Content becomes the link connecting businesses to customers. Storytelling sets the tone for their engagement. Blogs, social networks and video-sharing sites inform, entertain and empower your best prospects and clients. – Trond Lyngbø

Content Marketing can address every stage of the sale funnel.

Well planned Content Strategies should have a piece of content for everyone at every stage of the sales cycle. This includes everyone from the general public all the way to yesterdays customers.

First, by creating easily shareable content for the general public or even people just beyond the upper limits of your sales funnel, you can actually help your entire site gain domain authority by attracting more monthly visits, acquiring more backlinks, and increasing activity on social media channels.

Secondly, by raising awareness, answering questions, and addressing concerns Content Marketing can aid prospects through each and every phase of the sales cycle.

Lastly, just because a person has already purchased your product or service doesn’t mean they shouldn’t be addressed in your marketing plans. Content can be produced to keep people coming back again and again. Pieces centered around continuing education, product updates, or even company updates, can help ensure customers will recommend your business to their friends and family.

Content Marketing not only informs people, it can convert prospects.

In reference to my previous point, Content Marketing can help prospects build so much trust and confidence in your business’ product or service, they will be ready to purchase by the time they call in or visit a location.

The idea behind this concept is that your high quality content will qualify a prospect by clearly explaining every reason someone should buy your product or service. The content you’ve produced will in turn, nurture the prospect by addressing all of their concerns and answering their questions. Lastly, prospects will be ready to purchase because they will be well informed, know what they want, know why they want it, and now trust your brand.

Content Marketing helps you find out what is important to your market.

I know it’s a passive approach, but it still has value. Pieces of content can be used to gauge market interest. The more activity an article generates – the more your audience is concerned with that topic.

Be sure to remember, content can always be repurposed. Meaning, if you write an article that sparks a large amount of activity, host a webinar on that topic, create an infographic, or create a video blog. The main goal is to keep the ball rolling, generate even more exposure, and dig deeper into the market.

Content Marketing lets you tell your story.

This is something that Joe Corporate needs to understand. The internet has made finding and sharing sensitive information with the world incredibly easy. Using Content Marketing to inform people about your business, its morals, its agendas, and even its hiring practices can help everyone – including the general public – build trust, create understanding, and develop confidence in your company.

The post Why You Should Be Using Content Marketing appeared first on Clix.

I’m sure you’ve happened upon a magician at least once in your life. And, hopefully that magician was relatively decent at what he or she did. From elementary card tricks to elaborate hoaxes, magicians of all types have built their craft with the intent to entertain and perplex. However, what if every magician you met revealed how they do every trick? I think of this analogy when clients refer to SEO as magic, trickery, and manipulation. The reality is that humans (us) inherently question or push aside what we don’t understand. We try to lump the complex with what we feel is “digestible”. In this case, SEO is largely perceived as complex by small business owners, especially baby boomers. And, what is complex is categorized underneath an umbrella that is comprehendible, i.e., “online marketing” or just “marketing”.

Part of our job as online marketers is to reveal the secret behind what business owners perceive as magic, trickery, and manipulation. Hopefully after educational meetings, emails, and phone calls, the intangible becomes a bit more tangible and understandable. Today, SEO/Online Marketing is a recipe (minus the fixed quantities), not a series of magic tricks. Backlinks should not be brought, exact match anchor text abuse is not permissible, microsites with the wrong intentions are wastes of time in the long-term, and so on…

Given the in-depth nature of online marketing, capable and willing search engine optimizers are evolving into online marketers for better or for worse. On the other hand, search engine optimizers who solely relied on manipulation are drowning. Changing how small business owners perceive SEO by expanding their understanding of online marketing as a whole is crucial. Communicate the importance of:

In the outline above, it is obvious that optimizing your site for search is not what it used to be. Optimization is comprehensive. Additional weight has been placed on the importance and value of engaging content that is marketable both online and offline. And, today it’s not so much about redefining search marketing as it is re-evaluating it so that we can answer consumer questions for our clients like:

By catching up with online marketing, understanding where search is headed, and adopting the attitude that SEO is about marketing-not magic-a website online (even if it means through offline methods), then you’re ready to leave “what was” SEO behind and embark on a more collaborative and long-term online marketing approach.

