SEO

marketing to seniors
ByJulianC

Marketing to the Boomer-Consumer

marketing to seniorsToday, almost all marketers, including internet marketing agencies and professional SEO services should reach out to the “boomer-consumer” generation using both technology and traditional media like printing or mail advertising. But how can a business do this on a limited budget? Get some ideas by reviewing Axiom’s article, Reaching the “Boomer-Consumer”.

To see a great example, look at one of the new websites that Axiom is managing at OurSeniorsDiscounts.net and get on board to reach the senior market! Visit us at www.axiomisbetter.com or call us at 800-888-6348 for a free consultation.

ByJulianC

Ideas for a Business Web Blog

Axiom Administrative ServicesMaintaining a website while running your business or professional practice may be more than you bargained for. Let Axiom take care of this for you. Axiom Administrative Services builds digital marketing strategies that work, starting with creative web design, professional SEO services and a full range of web services, including social media content.  Axiom can even coordinate online advertising and professional SEO services with a direct mail marketing or coupon distribution campaign. Think about your needs and then contact Axiom by:

Read Ideas for a Business Web Blog.

ByJulianC

The importance of “Hashtag”

smartphone useMost young people will understand the meaning of the term “hashtag,” but if you are busy running your professional practice or small business, you may not understand the importance of these devices. Get a grip on this important social media subject by reading “What Is a Hashtag?”

Please visit our home page to find out how Axiom Administrative Services can fill your digital marketing needs. Axiom understands the needs of small businesses, professional practices and nonprofits. Please visit Axiom’s small business services page or call Axiom at 800-888-6348.

ByJulianC

Webmaster Help from Google

Google searchDid 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.

ByJulianC

Factor voice search into your SEO strategy

voice searchThe 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.

ByJulianC

Digital Marketing Solutions for Reaching Senior Markets

Digital marketingRecently, 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.

ByJulianC

Reaching the “Boomer-Consumer”

smartphone useFor 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.

ByJulianC

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.”

GoogleEntering 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.”

BingYou 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.

ByJulianC

A Word About Keywords

keywordsActually, 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.

ByJulianC

Google Updates Its Search Quality Evaluator Guidelines

Google searchThe algorithms that Google uses to rank search engine results are closely guarded secrets. It is said that those procedures are changed almost daily to insure the best possible response to the “search intent,” producing exactly the information the user wants. You have to admit that they are usually pretty good at this. A user located in Birmingham, England, searches for “football scores” and gets a list of British Premier League teams. They play a game we call “soccer.” The same search term issued in Birmingham, Alabama, will surely return a list of real football teams like the Crimson Tide or the Auburn Tigers.

Google’s ranking algorithms take into account user location, search history, local meanings and numerous other factors. As searches narrow down by location or subject matter, it becomes harder and harder to discriminate between (and rank) web pages. How does a website get to be at or near the top of a Search Engine Results Page, the famous SERP?

There was a time when Google was very mysterious about this, but it has adopted a more enlightened and open policy. In fact, anybody can now view these guidelines at this link – 2018 Page Quality Rating Guidelines. The big news for 2018 is that there is no change, at least for the types of websites which most business and professional people need. Content is still the king. Good content has been, it still is and it will continue to be the key to high ranking.

Google’s page quality guidelines define a special set of websites known as “YMYL,” Your Money or Your Life pages. YMYL pages give advice or information about life changing decisions or important economic topics. They ask you to spend money, invest time, make a financial decision, choose a surgeon or take some other action of consequence. Evaluators are asked to look for useful and accurate content, as well as high levels of E-A-T (Expertise, Authoritativeness and Trustworthiness).

There are many websites that are not in the YMYL category.  Here is an example – Cute Cat Names for Girl Cats. While this page may be entertaining to some people, it does not ask the viewer to make a YMYL decision. The quality of the content is not critical to the entertainment value of the site.

Websites that give tax advice, medical information, ask for donations or help to choose a senior assisted living facility are all examples of YMYL pages.  For those pages, a very high standard of content is required. Choosing the wrong name for a cat has little consequence, but opting for an unproven diabetes treatment could be disastrous. Most of Axiom’s clients are professional practices, non-profit organizations or small businesses. These are certainly YMYL pages, and they must have high-quality content to rank well. Here is what the Google manual says –

“The quality of the MC (main content) is one of the most important criteria in Page Quality rating, and informs the E-A-T of the page. For all types of webpages, creating high quality MC takes a significant amount of at least one of the following: time, effort, expertise, and talent/skill.”

One of Axiom’s clients, OurSeniors.net, is an organization that provides services and information to the senior community in the central Florida area. Many of the topics covered by this site certainly fall into the YMYL category; they give advice or help people make life-changing decisions about matters, such as care giving, estate planning and senior housing. Axiom provides this organization’s web pages with the types of expert, authoritative and trustworthy material that viewers need.

This content includes links to trusted and knowledgeable professionals through the site’s Senior Transition Pro Team. The website is kept current with frequent blog articles on topics of interest to seniors such as “Preparing to Be a Caregiver.” Its material is original, not cut and pasted from other sources, and it is relevant to the viewer or reader. Those are the marks of a quality, rank-worthy web page.

There is a problem with this straight forward advice from Google: time. If you provide a service, operate a professional practice, business or non-profit, there is very little time to produce this material. This is true even for those who have some web programing knowledge. If you are struggling to find the digital marketing solutions and branding strategies that will make your web presence stand out, turn to Axiom. Cheap web design, will not get your web pages the ranking they deserve. More than just an internet marketing agency, Axiom Administrative Services has the professional skill and small business SEO skills needed to provide the content and create the SEO strategy you need to succeed.

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.

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