SEO Management Basics Every Business Owner Should Know

Given the fact that organic search results currently drive about half of all website traffic, it is certainly worth understanding the basics of SEO management for any website owner. Organic search results are a direct result of good SEO practices and recognition of such by the various search engines.

Although the results of good SEO management don’t usually kick in overnight, it’s generally worth the wait to begin reaping rewards when sound management does begin to show results. Here are some of the SEO practices that every business owner should be aware of, and should incorporate into their overall business strategy.

Researching your Target Audience

Companies that practice sound SEO management will generally have a deep understanding of their target audience. In order to have that kind of understanding, it’s necessary to do the research, so you know what consumers want from your business and your products or services. You also have to be aware of your target audience’s problems and the daily questions they face so that you can help them overcome all these issues.

Right from the beginning, you should invest serious time researching your target market, so that you can recognize which kinds of problems are resolved for them by your product or service. You should also know how your company differs from others in resolving problems and issues for your target audience. At a basic level, you should understand the demographic features associated with your primary customers, and you should know where your target audience goes when they have issues or problems.

If you’ve already conducted research into these issues and have developed marketing personas, it’s still worthwhile to periodically re-evaluate your research. There’s no question that over an extended period, consumer behavior and tastes will change. If you’re using outdated market research data, you won’t have much chance of success in the current market. With your research data acquired, you’ll be ready to move on to the next step of good SEO management.

Analysis of the Competition

Another of the core principles associated with good SEO management is competitor analysis. You can have both direct and indirect competitors, and both have to be accounted for. Direct competitors are those businesses that you compete with on a daily basis either online or offline. Indirect competitors are those companies that you’re in competition with on search results, which generally means those companies that are using the same keywords you are.

Part of your competitor analysis should be to invest some time in understanding their SEO strategy. You can generally obtain a good understanding of any company’s SEO strategy by looking at its domain age, SEO practices, targeted keywords, traffic volume, and backlink profile. This may be somewhat difficult for an untrained business person to take on, but it’s worth your while to engage the services of an SEO agency to have them carry out the process for you. Once you know the status of your direct and indirect competitors, you’ll be able to proceed with the next step of SEO management.

Optimization of your Website

At this point, you’re ready to begin the process of totally optimizing your website, so that you can achieve the best search rankings. This is a process that generally takes some time, so if you’re planning for it, be sure to install some realistic checkpoints and objectives. The more pages you have on your website, the more time it will take to fully optimize each of those pages. This is a stage where it may be beneficial to hire a website SEO copywriting service because that agency will be familiar with all the major search engines’ current algorithms.

This will help to ensure that your website stays in sync with requirements that are favored by Google and other search engines. Optimizing your website content generally means paying close attention to the data included in your title tag, meta description, headings, images, and text content. All these aspects of your website are evaluated by search engines, so you’ll want to include information that is helpful for users and for the search engines.

If you’re doing the optimization process on your own, make sure that you avoid keyword stuffing and engaging in other ‘black hat’ tactics that will cause your rankings lower on the search engines’ results. It’s essential to have a good understanding of what qualities and features search engines favor so that you can always be eligible for higher rankings.

Periodic Reports

Just like any other digital marketing strategy, search engine optimization requires data. Using data obtained from your website, you’ll be able to measure the performance of your SEO strategy. You’ll also be able to discover areas of improvement and to make better decisions when faced with the necessity of doing so. If you’ve decided to partner with an SEO agency, you should get monthly reports, and in some cases, you might also get weekly reports that will allow you to be more flexible and respond more quickly.

If you’ve decided to do all your own SEO management in-house, you’ll still want to establish a schedule for measuring the performance of your SEO strategy. Whether you are doing weekly or monthly checking, you should always be looking closely at any increases in organic traffic, your search results rankings, the number of backlinks you have, and the number of conversions you’re obtaining. Many businesses use Google Analytics or Google Search Console to closely measure performance and results.

Regardless of how you approach weekly or monthly reporting, it should be a definite part of your overall SEO management process. It will provide critical information for decision-making, and can help you improve your management of the business. Once you’ve gained a sound understanding of the principles involved with good SEO management, you’ll be in a position to help your company achieve the kind of results you’ve been hoping for. If you feel like you don’t personally have the time to invest in this kind of SEO management, you can still achieve those same kinds of results by engaging the services of a professional agency.

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Aqaba’s Guide To The 2022 Digital Marketing Trends

There’s no question that the digital marketing trends undergo some significant changes with each passing year, and 2022 will be no different. In fact, it’s very likely that some dramatic changes happen during the coming year, and the most prudent businesses will not only plan for some of these but they will prepare accordingly to actually capitalize on those coming changes.

As forecast by our premier SEO company in Michigan, here are some of the most significant digital marketing trends that will become apparent during 2022. It will definitely be to your advantage to plan for these and actually make use of them.

Advent of the Metaverse

It is expected that the Metaverse will begin to get a firm grip on the digital world in 2022, and this will have a huge impact on the future of the web. If you haven’t heard of the Metaverse yet, it’s a term that includes both virtual and augmented experiences. These two have been around for a while now and have had some modestly growing popularity. Smart betting says that next year will be the one where the Metaverse really takes hold and begins to become dominant. Now is the time to start thinking about opportunities for your business in both these spaces.

LinkedIn will Explode in Popularity

While this platform has steadily grown into the role of a rising star in the digital arena, next year will be one that sees it gaining even more active users and engagements every quarter. The platform has been extremely proficient at launching new features which deliver better results for business clients, and that will drive even more business their way. If you’ve been thinking even casually about establishing a presence on LinkedIn, next year is the time you should definitely invest.

SEO Gets a UX Facelift

One of the most useful and oldest forms of digital marketing, search engine optimization, will become more refined and more integrated next year. For a number of years now, search algorithms have become much smarter and more contextual. Your digital marketing efforts in the SEO arena should recognize that and focus less on the tricks of black-hat SEO and instead deliver a more meaningful and outstanding experience to users. Digital marketers should therefore put more emphasis on providing the best possible user experience.

Facebook Will Not Disappear

Contrary to the dire predictions of many industry observers, Facebook will not be shutting its doors anytime soon. Recently, headlines have been filled with important executives exiting the company, but there are still nearly three billion users on the platform, and those numbers continue to grow every month. Don’t panic and rush for the exits just because of the headlines. Instead, you should assume Facebook will be alive and well into 2022.

The new Social Currency will be Experiences

Businesses are still trying hard to earn social attention and promote word-of-mouth among followers. With the advertising landscape becoming busier all the time, it becomes more and more difficult to achieve success in these areas. That means digital marketing trends for 2022 are to focus more on creating experiences at all touchpoints with customers and go the long way toward earning word-of-mouth on social media.

Websites will Get Faster

Traffic on websites has become amazingly mobile, but it’s still true that most websites do not provide fully mobile-optimized experiences to their users. Speed will become more and more important to users, with more options available to them. This makes it critical that your company’s website is fully optimized for mobile display and interaction, otherwise, you’re likely to be left in the lurch in favor of a better user experience on another website.

More Digital Jobs will be Available

There is no doubt that digital skills are more in demand now than ever before. Still, there’s a big gap between the number of businesses searching for digital skills and the actual number of digital skills available in the marketplace. Organization leaders should plan to upgrade the skills of their staff members in the digital area, and marketers should especially enhance their skills in order to stay relevant in the highly competitive marketing landscape.

Algorithms will Keep Reigning Supreme

Virtually every aspect of digital marketing these days is becoming more and more driven by algorithms, and that includes display ads, social media newsfeeds, email, search engine optimization, and social ads. Most algorithms are all trying to accomplish the same basic thing, and that is to enhance the user experience. In order to stay relevant, digital marketers in 2022 will need to provide an outstanding user experience, or marketers can expect that their content will be pushed to the background.

Businesses will Consolidate on a few Chosen Channels

Given that the number of options available in digital marketing has literally exploded, it follows that many businesses have since become spread quite thin across a number of channels they’ve invested in. Next year will see many businesses consolidate their investment, and withdraw presence from some channels in an effort to dominate one or two channels. The digital marketing trends in 2022 will become more focused on one or two channels and have the objective of doing just a few things better, so as to achieve greater success.