The post Is Your Approach to SEO Outdated? appeared first on Clix.

Non-Profits:

In the last year Google has made some improvements to the search function, including the addition of non-profit’s information. The slow roll out provides more information about non profit organizations right on the search page. Notably, the categories and tax deduction codes are included. Not all organizations have been included at this time, but Google is working to expand the list.

The Other New Feature:

In case call outs in search weren’t enough, Google has also expanded Knowledge Graph into movies on Android tablets. Prompted by facial recognition, the feature appears when media purchased within the Google Play store is paused. The greatest limitation to this feature is, obviously, its limited ability. IPad owners are unable to access the features, and they are only applicable to media purchased from Google. Curious about the miscellaneous actor on screen in the Netflix app? Too bad. You’re still going to have to look up his Wikipedia page for more information. 21st Century Problems, right?

Outstanding Issues:

There are flaws, of course. Google isn’t perfect. The goal of Knowledge Graph is to predict searches intent and provide reasonable results. In the arena of “reasonable” they’re remarkably successful.

Let’s say I’m searching for my favorite show between Kardashians seasons: Married To Jonas. I know I’m looking for the E! series. Google, on the other hand, evaluates the search as a question for Knowledge Graph purposes, and returns selections for both Danielle Jonas and Kevin Jonas as individuals. The organic results nail what I’m looking for with links to the series on E! and relevant social media sites. The series is not, however, mentioned in either of the Knowledge Graph selections. Short of knowing what exactly I was thinking when I typed the search Google carries out the results successfully.

I’ll admit it, I’m nitpicking here.

Overall, Knowledge Graph has made it easier to get information quickly, without filtering through a list of search results. The changes to the way we search will continue to evolve in 2013 with the use of both Knowledge Graph and Facebook Graph Search. Look for more information about Facebook Search next week!

The post Knowledge Graph: One Year Later appeared first on Clix.

Often times we get the question, “Should I invest in Pay Per Click or Search Engine Optimization?” from clients, prospective clients, inquirers, passersby, and next door neighbors (ok, maybe not your next door neighbor!). In most – if not all – cases we recommended a combination of both PPC and SEO. We can’t help it! PPC is instantaneous. We want our clients to be an option out of the gate, while we help them build their organic presence!

Many business owners understand the importance of being one of the top organic search results in Google by now. Unfortunately, some business owners overlook the advantage of being both a paid and organic option. At Clix, we use analogies to make sense of EVERYTHING. In this case, would you rather throw one hook in the water or two or more hooks?

According to Google Think Insights, having both an organic and paid presence can dramatically improve your site’s traffic and CTR. In 2011, Google conducted an experiment and paused search ads on over 400 Adwords accounts in four different countries. Their findings were significant.

Google discovered that 89% of ad clicks were incremental to clicks on organic search results. This means that these organic visits would not have happened without the company investing in PPC and being a sponsored result. Simply, organic clicks would not have made up for the absence of paid clicks.

Below is a Google infographic that illustrates their results:

The post PPC – Accounting For Clicks You’d Never Get appeared first on Clix.

1. Content

Perhaps the most common issue we discover is lack of original content on a site. Often a business will have a brief sentence or two telling a prospective client to call for more information. This is a problem for multiple reasons.

1. Customers are interested in immediate answers to their questions. They want the information they searched for without going through other channels, sitting on hold, or waiting for a response. 
2. Competitors have the information on their sites. Not only does this increase the likelihood that the customers will convert, it also builds their confidence in the businesses’ knowledge about their particular industry.
3. One of the elements Google consideres when determining rankings is the availability of relevant content on a site. This can include everything from content on the home page to weekly blog posts. The more relevant content is available, the more Google will consider that site to be an authority for a given subject or keyword.

So, how can you fix this problem? Start writing! If you’re unsure what potential customers are looking for check out your competitors’ sites and see what they’re talking about. It’s ok to touch on the same subjects, just don’t copy and paste their content onto your site. That’s plagiarism (or duplicate content in Google’s terms) and Google can punish you just like your teachers in school if they find out you’ve copied someone else’s work. Start with the questions that you’re most often asked by customers and provide the answers that you would give if you were speaking face-to-face. You’re the expert about your business, so don’t hesitate to share your knowledge!

