do NOT delete comments or responses. This can make matters worse and result in your losing several potential prospects. When someone experiences a good service they will tell two people, when someone experiences a bad service they will tell everyone they know.
Remember manners are just as important online as in person, say thank you where needed, or respond as you would in person at your company.
Split Testing Still Works!
The most thought out and beautifully designed website may not be optimized for search traffic or appealing to the end-user. Your company may be experiencing this first hand if your visitors jump ship during the shopping cart process. Split testing online SEO Marketing strategies will help separate what works from what doesn’t work, and that can be anything from the colors you use on your site to the wording on your landing pages. Use and repeat what works over and over and over. Complacency has always been a sales killer, so continued split testing helps you to tweak your campaigns for maximum effectiveness. Learn more about split testing in our article “Top 20 SEO and Web Design Points Every Webmaster Should Consider“.
You Complete ME!
While Jerry Maguire is a fantastic movie, this section is not about Tom Cruise or the motivational quote of love! Our SEO Marketing Team wanted to share one of our favorite quotes, “The whole is greater than the sum of its parts” by Aristotle, as it applies to business across the board. It’s true that the success of any business is directly attributable to the sum of the value its employees add to that business. Each and every employee in businesses of every size adds value to their business (even online). In a world that is trending heavily toward peer-to-peer recommendations, each employee in your business brings with them individualized intellectual assets and their own sphere of influence. Encourage each of them to share what makes them and your business special.
Pro Tip: Outline their qualities and uniqueness on your corporate blog, industry forums, social media platforms, and everywhere else you can think of! To sum it up, if you want to yell “Show me the money!” be sure to tap into your wealth of knowledge — your employees!
Things YOU Can Do Today!
On the organic side of search engine optimization, two basic components to tweak that can help your SEO results immediately are the titles and descriptions of the pages on your website. Importantly, meta descriptions help manage your expectations of your visitors. While meta descriptions may not have an effect on Google’s ranking, they do project a powerful perception of your business’s relevancy to their search queries.
Again, Google may boldface the searcher’s keyword or keyword phrases in your description. I know when I type in a phrase, I look to see if the entire phrase is boldfaced, or simply pieces here and there. I perceive immediately, as I suspect others do, the level of relevance this site has to my interest.
Pro Tip: To maximize the click-through rate, use compelling and accurate descriptions on each page of your site that best match that individual page. On your home page, describe your company and website as a whole. I promise it’s WORTH the time and investment of energy!
Call Big Red SEO Today (402) 522-6468
Do you have questions about how Search Engine Optimization (SEO) can help increase your website traffic? Feel free to contact us online or call at your convenience at (402) 522-6468. At Big Red SEO, we offer SEO services and WordPress website design for Omaha and the surrounding states.