The Internet can be a dangerous place, and we all know it. For as much as we take online communication for granted, we’ve all seen the reports about online scams, malware, information theft, disreputable e-commerce merchants… the list goes on and on. The point is, consumers know that they have to be careful with the websites they frequent, and especially with the websites they entrust with their credit card information. As a business owner, the onus is on you to create a site that exudes this trust, and that makes it easy for consumers to feel comfortable with your online offerings.
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The layman might assume that Google is a fairly static, non-changing entity—but that couldn’t be further from the truth. Actually, Google’s search engineers are constantly tweaking and revising the algorithms to provide users with a better search experience. Most of these adjustments are exceedingly minor, but some of them are significant—and one of the most significant Google search updates in recent memory is the one known as Penguin.
This has always been a basic concept of retail: You’re not going to sell any products if nobody knows that your store exists. This was true in the brick and mortar era, and it’s still true today. Online stores can have perfect business models, outstanding products, incredible prices, and amazing customer service—but if the store itself is not well marketed and made highly visible, it’s simply not going to do well. It is imperative that ecommerce merchants do anything they can to make sure people are aware of their store.
While the benefits of video advertising are well-stated, many business owners remain reluctant to embrace YouTube and other video marketing opportunities. The most common objection is price. It is widely believed that effective video marketing requires professional-level film equipment, advanced video editing technology, and potentially even space at a real recording studio. None of this is the case, and in fact many business owners make successful YouTube ads using simply their iPhones and some basic editing software. For those looking to dive head-first into video marketing, the DIY method really does tend to work well.
You may have heard it said that “Citation services are a secret SEO marketing tool.” In 2016 it’s true. Citation services are incredibly effective, incredibly important and incredibly overlooked. Because so few businesses even know where to begin with citation services, we recently conducted a short webinar where we let the cat out of the bag and shed some light on what citation services are—and why they are important.
The potential of content marketing is by now well-established. Most business owners know that an investment in regular content development and deployment can yield big dividends—increased brand awareness, a better online reputation, increased client trust and loyalty, and so on. While the potential of content marketing is very real, however, it’s by no means a guarantee. Many businesses invest in content marketing, but—often due to tactical errors or strategic lapses—don’t get those dividends.
For many of us, the summer season is a not-so-distant memory; many of us were just at the beach a couple of weeks ago! It’s hard to believe it, but the holiday season is right around the corner. It presents marketers with a number of opportunities, and in the weeks leading up to it, it’s important to get your marketing tools ready.
The term automated email has gotten something of a bad reputation. People hear that term and think of something cold and impersonal, which of course can be true. When done correctly, though, email automation is anything but irrelevant to the recipient. Ideally, automated emails play a critical role reminding your recipients why they signed up for your email list in the first place, potentially leading them down your sales funnel at the same time.
One of the most difficult parts of launching a video marketing initiative is that you feel like you’re starting from square one; if you don’t already have video collateral, as well as processes in place to measure video results, then the thought of mounting an entire video marketing campaign basically from scratch can seem daunting.
It’s easy to take email for granted. It’s become ubiquitous; we’re pretty much always synced to our inboxes, receiving new messages throughout the day via our desktops, mobiles, and even our smart watches. It’s not unusual for professionals to receive dozens, if not hundreds of emails each day, many of which are marketing emails and plenty of which are discarded without even being read.