Marketers will Get More Strategic

Automation, machine learning, and artificial intelligence will remove a lot of the grunt work associated with digital marketing, as they start handling more of it. That will allow options in digital marketing to grow even more. To remain successful in 2022, marketers will need to think strategically and focus on those elements which really drive business growth for them. These are the areas that should be concentrated on, while others can be de-emphasized.

Privacy Regulations versus Competitive Advertising

Today’s digital ads rely heavily on data for automatic optimization. There are new privacy regulations in the pipeline, for instance, the iOS update and the elimination of cookies, and these will have the effect of reducing the data used in artificial intelligence. The smart digital marketer will consider the impact that these new privacy regulations will have on their advertising initiatives, and be proactive about making whatever changes are necessary.

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How A Seasonal Marketing Plan Can Help Business Owners

Everyone knows by now that retailers will generally always be most profitable during the holiday season because that’s when shoppers spend the most. Knowing that to be the case, means you need to maximize your seasonal sales because there will certainly be leaner times ahead through the dog days of the off-season.

Developing a seasonal marketing plan can be a great first step toward boosting sales and making the most of the busiest shopping time of the year. Here are some tips you may want to consider for inclusion in your own seasonal marketing plan, so you can be as profitable as possible while consumers are in a spending mood.

Provide an Enjoyable Shopping Experience

If you can provide your customers with an enjoyable shopping experience, they are likely to spend more while they’re on your premises, and they will also probably come back again because they appreciated the experience the first time. For example, a supermarket might want to post some delicious holiday recipes that will introduce variety and make preparation time easier for shoppers. This is something that might be very helpful for shoppers, and it could also provide motivation for them to purchase more food and come back more often.

Be Grateful for your Shoppers

Even your most loyal customers may be tempted to shop elsewhere during the holiday season, simply because they spot a better deal at another store, or because they’ve seen something, in particular, they want to buy there. That means you need to do some things to get your store back in their minds, so they’re thinking about you when it comes to making purchases.

One of the best ways to do this is to express your gratitude to holiday shoppers, and show them how important they are to your business. There are tons of ways for you to express your gratitude, starting with a simple thank-you email or heartfelt post. You can also run sales or offer discounts for customers in your loyalty program or offer volume discounts to those who make larger purchases.

Kick-off your Marketing Plan Early

Don’t make the mistake of deferring your marketing plan until the season is well underway because by then you will have already missed out on a significant number of purchases. Well before the holiday season arrives, you should have your marketing strategy in hand and should be thinking about how it can best be implemented.

In fact, it would be a good idea for you and your marketing team to begin strategizing as soon as August or September, so that you’re ready to hit the ground running by the time the season arrives. There’s no reason why you can’t launch your seasonal marketing plan in October or November. Keep in mind that a great many holiday shoppers do their shopping early so as to avoid the rush. You can take advantage of all these consumers anxious to spend, by implementing your marketing plan as early as possible.

Consider Setting Up an Online Showroom

Think about how effective it is for a car sales dealer to have a showroom with a number of vehicles on display for the scrutiny of potential buyers. You can take that same concept and create an online showroom where you can display all the different aspects of your products, especially those which are more expensive, and which consumers are likely to want to investigate closely.

This is an idea which takes several months to develop fully, so if you haven’t started already, you should keep it in mind for next year. You will need a team of photographers and marketers who can work together to fully display all angles of a particular product at your online showroom. This should have the same impact as an auto dealer showroom because it will provide potential buyers with the opportunity to kick the tires on a product before purchasing.

Include Email Marketing

It’s important to keep in mind that during the holiday season, many consumers are extremely busy, traveling around town and shopping at various outlets. That means they won’t have a whole lot of time to dedicate to in-person meetings or phone calls, but they will always make time to check their email inbox. You can make sure that you have a presence in your target audience’s email inbox, by sending out whatever sales promotions or discounts your offering through the season.

Most holiday shoppers are looking for a bargain in the first place, and if you have one delivered right to their doorstep, it’s very likely that they’ll take the time to read it and consider it. Make sure to keep your email simple and very understandable, so that it doesn’t get quickly discarded. Make your offer plain and appealing, so that more of your target audience customers will actually read it and take it into consideration.

Retarget Customers

Almost a whopping 96% of all potential customers will abandon a website without making any kind of purchase. The flip side of that statistic means that only four people out of 100 who visit your website will actually buy any of your services or products. You can increase this percentage significantly by making use of email marketing and a remarketing ad campaign. For example, if shoppers provide their email address to you but don’t go through the checkout process, you can send a follow-up email to them to encourage them to take another look. This might spur them to revisit their shopping cart and actually complete the purchase.

Remarketing centers around consumers who have previously visited your site and offers them something new or unique which might spark their interest. You may have to narrow down your audience to just a few product pages when doing this, otherwise, it can get to be a bit overwhelming.

While you are engaged in remarketing, make an effort to determine why users abandoned your site, and if it’s something you can correct or improve upon, make sure to do that, so as to improve the experience for your shoppers.

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Why Google Reviews Are So Important For Local SEO?

Before going into the details of the steps you should take to generate more customer reviews, it’s important to explore how they can help your business.

Here are some of the main benefits of increasing the number of Google reviews when it comes to local SEO:

Increased local search engine optimization: 

There are many signals and factors that determine your search ranking on Google. Some studies have shown that Google reviews play an important role in Google’s algorithm, therefore, more reviews equals more SEO success!

Increase map package visibility: 

Google reviews can help your business appear in the Google Maps package, thereby increasing your business’s online visibility. The map package list generated a lot of views and engagement, which leads to more website visits, phone calls, and sales.

Increase your credibility: 

People value the opinions of others, and Google reviews may be the difference between someone choosing you or your competitors. Good reviews can do wonders for the online success of your business, while a large number of bad reviews can be a red flag for potential customers.

Brand trust boosted: 

Every business wants to be seen as a reliable and trustworthy person – and that sticks to people! You need other people talking and showing how great your business is.

Some reviews past customers left on our profile

Steps to Grow Your Google Reviews

Step 1: Set a Goal

Set an internal goal of how many reviews you want to reach. As with goal setting in any aspect of life, the aim is to keep you on track and focused.

Step 2: Ask Current Customers

Your request does not have to be long or complicated, but the easiest way to get a comment is to ask! Although it may seem awkward at first, if you do a good job, then most customers will be happy to take a moment to review your products or services online.

Step 3: Keep Asking

Once you reach your goal – set a new number! The best way is to incorporate soliciting reviews into your customer retention process. This means you can take every opportunity and continue to increase your online reviews.

Where to put all your Google Reviews

In the decision-making stage of the buyer’s journey, social recognition plays an important role in the outcome. For your potential customers, the result is that they choose your agency or one of your competitors. If you work hard to generate reviews, then you should show them on other platforms.

Here’s a snapshot on how working on customers’ reviews has dramatically increased our Search results

Here are some ways to showcase those hard-earned reviews:

Google Reviews is a very effective tool that can help you increase your online trust, visibility, and credibility. Give it a try!

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Google Analytics Was Updated – Here’s What You Need To Know

Millions of companies, big and small, rely on Google Analytics to understand customer preferences and create better experiences for them.

But with the important changes in consumer behavior and the changes that are driven by privacy to long-term industry standards, the current approaches of the analysis do not maintain the rhythm. To help you get a better ROI of your long-term marketing, Google’s team created a more intelligent Google Analytics based on the application beta testing they offered last year. It automatically has in your core dashboard useful information and gives you a complete understanding of your clients on all devices and platforms.

It is focused on privacy by design so you can rely on each analysis, even if there are major changes in the industry, such as restrictions on cookies and identifiers, which are things that can create gaps in your data. The new Google Analytics will give you the essential action ideas you need to be ready for what follows.

