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Posted by Patrick

Semantic SEO: Google’s Newest Focus and Its Relevance

SEO

Gone are the days when we could just place important, level 10 keywords all throughout our content and watch the campaign wins, clients, and money roll in. To add more fuel to the fire, Google’s newest focus is called semantic SEO. Playing off of its definition of logic, semantic SEO is specifically about the placement of keywords within your content and how well they relate to one another. Although it sounds quite complicated at first, the focus of semantics in search engine optimization is actually helping keep our ducks in a row, so to speak.

Through the demanding prevention of overlapping keywords as mentioned prior, this is creating a more readable and less dense quality of content that will not only keep the visitors more engaged, but more likely to revisit the site as well. As a bonus, this system even accents previous keywords used in archived posts and various pages on the site and links them to one another to improve the quality of semantic SEO for the future.; which, of course, you know, helps to increase your ranking on the Google page.

The brilliant Search Engine Journal even broke down how to properly execute semantic SEO for all readers as such.

 

This is a helpful strategy that organizes and optimizes your chances for a clean semantic system; this will allow user intent, as we talked about in our last post, to increase based on the sequence of patterned, relatable keywords.

Topics

In the article, Search Engine Journal chooses to being with topics and how they relate to the customer persona. By organizing the general ideas behind what your target audience will be specifically searching for in the Google search bar, you will get a better understanding of what semantic SEO keyword sequences have generated the most site visits. Again, relating back to the importance of user intent, we always want these search results to reflect what that individual is looking for specifically. It is helpful to create a physical list of these popular and effective topics in order to keep records of what you have used in the past so you can tailor it to the Google semantic SEO system and optimize on your future content.

Concepts

Just like your words and content must be related heavily to your brand, business and market, your key concepts behind these words are significantly a part of executing this helpful strategy. In order to narrow down your concepts you must take into consideration what your audience is looking for specifically based on what service or brand you are supplying. Pay attention to reviews, specific word searches like “best San Diego pizza spot” or “best San Diego ramen restaurant,” implement them onto your site and programs like SEMRush to discover these important key phrases.

Keywords

Lastly, build a list of keywords that stem from both the topics and concepts behind what customers are looking for; this strategy will definitely require use of programs that track Ad Word campaigns. Make sure to make separate from the specific words you consider concepts and topics, as they should be the most specific and narrowed down of the steps.

The best bet to “winning” a campaign on Google is the easiest and most relatable keywords to pick up. When choosing your topics and concepts, take user intent into consideration and take the time to understand your audience and what they are specifically typing into the search bar. Once you have established a list of keywords that can easily relate to what you are selling, your site will be optimized and will require little maintenance in the future.

Posted by Patrick

Quality User Intent Is SEO’s Everything And More

SEO

Everyone in the marketing industry knows and predicts the fickle fluctuations of search engine optimization, but there might just be more of a meaningful strategy in terms of quality toward this living and breathing entity than what meets the eye. In the past, we have focused on keyword scores and relatable search engine results, which are both vital to the success of a brand or business’s Google ranking. However, there are a few avenues within these general SEO walls that can be outlined to improve the optimization strategy you are, most likely, already utilizing.

Ask and Listen

The first to be mentioned is the importance of capitalizing on the customer persona, which we (in marketing) get a good sense for with Google analytics, polls, A/B testing, newsletters and more. Even though these launched campaigns and strategies feel as though you are doing everything in your power to build and improve awareness and exposure, you can do more with this valuable database. The saying “You can’t know where you’re going if you don’t know where you’ve been” really encompasses it all here.

Find out directly from your current clients, that have already been established as “buyer personas” what makes them happy, or unhappy, or did at the beginning of the process; what works well for them as well as what doesn’t. Taking this beyond what your “target audience” would be considered, find out their interests in relation to your business or product by directly asking them rather than sending over a MailChimp poll or generalized email. Why did they want to buy a certain item? What turned them off from another? Not only will you gain a better understanding of who to target in the future and how to do it more effectively, but you will even build stronger relationships with the people you work with in the moment.

