Top-10 Lists Archives – Cortex Marketing

April 16, 2019April 16, 2019

My #1 Question Asked: Do You Make Websites?

I decided to write this “My #1 Question Asked: Do You Make Websites?” post because at least once a week (50+ times per year), I get asked this question. This post is about the deeper answer, beyond “yes”.

Today’s Marketing Professional

I am not boasting or making any claim that the average marketer of today has the same education as a physician, however, I have discovered that using the analogy of a family physician is an easy way to understand the term “marketing professional”.

Your family doctor would be able to administer a shot or take blood pressure, as well as specialize in some aspect of medicine. Today’s marketer can build a website with at least a WYSIWYG editor, and will often focus on a specialty.

That said, today’s typical marketer also specializes in something specific, such as what I do here at Cortex, conversion optimization and engagement engineering.

Yes, Cortex Marketing Does Make Websites

Although the skillset to make websites is needed in being a good marketer, today’s full-service marketing is bigger than that. An example is that Jason, and his business Ad-Sol.com, specializes in advertising, whereas Behrooz, and his business MasterPix.com, specializes in custom websites and graphic design. So, does Cortex marketing make Websites? Yes, but so does Ad-Sol and MasterPix. Clear as mud?

The bottom line is, marketing is a multi-spoked wheel and the many components of that wheel, support and works off of each other.

The General Top-10 Components Are:

1. 1. Big Picture Names (e.g. what you call your business, domain url’s, content titles, etc.)
  2. Big Picture Strategies and Plans
  3. Branding & Colour Schemes
  4. Target Defining
  5. Copy-Boarding
  6. Copywriting
  7. Online Development (websites, social media, etc)
  8. Publicity
  9. Testing
  10. Analyzing successes and failures

A Different Kind Of Marketing Company

If you are looking for an effective way to not just drive more traffic to your site, but to drive more qualified leads to your sales funnel, lets set up a time to chat… or you can call me now at 1-888-502-3523. I look forward to speaking with you about your ideas!!

December 14, 2018December 14, 2018

The Top 7 Things I’ve Learned About SEO This Year

2018 has been an eventful year for the SEO industry.

by Steven van Vessum at Search Engine Journal

1. This Year’s Google Updates Were Unparalleled (And No One Really Knows What Changed)

Search engines have been rolling out updates since the early days of the industry— nothing new there.

We’ve seen big updates such as the Panda and Penguin updates, which had a massive impact.

And yet still, the frequency and complexity of the Google algorithm updates we’ve seen this year are unparalleled.

2. It’s Google’s World – We Just Live in It

Everyday Google dictates the kind of SERP we see, and what it contains.

And we have to deal with that.

We’re all just test subjects in Google’s massive, continuously updating tests.

This article was borrowed from Search Engine Journal. To read the full article, click here!

3. Google’s Mobile-First Index Hasn’t Had Much of an Impact (Yet)

Over the course of the year [while content was the ruler of the land], the mobile-first index rolled out, and… actually nothing much happened.

Back in November 2016, Google said they’d roll out the mobile-first index slowly and monitor its impact closely —and that has turned out to be the case.

Even though the mobile-first index shift only changed how they gather their data, not how they rank sites, I still expected to see a lot more fluctuations.

4. SEO Pros Are Creatures of Habit & Dislike Change

Even though we’re part of a fast-moving industry, many SEO professionals are creatures of habit who dislike change.

They don’t like to change how they audit websites, the way they report, the tools they use, and so on.

I know, SEO pros are human, too — and humans generally don’t like change.

But if you want to stay ahead of the curve, you need to innovate.

This article was borrowed from Search Engine Journal. To read the full article, click here!

5. DuckDuckGo’s Growth Has Picked Up, by a Lot

While they’re still a small player in the world of search engines, DuckDuckGo’s growth has surprisingly picked up by a lot.

As of November 26, they’re processing 33.6 million direct queries per day, compared to 19.1 million a year before.

6. Search Intent Is Extremely Important

I think a lot of the Google updates we’ve seen recently help Google serve the right results for the right search intent.

Google has loads of user data, and they’re continuously testing whether searchers are happy with the results that they’re shown.

Never before has search intent been as important as it is now.

7. Google’s Far from Perfect

Google employs the smartest engineers and they’re using the most advanced algorithms to determine:

What your content is about.
What their users’ search intent is.
What results satisfy people’s complicated search queries.
And much more.

So, What Does 2019 Have in Store for Us?

