Posts Tagged ‘search engine marketing’

Sep

Blogging For Dummies or (Will you write something about my business for me??)

Posted by: Happenings at 800biz in search engine optimization

I am supposed to do WHAT?

When presenting my clients with a marketing plan to go along with their website, one of the first elements I mention is blogging. The reaction I get range from a deer in the headlights to a stifled scream and lots of hair pulling.

The first group has heard the word blog, but as far as they know, it’s a big log. For those that know what a blog is, the thought of writing something conjures up visions of their high school English teacher, complete with ruler in hand.

For those that don’t know, a blog (short for Web Log) is a type of website. The advantages of a blog are they can be created and updated in plain text by an individual, without using any html or other coding and without the need for a web designer. Another advantage of a blog is it can be used with RSS (Real Simple Syndication) feeds. Simply stated, an RSS feed can take a blog post and make it easily readable on many websites and news pages. Readers can even subscribe and receive notice every time a blog is posted.

So now you know what it is, the biggest question is why should I care? I’m not an author and everyone knows what my business does. Maybe the first is true, but does everyone really know what you do. “I’m a pool cleaner, everyone know I clean pools.” Oh really. Well let’s see. Do you repair pool filters? Do you clean pool filters? Do you clean hot tubs? Do you monitor chemical levels? Do you supply the chemicals? Are you getting the picture now? If you don’t tell prospective customers exactly what you do, why should they pick you over the other 50 companies out there?

Now let’s take the pool cleaner a step further. Do you customers ask you any questions? Is there any information they would like to know? How about tips on how to use less chemicals? What about pool safety techniques? Maybe water exercises they can do or even tax credits available for solar water heating. Be creative. You know your business, don’t be afraid to tell people about it.

One more huge Blog benefit – have your blog post appear on your web site home page. For all my clients that blog regularly, I add their blog feed to their home page. While there are a couple of ways to do that, the method I use is readable by the search engines. If search engine ranking is important, your blog can help. Search engines love sites that change regularly. By feeding the blog to the home page, every time a new blog is posted, the search engines see it as a change to the site and come back more frequently. The ultimate result is an increase in search engine ranking.

So don’t fear the blog. A blog is your friend. Embrace the blog.

Gary Wagnon and 800biz.com specialize in website design, search engine optimization, search engine marketing and social media marketing. For more information, visit our websites – www.800biz.com and www.localadlink101.com .

Tags: blog, search engine marketing, search engine optimization

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Aug

Diversity – The Vehicle to Drive Brand Recognition

Posted by: Happenings at 800biz in search engine optimization, web design

Is Your Company Brand One of These?

I discussed branding and the need for consistency in building brand awareness for a local business in my previous post. The next decision is whether you are putting your brand in a 1972 Pinto (challenging you youngsters again with that one) or a luxurious Mercedes.

Or more like one of these?

Maybe you have a website but the only way you can find it on Google is by commissioning Indiana Jones to search for it among the other other artifacts out there. Or maybe your site does show up on Google, but only if you type one specific keyword.

What if your consumer isn’t on Google? Blasphemous I know but true. Recent surveys show that people spend an average of 8 minutes a day searching for things online. The same survey showed they spend 22 minutes a day on social media (Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, etc) They are also reading news articles.

So shouldn’t your marketing and branding efforts try to reach your consumers where they are? What if your customers saw your business when they were sending an email on Gmail? Or reading an article about their favorite baseball team on MLB.com? Or checking out the latest videos on YouTube? Granted, that’s not likely to spur them to stop and contact you at that very moment. But, if they see you with regularity, who do you think they will look for when they are ready for your services?

By using a diverse approach, you stand a better chance of being in front of our customers where they are. There are times when you go hunting with a rifle and others when you hunt with a shotgun (before the animal lovers rise up, it’s just an analogy, I’m not a hunter.) This is the right place for the shotgun approach. Hit as many impressions as you can.

Creating a diverse marketing approach can be a daunting task especially when you only want to target local businesses. If you would like a simple, one stop shop, you should check out LocalAdLink (www.localadlink101.com). This service pushes your business out to over 300 high traffic search engines, directories and web sites, plus to their proprietary ad network of over 10,000 web sites.

Now’s the time to trade in the 72 Pinto and bring your brand into the 21 century.

800biz.com specializes in website design, search engine optimization and search engine marketing.

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Tags: brand recognition, branding, online advertising, search engine marketing

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