Category Archives: SEO

Improve your Marketing with Google Analytics

April 2, 2015Blog, Online Marketing Strategy, SEOGoogle Analytics, How to Google Analyticsnicole

Google Analytics is a free web analytics service designed by Google. This service provides statistical and basic analytical tools. It also lets the user know how many times a person is using their website. Google analytics also lets you monitor your own website traffic. It also allows you to track your user’s location and how and why they are visiting your site.

Here are nine Google analytic tips for you to improve your marketing:

Tip 1: Combining WordPress and Google Analytics

Through Yoast plugin by Google Analytics, you could add the Google analytics in your WordPress account.

The Yoast plugin has advance features like internal links that could redirect you to external sites and tracking outbound clicks, even downloads.
Bothered by the traffic from admins and other users? You could use the plugin to ignore the traffic. Also, you could track results page and even 404 pages.

If the Yoast plugin itself has advance features, what more do you expect in the premium version? The Yoast’s premium version can let you track views per post type, views per author and many more other dimensions.

Tip 2: Integrating analytical platforms

Segment is the best service for you if you are planning to combine your Google Analytics with platforms that could let you know about your website’s traffic and some analytical tools. Segment can let you manage data for more than a hundred different advertising, developer, sales, analytics and testing platforms for users. The user testing platforms are in one area.

Installing is the easiest part. Segment does all the work. You just have to install a tracking code but only one tracking code. After installing one tracking code to your website, Segment will manage the rest of your tracking code.

If you are wondering, Segment does offer a free package if you are using the Google Analytics, it also offers twenty specific other platforms when you are using Google Analytics. The monthly rate starts at $29 a month, but it will depend on the integration you need.

Tip 3: Google data analytics in a visual way

Ever wonder if there is a possibility to do two things at the same time like, to view and compare multiple website? Well, there is, it is possible. The tool is called Cyfe. It allows you to compare and view data from websites that you have chosen in Google Analytics at the same time. It makes life easy (well not life itself).

Use the Cyfe dashboard to see the overall view of all your websites’ page views, sessions and even users. First, analyze all the data; next identify the bigger trend of conversions, location of user and the bounce rate. Also, the search engine traffic and the social networks.

The best part is, you can create a dashboard with your websites’ real traffic time and it’s a detailed view. It includes the location of the use, their viewing content and the traffic sources.

The benefit of the premium upgrade allows you to create dashboards for an unlimited time (I think this will really come in handy if you really want to improve your marketing), blogging, sales, and many more. The premium upgrade is $19 a month. Not bad for an upgrade, the price you pay is okay because the package is so much useful.

Tip 4: Knowledge about traffic in email marketing

There are is a wide variety of marketing platforms, there is MailChimp, Constant Contract, Vertical Response and GetResponse. These marketing platforms have the ability to trace traffic from the links in the specified emails you have to the email campaigns you have.

Let’s say that you chose the marketing platform, MailChimp. This platform allows you to check only a single box to add the UTM parameters. You can also view the traffic inside the Google Analytics, there will be links inside the analytic. If you want to track your campaign archive page and automation emails, set up the Google Analytics tracking. It could also be helpful.

Tip 5: Social

Do you these social media management tools: Buffer,Oktopost and Hootsuite? Well, if you do, did you know that you could benefit for linking all those social media management tools to Google Analytics.

Here are the benefits you get from linking them to Google Analytics:

If you will be linking Hootsuite, you will have a report of an overview using Google Analytics data, and social updates that you have published in the website.

When you link Buffer, it allows you to customize UTM parameters. Using the UTM parameters, you could track the custom campaigns within the Google Analytics, it matches the updatest that you have posted in Buffer. But then this is an option, this is only available in the business plans of Buffer, the monthly rate is $50.

Next stop is Oktopost. When linking Oktopost, it allows you to enable Google Analytics to automatically add UTM parameters. But still, this option is in the Oktopost premium plan. The monthly rate is $49.

Tip 6: Know whether the Google update has an effect to your website

How would you know if Google updates affect your website? The first step is to add Fruition Google Penalty Checker. The checker could analyze the data from your account in Google Analytics. It could also determine whether your site has a positive or negative effect by the Google updates.

TIp 7: Better know your keywords (not the provided ones)

A search engine marketer’s worst nightmare is when they loss keyword data in Google Analytics. But there are several tools that try to recapture the data, AuthorityLabs is an example of this tool.