2. Structure

Site structure is another common issue for many clients. A potential customer wants the information they’re looking for, without having to search for it on your site. If the path to the information isn’t immediately clear, the customer won’t take the time to search for it on your site, they’ll spend their time searching somewhere else. Your site structure should be simple and easy to navigate.

Start with the basics: an “About” tab and a “Contact Us” page should be standard for most websites. From there, additional tabs and menus will vary based on your business. A basic directory of products or services, an FAQ, and a blog are solid basic starting points. If you’re unsure how your site should be organized, take a few of the common queries your website receives and determine whether your customers could find that information within one to two clicks of the home page. Remember, if the path to the information is not immediately clear, your potential customers will hit the back button and search elsewhere.

3. Call To Action

Your website should have a clear call to action to direct customers to the appropriate point of contact. Believe it or not, many websites neglect to include a clear direction on the home page. The home page is the most common landing age for potential customers, and they may be turned off if they have to search for the contact page before they can connect with you. If you prefer phone calls, the number should be prominently displayed. If your goal is a form it should be readily available on the home page, or connected through a clearly visible link or button.

Taking the time to make these three simple changes can improve your SEO and conversion rates. What are some website changes you recommend to small businesses for Search Engine Optimization?

The post Three Tips To Improve Your Website appeared first on Clix.

Blogging for SEO benefits can seem intimidating at first, but following a few simple guidelines can help you make the most of your posts for both the search engines and your readers. Once you have decided on a post topic that is interesting and relevant to your audience, it is important to increase the odds that visitors will stop to read and share your content.

Titles And Headings:

Titles and headings within your posts serve multiple purposes. They benefit SEO, organize the content, and make the post scannable. Titles and headings tell the readers (and Google) what the post is about.

Headings help organize the content within the post into categories or topics. This makes it easier for the author to stay on topic and easier for the reader to find relevant information.

Titles and heading make it easy for readers to determine whether or not to invest the time to read your post. It gives the reader the highlights without requiring them to delve into a series of paragraphs to find the right information. Think of heading like chapters in a book. Would you rather search through an entire book to find the information you need or skip to specific, relevant chapters?

Length:

The length of the posts will determine whether or not readers will take the time to explore your post. Anything of great length will turn away readers, as will posts with only a few sentences.

The minimum length of content should be no less than 250-300 words. Posts with fewer words will seem unimportant to Google, and decrease the value of the posts.

There is no formula for determining the optimum length, so it is important to write naturally. If you have a post of several thousand words you may want to break it down into a series of smaller posts. On the other hand, if you feel you do not have enough to say regarding a certain topic you can combine it with other relevant information at a later time.

Scannable Content:

One of the most important things for bloggers to understand is that most people will not take the time to read an entire post. In the fast-paced world of the internet, users want content that they can scan quickly. Luckily, there are ways to make posts appeal to these readers.

• Use bullet points. Rather than typing out a long list of points, call them out in a way that is visually appealing to visitors.
• Number your points. Structuring a post around a concept like “Top Three Ways To…” gives you the perfect opportunity to number your points in an easy to read manner.
• Avoid long paragraphs. Forget the five sentence paragraphs you were forced to write in school. Online, 3-4 lines of text, regardless of the number of sentences included, is all that should be in a paragraph.
• Limit lists. Readers are not interested in more than 10 points per post. More facts become too difficult to navigate and remember.
• Dress up the text. Using features like Bold, Italics, and Underlining makes it easier for readers to find keywords and topics while scanning your posts.

Media:

Visitors love media. Videos, images, and infographics can increase the appeal of your posts and help prevent visitors from skipping a post. Make sure you complete the title and alternative text for images and videos so they will be found in Google search.

Images also are the most widely shared content on the internet. A quality photo increases the chances that visitors will share the content and build natural links.

Linking:

Links help Google understand how your blog relates to other content on the web. Linking can be used internally (to other pages on your site) or externally (to pages on other sites). External linking can occur any time you mention information found on another site.

