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The Foundations of Good Content Marketing

Allow Online Site Exposure to take you deep into the world of content marketing. Below the surface, is the core of whatever it is you’re trying to accomplish online. Words certainly hold a power all their own however, without a largely invisible foundation which intensifies your words, they may as well be as invisible themselves. Here is the first of three “going deep” lessons we’ve learned over the years which you’ll find might make a world of difference in the visible content strategy you us for your actual website content.

Be consistent

Now this may seem strange but take a moment to think on your favorite television program. It comes on once a week, we’re not talking about binging on Netflix here. In a small way, you really look forward to watching it. When it’s time for it to come on, you’re set up and ready on the couch or in bed, thrilled to check out for an hour following a tough day at work. Now imagine, tonight’s episode is just a rerun. Or worse, it was shoved off the air by a special event or promotion. While it’s certainly not the end of the world, it’s a major bummer. Imagine canceled tickets to a live event. That would be even worse.

The point is that the thing you’re a fan of has let you down by not being on when you expected. Now, multiply this scenario by a few time. Imagine the show or concert taking weeks to come back or never returning at all. You’d likely give up waiting pretty fast. This something to remember with your own marketing strategy, no you’re not on cable but you have an audience waiting for regularly updates. They depend on you in some small way and if you can’t be reliable for them, they’ll move on to another place to get the info, entertainment, or education, and fast. So, be consistent and constant about your posts.

Let Online Site Exposure know how consistency, whether for the good or the bad, has affected your business in the comments below.

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Mobile Indexing in Google Limbo

On October 16, 2016, Google promised it was soon to be rolling out a mobile-first search index. But as of now, all the folks scrambling to get their businesses ready for this major renovation are waiting in a state of limbo with no date in sight. But, the Director of Search Strategy at Pi Datametrics noticed that certain mobile sites were being dropped out of Google and replaced with their desktop versions.  Although this switch seemed unprecedented, but at Online Site Exposure we believe it may be a sign that the launch may be coming soon.

Interstitial Speculation

Some tech gurus are suggesting that this turbulence is a result of Google’s recently instituted penalty against intrusive mobile interstitials, but this connection was ruled out after it was determined that there was no link between the sites that were dropped and the presence of interstitials. When a concerned user Tweeted Google’s webmaster trends analyst, John Mueller, he responded by saying that this issue may be a result of the way the sites were being managed, and not because of any actions by the company. This left all those still waiting in the wings for the big change wondering if that were true or just a smoke screen to cover preparations for the launch.

IT’s Sherlock Holmes

To get to the bottom of this mystery, director Glynn Davies conducted an investigation to determine if, in fact, the affected sites contained configuration errors that were then being “punished” by Google’s undercover switch.  However, the results showed that this was not the case.  Although some sites were configured incorrectly, other affected sites were properly configured, leaving the detectives to continue their search for the cause. ASOS, a major fashion retailer, whose site was affected, reported that its mobile and desktop sites were behaving strangely even though they were correctly configured. Finally, on February 8th, Google’s Mueller tweeted a confirmation that there was, indeed, a “quirk” that occurred but was unintentional.

The Glitch Continues

At the time of this report, the glitch is still unresolved. This only makes all of these fluctuations even more mysterious, mainly because no one seems to be able to figure out what is really going on.  According to several watchdogs, it could be that this issue is totally unrelated to the anticipated mobile-first indexing and instead related to any number of unrelated algorithm updates conducted throughout the year. Unfortunately, there is no way of knowing the source of these issues. But at Online Site Exposure we believe it is reasonable to speculate that because this glitch specifically affects mobile sites, it could very well be connected to Google’s testing the new index prior to its implementation. Until then, we all remain in limbo.

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Two Elements that Could Be Missing from Your Content

When you’ve worked extremely hard on an article the last thing you want is crickets from the web. If it’s not getting you attention, even though you researched and edited it to perfection, what is wrong? What’s the deciding factor if it’s not effort? More often than not, it boils down to two elements: If the content doesn’t hook readers in the first couple of sentences, it won’t matter how good the rest of it is, they’ll click on. If you don’t plainly express your idea, readers can lose interest after the introduction because there’s no incentive to keep on reading. How do you write both a strong hook and a strong idea? Allow Online Site Exposure to help break it down.

