Consulting Business 101: How To Manage Your SEO Campaign

SEO is an acronym that stands for Search Engine Optimization.

What is SEO?

SEO is a group of free and paid techniques used in online marketing to improve your webpage ranking in major search engines such as Google, Yahoo, Bing based on a given keyword, key phrases or topic.

Here’s a great example.

Considering this blog post is properly optimized for the key phrases “manage seo campaign,” the link might or shall appear in front page of SERP if anyone will key in the question “How To Manage My SEO Campaign?”

Types of SEO

On-page refers to every thing you do when you’re signed to a site. Examples of on-page techniques are:

• Blogging
• Installing plugins
• Selecting themes
• Installing widgets
• Uploading photos
• Approving comments
• Creating polls
• Inserting links
• Adding media content
• Adding a new category
• Adding a new page
• Adding meta descriptions
• Adding meta keywords
• Adding a search engine friendly URL
• Adding body tags (H1, H2, H3, H4)
• Checking pre-installed analytics
• Editing a written content

Off-page refers to every thing you perform outside your site. Your number one goal in every off-page technique is to create a link back to your homepage, blog or contact page.

Examples of off-page techniques are:

• Social media marketing
• Press release submission
• Pinging a webpage
• Active forum participation
• Active Q&A participation
• Email marketing
• Social bookmarking
• Guest blogging
• Blog commenting
• Content syndication

Managing Your SEO Campaign

SEO is a world of change. It evolves.

Google updates its search algorithms every now and then. Yahoo! has created its own content quality guidelines.

There are case studies and new statistics published every day.

For this reason, it’s best to keep yourself updated with the daily events and news. Below are some of the effective tips you can follow to manage your campaign:

Stage 1: Keep learning

1. Sign up to receive regular newsletters from popular news sites such as Moz, Search Engine Land, Search Engine Roundtable and Search Engine Journal.

2. Join one forum and participate actively. Keep reading news, answer threads, ask questions and make new friends.

3. Enroll in paid marketing courses offered by Coursera.

4. Attend offline conferences such as SMX Search Marketing Expo, SEJ Summit and Moz Con.

Stage 2: Build your own campaign

• Start keyword researching
• Collect the keywords, phrases and topics your webpage will rank for
• Talk with your site developer
• Start updating your blog
• Create a content marketing plan
• Follow your deadline
• Use analytics to measure your performance

 Stage 3: Hire a team whenever you can

Photo Courtesy of: Flickr

1. You can’t do everything. That’s understandable. You’re not super human.

Therefore, look for a passionate team SEO Consultant who thoroughly understand the bird’s eye view of your technical, content and social media activities.

2. If one consultant isn’t enough, consider hiring a team of virtual assistants using employment platforms. The everyday tasks of these assistants revolve around the following:

• Update blog regularly
• Update Facebook page
• Update Twitter
• Update YouTube
• update LinkedIn
• Update plugins
• Participate in forum
• Guest blogging
• Email marketing
• Monitor analytics

3. Keep in mind: SEO isn’t about sales. It’s the blood and soul of internet marketing.

Its aim is limited to creating attention, igniting visitors’ interest and converting these visitors to leads.

*****

Leads Ahoy provides services in reputation management, search engine optimization, list building and geo-targeted lead generation. http://leadsahoy.com/

Consulting Business 101: How To Manage Your Online Reputation

Having a home office is the biggest advantage of launching a consulting business.

Photo Courtesy of: Flickr

You don’t have to worry for monthly rental, maintenance costs and gas bills. All your basic transactions are done online.

From setting up a site, hiring employees, finding leads, nurturing clients to receiving payments, you can manage all these activities with a computer with a fast-speed Internet connection at home.

Don’t get it wrong. An online consulting business isn’t a fantasy paradise.

It isn’t a business that will make you rich overnight. Consulting requires consistency.

Nothing will happen if you fail to consistently market yourself. The online world must see you.

To keep the ball rolling forward, your long-term goal is to manage your reputation around the Internet landscape every day.

Below are some of the tips to enhance your online reputation 24/7:

1) Your reputation is your brand.

It speaks highly about you, your products and your services. That’s why; you need to carefully choose the people who will work for you.

