Tag Archive for: seo

What You Should Know About New Google Maps Local Search Ads

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In response to the recent Google Performance Summit, Google made several announcements on how their services will be changing in the months to come. One of the most important announcements included the introduction of new local search advertisements through Google Maps.

What’s The Difference?

Google already provides location based advertisement options in addition to the Google My Business platform, so what exactly is so special about these new local search ads? Well, these new ads will be available in several new formats including:

  • Promoted Pins
  • In-Store Promotions
  • Customizable Business Pages
  • Local Inventory Search

All of these options are meant to drive foot traffic to a physical location. Now, you may be wondering why businesses would be interested in brick-and-mortar stores when e-commerce is on the rise.

Google revealed during their summit that 75% of people who conduct a location based search on their mobile device will then visit that location within 24 hours with 28% of these visits resulting in a purchase.

Bridging The Gap

Clearly, mobile is not be the only concern. What advertisers should focus on is utilizing mobile in order to drive physical visits and purchases. To do this, the business must first be visible in every form possible across the Internet.

These new local search ads will facilitate this need of visibility by providing another dynamic platform on which consumers can find your business. While this new form of local search ads will not make all of your advertising dreams come true, it is certainly a useful tool to have in your arsenal of digital marketing services.

Process Pending

These new ads are only available in a beta form, and are not available to all advertisers. As such, there is little information currently available about these new ads, but one thing that we do know is how Google chooses which local search ads do and do not show through Google Maps.

Google has provided the following factors in regard to what will affect new ad rankings:

  • Location
  • Interests
  • Query Text
  • Search/Browsing History
  • Behaviors
  • Time of Day
  • Demographics

More From Onimod Global

For more information on the industry of digital marketing, please visit the Onimod Global News Page. Our content creation specialists are constantly producing new and engaging articles that keep you informed of the latest and greatest trends within the digital marketing world. Enjoy!

4 Effective E-Commerce Strategies to Boost Your Local Business

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In the competitive world of E-commerce business, organizations are always trying to find tricks and strategies to increase online visibility and stand out from the crowd. Implementing effective E-Commerce strategies is becoming an essential factor for local businesses, and this trend will likely continue with the increasing number of online consumers. So the question becomes: How can local businesses utilize E-Commerce strategies to drive traffic and ultimately increase business?” This post will explore some of those E-commerce tactics that will benefit local businesses.

Major focus on website
Many brick & mortar businesses often times struggle when it comes to investing in a professional website with E-commerce capabilities. However, local businesses must realize that they will likely experience far more visits to their website than the actual storefront. It’s also important to point out that most in-store consumers will actually visit a business’s website prior to entering the store. According to a survey in 2016 conducted by Google, it was found that “58 percent of consumers visited a retailer’s website or mobile application before making an in-store purchase.” Moreover, the importance of E-commerce websites for local businesses is huge, and the investment is most likely worth it in the long run.

Don’t ignore 3rd party listings
Having an E-commerce storefront is a great starting point to drive business. However, 3rd party sites such as Amazon, Ebay, Google Shopping, and many others present a massive opportunity for local businesses to further increase online visibility of products. Although 3rd party organizations obviously take a share of your profit margins, the likelihood of selling a larger quantity of products greatly increases. According to the same 2016 Google survey mentioned previously, “37 percent of consumers visited a non-retailer website before an in-store purchase.” Therefore, the importance of having local business listings on 3rd party E-commerce sites should not be overlooked, as the potential for growth is huge.

Don’t hide important information
It’s clear that consumers typically spend time online before the point of purchase, so providing clear information is essential. A study from the Market Track found that “80 percent of consumers compared prices and product reviews online before buying offline.” However, some local businesses are worried that posting prices and reviews online could have a negative effect on sales and traffic. Not posting prices or reviews is seen as a red flag for many online consumers, therefore many shoppers may put your business out of consideration if important information is missing.

Personalization still key
Regardless of other E-commerce factors, personalization is crucial when it comes to driving traffic and increasing long term sales. In today’s digital world, online visitors enjoy personable experiences catered to their interests and needs. Specific examples of personalized marketing strategies can include remarketing ads, email newsletters, and social media interaction. In the end, personalization marketing helps build strong, lasting customer relationships that will in return generate the possibility of brand loyalty.

Contact Us
For more information regarding digital marketing expertise, visit the Onimod Global Website. We provide weekly news updates on the latest in the world of digital marketing. Enjoy!

How to Digitally Optimize Your Campaign for the Hotel Industry

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One of the most inspiring aspects of digital marketing is that it can be useful across an incredible number of different industries. Each industry comes with its own unique strengths and caveats, and the industry of hospitality is no different.