What’s a hook? What’s the idea?

A hook is a writing technique which does exactly what it sounds like. The hook is an undeniably interesting piece of content that it grabs the reader’s attention so they feel compelled to keep reading. The hook works together with the headline. The definition of an “idea” is: “A thought or suggestion as to a possible course of action.” That’s what we’re attempting to do when we write. We want to share a thought or suggestion and inspire action. Why is your idea so critical? Because it drives the payoff the reader will get from reading the article. We all wish to impact individuals so much that they share our ideas. This increases the number of people you can reach.

How do You Create a Clear Idea?

One technique to create a clear idea is to initially create a very literal headline. This forces you to classify the precise promise you’re making to the reader. If you can’t identify this, then you can’t deliver a payoff. Once you’ve written a literal headline and established you know the exact idea you wish to communicate, you’ll use that to:

·         Decide whether you have enough substance to deliver a payoff.

·         Edit strongly to guarantee a payoff.

Here are three examples of literal headlines:

·         Being busy isn’t why we’re burnt out; it’s because our emotive bandwidth has been totally used up.

·         Here’s why you should say “thank you” in these seven situations you usually don’t.

Headlines needs to hook a reader’s interest without giving away the payoff, or else they won’t read the whole article. So, these will change, there just a means to understand your idea.

Writing a Great Hook

Introductions can be difficult to write. However, if you have written over 400 words of an introduction, there is a good chance there is a decent hook sitting somewhere near the 200-word mark. Keep in mind, your hook doesn’t have to be the most interesting thing a person has ever read, or could ever read. It just needs to be interesting enough to keep the reader reading. Asking a question, focusing on the reader, and adding dialogue are great hooks. A simple exercise Online Site Exposure urges you to perform regularly is pay attention to the articles which you have read all the way to the end and have shared. These are likely splendid examples of both factors.

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Getting Consistent Traffic to Your Content

What sparks traffic? Is it a noteworthy social share? Do you spend a fortune on a pay-per-click? Catching a link in another newsletter? It can be all or none of these things, but newsletter links certainly hold power. Once an email-based audience is built, you can create custom content which you know will work with your customers because you’ve taken the time to research what they’re interested in. An example, our biggest traffic days at Online Site Exposure is the day we release the weekly email digest. Below we’ll discuss the power of these email newsletters and how they can help you.

Audience Equals Email

What we teach here at Online Site Exposure is simple: build an audience with appreciated content prior to selling. The audience of an internet publisher has several components such as social platforms, sites like Google, YouTube channels, podcast subscriptions, RSS, and email. However, all aspects of audience are not equal. Email is the most beneficial audience channel. A Twitter post or Facebook ad which has been boosted don’t get you nearly the same traffic as an email newsletter. High placements on Google and the like are gold. However, if that traffic leaves without becoming a part of your real audience, what was it really worth? Your clicks from an email newsletter post simply do more work for you.

Email Converts Better

When it comes to content distribution, don’t forget about email. You’re likely better off just carefully focusing on building the best list of email subscribers. These steady traffic blasts to your content can help with social and placement and they also drive what you’re really working towards which is sales. No matter how successful your social media and placement efforts are, the area where prospects convert to customers is still email. Think about these stats:

·         Monetate- Email marketing drives more conversions than any other marketing channel.

·         McKinsey- Email is 40x more successful at obtaining new customers than Facebook or Twitter.

·         DMA- When it comes to purchases made because of receiving a marketing message, email has the highest conversion rate at 66%.

Content Leads to Sales

A valuable email list is made through the promise of valuable content. Why not just spam them with your offers afterward? Today’s savvy customer is more likely to unsubscribe as soon as the pitches begin. When you keep posting helpful content, you’re training people to open your emails and click on your links. You want your emails to be opened and expected. Then, when the occasional offer comes, it will be viewed with a much more compliant frame of mind. Email is still useful after all this time. Try this out for yourself and you’ll see that when it comes down to it, a smart content marketing strategy is chiefly an email marketing strategy.

