How to Do Keyword Research

Keyword research is the method of determining which keywords your targeted audience is looking for, the frequency with which your audience is typing these terms, and how your audience would like the data to be supplied in search engine results to be given to them.

Keyword research is an essential part of a comprehensive search engine marketing plan. It allows you to concentrate your advertising campaigns on those key phrases and words that will bring excellent organic traffic to your website.

One may learn more about how your intended audience explores for your brand, product, or the service you’re providing and how to tactically arrange your webpages to coincide with their queries by performing keyword research effectively.

Because SEO takes a long time, you wouldn’t want to put in weeks of effort to rank #1 on Google for a term no one searches for.

One important term that you’ll come across is LocalSEO keyword research. That becomes highly important for businesses that depend on local businesses to achieve the most from smartphones and local searches.

What Exactly is Local Keyword Research?

Simply put the procedure of figuring out keywords that people use while seeking a response to a question in search results (so, let’s be realistic, that’s generally Google).

Amongst the primary priorities of optimizing web pages for search results is determining the specific key phrases and words people are looking for.

Consequently, whenever searchers look for these keywords, your website will only be shown to them if you have embedded the keywords.

We often observe the search volume, the website content, individual sections, and what rivals utilize on respective web pages when deciding what key phrases and words to concentrate on.

Local keyword research is a much more specialized form of all this since your information must connect with specific areas to be regarded as appropriate to the search keywords.

For instance, a general corporate term combined with the location of the city, like “car mechanic Washington,” or a provider of the service keyword connected with a specific community or country, like “furnace maintenance Seattle.”

Why is Local Keyword Research Important?

The importance of keyword research in a local SEO strategy may be attributed to two factors.

The first explanation is that several people who conduct localized searching do this with a specific goal in mind. Such that, people want to act immediately to start making purchases right there and then.

Within 24 hours, approximately 29% of buyers are looking for a localized company on an intelligent phone contact or visit that shop.

Businesses that are attentive to local consumers must depend on local SEO to capitalize on this intention, and finding the best successful keywords is a massive component of all that.

The second explanation is when consumers conduct a Google search, users are presented with customized answers, and findings are influenced by several elements, each of which is their actual position.

You won’t see the world’s top returns for the term “clothing store” when you look for it on Google.

Rather, the top-ranking web pages in your area will be displayed since Google aims to offer you the most accurate recommendations. That’s the case.

You won’t find results for a clothing store in New York much helpful when you’re residing in Washington.

What Keywords to Target at What Locations?

You’re losing out on the chance to acquire from local visitors who are prepared to intervene now when you don’t understand the key phrases and words worth promoting and which physical places are capable of yielding the highest outcomes.

Additionally, now that mobile online activity has surpassed desktops, it’s critical to think about those localized mobile consumers who are ready to act right now.

How to Do Local SEO Keyword Research?

One may spend some time performing local keyword study to find the best quality content fast, or you could simply drill down and gather all the information you need comprising a full-fledged plan. We will be looking at subjects rather than specific keywords, as we mentioned at the start.

Before we commence, we’d like to point out that if the information you’re providing isn’t appropriate to what users are looking for, you won’t even show up in their search engine results.

Look for the Best Keywords

Although rational thinking often wins, many company owners are ignorant of precisely what potential consumers type in when seeking a specific service or product.

You can ensure you’re focused on the correct phrases by analyzing what keywords have the most excellent search intention and search volume.

If you are approaching to boost traffic on your website, it may be enticing to target high-volume keywords and phrases that aren’t appropriate to your business. That doesn’t look like a good idea because Google’s primary ranking criteria for searching is the relevance of a webpage’s contents to the given keyword.

That way, not only will you battle to appear for the search phrases that you’re attempting to target when your page isn’t related to those, yet when you do, users will probably bounce, leaving your website without engaging at all.

A higher bounce rate tells Google that a website isn’t relevant to this term, and that will be pushed into the SERPs.

How Should You Locate Local Keywords for Local SEO?

There are numerous methods for locating keywords for your blog or a website, but the following are the most successful.

Look for the Keyword Modifiers

Make use of any keyword modifications that may be applicable to your query. All of those are terms that define a product, its value, the sort of commodity it is, or even the situation in which it is utilized.

The following are some terms of keyword modifiers:

  • Buy
  • How
  • Best
  • Where
  • Top
  • Cheap

When researching, individuals commonly utilize modifiers such as “buy,” “free,” “best,” “fast,” and “cheap.” Such terms modify the keyword’s significance and would increase your click-through rates since they are much more appealing.

Try including industry-specific modifiers. Even when they don’t directly search your profession, “bride,” “anniversary,” and “distribution” are all helpful keyword phrases for florists.

Look for the Industry-Related Keywords

To begin, make a list of keywords which are relevant to your sector.

That entails considering the frequent key phrases and words your consumers might type in the search bar to find your company.

Let’s overview a small exercise:

What would you like to ask Google is a member of the public searching for a specific service?

Something from service descriptions to industry-specific phrases that are especially important in B2B marketing may be included. One may also get ideas by looking at the techniques your rivals are implementing.

Research Tips for Locating Local Keywords

Always analyze the techniques of your competitors – a tried and tested strategy is to constantly take a glance at the procedures your competitors are opting for and subsequently strive to improve upon that.

Think about the main business keywords – The main keywords to consider for the majority of local companies would be self-evident. Not only will it be your primary service/product as well as your primary venue.

Use Google Autocomplete – Simply type your primary term into Google and observe the suggestions that appear.

Include the service in locations – Please ensure your meta description has a key phrase + LOCATION. For instance, a mechanic in Los Angeles, a vehicle repairer shop in Calgary, a coffeehouse in Paris, and so on.

