If you have made it to 2019 without ever doing a PPC campaign, and have been thriving as well, you can consider yourself very lucky.
PPC is considered one of the best ways to drive all sorts of things: traffic, sales, revenues, engagement, brand awareness, and so on.
The only catch (and there’s always a catch) is that you can’t always afford your own in-house PPC specialist, and need to outsource this task.
Here is what you need to know about the process in order to make it work to your advantage.
What are your goals?
Before your campaign is launched, you need to define the goals you wish to achieve with it. This will determine the way your campaign will be crafted, the audience it targets, and ultimately the money you spend on it.
These goals can include:
Raising brand awareness: great for small or up-and-coming brands that have yet to establish a reputation with their audience
Generating more leads: great for established businesses looking for new clients
Driving conversions: great when you want to increase sales
Depending on these goals, your campaign will need to be set up, managed, tested, and optimized in a different way. When talking to your prospective PPC expert, make sure you communicate your goals so they can know where to start plotting.
While we are on the subject of goals, all of them need to come with a certain set of KPIs that will measure their success. According to Search Scientists, the four best ones you can choose to track are phone calls, impression share, conversion volume, and CPA. They will depend on your set of goals though.
What will this service cost?
The price of PPC campaign management will depend on a lot of different factors:
Length of campaign
Business niche
Competitors in your niche and what they are bidding
Keywords you are targeting, etc.
Ultimately, if you are running a small to mid-sized campaign, outsourcing this task will cost you less than hiring, training, and having an in-house PPC manager coming to work every day. Also, outsourced experts often have more experience and expertise than someone you could hire full-time.
You will not have any additional charges either: no tools, no study materials, etc. The expert will already have everything they need to succeed.
How to choose an expert?
If you want the best for your campaign, look for a Google Premier Partner, as only about 3-5% of PPC Google Partner companies achieve this status. However, you will most likely pay more for these Partner companies.
You are also advised to hire a specialist rather than a generalist. Just because someone has experience with SEO, email marketing, copywriting, design, and PPC, doesn’t mean they will actually have the expertise to make your campaign a successful one.
What is your bid budget?
Determining your bid budget can be tricky, especially if you don’t know who you are bidding against (and you won’t know this until the campaign is running). An outsourced expert who does nothing but PPC for a living can help you come to a figure you are comfortable with, which can also bring in the best ROI.
Then there are also the strategies you may not know how to use to your advantage, like Geo Targeting, Dynamic Search Ads, or Ad Scheduling, which can affect the cost of your bid, but can also bring in a lot more clicks and impressions. Leave this part of the strategy to your expert, rather than trying to force a decision on them.
What sort of time constraints are you working with?
This is another point that should be communicated clearly, and something you need to know the answer to before you outsource your PPC management to someone.
Do you have a specific deadline by which you need to reach a certain goal? Are your ads time-sensitive, i.e. are you promoting a holiday sale? How fast do you need to get things off the ground?
All of these things will determine what sort of specialist you need – someone who can get things done asap, or someone who has a couple of hours a week to monitor your campaign.
Bear in mind that when working with PPC campaigns that run on a tight schedule, you need to be available to your specialist, and answer any questions they may have about your company or products.
How to manage your own business while someone else is managing PPC
While we’re on the subject of availability, another very important aspect of outsourcing PPC campaign management is what you do with your own time and business while the campaign is running.
If it goes according to plan, you will need to be ready to handle the increase in calls and sales. Is your customer support team ready for this? Does your sales team have everything they need to close deals? Is your storage ready to handle more orders over a short period of time?
Before you launch the campaign into the world wide web, make sure you, as a business, are ready for it. If you offer next day delivery, don’t go back on this promise due to the unexpected influx of orders. If you offer customization options, don’t allow your customers to wait for ages to get their products, just because you were not ready.
Once all this is in place, try to stay focused on the work and the business side of things. While it is important to be aware of the analytics of your PPC campaign, don’t micromanage or try to assert yourself with your PPC manager. Give them the space they need to do their job well and be available for answering questions if need be.
Be aware that there are plenty of PPC companies out there that are not exactly experts – so come prepared to your meetings, ask the right questions, and be ready to make a switch if you need to.
https://mountaintopwebdesign.com/wp-content/uploads/Outsourcing-PPC-Campaign-Management.jpg6671000Josiah Bussinghttps://mountaintopwebdesign.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/website.pngJosiah Bussing2019-10-24 09:00:002019-10-25 06:30:13Outsourcing PPC Campaign Management: 6 Factors You Need to Consider
There are many website platforms that you can use to build your website. At Mountaintop, we have studied and built websites with most of these popular platforms. Our knowledge and experience have led us to one conclusion.
22% of all newly-registered business website domains in the United States use WordPress.
More than 74 Million websites use WordPress.
For these reasons and more, we strongly recommend WordPress as the website platform for our clients.
9 Benefits Of Using WordPress For Your Website
Over the years, clients have come to us complaining about their current website platform. Among the common complaints were as follows:
The website was hacked; in some cases, the website was infiltrated by cyber-criminals multiple times.
The website frequently broke down or did not function properly.
The website was difficult to update and manage.
Our first recommendation is to transfer the website to the WordPress platform. As expected, despite the long list of problems with his website, the response from the client is always:
“Why should we transfer to WordPress?”
1. WordPress Is Free
Let us start with an easy one – WordPress is for free! You can download WordPress, install it, and customize it according to your needs without spending a dime.
However, you still have to pay for your domain name and web hosting which are needed to install WordPress.
The domain name is what Internet searchers will type on their browser’s address bar in order to visit your website.
The web host is the platform which houses the servers where all of the assets and files of your website are located.
2. Easily Customizable
Are you thinking of starting a blog site? How about a business website or an e-commerce website? WordPress has thousands of website themes or templates to choose from.
These templates are highly customizable. A standard WordPress template comes with its own panel which showcases different options that allow us to change the look of your website.
We can play around with the various color selections and match them with the ideal background. Likewise, we can design eye-catching website sliders for your homepage. A slider is also known as a slide show.
This is a great tool for highlighting the key selling points of your business. We can display your signature products or perhaps a few powerful testimonies from your regular customers.
We can also adjust the “feel” of your website. WordPress comes will plugins which function like apps. Each plugin has a specific function that can introduce a new feature to your website.
3. Google LOVES WordPress
When he was still a software engineer for Google, Matt Cutts referred to WordPress as one of the best software for the search engine giant. WordPress will help your website move up the search rankings because it is designed to accommodate SEO principles.
Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is the process of using various techniques and strategies in order to rank high in the organic or natural search results of the search engine.
By using WordPress for your website, you are already several steps ahead of the competition. This is because WordPress websites are constantly upgraded with plugins that help optimize content, functionality, and overall user experience.
What are the key ranking factors in Google’s search algorithm?
Website Speed
Navigability
Image Optimization
Text Optimization
Mobile- Responsiveness
These are all made possible with WordPress.
4. Easy to Manage
WordPress knows that not all of its users are tech-savvy. That is why they built-in a management system that functions to update the platform whenever a new version, plugin or program is available.
Of course, as small business owners, the majority of your waking hours should be dedicated to running the day-to-day activities of your business.
Even if WordPress can send you automatic notifications of software updates, because of your busy schedule, you might overlook it.
These are programs which we developed to help clients focus on the demands of their business by leaving their WordPress website to the care of our highly-experienced and capable, professional website designers.
Put simply, we will manage your WordPress website for you. From updating plugins to improve functionality, mobile-responsiveness, site speed, and security, you can sleep soundly every night knowing your business is in good hands.
5. WordPress Is One of the Safest and Most Secure Website Platforms
A lot of responsibility comes with being the most popular website platform on the Internet. With more than 23% of websites running on WordPress, that means hackers are working overtime to break through your defenses.
Hackers will constantly try to find vulnerable areas on your website which they can use as entry points to steal your valuable data.
WordPress is not oblivious to this and regularly issues updates on security plugins and website system upgrades. Unused and outdated plugins can easily be overridden by hackers and before you know it, your data is all gone.
Even though WordPress makes it easy to update plugins, fortifying your website is a more sensitive and technical matter. This is another reason why you should seriously consider our Extreme WordPress Care Plans.
Sign up for one of our Extreme WordPress Care Plans and we will protect your website’s assets from the consistent, almost daily attacks from these malicious hackers.
6. WordPress Can Accommodate Various Types of Media
Gone are the days when a website was primarily used as an online marketing brochure. Today’s websites are more dynamic and interactive. It is no longer enough to pack your web pages with optimized text content. The Internet community is more demanding. They want high-quality images and videos.
WordPress has an answer for all of your multimedia concerns. It has a built-in media up-loader which can accommodate different types of media.
Do you want an interactive and compelling homepage that will help you generate leads and increase conversion rates?
We can embed your explainer YouTube video on the home page so you can get more views and opportunities for sales. We can do the same for your Instagram photos and SoundCloud audio files.
7. WordPress Is Mobile-Responsive
As we mentioned earlier, mobile-responsiveness is a ranking factor in Google’s search algorithm.