The AuthorityLabs does not only let you monitor the search engine ranks. It also determines the keywords that are luring your visitors to view your website.

TIp 8: Insight from splitting test

Put together Optimizely or Visual Website Optimizer with you Google Analytics, it also can receive the traffic you track down.

Tip 9: Linking e-commerce sales data with Google analytics

Shopify, Magneto and Bigcommerce are e-commerce platforms. These platforms offer instruction on how you can integrate with Google Analytics.

You could learn plenty of things about your ecommerce revenue from these reports. From products that generates the most to the top traffic sources who purchases your product.

Content Marketing: How to Attract, Engage and Convert with Content

March 24, 2015Blog, Content Marketing, Marketing, Online Marketing, Online Marketing Strategy, SEOcontent marketing, content marketing miaminicole

In a post published on Top Rank Blog titled 21 Digital Marketing Trends and Predictions for 2015 most authorities in the Internet marketing industry say that content is going to be big this year and will continue to flourish in the coming years.

Be it known that content has been and will forever be a big chunk to the success of your marketing campaign. If you are looking to attract prospects, convert them to loyal customers and keep them coming back – advertisements are outdated and ineffective. You need a killer content marketing strategy.

With smart content marketing and winning social media tactics, your business will no doubt rein the first pages of search engines. Content marketing and social media go hand in hand –together, they are a powerful marketing tool that can boost your business threefold. Content is currency. Work hard on the efficacy of your content but don’t forget to focus on relationships.

How does content marketing work? While advertisers interrupt people’s attention with ads, we learned that content marketing does the opposite. Content attracts customers using valuable, relevant, and compelling content delivered consistently. With it, you establish connections and gain people’s trust which eventually will lead to sales.

Content can be anything from a blog post, podcast, or web video. You produce your own content. You should position yourself as author in your niche or industry.

Where to start with content strategy?

First, find out “who is your target market?”

It is essential to have a sound understanding of whom you want to communicate with:
• Set an objective
• End result

Once you know your industry, you can build an editorial plan around it using tools and tactics that would boost your content. The key is consistency. Most businesses fail because they stop producing content. Content is a promise to your customers, keep it.
“If you build a loyal audience, magic can happen in the business” says, Joe Pulizzi in his podcast via Social Media Examiner.

1. Attract Prospects – People seek solutions. Your objective is to create awareness and define the solution that meets the customers’ concern especially when making a buying decision. Successful brands and businesses use social networking platforms to communicate with prospects and direct them to the material or product that provide answer the customer’s needs or concerns. To do this effectively, you must craft informational articles.

People through social media are constantly curating, sharing, and consuming high-quality, and insightful content.

Another way to get your audience’s attention is through raising awareness of your services or products through educational or training webinars or seminars.

You can demonstrate your expertise through informational webinars and seminars while providing the audience the information they need during the research phase of the buying process.

Note that: Discussions about your services and/ products begin within social networks however you may encounter the need to add additional content to support a thought. Ensure that those communicating with prospects via social media are aware of the resources your business has available for prospective customers.

2. Convert Audience to Customers – The second question people ask during the buying process is “Which is the right solution?”

Businesses that effectively convert prospects to new customers via social media produce and distribute content showing proof points. Content that meets this goal shows that your solution provides a higher and more reliable value than other solutions.

To do this effectively, a great promotional tool and tactic would be the use of an explainer video- where you can show off your product or service to potential customers with great ease and enthusiasm.

Another piece of content that builds the type of trust that closes that sale is the case study or testimonial. This type of content proves that customers have had success with your solution.

Last but not the least, content that converts leads into sales is white papers. For Business-to-Business marketers, white papers are a must-have content used by prospects to assist them in their decision-making.

Note that: Creating content that provides proof that potential customers are looking for before they decide to spend their hard-earned money. Don’t forget the importance of distributing content to social media channels.

3. Maintain Customer Relationship – Finally, the last question that pops into a buyer’s mind is, “Am I happy with the decision I made?”

This time the goal is about retention and referral. Businesses effectively use content and social media to keep customers happy and coming back for more. Support documentation is one example of content that does a good job at retaining customers. Another type of content that successfully boosts customer loyalty is a documentation of best practices.

While the case study is meant to convert prospects to customers, it is also used to retain customers because of the guidance it provides to existing customers.

