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5 SEO Tips and Tricks

Donna Vieira
Posted on June 11, 2013 () in Inspiration

SEO is short for search engine optimization. This practice of optimization for search engines became popular over a decade ago when website owners realized that certain phrases or words would cause their site to show up higher in search engine results. SEO has undergone changes over the years and today many people market themselves as experts. Using proper SEO techniques can give your business a boost and you don’t always need anyone to help you, no matter how complicated SEO might seem when described by some.

Keywords and Phrases

Keywords and key phrases are still important elements in SEO. While these are not as important to good SEO as in the past, if you aren’t incorporating some key words or phrases into your webpage or content, you’re missing out on some SEO.

Choose your keywords based on your product or service. Google has a tool that is useful and located in their Adwords section. This tool identifies trends in search conducted by people around the world. Words have a number assigned based on how often it is searched.

Quality Content

Google is the main search engine that people rely on for their SEO. A leader in search engines, Google recently rolled out a number of changes in how SEO is used. Their site looks for high quality, relevant content. If a page is full of keywords, yet has no information or quality articles relating to the keywords, it is ignored. Always provide readers with quality content.

Good Incoming Links

Incoming links are important as well. High quality links from good blogs are going to increase your search engine ratings. Organic links are the best and come from people or sites that link to you due to your information. People that find your site valuable will share it and increase your incoming links.

Titles

Many people aren’t aware that the titles of pages and articles can increase SEO. Ever article or post on a blog should have a title tailored to draw in visitors. The title needs to be interesting, yet describe the article well. Titles shouldn’t be more than 8 words long if possible. Any titles that are too short can be skipped by a search engine and ones that are too long might be cut off in results.

Articles Length

Another not so well known trick to increasing SEO is to keep articles at a certain length. People reading on the Internet aren’t always interested in clicking link after link to the next page of an article. Some are, but the majority of readers prefer shorter articles in the 500 word range. Much longer can cause your readers to lose interest, while shorter than 400 words might cause searches to skip your article.

Looking for SEO consulting and an analysis of your site? Contact Grow Socially today

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How to Be a Good Client on a New Website Project

guestposter
Posted on May 21, 2013 () in General, Inspiration

If you are working on a new site project and want it to go like clockwork, here are two critical questions I’ll try to help you answer:

    1. 1. What can I do, as a client, to get the best, highest quality website possible?
    2. 2. What can I do, as a client, to make the project as frictionless and quickly as possible?

 

10 Tips for a Smooth and Successful New Site

  • Give the agency a single point of contact. Site projects are complex and involve a lot of communication. Having one person and one person only communicate with the agency eliminates a lot of confusion and overlap on both sides.

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  • Make sure your point person has the right stuff. Ideally, the person communicating with the agency will have a decent working knowledge of marketing and web development best practices. More important, though, is the ability to manage and organize communication, and the savvy to know where to get answers internally.  The point person will be dealing with issues relating to programming, content, design and strategy.

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  • Build the right internal team. Your in-house project team shouldn’t be too big: this leads to drawn-out decision making and watered-down decisions. Project teams shouldn’t be too small: this leads to bad decisions because key considerations are overlooked. Think of your internal team as an elite collection of subject matter experts. You’ll want one to be accountable for each of the issue areas mentioned in #2 – programming, content, design and strategy.

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  • Maintain laser focus and keep politics out. Websites tend to get politicized within an organization because every department wants a piece of the spotlight. Great clients remember that the constituency that matters most is the customer, and the goal that matters most is persuasion. Anything that doesn’t contribute to those two causes is a distraction.  When in doubt, leave it out.

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  • Insist on a project schedule with deadlines. Our agency always provides a very detailed schedule of activities, in large part to help clients stay on track and prepare internally for milestones. For instance, if at some point you will be required to review 100 pages of new content, you’ll need to map out how it will be accomplished well in advance.

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  • Give the agency meaningful input. When the agency asks you for direction or feedback on strategy, design, content and functionality, your responses will produce the best outcomes when they are thoughtful, clear and reasonably detailed. Comments like, “I don’t like this” or “it needs to be more persuasive” don’t give the agency the insight it needs to learn and improve.

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  • Speak with one voice. We get tripped up when a client tells us something that sounds definite – but behind the scenes, they are still arguing internally. This is a common but very bad communication problem. If we take action on design direction and then have to reverse course because what we were told is later overruled, hours of design and/or programming time may have been wasted.