It takes time to hire the right people for the right position. You’ll look for a team of virtual assistants who understand and perform the following:

• Building a site
• Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
• Blogging
• Email Marketing
• Social Media Marketing (SMM)
• Web Analytics
• Affiliate Marketing
• Display Advertising
• Mobile Marketing

Apart from the above mentioned, your #1 aim is to train these virtual assistants to think outside the box.

You make them realize that they work for you not only for money but also to represent your name.

Keep in mind: Hire for attitude, Train for skill

2) Master the art and science of English.

English is the universal language. As an online consultant, you communicate with your employees and clients through email, project management tool (Wrike, Trello, etc.) and Skype.

The style of communication in each platform varies. Sometimes, a research proposal is best discussed in detail through email than in BaseCamp.

It’s mainly up to you which is convenient and affordable to use. Most important thing is, you send the message in a concise and friendly manner.

The disadvantage of online communication is people might immediately misinterpret you if you use slang terms. They might get uncomfortable if they read your message in caps.

Worst case is, they will never trust your intention if you write with wrong spellings, wrong punctuation and wrong grammar.

English is a cerebral language. It has rules and patterns. Below are the tips you can follow to improve your oral and written skills:

• Speak concisely.
• Listen attentively.
• Talk to express an idea.
• Never use big words.
• Use short sentences.
• Keep a paragraph short.
• Observe proper punctuation.
• Observe correct grammar.
• Be professional in tone.
• Edit, edit, edit.

Talking and writing in English fluently improve your reputation, online and offline.

3) Participate in social media.

Facebook. Twitter. YouTube. LinkedIn. etc. These social networking websites are all the same but function differently.

Your social media world plays as a shadow to your offline world. For example, if you consider yourself an extrovert, your Facebook profile might receive hundreds of likes, comments and shares.

People will remember you as either their friend, enemy, office pal or classmate. You can’t please all of them but you can certainly earn their trust and respect using one of the sites mentioned above.

The following are a number of tips you can use to rev up your social media reputation.

• Separate personal from business accounts.
• Update your Facebook profile frequently.
• Update your Facebook business page every day.
• Get many likes as you can.
• Study your Facebook page analytics.
• Join the conversation in Facebook Groups.
• Tweet naturally and concisely.
• Tweet with a photo and a link to your site.
• Reach out to your Twitter friends.
• Learn to use hashtags.
• Update your YouTube Channel twice a week.
• Upload instructional and promotional HQ videos.
• Share these videos to your Facebook and Twitter friends.
• Update your LinkedIn business profile.
• Participate in Linkedin business groups.
• Connect with the influencers.

4) Buy a trusted tracking tool.

It takes a lot of time to search the web for mentions, reviews and citations. Even a simple and free Google Alert isn’t enough.

That’s why; use an automated tracking tool to save time and effort.

Angela Stringfellow is the Chief Ideation Officer of American Express Open Forum. In an article she wrote in October 2013, she enumerated the six recommended tools here.

It’s also a smart idea to look for a number of special features such as:

• Thorough filter of good from bad reviews
• Automated posting of good reviews in social media
• Comprehensive analytics

5) Participate in business forum.

There are hundreds of forums online. It seems impossible to actively participate in all; therefore, better choose two of the many.

Register to a forum that allows a link signature to your site. This way, you’ll get more attention (and clicks) as this link appears in all your threads.

Just be extra careful. Make sure you provide answers that are realistic and doable. Answers that don’t make sense are forbidden. Forum owners will ban you.

6) Design your website.

Your website is your shopping mall. Its goal is to attract different users and visitors.

It requires technical expertise to create a functional site. It needs to have the pages that provide the right information.

For this reason, work closely with your developer. Let him or her understand your vision, mission, goals and the following technicalities:

• Web brand logo
• Domain name
• Font design
• Font sizes
• Brand colors
• Number of columns
• Placement of boxes
• Installed plugins
• Analytics
• Homepage design

The content you put in the site reveals your personality. Therefore, carefully plan what you want and create a timetable when to post it.

It’s helpful to vary the content. A good combination of written, audio and visual contents always attract new visitors to return for more.

7) Go offline.

Managing your reputation online is never enough. Whenever you can, make it a habit to encourage your leads and customers to attend seminars and workshops. This way, they will have the chance to meet you and shake your hand. They can even take pictures too.

Always remember: Healthy offline reputation results to healthier online reputation.

