Furthermore, you should know that Google also prefers mobile-friendly websites and rank those websites higher in the search engine result pages. Keeping all of this in mind, a mobile-friendly website is extremely important for your business so a user can view content easily and navigate your pages on their devices. To get the most out of your website, you need to contact a reputable e website design Gold Coast company and get your website reviewed and assessed for mobile compatibility.

On average, people are spending almost 5 hours on their smartphones in a day. It is important to note that it is not only YouTube videos, but people are looking at various things online. They use their mobile devices as a primary source to perform various functions like calling, texting, watching, browsing products or services and much more. It is a fact, more than half of smartphone users discover a new company or product when they are searching on their smartphones.

In the following article, we will be looking at the eight reasons why you need a mobile-friendly website for your business:

1. Responsive (Mobile) Design is no longer an exception but a standard

Just about everyone uses a mobile device.. or 3. As we look around we see not only people using smart phones but using them excessively. There are over 1.2 billion using mobile devices to access the web, which translates into over 80% of all internet users, using their mobile devices. I think you would be safe to say that not marketing to, or being mobile friendly with, mobile users would be a detriment to your business.

2. Responsive Web Design is expected by consumers as well as Google

With the above statistics, I think you could imagine why consumers have come to expect your site to show on any and all of their mobile devices. If you aren’t what they expect they WILL go elsewhere, literally with a click of a finger.

3. You’ll make your customers much happier

Your website will look great and function well on any device or screen size for that matter. From smartphones, tablets, desktops, and smart TVs.

4. Google may penalize your website if it’s not mobile friendly

Search engines rank your site and will list your in their search results accordingly. Google provides search engine results free of charge. Users are used to using search engines such as Google. Google keeps its users happy by providing relevant, authoritative, and user/device friendly links to what the users searches for.

5. It helps with your SEO (Search Engine Optimization)

Mobile-Friendly websites rank higher simply because it is more user friendly. With everyone having smartphones, and constantly using them to search. Imagine what it would be like if every site you clicked on, off of a Google results page, from your mobile device lead you to a page that was not reformatting to your device. Would you use a different search engine? Google as well as other search engines don’t want to find out. Simply put, your website will rank higher if it’s mobile-friendly.

6. It helps you build credibility

Not just online, but offline as well. People take mental note of a website they have had a good experience with. They also take note of a website they have a bad experience with. Reputation is everything, and most businesses can’t afford to give people a bad experience, digital or otherwise.

7. Social media referrals are mobile

Most of your links you find with apps on mobile device are clicked and viewed on the same mobile device. 91% of mobile internet usage is used for social activity. As social media continues to grow and evolve, statics show that mobile is where the trend is going to stay. At least for the foreseeable future. If you business is or ever wants to engage in the social media audience, (Not that you really have a choice in today’s age) then you can see why responsive web design is important.

8. Improve existing website traffic

If you are ready to get your website “mobile friendly” then it’s time to consider redesigning your existing website. It is a perfect time to not only get the look and feel that professionally represents your brand but also improve existing traffic!

Our website design nerds are ready to help you through this process. Contact us today!

The post 8 Reasons Your Website Needs to be Mobile Friendly (Responsive) appeared first on Big Nerd Marketing.

SEO and PPC are two different processes with the same purpose: To affect the online visibility of a website in a web search engine (Google, Bing, Yahoo).

They both belong to what is called SEM (Search Engine Marketing).

SEO stands for Search Engine Optimization. SEO is about getting your website to rank higher in natural/organic search results for target keywords.

PPC stands for Pay Per Click. PPC is about paying for advertising space for specific target keywords.

Say you’re looking for a service and need to hire someone. What will be the first thing you do? Google it.

The results you’ll see first is the result of PPC. The ads paid to be at the top of the results for every time a user is doing a search for various targeted keywords.

On the other hand, what you see below the ads, and every result that follows, is the result of SEO. If it weren’t for PPC, these would be in position #1. If you’re like most businesses, you can’t afford an ad campaign to infinity (more on that later).

Google’s mission is to deliver the most relevant and best possible results based on the user’s query.

In order to be in those sweet first positions, you have to convince Google’s bots that you are relevant enough (SEO). How to do that is a whole different topic though, but thankfully, we’ve got that covered as well.

However, there is an easier way to be among the first spots: buy your way through the top (PPC). Easy – yes, cheap – no.

The most significant part of PPC advertising occurs via Google AdWords – which is what you saw in the example above – and social media networks. AdWords will represent PPC for this battle.

