Google Analytics – What is it and Why do I need it?

July 8, 2016 by Social Butterfly

We just tracked your visit to this blog post. Well…we didn’t…Google Analytics did. In fact Google Analytics is currently tracking your geographic location, the amount of time you spend on the website and several other fascinating (if you are data ninjas like us) statistics that will help us understand how to improve this website.

If you are like most of our clients you have never even heard of Google Analytics. No sweat! Allow us to break it down for you. Google Analytics is a web analytics service offered by Google that tracks and reports website traffic. Ever wonder how many people visit your website? Do you know the most visited page within your website? Google Analytics has the answers! Knowledge is power and Google Analytics provides users with valuable insights regarding website performance.

Are you worried because sales are lagging? Maybe it has something to do with the website you haven’t updated in 3 years. By examining Google Analytics user flow models we are able to see where visitors are becoming disinterested and dropping off your website. Maybe the check out process is too confusing causing users to abandon their shopping cart before making a purchase. Here’s a fun video on relating Google Analytics to a real life situation.

If you don’t have Google Analytics set up on your website take our advice and get it as soon as possible. Be social and reach out below to learn more!

Video Content is King in 2016

June 24, 2016 by Social Butterfly

One of the hottest “trends” in the digital marketing world for 2016 is video content. Is it really a “trend” if it is estimated that 80% of world’s internet traffic will be video by 2019? For us, it’s a no brainer. Businesses planning on running successful marketing campaigns in 2016 need video content. If you are a skeptic you should read the statistics in our previous blog post Video Content Marketing On The Rise and/or do a little side research on the topic.

Let’s use the real estate industry as an example. Take a look at this awesome drone footage captured by our client Media Distribution Solutions. #BetterVideo

Here’s another great example of high quality video content captured by our friends at Chair 8 Media.

It has been said a picture is worth 1,000 words. Well if that’s the case, a video is worth 1,000,000! Actually, Dr. James McQuivey of Forrester Research estimates that one minute of video is equal to 1.8 million words.

Back to real estate. The old school method of showing real estate involves clients flipping through boring old interior and exterior photos. In today’s digitally driven society, people want to see more than just photos…they want video! According to HubSpot, real estate property listings that include a video receive 403% more inquiries than those without.

No matter what industry you are in you should have video content in your marketing mix to stay ahead of your competitors! Reach out to us below and learn more about setting your business up for success with video content.

Video Content Marketing on the Rise

February 4, 2016 by Social Butterfly

We’ve read countless industry articles regarding the importance of video content heading into 2016. While it is easy to be a skeptic, it’s really hard to argue with the statistics!

Video Content Stats:

By 2019 online video will account for 80% of all consumer internet traffic (Cisco systems)
Users who view video on retail sites are 81% more likely to purchase (Aberdeen and Kelsey Report)
60% of visitors watch video content before reading text on the same page (Infographic)
55% of people watch online videos everyday (Infographic)
Over 50% of those who watch online video that promotes a product or service take action after viewing (MDS)

Our newest client – Media Distribution Solution – breaks it down for you in this short video.

Perhaps you skipped reading the text above and jumped right to watching the video. That would support the 3rd bullet point that 60% of visitors watch video content before reading text on the same page. Why some people may find that statistic disturbing (librarians or school teachers?), Marketers see all the potential that videos content can provide.

Video content is CRUCIAL for businesses to have in their Marketing mix. We aren’t talking about uploading a video to Youtube and being done with it. There are several ways you can use video to promote your business through social media marketing, email marketing, on your website, television…the list could go on.

According to Facebook’s Q4 earnings call – 100 million hours of video are now being watched per day on the social media platform.

BIA/Kelsey reports that a website with video on the landing page is 53 times more likely to appear on the first page of Google search results. Less than 2% of searchers reach page 2 of Google search results.

Send us an email to find out more about leveraging video content and setting your business up for success moving into 2016.

The Most Visited Websites in the US

December 13, 2015 by Social Butterfly

The list below ranks websites based on the number of people in the United States who visit each site within a month. It includes sites with estimated traffic as well as sites with traffic that Quantcast has independently verified. Quantcast directly measures site traffic through the implementation of the Quantcast asynchronous tag on each web site.

