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Recent Blog Posts
Getting the Most Out of Your Pay-Per-Click Marketing Campaign
When a potential client is searching the internet for services that your firm offers, you probably realize that it is extremely important to have your name listed among the top-ranked search results. Through various Search Engine Optimization (SEO) techniques, your website can earn higher rankings, and organic traffic is likely to increase. But, what you may not know is that there is often a way to push your office directly to the top—as in, your name can appear literally above every other search result. A well-designed, strategically-implemented pay-per-click marketing campaign can help your firm reach levels of online visibility you may have never thought possible.
What is PPC?
Pay-per-click, or PPC, is a search engine marketing technique and advertising model that helps direct internet users looking for particular information and services to websites that can meet those needs. Rather than charging a flat fee for running an advertisement—like commercials during a football game, for example—a PPC campaign charges the advertiser a nominal fee each time a user clicks on the ad. Therefore, a company or firm investing in PPC must be sure that they are able to successfully convert enough interested users into paying clients or risk a negative rate of return on its marketing investment.
Tips on Responding to Online Criticism and Negative Reviews
It is important to get one thing out of the way immediately: you are never going completely satisfy every client that walks through your door. That is simply a fact. Of course, you and your team will certainly try and, maybe, by your own standards, you will succeed nearly 100 percent of the time. Your standards, though, are not your customer’s standards, and in many cases, what your client was hoping for is not reasonable, realistic, or even possible. The internet age, however, has provided anyone with a screen and a web connection a large variety of platforms to express his or displeasure, no matter how misguided it may be. When a negative review shows up on Google or Yelp about your company, you are able to take back control of the conversation and, possibly, turn the situation into an opportunity for growth.
Online Marketing 101: What is SEO?
When you were a child, you probably asked your parents dozens of questions every day. As you got older and your questions more complex, you likely heard the phrase “look it up” quite often. Within the last two decades, “look it up” has been replaced with the more futuristic-sounding directive, “Google it,” as people from all walks of life now turn to the Internet as primary source of reliable information. Google and other search engines each utilize a unique method of sorting through the millions upon millions of available web pages to present searchers with a list of the most relevant results. But, how can you can convince Google that your page is relevant to a particular search? The answer lies in the efficient, strategic application of a process called Search Engine Optimization, or SEO.
Mobile Friendly Websites More Important Than Ever
In the wake of Google’s so-called “Mobilegeddon” algorithm changes earlier this year, mobile friendly websites seem to have experienced the boost that most experts were expecting. Conversely, sites considered non-mobile friendly suffered a drop in Google-driven traffic, which, in turn, led to higher expenditures on mobile-search ads. While the effects of the April update were not immediately evident, as weeks and months passed, the importance of a mobile friendly website has become increasingly clear.
Quantitative Analysis
As predicted, in the weeks following the algorithm change, non-mobile friendly websites saw double-digit decreases in traffic from mobile searches. According to a report by Adobe Systems which tracked more than 5,000 sites of all types, the drop was as high as 12 percent in the first two months. To offset the loss in organic traffic, site owners felt compelled to purchase more mobile-search advertisements from Google, ultimately driving the price of such ads up by as much as 16 percent.
The Four Most Popular Search Engines
While you may not be familiar with the term “genericized trademark,” you probably use them every day. When you have a cold, you may ask for a Kleenex, despite the box being labeled as Puffs. If you cut yourself, you will probably go find a Band-Aid, and maybe take an aspirin for lingering pain. Hook-and-loop fasteners of any type you likely know as Velcro. Now, the same concept is being applied to the world of digital technology, and especially online searches. Not all that long ago, it was relatively common to direct someone looking for information on a particular topic to Ask Jeeves, referring to a search engine launched in 1995. You can probably see where this is headed; today, hardly an hour goes by where you do not hear the phrase “Google it,” or “I was Googling something…" Despite Google's stranglehold on its search engine competitors, it is important to recognize that alternatives do exist and may actually be more popular than many realize.