Quality Intent Is Everything

Words are just words until they possess meaning and optimization is no stranger to this belief. If you are interested in reaching beyond this advice to ensure good quality search results (as we hope you would be), focus on the quality of intent behind your content. Just as we tend to concentrate on someone’s intent when they are speaking to us, gauging whether or not they are truly and genuinely interested, the user does the same online. Outside of spending time hitting all of the keywords and reaching decent Yoast SEO quality, focus on what you are saying and what it will mean to your audience.

According to New York Times Best Seller Neil Patel, “What really counts isn’t just the keyword- it’s the intention behind a given keyword as it relates to the algorithm.” Basically, Neil is saying that regardless of executing a perfect 10 keyword match on a blog or article through SEO standards and although it may bring up the ranking of your business, it will never keep the potential customer engaged. One of the most important aspects of a site’s performance is its ability to keep customers on the page. Sure, you may bring them to page and initiate interest based on your optimization skills, but what is really going to sell them on working with you or purchasing your product is how relatable you are to them.

A Question and an Answer

When anyone types in something in the Google search bar they are asking a question and are expecting an answer. This is where most companies lose their stamina in addressing their customer persona, by not utilizing the specific searches beyond what keywords they see in front of their face.
Running specific campaigns through Google with different programs allows us to actually track what the users are typing in but are we truly looking at what they are saying? Great marketers will learn to read between the lines of these generalized searches in order to capitalize on what their customers are looking for. Search Engine Journal breaks it down as simply as this: “’Restaurant near me’ means ‘I am hungry, don’t want to cook and want to eat somewhere now.’” An adaptive and informed marketer that has restaurant clients would see this and apply the seemingly general inquiry to their site with “not in the mood to cook? Looking for something close and delicious? Try x ,y, and z.”

Care About Your Audience

To summarize these important points of marketing wisdom that really should never go out of style in the world of optimization, we will leave you with this: care about your audience. Have quality of integrity and intent behind the words that fill your site, understand who you are appealing to and learn who they are and  what they want. Regardless of the ups and downs of the always-changing SEO market and the challenges it will continue to present your business, intent will never go out of style.

 

Posted by Patrick

Local SEO Best Practices for Small Businesses in San Diego

Business Tips, Content Marketing, SEO 0

When running a small business in today’s digital age, it’s no secret that much of your marketing efforts will rely on the Internet. With so many people online, and using the web to research businesses and read product and service reviews, it’s extra important to employ a few local SEO best practices when implementing your digital marketing strategy

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Posted by Patrick

3 Exciting New Social Media Features You Should Know About!

Social Media 0

The only constant in social media platforms these days is the fact that they are constantly changing, experimenting with new features, copying each other, and adding new and exciting ways of communicating with others and marketing ourselves. With that, we have three exciting new features that have just hit three of the more popular social media platforms that everyone should be taking advantage of, with the exception of Twitter timeouts, that is. ?

Twitter Timeouts

For a while now, Twitter has experienced a bit of criticism concerning incidents of cyber-bullying and abusive behavior by some of its users. Twitter has started cracking down on such behaviors by issuing digital timeouts. A Twitter timeout generally lasts 12 hours, or may be determined on a case by case basis depending upon the infraction. While a user is in timeout, they may still tweet, however only those who follow them will be able to see their content. This is a step in the right direction for protecting social media users and taking a stand against abusing behavior online.

Facebook Jobs Feature

 LinkedIn could be in for some serious competition from Facebook in the job recruiting and searching department. Companies located in Canada and the U.S. can now list job openings on the new job page. Users can apply to the job of their choice for free, and businesses can post job openings for free as well. Applicants are allowed up to 1,000 words as to why they would be a good fit for the position, and they can be reached via messenger by the company they are applying with. Anything a user has made public on their profile will be visible by the prospective new employer. There’s a bit of skepticism as to whether or not his will take off, as many people do not think of Facebook when looking for jobs, however Facebook wants their users to be able to conduct job searches while using their site now. It will be interesting to see if this function really takes off in the next year or so.

