SEO

SEO Content Strategy Tips to Massively Increase Website Visits

December 19, 2017 by K-Kom

Content strategy makes up a large portion of your SEO needs. The top three ranking factors as of today are reviews, links, and fresh, quality content. It might be tempting to throw together a few articles and share them on social media, but anyone (including your competitors) can do that just as easily. So planning out a strategic approach is not only important, it will set you apart from the crowd and place you as an expert in your chosen field.

A strategic content plan should start with:

Prioritizing topics and themes that will be easiest to rank for.
How best to link to other pages of your website within each blog article.
Using these topics as an opportunity to link to non-competing but respected individuals or companies and form relationships with these people.
Regular upkeep and maintenance of existing website content so it stays relevant.

Easy Keyword Ranking

First thing’s first – what topics do you want your blog or news section to cover? Write down as many ideas as you can to start. Then we will use some tools to determine where the best place to start is.

Using the Keyword Planner in Google AdWords, you can type in your first topic, and a list of related keywords will be generated. You’re looking for keywords or phrases that have a high search volume, will provide value to your audience, and have a low difficulty or competition rating. There is also a tool on SEMRush called “Keyword Difficulty” that can be used in the same way to find these “sweet spot” keywords.

You can also type them into Google yourself and see what businesses are ranking on page one. If you see nationally known brands, you’re going to have a tougher time than with keywords that have small or lesser-known companies on page one.

Internal Linking

As you write, it’s important to link to relevant pages within your website that talk about your products or services. The point of content is to eventually lead to more sales right? You don’t want to come across as pushy or salesy, but when it’s appropriate and makes sense, linking to those conversion pages is a must.

Content Layering

Another helpful strategy is to mix it up between very specific, niche topics and more broad topics that pertain to a larger audience while still being relevant. Other businesses will be able to link to your articles more easily if they’re not so niche, and this could set you up to expand your services down the road.

Is Your Topic Linkable?

Google sees websites as more trustworthy and as an authority when other websites link to them. So, putting content onto your website that people will like enough to share is something to always keep in mind.

Does your topic receive a good number of searches per month?
Do the top results have a lot of other sites linking to them? (if not, you probably won’t get much action either)
If they do, what kinds of sites are linking to them? Would those link to yours?

Another thing you can do is look at the top ranking articles, find one you know you can improve on with better formatting, photos, or new research, then contact the people who have already linked to similar content and see if they would be willing to link to yours.

Maintenance on Existing Content

Keeping your existing content updated and relevant can add major value to your website. Even going back and creating a video based on the same content can attract more people and links to your business.

To see this strategy in more detail, visit SearchEngineLand.com.

How to Improve SEO With a Blog

December 12, 2017 by K-Kom

First let’s answer an important question: what is a corporate blog, and why does it matter for your business?

Corporate Blog Definition

A corporate blog is essentially a blog (discussions or informational-type articles posted on a website) created by a business for the purpose of educating clients, other industry professionals, or describing products or services in more detail. This can also include:

Sharing new ideas for product use
Explaining the advantages of a service for a particular niche in your industry
& more…

Really, this blog can be whatever you want it to be, based on what you think your target audience would find the most value in.

If your corporation has a number of employees, a section of the blog can be dedicated to these people for purposes such as:

Strengthening your brand name and values
Achieving internal goals
Creating a better team atmosphere

Encourage comments, questions, suggestions, and transparency with problems to improve the business as a whole.

Why It Matters For Your Business

The main purpose for having and maintaining an active blog is to provide additional value to your target audience. Ideally then, this:

Creates more trust between you and potential clients
Builds a stronger level of customer loyalty
Positions your brand as an industry authority or expert
Gives your company a voice that humanizes communication, allowing you to be more in touch with your customers (especially for large businesses).

How to Improve Your SEO

To improve your website’s SEO (search engine optimization) / ranking on search engines, Google likes content. This includes written articles as well as photos and videos, amongst other possible formats. Really anything that you can provide that will give additional value (for free) is great to add to your website and share across social media, forums, other relevant websites, etc. Doing this on a regular basis (consistently) will give your website and brand name more credence in the robotic eyes of search engines, and you will begin to rank on search pages higher, and for more search terms.

When writing a blog, it’s good to have a photo every 350 words or so, to break it up and increase the attention spans of readers. Aim for 350 words at least, and if this isn’t possible, don’t go less than 250 unless of course adding to whatever you’ve written would be fluff or worthless (remember: quality, quality, quality). Conduct keyword research using tools like Google Keyword Planner and SEMRush on the particular topic you’re writing about, to incorporate specific phrases that are searched frequently by your target audience.