SEO vs PPC Statistics

PPC

• The top 3 paid advertising spots get 46% of the clicks on the page. According to Power Traffick, the top three links on a search engine results page (SERP) capture almost half of all traffic for that keyword. This data supports the PPC method as it involves buying ad space at the top of the SERP.
• Businesses make, on average, $3 in revenue for every $1.60 they spend on AdWords. PPC is a relatively inexpensive way to experiment, and there is a solid average ROI for investing in paid search ads.
• More than 615 million devices use Adblock. As a consumer, Adblock is amazing: it stops all those eerily targeted ads from popping up on your Facebook feed. However, as a marketer, it can be frustrating to invest in PPC if huge numbers of your target consumers will never see your ad. Additionally, this number is growing quickly: ad blocking has grown 15-30% in the last four years.
• PPC Ads can boost awareness by 80%. In spite of ad blockers, PPC is still effective in increasing your brand’s reach and awareness.
• Google’s algorithm updates don’t affect PPC. While not a stat per se, a big benefit of PPC is that it’s immune to Google’s changing SERP ranking algorithm. In 2018, Google reported that they had updated their algorithm 3,234 times! If you’re using the SEO method, you have to adjust your content optimization to rank better according to the updated algorithm requirements.
• 63% of people reported that they would click on a Google ad. A high CTR is the goal driving both PPC and SEO, and if the majority of surveyed consumers report that they would click into a paid search ad, it is a compelling statistic for investing in PPC.
• 75% say it’s easier to find what they’re looking for from paid ads. The reason the first page of search results — especially the few few hits — get the vast majority of clicks is due to the combination of ease of use and finding what the searcher is looking for. Bidding on target keywords through PPC accomplishes both of these needs: the paid ads are easy to find at the top of the SERP and they answer the question of the searcher.

SEO

• Nearly 80% of users ignore paid ads in search results. People tend to prefer organic links more than paid ones, and of the links search users click, about 70% are organic.
• Search is the #1 driver of traffic to content sites, beating social media by more than 300%. Organic search is one of the most effective marketing channels, often being a consumer’s first point of contact with an organization.
• SEO drives 30% of traffic, and 20% of revenue. SEO ROI accumulates over time as content creators establish authority and visibility. Prospects often visit a website more than once before filling out a form or making a purchase, so ranking higher for more keywords increases the likelihood of conversions over time.
• 36.2% of consumers recognize links that are paid advertisements, but don’t click on them. Many search users aren’t able to differentiate between paid ads and organic links — in fact, only half of searchers correctly identify ads. In spite of this, consumers are still preferring the organic links over the PPC ones.
• 88% of searches for local businesses on a mobile device either call or visit the business within 24 hours. Local SEO has excellent SEO — the number of local searches are increasing by 900% in two years, and by optimizing content and web pages for nearby audiences, organizations can see remarkable growth.
• One in ten blog posts are compounding. This means that organic search increases their traffic over time, and as the number of visitors aggregates, so does the number of conversions. Historical content is a critical part of both SEO and customer acquisition strategy.
• Organic SEO is about 5.66 times better than paid search ads. HubSpot’s co-founder, Brian Halligan, ardently believes in an organic-first strategy for its longevity and strong conversion performance. According to HubSpot’s inbound marketing philosophy, paid outbound marketing interrupts audiences with outreach they don’t want, whereas organic optimization draws in consumers with content they love.

Let’s examine the pros and cons of each model.

SEO

The Good

Click Through Rate: Organic search is the channel through which, more often than not, users will find out about you. You can, and should, invest in paid search and social media, but you should keep in mind that organic search is essential.

As shown in the graph, organic search will be your primary channel for your traffic.

Ranking: Once you get high rankings, it’s easier to maintain those rankings. You gain authority status and build the trust of users and search engines.

Authority: Being organically on top suggests that your website, and as a result your business, is an industry leader in your niche. The audience prefers doing business with a credible leader in their field.

Strategic advantage: Once you have established yourself in the organic results, the only way competitors can compete with you is by spending money on something you don’t have to.

Cost: In our SEO vs PPC battle, make no mistake, SEO comes at a price. SEO is more like an investment. However, once you’ve made that investment, you can sit back and enjoy the fruits of your labor. Each impression and click after that sweet spot in the search engine rankings comes at no charge and thus it will cost you nothing.