Rank Site Monthly Visits

1	google.com	220,398,144
2	youtube.com	211,662,624
3	twitter.com	197,659,136
4	facebook.com	129,306,760
5	msn.com	109,743,248
6	bing.com	87,129,328
7	amazon.com	72,173,760
8	answers.com	68,264,112
9	microsoft.com	67,448,560
10	buzzfeed.com	67,021,204
11	yelp.com	58,261,848
12	ebay.com	57,844,692
13	pinterest.com	57,728,852
14	live.com	49,452,876
15	wikipedia.org	45,600,844
16	wikia.com	43,674,876
17	yahoo.com	42,957,392
18	weather.com	40,273,692
19	monster.com	39,735,936
20	linkedin.com	39,305,596

Some people might see this as just a list. But we see this as Digital Marketing opportunity. From an advertising standpoint these websites hold a lot of power.

Google leads the ranks with over 200 million visitors a month adding more and more merit to their Google Pay Per Click advertising campaigns. For almost all businesses it makes sense to incorporate Google advertising as a part of your digital marketing mix.

Some might be shocked to learn that Youtube is the 2nd most visited site with 211 million monthly visitors. So how can your business use this to its advantage? Simple – Video Advertising. Experts believe that by the end of 2015 video will take up 57% of consumers internet traffic and that by 2018 this will have risen to 79%.

Unless you’ve been living under a rock for the past decade it shouldn’t be a shock that the popular social media networks Twitter and Facebook rank 3rd and 4th respectively in monthly website visit. If your company isn’t in the social media “game” you are miles behind your competitors and missing out on millions of potential customers.

Even Yelp’s advertising options have validity for several industries including the hotel, restaurant, and hospitality industry considering it is the #11 most monthly visited site at 58 million monthly visits.

Let Social Scene Marketing put together a successful Digital Marketing strategy for your business!

Online Reviews DO matter!

December 7, 2015 by Social Butterfly

Online reviews are SUPER important when it comes to how consumers view your business. The fact is that people spend a lot of time searching online and researching your business, products, or services before deciding to give you their hard earned cash. According to Digital Marketing expert Lance Moore from Uptick Marketing, there are 3 possible judgements a potential customer will make depending on your online reviews.

Situation # 1 – You Have No Online Reviews

Unfortunately you have no online reviews….so what does this tell a potential customer? From a branding perspective it warns them to be weary of your business. It is likely they will continue searching for businesses that actually have reviews so they can feel confident in their purchasing decision. Positive reviews enhance consumer “trust” in your offerings. The best way to earn reviews is to ask for them! Don’t be shy…most of the time people are happy to share their experiences on your business. Make a point to offer exceptional customer service and amazing products or services and positive reviews will flow!

Situation # 2 – You Have Negative Reviews

Obviously if you have negative reviews people are not going to want to hire you or purchase your products. It is safe to assume if you have negative reviews you are losing business. How do you combat negative reviews? Simple – Respond to them! Let people know that you truly do care and value your customers enough to rectify problems that arise. Remove the negative reviews by responding and making them right!

Situation # 3 – You Have Awesome Reviews

Best case scenario! People will read the positive reviews and know they can trust your business! Reviews are becoming more and more important from an SEO standpoint. Continue to gain positive reviews and reap the benefits of an extraordinary online reputation.

So what’s the moral of the story? Ask for the review…Be the best in your industry, provide unmatched products and services, and in turn you will gain positive online reviews!

Let Social Scene Marketing put together a Digital Marketing strategy for your business! Contact us today!

Facebook Plans to Add Dislike Button

September 16, 2015 by Social Butterfly

According to a recent Bits Blog article, Facebook’s co-founder Mark Zuckerberg announced yesterday that the company plans on integrating a “Dislike” button into the social media platform in the near future. “Not every moment is a good moment, and if you are sharing something that is sad, whether it’s something in current events, like the refugees crisis that touches you, or if a family member passed away, then it may not feel comfortable to like that post,” Mr. Zuckerberg said. “So I do think it’s important to give people more options than just like.”

With over 1.5 billion users on Facebook, you can be certain there is differing opinions on the matter. “There is already enough hate on Facebook and social media,” Atiq Haneef of Pakistan commented on an earlier version of this article on the Facebook page of The New York Times. “I’m gonna dislike this dislike button!”

