Tag Archives: Mobile Marketing

Now Is The Best Time To Embrace Search

Voice Search is undeniably growing at a rapid pace, and for good reason — it’s fast, convenient, allows you to search on the go, and it’s becoming part of the devices that consumers are using. It has taken a good percentage of total searches across the world. This is thanks in part due to AI assistants like Apple’s Siri, Amazon’s Alexa, Google Assistant, etc.

With mobile impacting desktop in terms of search queries, and home automation devices becoming mainstream, voice search will power many future local search queries. Optimizing for voice search conversational terms will be a key differentiator.

The good news is that we already have services in place according to Google’s priorities such as surveys and widgets to boost customer reviews in Google / Yelp / Facebook. We were one of the first agencies to adopt Voice Search optimization, wherein the content we create is more conversational and matches user’s natural language pattern.

Here’s a list of things were currently doing for Voice Search optimization:

Verified and Accurate Google My Business Listing – Most voice search queries will ask for directions to your business address. For this, we will make sure that your business is listed accurately on Google Maps. Without verification, it would be really difficult to rank for voice search queries.
NAP (Name, Address, Phone) Consistency across Local Sites – Accurate map listing, in terms of name, address and contact number, across multiple map databases will also help search engines to be more confident about your location, and it will form part of ranking algorithm. We will ensure that your business information (NAP details) is consistent across other top tier and second tier local search engines, directories and review websites.
Generating Positive Reviews – Customer Reviews are a critical part of ranking algorithm for voice search. We can help you get positive reviews on Google and Yelp for your business via our proprietary Plug and Play Review Widget and Survey Review Booster.
Mobile Friendly Website – Since most voice searches are done on mobile devices, you MUST have a mobile-friendly site. If your website isn’t mobile friendly, we can help you setup a mobile friendly version with the help of our experienced team.
Conversational Content – Mobile voice searches will use natural language, which means long-tail keyword phrases are more important than ever. A way to add natural language to your website is by using words and phrases that people actually speak (versus words they type into a search box). The content used will be more conversational in tone, and the keyword phrases will probably resonate more with a person performing a voice search. We have already started implementing this for website content which will help the site rank for voice based queries.
Microdata & Advanced Schema Markup – Google will start using schema markup both as a site quality and richness indicator (i.e. affecting rankings), and for creating carousel-like results for certain searches, with Knowledge Graph-like summary data on each result in the list. We will help you setup structured data on your site.
Rank Tracking – We have already started tracking rankings in mobile search results for voice based terms like “near me”, “close to me”, “around me”, etc. around physical location across all verticals and reporting these rankings on our dashboard.

For more SEO tips and the latest updates in digital marketing, contact us to learn more!

Reviews Now Manage Your Business On The Go With New Google My Business App

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Google announced last month that they are launching a new Google My Business App that provides a host of features that can help small business owners to easily manage their online presence and respond to customers.

Following are the biggest features and highlights:

1. Profile Tab
Google has made it extremely easy to upload photos, create offers and add events by providing a post button. You can also update information of your business from the profile tab and it will instantly appear on the search as well as Map.

2. Customer Tab
People can connect with you in many ways. They can message you, follow you, book a service or leave a review. From now on, you can see all of these customers in one place – The new customer tab. You can not only see but also respond to the reviews & post offers. Not to mention that you will get a notification when you get a new customer connection. Also, you will soon be able to respond to messages directly from the app.

3. See your Progress in Real Time
The data that matters to you the most is now on the home screen itself. So you can now check how many new people interacted with your business, new connections & more in one place.

Here’s a short video:

Takeaway

Google My Business App is a very powerful tool that every business owner and SEO professionals must have. It’s easy to use and offers a lot of tools that make tracking, analyzing and making changes easy. The other big news is that Google is about to launch a chat feature for Maps. So users can directly chat with business owners directly after searching for their business. Having a GMB app will help you with this feature as well.

To learn more about the Google My Business app connect with us!

Page Speed Will Officially Become a Google Ranking Factor, Starting July 2018

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Google announced that they will be making page speed a ranking factor within mobile search results starting July 2018. However, this page speed update affects only the pages with extremely slow load times, since the intent of the query is still one of the strongest signals. So slow pages can still enjoy higher ranking if they offer relevant content.

BUT, it’s not just about Google. Speed is a huge factor when it comes to user experience as well.

A 2017 Google study revealed that 53% of the visitors abandoned sites that took longer than three seconds to load. It might be a mark that’s hard to achieve, especially if you have high-quality images and videos on your site but you can still work on the aspects that can be improved.

You can use Google’s Test My Site to check your page load time, the approximate percentage of visitors you are losing and other aspects of your site that need improvement. It’s quick, comprehensive and FREE.

It’s worth mentioning that AMP will not enjoy any additional benefits, although it’s very nature allows it to fly high on the page load time and naturally gives it an advantage. But other than that, there will be no special “rewards”.

Here are some tools and resources web developers can utilize to evaluate a page’s overall performance. Use these tools to gain a better understanding of how a website’s page speed affect’s user experience of a website.

Chrome User Experience Report offers indispensable insights from real user measurement of key user experience metrics from all over the web.
Lighthouse is a great automated tool that is part of Chrome’s suite of developer tools. Developers can use Lighthouse to audit the performance, accessibility, and overall quality of web pages.
Page Speed Insights is an incredibly useful tool for evaluating a web page’s performance on the Chrome UX Report. The tool offers valuable insights and provides suggestions for optimizing web site performance.

