Posts Tagged: SEO

Mobile Marketing / PPC / Search Marketing / SEO / Social Media — No Comments
5
Dec 11

Why Local SEO is More Important Now Than Ever Before

Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is talked about a lot between marketers. The reason it’s always in conversation is because of its importance. It ultimately improves the visibility of a web page or website in search results. Think of SEO as your company’s baseline for online success.  In this post, we touch on SEO essentials, tips from experts and the future of SEO.

Essential Tools

After some research and feedback, we’ve compiled a list of SEO tools. These tools exist so that you may better optimize your marketing efforts. When using SEO tools for your business, you have the ability to become more productive and efficient in your search efforts. The options are endless when looking for SEO tools, so having an expert opinion helps to reduce information overload. Sage Lewis, Founder of SageRock Digital Marketing provided his list of SEO tools he uses the most. A few of his favorites are listed below:

As more tools are introduced and technology gets better, some options may better serve your business. For now, our advice is to focus on keyword research and ensure your website is content rich. To achieve the best results in SEO – a combination of strategy, content placement and the use of SEO tools are required.

What does the future of SEO look like?

Most marketers have a solid understanding of how to improve both organic and paid search. However, with 50% of mobile users relying on their Smartphones for searching the web, new mobile features may pose a threat. For instance, the questions swirling the web right now involve the importance of Apple’s new feature, Siri.  Voice recognition software is now gaining traction in the mobile space. Just the iPhone alone has raised the bar of importance on how these advancements ultimately affect SEO. Siri is touted for being an iPhone user’s personal assistant that can do anything you ask it to. This looks good and sounds good, but can mean big trouble for local SEO.

How much trouble? Apple reported selling four million iPhone 4S models since its release. Going by statistics, there is a potential for two million iPhone 4S users to search the web via Siri. The problem lies in local search, where it may be convenient to ask Siri, it’s becoming less common to rely on the accuracy of search engines. Siri works by automating search for you, so it chooses how it gets that information. As stated in the article, How Apple’s Siri Could Destroy Local SEO, “Little is known about how exactly Siri collects and processes information, although it’s reasonable to assume that the program is drawing on well-cultivated public data sources, including Google Places, Yelp and similar sites.”

With Siri’s potential to use third party applications as part of the search information gathering, traffic from traditional sites could deteriorate. In order to make sure your site will survive the voice recognition threat, it needs to stay as accessible to search engines as possible. Going back to the basics of SEO, being active on social networks and enhancing your site for mobile are key factors to success. As long as your information is accurate and your site is easy to navigate, your business – with Siri’s help or not, will stay strong.

Examples / Features, Tips, & Announcements / Mobile Marketing / Search Marketing / SEO / Social Media — No Comments
1
Nov 11

Three Key Elements You Should Know About Social + Mobile

I noticed a surprising trend while attending a local social media event a few weeks ago. There are many marketers with questions pertaining to the social and mobile marketing space. As marketers, some of us are conflicted with which social networks to dedicate our time to. We’re also curious to learn and understand where mobile marketing is headed. We can certainly make assumptions…but wouldn’t it be better to feel confident in your choices?

After some research, I have compiled three insights on the marriage of social + mobile, which are highlighted below:

1. Create Compelling Evidence That Proves Social is Working (aka Content)

One of the questions asked at the social media meeting was, “How do you convince a client that they need a Facebook page?” First, we know that in order to convince someone to do anything – you need to convince them. Creating quality content is a great way to communicate the benefits of whatever it is you’re trying to get across. Within that great content, sprinkle statistics and value targeted to your audience. People are resistant to change by nature – especially if the materials being presented to them are from 2001. Be in the know with your audience and prospects on where they’re spending time and what they like. Invest part of your day reading news articles and comments in blog posts on what is relevant to them. Keeping your content fresh, new and exciting will not only help sway an opinion – but will also demonstrate your knowledge on the subject. This content can be in a proposal you present, your own Facebook page or Twitter feed and blogs on your website.