Cost-effectiveness: SEO is considered to be more cost-effective than all other marketing tactics for delivering brand awareness and relevant traffic to your website.

Return on Investment: Organic search engine traffic can provide an improved ROI over traditional forms of paid media.

Verification: Your ranking position is one of the best and reliable ways to extract information about your site’s performance. The hard work you put in optimization, or the lack of it, can be measured from the position your webpage sits in and thus act accordingly.

Sustainability: Organic traffic does not dry up in a short period. As such, when marketing spend is cut, traffic will keep flowing in. SEO shines in this SEO vs PPC round.

The Bad

Effort: An effective SEO needs a lot of effort to build and maintain. SEO is an ongoing process that involves 3 different action fields: Technical, On-Page and Off-Page SEO. All three require certain know-how on your part or the part whoever will be in charge of the SEO strategy of your business.

Implementation time: For the same reason, SEO building will consume much of your time. It’s not only the time someone has to put on gaining the appropriate expertise, but it’s also the time one has to put into executing everything that’s needed.

Stiffness: You can’t just ‘try something new in SEO.’ SEO is a mechanism that must be approached holistically, thus in the SEO vs PPC battle, PPC is the winner here.

Indirectness: You can’t see the outcome of your optimization immediately. Action to result can mean months and traffic can be slow to come by.

A tough battle overall: Playing the SEO game is not easy. If you are just starting out, there is a possibility that the keywords you are targeting can be targeted as well from titans of your industry. If you are selling books, you shouldn’t expect to win the SEO battle against Amazon.

PPC

The Good

Position on the page: A paid ad can be in different places, including the one at the top. It can dominate the above-the-fold content, which practically means a close-to-100% chance to be seen before the first scroll down or finger movement. With typically four ads on desktop and three on mobile, a user can’t miss you. Position on the sweet spots provides you with brand awareness.

Brand awareness: Even if the user’s hand didn’t click on your business, their eyes received the information of your existence. That visibility will pay dividends to your marketing – for $0 since they didn’t make that click.

Improved user experience: Google wants to give an incentive so you can give Google your money (business is business, as always). The incentive being more control and more space for your marketing message. Let’s see this example where I google for ‘sofas.’ This is the bottom of the screen:

Look at the difference between the first 3 and last 3 results. The latter have more space at their disposal and businesses can include more information, thus create more engagement. Google even provides a ‘More’ button as an option for further additions.

Visual product ads: What we’ve seen so far is optimization and ads through letters, numbers, and symbols. Google though brings through PPC the champion of selling: Visuals.

Visuals improve the click-through rate by offering a feature not available in organic search. If you want a JPG, you gotta give some USD. A PPC exclusive, ladies and gentlemen.

Budget control: PPC allows for tight control of your budget. You can determine how much you are willing to spend per day, any day, and set that fixed limit. You can set up your PPC account and manage it in a way to be low-cost and generate leads for your business.

Targeted campaign: Ads can be targeted by search keywords, time of day, day of the week, geography, language, device, and audiences based on previous visits. SEO doesn’t have so many options, not by a long shot.

Speed: A PPC campaign can be created in days and flourish in weeks. It’s the fastest way to approach your audience.

The ability to experiment: Us growth hackers love experimentation. We won’t set up an AdWords campaign and then “let it do its thing.” Your AdWords campaign should be treated as your 5-year-old, not your child you are sending away to college. Is a particular ad not generating enough clicks? Change the copy in an instant and see what comes. Repeat until you get the results you want. Tune your ad up according to your needs.

The Bad

Click through rate: Paid listings have less credibility with search engine users. Organic rankings will get more click-through rates for “top of funnel” keyword search queries. The best possible CTR from PPC will always be less than the best possible CTR from SEO.

Cost: Well, it’ called Pay Per Click for a reason. If you are targeting different audiences and personas, those clicks quickly add up.

Momentary: The moment you stop your ad campaign is the moment your leads generation ends. PPC requires constant investment. Thus it’s difficult to rely exclusively on PPC.

Easily copyable: AdWords is not a TV or a radio spot. There isn’t much freedom for creativity, so it’s only words and numbers most of the time. If the competition likes your copy, well, they will copy it. Who said that digital marketing is easy?

Skills: We mentioned how demanding SEO is, but neither is PPC a walk in the park. If you want a successful PPC campaign, as in high CTR and cost-effectiveness, you have to manage and optimize each and every campaign.

