Webmaster Help from Google
Did you know that you can get webmaster help directly from ‘The Man’ (that is Google). There was a time when Google was very obscure about its criteria for ranking a webpage; the Google employees and the contractors who were involved in this activity were required to sign nondisclosure agreements and the ‘secrets’ were supposed to be kept hidden.
This was a counterproductive policy because it left webmasters and content creators in the dark about how to meet the needs of consumers and to rank highly in Google’s search engine results. Over the years, this policy was eased and then changed totally. Today you can read all about it from “The Boss” himself or herself at Google Webmaster Guidelines.
In the spirit of complying, here is Axiom’s original, not scraped or copied, philosophy about getting to the top of search rankings, generating web traffic and producing results in the form of new customers or clients:
- Google’s intention is to provide the best answer to the query a user enters. The highest ranked webpage should be the one that is most useful to the viewer, providing the best answer to a specific question.
- To be useful, a website must provide content that is of some value to the user. Content that is ‘syndicated,’ that is scraped or copied from another site, does not meet this requirement. Even if the copied material is relevant to the question at hand, it does not add value because it was already available elsewhere.
- There is nothing wrong with a site that is intended to influence buying decisions (that is to sell you stuff); HOWEVER to rank high in search results, the website must provide useful content to the viewer, not merely direct them to a local provider or an Amazon affiliate.
The bottom line is this – produce content that is original and useful to the viewer and adds some value to the experience. If you are a plumber, your website should provide information about the relative merits of fixtures, pipes or maintenance procedures, not just pretty pictures of showers or links to Amazon sites. An attorney’s site should contain information that helps potential clients make important decisions, not just photos of well-dressed people holding law books.
If you are capable of producing this material yourself, then by all means do so. If you have neither the time or the inclination to do this, turn the task over to an internet marketing agency like Axiom Administrative Services. Axiom has the professional skill and small business SEO skills needed to get your web presence the ranking it deserves. Please visit Axiom’s small business services or call Axiom at 800-888-6348.
Factor voice search into your SEO strategy
The worlds of SEO strategy and SEO techniques never stand still. That has always been true, but it was never more so than today. There are two trends that you should be especially aware of in 2019.
The ‘invasion’ of voice activated devices and voice initiated searches is now fully upon us. At first, you might think, “So what? How does that change SEO strategy?” Well, voice searches are different in subtle ways from the old typed query. Traditional keywords were derived from these written texts, but most people speak in styles that are different from their writing. Instead of typing sparse words like “pizza, Daytona Beach,” most people are likely to speak at least part of a whole sentence such as, “Where is the nearest Italian restaurant?”
Voice search is growing rapidly and it has great potential to affect how local businesses are found. It may not replace screen-based searches, but it will soon be enough of a factor to change SEO techniques. The advance of devices like Google Home and Amazon Alexa and personal assistants like Siri and Cortana is going to change SEO strategy, especially for local businesses whose keywords will now have to include phrases like “near me.” Stay tuned in 2019 as we will go deeply into voice search and how it will affect small business.
The second trend is not new, but it is accelerating. This is the dominance of “media” and social media in the internet marketing arena. Today, an internet marketing agency must do much more than maintain a static website for clients. It must also manage social media and produce the content that fills sites like Facebook and YouTube. For many consumers, a business Facebook page is more important than is their website.
We have referred to some of our own clients in the past as examples of this trend. Ourseniors.net not only has an extensive website and an online magazine (OurSeniors.net Magazine), it has extensive social media presence. Take a look by clicking OurSeniors.net Media.
All of this material, the videos, the audio programs, the YouTube presentations, the Google+ presence and the Facebook page are parts of the social media and graphic media efforts that we put forward at Axiom. Obviously, this requires a lot of talent and time. Probably more time and effort than you want to put out!
If you struggle with digital marketing solutions and branding strategies , social media presence and web design, turn to Axiom. Your business deserves more than mere web presence, and Axiom is more than an internet marketing agency. Axiom Administrative Services has the professional skill and small business SEO skills needed to get your web and social media presence the ranking it deserves. Please visit Axiom’s small business services or call Axiom at 800-888-6348.
Social Media Marketing – What Is Going On?
It’s almost the end of 2018, time for all good internet marketing agencies, professional SEO services, and search engine optimization services to stop and think about the changing environment. This is a good idea in any business, but when you are involved in developing branding strategies, SEO techniques or digital marketing solutions, it is absolutely mandatory! These days, a 12-month-old branding strategy is more out-of-date than a 25-year-old airplane.
