Do You Know Your 10 Most Important Words?

Do you know the words that your prospective customers use when searching for a business like yours online? Google or Bing will help direct your customers to your website, but only if you populate your website text with the words and phrases your prospective customers will use.

Make sure your words and search meanings are in alignment. Are you speaking the same language as your prospective customers?  The right words are the foundation of your website.

First, nail down the core 4 to 5 words you know are critical and then branch out to include more related terms and phrases. Include these in your website. They are the SEO (search engine optimization) magnets that draw you website higher in search results.

Your 10 words need to live not only on your website, but in all your online marketing efforts. Your blog, news releases, white papers, Facebook, Twitter and YouTube videos should all contain these key words and phrases.

How do you find these 10 words? One great took we like is the Google Keyword Planner in Google AdWords (www.adwords.google.com). This tool will help you to determine different words that relate to your business. You’ll be able to see local search trends. This will help simplify your key words, terms and phrases.

Even if you’re an established business, you should re-examine your key words yearly. Changes in your business and industry can influence your key words.

4 Tips For Talking Directly to Your Potential Customers

How do you successfully talk to your potential customers on your home page? You must relate to your target audience. Here are four simple tips you can use to engage your prospective customer.

1.   Address their problem. Your message should show your target audience that you understand their challenges or problems. The tone of the message should be non-judgmental and express genuine empathy. This messaging should be the first information your prospective customers see. It will motivate them to want to learn more about your products or services. It also shows that you’re an expert in your field and it starts building trust.

2.   Use the correct language. Don’t over-use industry specific jargon or abbreviations unless you’re 100 percent certain that only people in your industry will be reading your web pages and everyone “speaks” the same jargon as you. If you use too many of these types of words, you’ll lose potential customers. Communicate clearly and accurately so people not in your industry can understand what you’re talking about.

3.   Offer a customized solution. You’ve convinced your reader that you understand their problem. Now, how are you going to solve it? It’s important that you show how you will solve their problem through a custom solution that shows you understand the target audience and their challenge or problem. Don’t tell them exactly how you’ll fix their problem, or they won’t need your services. Just give them enough information that they’ll want to contact you.

4.   Include a strong call-to-action. Your target audience is aware that you understand their challenge or problem and can fix it. They are motivated to act, so be explicit about what you want them to do next. The call-to-action could be to call you, like your Facebook page or sign up for your free newsletter. Make sure the call-to-action is visible and on your home page.

Three Landing Page Strategies

Your landing page is the first place prospective customers see you on the web. You want to make sure you grab their attention immediately, to keep them reading rather than clicking away to the next site.

Here are some landing page strategies to make your home page do the job you want it to.

1. Use questions to grab their attention. Have your prospective customer “find” themselves in your questions. These questions should show you understand their problem and you have a solution. Your ideal customer will answer "Yes" to each of these questions. These questions begin to develop interest, trust, and credibility.

2. Include a call-to-action. Tell prospective customers what they need to do and why. Keep them focused on the "what and why." Don’t tell them how to do it. This creates the need to contact you for more information.

3. Explain how you work with clients. Describe how you work with people so they can get comfortable with the idea of what you have to offer.

5 Easy Ways to Increase Your Website Search Ranking

 Is your website not ranking high in searches? If so, this means that potential customers can't find you.

Improving your search results can be easy, assuming you have access to your website through a content management system. Having quality copy on each page will definitely improve your search results. Here are some tips that you can do that don’t take a lot of time or effort.

1.   Typos - Typos not only make you look bad, but they can affect your search engine results. To check your website text for typos, copy and paste the words on your page into WORD and run a spell check to find the mistakes before fixing them in your site. WORD won't pick up everything, but it will be an improvement.

2.   A call-to-action – Make sure you have a clear call to action on every key page. A call-to-action can be as simple as “Call Now.” Or it can be as detailed as “Download Our Whitepaper”, where you have written a white paper of interest to your audience and automatically send it to whoever gives you their contact information.

3.   Up-to-date information - Is everything on your website current or do you have people that no longer work at your company still listed? Are products or services that you no longer offer still listed? Delete any content that is out of date.

4.   Contact information – Is there a way to contact you at the bottom of each page? Do you have a separate “Contact Us” page where visitors can send you an email, easily find your phone number and business location? Don't make people search for your contact information; make it easy for them to reach you.

5.       Images Titles - Every image should contain alt tags. Search engines don't "see" images or pictures. Alt tags not only describe the image, but when used in conjunction with your keywords, they can help your SEO. Add unique alt tag descriptions to every image on your website.

Start Working on Your Annual Marketing Plan Now!

2014 will be here before you know it. As a small business owner, you’re probably working on your 2014 budget. Now is a good time to work on your marketing plan for next year too.  

Where do you start when building your marketing plan for next year? Start by reviewing your 2013 Marketing Plan. As you look over your marketing efforts from this past year, ask yourself these questions:

• Did your sales objectives meet your expectations as a result of your 2013 marketing strategies?

• Did you reach the correct customers and prospects?

• Did you drive targeted audiences to your website?

You want to determine which parts of your 2013 marketing plan worked and which ones did not work. Some of your marketing campaigns may have worked well and produced decent results, while others were not effective at all. This is when you can start to make adjustments to your marketing planning for 2014.

Quite often, we find many small businesses do not have a marketing strategy in place at all. They’re flying by the seat of their pants when it comes to implementing marketing campaigns and strategies.

As a small business, you need to focus on your marketing plan. The first thing you need to do when creating your marketing plan is to understand the needs of your customers.

By researching who your customer is, you will discover their “pain points”, what areas of concern they have, and how you can successfully fix their problems. Gathering this customer research can help you create a marketing plan for next year that will grow your business.

If the thought of writing a marketing plan scares you, know that Blue Dog Marketing is here to help you. Contact us!

Your Small Business Website vs. Social Media

Small business is finally embracing social media as a platform to enhance marketing efforts. However, many small businesses now believe that social media is all they need. Not true! Social media has its place in your marketing strategy, but your primary marketing focus should be your website. All your social media work should drive people to your website.

Your small business website should be designed to pull visitors in and showcase your products or services. Your call-to-action should be visible on your home page, allowing you to capture visitor information and market directly to them.

Your website must be mobile-compatible. Your prospective customers will be viewing your website not only from their computer, but from their smart phone and tablet. Your website needs to be adaptable to today’s technology.

While social media is a place your business must be, let social media drive the traffic to your website, where you can control the experience. After all, you have to meet your customer where they are, before you can take them where you want them to go. Just make sure where you take them is inviting.

The Benefits of Email Marketing

Blue Dog Marketing often creates and implements email marketing campaigns for our clients. Why is email marketing such a great marketing tool?

It is Cost Effective

An email campaign is one of the most low cost ways to market your small business. You don’t have printing and mailing costs. The only investment is your time, or the cost of a marketing firm, to create your email message, research your email address list and send it out.

You can target your audience

By researching your audience, you can craft your email message to that particular audience. You can segment your targeted audience by location, business type or age, whatever works for the promotion you want to send out and for your particular business. This allows you to create an offer just for that specific set of potential customers.