Weiss-Roessler Writing

Get Listed: An Easy Way to Market Your Local Business Online

admin — Tue, 19 Mar 2013 15:30:08 +0000

Throw out your Yellow Pages! Consumers have moved online when searching for local businesses.

A whooping 97% use the Internet to research local products and services, according to a recent Kelsey Group study.

But here’s the thing: the Yellow Page aren’t entirely out-of-date. They’ve moved online, too!

YellowPages.com is just one of many popular directory sites where people can locate your business and even find reviews from your customers or clients. These sites also help with search engine optimization since they provide more links back to your website. (Learn why backlinks are important.)

There are literally hundreds of directory sites out there. Many even focus entirely on specific industries, such as real estate, law, or jewelry. Not listed? It’s likely your competitors are.

Below, we’ve provided a list of the most popular general directories to get you started.

Need help with the process?

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Please, Take My Money: Call-to-Action Methods That Work

admin — Tue, 26 Feb 2013 09:15:30 +0000

Direct me – but don’t tell me what to do.

One of the great paradoxes of using calls-to-action is that people need to be guided and encouraged with clear, forceful language – but it better not come off like you’re telling them what to do. This can put people on the defensive, make you seem desperate, or even come across like you’re attempting to trick them into something.

The best method is to be simple, straightforward, and (here’s that word again) encouraging by…

Using command verbs and short statements. “Download Yours Here,” “Order Today,” “Buy Now,” “Compare Prices,” and simply “Sign Up” are all examples of simple and effective CTAs.

Catching their eye. The best calls-to-action generally aren’t tiny text links sitting in the middle of big blocks of text. You want them to be big and bold (and maybe even italicized) so that people can’t miss them. Some of the best CTAs utilize buttons, white space, colors that contrast with the rest of the page, and forms. All of these things can help draw people’s eyes right to the CTA.

Incentivizing the click. Command verbs are wonderful and all, but sometimes people need a reason to get off their butts and take action. Incentivizing is part one of the “why” people should click on your link. This method is about creating urgency, either by adding in discounts or promotions for the first few people who click through, or by designating it as an offer that’s limited by numbers or time.

Solving a problem. Even your most ardent fans probably aren’t going to click on something if they don’t think it will help them or solve a need, so you need to explain why they should. Maybe your link purports to earn them money, save them time, or make them more attractive to the opposite sex. Whatever it is, your CTA should incorporate or directly follow this reasoning.

Being repetitive. Out of context, that might sound like a bad idea, but remember that you want to ensure your audience doesn’t miss the CTA. Put it just once at the top of your content and they might have forgotten by the time they finish reading. It’s always smart to include the same CTA again to give them another chance.

Be clear. Don’t tell your readers that maybe they can do this or maybe they can do that. Some people like to include multiple CTAs on the same page or email to give people options, but all too often this just comes across as confusing. Do you want me to “Sign Up” or “Start Shopping”? Keep it to a single, cohesive message.

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How to Get Your E-Newsletter Read: The Subject Line

admin — Tue, 19 Feb 2013 07:02:39 +0000

Putting together an e-newsletter is a lot of work. Even if most of the content just reflects what you’ve put up on your site recently, you still have to format it, write an introduction, and make sure that it’s error-free. Because of all that, it can be incredibly disappointing when only a small percentage of recipients open it. After all, you can’t get them to your site and convert them if they’re not even reading.

That’s why it’s so important to write a subject line that entices people to click on the email. But how do you do that?

Make it timely. Too often, people see emails from businesses and mentally file them into a “to be read later” pile, which often ends up meaning “to be read never.” Avoid this fate by using subjects that encourage urgency or reflect an event that’s happening soon. Phrases like “limited time,” “RSVP,” and “today only” tell people that they’re going to miss out if they don’t act now. And mentioning holidays is always effective, especially if you’ve got the content to back it up – which you should!

Keep focus. Many newsletters touch on a bunch of different topics, but your subject needs to pick the most important one (i.e. the one you think will encourage the most customers to click) and focus on it. You’ve only got about two seconds to capture someone’s attention, so dividing their attention doesn’t help anyone.