Note that: We’ve all learned that it’s easier to keep existing customers than to find new ones. Leverage content through the good use and smart practice of social media and content marketing as a customer-solutions and services tool to increase satisfaction and referral.

In Conclusion

Content Marketing and Social Media are two hearts that beat as one. Without the other, one will lack its sense of purpose and fall short of efficacy.

Social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, or LinkedIn are not always a prime spot for conversations. To attract, engage and convert your audience, content marketing and social media hand in hand should be part of a flawless marketing, sales and customer-service blueprint.

Whatever your niche, your customers are active in social media. Make sure you have a well-calculated content marketing strategy and support your social media team with the information they need to distribute the content that solve your markets’ concerns and needs.

A Miami SEO Company That Drives Revenues

December 1, 2014SEOMiami SEOSamuel Lozano

Every business needs to partake in SEO. It’s by far the cheapest and most effective form of online marketing available – and plus, what’s the point of having a website if no one can find it?

Do you have a website but aren’t getting any visitors?

The problem is Miami SEO companies have gotten a bad rap over the few years, and rightfully so. The used-car salesmen pitches, the empty promises and the long term contracts are all common practices that have kicked dirt on this industry’s name.

The good news is that there are Miami SEO companies out there that can deliver on their promises and deliver a tremendous results to your business. So how can you find these companies?

1. Selecting The Right Candidates

Organic Search:

Begin your search with Google, Yahoo and Bing. Not only are search engines a trust worthy source for referrals, but any SEO company worth their salt should be able to rank their own website.

It’s kind of like taking diet advice from someone who is overweight – would you really want to work with a company that can’t even deliver results for themselves? Look for a company that ranks multiple content sources – YouTube videos, info graphics, blog posts – theses are the companies who truly understand the ins-and-outs of search algorithms and deliver the same sort of creativity to your business.

Social Media:

Search engines can no longer ignore the power and importance of social media. Google’s search algorithm reflects this by allowing sites like Facebook, Twitter and [of course] Google+ to show up on the first page for search results.

A reputable SEO company should understand the importance of social media and it should be reflected in their presence. At the bare minimum, look for a Facebook and Google+ page with a strong following and consistent updates. Building a social media presence takes time and patience – its important to select an SEO company that is paying attention to the details of their own business and taking the time to do things right.

Content:

Google puts out a number of releases stressing the importance of content to help boost your rankings organically. For this reason, almost every search engine optimization company will have a blog on their website. However, most search engine optimization companies will cut corners by outsourcing their blog or writing short articles simply for keyword related rankings. Stay away from these companies! You want to select an SEO company that has a content rich blog that provides in depth information on how you can improve your website without their help.

2. Asking The Right Questions

Now that you’ve gone through and identified a few candidates, you’re going to want to talk to them on the phone (or in person) and ask them the right questions. The following is a list of questions you can ask and some answers you’ll want in response:

How will you select which keywords to optimize? Keyword research is a long and arduous process. For this reason many SEO firms cut corners and select the wrong keywords for your business to optimize. It is extremely important to understand their research process and how the keywords they select will drive traffic to your website.

What aspects of SEO will you provide? SEO is much more than just setting up a blog and checking the keyword density of your posts. A good SEO firm will have a checklist of everything they need to push your site up the rankings, including social signals, link building and original content creation.

Will you help optimize traffic for conversions? A good SEO firm will be able to analyze your website to determine if it is ready for an influx of traffic. From coding to color schemes, if your website isn’t optimized to capture the traffic and turn it into sales leads, then SEO is a waste of your time. A good firm will be able to provide this analysis and recommendations and no extra cost. Remember, the goal of SEO for your business shouldn’t be to increase traffic, it should be to increase sales.

How will you generate content? Content is a huge part of Google’s algorithm and any good search company will tell you this. If you’re paying a large monthly sum then you should expect that company to handle your content as well. Make sure to ask for blog samples to make sure the content is clear, impactful and more importantly original.

3. Follow Up With Details

After you’ve had conversations with a couple of firms make sure that you follow up and get some important information in writing. You’re going to want to make sure that they have a good track record and can demonstrate results with previous clients. Ask for:

References

Samples of their work

Tenure working in SEO

Exactly what their services entail

How they are going to help increase your top line

4. Make Your Selection

At this point you should have enough information to make a selection. Even with all this information, don’t lose sight of [what should be] the ultimate goal: increasing sales. Almost any SEO company can help improve your Google rankings, increase traffic and structure your keywords – only the best ones can increase your revenue.

