Should I Hire a Website Marketing Consultant?

Website Marketing Consulting No Comments

For those wondering if they should hire a Website Marketing Consultant, you must consider not just what your website needs, but what your business needs.

Are you looking for someone to build or update your website? Or are you looking for someone to show you how to use your website to improve your business? The two may seem synonymous, but they are in fact quite different. By exploring that difference and determining your specific goals, you’ll be able to definitively answer the question, “Should I hire a Website Marketing Consultant?”

The Difference Between Developers, Designers, and Marketing Consultants

Let’s make a long story short: Developers handle the complex technical stuff, like website infrastructure and coding. Designers handle website aesthetics and user experience. Between the two, they create a stable website that your audience enjoys visiting. So, what does a Website Marketing Consultant do? A good one not only has a great deal of experience in both development and design, but they also bring several specialties to the table that help you grow your business.

How Can a Website Marketing Consultant Help Me?

From search engine optimization (SEO) and brand development to digital marketing and website performance and security, Website Marketing Consultants bring a high level of nuanced expertise to every aspect of your online presence.

Are you having a hard time defining/developing your brand? Do some of your products/services sit there like a bump on a log, with no conversions? Does your site still only rank on the umpteenth Google page? Are your newsletters and social media being ignored?

Are these questions making you uncomfortable? Then at the very least, it sounds like a discussion with a Website Marketing Consultant couldn’t hurt. Best-case scenario: Your business is put on a clear path to success, with measurable results you can see for yourself. And as luck would have it, the best Website Marketing Consultant in Pittsburgh is waiting to hear from you.

So, perhaps the more accurate question to ask yourself is, “Why haven’t I hired a Website Marketing Consultant?”

Digital Marketing 101

Blog: Digital Marketing No Comments

We live in the digital era. Almost everyone you know has a digital presence of some sort on the World Wide Web. And naturally, all brands too, have opted to move online and therefore put the spotlight on digital marketing. So what is digital marketing? Digital marketing is using techniques which allow a marketer to make the best of both worlds – digital and marketing. Naturally, a digital marketing agency is very highly sought after in today’s times.

One of the most important aspects of digital marketing is effective use of social media. Active and smart use of social media networks such as Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Pinterest and Google+ is a great way to build up your consumer base and interact with them on a daily basis. Social media marketing services refer to the process of gaining traffic or attention through social media sites. Then there’s email marketing which is more potent if you have a database of consumers or people you wish to directly target. Email marketing services often comprise sending your target audience email newsletters which is a great way of updating your customers about new offers, special promotions or the latest happenings with your product or brand.

Another important aspect of digital marketing is web design. However, most companies do not give it the importance it deserves. Think of it like this: while your marketing may grab eyeballs and compel people to take action, your website design is what usually decides whether they will make the purchase or not. Many studies have concluded that around 70% people decide the credibility of a business based the design of its website. It also has an impact on conversion as changing your website layout for a campaign can work very favorably for you. So we can conclude that web design services and web developing services should figure high on your priority list while planning a campaign or for increasing the value of your brand.

More advanced services comprise SEO and SEM. SEO, which stands for Search Engine Optimization is an extremely important component of digital marketing. SEO is the process of improving the visibility of a website (and thus, a brand) on the search engine result pages such as Google, Yahoo and Bing among others. SEO services consist of website SEO audit, on-page SEO, link development, SEO content writing and content optimization. A smart SEO strategy will ensure that your brand ranks consistently high in search results. SEM stands for Search Engine Marketing and it is a form of Internet marketing which involves promotion of websites by increasing their visibility in search engine results page primarily by purchasing ads. Now, SEO and SEM might sound like they have the same function but that is not true. While the purpose of SEO is to get better organic search results, SEM helps you search engine users via paid links in addition to organic search in order to send them to your website.

Make sure the digital marketing agency you engage provides the full spectrum of digital services.

Source: Free Articles from ArticlesFactory.com

5 Heavyweights in the SEO Battle

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There are over 200 factors that influence how your site will appear in the organic search results. Some of them have a small influence while others play a major role in the ranking process. Today we are going to talk about 5 factors that can make a significant difference in how you well your website performs in Google.

1. User Experience

You have undoubtedly heard that user experience is an important factor; but how is user experience measured by Google for the purpose of ranking your site?
– Click thru rates
– Time on Page
– Bounce Rate
– Return Visits

2. Social Signals

Last week I mentioned that social signals could no longer be ignored and that they have a meaningful and lasting impact on rankings. Not all signals are weighted equally but a focus on getting more of the following signals will translate into more search traffic and higher rankings.