Some people like to think of their website as a “once and done” sort of project, but unfortunately it’s not that easy. The website is often the first impression a potential customer has of your brand. It’s like a store which requires:

“Cleaning”: security checks, software improvements, similar to cleaning a store
Style updates
Additions (and subtractions)
Perks: free content or coupons, perhaps the equivalent to sales or complimentary coffee in a store / office
etc.

Some industries, especially B2B, are more difficult to write about, especially in a casual manor. If this is the case for your business, first research your competitors to see what they’re doing for content, and maybe you’ll need to work with your engineers to create some technical guides that would require a customer to give their email and other details to receive it. Or maybe your business would benefit from doing a video blog, and go behind the scenes to show customers something they would find impressive (especially if it’s something unique to your business).

The possibilities are really endless and up to your imagination. And if your imagination isn’t working too well, send a survey out to your customers and straight up ask them what kind of content they would find helpful. Maybe self-help guides or repair how-to videos?

Obviously blog management can take up as much time as you want it to, and not everyone has tons of free time every week. If you and your employees would rather focus on what you need to get done for the business, contact K-Kom today and see what we can do for your corporate blog and content strategy.

How To Avoid Local SEO Problems Part 3: Business Listings

November 14, 2017 by K-Kom

This is the third part in our series to learn how to avoid local SEO issues and be at the top of your local business game. Now it’s time to talk about local business listings, which not only add quality backlinks to your website and drive great new quality traffic to you, but if managed improperly can end up hurting your business and legitimacy in the eyes of Google.

Collect Successful Business Directory Listings

First you must do a little research and select the best platforms to post your business on. Start with the largest and most popular sites for any industry, move on to popular local directories (like your Chamber of Commerce, etc) and then work into smaller niche-specific sites.

Top large directories

Google My Business
Facebook
LinkedIn
Yellowpages.com
Yelp
Local.com
Whitepages.com
Manta
SuperPages
CitySearch
BBB.org
Yahoo Local

Comply with the basic guidelines

Each platform has its rules, and not abiding by them can cause suspension or potentially hurt your brand reputation. Reporting incorrect information is becoming easier for anyone to do, including using a group of your friends’ addresses as business addresses for Google My Business. So before you go signing up for 50 different listings, make sure you understand the rules and best way to present your business.

Complete your profile

There is a variety of pertinent information that will be listed on your business on each platform, and it’s important that you fill in everything as best you can. Ensure that a potential customer has every possible thing they need to decide to do business with you. Don’t miss opportunities!

Maintain one accurate listing per platform

For whatever reason, some businesses end up with two or three listings that have a few differences, whether it’s because they changed their name, accidentally created a new one, the business address changed, etc. There is always a way to edit your one listing and delete duplicates. Make sure your business info is accurate so customers are not confused when trying to find you.

Common issues

Map marker in the wrong place: sometimes Google has a bug and places your business in the middle of the ocean…
Because of the previous issue, driving directions will then also be wrong.
Lack of monitoring: as much as you may wish an aspect of digital marketing could be one-and-done, this is not our reality today. You must consistently check for new customer feedback (especially so you can respond to any negativity ASAP).

Pick a few good ones

There’s no reason to be listed on hundreds of directories that get very little traffic, to begin with, aren’t super relevant to your business, or aren’t highly trusted by search engines. The purpose of doing this at all besides being seen by more people is to increase your level of trust with Google, and low-quality directories will not help you do this. It’s best to pick a handful of the most popular, trustworthy platforms used by all industries, and then find a few industry-focused ones that are worth your effort (high traffic, trusted brands, etc).

Once you’ve picked the best ones and completed the profiles in their entirety, determine a plan for monitoring them regularly. Edit as needed, post updates if necessary, and respond to reviews.

Post great photos

Too many businesses on Google My Business have some sad looking pictures that make their company look… not as good as it could, especially compared to competitors. When it comes to gaining first-time customers, first impressions are worth a lot. There have been studies that show Google My Business listings with good photos earn over 30% more clicks through to the website and over 40% more clicks for directions to a location.

Continue developing your local digital presence to consistently improve your ranking and brand trust/recognition and you’ll be enjoying long-term success and business growth! To learn more about this and develop a solid strategy, contact K-Kom Marketing.

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

October 17, 2017 by K-Kom

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 :).