So, where does social media and social media marketing stand at the end of 2018? It is easy to get confused about this, because we sometimes confuse headline news with the real world. The general news and financial headlines tell us one story, while actual real world evidence says something different.
If you have been paying attention to news organizations like Fox News, CNN or the New York Times, it would be easy to get the idea that the Facebook ship has struck an iceberg and is sinking. Facebook executives have been called to testify before Congress, the market value of Facebook stock has declined by about 35% since hitting its July 2018, high and European governments are threatening to impose regulations on the giant social media platform. Discouraging, but the typical buyer of lipstick, plumbing supplies, dental care, legal advice, popular music or beer hardly seems to notice. If Facebook use has declined slightly in the past few months, those users have not turned away from social media; they are simply looking elsewhere.
Before you look elsewhere yourself, keep this in mind:
- In 2004, Facebook had zero
- In the third quarter of 2012, the number of active Facebook users had passed one billion.
- As of the third quarter of 2018, Facebook had 27 billion monthly active users.
Social networks are now well established; there is a core group of them that does not change much from year-to-year, but they do seem to trade user time around. According to Alexa Internet (the internet data collection arm of Amazon) recently, Facebook and YouTube swapped places in the chart of most visited sites; YouTube’s web address (URL) is now being visited more times than the Facebook site.
The problem with that statistic is that, while many people use YouTube as a social media site, a lot of others go to YouTube only to watch news or entertainment. They never interact with it in the way Facebook viewers click around to find out what’s happening locally. Please do not misinterpret this. At Axiom, we believe very strongly in YouTube and video in general. We only want to point out that there is a lot of disagreement about what, exactly, is a social media site and what is not.
We reviewed a number of sources (Pew Research, Alexa Internet, Neilson, Forbes, etc.) before writing this article and found a lot of inconsistencies. Every one of those experts agree that Google is the most visited site in the world, and many of the newer sources list YouTube as the runner up with Facebook third. The difficulty is that some of the experts place platforms like Facebook Messenger, WhatsApp and Pinterest in the social media category while others totally ignore them. Facebook Messenger and WhatsApp are basically messaging services, both owned by Facebook. The WhatsApp platform started as an alternative to SMS and now supports sending and receiving a variety of media (text, photos, videos, etc.). It gets a Facebook wedge firmly into the mobile device (smart phone) sector.
Without going on for too long, here is what we think is the bottom line for our clients’ digital marketing solutions as well as those others involved in branding strategy and SEO techniques. First, these were the most popular social media sites in May 2018. Remember that numbers one and two may have swapped places recently, and that important names like Google, Yahoo, Amazon and eBay are not on this list as they are not considered social media.
Social Media Platforms Ranking
- YouTube
- WhatsApp Messenger
- Facebook Messenger
- Tumblr
- Google+
- Snapchat
- Skype
- Flickr
- Kik
We left out the data about time spent on sites, visits per day per user, clicks per site, etc. There is so much data that it is just confusing to most people. However, all of this tells us that Facebook and YouTube are still (far and away) the dominate players in the social media game. Two of the other sites in the top five are Facebook appendages (WhatsApp Messenger and Facebook Messenger) and Facebook will find some way to get those users to circle back to ‘home.’
If your business, professional practice, service or non-profit wants to engage in social media marketing, then Facebook and YouTube are still the places to start! That is why Axiom is often involved in social media marketing efforts for its clients. Look at some of these examples:
- net on Facebook
- net Educational Promotion on YouTube
- net Animated Video on Facebook
- net Magazine Promo on Facebook
Of course, Axiom has other interests and skills, but we know that branding strategy and SEO techniques are more and more directed at social media. If you are struggling to find digital marketing solutions that work and branding strategies that can reach your target markets, turn to Axiom. Your business needs more than a cheap web design, and Axiom is more than an internet marketing agency. Axiom Administrative Services has the professional skill and small business SEO skills needed to help your web presence penetrate your market. Our business marketing team can combine traditional marketing tools like direct mail advertising with local SEO services to build your branding strategy. Please visit Axiom’s small business services page or call Axiom at 800-888-6348.
