On April 21, 2015, Google rolled out its latest algorithm, designed to use a web site’s “mobile-friendliness” when determining its page ranking. This was an expansion, Google said, of its 2013 algorithm change adversely affecting responsive web pages with faulty redirects and other “not-ready-for-smartphone” errors. Since that time, mobile-only searches have increased, surpassing desktop searches in 2014. Google seeks to …
MAD MEN EPISODE (IRL):
Setting a Marketing Budget for Your Business,
Big or Small (SMBs: Pay Attention!)
According to the Chief Marketer online newsletter posted this week, Procter & Gamble is cutting its marketing spending by $1 billion in five years. That’s $200 million per year! How will this really play out? According to P&G’s 2014 annual report, net sales are $83 billion with net earnings of $11.6 billion. Cutting $200 million is less than ¼ of 1%. The …
FROM LAST STRAW TO 1ST STRAW:
THE CONCEPTION OF MY COMPANY
“How did you come up with your company’s name?” This is a question I’ve been asked frequently over the years. Well, it’s actually a pretty interesting – and meaningful – story. My work history includes many years employed by several Fortune 500 companies, leaving when the coast-to-coast traveling became too much, and then settling into the local business community. I …
Tis the Season for Looking Back and Planning Ahead:
Creating Your Essential End-of-Year Marketing Checklist
We are fast approaching the end of 2014, and while we write our company holiday cards and order those last-minute client gifts, we should also be developing our marketing plan for 2015 (if we haven’t done so already). To make this a successful year, we need to review our “Ghosts of the Marketing Year Past” so our business can continue …
How Outsourcing Your Marketing
Team Can Save You Time,
Money and Risk
Businesses of all sizes need not just a marketing plan, but also a sure-fire way to get that plan executed. Large companies have a dedicated team responsible for all phases of a marketing program, from conception to analysis of the results, including setting benchmarks for improvement. What about businesses who have no marketing team, or a “team” made up of …
Google’s “Pigeon” Update:
What to Do If Your Page
Ranking Flew the Coop
More changes from Google. We keep preaching how essential it is to update your website. As we become more inquisitive and sophisticated searchers, the search engines (Google, Yahoo and Bing to name just three) adapt their secret formula (algorithm) to provide the best results to the searchers’ queries. 7 IMPORTANT STEPS TO IMPROVE PAGE RANKING In Google’s ongoing efforts to …
GETTING MORE “GOOGLE LOVE”:
THE POWER OF AN OPTIMIZED
GOOGLE+ BUSINESS PAGE
Google Authorship is Kaput: Why Google Ended the Experiment UPDATE: On August 28, Google announced that it would be discontinuing Google Authorship. Specifically, Authorship results will no longer show up in searches and Google won’t track data using the rel=author markup any longer. This news comes after Google began limiting the number of author photos shown per query in December …
6 Tips for a Successful Blog:
Blogging Your Way to Lead Generation
Many times during the course of my Local SEO seminars, I’m asked this question: Why blog? The question behind the question is usually: why should I put in the extra work to craft a blog post each month (or week, or quarter)? Attendees want to know how blogging relates to their inbound marketing strategy. As you’ll discover, it can be …
DIGITAL MARKETING – TOP 4 LEAD GENERATION TOOLS
You want to generate leads for your business. More leads mean more opportunities for revenue. Marketing tactics that once took days and weeks to now take seconds to launch, and feedback is instantaneous. With this this new digital age comes the opportunity to generate leads more quickly than ever before. With a plethora of digital tools available, where do we …
Invisible to Visible:
6 Tips to Being Found
and Seen on Mobile Devices
The term “Mobile Marketing” is commonly understood to mean having a mobile presence, or using SMS to connect with potential and current customers. Actually, mobile marketing is much more. Find out why you need to embrace and smartly use mobile marketing strategies. Go to Mobile Marketing: 6 Essential Tips to Make Your Mobile Customers Find You.