KKom, Inc.

Serving Milwaukee's Web Marketing, Design, SEO, Social Media, Direct Mail and Color Printing needs for over 22 years

Search Optimization

Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is the process of building your website's potential to rank higher among your competitors in search results.

What’s the Secret to Rank at the Top in Google Search Results?

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Whether you are a startup or an established enterprise, improving the visibility of your business on the web is imperative to succeed. Most buyers these days prefer to start their research online before they intend to go to a retail location to make a purchase, and this isn’t limited to retailers, many buyers in the industrial sector start their prospecting through search engines!

According to a survey, 89 percent of people search online before making a purchase, even if they are buying from a local business. That means if an entrepreneur wants to attract valuable traffic and lead it to the relevant resources on the website, he or she needs to secure the top ranking on Google search results.

But it is vital to understand that there is no magic to conquer the rankings. The only secret that can help you soar high in Google searches is to employ effective strategies.

If you don’t know how to do it, we have you covered here.

The Secret to Rank at the Top of Google Search Results

Put Together Your SEO Strategy

The very first step to take is to put together the right and relevant SEO strategy. It is worth mentioning that companies fail with their marketing before even getting off the ground because they focus on the keywords that are either too broad, irrelevant,  do not get sufficient traffic, or are very competitive.

Remember that a focused keyword list is always broad, but it is essential to narrow it down through extensive research. You may be surprised by what you find, sometimes people find your business using terms you haven’t considered.

You can narrow the relevance and competition of broad keywords to incorporate specific services and local elements. For instance, instead of using “marketing,” you can go for “inbound marketing” or “digital marketing.”

Make an Ongoing Web Content Strategy

“Do not let your website get stale” was the key message Google put out when it updated the Panda algorithm in 2011.  That means the search engine rewards the websites that continually improve their content, grow the number of resources on web pages, and improve relevancy.

Therefore, you must build your website better over time to improve its search engine rankings. You can keep the website fresh by adding informative content, tools, and resources to help your visitors navigate and stay longer on your website.

Optimize for Focus Keywords

Keep in mind that each page of your site needs to incorporate some critical optimization components. Each page should stick to one main term or topic, this helps Google understand the content of each page without getting confused about the purpose of the page. So make sure your web pages contain and address the following elements with focus keywords.

  • 70 characters page title
  • Alt Text
  • H1 and H2 title text
  • Meta description of at least 155 characters
  • Content keywords at least once with included variations as necessary

Bottom Line

All in all, from building a solid strategy and implementing it effectively to keeping up with the Google algorithm to make a significant adjustment, you need to do a lot to rock the ranking game. In the end, make sure that you stick to the best SEO practices once your website has ranked high to maintain your ranking.

Website Problems That Will Scare Away Your Customers

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Your website is one of the most important parts of your marketing efforts and can be the foundation for your entire business if you provide services, do business around the world, or run an e-commerce company.

Website visitors are easily frustrated and “bounce” or leave if something doesn’t load fast enough or if a shopping cart is too difficult to figure out. In fact, over 70% of carts on average are abandoned with items not purchased, according to Baymard Institute.

Here are a few elements you will want to ensure your website has in place to keep your potential customers interested, informed, and transforming into loyal clients.

Excellent Mobile Experience

With everyone using their phones more and more often, having an excellent mobile website is crucial to gaining new customers or ensuring users spend enough time on your website to complete the tasks you leave for them, whether that’s to purchase something, read a blog, or sign up for the newsletter.

More than half of all internet traffic now comes from phones, and more than half of those make a purchase from their phones. Other screen sizes are being used as well, so having a responsive website is the most efficient option to accommodate everyone.

Minimal Advertisements

It is a good idea to create a road map for website users to guide them to the actions you want them to complete. This can be accomplished with pop-ups, alerts, and other attention-getting strategies. But, once the website crosses the line and becomes annoying, this will be a reflection of your brand name, and people will leave. Interrupt their experience as little as possible, and only do so for important actions.

If you make your money through advertisements on a content-based website, again don’t be annoying. Advertisements slow the website down and are a nuisance to look at while trying to read. Keep it classy!

Clean, Streamlined User-Friendly Design

Everyone thinks differently, and many will not figure out what you want them to do on your website unless you make it very simple and obvious. It is your job to guide them through the conversion process, and ensure every step along the way is quick and painless. Use mouse heatmaps and analytics to see where the highest percentage of users are dropping off the site.

The user interface (UI) is incredibly important, but none of it matters if the website itself breaks easily. If you have a shopping cart, for example, make sure the application works well all the way through the transaction and payment. Check and double-check important buttons for newsletter signups and forms.

Fast Load Speed

There is nothing better to turn someone away from your website than slow load times. If your website takes longer than three seconds, nearly half of all users will give up immediately, and potentially find your competitor’s website instead. Site speed and performance are a top priority for any business who wants to attract new customers.

Does your business website meet all of these points sufficiently? Contact K-Kom today to find out what you can do better to ensure you’re not missing out on hundreds (or even thousands) of potential sales.