Look for the Local-Based Keywords

Individuals prefer to deal with companies that are local to themselves. Therefore, make use of your company’s geographical region, the places it serves, or the areas where your targeted audience works and lives.

Develop particular destination landing pages and include regions, towns, and sectors in your on-page content, specifically meta descriptions, to give necessary information for local searches.

To properly cement your link with the regions you want to pursue, utilize those locations based on keywords in blog posts and social networking sites.

How to Decide Which Keywords to Utilize?

Whichever local search phrases you select to rank your content for, make sure they have a high search volume that is highly appropriate to the company.

That would assist you in gaining many visitors, as well as retain a strong ranking by demonstrating to Google to check whether your webpage is a suitable outcome.

Essential to keep in mind, though, that doing so will indicate you’ll be competing for lesser SERP places. That’s why it’s critical to improve your local SEO by concentrating on link building, social signals, and on-page SEO and providing a solid framework for your brand.

Proximity to Searcher – Don’t Forget!

Local companies may profit by pursuing more comprehensive and more competing search keywords nowadays that Google considers a visitor’s geographical location into consideration.

For instance, words such as “restaurants” are extremely popular yet also somewhat ambiguous. Local companies have a good option of coming up in the higher rankings for such elevated, high-traffic phrases whenever they blend local SEO with customized search engine outcomes.

Understand though, whichever keywords you choose, maintaining excellent SEO quality for the entire website via link development, social networking, and good content is critical.

Irrespective of the keyword phrase you use, their keyword difficulty and search volumes, you will not rank high when the general SEO is terrible.

What are the Popular Keyword Research Tools & How Should You Use Them?

If you’re on the lookout for keyword research optimization, Google Keyword Planner is one popular tool among many, yet you may uncover local keywords using a variety of different tools.

Some of the famous ones are:

  • QuestionDB
  • SEMRush
  • Moz Keyword Explorer
  • Ahrefs Keywords Explorer
  • Ubersuggest
  • AnswerThePublic
  • Suggestion Keyword Finder
  • Keyword Everywhere

When your concern is to look for keyword research tools, everybody will have their preferences. Experiment and discover what fits better for you.

How to Explore the Above-Mentioned SEO Tools?

Determining the search volume is very simple. A couple of software below will help you out:

Keywords Everywhere Add-on

When you’re using the Keyword Everywhere Chrome add-on, users comfortably examine search volumes while browsing the SERPs. It’s clearly inconvenient for extensive keyword listings, though it’s helpful for collecting data on the go.

KWFinder

KWFinder is a fantastic tool for quickly researching keywords. Put your term in then you’ll receive valuable information like google trending, traffic, complexity ratings, plus a summary of the SERPs for such a term.

Ahrefs Keyword Explorer

Input your phrase (series of words) in the Ahrefs Keyword Explorer. The tool will calculate the search volume for every term and other helpful parameters such as the number of estimated monthly hits the keyword receives, CPC, and the keyword difficulty of the search engine results.

Should You Be Concerned About the Keyword Difficulty?

One aspect to take into consideration is keyword difficulty. Specific phrases are more straightforward to perform than others, so consider when you might invest time and energy into optimizing sites for tough keywords or focus on the apples hanging lower.

It would help if you didn’t dismiss a term even though it may be a significant keyword difficulty when it is imperative to your brand.

Various keyword research software employs multiple approaches for calculating term difficulty ratings:

KWFinder – the estimate depends upon the Domain Authority, Trust Flow, Citation Flow, and Page Authority, which were chosen by our expertise combined with those of Majestic and Moz.

Ahrefs – keyword Difficulty measures the challenges you face while ranking for the higher organic specific keywords. That’s rated from 0 to 100, comprising on a lower to higher difficulty scale.

Keywords The Majority Asks

A straightforward approach to get a large set of questions individuals to have about a topic is to use AnswerThePublic.

Don’t panic; you can change the display, make it easier to comprehend, and transport it to a spreadsheet document.

It’s simple to acquire a set of keywords comprising of questions using QuestionDB. Simply enter a seeding term or subject, which will create an extensive collection of relevant keywords for you. Then, you can transform them into a spreadsheet.

Enlarging the Keyword List

Using software such as Ubersuggest to produce keyword variants and extend the collection is a wonderful (and rapid) method.

How Can You Track Local Keyword Rankings?

You’ll require a means to monitor your local keyword ranks once you’ve completed your relevant keywords and created your web pages. Utilizing Ahrefs’ Rank Tracker, this is how you can accomplish it:

  • Return to your projects.
  • Select “+ Add keywords” from the drop-down menu.
  • From the menu bar, select your region.
  • Inside the text area, begin entering your location (zip code, city, or state, etc.).
  • From the drop-down menu, select a location.
  • Insert the keywords into the list.

Wrap Up

Local SEO is a never-ending activity that needs constant care and supervision for performance criteria and many platforms. Local keyword research is thus a necessary process to ensure that your attempts are not in vain.

As for the local SEO keyword research, the following are amongst many crucial factors to keep in mind:

  • Look for and concentrate on keywords with a large search volume.
  • For local search, choose broad, elevated keywords.
  • One should ensure the information is related to the keywords you’ve chosen.
  • Never forget about your entire SEO strategy.
Posted in SEO

Content Marketing

The world of business marketing is at a crossroads. What matters the most is your online presence and marketing across all digital sites rather than the size or location of the company.

According to statistics, almost seven billion local searches are performed each month, and about 90 percent of consumers rely on online platforms to find a local business. It indicates that if you want your business to flourish in the digital landscape, you have to be visible in Google Search results. And to do so, you have to apply local SEO tips and content marketing strategies that can help your business strive. 