I really can’t stress this enough. Increasing visitors to your website just isn’t enough – simply doing so could be flushing money down the toilet. A good SEO company isn’t cheap – they require a significant investment on your part. However, if you make the right choice your investment will pay lucrative dividends for years to come.

The Company That Tries To Steal My Ideas | Marketic.co

June 22, 2014Online Marketing, SEOmarketic, marketic.coSamuel Lozano

Would you do business with a company that blatantly copied all of First Page HQ blog post to try to compete because the owner Ryan Stewart can not think of any niches or keywords to target on his own lol. imitators can always try to run an SEO company but in the end only the best will prevail. 🙂

Check this out: 1.

When you google Miami SEO Company you can see me on spot 4. Take a look at my blog post Url: http://firstpagehq.com/seo-company-miami/ Description: Struggling to get traffic to your website? Get a flood of leads and sales with a Miami SEO company. Call 1-800-672-6974 | First Page HQ. ok now… let’s take a look at Marketic…

Url: http://www.marketic.co/miami-seo-company/ Description: Marketic is a Miami SEO Company that gives it to you straight up. Hire us and your business more … [email protected]marketic.co; (305) 901-6392. Menu.

2. When you Google Crossfit Marketing you can see me on spot 1 Take a look at my blog post.

Url: http://firstpagehq.com/crossfit-marketing/ Now look who i found on page 2

Now there about 3 other blog post he is trying to copy like Attorney SEO. Honestly I am very flattered by the owner of Marketic.co Ryan Stewart but why would you consider hiring a company that can not think of any ideas on their own?

Lastly… Ryan is claiming on his website http://www.ryanstewart.org/ he claims to have generated $350,000 in sales in the past 3 months when reality is its closerto $12,000 LOL.

Is this guy for real?

Here is something else quoted on the about page “through these meetings I started working with a fellow marketer and we teamed up to form First Page HQ, an SEO agency. We experienced tremendous growth in a short period of time, but eventually I decided it was time to open my own shop.”

That fellow marketer is me… and I started First Page HQ in September of 2013, It was not
until March of 2014 that I met Ryan.

Ryan is claiming to have started First Page HQ is when the reality is all he was
is a sales rep.

A Boca Raton SEO Company That Delivers

May 23, 2014Online Marketing, SEOSamuel Lozano

A recent study showed that there are over 2.21 BILLION indexed pages on the internet – with that much competition, your business needs help to be found. Here at First Page HQ, we’re a Boca Raton SEO company with a combined 50 years of online marketing experience. From local bakeries to large e-commerce stores, we’ve ranked over 1,500 websites on the first page of Google searches and we can do the same for your business as well.

Most Boca SEO firms will take an approach to drive more traffic –we don’t even waste our time pitching that to clients. Our methods will increase your traffic, that’s a given. We separate ourselves because of our 3 tiered approaches to getting your more business.

First, we fix website errors.

This means the internal structure as well as the design and aesthetics. If your website looks sloppy, people will think your work is sloppy. Our team of designers will help you craft a beautiful and high converting website that will wow your customers.

Second, we select the right keywords.

We spend a lot of time selecting the right keywords for your campaign because it makes or breaks SEO campaigns. If you own a jewelry store, we’re not going to optimize the keywords “jewelry for sale”. Why? Because large companies like Zales spend over $1M a month on SEO. Instead, we’ll hammer down into your inventory and find ways to divert that traffic to your website in a manner that will fit your budget.

Third, we set our metrics to increase calls and sales.

As I said above, we don’t aim to increase traffic. What good will 1,000,000 monthly hits do if you don’t make any more money? Our end goal is always your end goal – increase your top line.

What Google is Looking For

Nowadays, Google is working its best to refer users to websites as well as deliver content that is relevant to their search terms. Below are a few factors that help to determine how relevant your website is.

-Quality Content

This revolves around Meta titles, Meta description and the body. It’s always good to have a catchy title and a Meta description. Don’t forget to make them related to the body of the articles.

-Performance and Loading Speed

How is your website loading? Does it have broken links? You should take care of the loading speed and make sure there are no programming errors.