What does it mean to be mobile-responsive?
It means that when someone clicks on your URL from a mobile device, your website should set up nicely on his screen. If a mobile user has to zoom-in to read your content, chances are he will leave and go to your competitor.
If your website is not responsive to mobile devices, not only will you lose potential business opportunities but Google will penalize you down the search rankings.
WordPress has designed templates that are fully mobile-responsive. These templates are not only beautiful to look at but also highly-functional. We can set and improve these designs so that they can set up faster and more efficiently on mobile devices.
8. Do You Want to Blog? WordPress Has a CMS
CMS stands for Content Management System. This means you can publish blogs on your WordPress website.
Why should you blog anyway?
People who go on the Internet are always searching for content. And the cornerstone of any content marketing strategy is blogging. Studies have reported the following benefits of regular blogging for businesses:
23% of Internet time is spent reading blogs.
Companies that blog have 97% more indexed pages.
Websites that have a blog page have 434% more indexed pages.
61% of consumers have made their buying decision after reading a blog.
81% of consumers from the US trust advice from a blog.
For your blogging strategy to be effective, you should be publishing content at least 16 times a month.
9. Integrate Your Social Media Accounts with WordPress
Before social media, a restaurant that was opening for business had to spend thousands of dollars to prepare and publish marketing collaterals such as press releases, full-page ads, advertorials, product shots, radio air-time, and hire an expensive publicist to put everything together.
With social media, traditional marketing channels have become obsolete. That restaurant would only have to open a Facebook page to build followers, a Twitter account to mass market special promotions, and an Instagram page to highlight the main products.
At very little cost!
Add to that the ability of your WordPress website to integrate your social media accounts. It would be easier to distribute content from your website to your various social media accounts so you can have more visits.
Your website has become a central online hub for your business. Your digital marketing strategies can create inbound traffic that is necessary to drive more traffic to your website. It is an effective way to open up your sales funnel and potentially convert followers to paying customers.
Conclusion
The Internet is home to billions of consumers searching for content every single day. In order to capitalize on its available opportunities, your business should have a website.
And you should only settle for the best website platform on the Internet – and that is WordPress.
If you are thinking of setting up a WordPress website, give us a call and avail of our free 30-minute consultation. We will let you know how we plan to design and manage your website so it can deliver the best results for your business.
If you are not happy with your current website platform, transfer to WordPress! We will help you get started!
https://mountaintopwebdesign.com/wp-content/uploads/WhyChooseWordPress.jpg6671000Josiah Bussinghttps://mountaintopwebdesign.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/website.pngJosiah Bussing2019-06-24 09:00:002019-08-09 12:05:19Why Do We Use WordPress? Here Are 9 Reasons To Run Your Website With WordPress
2018 was a big year for PPC or Pay-Per-Click Marketing. Google Adwords was re-branded as Google Ads. The change was not all cosmetic. Google Ads was improved with new features, tools, campaign types, and targeting options.
Since branching out to the world of advertising in 2000, Google has leveraged its Internet dominance to generate a staggering US$116.3 Billion in ad revenues in 2018.
The number accounted for 85% of Google’s total revenues in the same year.
Not surprising, other companies saw the success Google had in advertising and followed suit:
Bing Ads revamped its offering to include new targeting capabilities, the availability of more reports plus other interesting new features.
Amazon’s aggressive push into PPC Marketing as more consumers continue to use its platform to search for more products.
Despite the challenges posed by Bing, Amazon, Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, and other PPC Marketing platforms. Google Ads remains the gold standard in the industry.
What Is PPC Marketing?
PPC Marketing is a process where the advertiser – you – pays the agency every time someone clicks on your ad.
The great thing about PPC Marketing is that your ad is placed in the sponsored results section of the Search Engine Results Page (SERP).
For example, you are in the business of selling remote control drones. You decided to use PPC Marketing to post ads on your latest product – remote control drones with high-resolution cameras.
Whenever someone launches a Google search query “remote control drones with high-resolution cameras”, your PPC will appear in the SERP that has all the URLs on the topic.
Thus, with PPC Marketing, the probability is high that your ad will attract a buyer who is genuinely interested in your product.
With PPC Marketing, you can be assured that your ad will be published in full view of targeted customers – those who have a strong intent to purchase your products or services.
Consequently, PPC Marketing can give your website a search ranking boost!
The question you must be asking is “Should I invest in PPC Marketing? Will the investment be worth it?”
If you ask the good people at Google, they will tell you, “Yes! By all means, you should invest in PPC Marketing!”
Google has every reason to take a strong stand in favor of PPC Marketing. According to the search engine giant’s 2016 report, advertisers earned an average of $8 for every $1 spent on PPC Marketing.
4 Reasons Why Your PPC Marketing Campaign Is Not Delivering Results
That number should be enough to get your eyes and mouth wide open and give us a call here at Mountaintop Web Design.
However, we would like to emphasize that Google’s reported ROI on PPC Marketing is just an average. There are advertisers who fell short of their goals.
Why is your PPC Marketing campaign falling short of its targets? There are 4 factors that can have a dampening effect on your PPC Marketing campaign.
1. Choice of Keywords Is Too Broad
Similar to online content, your PPC ads have to be optimized. Thus, it is very important to have tightly-focused and precise keyword research.
The keywords that you are using in your PPC ads must match the intent of the target consumer as closely as possible. If your choice of keywords is too broad, your ad will be displayed to a wider or diverse audience many of whom may not be interested in what you are selling.
For example, you are in the business of selling specialized diesel engine pumps. If you used the keywords “Diesel Engine Pump” or “Diesel Fuel Injector Pump” in your ad, it will be placed in SERPs where prospective customers could be looking for just ordinary diesel engine pumps.
However, if you chose “Distributor Fuel Injector Pump” or “Common Rail Fuel Injector Pump”, you would be streamlining the search to consumers who have a need for these specific types of fuel injector pumps.
Thus, the chances of a prospective customer clicking onto your PPC ad will be much higher than if you opted for more generalized keywords.
2. The Message of Your PPC Ad is Disjointed
When creating a PPC ad, your copy must be aligned with the headline and the intent of your target market. Otherwise, the message of your ad will be disjointed and will not resonate with your target market.
Conceptualizing an effective PPC ad is a two-step process. First, the headline you plan to use and the content of the ad copy itself should match or correspond to the keywords you are bidding on.
Second, the message your PPC ad is conveying should provide answers or a clear-cut solution to the needs of your intended market. When a consumer runs an Internet search, he is looking for solutions that can help address a particular problem.
In order to be clicked on, your PPC ad must present itself as a potential solution to the problem or issue that is presently confounding the consumer.
3. Google Gives Your PPC Ad a Low-Quality Score
Google will review your PPC ad and determine your Quality Score or QS. Your score will depend on 2 factors: overall quality and relevance of your ad. Google measures these factors by keeping track of how many people actually click on the ad after it has been displayed on the SERPs.
Essentially, a lower QS means fewer people are clicking on your ad. While Google will measure your QS, it will be up to you if want to implement changes and improve the ad so that more people will click on it.
4. Poorly Designed Website Landing Page
Getting an Internet searcher to click on your ad is one thing. Giving him the best User Experience when he gets to your website landing page is another.
What will the site visitor see when he lands on your page? Will he readily find solutions to his pain points? Will your landing page content provide the answers to his questions?
Your efforts to find a customer do not begin and end with the PPC ad. Likewise, your landing page must be optimized to help increase conversions.
How Much Will It Cost To Run A PPC Marketing Campaign?
PPC Marketing was not included among the best low cost strategies in the article. However, we mentioned PPC Marketing as an option that you can consider especially if you have a larger budget for marketing.
If you are thinking of including PPC Marketing as part of your digital marketing strategy, for the reasons stated at the beginning of this article, Google Ads would be the best platform to launch your ads.
Google Ads uses a bid system whereby you, the advertiser, will put in a maximum bid that you are willing to pay for every click or cost-per-click (CPC) your ad receives.
The rule is simple: the higher your bid the more advantageous the ad placement will be.
While this reported average CPC may seem attractive, the true cost of your PPC Marketing campaign will depend on 5 factors:
The competitiveness of your industry.
The competitiveness of the keywords.
Your Quality Score (QS).
The bid of your competitors for the keywords.
The quality of your competitors’ ads.
Google estimates that small and medium-scale businesses spend an average of $9,000 to $10,000 per month or $108,000 to $120,000 per year on PPC.
According to a study conducted by WebFX, the most expensive keywords come from the following industries:
Legal
Financial Services
Insurance
Retail
The financial services and insurance industry combined to spend an average of $1.2Billion in PPC ads every year. Amazon, the world’s largest online retailer, averages $50 Million for PPC ads per year.
The WebEx study identified the following keywords as the most expensive:
San Antonio Car Wreck Attorney – $670.44
Accident Attorney Riverside CA – $626.90
Personal Injury Attorney Colorado – $553.08
Structure Settlements – $539.82
Austin Drug Rehab – $463.05
78% of the most expensive keywords pertain to the legal industry. A far second is about Water Damage at 8% and coming in third at 6% is insurance. Business Services account for only 1% of the most expensive keywords.