Local SEO strategies include offering relevant, local content that answers consumers’ concerns not only enhances their purchase experiences, but they also have a significant influence on how (and where) your business appears digitally.

If you want to learn more about how a strong mix of local SEO and content marketing may help your multi-location business thrive, you’ve come to the right place.

Similarities and Differences Between SEO and Content Marketing

The marketing department is nearly always in charge of both content marketing and SEO. As a result, SEO professionals and content marketing specialists frequently interact.

However, SEO entails several technical considerations, including the creation of sitemaps, the use of analytical tools, and the creation of URLs and tags. On the other hand, content marketing may be utilized to boost SEO, but it serves a far larger purpose.

The aims of content marketers and SEO professionals sometimes clash due to these variances. However, the marketing department has created several strategies for bringing SEO and content marketing together.

How Content Marketing and SEO Make A Powerful Combination

  • Content quality always takes precedence over SEO

Weak material crammed with keywords isn’t going to cut it anymore. Furthermore, Google and other search engines are constantly changing their algorithms to penalize websites with thin and repeated content. As a result, the most effective method to improve SEO is to generate unique and interesting content.

  • Keyword research is more important than keyword quantity

Because quantity no longer matters, SEO experts must conduct thorough keyword research. As long as the content fits what people are looking for, fewer keywords arranged correctly attract greater attention.

  • Importance Of Catchy Headlines

The headline should not be a spur-of-the-moment decision. When it comes to SEO, the length and quality of the title are critical. It should be so appealing that people would feel driven to click on it.

  • Use Of Internal Links

Internal linking boosts SEO in a variety of ways. It may give old content a fresh lease on life if it hasn’t gotten the attention it deserves. Furthermore, it resulted in an improvement as well as a higher ranking for particular keywords.

What Is The Best Way To Do SEO And Content Marketing For A Multi-Location Business?

1.     Make Local Searches a Priority

If you don’t have the experience, knowledge, or money, optimizing for local searches might be difficult.

Here are a few pointers to assist you to improve your local SEO on a large scale.

●        Generate Location Pages

Numerous multi-location companies make the mistake of putting all of their data on one single web page. This might jeopardize the local SEO efforts.

For each of your company locations, you’ll need to create unique, optimized pages. Building dedicated pages give you a better chance of ranking for local results.

●        Keyword Research

The first stage is to do in-depth keyword research for your industry. To do so, first, identify your target audience, then determine the terms they are looking for. Just scroll down to the bottom of the page and note down the relevant searches. 

Moreover, you can also use keyword research tools. Answerthepublic.com, SEMrush, Google Ads Keyword Planner Tool, Moz, and Keyword Tool are few examples.

●        Mobile Search Optimization

Now take it a step further and make your site mobile-friendly. In 2015, searches for “nearby” or “near me” quadrupled, with mobile accounting for 80% of the total. Users aren’t only collecting data in these cases; they’re also forming an opinion. 

Make your website mobile-friendly, maintain your data up to date, and acquire as many good ratings as possible. 

2.     Make Your Content More Local

Create a content plan for each area separately. While this may take more time and work initially, it will enable you to carefully target consumers looking for your services and goods in your area.

●        Build a Logical URL Structure

This approach organizes your website, makes it more user-friendly, and makes it easier for search engines to interpret.

Please ensure that each location’s URL is geo-specific.

When building a URL structure, you must guarantee that each unique location page can be scanned and processed by search engines.

Always include a primary keyword, your address, and engaging content on your Homepage and the About Us page.

●        Content Optimization

After you’ve improved your site’s structure, you’ll need to upload localized content. Ensure you’re publishing information that your consumers will find valuable. The very first step is to figure out who your target audience is and what their pain points are.

Consider their point of view. On social media, pay attention to them. Respond to their inquiries. Make a public announcement about local news or activities. Inquire about their thoughts. Not only will more prospective consumers find you before your rivals in a search, but they will also be more inclined to purchase from you since you give information related to them.

3.     Never Underestimate the Power of Social Media

Local Facebook page content trumps national brand pages. Create a fan page. Advertise community events and provide Facebook users unique bonuses. The more a page’s participation, the more probable it is to appear in Facebook’s search engine results.

Also, stay active on YouTube, Twitter, Google+, Instagram, and all other social media channels that sound plausible for your company. Furthermore, include your site URL since Google utilizes it to enhance its search results, which helps you, rank higher.

4.     Become a part of the local search ecosystem

To get optimum visibility with SEO, you must declare your business listing in the local google ecosystem for each location. You should register with all of the prominent, relevant websites in your industry.

A local business listing is nothing more than a portfolio that comprises your company’s name, location, contact information, URL, or other pertinent information. There are tens of thousands of internet portals where you may list your business for free.

Keep in mind that search engines are always about confidence, credibility, and trust.

5.     Encourage Customer Reviews

According to studies, 88 percent of buyers believe internet reviews. People are more likely to click on your website address if there are favorable reviews beside it. It also has an impact on how your business appears in searches, particularly on sites that allow visitors to arrange results by favorable ratings.

Additionally, make it as simple as possible for clients to submit feedback on your site. The larger the number of good evaluations you receive, the more likely you are to bring your target clients to your business.

Conclusion

You can’t appreciate the importance of content marketing and local SEO until you’re in the industry. There is a lot of rivalry in a multi-location firm. To stand out and cater to a local community, you must address client concerns and establish trust, which can only be accomplished via content marketing.

Our local SEO and content marketing methods will assist you in being where your consumers are and in developing an effective approach to rank, advertise, and get your local business noticed. It takes effort to create relevant content for each site and service page, but it is well worth, if you’re concerned about SEO.