Start strong and use the Ws. Continuing with the idea of catching attention quickly, the first few words of your subject are the most important, and you can greatly improve your open rate by using the five Ws. You remember those from school, right? Who, what, when, where, and why. For your purposes, when and what are probably the most important, such as “Sale Today Only” or “Donation Deadline is Tonight.”

Include digits. Lots of platforms, like smartphones, show only a limited amount of subject characters, so you’ve got to get to the point quickly. Digits help you to this by taking up less space. Moreover, they tend to catch people’s attention in a sea of words, and have been shown to greatly improve open rates if used to support the content and call to action.

Follow these rules and you’re sure to see an uptick!

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The Real Power of Social Media Marketing

admin — Mon, 11 Feb 2013 06:54:53 +0000

If you’ve got an online business, chances are you know that it’s important to have a presence on social media, but you might not really understand why. Is having a great Facebook business page really going to help you? Or a ton of followers on Twitter? Yes. And here’s why: social media marketing isn’t just about the individual sites and accounts you have; in short, it makes everything else better and stronger.

How? Read on.

People have more avenues to discover and follow you. By creating and maintaining robust and engaging social media accounts and pages, you’re giving customers – and potential customers – additional ways to keep up with your company and click through to your website so you get more traffic and an opportunity to convert them.

You can get the word out easier. Continuously creating content to market your business online can be exhausting. Writing new blogs and emails and newsletters takes a lot of time, and that’s just the beginning because you still have to let people know the content exists and get them to read it. Social media can help with this in a variety of ways. First off, adding Share, Like, Tweet, +1 buttons and the like to blogs allow your visitors to tell their friends when they read something and love it. You can also use programs like HootSuite and set it up so that all of your social media accounts update automatically when you release new content. And even emails and e-newsletters can get in on the act by including their own buttons or links so that recipients can share, too!

It improves SEO. Too many businesses still think that SEO is only about coming up with the right search terms and sprinkling them throughout your content. Not anymore. Google and Bing have both said that social media activity around your brand plays a part in how your site is ranked in search results. That means that you need to have an active social media presence if you want the best chance at reaching the number one search spot.

As social media continues to grow and branch out into different areas (think LinkedIn’s domination of the professional social market, and Pinterest’s focus on visual content), its power and influence will only grow, and the role it plays in marketing your business has to increase. But using it is far less important than knowing how to use it. Like social media itself, that’s something that continues to grow and evolve.

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Read This Now: Why Good Calls-to-Action Are Vital

admin — Tue, 05 Feb 2013 09:00:51 +0000

The good news: Your traffic is up. The bad news: Your sales aren’t.

Perhaps your problem is that you’re not being direct enough with your audience. While it’s true that no one wants to feel like they are being sold to, most people still need a bit of direction or encouragement once in a while. What am I talking about? Using a call-to-action.

What’s a Call-to-Action Again?

The simplest way to describe a call-to-action (CTA) is the language you use to persuade people to take a specific action. Here are a few examples:

“Subscribe to our e-newsletter and you’ll get updates on new products and discounts sent directly to you”

“Start Shopping Now!”

“Download Our Free eBook for More Information”

“Become a member”

As you can see, the text can be different lengths depending on your needs, though shorter is often better because it’s more direct and easier to read. You also want CTAs to stand out in some way. This could mean making the text larger or a different color, or it might mean creating a button or form on the page.

Why Is It Important to Include This Kind of Language?

Calls-to-action can help your site in a number of ways, such as:

Bumping up traffic. If you’re not seeing a boost in your traffic, the first step is bringing people to the site. Including clickable calls-to-action like links and pictures in your Tweets, emails, and Google+ tagline can help make that happen.

Getting leads. If someone clicks on a CTA to sign up for your e-newsletter, you now have the email address of someone who’s interested in what you do. Same goes for anyone who signs up for an account on your site even if they haven’t made a purchase yet. These people are on the hook; you just have to reel them in.

Steering traffic. Maybe people are coming to your site for the killer content, but they aren’t even aware of the services or products you offer. Placing clear calls-to-action on common landing pages can help funnel people to the most important pages on your site.

Making sales. Obviously, the most important thing a call-to-action can do is get someone to click Buy Now and go through with the sale. In fact, Buy Now is one of the most common calls-to-action that most people don’t even notice.