However, putting in the highest bid is just one part of the PPC equation if you want to get the best placement. As previously mentioned, Google will consider your QS to determine the placement position of your ad.
Your QS is calculated based on 3 factors:
Relevance of your ad to the keywords.
Click-Through-Rate or CTR which is the number of clicks your ad generates as a proportion of the number of views it gets.
The quality of your landing page.
Using these 3 variables, Google has come up with is Ad Rank formula:
Ad Rank Formula = (Max CPC bid) x (Your Ad’s QS)
For example, if your maximum CPC bid for a keyword is $1.00 and Google gives your ad a QS of 10, your Ad Rank will be 10.
In an auction, the advertiser who ends up with the highest Ad Rank will be awarded the top advertising spot.
Google calculates the amount the advertiser pays per click with this simple formula:
(Ad rank of the ad below yours) / (Your QS) + $0.01
From the above formula, we can see that your QS will have a big impact on the cost of your PPC Marketing campaign. You can actually spend less and still acquire the top advertising position if Google gives you a high QS.
Conclusion
Google Ads is a good PPC Marketing platform to begin with. One of the biggest advantages of using Google Ads is that it gives you 4 ways to stretch your PPC Marketing budget.
First, Google Ads has a feature that allows you to create daily budgets whereby you can allocate more money to campaigns that are focused on promoting your top selling products.
Second, you can set the time and date that you want your PPC Ad to appear. Thus, you can increase your bids only for specific hours of the week.
Third, Google Ads has an interesting feature called geotargeting which lets you set aside more funding to reach target customers in a specific geographic area such as a neighbourhood or city.
Finally, if you believe most of your customers are living the mobile lifestyle, Google Ads has a device targeting feature which lets you use some of your funding to deliver your PPC ad directly to people using a particular type of mobile device.
Is PPC Marketing worth it? The answer is “Yes” provided the following conditions are met:
Keyword research is highly-focused and targeted on specific, not broad or generalized keywords.
The message of the PPC ad copy must be clear; it must resonate with the intent of the Internet searcher and provide solutions to his concerns.
Likewise, the landing page of your website must be optimized and aligned with the message of your PPC ad copy. It should provide the answers the Internet searcher is looking for.
Your focus should be to come up with a PPC ad that will elicit a high QS from Google. The better your QS, the higher the probability of landing the top advertising spot. You can lower the CTC even if your max bid is not the highest.
Are you ready to add PPC Marketing to your digital marketing toolbox? Give us a call and we can set you on the right track to PPC success!
https://mountaintopwebdesign.com/wp-content/uploads/PPC-marketing-cost.jpg6671000Josiah Bussinghttps://mountaintopwebdesign.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/website.pngJosiah Bussing2019-06-10 09:00:362019-08-09 12:13:35What Is The True Cost Of PPC Marketing – Is It Worth It?
Whether you are a start-up or a business that has been running for a while, people you meet will surely ask one question:
“Are you on social media?”
There is no denying the power and influence of social media. Of the 4 Billion people who are on the Internet every day, almost 3 Billion are on social media. That’s 75% of the daily Internet users and nearly 40% of the world’s total population.
If you want to build an online presence, you should be on social media.
Or do you?
Is social media the be-all and end-all of online marketing?
Is it possible to survive in a competitive industry without the benefit of social media?
Not only will you survive a competitive industry without the benefit of social media, but you may even thrive.
Is Social Media For Everyone?
If someone wants to lose weight, one of the first things he/she will probably do is take up running.
And why not? Running is a basic skill we learn growing up. It is an activity that you can do anywhere and many people have gotten great weight loss results from running.
However, running is not for everyone. If you have weak joints, running can lead to serious injuries. Likewise, using poor running technique can lead to chronic pain in your feet, knees, and lower back.
Moreover, it is not the only way to lose weight. You can swim, bike, walk, play ball, or work out in a gym.
Of course, exercise alone will not make you lose weight. You have to follow a strict, low calorie, healthy diet. A combination of exercise, diet, and good quality sleep will lead to long-term, sustainable weight loss.
The same can be said about social media. It is not for everyone and social media is not the only way to market and promote your business.
Social media has gained prominence as an online marketing strategy because every business website that writes articles about growing your business invariably has a section devoted to social media.
Social media has become such a force of nature that you can easily get swept away by its power and influence.
Big companies such as Apple, Amazon, Samsung, Nike, and Walmart are active on social media. So are major influencers such as Neil Patel, Tim Ferris, Sir Richard Branson, and Warren Buffett.
Social media marketing is also inexpensive. Once you have created an account, you can reach out to people you know and work your way through their contacts list so you can grow your own followers.
From there, it is just a matter of posting content frequently.
Easier said than done.
7 Ways To Grow Your Business Online Besides Social Media
If you haven’t seen quantifiable results from your social media efforts, you are not alone. It takes time to grow your followers organically.
You need to put thought and purpose behind your content. After some time, you will have to use social media analytics to help you pinpoint the types of content that generate the highest levels of engagement.
And it doesn’t end there. The best way to validate your social media efforts is to convert interest into sales. That is an entirely different ballgame.
Just because everybody – or more accurately 3 Billion people – are doing it doesn’t mean that you should also.
It may not be for you.
There are other ways to grow your business online besides social media.
1. Mobile-Responsive Website
If you have a website – good. If you have a mobile responsive website – great!
It would be difficult for your online marketing efforts to bear fruit if your audience cannot access your website from a mobile device. 57% of online traffic comes from mobile devices, especially smartphones.
Mobile-responsiveness is also a ranking factor in Google’s search algorithm. If your website is not mobile-responsive, it will not lead to a pleasant experience for users. Google will penalize your website in the search rankings.
2. Optimize Web Content
Writing online is different from writing a college term paper. Yes, you have to check your work for spelling and grammatical errors and the content must be thoroughly researched.
However, when writing Internet-based content, you must always have optimization in mind. Optimizing content makes it easier to get found on the Internet. The fundamental component in content optimization is the use of keywords.
Keywords are the words and phrases used by people to launch a search query. When integrated into your content, keywords will make it easier for the search bots to find and index your page for the SERP.
3. Content Marketing
A 2018 global survey conducted by Smart Insights showed 20% of marketers believed content marketing was the online process that would have the most significant impact on business.
It should be no surprise because people continually search for content on the Internet. No just any ordinary content. The material that you publish must have the following qualities:
Fresh, original
Relevant
Usable
Informative
Well-researched
Easy to read
By consistently posting quality content on your blog page, you will be able to build a solid base of followers organically. They will consider you a valuable resource in the industry and trust the quality of your content.
Include a blog page on your mobile-responsive website. Then pack it with optimized, keyword-rich, and high-quality content.
4. Integrate Chatbots
Customer service a key component of every business. Great customer service means having the needs, concerns, or issues of your followers and patrons addressed right away.
Chatbots are becoming the norm in how customers interact with websites. In one study, 15% of respondents reported that they have interacted with chatbots over the course of a year.
Chatbots are a convenient way of managing customer service. First, they give precise answers. Second, they are not affected by emotional outbursts or stressful situations. Third, chatbots do not get sick and can run 24/7.
However, if a chatbot gets stumped, make sure it can be programmed to transfer the inquiry to a human customer service agent.
5. Email Marketing
Email marketing may not be as hip or cool as social media but it may well be a more effective online marketing process than Facebook or Twitter.
Take a look at the statistics comparing email to Facebook and Twitter:
Number of users – Email: 2.6 Billion, Facebook: 2 Billion. Twitter: 313 Million
Percentage of users who check these processes first thing in the morning – Email: 58%, Facebook: 11%, Twitter: 3%
Percentage of people who use these processes at least twice daily – Email: 91%, Facebook: 57%, Twitter: 14%
Users who made a purchase because of these processes – Email: 66%, Facebook: 20%, Twitter: 6%
Lastly, email has a higher ROI at 21% versus Facebook and Twitter combined at 15%.
6. Search Engine Directories
In the old days, when someone wanted to search up a business, he/she would use the Yellow Pages telephone directory. Today, that person would use search engine directories.
And yes, the Yellow Pages can be found online. This time, YP has other search engine directories as competition. These search engine directories include Google My Business, Bing Places for Business, and Yahoo! Local Listing.
Having your business listed in an online directory is an effective way to get found. This is especially true for retail-type businesses.
According to Google, 80% of Americans use search engine directories to track down a business. 50% of the search has resulted in a visit to the store and 18% of those visits resulted in a sale.
Guest blogging is a good strategy to use for building your brand, establishing yourself as an authority, creating natural inbound links and driving traffic to your website.
There are blog sites that allow guest writers to share content on their website. However, it is a good idea to check on the authenticity and reputation of the blog site before making your inquiry.
In the same manner that there are good guest blog networks, there are also bad guest blog networks. You will know who they are because their ground rules sound spurious.
