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Search Engine Optimization Tips

July 15, 2022 by Social Butterfly

1. If you absolutely MUST use Java script drop down menus, image maps or image links, be sure to put text links somewhere on the page for the spiders to follow.

2. Content is king, so be sure to have good, well-written, and unique content that will focus on your primary keyword or keyword phrase.

3. If content is king, then links are queen. Build a network of quality backlinks. Remember, if there is no good, logical reason for a site to link to you, you don’t want the link.

4. Don’t be obsessed with PageRank. It is just one isty bitsy part of the ranking algorithm. A site with lower PR can actually outrank one with a higher PR.

5. Be sure you have a unique, keyword focused Title tag on every page of your site. And, if you MUST have the name of your company in it, put it at the end. Unless you are a household name, your business name will probably get few searches.

6. Fresh content can help improve your rankings. Add new, useful content to your pages on a regular basis. Content freshness adds relevancy to your site in the eyes of the search engines.

7. Be sure links to your site and within your site use your keyword phrase. In other words, if your target is “blue widgets” then link to “blue widgets” instead of a “Click here” link.

8. Focus on search phrases, not single keywords, and put your location in your text (“our Palm Springs store” not “our store”) to help you get found in local searches.

9. Don’t design your web site without considering SEO. Make sure your web designer understands your expectations for organic SEO. Doing a retrofit on your shiny new Flash-based site after it is built won’t cut it. Spiders can crawl text, not Flash or images.

10. Use keywords and keyword phrases appropriately in text links, image ALT attributes and even your domain name.

11. Check for canonicalization issues – www and non-www domains. Decide which you want to use and 301 redirect the other to it. In other words, if http://www.domain.com is your preference, then http://domain.com should redirect to it.

12. Check the link to your home page throughout your site. Is index.html appended to your domain name? If so, you’re splitting your links. Outside links go to http://www.domain.com and internal links go to http://www.domain.com/index.html.

Ditch the index.html or default.php or whatever the page is and always link back to your domain.

13. Frames, Flash and AJAX all share a common problem – you can’t link to a single page. It’s either all or nothing. Don’t use Frames at all and use Flash and AJAX sparingly for best SEO results.

14. Your URL file extension doesn’t matter. You can use .html, .htm, .asp, .php, etc. and it won’t make a difference as far as your SEO is concerned.

15. Got a new web site you want spidered? Submitting through Google’s regular submission form can take weeks. The quickest way to get your site spidered is by getting a link to it through another quality site.

16. If your site content doesn’t change often, your site needs a blog because search spiders like fresh text. Blog at least three time a week with good, fresh content to feed those little crawlers.

17. When link building, think quality, not quantity. One single, good, authoritative link can do a lot more for you than a dozen poor quality links, which can actually hurt you.

18. Search engines want natural language content. Don’t try to stuff your text with keywords. It won’t work. Search engines look at how many times a term is in your content and if it is abnormally high, will count this against you rather than for you.

19. Text around your links should also be related to your keywords. In other words, surround the link with descriptive text.

20. If you are on a shared server, do a blacklist check to be sure you’re not on a proxy with a spammer or banned site. Their negative notoriety could affect your own rankings.

21. Be aware that by using services that block domain ownership information when you register a domain, Google might see you as a potential spammer.

22. When optimizing your blog posts, optimize your post title tag independently from your blog title.

23. The bottom line in SEO is Text, Links, Popularity and Reputation.

24. Make sure your site is easy to use. This can influence your link building ability and popularity and, thus, your ranking.

25. Give link love, Get link love. Don’t be stingy with linking out. That will encourage others to link to you.

26. Search engines like unique content that is also quality content. There can be a difference between unique content and quality content. Make sure your content is both.

27. If you absolutely MUST have your main page as a splash page that is all Flash or one big image, place text and navigation links below the fold.

28. Some of your most valuable links might not appear in web sites at all but be in the form of e-mail communications such as newletters and zines.

