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Creating Your Unique Selling Proposition (Brand Strategy)
A great Unique Selling Proposition (USP) will cause the market to pull your business along. You’ll have trouble keeping up. A mediocre one makes you just like everyone else. Your USP, is the simple idea that explains to someone in very few words what your business does for them that they won’t get from someone else. A…
How to generate high quality leads with contextual marketing
What Contextual Marketing is Not Contextual marketing is neither Outbound Marketing, nor Inbound Marketing, both of which provide a lower ROI today. To better understand Contextual Marketing, it’s important to first understand the other forms of marketing. Outbound Marketing Outbound Marketing is composed of “traditional” forms of mass media marketing, such as TV/radio/yellow pages/newspaper ads…
How to increase blog traffic with controversial topics
Lies, Damn Lies, and Statistics The topic of using controversy to grow blog traffic and generate leads is, in and of itself, controversial. I’ve read articles online that talk about how well it works. I’ve read others about how well it backfires. I’ve seen opinions that you should DEFINITELY do it, and I’ve seen other…
How to increase leads and revenue with Pipeline Marketing
What is Pipeline Marketing? At its core, Pipeline Marketing is nothing more than the attribution of “credit” for generating revenue, across various activities that are required to capture a lead, nurture a lead, close a sale, and even later resell or upsell the customer. How Does it Differ from Lead Generation? With Lead Generation, the…
Link Building Tools for Better SEO
What Are Links? The word “link” is an abbreviation of hyperlink, and hyper means “jump”. A hyperlink is a jump from one web page to another. Components of a Link Links have two parts. Anchor text On the web page the link originates FROM, the anchor text is the text that “anchors” the link. It is…
The Big List of Content Marketing Tools
This post started as a simple rant about how most Content Marketing tools are too expensive and too complicated for small businesses to make effective use of them, and somehow morphed into a Big List of Content Marketing Tools, with a special emphasis on tools that are less expensive, perhaps even in the range that…
What is data-driven content? How is it relevant to your audience?
Data-Driven Content: The New Buzz Phrase Data-driven content is when you pay close attention to the analytics of what you publish (blog posts, social media updates, etc), learn what people show the most interest in, and use that information to guide what you then publish. That’s about it. While it’s a new phrase it’s an…
What is semantic search? How to do SEO like a professional
What is Semantic SEO? The commonly cited concise definition of semantic SEO is a bit cryptic. “Semantic search is a search or a question or an action that produces meaningful results, even when the retrieved items contain none of the query terms, or the search involves no query text at all.” Tamas Doszkocs But I…
How to increase user interaction on your business website
Best Way to Increase Web Visitor Interaction Increasing visitor interaction has a wide range of benefits online. All other things being equal (which is never fully the case, but the guidelines still hold true) websites that have more visitor interaction rank higher. The aspects of user interaction which directly support your SEO are: Links to…
Should you use a script for your videos? if yes, How to..
You WILL be doing video! Maybe not today. Maybe not tomorrow. Maybe not next year (probably by next year), but you will be doing video, and sooner than you think. Why? The cost of creating video has never been cheaper. YouTube is the second most used search engine on the planet. Young people like videos…
How to Sell More Easily and Naturally with Presuppositions
Presuppositional Phrases are the Language of Advertising “Nothing whitens better than Crest” “Why suffer another summer?” “This year, I’ll stop asking ‘Do I look fat’?” Notice the first statement does NOT state that Crest whitens better, yet it is implied. On a marketing and advertising podcast I listened to months ago, the guy who created…
What Is Internal Linking and Why Is It Important for SEO?
