The DOs and DON’Ts of SEO

July 27, 2012 search engine marketing, seo No comments

search engine optimizationLike with other forms of marketing, Internet marketing has its own rules and codes of conduct on what a person is allowed to do to market themselves on the Internet.  Search engines use a very complex and strict set of algorithms and rules that look at each website and decide whether or not the site is following the rules.  If not, they can be thrown to bottom of the list, or worse, can be de-listed entirely.  To assist you in your efforts to become the next big thing on the Internet, here is a list of DOs and DON’Ts of Search Engine Optimization:

  • DO use keywords associated with your services and/or products to increase your page ranking.
  • DON’T keyword stuff; meaning do not put too many keywords into a single webpage (2-3 is enough per 100 words) or search engines will lower your ranking.
  • DO link to specific pages on your website. If you run a blog – and you should – mention certain products/services and link to those specific pages.
  • DON’T link to the wrong pages; be sure to check if your links are working properly.

These are but a number of SEO tips to keep in mind but if you want more in-depth information, contact an Internet marketing company.

Using Online to Help Offline

July 23, 2012 internet marketing strategy No comments

online marketing companiesWhen businesses think about online marketing, the goal in mind is to increase traffic online. But what about offline? It may seem rare, but people still interact and converse with people outside the web. Businesses should attract just as much buzz for offline chatter. Research shows that in 15% of conversations about products and 23% about services, someone references the Internet as a source.

Keep in mind you cannot measure how effective an online campaign is. Many get caught up in clicks, conversation rates, and re-tweets. But offline, word of mouth still has an impact. How can you increase offline buzz? Start by creating content that is worthy of conversation. People talk about content that is funny, surprising, or exciting. They only share what they deem is worthy of being shared.

Not everything in life boils down to location. Timing is also a key factor. Post content when people are most likely to be online. On weekdays, that time is between 8 a.m. and 10 a.m. Content should be easy and useful to find. In such a fast paced, media driven world, people want to access information as quickly as possible. Lastly, design your site with brand advocates in mind –the people who return to your site regularly.

Why Do you Need A Facebook Account?

July 20, 2012 ajax union marketing, social media marketing No comments

online marketingMany businesses want to have a social media presence but do not exactly know how they will use it to benefit their business marketing,  especially if you have a less than flashy business like shoe repair or junk hauling. Regardless of your line of work, you can build up a following and gain notoriety for your business.

By creating a Facebook account and connecting with clients, you can easily tap into those clients again as a resource. Next time they need your services, they can easily find you on Facebook. Not only can they find you, but their friends see they are making use of your services as well. People see this type of information and your fan base grows. Offering competitions with prizes on your Facebook page is another great way to get new contacts.

Being on Facebook also allows you to see what your customers are up to. By better knowing your customers, their age, demographics, and needs, you are better suited to offer them services. Your Facebook page is not going to be as active as say Lady Gaga’s, but it will however, serve as a great platform for people to communicate with your business and your business to communicate to a larger audience.

Thankfully, setting up a Facebook page is easy with the help of an online marketing company!

Guest Blogging and Getting Responses For Outreach

July 19, 2012 BloggingTips No comments

As a domain owner, one day you are going to eventually be interested in featured guest bloggers. Guest bloggers breathe some new life into your site. People get used to your writing and they might love it, but it doesn’t hurt to get some fresh opinions ion there to stir up discussion, sharing of the posts, and debate. That’s just as useful for getting attention to your site as anything else for internet marketing. But when you select guest bloggers you have to be picky, and you should follow the same strict quality control for when you submit requests for guest blogging on other people’s sites.

The first thing you should always be wary of is proper grammar in the outreach email. If they took the time to look over their work they should be able to find all potential errors and fix them before hitting “Send.” Also, if the grammar is poor then it’s a sign the content, too, will need heavy editing.

All emails requesting an opportunity to guest blog should acknowledge these few things:

  • That the writer requesting the opportunity is familiar with the blog and its format, either by mentioning a specific post or an overall aspect of the blog.
  • Have a list of potential topics to cover and suggestions. You don’t go for an interview empty-handed, so don’t request permission to work for a site without some material in the form of examples or abstracts.
  • What the writer can offer the site owner in return. Favors are always appreciated.

These will help you get the most out of guest blogging and help you with your online presence and overall internet marketing strategy.

How Has Internet Marketing Grown to Be a Necessity?

July 19, 2012 Internet Marketing, internet marketing company, online marketing No comments

internet marketingSimply put, it is yet another way for a business and/or a website to advertise themselves and whatever services/products they offer.  Of course, there are other routes a business can go to advertise, namely TV and ads in newspapers.  But the thing about marketing online is that you will be reaching a wider and more diverse audience than you would if you were to go the more traditional route.  Pretty much everyone has a computer and spends a lot of time on the Internet; also, with the almost exponentially increase of smartphone users you will be able to reach them while they are out and about.

Internet marketing is more flexible than advertising either on TV or in newspapers.  With Internet ads, you can change them on the fly to optimize the audience you are hoping to reach or to update customers on new developments with your products and services.  That is not even remotely possible with traditional methods of marketing.  Once the TV spot is run or the ad is run that is it; it is out in the open now and you cannot take it back.  You get a lot more out of internet marketing with about the same budget plus the added flexibility.

