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Creating Social Triggers: SEO Tactics, Tips & Helpful Advice - No. 233

Here are a few pretty cool tricks I learned at Blue Glass (an SEO conference in Tampa, Florida) when it comes to creating social triggers and online conversations.

First, spend less time creating content and spend more time promoting content. This is especially true for firms that crank out the content ever day. It's like content puke. However, none of the content properly shared and readers don't have enough time to digest the information and engage in a conversation before drowning in another piece of content by the same firm. Find that middle ground of creating and promoting content.

Second, create a controversy and allow people to argue about dumb things. This is easy. State your point of view on something and let it ride. Those commenting on your thoughts will start battling it out with each other on your Facebook page, blog, forum, etc.

Third, find two audiences and pit them against each other. For example, create a conversation about two sports teams; politics; food; exercise; healthcare, etc.

Fourth, draft behind topics or ideas. If a news item or topic is hot, join in on the conversation and write a blog post about how it effects your business or your industry.

None of the above strategies will work until you start creating content. Don't go overboard and create too much. Unfortunately, we see a lot of businesses that don't create enough content (or usually none at all).

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Starting Facebook With Zero Fans: SEO Tactics, Tips & Helpful Advice - No. 229

Sharing More Content: SEO Tactics, Tips & Helpful Advice - No. 227

It's true: the more you share online, the more opportunities you are creating for potential customers to find you.

Think about it. If your website is your only online marketing tool, you have limited the number of opportunities for people to find you.

Now think about the endless list of opportunities you can create and share:

• Your company blog. Write and publish at least one blog post per week (around 500 words). Work your way up to two, or more, blogs per week.
• Articles. Write and publish at least one article on your website per month (around 1,000-1,500 words).
• White papers. Write and publish at least one white paper to your website per quarter (minimum 2,500 words).
• With all blog posts, articles and white papers, make sure you publish social media badges and other social network sharing icons, such as Reddit, Delicious, etc.
• Don't limit yourself to writing only for your company's website. Consider guest blogging; writing articles for online trade publications and other websites in your industry. 
• Get involved and be active in primary social media networks, including Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and Google+. The frequency of posting isn't as important (to start) as is the content you are willing to share.
• Create a company SlideShare account and share your presentations online. All of them.
• Start looking at Pinterest as it is creating some interesting inbound marketing opportunities.
• Take company photographs. Lots of them. Share them through your social media channels and on your website.
• Create videos on a regular basis; at least 1-2 videos per month. These don't need to be spectacular videos. Just give your audience the basics about your company; services; new products; a how-to-video; an interview, etc.
• Publish your videos to YouTube and Vimeo. Pull your YouTube video feed into your blog. Share your videos through your social media channels.
• Write, publish and share press releases. At a minimum, publish your news on your website (and keep it fresh). For more important news, consider using online press release publishing services such as PRWeb.

Although we've just scratched the tip of the sharing iceberg, it's important to know that the more content you can create, the more sharing opportunities you will have.

Time to get started!

 

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Online Strategies For 2013: SEO Tactics, Tips & Helpful Advice - No. 221

Content Marketing For Small Businesses: SEO Tactics, Tips & Helpful Advice - No. 225

Content Marketing : SEO Tactics, Tips & Helpful Advice - No. 223

Content Marketing For Small Businesses: SEO Tactics, Tips & Helpful Advice - No. 225

Small businesses – and we’re talking “true” small business here – need to utilize and embrace the whole idea behind content marketing.

As a review, “content” includes everything from writing blogs, articles and white papers to creating and publishing videos, photographs and more.

“Content marketing” is the process by which you are able to publish your content on other websites (online trade journals, blogs, video websites, etc.), which gets the word out about your business; which in turn generates traffic to your website and creates social media sharing opportunities.

While large businesses with bigger budgets and full-time marketing teams can crank out tons of content, small businesses can be as equally as effective in their local market and niche. The more fresh content a small business can produce and publish, the more opportunities they will create to appear in search engine results.

Here are some ideas small businesses can use to develop content:

• Write about newsworthy items about what’s going on with your business, including new services, new products, new staff, etc.
  
