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Measuring Your Web Content’s SEO Value

Blog, Product Reviews, Web Design, Web Development

Most people are familiar with the term search engine optimization, or commonly termed, SEO. This is a critical aspect in both design and success of your websites content and drawing people to it via search rankings. So consider it not the roof of the house but truly a part of the foundational structure of your website. And there are great rewards if your website contains SEO rich keywording and proper tags.

“A website isn’t worth having, if no one can find it!

So if you really want to build traffic to your website or blog, you will be thinking of SEO as something paramount to your site’s developments. Majority of webmasters only do the things required to gain a good amount of search engine traffic, but very little actually measure their site’s SEO value.

You Are Being Out Ranked!
One of the best articles I’ve read about rankings comes for the industry gurus of HubSpot. Rebecca Churt’s blog titled, “How to Conduct a Competitive SEO Audit to Outrank Industry Rivals” says it all. In this article, she lists 5 Simple Steps to Perform Your Own Competitive SEO Analysis which include:
-articulate your buyer personas;
-identify key competitors;
-explore what the competition looks like; and more!

Measuring via Your Analytics

So much data is now available through the various analytics systems, and the one most commonly used (and respected) is Google Analytics. The key to successful utilization of it is to focus on the data that matters most. By focusing on the reporting metrics, you can get a sense of the true ROI and the value of your SEO efforts. Start your analysis by looking at the number of visitors to your site, where they came from, and most importantly, what search terms they used. Just this preliminary information alone, will tell you is how well you are doing at getting more people to visit your website while increasing the visibility of your business and/or service.

What’s the Hook in Link Building?

Within the SEO communities, you will often hear the term “links” and/ or link building. What that really means is that a link from another website links to your company’s site. SEO link building requires that the site linking to yours must indeed be trustworthy link and furthermore, related to your business. Valuable links come from trusted sites like:

Educational institutions that your company has a relationship with;
Local and national organizations you or your company has an affiliation to;
Any number of relatively unknown but reputable business and industry-related directories;
Similar industry online publications; and more!

The Key is Keywords

While considering the written content of your website, make a conscious selections of commonly used keywords and phrases to increase your chances of climbing the search engine ranks. Think of yourself as the consumer and even consider looking up certain terms in a Thesaurus to determine commonly used words that most users in your industry might use. A test run on your success at this would be search engine sites and paste them in the major search engine sites you want to be found on, then hit the search button. Whatever page your site is will determine how effective your SEO investments are.

Honk Your Horn For More Traffic!

Increased traffic for your website and if you’re not getting enough of traffic as evidenced by your analytics, it means you need to tweak your process (eg, keywording) and do more optimization. Try keeping a record (easy enough in an Excel spreadsheet) how much traffic your website increases after each new method is implemented. Then move forward, scale back or consider a new method based on the data collected and analyzed. This is a simple way to determine the true value of your SEO efforts.

The Sum of it All

SEO is instrumental to content builders whether you are a web designer or blogger. We don’t have the luxury of ignoring the SEO value of our websites; investing time and resources into a zero-yielding ROI and a non-existent consumer base.

Do-it-Yourself Business PR

All Posts, Branding, Content & Copywriting, Marketing, Social Media

When trying to market their products and/or services, most small businesses aren’t thinking about public relations. But they should. Regardless of size, profit margin, or number of employees, you must realize the image you portray is everything and is certainly what motivates consumers to select your business over your competition. Now that that is clear you might be asking…

What exactly is PR?
Why is it necessary for my business?
How do I start & maintain a good PR campaign cost effectively?

Check out these free tips for a true, do-it-yourself road map to a successful PR campaign.

The Basics

Let’s start by defining PR. Per Wikipedia PR is “managing the flow of information between an individual or an organization and the public…[and] the aim of public relations by a company often is to persuade the public, investors, partners, employees, & other stakeholders to maintain a certain point of view about it, its leadership, products…”

Now consider what the best platforms are for your target audience. You can accomplish this by finding out how your customers or clients consume your content. Is it in readable form (website, blogs or in print); audibly as an iTunes podcasts; or watching videos via a business YouTube channel? Take a little time to figure that out and then get ready to leverage it (or all of them) like a PR/marketing maven!

The Bang for Your Buck by Blog

A blog is a great tool for sharing information and expertise. Having a consistent voice is important to teach consumers about your company’s perspective and interests. According to the the Social Skinny, 57% of marketers acquired customers via blogging. So use a business blog to elevate your company to a WORLDWIDE PRESENCE by creating dialogue to an UNLIMITED number of people for FREE.

Getting Press

Having your business name out in the media, whether print or social, is a critical element to your image and of public relations strategy. Some cost-effective options include distributing electronic newsletters via free or low-cost email service providers. Try partnering with other local businesses for limelight events and advertisements to boost your brand recognition. Thanks to Forbes, here are some tips for starting & maintaining your media presence.

Rubbing Elbows

Participating in networking groups in a big part of getting your business local recognition. Most SBA’s (Small Business Associations) don’t require much money to join and host networking functions regularly. You can also network electronically by joining groups with similar interests through select social media channels liked LinkedIn. This is a great way to increase visibility while sitting right at your desk. For those of you not shy with a microphone in your hand, consider being a key-note speaker for a business workshop.

Earbudding PR

Most people are on the go constantly and mobile devices have almost become an appendage. So consider getting your audience’s attention on the go with the communication tool of podcasts. Leveraging podcast technology allows you to get your business name and brand message out to potential customers. Make sure your Podcast is short – usually no more than 15 minutes and contains the most value-added content to keep your consumer engaged. To get you started, check out these tips to successfully create your own business podcast.

Viral Video Marketing

Video marketing gone viral is the latest low/no-cost strategy for business to let the internet work for them. So if you or someone at your business is good at presenting, consider creating a YouTube brand channel. This allows the ever-growing audience of YouTube and potential consumers to get to know you & your business on a more personal level. Check out these tips on how to get started, get subscribers and run a successful video marketing campaign.