Sometimes we don’t know what web platforms our customers, or consumers of our information, like to visit to hear what’s going on in our industry.
The proverbial question of “how do I reach more people?” ails many business owners.
The answer: Be everywhere you can possibly be, frequently. Omnipotence.
In my search for ways to be in as many places as possible, with as little effort as possible, I came across IFTTT.com
By utilizing IFTTT, my plan is to share Posts, like this one, directly to Blogger (aka Blogspot), Twitter, and Tumblr via automating this website’s RSS feed. In fact this is the first post created since implementing IFTTT. So, you could say this is a dummy post to test the applets created at IFTTT.
I’m excited to see if this works!
If you found this post via one of the platforms above, toss me an email at info@stoneampseo.com! Cheers!
Google My Business allows business owners to share events and market products and services directly through Google Search and Google Maps by using Google Posts. These small cards appear on a choice position on the Google Search Results Page that your potential customers will use when searching for your business.
Why Should You Use Google My Business Posts?
Google posts are an excellent way for those looking to make it easier for their potential customers to find their business. While these are not suitable for all types of companies, they are so easy to set up, simplistic to use, and highly effective make them well worth the small amount of effort needed to give them a try.
FREE Advertising
Using Google My Business Posts to promote a business costs nothing. It’s almost like having a social media account, but the range is far broader and more comprehensive.
Posts provide that small incentive needed to make a click and a connection to your company. This allows them to learn more about the events, products, or services you are offering.
Easy to Manage From Anywhere
Because they are part of the Google My Business service, posts can be easily managed from the website or even from your mobile device when you are out and about.
Making the Most of Google My Business with Posts
Google has made every effort to emphasize the importance of Google My Business and Google My Business Posts. This means your posts will show up on Google+, Google Maps, and Google Search Results. They are intended to make it easy for customers to learn more about you no matter what devices they are using to find you.
When you create a post, it will appear in the Google SERPs or the Google Maps window for customers searching for your business. They will pop up in the knowledge graph located on the right side of the page. The same is true in mobile or desktop searches.
Creating a GMB Post
If you will take advantage of this effective means of marketing your brand, there are some things to know. First, simply log into the Google My Business dashboard and follow the link on the left side of the screen to the “posts” section.
Next, you will see a screen open that allows you to select from a few different types of posts that you can use.
Different Google My Business Posts You Can Create
Google provides versatility and improved functionality for the different types of posts you will need to effectively market your business.
Offers
Offer posts are some of the best because they can announce a special offer that will expire at some given time. Here you can set a start date, an ending date, a headline, limitations (such as “one per customer”), and a description of the offer. The post will then stay posted throughout the given period keeping your customers and potential customers aware of the deals you provide.
What’s New! – Updates
You can create individual update posts on your Google My Business page to keep your audience abreast of the latest happening in your business. This can include helpful information that your customer would like to know about. Did you hire a new hairdresser with a special knack for the Brazilian Blowout? Do you open a new location on Baker St.? Are you offering the latest models of power tools? This is something your customers would like to know about, and you can tell them all about it with Google Update Posts.
Add Events
Events are an excellent tool for a wide range of marketing strategies, and you can announce them with a Google My Business Post. This could be the opening of a new location, a particular VIP shopping hour, an anniversary celebration, the launch of a new product, sneak previews, and so much more. You will have titles and date range options for this type of post. You will even be able to choose the times of day the post is visible.
Add Product
This is a perfect way to keep your customers aware of the wares you offer at your locations. You can include a detailed description and profile of each item you offer, including details like prices and categories. Make sure that you follow each one up with a call to action.
If you include a URL as a call to action for the products you offer, be sure to apply UTM tracking. This will allow Google Analytics to track your clicks, and they can be recorded as direct traffic.
Crafting the Perfect Google My Business Post
There are few things to keep in mind when crafting the most effective post. The first thing to know is that your posts can only contain 1,500 characters. So, keeping your message concise is rule No. 1.
Furthermore., your posts will look a little different if viewed on a mobile device or a desktop. This means that some mobile devices will cut off a small portion of text in some situations. The best way to compensate for this is to use those first 10 to 20 words to pack an engaging punch.
After understanding the two essential parameters, creating impactful posts that will engage your audience is simple. Our final section will cover some of the most critical hints to accomplishing this minor miracle. Keep in mind that many of the essential “do’s” and “don’ts” you will find here can be adapted to suit the needs of your business and marketing directions.
