Tag Archive for: SEO

blogging-cloud9
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Is Blogging Just a Big Waste of Time?

When I mention blogging to clients, it’s usually met with eye rolls. I often hear statements like, “Blogging is just a big waste of time” and “how does Blogging actually translate to ROI?”. I can totally understand why people don’t like blogging. If you’re not a writer, and you’re busy with other aspects of the business, making time to blog is simply not a priority. That being said, according to many experts it’s the cheapest and most effective way to increase the search engine optimization (SEO) of your site and get found online by potential customers. If you aren’t convinced about blogging, read on…

Blogging helps with search engine results

Search engine algorithms determine where your website ranks on the search engine results page (SERP), and SEO is the process of optimizing your website for better placement. One of the key factors search engines look for when ranking a website is fresh updated content. There is no better way to add new and relevant content to your site then in a Blog. And if you don’t like the word Blog feel free to change it to Latest News, What’s On My Mind, or some other original description. The purpose of a Blog (or whatever you call it) is to bring that fresh and unique content to your site so it gets indexed by search engines and your page ranks better organically.

Blogging drives traffic to your website

I’m pretty sure you would agree that you’d like more traffic coming to your website. Producing regular blog posts is kind of like fishing; you put the information out there on the web, and wait for somebody to bite. Every time you post a blog and share it on social media, you’re casting your content into a sea of potential customers. The more content you generate the more likely people will find it and visit your site, or link to your content from a relevant website. Companies that Blog receive 97% more links to their website than companies who don’t according to Hubspot. Inbound links are one of the key signals search engines look for when ranking a website.

Blogging generates leads

Correctly curated blog posts can be excellent lead generators. Adding a call to action to every Blog post in the way of a link, form or pop-up will encourage people to take action on your site. According to Huffington Post businesses that use blogs receive 67% more leads than ones that don’t. If you want leads and you don’t want to pay for them, blogging is an affordable and effective way to convert leads into customers.

Blogging establishes credibility

No matter what your industry is, you likely want customers and clients to think you have more credibility, experience or know-how than your competitors. Blogging is a great way to establish this credibility in the online domain. By publishing blogs on your social media, and key industry sites you’re showing potential customers that you know what you’re talking about. As you build authority in your industry or niche through blogging, your brand recognition and trust sky-rockets in the minds of potential clients and customers.

The most important thing to remember about blogging is that results don’t happen overnight. Blogging is a long term plan that must be implemented consistently and strategically for desired results. Many companies who understand the value of blogging, from small family-run business to Fortune 500 companies, choose to outsource their content creation. Blogging is one of the most affordable ways to get people to your website, but it needs to be done right and it does take time. At Cloud9 Marketing we have a team of writers who are experienced at crafting content that drives traffic and brings results. Contact us today and find out how we can help your business with blogging.

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build-a-website
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So You Want To Build a Website? Part Two.

Previous So You Want To Build A Website? Part One.

If you’ve bought a domain and have registered for web hosting the next step is to decide how your site will be built. Do you want to build it yourself with a simple drag and drop site? Would you prefer great customization with a theme? Or would you rather have the entire site coded from scratch? Web design is the most costly part of creating a website so it’s important to understand your options and be realistic with your skill level and time constraints. Having a set of goals and a budget on hand can determine which direction to go. Below are the different methods of building a website, theirs costs, and their advantages and disadvantages.

Building a Website

DIY

You don’t need any technical aptitude or coding experience to build a website these days. Web design platforms like Wix and Squarespace make web design accessible to even the most computer illiterate souls. These websites are essentially free to build and have some customizability enabling you to realize your creative vision with little or no expenditure. They are considered closed source platforms so don’t allow a lot in the way of flexibility and customization. The ease of use and affordability make sites like Wix and Squarespace great for Blogs and basic websites, but poor for sites that require customization.

Use a Theme

This is a relatively affordable way to build a website and offers great customization and support. WordPress is an example of a platform which features thousands of pre-coded themes ranging from free to hundreds of dollars. WordPress is an open-sourced platform allowing customization and flexibility. This is where it’s handy to know some html and css, or have a web designer on board that does.