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Build Trust and Improve Influence with Content Marketing

To know, like, and trust. At its core, these three points are why we perform content marketing. If you’re not getting all of them, your content probably isn’t successful. Traditional marketing focuses a lot on the know aspect, creating awareness in the marketplace. When choosing between two or more brands we know, trust becomes critical. This is one of the advantages which content marketers have over competitors who don’t create and freely share helpful content. Below, we at Online Site Exposure have put together a few techniques on how to create this content that provokes trust.

The “Reluctant Conclusion” Method

A traditional persuasion method is the “reluctant conclusion.” You detail to the audience how you had a change of heart because of overwhelming evidence. For instance, you’ve currently raised the price of a product and learned that it’s making your sales tank. You could simply silently return the item to the previous price and hope no one notices. Or, if you explain that you were wrong about the increase in price and will be putting it back you’ll build more trust and favor with your audience. In the meantime, you’ve also met your aim of improving latent sales. It’s a triple win scenario when you count the added trust that you’ve built with the audience for future items and promotions.

The “Personal Sacrifice” Method

Another tactic used when trying to build trust through content marketing is the “personal sacrifice” method. Have you ever taken a free online workshop? Or used a white paper for your own success? Or read something for free which really helped you out? Well, those all could have been paid products, but the company decided not to charge for them so they could help more people. This is very common and you’ve probably seen it in a great many places. You just need to handle it well. The key to handling it well is, as always, to understand who your audience is. This is very important because it allows you to speak directly to what they need and what to read about.

The “Abraham Lincoln” Method

And lastly, there’s the “Abraham Lincoln” method. Lincoln was an interesting-looking fellow with a Deep South accent and a whiny voice. When he performed speeches when he was running for president, he added fuel to his own fire by stating that he was a poor public speaker with nothing new to offer. However, Lincoln was an extremely bright man with an outstanding grasp of the country’s problems. He reduced expectations by making his audience see him as a sincere fool, and by the end of a speech he had won them over completely. So, if you’re a real estate agent who also does content marketing, it’s easy to claim that you’re not an expert, even as you start to offer some persuasive copy. Again, know your audience for this one.

Online Site Exposure hopes you have learned some helpful tips. Tell us your experience below.

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Email Marketing for Novices

One could argue that the inbox has become our beach, our place of solitude amongst the chaos. Therefore, as a team of entrepreneurs, we here at Online Site Exposure believe that building successful email marketing campaigns has never been more important than it is now. There is a main problem is that most people do not how to do it right. Tweets, likes, and status updates have taken the place of “You’ve got mail,” but there is always a way to reach out to new clients, and we will help you understand how to do it right, and build it from the ground up.

Get your foot in the door

Here at Online Site Exposure we know that no email campaign was ever built without getting permission to get started, so first we’ll need to focus on building a sizable email list. There are many ways you can do this of course. Some prefer to give something away for free while others simply offer a newsletter or product updates. It is important to have a clear purpose when ask for an address. This is where a strong call to action comes into play and copywriting is super important. Simply posting “enter your email for updates” isn’t going to get anyone excited to do so. Instead, consider sharing specifics like a free catalog or important updates.

Use your head

When you need inspiration to do your job better, at one point or another. It doesn’t matter whether you’re a marketing vet who has navigated through years of changing tech or a newbie fresh out of college, we all need new inspiration. It helps us get through creative ruts. Email marketing entails sending one message to many people-dozens, hundreds or even thousands of people. It may sound complex, intimidating, and time-consuming but it’s not as hard as you might think. Before you start designing, writing, and sending campaigns, you should define your audience.