Instagram Galleries

When Instagram first launched 6 years ago it was pretty basic. Low-resolution square images with filters you could easily share over social media drew in users by the millions. Then Facebook bought Instagram, and it’s changed in ways users first may have never imagined. Images can be high resolution and larger than they once were, and you can even post live video. What’s even cooler, is that a couple months ago Instagram rolled out the option of uploading galleries, or carousel images that showcase up to 10 photos in one post. There’s no choosing which image to share now. You can share a whole string of images to create a story. We wonder what the app is going to come up with next.

With so many social media platforms rolling out new and exciting features constantly, it can sometimes be difficult to keep up. Especially if you’re a small business owner trying to both run your business, and market yourself digitally. That’s why we’re here. We’re a San Diego digital marketing agency that caters to small business owners. We would love to help you turn your small digital marketing budget into a lead generation machine. For more information or a detailed quote call (619) 291-8181 or fill out our contact form. We look forward to hearing from you.

Posted by Patrick

Social Media ROI Stats and Struggles

Uncategorized 0

One of the biggest struggles for marketers in this digital age is the ability to successfully measure social media ROI. This is an issue for many marketers because it’s truly difficult to measure the financial value of all that social media provides. Increasingly, marketers are straying away from measuring ROI and showing an increase in revenue and sales when reporting success. Rather, they value things such as engagement: reactions, shares, comments, and page follows.

While 65% of managers believe that social ROI is important, 87% do not even try to measure it. This leaves 77% of  CEOs believing that marketers are not talking about what really matters most to them: sales. So, when it comes to social media marketing and ROI, what matters most? Is it being able to measure financial gains, or is it the ability to show growth, engagement and an actively involved community that values your content and message via social media?

As a San Diego website design and search engine optimization firm, we can see how the value of measuring ROI would be important to most CEOs and marketing managers. Our social media marketing department also struggles with this question, as there is a delicate balance to be had when showing results. We want to highlight the growth and engagement of a successful social media following, however, there are limitations to proving that an increase in revenues is directly correlated with a specific social media campaign.

Just the same, here are some general—overall statistics surrounding social media ROI across all businesses and industries when done correctly. Companies who have a well-established social media presence have seen a 9% increase in revenues, are 26% more profitable than their competitors, and have a 12% higher market value. The key factor in these stats, is the fact that these are well-established social media platforms that are successful both in terms of engagement as well as ROI. In order for this to happen, it simply takes time. Social media may not translate into ROI for a company right away, but if they put in the time, effort, and energy into building a strong presence, it most certainly can benefit the company in terms of ROI in the long-run.

So how should marketers approach the topic of measuring social media ROI? Marketing managers and CEOs alike should look at entering the social media realm as a necessity in this day in age, as well as an investment that (if done properly) will result in a profitable return. However, like with most investments, it is going to take some time to see the fruits of one’s labor. It is going to take financial and time investments to build a following over social media. However, once you have that following, it’s an investment that will continue to bear profitable rewards and opportunities for years to come as long as it is upkept.

Would you like some help growing your social following for the future success of your business? Our social media marketing experts would love to help grow your brand and following over social media. For more information, or a detailed quote, call (619) 291-8181 or fill out our contact form. We look forward to hearing from you.

Posted by Patrick

How you can use March Madness to your benefit over social media

Social Media, Social Media for Party Planners 0

March is a glorious month for marketers and sports fans alike. Not only does the month mark the end of winter and beginning of spring, but it also means that college basketball teams nationwide will be competing in the NCAA March Madness college basketball tournament. This is a wonderful opportunity for social media marketers to join in the March Madness conversation as means of promoting their brands. Facebook and Instagram have noticed that such trends surrounding things like the Oscars, the Superbowl, March Madness, and Valentine’s Day have provided excellent opportunities in 2017 for marketers to shine, and bring attention to their brands by joining in on the conversations surrounding these holidays and events.

Last year in 2016 alone, the number of conversations over Facebook surrounding March Madness grew by 40%. This is a hot topic of discussion and debate, and it truly couldn’t hurt to join in on the conversation. So, just exactly how does one join in on the March Madness conversation as means of boosting their small business? We’re so glad you asked! Here are some of our top ideas for using March Madness to boost exposure for your brand.

