Often times small business will focus on either social media (especially lately), or spend too much time worrying only about search engine optimization. The reality is, the two need to be closely aligned. For the small business – a local search presence, plus well optimized and related social content is a win-win.
Ever notice when you click to share something on Facebook and it sometimes doesn’t display an image? Does that make you as crazy as it makes me? Or, sometimes it gives 20 thumbnails to choose from, but the one image you want to share is not one of the thumbnails you can choose from. Well… here’s my helpful tip of the week!
If you are website builder, and take social sharing seriously – take the time to select which image you want associated with a given page when sharing socially. Let’s review.
The following page is a gallery page of an Angry Birds Theme Cake (pretty slick cake too if you ask me!).
Search Engine Optimization – or SEO – is a sought after service with the rise in social media and the value of marketing online. Companies will seek to hire someone to “do SEO” on their website to increase visibility in the major search engines. The realization that you have admitted you need some help with search engine ranking is a great start – however, when I talk to people about what SEO really entails, often times they either don’t understand it, or don’t want to hear it.
In my many years in the internet marketing / SEO world, I have repeatedly been met with folks who do not see the value or importance of applying Search Engine Optimization best practices to any images on their web site or blog. I have prodded clients to rename images using keywords in the photo’s file name. There are so many key elements in a page’s content that can contribute to gaining visibility in search – why would you not leverage ALL of those elements.
Photo naming conventions can go add an additional element to your page – so why not take the time to rename your image files before uploading them to your website? In the case of eCommerce, your image file names can potentially impact your position in Google Shopping, if you have your products uploaded to their product database.
I recently gave a presentation to my fellow SIGMA employees about the importance of having your LinkedIn profile optimized and how that can impact your organizations online/offline traffic. Each employee of your organization should be considered a touch-point into your products and services. I would suggest that even your receptionist should have an optimized LinkedIn profile that represents your company’s core messaging.
In my mind, it boils down to 2 questions you must answer in building a blog content strategy. Who is your audience? Why do you have a blog?
They may seem like simple questions, but you must truly consider both of these, and realize that there may be several answers to both questions. Lets dig a bit deeper… These two questions go hand-in-hand. Ask yourself what you hope to accomplish by blogging.
Myth 6: My customers have all day to browse my site and eventually will find what they are looking for…
Truth: Don’t make your products hard to find: Users want to find what they are looking for as quickly as possible – it’s why they are on the internet doing their research. Use the “3 click” rule to allow your users to find what they are looking for in 3 clicks or less!
Title grab you did it? That’s a common thing I am hearing from my customers coming off the holiday shopping season. Well maybe not in those exact words, but here is what I am hearing starting off this new year… “My traffic is way down on my site, what is going on?” or “You are [...]
How many guys are out there searching on Google for cool and unique ways to propose marriage to their girlfriend? How about this idea? Plan a dinner or a summer picnic, barbeque – whatever, and order a carved watermelon centerpiece for your table that is hand-carved with the message “Will You Marry Me?” on [...]
The transition of a website from “build” to “marketing” is always an interesting one. Very rarely does a new website get launched that is full of keyterm rich content, unique and interesting content, and most importantly… relevant content. That is not to say it does not happen with much pulling teeth and dragging them along [...]