Step One: Strategize

Of course, digital marketing success cannot be achieved by simply setting up a campaign through Bing or Google. This action does not make you a search engine marketing expert. In order for any marketing campaign to be successful, there needs to be a certain amount of effort put into formulating a strategy.

This basic and primary phase is so often understated or ignored, and unfortunately this ignorance can cause serious problems down the road. It is not enough to just generate leads. Instead, you should be focused on gaining quality conversions. What is the use in having thousands of respondents who will never actually book a stay in your hotel?

Step Two: Make Use of Your Resources

When it comes to advertising for your hotel, there are many different digital tools that you can utilize. A major advantage to digital marketing is that it gives you the ability to generate quality leads for a relatively low price.

In the world of digital advertising, two major brands dominate; Google and Facebook. These will be your go-to ad platforms as you begin to construct a digital marketing campaign for your hotel.

These two platforms possess several strengths such as:

  • Low cost per conversion.
  • Localized ads to target consumers currently located near you.
  • Mobile ads that appeal to the preferences of consumers today who are looking for ease and convenience in their purchases.
  • Native advertising throughout the regularly used social media and search engines that consumers use in their every day routine.

The list goes on, but these four reasons alone are enough to peak the interest of any hotel brand. There are also many other platforms that your brand can utilize, but these two advertising platforms should serve as a good baseline for your first steps in digital marketing.

Step 3: Review and Revise

It is always important to review a campaign before it is launched. This final step helps to rid the campaign of any minute errors that may not have been noticed the first time around. Taking a second look also provides the marketer with the chance to make sure that all ads align directly with the campaign’s mission. It can be fairly easy for a digital campaign to split off into a slightly different direction as it is making its way through the construction process.

This stage also provides a period in which you can review your other marketing sources and make sure that they are up to date. For example, many brands neglect their website and the incredible impact it has upon their brand. Brilliant and engaging ads will do little to convince a consumer of quality when all ads lead back to a broken and outdated website.

More From Onimod Global

As always, the digital marketing experts from Onimod Global are here to make sure that you receive the best information possible regarding the digital marketing industry. Our content specialists frequently publish new content pertaining directly to industry news and trends.

To access our full compilation of news articles, please click here. Thank you, and we look forward to providing you with more digital marketing insights soon!

The Importance of Google My Business for Local SEO Rankings

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Google My Business (GMB) is a unique tool that provides local businesses with an opportunity to appear in Google search and map results to essentially increase local SEO rankings. Having a GMB listing and being active is critical in today’s digital world for local businesses in order to stand out from the crowd. Including important business information and images, optimizing your GMB listing, and frequently posting updates will greatly improve a business’s local search visibility. This post will explore the overall importance of Google My Business when it comes to local SEO and outranking industry competitors.

Google My Business Overview
Utilizing Google My Business allows your organization to take charge of what people see when conducting a local search for your business. Google states that “Google My Business gives you the tools to update your listing and engage with customers from your phone, tablet, or computer. All for free.” GMB enables you to update business hours, images, menus (restaurants), locations, have reviews, and now lets you add posts to highlight what’s happening. Moreover, it’s a crucial tool for businesses to increase online visibility so potential consumers can find you.

Setting up and Optimizing Your Google My Business Listing
Just simply setting up a GMB listing is a good starting point, but in a competitive environment you will need to go above and beyond to stand out. The first step to driving in new business is to claim your listing. This will enable your business to update all of the relevant information like location, hours, images, and contact information. A second step is to seek assistance from your customer base regarding reviews and making sure they are positive. A large number of positive reviews can increase the likelihood of ranking higher in search results. Once these initial steps are completed, the next plan should be to develop consistent posts to keep potential consumers engaged about what’s happening with your business. The GMB posting feature allows your business to display deals, events, or important company news. Ultimately, it should be noted that the more time you spend in the Google My Business interface, the better local SEO presence your business will experience.

Advanced Google My Business Optimization Strategies
In addition to the basic GMB optimization tactics previously listed, there are more advanced GMB optimization strategies that will improve local visibility even more. First, the importance of displaying intriguing images often times gets overlooked. Select photos that will stand out and grab the attention of online users to attract more website clicks on your listing. Another important tactic according to digital marketing expert Kevin Gibbons is to “check up on popular times of the day and create SEM or paid social campaigns to drive more visitors during times your business is open but not as busy.” In the end, Google My Business offers an excellent opportunity for businesses to enhance their local online visibility and create a better overall chance to increase both online and in-store traffic.

