May 06

Search Engine Optimization (SEO), using Google Plus – Martin Shervington

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Search engine optimization may have gone through a transformation over the past few years with the arrival of Google Plus. This is now all about Social SEO.


See on www.martinshervington.com

May 05

Debbie Mayo-Smith: Brazen acts that destroy business – Business – NZ Herald News

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How ironic. Several weeks ago I conducted a workshop in which the marvels of technology were trumpeted. We had one soul who stood alone in his disdain for smartphones, tablets and


See on www.nzherald.co.nz

May 05

Social Influencers: Digital Marketing’s Most Overlooked Resource

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It is hard to believe that in a digital world where people are so connected, it still seems to be completely difficult for businesses to use that to their advantage to more efficiently maximize their ROI. Companies continue to spend on banner ads instead of on the people who can really make a difference in the way people purchase.

This infographic should help researchers and advertisers see what great potential there is in the power of social media and general online influence. Bloggers, tweeters, and Facebook champions really can be wise investments; read more at the article link.


See on www.business2community.com

May 04

How to Improve Your Social Media Calls to Action

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Excerpted from article by Heidi Cohen published on Social Media Examiner:
“Here are seven steps for crafting calls to action to get your social community to do what you’d like them to and transform your social media marketing to get the results you want.

#1: Determine What You Want Prospects to Do:
Your call to action should encourage readers to engage with you further.
Make readers an offer they want. You can consider offering white paper downloads, ebooks, ongoing emails, discount coupons and/or free consultations.

#2: Create a Great Hook:
You’ll need to answer the question, “What’s in it for me?” This is what your prospects want to know.
And your request must make sense to them. This means not asking prospects to purchase if they’re still in an information-gathering mode.

#3: Motivate Prospects to Act:
Remember, you want to give your readers a reason to act.
Provide sense of urgency. Make people an offer they can’t refuse. Give them a one-time offer to encourage a response. Realize, however, they may only buy when you provide coupons going forward.

#4: Optimize Your Call to Action:
Like other aspects of your content, formatting matters! Here are some points to consider.
- Use a contextually relevant presentation;
- Make your call to action stand out visually;
- Qualify your offer;
- Limit selection choices;
- Place calls to action in multiple locations on your pages;
- Keep calls to action above the fold;
- Put call-to-action options in order of importance;
- Include social sharing.

#5: Maintain a Consistent Presentation on Landing Pages:
This is one of the biggest reasons calls to action don’t work. Send prospects to the appropriate step in the purchase process.
Make sure you use the same wording and graphics. The goal is to show continuity. Don’t let the reader think that you’ve sent them to the wrong place or they’ll leave.

#6: Test to Maximize Results:
Every element of your call to action can be tested. When testing, only modify one factor at a time or you won’t know what caused the change.

#7: Measure Results:
How can you measure your results? You want to track the impact of your social media calls to action back to your original objectives. Here are some metrics to track:
- Impressions;
- Click-throughs;
- Click-through rate;
- Completions;
- Completion rate…”

Each step is analyzed with detailed information. Read full article here:
http://www.socialmediaexaminer.com/how-to-improve-your-social-media-calls-to-action/


See on www.socialmediaexaminer.com

May 01

Making the Most of Your Drip Email Campaign: Content, Length & Frequency

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Most people won’t buy anything on the first visit, so you need to capture emails. And then what? In this article we’re going to dive deep into a discussion about creating content for your autoresponder campaign.

 

We’ve talked about re-optimizing your autoresponders and creating effective drip campaigns before. This article is about how to not sound like a robot and keep that personal vibe even when your content is on auto-pilot. We’ll also look at how frequently you should be sending and length of your campaign to maximize it’s effectiveness.

 

By the time you’re done with this article, I guarantee you’ll be thinking more strategically about Autoresponders, and ready to create content that’ll help you automate trust building exercises, shares, and sales.


See on conversionxl.com

Apr 29

Why You Can No Longer Afford to Ignore Local Business Listings

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Have you ever looked at how people use their smartphones or tablets, iPods or iPads, you will know: If they are looking for something, like an auto repair shop, florist or restaurant, they look it up on their mobile or mobile devices.

It is therefore important that you are found on the mobile search, in your local area. Search engine optimisation is an important part of this.

Search Engine Optimisation has evolved a lot over the years. Even a short while ago, local search was unheard of. Now that has changed because of mobile marketing.

Benefits of listing your business in local business directories:

It helps with Search Engine Optimisation

There are many local online business listing services available. And Google ranks first amongst them. It therefore makes sense to make sure to use a listing service which includes Google Maps and Google+ for business at least. Make sure you do have a Google+ business listing and that you have completed your listing in full, and optimised accurately for the search engines. This will allow you to rank well in local searches.

As link building is still important for SEO, you need a business listing service that allows you to have many links back to your website and social media pages. It is important that your links are able to be seen by the search engines. Some business listing services only offer you one dofollow link when you upgrade.

If the business directory is well optimised, it will send you more traffic. It will also help you be found as part of Google Search while your website increases in rank as well.

Gaining the Edge over Competition

If you are found on page one of search engines like Google, it will give you an advantage over your competition. Even more so if you are listed on more than one directory.

More publicity online

A business listing in the right directory that also offers social media links and interaction will help you get more publicity online, which will help with local search results.

Cost Effective

It is an inexpensive form of marketing as most directories have a small upgrade fee compared to what advertising will cost you.

Easily Change Information

If you have details that changed, like a new telephone number, website or address, it is easier to change than print advertising.

You can add pictures

A picture is worth a thousand words, or so the saying goes. It is therefore important that you are able to place at least three pictures of your business. Pictures will give your prospect the idea of what your business looks like, and will give them some image of what you do, and how busy you are.

With mobile devices fast becoming the number one way people use the internet, getting found in local search results is the key to your business success. You can no longer ignore Local Business Listings if you are a business looking for new customers.

We want to recommend to you the best online business directory we found so far. It’s called Wom Town.  WOM stands for:

Word

Of

Mouth

So that is Word Of Mouth advertising for your business listing in your town. At WomTown.com you can place a free biz listing that will allow you to enjoy these benefits:

  1. 1.    Your listing is being tweeted daily. Yes that’s right. We pay people to tweet your listing for you on a daily basis. It’s called Word of Mouth Advertising because many different people tweet your listing for you on many different tweeter accounts.
  2. Unlimited characters. That means you can write and keep writing as much as you like with no limitations about who you are and your business.
  3. Up to 100 characters in the heading. What that means is that this will show on the tweet that we generate for you when we  tweet your free listing on a daily basis.
  4. Unlimited links. Many directories limit the number of links you can place on a free listing. NOT WITH US. At WomTown.com you can place as many URL’s that will translate to the words click here in the body of the listing.
  5. 3 pictures. WomTown.com provide you with the ability to place 3 photos of your business
  6. Your own avatar. That could be your logo, a picture of you or anything that shows at the listing showing on the city portal of your choice. Just like in the example of Attraction Marketing listing in the Auckland portal.

Please register here to place your business listing at WOmTown.com. You will need to place promo code 33115 when you register. Then it’ll prompt you to a page that has a video explaining it all. Scroll down and choose your city.