  
• Create a blog post or an article with the Top 10 questions your customers ask you the most frequently. Answer those questions in a blog post (or multiple blog posts).
  
  
• Take pictures of your business and publish them on your website; Google Local+, Facebook, and in other social media websites.
  
  
• Videos are extremely popular. You should plan to create and publish one video per month (i.e., YouTube, your blog, etc.).
  
  
• Create a content strategy 30-, 60-, and 90-days in advance. Blog around topic “pillars” each month.
  
  
• If you don’t have time to create fresh content, consider hiring a local freelance writer to help.
  
  
• Create a call for action or ask a question at the end of each blog post, such as “How would you solve this problem?” or “Please feel free to leave your comments here about this topic.”

In a local small business market, creating content on a regular basis will increase your visibility; your brand and traffic to your website. Local competitors may not be willing to invest in content marketing which leaves open opportunities to surge ahead.

Are you ready to implement your local content marketing strategy?

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Website Strategies For 2013: SEO Tactics, Tips & Helpful Advice - No. 222

New Link Building Techniques: SEO Tactics, Tips & Helpful Advice - No. 224

Content Marketing : SEO Tactics, Tips & Helpful Advice - No. 223

Small Business Blogging Tips: How to create compelling posts

Content Marketing : SEO Tactics, Tips & Helpful Advice - No. 223

Content marketing is the new buzz word for 2013 when it comes to online marketing, SEO and social media. It includes everything but the kitchen sink: blogs, articles, videos, images, podcasts and more.

Note: Content marketing isn't publishing articles in multiple, low-quality and devalued article directories. If this is your strategy, you need to think bigger and better.

However, content marketing only works when everyone in your firm is on board. Consider:

• Creating a content strategy, including texts, images, videos, interactive, etc.
• Writer credentials and data needed to adequately  pen content for your business.
• The content approval process (this is huge; don't let this step halt your content marketing plans).

Bloggers and influencers who may be interested in publishing your content (or sharing it via their social media networks) will ignore any promotional content you may send their way. Don't waste their time. However, if you create content that has value, editors and bloggers will love you (and may ask for more). 

More importantly, quality content is huge for social media mentions and search engine optimization authority. It will increase your website rankings; increase traffic and conversions.

Once you implement your content strategy (both on- and off-site), review your Google Analtyics and track stats and conversions.

Where do you start?

Content marketing starts at "home" with your company's own website and blog. Here's where many businesses miserably fail. Your website is not a brochure. It is a living and active marketing machine (at least it should be). Potential customers and clients almost always review a business' website before making a purchase decision.

When it comes B2B (business-to-business) purchases, businesses don't want to talk to a sales person. Instead, they want to visit websites and learn more about your company and your products and services. They want to do research before they buy from you.

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Online Strategies For 2013: SEO Tactics, Tips & Helpful Advice - No. 221

Website Strategies For 2013: SEO Tactics, Tips & Helpful Advice - No. 222

4 Easy Ways to Build Web Traffic For Your Website

Building web traffic is not always an easy task. However, with some information and a little bit of effort on your part; coupled with the commitment to remaining consistent and devoted to your website’s success, you can definitely achieve your goal of building up a steady stream of web traffic that will pave the way for limitless opportunities for your business, website, or online venture.

Of course, if you have gotten to this point, then you have probably done all of the preliminary work necessary to getting ready for the task of building your web traffic. You have a well thought out, attractively designed website (if you have not done this, then I would highly recommend looking into Wordpress), and if you have all of your other core functions in place, then you are definitely ready to begin.

Just remember that you will want to have your website ready to go before you really start getting serious about web traffic. If you are selling products, make sure that you can accept payment and fill orders before you start seeking customers. If you are using Wordpress, then you will find that using Paypal as a means of processing payment is incredibly easy. However, other options also include merchant accounts, bank drafts, and checks (when it comes to your business, I would definitely recommend that you order checks by mail, as this can make getting personalized checks extremely easy and hassle free).