Google Machine learning model’s smarter insights will help you improve your marketing decisions and get better ROI by applying advanced strategies. Google Analytics continues to add new predictive statistics, like the possible income you can win from a particular group of clients. It allows you to create audiences to achieve higher value customers and execute analysis to better understand why it is likely that some customers spend more than others so that it can improve measures to improve their results.

With these new integrations by Google’s marketing products, it’s easy to use what you learn to improve the ROI of your marketing.

For example, with deeper integration with Google ads, you can create audiences that your customers can reach with more relevant and useful experiences, wherever they choose to participate in your business. The new approach also makes it possible to address the long-term advertisers’ applications. Because it can measure the application and web interactions, it can include conversions of viewpoints dedicated to YouTube in the application and on the web reports.

See also the conversions of YouTube video views with Google conversions and Google pay channels, and organic channels such as Google search, social, and e-mail, help you understand the joint impact of all your efforts. YouTube Vista conversions linked to analytical reports, reports to beta, already see benefits. Vistaprint, respond to rapid changes in your business at the beginning of the pandemic, can measure and understand the customer’s response to your new line of protective masks.

A More Complete Understanding of How Customers Interact With Your Business.

The new analysis gives you a client-centered measurement, instead of fragmented measurement through devices or platforms, using multiple identity spaces, including user IDs that are on marketing and unique signals from the users optimized for adapting advertising to provide a more complete picture of how their customers with their business.

You will also have a better understanding of your clients in all their life cycles, from acquisition to repentance and retention. It is critical when the needs of people change quickly and you need to make real-time decisions and maintain customers engaged.

With a new approach to data controls, you can better manage how Google Analytics collects, preserves, and uses your analysis data. And of course, they will continue to provide users the control on how to share their activity with Google Analytics.

As the panorama of technology is constantly evolving, this new Google Analytics is designed to adapt to a future with or without cookies or identifiers. It uses a flexible approach to measurement, and in the future, it will include modeling to complete the gaps where the data can be incomplete.

This means that you can rely on Google Analytics to help you measure your marketing results and now meet the needs of customers, as it restores recovery and, as it faces uncertainty in the future.

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Responsive Search Ads To Enhance Your Brand’s Reach

Responsive search ads are the default ad type used in Google Ads Pay-Per-Click search campaigns, and this has been true since February 2021. This is all part of Google’s increased emphasis on automating Google Ads, and according to the search engine giant, customers using these search ads will experience 10% more clicks and conversions than customers who are simply using standard ads.

Responsive search ads are capable of adapting, so as to show the ideal message to any given customer. When they’re created, multiple descriptions and headlines are used, and Google’s artificial intelligence capabilities will mix up these descriptions and headlines in an attempt to discover which ones are the most successful over time. Those messages which are the most relevant are the ones that will be displayed to the customer.

Benefits of Responsive Search Ads

There are quite a few benefits to using these search ads, and that’s why they are becoming more popular. Consider these advantages:

Best Practices when Using Search Ads

The first really useful practice is to include at least one responsive ad with every ad group, and the search ad should have either good or excellent add strength. Having a good or excellent ad strength will improve the chances that eventually the ad will be displayed. There is a limit of three responsive search ads which can be added to each ad group, and it’s best to create really specific ad groups based on your products. This is a Google recommendation, because it allows their systems to optimize performance, and it generally results in more clicks.

The real power of the flexibility of responsive ads comes from having multiple keywords and add combinations that can effectively match up with search terms used by customers. This will help to add relevance to the search and it will always reach a greater number of customers. When responsive search ads are being created, it’s a good idea to add as many unique headlines as possible, so as to increase the total number of potential ad combinations, thereby improving the performance of your campaign. It will be possible to add as many as four descriptions and 15 headlines when creating your search ads, and as many as three headlines and two descriptions can be displayed at one time. On mobile devices, it is generally necessary to reduce that, and show just two headlines and one description.

This popular content should be sourced from your existing text ads, which have already proven to be successful. The headlines and descriptions from these expanded text ads should be incorporated into your new headlines and descriptions for responsive search ads. This will allow you to develop more combinations and to use more keywords that have already demonstrated considerable success in previous marketing campaigns.

By pinning your descriptions and headlines to specific locations, you’ll be able to control exactly where they appear. By default, responsive ads will be displayed in any order, so in order to control the positions of text in the ad, you should pin your descriptions and headlines to specific positions. This kind of pinning is an entirely new concept introduced by Google in tandem with the responsive ads. However, Google does not recommend pinning for most advertisers, because it will have the effect of limiting the number of ad combinations that can be used to match up with customer search terms, and it can also have an effect on the performance of an ad.

That’s why this pinning feature should be used very sparingly, because by controlling where your headlines and descriptions appear, you may be limiting your ad reach. If you pin too many headlines and descriptions to specific positions, the advantage of using this kind of flexible ad format will be negated to some degree. If you want the text to appear in every ad, make sure it’s added in Headline Position 1, Headline Position 2, or Description Position 1, and make sure it gets pinned right there so it will always show an ad.

It’s also possible to pin descriptions and headlines such as special offers or disclaimers. In order to pin an asset, what you have to do is hover to the right of any description or headline when you’re setting up the ad, and then click on the pin icon which is displayed. Then it’s just a simple matter of selecting the position where you want the description or the headline to show up in the ad.

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Professional SEO Company Secrets For An Optimized Landing Page

Landing page optimization includes all those processes which are intended to improve or enhance landing page elements, for the purpose of obtaining more conversions. As opposed to completely redesigning your landing page, a better approach would be to use research data that shows what your audience prefers and what they like to see.

This isn’t a process that can be completely accomplished in a day, and instead, it should be considered an ongoing situation, where you make changes in response to new information you receive about target audience behaviors.

In that sense, optimization should be considered something you’re constantly doing, because the wants and needs of your potential customers are constantly changing also. Here are some of the best practices that a professional SEO company would employ, and which you should also make use of.

Keep your Optimized Landing Page Simple

While a simple landing page might not seem advantageous, it’s important to remove as much visual clutter as possible, so that your offer can be made very clear. Your focus should be to guide all visitors toward the call to action, and everything else is just accompaniment.

Try to include just the most basic and essential components on your optimized landing page, so that you don’t detract from the whole point of the page itself. If your visitors get fascinated by all the bells and whistles on your landing page, they won’t pay attention to the one element which is most important.

Stay Above the Fold

Of course, there is no real ‘fold’ per se on the screen, and that actually refers back to the old days where a newspaper would be folded in half. But it’s important that you keep your really important elements above the fold because if a visitor has to scroll down to find the call to action, you’ll probably lose a certain percentage of people before they get to it.

Make sure to present your most important information on the initial visual screen, so that it’s not necessary to take any additional action to find the real heart of your message.

Use Contrasting Colors

By using contrasting colors, you’ll make important information stand out much better, and if you can incorporate good use of clarity and color, you can make it even better. Contrasting colors can emphasize your call to action in such a way that it simply can’t be ignored.

For instance, if you were to have a black background with some bright white or yellow text, that would provide visual clarity and contrast that really makes your message stand out.

Use Scarcity Methods

It’s a good idea to convey to visitors that there’s only a limited time or limited opportunity for them to act on your offer. This makes the offer more compelling, and it’ll get the idea across that they need to act now or lose out on a great opportunity.

This should be a legitimate time constraint as well, for instance offering a discount that will run out after two weeks, or attendance at a webinar that won’t be offered again. To be really effective, you can even include some kind of countdown timer which provides visual emphasis for the limited nature of your offer.

Simplify your Call to Action buttons

As any professional SEO company can tell you, one of the worst things you can do is confuse your visitors by the labeling on your call to action buttons. Instead of stressing them out, you should make sure that your buttons are all very obvious and clear, so there’s no confusion about what you want visitors to do.

Make sure that any action you want your visitors to take can’t be misinterpreted or ambiguous, because that will more than likely cause them to do nothing at all, and this will have negated the whole effort to get them to your landing page.

Include Contact Information

There are quite a few ways you can convey your contact information to optimized landing page visitors. Of course, there are obvious ways like including your email address and your phone number right on the landing page. You can also establish an entirely separate contact form, and ask users for a little more information.