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  • Don’t expect perfection. I often compare website projects to building a house. No matter how carefully you plan and execute, there will still be power outlets in the wrong place and nail pops somewhere on the ceiling. The important thing is to take issues in stride. Keep it moving.

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  • Get clarity by asking the right questions. If you’re not sure why you are being tasked with a particular project detail, don’t dive in until you understand the purpose. Examples of great client questions: What are the main things you want us to consider on this wireframe?
    1. What specific feedback are you looking for during the design review?
    2. How much, and specifically what, input do you need from us to create new site content?

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  • Don’t overcommit. Clients frequently assume the agency can handle anything and everything, and seriously underestimate the effort they have to put in. For example, it’s easy for a client to approve a sitemap with 100 pages of new content – but it’s another thing to actually write it! The agency will need your help to craft the message and fill in the details. In the same way, it’s easy to approve a wireframe with space for 100 product photos – but it’s another thing to actually take the photos. Be careful: there could be scores of hours of work behind every simple “yes.”

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    Over to You

    What do you think? If you work for an agency or are a freelancer, what advice would you give to a client? And … if you are a client, what questions do you have about your upcoming site project?

    About the Author

    Brad Shorr is Director of B2B Marketing for Straight North, a Chicago area Internet marketing agency. He has worked on website projects since the late 1990s.

     

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    How to: Link a Phone Number on a Mobile Website

    Donna Vieira
    Posted on May 10, 2013 () in Inspiration

    Q. “How do I make phone numbers ‘live’ links when building a mobile site for iOS or Android?”

    Perhaps you want to do the same thing. Maybe you are building a “Contact Us” page on your mobile-optimized website in iFlyMobi. If so, here’s how you can do it:

    How-To: Make Phone Numbers be a ‘Live’ Link
    • Via the “My Websites” page, select the website that you wish to edit
    • Then, click the “Edit” button for the page that you want to add the phone number link to
    • Within the WYSISYG editor, type in the phone number (i.e. “If you need assistance, please call us at 978-694-9992″)
    • Select/highlight the text that you want to be a link
    • Click the hyperlink button in the editor
    • In the “Link URL” field, enter the following “tel:9786949992″ (of course, change the phone number to be your own)

    By doing that, most smartphones will display the text as a link when someone views your page. Upon clicking the link, they should be presented with a prompt to call the corresponding number.

    We hope that this helps!

    FYI  — We tested it successfully on an iPhone and an Android phone. If you want to do this to your own website, iFlyMobi is a mobile website builder that allows you to easily design a custom mobile website for your business!

    Phone link on mobile website

     

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    5 Steps To Creating An Effective Landing Page

    Kerri Stinson
    Posted on May 2, 2013 () in General

    1. Branding

    While it is important to use consistent branding throughout your website, it is just as important to incorporate your companies branding into your landing pages as well.

    Using consistent branding in all of your marketing collateral is just as important online as it is in print. By incorporating your branding elements into your landing pages, your users will be able to easily identify that they are viewing another piece of your marketing collateral.

    2. Message

    When building your landing page, creating the proper message is the main goal in order to provide your audience with key information.

    In order to allow your audience to digest the information quickly and easily, it is key to develop your copy in short paragraphs and or bulleted lists. By condensing the information, your audience will be able to understand the information you have provided them with along with the ability to

    3. Questions and Contact Information

    Asking the proper questions is key to an effective landing page. While the purpose of a landing is to request information, it is vital to ask only the questions, which are necessary.

    By asking a limited number of the right questions, it will create the potential for more people to fill out and complete your form, which will provide you with the proper information that you are seeking to gain. Also, while asking the proper questions is important, it is also key to only ask the necessary contact fields for the same reasons.

    For more information on creating an online form, check out “7 Steps to Create an Online Form.”

    4. Images and Videos

    Another way to break up the copy on a landing page is to incorporate images and videos. By using these design elements, it will allow you to use less text to get your message across. Also, by incorporating images and videos into your landing pages, you will also be able to create a dynamic and visually appealing layout for your landing page.

    5. Submit Button

    The main goal of a landing page is to have your audience members complete the form. However, once someone clicks submit, it is important that it is not the end of the interaction. As a result, it is key to include teasers of information to additional resources and information about other services that your company can offer your users.