29. You get NOTHING from paid links except a few clicks unless the links are embedded in body text and NOT obvious sponsored links.

30. Links from .edu domains are given nice weight by the search engines. Run a search for possible non-profit .edu sites that are looking for sponsors.

31. Give them something to talk about. Linkbaiting is simply good content.

32. Give each page a focus on a single keyword phrase. Don’t try to optimize the page for several keywords at once.

33. SEO is useless if you have a weak or non-existent call to action. Make sure your call to action is clear and present.

34. SEO is not a one-shot process. The search landscape changes daily, so expect to work on your optimization daily.

35. Cater to influential bloggers and authority sites who might link to you, your images, videos, podcasts, etc. or ask to reprint your content.

36. Get the owner or CEO blogging. It’s priceless! CEO influence on a blog is incredible as this is the VOICE of the company. Response from the owner to reader comments will cause your credibility to skyrocket!

37. Optimize the text in your RSS feed just like you should with your posts and web pages. Use descriptive, keyword rich text in your title and description.

38. Use keyword rich captions with your images.

39. Pay attention to the context surrounding your images. Images can rank based on text that surrounds them on the page. Pay attention to keyword text, headings, etc.

40. You’re better off letting your site pages be found naturally by the crawler. Good global navigation and linking will serve you much better than relying only on an XML Sitemap.

41. There are two ways to NOT see Google’s Personalized Search results:

(1) Log out of Google

(2) Append &pws=0 to the end of your search URL in the search bar

42. Links (especially deep links) from a high PageRank site are golden. High PR indicates high trust, so the back links will carry more weight.

43. Use absolute links. Not only will it make your on-site link navigation less prone to problems (like links to and from https pages), but if someone scrapes your content, you’ll get backlink juice out of it.

44. See if your hosting company offers “Sticky” forwarding when moving to a new domain. This allows temporary forwarding to the new domain from the old, retaining the new URL in the address bar so that users can gradually get used to the new URL.

45. Understand social marketing. It IS part of SEO. The more you understand about sites like Digg, Yelp, del.icio.us, Facebook, etc., the better you will be able to compete in search.

46. To get the best chance for your videos to be found by the crawlers, create a video sitemap and list it in your Google Webmaster Central account.

47. Videos that show up in Google blended search results don’t just come from YouTube. Be sure to submit your videos to other quality video sites like Metacafe, AOL, MSN and Yahoo to name a few.

48. Surround video content on your pages with keyword rich text. The search engines look at surrounding content to define the usefulness of the video for the query.

49. Use the words “image” or “picture” in your photo ALT descriptions and captions. A lot of searches are for a keyword plus one of those words.

50. Enable “Enhanced image search” in your Google Webmaster Central account. Images are a big part of the new blended search results, so allowing Google to find your photos will help your SEO efforts.

51. Add viral components to your web site or blog – reviews, sharing functions, ratings, visitor comments, etc.

52. Broaden your range of services to include video, podcasts, news, social content and so forth. SEO is not about 10 blue links anymore.

53. When considering a link purchase or exchange, check the cache date of the page where your link will be located in Google. Search for “cache:URL” where you substitute “URL” for the actual page. The newer the cache date the better. If the page isn’t there or the cache date is more than an month old, the page isn’t worth much.

54. If you have pages on your site that are very similar (you are concerned about duplicate content issues) and you want to be sure the correct one is included in the search engines, place the URL of your preferred page in your sitemaps.

55. Check your server headers. Search for “check server header” to find free online tools for this. You want to be sure your URLs report a “200 OK” status or “301 Moved Permanently ” for redirects. If the status shows anything else, check to be sure your URLs are set up properly and used consistently throughout your site.

Filed Under: Digital Marketing

Google Adwords New Text Ad Feature

April 6, 2022 by Social Butterfly

  • Many of the best small business ideas for 2022 involve an online business model.
  • Choose a business idea that you are knowledgeable and passionate about and develop a detailed business plan TikTok marketing.
  • Before starting a business, determine if there is a demand for the product or service you want to provide. Learn about social media for business
  • This article is for anyone looking for inspiration to start a business.

