SEO PERSONALIZED FOR 2017

seo-12415962017 is set to bring a more personalized experience to the user of web searches and web content.  SEO (Search Engine Optimization) is important to help users connect with the products, services, and sites that they desire.  The main objective of SEO should be to help users find answers to their questions and connect consumers to businesses that can fulfill their needs.  The content experience is going to get better than ever.

MARKETING TO THE END USER

Recent improvements to data modeling will refine, further than ever before, the experience for the user – that person trying to find just exactly what it is they want at that particular moment.  Successful marketing is also a win-win for the marketer, as a high volume of traffic could find its way to their website.  It is, and always has been, really about quality content.  Trustworthy, honest, truthful content that will help users discover whatever it is they are looking for.  Search engines can help point them in the direction; content specifically designed with quality SEO in mind can further refine user’s searches to only those websites that will provide value to them.

STRUCTURED DATA

free-image-for-your-seo-blog-or-web-marketing-website-1636061Organization of pertinent data is also important and structured data is touted as becoming an even more significant factor in 2017.  Structured data reaches into every field and every application.

What is a rich snippet?  It is the markup of structured data that website owners can add to their existing HTML.  Rich snippets are vital, yet small, bits of information that will allow your page to do better in search results.

What is a structured data markup?  This refers to structured data being directly added to a page’s HTML.

Why is structured data important to SEO?  The organization of content that structured data represents is able to be understood better by the search engine’s crawling a web page.

More emphasis will be placed on optimization (i.e., value) of the content as opposed to prioritizing for keywords.  It’s customer-first priority all the way in 2017!

 

Could Your Business Use a Good Dose of Content Marketing?

bulider-1197049How can you avoid having the message of your business blocked out as just another particle of noise?  How can you avoid having your message ignored, skipped over, for fast-forwarded by?  The answer is: content marketing.

Blogging and Content Marketing

The successful content marketer knows how important it is to provide valuable and useful information to clients, and potential clients, in the form of meaningful blogs.  Content marketing can help any business get, and keep, customers.

Consumers are smarter these days than ever before, and they have smart devices that enable them to ignore, skip over, avoid, and even delete your message before it ever has a chance to register on your brain at all.  That means, it needs to provide something of value for the end user (your customer) and do so consistently so that your potential new, or repeat, client won’t see the name of your business and automatically decide it’s not worth his/her time to read what your message is saying.  That is the single-most important reason to ensure the content of your blog offers something of value every time it crosses paths with your target audience.

Blog Consistency

Creating a great blog – and the even more important part of consistently maintaining it – is not an easy task, especially for an owner or employee of the business who also has many other hats to wear every day.  Outsourcing your blog content to a great copywriter is critical to meeting that goal of publishing fresh and worthwhile content at regular intervals.  The conversations that run with a successful blog can, in turn, convert to opportunities seized by your business to develop a loyal customer.

Boost awareness of your brand, your business, your product or service and develop your company as a trusted expert in your industry by utilizing well-crafted and high quality blogs that also drive content marketing successfully to your web site.

 

 

Copywriting and Content Marketing Make Good Partners

loving-1433310What should good copywriting do?  It should: 1) inform; 2) provide value; and 3) be easy to read and enjoyable.  The basic rule of thumb for the bulk of copywriting is to aim your text in the direction of 8th graders.  Why choose 8th graders?  That level is considered fairly basic; you don’t want to talk “over” or “under” readers, so good copywriters will aim for a middle ground.  There are exceptions, of course, as there are to every rule.  However, for basic copywriting needs, this is a desired and well-accepted rule.

It’s a Conversation

Copywriting has been described as an “ongoing conversation” between a business and its clients.  When done right, copywriting can effectively persuade your target audience to push through and take that next step to: 1) learn more about your product or service; or 2) subscribe to your email list so they can continually learn more about what your business has to offer.