Print Plus E-Marketing, A Winning Combination
Because Axiom is an internet marketing agency, it may seem surprising to you that we also design and produce printed material. In fact, Axiom does a good deal of print media; we produce direct mail marketing for clients as well as a widely distributed quarterly magazine, OurSeniors.net Magazine for the OurSeniors.net organization. OurSeniors.net is a successful and growing business organization that aims at meeting the needs of seniors, as well as giving professionals and service providers a way to reach the 55+ market.
OurSeniors.net Magazine is a perfect example of the winning combination that print, combined with a successful digital marketing solution can provide. You can read the latest online version by clicking OurSeniors.net Magazine Fall 2018 Edition Online. At the same time you can find a free physical edition of the magazine at numerous locations. Click here to see a list of those places throughout Central Florida (Volusia, Flagler, Lake, Seminole, Orange, Osceola & Polk Counties) – OurSeniors.net Magazine Pick Up Locations.
At Axiom, we realize the importance of both printed and online digital marketing solutions. Both have their advantages and limitations, but when they are combined the result is a winning combination. Let’s think about some of the qualities of print, versus digital, versus print plus digital marketing solutions.
- Print is durable while digital marketing solutions are immediate. At Axiom, we have a heavy emphasis on digital marketing solutions aimed at the boomer generation and seniors. This audience grew up reading magazines, and print is still a core part of an integrated marketing strategy aimed at that demographic. At the same time, we know that seniors are active on all forms of digital media. Axiom makes the content of net Magazine available, both online and as a printed object. The print magazine is often kept as a reference source, handy for finding senior-friendly help (it is durable). The online magazine and the Ourseniors.net website are always immediate, up-to-date and available. The combination offers both advantages.
- Printed material is fixed, digital marketing solutions are flexible. The material on a website can be changed in seconds, while it is not possible to alter print copy once it is distributed. Having both offers the opportunity to be available as a fixed reference while also responding to immediate opportunities.
- Printed material is still the only way to reach some consumers, especially older seniors. However, more and more, the online habits of seniors and boomers are coming to match those of younger consumers. Social media and the internet are becoming their primary source of news, entertainment and consumer information. Having both a digital marketing solution and traditional print media means that net covers all fronts.
Axiom can do for your business, service, professional practice or non-profit what it is doing for the OurSeniors.net organization. Axiom’s business marketing team can combine traditional marketing tools like direct mail advertising with digital marketing solutions and local SEO services to build your branding strategy. Please visit Axiom’s small business services page or call Axiom at 800-888-6348. If you are struggling to find digital marketing solutions that work and branding strategies that make your business stand out, turn to Axiom
Digital Marketing Solutions for Reaching Senior Markets
Recently, our blog articles have been concentrating on reaching a very special and critically important segment of internet users: the senior market. Many internet marketing agencies concentrate on branding strategies and SEO techniques that are aimed at Generation X (late 30’s to early 50’s) or the Millennial Generation (teenagers to middle 30’s). They devote little thought or effort to finding digital marketing solutions that target the market segment made up of “seniors” and adults in their mid to late 50’s, the Baby Boomers.
On the surface, this branding strategy seems to make sense. If you add the population totals, Gen Xer’s and Millennials are by far the largest age demographic, and Millennials are now coming of age and taking leadership positions in business and politics. Many of the young geniuses who power the internet are Millennials. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, age 29, just became the youngest woman ever elected to Congress, replacing an establishment Democrat of the Baby Boomer generation. These are the people who buy most of the houses, cars and consumables from hair spray to pet food. It is natural for branding strategies and SEO strategies to take aim at them!
It is also true that most of the people who develop search engine optimization (SEO) services and techniques are members of these younger generations. They think like Gen Xers or Millennials, but could they be missing an important point? The fact is that most of the purchasing power in the American economy today is in the hands of Baby Boomers. Axiom Administrative Services is one internet marketing agency that bucks this trend. Axiom knows and understands the economic strength of seniors, “Boomers” and the 50 plus market!
This is partly an accident of geography, partly an intelligent choice by Axiom management. Our home turf is in the center of the most senior-centric state in the United States, Florida. Every day we see the economic power of seniors in every market sector. Please think along with Axiom and you will see the point:
- The 50+ audience has much more tech know-how than marketers think! It’s true that the Boomers were not the first to adopt the internet, but they are rapidly catching up.
- Boomers are actually the highest value consumers in the market.
- Boomers spend the most money on each shopping trip.