Overview The internal link structure of your website has a HUGE effect on your SEO. Ideally your internal link structure should be a hierarchy, not a web. The diagram below shows a nice hierarchy of internal links. Snippet posts link to pillar posts which in turn link to landing pages, which in this example link…
How to choose the right CRO metrics for improved conversions
Conversions and Micro Conversions For a business website, having visitors show up to your website is only the first step. To turn website visitors into prospects, you need some of your website visitors to take the actions you’ve defined. You need to implement conversion (in some form) so you either get contact information which allows…
The importance of creating customer focused content and how to
Better Marketing through Customer Focus We’re busy. We’re bombarded with marketing messages all day, every day. We’re very good at filtering them out. Until we let one through. Customers have different behaviors and preferences. They need to be motivated along their buying journey in a chain of steps for them to make a purchase. Think…
How to continuously improve your content with Deming lessons
Who was Deming? W. Edwards Deming was an American engineer, statistician, professor, author, and a management consultant. He transformed Japanese manufacturing after World War II after American manufacturers thought his ideas were a little weird. Too weird to take seriously. Having said that, I’m old enough to remember when Japanese manufactured products were a joke. When…
Need strong SEO? Here is how to set up your WordPress site
Overview While having a website that is properly setup for SEO does not guarantee SEO success, having one that is designed and/or setup poorly can guarantee failure. While the bulk of the work of SEO is publishing quality content at regular (and preferably frequent) intervals, it’s critical the SEO setup of your website be done…
How to… The Anatomy of writing the best blog post possible
Background We all want to write good blog posts, and most of us fail to do so. The vast majority of what businesses publish on the Internet is crap. While it’s important to avoid publishing crap, most businesses fail. The prior post (which is linked to below) describes the advantages I(in terms of content quality)…
How to write the best blog posts possible with storytelling
What makes the best blog post, best? Best is a subjective term, yet the title of this post implies you can follow a “recipe” to create posts of high value that deserve to be called “the best”. To be fair, this post teaches ONE method (not THE method) of creating a high quality blog post.…
Find better citation links with mozbar domain authority
What is Domain Authority? It is an integer, between 1 and 100, that was created by Moz (an SEO tool vendor located in Seattle, WA) that provides an indication of the authority of the domain in question. Higher numbers indicate domains with more authority. Few sites have a domain authority (DA) of 100, and to…
Google Reveals How to Rank High with Quality Website Content
Content Quality? Beyond the obvious idea of higher quality content being “better”, it’s important to understand WHY Google is so focused on the concept of content quality and how this is core to their business model. If you have not yet read part 1 of this article, you should do so as it gives you…
How to prove the value of your content marketing efforts
Actionable data is necessary for continual improvement in anything. Content marketing is no exception. You have carefully created content and distributed it to your audience in the best way you can. What next? Measure the success of your efforts. If you don’t see results you want, then of course you make the necessary changes. A…
How to create a converting landing page with essential elements
While there is no one size-fits-all guide to creating a high converting landing page, there are essential elements to consider which all high converting landing pages share. In this article, we go through some of the essential elements of a landing page. Headline Keep your headline short and concise. Remember that the headline is the first…
How to bring more customers with landing page best practices
What is a landing page? A landing page is a tool that is capable of generating interest, curiosity and make someone want to provide you their contact information, in exchange for something they consider to be of value. Landing pages are THE standard was of turning website visitors into leads. So what defines a good…
How to recognize your customer intent with smart personalization
When a visitor can’t easily figure out what your business offers, they will move on. This clarity is needed at every step of their buyers journey. As a visitor progresses through the buyer’s journey, their needs for answers and information changes. And while every buyer is different, the basic principal behind rationalization and marketing automation…
Creative tips on how to grow an engaged business email list
Everyone has trouble building their email list at first. But there really are some tried and true best practices that really do work. Email is THE BEST channel to nurture leads, but to make it work things need to be setup right. In this article, we show you the tried and true methods that work, just…
How to Improve your email subject lines for better results
Email is one of the best tool content marketers have at their disposal to nurture leads into customers. Compared to social media like Facebook, Twitter, etc, email is the most effective tool at nudging leads to become customers. Many people prefer receiving promotional content through email than through social media sites. A critical piece of an effective…
How to get those customers you badly crave with lead magnets
While it’s necessary to move leads from interested to sealing the deal, you can’t focus solely on managing leads. You must have leads to manage. You must drop leads into the top of your sales funnel. This is where the Lead Magnet comes in. The job of the lead magnet is to turn a website…
Google Search Quality Ratings: Positive Reputation and A High Level of Expertise/Authoritativeness/Trustworthiness (EAT)
This post is a part of a series of posts that informs you as to how Google defines quality in respect to web pages. Google Search Quality Guidelines gives us clues into how Google determines quality. Google states that A High quality page has one or more of the following characteristics: High level of Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness…
Increasing your blog opportunities- How to create a great introduction
You spend hours or sometimes days pouring your soul into a blog post, crafting each phrase with care and when finally hit the publish button, nobody reads it. It’s not entirely your fault. Some additional writing skills and styles will help attract your audience and hold them. In this article, I’ll show you what you’re doing…
The most effective tools for online reputation management
Do you know what people are saying about your business? People are talking about your business online, and what they say affects your reputation. Not knowing what they’re saying potentically places your reputation at risk. Why Monitor Your Online Reputation? When people say good things about you, you want to thank them. When people say bad things…
How to successfully improve your customers retention rate
According to a Bain & Company study, 60% to 80% of customers who say they’re satisfied with a business do not return to buy again. So as you can see, encouraging existing customers to buy again will REALLY help with profitability. What do you do to create more customer loyalty and more customer resales? Have…
