I rarely post on SEO stuff (because it changes almost daily) but this is kind of an important update for my friends who are business owners or otherwise depend on the Web for new clients or sales.
I rarely post on SEO stuff (because it changes almost daily) but this is kind of an important update for my friends who are business owners or otherwise depend on the Web for new clients or sales.
As a marketer (and we all are) more information is better. Google’s event will have folks from all over the country getting together to plan how to get more – and better – information from our shopping habits.
As they have for years, Google Analytics Certified Partners, Premium customers and developers will once again join us in the Bay Area for our annual summit this week. We are constantly working to improve our products based on feedback from our most dedicated users and this event lets us hear directly from our community. We wanted to share an overview of some of the tools and features we’ll discuss at the 2014 summit so that even if you aren’t able to attend, you can about hear what’s next. Enhanced Ecommerce – Google Analytics Ecommerce data traditionally focused on details about the purchase – transaction details, product details, and others. But, marketers today want to understand the entire customer journey.
Credits: Google Analytics Summit 2014: What’s Next And On The Horizon For Analytics
Do you watch your analytics? Do you think Google collects too much information already, or should they track more?
You know those cool author pictures you sometimes see in Google’s search results? They may be slowly going away, in a move Google’s Matt Cutts says will increase the quality of search results. Authorship – Googles way to attribute something you write online to your profile, has been found to increase the likelihood of getting clicks in search results pages, and that’s why you’ll often see multiple pictures on the first page for a popular search term – everybody wants the click.
At this time, the SEO geeks haven’t determined exactly why people are getting cut, but it’s suspected that quality and authority of the website plays an important role. We’ll keep our eye on this. In the meantime, learn more at:
I’m sure that as a business owner you sometimes wonder if your marketing is working. There are lots of articles you can read on the subject – just Google the following term:
So, if you browse a bit you’ll find plenty of articles that show you how to tell if your marketing folks are doing a good job. A good measure of success is how often you get leads – you know, how often your phone rings or you receive a web inquiry.
Here’s another fun way that I know my client’s marketing is working – after I rank a client in the search engines for a very competitive term, I start getting phone calls like this from my competitors wanting to “borrow” my client’s popularity…
“Hi, this is John Anderson with BEEP, and we’re the attorney-focused web marketing group. And, the reason I’m calling is I’m seeking relevant links for my attorney clients so I was hoping if you could possibly do relevant links exchange, uh, since we’re only focused on the attorneys and law firms of our marketing so and I hope you understand the link building which helps us to drive traffic and all that. So if you are open to this arrangement you can reach me at BEEP and you have a great day, bye.”
I’m pretty sure if they really knew that I do this professionally (attorney marketing ) they wouldn’t have left the message – but it’s comforting to be unknowingly promoted by the competition, LOL!
Listen, marketing is something EVERY business owner needs to do to stay successful. If you have the time, then learn all you can about making your business easy to find for your clients, and take action – even if it isn’t perfect. If you need help promoting YOUR organization, you can reach me here.
Local marketing can be a challenge, especially if you’re entrenched in traditional thinking on the subject. All too often, I’m approached by frustrated business owners that just aren’t getting results because they’re doing “what they’ve been told” – spending hundreds on “Yellow” or other flavors of directories, television, radio, newspaper ads, etc., etc.
Not that there’s anything wrong with that – and if it works for you, then by all means keep doing it. But quite often my clients haven’t realized that their customers have changed the way they do business – which means that WE have to change the way we attract THEM.
It’s been a long-time practice to boost your website traffic and ranking by building links from relevant websites to your site. With all of the Google updates over the past few years, you might be wondering if you should bother with link building at all. Here’s what Website Magazine says:
CONTENT, CONTENT, CONTENT
The creation of quality, relevant content is the cornerstone of any link building program. Content can be created both on your website or as a separate piece that lives off your website. The more people like the content, the more they will read it and share it – musts to drive links and traffic. Content does not have to be text, although in some cases text is preferred. Content can be photographs, video, infographics, ebooks – the list goes on.
CREATE AUTHORITY
With the information that passes on the Internet, it is hard to decipher what is the best information. Companies need to lead in the ‘expert’ arena. By providing a consistent voice on topics appropriate to your company – via content, social media, PR – it will help distinguish the content you produce and help the chances of your content being shared.
So, are YOU creating content? Would you even know where to start? I know many business owners that don’t think they have the skill, creativity, time, etc., to do it – but it really doesn’t have to take a lot of that to do a passable job. Want to know how? Let’s talk. 🙂
"As a small business owner, I knew how critical visibility on the web was, but didn't know where to start. Ken Ivey at MidTN Technology worked with me to upgrade my website... and taught me many ways I could get my business noticed on the internet - that I didn't know existed. I fully recommend MidTN Technology for not only the expertise, but also for the personal service and professionalism."