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The Growing Importance of Content Marketing

According to a new study, over half of in-house marketing departments as well as independent agencies are planning content marketing.  That’s in addition to the companies and agencies already using this approach, which leaves a very small minority with no plans to do so. Here’s what it looks like when companies were questioned, “Does your company/do your clients have a defined content marketing strategy?”

Content 300x205 The Growing Importance of Content Marketing

Online content marketing takes a variety of forms, with email being the current favorite, and social media posting coming in a close second.   A vast majority of those companies currently using social media indicated an intention to increase their use of Facebook and Twitter posts for delivering content.

use 300x208 The Growing Importance of Content Marketing

Budgeted amounts for online content marketing currently aren’t very big, but the trend is growing, and it’s predicted that budgets will grow along with these trends.  Most brand marketers indicate they believe that content marketing is crucial to making an important connection with their customers on an emotional level, recognizing that brands are moving more and more into the publishing field.   Users connect content with the brand, so it’s important that delivery of content be thought through and deliberate, because it is fast becoming the voice of the brand.

Tips to Create the Content People Want

Online content needs to be something that the right people want to read, watch or listen to. If it doesn’t hold their interest, what good is it? These are some ways to create valuable, high quality content.

  • Keep promotion down
    Few things irritate people more than being advertised to. Posts need to be about relevant experiences and the expertise gained from it instead of simply pushing something. When the situation calls for it, tie the product in to the article, but don’t make it the focus of the piece.
  • Maintain focus
    A title indicates what a post is supposed to be about. When putting content together, adhere to this idea. Wandering off topic is a good way to ensure lost interest.
  • Topic Selection
    Take a look at what other people are saying. This will show which topics are popular and which wouldn’t work. Writing on similar subjects will ensure increased readership and shared links.
  • Presentation matters
    The look of content matters just as much as what it says. If the content involves longer pieces of writing like blog posts, include things like bullet points, a good layout and lists. This makes it easier for readers to find tidbits they may be looking for and helps prevent reading fatigue. Videos need to be of good quality, too. Although a high cost studio isn’t needed, the video should still look like some skill was put into it. Like a dish at a luxury restaurant, content presentation is just as vital as its flavor.
  • Current events
    Keep tabs on what’s going on with your topic. Researchers usually keep an eye out for new ideas and the latest events, rather than what’s happened years ago. Through discussing things that have happened in the news lately, a brand will be viewed as more cutting edge than they would have otherwise.
  • Personalize it
    Professionalism is very important, but what sells a reader on the piece is the personality involved in its creation. The more a reader relates to a brand, the more likely they are to do business with them. Personality is all about making that concept possible.

At Essential Services, we understand the importance of good, quality content as a component of successful online marketing efforts.  Talk to an SEO professional today to see how we can help you grow your business online.

 

Four Tips to Successful Content Marketing

Search engines are constantly changing their algorithms. Naturally, this adds to the challenge of internet marketing. It may be difficult to determine whether your efforts are causing more harm than good, but there are four ways to strengthen your marketing.

Pay attention to the audience
Because the audience determines what’s worth reading, pay attention to what’s most popular with them. Analytics is a good way to measure what’s working and what’s not. If your content isn’t up to par, look at what your competition is doing right. Learning from their results will help show you which content is successful. Readership will increase once you implement what you’ve learned.

Recognize content marketing resources
Although this form of marketing is less expensive than traditional avenues, it’s still beneficial to invest time and money to do it correctly. High quality content is the most important factor of the equation, and extra effort is needed to generate it. When people find compelling posts, the spread in exposure will result in positive returns.

Get involved with social media
Social media is an easy way to keep readers up to date about relevant content. It also offers them a simple way to share what captures their interest. Because checking these outlets has become a habit for many readers, new content naturally remains fresh in their minds. These forums also offer a place to start small. Once you learn about the ins and outs of a small network, you can move on to bigger avenues.

Post regularly
Your posting method and how often you do it shows just as much about your brand as the quality of content. Set up a posting schedule and plan ahead. However, things happen, and if there is a sizable gap in time between posts, let your readers know what happened. Allowing this peek into the workings of the company will add another layer to brand authenticity and let customers know that their interests are priority.

Through learning from persistent changes and implementing those lessons, internet marketing will pay off in huge ways.  Essential Services provides a range of online marketing solutions. 

Tips for Creating the Perfect Landing Page

If your ads are getting click-through results to your landing page, but you’re losing your potential customer’s interest at that point, it’s time to take a hard look at your page.  Your ad caught someone’s attention, and the sole purpose of your landing page is to encourage further action.  I can tell you the right page can make a difference, because we were able to boost one client’s conversion rate by over 10% in just six weeks.  If you’re interested in getting similar results, here are some tips I can offer you.

