The Best SEO Infographics on the Web Today 

By Steve Hoag

A strong SEO strategy is an integral part of any online business. It builds traffic, leads, and sales. And who doesn't like more sales? That being said, we've scoured the web for some of the best SEO related infographics for your viewing pleasure. Zooming in is recommended. Enjoy!

best SEO infographics

 

 

H/T to upcity.com , kpi100.com , mashable.com , dimbal.com , and searchengineland.com .

 

View User Profile for Steve Hoag Steve is a recent graduate from UW, and the Marketing Coordinator at Fast Track. He primarily has experience in the tech and start-up industries. When he's not busy promoting Fast Track, he's watching Huskies or Green Bay Packers football. You can find him on Twitter @steven_hoag .
Posted by Steve Hoag Friday, February 28, 2014 8:14:00 PM Categories: B2B inbound marketing landing pages SEO web trends website

Social Media: How to Make People Feel Valued 

By Steve Hoag

social media marketing

 

Social media to many businesses is a numbers game. The focus is always on ROI even though that can be difficult to measure. So they use easy metrics like followers, retweets, shares, clickthroughs etc. What they fail to realize is it’s called SOCIAL media for a reason. Social media was, and always will be about people. And the best way to appeal to people is to make them feel valued. This will drastically boost engagement and online presence. And it will give you a nice warm, fuzzy feeling with all the thank you’s you receive. Which is nice. So how do you make people feel valued? Read on!

Share other people’s content or thank them for sharing.

People love feeling like what they have to say matters. The easiest way to do this on social media is to share their content, or thank them for sharing. These actions can feel like rewards for users. Not only that, but it keeps your company top of mind. These people are just networking with you for now, but can quickly become qualified leads and sales down the road. Even if they don’t, you have improved your brand reputation and that can lead to positive word of mouth.

Always respond to mentions and messages.

Part of making people feel valued ties into not ignoring them. Respond to every single mention, message, retweet, or share. And do it in a timely manner. People have very short term memory on social media, so it’s important to thank them or respond quickly. Again, this will help you to stay top of mind. Stop thinking of your business profiles as simply that, and treat them as if they are actual personas. That way when you interact with other users you can give them the sense that they are talking to a person versus a faceless company. Be personable in all your responses to user interactions!

Never ignore a chance to connect.

This goes beyond simply networking. If you see someone post a question that you can answer -- answer it. It doesn’t matter if they may or may not be someone you can easily turn into a sale. The only thing that matters is that they have a problem that your business has the opportunity of solving. Brand reputation and awareness are some of the most important things on social media. Going the extra mile and helping when you don’t HAVE to is a great way of improving in these areas. Remember, the point of social media is making people feel valued.

View User Profile for Steve Hoag Steve is a recent graduate from UW, and the Marketing Coordinator at Fast Track. He primarily has experience in the tech and start-up industries. When he's not busy promoting Fast Track, he's watching Huskies or Green Bay Packers football. You can find him on Twitter @steven_hoag .
Posted by Steve Hoag Monday, February 24, 2014 6:44:00 PM Categories: B2B B2C enterprise inbound marketing social media social media marketing

Social Media Marketing: 3 Overlooked Mistakes 

By Steve Hoag

social media marketing mistakes

Social media needs to be on every marketer’s radar. It also needs to be done the right way. It’s one of the easiest ways to boost your brand presence, as long as you properly manage it. There are many ‘how to’ articles on social media, but it’s also worth noting what NOT to do. Instead of mentioning the obvious pitfalls, this article will focus on some overlooked ones that can also derail your marketing program.

Not being active when your target segment is.

This really depends on what sort of business you are. If you operate only in the local market, by all means post entirely during standard business hours. If you are an internet business though, paying attention to your target segment’s hours of activity is trickier. Possible leads and sales can come at any time of the day. That’s why it’s important to take advantage of social media platforms like HootSuite or TweetDeck that allow you to schedule tweets ahead of time. Make sure your business has a steady stream of tweets throughout the day so that it is always in front of the right eyes, regardless of where they are in the world.

Not taking advantage of free analytics to track engagement.

A lot of people think the most important metrics on social media are follower counts. While these are important, they don’t give an accurate picture of what kind of engagement you are getting. There are many free tools out there that can track important metrics like engagement, influence, and clickthrough rates. For example, Klout measures your social media influence and what you are most influential in. Services like bit.ly not only shorten your URLS, but also track when and where people are clicking through on your links. Using services like these in conjunction with the standard metrics social media networks give you will help to paint a much more accurate picture. You don’t need a fancy analytics solution right off the bat to help give you insight!

Abusing hashtags.

#Don’t #Use #Hashtags #For #Every #Word. Hashtags used to only be used for Twitter, but they have since expanded to services like Facebook and Instagram. Instagram is notorious for people abusing hashtags like #nofilter etc. Don’t treat your business accounts like a teenage girl’s. Only use hashtags for appropriate phrases that reach out to your target segment. For example, #webdesign if you are in the web design business. Don’t use too many hashtags even if they are relevant in every post. That can turn people away from engaging with your posts. Finally, please avoid using hashtags in networks that can’t leverage them. There are many people on LinkedIn who post things that use hashtags even though they don’t serve any discernable business purpose. Use them when they’re appropriate and crucial to reaching your audience.