But Roger Anderson of Atlanta, a former government microbiologist, wrote, “What’s wrong with a dislike button? Let’s have varying opinions on Facebook posts! If some feelings get hurt, then so be it and just grow up.”

So what does this mean for the world of Digital Marketing? For businesses that advertise on Facebook this could have major negative implications! Instead of someone simply ignoring your sponsored post – they now have the ability to “Dislike” it and spark an inflammatory rant bashing your business. Facebook users have the ability to screen negative comments but will they have the ability to hide a “Dislike”? And how will the “Dislike” button affect Facebook’s algorithms? If someone “Dislikes” a post will Facebook stop showing that business in user Timelines?

Only time will tell as this new controversial button gets launched. Gina Bianchini, chief executive of Mightybell, which builds and runs social networks for businesses, said that Facebook had been smart about making it easier for users to express more nuanced feelings, and that she expected the new button would be a positive addition to conversation on the social network.

“All social networks are getting more sophisticated about this,” Ms. Bianchini said. “People want to express more through a button. It’s so much easier to press a button than typing a lot.”

Google Adwords “Call- Only” Ads

June 14, 2015 by Social Butterfly

I’ve recently been experimenting with a newer form of Google Adwords strategy called Call-Only Ads. In a nutshell they are basically ads that entice people to call your business rather than simply visit your website. Here’s what they look like:

I read an article published by searchenginewatch.com titled “5 Reasons Why Call Only Ads Should be a Part of Your PPC Strategy”. According to their article, Google statistics show:

79 percent of smartphone owners use their devices to shop.
82 percent of mobile shoppers are using search to help determine what they are going to shop for. Mobile users are mobile shoppers, and it’s all the more important to have your paid search ads front and center.
70 percent of people searching on mobile will call a business directly from the search results.

My favorite of all these is the last one…the one I underlined. If 70% of people are calling businesses directly from search results why don’t we make it as easy as possible for them to give our business a call?

Call Only Ads display your business phone number in big bold letters…and not only that….they even have a big CALL button giving the user a call to action enabling them to contact your business at the click of a button.

Let Social Scene Marketing LLC set up a Google Adwords campaign for you! Be social, send us an email, and lets chat about your business goals.

Website Building

April 10, 2015 by Social Butterfly

Website Building – Meet our newest client – Coldwell Banker Commercial Moore Company Reality

We are currently in the process of developing a brand new mobile responsive website for their commercial real estate business. Before starting this project the President of Coldwell Banker Commercial Moore Company Realty asked us to analyze his current website. One of the first things I did was pull up their website moorecompanyreality.com on my iPhone 5S. I could tell right away away that it wasn’t mobile friendly. Even though it was built only 3 years ago, it is not optimized for viewing on mobile phones.

Wow…Technology changes fast! Staying ahead of the game will give your business the competitive advantage. Just look at some of these stats from smartinsights.com

Need help building a mobile friendly website? Be social and reach out!

SEO is not overnight

March 6, 2015 by Social Butterfly

SEO – Search Engine Optimization does not happen overnight.

I mean think about it. If everyone could waive a magic SEO wand and make their site rank #1 for every keyword in their industry we would all be doing it. SEO is a long-term business strategy that will drive relevant traffic to your website in due time. I like to equate SEO to a garden. Plant some seeds, water them, nurture them and eventually you will have a garden ripe with crops!

So many of our clients ask us to help them rank “#1 in all the search engines for all industry related keywords.” That is a tall task! However, there is a lot we can do with your website to help you get there over time.

Read over the SEO insights below offered by Marketing Analyst Jerry Brown

1. SEO is NOT A Replacement for Poor Web Design
If your web designer doesn’t believe in SEO or at least have basic understanding of how rankings happen based on site structure and the ability for the bots to crawl your site, you need to run. Even if they don’t understand it, there are some basic things we used to charge for that is now done automatically through many great Content Management Systems.

2. SEO is NOT An Overnight Success
If you just built your web site last month or you are in danger of going out of business next month, I wouldn’t look to SEO to save you. SEO is a long term business strategy that will drive relevant traffic and can grow your bottom line… but it doesn’t happen overnight.