Do’s
Steal Good Ideas
If you have seen a competitor or another business with an excellent posting plan, borrow it. Take the elements that they use and make them your own.
Use Great Photography
It sounds obvious, but the importance of good photography can’t be underestimated. Explicit, sharp imagery will make a more significant impact on your audience and provide a clear depiction of your business and operations.
Image format — JPG or PNG format
Minimum size — 720px wide by 540px tall
Plan High-Impact Headlines
Write an inspiring headline that propels your audience to take action. Something like “Get a Free Doughnut” provides an incentive for a specific action. This can be a great way to encourage more foot traffic. Because this section has a limited number of characters that can be used, it will be essential to concentrate your message into a short statement that is easily understood.
Keep Descriptions Short and Sweet
Keep the descriptions you will include in your posts as short as possible as well. You only have 1,500 characters to use, but according to Google best practices, only the first 80 characters matter, as these are the only ones that show up in the SERPS. The best practice is to keep the word count to 100 – 130 words.
Clear Calls to Action
Once more, it is important to emphasize the importance of using clear calls to action in your posts and descriptions. You will find that you will get plenty of practice in this vital practice because of the sheer number of posts and illustrations that will have to be made.
Don’ts
Avoid Confusing Terminology
Don’t include words that only a select few will understand; this information is for the general public, even many potential customers who are not in your niche just yet. Be Clear!
Avoid Excessive All-Caps and Exclamation Marks
Google best practices discourage the use of all exclamation points and all-caps messages. Make sure your descriptions and headlines are neat and correctly punctuated.
Avoid More Than One Theme in a Post
Understand that these posts will be designated a limited amount of attention from their target audience, so it is essential to keep your posts simple. Don’t cram too much information even if you can conceivably do so in very few words. Besides, you will be able to publish several posts simultaneously, so make sure you take full advantage of the various options you have.
Avoid Too Many Exclusions
If you have posted a deal or special offer, never include more than two or MAYBE three exclusions on the post. If you must write three or more exclusions, it is better just to write “Restrictions May Apply.”
Final Notes on Google My Business Posts
In the end, Google My Business is an essential component of any local SEO or marketing campaign. The advent of Google My Business Posts has allowed local marketers much more versatility and functionality to use this favorable platform. Greater brand awareness, foot traffic, and profitability can be found by carefully applying the tips and pointers applied above.
Tips to Gain More Clients Using Alignable – A Kansas City SEO Perspective
Tips to Gain Clients Using Alignable
Alignable is a great network with millions of different connections across a wide variety of local communities. It is an established and free network where small businesses can build trusted relationships with each other and generate their referrals. Members typically utilize the power of this network to get different answers to questions they may have, to connect with other members of their local business community, and even for increasing the brand awareness of their business.
Regardless, whether you’re a Graphic Designer, Hair Stylist, or Local SEO Expert, the business relationships that can be created and nurtured through Alignable are extremely valuable.
Let’s Get Started Creating More Clients Online Using Alignable!
Steps To Begin Building Relationships on Alignable
Create Your Profile.
When you initially sign up for Alignable, you are going to be asked to create a profile. This is the very first thing that people are going to be able to see when it comes to your business. Any completed profile is going to get much more connections and hits than a profile that isn’t complete. Therefore, you will want to be sure to complete your profile by including a variety of things such as a photo, description, and more.
2. Establish Your Network.
Once you have fully completed your profile, you will then want to try to establish your network. When people ultimately view your profile, you want to see whom they’ve connected with, who trusts you, and whom you trust. Therefore, you will be able to establish a network by which you can further expand upon.
You can start by simply connecting with various people that you might already know within your tight-knit professional network. After, you can begin to establish other relationships beyond this circle. You want to start with people that you are actively engaged with on a regular basis at first because these are going to be the people that are much more likely going to trust you, recommend you, and are much more credible than someone that doesn’t know you as well.
3. Grow Your Network.
Once you have set up a profile and begun to make your initial connections through establishing your network, your next task will be to grow your network. You will want to be sure that you are doing it the right way and not spamming people left and right. You will be able to connect with businesses that you might like to meet, network with, and generate referral opportunities that you might have available.
It is important to understand that you are not on the network to simply sell to each other. This spamming is not appropriate on the network, and anyone that does it will have their profile completely shut down. This network was established to help each other grow our businesses through the power of networking and referrals. For this reason, you should be thinking about different types of businesses that you might want to connect with on the network.
