Resolve to Optimize Your Search Campaign in 2017

In 2017 and beyond, digital marketing is only expected to continue to grow in its prevalence and importance. Businesses of all sizes can benefit from a New Year’s resolution to optimize a search campaign. Search advertising might include boosting organic search results, using pay-per-click ads, and increasing social presence; each of these tasks requires dedicated attention and careful planning to achieve visibility and success. As you plan to take on these strategies for search advertising, use the following guidelines to ensure that you see the results you want throughout the coming year.

Set Clear Goals
Not every business will share the same goals for a search marketing campaign, so it is essential to customize your strategy with clear, measurable goals from the get-go. Start with a broad goal such as raising newsletter subscriptions, boosting sales, or increasing brand awareness. From here, you can narrow down the more specific goals that will lead you to your key objectives.

Redesign Your Landing Pages
No matter what you want to accomplish with your search campaign, you will want to get your website in shape before making substantial investments in AdWords and other advertising services. Quality landing pages are a must for any search campaign, whether you are relying on paid or organic results. Every keyword should be paired with a unique and informative landing page that will grab consumer attention, deliver the information they want, and provide an actionable conclusion.

Do Your Research
Even if you have an existing search campaign, you will want to take the time to research keywords and current marketing trends, as these steps will ensure that your campaign is current and effective. If you are just beginning a search campaign, a lot of research may be needed to get started, and this can be facilitated by professional marketing experts who can weigh the cost and benefits of potential keywords for your business. It can be tempting to just opt for the most popular keywords regardless of cost, but you might not rank for these search terms without some established authority through your site.

Balance Paid and Organic Search Campaigns
Most successful search campaigns will achieve a balance between paid search and organic search. Paid search results are the most visible on the page—even more so since Google updated their SERP design to include even more paid results per page—but organic search results are often viewed as more trustworthy by consumers. Investing on both fronts can help you see the best from both worlds, achieving optimal exposure for your business.

Whether you want a fully managed search campaign or you simply need assistance with the technical components of AdWords, we can help you see the results you want for search advertising in 2017. Call us today to discuss your business’s digital marketing needs or visit our website.

Increase Your Social Media Presence with These Tips

Managing the social pages of your small business can present an opportunity for growth when done right. There are unlimited opportunities in sales and brand awareness when you harness the power of social media because visits to social sites make up about 20% of time spent online on both mobile and desktop devices (Business Insider). If you want to take advantage of the popularity of social media to boost your business, take a look at the following steps to bolster your business’s social presence and increase customer engagement with your brand.

social media presence

Create Profiles on All Social Networks

While Facebook continues to dominate social media in every demographic, it is not the only social site that matters. Creating profiles across all major social sites—Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram, Pinterest, and Facebook—will maximize your exposure and allow you to test out different social strategies utilizing the varying formats of each platform.

Invest the Most Time on Networks Where Your Customers Spend Time

Once you begin to manage multiple social profiles for your business, you can see where you are gaining the most attention from your customers. With this data, you’ll know where to dedicate the most time to updates and interaction.

Add Social Sharing Buttons to Your Site

The content you create and post on your website can propel your social presence because it will be easy for readers to share—especially when you add social sharing widgets to your site. In addition to making your content more shareable, social buttons can also allow for one-click following, which increases the number of viewers your social profiles will see.

Avoid Obvious Self-Promotion

Successful social marketing requires a nuanced approach. Rather than blatantly advertising with social posts, you will want to primarily focus on offering helpful information or interesting discussions with your customers. About 8 out of 10 posts should be more engaging, while the other 20% can include a more direct sales pitch or promotion.

Interact with Your Followers

Finally, you’ll want to remember that social media relies on back and forth communication between users, so it is beneficial to reach out to your followers and those who mention your company. Continuing the conversation about your company can create a more positive and relatable image for your brand, which will keep customers coming back.

If you find yourself without the time to manage your social presence or you need a strong content strategy to back up your social posts, our team of digital marketing professionals can help. Call us at (904) 823-9747or visit our website to get a closer look at our social marketing services.