Uneasiness: With PPC, you need to keep an eye out. It is not unusual to get into bidding wars with rival businesses, which can drive costs up. You have to keep an eye open at the results often.

Distrust: Consumers don’t always trust paid ads and often avoid them. They place more trust in organic rankings. As a result, you should expect a low click-through rate.

Is there a clear winner?

SEO & PPC have pros and cons and work best when supporting each other, creating synergy. The benefits of running SEO and PPC together, instead of SEO vs PPC include:

• Keyword and conversion data from PPC can be fed into your SEO.
• You can increase the total volume of traffic by targeting clicks in paid and organic for high-performing keywords.
• High-cost keywords, high-volume or low-converting (yet still important) keywords can be moved from PPC to your SEO.
• A/B testing of ad copy and landing pages can be fed into your organic listing and landing pages.
• Remarketing allows you to stay in front of visitors after an initial touch via organic search and customize messaging around their engagement with your site.
• You have the ability to test your keyword strategy in PPC before committing to long-term SEO strategies.
• Through keywords, you can target users at all stages of the customer journey, from research to comparison, to lead and sale.
• You can increase confidence and awareness by having both strong organic and paid visibility.

Ultimately, whichever strategy you choose will depend on your business’s needs, budget, and mission. Oftentimes, organizations will invest in both to see which strategy will help them grow better.

The post SEO vs PPC: Is It Better to Optimize or Pay for Traffic? appeared first on Big Nerd Marketing.

It’s not often that new protocols or technologies emerge that are this important and carry this much weight, and for relatively little effort and expense, can be put in place. This one thing — an SSL Certificate — will secure your website, boost your search ranking, and build trust with your visitors — all in one fell swoop.

1. SSL Certificates keeps your website safe and secure

Ever notice how most website addresses start with an “HTTP” and only a few start with “HTTPS”? The added “S” means the site has SSL security. SSL stands for Secure Sockets Layer.

Without getting too geeky, SSL technology creates a secure connection by encrypting data as it passes between web servers and browsers. It basically prevents sensitive information like credit card numbers and passwords from being intercepted by bad guys.

The certificate part serves as an electronic document used to verify credentials like the certificate holder’s name, the certificate’s serial number, expiration date and the signature of the certificate-issuing authority. When a user sends confidential information from a web server, the user’s browser accesses the SSL certificate and establishes a secure connection.

This is a big deal. In fact, it’s so big that beginning in 2017, if a website doesn’t have an SSL Certificate, Chrome will start marking pages that collect passwords or credit card details as “Not Secure”. That’s a pretty big deterrence. Seeing “Not Secure” will have most clients running for the hills.

2. SSL Certificates boost your search ranking

Google wants to maintain its reputation by ensuring that the websites people access from its search results are safe and secure. To that end, they’ve started using HTTPS as a ranking signal. It will become increasingly more important as greater numbers of websites come on board. It won’t be long before having a secure HTTPS connection becomes an essential component for ranking.

3. SSL Certificates establish trust

You don’t have to be an online seller of goods in order to establish your website as a secure and safe place to visit and interact. If you want to show your visitors that you value their security and that you are keeping up with best practices, then an SSL Certificate will go a long way in establishing trust. In fact, there will come a day in the not-too-distant future when not having an SSL Certificate could cost you your visitors and perhaps even your business.

The good news is that an SSL Certificate is relatively easy to implement and won’t break your bank account. There are also different levels of SSL Certificates to match the level of security you need. Whether you’re an online store or a blog that collects emails and passwords, there’s a right SSL Certificate for you.

With so many benefits, doesn’t it make sense to implement one sooner rather than later?

If you need assistance configuring SSL for your website then contact our nerds today!

The post 3 Reasons Why SSL is Important for Your Website appeared first on Big Nerd Marketing.

How do you stand out from the crowd?

Ranking highly in search engines (namely Google) is arguably the best method of doing so. It’s the only way to ensure your posts actually get read. This is where search engine optimization (SEO) comes in.

A fully SEO optimized blog post is far more likely to outrank the competition. But how do you do it? What goes into effective SEO?

Keep reading for an SEO blog checklist that’s sure to improve your rankings.

Essential Blog Checklist: 5 Steps to Effective SEO

SEO is crucial for blogging success. There’s a lot to it, but you can get a long way with the basics covered. The following checklist will cover the most important SEO components that’ll get you ranking in no time.

1. Find the Right Keywords

Effective SEO begins with keywords.