For example, these bad guest blog networks will not allow you to edit content or remove spammy links. Also, a visit to their site will yield a “treasure trove” of poor quality content.
Conclusion
Social media is a great way to build your business online. However, it is not the only way. Also, it may not be the best way to grow your business. As you have read, there are other tools that you can use to give your business the online presence it needs.
The bottom line is, a digital marketing strategy should not be dependent on only one tool. It should utilize a good number of processes that can provide your business with different avenues to achieve its goals.
From there, you can use Analytics to determine which processes are generating good ROI and which ones aren’t. Analytics is an effective tool for fine-tuning your digital marketing campaign.
If Analytics show that your social media marketing strategy is not delivering the results, find out why. Identify the weaknesses and try to institute improvements.
If upon further analysis, the results are not to your satisfaction, do not hesitate to repurpose the resources to other processes that yield better ROI.
Hopefully, we were able to give you some level of objectivity toward social media. Yes, it is powerful and influential. However, it may not be for everyone.
The good thing is there are other tools at your disposal which can be more effective than social media.
If you liked this article, please feel free to share it. And if you want to learn more about how digital marketing can grow your business, please do not hesitate to give us a call or an email.
https://mountaintopwebdesign.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/Social-Media-Platform.jpg6411000Josiah Bussinghttps://mountaintopwebdesign.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/website.pngJosiah Bussing2019-02-19 09:00:122019-08-08 09:36:287 Ways To Grow Your Business Online Besides Social Media
Do bad guys always wear black? A popular theme in Hollywood is the classic battle between good and evil. More often than not, the good guys are in white and the bad guys are in black. Case in point is HBO’s smash hit, “Westworld”. In the TV show, visitors to a western theme park are asked to choose between a white hat and a black hat. If you choose a white hat, you’re the hero. If you choose a black hat – well, you guessed it – you’re the villain.
Does the analogy hold true for marketers? Are marketers who choose white hat SEO strategies the good guys? Conversely, are marketers who choose black hat SEO strategies the bad guys?
More importantly, should you use both strategies in your digital marketing campaign?
To have a better understanding of the two, let’s discuss White Hat and Black Hat SEO strategies in detail.
What Is White Hat SEO?
White Hat SEO strategies use techniques and tactics that strictly adhere to Google’s guidelines. The primary objective of marketers who use White Hat SEO strategies is to enhance the website’s visibility on the Internet.
Here are a few examples of popular White Hat SEO strategies:
1. Creation of Quality Content
Google is very particular on User Experience or UX. When someone lands on your website, Google expects that visitor will find only quality content. This means content that is useful, unique, informative, and relevant. Likewise, it should not have errors in spelling and grammar.
Quality content will compel action from the reader. He/she could share your content in social media or use it as a resource link to his/her own website. If your website consistently publishes quality content, Google will reward you with higher search rankings.
2. Integration of Keywords
Keywords are the words and phrases that people frequently use to launch a search query on the Internet. Search bots or web crawlers index content that contains these keywords. Thus, integrating keywords will make it easier for your content to get found on the Internet.
There are 2 things you need to keep in mind when using keywords.
First, use the right keywords. This means keywords and phrases that are relevant in your industry. You should perform keyword research before writing your content.
Among the most popular tools are Google Keyword Planner and SEMRush. You can read more about keyword research in our article “5 Best Keyword Research Tools For 2018”.
Second, keep track of keyword density. While there are no clear-cut rules on keyword density, many SEO experts advise a ratio of 1 keyword per 200 words.
Google will penalize you for keyword stuffing, a technique whereby a page is overloaded with keywords. The purpose of keyword stuffing is to trick Google into thinking the content is relevant.
3. The Use of Relevant Backlinks
You know your content marketing strategy is on the right track when other websites are linking back to you. It means these websites find great value in your content.
For Google, backlinks are a seal of approval. The search engine giant will reward you with higher search rankings.
However, you have to make sure the websites that are linking back to your page are relevant to your industry. Consequently, these websites must also be reputable and consistently publish high-quality content.
4. The Use of Meta Descriptions
There are some SEO practitioners who believe meta descriptions are no longer significant. We are here to tell you that having well-written meta descriptions can help drive traffic to your website.
Meta descriptions consist of a few sentences that describe your website. The purpose of the meta description is to entice people to visit your website. It tells Internet searchers what your website is all about.
Thus, a meta description is not written for search engines. It is written with the potential site visitor in mind. You should not use too many keywords in your meta description.
What Is Black Hat SEO?
In contrast, Black Hat SEO strategies employ techniques and tactics that do not conform to the guidelines of Google. Marketers who use Black Hat SEO strategies are mavericks; they operate outside the confines of the “law” and are willing to bend the rules to get the job done.
Here are a few of the most popularly-used Black Hat SEO strategies:
1. The Use of Irrelevant Keywords
We discussed the important role keywords play in getting your content found on the Internet. However, the keywords should have relevance or value to the site visitor.
For example, you are writing a blog on how a robotic vacuum cleaner can keep your home clean without any fuss. Then, within your content, you write in the following sentence:
“LeBron James can surely use a robotic vacuum cleaner to sweep the Golden State Warriors in the NBA Finals.”
The sentence includes the keywords “robotic vacuum cleaner” but it has absolutely no relevance to the article. Instead, it uses popular search items “LeBron James” and “Golden State Warriors” to trick search engines.
2. Bot-Generated Content
Black Hat SEO practitioners will often use automatically-generated or bot generated content to capitalize on keywords and give the search rankings a boost.
No doubt you have seen examples of bot-generated content. They are usually located in the comments section of a blog. A bot-generated content is very easy to spot because they make no sense!
It reads like a random comment that has no relevance to the topic whatsoever. The only component of a bot comment that has value is the keyword.
3. Installing Doorway Pages
Let’s say you are planning to visit Italy and indulge in your passion for fine art. You want to prepare an itinerary which covers the best art galleries in Florence. You run a search query on the “best fine art galleries in Florence Italy”.
When you click on one of the URLs featured on the search results page, you don’t land on the website of an art gallery in Florence. Instead, you find yourself on a website selling herbal supplements.
This form of Black Hat SEO trickery is called installing doorway pages. Put succinctly, doorway pages are fake pages that are packed with keywords to help the website get found. You just won’t find what you are looking for.
4. Integrating Invisible Links or Text
Black Hat SEO practitioners know the value of going stealth mode. They will “plant” links on pages where you can’t see them right away.
Examples of these types of tactics include setting the font size to zero, using white text on white background, and integrating a link in a small character such as a comma or a period.
What Are The Penalties For Practicing Black Hat SEO Strategies?
If you break the law, you will get punished for it. On the Internet, Google is the law. Whenever the search engine giant announces changes on its search ranking algorithm, you should pay attention very carefully.
Google frowns upon Black Hat SEO strategies. In fact, Google institutes changes on its search algorithm to make sure these Black Hat SEO strategies get shut out. Here is an updated list of changes in Google’s search algorithms:
Penguin – Designed to stop inappropriate linking practices
Panda – Designed to slow down content farms. A content farm is usually an agency that employs a large group of writers to create high-ranking content. The purpose is to increase page views and attract more advertising revenue.
Florida – Designed to stop keyword stuffing tactics.
If you are caught using Black Hat SEO techniques, what penalties should you expect from Google?
1. A Drop in the Search Rankings
If you notice a sudden drop in the search rankings for your website, that is Google’s way of telling you to stop what you are doing and clean up your strategies.
You will have to comply with Google’s algorithm, implement the necessary changes on your SEO strategies, then file a reconsideration request which will ask the search engine to run another audit on your website.
2. Banned in the Search Rankings
Although it rarely happens, the possibility exists that Google can ban you from its search rankings. Google will not hesitate to pull the trigger on websites that continue to practice deceptive SEO strategies.
A ban from Google will sound the death knell for your business. No one will be able to find your website on the Internet thus, affecting lead generation, site traffic, and sales conversions.
In the event that you do get banned, you should try to appease Google by cleaning up your SEO strategies before applying for a reconsideration request.
Conclusion – Should You Use Both White Hat And Black Hat SEO Strategies?
Both White Hat and Black Hat SEO strategies serve the same purpose – to enhance website visibility so you can climb up Google’s search rankings.
However, with Google constantly reviewing and changing its algorithm, it would be best to stick to White Hat SEO tactics. You cannot pull the wool over Google. The search engine will eventually see what you’re up to.
Interactions on the Internet may be driven by digital technology but they are purely emotional by nature. Black Hat SEO tactics can be annoying. No one wants to be misled. It will reflect on your reputation and affect your brand identity.
Finally, keep in mind this beautiful quote from American author, Arnold Glasow:
“The key to everything is patience. You get the chicken by hatching the egg, not by smashing it.”