Sometimes convincing your client to change requires you having to make that first step. Once you open those lines of communication and have reasonable data to back-up your claims, the road to transition will be smoother. Instead of just telling a client they should be social – show them why.

2. Be Where Your Clients Are

What are consumers doing on their mobile phones? The answer is – consuming content. Not just via search but with social as well. Content isn’t going away. Neither is mobile technology. According to a recent study, the number of mobile users in the U.S. who accessed a social networking or blog site has grown 37% in the past year.  In addition, half of these users are accessing social networking sites on a daily basis via their mobile phones.

Here’s some food for thought, these mobile users aren’t just looking around and logging out. They are engaging with each other and sharing content multiple times a day. Even if that content is a status update or a post to a link, they’re becoming comfortable in the social space for mobile. Why should you, as a marketer, care to know how they’re spending their time on these sites? The more comfortable and engaged your audience is on a social networking site, the more likely they’ll interact with you.  Since they’re already doing it and expanding into the mobile space, all you have to do is be there. The data speaks for itself. Millions of mobile users are reading social posts from brands and companies, sharing coupons or deals, and clicking on ads. Mobile and social are newlyweds, so integrating your current marketing efforts with this new couple can be challenging. As long as you create a social and mobile strategy that aligns with your buyer personas, you’ll quickly see the benefits.

3.  Use the Right Social Site

Today’s marketing world is full of terms like SEO, mobile sites, social marketing – but the key to walking the walk is understanding these terms. Most business aren’t sure what social networks to join, so they do as many as they can. Then they write blogs and compute keywords that might interest a few customers to their site. This is not the way to successful networking, branding or marketing.

Choosing the right approach is different for every business – not everyone benefits from the same social sites. To be successful you need to be in sync with your customer. If your customers don’t use Foursquare, don’t invest in it. It sounds simple, but it is a common misconception that having a presence on every social site is good for business. Remember the saying, “quality not quantity?” This couldn’t reign truer than in the social and mobile worlds. Social sites are tools for your marketing strategy to aid in moving your customer along in the buying process. Once you realize where your efforts have the most impact, dedicate more time and effort to those sites.

My perspective on social media is as follows: At the end of the day, it’s about keeping it simple. Don’t overload your audience with information. Make sure you’re being social and active where it makes sense for your business. Lastly, create compelling content that speaks to your buyers at specific points in the buying process. Understanding your prospect’s needs and wants is the key to creating valuable content that will get them to notice you and continue to engage with you.

Analytics / Features, Tips, & Announcements / PPC / Search Marketing / SEO / Social Media — 3 Comments
28
Oct 11

Understanding Google’s New Search Default Restrictions

Google has found a way to start tightening the rope around search, and more specifically, SEO. According to Brad Reynolds, CEO at Mongoose, “Google is changing the face of web analytics by encrypting search results.” As a result of this change, anyone who logs into their Google account (i.e. Google+, Gmail) and then conducts a search via Google will no longer have referrer data sent along with it. That referrer data reveals what search terms were used in order to find a particular business or website. Paid ads, however, will not be affected by this change.

Who does this impact?

In a blog post, Google says less than 10% of searches will be affected by this change. Additionally, in a Search Engine Land Article, Matt Cutts a Google Software Engineer estimates the affected traffic to be 1-2% of search volume.  Aggregate query data will continue to be available and include visits from users who are not signed into a Google account. This change only concerns organic search results while the user is logged into a Google account. It does not impact direct traffic, PPC traffic or affiliated traffic.

How does this affect the user experience?

In the Search Engine Land article: Google to Begin Encrypting Searches & Outbound Clicks By Default with SSL Search, Danny Sullivan does a great job of describing the setbacks from this change. This encryption prevents sophisticated keyword-based targeting from being used. It is almost as if we’re taking a step backwards in the progression of custom and personalized information. Instead of creating a better user experience, this is essentially making the consumer work harder. Take for example someone searching for a specific product, but since referrer data isn’t passed along to the company, the user lands on a basic web page. Now the user has to navigate through the website in order to find their particular product – essentially making the entire process more time consuming for the user. As a marketer, having the capability to track and analyze specific keyword information will become harder to obtain.