Posted in SEO

Grow Your Firm

As an attorney, you might struggle to understand all the details you need to know to make your website succeed.

One of the most important concepts to understand is Search Engine Optimization. It consists of setting up elements on and off your site, so your website ranks well in different search results. Read on to find out more.

What is SEO?

Each time someone searches for keywords or phrases, your website should appear if you’ve implemented proper Search Engine Optimization strategies.

Currently, Google dominates the search engine market. Around 60% to 80% of users choose it as their preferred site to search for all they want. 

Many people choose different methods to optimize their websites for different search engines. However, as an attorney, you need to tailor your tactics to the legal industry, otherwise, they can’t be effective.

If you’re in the legal industry, the marketing process is unique because you have to abide by the regulations set by the state bar associations. 

Thus, as an local attorney, you should be very careful about representing your firm on a website. State bar associations can impose many penalties on firms that don’t abide by their rules. 

To succeed in online marketing as an attorney, consider the following SEO tips you can implement in an ethical manner:

The First Step for an Attorney to Optimize Their Website 

Before you start tweaking your website to rank high on Google search results, you should find good keywords.

Keywords are the main aspect to consider to find out what people are looking for when they go on Google. As an attorney, you should focus on all the keywords that point to visitors looking for legal services.

In other words, you should try to find keywords with decent search volume and focus on the ones people would use if they wanted legal services. 

You could, for example, check terms related to your area of practice, compare different phrases to the ones people often search for, and much more. Another good tip is to use synonymous. 

There is no magic formula to find the right keywords. However, if you focus on the terms related to your practice area and identify terms with decent search volume, you’re on the right track.

Calls to Action You Should Use 

Marketers usually have a way to display Calls to Action on their websites. When you add a CTA, you motivate the visitor to perform a specific action, for example, subscribing to your newsletter.

Attorneys have specific calls to action. The CTAs you use require a different method to ensure they’re effective for Search Engine Optimization purposes.

When you set up your website, you should identify the point where people need to keep scrolling to get more information. That’s called the fold.

Once you locate that spot, you should place your first Call to Action in there. Additionally, you must never forget to include a phone number on every webpage, and it should be on a prominent location, for example, the header.

To ensure effectiveness, you should give people several alternatives to contact you. Instead of just providing a phone number, include an email or other methods, so they have different options if they want to reach out to you.

Schema for Attorneys 

The schema is also an essential part of working on the Search Engine Optimization of your website. Without it, the algorithm can’t figure out your content. Thus, you can’t appear on the first pages of Google search.

Schema refers to HTML code. You have to apply it to your content to ensure the search engine understands it and registers it as important.

If you’re in the legal industry, you have a specific set of schema. With it, search engines automatically relate your content to a law firm or something similar.

To manage your website following the correct rules and ethical procedures, you should apply schema to all emails, reviews, addresses, phone numbers, names, and biographies of any attorney you have on your law firm. It also applies to your own information.

Although schema seems like a difficult feature to set up, it’s worth it. If you apply it, your search results can benefit from an increase in click-through rates.

How to Create Umbrellas of Legal Content 

Google is not a simple platform. It processes content in a very specific way, and you should consider that if you want to rank high in every search result.

Suppose you visit a website with good information, but it’s scattered around each page in a weird manner, which makes it difficult to read. Once you leave the site, you’re probably not going to come back.

To understand the importance of creating legal content umbrellas, you should remember all the topics attorneys need to know about. You have to organize your content in an understandable way, so visitors want to visit, come back, and hire your services.

Additionally, you can make your website succeed, but you should follow certain guidelines. If you organize information systematically, people can find your content without any issues. 

When you organize the content of your site, you should focus on several aspects. Firstly, your site should have an overall theme, such as personal injury law.

Secondly, each page could focus on a subtopic of that overall theme. However, you should only include one aspect per webpage. If you build and organize your content correctly, people can easily find your website.

An Important Fact about Content Writing 

Not everyone can write legal content. If you want your website to succeed, you need to ensure that only attorneys write everything on the site.

You should be very careful when you’re deciding who writes your content. Some states even have laws if you want to publish legal advice. 

On some occasions, you might be too busy to write your own content as an attorney. Therefore, hiring someone else to do the job may be an option. However, you have to evaluate their credentials and feature them on your site to make sure you’re abiding by the rules.

To offer visitors high-quality legal content and different services, you have to ensure that an attorney or competent professional writes it.

How to Stay on Top of Every Search 

The world of law is very complicated and deals with human issues. It allows you to stay in touch with many people, get to know them, and even help them sometimes.

However, when you’re an attorney, there’s no shortage of competition. Thus, working on your Search Engine Optimization is crucial if you want to get more visitors.

Even though improving your SEO sounds like a straightforward process, you have to focus on the demographics to make things work. In other words, you should be visible on local search. If you can achieve that, Google might benefit you.

Staying visible in local searches is not very easy, especially if you have a lot of competition around you. Nonetheless, there are some strategies you could implement to achieve it.

You could, for example, search local directories and join them. Additionally, you can repeat the process with traditional ones. 

Another great strategy is to claim your profile in Google My Business. Fill out the form completely and wait for your verification to be complete.

Making a page solely centered on a specific location is also a good method. You should include geo-centered terms, which help improve local search visualization.

Finally, you can get your AVVO profile and take advantage of Yext. The latter can help your profile be visible in many local searches.

Remember Link Building 

Since 2016, people have understood the importance of link building. Google considers it as one of the main factors to ensure a website ranks high. Thus, you should take it into account if you want to achieve your digital goals.

