Five Important To-Do’s before Publishing Content

Every marketer has heard the phrase “Content is King”, but that statement should come with asterisked. While content is important, there are certain factors that can make it king or make it an enemy.

Content development is important for every business and should have a strategy behind it. If you are creating content, just to have it with no purpose or structure, you could be doing more harm than good.

Make sure that all content you are creating is relevant and unique. Your customers like to read fresh, new content catered towards your industry, and so does Google! So “Relevant Content is King”.

Once you have created awesome content for your company, follow these 5 important to-do’s before publishing:

1. Get a fresh set of eyes. While you may be an excellent writer and editor, we tend to overlook common spelling and grammatical errors. It is important to have a co-worker or friend double check your work before making it live.
2. Do an ‘SEO’ proof.  Once your content has gone through a regular edit, conduct an ‘SEO’ proof. This means read through your content and check for relevant keywords and any missed opportunities to enhance the SEO. Use keyword research tools to help decide which keywords are optimal for content development.
3. Images need love too. Sometimes we focus so much on the content itself that we fail to optimize the image we insert into our blogs or articles. Double check that all images being published with content, and individually, have been optimized with Alt Tags.
4. Link Up! Content is not made to cover everything, and realistically it can’t. Find relevant content to link to within your writing, this helps to enhance your information and building relationships with others in your industry. Adding a link acts as an endorsement, endorse others and they will endorse you.
5. Encourage readers to amplify the post. If you have created engaging content, prompt your users to share your post. Adding share buttons to your content can make the amplification process easier for users and could result in more shares.

So remember, while ‘Content is King’, it is only king if it is relevant and optimized for your readers.

For more tips on how to develop SEO rich content, or to speak with a SEO Content Specialist contact Tandem Interactive directly. 

Keywords that Can Actually Increase Traffic to your Site

If you own a business and are currently paying a marketing team to build out your content…make sure that they are building content that can actually increase traffic to your site, WITHOUT keyword stuffing.

As a business owner, you are probably well aware of the negative effects that Black Hat SEO can have on your site and more importantly, on your relationship with search engine master Google.

If you are not aware, here are some tips to avoid a penalty and keep in mind for organic content:

• Google wants websites that produce QUALITY content, NOT necessarily QUANTITY. While it is good to be building your brand with a decent amount of content each month, the quantity of keywords should not be overbearing. If you produce content that has one of your keywords, sprinkled around once every 100-150 words or so, you are on the right track. If your content pumps keywords each sentence, you will most likely be flagged. While it is great that your business is getting a lot of traffic, if you are not giving the searcher the information they want, that traffic to your site is essentially useless and they will leave your page, after they deem you as unreliable.

• Choosing the right keywords for your brand can be more difficult than you think. You may know the obvious keywords, but the truth is, unless you already have an internet presence, you will not rank for those keywords as compared to larger competitors. However, there are ways to determine / find the ideal organic content keywords for your product.

To find ideal keywords, your marketer should be using Google Adwords and MozPro in coordination. Why use both tools you ask? Start in Google Adwords. Search for keywords that have a good amount of AVERAGE MONTHLY SEARCHES and a LOW to MEDIUM COMPETITION STATUS. Then, use MozPro : Research Tools : Keyword Difficulty, to plug in the keyword you found with Adwords, in order to see its DIFFICULTY SCORE and SERP Analysis Report.

You will notice that if the keyword has a Difficulty Score of 60% or more, then it will be a highly competitive keyword that you should not use.

To further explain this: The Lower the Keyword Difficulty Score on MozPro and the Lower the Competition via Adwords, the easier it will be for your company to create individual content pages to achieve top results.

HOWEVER, this only applies for smaller businesses or lower authority domains; meaning a local moving company trying to rank for moving key terms against a large, nationwide moving company.

The SERP Analysis Report will tell you the reasoning behind the difficulty score. So if a keyword has a difficulty score of 60%, the SERP will say “Moderately Competitive: Search results require high authority domains with well-targeted pages OR lower authority sites with powerful individual pages to achieve top results.” Meaning: if you are a smaller business, you can rank for this keyword by using “powerful individual pages”, and if you are hiring the right person to write your content, and they are creating powerful, unique content, you have a higher chance of moving up in the rankings! SCORE!

EX. You own a small, local moving company. You most likely will not rank high for “moving company”, so try searching for “relocation” in Google Adwords. The keyword “relocation” has an average of 14,800 monthly searches and a Medium competition status in Google Adwords. When you go to MozPro, “relocation” has a Keyword Difficulty of 58%, which is lower than 60% so you are in the clear, as a lower authority site, and are able to use this keyword in your content in order to improve your rankings. YOUR WELCOME!

Finding the proper keywords for your specific brand and target audience will take some playing around in SEO tools with, but it WILL benefit your business in the end. After all, who wants to pay for Organic Search Content creation that does not work?!

Facebook coming in hot with mobile growth

The hits just keep on coming for the Winklevoss twins.