Publish Fresh SEO Content Every Day

Yes, every day. Yes, I realize that this might sound like a lot of work, but you have to realize that a lot of people are online EVERY DAY… if you want to compete for their attention, then you have to have more to offer than a weekly blog. Most dedicated blog or article readers are more hardcore than that anyway. Chances are, if they have to wait an entire week to find something new on your site, they are going to delete you from their favorites. Also, since the content is search engine optimized, it will also pull visitors from search page results in keywords that you rank high for… which will give you the opportunity to win over new readers or subscribers.

Here are some content ideas that might work for your website...

• A blog
• Informational articles
• How-to articles or videos
• Product Reviews
• Podcasts

Post Videos To Keep Things Interesting and Entertaining

It has become extremely easy to stick Youtube videos into your blog or on your website, which is a perfect way to provide fresh new content for your readers. Whether you make your own videos or embed a video that someone else made, this can really help to mix things up. Maybe you are reviewing the video, commenting on it, or just sharing it with your audience? In any event, you are putting effort into content that will either entertain or help your audience, and that is what it is all about.

Utilize Social Media To Bring People To Your Site

Are you an avid Facebooker or a Twitter fanatic? Or maybe you are Youtube maniac… whichever social media sites you tend to use (the more, the merrier!), make sure that you actively post links that will bring your friends and followers to your site. You don’t have to spam it every day, but once a week or so you can definitely call attention to an interesting piece of news or bit of information that you have posted, especially if you think that it might entertain or help someone else. On that note, always make it a point to share your social media sites on your website so that people can follow you on Twitter or like your business/service/page on Facebook. The more ways you have to connect with your audience, the better.

Stick With It!

Trust me, I know how hard it is to stick with it when it comes to building web traffic. I know that logging on and seeing ten hits can really get you down, especially if you were hoping for a hundred or a thousand… but if you keep going, keep improving, and stay consistent, you will get there. You will gradually see the numbers get larger, and soon you will have a ton of web traffic that you can use to sell your products, monetize your site, or earn commissions with affiliate links.

Just follow these tips, keep learning, stay consistent, and don’t give up!

About the Author:

Benjamin Baker is a research hound who has been addicted to writing for many successful years. He also plays guitar, enjoys camping, and lives in Colorado with his wife and three growing children. Benjamin often utilizes websites such as www.buychecksbymail.com when he is researching methods to grow his business and market himself in the local and online economies.

Blog & News Optimization: SEO Tactics, Tips & Helpful Advice - No. 216

Chances are good that you and your company are missing out on two awesome opportunities for higher rankings in search engines; more traffic to your website, and to showcase your company's expertise.

These opportunities include (1) blog and (2) news optimization.

Although we've been preaching blogs for eight years now, let's review the basics for the beginners.

Your business website needs to have a blog. You and your team need to contribute at least two, 500-word (minimum) blog posts per week. Additional blog posts ("mini" posts) should be at least a minimum of 300 words per post.

There's plenty to write about in your company blog. Consider these topics:

• Tutorials about your industry. Our blog is a great example of this as we not only explain search engine optimization, but we also tell you how to do it.
• Opinions about changes in your business or industry.
• Advice. Be helpful. Be unique and give value in a unique way.
• Write about your services and why they are important.
• Blog about your products and what makes them unique.
• Any question by a prospect or client can always be a great blog post. You get questions almost every day I'm sure and you hand out great answers. Keep a little cheat sheet and use these as Question & Answer blog posts.

Blog posts don't necessary always need to include content. Consider photographs, graphics, drawings, etc. Don't forget to use videos either. Upload your videos to your YouTube Channel and pull your feed into your blog post. Don't post the video as a stand alone. Add content to offer more details about the video and why your readers should watch it.

News is another story, but equally as important. There are always opportunities with your company to write, publish and optimize press releases on your website.

If you don't have a "newsroom" on your website, create one. If you do have a "news" page, please update it. We see too many websites with old, stale press releases.

Press releases don't necessarily mean they need to be published in a local newspaper or announced over the airwaves from an AM radio talk show. Write them for your clients and prospects. News stories add to your level of expertise in the industry and adds a level of credibility to your company.