*****

Leads Ahoy provides services in reputation management, search engine optimization, list building and geo-targeted lead generation. http://leadsahoy.com/

10 Reasons Why There’s No Guarantee in Search Engine Optimization (SEO)

SEO isn’t about sales.

It’s about marketing. Search engine optimization is defined as a process of improving a page visibility in search engines such as Google, Yahoo and Bing.

In other words, it requires you to perform an array of online marketing techniques that will attract and convince more people to visit your site.

SEO belongs to the top portion of the funnel.

SEO is a big part of internet marketing. Its primary goal is to attract people through the use of visual and audio contents.

SEO neither negotiate nor close deals. These tasks are handled by someone who manages your e-mail marketing campaign.

SEO isn’t a magic pill.

Like mentioned above, SEO is a process. Success doesn’t happen overnight. Success comes to those who work hard consistently.

SEO isn’t Google. Google isn’t SEO.

People keep complaining that their site is penalized. They keep hating Google over and over again like he’s a serial killer.

Here’s a slice of truth: Google, Yahoo and Bing don’t own SEO.

Instead, they create smarter guidelines to do SEO. Their guidelines will not harm your site if you follow them.

SEO is a dead fish without content marketing.

It’s impossible to separate SEO from content. Search engines read what is written in your content. These search robots look for quality key phrases and quality information.

SEO isn’t all about link building.

Link building is a technique of creating a number of quality links pointing to your site.

It’s not about circulating a link (for example: homepage url) wherever you want instead, it’s about choosing the right channel to put a link.

Don’t pay SEO services for ROI.

Hiring a consulting firm is a choice. It means you’re hiring a team of consultants who will make sure your page ranks and stays page one in Google, Yahoo and Bing for the right keywords.

ROI belongs to the bottom part of a marketing funnel. It deals with the following:

• number of opt-in subscriptions
• number of newsletter sign-ups
• number of purchases

You measure these metrics using an analytics.

White Hat SEO is for long-term.

Due to tight competition, SEO offers no guarantee. Your site can disappear in search results if a page remains inactive.

A well-optimized page ranks high because it’s updated and it’s circulated across the web.

SEO means consistency.

Never hire a consultant if you expect success in six months. This agreement won’t work. Keep paying your consultant for as long as you can afford and for as long as he delivers.

SEO is infinite.

For as long as you need to market your business online, you need SEO. It never dies.

*****

LEADS AHOY provides services in reputation management, search engine optimization, list building and geo-targeted lead generation. http://leadsahoy.com/

The Best SEO Services For Your Website

SEO stands for search engine optimization. It’s a technique commonly used in internet marketing.

When your website is well-optimized for search engines, it’s easier for the robots to find your site.

Once SEO is coined with the keyword “service,” it becomes a verb and you’re required to perform it regularly.

“Does my website need SEO?” This is the most common question around the web and the answer is yes.

Whatever your website is – may it be blog, e-commerce, forum, photo gallery or gaming – it’s recommended to find the array of seo services to rank higher in Google, Yahoo and Bing.

“What’s the best SEO service for my website?” That’s the next question and the truthful answer is, It depends.

Each website is unique. Like humans, they have their own needs and it’s up to you how you’ll prioritize these needs.

SEO is divided into two types. The on-page refers to all techniques you do once you sign-in to a website. The off-page refers to all techniques you do outside the website.

These two types help maximize your online visibility. It doesn’t, however, mean you’ll prioritize one type than the other. Your time must be equally divided to manage the two.

For example, you’ll spend the whole day for on-page. The next day, you’re going to perform the off-page techniques.

Listed below are the best search engine optimization services your website needs every day:

1) Organic Search Services

Organic search focuses on ranking your site based on importance and relevance. A well-optimized website follows the guidelines prepared by Google.

Listed below are the on-page services your website needs. These are mostly technical details.

If you think you can’t properly handle it, better hire a webmaster.

• Website theme and layout: How friendly it is?
• Page speed: How fast is it to load?
• Keyword-rich url: Is it easy to remember?
• Proper use of title tags: Is it easy to remember?
• Descriptive meta description: What did you write?
• Placement of keywords in a content
• Format of blog articles: Do you use bullets?
• Sizes of images in each page: Is it too big?
• User experience: How friendly it is?
• Analytics: How often you monitor the number of visits?

2) Local Search Services

According to statistics, more than 80% of online users use key phrases to either find your site or your competitors.