  • Copy, layout, and design need to be just right – these are the things that affect how your website performs.
  • Do you know just who your target audience is and what they are looking for?  Don’t try to be a one-size fits all; just identify the needs of your potential customers and let your landing page respond to those needs.
  • Be concise and specific – online audiences are fickle, and at most you have their attention for five seconds.  Forget the vague language.  Make those few seconds count – give your visitor a really good reason to stay around and learn more.  Here’s an example:  “Cut your maintenance time in half.”  That should grab someone’s attention.
  • Tell them why they should choose you instead of one of your competitors.  Testimonials and major clients can give you credibility and prove your reputation.
  • Interesting copy and pleasing design are critical.  People make immediate decisions based on appearance.  Have you ever walked out of a store without even checking out the merchandise because you didn’t like the looks of the store?  Similar snap judgments are made on websites, only much more quickly.

Remember, the point of your landing page is to provide an inviting reception for someone who has responded to your ad.  You got their attention with your ad; keep it with your landing page.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ways To Measure Online Marketing Success

Show me five companies and I will show you five different ways to measure marketing success. Don’t get me wrong, profit will always be the main objective, but how companies measure how that profit is obtained differs from company to company. From increasing links to increased sales, there are a few different ways to measure the success of an SEO marketing campaign.

Increased visibility is always an intriguing way to measure marketing success because of its importance in building a truly successful online marketing plan. All SEO and SEM marketing campaigns main goals should be increased brand visibility and increased website traffic. Any SEO company not providing these aspects should be immediately replaced.

Many companies believe increasing links are the end all be all when it comes to link building and SEM, with companies, usually larger ones, increasing their links regardless of where they sit. Their reasoning is quite simple, the more presence and visibility we have the more likely we are to be remembered by consumers.

An important part of today’s online marketing business is increased branding. This refers to the building up of ones company name which many companies believe in the single most important aspect to measure when determining SEO success. Over time, great branding can cover all your bases previously mentioned above under one big umbrella if executed correctly.

If your like most companies, increased sales will most likely be high on your companies priority list but before that can become a reality you must have certain things in place. You need to position yourself just right so you can build up your brands recognition before you see an increase in sales.

When it comes to the SEO game, there are many different steps you need to take in order to obtain success. Results will differ between companies, but only positive results will occur from a properly executed SEO marketing campaign. If your company is looking for some advice on improving your SEO marketing campaign, feel free to contact us, Essential Services Inc., at 612-342-400 and find out what our experts can do for you.

By Henry Passot

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What is a Web Crawler? And What Does it Have to do With My Site?

Web crawlers, also known as spiders, robots, bots, crawlers, or automatic indexer, are referring to a relatively simple program that works its way in and around the web pages, indexing various data for later use. A crawler is a type of library software, cataloging as many web pages as it comes across.

Unless a web crawler lands on your web site, and moves around in it, your site may never become indexed, and therefore never pulled up when someone goes to search about related topics. There are certain things that web crawlers like, things that keep them on your page; and things they do not like that will drive them away. Knowing and understanding these two things is what makes a top SEO online marketing company.

Web crawling software is not exclusive to the search engines; it is believed that it was originally designed by linguists, who went about trying to find the most commonly used words, in an effort to come up with a universal language.

Market researchers may also use web crawlers to analyze what products are moving, who is interested in what, and to also try to predict some trends in whatever market they are researching. There are several uses for web crawlers, but searching web pages for search engine access is by far the most common use.

These crawlers can also be programmed to search a defined database 1 time only, or programmed to search 2 times, only, and so on. As in the case with search engines, they are programmed to search the entire web constantly, and to look for certain changes. If a particular site is experiencing lots of traffic, the crawler will remember that, and come back to it more often than it would a site with less traffic. So by getting these crawlers to visit your site as often as possible is the key to gaining rank, and moving your pages closer to #1. This is what top SEO is all about.

Knowing and understanding these things is what sets our Minneapolis St Paul MN based SEO company apart. We know what web crawlers Google; Yahoo!, and Bing are using, and what specifics they are looking for. This little piece of vital information gives us a huge advantage in the internet marketing world.

So instead of reinventing the wheel, why not get an experienced web designer and SEO developer to optimize your site for you. Our Minnesota based team knows what bots want and need in order to come to, and stay on your site, and we have a pretty good record of getting them to come back to it. So contact us at Essential Services, Inc, and find out how effective our services really are. 651-342-4000

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Making the Web Personal | Minneapolis, St Paul Online Marketing

Geo Modifiers are a large part of how we help target the right audience for our clients, driving traffic that will actually take advantage of your business. The search engines databases filters thousands of indexed pages for each search term, and many businesses will get lost on page 7. By using geo- modifiers, our Seo Service MN Team is able to pinpoint your audience to those people who will actually reach out to buy. It is this personalization that sets our web development and marketing services apart. 