– Facebook Shares
– Facebook Likes
– Tweets (even more impactful is tweets come from authority account)
– Google +1s
– Video Embeds/Syndication
– Social Bookmarks / References

3. Brand Searches

For a long time in SEO there has been a struggle to separate fake websites from actual businesses. One solution for doing this is to consider the number of branded searches that occur for a website. If people are searching for several variations of your brand name, you are much more likely to be a legitimate company. Promoting your website offline at networking events, on print materials, and giving presentations is a good way to increase branded searches.

4. Content Quantity and Quality

As illustrated in the case study by Quicksprout the length of content corresponds directly with the average ranking.

ave-content-length

If you think about factor #1 which was user experience, you can see that longer content can positively influence time on page, return visits, and reduce bounce rates. Combine that with the fact that longer content is more likely to attract links and it clear why it leads to better rankings in many cases. Remember though, if you write a long piece of content that is not useful, you are just wasting your time.

5. Links

Regardless of what you hear, links are still extremely important if you want your site to rank well. The type of links you need have changed and the methods that work well for building links have also changed. If you plan to do link building in 2015 take a moment to stop and think about how natural links are formed.

– Social shares put content in front of interested bloggers
– People link to an updated piece of content of one better than an existing piece they link to
– Your email list receives notice of new content and share/link to it

From: http://goo.gl/4aVS1e

5 Mistakes to Avoid When Giving Web Design Feedback

Blog: Design Articles No Comments

By Roy Chomko, President of Adage Technologies- From Website Magazine

Providing effective – and meaningful – Web design feedback can sometimes be a difficult process. Critiquing a designer’s work is not always fun, but it’s necessary when collaborating on a project.

It’s important for marketers to understand what is considered constructive feedback and what is deemed useless so designers can produce the best possible results.

Completely ripping apart a designer’s work won’t create better designs. On the other hand, giving too little feedback won’t be very helpful either. Instead, website owners, project managers and the like should find a happy medium between being too critical and too passive. Leaning too much on one approach will only damage the relationship and fail to get the design where it needs to be.

Here are five mistakes to avoid when giving feedback to a designer:

1. Demanding Instead of Explaining

Demanding changes is easy; the difficult part is explaining why something needs to be fixed. It’s difficult for a designer to understand what’s wrong with a specific aspect of the design if all that is said is “remove this image” or “make that orange instead of red.” When providing feedback, make sure to evaluate the problem and clarify why it needs to be changed. This allows the designer to come up with an alternative, more suitable design. Doing so also helps designers gauge what the manager likes and what appeals to customers, which is helpful for future projects.

2. Being Too Vague

Stakeholders shouldn’t expect designers to know exactly what they’re thinking. If feedback is unclear, the designer is left trying to determine what is actually expected of them. Everyone needs to be specific and tell the designer (or design team) what works and what doesn’t. It’s better to be straightforward with feedback rather than waste time going through multiple rounds of edits.
To avoid vague feedback, try using the phrase “it’s too…” If there’s a particular area of the design that needs some work, use those words to complement the feedback. For instance, saying something is “too distracting” is much more helpful than saying “I don’t like this.” It’s easier for a designer to rework a certain aspect than entirely redesign it. It’s crucial to be as specific as possible so designers can figure out the best approach to take going forward.

3. Having Too Many Cooks in the Kitchen

When working with a large group of people, project managers risk running into the issue of too many conflicting opinions. Essentially, it is easy to start losing sight of the main objective when each person contributes their own individual preferences and viewpoints. It’s not the designer’s job to please everyone, so it’s essential a team focuses solely on the components with the most reasoning.
If one person says, “I don’t like the font,” that won’t help the designer decide what the entire group or even the brand’s customers want. However, if the group as a whole agrees that the font is “too simple,” or “it won’t appeal to customers” then it is an issue to bring up with the designer. Don’t let personal opinions get in the way of the overall design goal.

4. Dwelling on the Negatives

While it’s important to determine what isn’t working, managers shouldn’t place too much emphasis on what they don’t like. Try to provide at least three positive comments so the designer knows what works and has some idea of what direction to take.

5. Being Disrespectful

It’s easy to get consumed by a project, from the constant communication to the countless edits to the time dedicated to making the finished product, but that’s no excuse to throw manners out the window. Everyone involved in the project should feel comfortable enough to voice their thoughts and opinions. There may be a certain part of a design one person doesn’t like, but that doesn’t mean he or she has to tear the whole thing apart. Instead, approach the situation in a more constructive manner. It’s important to be honest with a designer, but also be respectful.

– See more at: http://www.websitemagazine.com/content/blogs/posts/pages/5-mistakes-to-avoid-when-giving-web-design-feedback.aspx?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=newsletter#sthash.TvVn5en3.dpuf