-Authority

Your site needs to have great content which other people, as well as other webmasters from your niche, can use as a reference. This will prove to search engines that your website is relevant.

-User Experience

You need to take care when you are designing your website. You should care a lot about how your website looks. A good design should be easy to navigate and should yield high conversions.

What if Today Was Your Google’s Birthday Day

If you were to give Google a birthday cake, do you think they would choose cake B? Wouldn’t they rather have a cake that looks good and delicious? Your content, information architecture, content management system, and infrastructure act as the frosting on your cake. Without it, your cake is dry, boring, and gets passed over in favor of the tasty frosted cake.

Busting SEO Myths

There are a lot of Boca Raton SEO companies out there. Some are good, while others are incompetent. Being in the business for almost a decade now, I have come to realize that some digital marketing firms will use fake claims to trick you into using their services.

–Paying for Organic Listings

Organic listings are free; you don’t have to pay any fee to get organic listings. Search engine optimization companies should only charge you a consultation fee or charge you for working on your website in an effort to rank higher on a particular keyword.

-It Is Guaranteed

I have heard some people who call themselves search engine geniuses promising #1 placement on major search engines like Google and yahoo. When you encounter such providers, just rule them out and don’t risk buying from them. According to Google’s head of webspam Matt Cutts, Google’s ranking algorithms are so complex that even Google employees would not figure them out. You also need to remember that your competitors are trying to get that top position as well.

– It’s a One-Time Job

It’s definitely not a one-time job. Google ranking algorithm keeps changes frequently. What made you rank today will not keep you ranking tomorrow. You cannot stop your campaigns because then your competitors will outrank you due to their continued campaigning. With that said, you will need to steer clear of those providers who promise to provide SEO service that will work for the future.

Do you need SEO services for your site? No need to worry as you can do it yourself or hire someone to work on it. However, you have to remember that it is a hard process and takes a lot of time. In this digital era, you find that tutorials are available on digital marketing for free and anyone can call himself a search engine optimizer as long as he/she has a computer. Once you decide to buy these services, make sure you are in a position to differentiate between a professional and an amateur. Most providers over-promise, so be sure you always ask them pointed questions to probe their expertise.

Give us a call at 1-800-672-6974 or [email protected] , stop by the office or reach out on the live chat (yes, we’re real and we’re ready to answer all of your questions). After working with us, the only regret you’ll have is that you didn’t start sooner.

Are People Searching For Your Business?

April 22, 2014Online Marketing, Online Marketing Strategy, SEOSamuel Lozano

I can’t tell you how many times potential clients tell me this:

“Ryan, we rely on word of mouth [or social media, networking, etc.] to build our business. People just aren’t using Google to find our business”.

Let me just go on record saying this: MILLIONS OF PEOPLE ARE USING GOOGLE TO FIND BUSINESSES LIKE YOURS EVERY DAY…YOU DON’T KNOW THAT BECAUSE THEY ARE FINDING YOUR COMPETITORS INSTEAD!

Whew – that felt good.

But how can you find out how much people are searching for your business? At First Page we have software that shows search demand, but Google has a free tool called Keyword Planner which shows you the average monthly search volume for a given keyword.

You can access it here: https://adwords.google.com/KeywordPlanner

I want to give you a quick overview how to use it and interpret the results for your business.

Step 1: Log In
If you don’t have an AdWords account you can create one in a few seconds. All you need is a Gmail account to get started.

Step 2: Searching for Keywords
To really drive home my point I am going to use a small unassuming business model as an example; I will show you the demand for a Miami flower shop.

Simply type a keyword search related to your business into the first box. For example, if you are a realtor you could type in “realtor Miami” or “Brickell condos for sale”. If you are a limo driver you could type in “limo driver Miami”, etc.

Step 3: Interpreting the Results
Make sure you click on the tab “Keyword Ideas” (circled in red below). You will see a page that has a long list of keyword searches and their average monthly search volume.

In my example, the keyword search I typed in “flower shops in Miami” gets searched for an average of 390 times EACH MONTH.

Google also pulls up a list of related searches (highlighted in blue) to give you an idea of total demand. You might not be able to see from the screenshot, so I’ll summarize:

Flower shops in Miami – 390 searches
Flower shop in Miami – 110 searches
Flower shop Miami – 90 searches
Flower delivery Miami – 880 searches
Local flower shops – 1,600 searches
Flower shops Miami – 40 searches
Flower shops in Miami fl – 40 searches
Flower shops in Miami Florida – 20 searches
Total monthly search volume: 3,170 searches

That’s over 3,000 people searching for their exact service EACH MONTH!