This is the reason why local SEO play a vital role in internet marketing. It focuses on geographic region.

Local SEO combines the use of on-page and off-page techniques. You must make sure your site provides the following:

• verified business name
• complete address
• phone number
• star ratings
• customer reviews

Below are the techniques or better called as the checklist to boost your local online campaign:

( ) Your root url must include a business name and location.

( ) Your page title must include the service and location.

( ) Each page includes your business name, address and phone number.

( ) Target your blog posts to a specific state and city.

( ) Register your site to popular listings.

( ) You put your listing in the right category.

( ) Be consistent with all your listings. The profiles must include the same business name, the same logo, the same address and the same phone number.

( ) Update your social media every day by posting the new blog posts, press releases and free downloads.

( ) Conduct an online seminar once a week. Be an expert in your field and inspire your audience.

( ) Encourage your audience to rate your products and services. Allow them to write honest reviews too.

( ) Positively respond to negative reviews. Instead of being too defensive, let them understand how you can improve.

( ) Constantly ask for citations. For example, request an authority person to tweet about your new blog post.

3) Social Media Services

Social media focuses on off-page techniques. Your goal is to reach out to all the registered members and give them a reason to trust you.

You communicate with your new and existing customers through your social media channels such as Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn.

Below are the essential techniques for an effective social media campaign:

Technique 1.

Be consistent with all your profiles. The primary function of all social networking sites is to attract attention using your visual content.

Therefore, put your logo as your profile picture. Most importantly, your url should be your business name. For example, www (dot) facebook (dot) com /leadsahoy.

Technique 2.

YouTube is the most popular video networking site and it allows you to optimize your channel, create a playlist and subscribe to other channels.

Therefore, make it a habit to upload all your promotional videos in your channel and link them either to your homepage, blog or contact.

Technique 3.

Participate in two forums related to your business. Answer as many threads as you can to earn the members’ trust.

Teach them with what you know. Just make sure your signature includes your homepage.

Technique 4.

Twitter is an ideal networking site for communication and research. So, take time to explore around and learn how to use each feature to your benefit.

Tweet and re-tweet regularly. Include a photo, hashtag and link in a tweet.

Technique 5.

Create a group in Facebook and send invites to all your friends. This group serves as your discussion board in which you encourage to share ideas and ask questions.

Technique 6.

LinkedIn serves as your online resume, which reveals something about your reputation. You’re also allowed to join groups and find new connections.

For this, don’t forget to update your profile. It’s your responsibility to regularly add new skills, new blog post and new announcement.

Technique 7.

Create a presence in other social networking sites such as Google+, Pinterest and Tumblr. Make sure you’ll link all the photos to your homepage.

To know how you’re going to set priorities, answer this simple questionnaire made by MOZ. It’s easy and it’s fast.

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Leads Ahoy provides services in reputation management, search engine optimization, list building and geo-targeted lead generation. http://leadsahoy.com/

8 Reasons Why Color Psychology Plays A Role in Content Marketing

1. Bright colors attract attention. It’s the reason why you either read, watch and browse visual contents such as articles, e-books, newsletters, videos, photos and infographics.

Photo Courtesy of: Entrepreneur

2. Contents with pure colors bring emotions. According to Joe Hallock, 34% of voters choose blue for trust, 76% pick red for speed and 28% choose orange for fun.

3. Colors direct your customers’ eyes where to look. For example, when Person A wants to get your blog updates, he will search for a yellow rectangular box to register.

4. Colors tell your customers what to do. For example, a red button instructs your customer to download the free e-book before it expires in 48 hours.

5. Blog posts with high-quality photo receive more unique clicks than those without. The photo supports the written texts in every paragraph either it’s inserted on the left, right or center.

6. Colors affect your conversion rate. It’s believed internet ads in full-color receive more clicks than those in plain white and black.

7. In Twitter, a tweet with quality photo, hashtag and link receives more favorites and re-tweets.

8. A color is your brand. People notice your existence if you consistently include them in your logo and other visual contents.

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Leads Ahoy provides services in reputation management, search engine optimization, list building and geo-targeted lead generation. http://leadsahoy.com/

Content Marketing 101: 15 Tips for Effective Article Writing

1. Article research

Photo Courtesy of: Pinterest

An article is a written visual content. It’s probably the most common type of content you can find in blogs and forums.