- Boomers are more likely to splurge on items that are not every day purchases. In fact, Boomers even spend the most dollars on technology. They are the biggest purchaser of high-end electronics, premium cable and premium streaming services.
- When Boomers uproot and move (as many in Florida have done), they are in the market for new homes, new appliances, carpeting, home painting, roofing and new professional services like physicians, dentists or attorneys.
These facts hit Axiom in the face, and we have welcomed them! Axiom is especially proud of its association with Ourseniors.net, a Florida-based organization that caters to the needs and opportunities that the senior and Boomer markets hold. Axiom manages the content rich Ourseniors.net website, its social media presence, OurSeniors.net on Facebook and OurSeniors.net on Google +, as well as their direct mail and local distribution of the printed version of OurSeniors.net Magazine.
Of course, Axiom has other interests and skills, but more and more, we see that Boomers are where the bucks are, especially in Florida. If you are struggling to find digital marketing solutions that work and branding strategies that can reach this important market, turn to Axiom. Your business deserves more than a cheap web design, and Axiom is more than an internet marketing agency. Axiom Administrative Services has the professional skill and small business SEO skills needed to help your web presence penetrate the senior and Boomer market. Our business marketing team can combine traditional marketing tools like direct mail advertising with local SEO services to build your branding strategy. Please visit Axiom’s small business services page or call Axiom at 800-888-6348.
The Power of Video Marketing
Are you using video content to advance your branding strategy? Video marketing is no longer the new kid on the block of internet and social media marketing. It is very much a “here and now” way to communicate that branding strategy and to achieve the digital marketing solution you need.
This is evermore true across all demographics and in almost all markets. Video is a way to expose your branding strategy, your brand story, to explain your product or service and build relationships with customers. According to HubSpot, a leading maker of software tools for social media marketing, 80 percent of customers recall a video clip consumed in the past 30 days. This includes customers and consumers from adolescents to seniors.
A recent Axiom communication pointed out that the internet, social media and online video watching is now very much a part of the senior lifestyle. If your branding strategy is using social media only as a platform for reaching younger generations, you are probably missing out. Seniors, especially Baby Boomers are a powerful consumer demographic.
Why is video so effective in reaching seniors? Because Boomers love video for the same reasons as other age groups – video goes beyond demographic factors and reaches all of us with what it means to experience life. That experience might be pleasant, as in riding in a new convertible or walking on a beach. It might be problematic, like discovering that your roof needs repair or your trees need trimming. It could be instructive, as in explaining Medicare benefits or tax rules.
What kind of video marketing/branding strategy appeals to the senior lifestyle? There are as many ways to approach video marketing/branding strategy with seniors as with any other group, but here are some hints.
- Do not assume the audience is just like your grandmother or grandfather; many seniors relate very well to material that would appeal to younger generations. Avoid stereotypes.
- Use the right references and avoid any terms that may seem patronizing. Do not refer to limitations, but appeal to seniors in the light in which they want to be seen.
- Provide video content that is insightful and offers tips on making the most from life.
- Baby Boomers are highly optimistic about their futures, so make them feel they are having the best time of their lives.
AXIOM Administrative Services is particularly well positioned to help you tap into the senior lifestyle market and reach senior consumers using video. Axiom is based in one of the most senior-centric population areas in the United States – the central and east-central geography of Florida. Axiom has long experience in producing and using video material on websites and on social media platforms like YouTube and Facebook. Using these tools, Axiom has helped one of its senior-oriented clients achieve an enviable growth over the past two and a half years.
In mid-2016, OurSeniors.net did not even exist, and its forerunner, Finding Assisted Living, had only begun to make an impact. In the months that followed, OurSeniors.net has expanded from its Volusia-Flagler base to cover seven of the most senior-friendly counties in Florida (or the entire nation). Along the way, OurSeniors.net has attracted partners like Humana Health, The Volusia Flagler Family YMCA and Plan Life Care. Take a look at some examples of Axiom’s video work, done for OurSeniors.net and placed on social media platforms.
- OurSeniors.net Animated Video on Facebook
- OurSeniors.net Magazine Promo on Facebook
- OurSeniors.net Educational Promotion on YouTube
Besides its video production, web maintenance and social media management functions, AXIOM Administrative Services also creates and manages direct mail efforts for OurSeniors.net. A big part of this client’s success is due to the digital marketing solutions and branding strategies that Axiom has created. If you are trying to reach this important demographic group, let Axiom connect you to OurSeniors.net today. Our business marketing team can combine traditional marketing tools like direct mail advertising with local SEO services to build your branding strategy. Please visit Axiom’s small business services page or call Axiom at 800-888-6348.
