Quality content has become one of the most important elements of online marketing. Search engines are constantly revising their algorithms to improve search results and satisfy online consumers who want to find information and solutions. Sites with high quality, legitimate, credible content are among the top results. Sophisticated search engine algorithms penalize sites that provide a poor user experience with low quality content, awarding such sites low search rankings.
Internet savvy marketing professionals recognize the need for quality content in online marketing strategies. A Content Marketing Institute study found that “93% of marketing professionals create, or plan to create, content marketing as part of their overall programs in 2012.” Why?
Informative, useful content generates targeted website traffic and provides new sales leads.
Great content pieces are shared by visitors and can spread quickly – virally – further improving search rankings.
Quality content builds trust and establishes a reputation of leadership, resulting in customer loyalty and referrals.
What constitutes “quality” content?
Consumers search the web for information to help them solve a problem or to learn something. They don’t want a sales pitch. That fact means companies must rethink their approach to online promotion. A highly effective emerging strategy for writing content pieces is to fashion them so they don’t overtly look or sound like they are selling. So how can you write such quality content?
Deliver content that is well-crafted, customized, and professionally written. It should engage the visitor, keep them on the page longer, and represent you as an authority on the topic.
Focus on addressing one topic in a content piece. To gather the material for an article, for example, you might select a topic and make a list of questions and answers that address the topic thoroughly. Visitors who find the information they seek will be encouraged to stay longer on your site and to share your content, which will improve search engine rankings.
Review a list of questions Google uses in assessing “higher-quality” sites vs “lower-quality” sites. Fresh, quality content, frequently updated, helps your site rank high for the long-term.
Social content, blogs, videos, articles, press releases, posts, reports, surveys – all aim to provide content that your visitors will enjoy reading, watching or listening to, and sharing with their family, friends, and colleagues. Attracting more targeted visitors and earning their respect with quality content will build a strong network of linking and extended visit times, putting your site among the top search rankings and ultimately increasing sales!
Your online marketing program must include quality content writing and expert web design to be successful. Contact the professionals at seenBEST Internet Marketing in Phoenix, Arizona to create a winning web strategy…and you’ll soon begin reaping the benefits of quality content and online marketing!
The Goal: Increase social metrics (+1, Page Likes), social connections, and backlinks for on-page SEO.
The Offering: Something appealing to just about everyone ($100 in cash) to encourage participation.
Best Case Scenario: The sharing goes viral and results in viral growth due to participation/sharing.
Starting Monday we will begin the process of driving targeted traffic to the page.
Making it Work for You:
When done correctly, contests that use social media for distribution are a great way to increase visibility for your business. In our example, we have put together a website page and have used modern tools to blend together sharing on both Google+ and Facebook.
When done from within Social Media itself, your reach is limited. Hosting your content on an external website page allows you to blend together multiple social networks for a single contest.
seenBEST Web Design can help you get a social media marketing contest off the ground in a number of ways:
Help you brand the contest with a memorable theme
Develop a landing page for your contest on an existing website (or create a new website page for you)
Tie together various social tools into a single package (Google+, Facebook, Twitter)
Drive affordable yet targeted and effective traffic at your contest page to get involvement
Track results
Specific Example:
How could a social contest like this work for your business?
Offer something of value to your existing clients through Social Media and an Email Newsletter
Link it directly to your lead generation website and tie it into your existing social channels
Provide them a way to share it with their own network of friends and family
You expand your connection base to people you didn’t already know
Use those new social connections! Post property updates and industry specific information to social media for increased brand awareness
Email marketing is one of the easiest, most inexpensive ways to keep the name of your business in front of your clients on a frequent, consistent basis, and has become an exceptionally popular form of advertising. If you aren’t taking advantage of the benefits of email marketing, consider these statistics:
A study by the Direct Marketing Association estimated that email marketing would generate an ROI of $42.08 for every dollar spent on it in 2010, outperforming all the other direct marketing channels studied.
Nearly 90% of consumers use email (2010 Digital Marketing Fact Book).
In 2011, 88% of business-to-consumer firms and 71% of business-to-business firms are using email marketing (Forrester Research).
U.S. online retail sales (excluding auto, travel, and prescription drugs) are forecast to reach $248.7 billion by 2014 (Forrester Research).
So – what is email marketing?
Email marketing is sending electronic mail to a list of customers and prospects to deliver your marketing messages and help you stay in contact with people on your list. Companies send regularly scheduled emails to build customer loyalty and trust, increase sales, and strengthen brand recognition.
However, a successful email marketing campaign today is not just about selling your products or services. It is important to understand: consumers don’t want to be sold. According to the Custom Content Council, 73% of consumers prefer to get helpful articles rather than ads from companies. And 61% are more likely to buy from those companies. By sending relevant, informative email communications on a regular basis, you can build a strong relationship with your readers. This relationship will set you apart from the competition, companies that send messages that are often viewed as SPAM in the eyes of the recipients.
What are some of the benefits of email marketing?
Save money and time – Email is an inexpensive and fast way to reach large numbers of people.
Build your company’s reputation as an expert – If you are too busy to generate your own content, a professional online marketing firm can generate and publish industry specific content for your business.
Grow your prospect list – There are multiple ways to expand your list of email contacts, from website embedded subscription forms, to social media, giveaways, events, and more.
Keep your company visible – Put your name in front of people often so they’ll remember you when they or their friends need you.
Track results easily – Numerous web analytics are available to learn how effective each email was and how to improve future email performance.
All marketing campaigns increase in effectiveness – Combine email with social media, website, newspaper ads, bulk mail, and radio … and multiply the results.
Communicate with people who want your email – Use opt-in lists and advanced email marketing tools to ensure the highest open rates and avoid being blacklisted.