There is a massive online demand for every business – all you have to do is be present in the search results to capture it.

That’s where we come in. We will put your business on the first page of these searches – GUARANTEED!

Posted By Sam Lozano

How Attorneys Can Build Their Client List With SEO

March 11, 2014Online Marketing, SEOSamuel Lozano

Attorney SEO

If you’re an attorney, you are already aware that networking is a tried and true way of increasing your client list. However, networking, especially after a long day at the office, can be just as exhausting as having a second full-time job – it can only be done for so long until you physically and mentally burn out.

While networking is important in obtaining clients, it shouldn’t be the only way of growing your client list. When it comes to acquiring new clients, you should ask yourself the following questions:

“How do you find your clients?”

“How do your clients find you?”

While I understand the importance of networking and participating in networking events in the process of landing clients, I can assure you, you won’t find me at one anytime soon. I’d rather spend time with my friends and family while my clients find me and my services.

Rather than going out and looking for clients, all I have to do is check my email – I no longer have to spend hours networking, and neither do you.

How? Search Engine Optimization (SEO).

When prospective clients are looking for an attorney, 21.9 percent of them start with a search engine (see Lawyernomics). Optimizing your website for keywords related to your business (or SEO) is critical in converting online searchers into prospective clients and is the easiest way of growing your law firm, as well as.

Think about it – when you go to a networking event you talk to every person in the room, analyze their situation, give your sales pitch (listen to theirs), then follow up and hope they’re interested. Think about how much effort you put in to generate just one lead!

On the other hand, when people go to a search engine they’re looking for your exact services. All you have to do is be present in the search results to capture that traffic and convert them to clients. You can generate dozens of targeted leads each day – all while enjoying a nice glass of wine in the comfort of your own home.

So how can your law firm take advantage of SEO?

1. Go local

If this article is a surprise to you, let me just blatantly state: SEO for attorneys delivers an astounding Return on Investment (ROI). This has inevitably made the ranking of legal keywords extremely competitive (in other words: expensive).

The best way to combat highly competitive verticals is to niche down to local. Let’s say you are a defense attorney in Miami, Florida. Instead of trying to use general global key words for your website such as “defense attorney,” you are going to want to target long-tail local keywords like:

“criminal defense attorney miami”
“Miami criminal defense law firm”
“dade county criminal defense law firm”

2. Google Places, Local, and Other Location Based Directories

Since law firms are a brick-and-mortar business you are going to want to make sure potential clients can find you. Optimizing online directories such as Foursquare, Google Local, Facebook, and Yelp (to name a few) will help search engines index your page in local listings.

Having these directories set up will not only help potential clients find your law firm’s website personally, but will also help in building an online presence and increase your website’s traffic. For example, the screenshot below is of the local listings for “boston law firm”. Of the results listed, which one are you most likely to click on?

attorney seo

The ones with the 5 star ratings, right? These websites are optimized in Google Local and are pulling reviews through to the listings. Doing so can increase clicks to your website up to 150 percent.

3. Analyze Your Website

Simply ranking first in Google is not enough–you want to make sure you are turning that traffic into opt-in leads. If your website is not configured with the information easily accessible, your website’s visitors will leave and head to the next website.

When planning your website, keep in mind the end goal. It should not just be an online business card; rather, you want your website to generate leads. There are two main things you want your website to do:

Large and clearly visible “call to” action with your phone number (i.e., CALL NOW!)
Large and clearly visible “lead form” to capture prospective clients’ information.

Undoubtedly, receiving a phone call right away is the ultimate goal. However, at the very least, we want to capture that person’s information (name and email) to re-market to them at a later time.

About Our Attorney SEO Service

We have worked with a number of law firms in helping build an online presence, as well as driving highly targeted traffic to their websites. If you are interested in finding out how we can help grow your law firm with SEO, please call us at (305) 450-4831 or email us directly at [email protected]

How To Get Started With Google+

March 3, 2014Online Marketing, Online Marketing Strategy, SEO, Social MediaSamuel Lozano

Some people don’t believe in big foot – others don’t believe that Google+ is a relevant social network. This post is for the latter.

Why Do I Need To Use Google+?