Obviously, for the foreseeable future, Google will keep on dominating the lives of us SEOs. They’ll try to become even more dominant, possibly by leveraging AMPand the WordPress partnership.

This article was borrowed from Search Engine Journal. To read the full article, click here!

Read about SEO for your videos.

September 27, 2017January 13, 2018

3 End-Of-Summer Marketing Tips

Modern Marketing Tips That Are Easy For You To Embrace!

Here are 3 Marketing Tips to help keep you going through the fall. Surely this won’t be the only marketing tips posted on the web, however, these are tips written from experience — not to mention that they are good reminders for all.

If you are interested in hearing more of these tips, enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Marketing Tip #1 —Slow and Steady Wins The Race

The concept of continuous innovation isn’t just a scientific marketing method, it’s a time-tested business philosophy. This methodology has built some of the world’s great companies, like Toyota and Google. They are proving to be a critical component of what differentiates winners from losers in Silicon Valley and beyond.

Marketing Tip #2 — Mind Your P’s

It’s about the importance of ALL P’s, particularly “Product” – it is one of the most important lessons that many marketers have ignored for the past 10-15 years. Unfortunately, many marketers have often thought of themselves as being in the ‘Advertising business’.

Now more than ever, successful and sustainable businesses are built by clearly presenting the Product, Price, Place, and Promotion of their brands.

#3 — Seek And Ye Shall Find Find

This is a good reminder that it’s all about the results. This has been the underpinning of the scientific marketing method for 150+ years. It is what the modern marketing world has come to really appreciate in the past 5-years.

Learn more about the marketing in today’ business world…

I recommend also searching for Entrepreneur Magazine Online and Forbs Magazine Online articles.

June 20, 2017January 13, 2018

Conversion Traffic: The Top 10 Ways To Get Better Results

So you have visitors and it is just not converting; maybe you are simply not driving the right conversion traffic!

Conversion Traffic “Getting traffic to your website is great, but if that traffic doesn’t convert, it’s almost useless.” ~ Jayson DeMers — Founder and CEO, AudienceBloom

Keeping Up-To-Date On Conversion Traffic ‘Best Practices’ Is Not Easy!

It is essentially true that technology has a six-week cycle and that new ideas are expanding at a rate that is nearly impossible to keep up with without doing continual research.

Traffic Conversion

This week in doing such research specifically on Conversion Traffic, I came upon a great 2015 blog post by Jason DeMers, the Founder | CEO of AudienceBloom, a Seattle-based SEO agency. He’s the author of the ebook, “The Definitive Guide to Marketing Your Business Online”. In his post, he has listed the top thirty-nine best practices for increasing your conversion traffic in “39 Quick Ways to Increase Your Website’s Conversion Rate“.

And while his post is now a few years old, many points on that list cannot be improved upon. So in an effort to inform you — while still maintaining some level of brevity —I will list myTop-10 from his list. So with full credit to Jason for creating this, here are my choices from his list of thirty-nine:

1. Include as few fields as possible.

When asking for information in an email opt-in form, ask for as little information as necessary. Here’s an example of how using one additional form field decreased conversions by 11 percent.

2. Add a guarantee.

Include a no-questions-asked refund policy on all purchases. This reduces risk, and increased sales will usually more than make-up for any returns.

3. Use tangible action verbs.

When testing out different calls to action, try using action language that spurs visitors to take action (for example, “grab yours,” “reserve your seat”)

4. Use testimonials.

Testimonials reduce risk and provide social proof. Use them on product landing pages as well as on your email opt-in landing page.

5. Clearly-state the benefits of your product or service.

Listing the features of your product is important, but it’s even more important to tell potential customers exactly how your product will help them or solve their problem.

6. Pay careful attention to your headline.

Your headline is perhaps the single most important element of your landing page. Brainstorm at least 10 possibilities before choosing the strongest one.

7. Keep conversion elements above the fold.

Opt-in boxes and other conversion elements should be above the fold for optimal results.

8. Use video to humanize your brand.

Include a simple video on landing pages to show there’s a real person behind your brand.

9. Create dedicated landing pages for pay-per-click ads.

If you’re using AdWords or another form of PPC ads, be sure to send these visitors to a dedicated landing page (not your home page!).

10. Incorporate strong calls to action (CTAs) into every piece of content on your site.

Let your readers know exactly what you want them to do next, whether that’s click a button, read a blog post or fill out a form.

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Category: Top-10 Lists