You need to figure out which words or phrases people are searching for online. You can do this using keyword tools such as Google trends, or Soovle.

The best keywords are low competition (few others have written a piece related to this keyword) and popular (lots of people are searching for it). It’s the only way to show up in search.

Long-tail keywords can be the key to success. Find ‘keywords’ comprising of 4 or more words (e.g. ‘the best long-tail keywords’). These may receive less search traffic but will be easier to rank for as they’re less competitive.

Primary keywords are your focus. They’re the word(s) you primarily want to rank for. You can also find secondary keywords though. These relate to the piece and can bring in additional traffic.

2. Integrate Your Keywords

Next up you need to incorporate your keywords into the right places.

Use your primary keyword in the title, the first 100 words and a header, and your conclusion. It should also go into your URL via the permalink. Other places to consider are meta-descriptions and image alt tags.

Your secondary keywords should be scattered throughout the text and in subheadings.

3. Focus on the User Experience

The user experience (UX) is the third essential part of ranking well.

Google prefers blog posts that provide a positive experience to readers. It makes sense. Someone who enjoys what they find on Google, is more likely to use Google again, right?

Do this in a number of ways. You should write blog posts that are longer (1,000 words and above), in-depth, and provide true value to the reader. The copy should be scannable, with short and concise phraseology. Break the copy up with subheadings, images, and videos.  

Your piece should be engaging and entertaining. It should be written for humans, not search engines!

4. Incorporate Internal and External Links

Linking is another essential SEO component.

There are two types: internal and external. An internal link directs someone to another page on your own website when clicked. An external link takes a user outside of your website.

They’re both important. Internal links keep people on your site for longer. This increase in dwell time signals to Google that your site is of value. They boost your ranking as a result. External links seem counterintuitive. After all, you’re effectively directing your user elsewhere.

However, linking out to industry leading, reputable sites is a known boon for your own site.

5. Build Backlinks

Backlinks are probably the best way to earn higher rankings.

A backlink is when another website links directly to your post or website. They signal to Google that your piece is worth ranking higher. Think of them as a vote of confidence. The more you have, the higher the rank.

However, it’s quality over quantity. One link from an industry leading website is worth more than numerous links from low-quality sites.

Achieve backlinks through guest posts, commenting on other sites, contributing to other bloggers’ posts, and direct outreach to other bloggers.

Time to Get Ranking

There you have it: an essential blog checklist to master SEO.

Looking for more marketing tips? Be sure to contact us with any questions or comments.

The post The Simpleton’s Blog Checklist for Better SEO Rankings appeared first on Big Nerd Marketing.

An SEO strategy includes multiple elements, one being link bait.

Wondering if link baiting is the answer to problems? Keep reading below to first find out a little more about the practice and how it can help you.

Stick around then because we’re here to tell you three great strategies you can implement immediately!

The Basics: What is Link Baiting

It may sound complex, but at the core, creating link bait is simply creating high-quality content that other content creators will want to link to.

This accomplishes a few different things. It increases backlinks and subsequently will increase traffic to your website. Both of these factors will help your overall SEO.

1. Create Infographics

Which would you rather glean information from; a wall of text or a visually please infographic?

Unless your an anomaly, we’ll assume you answered the latter.

Statistics presented in charts make sense to even those of who may have performed poorly in math class. Colorful images can express an idea much quicker and easier than a paragraph.

By creating an infographic packed full of useful and accurate information, other content creators will use you as an authority figure in your specific industry area.

Good ideas include how-to guides, pictorial representations of history, or geographical data displayed across a map.

2. Beat Out the Competition

One of the best ways to encourage others to link to your content is to get your info out there first. If you publish in-demand information first, you will have the most impact.

Similarly, if you have a buzzworthy news story and you publish it first, you will become a huge source for information.

Consistently get the jump on big stories or up and coming ideas? People will come to depend on this and start turning to your information first.

3. Guest Posting

One final method for attracting backlinks is guest posting. Allowing guests to post content on your website creates diverse, quality content.

And most people who do guest posts will link to it on their personal sites or in other written pieces.

The act of guest posting goes both ways. As others will write for your site, you should do the same. Any guest post you create is an opportunity to create backlinks to your own site.

Just be sure to be very careful with these posts. Ensure any guest post created for your site is relevant and well-written.

Watch Your Business Grow Through Quality Links

SEO doesn’t have to be complicated. Following these three link baiting tips can help any business continue to grow.

