For a team of dedicated marketers who eat, sleep and breathe all matters of Search Engine Optimization, it feels like we’ve been preaching the same list of “SEO Don’ts” for the last few years. Yet, for a business with so many different moving parts in the marketing machine to track, it’s easy to see how some of this stuff can fall off the radar. Usually the issues do not fully come to light until organic search traffic starts to fall off and clients call us to fix it. That’s what we’re here for, after all — to keep your company fresh and up-to-date in the search engines and remaining competitive, despite whatever craziness the webmasters at Google and other search engines want to throw our way. Here are eight common SEO mistakes we find and what you can do to avoid them in 2017… [clickToTweet tweet=”Don’t settle for mediocre search […]
Like the medical field, the business of Search Engine Optimization requires constant vigilance to the latest techniques. Just as you wouldn’t want someone operating on you who hadn’t received any additional training since graduating from medical school decades ago, you wouldn’t want someone writing your copy who has been using the same old tactics and techniques since 1999. [Tweet “#8Ways your writing has fallen prey to #SEO copywriting myths.”] In the past, writers were trained in a host of tricks designed to capture search engine attention. The end result was poorly-written pages crammed with nonsensical keyword phrases, link farm pages and text that earned websites top positions but held no value for the reader. Consider this infographic on the history of SEO copywriting created by Express Writers: Image Source: Visual.ly Search engine developers have gotten wise to many of the old-school tactics, but not every copywriter has updated his or […]
The decision to hire an SEO expert is the easy part, especially when your website is not bringing in the level of traffic you want or growing exponentially over time. Stagnation happens to the best of us, but usually occurs when a company is not progressive enough about adapting to changes in search algorithms and evolving trends. Frankly, keeping up with the times is a BIG job! That’s why finding a dedicated SEO consultant can be the biggest asset to your digital marketing team. Yet, this industry in particular tends to attract a lot of fly-by-night type people who look for ways to deliver quick results, without doing a whole lot of work. Unlike other industries that have certifying bodies or industry standards, there is no such animal for SEO. It is up to “buyer beware” to recognize and avoid “black hat tactics” that hurt search engine placement and brand reputation […]
Organic SEO is still a leading strategy for digital marketing in 2015. Many of the SEO techniques we’ve been using for years are still worthy of our marketing dollars — blogging, social media, and inbound marketing — for example. Yet, the way we look at these old methods may be a little different. – Effective blogging requires more than just paraphrasing the news of the day, throwing in a few keywords, and linking to another site; you’ll need to become a proven “thought leader” and answer people’s most pressing questions. – Social media will not just be a dumping grounds for blog posts, but a place where you look for prospects who are talking about your products or services and connect with them in real-time. – Linking will focus on seeking quality, branded citations, rather than just throwing your URL down in the comments section of a blog. Today, we discuss 8 SEO […]
To an innocent bystander, Search Engine Optimization seems like a complex sort of wizardry that brings a website from virtual obscurity to the top page of Google results. Even from the inside of this industry, we have to agree. There are a dazzling array of different items that go into the pot when cooking up just the right algorithm to attract Google’s wandering eye. Social media has become one of the most important ingredients in recent years, as you can plainly see in this infographic: Here are eight of the most important ways social media affects SEO: 1. Social media helps your site get indexed faster. Search engines find websites quickest when there are a lot of links acting as arrows, pointing to content that matters. It’s as if every person who re-tweets your content is saying, “Hey, check this is out, Google!” A study by SEOMoz found that a […]
While Google’s Matt Cutts enjoys an extended vacation, the SEO community is a flurry of activity, trying to keep up with the latest top-secret algorithm change: Google’s Pigeon update. For SEO clients, this could mean that top-ranked pages may fall by the wayside. It could mean that local search listings have suddenly dropped off Google Maps. (For instance, we heard that lawyers and real estate agents were particularly hit hard!) Just as Mod Girl Marketing has helped clients stay afloat during Google’s Penguin and Hummingbird updates, we’re here to address any concerns in light of the latest switcheroo. Here are a few of the major changes, as we see it. Tweet This: Top #8Ways Google’s Pigeon Algorithm Has Changed Local #SEO – via @mandymodgirl http://ctt.ec/089ef+ 1. “Pack” results were hurt. A Google “7 Pack” refers to the highlighted Local listings (business name, address, phone number, website) displayed on […]
Marketing budgets are tight at most small and medium-sized businesses these days. So, not surprisingly, there are many individuals wearing multiple caps within an organization, trying to juggle it all. Over time, business websites often fail to rank on the first or second page of the search engines, leading entrepreneurs to wonder if there is a better way. Hiring a professional SEO consultant is a big step, but will prove to be a valuable partnership if you find the right agency to help. In today’s post, we’ll discuss eight of the top reasons people hire SEO experts, versus doing search marketing in-house. [clickToTweet tweet=”Here are the 8 reasons you need an #SEO expert.” quote=”Here are the 8 reasons you need an SEO expert.” theme=”style3″] 1. Save time. The need to free up additional time is perhaps the top reason people outsource their SEO consulting work. Business leaders need to assess […]
Search Engine Optimization is an interesting field. Certain elements are ever-changing — and yet, there are many methods that remain tested, tried and true throughout the decades. Of course it’s one thing to simply say “WRITE GOOD CONTENT” and quite another to actually implement that advice. A couple weeks back we offered 8 tips to starting a blog. In this post, we’ll try to give you some more specifics on what makes a quality blog post these days. If you’re still not 100% clear on it, then contact us about hiring one of our experienced SEO copywriters. 1. Write witty headlines geared toward people. In Olden Times, we believed that packing headlines with keywords was the top priority in attracting search engine attention. As a result, the internet ended up with horrible headlines like “How to Generate Leads With Facebook, Run Facebook Ad Campaigns, and Get More Likes on Facebook.” […]
Marketing is a daunting task when you’re on a shoestring budget. According to Entrepreneur, you can calculate a reasonable advertising budget by taking 10-12% of your projected annual gross sales markup… and deduct your rent. One benchmark study found marketing expenditures as high as 25% among startups. The bulk of a startup’s marketing is spent on advertising, followed by press releases, trade shows and loyalty programs. Offline advertising is good at drumming up leads, but poor at converting sales. The landscape is very different online, which provides better bang for your buck. Here are 8 recommended marketing strategies for startups… 1. Business Branding Consultant Packages A package is one quick, easy way to get the marketing end of your news business going, while you focus on building your core company and clinching sales. We can set you up with a website, blog, social media sites and PPC ads. We can also help […]
1. Content focuses on depth and detail. Once upon a time, 200-word posts updated several times a week were sufficient to achieve authority and page rank. Slowly but surely, 400 or 500-word posts became the new standard. While super informative, relevant short pieces will always hold some value, the trend is migrating toward super posts that are 1,000 to 2,000 words in length. In time, our site’s “Top 8” theme might have to grow to list the “Top 50” or “Top 100” ideas. With print media fading away, today’s internet reader has grown more comfortable with reading longer pieces online and they are looking for video, images and as much relevant, useful information as they can get. Image Source: Search Engine Land 2. Content is becoming more diverse. In addition to your standard blog entry, you will be expected to increase your content strategy to include infographics, videos, e-books and original images. […]