Meanwhile take a look at this recent e-mail promotion produced by Axiom for Ourseniors.net.
Reaching the “Boomer-Consumer”
For decades marketers have made it clear that the target of their efforts was the 20- to 40-year-old age group. Demographers have given this group, born between 1980 and 2000, the title, “millennial generation.” On and off the internet, marketing professionals have sometimes seemed obsessed with catering to the tastes of these young people.
On first thought, this makes good sense. In the next two to three years, this group will become the largest adult group in the United States, numbering 73 million persons. These are the people who are most likely to be in the market for automobiles, houses or consumable items of all kinds. All of this is true, but it is older Americans who have the economic power after spending a lifetime accumulating assets. The most powerful economic group is now the famous “baby boomers,” Americans born between 1946 and 1964. They are now in the range of 55 to 74 years old, and they have trillions of dollars in spending power!
In 2107, the USA Today Newspaper wrote this –
“In the first quarter, Americans 55 and older accounted for 41.6% of consumer spending, up from 41.2% late last year. Toss in 53- and 54-year-olds, and the Boomer-and-older set comprise about half of all consumption, according to Visa and Moody’s Analytics.”
Marketing to the boomer generation is complicated by the fact that they are more resistant to traditional advertising than are young people. At the same time, they’re often regarded as being non-users of the internet, social media and technology in general. This is a point at which many branding strategies, SEO techniques and even well-run internet marketing agencies are simply missing out!
Millennials are in the lead when it comes to adopting technology, but older people are definitely online and active. Consider these statistics from a March, 2018 article in Forbes Magazine:
- 57% of boomers are on social media, along with 75% of Generation X.
- Boomers spend an average of 27 hours per week online.
- Facebook is by far the preferred platform, and boomers are highly engaged there.
- Boomers are 19% more likely to share content on Facebook than any other generation.
The point should be obvious – marketers, internet marketing agencies and professional SEO services should reach out to the “boomer-consumer” generation using technology. But how?
“Influencer marketing” is a form of marketing which centers on influential people, not the target market as a whole. It identifies the individuals that have credibility with potential customers, and directs marketing efforts around these influencers. Seniors and boomer-consumers are especially receptive to this type of marketing because it involves connecting them to peers or trusted third party experts.
One of Axiom’s clients, OurSeniors.net, is very adept at influencer marketing. In its marketing and service efforts both on line and off, OurSeniors.net has set a goal of service to seniors and their loved ones. One of their most important tools is the OurSeniors.net Senior Transition Pro Team. This group is a network of knowledgeable professionals from many different fields, including law, medicine, real estate and finances. They are “influencers,” whose professional advice is dependable and unbiased.
The Senior Transition Pro Team appears frequently in the OurSeniors.net website, on its Facebook page and throughout its online presence. Because they are trusted, experienced professionals, their presence lends credibility to the website, the organization and their service/marketing effort as a whole.
Think about your own business or service. Who are the local influencers that can help you achieve the digital marketing solutions that you seek? Axiom Administrative Services has the professional skill and small business SEO skills needed to get your web presence the ranking it deserves. We will look for the influencers you need on the web. Our business marketing team can combine traditional marketing tools like direct mail advertising with local SEO services to build your branding strategy. Please visit Axiom’s small business services page or call Axiom at 800-888-6348.
Google Plus to Close (there is a lesson here!)
If you are reading this for the first time, the blog title is correct, Google is pulling the plug on Google Plus, its social media platform that was created and designed to compete with Facebook. Google plans to phase out the service over a 10-month period, to be completed by the end of next August. During the shutdown period, Google will make available information about migrating and saving data from Google Plus accounts, and explain how other Google services (if any) will be affected.
News reports have indicated that this shutdown is due to a large data breach that occurred months ago. A security review found a software bug that gave developers access to the private data of over a half million Google Plus users, although there was no indication that compromised information was ever used. Nevertheless, the company has decided to end Google Plus service, citing security concerns about the platform. This story sounds a little funny, especially when we remember Facebook’s much more serious security problems earlier this year. Facebook’s data loss was larger, more intrusive and was almost certainly used for a sinister purpose. So, what is the difference?