Facebook just released its fourth quarter and full year 2014 financial results revealing a modest $12.47 billion in revenue for 2014.

Earning an all-time high in quarterly ad revenue - $3.59 billion – Facebook surpassed all expectations for Q4 ad spend.

Zuckerberg can say thanks for much of this leap in revenue to continued growth in advertising, more specifically, mobile advertising. Case in point: mobile ads contributed to 69% of Facebook’s total $3.59 billion in ad revenue for the year. And oh yeah, mobile ads brought in a record high of $2 billion in quarterly revenue.

And it’s no surprise that none other than Facebook continues to lead the pack with the growth of mobile. Facebook now has 1.39 billion monthly active users; of those, 890 million users access the social network on a daily basis. More than half a billion users now only access Facebook from mobile.

A report from We Are Social recently released that web traffic from laptops and desktop computers grew 13 percent, while traffic from mobile devices and tablets grew 56 percent.

Further asserting their dominance in the mobile growth and innovation, Facebook silently introduced Facebook Lite to eight countries last week. A lightweight Android version of the full app, Google Play describes the app as “fast to install – the app is less than 1 MB.” Countries benefiting from the new app “designed for 2G networks and areas with limited connectivity” include Bangladesh, Nepal, Nigeria, South Africa, Sudan, Sri Lanka, Vietnam and Zimbabwe. While Lite takes up less than 1 MB of space on phones, the full app uses 27 MB.

"We got a lot done in 2014. Our community continues to grow and we're making progress towards connecting the world," said Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook founder and CEO.

Google is Strongly Encouraging Mobile-Friendly Sites

How many times have you been told that mobile is becoming increasingly important or the next big thing in search? Have you taken steps to ensure that your site is mobile-friendly? If not, the time has arrived for you to make sure that your website provides an optimal user experience. Google has even confirmed that they are experimenting with using mobile-friendliness as a ranking signal in November. If that does not make you take mobile seriously, only a penalty will.

Google also began sending mass notifications to webmasters who have less-than-mobile-friendly sites. These notifications came with a threat that under-optimized pages would “be displayed and ranked appropriately for smartphone users” (yikes!).

First thing’s first: is your site mobile-friendly or not? Google has made it pretty easy to check with its Mobile-FriendlyTest tool. You can also use Webmaster Tools’ Mobile Usability feature to check for errors and other usability issues. If you find that your site has issues, make it a priority to fix them. Some common fixes are:

• Make sure that your site’s content is readable without zooming and scrolling
• Use inks and navigation that are easy to click on from a mobile device
• Avoid software that is not mobile friendly, like Flash, and avoid excessive JavaScript
• Ensure that your landing pages and contact forms are easy to fill out from a mobile device

Once your site is officially mobile-friendly, Google will slap a “mobile-friendly” label on your organic listing in the SERPs (score!).

Mobile traffic is skyrocketing, but plenty of webmasters are not even sure how much of their traffic is coming from mobile devices. Make sure to check out your site’s mobile traffic in Analytics. It can be found under Audience>Mobile>Overview. You may be shocked to see just how many users are funneling in through their phones.

MTV recently redesigned several of its web properties and reported a 92% boost in mobile visits and 297% increase in time spent for their MTV Shows page. Those are results that speak to the power of mobile!

Whether you are an e-commerce, B2B or B2C website, it is in your best interest to have a mobile-friendly site. Your mobile traffic—and quality of mobile traffic—will see increases, and oh, Google won’t blacklist you from mobile listings. So take the time and make your website is mobile-friendly today! 

3 Free SEO Tools From Google To Track Your Site Accurately

Being in digital marketing can get exhausting and confusing. Creating codes to accurately track conversions, clicks, traffic, referral sources, etc. can become complicated, and code implementation can turn into technical issues.

While the responsibility of accurate tracking and code implementation is shared between the marketers and the developers, it is important to be familiar with Google Analytics to ensure that setup is done correctly.

Here are three Google Tools that can help you with Google Analytics tracking:

1. Google Analytics In-Product Diagnostics

This is the official ‘Notify Me’ report from Google Analytics on any possible issues in tracking. Launched as a Beta in June 2014, this feature has now rolled out to help GA users quickly understand high level issues within their account.

Analytic Diagnostics works by scanning our site for problems specific to your GA account (that you have access to). The diagnostic will inspect tagging, account configuration, data/reporting issues, etc. by reviewing…

• GA tags that could be missing or not properly coded
• Filters within the code that cause conflictions
• Presence of other ‘entries’ within the GA reports

These Analytic notifications should be considered part of the technical audit of your site.

2. Google Tag Assistant

While Google Analytics overall is a simple system, the features within GA can become complicated when using advanced settings. Help simplify the code with the help of Google Chrome’s extension, Tag Assistant.

Tag Assistant is a powerful tool that helps identify errors, warnings, and suggestions in Google’s tags; including: Google Analytics, Google Tag Manager, AdWords Conversion Tracing, Trusted Stores, Floodlight, and the new Remarketing Tag.

