Landing pages are one of the main components of any inbound marketing strategy. They capture the user’s attention and drive them back to your website, while capturing lead information. Landing pages are extremely effective when done correctly, but there are some easy mistakes to avoid and be aware of.

Don’t forget to have a compelling call to action.

Users need a good reason to click on a landing page link, and then they need a better reason to fill out a lead capture form. You may have a great e-book waiting on the other side, but that doesn’t make a difference if the user isn’t made aware of that. Make sure your call to action is easy to see, front and center, and compelling.

Don’t overcomplicate sign up forms.

Landing page sign up forms are great for lead capturing. They need to be as simple as possible. Too many fields can scare potential leads away. Focus on what’s absolutely necessary. You can use A/B testing to find out how many fields is ideal. Don’t worry if that ideal number is just two fields for first/last names and an email address. Some contact information is better than no contact information.

Don’t forget to integrate analytics with your landing pages.

This is absolutely crucial. Using analytics to track performance is a must. Without it you will be completely in the dark as to how you are doing and what you need to change. Use bit.ly or another URL shortener to track click throughs to your landing page. Then make sure to use Google Analytics and/or a marketing automation platform to track landing page performance. Some of the more comprehensive marketing solutions offer great features like A/B testing, and on page analysis to track performance. At the very least make sure you have something in place to track click throughs and that your forms link to a database.

Blogging isn’t just for teenagers who want a virtual diary anymore. It’s mainstream now, which means everyone is getting in on the action. Blogs are being used in a ton of ways today like showcases, developer notes, news editorials, etc. Companies are paying more and more attention to blogging because of what it can mean for online business, especially in the B2B market. For instance:

Blogs help to increase search engine rankings.

SEO is a huge part of any online marketing effort, and blogging is a great way of improving search engine rankings. Having dozens of articles with keywords, and linking to them from social media networks can help significantly. Not to mention doing guest blog posts on other reputable sites to link back to your company website. A strong SEO program is one of the best marketing tools, and a solid blogging presence will help to facilitate this.

Blogs are a low cost, easy to share method of attracting attention and traffic.

Running a blog is very affordable compared to other marketing initiatives. It is also highly effective when done right. Blog content is so easy to share and build traffic with, it’s ridiculous. Focus on writing content that your audience enjoys, and be persistent in sharing it on social media. People love free content, and social media is the best way of reaching a ton of users quickly. Traffic building doesn’t happen overnight, so define your sharing process and stick to it.

Blogs help to improve thought leadership.

Another benefit of blogging is that it can improve brand equity and credibility online. Blogging is a great way of showing off what you know and do. A strong blog presence can make a small company seem much larger than it is. For instance, if people see you constantly sharing quality content about digital marketing, they will be more likely to come to you when they need marketing help or want to acquire your services. An ounce of perception is worth a pound of performance!

Social media is taking off in a big way for business and it's important to stay on top of all the latest statistics and trends. The best way to do that is with some awesome infographics. We looked all over and got a bunch of great pieces of content for you to check out. Enjoy!

H/T to Entrepreneur.com , bufferapp.com , florentlemens.com , and mediabistro.com for the great content!

Social media as a marketing tool isn’t a recent development. Companies are being barraged with reasons to use social media as part of their strategy. There are many different social media networks, making it equally as important to know which ones to leverage. A general rule of thumb is that you should be active in some way on Twitter, LinkedIn, and Facebook. In this article we will focus on why you should be using Twitter specifically.

Twitter has more reach than LinkedIn and Facebook.

Facebook may have more users, and LinkedIn may have great search features, but when it comes to overall reach Twitter is #1. In order to see a company’s post you have to be a fan of it on Facebook or LinkedIn. This means that someone has to search through different companies for you and then like your page. This isn’t the case on Twitter. All posts are public and can be seen everyone without users having to follow you. You can even create high exposure, targeted tweets by using certain hashtags.

Twitter is instant.

Twitter is the instant messaging system of social media, while Facebook and LinkedIn are the equivalent of email. Communication in Twitter occurs rapidly, and things move faster than on other networks. You may have to wait a day or two to get a response on other networks, but most replies come in a day or LESS on Twitter. This makes it great for on the fly networking, lead generation, and public relations. Not to mention that many newsworthy developments in the world are publicized on Twitter before mainstream media catches wind of them. I’m not saying you should forego Facebook and LinkedIn, just that you should ensure that Twitter is part of your online strategy.

Twitter’s public nature makes it easy to identify and interact with leads.

This point ties into Twitter having more reach. Twitter makes it easier for consumers to connect with businesses, and vice versa. Its search features make it straightforward to track down prospects. Most profiles on Twitter are public which helps to increase visibility. Twitter also helps businesses identify what conversations to focus on by organizing them with hashtags. Both of these features simplify the process of interacting with leads in a personable and professional manner.

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.