How To Avoid Local SEO Problems Part 1: Business Plan & Location

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As we’ve been talking about lately, local SEO can make or break your small business, especially if you’re only able to serve your local community. Everyone these days looks online to first find your product or service, and then to see if you’re worthy of their purchase (reviews, clear simple website, etc.).

There are some very common mistakes that we marketers see all the time. Many of these are simple to fix too, it’s just a matter of being aware of them and your business will flourish!

Business

This is especially important for new businesses, or businesses just getting online. Do things right the first time before they become a hamper on your long-term success. If you’ve made some of these mistakes, no worries, just fix them now rather than later :).

Namechoose your business name wisely

The name of your business is incredibly important and can either help or hurt you depending on what you choose…

While big brands with names that have nothing to do with what they are (Banana Boat is a well known sunscreen brand) are able to succeed, a new business with such a name will be competing with other things, like actual banana boats in this example.

You also don’t want your name to be limiting, especially if you ever plan to expand your services, move to a new area, or grow into something you can’t even imagine yet.

Location

Google in particular is particular about their location data. To rank your Google My Business listing, you must have a real address (PO boxes don’t count, and neither do virtual un-staffed offices). No worries if you don’t have an office or you’re a service provider. Just give your home address and select the option to hide your address in these cases. Google will need to send a postcard to this address with a code to verify that your business is real.

If your business is located slightly outside the city you want to rank for, this will not fly in search results. Google has boundaries in Google Maps, and usually these run true for ranking ability.

Business Policies & Expectations

It’s necessary to create some policies for situations that may arise as your brand becomes more popular, such as spam comments on your website or social media.

If you are a new company, depending on your industry and the online competition, don’t expect to beat everyone out in a week. SEO is the long term strategy and the only way you’ll win is to not give up. For fast results at the beginning, consider investing in PPC – the paid ads on top of search results or display ads on relevant websites.

Ensure you’ve done enough research about your local area to decide if the demand is high enough for your product or service. SEO cannot deliver miracles, at least not overnight, and it certainly can’t create a demand for product that doesn’t exist!

Clarity

One of the most important things of course is to portray a clear message to your desired audience. If people don’t understand why they should buy from you instead of your competitor down the street, there’s no telling who they’ll choose to give their money to.

Come up with one sentence that clearly describes your business and the extra value you deliver to your customers (10 words or less is best). This “value statement” will give you and your team the clarity you need to be truly successful!

K-Kom is a local SEO agency ready to increase your local reach and beat your competition! Contact us today for more info.

How To Do Local SEO The Easy Way: Part 2

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Did you go through the steps in our last blog to start improving your local SEO ranking? If not, read this first. If yes, you’re ready to move on to these next steps!

Industry and geography specific platforms

Depending on your particular situation, there may be other platforms out there just waiting to give your business a boost. For example, doctors can benefit by being listed on HealthGrades.com, home designers and contractors can benefit by being on Houzz.com. Lastly, local chamber of commerce websites often offer free listings for local companies. Some will not be free, and if you have to pay make sure the traffic that will result from it will be worth it.

Social Media Marketing with K-Kom Inc.

Get your name out there

You also get “points” with search engines by just getting your name out there, whether in blogs, social media engagement, sponsoring events, etc. The directories are just the beginning. Having people talk about your brand in a positive way is worth much more.

Ask customers for reviews. We’ve mentioned this before, and we’ll mention it again. Today reviews are so incredibly important, it’s not even funny. It’s better if you can reply to these reviews with a thank you. With negative reviews, get into the habit of explaining the situation through a public reply, taking care of the customer to make their issue better – give a coupon, refund, etc.

Remember the point of getting all these channels out there is:

  1. To increase brand exposure with relevant audiences
  2. To ensure search engines like Google find a broad and accurate representation of your business throughout the internet on quality platforms.

It’s all about building trust with new customers and Google alike.

If you’re like most small business owners, and marketing is the last thing on your list of things to worry about, contact K-Kom and we’ll get your SEO strategy in place to increase your bottom line!

Why SEO is Important For Your Small Business

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SEO has become the best, most affordable and effective strategy for growing your small business online… making it not-so-small!

Of course if you don’t feel the need to grow your business, then SEO won’t be so important for you. BUT if you’re like most, you probably would like your business to flourish and even outlive you. So, currently the best way to do that is with a well-planned SEO strategy, and here’s why:

Be visible to the right people

There’s no better way to have people find you when they need you, as they’re searching for your products or services on a search engine like Google. Showing up somewhere near the top of that search page exposes your brand name to very relevant leads, and ultimately acts as a base for long term success (not to mention a very affordable salesman that doesn’t need commission).

Earn Credibility

Become an industry thought-leader by sharing the specialized knowledge you’ve spent years building up. Share tips and tricks, advice, opinions on hot industry-specific topics, etc. Not only will your customers love this, so will Google.

Beat your Competition

The more effort you put towards your SEO, the more likely you are to beat your competitors, whether that’s local or on a broader scale.

To get your SEO off on the right foot, or if it seems like the time to re-strategize and increase the leads on your website, contact K-Kom and ask about our local small business SEO services in Milwaukee, WI. We also serve clients across the country and outside the US with continuously updated SEO strategies.