Contact Us
For more information regarding digital marketing expertise, visit the Onimod Global Website. We provide weekly news updates on the latest in the world of digital marketing. Enjoy!

How to Build Customer Loyalty That Drives Local Search Traffic

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When dreaming up ways to improve search engine results, few SEO specialists consider customer loyalty. However, customer loyalty plays a very crucial role in marketing for a company.

Lessons From Amazon

Amazon never set out to become a brand driven by customer satisfaction. Their primary concern has always been to fulfill orders as efficiently as possible, but along the way they were able to gain valuable insights of customers. All reviews on Amazon are 100% due to the efforts of verified customers. By allowing consumers to share their own experiences, Amazon was quickly able to build an incredibly trustworthy service.

High customer satisfaction translates directly to customer loyalty. Any time a customer is dissatisfied with an Amazon product, they receive a full refund, and typically also gain a complimentary service from the company to incentivize the customer to come back. Customers love to have a voice, and Amazon is more than happy to provide them with a way to be heard by other target customers. Companies with a customer focus certainly have a thing or two to learn from Amazon regarding their customer loyalty methods.

6 Additional Components

It is no simple task to replicate the efforts of Amazon. For this reason, the search engine optimization specialists from Onimod Global are here to offer several simple ways in which you can develop better customer loyalty within your own organization. The following 6 tips are based off of Wesley Young’s article that was recently published through Search Engine Land:

  1. Social Loyalty: Social media has grown to wield an impressive amount of influence over any given company. Recently, Facebook began appealing to users looking for recommendations regarding any number of products or services. This feature allows other users to weigh in on the topic and recommend businesses that they find relevant to their friend’s search. This word-of-mouth by proxy through Facebook is significant because it disrupts typical search engine procedures.
  2. Narrative Control: As mentioned with the example of Amazon, online reviews carry an incredible amount of power. Make sure that you are giving customers a way to express their loyalty via online platforms such as Facebook and Yelp. You can even use this information as a testimonial to the benefits that your company offers.
  3. Forever Loyal: Truly loyal customers will seek out a preferred business no matter what the odds. Young used the example of Chick-Fil-A to represent this ideal. He noted that no matter where he goes, he can find a line out the door of Chick-Fil-A, even when other area fast food restaurants have no wait at all.
  4. Loyalty Economics: It can be difficult to track down truly loyal customers. Typically, a company’s marketing efforts toward new clients are much more expensive than if the company were to simply continue marketing toward dissatisfied customers. For this reason, it may be worth considering ways in which you can better the experience of existing customers rather than solely focusing on new customer leads.
  5. Loyalty Database: Data is an invaluable resource for any business. Data regarding repeat customers is even more essential to promoting growth and prosperity. Once you are able to gain information about current loyal customers, you will be more easily able to locate new ones, which cuts out a lot of wasted ad dollar being used in search engine marketing.
  6. Determining Improvements: Even if a company’s customer satisfaction ratings are high, there is usually significant room for improvement. This issue points back to the loyalty database and what insights it can provide to your business. By going back over the numbers you can begin to paint a much clearer picture for both current and potential customers about your business and why it is the right choice for them to purchase goods and services from.

 

When is it Time to Hire a Digital Marketing Agency?

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Regardless of how long your company has been in business, there will come a time when you realize you need assistance with online marketing efforts. The demand for engaging and effective digital marketing strategies is increasing, and numerous organizations don’t want to fall behind the curve. According to the U.S. Digital Marketing Spending Report from Gartner, “many companies outsource up to 50% of all online marketing activities.” Moreover, it’s critical to hire an experienced digital marketing agency sooner than later, and listed below are signs that it’s the right time to outsource.

Lack of relevant skills
It’s easy to imagine how much business owners already have to deal with when it comes to overseeing their own company. Therefore, trying to incorporate marketing efforts into individuals with busy schedules is probably not the best bet. Staying current with SEO strategies, SEM, social media, email marketing, etc is very time consuming and requires plenty of effort. Once your company has realized it’s time to work with an agency, be sure to find one that is experienced and is a good fit. Review case studies and other work from multiple agencies to help with your outsourcing process.

Inadequate Reporting
Are your marketing results being measured? What are the key performance indicators (KPIs) that matter the most? Are you focused on brand awareness, leads, or conversions? These are questions that should always be addressed when it comes to an organization’s digital marketing efforts. Hiring the right digital marketing agency would give your company the ability to measure results with accuracy and evaluate if returns on investments are positive.