3. SEO is NOT Just On-site Optimization
Just adding some keywords to your homepage will help but that is a very, very small piece of the puzzle. There are many other things that we look at.

4. SEO is NOT Just About Google
What? Yes, it is true that Google is the 800 pound gorilla in the room. Ignore them and you will get crushed but it is important to remember that there are more ways to drive traffic to your site than just Google. Facebook, YouTube, Pinterest, and several other platforms have their own search rules and also play into Google’s results, so it is important to understand how you can optimize for these sites as well. For some of our customers, we see these sites as a top traffic generator.

5. SEO is NOT Magic
The one part science, one part art that was mentioned in my last article doesn’t include magic. If done properly and successfully, SEO is hard work. It takes time to research, it takes time to do the work, it takes time to analyze the results and it takes time to make adjustments.

6. SEO is NOT About Rankings Anymore
Years ago, rankings were important and were the way we could look to see if what we were doing was successful. Fortunately, the search engines have evolved and changed the way they work. Unfortunately, it makes it harder to look at one number to track results. With location, search history, the device you are using, and numerous other personalization factors being included in search, you will see different results from place to place, day to day, and person to person. The better guide is to look at traffic and conversions.

7. SEO is NOT Free
As I said in point #5, proper SEO takes lots of time. In today’s world, time truly is money. You can spend tons of time doing it yourself or pay someone to do it but it definitely isn’t free.

8. SEO is NOT a Total Solution but a Piece of Your Digital Strategy
SEO is a piece of your strategy that includes SEM (Search Engine Marketing), Social Media, Bookmarking sites, Blogging, Search Retargeting, and Video.

9. SEO is NOT Buying or Cheating Your Way to the Top
Gateway pages, link farms, stealing content, hiding words in the code, hiding words in the background, etc. These things are not SEO today. Run from anyone with the “easy secret” to top rankings.

10. SEO is NOT Finished – Ever
Everything on the web is changing all of the time. By the time you read this, I may have changed my mind about something in this article. Plus, your competition isn’t going to stop trying to get your traffic. Finally, you can always do better, get more traffic, or convert more visitors to leads or sales.

At the end of the day, SEO is a continuous process of improving your website’s ability to attract the right kind of visitor and then convince the visitor to do something. It involves site architecture and creating content that is good for both search engines and people while encouraging them to take some sort of action.

Let Social Scene Marketing LLC. put together a solid SEO strategy for your business. Be Social – send us an email and we will be happy to discuss ways we can help you drive more traffic, capture more leads, and help increase sales.

Google AdWords Tips

February 24, 2015 by Social Butterfly

Google AdWords Tips –

Running a Google AdWords account can get confusing…Lucky for everyone, Google is there for us as a resource.

Check out these Google Adwords Writing tips for terrific text ads…from the one and only…GOOGLE!

	Highlight what makes you unique Free shipping? Dazzling variety? Tell people! Showcase the products, services, or offers that make you competitive.
	Include prices, promotions, and exclusives People often use Google search to make a decision about something. Give them what they need to decide. If you have a limited-time discount or stock an exclusive product, say so.
	Empower customers to take action Are you selling something? Tell people what they can buy. Are you offering a service? Tell people how to contact you. Calls to action like purchase, call today, order, browse, sign up, or get a quote make clear what the next steps are.
	Include at least one of your keywords Keywords in your ad text show your ad’s relevance to what people want. For example, if you’ve included digital cameras as a keyword, your ad headline could be “Buy Digital Cameras.”
	Match your ad to your landing page Have a look at the page that you’re linking to from your ad (the landing page), and make sure that the promotions or products in your ad are included there. People might leave your website if they don’t find what they expect.
	Appeal to customers on mobile People seeing your ads on mobile are more likely to want to know where you are, or to call you. Show your location and phone number with location extensions and call extensions. Also, consider creating ads devoted to people on mobile devices, using the mobile version of your website as a landing page, and offering specials suited to a mobile audience. Keep in mind, your text ads can appear differently on mobile.
	Experiment Create three to four ads for each ad group, and use different messages for each to see which does the best. AdWords rotates ads automatically to show the best-performing ads more often. Learn more about ad rotation.

Still confused?!? Let us set up a Google AdWords Campaign for your business.