White Hat SEO strategies will require more effort because you will have to build your followers and links organically. They will keep you on the straight and narrow path. Running a business is hard enough as it is. You should minimize the risks instead of adding to it.
https://mountaintopwebdesign.com/wp-content/uploads/blackhatwhitehat.jpg6641000Josiah Bussinghttps://mountaintopwebdesign.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/website.pngJosiah Bussing2019-02-11 09:00:282019-08-08 09:30:12White Hat Vs. Black Hat SEO Strategies: Should You Use Both?
How do businesses start? It all starts with an idea. That light bulb moment is triggered by a moment of inspiration. You have an idea for a product or a service that addresses the needs of a specific market. You believe that you have the experience and expertise to turn your idea into a product with a price that people are willing to pay for.
The next question is going to be a bit more tricky:
“Do you have the experience and expertise to get your product or service in front of the people who may find value in it?”
How Much Should You Spend To Market Your Business?
Marketing is an important function of every business. It helps you build your brand, bring awareness to your products and services, and enhances your reputation as a valuable resource in the industry.
However, in times of economic difficulty, marketing is quite often the first business activity to be cut. This is especially true for small business owners where capital is tight and access to funding is very limited.
According to a survey conducted by HubSpot, securing an adequate budget is the third biggest challenge in marketing.
Small businesses are hesitant to allocate more resources to fund marketing campaigns. Their focus is to keep the business afloat. This means paying off their monthly costs of operations, suppliers, and creditors. Savings are set aside to tide the business over in the event the stream of income slows down to a trickle.
The question is, “How much should you spend to market your business?”
A study conducted by Sageworks revealed that on average, a small business spends an estimated 1% of its annual gross revenues for marketing and advertising activities.
Thus, if a small business on average generates annual gross revenue of $350,000, the owner or proprietor would set aside 1% or $3,500 to take care of its marketing activities for the year.
Is $3,500 a lot of money to spend on marketing?
Alternatively, is $3,500 enough to effectively support a marketing campaign?
Some of you may be thinking, “Well, that’s not much”. Meanwhile, others may be thinking, “Wow! That’s a lot! I can’t afford that!”
The truth is marketing does not have to break the bank. There are ways, methods, and techniques that you can use to ensure your marketing campaign does not lose its stride.
Building The Foundation Of A Cost Effective Marketing Campaign
Before we discuss the best ways to market your business without breaking the bank, it is important to build a solid foundation for your marketing campaign to stand on.
Without a solid foundation, your platform will crumble and fail. The pillars of the foundation are processes that you must undertake before actively working on your marketing strategy.
1. Conduct Research
Research gives your marketing activity direction. The purpose of research is to collect information that will give you valuable insights on your target market; the demographics, likes and dislikes, demand preferences, and tastes.
You need research to help you identify trends and patterns; uncover the latest developments in the industry, potential growth areas as well as risk factors. Research helps you determine what your campaign should be about; its purpose and objectives.
2. Create a Buyer’s Profile
A buyer’s profile is simply a summary of characteristics, attributes, and behavioral patterns that define who your audience is. It will give laser-like focus to your marketing strategies; you know who your market is, their needs, interests, and concerns.
What information should be included in a buyer’s profile?
Gender
Age
Educational Attainment
Profession/ Occupation
Income Bracket
Civil Status
Number of Dependents
City
Preferred Social Media Network
3. Define Your Unique Value Proposition (UVP)
Some marketers refer to the UVP as the USP or Unique Selling Proposition. Although they essentially mean the same thing, we prefer to use “Value” instead of “Selling” because the word has greater significance and meaning when it comes to brand building.
As the term implies, UVP refers to your unique offering to your target market. It should answer the question, “Why should you choose me over the competition?” There must be something about your business that will influence the decision-making ability of your target market.
4. Focus on Building Your Brand
This is the third time we have mentioned brand building in this article – and it may not be the last! We cannot simply overemphasize the importance of building your brand. By brand building, we don’t mean just logos and catchy taglines.
Your brand is how your market perceives your business. It is a gradual transition from “what you are” to “who you are”. As such, it is a process that will take time and consistent effort.
All of the tools, techniques, strategies, and processes that you plan to incorporate in your marketing campaign must be aligned with your brand.
5. Identify Your Marketing Objective
“What do I hope to accomplish with our marketing campaign?” This is the underlying question that must be answered by your marketing objective.
A marketing campaign can have different objectives:
Build a trustworthy reputation in the industry
Acquire followers
Promote business, products, and services
Generate Leads
Increase sales conversion rates
Improve search engine rankings
Drive more inbound traffic to the website
Ideally, you should only have one objective in order to remain focused. However, you can break down your singular objective into several smaller goals.
For example:
Primary Objective – Increase search rankings
Smaller Goals:
Acquire followers
Generate Leads
Build a trustworthy reputation in the industry
Drive more inbound traffic to the website
6. Monitor, Track, and Evaluate Performance
Take advantage of the availability of online analytics such as Google Analytics and the built-in analytics in your social media pages. By monitoring, tracking, and evaluating performance, you will have a better idea if your campaign will deliver the desired outcome.
10 Best Ways To Market Your Business Without Breaking The Bank
1. Content Marketing
Content marketing has grown to become one of the most powerful and influential processes in the marketing toolbox. The reason is simple: People are regularly searching for great content.
Content can be in the form of blogs, curated articles, videos, images, and other types that can effectively deliver your UVP. Focus on creating great content. This means content that is useful, informative, fresh, engaging, and relevant.
Writing blogs and curating articles will only cost you time. Long-form blogs or those with a word count of 2,000 up work best in getting higher search rankings. Including research and rough drafts, it will take you approximately 3-4 hours to write a 2,000-word blog.
Start out with two blogs per week. If your goal is to generate leads, your target should be to produce 16 blogs per month.
Make sure your blogs are optimized with keywords. Use a free online keyword research tool such as Google Keyword Planner.
2. Social Media Marketing
Social media is an effective channel for distributing your online content. First, it caters to a gigantic population of more than 3 Billion users every day. Second, opening a social media business page will not cost you a cent.
However, not all social media networks function in the same way. After all, these are communities.
Choose 2-3 platforms that best support your type of business. For example, if you are selling highly-visual merchandise such as smartphones or food, platforms like Instagram and Pinterest would work best for you.
Set a posting schedule. The frequency of posting is an important component in social media marketing. Once you have built up a good number of followers, make sure you are always top-of-mind. Post at least once a day. Use Buffer which is a free online social media scheduling tool.
3. Email Marketing
According to a study conducted by the Direct Marketing Association (DMA) and Demand Metric, email marketing generates the highest ROI of all online marketing channels.
Compared to social media marketing, direct mail, and paid search which have an ROI of 28%, 27%, and 25% respectively, the ROI for email marketing has been measured at 122%.
Build a good-sized list of subscribers. To make this happen, come up with a good Call-to-Action (CTA) such as a free e-book or consultation.
Segment your mailing list. Categorize your subscribers based on need, demographics, or online behavior patterns.
Focus on high-value content. Newsletters are short-form content; usually, no more than 300 words. Since you have segmented your list, focus on delivering content that directly addresses their specific need.
4. Use Online Search Engine Directories
A study by Google showed that 80% of Americans prefer to use search engine directories to find local businesses. More than that, the same Google study showed that 50% of the respondents visited the local business on the day itself.
What’s in it for the local business? 18% of local businesses who were found on an online search engine directory were able to close the sale! Registering your business in an online search engine directory is a free and easy way to get discovered.
Paid advertising methods like PPC or Pay-Per-Click advertising can give your search rankings an immediate boost because whoever clicks your ad will find themselves on your landing page. With PPC, you only pay whenever someone clicks on your ad.
The late great sales guru, Joe Girard, popularly advocated his protagonist approach when negotiating deals.
Girard believed that while parties in a negotiation have different intents, they have a common goal: to land the best arrangement. Therefore, instead of opposing one another, why not help each other?
You can apply the same ideology in marketing your business.
For example, in a food business, suppliers sell you their raw materials to produce your menu items. They want you to succeed so that you will buy more supplies from them. Ask them if they are willing to sponsor a promotional activity.
For example, ask your beverage supplier to provide you with a few cases for free to support the promo. In exchange, allow the supplier to post advertising materials in your restaurant.
7. Reach Out to Your Community
For local businesses, your immediate captive market is the community where you are located. Reach out to them. Let them know how your business can address their needs.
Here are a few examples:
If you own a gym business, schedule group workouts for families and friends at the local community center. Most people are intimidated by the thought of walking inside a gym. Bring the gym to them and start building relationships within the community.
Look for other local businesses in the area that offer products and services which are complementary to your own. Propose a cross-marketing arrangement. For example, a cake shop owner can set up a cross-marketing arrangement with a flower shop owner.
8. Attend Business Forums and Trade Shows
Business forums and trade shows are effective venues for marketing and promoting your company. Some organizers will charge you a fee in order to participate in the event.
However, these events attract potential end-users of your products and services. The fee could be worth it considering that you are given the opportunity to position your business directly in front of prospective clients or customers.
9. Attend Networking Events
Most networking events are by invitation only. You may have to become a member of an organization to be invited. Another avenue you can take is to join focus groups in your local community and even those within your social media circles.