Relatively web savvy people can create a website with WordPress, however the learning curve is steep and you’ll need to weigh up the cost of your time building the site versus hiring someone to do it for you. Hiring a web designer to build a WordPress site or similar is common. This can cost you between $500- $10,000 depending on the complexity of your site (pages, functions, additional coding/CSS).

It is worth mentioning that many people struggle with the decision to find someone local our out-source overseas (this can cost only a few hundred dollars). While it’s true you can get a website made relatively cheaply in countries like India, I think most people would agree if something were to go wrong, a local face and name to support you is invaluable. I’ve heard numerous stories of people getting their websites designed off-shore who live to regret it!

Develop from Scratch

The third option is to hire a web developer to create you a website from scratch. Unless you are a Fortune 500 company or require complicated functionality not supported by pre-existing themes, this is probably not required. Web developers are professionals who build the bones of the website using coding and PHP to create a site from scratch. This can cost anywhere from $10,000 to $100,000 depending on the site.

Get Noticed

There is no point having a website sitting on a slice of cyber real estate unless people can find it. Many would agree, getting noticed is the most important part of being online (you’ve worked so hard to hang the streamers, blow up the balloons, and bake the cake- now you need people to actually come to the party!).

Search Engine Marketing (SEM) is the art of getting found online and Search Engine Optimization is the science behind it. The complexity of SEM and SEO is far beyond the scope of this article but essentially involves building links, creating and optimizing content and installing proper codes into the back end of the site. This is just the start of what it takes to have your website get noticed online.

Building a website may be one of the biggest decisions your business will make and is the most pivotal aspect of your online strategy. There are over 3 billion internet users around the world. If you want a share of the online market place, a well built and optimized site that is in alignment with your online goals should not be overlooked.

Need more information on building a website? Contact Cloud9 Marketing and let’s discuss your brand’s online strategy and web design goals.

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mobile friendly digital marketing
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Is Mobilegeddon Upon Us?

 

If you haven’t made a priority of making your website mobile friendly, you might want to start thinking about changing that.

It could cost you your ranking on Google. (Cue the horror film screams.)

What Happened

In mid-April, Google announced that they were developing a new mobile-friendly ranking algorithm. The idea was that mobile-friendly sites would, in theory, appear higher in search engine results when users were conducting their searches on a mobile phone.

To a lot of people, this wasn’t just some small change: this was “Mobilegeddon”. Businesses began to panic about the mobile-friendliness of their websites (what took you so long?), with many opting to expedite the process before the algorithm change took effect.

On April 21st, the world of SEO held its collective breath as it waited to see Mobilegeddon unfold. It wasn’t unlike the moment the clock struck midnight on December 31, 1999. And just as our wild fears of the Y2K bug were all for nothing, it turns out that the fuss behind Mobilegeddon may have been a little bit excessive.

For now, at least.

What Could Happen

It turned out that the change in the algorithm didn’t have as severe an impact as many had expected. It took a week to fully roll out, but even after that week, the changes weren’t as drastic as anticipated.

This is thought to be generally attributable to a few factors.

First, and perhaps most importantly, the update was implemented, but not all websites have been reindexed. As these websites’ scores become updated, it could potentially affect the rankings in mobile search. (Read more here.)

Second, the fact that many companies decided to take action on making their website mobile friendly prior to the launch of the update could have lessened the impact of the update. In theory, the update is supposed to make mobile friendly sites appear higher than non-mobile friendly sites in mobile searches; if the site is, indeed, mobile friendly, then it should remain roughly where it is in desktop searches, assuming competing sites have taken similar action.

Third, many note that the update was said to be one factor that affects search engine results. That doesn’t necessarily mean that it’s the only factor, or the “be all or end all” factor. Other factors could take priority in the ranking, making the effects not as noticeable as people expected.

Time will tell how much impact this change has really caused, but for now, it’s safe to say that the so called “Mobilegeddon” was an overreaction.

