LOCALiQ | Columbus Marketing Blog

    What is SEO and Why Do I Need it?

    Many business owners see search engine optimization (SEO) as a mystery, an enigma that only those with inside knowledge can solve. The truth is that SEO is an important part of any marketing strategy, and it doesn’t have to be complicated. Read on to find out what SEO is and why your business needs it.


    What Does SEO Stand For?

    At its most simple, SEO is an acronym that stands for Search Engine Optimization. Let’s look at each component more closely.

    Search

    One of the most common ways to find information on the internet is to use a search engine. On a site like Google or Bing users will enter a search term or question. Then, using a complicated algorithm, these sites return what they think are the most appropriate and useful results.

    This is different than browsing a news site or scrolling through social media looking for information. Users are actively looking for a specific answer, which you should keep in mind when creating effective content.

    Engine

    The search “engines” that people use to find information are essential because they return prioritized results for users. They first use crawlers to explore the web, then they record everything they find in databases (or indexes). When you perform a search, the engine is actually returning results from its index rather than the live internet.

    The important thing to remember is that all these engines use specific criteria for returning results. They look at factors like keyword density and meta tags to understand what your pages are about. Also, they keep track of which pages have linked to your content, and they use that information (along with other factors) to determine what page has the most authority.

    Optimization

    In order for users to find you via search, you need to show up on the first few results pages (usually the first) for their search terms. That’s why you need to optimize your content for the search engines. This doesn’t have to be complicated, but it does require some attention.

    If you want to rank highly in search engines, you need to make sure:
    •  The search engines can find you
    •  They can tell what your web pages are about
    •  They believe your page/site has authority and credibility for the content you’re promoting

    How Does SEO Work?

    [fa icon="clock-o"] Tue, Nov 28, 2017 [fa icon="user"] Joseph Rolfe [fa icon="folder-open'] Search Engine Optimization, SEO, Digital Marketing Advice, Marketing Advice

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    Reputation Management Best Practices

    A company’s reputation is as important as their products and services. Often times it takes one disheartened customer to voice their disappointment and suddenly, you’re seeing a drop in business. With the channels by which people may learn about your organization growing by the day, it’s vital to stay ahead of the chatter and in control of how the public at large views your business. Here are some best practices you can implement to be sure you’re reputation remains in good standing.

    Why Practice Reputation Mangement?

    Your business reputation isn’t just your rating on a review site. It is the general feel of the public toward your business, based on your actions, that gets expressed by the public across online and offline channels; and those same channels by which others express their feelings toward your business are the ones you use to generate those feelings.

    Is your head spinning yet? Your business reputation is an entity in an of itself, neither fully in the public’s control nor fully in your control. This is why it’s so important to monitor your business reputation and be proactive in managing it.

    [fa icon="clock-o"] Fri, Nov 24, 2017 [fa icon="user"] Joseph Rolfe [fa icon="folder-open'] Reputation Management, Digital Marketing Advice

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    Why You Should Advertise Online

    We get it. Online advertising is complex and for most, it’s a foreign world that you don’t really even want to think about trying to understand. The truth is, online advertising isn’t as bad as it seems. Well, it’s not bad at all. What we mean is, getting a grasp on it isn’t as hard or as far away as you might think. If you’re wondering whether you should advertise your business online, the answer is most likely yes. Read on to understand the features, the facts, and the benefits of online advertising that make it a worthwhile investment for your business.

    Why Advertise Online?

    In order to have an effective marketing strategy, you must diversify the ways in which you reach your target audience. While you may be an expert on traditional marketing mediums like print ads, billboards or broadcasts, you’re missing out on a huge opportunity if you haven’t made the foray into advertising online. The reasons why you should advertise online are vast. To name just a few:

    [fa icon="clock-o"] Mon, Nov 20, 2017 [fa icon="user"] Joseph Rolfe [fa icon="folder-open'] Online Advertising, Digital Marketing Advice, Marketing Advice

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    How to Give Your Business a Digital Presence

    You’ve heard that having a static presence is no longer enough. You know that the world of digital marketing is vast and dynamic, and week after week seems to just bring more trends and features to use. You then hear a lot about the struggles of keeping up with the digital world, but what if you’re just trying to get started with digital in the first place? This post will break down the building blocks of a digital presence and help you get started in forming a system that gets your business on the map.

    Start With a Digital Foundation

    Before you start to get overwhelmed with optimization, mobilization, engagement, and other “zations”, take a breather and think simple: build your digital foundation. Think of a foundation for a home or building. It’s pretty boring. It’s got no bells or whistles. Nothing special to look at. It doesn’t catch your eye. Yet without it, you can not have a structurally sound house or build off of it with aesthetic and functional elements.

    If you’re feeling overwhelmed with your digital presence, start here:

    [fa icon="clock-o"] Thu, Nov 09, 2017 [fa icon="user"] Joseph Rolfe [fa icon="folder-open'] Advertising Tips, Online Advertising, Digital Marketing Advice, Website

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    How to Get Customers to Love Your Business

    The world of business is growing increasingly more competitive with each passing day. It’s more important than ever to have a solid plan in place to capture the attention of new customers, get them to stick around, and turn them into loyal repeat customers. In this article, we’re going to walk you through the three stages of the customer lifecycle and proven strategies you can implement to build a loyal following.