You want to start a business, but you’re having a tough time articulating your idea. If you want to become an entrepreneur, you need inspiration. It all starts with an idea that has room to grow over time, you should always try to be an agile business. Be sure about how using crm in a small business can help any business in the long run.

If you are thinking of starting a business in 2022, it is critical to take the new normal into account. The COVID-19 pandemic has changed so much about how people consume products and services, look at these tips to go viral on TikTok. While starting a retail business or restaurant might have been good ideas previously, you might want to reconsider those thoughts until you see how the next year plays out. Instead of more traditional businesses, think about ones that can support how people live their lives now. You’ll need to create a sound business plan no matter what, but many of the ideas on this list only require a credit card processing partner to accept payments for you to get started.

Filed Under: Digital Marketing

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

https://silicophilic.com/organize-departments-at-work/

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Google Analytics

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?  TikTok algorithm has the answers!  Knowledge is power and Google Analytics provides users with valuable insights regarding website performance buy Instagram likes.  

Are you worried because sales are lagging?  Maybe it has something to do with the website you haven’t updated in 3 years, learn more from https://www.socialboosting.com/buy-tiktok-likes/.  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, be sure to check out the best recruitment options for your business.   

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!

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A robust marketing strategy will reach your target audience – this includes those who have never heard of your brand all the way to repeat customers.

If you can’t define who your audience is in one sentence, now’s your chance to do it. A buyer persona is a snapshot of your ideal customer.

For example, a store like Macy’s could define a buyer persona as Budgeting Belinda, a stylish working-class woman in her 30s living in a suburb, looking to fill her closet with designer deals at low prices.

With this description, Macy’s Marketing department can picture Budgeting Belinda and work with a clear definition in mind.

Buyer personas have critical demographic and psychographic information, including age, job title, income, location, interests, and challenges. Notice how Belinda has all of those attributes in her description.

Without a defined strategy, you’ll essentially be throwing things to the wall to see what sticks. And it’s costing you cost, time, and resources, visit this website to learn more.

A marketing strategy will:

  • Align your team to specific goals.
  • Help you tie your efforts to business objectives.
  • Allow you to identify and test what resonates with your target audience.

There are seven key steps to crafting a successful marketing strategy: Build your marketing plan, create your buyer personas, identify your goals, select the tools, review your existing resources, audit and plan media campaigns, and lastly, execute your strategy.

Let’s get into the details of each step in the next section. Or you can jump to the section you’re most interested in.

Filed Under: Digital Marketing, Google Analytics Tagged With: Google Analytics

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.

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Filed Under: Digital Marketing

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, learn to manage your IT (Aberdeen and Kelsey Report)
  • 60% of visitors watch video content before reading text on the same page strategic decision (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, learn about cloud based payroll (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, learn how to go viral on TikTok.

According to https://www.socialboosting.com/buy-tiktok-likes/ 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 instagram likes.

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.   

Filed Under: Digital Marketing

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 simplify HR operations. 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 Quantified Publisher
9 microsoft.com 67,448,560
10 buzzfeed.com 67,021,204 Quantified Publisher
11 yelp.com 58,261,848 Quantified Publisher
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 Quantified Publisher
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! 

Filed Under: Digital Marketing

Online Reviews DO matter!

December 7, 2015 by Social Butterfly

Reviews

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, learn about strategic HR outsourcing.  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!

Filed Under: Digital Marketing Tagged With: Online Reviews

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.”

 

Filed Under: Facebook Marketing

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:

callonlyads

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.  

Filed Under: Digital Marketing

Website Building

April 10, 2015 by Social Butterfly

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

Employee Team Shot Dec. 2014

 

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

Mobile-stats-vs-desktop-users-global-550x405

Mobile Friendly Websites

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

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Filed Under: Digital Marketing

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