Tag Archive for: seo

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!

Google My Business Posting Update: How This Impacts Search Results

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Google has recently announced that there is a “posts function” now available to businesses registered with their Google My Business program. There appears to be plenty of benefits with the addition of this function, especially for local businesses who frequently compete for higher search rankings. Essentially, this post will explain the importance of Google My Business for local businesses and how this new posting update can impact organic search results.

Google My Business Overview
Google My Business from a general standpoint is a program that gives businesses the capability to be found by visitors on the Google Maps system. In more technical terms, Google describes their Google My Business program as a “free and easy-to-use tool for businesses and organizations to manage their online presence across Google, including Search and Maps. By verifying business information, you can both help customers find you and tell them the story of your business.” Some major benefits of utilizing this tool include interaction with customers, expanding presence, information management, and mobile responsiveness. Therefore, Google My Business clearly helps local businesses increase their online visibility and is ultimately a small investment that can lead to high rewards.

Posts Function Information
With the implementation of this new posts update in Google My Business, there are multiple ways businesses can take advantage of this tool. According to an article from Search Engine Land, this update will give businesses the ability to “share daily specials, promote events happening, showcase top products, and provide more options to connect with customers directly.” Users also have the capability to add images and call to action buttons to help increase post engagement. It should also be noted that posts have the potential to show up in both the Google search and map results.

Impact on Search Results
One of the more important aspects of this Google My Business update is it’s correlation with better search results. According to a case study analysis from a Search Engine Land article, “Posting on Google My Business was found to have a mild impact on rankings and do help improve local SEO for small businesses.” It was also found that since it’s launch, posting on Google My Business has been “surprisingly underutilized by businesses and agencies,” but that pattern is expected to change soon. In the end, using this new posting feature on Google My Business appears to be a “no brainier” for any local business out there. And at Onimod Global we have been implementing this practice with some of our clients, as their organic search rankings have started to increase over time because of this feature.

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!

Optimizing Ecommerce Shopping Carts for Search and the Google Merchant Center

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Many organizations with Ecommerce websites are concerned with how well their products are ranking organically on Google, Bing and Yahoo. That is, without any assistance from paid advertising networks. There is no doubt that these rankings are incredibly important to the organization and their product’s success, but it is not the only factor to consider.

It is all too common to get swept up in organic search rankings and ignore other ecommerce-related platforms like the Google or Bing Merchant Center. The Google and Bing Merchant Centers help organizations by uploading their products and immediately transforming them into Shopping ads. All of these add up to generate more and more exposure for your products. These efforts also combine to create better rankings through Google, which can definitely lead to big results on your sales.

 

Data Feeds

The only way to have your products listed in Google and/or Bing Shopping is to create an XML data feed file. As defined by Google, a feed is, “a file made up of a list of products which use groupings of attributes that define each one of your products in a unique way.” Basically, it is a single file that organizes all of your product listings in a way that allows you to the display your products in the Google Shopping network through the Adwords platform.

 

Creating A Feed

Creation of a data feed is very technical. First, you want to make sure that you are using a feed format that is supported by Google or Bing, such as text (.txt) and XML (.xml). Once you have chosen your preferred format, you will then use the Merchant Center add-on and provided feed template to build out your product listings.

It is still critical to pay close attention to the attributes chosen to describe your products. All of the best guidelines are provided by Google via the Product data specification. These specifications will direct you in finding the most relevant ways to describe your products.

 

Supplemental Data Feeds

There are also supplemental feeds that may be added at this point in the data feed creation process. Supplemental feeds help to provide additional data that can be combined with existing data in the primary feed.

The supplemental feed reinforces the primary feed, and works to ensure that your product listings are displaying all of the most relevant information possible to users searching for products like yours. The more relevant your listing, the more positive attention it will receive from Google.

 

Conclusion

Good organic rankings on Google are important to every business. Ecommerce companies can better their product listings in more than just this one way. It is important to remember that the Google Merchant Center also has an impact on the ranking of Shopping ads and even organic listings.

The more that any organization can integrate themselves and their products and services with Google, the better. By creating and implementing a data feed through the Google or Bing Merchant Center, Ecommerce vendors can give themselves a leg-up on the competition, and help themselves to achieve better rankings and sales through the major search engines.

5 Important Questions to Ask Your Website Development Agency

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There are numerous questions that an organization may have when outsourcing a website development project to an agency. Investing in a new website is no small expense for a business owner, so addressing any questions that arise is a must. With our previous website development work at Onimod Global, there have been many questions we have received from clients over the years. Listed below are just a few critical questions that every business should ask their agency when it comes to a new website development project.

1. What does the previous work look like with other clients? 
Knowing what an agency is capable of when it comes to their website development expertise is extremely important. Request case studies from agencies to see what an agency has to offer in terms of website development, and what benefits can be provided for your organization. Click Here to view our previous website development work and case studies at Onimod Global. Ultimately, conduct research on multiple agencies to ensure the one you select is legitimate and will produce the final product you are looking for.