For instance, if you find that you might share a common target market or ideal customer group with another kind of business in your local area, you might think about ways in which you can generate more business for each other such as with a co-promotion or something else. Whatever the reason you are going to be contacting the other businesses, you will want to leverage the network to your advantage. Everyone in the network joined to help grow their businesses. Therefore, there is no reason to be timid.
How Should You Use Alignable?
The ultimate goal for using a network-based service like Alignable would be to build strong relationships with various fellow business owners that might share the same kind of target market as your own.
Along with this, you can generate and develop relationships that can help you unlock a lot of access to the information you might need, resources that can help, or even to find opportunities to grow your business. There are two different elements to being able to build and achieve success. The two are building relationships and unlocking access to these relationships.
Building Professional Relationships.
Your network ultimately consists of a variety of levels of relationships. You likely have your core, connections, and a following. Therefore, you want to be sure that your network contains all three of these kinds of relationships because they all work together to form a good base for building your business.
Your core is full of the relationships that trust each other the most. These are the people that you can typically turn to on a dime and ask them questions while expecting answers and even going to them for regular referrals. Whereas, you will also want to have people that are your connections that are in your relationship group as well. These are people that you are either just getting to know or perhaps they are people that you have known for years that you can readily turn to if you have specific questions but are also people that you want to keep informed about the ongoings of your business. This is a good group to continually reach out to when you have different sorts of questions while running your business, finding various services you might be able to use, or advice on various local issues that you are facing.
Knowledge Sharing with Professionals
The following is the group that you are looking to meet or even learn from. These are the people that have not yet entered your network but are people that you might want to get into your network. These are people that you have already added but have not yet added you back. The service will provide you with different kinds of opportunities involving them and let you know what they are up to on a regular basis.
With Alignable, you will be able to head on over to the Ask and Learn tab which will show you a forum where you can post a question to a variety of people that are on the website. This forum will include everyone that follows a variety of topics such as Sales, Marketing, or even Operations. It will also include those that are already established inside of your network, along with different businesses that are in your local area. That way, you will be able to get answers to questions that you might have on your mind, and when answers do come, you should be able to make a much more informed decision. The best part about this is the ability to pick an audience and get answers from people that you deem most trustworthy to answer them.
The entire service is extremely user-friendly, and you will be able to grow your business through its very active community. Regardless of what business you are looking to boost sales of or get more clients with, you should be able to see some great results by investing in this kind of network. The amount of effort you put into it is the kind of results you can expect to get out of it. Alignable is something that can be very powerful if you implement the right kinds of strategies and leverage it the right way in your business. You want to take this kind of network seriously because it can be a huge differentiator in your business and provide your business with some serious results.
A Great Tool to Add to Your Marketing Arsenal
While this kind of network should be utilized in conjunction with other marketing methods, by using it, you should be able to generate some newer business connections that will allow your other marketing efforts to be more fruitful. After all, you are going to be generating a good amount of interest from other business owners that are looking to do the same thing with their businesses. Thus, by connecting with business owners with the same goals and intentions in mind, you might be able to come up with different ways in which you can help each other achieve them. Working together with different business owners and seeing what can be done is one of the great things about this kind of network.
Referrals Build Businesses
Overall, there are a lot of different ways in which you can leverage Alignable to make a lot of connections and generate more clients than ever before. The biggest way to leverage this kind of network to get more clients is going to come through the power of referrals. The entire goal of this kind of network is to bring like-minded business owners with similar goals to come together and think about ways they can help each other. The truth is, a lot of businesses consider themselves competitors when in fact they are far from it.
A lot of businesses and industries that you might not even consider related serve the same exact target market, and it only makes sense to come up with different strategies to effectively target these markets through co-promotional strategies or whatever else. This kind of network can provide a significant boost to anyone that is looking to broaden their scope and generate more sales in their business.
Domain Authority is the toughness of your online site, determined by moz.com on a scale of 1 to 100. 100 is the best as in being a giant like google.com or facebook.com.
Here’s the definition from moz.com:
Domain Authority is a score (on a 100-point scale) developed by Moz that predicts how well a website will rank on search engines. Use Domain Authority when comparing one site to another or tracking the “strength” of your website over time. source: moz.com
What do SEO Experts say?
Domain Authority, or DA, isn’t a metric that can grow overnight. It takes a combination of good SEO techniques, proper inner linking, backlinking, and a lot of patience!