As mentioned above, sometimes people just need a little bit of direction to know where to go and what to do. The trick, of course, is in giving them this little nudge without pushing them away or overwhelming them.

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Build Your Backlinks to Climb the Search Rank

admin — Mon, 28 Jan 2013 09:44:20 +0000

Search engine optimization is a popularity contest. The more sites that “vote” for you by providing a link to your site, the better.

But the number of backlinks isn’t the only thing that’s looked at; the quality of the sites that point to yours is also an important factor.

Wondering how you fare? One of the best ways to check your backlinks is Google Webmaster Tools. You can learn where you have backlinks, what content is being linked to, and what text is being linked. If you’re interested in comparing your progress to your competitors’, check out the Backlink history tool or the Bulk Backlink Checker on MajesticSEO.com.

If you find that you’ve fallen behind, there are two main ways to build your backlinks: link exchanges and guest posts.

Link Exchanges

A link exchange is exactly what it sounds like: you link to a site in exchange for having that site link to you. Ideally, you want these links to be on sites that are related to yours but, of course, not competing.

For instance, if you’re a real estate agent, it’s unlikely that you want to exchange links with another real estate agent in your area; however, it might make sense to exchange links with a trusted mortgage lender.

If your company has a blog, you may want to consider establishing a blogroll, which is a list of blogs that you recommend. You can then reach out to other sites that have blogrolls to see if they would be willing to do an exchange.

But choose wisely: don’t send your readers to sites that don’t offer them quality information. Remember, by placing a site on your blogroll, you are encouraging others to check it out. If they do and find that it’s garbage, it may put into question the quality of the content on your site as well as the reputation of your company.

Guest Posts

When a blog accepts a guest post, they typically allow a link or two in the author’s bio or occasionally even within the article itself. Not only does this help you with search engine optimization, it also gives you an opportunity to connect with that blog’s audience and possibly bring them directly to your site from the link.

For this reason, posts on sites that are relevant to your field are more valuable. If you are a caterer, a site that shares party planning ideas is more likely to bring you qualified leads than a site about car mechanics. However, from a search engine optimization standpoint, the link from the car mechanic website may still be a useful “vote” for your site, particularly if it is a well-established and high authority site.

Warning: Don’t Pay Sites for Links

Some sites will offer you the opportunity to place a link or guest post on their site for a fee. As a result, these sites often just contain lists of links or poor quality content… and lack for readers as a result.

Even worse, a link there could actually hurt your search engine rank. The practice of paid linking is frowned upon, particularly by Google. Major companies like FTD, Overstock, and JC Penney have felt Google’s wrath for paid link placements. In fact, Google takes the issue so seriously that it even went so far as to ban itself! When Google Japan was found to be buying links, it’s Page Rank dropped from 9 to 5!

Image (cc) ivanpw

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Improve Your Search Rank with Social Media

admin — Thu, 10 Jan 2013 09:29:24 +0000

Simply having a Facebook or Twitter account isn’t enough to boost your search rank—you need an active presence.

That means posting regularly, interacting with other users, and getting responses.

Since 2011, Google and Bing have added these “social signals” to their search rank algorithms. In particular, they consider two things:

How often a particular item is shared or retweeted – This is easy to understand and track. In fact, you can find data just by visiting your Facebook and Twitter accounts. Or you can gain further insight with tools such as HootSuite and Google Analytics, which provide information like the clickthrough rate.
The social authority of the person who is sharing or retweeting – This gets a little more complicated. To determine social authority, they look at “how many people you follow, how many follow you, and this can add a little weight to a listing in regular search results,” according to an interview with a representative from Bing. They also associate public figures and publishers with their field of expertise.

These two factors work hand in hand. If an item you share is popular, it’s likely you will gain social authority, and if you are a social authority, what you post is likely to be shared more often.

But an active social networking account doesn’t just help improve your search rank. You’re also building an audience that is interested in what you have to say. This can directly drive traffic to your website, and it’s also a useful resource for everything from running a poll to testing a marketing initiative.

When building your social networks, focus on what your followers and fans are interested in—not on selling or promoting your services. After all, you wouldn’t subscribe to a newspaper or magazine if all they provided was ads, right? So you shouldn’t expect people to “subscribe” to your Twitter or Facebook feeds if you’re not also providing valuable information, whether it’s original content on your blog, links to other websites, or a combination of both.

