Using Video to Promote Your Business?  You Should Be.
Have you considered advertising online with video content?   If you aren’t using Video SEO to promote your business online, there’s never been a better time, and there never will be.  This is a great time to give it a try and start to establish a presence in the Video Marketing world.

Everyone from your little sister to your grandmother is online, and they’ve all shared or watched videos that moved them in one way or another.  By using this powerful medium, your business can harness that power to help promote your brand, sell a product, or even defend your reputation.

Some of the major benefits of using video to promote your business online:

• Videos are more engaging than other forms of online advertising – Because videos stimulate multiple senses they tend to engage the audience more than static images or text.    This stimulation leads to longer time on the website, increased page views and the ability to integrate more calls to action on your website.  Ultimately this increased interaction should lead to more conversions and sales.

• Search Engines are Hungry for Video – There is a relatively small amount of video online, when compared to text and images.   This is one of the reasons that search engines are hungry for more video.  The search engines have even adapted their results pages to include special sections for highlighting videos, usually appearing in the video results at the bottom of the SERP’s.

• Videos Rank Quickly in the Search Engines – A properly optimized video will rank for targeted keywords in a very short period of time, usually in several days, whereas a text file or web page may take months to achieve the same rankings.    This quick placement can help a business to get exposure early on, while their organic search engine optimization efforts are still taking hold.   As a secondary effect, the additional exposure can lead to more links from sites in your niche, and others looking to add content to their blogs and web pages.

• Video sharing sites allow you to reach more customers – Sites like YouTube are now getting more search queries than Yahoo and Bing.   This is a great indication that consumer behavior is changing, and they are now looking to the video sharing sites for more than entertainment, they are looking for how-to videos, and educational clips.    If you are able to give away a bit of valuable information, you will become a subject matter expert, and consumers will look to you when it’s time to pay a professional to do the work.

There are a myriad of other reasons to get started with a video marketing campaign but the biggest reason to start now may be the relative lack of competition.   In a couple of years your competition will have saturated your niche with online videos, and you’ll be playing catchup.   Take the leap and begin your video marketing efforts now while the market is new and mistakes are forgiven, and you’ll be far better off down the line.

-Chris

Using an Internal Blog to Promote Your Business Website

In the second installment of our Business Blogging for Success series we are looking at best practices for using an internal blog to promote your business and bring more traffic to your website.   Because an internal blog is tied in with your website, it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to know the source of the information.  Therefore, the mechanics of your blogging are more important than creating an identity, which is an essential element of running an external blog.

As identified in Business Blogging for Success – Part 1, the benefits of running a business blog can be immense, and over time you can use your blog to dominate your industry online.  As with any online marketing, there are rights and wrongs,and it pays to know the difference before you get started blogging.

Here are 6 tips for using your Internal blog effectively.