  • Start a contest: Several local newspapers and businesses find that March Madness provides a fun time to start a contest. While the basketball players are duking it out on the court, you can let customers try to predict who will win each game. You can offer the prize of your choice for the lucky person who wins each bracket.
  • Choose a team: There’s no better way to spark engagement than to pick a team to root for, and post content surrounding your favorite team. Perhaps you will create some custom graphics, or post videos and photos of your favorite team and players. All of this is sure to strike some emotion driven comments, whether viewers agree or disagree with your choice of who to root for.
  • Start a debate: One of the best ways to spark exposure and engagement over social media is to have an opinion, and to post content that expresses your opinion. Having an opinion about who is going to win a game, or the entire March Madness tournament is all it takes to begin a debate. When it comes to college sports, many people are passionately emotional about their favorite teams.
  • Post updates: If you’d rather stay out of limelight when it comes to voicing your opinion, simple updates after each game will suffice in providing your audience many opportunities to get involved in a conversation about a game. You may even want to start a conversation by asking your followers who they think will win an upcoming game and why.
  • Be a good sport: No matter who wins or loses each game, it is important to represent your brand by showing excellent sportsmanship. Reacting in anger over social media over a sporting event may not be the best image you want to portray to your followers on behalf of your brand. Keep things civil and congratulate each team who wins, and you will be projecting a fabulous public image for your business.

 Are you interested in using upcoming events to boost your social media exposure for your brand? Would you like help developing an overall digital marketing strategy? Our social media experts would love to help you. We’re a local San Diego website design, email marketing, PR, social media and search engine optimization firm. It is our mission to make our clients more successful. For more information, or a detailed quote, call (619) 291-8181 or fill out our contact form. We look forward to hearing from you.

 

Posted by Patrick

5 recent changes in social media you should be taking advantage of

Business Tips, Content Marketing, Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter 0

The only thing consistent about social media is the fact that it is constantly changing. Facebook, for example, has changed several times since it first launched. Buttons, functions, and the placement of them, are constantly moving and changing. It takes a social media expert just to keep up with these many changes that happen several times per year. Many of these changes are unannounced, and marketers are simply stumbling upon them as they occur. Through our research of the ever-changing social media landscape, we’ve identified 5 important changes that all marketers and operators of small business can appreciate and take advantage of.

Facebook Targeting Options

Facebook advertising is something that is constantly changing at a rapid pace, and in October of 2016 they began offering a targeting option for marketers to target people who had shared links to their content in the past. They call this target audience “link sharing.” This is huge, and will likely create many new opportunities for marketers and entrepreneurs alike. While this option was only available on the site for a week last fall, Facebook is likely still testing it with a limited audience, and we should hope to see this option available for Facebook ads very soon.

Twitter Replies Count

Now, when you’re looking through your Twitter feed, you can see not only the basic data for the tweet, but also a list of those who have retweeted, and also a list of those who have liked the tweet at the bottom. This is accompanied by thumbnail images of the Twitter users who have interacted with the tweet. Twitter has also been experimenting with showing the total replies for each tweet, and have allowed this option for a select group of users in its trial stage. This option would be the equivalent of Facebook showing comments under each post. This could encourage users to interact more with tweets.

Twitter Scratch Reel

GIFs are a social media phenomenon that have taken us by storm, and growing in popularity as of late. Twitter has introduced a “scratch reel” option to indulge users in GIF fun by allowing them to fast forward and reverse a GIF my swiping their finger (or curser) to the left or the right. When this option was first made available, it wasn’t possible for Twitter users to create their own unique scratch reels, but the company has opened this option up so that users can now create their own unique and interactive, custom GIFs. In order to access this option, you either need to compose a scratch reel in your Twitter ads, or have access to Media Studio.

LinkedIn Update Insights

Without even announcing its addition, LinkedIn now provides a new insights option for its mobile app. This is useful in that it allows users to see who is seeing their content, and how. These insights are similar to what you would see with LinkedIn Publisher posts, and they give valuable insights for new connections and opportunities. While these insights are first only available via mobile, LinkedIn is sure to include insights on their newly designed desktop site.