PRO TIP: never buy SEO services from a company that “guarantees” a “#1 ranking”. There are too many factors that go into your page ranking on any one particular search term, including online industry competitiveness. No one can flawlessly achieve results just like that, except maybe Google themselves.

B2B Internet Marketing Strategies Part 1: Be Found

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The first step in achieving business success online is by first being found, and not only that, but being found by the right people (the ones that will do business with you of course).

A Great Website

The first place people will look online, or the first thing people will likely find especially while searching on Google, is your website. The first impression someone gets should be as positive, clear, and simple as you can make it. You want your best side to show through, what sets you apart from your competition, and why they should choose to do business with you, rather than the search result below or above you.

Is the information all up to date? Is the purpose of the site clear (the user knows right away to call, send a request for quote, buy from your physical or online store, or whatever you want them to do first)?

Great Content

This ties right into the website. Again is all the info accurate and clear? Is there too much to look at? How many things are you asking the person to do at once (ideally only one or two simple things to begin with).

Make sure to have good quality, updated photos and videos as well. People are highly visual and photos can easily explain something more effectively and quicker than a paragraph of text. It doesn’t hurt to also include that paragraph of text near the photo or as a caption for Google’s purposes.

A good brand video is also very helpful on the homepage, showing you the owner talking about the goal of your business, why it’s important to you, and why your potential customers should trust you over your competitors.

SEO Search Engine Optimization

Google and other search engines have a method for sorting websites based on what a person searches for, and which website seems to be the best and most relevant choice to display at a particular time.

Social Listening – Who’s Your Audience

Assuming you know your audience, really dig into what these individuals are saying on social media, especially when it comes to daily struggles, problems they have regarding your industry service or product. It’s also very important to listen to your competitors to stay on top of industry trends, and social influencers that have an impact on your customers.

 

With this first step in your B2B internet marketing strategy, you’ll be starting down the path towards a strong brand and an increased bottom line!

If you’re like most businesses owners and have a thousand other things to think about and do with your time, contact K-Kom and ask about our specialized B2B marketing services. We’re ready to grow your business with you!

Local Search Optimization and How Your Company Can Benefit

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As a business owner in the digital world, optimization is very important. Local search optimization is not necessarily priority #1 for everyone, but if you’re looking to reach an audience located within a specific radius from you – eg. if you’re a service provider, going to people’s homes or businesses, or if you have a physical storefront – local optimization is exactly what you need to stay competitive in your market, especially if your known-competitors have already been doing this for the last few years. Google themselves confirmed that 50%+ of searches done on mobile are local, and that 60% of all searches are mobile, so that’s a huge percentage of local searches! Here are a few steps to get you where you want to be in your future customer’s search engine searches.

6 Steps Towards Local Search Optimization

Claim or set-up your Google My Business account

Google My Business Optimization with K-Kom, Inc.

This is the listing (outlined in blue) that pops up at the top of mobile searches, and on the right side of search results on a desktop computer, along with a map, link to your website, business hours, reviews, etc. It’s very important that this is filled out with every possible detail, using location-based keywords, and is as accurate as possible, especially your NAP – name, address, phone number (keep these three elements consistent throughout the web!!).

You’ll also need to pick a business category that best fits you. You can choose multiple, but it’s better to pick one if possible. Lastly don’t forget great photos of your business, logo, products, employees, etc

This graph from Hitwise shows the share of online searches done on a mobile device, by industry:

hitwise mobile searches

Claim/set-up business listings on other major websites

  • Yahoo! business listing, now called Aabaco Small Business
  • Yelp for businesses
  • Apple maps
  • Facebook – they’re working to be a bigger influence in local search
  • LinkedIn – for those who deal with other businesses, or business professionals
  • Other social media sites depending on your unique customer base/target audience
  • Any industry related sites you may be aware of
  • A few such as the BBB (Better Business Bureau), local chamber of commerce or prominent local directories may not be free but offer potential customers a sense of trust when they see these.

Collect reviews and testimonials

These can be through your Google My Business, Yelp or even sites like Facebook. Address your bad reviews in a positive, assertive way, and let the good ones pour in. This creates another added trust factor for customers and Google itself.

Expand/add content with keywords to your website

Keyword research is necessary for this step, and ties in with your overall SEO strategy. Your Google category picked while setting up your Google My Business should be added to your list of keywords, often fitting for the homepage. Aim for 300 words per page, but ensure this content is valuable for your visitors. It’s helpful to include your target city or town as part of your keywords – category + city, like “marketing agency Milwaukee”.

Include your location on your website

It’s easiest to put this right into your header or footer so it shows on each page. If you have more than one location, have a separate page for each with the cities included (for SEO purposes)

Social Media

Build an audience in your local area. Grow a relationship with your current and potential customers. Find out exactly where these people are so you know where to focus your valuable time and effort.

This is just the beginning to getting your business on top of the local competition. If you have questions about local SEO services, or think you may be interested in local search engine optimization, contact K-Kom and we’ll be glad to answer your questions!

We also have printing services such as color brochure printing, menu printing for restaurants, and a variety of other options.