Why the change?

There is much speculation and controversy around why this change has been made. The majority of comments we have seen believe it is a way for Google to make more money and gain competitive advantage. Google mentions there is a growing importance of protecting the privacy of personalized search results. In an effort to protect users and their privacy, Google feels this is reason enough.

There are two additional facts we find to be confusing. First, Google will continue to offer this data to their paid advertisers, which seems inconsistent with the goal of protecting user privacy. Second, Google will continue to gather this organic search result information without passing it on, thus giving them exclusive intelligence related to search results. Some say this will hurt small businesses that cannot afford to pay for online marketing services, while others mention that this is a step in the right direction towards protecting the privacy of the consumer. The debate will be ongoing as more people become aware of this change in the marketing and SEO world.

With change, there is naturally going to be resistance. Like many changes, there will be pros and cons. At the moment, Mongoose is more interested in the long-term effects. Specifically, we’re curious to know how this will impact the way we search and if this will become a standard across all search engines. Will referrer data one day disappear for good – paid or not? Again, going back to Search Engine Land’s article, Sullivan claims that the future is clear:

“Referrer data is going away from search engines, and likely from other web sites, too. It’s somewhat amazing that we’ve had it last this long, and it will be painful to see that specific, valuable data disappear.”

Let’s say he’s right and this data disappears from search engines, what does this mean for social? Most users are searching via social already; perhaps this is an attempt by Google to gain traction in the social space as well. Although Google+ is not the most popular network in the social world, this might be the first step towards making that a reality. For now, Facebook and Twitter continue to own the social search arena. Users trust their friends’ feedback, comments and likes, which is something you don’t have in search engines. However, with Google, you do have the +1 option – but you need to be on Google+ for that function.

Your thoughts?

What do you think about what Google is doing? Are you for or against this change? Please leave any comments and suggestions below.

Features, Tips, & Announcements / SEO / Social Media — No Comments
27
Sep 11

Key Takeaways from Attending SMX

September has been a good month for Mongoose Metrics. We recently attended the Search Engine Marketing Expo East in New York City where we learned some valuable insights about SEO and SEM. The show’s focus included content marketing, SEO best practices and upcoming trends in social media. Since not everyone could attend the show, the marketing team at Mongoose would like to share some Key takeaways from SMX.

Keep it Simple

This applies to Search Engine Optimization specifically, as Tony Wright (@tonynwright) at SMX outlined the 4 C’s of SEO to outrank your competition:

Code – Make sure it is clean! Cleaning HTML code will help reduce page size and increase accessibility

Content – Good and effective content is key to higher SEO rankings

Connections – Linking to other sites and developing that relationship will help search engines find you faster

Conversations – Social media is now more important than ever – so keep those tweets, Facebook likes and comments coming!

Be sure to integrate the 4 C’s of SEO  to continue improving the visibility and organic rank of your website.

Users are Now in Control

As marketers, we know to focus our message to our audience and our customer. Something has happened within the last year or so that is starting to alter this mentality. Why? Users are now in control and we need to be one step ahead. Understanding what’s going on across all channels is imperative to your marketing success.

 

Photo Credit: Bright Edge

Before it made sense to post an advertisement on Facebook and hope some of your target audience would see it. Now, with such a user-driven environment, we need to be in-tune with what our customers are tweeting, where they are checking in, what they are liking, who they are following and what circles they’re creating. If we keep throwing information in their faces without rhyme or reason, they will simply block our efforts and never think twice about us. I listed some of Jim Yu’s (@jimyu) tips for making sure you don’t get left behind in leveraging social media for SEO:

Tip #1: Measure your social SEO

  • Are your social media pages ranking in search results?
  • Are you doing SEO on your Facebook page?
  • Do you have a Facebook and Twitter presence?

Tip #2: Add social buttons to your site

Add social networks you are active on. Listed below are some of the most popular.