     

     

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    7 Mobile Marketing Statistics To Start Your Day

    Lou Cimaglia
    Posted on April 30, 2013 () in News

    • -$39 billion retail sales will be made on a mobile device this year (eMarketer)

    • -The iPad generates 12% of mobile ad revenue globally ( Opera)

    • -Samsung currently has 27.5% of the smartphone market share; Apple has 8.9% (IDC)

    • -82% of mobile media time is via apps (Smart Insights)

    • -70% of job seekers look for job information on mobile (Simply Hired Job Seeker Report)

    • -27% of emails are opened on mobile devices (Sirona Consulting)

    • -80% of physicians use mobile devices at work (Information Week)

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    Infographic: The Explosion Of Mobile

    Lou Cimaglia
    Posted on April 23, 2013 () in General

    The following infographic was created by IMGR (Interactive Media in Retail Group), the United Kingdom’s industry association for e-retail. The graphic shows charts and statistics that show the continued growth and upward trending of mobile tech and communications.

    mobile marketing, iflymobi, mobile website generator,

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    Mobile Content – Be A Minimalist

    John Foley, Jr.
    Posted on April 18, 2013 () in General
    john-foley-jr

    With your mobile website, you should carefully pick and choose what kind of information you provide. It doesn’t matter whether you’re using responsive design or building a separate site — the content on the mobile version has to be tailored specifically to that audience.

    Remember, your mobile users are typically looking for specific information, not just grazing and roaming from site to site. This doesn’t mean you have the green light to skimp on actual content. You want to give them what they are looking for. So the correct information is key, and not oodles of extraneous bits that you may naturally add on your regular website.

    Not sure you’re clear on what I’m talking about? I’ve got a White Paper all about mobile content that you might be interested in. No cost to you!

    Download Mobile Content 101 Today!

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    The Internet In Our Pockets

    John Foley, Jr.
    Posted on April 4, 2013 () in General
    Unterhered Marketing

    The following is an excerpt from my new book, “Untethered Marketing: The Role Of The Cloud And Mobile Communication.”

    The internet changed the balance of power between business and consumers. Consumers now have instantaneous access to a wealth of information, and they are increasingly choosing when, where and how to receive that information – or whether to receive it at all.

    Now, with the internet literally in our pockets, the balance of power is shifting even further.

    According to the Mobile Internet Attitudes Report from Antenna Software, one in five U.S. mobile phone owners uses the mobile internet every day (and this figure has increased). On Device Research reports that 25% of U.S. mobile phone users are mobile only. In other words, they do not (or very rarely) use a desktop, laptop or tablet to access the web. They are truly untethered.

    In October of 2011, for the first time, according to the CTIA, a cellular industry trade group, there were more wireless subscriber connections than people, mostly because of business accounts and people with multiple cell phones. Smart marketers are taking it mobile.

    Smart marketers are taking it mobile.

    Read the rest of my book today! Order your copy. > > >

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    Mobile Marketing Webinar – 4/10

    Lou Cimaglia
    Posted on April 2, 2013 () in News
    Grow_Socially_logo

    On Wednesday, April 10, at 1 pm EST, Grow Socially is hosting a webinar entitled “Under the Mobile Umbrella.”



    Sales Executive Tom Barry and Sales Operations Specialist Katie Sadlier will be talking about all things mobile, and how it can help your business.

    “This will be a busy 40 minute webinar,” said Katie. “We will be covering many different aspects of mobile marketing, as well as providing you with stats and figures that will show just how prominent mobile has become.”

    This will be a chance for listeners to learn about iFlyMobi and Qreate and Track, two mobile marketing tools that have proven to add value to any business.

    Some of the other topics discussed will be:

    • -Mobile websites
    • -Near Field Communication
    • -QR Codes
    • -Augmented Reality
    • -Responsive Web Design

     

    “I am really looking forward to this session,” said Tom. “We work with mobile every day here at interlinkONE and Grow Socially, and this is a great opportunity for us to share our expertise with our attendees. We want to help these companies get started with mobile marketing, and more importantly, how to make money with it.”

    This webinar will last 40 minutes. Follow the link below to reserve your seat today.

    Register Today! > >

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    Infographic: Consumer Attitudes Towards SMS Marketing

    Lou Cimaglia
    Posted on March 28, 2013 () in General

    This infographic was created by TextMarketer, a mobile marketing company in the United Kingdom. The graphic shows consumer attitudes towards SMS marketing and texting with business in general.

    It was originally posted here.

    Source: Text Marketer Bulk SMS Services