Link building sounds easy at first, but it takes time and effort. Attorneys need to get links from relevant and good sources, otherwise, the process doesn’t work.

As an attorney, you have to do research and get the best links you can. Some important websites to keep in mind are AVVO, NOLO, Lawyers.com, and Justia. If you have a big number of good links on your site, you’re more likely to rank well in Google.

Conclusion

Digital marketing started years ago. However, most people didn’t consider it a good option until recently.

Currently, law professionals can greatly benefit from setting up a website and working on its Search Engine Optimization. Nonetheless, they should know some things before getting started.

Keywords and local visualization are two of the most important things to make your law-centered website succeed. You should also remember to give your visitors quality content and to ensure that only licensed professionals write it.

Now that you know all the basics, you’re set to apply them to your website. Keep all the tips in mind and you can improve, even if you’re just a beginner in the digital world.

Making a site is not just an option anymore – many clients simply find an attorney online before you can even introduce yourself. Take advantage of that and build an incredible website!

Posted in SEO

Why Most Marketing Agencies Are Dying or Dead

Is Your marketing Agency Failing your Business???

Kind of a big claim right? Let me provide you some understanding of what I mean. Marketing agencies’ job is to provide their customers business with exposure to gain customers, leads or business, correct? All the marketing agencies I have searched or talked to provide the typical services, Web Design, Print marketing, Video marketing, Social Media marketing, Billboards, Branding , and some offer online marketing like Calgary SEO .

SEO puts you in the right place at the right time -in Front of customers looking for your product or service”

Most do really nice jobs creating websites, building logos and creating brands, however VERY FEW know anything at all about search engine optimization.  Some claim to do digital marketing and even charge client’s huge amount of money to do it but provide very little to no results at all. Less than 10% of the ones I searched in the top 10 even list search engine optimization as something they offer as a service.  Almost none have a certified Google Adwords or Certified Google Analytics specialist on staff!

Why is this important? Well I am not going to inundate you with stats( see article here on stats) but here are some highlights:

  • Canadian Spend the most time online See the article here
  • 78 per cent of all Canadians own a Smartphone with web browsing capabilities!
  • 57% Canadians do research on a company before doing business
  • Local Searches Lead 50% Of Mobile Visitors To Visit Stores Within One Day
  • 88% Of Consumers Trust Online Reviews As Much As Personal Recommendations
  • 18% Of Local Mobile Searches Lead To A Sale Within One

So we all know a couple things mobile is super important, having a good website is important, great branding is important, and the most important piece being missed here is BEING FOUND ON GOOGLE IS PRICELESS!  Is your marketing agency getting you on the first page of Google ? Are you in the top 3 ? Are you in the Google map listings ? If you answer no to any of these i highly recommend you pick up the phone and call your Marketing Company and tell them you want to be in the top 3 for your search terms on Google , then ask what are the factors to get to that potions. If they can not answer that with confidence please call me i will willingly explain what you need to know.

Marketing firms these days are still working on the “build it they will come ” mentality and lack the skills and knowledge to get you ranked in Google to increase your business. Its time for you to re-evaluate what your marketing agency is doing for the money you spend and how your dollars can be way more effective. Want more information read some of other posts on  my blog such as Why business needs to look at their digital marketing in 2016 .

Let me provide you a new digital direction in 2020 and drive more business to you right now and into the future. Mike 403-386-7427 MRC SEO Consulting

Small Businesses

Among the top reasons for a website owner to go with SEO (Search engine optimization) instead of paid advertisements is due to what the former has to offer in the long term. Although many still may not be fully convinced, but SEO is how your business will take flight. While there is no denying this fact, still, the question of it being worth it often arises and we have great seo tips using content marketing, keyword research, seo strategy, technical seo ,meta descriptions ,and title tags to drive traffic to your site .

When small businesses face financially challenging times and have to cut down on their budget, marketing gets the first chop. This can steer people to wondering if SEO is even worth all the hassle. Does it deserve all the time, money, and effort they are giving it?  In this article, we will dive deep into organic SEO and tell you why it is something crucial for small business.

 A Glance at Search Engine Marketing

marketing is generally called SEM and is one of the highly valuable marketing ways to get web traffic. It works with local SEO and digital marketing to get your website index well on popular search engine optimization like Google, Bing, etc. You can see fantastic results for your small business if you play your SEM cards the right way. Jupiter Research conducted a survey, and it states that 81% of users discover websites via search engines.  This statistic clearly demonstrates how one must have a presence. You can earn that presence with local SEO or PPC (pay per click) advertisement.

What is SEO?

SEO is the optimization of a website to make it extra search engine friendly. It encompasses a broad range of aspects from link building, better ranking to keyword optimization. All these may take time to work successfully, but if done right can bring ultimate victory. Google has intricate algorithms to index websites, so SEO strategies change constantly. This implies that your website’s search engine ranking could vary if an algorithm update is up. However, website owners who optimize utilizing white hat SEO methods might find their website ascent through the ranks effortlessly and without needing to pay for this privilege.

What is PPC?

Next comes PPC, which is the method of purchasing ads and sponsored links visible in the Search Engine Results Pages (SERPs). PPC can vary owing to where you bought the ads from, however, when you buy them on Google, you can also bid on the keywords appearing in the search findings. The rules are simple, the higher a bid for a keyword, the bigger the chances of it ranking better and emerging on the first page.  PPC also lets businesses get their message across to a big populace in no time. However, you must remember it can get rather expensive.

There is no guarantee that either SEO or PPC will land you a front-page instantly, but they can help you appear in front of your targeted audience, which can turn out the better outcome. SEO and PPC can demand varying amount and effort for their desired performance, their cost, and the time they require to show results. Which one should you opt for is dependent on your budget, circumstances, and what kind of business you own. 