1. Make sure your information is accurate – Always remember that the information you publish online will stay with you forever.   If you are going to write blog articles about your business, emerging trends in your industry, or your competition, you better make sure that the information is accurate.   Not only can misleading information (whether intentional or not) damage your reputation online and erode your credibility within your industry, it can ultimately result in a libel lawsuit.  Because of this it is recommended that all blog content is approved by someone in your PR department, an executive, or the owner of the business.  At the end of the day your company reputation is on the line, so as a business owner, I would make sure that anything being published about my company is accurate.
2. Write to your audience – This tip goes back to your high school English classes (Yes Mrs. Henry, I was listening).  It’s very simple but very often overlooked.   You need to write your content with your end reader in mind, and write to the level of their understanding.  If you are writing a blog about cooking techniques, your audience most likely cannot cook as well as you.  You need to write at a level that explains even the mundane details so that your audience can understand what you are telling them to do.   If you are writing technical articles about chemical engineering, you can safely assume that your readers have a very advanced knowledge of the topic, and therefore will already understand the fundamental elements of the topic.   There is no hard and fast rule to writing, just remember to think like your readers and understand their questions before you write.
3. Write consistently – Want to know the biggest problem with a blog?  It’s owner gives up before having any success.  All blogs start out with good intent, and have regularly written content initially, then the writer finds that they are not getting regular readers or comments, and then loses his / her motivation, and the blog dies a sad, lonely death.  The key to having an effective blog is persistence, and consistency.   You don’t have to write every day, and you can really write at your own pace, but you need to consistently write articles to keep your readers engaged and keep them coming back for more.   Writing a series of articles and scheduling them for releases on a timed interval will help you to keep the content flowing regularly, and make it much easier to keep your blog active when you are busy with other projects.   I recommend that you write 20 articles before you launch your blog, and schedule them for publication twice a week.    That gives you 10 weeks of regularly scheduled posts that will go live with or without your active attention.
4. Promote and track your news with syndicated RSS feeds - RSS feeds are great for sending your information out to your regular site visitors, and it allows them to stay informed without having to return to your site for the latest news.   When they receive an update on your blog content, and find the article interesting, chances are they will come to the site to read more, and see what you have been up to.   The second part of this step is tracking your readers.   Using a syndicated RSS feed such as Feedburner will allow you to track your subscribers, and monitor whether or not your blog is gaining traction.   One of our better performing posts was Twitter Black Hat, and based on that success, I know that Twitter posts will do well in my niche if I choose to write more on that topic.  In any marketing format, the things that get measured are the things that get done, so make sure you know what your blog is doing, and quantify your success so you can build on it.
5. Make it easy for your readers to spread the news – There are tons of plugins for almost all blog platforms that allow your readers to share the news with the blogosphere – Use them!   If you can give your readers a one-click option for posting your content to Twitter, Facebook, Digg or any of the other social sites, you will get more readers, spread your message to their sphere of influence, and find that your link count is growing at the same time.   Internet marketing success is based on a culmination of efforts, and any help you can get will go a long way.  Let others help you by removing the bottlenecks and you will grow your reader base much more quickly.
6. Address news head on, and in a timely fashion - Because you are competing online, sooner or later someone will call you out, and you will need to defend yourself.   It’s important not to shy away from negative publicity, or it becomes true, period.  If you are monitoring your name online with Google alerts, you can see what is being said about your company, and address it head on, in a timely fashion.   News spreads fast on the web, so you need to be even faster when addressing any publicity that comes your way.   This is true for positive comments, which you should be quick to thank the contributor for giving you kudos, and also for negative comments, which you should address and quickly rectify if they are true.   Bad publicity can turn into a positive if you are willing to address the person, and make an effort to rectify the situation.  You may not be able to make them happy 100% of the time, nor should you, but your efforts to address the situation will not go unnoticed.

There’s a lot more to getting your blog off the ground and running, and building it into a true powerhouse, but hopefully these tips will help the average business owner to harness the power of a blog and begin using it to build a larger internet presence.   For more tips on improving your blog, I recommend reading ProBloggers series 31 Days to Build a Better Blog.

Our final installment of Business Blogging for Success will discuss best practices for using an external blog to promote your business, and move your site to the front page of Google in 30 days or less.  We are always open to suggestions for new articles, so please feel free to contact us with your ideas.

Cheers to your future blogging success!

-Chris

Is your Business Blogging?  You should be.

Businesses should be blogging, it’s the best way to produce new content for their websites and allow them to target the audience associated with their business.   Businesses often feel that they don’t have the time or the content to build their business, and often don’t understand the importance of having a quality blog.   This is a huge mistake, but easily rectified.   We’ll share some of the benefits of having a business blog as well as some of the techniques for managing your blog and keeping it updated regularly.

Benefits of Blogging for your Business

One of our common practices with new clients is to establish a blog for their business.  This can be an internal blog that’s integrated in the website, or an external blog on a related domain name, or both.   There are distinct advantages to both methods, but regardless of which one you choose, it will help your search engine visibility tremendously.