2. Is Google Analytics being utilized to track data and set up goals? 
Ensuring that a Google Analytics tracking code is installed to a new website is crucial and it’s amazing as to how underused this tool is by many businesses today. One major benefit that Analytics provides is where website traffic comes from and what adjustments can be made. Setting up goals in Analytics to track certain conversions like form completions and downloads is another critical aspect that Analytics provides. Essentially, being able to monitor general website traffic information is huge and implementing Google Analytics should always be a step in the website development process.

3. Will the website be optimized to increase online visibility? 
Regardless of the objectives an organization desires for their website, online visibility and being able to drive traffic should always be a priority. Therefore, if a site is not optimized for search engines how will it drive traffic? Ensuring that a website is highly optimized will require a lot of SEO knowledge and time. There are many components of SEO that involve “on page” optimization like paying attention to title tags, content, meta descriptions, keywords, and internal link building. There are also “off page” optimization tactics like blogging and utilizing local directory sites. In the end, having a highly optimized website is a must and be certain that the agency developing your website is familiar with these practices.

4. Is the Google Tag Manager being used?
Application of a tag management system like the Google Tag Manager to a website is extremely beneficial for any organization. In technical terms according to Google, the Tag Manager “replaces hard-coded tags on a website with dynamic tags that are easier to implement and update.” Tag management systems like Google’s provide multiple benefits such as adding AdWords, Analytics, and even third party tags instead of having to manually edit the site code. Therefore, this reduces errors and allows the simple deployment of tags on a website, so be sure to address this area of concern with your agency.

5. What does the timeline look like until the site officially launches? 
It’s important to be on the same page with your agency about the development of a timeline and what the expectations are. Depending on the complexity of the site a website development project can take anywhere from months to years. It’s essential to stay in contact with your agency throughout the entire process as new requests may arise and an agency should always be adaptable to client changes. An experienced team like ours at Onimod Global has worked together on multiple web dev projects and understand how important client timelines are.

Contact Us: If you’re a business seeking an upgrade in website development, feel free to reach out to our expertise at Onimod Global and check out Our Work. We look forward to hearing from you!

4 Common SEO Myths That Marketers Should Reject

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When it comes to the best search engine optimization (SEO) practices, it can be difficult to know what methods are currently working and what is not. Search engine algorithms on Google, Bing, Yahoo, and others are frequently changing and this factor makes it challenging for marketers to adapt. There are numerous myths floating around about what a “good” SEO strategy consists of. Listed below are four common SEO myths that all marketers should be aware of.

1. Stuffing keywords is the way to go
The method of stuffing keywords is both outdated and falls into the “black hat” side of SEO practices. Search engines these days (Google especially) are more focused on rewarding legitimate organizations trying to drive real traffic to their sites. Don’t confuse implementing rich keywords in good content development compared to “stuffing.” An article from Entrepreneur describes keyword stuffing as “having too many keywords stuffed into your domain, this will be viewed as a spammy tactic that Google can pick up on.” Ultimately, the practice of keyword stuffing not only destroys credibility, but can ban sites from being shown on search engines at all.

2. The security of a site doesn’t affect rankings 
Regardless of the other benefits a secure site offers, many marketers and organizations either don’t believe or realize how important having an SSL certificate is for optimization purposes. According to an article in 2014 from Google’s Security Blog, “security is a top priority at Google, so we’re starting to use HTTPS as a ranking signal.” Other search engines like Bing and Yahoo have adapted this practice as well. In general, secure sites (SSL installed) are starting to become the norm online and do have important implications when it comes to optimization and higher organic rankings on search engines.

3. Blogging isn’t that important for SEO
This is one myth that appears to be going away soon, but is still present among organizations who aren’t in touch with today’s digital environment. Maintaining a well kept blog in general will only increase online visibility and fuel your SEO. Google and Bing’s algorithms reward valuable and fresh content for specific search queries. The major SEO factors of blogging consist of relevant content production, attracting internal/external linking, expanding of keywords, and many more. Regardless of the industry, maintaining a well written blog is one way to increase your organization’s SEO presence and appear ahead of competitors in the search engine results.

4. “Having a contact at Google will get me on the first page”
Some organizations actually believe having a contact at Google will help their site rank better for relevant searches. Although knowing a Google representative is very beneficial in regards to the Google Partners Program and latest information, Google doesn’t staff employees to help businesses with their SEO. According to the Entrepreneur article, “this is the fascinating component about Google; you have to follow the latest trends to make sure your SEO strategy aligns with Google’s constant algorithm updates.” Moreover, if an agency or marketing professional claims to have a contact at Google relating to SEO and first page rankings, they are lying.

Contact Us: At Onimod Global we know that organic search engine optimization or SEO, is absolutely vital to achieve long term search engine visibility for your website. Years of experience in SEO is the core of our strategies. We develop organic search engine optimization campaigns that deliver increases in organic traffic and natural rankings on major search engines like Google, Bing and Yahoo. Check out Our Work to see what SEO solutions Onimod Global has to offer!