The Cost and Time Benefit Difference

The central advantage of PPC is the quickness with which you can publicize on the search engines using multiple keywords. In driving a PPC campaign, it is easy to emerge on SERPs first pages for an abundance of related keywords in mere minutes, though all of these keywords will have a different price. Thus, you may discover that you are spending some pennies per click on one campaign and some dollars per click on the other. This approach is not budget-friendly and definitely not for the faint of heart. If you have tons to spare, then it is for you.

Comparing all that to organic SEO, you can see an immense difference. While an SEO campaign could take longer to give results, the Search EngineS Marketing Professionals Organization (SEMPO) calculates that 11% of advertisement money is spent on organic search and 87% on PPC. Therefore, if there is $1 million of expenditure on SEO, then it can be $10 million on PPC. When you contemplate how effective organic search of SEO is and how it does not break the bank, it emerges as a victorious strategy for long-term benefit.

Appreciation for Organic Results

It is a simple fact that organic results are more respected and hence can build better trust with your visitors. Research depicts that organic results are eight times more likely to get a click than PPC results thats why we suggest seo for small business . When you type your query in Google and hit enter, you will always gravitate towards the naturally occurring results rather than the sponsored links or ads, even If they show exactly what you seek that why seo for small business is so powerful.

This is probably due to search engines users slowly understanding the difference between organic and paid findings and realizing that organic ones can be more helpful and valid. The situation of the advertisement can also play a major role in why organic results will get the click.  Researchers state that visitors seldom pay attention to ads on the right area of a screen.

If you talk about conversion rates, PPC seems to accomplish better. Paid search results are more probable to convert clickthroughs than natural search. Nonetheless, this can be owing to the landing page and the text being optimized by the advertiser by using keyword research to help with organic traffic as a marketing strategy seo for small business.

SEO’s organic results still work for a bigger percentage of clicks. So, if your deciding factor was purely based on seeing the conversion rate between organic and PPC, the better option can be organic.

However, a better practice can be to go with a blend of both SEO and PPC, so while one strategy takes time, the other can bring results.

When Should You Opt For PPC?

While organic search is considered as the ideal choice for small businesses, there can be times when it is smarter to spend some money on PPC. If you just launched your company, a PPC campaign might help to build brand awareness fast. Alternatively, a new product release or service on your website can also support you to gain quick publicity with PPC.

A good aspect of PPC is that you can turn it on and off or run it on specific days of the week. For instance, if you operate a cafe business and give discounts on Mondays, you can rest assured that your ads will always display on a Monday. You can further modify your campaign funding any time, so if the business is doing well, you can amp up the advertising budget to lure more customers.

PPC can be a better choice for companies that retail products rather than services.  Lastly, if an algorithm update affected your site, you could consider executing a PPC campaign until you recover from the traffic loss. 

Conclusion

So is SEO worth it? Yes! While it can take longer with an SEO campaign to see any results but getting organic results is absolutely worth all the time and effort. With SEO, your website will appear more reliable and trustworthy, causing visitors to keep coming back. It is also much more cost-effective and can garner more clicks than PPC.  Although you will not land a top rank instantly, it will still benefit your business a lot and for a long.

However, it still all boils down to what strategy will suit your specific domain the most. Both campaigns have their unique valuable aspects, which can help you get a broader web presence.

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An Ultimate Guide to Online Success

It is easy to think of Search engine optimization as super complicated and hence might not be worth the hassle. Do you believe that? Well, you should not.  SEO or search engine optimization has caught a bad repute for being daunting and complex. But, if you know exactly what you are doing, then it is quite simple.

People running websites tend to have little comprehension of what SEO is, and all it has to offer. Therefore, it is very crucial to understand the basics that can guarantee success.  In this article, we will guide you with five fundamental basics of SEO that can help your website rank better. Here the five fundamentals we will explain in this article.

  1. Finding Out What Customers Search For
  2. Optimization Of Web Pages To Tackle Target Keywords The Right Way
  3. Making The Website Visible To Visitors And Search Engines
  4. Getting Your Website Linked with Others
  5. Measuring The SEO Success

So let us get straight to business! 

    Finding Out What Customers Search For

You will fail to optimize the website if you do not know what your potential customers might be searching for.  How to figure out this simple yet major thing? The ideal way to start is to through general understanding and common knowledge. Suppose you own a hostel in Vancouver, Canada. Nothing can be clearer than the fact that your customers could likely be searching these terms:

  • ‘hostels in Vancouver’
  • ‘student housings in Vancouver’
  • ‘accommodation in Vancouver’

Before anything else, contemplate what your customers could potentially search for jot all terms down —a few ideas will suffice. After that:

Many of the customers may be scouring for your business utilizing the phrases you noted down. So the initial step is to find out the most popular way people search for what you offer. You can go with the ideas you formerly noted down and begin by searching those terms in search engines.  Do not worry about how long or absurd the phrase is.  When you press enter and scan through the results, you will find that every result includes the phrases you entered in some way. 

This is crucial as websites can optimize their title tags for search engine optimization, therefore, the results you got maybe the most common way for people to look for hostels in Vancouver.

                Go Deeper Into Searches Customers Could Be Making

After seeing how people could be searching your business, next comes delving deep towards granular searches made by people. The easiest way to begin is to check out Google autocomplete findings. Get on Google and type your phrase to search without pressing enter. You will see Google instantly completing your phrases by offering additional keywords people commonly searched for.  This is the best way to understand every aspect that could potentially relate to your business. If you want to know about the queries people have (or have searched for), then you can check the “People also asked” option when Google gives you results. This gives you an even deeper insight into what questions customers have and how to answer them the right way so they find their way towards your business.