Name

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 1

October 3, 2017 by K-Kom

If you know a little about SEO already, you know the rules change constantly thanks to Google and the people trying to cheat the system. When it comes to local SEO, especially for a small business that can only serve the local area, it’s imperative that you show up on the top few search results to keep your business alive and growing. And because the know-how of these online tactics is becoming more and more well understood, your local competition online is already or will become very steep, so it’s better to be ahead of the crowd if you can, or at least start fighting the good fight now before it becomes impossible.

Here are 3 easy steps to get your local SEO strategy moving in the right direction.

Make your title tags and meta descriptions relevant

These two things, what shows up on Google for people to see, still matter a great deal – not only for ranking purposes, but for selling those prospective clients to click on your website and not your competitor.

Every letter counts in search results

Google has increased the size of the description and title, so these can usually fit 50-60 characters and 160-200 characters respectfully. While it may not seem important, make sure these aren’t getting cut off with the beloved “…” at the ends. It looks and sounds far better if you can fit a complete thought out there.

To get a preview of what these are going to look like in search results, you can use tools like Yoast’s SEO Plugin in WordPress and see exactly how your business is being presented to the world, and edit it right there to be the best length.

Good content for search results

Include the name of your city and/or service area.
Focus in on one great keyword or phrase, and put that as close to the front of the title as you can.

Claim your Google My Business

This step is so incredibly important to local SEO that if you haven’t already done it, do it yesterday… or now. Not only will people see a map of your location, but a link to your website, reviews, a description of what your business is, phone number, etc.

To do this, go to google.com/business. Go through the process they instruct you on, and you’ll come to a verification step which usually results in either a phone call to your business phone number or a mailed postcard to your business address, with a code. Type this code into the verification area, and you’ll be all set to appear on search results in a nice informative box.

Online Directories

While Google doesn’t give as much credit to tons of these like they used to, they still look at a few key big ones like the BBB, Yelp, YP, social media, other review sites, blogs, local newspapers, and local directories that you’ll have to research.

Google also pulls and compares data from places called data aggregators. There are a few big players out there, like Acxiom, Superpages, Infogroup, and Localeze. Factual seems to be pulling ahead of the crowd and you can update your business’s data there yourself so you can be confident that everything is accurate.

Pro tip: make sure your Name, Address, and Phone number (NAP) all show up exactly the same, punctuation and all, for every listing you claim and publish.

If you’re ready to boost your local SEO strategy to the next level, please contact our local SEO experts at K-Kom Marketing today. We’ll be glad to give some more insight into how to beat your local competition.

We work mainly to create SEO strategies for local Milwaukee companies and others around Wisconsin, and work with small to medium-sized businesses across the United States, boosting their local search engine rankings wherever they’re located!

“OK Google: SEO services near me!”

Why SEO is Important For Your Small Business

September 26, 2017 by K-Kom

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

September 5, 2017 by K-Kom

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!

Why Quality Content is Important

August 1, 2017 by K-Kom

Many people these days are after a good experience, to be entertained or to learn something valuable and relevant to their lives. Does your business provide this added value?

With the increasing levels of competition in the marketplace and decreasing levels of customer loyalty, making conversation on social media and sharing quality content can build trust with your current and potential clients and actually create a stronger bond and loyalty that can, if you truly care about your customers, create a community.

People have an inherent intrigue for stories and desire to be part of something larger than themselves. If you can successfully build this over time, you will not only enjoy the community yourself, but your business will thrive for years to come.

Quality Content Matters

We as consumers can sense when someone cares about what they’re doing, and when they’re simply selling to make a buck. Throwing some sub-par content together will not cut it. No one will look twice, or they’ll unsubscribe. This may even impact the trust they have for you. Here are some general guidelines you can follow:

Relevant: everything must be both relevant to your business and what you offer, as well as to the interests, questions, and problems your customers have.
Unique factor: take your own pictures, and write about industry know-how that no one else is talking about online
Quality / Authority: show your knowledge off with tips and tricks of the trade; show off the time you’ve been in the industry especially if it’s more than any of your competitors.

So, how do you know if after all these efforts that it’s worth it? If it is truly great, people will share it over social media. They will comment on it. Even better, if people link to it directly from your website, this can be extremely valuable.

Craft a strategy, stick to a timeline, interact with current and future customers, and you’ll be on your way to a continuously growing business. If however you’re like most business owners and have no time for anything extra, contact K-Kom and we’ll be glad to build great content that’s right for you!

SEO