When all else fails, mimic

While email has managed to stand the test of time, many marketers have failed to update their strategies since its inception. So to ensure you're sending modern emails that warrant some of your recipients' precious time and attention, you will want to see what others have done. Some of the best tricks and tips, you can see by just looking in your inbox. Things like clear concise copy and the reflects a relatable benefit of using the service. If you're going to change the way you communicate with a lead or customer, give them clear, fair warning so, if they aren't on board, they can make the necessary adjustments to keep their inbox clean.

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Content Converting to Email Subscriptions and Sales

When we discuss content marketing strategy, it is important to know what it look like in real life and how it relates to email marketing. Content marketing is a wider specialty than email marketing, but your email list will be the central focus. In fact, the chief purpose of content which is dispersed in other ways, such as social, search, and ads, is to start the email relationship. So, allow us at Online Site Exposure to walk you through an invented campaign which takes you from a recognized strategy to a successful funnel.

Objective and Audience

What is the objective? Here, it’s to sell StudioPress Sites to those who want to create a new website. In the “who” phase, we recognize a single identity that we’ll keep in mind as we create content. This example will focus on freelancers wishing to move away from serving clients by transferring to a product-based business model. The “persona” here will be John. John wants to develop a business based on his passion for cooking, not by educating people about writing. He wants to create his own site that he can break from the many managers he feels he has as a freelancer.

The What Phase

We classify the information order required to achieve John’s goal. And because we’re trying to sell a StudioPress Site, we’ll also need to communicate why this product is the best. Here are some broad thoughts that we will turn into specific pieces of content:

·         John needs content which addresses his desire to go from just a hobby to a career.

·         The trustworthiness of the source will be vital to overcoming any skepticism.

·         Given his freelance practice, John needs to know that he will have time to do this.

·         He’ll need a way to authenticate his ideas and acquire confidence.

·         John wants to see specific instances of how those like him have been successful.

These points can be mapped as a sequential journey. Or, you can create a story outline for each piece.

The How Phase

We take what we know to determine how best to present the information. John is a creative business individual striving to become more entrepreneurial. Describing the full process as an act of creation will attract John’s sense of pride as a professional writer. We think of how this type of person will want to be addressed and incorporate it into the content’s tone. The goal is to powerfully distinguish the advice from the stuff business-opportunity individuals are looking for, and instead present this as an effective way to build a business which serves others and has value to the owner. When you know how you need to write something, you just have to execute it. Stay tuned for more from Online Site Exposure about actually writing content.

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Developing a Strategy for Building Link Campaigns

Link campaigns require strategy and link building can be difficult and time-consuming. Plus, you won’t be able to see results quickly. However, strategic link attainment is essential to accomplish long-term enhancements in organic placement. You can create “quick win” links from time to time, but you will need a continuing operation to attain supportable outcomes. A campaign model guarantees research, strategy growth, and enduring review and analysis as a venture advances. Whether you’re forecasting your pursuit of links in 2017 or continuing an existing project, December is a great month to review your campaign strategy and get ready for the next year. We at Online Site Exposure have put together a short list of things to help you take advantage of this time.

Perform an Audit

Website audits should be the basis of your entire site development strategy. They are crucial for successful link campaigns. It is beneficial in planning a campaign and it’s important to audit a site intermittently to confirm there aren’t any new or lurking problems affecting performance. An audit should divulge:

·         technical issues: crawling/indexation, slow page speed, title tags, H1/2/3s, meta descriptions

·         internal linking openings

·         redesigns or migrations issues: 404s, 302s, redirects, orphaned pages, images vs. text

·         forgotten or undervalued pages: pages which serve as a resource to your audience

·         content gaps

Issues can make links less effective. If Google isn’t crawling your site, links won’t impact traffic. There are several great tools to help you understand site technical performance like:

·         Raven Site Auditor

·         MySiteAuditor

Review Current Link Strategy

You’ll need to understand how you’ve captured links previously and which pages appeal most to your audience. If you’re debuting a new campaign, investigate your backlink profile. For existing campaigns, check your reports and site’s backlink profile. Analyze your links and ask yourself:

·         What kinds of sites link the greatest?

·         Which kinds of pages have the most links?

