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September 23, 2011 by

How A Good Search Engine Marketing Service In Dallas Will Help You

What A Search Engine Marketing Service In Dallas Should Explain To You

Many local Dallas area business owners complain that they get calls, direct mail postcards, and other solicitations from people “promising to rank them number 1 on the search engines.”  These owners often complain that they don’t believe any of what is said, and they stick with (what they believe is) “tried and true” marketing in local Dallas area magazines, chamber of commerce meetings, and TV spots.  Sadly, these owners are mistaken because the internet marketing solicitations they receive are not “apples to apples” and, therefore, the owners get denied good, quick education on what the search engines can do for them.  Here is a quick list of what a good search engine marketing service in Dallas can provide.

First, you want to make sure that a good Dallas search engine marketing firm explains to you the difference between search engine optimization (SEO) and search engine marketing (SEM)!  Knowing the definitions of what you are being sold is the first step!

SEO refers to getting your website’s pages (not just your home page) to rank well in the search engines for keyword phrases which have actual quantified demand.  This latter part will be discussed in a moment.  SEM refers to getting your company’s name and/or message on the first page of the search engines for the same phrases, but this also includes getting your other web properties (e.g. business directory listings, YouTube channel or specific videos) to rank well in addition to getting listed on the Maps/Places listings.  SEM also includes the pay-per-click (PPC) placement for the same phrases.

The “takeaway” is that Search Engine Optimization is a sub-set of Search Engine Marketing, and many Dallas small business owners have not yet been properly educated on this difference.  No matter which Dallas online marketing firm or consultant you choose, please be sure to understand this difference!  Make sure that you are getting a good amount of value for your marketing budget.

Next, a good Dallas SEM service will help you with thorough keyword research.  This means getting you ranked for phrases which people actually type into the search engines with some sort of decent monthly volume (i.e. “Demand”).  From there, the firm should provide you with at least some form of figures on the competition against that demand (i.e. “Supply”).  This will help you to choose the specific phrases for which to optimize and create content; and you can further refine which phrases on which you will spend time and money to be indicative of a likely customer who will buy, join your e-mail newsletter, walk into your store, etc.

For example, if you are a plumber then you would love to rank # 1 in the search engines for “Dallas plumber”.  That phrase, however, might be too competitive for you to rank well based on your current content, number of people linking to you, and your budget.  Instead, you may wish to pursue ranking well for a phrase which still has some demand such as “24 hour plumber Dallas”.  If you rank well for that phrase, chances are that you are going to get some late night calls to fix the problem right away!

A good search engine marketing service in Dallas also will provide you with options so that you get a customized strategy.  For example, you may be sitting on some really helpful “how to” or “tips” videos you recorded last year but they are still applicable to the end viewer.  Your SEM firm can help you optimize your videos, your video channel, and the descriptions of your videos when you decide to upload them to a video-sharing site.  The SEM service can then help you optimize the video content for specific cities and towns and turn them into titles such as “Dallas Plumber Shows You How To Shut Off The Water In An Emergency.”

The next element of a helpful search engine marketing service in Dallas is to explain the benefits on-page and off-page optimization.  The “off page” component is the creation of helpful, quality content which is used to drive traffic to a web property you control (e.g. your home page, Facebook page, YouTube channel) to encourage the website visitor to take your desired “call to action” step.  You should be advised on how to change that destination page(s) including adding the keywords to the various “tags” on that destination page.  This is known as “on page SEO”.

Another trait of a helpful SEM firm is one which will help you understand that a website’s aesthetics (appearance) is NOT the “end all” when it comes to web marketing.  The appearance primarily affects what is known as “conversion rate”, and it is possible that a very pretty, fancy website actually could HURT your intended call to action.  This is because your DFW audience may expect content on a consistent basis.  If you invest most of your money on the website’s appearance, yet leave little for content generation then you may alienate your audience.

The “takeaway” is that you must get into the heads of your primary audiences, whether they are current customers or prospective customers.  Your SEM firm should explain ways in which you can better identify these elements if you are not yet familiar with them.