Google wants you to. Social networks are a multi-billion (trillion?) dollar a year industry, and Google wants in the action. The search engine is putting heavy emphasis on growing the network by allowing it to affect search results.

The power the network is having on search results can be summed up in the following scenario:

You own a crossfit gym and you’re looking for some marketing tips. So, like everyone else, you head to Google and search for ‘crossfit marketing’. If you aren’t in any of My Circles on Google+ you see the following results:

The article shows up in the third spot – not too bad.

However, if you’re in one of my ‘Circles’ on Google+, the same search would yield the following results:

Not only does the search result move up to #1, but a Google+ post I did shows up on the first page of results as well. This means that even if your blog post is completely un-optimized, your Google+ post will still show up on the first page of search results!

So now that I’ve sold you on Google+, let’s get started on setting up your profile.

Upload a Profile Picture

I always recommend using the same picture that you use for Facebook and Twitter accounts. Make sure the picture is a clear cut head shot, because it will show up as your Google Authorship photo in search results as well.

Fill Out Your Profile

What are you using Google+ for? Make sure that your profile does a good job encapsulating not only who you are as a person, but incorporates your business into it as well. Don’t go overboard and spam people with sales-e lines, but make sure that if someone were to stumble across your post that they could figure out how to get in touch with you.

Share an Update

I like to keep a 50/50 rule when sharing updates: 50% work related and 50% personal. I live in Miami so I like to post pictures of the beach, palm trees, etc. – anything to water down the rest of my posts.

You generally want to share with everyone – ‘Public’, ‘Your Circles’ and ‘Extended Circles’. Doing so ensures that your posts get shown to the maximum amount of people.

Create Some Circles

Building Circles can be a challenging feat to most Google+ beginners and this is where people usually exit the network and head back to Facebook. The problem with Google+ is it doesn’t have the same following as a Facebook, Twitter or Instagram – it’s kind of just there. This means that there are millions of people on the network, but no one really uses it.

What you will often see are skeleton profiles that were set up and abandoned. You’re probably not going to find your friends on Google+ and interact with them like you would on a Facebook or Twitter. The key is to find other active Google+ users and Circle them.

How do you find them? Circle shares. Simply go to the search and type in the hashtag #circleshare. What comes up is thousands of people who are looking to grow their Circles as well. Simply add them to your Circles and they will almost certainly add you back (as long as you keep your profile updated).

+1 Posts

+1, +1 +1!

Another great way to build a following is to +1 your own posts and others’. The best way to do so is to head to the search and type in a keyword related to your business. Realtors are very active on Google+ so I like to interact with them.

Simply type ‘realtors’ into the search and then click ‘communities’. Google+ Communities are a great way to interact with like-minded people, build your following and even solicit some services (ever so carefully). Go through the community and leave a +1 on posts and some scattered comments as well. Doing so will help drive traffic back to your profile and build active Circles.

Google+ Is Not Facebook

As I mentioned earlier, Google+ is not Facebook, Twitter, Instagram or even LinkedIn. As of right now the network is a weird combination of Facebook and LinkedIn – it’s full of people who understand the importance of the network, but don’t really get any enjoyment from using it.

I can’t promise that you’re going to enjoy using Google+ because honestly, I don’t. What I can promise you is that giving just 5 minutes of your attention each day will pay off in the long run for your business.

Increasing Your Real Estate Leads

February 25, 2014Online Marketing, Online Marketing Strategy, Paid Traffic, SEO, Social MediaSamuel Lozano

A real estate business isn’t going to thrive in an uncertain housing market without leads. Unfortunately, reliable real estate leads, are like mystical creatures. You hear about them, but you have yet to see if they really exist. There are a lot of theories out there as to what increases leads or helps you get leads at all. While some are effective, the majority are time wasters and can dampen your resources.

It doesn’t matter if you are a real estate broker, agent or property manager — you need to connect with ideal prospects to keep your business thriving.

Establish Your Site as a Valuable One

There are a lot of real estate sites out there that don’t focus on quality. Their content is poor, their blogs thin, and they repeat information that homeowners and buyers already know. Devote some time out of each day to craft high-quality posts and web content pieces. Taking your time goes a long way — your readers will notice the difference.

Remember That Leads Are Buyers

You are working to attract buyers, not just an endless list of leads. Make sure you have a campaign that attracts reliable, interested parties and not just a large list of people not interested in buying or selling. It is too easy to spend time and money creating a list of people that want free stuff — and these aren’t the leads that help your business grow.