There’s also the possibility of including links to other pages you want visitors to browse through, especially a help center. At your help center, you can provide information such as tutorials and answers to frequently asked questions.

Experiment with Headlines and Content

Even though images and video rule the roost in terms of capturing visitor attention, the written text and content you provide are still very important. As long as you make your content visually appealing, your audience will probably still read most of it, so make sure you take advantage of the opportunity and present them with high-quality content.

One great way of determining what kind of headlines and what kind of content is most appealing to your audience, is to make use of A/B testing. This will give you a great idea of what your audience prefers, and that will provide you with the data you need to create an optimal page of content.

Experiment with Different Page Lengths

There is one school of thought which says only the very shortest forms work well on your optimized landing page, and that asking for anything more than the user’s email address is a waste. While this may be true in some cases, it is certainly not the general rule of thumb.

If you’re trying to develop leads or interest in an expensive product or service you’re offering, you will definitely need more content to justify the cost of your offering. In this case, providing too little information will more than likely hurt your attempt to get a number of qualified leads.

Add Testimonials

These days, more potential customers are convinced to buy something by finding out that others have used the product and found it to be very beneficial. Social proof can go a long way toward persuading a user to convert and become a paying customer.

One of the best ways to accomplish this is to include testimonials on your landing page, especially if you can provide a video testimonial. In the same vein, quotes from satisfied customers are generally very effective too, especially if you include a name and headshot photo of the satisfied customer.

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Voice Search: What It Is & How To Perform Voice Search SEO?

A few decades ago, having a casual conversation with your computer may have seemed like a scene from a science-fiction movie. Luckily, things have changed. Today, we see people talking into their watches and conversing with virtual assistants on their phones all the time.

Thanks to the revolutionary Google voice search features, interacting with computers through voice commands has become the new normal. In fact, according to one report, 39% of the U.S. population employs voice assistance on their smartphones, and 32% are interested in hands-free technology following the COVID-19 pandemic.

There’s no denying that while voice search may have started as a small concept, it is now one of the fastest-growing technologies and is gradually becoming the way of life. Naturally, innovative businesses that want to stay relevant in today’s fast-changing environment are all over voice search SEO to stay ahead of the curve.

Considering the fierce competition for search engine rankings, if you are not already working on voice search SEO, it’s time you change that. Read on to understand the concept of Google voice search and learn how to successfully perform voice search SEO for your business.

What is Google Voice Search?

Google voice search is a function that allows you to bypass typing the query and search the web through spoken voice commands. It is quick, fast, effective, and allows you to multitask. The feature is available for both mobile and desktop searches.

Typically, the user can initiate the Google voice search feature by saying “Ok Google” by either tapping on the mic icon on the screen or via hands-free voice command on some devices. Other than the activation and query input difference, there is little to no difference between searching the internet through Google voice search or typing.

However, users may notice a difference in the search engine results because websites that are not optimized for voice search may not appear in the top searches when using the Google search command.

As a result, businesses lose potential clients and customers by neglecting voice search SEO. This makes it important to incorporate voice search SEO into your business marketing strategy to not only enhance online visibility but succeed through business intelligence-driven digital transformation.

Best Practices for Voice Search SEO

Now that you understand the importance of having a voice search-friendly website, let’s get into the nitty-gritty on how to do that. At its core, optimizing for voice search SEO is a lot similar to started SEO but with a refined focus.

So, if you have optimized your website following the best SEO practices, you are already halfway there. On the other hand, if you are not into SEO at the moment, you’ll have to start from scratch and invest some serious time and effort into your website. Without further ado – let’s get started!

1.     Know Your Audience

The first rule of SEO is to understand your audience and what they might be searching for over the internet. The voice search algorithm uses user data, location, and numerous other data points to understand the context of the query. So, the more you know your audience and understand their intent and consumer behavior, the better you can optimize your website for their search queries.

For example, if a user searches for a specific business, they might be interested in knowing the location, operating hours, product or service rates, etc. One way you can enhance visibility is to structure your website the right way. Make sure that the required information is readily available in plain old HTML and not hidden in images.

In addition to that, any other crucial information that potential clients may search regarding your products or services should be available, including your unique selling point. In short, structure your website and content keeping the needs and requirements of your audience in mind.

2.     Focus on Long-Tail Conversational Keywords

While short-tail keywords are unlikely to ever disappear entirely, as we move towards voice searches, it becomes crucial to consider natural phrases used in voice searches. It’s time you shift the focus to conversational long-tail keywords that help Google nail the voice search query.

For example, instead of simply going with a short-tail keyword like digital marketing, try ranking for more specified keywords, such as:

3.     Update Schema Metadata

Schema Metadata can be described as the markup language that helps website owners provide Google with additional information about the information on the website. One way to define it is data about your data.

The purpose of Schema is to describe the content on your website. As a result, the search engine finds it easier to “understand” the data, which, in turn, not only boosts visibility but also shows your website to highly convertible potential customers.

4.     Focus on “Near Me” Searches for Locally Focused Businesses

Optimizing your website for “near me” searches is an important part of voice search SEO. Here are a few ways to go about it.

Get Your Google My Business

If you don’t have a Google My Business listing, you are missing out on relevant search queries big time. On the other hand, if your business is already listed, make sure your listing is updated and relevant. Make it as comprehensive and complete as possible.

Even adding information such as parking is available for visitors or not can allow you an edge over your competitors in terms of visibility. Also, don’t forget to add images of your business!

Optimize Your AD Campaign Accordingly

If you are a locally focused business, you can take additional steps while creating your Ad campaigns to maximize visibility through near me searches regardless of whether your audience employs voice search or text-based search.

One way is to utilize AdWord Local Extension. It allows you to display business information, such as a business address, phone number, and directions with your advertisement. It may not sound like much, but it can help attract on-the-go shoppers.

Another option is to use Local Search Ads in Google Maps. It is an excellent strategy to reach your audience right when they need you. It will make your advertisement appear over the organic result with a small “Ad” flag. The goal is to drive more foot traffic to your store.

Aqaba: Delivering Tailored Digital Marketing Solution to Businesses

We are currently experiencing a voice search revolution. So, if you want to stay relevant and gain an edge over your competition, it’s time you start thinking proactively about the potential of voice search SEO and how it can transform your business.

Here it is important to mention that while the tips and tricks discussed above are a great place to start, SEO is an extremely vast domain, and getting into the nitty-gritty can be overwhelming and costly.

A better approach is to leave it to the professionals. Our digital marketing and SEO team at Aqaba can help you find effective voice search SEO solutions geared towards enhanced visibility and optimized lead generation. Contact us today to learn more.

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Eight Changes That Can Boost Your Voice Search Rankings

The age of voice search is here to stay. With the proliferation of electronic personal assistants like Google Assistant, Alexa, and others, more and more people are using voice search by asking their electronic assistant questions. 

Take advantage of these eight key insights you need to apply to your website to cater to this trend.

1. Design Your Site as Mobile First 

The days are over of designing websites and telling your customers which browser to use. Now you need to ensure that your sites work on all sorts of mobile devices before you even bother looking at what it looks like on a PC browser. The great thing is, when you design for mobile-first, your site will automatically be light, move faster, and be more apparent to the viewer.

2. Create a FAQ

The more questions you can answer for your users, the more questions these electronic assistants can answer for their clients. Make a list of questions that your users might ask or have asked to form your FAQ. Make sure you title it with the question that you’re providing the answer to.

3. Use Featured Snippets

This code will tell the search engines that this information is essential. It will help your search results look better and be more informative to searchers. A useful plugin for this is the one mentioned above, but you can also use Schema All in One Schema Rich Snippets to accomplish this. It works well to ensure that you are getting your information in a form that the voice search technology works for.

4. Use Structured Data Markup

This is also sometimes termed “schema markup.” It’s just a type of HTML that you embed in the code of your site that helps search engines find you more easily when their customers are using voice search. If you use self-hosted WordPress to build your site, try using the plugin Schema & Structured Data for WP and AMP.