Networking is a great way to expand your contacts list. Don’t approach the event with the 4C mindset: “Calling Card Collection Contest”. Instead, use the 4B approach: “Build the Best connections that will Benefit your Business”.
Why is this your best option for marketing your business?
First, by outsourcing your marketing, you free up time so you can dedicate your precious hours to managing the core functions of your business. As we mentioned earlier – creating content, posting on social media, and measuring results – all of these activities take time.
Second, you leave the implementation in the hands of experienced and well-trained experts. They will do everything – research, content optimization, website management, social media calendar, and content writing – for you. You can be assured of professional quality work every time!
Third, you save more money! If you set up an in-house marketing team, you will have to pay your personnel salaries, benefits and allocate expenses for rent, supplies, utilities, and additional bandwidth.
When you outsource, the service provider takes care of everything. You only have to pay for the services rendered. In many cases, the charges are negotiable. The best outsourcing service providers understand your needs and will render work with respect to your budget.
If you want to learn more about how we can help you market your business without breaking your bank account, please feel free to give us a call. We will give you a free consultation for up to 30 minutes!
https://mountaintopwebdesign.com/wp-content/uploads/MarketingYourBusiness.jpg16372000Josiah Bussinghttps://mountaintopwebdesign.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/website.pngJosiah Bussing2019-01-14 09:00:092019-08-08 09:09:25How To Market Your Business Without Breaking The Bank
Investing in a website is a step in the right direction. The operative word in our preceding statement is “investing”. It implies that you expect your investment to pay dividends in the future. Indeed, the website has come a long way.
Before broadband, businesses set up websites to function primarily as online marketing brochures. The website has evolved since then.
Today, the website is a facility that can provide amazing user experience with the power to convert simple interest into a stream of revenues for your business. Properly managed, a website can help you achieve your business goals.
You can use the website to generate leads, streamline business costs, acquire followers, expand your market base, improve the efficiency of business operations, provide top-notch customer service, enhance your business reputation, or increase sales.
In contrast, improperly managed, your website can drive away customers, tarnish your business reputation, and affect its ability to generate revenues.
Do you feel that your website has not contributed to the growth of your business? Are you under the impression that your website has not performed according to expectations? Do you think your website has not delivered quantifiable results? Are you starting to think that starting the website was not a good investment?
Is your website costing you business?
If you answered “Yes” to any of these questions, read on! We will discuss the possible reasons why your website could be costing you business and what could be done to fix these issues.
Don’t give up on your website! It remains a good investment and a viable tool to help you take your business to the next level. We will show you how to maximize its strengths so you can turn it into a money-making machine!
8 Reasons Why Your Website is Costing You Business
The factors we listed as possible reasons why your website is under-performing are basic, fundamental requirements for an effective, fully-functioning website.
If you have a webmaster, he/she knows that these factors should not only be in place. They have to be routinely checked, evaluated, and updated.
A website should be dynamic. It must be allowed to evolve and change with the times. If your website remains stagnant, it will be left behind and ignored on the Internet. The beneficiaries will be your competitors.
1. Your Website is Not Mobile Responsive
Mobile responsiveness has been a ranking factor in Google’s search algorithm since 2015. If your website is not mobile responsive, get your webmaster on the line this very second. Google could well be punishing you in the search rankings for it.
If you can confirm that your website was mobile responsive when the webmaster turned it over to you, can you confidently say that it remains highly responsive to mobile devices today?
Mobile technology continues to evolve. Screen sizes and resolutions change to give mobile users better experience. There is also a great demand for the latest mobile devices. Consumers will pay top dollar for the latest iPhone or Android smartphone with the most innovative features.
Your webmaster has to constantly test the responsiveness of your website. It should be able to set up effortlessly in different screen sizes. Keep in mind that when mobile devices evolve and become more advanced, they will require more information.
47% of mobile device users expect a web page to load in under 2 seconds.
40% of mobile device users will discontinue the search if a web page does not load in under 2 seconds.
For every second that your web page is delayed in loading, you lose 7% in conversions.
Again, your website design and its features have to be updated. It has to conform to the demands of today’s mobile community.
Your webmaster should check which of its features are no longer be supported by mobile devices particularly the images you use. You may also have files that are uncompressed.
3. Customers Perceive Your Website is Not Safe
All you need to do is read today’s news headlines to learn all about the latest hacking attempt. 2017 was a banner year for hackers and it doesn’t seem like these cyber-criminals will be slowing down their nefarious activities any time soon.
Consumers are becoming more cautious about their online activities. A survey done by Blumberg Capital showed that hacking has affected the online shopping behavior of American consumers. It will not keep consumers from shopping at their favorite e-Commerce retailer, but they will be more selective of the sites they visit.
Google has seen this. For the reason that the biggest search engine on the Internet is big on User Experience (UX), Google has required all websites – not just e-Commerce websites – to get SSL Certificates.
SSL or Secure Sockets Layer is a program that encrypts data that is transmitted from browser to server. You can read more about SSL in our article, “SSL: What Is It And Why Your Business Needs It”.
If your website does not have SSL certificates, Google will mark it as “Not Secure”. Those two words can have an impact on the decision of a site user to explore your website. Ask yourself, “Would you proceed your search with a website that Google has marked ‘Not Secure’?”
In view of this, consider getting SSL certificates for your website. The cost of having your website covered by SSL certificates is negligible considering the size of the business that you might lose.
4. Design Looks Old; Outdated
Do you have a favorite neighborhood bar? It may have been there before you were born. And yes, age does add character.
However, what would you do if another bar opened right beside it and it had 60” HDTVs mounted in key locations so you can watch the latest sports events wherever you are seated? And what if it had wi-fi, comfortable modern-designed furniture, and 18 barrels of self-serve craft beer?
Goodbye to the old and hello to the new!
Maybe the classics are timeless but when you are engaged in the digital age, your design must conform to the times. Your customers will appreciate a newer and better experience. Often that includes your website’s design and functionality.
Always keep in mind that your audience’s online behavioral patterns can change. They can be influenced by other websites. The changes in the functionality of their mobile devices will likewise have an effect on how they interact with websites.
Make it a point to have your webmaster audit your website. Come up with ways to update its look and functionality. The website may be for your business but its value is to your customers.
5. Poor Quality Content
Search is the number one online activity. People are constantly looking for content that provides the information they are looking for. In your industry, there could be thousands of businesses publishing content on their websites. The one that publishes great content on a consistent basis will be patronized the most.
If your website offers content that is not relevant, useful, or informative to your audience, they will not find value in it. Worse, your brand can take a hit. Prospective customers may view your website as “incompetent”, “outdated”, “poorly managed”, “unqualified” or “uncaring”.
Content must always be kept current. In order to get the best results from your content marketing strategy, you should blog at least 16 times a month. Studies show that businesses that blog at least 16 times per month generate 3.5 times more leads than businesses that blog fewer times per month.
And it’s not just the quantity that matters. You must assure your audience of high-quality blogs every time. This means blogs that are:
Well-researched with links to reputable references.
Easy to read; short sentences and short paragraphs.
No spelling and grammatical errors.
Here’s a valuable tip: When writing blogs and other forms of content, always keep in mind you are writing for an audience that needs your expertise. You are the expert. They are on your website to learn from you. Do not make the learning experience difficult by using technical terms.
6. Absence of Testimonials or Product Reviews
Do you remember those weight-loss supplement ads that showed users lose weight after using the product for only a few weeks? It created a huge demand for those weight-loss products. Consumers thought they could experience the same results and lose weight by taking the supplement.
In an expose years later, it was shown that instead of “Before” and “After”, those pictures were really taken “After” and “Before”. By this we mean, the supplement companies got models who were already lean and fit, to begin with. The models were described as “actual users”.
Then by having the models eat potato chips and other processed foods, they got their bodies to fill out and look heavy and bloated.
It was a scam but it worked. The “fake ads” were a huge success and made those companies millions of dollars.
Our point in mentioning this is not to encourage you to scam customers. Rather, we want to emphasize the power of testimonials and product reviews. This is called the power of social proof.
In our previous example, consumers were influenced by the decisions of supplement users to give the product a try in order to lose weight.
Testimonies and product reviews have that kind of influential power. When you go to Amazon and are faced with hundreds of selections for the latest fitness tracker, how would you arrive at your decision?
Chances are you would check out the product reviews section. You will probably click on a few of the four and five-star reviews. For purposes of establishing a check and balance, you should click on a few one and two-star reviews as well.
If your website does not have social proof from your customers, you will be undermining its opportunities for success.
Invite customers to share their experiences with your products and ask them if you could publish them as testimonies on your website.
Conclusion
The website is your office on the Internet. This is the place where your customers go to find your products and services. The biggest advantage a website has over a traditional brick- and- mortar office is that it is open 24/7. Anyone, anyone on the Internet can visit your website at any time of the day.
Unlike a brick- and- mortar office, you don’t have to place a manager on 24-hour duty. Therefore, you have to be 100% sure and confident that your website can accommodate anyone who visits a page and is interested to learn more about your products and services.