 

View User Profile for Steve Hoag Steve is a recent graduate from UW, and the Marketing Coordinator at Fast Track. He primarily has experience in the tech and start-up industries. When he's not busy promoting Fast Track, he's watching Huskies or Green Bay Packers football. You can find him on Twitter @steven_hoag .
Posted by Steve Hoag Friday, February 21, 2014 8:06:00 PM Categories: B2B B2C blogging enterprise inbound marketing SEO social media social media marketing

Inbound Marketing: Why It's Here to Stay 

By Steve Hoag

inbound marketing strategies

Inbound marketing is taking off in a huge way. And it’s in it for the long haul. Digital marketers and users alike are falling head over heels for this approach. So why is it here to stay, and not another passing fad? Read on!

Low costs and high incentives for users create high engagement for marketers.

People love free things. Inbound marketing is all about providing free, high quality content to empower users. The user is only spending a few minutes of their time to acquire great information. The biggest hurdle for most users is filling out a simple opt in form on a landing page. Thanks to the very low end-user cost and the fact that users WANT this content, inbound marketing campaigns can generate a great deal of engagement. There are also extra incentives that can be added in like coupons or free sample for sharing/liking etc. Consumers aren’t dumb. They know a good deal when they see one, which is why inbound marketing is exploding in popularity right now.

Data friendly.

There’s one thing that every marketing team wants: actionable data. Inbound marketing is great for this thanks to the use of forms and analytics that help provide actionable data. Marketers can quickly gain access to a variety of KPI’s, and in some cases using only free tools.

Synergizes with other (free) technologies like social media.

Marketers love free things just as much as consumers. As I pointed out earlier, there are a ton of free tools and technologies that inbound marketing synergizes with. You don’t have to purchase a fancy analytics package right off the bat. You can use tools like MailChimp, bit.ly, Google Analytics, and more to start a bootstrap marketing campaign. Not to mention that social media is absolutely free, and is arguably the most important inbound marketing tool there is. Inbound marketing is one of the most cost-effective business decisions you will ever make. This sort of marketing strategy is not just for the big brands. ANY business can take advantage of it thanks to its high budget flexibility and synergistic qualities.

View User Profile for Steve Hoag Steve is a recent graduate from UW, and the Marketing Coordinator at Fast Track. He primarily has experience in the tech and start-up industries. When he's not busy promoting Fast Track, he's watching Huskies or Green Bay Packers football. You can find him on Twitter @steven_hoag .
Posted by Steve Hoag Friday, February 14, 2014 6:44:00 PM Categories: B2B B2C blogging enterprise inbound marketing landing pages SEO SMB social media social media marketing web trends

The Top 3 Landing Page Mistakes To Avoid 

By Steve Hoag

inbound marketing tips

 

Landing pages are a critical component of inbound marketing. They need to be done well, or your campaigns won’t be as successful as you would like. A standard landing page is made up of a few components like a headline, sign up form, and a call to action. These are fairly straightforward, but it’s easy to make an easy mistake if you aren’t careful. Avoid the following at all costs!

Lack of a compelling headline.

A headline is the hook that you lure users with. A great headline can secure many leads, while lackluster ones will only drive bounce rates. Make sure your headline is concise, compelling, and straight to the point. The point of the headline is to keep users on the page, and drive them to the forms below. Try A/B testing to see which types of headlines resonate the best with your audience.

No clear call to action.

A landing page isn’t complete without a clear call to action. The point of a landing page is to acquire leads, and a clear call to action facilitates this. It’s important to ensure that the user knows what he/she is supposed to do on the landing page. Don’t confuse them with tons of links to click on, or a variety of call to actions. Keep the decision tree as simple as possible so your users can get from A to B without having to visit C and D first. More choices equals more confusion. If a child can’t figure out what to do your call to action isn’t clear enough.

Too complicated of a sign up form.

A user’s worst nightmare are long, complicated, tedious forms. Users love great content, but will decide to forego that content if they are greeted with an enormous form. It’s crucial to keep your opt-in forms as simple as possible. Focus on the bare necessities. If you can live with just an email address, use that as the only field on the form. Again, A/B testing with different versions of contact forms is a great way of finding out the perfect number of fields to use. This will help to balance consumer insight while minimizing bounce and form abandonment rates.

View User Profile for Steve Hoag Steve is a recent graduate from UW, and the Marketing Coordinator at Fast Track. He primarily has experience in the tech and start-up industries. When he's not busy promoting Fast Track, he's watching Huskies or Green Bay Packers football. You can find him on Twitter @steven_hoag .
Posted by Steve Hoag Tuesday, February 11, 2014 7:53:00 PM Categories: B2B B2C blogging enterprise inbound marketing landing pages social media social media marketing web design
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