5. Write Content with Voice Search in Mind

The most impressive thing about voice search is that it’s essential to use more natural language like your customers would use when searching for the information they need. This means you need to use more long-tail keywords, use questions for titles, and make sure to answer your users’ questions within the content that you share. If relevant to you, using more locally-focused content will also help you get more voice search results. 

6. Boost Page Loading Time

Page Load Speed is a very highly weighted Google signal that is not going to change any time soon, regarding your website quality. The faster it loads, the better the user experience. The more you can optimize to ensure that your site loads as quickly as possible, more rapidly than three seconds, the more likely your audience is to not only find you but also consume your content. 

7. Focus on User Intent

Whether it’s your FAQ, navigation, or other content, it’s imperative that you focus on your users’ intent at the time they are searching for the content. You have people in your pipeline in all stages of their buying journey, and locally-focused needs to be considered as you develop your content strategy. 

8. Pay Attention to Tech and Algorithm Changes

Remember that all the methods and software that you use are just tools that happen to work right now, today. But, as search engine technology changes and as they seek to deliver better results to their audience, your job as a content producer will change too. However, if you’re providing the information and content your audience needs at the time when they need it, in the form that they need it, and that can also be understood by the search technology, you will succeed.

If you want your site and products to be one of the answers, you must be proactive about optimizing for voice search. These eight changes will make a big difference in whether you show up in voice search results or not.

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What Are The Key Components Of Internet Marketing?

Internet marketing in Michigan is similar to internet marketing throughout the country, in that it is based on the same key components which have proven to be successful more than any other approach.

These key components are often referred to as The Five C’s, and individually they are Company Strategy, Customer Experience, Content Creation, Channel Promotions, and Check-back Analysis.

If you’ve covered your bases in all five of these areas, chances are that you have a sound digital marketing strategy and that you’ll be reaping the rewards once they’ve been implemented. Below is a description of what’s involved with each of these five major components.

Company Strategy 

In order to successfully conduct Internet marketing in Michigan, you’ll need to start by properly identifying your company’s business objectives. This means you’ll need to figure out exactly what you’re trying to achieve, and how you intend to go about making that happen.

One of the most important aspects of this component is that you will need to somehow get the attention of your target audience, especially given the fact that other companies will be competing for the attention of that same audience.

Everything you consider in this vein should be related to your business model and your company brand. Whatever your eventual marketing strategy will be, it must be fully aligned with your brand and your business model. This is a time when you can begin to think about specific digital marketing campaigns that you may want to conduct, and what tools you will need to carry out those campaigns.

This is also a time when team members can begin to think about just what you will do to convert leads into customers, and what it will take to get potential customers off the fence and in a purchasing frame of mind.

Customer Experience

A big part of your digital marketing strategy should be to put yourself in the shoes of your target audience for a while and try to have an understanding of what they are thinking and feeling when they interact with your company brand.

During this phase, it’s important to identify exactly who your target audience is, and how they will be best served by your products or services. In order to do this, you’ll need to collect and analyze a significant amount of data about your customers and potential customers.

Identify the characteristics of your ideal target audience member using the data you’ve collected, and create a generic persona of your ideal customer. Then you should try and relate to the journey which a potential customer will take from being interested in your product to actually making a purchase.

At this time, it will also be beneficial to begin thinking about developing content that will appeal to potential customers and satisfy a need or desire that they have.

Content Creation

The creation of high-quality content is critical to the success of Internet marketing in Michigan. Now is the time to give serious consideration to how you will create appealing content, who in your organization will be responsible for content creation, and what that content might be. You’ll need to develop a formal plan for marketing your content so that it will effectively reach your target audience.

Make sure you take advantage of the different types of content which can be effective, including visual content, curated content, and long and short-form content. If at all possible, you should incorporate storytelling into your overall strategy, because this has been shown to connect with audiences better than almost any other strategy.

It’s also worthwhile to consider the creation of a resource library that your customers can access on their own, without your intervention.

Channel Promotions

In order for your content to make maximum impact with your target audience, you’ll need to decide how to distribute that content most effectively. This will include identifying exactly which channels to use, which social media platforms to include in your efforts, and how you will make use of each of these possibilities.

To maximize your reach, you want to use organic searches as well as paid advertising, and you want to make use of earned, shared, and owned media so that you can have the best possible coverage with your audience.

By making the most of all different media types available to you, you’ll have the best chance for your message to reach a huge portion of your target audience. Search marketing is a major asset in this area, even if it’s constantly shifting and changing in usage.

If you can develop shareable content, that will effectively increase the power of your advertising, because it will enlist the aid of a number of users to promote your content on your behalf.

When users discover content which appeals to them, they literally have the power to make it go viral on the Internet and have it seen by millions of others. Consider the role of email marketing in your overall strategy, because whether you love it or hate it, it can still be very effective at reaching a great number of potential customers.

Check-back Analysis

In this phase of Internet marketing, you will be evaluating the success or failure of your most recent digital marketing campaign. At this time, it becomes appropriate to ask whether or not you have met the goals you established originally when devising your campaign.

If you should determine that the campaign has fallen short of expectations, it may be necessary to tweak your approach or to modify it altogether. One part of this may be to assess whether or not the campaign has remained true to your business model and brand.

If you established some key performance indicators at the outset, now is the time to assess how those KPIs have performed. There are also a number of tests you can use in order to gauge the success of your internet marketing, for instance, split testing and page speeds, but all of these should help determine what your ROI was for your marketing campaign.

Based on your analysis of the campaign, you can make adjustments for your next marketing campaign, or if necessary, you can take a completely different approach next time.

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The Ultimate Guide For Optimizing Franchise Local SEO

One of the most effective strategies for franchise SEO to reach local customers and increase traffic to both a storefront and a website is by using local SEO.

To make the best use of local SEO for a franchise, it would be necessary to optimize a website so as to cause it to appear in search results for those searches which are based on a location, for example, “pizza shops in Buffalo, NY”.

The difference between standard search engine optimization (SEO) and local SEO is that the latter helps you to target customers who are seeking products or services in your immediate area.

Some of the strategies involved in local SEO include incorporating geographic keywords throughout your content, using meta-descriptions and title tags, including various location details on your website, and featuring reviews and testimonials which are specific to your location.

Franchise owners already enjoy all the benefits of having an established brand to support them, and when coupled with local SEO, it can be ideal for helping potential customers to find your specific business. Given the fact that franchises are normally established on the basis of a well-known brand, customers will already be comfortable with visiting any new location because they know what to expect.

But in order for that to work, they have to realize that a specific franchise is situated in their immediate neighborhood, so they can patronize that business and make a purchase. In short, local franchise SEO is an absolute must for reaching customers in your area and increasing your sales volume.

Here are some of the best strategies to use in order to be most effective with local SEO.

List your Locations in Google Maps

One of the best ways to locate any storefront in modern times is to search for it in Google. That’s because the search engine offers a map of options and provides users with GPS directions so they can quickly navigate to the specific location they want.

If your business locations don’t appear in Google Maps results, it will be essential that you get them registered in Google My Business.

It’s very easy to register for the service simply by going to their website and following some clear instructions. Once you have your account created, your business will be featured on Google Maps, and that will allow users to find all of your locations by using the search engine and also to have directions on how to get to your specific location.

List Franchise Locations in Yelp

Yelp happens to be one of the most trusted review sites used by consumers today, and many people use it to look for businesses and to decide which one will fit their needs best. Users frequently submit photos and reviews of these businesses, and that all goes into the decision-making process for any new potential customer.

It will generally also carry the business hours, some contact information, and a number of other details such as available products and services, and in the case of restaurants, menus might also be included.

You will definitely be missing out on some potential customers if you don’t list your franchises in Yelp, and many Internet searchers are already in your area looking for products and services that you might provide. If you have a Yelp page for each of your locations, that will allow users to evaluate each specific location and choose the one closest to them.

Reviewers will also be able to see exactly what it was that other customers found positive and negative about a specific location of your franchise, and they’ll also be able to see photos of your business, and possibly of the products and services you offer.