For this reason, make it an every day habit to conduct research before writing.

Usually, the research process for an online publication starts with a keyword research. Experts recommended you to use a free or paid keyword research tool.

After collecting necessary keywords, it is followed by finding the right information about the topic.

You’re going to experiment with those keywords and explore the first twenty results.

Next, with all the information and sources you have outlined and listed, you’re going to start write the title, the opening, the body and the conclusion.

Remember: Article writing isn’t quality article writing without editing. This is the final step, in which you’re going to point out the necessary changes.

2. Article with keywords

Search engines love well-written and well-researched articles. They crawl, index and rank these contents regularly.

That’s why; don’t simply write articles for the sake of writing. Keep in mind articles for online publication is about marketing. Its aim is to build a connection with your readers, potential buyers and existing customers.

So, it’s helpful to think about your audience while you write. Ask yourself: What do they want to know?

Also, think about the placement of main keywords search engines want to see.

3. Article with photos

Your article is SEO-friendly if you’ll include some relevant photos and videos before publishing. Chances are, articles with photos and videos receive more attention than those without.

Be careful!

There are times an article with other contents will look too ambitious. It may also cause confusion to some readers.

To avoid problems, make sure to use the right sizes of the photos. Place the videos on the center if you want more clicks.

4. Article conversion

To maximize your content marketing efforts, it’s best to learn how to convert your article into other written contents.

For example, rewriting your how-to 852-word blog article into a press release or a case study.

5. Article’s format

Quality article writing makes use of several formats to persuade readers to read its content.

Figure out how to present your ideas in such a way the information are easy to remember. The presentation either answers a question, enumerates tips, compare two different ideas, etc.

6. Article answers a question

When an article answers a question, your primary goal is to clarify and explain an issue in detail. Your readers will need your expertise to open their minds about the given topic.

Titles are ended with a question mark. Examples are What Does Global Warming Mean?, Have You Ever Wondered What Content Marketing Is?, What is Leads Ahoy and Why Should You Care?

7. Article avoids pain

The “avoidance” article helps your readers survive a bad consequence. This type of article enumerates a list of not recommended activities – don’ts and shouldn’t.

Sample titles are: 100 Ways to You Should Never Do While Saving Money, 3 Ways to Avoid Traffic Jam

8. Article gives simple offers

An article that gives value focuses on what’s inexpensive, free, easy and fast. It easily captures attention because your goal is to provide simple solutions (not promotions) to their routines.

Sample titles are: 5 Places To Get Cheap Airline Tickets, 10 Easy Ways to Get Concert Tickets for $35, Get Rid of Pimples for Free

9. Article provides hot trends

If you’re curious what these hot trends are, it refers to the new releases and talk-of-the-town controversies.

You’re going to tell an entertaining story filled with technical terms or lingo, which your readers already understand. The story is about a person, a place or an event.

Sample titles are: Top 9 Trends in 2015 Summer Collection, Hot 100 R&B Songs For The Week, Top 10 Hot Movies This Week

10. Article teaches the how

A how-to article enumerates the steps on how to accomplish something. Its aim is to explain the steps in correct order and write each step in detail.

Sample titles are: How to Cook Spicy Chicken in 9 Steps, How to Learn to Ride A Bicycle in 7 Days Or Less, How to Buy A House in Chicago, Illinois

11. Article offers top tips

A “Top Tip” article is entirely different from “how-to” but quite similar with “avoidance.” Here, your goal is to establish credibility as an author.

You provide useful and valuable information (what, why, when, who, where) rather than give advice. Yet, to make sure your tips are the best among the rest, limit it to ten tips or simply expand that one biggest tip.

Sample titles are: 5 Top Tips for Improving Your Credit Score, My #1 Tip for Effective Content Marketing, 4 Top Tips Before Hiring An Online Consulting Firm

12. Expert article

An “expert perspective” article borrows ideas from an authority person. Your main responsibility is to interview them (or read their story) then, write down what you have understood.

Here, your goal is to present their accomplishments, to enumerate their strategies and to understand their future plans. It’s mainly about them, not you.

Sample titles are: Rafael Nadal: His 12 Insider Secrets to Success, 77 Expert Tactics in Chess, 101 Expert Tactics for Tennis Serve

13. Stories

A personal article focuses on stories, which talk about new perspectives, laws, principles and rules. Your goal is to offer life lessons (insights) than give lectures (do this and do that), which your readers already know.