Your webmaster knows this. Rather, your webmaster should know this.
Managing a website is a big responsibility. However, it is doable and with proper planning, it can be done effectively without inconvenience and issue to the website owner.
Failure to manage a website effectively is a sign of irresponsibility that will cost your business customers and potential revenue.
Managing your website is the job of your webmaster. If you don’t have one, find one that can do the job properly.
Or you can sign up with us. Allow us the opportunity to manage your website.
We have managed hundreds of websites and our customers are very happy with the results so far. Do you own a WordPress website? Sign up for our Extreme WordPress Care Plans. Clients who have signed up are glad they did!
We are managing their WordPress websites for them so they can focus on the day-to-day demands of their business.
Our clients no longer spend time checking on their websites. They no longer have sleepless nights thinking if their website is being hacked or infiltrated by cyber-criminals.
We have amazing people on our team. Our content has been cited multiple times by the digital marketing community website UpCity as among the top 25 marketing- based articles on the Internet.
Do you have 30 minutes? Consult with us for free! We will let you know how we can help you get the most out of your website.
https://mountaintopwebdesign.com/wp-content/uploads/website-costing-you.jpg6641000Josiah Bussinghttps://mountaintopwebdesign.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/website.pngJosiah Bussing2018-12-17 09:00:102018-12-04 13:26:03Is Your Website Costing You Business?
Maybe clothes do not make the man, but mobile will certainly make your website. If your website does not set up well or look good in mobile devices, you might be leaving money on the table.
Consumers will depend on their mobile devices, particularly the smartphone, to account for their daily needs. Whether they are searching for products or services, they will use their mobile device to find the information they need.
Why Your Website Should Look Good For Mobile Users
How would you feel if you clicked on a website from your mobile phone and realized you had to zoom in so you can read the content? Not only will you have to zoom in, but you will also have to move the screen around in order to navigate the page.
It is certainly an inconvenience and will not contribute to a great user experience. What will be your course of action? Chances are you will click out of the website and search for another one that will set up better on your mobile phone.
Now, imagine that was your website. What would your site visitors do? Probably follow the same course of action as you did: Click out and look for another website.
Your competitor’s website.
First impressions last. If discomfort and inconvenience were the impressions created by the site visitor’s first experience with your website, it is possible you will never see him/her again.
It is not enough for your website to look good on a desktop, a laptop or a tablet. Likewise, or rather, more importantly, your website should look good while viewed on a smartphone.
Investing in a website is a step in the right direction. It will help market and promote your business; its products and services. However, unless it is mobile responsive, you will not be able to stay ahead, much less, keep up with competitors that have mobile responsive websites.
A mobile responsive website is one that sets up clearly and seamlessly on the screen of various mobile devices. Keep in mind that not all screen sizes of mobile devices have the same dimensions. The screen size will have an effect on how your web page appears on the mobile device.
A good example is your Facebook home page. On a PC desktop, the layout covers a wider area. Your contacts list in Messenger sets up on the right side of the screen, the news feed is in the middle, while on the far left of the home page, you will find the different icons to access your settings, groups, and features.
Facebook will appear differently on your smartphone. The home page sets up vertically. Your Messenger contacts are located on top of your news feed. The icons do not appear and can only be accessed by clicking on the button with the 3 horizontal lines located on the top right corner,
If you open Facebook on a tablet or a laptop, it will set up differently depending on the size of your screen.
Mobile responsiveness is no longer an option. It is a must. Google has made mobile responsiveness a prerequisite in the quest for higher search rankings. The search engine giant has included it as a ranking factor in its algorithm as far back as 2014.
The reason, of course, is User Experience (UX). Google is big on UX. Its ranking algorithm has periodically undergone changes in order to drive home the point to website owners that they should prioritize UX.
We discussed the benefits of having a mobile responsive website in our article, “Why Your Website Needs Responsive Design”. However, it is worth emphasizing the value of having a mobile responsive website from the perspective of consumers.
First, mobile consumers behave differently. They are more impatient and compared to PC desktop users, tend to react on impulse. The following key statistics support our observation:
57% of visitors will abandon a website that takes more than 3 seconds to load.
Second, mobile consumers respond more favorably to brands that have a mobile responsive website. Mobile consumers tend to multi-task. If they can do everything from the palm of their hand they would.
Mobile responsive websites make multitasking easier. Thus, it creates trust and fosters a stronger relationship with the consumer.
3 Reasons Why Your Website Does Not Look Good On Mobile Devices
Even if you have a mobile responsive website, you still have to check if it sets up or looks good on various mobile devices.
It is possible that the resolution of your website’s text and images will not come out clear. Some of the content that is available on the desktop or laptop versions may not appear on smartphones or tablets.
How did this happen?
Your website designer assured you that your website was mobile responsive. In fact, you were present when the website designer ran some tests before turning over the website to you.
The first thing that you need to do is to breathe and relax! There are perfectly good explanations on why a supposedly mobile responsive website does not set up properly on a mobile device.
1. New Technology Demands New Information
Every few months a technology company will bring out its latest version of its smartphone, tablet, or laptop. Each company will try to outdo each other by developing mobile devices that have the best cameras, most-advanced features, and most compact designs.
Cases in point are the latest versions of the iPhone from Apple and the Galaxy from Android. The built-in cameras of both smartphones capture images in amazing quality. You would think the pictures were taken by a professional photographer’s digital SLR camera.
As these smartphones continue to press forward with higher and more intricate resolution, consequently, these mobile devices will demand more information from your website. Your website designer can fix this by rewriting your site’s programming code.
2. Content is Not Optimized
Even if your website structure and its text look good on your smartphone, your logo and the images used may appear hazy or blurry. It is possible that these images were not optimized to accommodate screens of mobile devices.
If you are familiar with iPhone version 8 and the iPhone X, these models use a retina display. The screens on these phones look gloriously sharp. To do this, Apple jam packs at least 4 pixels in an area that would only accommodate 1 pixel in a normal desktop.
Then Apple would proceed to double the resolution for text and graphics so that it would not look small onscreen. If your graphic is smaller compared to how it is shown on the screen, it will look “stretched out” and blurry.
A quick-fix solution would be to use images that were designed to accommodate mobile phones with retina displays.
3. Type of Media is Not Supported by Mobile Browser
Assuming your website loads successfully on a mobile device but some of your content is missing, it could be that the type of media you are using is not supported by the mobile browser.
A good example is Flash which is often used for animations and video-based content. Flash is not supported by a number of smartphones.
If your website designer incorporated Javascript and JQuery components for the desktop version of your website so that it would become more interactive, these elements would not display on mobile devices.
Conclusion
If you want to find out how your website looks like for mobile users, run a series of tests yourself.
Visit your website using your smartphone. Give an honest assessment of your experience. Go to the different pages of your website and evaluate how fast the images and text loads.
Ask yourself if the quality of the images; its overall resolution is good enough to impress the site visitors. Check if all the features and content that are available in the desktop version can be found in your smartphone.
From your smartphone, run the same tests on a tablet. Don’t stop there! Borrow a friend’s smartphone. Make sure it is different from your smartphone. Apply the same tests and evaluate your website’s performance.
If you are not satisfied with how your mobile responsive website sets up or looks on mobile devices, give us a call or drop us an email.
We will give you a free 30-minute consultation. We will take a look at your website and see what can be done to improve its performance on mobile devices.
https://mountaintopwebdesign.com/wp-content/uploads/MobileUsers.jpg6671000Josiah Bussinghttps://mountaintopwebdesign.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/website.pngJosiah Bussing2018-11-26 09:00:482018-11-28 13:03:13What Does Your Website Look Like To Mobile Users?
Google is the largest and most popularly used search engine on the Internet. When consumers want to find information for specific products and services, they launch a search on Google. In fact, Google has grown so big, it has become a verb. How many times have you told someone to “Google it”?
Everyone knows it. Businesses sign up for Google’s services to get the best results for their online marketing efforts. Marketers will focus their strategies to conform to Google’s ever-changing algorithm. Thus, it can be a very competitive marketplace.
You will need a competitive advantage and this is where having Google reviews come in.
If you’ve heard about Google reviews, we’re here to tell you more about it. We will tell you everything you need to know about Google reviews: why your business needs it and how to get them.
Are you worried about getting bad reviews? Don’t worry! We will show you how to deal with them. Just read on!
What Is A Google Review?
Google Review is a feature that allows consumers to share their experiences with a product or service by writing a review on a business’ Google page or search map listing.
Why did Google decide to introduce a review feature?
The search engine giant has always been big on User Experience (UX). Google wants to provide its users with the best options to address their wants, needs, and concerns.
Reviews are powerful influencers. They have the same effect as client/ customer testimonies. The reason reviews are so powerful is that they are organic. They are perceived as honest and sincere assessments of a business’ product and services. Unlike paid endorsements, the customer has nothing to gain by posting a review.