  • Facebook
  • LinkedIn
  • Twitter
  • Digg
  • StumbleUpon

Tip #3: Optimize your Facebook page for SEO

  • Add plug-ins
  • Use your brand name in all wall posts & tweets
  • Try to engage your audience as much as possible through likes and shares

 How to Make the Most of Your Content

Everyone has a light bulb moment – when suddenly everything makes sense. After listening to the great panel of speakers: Loren Baker, BlueGlass, Jay Berkowitz, Ten Golden Rules, David Kidder, Clickable and Stefan Tornquist, Econsultancy – I kept thinking about one specific part of the discussion – content. It all starts with a content marketing strategy and here are the industry’s suggestions on making the most of your content.

Cascade your content: You have a great article/newsletter/webinar – Take key topics from that and split into a few blog posts. Dissect those blogs into multiple tweets – tweet about key topics in those blog posts. Share those topics on LinkedIn or Facebook and distribute that content.

Conduct interviews internally: Interview sales and product development to find out what’s new – exciting and note-worthy within your company and write about it. If you find it exciting, there’s a good chance people who follow your company will too!

Update and optimize content so that it spans both search and social: Social media and search are completely integrated; use this to your advantage.

Don’t just post content, make it actionable: One way to ensure social success is to let people know you’re aware and there is an actual human behind the computer. Use Twitter to promote others, talk about current events, answer people’s questions and talk about what is important to you. Before long, making content actionable will become second nature.

If you attended SMX and would like to share your experience – please comment below. We’d love to compare notes.

Analytics / Call Tracking / PPC / Search Marketing — No Comments
16
Mar 11

Calculate Lead Value and Improve Marketing Campaign Performance

Lead value is the average amount a lead (e.g. web form completion, phone call, online purchase) is likely to generate in revenue.

While on a macro level this is useful, the real value comes when lead value is identified for a specific lead source or marketing initiative.

With this information, you can gain a much deeper understanding of what activities drive leads with the highest revenue potential. As a result, you can make more focused campaign decisions, such as allocating budgets towards activities that have the greatest impact on the bottom line.

Data Collection

To calculate lead value, you must have access to lead and conversion data. The more data you can collect the more useful it becomes, as you can better segment leads and get more granular with your analysis.

There are three tools you will need to calculate lead value:

1. Web analytics

Using web analytics software, such as Google Analytics, Adobe/Omniture or Webtrends, you can:

• Track online lead conversions (i.e. web form completions, ecommerce checkouts).

• Indentify where online leads originate (i.e. search engine, online ad, social media, referring website).

• Track offline lead conversions (phone calls).

• Gather useful lead traffic data (i.e. pages viewed, repeat visits and time on site.)

2. Call Tracking

Call tracking solutions, such as Mongoose Metrics and others, are necessary to track offline conversions. These solutions record the source of any lead that chooses to call rather than complete a web form or purchase online.

To gather this data, the platform dynamically changes the phone number that appears on your website, based on the traffic source. Tracking phone numbers can also be assigned and integrated directly into offline campaigns (e.g. TV ads, radio spots, billboards, print ads, fliers etc.) to capture source information for leads that may never visit the website.

3. Customer Relationship Management (CRM) System

CRMs, such as Salesforce and SugarCRM, allow marketing and sales professionals to organize and track lead communications, customer conversions and generated revenue.

Several CRMs also enable you to integrate web analytics and call tracking data associated with individual leads.

Calculate Lead Value

Once you’ve collected a good sample of data, calculating lead value is a fairly straightforward process:

1. Create a report that includes all leads and associated revenue. Make sure the report includes leads that have not converted into customers.

2. Add all leads together = Total Leads.

3. Add all sales together = Total Revenue.

4. Divide total leads by total revenue = Lead Value.

Total Leads / Total Revenue = Lead Value

What to Do With The Data

This formula can be applied to your total lead volume, or used on a more specific category of leads (e.g. online marketing, online advertising, PPC campaigns, PPC keyword bids). The more detailed you can be with your data collection, the better equipped you’ll be to:

• Allocate marketing budgets to campaigns that produce the most valuable leads.

• Cut budgets on campaigns that don’t drive quality leads.