LinkedIn Secret Job Search

LinkedIn is making searching for a new job much easier with a new option that allows users to alert others that they are open to new opportunities discreetly, without their current employer knowing about it. It’s a small tab that users can turn on that says “let recruiters know you’re open.”

Whether you work at a San Diego website design firm, a search engine optimization firm, or simply a marketing firm, these five changes are sure to help the way your market yourself and your firm. For more information on social media marketing, or a detailed quote, call (619) 291-8181 or fill out our contact form. We look forward to hearing from you.

Posted by Patrick

Spread the LOVE this Valentine’s Day–5 expert tips for content marketing

Content Marketing 0

While it may feel like we just finished decking the halls, Valentine’s Day is nearly upon us, and we should all be adjusting our marketing efforts accordingly. Especially if we want to make the most out of this annual celebration. And with that, we’re gifting you 5 of our most useful pieces of content marketing advice this Valentine’s Day, so that your business will become as successful as possible.

Valentine Themed Email Blast

This is the perfect holiday for a custom designed Valentine’s Day e-card/email blast. Your clients/customers will love it, and you only need to send them out a few days ahead of time for maximum effectiveness. You could even set these to blast on Valentine’s Day, depending upon your industry.

Valentine Themed Custom Content

For content that you can update and reuse from one year to the next, it’s incredibly resourceful to indulge in creating some custom holiday themed content surrounding all major U.S. and audience relevant holidays. Valentine’s Day is no exception. You will want your content to focus on celebrating a certain aspect of a client/customer you admire, and to make them feel special during this holiday of celebrating love. Make your clients feel loved, and you’ll be sure to see some positive results in your ROI.

Create a Holiday Themed Microsite

By creating a separate microsite (or landing page) with a holiday theme, you’re not only adding space to share company relevant content surrounding Valentine’s Day that your following will likely enjoy; you’re also maximizing upon your SEO potential. If you’re not sure where to start, you may want to call your local San Diego website design firm to help.

Valentine’s Day Social Media Campaign

You will certainly want to create a social media campaign surrounding Valentine’s Day. You could highlight a client or customer you like, and say a bit about why. You could share your Valentine’s Day themed custom content, such as custom graphics and holiday themed blog posts. You could also tweet sweet messages that thank your customers/clients–making them feel special. Notify your following of any special holiday sales or promotions, and give them something of value that they find useful this time of year.

Spread the Love

To really make your clients/customers feel special, you could write a love story highlighting some of your favorite clients/customers, what they do, and why you appreciate them. You could also send out love from your employees to your clients/customers with a custom video or photo of your staff. Or you could simply share industry advice, and entitle it something to do with Valentine’s Day love from experts in your industry.

Any good search engine optimization firm can tell you that the following actions will not only give you a boost in your SEO efforts, but also an increase in ROI. For more information, or a detailed quote, call (619) 291-8181 or fill out our contact form. We look forward to hearing from you.

Posted by Patrick

5 Social Media Trends We’re Excited to See in 2017

Advertising, Business Tips, Content Marketing, Social Good, Social Media, Social Media for Consumer Products, Uncategorized 0

TRENDS 2017 businessman work hard hand touch

2017 is here, and that means there are sure to be a whole slew of brand new technologies, trends and innovative ways in which marketers will be promoting their business this year. We’ve scoured the web to find out more in terms of what we’re to expect this year, and we’ve found some exciting new trends that we’d love to share with you so that you too are in the loop with the latest and greatest in digital marketing to date.

AI Lenses for Instagram and Facebook

Much like the Snapchat filters, Instagram and Facebook are now working on AI Lenses for profile pictures that are sure to rival the ever-popular filters on Snapchat, according to Sprout Social. Thanks to the popular Snapchat stories, this trend isn’t going away anytime soon, and we should be seeing much more of it overall social media platforms this year.

More Growth for Snapchat

Last year Snapchat experienced an enormous amount of growth to reach a total of 150 million daily users in 2016, with 41% of US adults aged 18-34 being users.

Automation Turns into Social Media Management

Businesses are starting to see the value in real-time posting and engagement for their social media platforms across the board. This is showing business owners and marketers alike that there is much more value in hiring a social media management firm to actively manage all social media accounts in more real-time than setting up everything with automation, so that it is basically on auto-pilot. Opportunities for reaching more people, getting in on what’s most current, trending and up to date, and being more responsive to followers in real-time is going to be essential in 2017.