Website is getting poor traffic
A lack of website traffic is a common issue that many businesses encounter. They begin to realize that the traffic being driven to their site is often irrelevant and lower than expected. Is your company paying close attention to Google Analytics data? How well does the site continually rank for relevant search queries? Questions like these can be better answered by a digital marketing agency with a proven track record. Ultimately, hiring an experienced agency is most likely the best solution to increasing relevant website traffic

Content quality is lacking
Many companies need to face the reality that their internal employees are most likely not experts regarding content generation and knowing how to increase online presence. A good digital marketing agency will consist of content marketing experts that better understand effective SEO strategies, high quality content, and how to increase organic traffic. Therefore, if content marketing results are poor, it’s time to hire a digital marketing agency that will help your business grow.

Contact Us
At Onimod Global we are a proven digital marketing agency and know what it takes to fulfill the needs of our clients. Check out Our Work and see what digital solutions we have to offer! We look forward to hearing from you!

4 Digital Marketing Skills Every Professional Must Have

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Digital Marketing is a very broad term that consists of many important areas for professionals to master, and is also a fast growing industry for employment. SEO, SEM, social media advertising, email marketing, and data analysis are all critical aspects that every digital marketing expert should have experience with. Besides knowledge of these key areas, what are some other important digital marketing skills professionals should have?

1. Copywriting and Content Development 
Being able to effectively communicate and deliver persuasive messages is one digital marketing skill that can never be overlooked. Content is one of the most important components of every advertising campaign, and is a major factor when it comes to SEO and ranking for certain search queries. It is crucial that every blog post, Google ad, commercial, and company website contains relevant and powerful content. Driving home the “big idea” to every potential consumer is how you get your name out there, and why others should do business with you. Ultimately, content development is a skill that more and more marketers are being asked to master.

2. Website Development Knowledge
Some people confuse digital marketing and website development as two completely separate fields. In some ways this could be the case, yet having website development knowledge will greatly benefit an individual’s digital marketing expertise. Being able to understand the basics of HTML, CSS, JavaScript, and how to operate within a content management system (CMS) are all important. Another thing to keep in mind regarding website development knowledge is that it goes hand in hand with SEO, and understanding how to achieve good organic rankings on search engines. Moreover, the more website development knowledge a digital marketing professional has, the better.

3. Research and Strategic Planning
Staying current with the latest digital marketing trends and updates will only set yourself apart from the other digital marketers in the industry. Taking 30 minutes out of your day to read up on articles from Search Engine Land, Forbes, AdWeek, and Search Engine Journal can be extremely beneficial. Effective research can sometimes require more than simply “Googling things” like understanding the industries of clientele and who their target audiences are. In addition to research, strategic planning is also very important. This refers to analyzing past data and knowing how to deliver better results in the long run.

4. Account Management
Having proper account management skills and understanding how to effectively interact with clients is huge. Demonstrating strong account management means you have a firm grasp of execution, planning, strategy, budgeting, data analysis, and more. Being flexible and customer service-oriented is important as well. Campaigns consistently need monitored, problems arise, and some clients experience their best business outside of the typical Monday-Friday 9-5 hours. In the end, account management is huge in digital marketing, and certain “soft skills” often times get overlooked.

Contact Us: For more information regarding digital marketing, visit the Onimod Global Website. We provide weekly news updates on the latest in the world of digital marketing. Enjoy!

Top Qualities of a Successful Digital Marketing Agency

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What separates a successful digital marketing agency from a mediocre one? Numerous agencies claim they provide the best digital services available and will always go out of their way for client needs, but is this really the case? Listed below are some essential qualities that every digital marketing agency should possess in order to be successful in today’s industry.

Flexibility
Is your current agency available for any needs that arise outside of standard office hours (9-5)? From our perspective, digital marketing is a 24/7 operation and any agency that thinks otherwise is not providing the best service possible. Problems arise, campaigns need monitored, and some industries experience their best business outside of the typical Monday-Friday 9-5 hours. Therefore, flexibility is huge when it comes to digital marketing and if your agency isn’t fulfilling your needs then it may be time to make a change.

Experience
Evaluating the previous experience of an agency is a major factor when determining their success. Does the agency have a proven track record? Are their clients legitimate and relevant to your business or industry? Will they address your specific needs? Always be sure to analyze an agency’s portfolio and case studies to determine if their experience matches your needs. View our Case Studies at Onimod Global and take a look at our credible experience in all aspects of digital marketing.

Transparency
When it comes to digital marketing and working with clients, transparency is a huge quality that clients desire and often expect. An agency demonstrating transparency refers to the clarity of billing, accuracy of data, how campaigns are actually performing, and what’s happening in general. Working with a digital marketing agency that is trustworthy will ultimately lead to better results in the long run. Moreover, transparency is a quality that can never be ignored when evaluating an agency. It separates successful digital agencies from the mediocre ones.