·         What led to links? What authorized our link acquisition?

·         Which tactics fell short?

·         What was the typical turnaround time on gaining a link?

·         Could relationships be leveraged in the future?

·         Can you revisit old prospects?

Reviewing past strategies and analyzing results must be part of the link-building process.

Analyze Your Competitors

Competitive analysis is a keystone of any strategy review. Studying the present competitive landscape will inform your campaign and help you understand why competitors are placing and you’re not. You’ll also be able to set reasonable expectations, goals, and find new link opportunities. Evaluate and identify the following:

·         Number of fresh links with competitors

·         Compare competitor backlink profiles to yours

·         Common and successful strategies

·         Potential tactics you could use

·         Pertinent link openings

·         Changes in competitive landscape and marketplace

·         Broken links going to competitors

·         New industry relationships

You should revisit this at least once a year, though it often continues throughout the campaign. There are always more terms to target. At Online Site Exposure, we love to hear about your tricks of the trade. Let us know in the comments below.

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The Effects of Google Pushing into Branding & Messaging

Branding is important to all marketing clients. No matter which marketing channel utilized, you want firm control over the look and feel of marketing collateral. Which is why the idea of Google creeping into PPC branding makes many very nervous. Are automatically created PPC ads a substitute for individual, hands-on creation? To find out, Online Site Exposure takes a closer look at two recent AdWords initiatives: responsive ads and those added by AdWords. Below we’ll talk about our concerns based on what is currently known. We would love to hear your thoughts and concerns about the issue in the comments below.

Responsive Advertisements

Some changes have taken place in the PPC ad world. Google changed GDN (Google Display Network) campaigns. Until lately, PPC authorities had two ad choices on this network: display ads and text ads. Usually, display ads are bigger and show at the top or side of web pages. Text ads are smaller and fit practically anywhere. While we naturally set up both for clients, text ads seemed to convert really nicely for some industries. However as of January 31, Google discontinued text ads in GDN campaigns. In its place, advertisers are to use new responsive ads. Responsive ads seem great, like a responsive website, they can render in assorted sizes for display on several devices. You won’t have to make different ads for different mediums.

The Problem with These Ads

AdWords offers four options for these ads: Scan website, Upload, Stock images, and Recently used. We tested the “scan website” first. Not good. The images chosen were hidden deep in the site and had little significance. Now the upload option, which needs two images and a logo. It was pretty easy to use and created three ads: logo, square, and vertical. However, the results weren’t great. The ads were ugly and we lacked control over the result. The logo was the best, maybe we could just use that one? Nope. Advertisers must permit all three ads, or none. At least we still have display ads, right? Alas, as we continued testing, we found that responsive sometimes take priority over display ads.

Added by AdWords

Basically, Google is testing automatically adding new text ads in AdWords accounts. So far, these are being created by real people. The process may become automated as it grows however. The ads are built on existing ads and landing page content. The idea is to create ad distinctions which could help with campaign performance. Pilot participants are told to not pause them and let them run indefinitely. Likely, ads that perform poorly will run less. What’s particularly concerning is that Google defaults these ads to live. Advertisers must pause them themselves. Most of our concerns relate to the unknown. The details remain murky. Things might clear up and maybe Google will listen to feedback and tweak the programs. Online Site Exposure certainly hopes so.

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The Best Content Marketing Suggestions You Could Ever Need

Creating the right content to engage with customers has become increasingly important. It is one of the most important parts of any comprehensive online promotional effort. Having a full and detailed understanding can only help you gain more online traction and build a stronger brand. There are so many different content marketing and analytics tools available for users. Here at Online Site Exposure you can learn the best ones to use for your business. There are plug-ins to get content shared and scheduled and anything else you could possibly need to reach your customers and possible audiences.

Mistakes to avoid

Content marketing is both a science and an art. Aside from creativity, there are also proven strategies and tools that can be used and implemented to drastically increase your chance of success. One of the biggest things that you need to look at is evaluating what you do and do not know about this industry. To be successful, you need to constantly be up to date with the rapidly changing field of content marketing. Another mistake to avoid is to ignore your measure of what’s working. You need to constantly be measuring what is working and what is not working as part of your efforts.