There are several important ingredients that must be present in order for an email marketing campaign to achieve the desired results. Great content is only one of those ingredients, successful email marketers know that other processes must be followed closely. To create powerful results, email marketing campaigns must:
Provide fresh and relevant content.
Utilize regularly updated sources of email contacts.
Brand the email message properly at time of distribution.
Use a compelling subject line to cut through the clutter.
Maintain proper controls over the system of email distribution.
Empower email marketing with social media and sharing tools to help spread the message further.
Our team of online marketing experts at seenBest Web Design in Phoenix, Arizona, help your business maximize email marketing results. We help build email lists from client databases and other sources and then import those lists into the proper email marketing software, based on marketing objectives. We then help brand the email message to match your business cards, websites, and other marketing collateral. We provide content writing services that will create fresh, regular content to use in email marketing campaigns and help inform and energize your client base. From start to finish, we help your company create and manage a regular newsletter email campaign, including template design and content selection. We help embed newsletter/email sign-up forms on websites and utilize other sources, such as social networks, to expand your list and maximize the distribution of your message.
We have been helping businesses achieve their marketing goals throughout the Phoenix, Arizona, metro area since 1995. Contact us today for a free expert consultation and find out how we can help your business increase sales and maximize ROI through the use of email marketing. Call (602) 456-0150.
plus.google.com (Google+) is the fastest growing website in history, according to analytics firm comScore. As of July 24, less than one month after the Google plus test site was launched, 25 million invitation-only users are organizing, sharing, and communicating with people through Google’s Circle technology.
Social networks are only as interesting as the content they provide to the user, that content coming in the way of status updates and posts from users in your network. Google+ has quickly become a major social network, and users are looking for more ways to search for and connect with other Google Plus users. Would you like to find more users to interact with on Google+, increase the usefulness of your network, and fill your stream with news and information that closely matches your own interests? Check out the following Google+ Directories. At the end of this post you’ll have the ability to post your own Google+ profile, where others can find your profile and circle you!
1. Find People On Plus. This Google Plus directory was introduced by Google to make searching on specific Google Plus profiles much easier. You can search not only on names but on all specific profile fields provided on Google Plus. As of August 4, nearly 10 million Google Plus users have been indexed on this site.
You’ll find an indexed list of the most popular Google Plus users on the FindPeopleOnPlus.com home page. On the left sidebar, choose filter parameters in categories such as Relationship, Looking for, Gender, Occupation, and City from the category shortcuts. Click on the People Directory link to surf profiles and track people.
Twitter users can also find out which of their followers and friends are on Google Plus. Go to www.findpeopleonplus.com/twitter2plus/ and type in your Twitter name.
2. GPEEP. GPEEP is a Google Plus search engine where you can search for people on Google Plus. Just type the person’s profile name or other search term in the Find People on G Plus box at the top of the home page. You can circle the profiles you’re interested in, and read, comment on, and share their posts. Or just for fun, click on Google’s famous I Feel Lucky button in the left sidebar and see who you meet!
Make it easy for people to find you, too. Click Add Yourself Now in the upper left hand corner of the page and provide the simple information requested. Be sure to tag yourself with as many search criteria as you can think of. Your profile can be found immediately on GPEEP. You can even let people know what type of product or service or job qualifications you offer by clicking on Add a Pitch or a Deal near the top right of the home page.
3. Google. An easy way to find Google+ users is just to use Google itself. Enter this search term – site:plus.google.com – and any parameter, such as a profession, town, type of business, or even a name. Users who have created public profiles are searchable, as are their updates and posts. Privacy options may protect some user profile information from search results, but most of the data provided on the Google Plus About page and in the profile fields is currently public.
An additional way to use Google+ to connect with other similar minded potential friends is the “Find People” link, located within the Circles tab of Google+. To use this feature, click the “Circles” tab at the top of your Google+ profile. From there, click on the “Find People” link. You will be presented with a list of suggested users, allowing you to drag and drop them into any of your circles, or create a new circle out of recommended users only. Google closely matches the suggested users with interests you’ve listed in your profile, and Sparks, so be sure to fill out your profile and select topics of interests from the Sparks tab in order to benefit the most from this feature.
4. Women of G Plus. The WoG Plus site started as a way for Google Plus women users to connect and share their ideas. Although the designer insists “this is not a women vs. men thing,” it is primarily a networking resource for Google Plus women, who currently comprise 33 percent of Google Plus users. The site provides articles and blogs from Featured Women of Google Plus, and offers tips to “Optimize Your Google Plus Profile” and other Google Plus tutorials and how-tos. If you want to contribute, click on the Want to Be Featured? tab at the top of the page.
Want to read more? Connect with these Google+ profiles for more interesting information in your stream:
Share your own comments and suggestions for Google Plus users in the comments box below. Know of any other useful Google+ Directories, be sure to also list them in the comments box.
Post a link to your own Google Plus profile in the comments area below so that other visitors to this page can find and circle you!
seenBEST Web Design, the Best Web Design and Internet Marketing Strategies For Your Phoenix or Scottsdale Area Business.
Specializing in website design and internet marketing services for these Arizona cities: Apache Junction, Ahwatukee, Carefree, Cave Creek, Chandler, Chandler Heights, Fountain Hills, Gilbert, Glendale, Higley, Laveen, Mesa, Paradise Valley, Peoria, Phoenix, Scottsdale, Tempe
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Email marketing is sending electronic mail to a list of customers and prospects to deliver your marketing messages and help you stay in contact with people on your list. Companies send regularly scheduled emails to build customer loyalty and trust, increase sales, and strengthen brand recognition.