Sample titles are: 100 SEO Success Stories, 75 Basic Principles of Saving Money, 98 Critical Lessons I Learned About life

14. Article review

A review article gives impartial information about a product or a service (IMPORTANT: It isn’t a sales letter).

You’ll receive more conversions if the review provides more facts such as specifications, colors, dimensions, weight and performance test data.

It also presents a balance swing between the positive and negative if it contains testimonials from random customers. Sample titles are: Should Young Businessmen Buy Stocks?, What’s Wrong With Oreo Milk Cookies?

15. A vs. B

This article is similar with a product review but with a spin. Here, you compare two similar products at one time. You emphasize their strengths, weaknesses, similarities and differences.

To receive more attention, find a way to condense the information into one visual comparative chart. Of course, don’t forget a put a red call-to-action button below the chart.

Sample Titles are: Nike vs. Adidas: Which is better?, Pros and Cons of LCD and LED Flat TV.

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Leads Ahoy provides services in reputation management, search engine optimization, list building and geo-targeted lead generation. http://leadsahoy.com/

Mastering Local SEO (Part 9) Be Social

Be aware your website is your shopping mall. Your main responsibility is to convince people from public and private parks (your social media channels) to visit your mall every day. This mission is accomplished if and only if you:

1. Choose the right social media sites to register.

2. Actively and manually update your profiles. By actively, it means every day or four times daily depending on what site you’re using. More on that later…

3. Make sure uploaded contents (photo, video, infographic and slide presentation) either contain a link to your site or a call-to-action such as phone number.

Photo Courtesy of: Pinterest

Social media, by definition, refers to any social channels where you can reach out to your existing and new customers. It might be a social media networking, social bookmarking, review platform, photo-sharing, video-sharing, social forum, content curation and question-and-answer.

Successful social media adds an extra layer of increased awareness and solid promotion to your local SEO campaign.

The biggest problem with social media, however, is not all sites are created equal. Each social channel is unique. It works differently than the other. For example, Facebook and Twitter are both social networking sites but there’s a need for you to vary the techniques to attract more attention.

The Truth about Google

You can’t go wrong with Google. It only requires you to create one e-mail address to use its other free services, which are vital to your local search engine optimization campaign.

Remember: As the major search engine, Google holds 67.6% of the US market shares (Search Engine Watch, May 2014).

Therefore, don’t waste time. Open an account now and learn how to use Google+, Google+ Local, Hangout, AdWords and YouTube.

The Truth about Facebook

Moz believes Facebook builds brand loyalty. The site allows you to convert your friends into potential customers.

Just think about it. With one account, you can create a personal profile, a local business page (with free analytics) and a group.

Paid promotion works well in Facebook. You can expect more likes, more comments, more shares and more unique visits to your website.

The Truth about Twitter

Google and Facebook are your business partners. With consistency on your part, both of them will work hard to improve your local search result ranking.

Twitter, on the other hand, works differently. It serves as your handy communication tool to listen and talk with people – family, friends, followers, potential customers.

Apart from networking, Twitter is also ideal for bookmarking a blog post, curating a content relevant to your business and requesting a mention from top influencers.

The Truth about Linkedin

Linkedin serves as your online resume. People want to see your professional profile to know who you are, what your current and past accomplishments and what other people say about you.

The Truth about Photo-sharing

Online marketing is 80% visual. People will believe what they read about you if it’s supported with photos, which are uploaded in your social channels.

To improve your reach, find a way to include Pinterest and Flickr in your campaign.

The Truth about Content Curation

Think content curation as a way of distributing free booklets to a group of people. Your goal is to educate them rather than promote your business.

These people will remember you if they consistently receive worth-reading contents. They will either follow your tweets or add you as their friend in Facebook.

The Truth about Question-and-Answer

Answering questions in Quora and Yahoo! Answers will improve your reputation. You’ll become an authority figure and who knows, people might also want to visit your website, if its link appears in your signature.

Mastering Local SEO (Part 5) The Citation

What is Citation?

Photo Courtesy of: Pinterest

It’s a common term used in local SEO that refers to a mention of your business name, address, phone number and website.

What’s the goal of citation?

Simply put, your online visibility becomes clearer the more citations you have. Put in mind search engines love citations that are authoritative and high in quality.