• A/B test campaign updates to see if lead value improves.

• Evaluate the ability of a lead nurturing campaign to improve lead value.

• Improve sales performance by adjusting follow-up communications, messaging, and even an individual sales professional’s technique.

How are you using lead value to improve your marketing campaign performance? Share your insight in the comments below.

Features, Tips, & Announcements — No Comments
11
Nov 10

Top 10 Random Things I Learned at Pubcon

  1. The majority of married guys don’t wear wedding rings.
  2. SEO Geeks are some of the kindest, most misunderstood people.
  3. Chris Brogan is right.  Talk about other people 12 times as much as you talk about yourself.
  4. Your Facebook fan base should consist of 10 times as many customers as you want.  Your Facebook fan base should be 10 times the size of your email list.  Your Facebook fan base should consist of 10 to 20 percent of your local geographic population.
  5. Fail quickly.
  6. Social media has overtaken porn as the number one activity on the Internet.
  7. Own your online presence now.  The time to start online reputation management is long before someone starts talking trash and ranking in your search results.
  8. According to New York Times tech reporter David Pogue, “The depiction of Mark Zuckerberg in ‘The Social Network’ is accurate.”
  9. “Likes” may start to overtake “Links” in search engine ranking pages.
  10. Twitter is getting pulled into real-time search more than any other social media.

Thanks PubCon!

By Kathleen Colan, director of marketing and content for Mongoose Metrics.  Mongoose Metrics is an enterprise-level call tracking and conversion analytics provider.  Learn more about how call tracking can help you understand which marketing sources drive phone calls, download “Top 10 Things You Can Do With Call Tracking.”

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10
Nov 10

#PubCon Keynote Redux: “My Biggest Mistakes” by @unmarketing @copyblogger @prsarahevans @chrisbrogan

Dateline: Las Vegas, Nov. 10 PubCon Keynote Day 2

My Biggest Mistakes and What I Learned

by Chris Brogan, Sarah Evans, Scott Stratten and Brian Clark #PubCon Keynote 2010

Social media has overtaken pornography as the number one activity on the Internet.

That’s one of the reasons the glitterati of social media Chris Brogan (@chrisbrogan), Scott Stratten (@unmarketing), Sarah Evans (prsarahevans) and Brian Clark (@copyblogger) headlined this morning’s keynote address at Pubcon 2010 in Las Vegas.

As social media matures and grows, the panel shared some of the mistakes – and lessons – they’ve learned along the way:

On Mistakes:

@unmarketing – I’m failing right now keeping up with engagement.  I’ll be damned if I can keep up. It’s almost becoming work. I’m not keeping up with the engagement platform I built. That’s not what I wanted it to be and it keeps growing. It’s already breaking down.

@copyblogger – My first three years failed completely. I didn’t know what I was doing. I didn’t understand marketing.  What I figured out was that the Internet was a direct marketing platform. I figured out that the content was the marketing.  I figured out that if the content was valuable it attracts people to you.  Since then I’ve read every sales and marketing book ever written.

@prsarahevans  – Pushing too fast, too hard, coupled with naiveté and excitement.

@chrisbrogan — I’m failing right now because I built a model that I had to be there to make the money.  I’ve started using post-it notes to delineate passive income and active income – you need the blend – I’m re-building my business model for 2011.

Moving forward, here’s what each said about taking one immediate action to improve your communication style and your success:

@chrisbrogan — Talk about other people 12 times as much as you talk about your own stuff – go find the people that are growing up and retweet them.

@unmarketing — Stop buying our books for one week.  Stop trying to find the new thing and the new tactic.  Do something with our books. Execute. Ask yourself: what can I implement this week since I read these seven books – it’s the ones that are implemented that work.

@prsarahevans — Partner with a good cause – some of our best learning comes from there – some of our biggest success come from the experiences we’ve had with nonprofits.

@copyblogger –You’ve got to keep learning. You can spend all your time reading and never do anything.  If you recognize you’re not doing anything right now you’re probably afraid.  So recognize it and do something.