How Clients Find Lawyers in 2015: Understanding the Need for Online Legal Marketing
For decades, a prospective legal client in need of representation had very limited avenues for finding a lawyer. In most cases, he or she would start by digging out the trusty, old phone book and scanning the yellow pages for a firm that looked decent—if the firm was successful enough to spend the extra money— in a two-inch square advertisement. The potential client could also ask friends or family, which, depending on the legal matter at hand, could often be embarrassing or not easy to explain. Beyond that, much was left to mere chance. If a person was lucky enough to stumble upon a good lawyer, great. If not, it was sometimes difficult to tell before the damage was done.
Evolving Consumer Options
Fortunately, the communication age and the rise of digital technology is changing all of that. Do you remember the last time you opened a phone book? Do you even know where to find one? Similarly, modern consumers are also less likely to rely solely on the advice of friends and family without doing a little checking around for themselves. If you were in need of some type of service—say, a good auto body shop—would you ask a friend, then immediately call the shop ready to make an appointment? Maybe, but probably not. More likely, you would get the name of the business and find out what you could about the shop online. You would read reviews, see how they present themselves, and understand how they compare to similar options. Depending upon what you find, then you may be ready to trust them with your car.
A Content Marketing Metaphor, Continued: Get Out There and Play
Recently on this blog, a previous post drew a comparison between a successful football program and an effective content marketing strategy. It discussed the importance of detailed preparation and intense focus as you and your team prepare to launch a new campaign or an update to existing one. With football season now fully underway across the nation, it is time to take the analogy a step or two further: now, it is game time.
Start With Fanfare
Think about a high school or college football stadium just before kickoff. Is it quiet? Does the team subtly sneak out of the locker room and over to the sideline? Absolutely not! The band is playing, the crowd is going crazy, and the players burst out onto the field, barely able to control their enthusiasm. The launch of your marketing plan should be handled in the same way. Take steps so that the public is aware of your existence and your efforts. Issue press releases, allow your excitement to be felt on social media, and get your team fully invested.
A Content Marketing Metaphor: Training Camp and Pregame
Around the country, football season is getting underway. The nation’s most popular sport takes center stage each fall, as athletes as young as 5 and 6 years old take to the gridiron—non-contact, of course—to experience the thrill of competition. At higher levels, including high school, college, and beyond, the game of football is a year-round endeavor requiring dedication, hard work, and constant attention to ever-changing rules and challenges. In many ways, a successful football program shares many similarities with an effective content marketing strategy. While, as a business owner, you may not risk physical injury on the field of play, a casual, unprepared approach to marketing can leave your brand bruised and beaten.
No Off-Season
The analogous comparison to football is not exact, of course, as your marketing efforts are not primarily focused on a single season. Your business and online presence requires your attention every month of the year. However, just as a football team continues to workout, study, improve, and prepare during the off-season, you and your marketing team should be doing the same, no matter what campaigns are currently ongoing.
Facebook Drives One Quarter of All Internet Traffic
A generation or two ago, the world was a different place. We checked newspapers for sports scores and movie times. We learned about current events from Walter Cronkite and, later, Peter Jennings and Tom Brokaw. We gathered information about businesses from friends or neighbors, then looked in the phone book for a number to call. Today, virtually all of the same information and infinitely more is available with a few clicks of a mouse or a few taps on a touchscreen. The internet has become an unimaginably vast resource with limitless possibilities, yet research suggests that nearly one third of internet traffic is driven by social media sites and apps. If you want users to find your company’s website, a presence on Facebook, Pinterest, or Google Plus is more important than ever before.
Despite Digital Amnesia, U.S. Internet Users Feel Better Informed
Without looking your cell phone, what is your neighbor’s phone number? How about a different question: Do you know your checking account number? If you having trouble recalling pieces of information such as these, you are not alone. According to a recent study, there may be direct correlation between the availability of information on the internet or stored on cell phones and an increasing failure of people committing that information to memory.
Google Effect and Digital Amnesia
The study was conducted by Kaspersky Lab, an international software security group, whose reach includes nearly 200 countries and territories around the world. Kaspersky Lab looked to build on previous findings from 2011, in which Harvard-based researchers, along with those from other universities, identified what they referred to as "the Google Effect." The Google Effect was meant as a description of how younger people’s method of remembering information is changing; specifically, they retained fewer distinct pieces of data but could easily remember where to find it online when needed.
