How Can I Make my Business More Creative?
I love clever. Doesn’t matter whether it’s a simple turn of a phrase, or a sophisticated piece of engineering. Have you ever been to a Super Bowl party when the only time everyone is focused is during the half-time commercials? That’s what I call Madison Avenue creativity.
Do I need to know programming to do SEO?
So if you’re a business owner, somewhere along the line you have to consider what it takes to generate leads from your website. That means that you need to make some decisions. You will either have to do something yourself, have your staff do something, or hire a third-party to help.
Testimonials are great, but Reviews are Better!
We do the online marketing for a lot of businesses so we get an unusual view of what’s actually going on. Since we monitor the traffic sources for each or our clients, I can tell you that you’d be surprised at how many “branded keywords” (variations of the company name) are actually being searched.
Writing Web Copy – My “Easy” List
Your Headlines should be “Scanable” but your body copy should be “Snackable”. Unless the purpose of your website is to sell a book, don’t write a book. Remaining true to that philosophy, here is one of the shortest posts I’ve ever written. And no, it’s not because I’m going on vacation next week and just want to crank this out… that’s just a coincidence.
Website Navigation Trends. Don’t make Me think.
People appreciate “clever”, but not at the expense of their time. Playing hide and seek with the information they are looking for and forcing them “explore” every page on your site will not end well for you. You are only going to get so many clicks out of any visitor, so don’t just make it easy for them to find what they are looking for, lead them down a predetermined path so they find what you want them to find.
How to Pick Killer Images for Your Blog!
The problem starts with the image search. If you search a stock photo site for something obvious, that’s just what you’re going to get. Let’s take a look…
Website Design Consistency Tips
Your website should not be a hodgepodge of different styles, fonts, colors and layouts. Users adapt to what they see pretty quickly, but if you keep changing the various elements that make up your website, it not only looks unprofessional and disorganized, it makes it more difficult for them to navigate and develop a sense of confidence in your site and your service.
The Inbound Marketing Replay
Last week I conducted a 30-minute live webinar reviewing one of my companies’ own Inbound Marketing campaigns. If you missed it I persuaded WSI (the company that hosted me) to post it on Vimeo. You can watch it now at your leisure.
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4 Simple Things You NEED to Do with Your Domain Name
How much is your website domain name worth? I don’t mean in how much would someone pay you for it, I mean what is it worth to your company? Think of all the investment your company has made over the years...
Inbound Marketing, a Step-by-Step Case Study
I often train other Digital Marketing consultants across the globe, so I find it most effective to break things down into simple step-by-step procedures. Whenever possible I show real life examples. When WSI (a global network of Digital Marketing Consultants) asked me to present a webinar on Inbound Marketing I made the decision to show one of my own Inbound Marketing campaigns.
A Business Model that Doesn’t Make ¢ents?
It took me a while to nail down his business model; He was going to write technical blogs, draw big crowds to his website and make his entire living off of the residuals from Google AdSense. He just needed to know how we could draw traffic to his site.
How Much does Pay-Per-Click Cost?
Paid advertising is the fastest way to generate leads. Period. The issue is that it doesn’t happen by itself, and it doesn’t happen for free.
PPC, Should I bid on My Own Company Name?
When we run paid advertising campaigns for our clients we make sure we bid on their own company name by default. In fact some of the biggest brands bid on their own name even though they are already well established household brands. Ford, Amazon, Round Table Pizza all are willing to pay for the privilege of showing up for their own company name.
Coming up with Killer Web Image Ideas
OK Captain Obvious, you created your Buyer Personas and know exactly who you are targeting. You wrote some killer copy for your website, created a great offer and have your Calls To Action ready to go. But something’s missing…
How to Produce an eBook that Generates Leads
The type of eBook I’m talking about is not the type that you download to your Kindle. It’s a well-produced piece of premium content that you offer for free as an enticement to collect a consumer’s contact information and move them farther down the sales funnel.
Best Filters To Have For Your Google Analytics
I asked my Web Presence Manger, Geoff to put together an easy to follow step-by-step tutorial of how you as a business owner or marketing manager can get true actionable data to make crucial marketing decisions...
Why Do I need More Than One Landing Page?
