Friday 24 April 2015

Advanced Keyword Research for SEO

So, how has the keyword research been coming on?  I hope you’ve been looking through Google’s keyword tool and finding keywords that you hadn’t thought of for your business.  One thing I didn’t mention in my previous post on keyword research  was the ability to put in a website address (URL) instead of a keyword.  Why would you use this?  I would usually use this to see what the competition are up to, and what keyword they have optimized their site for.

Simply type in their website address into the ‘Website’ box on the Google Keyword Tool and Google will then search the content of their website and find keywords/phrases that have search traffic.  It can be very enlightening to see what keywords the competition have optimised for!  Here’s an example of one of the biggest SEO and internet marketing companies in the South Africa, "Firelight", and what keywords come out of their website:

So, if I wanted to compete against Firelight (not that I would – David vs Goliath springs to mind!), then I would go through the list provided, see which keywords were suitable for me and then off I’d go with my own optimization process.  Easy … !

Incidentally, the guys (and girls) at Firelight organised the Pro SEO event in Cape Town back in November along with SEOMoz and it was an excellent event – don’t miss it if you get a chance to attend in London or one of their other cities.

Finally, if you’re using the Google Keyword Tool for any kind of in-depth research then do make use of the ‘Download’ option within the interface that allows you to download your keyword results into CSV format and, usually, on into Excel.  When doing serious keyword research I’ll rattle through a whole list of potential keywords, downloading every set of results, labeling the tab on the Excel spreadsheet with the seed keyword I used and then take time to go through the spreadsheet later to find potential keywords.

I hope this has been useful – until next time!

Tuesday 21 April 2015

Using Analytics to your advantage

The gloss of any thrusting business is the knowledge of your potential clientele. ‘Web analytics’ is the foundation to the whole service offering. It is built on analytic engines that convert the complex data into nonprofessional’s language.

‘Web analytics consulting’ services provided by Seoland a SEO Company in South Africa offers an in-depth insight on the site’s accomplishment, engagement of visitors and behaviour  of the visitors. The comprehensive reports prepared by our ‘Web analytics consultants’ gives you the knowledge of where the customers are coming, what they are looking for and even the geographical region of visits. The wealthy data thus derived can be used to target the customers, track offer responses and so on.
The above-mentioned benefits can be summarized as follows:
  • It provides the in –depth statistics.
  • It gives you real –time results.
  • It provides a comprehensive report.
  • It lets you decide on the way of viewing the data.
The comprehensive reports of the ‘Web analytics consultant’ include the following:
  1. Popular pages
  2. Referral links
  3. Visitor’s history
  4. Global statistics.
  5. Computer statistics
  6. Search engines.
The traditional interaction tools such as mobiles, videos have paved way for interactions on online channels in one place. Powerful web analytical tools like Google web analytics and Yahoo analytics etc, enable this.

Omniture web analytics is now Adobe web analytics powered by Omniture. It provides applications that for a consolidated view of customer’s interactions.It has the following benefits:
  • Knowledge to measure and align metrics.
  • To draw functional conclusions from the customers interactions.
  • Fulfil ad hoc requests on time.
  • Adoption of the search analytic metrics for decision makers.
  • Define online strategy based on the clientele’s interactions.
Google analytics also on the other hand helps analyse as to who is visiting your website and the purpose behind it. While Yahoo analytics providing the same has integrated index tools with its own system to give you the solution.

Suddenly there has been a swarming rise in the use of mobiles to access the information on the internet. This revolution has been assisted by mobile tracking devices/tools. These tools have been made use by all the web analytical tools like Google analytics, Yahoo analytics and Omniture. Targeting the desired audience has made the science of marketing easy. This avid campaign tracker makes the whole process more precise. With an increase in the mobile enabled searches it is great to see what the users are doing while doing the search.

The above critical insights thus gained enable business decisions. ‘Web analytics’ leaves no doubts about the outcome that is the rapid return of investment. With the inexplicable business knowledge, high conversion rates of visitors into potential customers and high drive of quality traffic we sure leave every little to imagination.

Monday 20 April 2015

Which advertising medium works the best

Armed with the information and having completed your Marketing Plan you must be wondering.

Where do I begin?

Well, as promised we will take a look at various factors that will guide you to pinpoint the exact medium to use. The factors include:

1). Cost

This is the budget your small business marketing department wishes to spend. This can be calculated by asking yourself, how much you are willing to spend per new customer? It is important to consider the amount the average customer spends on your product or services at a given time then multiply that with the years this person will be a customer. Not to mention the plenty of referral if he/she is satisfied.

2) Your Product / Service

A high end product should be presented in high end, elitist media with prime slots.  This will position the brand and achieve desired effect. The marketing campaign must be sophisticated.

3) Target Market

To reach your target audience one must do a research to ascertain their behavior, where they hang out, what they watch, read, listen to and who their peers are. For instance if you intend to sell an energy drink brand to the youth. You need to know where they hang or take their drinks and thus ensure your product will be available there with the right communication. If it is targeted to certain geographical locations consider using local media i.e. vernacular FM stations.