Use Location-based Keywords in your Content

Another great way to increase your visibility on local searches is to add location-based keywords on your website pages. As an example, if your franchise is a restaurant in Buffalo, NY, you should include phrases like “restaurant in Buffalo, NY”, or “Buffalo restaurants near me”.

It’s also a good idea to reference local landmarks and tourist destinations in your area. This will help gain visibility in search results for your business because shoppers will trust search engines when they’re looking to find some product or service in a short period of time. It is a known fact that nearly 80% of all local searches convert into actual sales.

Use Consistent Branding for Franchise SEO

Make sure to stick with established branding logos, colors, and other identifying characteristics, because if you don’t, you might easily confuse customers and hinder them from choosing your location.

Branding is very important because it helps reinforce the positive business characteristics of a specific brand in the minds of consumers. Wherever possible, make sure you reinforce the look and feel of your brand, so that potential customers will feel comfortable about choosing your specific location.

Encourage Customers to Provide Reviews

Online reviews can be extremely powerful in persuading potential customers to make a decision about a specific location. In fact, 84% of all consumers have as much faith in online reviews as they do in any kind of personal recommendation.

If your business doesn’t have any reviews posted, you’ll be missing out on a great opportunity to persuade potential customers to choose your location. If you’re completely lacking in any kind of reviews on your website, it might also cause potential customers to wonder why.

Reviews can go a long way toward giving local customers an opportunity to find out what others have thought of your products, services, and your specific location. Online reviews can also contribute heavily toward causing your business to rank higher on search engine result pages displayed to Internet users.

That’s why any successful franchise SEO strategy should always include some form of review management, one aspect of which will be to encourage customers to leave reviews.

Another important component of review management will be to reach out to customers who have left positive reviews and thank them and respond to any negative reviews in an effort to overcome issues a previous customer might have had with your products or services. Handling customer reviews effectively can be a very positive strategy for increasing your appeal to local customers.

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How Our Michigan SEO Company Is Preparing For The Upcoming Google Update

Most people who have any familiarity with SEO at all are aware that it can be broken down into me two major areas of concern, being on-page and off-page, at least in our experience as a Michigan SEO Company.

Off-page SEO refers to using backlinks and all the strategies incorporated for trying to increase traffic by the usage of such backlinks. On-page SEO traditionally gets a lot more attention from experts who are trying to improve your search engine rankings, and who are trying to improve user experience.

In recent years, Google has been paying more attention to the performance of a website, after many years of focusing on the type of content which was provided on sites. In 2018 for example, Google began penalizing website owners for slow-loading performance, correctly assuming that visitors to such websites would have poor user experiences, and would not wait around for all the graphics and other content to load.

In 2020, Google made the announcement that it would be updating its core algorithm to include more evaluations of performance around May of 2021, all of which would also theoretically increase user experience. The reason so much attention is being paid to user experience is that it’s one of the critical factors in determining how useful and how valuable any website is found to be by a visitor.

No matter how good the content is, if it loads slowly and degrades the user experience, it will not be deemed to be of high value to a user, and will be accordingly ranked lower in search engine rankings.

Performance is thus a key factor in user experience, and Google is attempting to improve user experience by adding these updates to its core algorithm.

The Google Announcement

In its initial announcement, Google indicated that Core Web Vitals ranking signals will be included in its current matrix of signals which are associated with user experience, safe browsing, HTTPS security, mobile-friendliness, and the detection of intrusive interstitials.

High-quality content will still be strongly valued, but in cases where several websites all have high-quality content, those sites which have a better page experience will be ranked more highly.

A couple of assumptions can be gained from this announcement, the first of which is that if your niche happens to be flooded with all kinds of great content, it will be absolutely vital for you to provide your users with a great page experience so that yours will be the site ranked higher.

The second assumption is that it would be a mistake to overlook the importance of having great content because even if your page experience is fantastic, that alone won’t be enough to beat out your rivals.

Without having both high-quality content and great page performance, you can expect to be left in the dust by your competitors.

What does Core Web Vitals mean?

The first component of Core Web Vitals (CWV) is loading performance, and this of course refers to how long it takes for the biggest element on any page to be fully loaded in. This is what Google refers to as the Largest Contentful Paint (LCP).

Google is expecting that at least 75% of all pages you have to load will be capable of loading their largest components in 2 and a half seconds or less. A page that takes more than four seconds to load will be given a low LCP score, and that will probably be enough to drag down your overall good ranking.

The next element in CWV is webpage interactive responsiveness, and by this Google means how long it takes your website to react whenever a particular user clicks on a button or a link or somehow interacts with elements on your webpage. Google refers to this as First Input Delay (FID), and in order to get a good FID score, your site will need to have at least 75% of all pages being responsive in less than 100 milliseconds.

The third component of CWV is page stability, and this measures how stable your webpage is during the loading process. As an example, if your webpage should start to load and then undergo expansion to make room for some other component, you could end up with a low page stability score if this happens very abruptly, or if it happens late in the loading process.

This is referred to by Google as Cumulative Layout Shift (CLS), and it does not include situations where page shift might be extended. Such instances occur when a person clicks on a heading to expand any text which might be just below it. In this situation as well, Google expects to see at least 75% of your pages meet the prescribed standard, which is a pre-computed measurement it has defined.

Steps our Michigan SEO company has taken

Since Google has announced that it will provide six months’ notice before implementing these new standards, it would behoove all companies whose focus is SEO to take these into account and prepare for the change.

Our Michigan SEO company has already taken steps to accomplish this, by conducting a thorough self-evaluation of our processes and we suggest you do that as well:

First of all, we have accessed our Chrome user experience, so that we can have a general idea of what any typical user to our site might encounter.

After this, we have assessed our PageSpeed Insights, which has given us very useful information about load times, and about the loading process in general. There is also a great deal of information that is available on your Google Search Console, which can be used to improve user page experience and site performance in general.

Any SEO company which fails to take action and prepare for the coming update is likely to lose its edge and become less effective in applying SEO principles to client websites. A word to the wise would be to take the Google announcement to heart, and not wait until the 6-month notification is issued because by then it will be too late to make any significant changes in your process.

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How To Craft A Winning Google My Business Listing

If you haven’t yet created a strong web presence for your business by using a Google My Business listing, you are almost certainly missing out on a great deal of business that could be coming your way. Not only that, but it’s likely that your competitors are siphoning away some of your potential business because they do have a Google My Business (GMB) listing.

There’s no doubt about how effective this listing can be at presenting your company to hordes of customers, but the trick is to produce a really good listing, so you can maximize its value and effectiveness.

Here’s what you should do to produce a killer Google My Business listing, and blow away the competition.

Create an Account 

The first step, as with almost everything else online, is to create an account for your business. If your business pops up already when you enter the business name, you’ll just have to claim that business as your own. If your business does not appear when you search for it, you’ll have to create a new business account.

Then you’ll need to verify that you are the owner of the business, and Google will generally do this via post mail. In some cases, Google will actually allow you to verify over the phone or via email, but you should expect to accomplish verification through the postal service.

Assuming this is the case, it will take a couple of weeks for this to be accomplished, so make sure you give yourself enough time when you’re looking to get listed.

Choose a Business Category 

Once Google has verified that you are the owner of a business, you’ll be asked to specify a primary category for your business, with up to nine secondary categories, if you choose. There are nearly 4,000 categories to choose from, so take your time and ensure that the ones you’ve selected accurately reflect the nature of your business.

It is especially important that you choose an accurate primary category since this is the one that will determine whether or not your business gets displayed in response to a user search.

Keep in mind that the more specific you are, the fewer competitors you’ll have when it comes to user searches.

Add some Photos and Videos of your Business 

It will be worth your while to provide users with a kind of mini-tour of your business, so they can see what you’re all about, and so you won’t be a black box of mystery to them. The more confidence a searcher has in your business, the more likely it is they will choose you to work with.

Upload some photos of your behind-the-scenes operation, your employees, and the products or services you specialize in. It might be helpful for you to imagine yourself as a potential customer for your business, and think about what you’d like to see from a business providing these particular kinds of goods and services.