How to get citations?

1. Learn how to use data aggregators such as Inforgroup. Moz confirms aggregator sites syndicate the data to search engines.

2. To improve your search ranking, register to listing sites such as Yelp Business, Google+ Local, Foursquare for Business and more. Remember: It isn’t recommended to register to all sites but it’s helpful to register to selected sites, which are trusted and popular in your city and by category.

3. Make sure all business information are consistent before verifying your registration. NOTE: Only create 1 listing per site. Check if you’re already registered to avoid duplication.

4. Search for blogs in your city. Do they provide similar products and services? If yes, contact them and request if they can either mention your business in one of their blog posts or you’ll post an article on their blog.

5. Register your business to paid local directories. BOTW is an easy-to-use web directory listing, which increases your site’s visibility in search engines.

6. Actively participate in one or two forums related to your business. If the site allows it, make your homepage URL as your signature. Then, find a way to mention your business name while answering threads. The goal here is to inform; therefore, never promote about your business. Simply say what your business can do for them.

7. Be active in Q&A sites such as Yahoo Answers and Quora.

Mastering Local SEO (Part 3) The Location

Online marketing is a confusing world. Those long hours of research aren’t even enough to get started.

Different authors say different things. Some tend to overthink.

Thanks to local SEO and the idea behind online marketing gets simpler and clearer. Local SEO puts emphasis on location.

Whatever marketing technique you use – either organic, social media or mobile – the primary goal is to direct your site closer to your audience.

How to Market Your Business Online?

Organic Local SEO refers to any techniques that you perform inside your website, which improve your rankings in search engines. Common practices of organic local SEO are:

Website SEO

This refers to your ability to create an internet and search engine friendly website. It generally requires technical knowledge on designing and coding.

Blogging

This refers to your ability to write and create contents. Each page of your website must contain quality visual contents that attract people and search engines.

Link building

Internal link building is the art of connecting pages inside your website. For example, your contact page links to your blog.

Social Media Local SEO refers to any techniques you perform in social media and review channels, which also improve your rankings in search engines. Common practices of social media local SEO include:

• Target your blog post to a specific state and city
• Update your Facebook page daily
• Participate in Q&A websites
• Update your Twitter regularly
• Conduct webinars in Google+
• Create your profile in review sites
• Update your Pinterest regularly
• Build your reputation in Linkedin Forums

Mobile Local SEO makes sure your website and all your social media channels work in smartphones and tablet computers.

WordPress provides premium and professional templates, which loads faster in desktops, laptops and mobile gadgets.

If you’re willing to spend more money, there are other local SEO practices you need to include as part of your campaign. These are:

• Signing-up to lead generation services like Thumbtack
• Offering loyalty cards to your customers who love to shop
• Setting-up a paid advertising program
• Offering daily deals
• Setting-up ads in text messages
• Setting-up ads in social media

Mastering Local SEO (Part 2) Search Result

What is Local Search Result?

                                                 Photo Courtesy of: Search Engine Land

To fully master the science and art of local SEO, you’re required to understand how search engines reveal results.

These results are relevant to each other but heavily different in terms of placement. In fact, there are four types of results when you enter keywords in Google Search.

1. Paid results. These are advertisement results that appear at the top and side of search. People pay Google to get these positions in an aim to attract more clicks.

2. Organic results. These are the first ten results that appear under the paid results. Well-optimized web pages become visible in this area.

3. Local results. These are the organic results that point to your local websites, which are loaded with specific details such as company name, address, contact number and reviews. Sometimes, local results are paid results too.

4. Social results. There are either paid or organic result that points to your social networking channels such as Facebook page, Twitter, Google+ Local and etc.

How to Get Visible Locally?

Your web page improves its local search ranking when you consistently follow the legal practices for organic search and social media.

NOTE: Google Pigeon will love your web page if it contains accurate information about your business.

Perhaps, you’re now asking yourself “What will I do first?” The right answer is “It depends.”

There are millions of web pages online. Each page is unique. Each page functions differently.

Therefore, to get the right amount of visibility, you need to prioritize your efforts. Ask yourself, “Will I focus on organic search, local search, social media or a combination of these three?

To help you with the answer, Leads Ahoy recommends you to use this short and free questionnaire prepared by Moz.