Developing a social media presence takes time and effort. If you find that it’s getting lost in the shuffle, contact us to learn about our affordable social networking packages.

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Your Blog: The Importance of Creating (Good) Ongoing Content

admin — Sat, 03 Nov 2012 04:44:53 +0000

Content is widely considered the top factor in search engine optimization. After all, search engines need to parse through words in order to determine what your site is about. If there aren’t very many words to look at, how will they be able to draw conclusions about its relevance?

But that doesn’t mean you should start churning out pages and pages of content stuffed with the keywords you want to rank for – quality matters, too.

If users come to your site but don’t find engaging and relevant content, they will leave quickly. This is referred to as a “bounce”. But if instead they found all they wanted and more, they’ll stick around for a while, increasing their “time on site.” These are metrics that search engines consider when ranking sites.

Remember: the ultimate goal of search engines is to give people the content they want — and isn’t that what you want, too?

Even if you can “trick” a search engine into listing your site for a particular keyword, it won’t do you much good if the people who visit simply click away; you want them to hire you, buy your product, sign up for your services, or subscribe to get more information.

So how do you go about providing good, on-going content?

For most sites, the answer is a blog that is updated on a regular basis.

Give your customers what they want. If your blog is just an endless stream of posts about your products and services, it’s unlikely to be meeting anyone’s needs except your own. Who wants to subscribe to an advertisement? Instead, think about the problems your potential clients have. For instance, as a divorce lawyer, your target audience probably has a lot of questions about the effect their impending divorce will have on their finances, their children, their property, and other aspects of their lives, so these would be great topics to tackle on a blog for your firm.

Assign someone to the task. As a business owner, setting aside several hours every week to write blogs likely isn’t the best use of your time. That’s why many blogs start out strong… and then quickly fizzle. Don’t let that happen to you: find someone who can make the task a priority. You can do this either by locating someone within your organization with the skill set and free time to take on the responsibility, or you can hire an outside blog writer. That doesn’t mean you have to be hands-off. You can approve topics ahead of time, send along ideas for posts, provide articles to use as reference, and give the final okay before anything goes live.

Check back to learn about two other important SEO strategies: backlinks and social media.

Photo (CC) FutureShape

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Why Your Business Still Doesn’t Have Top Search Ranking

admin — Sat, 03 Nov 2012 02:46:34 +0000

You’ve done the keyword research, developed new SEO web copy, and even redesigned your site to “read” easier for the search engines – but you’re still not in the number one spot, or maybe not even making the first page.

What are your competitors doing that you’re not?

Obviously, there’s not one simple answer. The algorithms set up by the major search engines aren’t simple, and the rules change all the time as they try to improve the results. But it can pay to take a moment to visit the sites of your competitors to note any differences. Some things may be apparent at first glance, while others might not be so obvious.

A Blog

Search engines feed on information, so providing them with more to read can make a difference. Sites that are updated more frequently tend to show up higher in search rankings, and one of the best ways to provide this information is through a blog. It’s easy to spot a blog on a competitor’s site, but you can also dig a little deeper and note how frequently they are posting. Is your website updated as often?

Backlinks

A backlink is a fancy way of referring to incoming links, which allow people to travel from another website to yours. This isn’t possible to spot on your competitor’s site, but there are many tools available to do a comparison, such as MajesticSEO.com. If you sign up for a free account, you can access the Backlink history tool where you can compare your backlinks to four other sites. Be sure to select “cumulative” under view mode to get a better view of where you stand today. Find that your backlinks are lacking? There are two main ways to solve the problem: link exchanges and guest posts.

Social Media

In 2011, both Google and Bing added “social signals” to their algorithms, which means interactions on popular social networks such as Twitter, Facebook, Google+, YouTube, and LinkedIn. Simply having an account isn’t enough. You need to have an active presence, which means that what you post is being shared by many people and noticed by “authoritative” personalities. Take a look at how your competitor’s social networks stack up. Are they posting frequently and actively participating in conversations?

In future blogs, we’ll be sharing tips for getting these three factors up and running in your favor.

Photo (CC) Future is Search

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