How to work on with your negative online reviews professionally
Online reviews hold more power over businesses than business owners like. In some cases they have made or broken businesses. Positive reviews build up your online presence while negative reviews can act like an anchor on your efforts to generate leads and customers. If you don’t deal with your negative reviews, they can damage your business growth,…
How to use analytics to improve your email marketing campaigns
With around 250 billion emails being sent every day, how do you get yours to stand out from the crowd. You write good subject lines. You use tools to improve your online marketing in general. When it comes to email marketing, there are several techniques to help you improve your email marketing results. In this…
How to boost your Content ROI with sales and marketing technology
Content is THE powerful marketing tool for the 21st century, but most businesses are terrible at maximizing their content’s ROI. Avoiding this trap is easy, so why businesses mess up here is hard to understand. In this article, we explore a few ways to use tech within your content marketing process to get the best possible…
E-A-T- How to meet the needs of quality raters and users
Your website content needs to EAT to thrive. Yes you got it right, we’re talking about E-A-T. Google states that E-A-T is among the top 3 considerations for determining Content Quality. E-A-T is a significant factor in determining the “value” of a website. So what is E-A-T? E-A-T stands for “Expertise, Authoritativeness, Trustworthiness.” Let’s break it more. Expert –…
How to boost your websites authority with quality links
Link building and acquisition is one of the most important aspects of SEO. The more inbound links you get, the more authority your site has. When it comes to Search Engine Optimization, links are THE original Google search signal and are still critically important to a site’s search ranking. When determining the trustworthiness of a…
How to benefit your small business with video marketing
Everyone, from small to large businesses has sprayed the internet with videos promoting products and/or their services. Humans are (mostly) visual creatures and therefore you can draw in your audience with moving images, done right. If you are still thinking about using videos in your businesses, in this article, we go over how video marketing helps your…
How to influence your web page’s relevancy- The value of metadata
What is metadata and why is it as important as data? Understand that “meta” means “about”, so metadata is data about data. Metadata is information that’s kept in the HTML code of a web page specifically for search engines robots to better understand what that page is about. Metadata consist of A title tag A Meta description…
How to get the most search engine traffic on your landing pages
Businesses use landing pages to convert website visitors into leads. But it is important to understand that landing pages alone don’t generate businesses. Landing pages must focus visitors’ attention on an offer which the visitor receives in exchange for their contact information. It is important to remember that the fewer options a visitor has on the landing…
Think that marketing automation was not the right choice? Is this why?
Does your marketing automation system feel like a waste of time and money If you’re not getting the benefits of marketing automation, you are wasting time and money. Do you know why marketing automation commonly fails? In this article, we provide reasons why some businesses do not get the return on the marketing automation investment. High maintenance…
How to generate traffic and boost your conversions with SEO
What is your best way to generate website traffic? While paid advertising delivers traffic in the very near term, long term search engine optimization has the best ROI and iis the best way to generate traffic that converts. There are plenty of channels for generating traffic to your website, but nothing really compares to search…
Content marketing tips to get the most out of your campaign
As much as Content Marketing is significant to businesses, it can sometime be frustrating. Content marketing can feel time consuming and costly. But content marketing does work. When you have a solid content marketing you create your brand awareness AND generate leads. So how do you get the most of your content marketing efforts? A…
How to create a successful headline for your content marketing
Content marketing is the act of getting your message heard. A big piece of this is the importance of a great headline. Headlines can be hard to work on. Some writers spend as much time on their headlines as they do on the article itself. A great article is not valuable if people don ‘t read…
Tips and tricks on how to make your content work consistently
What is a successful blog? Creating a consistent stream of posts that resonates and get shares requires tactical insights. The internet is full of content and if your content does not interest your audience, then your blog will not deliver visitors or leads. Everyone sometimes creates a post they thing is really great, but it…
How to capitalize on every content distribution channel
Never think that your job is done after you press publish on a blog post. In takes time to grow the search ranking of your site so people arrive in volume via organic traffic (via search queries). In the meantime there is a need to promote your great content, after you create it. What is…
How to optimize your lead nurturing for more conversions
Lead acquisition is the main objective of business marketing and lead nurturing is what you do next. Lead nurturing is the process of helping leads through the sales pipeline. Lead nurturing is one of the most critical parts of any marketing strategy and as a business, you need to understand what it is, and how you do it.…
How to create engaging email marketing for your business
Do you use email as a marketing channel in your business? Email is an essential part of our everyday lives, and email is still one of the most important tools in business today. Businesses use emails to promote their products and services, nurture leads and to communicate effectively with their clients. For many businesses, email is…
Google Search Quality Ratings: Clear and Satisfying Website Information: Who is Responsible and Customer Service
This post is a part of a series of posts that informs you as to how Google defines quality in respect to web pages. Google defines something they call E-A-T (Expertiese, Authority, and Trust) and important components of a high ranking website. As an example, what Google defines as YMYL (Your Money or Your Life) pages, require…
How to create better customer segments for your business
What is Customer Segmentation? Customer segmentation is the dividing of the contacts in your customer database into groups that are similar in a way that is meaningful for purposes of marketing. Let’s say you’ve defined a 6 step sales funnel, and the six steps might be generically grouped as: Visited the website and downloaded the…
How to improve your sales effectiveness with marketing automation
What is sales effectiveness? Sales effectiveness refers to doing the right activities at the right times to achieve predictable sales results. Many sales people often complain about the quality of leads they get from marketing people. Sales people always claim that they don’t know which of the leads sent by marketing are worth following up.…