The post Blogging Tips For Beginners appeared first on Clix.

The bad news is that these webmasters and/or search engine optimizers need to find a way to fit this in amongst all of the other tools on their belt without getting carried away.

Let’s not forget that search engine optimization is a proactive process – not a passive one. Spending most of your time trying to change the past is not time well spent if it takes precedence over building great, engaging content that can be shared and spread (for reference, I would spend no more than 10-15% of my time on this).

With this in mind, let’s create a step-by-step list of how to export a .CSV containing links to your site, then how to spot low-quality links. Please note that all instructions below are dependent upon your site being verified on Google Webmasters.

1. Go to Google.com/webmasters and log into your account



2. Select your site



3. Select Traffic and Links To Your Site





4. Select Download Latest Links (This is important for sites who have received an “unnatural links notification”)



5. Export to .CSV or Google Docs

After exporting this spreadsheet to whatever format suits you, it’s examination time. If you or your client received an unnatural links notification, then I would advise looking at the sites linking to yours around the date of detection. For example, you wouldn’t start looking for low-quality links in October 2012 if you received a notification in June 2012.

Now, it’s time to identify potential low-quality sites. What defines them? The checklist below should cover the fundamental tells of a low-quality site.

• Advertising is everywhere! From the header to the sidebar to the footer and beyond. Advertising is a natural component of the internet. However, when it’s done wrong, you know. And, there is something fishy about a site that has a banner front and center.



• Content is surrounded by exact match anchor text.



• Content itself is poorly constructed. This includes grammar mistakes, evidence of spinning and lack of thought.



• Site looks unprofessional and lacks credibility.

Before attempting to disavow any links, try to contact the webmaster of low-quality sites via http://whois.domaintools.com/. I would only suggest disavowing any links if you received an unnatural links warning and the sites’ webmasters don’t respond.

For a more detailed and informative list of how to spot poor links and what to do thereafter, contact me at paul@clix.co!

The post Link Audits, Short & Sweet appeared first on Clix.

Today it’s easier than ever to write accurate, useful reviews on Google+ Local, thanks to the updated rating scale we rolled out. If you want to rate the food at a restaurant, or the quality of a mechanic, just choose “poor – fair,” “good,” “very good,” or “excellent”. Behind the scenes, we’ll convert your ratings into numbers and factor them into the business’ precise 30-point score that shows up in Google+, Search and Maps.

Under the most recent version, visitors reviewed businesses in varying categories on a numbered, 0-3 scale. The system was then converted to a 30 point scale for a total ranking. The problem with the old scores is that users unfamiliar with the Zagat system were confused by the 0-3 scores. Without reading the individual descriptions of each number there is no means to generate an accurate score.

Does a 0 score mean there was zero service? There was no quality at all? On the other end, is a rating of 3 Fantastic or just Good? The new, written scores break it down.

The new categories, Poor-Fair, Good, Very Good, and Excellent, still leave room for interpretation; however, it is significantly less room than the 0-3 scores.

The heavy lifting of converting the categories to a score will occur behind the scenes at Google, keeping the process as simple as possible for users. The task of writing reviews is otherwise unchanged. Users simply select the appropriate rating for each category and add a personal testimony if desired.

At Clix, we’re well aware of the potential SEO value added by reviews, and encourage our clients with relevant businesses to promote positive references.

The post Google Updates Review Process appeared first on Clix.

We use the latest SEO tools to help your company.

Let’s take that Wikipedia definition and put it into other words, let’s say that SEO is the process of making your website more visible to your potential customers for your chosen product or service.  Now does it make a little more sense and are you seeing the potential benefits from SEO?  So you have a great product or service and want your brand to be seen by the public.  One of the first and most important parts of SEO is to make sure you build a great website with tons of unique content.

Now you have a great website, which is your online shop front, you would love to use this site to sell your products, interact with your clients and spread the word of your brand.  But, how can you do that if your website or storefront isn’t visible?  If you sell nylon nightgowns and mother’s day is coming up, I bet you would like to at least be on the first page of Google when people are searching for that particular keyword.  That’s where SEO comes in and why it’s important to make yourself visible.