Connect With Other Industry Professionals

As a real estate agent, you have connections to other related professionals — home inspectors, lenders, appraisers, etc. Network with these groups of professionals and do some cross-marketing. You can advertise for them, they advertise for you. Also, discuss creating a lead referral system. For example, a lender receives a lead about a potential homebuyer, but the home buyer doesn’t have an agent. He refers that lead you and you have not only a personal referral, but an interested party.

Upgrade Your Site’s SEO

SEO or search engine optimization, is an untapped gem for gaining more real estate leads. When people cannot find your website, they can’t learn about what you have to offer. Revamping your website and blog’s SEO can increase your organic traffic and give you a higher potential for hot leads. The rules regarding SEO have changed a lot over the past few years. Therefore, it is best to hire an expert to fix any SEO issues you might have and help develop a new optimization strategy based on the rules for today’s search engine.

There are plenty of ways to increase real estate leads. While you might be tempted to buy leads outright, this isn’t a reliable method for keeping your business afloat. You lose money during the purchase and if you buy leads from a company that shares their lists, your competition could have already gotten to those leads days before you even bought them. Your best and most profitable way to increase leads is by taking the simple, yet practical steps to help potential customers find you.

Increase Website Traffic With Google Authorship

February 24, 2014Online Marketing, Online Marketing Strategy, SEOSamuel Lozano

Imagine you own a crossfit gym and you’re looking for some marketing pointers. You head to Google and type “crossfit marketing” into the search queue and the following results come up – which one are you more likely to click? The first one – studies have shown that by having this rich snippet image next to your blog can increase clicks to your website up to 150%!

You don’t need to be a technical guru to get your photo to show up – all you need is a Google+ profile and an email address with the domain you’re blogging on.

If you don’t have a profile in Google+, stop what you’re doing right now and create one! If you need help, check out my guide How To Get Started with Google+.

Step One: Add Your Domain Email to Google+

The first thing you have to do is verify your website domain email address with Google so they know that you’re account is legit – to do so, head to your profile’s ‘About’ tab and scroll to the ‘Contact Information’. Then click ‘Edit’. Make sure you’re using an email address with the same domain as your blog. According to Google, as long as you’re posting on that domain, and the posts have the same byline as the name on your Google+ account, this is enough to make the connection.

Step Two: Link from Your Google+ Content To Your Domain

Head to the bottom of your ‘About’ page to the ‘Links’ section and click ‘Edit’. Here you’ll see a section called ‘Contributor To’:

If you have a bio page on your blog, link to this bio.

If you don’t have a bio page, link directly to the post itself.

Google claims that when done correctly your image should show in search results within 5-7 days. However, for some of our clients this wasn’t enough. If this doesn’t work you’re going to have to go on to step 3…

Step Three: Link Your Content to Your Google+ Page

From the byline or author box at the bottom of your post, link to your Google+ profile, adding “rel=author” in the link.

If you have a bio page on your site, link to the bio with “rel=me” in the link.
If you don’t have a bio page on your site (or if you’re having trouble getting authorship to work), link directly to your Google+ profile with “rel=author” in the link. See the sample code below.

If your site is built using WordPress, there are a couple of plugins you can use to make your life easier:

Rich Snippets
Author Box Reloaded

Step Four: Verify With Google

The final step is to verify with Google using their Structured Data Testing Tool.

When you follow the steps above, simple paste the link from the article (or your website URL) into the allotted area. If you followed the steps correctly, it should appear like this:

Google+ Authorship If the steps were not followed correctly, then the areas with green text will show up red. I get a lot of follow up questions and emails from this article in regards to how long it takes for your picture to actually show up. I like to think I have an answer to everything, but for this one in particular all I can say is it depends. Google doesn’t give a lot of guidance about your picture showing in search results, but only as to how to set yourself up as an author. From everything I have seen Google is making is increasingly more difficult for your picture to show up. All I can say is follow the steps provided and make sure you are providing good wuality content on a consistent basis – after that, just be patient. There are billions of websites on the web, sometimes these things can take significant time to work.

Aside from that, the setup process is easy and only takes about 20 minutes. I urge you to take advantage of this while you can!

You can find Ryan on Twitter, Facebook, Google+ and Instagram as well.