For more information, contact an online marketing company today.

The Next Generation of Consumers and SEO

July 18, 2012 E-mail Marketing, Facebook Marketing No comments

Businesses so often focus on the current generation of consumers, they forget that they need to focus on the upcoming generation of consumers; teenagers. While teens do shop on their own, they aren’t making their own income to spend as freely as adults do and often the money they are spending currently, came from mom and dad.  But it is still important to look at who they are now because it will determine the kind of consumer they are when they get older.

Taking a look at how they communicate, 93% of them use email. That same percentage is also how many use their phone, counting texting and talking.  90% of them use Facebook regularly, 74% use YouTube and 47% use Skype. It is interesting to see how both email and Facebook are very close to each other, in terms of the amount of time they spend on  each throughout the day.

So what does all this mean for you as a company? It means using Facebook as a way to reach the younger generation. You can do this by creating a company page and broadcasting new products, giveaways, photos and more. You might also want to look at e-mail marketing, to get in touch with those who are constantly using that as a way to communicate.

How to Enhance Your Facebook Page

July 16, 2012 Facebook, Facebook Marketing No comments

By now every business should have a Facebook page. But do you know about all the clever tips and tricks to not only make your page better, but to increase your social reach? Here are some helpful hints to make the most out of Facebook.

  1. Target posts by location and language. Is your business international? Do you want to only target a specific part of the country? Before you upload a post, click the “Public” icon and select “Target by: Location/Language.”
  2. Highlight particular posts to the top of your profile. You can pin a post by clicking the “Pencil” icon and select “Pin to Top.” It will stay at the top for a week or until you pin another post. You can also unpin a post from the top as well by clicking the same “Pencil”.
  3. Reposition photos to make your timeline more visibly attractive. Just click the “Pencil” icon and click the “Reposition Photo” option.
  4. Share other pages on your timeline. Sharing is caring! If you see another page you feel your fans will enjoy, share them by hitting the “Cog” icon on the top-right.
  5. Create polls to engage fans. To create, click on “Event,” and  then “Milestone+” in the status box on the top-left of your profile. Choose “Question.” Choose from either open-ended questions or provide answers for your fans to choose from.

Social Media Has Changed Marketing Strategies…

July 12, 2012 Facebook, online marketing, social media marketing, twitter No comments

social media marketing…and it is in your best interest to keep up!  Social media – e.g. Twitter, Facebook, and the like – has made it that much easier for you to communicate with current and prospective customers.  And even more importantly, it has made it much easier for said customers to communicate with your business.  They can shower your praises and tell you what they like about your services or products but on the other side of the coin, they can also tell you what they do not like or do not appreciate about what you are offering.  Regardless of what they say, you should listen to their complaints, criticisms, as well as any positive feedback they are sharing across the various social networks they are on.

For both you and your customers to have a dialogue with one another you need to set up accounts on Twitter, Facebook, and other social media sites out there.  You can use said sites to advertise your products and services, showcase features, introduce new items, and so on.  But for dialogue to happen not only must you talk, but you must also listen.  Otherwise, your social media campaign will be a waste of time and your audience might disappear which will hurt your overall business efforts.

For more on social media marketing, contact Ajax Union today!

Keep Your SEO Company Informed

July 11, 2012 Ajax Union, ajax union marketing, Bloggers, Blogging for Internet Marketing, BloggingTips, online marketing services, seo No comments

Making your company one of the highest ranking for a variety of keywords is not going to happen over night. What’s more, the ever evolving nature of Google and other search engine’s guidelines for making a site rank higher means that the focus is less and less simply based on linked keywords.

These days content comes first and giving information that is engaging and relevant to a person browsing the web is going to help you more than all the keywords in the world.

Obviously this is a plot that develops over time. Writing the best article in history is not going to immediately change your rankings but by simply keeping your SEO company informed of relevant developments in your business you can become a force to be reckoned with.

Keeping the writers at your internet marketing agency informed can help make the content on your sites far more relevant to readers. As those readers show up search engines recognize you more and more. The writers at a company like Ajax Union are versatile and able to stretch information into compelling blog posts but the more guidance they receive the better the content they generate. The better the content writers are generating the better it works for you.

Some History of Social Networking Sites

July 10, 2012 Ajax Union No comments

Social media and networking  is huge today and we don’t really think much about where the idea originally came from. We just know we can hop on Twitter and tweet out to our followers, upload pictures through Instagram, and update our LinkedIn page to reflect our resume and job experience properly for everyone else to see. But social networking is a bit older than people think.

In fact, the first social networking sites can be traced back to early forum and chat communities. Generalized communities like Geocities and Tripod brought people together through chat rooms. As far as the social networking sites we know today, the predecessor closest to their design is Friendster, which was founded back in 2002. That’s already a good 10 years ago. Myspace and Bebo came not too long after and believe it or not, LinkedIn was founded around that time too in 2003. It just didn’t grow in popularity as a business networking site until much later.

Since then, we’ve seen plenty of communities come and go,  eventually petering out to the  top ones we have today; Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, YouTube, and more recently, Pinterest. What causes some social media sites to die out and others to flourish? Well, that’s a whole different story. But right now, the top sites seem to be riding high with no signs of stopping.

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