Here are 5 benefits to running a business blog:

1. Content Creation- On the Internet content is king.  The more you have, the better.   Most business websites have a limited number of pages, and therefore a limited amount of content.  If your web designer hasn’t built your site with a good Content Management System, creating new pages or adding content to additional pages can be difficult, tedious work, and in some cases will require the help of your web designer, which will also cost more.  By having a business blog you are able to write about your topics quickly and easily, and generate pages of content that will have an equal chance of ranking in the search engines.  Again, more content is better, and a blog allows you to easily create the content that is needed to keep the spiders crawling your site.
2. Targeting Long-Tail Keywords – Because your website has a finite number of pages, and your on-site SEO efforts can include a limited number of keywords, a blog can greatly expand the number of keywords and keyword phrases that you can effectively target.   When you are writing an article for your blog, you will naturally cover different variations of the keywords associated with your products and services.  This is a great opportunity to build links that cover long-tail keywords that may not be targeted in your sites content.  For example, if you had a website about San Diego golf, your on-site SEO may target the keyword “San Diego Golf“.   However, through your blog you can also target terms like “San Diego Golf Gift Certificates”, or “Book Tee Times for San Diego Golf Course“, which would be more difficult to integrate into your site’s meta data.   Long-tail keywords are lower volume, but a much more specific search term, which will generally result in higher conversions than short keyword phrases.
3. Reaching a Larger Audience – If you website isn’t properly optimized for your keywords, or you don’t have a recognizable brand name, it may be a deserted island that never gets traffic.   Your blog allows visitors to subscribe to your posts via RSS feed, and the audience that visits your blog is more likely to share your info with others if they find it valuable.  By submitting your blog to the various blog directories, you can put your info in front of others in your industry, and more importantly you spread your message through the Blogosphere, and gain an audience that will visit your site repeatedly.
4. Natural Link-Building Platform – Blogs are a natural platform for link-building.  When you are writing articles about your topic, you will generally link to other related pages within your site, and you’ll most likely be using keyword targeted anchor text when building those links.    This not only provides your visitors with more information, it helps your search engine rankings due to the anchor text that is used within your links.   As your blog gains value and PageRank , it passes that value on to the other pages of your site, thus helping them rank higher as well.
5. Potential to go Viral – Never discount the power of the blogosphere.   If you write a particularly compelling article, it has the potential to be rapidly recirculated throughout social media site and re-published on other industry publications, and other bloggers websites.  If it’s an especially well written article, it could potentially be re-published on Yahoo news, or in a local paper, etc…  This is one of the best ways to get traffic to your website, as well as gain valuable inbound links from others in your niche.  As you continue to write valuable articles, you may well become a thought leader or industry expert in your field, which ultimately leads to more business via referrals etc…

Those are just a few of the reasons that your business should be blogging.   We’ll follow up this article with a few tips on using an internal blog, as well as using an external blog to promote your business.

If you don’t have a blog already, now is the time to get one.  Spending just three hours a week on your blog can pay off handsomely over time.  If you don’t have the time, or feel uncomfortable blogging about your business, contact a professional blog management company to do it for you.

Go get a blog on WordPress (my favorite platform), Blogger, TypePad or any of the other blogging services and give it a shot.

If you put in the effort you will be rewarded!

-Chris

How important is your online brand?
It’s getting to be more important, and search engines are starting to place additional importance on the relevance of the content source.  Great content from well know brands is always going to rank well, so promoting your business through various mediums is going to be a big help in your branding and online reputation management.  The more places that people can find your business, the better.  Having more options for pushing and controlling your message increases your chances of reaching and engaging your target audience.

As you begin to build your online brand, it’s important that you carry a consistent message, and that you control the information that can be found online.  It’s extremely easy for customers, clients or competitors to write an article, blog post or review your company through a variety of social sites.  Making sure that you monitor, produce and manage your reputation is en essential step to an effective online marketing campaign.  The following steps can help you manage your reputation and come out looking squeaky clean.

