Posts

Posted on

SEO and Why Your Business Needs It

SEO is a marketing fundamental that you need to have down. Why? For starters, there are 3.5 billion Google searches every single day. Plus, 77% of consumers perform research before they even engage with a brand.

This blog is adapted from a post by our partners at MarketGoo.

What Is SEO?

In a nutshell, you use search engine optimization to increase your website’s visibility.

When ranking your site, search engines use bots to crawl all over it. You need to make it easy for these bots to crawl your site and send out signals that your site is worth ranking.

Your goal is to get to the top of the SERPs (Search Engine Results Pages) and thus get more traffic.

SEO and Mobile Optimization
PHOTO BY NEONBRAND / UNSPLASH

Why Does My Business Need SEO?

  1. It’s your main sustainable traffic source
  2. If you rank well, your site will get more clicks and establish credibility
  3. If you’re a local business, it will help you get more foot traffic
  4. It helps you keep tabs on and surpass your competitors

Search is everything nowadays.

How many times do you ask somebody a question and they respond, “Oh, just Google it!”

It’s an integral part of our lives, so you need to make sure your business shows up in those searches.

Here are a few more indisputable reasons:

Your Main Traffic Source
51% of all traffic comes from organic search.

That’s more than double the amount of traffic from paid and social put together.

Naturally, then, SEO should be your priority.

SEO Source of Traffic Chart from BrightEdge

Increased Authority
70% of searchers click on organic results, ignoring paid results.

If you rank high on Google, searchers see your site as credible.

You’ve made it to the top for a reason. In other words, you haven’t simply paid to get an ad at the top of the page.

Local Presence
27% of people search for local business information online every single day.
SEO Chart From Bright Local

So, even if you have a physical store or restaurant, for example, you need SEO. Consumers research businesses on their phone before visiting them.

Keeping up with your Competitors
61% of marketers say that improving SEO is their number one Acomplia for sale priority because without SEO you won’t be able to compete.

Let’s have a chat about your SEO and I will run a report on your website’s marketing effectiveness live — and all at no cost to you!! Call me direct at 1-888-502 3523

 

Posted on

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”.

We Make Websites

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.

We make website to fit the Conversion Optimization Wheel

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. 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

We Make Websites with Digital MarketingA 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!!

 

 

Posted on

Landing Pages – What Are They Exactly?

Landing pages are often misunderstood outside the marketing world. They have made a splash on the business world and some clarification needs to be made. The bottom line is if you are not using them and expecting your engagements and conversions to rise, you may be in for a bumpy lead-generation ride.

Landing Pages From Unbounce

Where is the landing page confusion among businesses?

Landing pages have shown the ability to help the business reach certain goals. However,  that said, issues arise as many businesses believe that everyone is their target and anyone that lands on their website — on any page — must be interested in showing interest, and will do so “if they are really interested”.

Yes, while this is true, there are many factors that actually cause a conversion to happen. In this case, the conversion that I am referring to is when your site visitor actually provides you info they are interested in

What is the intent of a Landing Page?

 “A landing page can be any page that someone lands on after clicking on an online marketing call-to-action.” ~ Oli Gardner

“The full intent of lead generation landing pages is to use a web form and a strong Call to Action (or CTA), for the purpose of collecting lead data such as names and email addresses. This is the primary type of landing page used for B2B marketing.” ~  Unbounce Landing Page Course

So what makes landing pages successful?

So you want high-converting landing pages and you are still not sure what that means. Unbounce’s Garrett Hughes put together an article about the “12 High-Converting Landing Pages (That’ll Make You Wish You Built ‘Em)”  that talks about the 5-things that make a high-converting Landing Page:

1. Have a strong, contextual hero shot and supporting imagery
2. Present a single and focused call to action
3, Clearly state your value proposition with a compelling header and subhead
4, Outline the features and benefits (with emphasis on the latter)
5. Include testimonials and other forms of social proof

Read the whole article by Garrett Hughes

Landing Pages and their special features!!

While you can create campaigns to feed your user to a landing page within your site, there are some key takeaways that will separate you from the less professional.

A) In general, you cannot test the effectiveness of a page on your site. And while site builders are getting more sophisticated, most website frameworks are not designed for lead capture. Testing, including A/B testing, is crucial to understanding your engagement conversion and lead generation successes and non-successes.

B) Landing Pages have a single purpose. They are not mired down with distraction and are engineered to create a lift in your collection of visitors generated, generally, by an advertising campaign.

Are you building a landing page now?

If you answered “yes”, surely you have pondered about whether to DIY or hire someone, and with both, there are positives.

Landing Pages - The Definitive Landing Page ChecklistThere are some great companies out there providing a landing pages service, however, my absolute favourite is Unbounce. They have two plans, a DIY or they can do it for you. If you do not know what you are doing, the later is often your most economical choice.

Your best choice, however, is that you can hire Cortex to do it for you and manage your account.

Either way, if you are building it yourself you should download this free checklist to ensure you are up to speed and double-checking your page through a Landing Page Check List before publishing.

Proudly powered by WordPress
error: Our content is protected — stealing is a crime — you are being watched!!