Whether through creating immersive infographics or consistently breaking the latest industry story, attracting backlinks is an incredible opportunity.

Do you have some more detailed questions about link bait? Please contact us, we would love to help out!

The post 3 High-Quality Link Baiting Strategies for Your Small Businesses appeared first on Big Nerd Marketing.

Like your health, the earlier you spot a problem, the quicker you can fix your reputation. Letting poor reviews fester can cause serious revenue loss for small businesses that simply can’t afford it. 

This quick and easy reputation management strategy is ideal for small businesses new to OM. Keep reading to start implementing now. 

Don’t Panic

The first rule of reputation management is to not panic. Don’t let poor reviews, articles, or ratings get the better of your business. Fight back with a bullet-proof reputation management strategy. 

Here’s what you’ll need:

• Company website
• Google business account
• Real testimonials and reviews

Let’s explore these methods in-depth. 

Your Website

Your company website is a content marketing machine. This is a cornerstone of online reputation management. 

An online reputation attack is felt hardest in search. That’s why you need to use your website to its fullest potential. 

If you don’t have a blog, start one now. Individual blog posts are indexed by search engines. This will help you rank for keywords that may be otherwise dominated by negative content. 

The goal is to create enough positive content to push the negative content off the first page of Google (and keep it there.)

Here are more ways to use your website to generate content:

• Create an about page
• Write detailed product descriptions
• Add an event page
• Include a press page
• Promote real testimonials

This last point is so important. Real, authentic testimonials from happy customers is a powerful weapon against poor reviews. 

Set up Your Google Accounts

Google dominates the search engine market with a massive 92.5% market share worldwide.

It’s safe to say it sets the rules for search, so leveraging any and all Google products for online visibility is a must. 

First, start a Google My Business account for your company. This will create a highly visible business listing in Google. You can also add your business hours, address, history, and other company information. 

Make your business searchable on Google maps. You may also want to consider a 360 Google video for your business as well. 

Of course, you’re familiar with Google reviews. Luckily, you can push that 1-star review down with positive reviews from real customers. 

Here’s the secret sauce to getting positive reviews:

How to Get Authentic Positive Reviews

Within minutes, your company can feel the wrath of social media from one bad experience alone. How company representatives treat customers in-person should be consistent with the company’s approach to social media and off-hours behavior.

Customers don’t just take to the internet when they’re mad. They’re also quick to share experiences that exceed their expectations. The latter is exactly what you want to inspire with your reputation management strategy. 

First and foremost, you need a bullet-proof customer service strategy. This needs to translate in-person, online, and offline.

Stellar customer service may lead to stellar reviews. But even that’s not enough to get every happy customer to leave a review. 

Include a clear call-to-action on your website to encourage customers. A “Find Us on Yelp” button also works as a gentle reminder for leaving a review. 

You may want to consider setting up a rewards program too. This is a great incentive, plus it can go a long way in a positive review. 

Put Your Reputation Management Strategy to Work

Don’t let all your hard work go to waste because of a few poor reviews. Face the world with confidence and fight back with this simple reputation management strategy. 

Use this strategy to maintain a strong reputation so you can stay in control of your brand. Check back often for the latest insider tips or talk to a specialist right now to supercharge your online visibility right away. 

The post A Simple Online Reputation Management Strategy for Your Small Business in 2019 appeared first on Big Nerd Marketing.

With so much competition, finding the right digital marketing strategies is a must if you want your website to stand a chance at getting its a share of the internet traffic.

Before you start investing your marketing budget though, there is one important thing you need to understand. Keep reading to learn the difference between SEO and SEM.

What Is SEO?

To understand how SEO and SEM differ, you first need to understand what each term means.

SEO, or search engine marketing, is the process of implementing tactics aimed at increasing traffic to a website. These tactics are always organic and never paid, which means social media pay-per-click advertising isn’t an SEO tactic.

Instead, SEO utilizes tactics like keywords and backlinks to boost a website’s ranking on search engines.

How these tactics are implemented depends on the current search engine algorithms. These algorithms are designed by search engines like Google to deliver the best possible results any time a web surfer runs a search.

To master SEO, you need to know what the current algorithms favor as well as what they might blacklist your website for. For instance, while keyword usage is important, pack your website with too many repetitions of the same keyword, and you could end up hurting your search engine ranking.

What Is SEM?

SEM, or search engine marketing, encompasses a wider category of marketing tactics than SEO. In fact, SEM technically includes SEO. It includes a wide variety of internet marketing strategies aimed at increasing website traffic and visibility.