One of our clients is absolutely killing it with news and press releases. The content is awesome. It makes them look busy; involved; growing, and experts in their field. On average, they write and post one press release/news items to their website every week.

Our firm, Purple Trout, LLC, writes one-to-three news items per month. We host webinars; attend search engine optimization events, conferences and trade shows; do public speaking; take classes and earn certifications in our industry. All of these items are news-worthy.

Here are some press release/news ideas:

• New products and services your firm is introducing.
• New employees.
• Employee promotions.
• Company milestones and employee anniversaries (5-year, 10-year, etc.).
• Upcoming industry conferences (even if you're not attending).
• Whenever you write and publish "white" papers, ebooks or large reports.
• Seminars and webinars you are offering.
• Community service.

When posting blogs and news to your website, be creative and informative with your headlines. Write great headlines.

Always be on the lookout for fresh ideas for your company blog and news stories for your website.

Is Guest Blogging Worth It?: SEO Tactics, Tips & Helpful Advice - No. 207

One of the many techiques SEOs use in order to earn inbound links is guest blogging.

Here's how it works:

You contact blog owners and offer to write a guest blog in exchange for a link or two pointing back to your website.

Cool, right?

Well, too many of those backlinks with heavy emphasis on the same anchor text link might cause Google to raise some eyebrows and devalue your cool link building technique.

Earned links are cool, but links from blogs with high traffic are even better.

Which would you rather have: 100 links from random blogs with so-so traffic, or one link from an awesome blog with good readership?

I thought so.

Do your research before you start guest blogging. Be selective. Think smart about what you're expecting in return for your content.

 

Awesome Content Earns Inbound Links: SEO Tactics, Tips & Helpful Advice - No. 206

Link building continues and earning inbound links from other websites pointing back to your website, continues to be a struggle for website owners.

As you recall, Google's Penguin update, has devalued previous linking strategies. The days of directory submissions and link farms are gone (or they should be).

Now your website needs to stand on it's own.

Unfortunately, most websites are brochure sites. They're boring. There's no new or engaging content. There's not a reason for anyone to return and, therefore, it's not link worthy.

It's also sad to say, many businesses are rushing to Facebook and other social networks and forgetting about their websites. 

It comes down to this: you need to create awesome and creative content (that means unique content) and share it with your audience. Then, you will earn the best links possible.

By creating awesome content - and doing it well - and you won't have to worry about link building again.

Hint: your unique content shouldn't include sales pitches or company promotions. Make it helpful, educational and informative.

Why Delay SEO & Social Media?: SEO Tactics, Tips & Helpful Advice - No. 205

We're always surprised when a business decides to delay starting search engine optimization or diving into social media.

It's not about rankings, fans or followers.

SEO and social media is about traffic and sales.

Do you want more customers? More clients? More leads and more sales?

Sorry, but your brochure website (the one you never update), it's going to get it done.

The Facebook page your next door neighbor's son did for you isn't going to attract a flood of engaging customers.

You're going to have to write awesome content and publish it on your website.

You're going to have to create a blog and start writing. Every day.

You're going to have to get going with social media and start engaging with your customers and clients. Have a "conversation" with them.

There are no excuses.

These are the types of things that will help increase your sales.

What barriers to sucess are standing in your way today?

Take An SEO Break: SEO Tactics, Tips & Helpful Advice - No. 204

While true search engine optimization never takes a vacation or a holiday, sometimes you have to take a break, recharge and look at your SEO strategy with fresh eyes.

We're not suggesting a year - or even a month - away from your SEO efforts, but a little time away from the world of content, link building and social media will do your brain some good.

When you return, you'll see things differently. Some of the basics will be painfully obvious:

• Are you targeting the right keywords on the right pages?
• Are your Page Titles, Descriptions and other on-page SEO elements strong?
• Can content be better?
• Start creating ideas for new content.
• Write more blog posts.
• Create a content/editorial calendar.
• Improve your link building efforts.

Take a break - a short one - and recharge those SEO batteries!