Mastering Local SEO (Part 1) The Basics

What is Local SEO?

      Photo Courtesy of: Pinterest

Local SEO puts emphasis on location data that send essential information in search engines. It directs your pages to a specific country, state, city or town where your customers reside.

What’s the Goal?

People can easily find your page in Google, Yahoo and Bing when it’s optimized for local search.

For example, Adam is a local resident in Fairfield County. One day, he needs waterproofing help. He inputs the keywords “basement waterproofing services in bridgeport fairfield county” in Google Search.

Less than a second after, the search spider gives him a list of pages on basement waterproofing in Connecticut. When Adam clicks a site, he’s expected to find essential details about the company.

These essentials details refer to contact number, complete office address, list of waterproofing services and reviews.

How to Perform Local SEO?

You’re required to follow a number of techniques to optimized your website and social channels for local search. Moz confirms consistent use of your NAP+W (Name, Address, Phone, Website) improves your search engine rankings.

Realistic Expectations: How to Hire The Right Online Consulting Firm

Get What You Can Afford

                                                                                               Photo Courtesy of: Pinterest

An online consulting firm helps you become an internet rockstar. Its service isn’t limited to search engine optimization. It also provides professional services in reputation management and lead generation.

Good reputation, legal search engine optimization and lead generation are the ingredients to online marketing success. Leads Ahoy believes your business website will not survive if you solely rely on SEO.

Let’s say you get a front page for the keywords “basement waterproofing in connecticut.” Your website produces quality contents but when you view its analytics, you only receive fifty unique clicks per day and 70% bounce rate.

It’s still useless, right? Quality contents doesn’t automatically mean people go to your site. These situations happen and it’s recommended to use your reputation in an aim to persuade the right audience to visit your website regularly.

And there’s more. You also need to convert these readers into leads. You need to gain their trust to a point that they are going to contact you for help.

In other words, an online marketing firm is your partner. The firm listens to you. The firm understands your business’ products and services. Most importantly, the firm knows how to promote your website online.

It takes time to find the best online consulting firm. These companies are every where. Some exist in the business for more than five years. Yet, not all are created equal. You need to choose the best five and once you have the list, figure out their:

1. Payment Terms

Your online marketing success depends on your budget. Your budget determines what services you need and what services you can afford.

Forget hiring if you’ll just pay a pea amount in exchange of services that require hard work and analysis.

Also, forget hiring if you’ll ask for guarantees. No online consulting firm can guarantee 100% success. These firms aren’t tied with search engines; therefore, it’s impossible to achieve number one ranking overnight or in two months time.

Instead of asking unrealistic guarantees, better ask for a realistic time table.

In the words of Alex Houg, the founder of Portage: “Client who ask for guarantees most likely fit in the 20% bucket of clients that cause 80% of problems. Work with people that already love you and are ready to go. (Forbes, December 2014)”

2. Online Reputation Strategies

Online marketing begins with good reputation. Reputation unlocks the door to success. Sadly, companies, these days, tend to forget how to reach out to their audience. These companies only ask the people to buy.

Leads Ahoy believes internet marketing isn’t about selling. It’s about offering. Give what the people can’t have. The goal is to use email and social media marketing to obtain new leads and connect with people, respectively.

3. Local Search Strategies

A professional website defines your online reputation. It’s your window to your products, services, free offers and daily blog updates.

Your firm needs to present a summary of their online marketing proposal. This proposal reveals the legal strategies in search engine optimization that will yield great and long-term results. You can tell the strategies are legal if it follows the guidelines made by Google, Yahoo and Bing.

Bear in mind not all strategies will work for your business. For example, if your website talks about basement waterproofing services in Connecticut, the ideal strategy is to target your website’s local search to the right state, right city and right audience.

4. Communication Process

Clear communication plays a role in internet marketing success. It’s part of your firm’s responsibility to send the monthly updates by mail. The firm needs to send the summary of your website’s performance, changes made in the website and campaign’s updates done offsite.

Some firms provide more than one service; therefore, request a separate mail for SEO results, another for reputation management and a separate sheet for lead generation. Make sure you also inform them to put these results into PDF file format. This format allows you to print the sheets and keep it for further review.

Online marketing results include technical terms that will take time to understand. For this, quickly look for the following: the total number of unique visits to your website, the total number of new active leads in your email list and the summary of positive/negative reviews collected through social media.