Need help with improving page speed? We can help. Just reach out to our reps and let us do the rest. Please connect with us to learn more about improving page speed and optimizing load times.

Mobile Users Get Frustrated by Sites that are Not Structured for Mobile Phones or Tablets

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Google Surveys Fortify this Fact:

72% of users said that mobile‐friendly sites were important to them

96% had encountered sites that were not mobile friendly

74% of respondents said they’re more likely to revisit mobile‐friendly sites

A majority of users (67%) are more likely to buy or convert after a visit to a mobile‐friendly site, while the opposite is also true of a non‐mobile‐friendly site: 61% say they’ll “move on”

55% said a frustrating experience on a (mobile) website would hurt the perception of the brand

Search Engine Optimization: The Basics

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Let’s concentrate on the basics. What exactly is search engine optimization? It is the process (and it is a process indeed) of organizing your site with specific keywords while creating links to your site via social media, blogging and other marketing venues.

Keywords can be single words or phrases. A keyword for a construction company may be for example; Campbell Construction, Illinois. This keyword would be considered a phrase. Notice how Illinois is also attached the end of the phrase. This is an excellent way to geo-target your marketing audience. This also works by county, township and can also be done using zip codes.

Another huge aspect of creating a great Search Campaign is making sure that the site is set up correctly on-page. This may be anything from having a strong domain name to load-time to having strong written content, and the amount of content and the specific ratios of keywords mixed into your content will affect rankings.

However, off page optimization is also important, these are all the activities performed away from the website but are in one way or another linked back to your website. Off page optimization activities range from a large number of things from blogging, to social media campaigns to video creation and deployment, press releases and more. It is important for most businesses to concentrate on their own business while hiring an outside firm to implement a strong online campaign that will boost search engine rankings.

Shocking Statistics about Search:

Google is the most popular search engine.
Over 500 million searches are completed daily
85% of online traffic only views the first page on search engines
85% of traffic finds accurate information which is useful to them.
81% of online users find new websites from using search engines.
73% of online transactions start with the use of search engines

Mobile Marketing is Here to Stay!

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Mobile marketing delivers results, period. 85% of consumers are searching for local businesses online; however, 63% of small businesses still do not have a mobile website. Keep in mind that smartphones are always on, always with us and always connected (the typical mobile user spends an average of 2 hours each and every day using their mobile device).

Smartphones are transforming are consumer shopping habits. They are creating smarter consumers, 79% of consumers use a smartphone to help them with their shopping needs. 54% of consumers use smartphones to actually find their retailers; on top of that, nearly 50% of consumers use their smartphones to compare prices. We use are smartphones to find everything from the nearest restaurant, movie show times or to find the nearest store that carries the item we are looking for. Astoundingly, 88% of us use this information to make a purchase within the same day!

Google claims that 95% of mobile users look up local information daily on their mobile devices. Considering 87% of the world has a mobile device, by not having a mobile website, your small business is missing out on large numbers of potential clients. If your website is not able to be found on a mobile device within the next year, don’t plan on beating out your competition for any new business.

Another mobile trend that is on the rise is spending through mobile devices. In 2011, 86.1 billion dollars was moved around the world from mobile devices and this number is expected to rise. What does this mean? Companies that begin to offer a way to pay from a mobile device will experience an increase in their revenue stream.

Search Engine Marketing & Mobile Websites: IMPACTFUL!

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In 2011, Search Engine Marketing’s ROI increased over 18% quarter on quarter. This statistic simply means that marketing through search engines continues to bring in more and more dollars, per dollar spent on the advertisement you displayed (and at an increasing rate).

Today, Google has increased its share of advertising on the internet to over 45%. Search Engines are where modern businesses, potential customers, clients or whoever; goes to find what to do, what to buy, where and what to eat and how to get there to make the final purchase. Google it! You can literally get prices, pictures, virtual tours, dimensions, ingredients and much more, all from going to a website! The key for small business owners is being that website that stands out and gets found.

Realizing the impact of such a powerful, speedy and reliable form of marketing is just the beginning for many small business owners. Taking advantage of this concept is when small business owners truly see an impact on their own profits. Let’s keep in mind that word of mouth and having a Facebook page is very impactful marketing, however, if you want to see a true trending growth in your business, keeping your businesses website presence substantial and up to date is an absolute must. That is as long as you’re also willing and able to keep up with the sure to be incoming business yourself.

This means that part of staying on the top of people’s minds when they want to make a purchase is keeping up with how the internet is accessed. Mobile websites are fast becoming the new, and they reach 86% of the global population! Why go to a computer downstairs and leave the comfort of your couch or bed to check your Facebook page or look up a good restaurant to eat at tonight when you can do it right from your phone, and just as fast if not faster. Or when you’re out and about, a desktop computer is not even an option for finding services or products. It is fast becoming the norm for people to pull out their phones and quickly check the closest needed product or service with a few quick finger strokes.

Keeping your website available on desktop and mobile devices, fast loading and full of correct and up to date information is crucial to growing your small business. You’re an entrepreneur and your expertise might be selling clothing or selling household items such as vases and lamps so staying on the first page of Google might seem like a difficult task. However, the right SEO company can provide you with weekly reports of your Google rankings and keep your site active so that Google views it as a site that is healthy and viable for the first few pages of Google.

If you’re not on the internet and your next potential customer is, well then they are just that, a potential client. To make sure that they become a customer you need to make sure they find you on the internet can access your website and view your products in a fast, clean and efficient manner. But you don’t specialize in uploading content to the internet, so what do you do, you hire somebody to do it for you.