Neil Patel states it nicely this way:
At the most basic level, to have a good link profile, you have to do two things:
Get rid of bad links.
Gain good links.
Let’s deal with the first one — getting rid of bad links. This is pretty straightforward. You request the removal of these links, and if that fails, you disavow them. Done. read more from Neil Patel
What is Trust Flow?
Trust is everything! We want our content to be considered a reliable source of information. We also want those linking to our content to be trustworthy, and we wish to be trustworthy for those we send links to. Being a good neighbor is crucial to the success of the online community. As we send quality links, we wish to receive quality links.
Trust Flow is a number predicting how trustworthy a page is based on how trustworthy sites tend to link to trustworthy neighbors. source: SearchEngineLand.com
What do Premier SEO Agencies say?
Our words: You either associate with the “In” crowd or you’re left wondering where the party is!!
It turns out, though, that trustworthy sites tend to link to trustworthy neighbours. Those neighbours also tend to link to trustworthy neighbours themselves. In fact – after lots of iterations – those outside the circle of trust are put in the cold. source: Majestic.com
Our Best SEO definition of Domain Authority and Trust Flow?
Stick around for awhile on the web, while you’re here to provide some solid information adding value to your reader’s lives. Make friends with other sites that have good friends and keep adding value at every opportunity! Being in the right crowd makes you trustworthy and gives you some authority on the topics you share.
Organic Traffic | Purchase SEO Consulting Services Today
Why is it so important to generate organic traffic to your business website?
Digital marketers and SEO professionals are always and relentlessly seeking unique and new ways of enhancing their customers’ online presence in addition to their websites’ position in Google search results, to generate organic traffic.
Estimating organic traffic isn’t the only means if you desire to quantify the success of your SEO campaign. There are various other facets of SEO success that are often overlooked by online marketers. Let us discuss what they are.
Great SERP positions aren’t enough!
Most online businesses estimate the success of the Search Engine Optimization efforts depending on the organic traffic their websites see.
The more visitors your site sees from organic, the more successful the Search Engine Optimization campaign is. But that isn’t an actual picture consistently.
Google search comprises results from PR and social media websites broadening the station of organic search. Moreover, the search engine algorithms of Google are exactly making it hard for SEO specialists to judge how the sites are analyzed by the algorithm and more complicated.
Even if you’re not in the top ranking, quality info can be still recognized by Google from your website and highlighted in the response box.
Although you may be ranking high, you can see a decline in click-through rate if your market competition gets its site content into the answer box. Hence, the demand for quality content that is excellent was never as vital as before.
Understand the real source of traffic
A popular e-commerce market, Groupon de-indexed its site for nearly 6 hours as a part of its experiment to measure the impact of deindexing on their direct and organic traffic. The company found that de-indexing has resulted in an almost 60% decrease in its direct traffic while organic traffic was virtually zero. If you prevent such fundamental issues as no-indexing and misattribution, you’re able to get your website more traffic than it’s credited. Therefore you should figure out the actual supply of traffic to your site.
Controlling your inbound links
Link building one of the most important things to do when you’re doing SEO. If you’re building links it’s important to have in mind that this work is time-consuming and sometimes very hard. To ease your work you can use this tool – Linkio.com which can be a huge time saver and also will automate your process and give you the exact link building game plan for any target website.
Smarter browsers can transfer organic traffic to direct channel
Real smart leading browsers including Google Chrome and Safari have gotten more sophisticated. They can quickly track your search history when you try to type in the search phrase and give you the next idea. If you click on the browser proposed link, you are technically bypassing organic search results and hence, this will be imputed as a direct channel.
You likely know how today’s advanced browsers quickly understand what you happen to be looking for even when having just typed half a word or phrase if you are a regular internet user. Significance, the traffic that you were considering before that was organic is now credited as direct traffic, and therefore, they mightn’t be a part of your Search Engine Optimization report. But before performed Search Engine Optimization still owns the credit for it!
What is more?
Hence, such leads are regarded as direct traffic. The truth is, Google can direct users straight to the in-program page in the search result circumventing the website.
Bottomline
There are many facets of organic and paid search channels that websites owners or Search Engine Optimization professionals have to consider today to obtain maximum clicks and conversions. You will find many other aspects that you have to contemplate measuring the real worth of your Search Engine Optimization campaign while organic traffic is still the essential characteristic of the Search Engine Optimization metric.
