Personal Branding in 2010 and how we can help
Personal Branding has become a very popular, and much needed, marketing strategy for many companies and business professionals. William Arruda, a personal branding consultant and founder of reach personal branding, recently came out with his hot trends for 2010 in the realm of Personal Branding http://bit.ly/c4vpUz . Not all 10 of these may apply to your business but the below trends are trains we feel every business should be ready to hop on.
Video, Video, Video
Thanks to greater bandwidth, cheaper storage, and a proliferation of products and services that make shooting, storing, viewing, and sharing video easy video will be king in 2010”
Unified and Video Search
Combined search – tools will become more common while Google, Bing, Yahoo, and other search engines will combine traditional search results with real-time content (from tools such as Twitter) and video results—making searching easier and more accurate. Those who are building their personal brands will need to use various tools to ensure their visibility is positive and pervasive.”
Branded Partners
Often more traditional in their approach to marketing and delivering their services, professional-services firms (accounting, law, consulting, etc.) are going to jump on the “brandwagon” with reckless abandon in 2010.
Digital Dirt Elimination
As Google results affect more aspects of our lives (getting a job, a loan, a date, etc.), people will engage firms such as ReputationDefender, Defend My Name, and Online Reputation Manager to eliminate digital dirt.
At eye9 we understand that now more than ever, your online presence is more than just your site, it is about every aspect of your digital presence. When we work with our clients our goal is to ensure your company’s message (brand) reaches your customers, no matter what online avenue they are using. If these are areas you are interested in learning more about or you just have a general site question feel free to give us a call or drop us a line, and we would be more than happy to sit down and talk with you.
eye9 Design is a leading Denver website development company .
Catching Conversions with PPC
If you’ve been following our apple analogy, you know that SEO is the juicy story for 2009. But don’t be fooled. Good marketing is holistic, and thoughtful PPC advertising can complement your SEO efforts in a targeted, immediate way.
Whether you’re new to PPC or just reinventing your marketing strategy, check out our tips for creating benefit-driven ads that will improve your conversions—and increase your profits.
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Communicate your core attributes.
Take an in-depth look at your products and services to determine why Joe-consumer should choose your business over a growing sea of competitors. Is it your cheap deals? Your lightning fast shipping? Premium product offerings? Articulate these distinguishing features in each of your ads.
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Write to your keywords.
After you’ve done the research to determine which search phrases convert, it’s time to turn that research into tightly written, keyword-dense copy. And remember to be specific. Consider expanding “Web Design” to “Funky Web Design” when you’re trying to reach that off-beat audience segment.
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Craft an arresting headline.
Content is king, and that goes double for your headlines. Pique your audience’s interest. Ask them a compelling question. Wow them with your benefits, but don’t forget the keywords. With a 25-character max, you have very little space to appease both users and the search engines.
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Lure users with instant, tangible benefits.
You’re probably saying, “Duh,” but you’d be surprised how many advertisers don’t include promotions, discounts or other enticing offers in their PPCs.
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Follow through with your stated benefits.
The easiest way to do this is to create a landing page that’s specific to your ad. Taking this step won’t help your CTR, but it will build valuable rapport with your users. If your ad promises 50 percent off and the landing page doesn’t elaborate, users will run for the “back” button and conversions will plummet.
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Test the waters.
It’s unlikely you’ll strike paydirt with your first round of PPC copy. As you update keyword research and narrow down your audience needs, it’s important to try different headline, ad copy, anchor text and call-to-action iterations. Tracking your ad success will help justify your investment—and apply what you’ve learned to future ad groups.
Contact us today to get a free PPC analysis of your website! We provide you with a detailed report for your business with a complete budget forecast.
eye9 Design is a Colorado website design company, specializing in web and graphic design, web development, and seo optimization. Denver, CO.
Buy an apple or plant an apple tree: why SEO is the best investment for 2009
If you want the crispy juiciness of a good apple, you can head to your local supermarket and satisfy your craving. On the other hand, if you plant an apple tree you will have a harvest of apples every year for years to come.
Traditional marketing is like purchasing an apple. Good for the quick hit, but when you stop paying for the direct mail, billboard, or call center, that marketing effort ceases to exist.
With search engine optimization, you gain rankings that produce fruit for years to come. When your SEO campaign ends, your rankings are still there. Not only that, but you product a harvest of work that far exceeds your initial investment. Here is what one of our Denver SEO clients had to say:
We’ve noticed more phone traffic via web inquiries. Keep up the great work! I am happy to be working with you all, I think this investment is paying for itself.
One of the pillars eye9 has built our entire business around is SEO. It is not just an add-on, it is a central marketing strategy. Look at just a few of the 40 rankings we’ve achieved in the TOP 5 at Google!