Things to consider

You will want to have a clearly defined target audience. In other words, know who you are writing to attract, who will buy your product and who is genuinely interested in your service. From there, you will want to give the user several options to interact with your website and the content on it. One major thing though, you will want to start by educating and guiding before forcing your product down their throats. Not that you can’t sell at the same time, but in the long run, you will be more successful if you are patient about your product.

What to do with your visitors

So, you’ve got great content, your website is fully optimized, what now? You do not want to, metaphorically, be sitting in a full store with no customers. What you need to do is make sure that someone visiting your website can interact and “opt in” and leave their contact information, like their email address. If you can’t make that conversion, dust is going to start to settle and here at Online Site Exposure we want to make sure that you aren’t having to rest on your laurels. One of the best ways to make the conversion is to offer free stuff. You can always get people to turn up for free stuff and there’s no exception online.

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How to Keep Your Small Business Blog on Schedule

Whether you are a professional blogger or a small business entrepreneur who wants consistent exposure, blogging on a daily basis can seem impossible. It takes a lot of time just coming up with creative business-related ideas, let alone writing about them in a cohesive, interesting way.  Plus, blogging never feels quite as important as the many other responsibilities that are hanging over your head to keep your business afloat. But there’s plenty of research that points to the benefits of blogging that can’t be ignored. It drives traffic to your website, helps convert traffic into leads, enhances your brand, and can provide long term results.

Prioritize Your Business Responsibilities

So how do you fit in this very important but often ignored element of your business? Because it’s not THE most important thing on your “to do” list, it can still get stashed on the back burner. You still may not be convinced this is really a priority, but based on the research, believe it. Make it one of your priorities in your daily routine. Set aside a time each day devoted to creating and posting your blog. But don’t allow it to stress you out if you miss one now and again. That’s the good part about it not being the top priority. Don’t allow it to increase your levels of anxiety that might already be associated with getting all the things done to keep your business successful.

 Know Your Limits

Let’s face it. There are days when you simply don’t have a lot of time to put into your blog. But a voice in your head says you need to put something out there in cyberspace just to make sure the world still knows you’re there. Perhaps you can break up a long blog into several shorter ones, and then post the pieces over time as a series. In addition, it seems like people today have a very short attention span and are more likely to read the shorter version, and then come back to read Parts II and III in the following days. If you would like specific suggestions on how to create a blog series, Online Site Exposure can offer you professional guidance you need.

 Change Things Up

On the days you wax prolific in your blog writing, go ahead and write 1200 words, if that’s what is pouring out of you. But just as you can break up one long blog post, you can simply write some long ones and some short ones. In fact, deliberately mixing them up is a great way to keep your audience interested. You can always go back and expand on the short ones later.  Even a single paragraph with some profound thought that just leaped into your brain would be fun to read. Or, perhaps an anecdote of an experience related to your business could be quite entertaining. Our company specializes in helping you write interesting content, so contact Online Site Exposure to find out more.

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Content Ideas to Generate Visibility

As we know, adding content to website and other venues can help to improve organic visibility. Throughout the market, there are a plethora of ideas, and today we at Online Site Exposure plan to toss out a few more for you to use. These content development ideas can help to generate more visibility when used appropriately.

These content ideas can potentially help increase conversions on a website as well. In this article, we’ve included some user-generated content ideas in addition to some ideas which will be most useful for ecommerce sites. To really boost visibility, these content ideas can also be shared on your social media platforms. Read on for helpful tips and tricks for producing content.

Forums

You’ve seen help or discussion forums everywhere on the web. They work for just about any topic. A Google-friendly forum, preferably hosted on your chief site, increases user-generated content and frequently improves the usefulness of a site. In addition, forum posts can do quite well in the results for sites like Google, Yahoo, and Bing. If you don’t provide a service or sell a product a forum can still be worth considering. On those sites, you may be able to get to decently high positions. For example, when we’re looking for answers for AdWords , the first stop is listings from the provider, but after we frequently check out answers from other forums, where I may learn about what they offer.