              Seek Engaging Subjects about Your Domain

Digital marketing is all about the intricacies of developing helpful and effective content that can attract the target audience. It has to be done to fully cater to what your customers seek and how you can improve your strategies. You must find out all the topics that are prominent and interesting in your domain so you can come up with relatable content. 

Reddit can be a fantastic way to help you research topics in your industry. You can see what people talk about the most and threads that are popular. Moreover, you should also filter the threads to make your results even precise.

              Your Keywords Needs Expansion

Google search outcomes and proficient keyword tools may help you to get things started however, they are not the final authority and not sufficient for SEO success. To be victorious with SEO, it is best to understand what response your niche is getting and what are the problems related to it. You must wield all opportunities to hear what your customers have to say because ultimately, they need to be taken care of. 

Some effective places can help you discover the words users associate within chatting about your domain. 

  • Forums: With endless range of communities, there are forums for people to discuss accommodation and traveling.
  • Reddit or Quora: Quora can be considered among the most popular places along with Reddit, where people come to find solutions for their issues.  The volume of info these platforms can give you is truly baffling. 
  • LinkedIn and Facebook Groups: LinkedIn pertains to the business-to-business market, however, with Facebook, you will find there is no topic that does not have groups. 

Generally, platforms like websites and social media networks that get a huge volume of visitors can help as a fantastic inspiration source for keyword ideas. The key lies in getting creative.

                 The Metrics working behind your targeted keywords

It is common for people to put their sole focus on following these two metric options:

  • The volume of search (the statistics of average monthly searches)
  • Keyword complication (an assessment of how tough or easy it can be to rank first on search outcomes for a phrase)

These are significant as they give valuable knowledge into the capability of a particular keyword and its level of difficulty in ranking better. Nonetheless, rather than focusing entirely on search volume, it is better to try to find out the actual search traffic possibility for every keyword. This can help you direct the focus on indexing for the keywords with a better inclination to bring traffic towards your website.

This will give you the approximate monthly traffic of every top-ranking page. Furthermore, you can perceive that these webpages will rank for most related keywords, too.  Checking out these statistics can get you an indication of what kind of traffic to expect if you succeed to rank. Remember that actual traffic can considerably surpass the search numbers of your particular keyword.

    Optimizing Web Pages to Tackle Target Keywords

Keyword exploration is only the tip of the iceberg when it comes to getting more traffic. It is necessary to ensure you construct your pages correctly so you can see to the searcher’s needs and rank better. Your optimization endeavors need to begin by ensuring your visitors revel in the user experience your website is giving. Utilize elegant design and unique typography that renders it fun to absorb your content, and discard any excessive elements like opt-in boxes, pop-ups that could irritate your reader.

In addition, On‐page optimization will be your second step in the SEO approach. Even if you target the most successful keywords, it will be for nothing if the webpages lack search engine optimization.  Prepping the pages for victory in search engines comprises of these aspects:

                    Search Intent Content Creation Is The Way To Go

If you wish to rank better on a keyword, then it does not imply you are worthy of that spot, despite your conventional on-page search engine optimization components being spot on. You need serious work to rank better, and one of them is something named search intent.

Here are three primary ‘kinds’ of searches made by people:

  • Navigational: They are seeking a particular website
  • Informational: They want extra info about a particular topic
  • Transactional: They want to buy a particular product or service

Generally, searches that have an increased rate of commercial concentration are useful for a business, as the people searching them want to purchase.  However, search intent is not clear merely with a search query.  For instance, assume the inquiry “best hostel in Vancouver.” Now, you could be wondering your hostel in Vancouver is best, so this can be the transactional term, and my website can rank for it, right. Well, not really. 

An easy way of understanding the search intent is to discern what pages are ranking for it. The logic states that since Google’s main objective is appeasing its users, therefore, its algorithm retains scrutiny on the people’s behavior as they search for a specific term. Google then strives to show results that can fulfill their search intent. Therefore, you can comprehend search intent by taking note of the common aspects between the existing top-indexing webpages. Avoid creating content if you do not have a clearer understanding of what search intent could be behind the term you are targeting.

 

                Go With Quick and Descriptive URLs

Your website’s address gives an idea to search engines regarding its subject. If you do this correctly your first time, then you will not need to change it ever.  Google says that a website’s URL layout needs to be as straightforward as conceivable. You need to consider how to organize the content and make your URLs construct logically so that they can be greatly understandable for humans. So whenever possible, use readable words instead of long numbers.

The additional advantage of eloquent URLs lies in how they frequently incorporate the target keyword you want, so they do not need to be shoved into URLs and appear unnatural.

               Develop Influential Meta Titles with Adequate Descriptions

Despite its name, a Meta title will not show anywhere on the web page. It only establishes the title of the tab’s browser, so search engines can use it while displaying your webpage in search findings. Google does not tend to conform to the title tags website owners set and sometimes decides to show something a tad different.  Therefore, such a tag is your ultimate way of creating a headline that

  • Encompasses the keyword one wishes their page could rank for
  • Is sufficiently persuasive to compel searchers to click on your website

Traditional wisdom also advises keeping your titles under sixty characters to stave off any truncation. Nonetheless, it is not only limited to the amount of characters, instead it is all about the pixels. Thus, it is an excellent to utilize a pixel tool, which will ensure your titles do not cut out. Meta descriptions are crucial, primarily due to how they can influence the click-through ratio.