Using Social Media to Manage Your Brand – 4 Quick Tips

1. Choose the right avatar – Choose an image that is memorable, displays class and professionalism.  People will learn your avatar, and the impressions you make will stick with you for a long time. Your avatar is your face online, so make sure you put your best foot forward at all times.
2. Use consistent images – Representing yourself with an avatar is a great idea, and it’s important to use the same one for all your social profiles.  It helps when people can recognize you in different areas online, and allows you to build relationships with people in your niche.  Having social media friends will go a long way in battling negative press or libel.
3. Keep your eyes and ears open – Monitor your company name, blog and industry.  Social news spreads fast – good, bad or otherwise.  It’s important to monitor your company name, web address and social profiles, and it’s equally as important to respond quickly when someone questions or challenges your reputation.  It’s often possible to resolve disputes if you respond quickly, and before the negativity spreads.   Tools for monitoring your name or web address include Google Alerts and Twitter Search, among others.
4. Avoid accidental branding – It’s easy to wander through the social media scene without a clear cut message or purpose, and it’s also a bad idea.  Everything you publish online is visible to the public, and remains there as long as the web property is live.   Make sure that you are in control of the message you are delivering, and ask yourself if your post or image is something you would want a family member, friend, potential employer to find.  If the answer is NO, then you probably shouldn’t publish it.   People lose their jobs over Facebook pictures or blog posts, don’t let that happen to you or your business.

Ready to begin your social media campaign?

Social Media is a great tool for building relationships, promoting your brand, and managing your business’ reputation.  When used correctly, it enhances your ability to correspond with customers, gauge your competition and control the message that’s being delivered, but it takes some effort and the willingness to entertain and engage others’ opinions.

If your business takes the time to manage your brand online, you’ll find that you can create a loyal following and make sure that the information found on the search engines paints your company in the best light.  If you don’t have the time or inclination to do it right, you should avoid social media altogether, or hire a professional to manage your reputation and build your brand.

There’s only one way to do social media: the right way.

-Chris

Grow Your Business Online

I recently spent far too long with a friend, engaging in an in-depth conversation about SEO, and after several unsuccessful attempts to explain what it is we do, he finally shut me down and asked me to give him the basics, no fluff.  How do I get more visitors to my website and get more leads online?

Make it easy, just give me a few steps… OK  here are a few things you can do to start promoting your brand online.  Thus the list below.

So after thinking about the conversation, and how hard it can be to explain what SEO’s do, I decided it would be a good topic for a basic article on how you can get more visitors to your website.  Easy for anyone to understand, I think…

Since everyone else writes Top 10 lists, I thought I would throw in one more for fun, and make it a Top 11.  Enjoy!

Here are 11 steps that you can take to help improve your website’s ranking in the search engines.