That is why product views are part of a customer’s research process. They trust consumer reviews. When you look for a specific item at Amazon, it is standard procedure to go through the reviews of the products shown on the search results page.
You tend to gravitate toward the items with the highest number of 5-star reviews and ignore those with low review ratings.
Strong Google reviews will have the same effect on your business.
Let us assume you own a restaurant that serves authentic Thai food in the area of Cherry Creek, Denver, Colorado. Like other smart business owners in the area, you had your restaurant listed in Google My Business and Google Maps.
Over the years, your restaurant has catered to many customers. You may not know it, but some of your customers may have given your restaurant a review.
When someone who is interested in dining at an authentic Thai restaurant in the Cherry Creek area, he/she would patronize the establishment with the highest ratings and best reviews.
If your restaurant is fortunate enough to get the best reviews and highest ratings, it should attract the most number of diners in your area.
Why Are Google Reviews Important For Your Business?
In the previous section, we showed you how Google Reviews benefit the customer and how favorable ones can translate to better business for you.
Now we will discuss the benefits of having Google Reviews for your business. Specifically, why you should encourage more customers to post reviews about their experience with your establishment.
Let us go back to our earlier example.
Put yourself in the position of the customer. Which of these reviews would have the most powerful influence on your decision?
“Best Pla Rad Prik I have ever tried! Better than the one I had in Thailand a year ago! The Pad Thai is to die for!” – 5 stars.
“The Gaeng Mussaman was too rich. The Pad Kra Prao made the visit worthwhile.” – 3 stars.
“Don’t bother! You get a better deal with the microwave stuff they sell in the supermarket.” – 1 star.
Definitely, you would go for the restaurant with the 5-star review. You may decide to dig in deeper and compare other reviews.
The bottom line is, the product reviews got your restaurant noticed. The high ratings and positive reviews immediately increased your visibility.
Aside from enhanced visibility, what are the other benefits of having Google Reviews for your business?
1. Google Reviews Will Improve Your Trust and Credibility Standings
We touched on this benefit earlier in this article. Customer reviews are perceived as honest and sincere. In ways, customer reviews are similar to word-of-mouth advertising.
If you ask a friend for his/her recommendation for the best Thai restaurant in Cherry Creek, you could take him/her up on the suggestion. In fact, 84% of consumers trust reviews as they would the opinions of their friends.
In the case of Google reviews, you can read through a larger volume of recommendations and opinions. And of course, Google is a trusted source of information. The search engine has always placed UX front and center whenever it decides to change its ranking algorithm.
Therefore, by generating consistently good Google reviews, you can effectively improve the trust and credibility standing of your business.
2. Google Reviews Will Influence the Decision-Making Process
The Internet has created a more discerning generation of consumers. They have more access to information and many will go to great lengths to justify their decision to choose one brand over another.
Again, going back to our example, in the event that there are other 5-star rated Thai restaurants in the area, the users will use the posted comments and factors such as location, parking, and seating availability as deciding factors.
However, the reviews and ratings have already pushed your restaurant ahead of the rest of the competition. It has made the decision-making process easier for them and more advantageous for you.
3. Google Reviews Will Increase Your Local Search Ranking
As we mentioned earlier, it is natural for consumers to give more focus on products and services that have been thoroughly reviewed. The more reviews you get, the greater the probability of potential customers searching for your business.
Positive and glowing reviews are indicative of how well your business is managed as well as the quality of its products and services. They will help your business stand out from the rest of the competitors and lend support to your brand-building strategy.
How To Get More Google Reviews
Hopefully, by now, you have come to a great understanding of why Google Reviews are important for your business. The question is, “How can I get more Google Reviews on my listing?”
We are assuming that you have already listed your business in a search engine directory. Definitely, Google My Business should be on the top of your list. If you want to learn more about search directory listings, you can read our article, “Why Should Retail Locations Be Listed In Search Engines”.
Once you have listed your business in a search engine directory, it is time to shift your focus to getting more Google Reviews:
1. Make Sure Your Listing is Updated, Complete, and Looks Good
Image-based content will attract attention faster than text-based content. This is why it is important that your Google page looks good and visually appealing. Use high-resolution pictures of your products and retail outlet. If you have the budget for it, hire a professional photographer to take the pictures.
It is also important to make sure the information posted on your Google page is updated and complete. Always check the details on your business address, contact numbers, and email address.
2. Invite Your Customers to Write Reviews
Ask and you shall receive.
If you want more Google Reviews, then ask your customers to write them. This might place your business in a dichotomous situation because not all reviews will be positive.
You should expect to receive negative reviews.
Why? For the reason that people’s tastes and preferences are unique and individual, it is not realistic to expect that 100% of reviews will be positive despite your best efforts.
According to a survey conducted by Street Fight, negative experiences result in more reviews than positive experiences. In fact, 95% of people who had a bad experience with a business shared it with others compared to only 87% of consumers.
Given these statistical data, would it still be wise to invite your customers to write reviews? Yes!
Encouraging your customers to write reviews shows that you are genuinely concerned about their happiness, satisfaction, and overall experience with your business.
The best way to extend your invitation is to simply tell them what the Google Review is for. You want feedback from your customers so you can find ways to improve your products and services.
By inviting customers to write reviews, you are creating a personality for your business. It adds a welcome degree of humanity to an entity that consumers know was established for the purpose of earning a profit.
3. Engage Customers Who Have Posted Reviews
As the popular saying goes, “Any review is a good review”.
Even a negative review is a positive development for your business. It means someone took the time to express his/her dissatisfaction or poor experience with your establishment.
The key is how to engage customers who have posted negative reviews.
Here are a few helpful tips for you to consider:
First, don’t panic. Breathe. Relax. A negative review is not the end of the world.
Look into the review and see if it has merit. If possible, run a Google search or due diligence work on the person who wrote the review. Check your customer records. There is always the possibility of getting a bogus review.
Once you have verified the review, tell the customer that you are thankful for their review; specifically, for taking the time to write and post it on your Google page.
If the complaint is legitimate, apologize and request that you be allowed to give private messages or to respond via email. Inform the customer that your purpose is to present a resolution to the issue.
Of course, you should likewise respond to positive reviews. State your appreciation for the review and give them real assurances that you will continue to improve your offerings and services.
4. Promote Your Google Page in Social Media
Social media is a great way to reach out and connect to a wide audience. People spend more time on social media than any other website. Make sure you promote your Google Page in your social media business and personal pages.
If you have a website, include the button to your Google Page and encourage your site visitors to write a Google Review. Include a Call-to-Action which states the purpose of the review.
Conclusion
Google reviews are a great way to enhance your online presence. Likewise, it can be an effective tool for building long-term relationships with your customers that are based on trust, transparency, and a commitment to provide excellent user experience.
If you have a brick-and-mortar store, use it to encourage your customers to write reviews. Entice them with discounts or special promos for every review they post on your Google Page. Make sure they can present proof of the review.
Does it matter if the review is favorable or not? No. If the review posted is negative, getting together face-to-face with your customer is an ideal situation for you to address the problem directly.
If you’re interested in getting more Google reviews for your business, leave it to us! We have helped our clients get reviews for their business. At the same time, we have expertly managed, moderated, and turned around negative reviews.
Give us a call or drop an email. We will get back to you right away!
https://mountaintopwebdesign.com/wp-content/uploads/GoogleReviews.jpg6671000Josiah Bussinghttps://mountaintopwebdesign.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/website.pngJosiah Bussing2018-11-19 09:00:402018-11-12 11:46:04Google Reviews: Why Your Business Needs Google Reviews And How To Get Them
At Mountaintop we provide solutions for all business regardless of their size and niche. We excel in SEO, branding, and web design and we do that at a fraction of the cost, ensuring the best value for money.
Our mission is to build brands that are dynamic, empowering, and memorable. In order to be successful, we measure every business initiative we take, looking to optimize the strategies and enable our clients to conquer the online market.
We dedicate ourselves to every client and work hard until we get them where they want to be. Therefore, we couldn’t be more proud to announce that SEO Tribunal has recognized our passion and the quality of our work and ranked Mountaintop Web Design among the best SEO companies in Denver.
SEO Tribunal Ranking
SEO Tribunal connects businesses with the best SEO agencies by providing in-depth analysis and crucial insights.
What makes SEO Tribunal special is their process-oriented methodology which incorporates ten processes, specifically designed to evaluate an SEO company and give a complete picture of their work ethic, quality, customer satisfaction, pricing, project management style, communication with customers, and more.
We are proud to say that Mountaintop has ticked all these boxes and now ranks as one of the best SEO companies in Denver.
We’re looking forward to future successes. Help us boost our ranking by leaving a review on SEO Tribunal.
https://mountaintopwebdesign.com/wp-content/uploads/Business-Newspaper-Reading-by-desk.jpg6671000Josiah Bussinghttps://mountaintopwebdesign.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/website.pngJosiah Bussing2018-11-01 10:19:342018-11-01 10:19:34SEO Tribunal Ranks Mountaintop Web Design as One of the Best SEO Companies in Denver
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