The fact is that Google Plus was just not a big player in the social media world, and Google decided that cleaning up the security problems was just not worth the effort to save its “also ran” social media site. Many people are quite surprised to learn that Google has failed at anything, but this is not the first time a Google project has not worked well. Do you remember “Google Video,” the free video hosting service similar to YouTube? It just never attracted many viewers away from YouTube, so Google did the logical thing; they bought YouTube for almost two billion dollars!
What can we learn from this? Maybe the most important thing is the continuing dominance of Facebook over the social media battleground. At a market value of over 450 billion dollars, Facebook is just too big to be bought by anyone, even Google. Facebook remains the place where branding strategies, Search Engine Optimization techniques and professional SEO services test and prove their worth. As dominant as Google has been in many areas, Google Plus was mostly an afterthought for social media marketers and internet marketing agencies.
What have you done to maximize your presence on Facebook? Are you building an SEO strategy that directs viewers to your Facebook page? The truth is that in many of today’s markets, a Facebook business page is more important, more frequently viewed and a better digital marketing solution than a website or a billboard. Just as Axiom manages websites, local SEO services, and even direct mail marketing, it also manages Facebook pages for our clients. That is an integral part of any good digital marketing solution. Like great webpages, a Facebook page must be well designed with a good amount of useful content that appeals to and helps users.
Take a look at Axiom’s own Facebook page to see for yourself. The page is kept up to date with useful, well produced videos and articles. Also, see the Facebook page examples for a few of Axiom’s clients at OurSeniors.net on Facebook or Dr. Christian Birkedal of Facebook. Like our own Facebook page, Axiom’s staff keeps these clients social media sites useful, current and well maintained. As we said above, it is a critical part of any good digital marketing solution!
How well are your digital marketing solutions working? Do you have a well thought out SEO strategy, an organic SEO plan or even a professional logo design service? Along with a website and a Facebook page, these are important parts of your overall digital marketing solution. If you are struggling to find marketing solutions that work and branding strategies that make your business stand out, turn to Axiom. Your business deserves more than a cheap web design, and Axiom is more than an internet marketing agency. Axiom Administrative Services has the professional skill and small business SEO skills needed to get your web presence the ranking it deserves.
Our business marketing team can combine traditional marketing tools like direct mail advertising with local SEO services to build your branding strategy. Please visit Axiom’s small business services page or call Axiom at 800-888-6348.
Local SEO Services and Branding Strategy
Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is not the exclusive property of big businesses, the Home Depots and Lowes, or the Walmarts and Targets of the world. There is also room for local interior decorators and small specialty shops. In fact, it is probably true that most business, professional services and non-profit websites are aimed at a local audience. All of these websites should be employing local SEO services aimed at driving their local branding strategy, but many fail to do so.
What is meant by the terms “local SEO services” and “local branding strategy?” Local SEO is about optimizing your site for better rankings for a local audience, a town, city or just an area of a town or city. Do not confuse this with “small business SEO;” a small business is not necessarily local. The internet has made it quite possible for many small businesses to operate worldwide. Local SEO services are intended to brand your business in a given area and get you or your business to the top results for local searches like this – “pool services in Daytona.”
Entering that search term will return a SERP (search engine results page) with numerous headlines and snippets plus another very important element, the Google (or Bing) Map. If you have a local business, a shop, showroom or office location, then optimizing your website is about getting on to the first page of SERPs, and also making certain that people are able to find you in real life. This means that you must use local SEO techniques for your city’s name, address and even zip code. Even if you are not actively getting visitors to your physical location, you are targeting an audience that is located in the same geographical area as you. Being seen on the map will help accomplish this purpose. This is “local SEO.”
It is easiest to achieve local SEO if you have a proper physical address, even if most potential clients are not likely to come to that physical location. Look at this SERP result for the search query, “marketing services Ormond.”
You can see that Axiom Administrative Services appears on the map even though the first contact with clients is likely to be by telephone or email. Axiom’s presence on the map is still a reminder that it operates in the Ormond-Volusia-Flagler area.
If you want to optimize for a service area in which you are not physically located, quality content must be your main tool. You should write a lot about that area, and do not try to fake it or to use cut and pasted material from other sites. Search engines are becoming more and more accurate in detecting this, and it will lower your ranking.