So, your offer is so irresistible that once a consumer glances at your landing page they are helpless to do anything but submit to your will. After all, they probably haven’t been exposed to any advertising all day.
How to Give Good Headline
A successful email, landing page, Blog or Social Post is an accumulation of several elements, but if your headline fails, the rest of your page will fail. You need to spend more time on your headline than on any other element of your post, page or email.
Why are Buyer Personas Important?
So, your offer is so irresistible that once a consumer glances at your landing page they are helpless to do anything but submit to your will. After all, they probably haven’t been exposed to any advertising all day.
Don’t You Hate Getting Sued for Using the Wrong Image?
So what are the odds that the owner of an image will stumble across that image that you “borrowed” for your website or blog and make a big honkin’ deal about it? Waaaaay better than you think.
What Impact did a Website Redesign have on this Glass & Mirror Company?
Websites go in and out of style just like fashion, and this 2011 vintage website now had all the appeal of a 1970’s leisure suite. Whenever you give a website a fresh modern look you expect a bit of a bump, but these numbers were a little north of what we expected.
Who is Responsible for Writing My Web Copy?
Years ago, before we became a full-service digital marketing agency, we were essentially just another website development company in Orange County. Back then we considered it standard procedure that our clients BYOC…Bring Your Own Copy (I just made that up).
Can One-Time Search Engine Optimization really Work?
It’s no longer about Search Engine Optimization, It’s about Web Presence Optimization…and the answer is NO, it doesn’t work.
Does Your Digital Marketing Agency do their Homework First?
The ability to check off every task on an order form is no guarantee of success. If the Digital Marketing Agency you’re considering just offers you a “package” without any proof they did the research on you, your target market and your competition, I would question their ability to move the needle in your favor. I’m sure they can check off every task on their list, but without knowing what they are up against, how can they be confident it is the correct strategy for you?
Easy to Follow Inbound Marketing Sequence
There’s also direct mail, TV, Radio and emails. That’s a lot of noise surrounding each and every one of us each and every day. Oh… almost forgot, there’s competition too.
Does Your Digital Marketing Agency Eat Their Own Dog Food?
The ability to check off every task on an order form is no guarantee of success. If the Digital Marketing Agency you’re considering just offers you a “package” without any proof they did the research on you, your target market and your competition, I would question their ability to move the needle in your favor. I’m sure they can check off every task on their list, but without knowing what they are up against, how can they be confident it is the correct strategy for you?
Hiring a Digital Marketing Agency: Reputation Counts
A good Digital Marketing agency should be knowledgeable, organized and honest. Two out of three just won’t cut it. A good agency should also leave a trail of satisfied clients in their wake. Ideally they should offer you direct contact information of some previous clients so you can get the unfiltered scoop on their performance.
How I Rocked LinkedIn to be #1 in Profile Views
I’ve been testing out the method below for over a month with quite a bit of success. By success, I don’t mean just building my LinkedIn network, but generating actual business. I’m now #1 for profile views for “Professionals like you” and in the top 1% in my own network.
Betty wants to do SEO herself…Revisited
One of our fans found an animated video we created just a few short years ago. That’s just a few years ago in people time…in Internet time, it was the equivalent of decades ago.
Full Service Digital Marketing Agencies v. Specialists. Which is right for you?
Specialists certainly have their place when the general consensus is to attack a particular marketing initiative to the exclusion of other options. A specialist may be able to bring a tested strategy and uncommon knowledge to the table. Just make sure they have a track record of playing nice with others.
Would You Buy a Used Car from this Marketing Agency?
Why is the purchase of a car so inherently painful? Spoiler alert… it’s because most people are woefully unprepared when they walk onto the lot. The short version is; you don’t understand the product, you don’t understand the process, you have nothing to compare it to.
Did you Miss these Internet Marketing Articles?
Some of our articles get a lot of attention and other ones get overlooked. Here are my picks for our recent best. And don’t forget to grab you Free eBook!
Who REALY Owns Your Website?
Not every Digital Marketing firm is as legitimate as they would have you believe. So how can you separate the charlatans, scammers and incompetents from the professionals? With a little basic homework, and armed with the right questions, you stand a pretty good chance of partnering with the right firm.