Should you decide to pursue online paid advertising, of which pay per click is only one method, then the Dallas SEM firm should explain your options.  For example, if you want to appeal to people in Frisco then you might consider a few things which a traditional SEO firm wouldn’t explain to you:

  • You have the ability on Google’s search network (ads which appear on Google.com) to restrict your ads to certain zip codes and a geographic radius around them
  • You can modify your ad to have the keyword in the ad
    • From there, you must send the “click traffic” to an optimized page for the same keyword.  If not, you risk incurring a form of “surcharge”
  • Google has a “display” or “content” network on which you can place your ads on websites OTHER than the Google.com search results
    • These can be targeted for specific keywords such as “Frisco TX” or specific websites which accept Google ads
  • You could skip the search engines entirely and pay for ads on sites which rank well in the search engines for the city-specific phrase
    • For example, you could buy ads on Frisco-online.com if you specifically want to target Frisco
  • You might be able to pay for certain advertising in your Google Places listing
  • You could pay for advertising on the Yahoo and Bing search engines, although their rules are slightly different than Google’s
  • You could pay for advertising on the lesser-used search engines, but the quality of traffic might be better.  This is a case-by-case basis

Finally, a good search engine marketing firm in Dallas will help you track results.  Whether it is something as basic of based on the improvement in your rankings all the way to advanced split-testing for landing pages, make sure that you get at least some form of measurable results.  In addition, do whatever you can to make sure that the SEM firm accounts for mobile phone usage in addition to desktop and laptop users.

I hope that all of these elements help you better choose a professional search engine marketing service in Dallas.  If you have any questions, or need clarification on anything presented, then you are welcome to contact me.  Thank you.

 

 

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August 30, 2011 by

Big Picture Of Online Marketing For Local Small Businesses

On the new FAQ page, I recently added an article for local small business owners and how they can better understand the “big picture” of online and internet marketing.  They article covers four major topics:

You are welcome to contact me with your questions and how internet marketing might benefit you in your specific situation.  Also, feel free to send me your online marketing-related challenges so that I can take the answers for future questions on the FAQ page

Filed Under: internet marketing, online marketing Tagged With: , , ,
August 26, 2011 by

Intelligent Internet Marketing For Plano Texas and The Nearby Cities

When A Plano Business Executive or Owner Needs Internet Marketing

If you own or manage a business in Plano Texas, or the nearby communities of McKinney, Allen, Frisco, Richardson, or Carrollton then there are several ways you can use intelligent internet marketing and other online marketing techniques to help your business.  While most internet marketing firms will focus on using internet marketing for lead generation, there are several other benefits.

These benefits include:

  • Helping your retail location get more customers by having clear driving directions
  • Asking your current customers to leave positive reviews on various local web properties including Google Places, Yahoo Local, Yelp, Merchant Circle and more
  • Split testing your website (e.g. A/B split testing) to improve conversion rates
  • Surveying your current and previous customers to improve your value and build goodwill
  • New revenue models by offering upsells to your own products and services, or recommending third-party products and services which you endorse to your current clients/customers as well as first-time website visitors
  • Online reputation monitoring and refuting negative reviews
  • Staying on top of industry trends and breaking news
  • Increasing prospective customer, and current customer, contact lists to increase your business’ valuation
  • Allowing your employees a creative outlet to promote the company by respectful and value-added use of social media properties
  • Competition research
  • Reducing current marketing costs including online and television, radio, print, and live event
  • Marketing your open-to-the-public live events better and giving attendees a reason to become “fans” of your business
  • Marketing to your strengths such as your voice (podcasts and online radio), camera presence and charisma (typical video marketing), creativity (entertaining videos and unique social media strategy), writing (article marketing and blogging), etc.

This is just a short list of the benefits which any internet marketing firm serving Plano, McKinney, Allen, Frisco, and other North Dallas businesses should emphasize.  While it is always terrific to rank # 1 in the search engines for a particular keyword phrase (e.g. “Plano pizza restaurant”), online marketing can offer any local business owner so much more.

The “take away” from this blog post is to ask any person who offers some form of Plano internet marketing (SEO, pay-per-click, video creation, video optimization, etc.) to talk with you about YOUR specific challenges.  If the person cannot customize something to your specific situation then consider moving onto the next professional.  Before you hire anybody, or do the actions yourself, be VERY CLEAR on the reasons why you are pursuing a specific internet marketing strategy.

Please refrain from getting caught up in a particular strategy specific to a specific website.  Even though “advanced Facebook marketing” may sound appealing, if you do not know what you are doing – and do not have the time nor inclination to play the rules of helpful social media etiquette – then stay away from such a strategy even if your best friend is doing well with it.  Remember that all of this, no matter how dynamic and unique, should be designed to address your specific short-term situation as well as giving you a platform to expand into the mid-term.

Feel free to contact me with your questions about your specific situation.  You also are welcome to look at the FAQ for common questions which I, and other internet marketing professionals, tend to get on a consistent basis.

Thank you, and I hope that this blog post will help you get a better understanding of how to view internet and online marketing for any business in Plano and the nearby communities.

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