Once Tag Assistant is installed, you will be notified with an alert if tags are found on any page you browse. Tag Assistant will identify any errors in the code, verify that the code is tracking properly, and/or make suggestions to help optimize the installation that was made.

3. Google Analytics Debugger

Yet another Chrome extension available at your fingertips is the Google Analytics ‘Debugger’; a powerful extension that enables the debug version of GA Javascript for all sites that you browse. This allows you to see useful information in the Javascript console while browsing.

Some information that is listed in the Javascript console include: error messages and warnings regarding your Google Analytics code, tracking different campaign parameters, visitor ID, and page names.

Tandem highly recommends conducting quarterly audits for technical errors with code implementation. It is important to audit codes (whether you are running Google Analytics or not) to guarantee the best possible data and metrics. These three free tools from Google contain everything necessary to perform routine audits on GA codes and/or tags.

If you need help checking your GA codes or uploading Tag Manager, please contact Tandem Interactive to speak with one of our team members. 

Remarketing: A Second Chance to Close Sales!

When shopping online, do you buy your product of interest the first time around? Probably not.

The reality is that consumers will look at several different products, brands, and sites until they find the best option. If you don’t believe me, just ask Google. According to Google, 97% of consumers do not buy the first time around.

Making a good first impression is great! However, what about the second, third, and fourth impression?

More importantly, how do you get those 97% of consumers to come back and buy?

Answer: Remarketing

Everyone who uses Google is familiar with remarketing in Google AdWords, whether you are a PPC expert or not.

Do you recall those annoying ads that seem to be stalking you across the internet? Those are the ads of recent items that you have been searching for…and they pop up EVERYWHERE! So, just when you think you have changed your mind about buying that product, the ad catches your eye and you think “maybe I do need those shoes.” Well, you can thank the world known as remarketing for that.

In order to convert your first time visitors, Google AdWords’ remarketing feature is a great way to amplify your PPC campaign. If you are interested in increasing your conversion rate through remarketing tactics, here is everything that you need to know about remarketing, in under 60 seconds.

How it works?

A consumer visits your website and a tracking cookie is dropped onto their computer. When the consumer visits Google AdSense utilizing websites, your PPC ad will display.

How Creepy Can You Get?

 

Remarketing can get very specific. You can target your homepage, or better yet, a specific product or service the consumer viewed on your site. You can target landing pages, shopping carts, or even your confirmation page.

How to Get Started?

You need to generate and place the specific code that will be used to track your visitors’ computers. Find this code in Google Analytics over AdWords in order to establish specific remarketing goals. Simply place the code across your website and voila…remarketing stalking campaign complete!

If you want a full run through on boosting your PPC campaigns via remarketing, just reach out to Tandem Interactive! Don't let potential leads slip through the cracks. Remember, your first impression is not your only impression. There are several tactics you can implement that will draw consumers back to your site. Revamp your PPC tactics this year and watch your business boom!

Turning Phone Numbers into Trackable URLs, Using Google Tag Manager V2

Have a business and always dreamed of figuring out a way to track Phone Call Clicks? Don’t know a lick about coding? The genius team at Google has finally released a way to make your dreams come true…with Google Tag Manager V2!

Google Tag Manager V2 Perks:

- Precise date to backtrack call data

- No retagging when switching from V1 to V2

- Migrates containers from V1 to V2

- Optimizes and Standardizes tags

- Fixes phone call conversion tracking problems that Google Analytics lacks

- Allows insertion of tags WITHOUT needing coding

- New interface allows for easier tag management

- More third-party tag templates

- New category of variables called built-in variables

- No more auto event listeners tags

- Step-by-step tag management

- Communication with Google Analytics

Perhaps the key feature that businesses are going to want to know how to use is Tracking Phone Call Clicks. So here’s a step-by-step guide to turning your business' phone number into a trackable URL:

1) Enable Pageview tracking

2) Select “Universal”

3) Select “All Pages”

4) Enter tracking ID

5) Track Pageview

6) Generate View: UA Pageview

7) Check Phone Call Clicks in Summary

Tracking Phone Calls:

1) Select “Create Tag”

2) Choose your tag: Google Analytics

3) Choose your tag type: Universal Analytics

4) What triggers this tag to fire: Click

5) Track “events” that come off of a “click”

6) Create a New Trigger:

Event=Clicks

Some Clicks

Click URL: Contains: tel:

Name the Trigger

7) Track Type: Event

8) Category: Click-to-Call

9) Action: {Click text}

10) Label: {Click URL}

11) Create Tag / Preview / Refresh

12) Go to Analytics: Real Time: Events: Click to Call shows results

Using these steps, Google Tag Manager V2 gives users the ability to live report phone call conversions and view phone call conversion codes in Google Analytics. 

Unfortunately, V2 is not yet available for merging your current containers; however, you can visit Tagmanager.google.com to create new containers and check out the user-friendly interface, in order to prepare for the official V2 release this year. And of course, if your business needs help with SEO tools, Tandem can always help ;)