Expertise 
Every agency should be an expert when it comes to SEO, SEM, Social Media, Data Analysis, Website Development, and every other critical component of digital marketing. Is the agency a Google Partner? Are the employees certified in Google AdWords and Analytics? These are important questions to consider when evaluating whether an agency is legitimate or not. All successful digital agencies in today’s industry demonstrate many if not all of these capabilities and always be sure to check out previous work/case studies for reassurance.

Contact Us: At Onimod Global we are a proven digital marketing agency and know what it takes to fulfill the needs of every client. Check out Our Work and see what digital solutions we have to offer! We look forward to hearing from you!

Yahoo Sues Mozilla for Replacement of Firefox’s Default Search to Google

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It was announced earlier this week that Yahoo’s parent company (Oath) has decided to sue Mozilla for “breach of contract.” Oath claims that Mozilla “terminated a long term strategic agreement with Yahoo” in November. Mozilla recently launched their upgraded Firefox Quantum browser and has implemented Google as their new default search tool. It was approximately 3 years ago when Yahoo and Mozilla signed an agreement that Yahoo would be the default search engine on Firefox.

According to Greg Sterling in an article from Search Engine Land, the lawsuit “seeks unspecified money damages and interest from Mozilla, but Mozilla claims they have the right to terminate the relationship under the contract.” Mozilla’s Firefox browser lost market share to Chrome during the 3 year period with Yahoo. Mozilla blames this lose in market share largely on Yahoo search. Yahoo/Oath argue that “issues with the browser experience (speed and performance)” were to blame instead. Sterling points out that “the truth probably lies somewhere in between.”

Implications Moving Forward
Mozilla switching from Yahoo to Google as their new default search tool is huge. As if Google’s market share in search engine providers wasn’t large enough, this move will expand their share even more. The article states that “Firefox’s market share is about 13 percent to Chrome’s nearly 59 percent. Yahoo search market share is roughly 12 percent to Google’s 63 percent.” Ultimately, it will be interesting to see where Firefox’s market share goes from here, as the reactions to the upgraded “Firefox Quantum” browser appear to be positive thus far.

Contact Us: For more information regarding digital marketing expertise and news, visit the Onimod Global Website. We look forward to hearing from you!

How To Maximize Your Company Blog To Improve Overall SEO Results

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It’s evident that blogging is important in a digitally dominated space, yet many organizations don’t fully understand the SEO implications that effective blogging can have. It seems every company has implemented a blog to their site at this point. However, many fail to take advantage of blog content to increase overall organic search rankings. Listed below are some ways in which companies can maximize their blog content to enhance overall search engine optimization (SEO) results.

Always Optimize Content
Continually generating new content is usually a good practice, but that doesn’t mean existing blog posts should be ignored. Going back to previous posts and reviewing keyword phrases, media, tags, and other parts of a post to help rank better for desired search queries is an effective method. Paying attention to basic “on page” SEO components is another aspect that can’t be ignored. Header tags, meta descriptions, image titles, alt text, internal link building, and having an SSL certificate are all important when it comes to ranking well.

Define Audiences
Blog content should never be randomly created with no specific audiences in mind. Each post should always be produced with intentions to reach segments of your target audience. This means content should be filled with meaningful keyword phrases related to what your consumer base is searching for. For instance, if you’re in the sports bar industry you want to blog about content related to big upcoming games/events geared toward sports fans to draw in as much traffic as possible. Ultimately, creating content for specific target audiences is a key aspect to blogging and will contribute to increased SEO rankings.

Blog Title
The importance of having a creative and appealing blog title a lot of times gets overlooked. Many organizations use titles like “Blog” or “News” for their company blog, which isn’t the best practice for optimization. Creativity and being descriptive are two solutions to better blog optimization. “What audiences am I trying to reach?” and “What are important keyword phrases related to my industry?” are a couple of critical questions to use as a basis for the title of a blog. Moreover, it seems like a minor detail, but coming up with a good title for your company blog is something that should never be ignored.

Social Media Engagement
Sharing blog content on multiple social media platforms is a simple method to increase overall visibility. Utilizing channels like Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Google Plus, and Google My Business to share content should always be one of the final steps in the process. Be sure to include keyword rich descriptions with social posts as well that way your content has a better chance of ranking. Additional benefits to sharing blog content on social media include the ability to reach new audiences, keeping social media platforms relevant, and the chance of increasing referral traffic.

Contact Us: At Onimod Global we specialize in SEO, content creation, and every other aspect of digital marketing. Check out Our Work to see what digital marketing solutions we have to offer!