What Should I Do?

Algorithm update or not, you really should have a mobile friendly website. If your site looks bad on mobile devices, you’re going to lose out on the audience that is visiting you from those sources—and you probably know that more and more people are using mobile devices to do their internet searches.

To find out whether Google considers your website to be mobile-friendly or not, just enter the web address into this site.

You want it to say “Awesome! This page is mobile friendly” after you complete your analysis. If it doesn’t say that, you have some work to do.

Cloud9 Marketing can help you bring your website up to mobile-friendly standards, preventing you from losing out on potential business and on your mobile search engine results ranking. Contact us, and we’ll set up a plan for

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website audit
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Is Your Website Feeling Under the Weather?

You’ve got an awesome product or service. Your website looks pretty. You’re ready for business.

So why isn’t anyone calling?

The short answer is that there’s a lot more to a good website than you might think. Though it might look nice and be intuitive for you, there’s a good chance that there are some gaping holes lurking around your site.

In other words, your website is feeling a little under the weather – but just like when you’re feeling not-so-hot, it’s fixable.

Go to the Doctor

When something’s wrong with you but you’re not sure what it is, you probably head to the doctor (or, at least, you consult Dr. Google). Your doc probably won’t be able to help with your website, but we can: a website audit is the e-version of the doctor’s appointment.

A website audit is all about finding what elements are performing as they should, and what pieces are not. In our basic package, we search for broken links, HTML code errors, duplicate content, keyword ranking and visibility, etc.

Just like your appointment, audits are pretty quick an easy: we’ll meet with you for an hour to listen to your “symptoms” (a.k.a. your online marketing objective and goals), then we’ll take a few days to run our tests and assemble information. Once we’ve done our work, we’ll meet with you for another hour to discuss our findings, recommendations, and next steps.

Your doctor might recommend surgery, but that doesn’t mean you have to do it right away. On a similar note, our consultations are no-obligation: you can choose to act on our recommendations, or you can think about it for a little while.

Follow Up With the Specialist

You know what’s wrong and you’re ready to take action. Time to book an appointment with the specialist who is going to fix you right up.

Depending on what is wrong in the first place, a simple Band-Aid might be all you need to get back into shape. But let’s say your audit returned highlighting some major weaknesses in the search engine optimization department, and you want that fixed, stat. The next step would be getting an SEO specialist involved (Cloud9 does that!).

If it’s your SEO that needs fixing, we’ll work with you to determine your objectives and strategies, and we’ll come up with some keywords together that will convert searches into sales. We’ll roll up our sleeves, snap on our surgeon’s gloves, and take a look at your website’s structure, putting things back together in a way that makes your website shine.

SEO not the problem? Whatever we find in the audit, we’ll fix at this step, whether it’s a tiny job, a major overhaul, or somewhere in between.

Stay In Shape

Congratulations – you’re feeling better! Now don’t let all that hard work go to waste. Just as new illnesses and injuries come and go, the web is constantly changing. Links go stale, SEO algorithms change, and so on. Adequate follow up is key to staying in good shape.

Touch base with us every few months, and we’ll make sure that everything is running smoothly. If it’s not, we’ll help you fix it. You can even sign up for monthly website assessments so that we can proactively fix minor issues before they become big problems.

Once your website has got a clean bill of health, you can focus on providing your customers with the best product or service! That’s all there is to it.

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blogging blog posts SEO website
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Can Blogging Help Your Business? (Spoiler Alert: Yes, It Can!)

Blogs are often misunderstood. They require a fair bit of work, and business owners can’t help but wonder if they really make an impact.

The short answer: yes, they do.

The long answer goes something like this: blogs can help your business in more ways than you might think. We’ve rounded up some facts to help convince you that a well-written blog can do wonders for your business.

And if you still need convincing, consider the fact that you’re reading a blog post right now!