Bear in mind that whatever photos or videos you do upload should be clear, high-resolution, and not just any old images you happen to have. You may not get a second chance to make a good first impression, so make sure you put your best foot forward in any media depicting your business.

Supply all the Basic Info 

Obviously, it will be important to supply the address and phone number of your business, but make sure that when you enter this information, it agrees with any other listings you have which contain the same data. For instance, your website, social media listings, and other places should all contain the exact same data as your Google My Business listing.

When supplying phone numbers, make sure that the area code is a local one, so you don’t confuse customers who are looking for a local business. If you give them a reason to be confused, they may simply abandon the attempt to contact you.

When describing your business, you’ll have room to use 750 words, so make that description appealing and accurate. In many cases, this description can be the clincher when an Internet searcher is trying to decide between candidates, so take your time and write a good description. In this same area, you’ll be able to provide the URL to your website, so make sure this is accurate and functional.

Monitor Customer Reviews 

Your customer reviews don’t necessarily have to come from Google, because Google will canvass other sites to find reviews of your company. But it does mean that you should prompt users to write a review of your service or products because that will encourage others to try you.

If you find that some of those reviews are negative, you should reach out to the authors and find out what their concerns are. In any case, being responsive to user reviews will show that you care and that you’re interested in improving your service or products.

When someone writes a good review, you should take the time to thank them, and that will reflect well on you also. Never trash someone’s customer review, and don’t allow yourself to be drawn into an online dispute with a customer.

Include Incentives with your Google My Business Listing 

You will also have the option of adding posts to your GMB listing, and one category of these posts will be Offers.

Make customers aware of any discounts or special deals that you’re currently offering because these can often make the difference for a customer who’s having a hard time deciding on which company to choose.

You may also want to include some special pushbuttons which serve as calls-to-action, directing users to your landing page, or prompting them to provide their email address in exchange for some perk you’re offering. Google provides you with a method for monitoring user engagement with your offers, so you’ll know which ones are effective and which are not.

By including all these aspects of your business in your GMB listing, you should get a leg up on the competition, and help your business grow by appealing to more local customers.

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How To Develop A Killer Content Strategy For 2021

It really is not possible to overrate the importance of developing a content strategy that will attract visitors to your website, and help you achieve the kind of success you’re looking for.

In order to have a really good content strategy, you will either need to be a very good writer, or you will need to be proficient at making videos or podcasts.

Whether you’re writing or preparing video content, you should try to stick to topics that you’re passionate about or which you’re knowledgeable about, because that will come through in your content. If you don’t thoroughly understand a topic that you are going to be writing or preparing videos for, there are endless sources on the Internet available to help you fill in the gaps in your knowledge.

When you couple your excellent content strategy with patience and persistence, there will be no stopping you when it comes to drawing in all kinds of new visitors to your website.

Establish your Goals

When you begin to write a new blog, you should always have a strong motivation for preparing the content for this particular topic.

It might be self-promotion, establishing yourself as an authority in your field, trying to earn money, or simply engaging in an enjoyable hobby. All of these are perfectly valid motivations, and the degree to which you are attached to any one of them will be the driving force in how successful your next blog is.

Besides motivation, you’ll need to establish some goals, because it will be much easier to reach those objectives once you have identified exactly what they are, and then prepare a roadmap for how to get there. Probably the two most important measurements for the success of a blog are the number of subscribers and the number of daily visits.

While there are other metrics that are also important, e.g. average time on site, page views per visit, and bounce rate, the two metrics regarding the number of daily visits and subscribers are probably most crucial for bloggers.

Once you establish your goals, make sure to measure them using Google Analytics, and you should also establish interim milestones for two-month or three-month periods to make sure you’re on target for achieving your goals. If you find that you’re falling short, you may need to take some kind of action to pick up the pace.

Define your Target Market 

Your target market will consist of those people who are most likely to purchase your product or service, and it’s very important that you identify exactly who that group will be.

In order to do that, you will have to analyze your supply and demand. In terms of demand, make sure that before you start writing, you already know that there are people who are searching for the topic you intend to write about.

Acquaint yourself with the terms people normally use when they’re searching for your content, so you can use these terms to match up with their searches. If you determine that there is not much search activity for the topic you’re going to write about, you might want to find an alternative topic, because you probably won’t generate much traffic, even with a really well-written piece of content.

Next, you’ll need to analyze the supply side. To do this, you’ll need to research the best blogs in your particular industry, to see what kind of content they are offering. Take note of how long these articles are, and how well structured they are. Consider whether they offer personal opinions or provide objective data to readers, and note what kind of images are used in the content.

You should also observe how these successful blogs make use of videos, images, and tables, and whether they link to external websites or other content.

Choose your Products 

When you’re writing a blog, the product is actually the content you’re preparing. The way to attract your target audience is to offer them something which is different from all other blogs on the Internet.

In terms of content length, some experts argue that the most appealing blogs are those written no longer than 500 words, but there is just as much evidence to support the fact that longer blogs in the range of 1500 to 3000 words are just as successful.

There are also a number of “gurus” who insist that to have a really successful following for your blog, you have to crank out content every day of the week. The truth is, you shouldn’t be writing a blog just for the sake of writing and producing content.

The better approach is probably to recognize that quality supersedes quantity, and if you can actually write two or three really good articles each week, you’ll be doing fine.

Develop a Plan 

One really good habit you should get into is to establish an editorial calendar and stick to it because this is more likely to lead to a successful content strategy than simply writing whenever you have the urge.

You should prepare a monthly plan about those topics you intend to write about, and even develop a theme for each month, with blogs that support that theme.

When you’ve established a plan for the month, it will be easier to find topics to write about that will support your theme and emphasize it more fully. It will be a good habit to spend some time every day reading articles that might serve as background material for the blogs you intend to write.

You might also want to subscribe to various newsletters which will be fertile ground for new ideas and new material that you can include in your blogs.

Promote your Blog 

The final component for developing a really killer strategy is to promote your blog in any way available to you. In fact, this would be a good time to invoke the Pareto Principle whereby you would spend 20% of your time actually preparing the articles, but then spend 80% of your time promoting what you’ve written.

Especially if you’re a new blogger, it will be important to promote your blog at every opportunity. There are lots of ways you can do that, including promotion through groups and forums on various social platforms, and contacting social influencers who might attract interest to your blog posts.

Once you get going, you will undoubtedly come across all kinds of ways that you can promote your blog and attract more followers.

With all these components in mind, you will then have developed your own killer strategy content strategy for 2021.

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Aqaba’s Social Media Best Practices For Small Businesses

When it comes to social media best practices, you might get several different versions, depending on whom you ask. That’s because there are a few practices that have been shown to produce the most desirable results, and those are the ones you should make sure to adopt in your own social media practices. Below you’ll find a listing of the social media best practices according to Aqaba, one of Michigan’s acknowledged leaders in social media advertising.

Have Clearly Defined Goals 

If you don’t start out with some definite goals, you’ll never know if you’ve achieved anything. It’s the same as traveling without a destination in mind – if you don’t have a destination, you’ll never know when you’ve arrived. List your social media goals right at the outset, and then you’ll have something to refer back to, so you can gauge your progress.

Know your Audience

It can take a while, but it’s well worth the time investment to gain a thorough understanding of your target audience. When you know their wants and needs, their pain points, and their perspective about themselves, you’ll know exactly what to address in your message to them. It makes a world of difference when you know what matters most to your audience because that’s what you can emphasize the most when you reach out to them.

Check Out the Competition

You should always keep tabs on what your competition is up to. They may have come up with some really innovative ideas that you can ‘borrow’ and incorporate into your own social media approach. Pay particular attention to anything they might be doing which has become really popular because that’s an indication that it has resonated strongly with the same target audience you’re trying to reach. For instance, if they’re pricing their products much lower than you are, that may be something you need to address in your marketing and advertising efforts.

Offer Discounts and Giveaways 

Nothing entices a user to participate or to buy more than the notion that they’re getting a great deal because it’s flattering. And of course, the discount or giveaway will probably be something they really need, want, or are willing to try out, so it also satisfies a desire they have. Once you get your product in the hands of many consumers, they’ll be able to appreciate the real value of your product, and they’ll be more willing to pay for it next time.