    1. Love at First Site (Acquisition)

    The consumer market is a rapidly evolving animal that you need to constantly stay on top of to gain the upper hand over your competitors. Your brand’s first impression is one of the single most important experiences in the customer lifecycle, and here’s how to make the most of it.

    [fa icon="clock-o"] Thu, Oct 26, 2017 [fa icon="user"] Joseph Rolfe [fa icon="folder-open'] Small Business Advice, Digital Marketing Advice, Marketing Advice

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    10 Ways to Get Your Website Noticed

    If you want your website to be a lead generation tool for your business, you need to drive traffic to it. If you want to drive traffic to your website, you need to give it a prominent presence on the web. Here are ten steps you can [and should definitely] take to make sure your website stands out, gets noticed, and helps to grow your business.

    1. Get Search Engines to Notice Your Website

    SEO (search engine optimization) is the practice of increasing both the quality and quantity of traffic to your website through organic (unpaid) search results. SEO is a vital component to your website’s success and must be planned properly to grab the attention of the right people.

    Utilizing specific keywords and content throughout your website will be one of the primary ways to help you succeed at SEO. Conduct some keyword research to find which words and phrases you should be using. Also, be as specific to your product or service as possible to ensure you’re only pulling traffic that actually wants what you’re selling.

    For example:
    Option 1: Personal trainer

    Option 2: Personal trainer for women in Boston

    Obviously, option 2 is going to attract a specific demographic so you won’t be getting men from Arizona calling you for your training rates, and that’s a good thing.

    There are other technical tips to improve SEO like optimizing your page to load quickly and revisiting your site’s navigation and internal links structure. If you have a webmaster, you should definitely be putting this on the table for discussion.

    [fa icon="clock-o"] Tue, Oct 10, 2017 [fa icon="user"] Joseph Rolfe [fa icon="folder-open'] Small Business Advice, Digital Marketing Advice, Website

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    10 Ways to Drive Traffic to Your Website

    A good business website is like having an extra employee—one who works 24/7 and can be the face of your company, give information, answer queries and even make sales. But what good does that do you if you aren’t getting visitors to your site? In this post we’ll cover thirteen of the many ways to drive traffic to your website.

    The Importance of Website Traffic

    Website traffic is both an important indicator and driver of business growth. It can help you to:

    •  See how well your marketing is working

    •  Gather insight about your audience to make decisions

    •  Improve your SEO and search engine credibility

    •  Generate more leads, increase conversions, and get more customers

    How to Get More Website Visitors

    There are 1.24 billion websites in the world. That’s a lot of competition, but keep in mind that you’re not trying to attract all internet users. Your goal is to get more people in your target audience to visit your site. Below are some simple ways to increase the amount of traffic that you are getting to your website.

    [fa icon="clock-o"] Tue, Sep 12, 2017 [fa icon="user"] Joseph Rolfe [fa icon="folder-open'] Small Business Advice, Digital Marketing Advice

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    6 Conversion Hacks You Need to Know to Make Your Blog Profitable

    As a blog and business owner, you want to ensure that all your efforts aren’t being wasted on non-essential tasks. If you are seeking to make an income from your blog, you need to be sure that your efforts are paying dividends. Using conversion hacks can help you increase not only your web traffic, but also your number of email subscribers, and paying customers. Learn the top conversion tactics that will help you transform your blog into a profitable business. 

    Understanding Conversions

    Conversions are a necessary part of any successful blogging strategy. No matter whether you are just starting out as a blogger or already have an established online presence, conversions are the key to success. Understanding what a conversion is can help you to develop your income strategy.

    A website conversion is the most important factor to the success of your online marketing strategy and goals. It means getting your visitors to do what you want them to do, whether that is to buy your product, sign up for your newsletter, or fill out a lead/contact form. Having a marketing website is useless if it doesn’t present the opportunity to close sales or generate leads. You can create these opportunities by using lead generation software like optinmonster.com/ which enables you to create lead capture forms through an easy to use drag and drop builder tool where you can create aesthetically pleasing opt-in forms that are optimized for the highest conversion rates.

    If you are looking to run a profitable blog you need to know what motivates your site visitors so that you can convince them to take the action you desire. Ultimately, the goal is to have their actions result in profit for you, whether it is through ads or referral revenue, or service or product sales.

    [fa icon="clock-o"] Tue, Sep 05, 2017 [fa icon="user"] Joseph Rolfe [fa icon="folder-open'] Social Media, Small Business Advice, Digital Marketing Advice

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    Six Ways to Improve Your Website Using Analytics

    A good business website is one that answers important questions, offers value, and generates leads and customers for your business. You may know that the content, design, and structure of your website directly impacts your lead generating efforts. However, you may not know exactly how to measure that impact or how to improve it.  The key to improving your website is in analyzing the data. Website analytics are intimidating because they can be difficult to make sense of, but we’ve got you covered. In this post, we’ll go over six aspects of your website analytics that you can understand and use to improve your website.

    [fa icon="clock-o"] Fri, Aug 18, 2017 [fa icon="user"] Joseph Rolfe [fa icon="folder-open'] Small Business, Small Business Advice, Digital Marketing Advice

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