Online Marketing: Where to Start?

In this highly digital age, it's important each business have an effective, well thought-out online marketing campaign to ensure the maximum possible success from your website.

But, where should your business start when it comes to getting found by consumers? There is a number of great, reputable Internet marketing companies (like WebDrafter.com) out there that can greatly assist your efforts. So, when looking around, here are a few things to think about when considering your Internet marketing campaign:

Blogging

As discussed last week, the benefits of blogging for your business are vast. It's great for SEO, great for sharing materials on social media channels and great for promotional purposes.

Customer Testimonials

Prospective customers/clients want to know what kind and the quality of work you've done for other clients/customers. Gathering testimonials will greatly assist in your online marketing efforts, and getting creative (filming a testimonial vs text) is even better.

Fresh content

Keeping your website frequently updated is another great way to get your business out. Fresh content supremely helps your website get found on the major search engine.

Benefits of Having a Company/Business Blog

Your company has a website, possibly a Facebook page and maybe even a Twitter account. With all these resources, should your company or business be blogging?

The short answer? Yes.

But, with every other resource your company is using, why should you add blogging to your marketing repertoire? There are several great reasons, but here are three of the best:

Blogging is Great for SEO

When it comes to SEO, few things are as important as well-written, fresh content. If your company is having problems coming up with website updates, a blog can fill this void in a great, timely manner.

Blogging is Great for Sharing

We've all been there: trying to figure out what to share on Facebook, Twitter and other social networks. If sharing material is becoming tedious because you find yourself running out of things to say, then a blog is a great way to come up with content to share with your audience.

Blogging is Great for Promotion

If you want your company or business to expand, then a blog is a great way to promote products and services.

Does your company blog? Why or why not? Let us know on the WebDrafter.com Facebook page, @WebDrafter, on Google+ or with a comment. 

The Three R's of Vetting So-Called SEO Gurus

The Internet is full of self-proclaimed SEO experts, gurus, specialists, whizzes, etc. And while there are many great SEOs out there, for every one out there who knows their stuff, there are many more who are an SEO in name only and have no real experience, yet they may talk a great game.

But, before you fall for their lines, you should do a bit of homework and see if they know what they're talking about. However, the issue of trying to find out whether an SEO is good or not while knowing little to nothing about the practice can cause a bit of an issue. So, here are some tips as to what to look for when doing the research.

Rankings

The true indicator of any SEO is the results they generate for their clients. If they have a client portfolio, choose a couple and see how their site is optimized, then look for their search engine rankings for those keyword phrases. Where are they ranking? Top 10? Top 30? Top 50? Are you finding them without much effort, or do you have to go back a few pages before you see results?

Reviews

What are their clients – past and present – saying about them? If the SEO did a tremendous job, then there are sure to be positive reviews out there. If not, it's almost a certainty negative reviews will have been posted. Take a look and see what you can find. Reviews can tell you a lot about a company and its business practices.

ROI

The goals of every SEO campaign differ, but one common aim is to give the client a return on investment (ROI). Are clients getting this? Contact a few and get their insight. If many are, then the SEO is doing his or her job. If not, then it's time to look at other candidates.

Agree? Disagree? We want your thoughts. Let us know on our Facebook page, @WebDrafter or on Google+.  

What is a fair price for SEO services?

If you're thinking about SEO, your first thought is probably, "How much is this going to cost?" And it's a great question to ask, but isn't the easiest question to answer.

Unfortunately, there isn't a standard price when it comes to SEO. It depends on your needs, and your price. If you're wondering, "Then what is a fair price for SEO?" it gets a little more tricky.

The reason many agencies don't publish their SEO rates is because there isn't a "one size fits all" approach to SEO. Questions have to be answered before a price can be determined: What are your ultimate goals? How competitive is your industry? How much on-site work needs to be done to get your website where it needs to be? Who is your target demographic? How many services/products do you offer? After these are figured out, a price can be determined.

Let's look at this way: say you're a general contractor in a large metropolitan area. You specialize in roofing and siding. You want to be found for "(area) general contractor," "(area) roofing," "(area) siding," etc. You want to spend $1,200 in a one-year period to make this happen, and you want instant results in the search engine rankings. Due to the (most likely) long history of your competition, and the competitive of those phrases, you might not get very far.

But, let's say you're a general contractor in a small, suburban area and want to target that area for certain keyphrases. You'll probably see results in the rankings before the company in the larger area.

These examples apply to local SEO efforts. Now, if you're looking to launch a campaign on a national/global level using very general, competitive keywords and phrases, you might have to rethink your budget or time frame.

The ultimate answer: It all comes down to the industry, the target area and the budget.

Agree? Disagree? Let us know on Facebook, @webdrafter or on Google+.