“Collarity’ is an effective way to combine local search, community sites and grassroots wisdom together in order to produce a simple way to aid people in what they are looking for. It is an effective way to market your brand, while giving access to a unique catalog of similar information that will improve ranks, and help people of the same interests come together to accomplish their goals. Without it, the sheer number of web sites would overwhelm us all.

Making the web personal is what great web development is all about, because unless people learn to identify and trust your site, they won’t actually to do business with it. We all want to be recognized as being unique, and valuable in our own special way. Trying to make that happen on the World Wide Web can be a daunting task. The scope of its reach can be bewildering for the average user. Make your site rank and convert if something our SEO experts take very seriously. Give us a call 651-342-4000

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Using Keywords in SEO Ranking | Web development Minnesota

Knowing which keywords to use, how to use keywords, and where to place the keywords is a key factor when trying to rank. Our effective Minneapolis SEO Company understands this process so that the search engines crawlers will be able to find what they are looking for; and find it on your site, almost every time. Revolving links back to your own site is another great way to find visitors and help keep them in your site for as long as possible.

 These are just a few changes that will turn a site that has mediocre rankings, into one that gets high ranks, and they are only a few of the skills you will find with Essential Services, Inc. By using our experienced staff, you can be sure that you will receive a good return on your investment, because if we don’t return business, the relationship won’t last.

With over 10 years of firsthand experience, our staff is ready to help you understand what we do, and why we do it, so that you will not be left out in the cold when it comes to your online marketing investment. We believe in nurturing a long term relationship, one that will be around for years to come. This is the only way to get great SEO work accomplished in Minnesota, and around the world. It’s often not what you know that get’s you ahead, it’s who you know. 651-342-4000

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The Last Days of Phone Book Advertising

These days phone book advertising might not be worth what you are paying.  With the whole world going digital and looking online for nearly everything, chances are you’re better off advertising online in one way or another.  There are many different directions you can go with online advertising that will most likely give you better results than your local phonebook.

One direction you can shift your marketing budget towards is the optimization of your website, your Facebook page and your Google lisitng.  If you have a rather small website, there is a great chance you are paying more for a year round advertisement that an actual website.  If your website is less than 50 pages it is considered rather small.

Another way is to use Pay Per Click advertising.  This is where the advertiser pays the host only when the ad is actually clicked.  Using Bing or Google would most likely be better for your company than the traditional phone book ad.  Once your account has matured, your chances of generating phone calls will be higher using Pay Per Click advertising.

Blogs can be very useful marketing tools also.  Be sure to update your blog a few times per week (SEO it of Course.) to keep it fresh and to gain some credibility with your articles.  If used correctly, a blog can bring in a very good-targeted audience.

Companies can also try niche advertising.  All niche blogs have advertising space for sell.  Here your advertising will reach your exact targeted audience than just advertising on just random sites.

Make sure to take advantage of social media.  In today’s world it’s all about getting involved with the conversations that exist around us.  Try to get involved in some targeted online discussions on a daily basis.

The days of taking out local ads in the phone book are slowly dying with more and more consumers turning to the web to find what they are looking for.  Make sure to explore all your marketing platform options before advertising in the phone book

 Feel free to give our Minneapolis  SEO Company  Essential Services Inc. a call. We offer expertise and personal service  651-342-4000.

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Is Bigger Better? More Pages on your Website More Mojo :)

 For the most part – yes. It makes sense that the more pages you have on your web site, the more chances you have of getting hits from a search engine, and the more opportunity you are offering your visitors to stay on the page.

 As long as you have relevant content, and are not posting any old thing that will just fill the page, Google will see you as a legitimate source of information worthy of their cataloging. The rule of thumb is the more you have; the better.

 Most people don’t make buying decisions right on the spot, they want to walk around through your “store” a little, and get to know who they are doing business with. By keeping them surfing through your site, or your partner site, you will be giving them an opportunity to get to know. Once your visitors feel comfortable with your company, they will be more likely to come in and do business with you. After all, isn’t that why you have a site in the first place?

 It appears that they search engines like larger sites, too. Since part of the searching mechanics includes looking for companies that have lots of links to them, a big site like Wal-Mart, or Home Depot will get  the first shot at anyone looking for stuff from these respective industries. This is why it is important to get a Professional Minnesota SEO Developer on your side that will be able to make your site optimized to meet the markets demands. It doesn’t have to have 500 pages on it, and really shouldn’t, but it does need to flow, and include all the elements that both your client, and the search engines are looking for. By using a service like ours, you will come to learn that working smarter, not harder, is how to make it in this season of history. Let us show you how. 651-342-4000

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