It Helps Drive Traffic to Your Website (Hubspot)

There’s lots of buzz about SEO, or search engine optimization, and guess what: blogging and SEO go hand in hand. New, original blog posts can drive more traffic to your website, and not just because visitors want to imbibe in your knowledge and wit (although that happens, too).

On the more technical side of things, a frequently updated blog signals to a search engine that your website is active, which can be an SEO booster. Your blog also adds a significant amount of content to your website, increasing the opportunities to pop up in search engines.

It Helps Establish You as an Expert (About.com)

Your blog is just one more way that you can reach out directly to your existing clients and prospects. You can choose to be silent (by posting nothing at all), or you can harness the opportunity to establish yourself as an expert in your field.

By posting accurate, informative, and original content, you’re proving that you know your stuff and that you’re good at it. Your website’s visitors are often seeking additional information related to whatever it is you do, and providing them with helpful blog posts is a major plus – one that can translate to conversions.

It Gives Your Brand Personality (Bloom Tools)

Blogging and social media are excellent ways to build that coveted brand loyalty. Use your blog to let your brand’s personality shine, showing the world that you’re more than a logo on a computer screen. Develop a voice and stay true to it. The result: customers will have no trouble differentiating you from those other guys.

It Keeps You on Top of Your Game (Social Media Examiner)

Whether you post once a week or once a month, coming up with relevant, informative blog content can challenge you to become even better at what you do.

Knowing that you have a blog post to produce will encourage you to stay on top of the latest industry news, technology, and developments – everything and anything is potential material for your blog!

Even more importantly, you’ll learn how to communicate your business concepts to your clients. Writing succinct posts in a compelling matter is great practice for organizing your thoughts and sharing your knowledge in a way that’s easy for others to understand. This will help improve your broader communication skills.

 

 

Blogging isn’t always easy, and we’ve heard the common rebuttals all too often. “I’m so busy and don’t have time to blog!” “I’m useless with computers!” “I always forget to post!” Cloud9 offers customized blogging packages: we’ll work with you to develop an optimal blogging strategy, and we’ll create posts using your brand’s language to keep customers coming back for more. Contact us, and we’ll help you get set up!

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SEO website analytics on a tablet
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SEO Isn’t Dead: It’s Evolved

“Here’s the mental model you need to understand why Google does what it does in the search results: we want to return really good search results to users so that they’re happy, so that they’ll keep coming back. That’s basically it: happy users are loyal users.”

These words of wisdom come from the mouth of Matt Cutts, head of Google’s Webspam team. They tell the ‘secret’ behind Google’s attitude towards search engine optimization, or SEO.

SEO: Dead or Alive?

SEO has been a hot topic over the past few years—and more recently, the conversation has turned towards the death of SEO. There are plenty of headlines predicting the death of SEO, but these posts don’t provide very convincing evidence that SEO is, in fact, on its way out.

Our opinion? SEO isn’t dead; it’s simply evolving.

Back to Basics

SEO is a multifaceted and often multi-channel support method intended to improve a website’s online presence. For example, SEO will help your website rank higher in Google searches that use keywords relevant to your website.

Coming back to our opening quote, Google wants to please its customers: when a customer types a few words into the search engine, Google wants to provide them with the best matches possible so that the customers find what they’re looking for.

SEO works with Google to make sure that it can deliver to its customers. SEO means building strong websites that offer a great user experience. So, if a customer Googles keywords that match up with your site’s content, they’ll be happy if Google coughs up your name first.

Google is our Friend

Note that we said working WITH Google. SEO isn’t about tricking Google—after all, if someone is searching a topic that has nothing to do with your website and you “trick” them into coming to your website, they’ll probably just leave. They’ll be annoyed at you, and they’ll be annoyed at Google for not giving them what they want.

SEO is about helping companies like Google do their job—while helping the website owners improve their web pages and the user experience. Happy users like to stick around.

The Evolution of SEO

Why do people think that SEO is a dying field? Probably because SEO algorithms and techniques are constantly changing. SEO strategies that worked a year ago might be stale now, meaning Google has changed the way it decides how a site will be ranked.