A critical step in a good local SEO strategy is to claim your business listing in all of the major portals that browsers use to find products or services. These include Google My Business, Facebook for Business, Yelp, Bing Places for Business, the Yellow Pages (YP) and any of the others that are commonly used in your geographic area or in specialized markets. Each of these listings should include your business name, address, phone number a link to your website, a description of your business (approximately 250 characters), business or service category, your logo and at least one graphic or photograph.
All of this is sound advice, and much, much more is at numerous sites on the web. The “catch” is that doing this is beyond the time and interest boundaries of most business or professional people. Even with good instruction, building a good local SEO strategy requires time, effort and resources that most business people simply do not have. If you are struggling to find digital marketing solutions that work and branding strategies that make your business stand out, turn to Axiom. Your business deserves more than a cheap web design, and Axiom is more than an internet marketing agency. Axiom Administrative Services has the professional skill and small business SEO skills needed to get your web presence the ranking it deserves.
Our business marketing team can combine traditional marketing tools like direct mail advertising with local SEO services to build your branding strategy. Please visit Axiom’s small business services page or call Axiom at 800-888-6348.
A Word About Keywords
Actually, entire books have been written about keywords, but the subject is still poorly understood or not grasped at all by many. It is not possible to build a successful online branding strategy, or SEO strategy without proper keyword grounding. Keyword research is an essential part of any SEO strategy.
Let’s take a little time to make some definitions. A keyword is a significant or descriptive word, one that is used as a reference point for finding more information. Keyword research is the work you do to come up with a list of keywords for which you wish to rank. A key phrase is a group of words that conveys an idea, an answer to the search intent. In most SEO strategies, the terms keyword and key phrase can be used interchangeably; they mean the same thing, but a multi-word key phrase is often the more useful tool.
In fact, key phrases are more common and usually more effective than a single word. Consider this example – Right now (it is early October, 2018), and entering the search term “senate” in the Google search engine brings forth a torrent of results with titles like, “Republican Senator says he will miss confirmation vote” or “Supplemental FBI background file for Judge Kavanaugh…” In more normal times, the same keyword query would probably lead first to the Wikipedia article titled, “United States Senate.”
The presumed intent of searching for the word, “senate” has changed. It will keep changing, too. If you were the searcher, a more productive key phrase might be, “senators from Florida” or “Florida Senators,” which yields a SERP (search engine results page) headed by images, biographies and articles about Florida’s two United States Senators (what you really intended)..
Search intent is the art and science of discovering what a searcher actually wants and supplying it. It is not about just keywords, but the underlying reasons for the search. A search for “football” issued in Europe will give very different results from the same single word search originating from Atlanta, Georgia. However, if a German citizen visiting Atlanta was to enter the key phrase, “European football,” he or she would probably come much closer to the desired result.
Keyword research is critical; you must make certain that the search terms your target audience use match as closely as possible the key phrases you include in your branding strategy and SEO techniques. Do not try to be ‘cute’ or to overthink the audience. It is a common mistake to use one set of words or phrases when describing a product or idea while the target audience uses a completely different set of words. The website cannot be found by their potential customers because of a mismatch in word use.
Here is a practical example – You are a rental agent for a group of lakefront vacation homes. One of your associates has described these houses as “adorable bungalows.” That phrase sticks in your mind and you begin to use it as part of your branding strategy and as a keyword/key phrase in your SEO strategy. “Adorable bungalow” might be a good term for a 19th century novel, but it is not a term that most people use when trying to find a good vacation rental. You are not going to rank.
There are actually professional people who spend a good deal of time in determining what keywords or key phrases are used at a specific time of year, for a particular occasion (a wedding or a vacation), in a given geographic location or by a defined ethnic group. This kind of research requires access to paid databases and the skill needed to use them. If you are a small business person, a professional practitioner or service provider, your best bet is probably an informal poll of friends and associates. Just ask them, “How would you try to find a (name your service or product) in this town?” The most common answers you get from a moderate number of associates and acquaintances will most likely be your best keywords.
That is good advice, but if you do not have the time or inclination to do keyword research of any type, it will pay you to turn to a professional search engine optimization company and internet marketing agency. Axiom Administrative Services has the professional digital marketing skills needed to guide your web presence to the rankings it should have. Axiom understands the needs of small businesses, professional practices and nonprofits. Please visit Axiom’s small business services or call Axiom at 800-888-6348.