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2009 is great opportunity to gain market share, contact us today about an SEO campaign for your website and you will reap the benefits for years to come!
Easy keyword research with Google Search-based Keyword Tool
In this video podcast, Brian covers:
- Why keyword research is foundational to SEO (search engine optimization)
- How the free Google Search-based Keyword Tool can be used in keyword research
Google’s seismic shift on dynamic URL’s
In this weeks installment of “why you need a SEO company in your corner,” Google overturns a half decade of conventional wisdom. In the debate of dynamic URL’s versus static URL’s , SEO professionals believed that static URL’s were superior for several reasons:
- Search engines can index them easier without all the odd characters: & ? =
- They are easier to read in Google’s search engine results pages, and keywords from the users search terms are made bold
- Static URL’s are easier to use in marketing materials
- They are simpler to give out when obtaining backlinks
Number one was by far the most important factor, as it was assumed that static URL’s improved your rankings. The other factors, while still relevant, related to appearance only.
However, Google has now turned all this on its head, releasing an official blog post that they prefer dynamic URL’s. In that article, they say
While static URLs might have a slight advantage in terms of clickthrough rates because users can easily read the urls, the decision to use database-driven websites does not imply a significant disadvantage in terms of indexing and ranking. Providing search engines with dynamic URLs should be favored over hiding parameters to make them look static.
Google regularly makes changes to how it ranks websites, though they are usually not this dramatic and far-reaching. This illustrates the importance of having a SEO optimization firm in your corner that can help keep you up to date with these important developments!
Focusing on Google still the best bet for SEO
Google continues to gain market share and widen its lead against other search engines, as reported in PC World .
Google was used 63 percent of the time in August, compared to 61.9 percent in July, according to figures released Friday by comScore , which tracks online trends.
Yahoo came in second in August at 19.6 percent, down .9 percent from July. Microsoft garnered 8.3 percent of traffic in August, down .6 percent from a month prior.
With our seo optimization process we focus on getting your website ranked in Google’s search results. These techniques will still allow you to gain rankings in the other search engines as well. However, Google’s dominance makes it clear that they are still the best bet.
Bouncing back – Working with a new firm after a bad experience
We have all had bad experiences with service providers. It can be a costly experience, both financially and emotionally. Not only that, but the next time you look for a service provider for a similar project you might find yourself quite wary.
I am sure that a quick Google search could return a number of articles from those with similar experiences, and perhaps tips to keep from “getting burned” again. However, I want to approach this article from a different angle, that of a potential service provider.
We often deal with clients coming off negative experiences with companies who lacked competence, were dishonest, or communicated poorly. For the majority of these clients, our steady, thorough, and documented approach to setting up projects allays their fears. However, there is a minority who unintentionally sabotage the RFP process because their previous experience has left them deeply hesitant.
So here are a few tips to help you navigate the proposal process with a potential design firm or SEO company:
- Ask but don’t assume : If you have a particular area of concern, be sure to bring it up in your conversation with the service provider. However, try to share it in a friendly manner that does not put them on the defensive by assuming they are just like that last company .
An example of what not to say: “You know, graphic design companies always seem to be ripping people off. How do I know your cost is what you say it is?”
Here is a better approach: “Communication and clarity are very important to me. I am coming off a negative experience with a previous designer, and I know from other experiences that can be avoided by establishing a thorough scope of work up front. How can I be of assistance in creating a detailed project description?” - Everything in writing : A common problem our clients share is that their previous service provider was constantly submitting “surprise invoices” for work they thought was in the original scope of work. Ask your service provider “How do you setup a project so that the scope and cost are clear to both parties? How do you deal with out of scope work?
- Work milestones : ask the service provider if they can break up the project into 3-5 milestones that associate a payment with the completion of a task. As an example, we have setup small design projects with 33% up front, 33% after approval of site design, 33% on completion. This gives the service provider a tangible goal, and you the peace of mind provided by spreading out payments.
Leave us your comments. What are your recommendations for interviewing a potential service provider?
eye9 Design is a leading Denver design firm providing website development in Colorado and SEO Optimization .
Google Analytics 101 – Setting Goals and User Tips – Part 4 of 4
Use your Google Goal conversion effectively, and other user tips. In this episode, we discuss setting and tracking goal conversion, and other user tips including traffic filtering.
Google Analytics 101 – Analyze Traffic Sources, Content, and Navigation – Part 3 of 4
Use your Google Traffic Sources, Content, and Navigation reports effectively. In this episode, we discuss the different sources of traffic, tracking content performance and analyzing visitor navigation.
Google Analytics 101 – Who are your Visitors? – Part 2 of 4
Use your Google Analytics Visitors report effectively. In this episode, we discuss visitors vs. visits, pageviews, the map overlay, and more.
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