Learn more about Mongoose Metrics and how call tracking conversion analytics can improve your ROI by up to 40 percent. Download the whitepaper: “Top 10 Things You Can Do with Call Tracking.“

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19
Mar 10

Call Tracking Resellers Now Can Offer Mongoose Metrics White Label Call Tracking Product

Today we launched Mongoose Metrics’ White Label aka Private Label Call Tracking product for call tracking resellers who want to gain credibility and increase profits by offering their clients our powerful tool for quantifying the offline impact of online advertising.

This white label call tracking offering features:

  • Choice of fully-customizable, branded sub-domain.
  • Branded login-in page with logo.
  • No visibile reference to Mongoose Metrics.
  • Full access for resellers and/or their clients to Mongoose Metrics’ technical support.
  • Time investment of less than five minutes for implementation.

Call tracking resellers now have the ability to provide call tracking services with their brand attached as well as structure costs which make sense for their business needs.

Bradley Reynolds, Mongoose Metrics chief executive officer says, “Agencies and resellers who specialize in PPC, organic, e-mail, web analytics or even offline advertising can realize the benefits of adding call tracking to their suite of products to help clients visualize a complete marketing picture that illuminates which marketing efforts are driving phone calls, and ultimately, sales conversions.”

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25
Feb 10

Team Mongoose Heads for SMX West to Evangelize about Call Tracking Solutions

A team of call tracking experts from Mongoose Metrics will attend Sales Marketing Expo – SMX West – on March 2 – 4, 2010 in Santa Clara, California.  Rob Bisker, Brian Maher and Jeff Tirey will help conference-goers understand the offline impact of online spending while showcasing Mongoose’s innovative product suite of intelligent phone conversion tracking systems. 

Tirey, co-founder and vice president of products for Mongoose Metrics, will speak about “Phone Call Tracking Integration Strategies” in the SMX Theater on Tues., March 2 from 11:40 a.m. to 12 p.m.  His presentation will provide a hands-on overview of the methods and benefits of integrating Mongoose Metrics’ phone call tracking platform with third-party platforms such as web analytics, CRMs, bid management and more.

Stop by the Mongoose Metrics booth for a full demonstration of how call tracking can help your company:

  • Optimize online campaigns: Know which campaigns, keywords and marketing tactics drive callers and whether those calls generate revenue – offline or online.
  • Improve site design: Understand which pages drive calls – customers may be confused, and there may be opportunities for site usability improvement.
  • Save money: Find new ways to more effectively close business online and reduce call volume.
  • Save time: Our integrated reporting environment saves time in analysis by consolidated call information with your analytics and CRM providers. 

If you’d like to schedule an appointment while you’re at SMX, please contact Mongoose Metrics’ Sales Director Rob Bisker at rob.bisker@mongoosemetrics.com or 1.877.784.0496.

SMX West happens March 2-4 at the Santa Clara Convention Center. Here’s what’s in store:

Exceptional Content: More than 50 sessions for search marketers of every skill level will be presented. Sessions will cover all of the search topics: paid search advertising (PPC), natural search optimization (SEO), local/mobile search, social media, real-time search and much more. See the agenda for further information. Keynotes & Presenters: You’ll be treated to three outstanding keynote presentations – Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer, Google’s Director of Research Peter Norvig, and The State of the Search Union panel of search experts. They will be joined by over 125 of the best minds in search marketing who will share their tactics and experiences.

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25
Feb 10

Integrate Your Call Tracking Data inside Google Adwords Reports

Getting the full picture of online spending just got easier for millions of Google Adwords users.  Mongoose Metrics recently introduced a proprietary technology which lets Google Adwords users easily and immediately view offline conversion data (incoming calls) right next to online conversion data (clicks) within Google Adwords’ report dashboard.  SEO/SEM marketing professionals now can instantaneously understand which keywords are driving phone calls and generating sales.  If you’re using Google Adwords it’s a no-brainer to place your phone call data where it makes the most sense – right next to your PPC data.  Mongoose Metrics is the first – and only – call tracking provider offering this powerful tool to help you get a complete view of offline and online conversions.