If your potential customers are searching for your products, but you are nowhere to be found, then what’s the point of you even having that virtual storefront?  Sure your site looks great, but you are lost on page 10 of Google, because you don’t have a good SEO plan in place for your store, you are not easy to spot.  You need to make sure that your website is showing up in your marketplace.  Because your marketplace is going to be full of potential customers browsing, you need to be seen amongst the other companies that will be in place selling their own products or services.

Again, this is a very simple concept, if your potential customers can’t locate your online store easily, they will not stop by and check out your products.  You may have the best-designed site, but if nobody can find you, what’s the point?  Think about having a great store, but it’s down a dark side alley that nobody walks through.  Your potential customers will simply walk past your store.  Now imagine your store being right in the middle of Main Street where all of the traffic is, SEO is the practice of taking your online store and making sure that it is in the middle of Main Street.  This will make it easy to find by anyone searching for it.

Make sure you are on the Google Map!

SEO will drive traffic to your website, and this traffic will most likely be relevant visitors.  So if your company sells men’s fur coats, SEO’s aim is to make sure that men who are actively searching for fur coats will find you.  This is done by using a variety of tried and tested SEO technique, so that the right people notice your company.  SEO experts will make sure your site is optimized to ensure your online presence is more visible in places such as Google and Bing, and it will be targeted to people searching in your niche.

How do we know what keywords to target for your website and what your target market is?  There are several steps that make the process work well for SEO experts.  Here is a brief overview:

1. Competitive Intelligence & analysis – This is as simple as it sounds, know your competitors, analyze where their links are and know what they are doing socially.
2. Keyword Analysis and Selection – Do research on what keywords people are searching for and select ones that you can compete for to drive traffic to your site.
3. Onsite Optimization – This involves title tags, meta tags, making sure your pages URL matches the content.
4. Content Creation – Creating unique fresh content that is easily optimized for the keywords that you are attacking, this is both onsite and offsite.
5. Linking – Using the correct words in anchor text and knowing the right percentage of links to have on a given page.
6. Analysis and Reporting – Being able to read your sites analytics and make adjustments accordingly.
7. Market Intelligence – This is knowing your target market, knowing what they want and how to reach them.

The post Why is SEO Important to your Company? appeared first on Clix.

In the wake of the Google overhaul it’s time to do a little Spring-cleaning of our search engine preferences. The following are the top search engines that are most likely to find what you’re looking for: Google, Bing, and DuckDuckGo. You might notice that Yahoo doesn’t quite make the cut. Yahoo has become the MySpace of search engines. It worked for a while and built a well-known brand, but it has since been overtaken by bigger, better engines with more flash to attract users.

A quick evaluation of the things that matter to search users reveals which search engines are more likely to continue to experience success and which are not.

What to Evaluate:

Percentage of Ads:

Personally, the number of ads on search pages can turn me off to the content. I want results that deserve to be at the top of the page, not necessarily those that have paid to be there. (+/- 1)

Availability of Related Terms:

Suggestions for related terms are helpful for finding additional content related to a topic. (+/- 1)

Tracked Search:

According to the Pew Internet & American Life survey in February 2012, 65% of those polled would not approve of having their searches tracked and used for personalized results. (+/- 1)

Collected Information:

73% of those surveyed believe that collecting information and using it to generate search results is not acceptable because it may limit results. (+/- 1)

Targeted Ads:

The use of targeted advertising is not okay with 68% of users because it is perceived as an invasion of privacy. (+/- 1)

User Experience:

The over-all usability of a search engine to find results quickly is the most important element to users. (+/- 5)

The Old Names:

Google:

Bing:

Up and Coming:

DuckDuckGo:

Upon evaluating the aspects above, I have decided I’m treating myself to a steak dinner.

Just kidding. Actually, it appears that the more effective search engines are not, in fact, owned by Google. It remains to be seen whether the competitors can over come the incredible branding of the search giant and steal the glory of the most used search engine. The most daunting challenge for Bing, DuckDuckGo, and others will be the simple fact of conversion from a site that has monopolized the industry since 1998.

The post Search Engine Spring Cleaning appeared first on Clix.