Besides SEO, SEM also includes strategies like PPC advertising and social media advertising.

Any tactic that helps you drive traffic to your website is considered an SEM strategy.

The Difference Between SEO and SEM

Now that you know what SEO and SEM marketing each mean, it’s time to focus on the difference between the two.

The biggest difference between SEO and SEM is that SEO encompasses strictly organic marketing strategies while SEM encompasses both organic and inorganic tactics.

But because SEO is a strategy of SEM, SEM includes all of the same strategies as SEO, like keywords and backlinks as well as the inorganic strategies like PPC ads or social media advertising.

Choosing Between SEO and SEM

While there’s a difference between SEO and SEM, they both serve a purpose in internet marketing.

Paid advertisements are a great way to drive traffic to your website from social media or search engines fast. Unlike SEO tactics, they won’t take a long time to start working.

Web surfers are increasingly choosing organic search results over paid advertising on search engines. Organic strategies are also longer lasting; when you stop paying for an advertisement, it disappears, and you no longer receive any traffic as a result.

Alternatively, SEO strategies continue to work to boost your website’s ranking long after you’ve implemented them. You’ll need to keep updating your tactics to keep your ranking, but your efforts won’t simply disappear once you’re done with them.

If you’re ready to start upping your SEO game, we can help. Check out our managed SEO option to see how we can help you start driving organic traffic to your website.

The post Best Answer to “What’s The Difference Between SEO and SEM?” appeared first on Big Nerd Marketing.

As a financial advisor, your business relies on keeping up with customers’ needs. At the same time, you wish to grow your business and reach new clients. 

Your potential clients are scouring the internet at this very moment. The challenge is reaching them and drawing them to your website.

A good digital marketing strategy will help you do just that. Where do you start, though? 

Do you want more clients coming to your website? Read more about digital marketing for financial services below. 

Why Digital Marketing for Financial Services 

The first challenge to tackle is the question of why you might need a digital marketing strategy. The answer is simple. 

You can’t rely on word of mouth or paper mail anymore. The world is digitizing, forcing businesses to embrace digital transformation. 

A comprehensive digital marketing strategy will allow you to reach your target customers. You need to build an online presence and a reputable image. 

Know the Aspects of Digital Marketing 

Before you get started with marketing your business online, you need to understand the basics of digital marketing. Here are some of the aspects you’ll need to consider: 

Search Engine Optimization (SEO)

SEO is a means by which you draw traffic to your website and boost your reputation. This is done in a few different ways.

SEO focuses largely on creating quality content for your website. This content should be relevant to your product or service and provide useful information. 

Email Marketing 

If you work in finance, you may be used to sending out paper mail to potential clients. This method is somewhat outdated, as most people pay little attention to unfamiliar pieces of mail in their mailboxes. 

Email marketing works the same way. The difference is the type of mailbox receiving the message. 

Social Media Marketing 

It may seem bizarre, but social media is an important platform for reaching potential customers. Building your presence on social media has a few benefits. 

You allow your potential clients to easily find you. 

You provide your potential clients with a more personal aspect to your firm. This shows you aren’t just a firm after their money. You build a more personal relationship with them. 

So Much More 

Digital marketing doesn’t end there. There are so many different tactics you can employ to boost your online presence and promote visibility. 

You’ll need to perform sufficient website analysis, improve your web design, and find proper web hosting. 

All this together will form a comprehensive and effective digital marketing strategy. 

Boost Your Financial Services 

If you want to expand your life as a financial advisor, you need to consider a digital marketing strategy. Above you find a quick explanation of digital marketing for financial services. 

There is still a lot for you to learn as you embark on this new and exciting journey. To find out more about digital marking, search engine optimization, and more, check out our services page. 

The post Your Quick Guide to Digital Marketing for Financial Services appeared first on Big Nerd Marketing.

It’s not your product or service. It’s not for lack of effort.

So, what gives?

It’s possible you’re not as optimized as you think you are. We can help. Here are 3 website lead generation techniques that will help get more conversions.

1. Add Forms to Your High-Traffic Pages

Where is your contact form? Aside from your “Contact Us” section, do you have it anywhere else on your site?

Your first step is to run an audit or check Google Analytics to find out where most of your traffic is coming from.

Is it your social media posts? Your blog? How about your email marketing campaign?

Whatever generates the most traffic is where you should put your contact forms. 

But it doesn’t stop there. 