4) Reach

It is important to determine the number of people your medium of choice will reach. If it is print, the circulation figures including the intricacies like the most popular days of the week if it is a Daily Newspaper. If it’s Radio; the number of listeners of a specific show and the demographic. Same applies to TV.

There are various Advertising mediums available to your small business. Depending on the advertising budget prescribed on your marketing plan you may use a combination of the medium below:
  1. Posters
  2. Brochure / Fliers
  3. Notice boards
  4. Signs
  5. Banners
  6. Bus Shelter
  7. Branded Merchandise
  8. Social Media
  9. Websites
  10. Online Advertising
  11. Email Advertising
All this medium should be used systematically. Your message should run over a period of time to ensure you get your market share and maintain it. The message should also be somewhat consistent. It can be tweaked but there has to be a common denominator. Most blue chip companies with a larger ad spend use another set of medium. If you have a larger budget you can consider the following:
  • TV Ads
  • Radio Ads
  • Newspaper / Magazine Ads
  • Billboards
In South Africa we have the privilege of having several design and development agencies, which specialize, on various forms of Marketing as stated above, Seoland Design studios is one of them. When selecting the agency you can scrutinize their Case Studies / Portfolio to gauge them against competitors. Also ensure you get value for your money in terms of actual conversions. Feel free to pay us a visit or contact us for any inquiries on Advertising in particular or Marketing as a whole.

Friday 17 April 2015

How to get as much as possible out of the social media platforms

Facebook and Twitter have definitely dominated social media marketing for the last few years. Facebook has over 526 million daily users, while Twitter has about 140 million active users, the biggest reason why both social media platforms have become the chosen mediums for many businesses. While Facebook and Twitter are two of the most popular mediums with the highest number of users, this does not necessarily translate into traffic for your business.

The truth about both Twitter and Facebook is that not everyone who appears to be active on these sites is really that active; I have friends who have extremely dead Facebook and Twitter accounts! Not just that, people often get bored with both these platforms and end up migrating to newer social networking sites with more features and freedom, remember MySpace? Research also shows that Facebook and Twitter are both slow; both networks take time, monetary investment and constant management to attract members and eventually drive traffic towards a site or boost sales. Overall return on investment is slow.

Here are 3 of the more tried and tested methods that have the ability to get faster return on investments and are much more effective and allow for customization.

Pinterest

This new social networking site is fairly new but extremely popular and cool. Pictures require little effort to be de-coded and people buy into what they can see. The site has recently been rated the 3rd most visited social networking site and the pictures uploaded by each user to their bulletin boards allows businesses to better assess who they should target. Facebook and Twitter both often bombard user with too much information and reading, not exactly everyone’s cup of tea. A single image can connect to several users and viewers on many different levels.

Youtube

There is no doubt that YouTube is definitely the most used and most popular video posting and sharing site. People connect through YouTube and share videos on other platforms, through mobile applications and through emails. Unlike Twitter and Facebook, where your paid advertisement just shows up on the sidebar, You Tube actually specifically targets a particular audience by playing the ad as part of something related a user might be watching. If a user is for example watching a video on how to create the perfect cheese cake, YouTube would target that user with a cream cheese advertisement!

Stumbleupon

This social networking platform offers more simply because unlike Facebook and Twitter, where you have to wait for users to add you or like your business page, the site actually suggests your website to users based upon their interests. The site is based upon surprising the user with something new every time so you are sure to reach a specific audience that will definitely be a potential purchaser. People can bookmark or save pages they like, the top reason why Stumbleupon is a good place to generate traffic towards your businesses website. If users like your site they recommend it to other users and it is recommended to the Stumbleupon network, getting more people to notice it.

Simply put social media advertising is not just about setting up a page on Facebook and Twitter. It is about spending time, effort and energy on the right social networking site and to build interest and trust amongst a particular niche that will purchase your product and is highly likely to spread the word about you!

Thursday 16 April 2015

Search Engine Optimization - A bit of Self advertising

For a business to be successful, it is essential that it be visible. Potential customers have to know what you have to offer and why they should be interested.

Traditionally, advertising a business has been done using magazine ads or newspaper or even TV commercials, radio spots, and billboards. But today, the Internet is the key to visibility. Goods and services can be offered in a global marketplace. Borders have become no impediment to this new form of commerce.

Having a strong presence online, with a professional web site and quality content, is important but only if potential customers see your site. If the key to success is visibility, then the key to visibility is search engine optimization. This process makes it easier for prospective buyers to find your web site among thousands of others.

And there is no company that will get you better results with search engine optimization than Seoland. This dynamic organization will give your company the kind of individual attention that is rare in the industry. They will work with you to make your web site is the one your potential customers will see first.

When you put your confidence in the professional team at Seoland, the result is more traffic for your site and more revenue for your business. Search engine optimization is the difference between just being part of the crowd and standing above it.

The pros at Seoland know their business, and they will aggressively work on your behalf to get you to the top and to keep you there.

Take that first step by calling Seoland for a free assessment today.