Since SEO involves lots of moving pieces — including traditional methods like improved meta data, keyword and key phrase research, and proper tag usage—there’s a lot going on at once. It might be accurate to say that some parts of SEO are dying, but in their place, newer, more effective SEO methods are popping up. SEO isn’t dying; it’s regenerating.

Smart SEO

There are thousands of factors that play into SEO, with dozens of changes happening every month. That’s a lot to keep up with, which is why it’s important to ensure that your SEO guru is up to snuff. SEO is serious business—ignoring it altogether can harm you. If your website unintentionally is poorly formatted for SEO, it can actually be penalized in search engine results. Yikes.

The key to good SEO is a good SEO person who adapts to changes as SEO evolves. Psst… we can help with that!

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video facts for igital marketing
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These 8 Facts About Using Video on Your Website Will Blow Your Mind!

You’ve probably heard that incorporating video into your website will do wonders for your business. More people will visit! They’ll buy your stuff! They’ll become devoted lifelong fans who will wax poetically about your fabulous company!

But we know how it is: taking the time to write, produce, and edit a video isn’t always easy. It requires time, money, and help from other people to incorporate video into your website.

It’s kind of like eating vegetables: you know that adding video content to your website is good for you, but it’s not always the easiest thing to do. We’re here to give you some motivation to eat those proverbial vegetables. Here are 8 facts about incorporating video into your website that you simply cannot afford to ignore.

 

Fact #1: YouTube is the #2 Search Engine in the World

Yes, you read that properly. It goes without saying that people aren’t searching YouTube for text-based posts. Posting video content will allow you to reach out to one billion people who search through YouTube every month.

 

Fact #2: The Value of One Minute of Video is the Equivalent to 1.8 Million Words

Okay, a stick-person stop-motion video might not convey that much information (though in the age of the viral video, you never know). But a properly produced video filled with valuable information can have a major impact on those who view it—and the viewers will actually remember it. Plus, creating a video takes much less time than typing out 1.8 million words!

 

Fact #3: Over Half the 25-54 Year Old Demographic Share Video Online

Business 101: word of mouth is your friend. Sharing content on social media is the new word of mouth. If you can convince your fans to share your content with their friends, then you’re getting a personal introduction through a trusted source to some very valuable potential clients. Not having video means that you’re missing out on these shares.

 

Fact #4: Shorter Videos Are Shared More Often Than Longer Videos

Bonus fact: 20% of people viewing a video will click away from the video after 10 seconds of watching. Don’t be thinking that you need to produce a multi-hour blockbuster to engage your target market. On the contrary: focus on well-executed short videos that pack a punch.

 

Fact #5: Online Video Accounts for 50% Of All Mobile Traffic

See those people scanning through their phones at the bus stop? Half of them are watching a video online.  It’s simply impossible to ignore the fact that people are consuming their media in a whole new way, and that new way is through video. Ignore the importance of video, and you might be facing a future similar to the VHS player.

 

Fact #6: The Average Internet User Watches 32 Videos Per Month

Think about who uses the internet: that would be just about everyone. Now consider the fact that each person watches at least one video per day, on average. If you’re convinced that your target market isn’t into videos, think again.

 

Fact #7: On Retail Sites With Video Components, Site Visitors Stay 2 Minutes Longer—and Are 64% More Likely to Make a Purchase

The facts are starting to add up. We know that the time that people spend on our sites is incredibly valuable. We also spend a lot of time trying to convert site visitors into clients. Here it is in black and white: video does that.

 

Fact #8: Video Content Is 53 times More Likely to Show up on the First Page of a Search Engine Results than the Same Content in Text Form

Our final fact is a bit of a mouthful, but wow—talk about impactful. In the world of SEO, any leg up you can get on your competition is huge. That’s not 53%– it’s 53 times.

 

Convinced that video is the way to go for your website? We just so happen to offer video production services– click here for more details on how to get all the benefits offered by incorporating video onto your website.

Don’t believe us? Check out these websites for sources and more details:
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