Paid Content is King

2017 Trends

Navigating the ever-changing algorithms over Facebook and Instagram have forced marketers into boosting and promoting content in order to reach more people. This trend isn’t going anywhere, anytime soon. If businesses want to reach more people, advertising their content over platforms such as Facebook and Instagram are going to be essential. It will also help to pair this effort with the expertise of a local search engine optimization firm to reach even more people over the Internet, and gain maximum exposure for not only your content, but your company website as well.

Social Media Expertise Demand at an All-Time High

Nine out of ten companies currently report that their employees lack the skill sets needed to effectively execute social media management and marketing in an overall effective way. This is going to push companies to start considering outsourcing their social media management to an experienced marketing firm. This will save companies time, and even money when it comes to managing their social media efforts in a manner that will not only drive sales, leads and ROI, but build a loyal following that is sure to stick with them for years to come.

Social media is constantly changing, which is also changing the way that businesses must market themselves. Gone will be the days of in-house marketing if companies truly want to get an edge above their competition and become power houses over social media and the Internet. For more information, or a detailed quote, call (619) 291-8181 or fill out our contact form. We look forward to hearing from you.

Posted by Patrick

3 New Year’s Marketing Resolutions for 2017

Advertising, Content Marketing, Email Marketing, Facebook, Google+, Instagram, LinkedIn, Marketing Campaigns, Mobile, Pinterest, ROI in Social Media, SEO, Social Good, Social Media 0

We’re nearly two weeks into 2017, and that means it’s still time to start making and working on some new year’s resolutions that are really going to stick and turn your life around for the better this year. The same can be said for your small business. There are so many new technologies and programs available today when it comes to marketing and promoting yourself, that it may seem overwhelming to know where to start. But nevertheless, if you aren’t marketing your small business in 2017 in new and exciting ways, how do you expect your business to grow? That’s why we’ve come up with a handy dandy list of new year’s marketing resolutions for your small business in 2017.

Revamp Your Website

January is the perfect time to take a look at your website and decide which pages and graphics, messages, etc. need to be updated, and which things can completely go. Giving your website a fresh new look in 2017 is a great way to attract more leads and potential customers. Be sure to hire the right San Diego website design firm who will take the time and attention it takes to ensure that every detail of your website is psychologically designed in a way that will attract more viewers, and bring them into your storefront or office.

Search Engine Optimization

The Internet is changing all of the time, and if you’re not keeping up with SEO, you may not even be visible in the vast digital jungle that is the web. Be sure to hire a professional search engine optimization firm that will not only help you reach the top of Google search pages, but also optimize your SEO in San Diego so you’re targeting customers nearby. Local search optimization is just as, if not more, important than overall SEO–depending upon your business and industry.

Boost Your Social Media Efforts

It’s always a good idea to make sure your social media content is current and up-to-date. If you want to grow a social following, be sure you’re posting relevant content your followers want to see on a consistent basis. Third party articles from companies you’d like to strategically align with are helpful. You may also want to refresh your profile and background images. Be sure to post content that is behind the scenes, without being too personal, and to mix in a bit of fun with your business-related information. Custom graphics, infographics, links to your website, videos and blogs are essential for social media, and not just on Facebook. LinkedIn is great for B2B marketing, while Instagram, Twitter, Snapchat and YouTube are growing fast. If you’re feeling a bit overwhelmed with navigating the ever-changing social media world, we are here to help. We offer social media management services that are sure to save you time, while increasing your following and overall profits. We can even create ads for your own personal Facebook and Instagram campaigns.

In this new digital age, it’s essential for small and large businesses alike to jump on the social media bandwagon. Whether you enjoy social media or not, there are billions of people around the globe who do, and it’s taking over the way that marketing and advertising is conducted moving forward. Therefore, we are here for you, and would love a chance to help make 2017 the best year yet for your San Diego business. For more information, or a detailed quote, call (619) 291-8181 or fill out our contact form. We look forward to hearing from you.

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