1. HTML Content - Make sure that your site has HTML content on all pages.  Search engines read html text and scan it for specific keywords.  Well written articles that describe your product, service and / or unique advantages will define your business in the eyes of the search engines and help them to index your site for their search results.
2. Sitemap – A Sitemap is one easy way to make sure that the search engines are looking at every page of your website.  It is simply a page that lists all of the other pages of your website, and hyperlinks to every page.  The search bots follow those links, ensuring that every page of your website gets reviewed on each visit.  You can submit an XML Sitemap to Google, and this is probably the most effective method, but having an HTML Sitemap on your site is also a good idea.
3. Links - Build an internal link structure that includes one link on each page that directs to the next page or category.  The goal is to have links that follow from one page to the next so that all pages are crawled.  External links provide relevance, while inbound links improve your authority on a topic.  In bound links are by far the most important aspect of your search engine placement.  Some will come naturally from your content and related sites, other’s have to be built.  There are far more ways to build inbound links than I am going to discuss in this brief article, but if you are want to learn more about link-building, check out Aaron Wall’s article 101 Link Building Tips to Market Your Website. This is a great article!
4. Meta Descriptions and Keywords – Make sure that your Title Tags accurately describe your products and services, and Keywords are listed in the title.  This is important because it shows up in the search results, and it is one of the areas that search bots look when searching for keywords.  Meta Descriptions tell the search engines what your site is about, and describe your products and services.  They should be written for your audience, and not stuffed with keywords.  If your keywords fit naturally within your description, include one or two, but don’t stuff keywords in your description.  Meta Keywords are used as a secondary method of describing your products.  Feel free to include all of your keywords in the Meta Keywords, they are not read by humans.  One recommended strategy is to use different variations of the keywords used in your Title
5. Submit Your Site to Directories- Submitting to directories is like entering your site in the phone book. It categorizes your product and lists you for others to find.  One quality, free directory is DMOZ This is the open directory project, which lists sites that are submitted by the public, business owners and others.   Because it is an open directory, all content submitted is reviewed by editors, and if it fits the category and is a quality site, it gets listed.  It is free to list your site here, and counts as a quality inbound link.  Link count matters, but so does the quality of the link.
6. Create a Blog – Not just to have one, but to have one that really works.  A Blog is a great way to keep your customers / visitors coming back to your site, in an unobtrusive way.  Readers can subscribe to your RSS feeds, and receive your new blog posts when they happen. Blogs are also great for SEO.  Their ever changing content gives the search engines more and more info to index, and establish your authority on a subject, as well as giving you an opportunity to build links to your site.
7. Announce Yourself – Marketing on the internet is not just an isolated channel.  It should be a part of your overall marketing strategy, and should build upon your other marketing efforts.  Announcing important events through traditional Public Relations channels is a good way to get additional traffic to your website, and as more people visit, the possibility of them linking to your site increases.  PR companies such as PRWeb are great for distributing your content and making it known.
8. Join your local Chamber of Commerce – this is a great way to leverage your networks and find additional business.  The SEO benefits are also appreciable.  When you join the Chamber of Commerce, they will usually link to your website.   This is a valuable link as the C.O.C. is an authority on business, and your anchor text can be whatever you choose.  Another great benefit is that the other Chamber members will usually be willing to exchange or give you free links from their website.
9. Start a newsletter - Newsletters offer you the opportunity to engage your customers in an inobtrusive way, and keep them up to date on the important events and news that is going on at your company.  They also allow you to collect email addresses, track subscriptions and viewership.   If you run your newsletters through one of the main electronic newsletter marketing companies, you can also use the newsletters to build content and links that are directed to your site.
10. Leverage existing relationships – If you are an established business, you will surely have contacts within your industry – suppliers, partners and vendors.  Contact them and ask for a link to your website.  Most will be happy to give you a link, and if you have already linked to them, they may go an extra step and write some additional info about your business, or discuss your partnership.  Reciprocal links are not as valuable as one-way, incoming links, but they don’t hurt if they are from a relevant authority.
11. Use Social Media – Social media sources are a good way to inform people of your site and your business, and allow you one more opportunity to leverage existing relationships, or build new one’s.  Joining groups of like-minded individuals with similar businesses will keep you in the loop and may even bring new business your way.  The only negative is that once your information is released, it is subject to thr scrutiny and redstribution of the public.  In my opinion, the positives far outweigh the negatives.  Some popular social sites include: LinkedIn, Facebook, Digg, Twitter, MySpace, and many other smaller sites that cater to specific niches.  If you don’t already have a profile somewhere, take some time to build one and see who you know.  You’ll be surprised at the connections you can make.

Those are 11 steps that you can take to improve your website rankings.  They take time, as do most things with SEO, but the key is to be consistent and continue to work on building your brand, networking and growing awareness of your products.  If you have the patience to work on an SEO project, and stay at it, you will see results over time.

If you feel like this is way over your head and you would rather spend your time running the business, then contact an SEO Company and see what they can do to help you.  Search Engine Optimization is like cooking, anyone can do it, but not everyone is a chef!  Sometimes it’s better left in the hands of a professional.

However, if you feel like you’re up to the challenge and you have the time to see it through, it is definitely worth the effort, so go give it a try!

-Chris