Do you know what SEO is? I mean really know? Or do you know a few buzzwords and catchphrases about search engine optimization and hope that your “website guy” understands the rest?
Understanding how search engine optimization works as part of a cohesive internet marketing plan is vital to succeeding online. So, here are some key terms and tactics you should know:
Ranking Reports
You probably already know that the #1 goal of SEO is to get your website to be the top search return result for a particular keyword (or set of keywords). But did you know that SEO reporting can help you see exactly where you rank? Knowing how your website ranks for specific keyword phrases can be a huge advantage because it shows you how you stack up against your top competitors.
This is why so many consider SEO reporting to be such an important tool in an SEO toolkit—it can help you see where you already dominate and where you have opportunities to push into enemy search territory.
Website Analytics
Like ranking reports, analytic reports of your website activity can be vital for understanding how your website performs and why. Good metrics to capture include how many visitors come to your website, what keyword phrases they use to find your site, and what pages they visit.
Citation Building
Every link on the internet that links to your website affects your website’s ranking. And in most cases, having more of these “backlinks” is good for your SEO. (And the more you have, the better.) This is precisely why a solid citation building program is so important for creating and sustaining high ranking: Each citation created creates another backlink to your website. And the better the website of origin, the more potential for that website to share its “Google juice” with your website.
Google AdWords
Does your competitor have a massive website that makes it impossible for you to compete online? Well, guess what: There’s something that you can do about it. Investing in a Google AdWords campaign lets you pay your way to the top through sponsored ad placement in Google search results. Although results only last as long as the campaign is active, they are immediate.
Reputation Monitoring
How often do you research the companies with which you do business online? Probably pretty often. And how often do you reconsider doing business with those who have bad reviews? Exactly. This is precisely why monitoring your business’s online reputation is important—all it takes is a few bad comments or reviews (even if they’re underserved) to send potential leads straight to the competition.
When looking for a reputation monitoring service, be sure to choose one that can integrate key information from all of the major social media sites into one report or dashboard. This will give you the big picture without forcing you to hunt and peck to put it together yourself.
Facebook Cover Design
Do you know anyone who doesn’t use Facebook these days? (If you did, you probably lost touch with them a long time ago, right?) It may seem silly, but even something as seemingly minor as having a good-looking FB page can have a big impact on your online presence. That’s because everyone’s on Facebook and everyone’s using it to judge the credibility of the people and businesses competing online. Settling for poor (or no) design on your FB page can put you at risk of losing leads that might otherwise have reached out to you.
Visitor ID
One of the best things about having a website for your business is that it can generate pre-qualified leads. With visitor tracking software, there’s no need to cold call strangers in hopes that they might just possibly be considering thinking of purchasing a product or service like yours. Instead, your website can tell you precisely which companies have visited which pages on your website. Online visitor tracking reports can also give you useful contact information and other sources of pre-sales research for easy prospect evaluation.
Email Marketing
No online marketing campaign is complete without email marketing. And, because email marketing provides a quick and low-cost way to reach out to customers, it’s often preferred to costly, printed direct mail campaigns. Because email messages can be used to “touch” customers in a variety of ways (think surprise specials and newsletters), they also offer an ongoing way to keep your company’s name in front of leads.
Think your online marketing plan could use an update? For more information about our Milwaukee internet marketing and SEO services, call 414-208-0700 or fill out our contact form today.