Marketing Your Product or Service

Marketing with great content is a powerful tool, “if” it is used correctly.  To be successful with your content marketing strategy(ies), great copywriting needs to come into play as well.  Copywriters need to subscribe to the prevailing ideology that written text needs to expertly crafted in such a way as to leave no doubt that the call to action your business is asking for is a “must-have” for them.  In order for a content marketing strategy to be successful, it must work hand-in-hand with the creative copywriter to consistently deliver valuable and relevant content to consumers.

The successful combination of copywriting and content marketing will draw the consumer in on friendly and personable terms, while at the same time creating an urge on the part of the consumer to know more about and be more involved with your business and its products or services.

 

Slow and Steady Wins the Race

consistencyWondering about the single best thing you can do for your marketing plan in the upcoming year? Stay consistent. People thrive on consistency, and if they can’t get it from your company, you can bet they’re going to find it somewhere else. Planning to post your blog every Monday and Wednesday? Great. Post every Monday and Wednesday. Planning to update your social media feeds every morning? Great. Do it.

What About Trying Something New?

As you analyze what’s working and what isn’t with regard to social media marketing, content marketing, or anything else, there’s nothing wrong with trying something new. The key, though, is that you don’t simply try it and abandon it without taking a solid look at the analytics. If, for instance, not a single person is opening the newsletters you send, adjust your strategy. Maybe a newsletter isn’t right for your company. What you can’t do, however, is walk away because you haven’t put the time and effort into that part of your marketing plan.

It’s tough to market your own company when you’re so caught up in providing services and products to other people, particularly when you’re a fairly small operation. The reality, though, is that it’s a must. You need new customers to survive, and marketing is a good way to get them.

There may come a point when you just need to automate your marketing so it actually gets accomplished. When you hit that point, we’ll be there with the writing services and social media management help you need. Give us a call when that happens. We’ll be happy to help.

Marketing Fire

calendar-1072482-mI’m a day late with today’s post. This really isn’t a surprise. I often struggle to get my own blog updated. When I have a seemingly endless list of client projects to complete on my plate, my own blog posts and social media updates are often forcefully smashed toward the back of the line in favor of taking care of my clients first.

That’s great news for my clients – it means they get their texts, blogs, and updates on time. For my own company, though, that often means moving forward with plans to grab new clients takes a back seat to a focus on the clients we already have.

Sticking to a Marketing Plan

I’m really not that much different than every other small business owner I meet. We all have so many things to do, so much to accomplish. Marketing often has to take a back seat to the needs of our existing client list. You’ve probably read the same studies I have, though. A consistent marketing plan is what your current and potential clients really want. How do you balance it all?

Often, it means asking for help, something small business owners tend to be reluctant to do. We either think no one can handle it quite as well as we can or that our budgets simply won’t allow us to hire more help. Unfortunately, there are only so many hours in a day, and you can’t be at your desk or on the sales floor for all of them.

Having trouble formulating your marketing plan? Having trouble sticking with it? Let us help. With writing, marketing, and social media services that will take a lot off of your plate, we really are here to make your life easier (even if it means pushing our own marketing plans to the back burner again).

The Opportunities Behind Difficulties

barbed wireThere are probably lots of companies out there rolling in success right now. We’ve seen a few of them come through our virtual door. There are just as many companies, though, that are struggling, looking for the newest plan that will help keep them on top, or at least marginally profitable. When those hardest times hit, what do you do? Is it every cloud has a silver lining or every silver lining has a cloud?

The Mindset of Success

You may think something as simple as changing your mindset can’t really work, but the simple truth is that it can. If you think you can’t go any further down, so you have to go up, maybe you start seeing opportunities you hadn’t before. You may already know these success stories by heart. Richard Branson, Virgin’s founder, was repeatedly told not to enter the market because it was already too crowded. He went ahead, saying “Screw it. Let’s do it.” The founders of Home Depot were just a couple of guys who’d just lost their jobs and decided to start over. Check out more of those success stories in this Entrepreneur post.

If it’s time to start over or you’re just looking for that fresh perspective or those new ideas that can shake things up a bit on your end, let us help. With the newsletters, social media posts, blogging services, and press releases that can send them to you, we’re ready to help you see that silver lining instead of the cloud. Contact us today to learn more.