People visit specific pages for a reason. It’s likely you have engaging content. So nurture it!

Make sure you’re updating the specific pages often. The goal is to give your audience what they want while making your brand seem indispensable. 

There are tools out there that evaluate your lead generation services and provide feedback. You’ll know the landing pages that work and the ones you need to work on.

2. Offer an eBook

After running an audit, you’ll likely find your blog gets the most traffic. That’s if you’re using good SEO practices. 

Like we mentioned, you’re getting traffic to your blog because people enjoy your content. Why not expand that content into an eBook or white paper?

Sure, it’s time-consuming. But consider hiring a freelancer or guest blogger. This will increase your authority and make your site seem even more trustworthy.

Have your visitors fill out your form to get the eBook or white paper. If you’ve done a good job hooking them on your blog content, they’ll gladly fill it out.

3. Add a Bonus in Your Follow-Up Email

You should always have a “thank you” page set up for after a visitor fills out your form. But, you can take this one step further with a follow-up email.

Sure, lots of brands do this, but how many offer their new lead a thank you gift? 

It can be something simple like a percentage off their first purchase. Or, you can include a free thank you gift with their first order. 

Get creative! You may get rewarded with a brand-new customer.  

Get Help with Your Website Lead Generation

These are just five website lead generation techniques that will get you started on your path to more conversions. But, these are only the tip of the iceberg.

If you want to truly optimize your site for lead generation, calling in the professionals is always a smart option.

At Big Nerd, we specialize in optimizing every facet of your website. From SEO to copyrighting, we do it all. 

For more information on how we can help you with lead generation or getting more traffic, get in touch with us today!

The post 3 Terrifically Effective Website Lead Generation Techniques for 2019 appeared first on Big Nerd Marketing.

If you own a small business, you know it’s not easy standing out in the crowd. You also know in this age of social media, a website is non-negotiable. But building a website often falls to the bottom of the priority list

If building a website seems like a Herculean task, don’t fret! 

Read on for the top 5 must-have items for your quick small business website checklist. 

Start with a URL

A URL is a uniform resource locator. It’s the short abbreviation for your website’s Internet address.

Before you build your website, you need a website address. It’s also called a domain name. 

If it’s possible, use your company name as your unique website address. Unless you’re a nonprofit organization, use the domain .com. Nonprofits often use .org.

Don’t be enticed by .biz. Search engines rate higher for .com domains. 

Once you’ve come up with a good name, check the availability and buy the URL. You’ll do this through a domain registrar. 

Avoid Freebies

This is your business. Don’t use free website hosting.

Avoid Wix or other hosted solutions. You want total control of your website, and you won’t have it on a free site.

Expect to pay up to $100 per month, but it’s well worth the cost. 

Include These Elements

You’ve bought your URL and set up your web host. What goes on the website? Don’t frustrate your website visitors. Make some information obvious, such as:

• Phone number and email address
• Hours of operation
• Location
• Easy contact form
• Product and services
• About page
• High-quality images
• Links to your social media pages
• Testimonials 

Make website navigation easy and intuitive. Don’t reinvent the wheel.

Some people think doing everything the same old way is boring. But your customers are comfortable with standard website navigation. Keep it standard. 

Once you’ve included all the pertinent business information, you’re ready for SEO. Speaking of SEO…

Search Engine Optimization

SEO is search engine optimization. This is how search engines like Google find and display your website in search pages. 

Your aim is to be the first listing on the search engine results page (SERP). That means when someone’s searching for the type of product you offer, your business comes up first. 

SEO is complicated. If you don’t have time to learn SEO, consider hiring a professional. 

Optimize for Mobile

Over 70% of Americans own smartphones. If your website doesn’t display on a mobile phone, you’re in trouble.

Make sure everything works as well from a phone as it does from a desktop or laptop.

Begin with the Website Checklist

Now that you’ve got your handy website checklist, it’s time to get building! Start with your URL.

Once you’ve got that nailed down, decide on your web hosting. Don’t be enticed by the freebies!

Once the website is set up, go through the checklist to make sure you’ve included the most important information. Make sure navigation is easy. 

Then it’s time to work on your SEO. You’ll always work on updating the SEO on your website. Make sure the site is optimized for mobile devices, and you’re ready to go!

Overwhelmed? If you’re looking for help with SEO, get in touch!

The post 5 Must Have Items for Your Quick Small Business Website Checklist appeared first on Big Nerd Marketing.