               Work Headers and Sub Headers Smartly

For a logical structure, it is imperative to utilize the headers and subheaders in the right way. You need to use the formal HTML layout for headers (H1- H6) and make things search engine friendly. This way, you can comprehend your webpage’s structure correctly and comprehend the significance of every section.

  • Header 1 must be dedicated to the title of the content and needs to contain the focal keyword (and anything correlated to the primary keyword) you wish to target. You can also have multiple H1 tags on every page, however, it is recommended to stick with one tag.
  • Header 2 needs to be utilized for the major section title on the webpage. They need to incorporate the primary keyword wherever possible but it should feel natural. You must not go overboard or overstuff your content. 

Whenever you dive deep into your content, go with the subsequent category of header. For example, use Header 3 for subheadings in a Header 2 segment.  Obeying a clean and all-out structure will help search engines in categorizing your content. It will also be a great composition for your readers.

     Making Your Website Visible To Visitors and Search Engines

In performing SEO, it is critical to know that you are operating for two distinct customers—the people and the bots, which are employed by search engines to rank your website. As bots become extra smart and people-like, several disparities still prevail between these two. Thus, your objective must be to establish an optimistic experience for bots and humans.

               Fast Loading Website

For both bots and humans, if the website is loading fast, then that is where they will stay and will come again.  Studies show that 40% of visitors tend to get irritated and leave if the website takes more than three seconds for loading fully.  Through Google’s loading speed tool or GTMetrix, you can get a glimpse of how quickly your website loads and gives you good suggestions on ways to improve the speed. 

               Mobile-Friendly

Many visitors access websites via smartphones, and they want quick results. According to a study, smartphone searchers have gone up to 60%. Therefore, you must ensure your site is compatible with mobile viewing, and all the texts, images, headings appear appropriately. You can employ Google’s Mobile testing tool for ensuring your site is showing everything right in the mobile phone view.

               Get SSL Certification

Officially, HTTPS is among the top-ranking signal Google utilizes. You can also tell if a site wields SSL, as a padlock will show in the URL’s bar. The absence of SSL certification could turn into a security concern. This is particularly destructive if you own running an e-commerce website or you accept form data. Free choices, namely, Let’s Encrypt enable you to protect the website without costing you heavily. 

                Sitemap Is Important

The sitemap, a form of the XML file that records every page on the website. Search engines wield it to discover the content and to infer the connection between your pages. Sitemaps have zero influence on rankings, but they can authorize a search engine to discover and rank the latest pages on the site quicker.

                  Internal Linking Between Related Posts and Webpages

Linking different pages on the site in a strategic way is another smart and effective way to boost search engines’ speed crawling on the website. This also steers them towards important and valuable pages on your site.  There are numerous techniques for accomplishing this, like the spoke-hub technique, cornerstone content, to name a few. These get the job done, although they can be complex. However, your primary focus needs to be on a powerful structure creation with generous links between related pages.

    Getting Your Website Linked With Others

Building links is crucial for the accomplishment of an SEO strategy; therefore, if you are willing to expend resources like time and money on creating content, you need to be ready to devote a good amount of time to generating and promoting links for your site’s content.  If you are wondering why then you must understand how backlinks are among the strong factors that affect Google’s algorithm for ranking.

Google also stresses the importance of backlinks and declares them among the top ranking factors. You can utilize different tactics to make other websites link to your pages. It is crucial to utilize your competitors since every niche is unique, and strategies that may work well for a niche could do the exact opposite for others.

Consider these tactics:

                   Building Broken Links

Building broken or invalid links helps you discover related broken webpages that have backlinks directing towards them on other websites. Then, you contact the individuals linking towards the invalid resource and propose how they can replace the broken link with a valid alternate on your website.

This tactic can be mighty if

  • You know exactly what the website owner intended to link to
  • You want to help make their website better

                Blogging as a Guest

Guest blogging pertains to writing for another site in your domain. People believe such a form of blogging is useless, but it works wonders for building links if you follow these fundamental rules:

  • If you are publishing on a powerful website that has a huge audience
  • You are creating a top-quality article that is beneficial to the visitors of the site
  • Your website’s relevant resources can be linked with the website you are writing for. This can expand the audience’s knowledge of the subject

If you go with these rules, these can make guest blogging become an incredible means to build a brand and produce traffic, which could boost rankings.

     Measuring the SEO Success

Now we come to our final step and after successfully following other basics, this step will cement your SEO success. If you are fortunate in doing it all right, it is important to know you cannot leave things at that.  Keeping track of how the SEO campaign is faring has to be your focus.   The most crucial metrics to search engine optimization are:

  • Organic traffic
  • The average indexing ranking for the target keywords

Let us stick to these fundamentals and learn about them.

 Measuring Natural Traffic

If you use Google Analytics, then you can promptly look at the organic web traffic by clicking the Acquisition option, then clicking All Traffic and opting for the Organic Search button.

This will show you how much traffic your website is garnering and what corners of the world you are getting the most visitors from.

 Tracking the Ranking

The second vital thing you need to check in the SEO technique is the rank of your content on Google. This is something you need to keep a lookout for to see if your SEO strategies are working well, or is it time for some tweaking.

For this, go with Google’s Search Console, there you can discover data about your site’s average indexing, impressions, and the clicks it is getting for different keywords.

Conclusion

The world of SEO can be highly competitive and demanding. However, it remains the most beneficial way to get good traffic for your site. Furthermore, your efforts to optimize the website for search engines pile up and in time will work to get you extra traffic if you stay consistent with the SEO strategy. You need to be quick on your toes to understand what is working the best for your site.

If you remember to observe the five basics of successful SEO then in time, this procedure will help you build up your site’s authority. You will even rank better for competitive keywords gaining bigger search volume. SEO is hard work but it does pay off.

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