Post all sorts of User Generated Content

There are several good reasons to post user content, especially if you’ve got some really good feedback from customers. For one thing, it’s a solid testimonial offered by a fellow consumer, and that is always trusted more by other consumers, as opposed to any sales pitch you might offer. When you do post user content, you’ll be flattering the user who wrote it, and they might well come to establish a closer relationship with your brand, and demonstrate future loyalty. They could even become a good ambassador for your company, and start some good word-of-mouth advertising for you – free of charge.

Make Use of Polls and Surveys

For the most part, people enjoy taking part in polls and surveys, because they like being asked their opinion on issues. For you, there’s no better way to get direct information from your target audience, unless you were to interview them face-to-face. The information you gain from polls and surveys can be priceless, and it can help guide some of your marketing decisions in the future.

Respond Quickly and Regularly

Whenever you are sent a question or any post which calls for a response, you should make a point of responding to it, because it will show that you are a real person, rather than a cold, inhuman corporate presence. People much prefer dealing with other people, as opposed to large companies lacking human warmth. It will also show that you care about their feelings and the things that matter to them. In addition, you should post your responses as soon as possible, so that a user can see you’re paying attention, and that you’re interested in what they have to say. This is one of the best ways to foster increased engagement with your followers, so it’s an area you should cultivate to the biggest possible extent.

Use Video whenever Possible

You’ve probably seen or heard a number of statistics that point up just how effective video content can be in marketing. Those are not contrived statistics – they are real, and they are a strong indication that video should be used whenever and wherever possible in your social media marketing. In terms of promoting engagement with users alone, video is by far the most effective type of content on all social media platforms. It costs very little to produce your own video content, and if you lack the expertise, it’s worth your while to have something produced by professionals. The return you get will make it all worthwhile, and you’ll be wondering why you didn’t get involved with video content a long time ago.

Try different Types of Content

Even if you have found a particular type of content that works well for you, it would be in your best interests to experiment to some degree with other types of content as well. While your followers may really appreciate your weekly blog or some regular post that you make, there’s no guarantee that this kind of popularity will continue indefinitely. It won’t hurt to try some different types of content so that you can have several possible ways of communicating with your followers. You can change up any aspect of your posts to see what resonates better with your audience – your color palette, your fonts, gif usage, video, infographics, etc. You may strike gold with one of these, and have something that makes a really strong connection with your audience.

The post Aqaba’s Social Media Best Practices For Small Businesses appeared first on Aqaba Technologies.

Our Professional SEO Company Checklist For E-commerce Stores

We know as a Professional SEO Company that there’s no question that search engine optimization is crucial for any startup online store, primarily because the better your website ranks, the more customers will be able to patronize the store and make purchases.

To drive more traffic to your new online store, you’ll have to understand the principles involved in optimizing your website. Here is our Professional SEO Company’s checklist of the most important steps you should take to ensure that a good volume of traffic reaches your new store, to get you off on the right foot.

Use Plug-ins

There are literally endless numbers of extensions and plug-ins now available, and many of these are practical tools that can really help to grow your store. As an example, you can use Yoast SEO, which is one of the most useful plug-ins on the market for search engine optimization. Plug-ins will help you pick a primary keyword for each page, and then will recommend how to best use it on that page. There are other useful plug-ins such as Broken Link Checker, which identifies any links you might have that are broken, and MonsterInsights, which will help you track any increase in site traffic.

Choose an SEO-friendly theme

If you happen to have a WordPress website, you’ll have an advantage over many other online stores because search engines tend to favor WordPress as a content manager. It also comes with many SEO principles built right into its structure, so that you can take advantage of these without really even having to do anything on your own. One thing you can do to reinforce the built-in SEO functionality is to choose a WordPress theme that has a strong SEO influence.

Use Breadcrumbs wherever possible

Breadcrumbs are links situated at the upper part of a product web page, and they help visitors to your site by informing them which page they’re on, and what they have previously reviewed before coming to this page. This will make it much easier for your site visitors to navigate back to any previous category they have browsed. Some of the major search engines (and our Michigan-based Professional SEO Company Aqaba Technologies) also use breadcrumb links and consider them to be valuable components of web pages.

Don’t Use long URLs

It’s a good idea to enable your WordPress permalinks because this will allow you to use more descriptive keywords, rather than any kind of long and confusing product ID as part of your URL. This will also make it much easier for your website visitors to understand your URL easily, and to remember it without any difficulty. It will additionally make it easier for search engines to interpret your URL, so you don’t lose any ranking points for something like this.

Avoid too Similar Content

Search engines do not think highly of duplicate content, and some of them will even go so far as to remove your blog posts or your products from search results if your web pages are too similar to existing content online. There are many tools you can use to check whether your content is similar to other material online. Once you’ve done this, you can either change your content to make it more unique, or you can come up with a plan for bringing duplicate content pages together. One of the easiest things you can do will be to redirect the URLs to the page which has the best ranking, the most internal links, and the most organic traffic. That will allow you to take advantage of the most highly ranked page, and avoid running afoul of the search engines.

Write unique Product Descriptions and Meta Descriptions

Even if your product descriptions tend to be relatively short, it’s still a good idea to make sure they’re well written and that they include the appropriate keywords naturally. Avoid the temptation to simply reproduce the manufacturer’s product description, because this is likely to result in a lower ranking by the search engines. You should do the same for your web page descriptions, because these are always consulted by search engines, and it’s a good way to achieve a more favorable ranking.

Make sure your Website is Easy to Navigate

You should strive to make your website’s navigation as intuitive as possible because visitors to your site probably won’t have much patience if they get confused by your navigation scheme. Your main navigation must be very straightforward, and ideally, it should be placed at the footer of your site rather than on the main navigation bar. That will allow your users to still visit all the main pages of your site, but it will keep the main menu as simple as possible. It will also allow search bots to easily identify and locate all your web pages. By installing intuitive and uncluttered navigation, you’ll probably encourage users to stay on your site longer, and you’ll have a lower bounce rate, which will give you a better ranking.

Include Alt Descriptions on Images

Alt text can be extremely useful when used properly on your site’s images. One good example of this is when images don’t load for whatever reason, and the alt text will still appear to inform users about the image content. Alt text will boost your SEO, and it will also enable website visitors who may depend on a page reader to still have the capability of browsing your website. When you do make use of alt text, you should make a point of keeping your descriptions clear and pointed. It’s a good practice to incorporate keywords into your alt text, as long as they describe your images adequately, and don’t confuse the reader.

Optimize Page Titles

Most online stores feature individual products as well as categories of products on their web pages. Product pages will tend to focus on specific words, while pages setup for categories will be more general in nature, and use broader terms to describe categories. One way of optimizing your product and category pages is by using keywords. Make sure your page titles are easy to read and that they have a natural flow to them. By making descriptive page titles, you’ll make it easier for search engines to understand what a given page is all about, and you’ll also make things clearer for your site visitors.

The main thing we can recommend as a Professional SEO Company to keep in mind is making things easy for your target audience, and that should always be your first priority when incorporating SEO principles on your website.

The post Our Professional SEO Company Checklist For E-commerce Stores appeared first on Aqaba Technologies.

Internet Marketing Success Tips For The Holidays

Businesses’ internet marketing success given the holiday experience is going to be a bit different from now on: people are ditching live-in sprees and focusing more on picking gifts from e-commerce stores. According to Mashable, this online shopping trend is going to reign supreme, since all the big retailers will want to avoid crowded stores given the pandemic situation still in full force.

We also believe that curbside pickup, loads of logistics issues, QR offer codes galore, voice searches, and Instagram shops are going to be hot this year onwards, and that’s why these internet marketing success tips might be exactly what your business needs to take advantage of what customers want right now:

Reaching internet marketing success is not too far away, you just need to plan the next steps you want to take for your business, so you can have a profitable holiday season despite everything that has been going on. At our Michigan-based digital marketing agency Aqaba Technologies we can help you turn this into a reality, you just need to contact us so we can make it happen.

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