There are many parts to internet marketing. Combining SEO (search engine optimization), social media marketing, email marketing, paid advertising and content creates a ton of questions.
Today, I want to help you find the answers for 7 of the most common questions concerning online marketing. We are going to look at Google, ranking in search engines, social media, traffic generation and a lot more.
Now, if don’t feel like reading this article, I do have a nice beginner’s guide for business owners new to internet marketing. Just click the button below, and you are set.
Otherwise, I’ve got some great information, answers and videos to help you along the way. Let’s get into it.
How long does it take to rank?
The crazy part about giving an estimation on ranking in search engines is that it is a vast time amount. In fact, there are times where you might be a brand with low competition and you rank in one month. Other times, it could take months and months (3 to 6 months) to rank on the first page of Google.
Can we speed things up?
You have to be careful when you measure results that need to be long-lasting and on the “up and up” with speed. However, with more resources invested we can push more paid advertising, create more and better content and also find more quality resources for linking and referrals.
The simple fact is that in 2015, there is no one simple and quick strategy to ranking a brand without penalty. Patience is probably the biggest asset you can bring to ranking a website for certain keywords and phrases in organic search.
What if rankings shift up or down?
Search engine rankings can swing occasionally. One of the biggest reasons for a website to shift in Google search or Bing search engine is an update to their algorithms. For Google, many search engine updates happen over the course of the year; sometimes daily. There are also major updates that occur that target specific things the Google wants cleaned up.
What do we do if our rankings drop?
Don’t panic!.
It might sound cliche, but the best thing to do is to not panic. Rankings can fluctuate, and will. In fact, because of the scale that some forms of ranking for organic search traffic can take, SEO is actually an ongoing method of generating traffic. As time passes, more brands will appear, trying to rank for the same terms, in similar fashions, and sometimes, in the same industry and region as your brand.
What affects search engine rankings?
Did you know that is estimated that there are over 200 ranking factors that Google uses to rank brands and keywords?
Because of this many ranking factors, just one switch or change in what your brand is doing usually will not affect your rankings. Instead, you should be focus on some basics and then add in more and more advanced methods to gain ground in search engine rankings.
What are those basic ranking factors?
Most brands can take some basic steps towards moving their search engines up higher in Google. The simplest way is with onpage SEO. By making sure the following items are stronger on your website, you will find your keywords and terms ranking better.
- Page Title (clear, interesting title)
- Page Description (meta tag)
- Linking structure (permalinking)
- Page content value (high quality)
- Page context (relationship to the website as a whole)
- Inbound and outbound links
Past these, using local SEO for regional brands, using social media signals (grow that community), lowering your site’s bounce rate and also creating more user flow can increase your rankings. In fact, these last four items are what will become even stronger ranking factors in 2015.
What is your process for building online presence?
Building an online presence is the method of a brand gaining visibility for it’s customers. This involves using internet marketing to gain quality traffic and then monitoring the brand’s online reputation to build even more positive presence in the region or industry.
What is the basic method of growing an online presence?
This method of online presence building is very repeatable. In fact, it’s a simple process. However, to do everything correctly, with the fastest outcome takes skill.
- 1 – build a quality website
- 2 – start building the community
- 3 – quality traffic generation
- 4 – create citations, reviews and feedback
- 5 – maintain and grow online reputation
- 6 – repeat steps 2 through 5 over and over
Once again, it seems simple. However, all it takes is on bad tweet, one snarky article or one bad public method of support for a customer’s concern and your online presence sinks.
How does social media optimization work?
Social media is about community, conversation and coming together. However, many brands are not optimizing their brand’s accounts so that they are linear across platforms.
I’m not talking about just getting the right colors. I mean the same logos, descriptions, header look and feel, messages (the meaning, not just the text) and more. Your brand should have a similar feel across all platforms so that your visitors and clients know it is you no matter where they are.
What is the most common need?
First, start with the aesthetic of your brand. These should be similar across all platforms. Next, make sure that your logo is the same; nothing is default for the platform.
And, one of the biggest issues, is to actually provide links back to your main website. A lot of brands forget that one of the goals of mixing a website with social media is to generate traffic back to your website.
How can I add more traffic?
Traffic generation, specifically quality traffic generation, is the most essential part of internet marketing. In my mind, and most brands, generating leads from quality traffic means revenue in the end. And, no matter the source, if you can see an ROI (return on investment) of 300% or more, then you are sailing.
Where should we start?
The issue with traffic is always if the traffic is quality. The more money you spend for those resources, likely, the better the quality and the quantity of traffic incoming to your site will be. The question isn’t about the source of traffic, but instead, the value of the leads you can generate from the traffic.
For instance, the quickest way to generate quality traffic, but one of the most costly, is paid advertising. If each lead you generate costs you $10, but their value is $1,000, is that cost-effective to you? Is that worth spending $500 a month on PPC advertising to see 10 or more new leads a month? Definitely!
You also have less costly methods, including social media and outreach/guest writing. While both of these are less costly in terms of money spent, time is where your resources will be used. Building a community and displaying expertise, knowledge and, by extension, influence, takes a lot of effort and time. While your costs will remain down, the time spent to grow quality communities and a good name for your brand could go into the months or years.
You can also use SEO (search engine optimization), Video marketing, email marketing and content creation and marketing. Cost shouldn’t be the issue, as much as the possible ROI on the internet marketing practice done.
What are SEO updates and how can I handle them?
Google goes through a ton of updates each year. Currently, Google does small, nearly daily updates to its search engine ranking algorithms. There are also larger updates that go in every so often (some weekly, others monthly, and some quarterly). These updates are a major factor if you see your rankings for your brand drop or raise with no real, direct reason as to why.
What are the most common updates? What do they do?
Google’s most common search engine updates are named after animals. Currently there are six major ‘named’ forms of updates that occur.
- Panda
- Penguiin
- Hummingbird
- Pigeon
- PayDay Loans
- Pirate
Each of these help to perform a different function in search. For instance, the Panda Updates tries to find low quality sites that use poor content and bad linking practices and devalues them. the Pigeon Update, on the other hand, looks to help local businesses rank high in local search. The Penguin Update looks to devalue spammy links and brands using them, and Hummingbird creates better associations via context and user intent. The Pirate Update devalues brands linking to pirated and copyrighted materials. Finally, the PayDay Loans dealt with spammy links to offers, products or deals..and removes them.
Did I help you answer your concerns? Or, do you have more questions?
Hopefully, you have found some of the answers that plague online business owners who are new to internet marketing features like SEO, social media and traffic generation. At the end of the day, no one service is “right” for you – the goal is quality traffic generation that will lead to conversion that build revenue.
If you are interested in learning more, don’t hesitate in grabbing this free guide for those new to internet marketing for brands and websites. In it, there are more questions answered. As well, there are some questions that you should be asking potential internet marketing professionals who will be helping your brand.