Reviews

To add unique, user generated content, you can also allow customer reviews for products, and in some instances services. These reviews can help improve conversion rates, of course they will need to be mostly good reviews. Look at Amazon’s approach. They include several reviews on single product page where customers are looking at the product and will find them effortlessly. Again, these reviews make the page more unique. This can be a common problem for a great deal of ecommerce sites. Amazon also incorporates a “read all reviews” link on that same product pages which opens another page. This gives the site at least two pages available to come back in searches.

Redoing Manufacturer Descriptions

If you sell products or services which come with descriptions made by the manufacturer than this one is for you. If you can, rewriting these descriptions can dramatically help with unique content. This can help with natural results and increase a site’s usefulness compared to other sites selling the same items. For a larger site, rewriting these descriptions can be quite the task. However, you could start with some important items and go from there or you may have the content team to handle it. Whether you rewrite them or not, it can help to encompass your descriptions with as much unique, useful content as you can. This is Online Site Exposure, and we’d like you to check back with us again soon for more advice about building your company’s website.

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Make Your Brand Voice Loud and Clear

How does someone know that content they view on different channels comes from your brand? If your logo didn’t appear with different pieces of your content, would it be identifiable to your audience? We are Online Site Exposure, and if you are blogging, posting on Facebook, Tweeting, or making offerings in numerous outlets your brand’s subject, you may inadvertently be sending out mixed messages. If you are not consistent in voice and tone as well as message, your brand identity will be compromised and no one will recognize you. You may be asking, “Does a consistent brand voice really matter?” The answer is a resounding “Yes!” Branding gurus everywhere agree that without positioning yourself as an easily identified and authoritative source in your area of expertise, your brand will get buried under a stockpile of miscellaneous data. You must speak in a loud and clear voice to be recognized.

Narrow Down Your Brand’s True Expression

First thing to do is gather all the stuff you have created – videos, web pages, e-books and social media posts – and look at it carefully. Which one make you stand out from your competitors? Which ones are at the heart of your message? Narrow them down to an elite few, which you create as samples to remind you of who you are and how you express your brand. Post them on a whiteboard for easy reference. The next step is to look carefully at the best examples and identify the common threads that tie all the pieces together.  Now, describe your brand voice in three words. It might be tough at first, but keep working with the various terms that come up until the three become obvious. Keep in mind the original reason why you created it, and what you want to accomplish. It could be “edgy, irreverent, authentic,” or any three that resonate with your brand to its core.

Make a Chart

Now that you have defined your voice, you can demonstrate how it manifests itself more tangibly in your content by creating a brand voice chart. It can be a very effective tool to ensure all of your output remains consistent by using the same voice. On your chart, create three rows, one for each word, and four columns named “Voice Characteristics, Description, Do, Don’t.”  For example, does “authentic” mean you are going to offer the “real deal” about your product or service, or you will say what you think, even if it is not the party line of the industry you represent? The more you work with this, the clearer and stronger your voice will be.

Clarify How to Put Your Brand Voice into Action

Good work so far! If you have a content writer team, these tools are handy ways to get everyone on board with a message that hits the mark every time. Meet with your team regularly, as the brand is a dynamic living thing that grows and moves as does the company. Each member should get a laminated copy of the brand voice chart to keep on their desk as a constant reminder, because you want to make sure all the cooks use the same recipe so no message “spoils the broth,” so to speak, of the brand. In addition, your brand voice chart should be reviewed and possible revised on a quarterly basis, because over time, you can tell which messages are working and which ones are not. (That’s the purpose of the “Do” and “Don’t” columns which should be updated as needed. Along with clarity, a voice refresh every once in a while keeps the brand alive. This is what we do at Online Site Exposure, and we would be happy to provide our branding expertise to you.

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Tips for Link Building Campaigns

So, you may have been told, whether it’s by clients or management, to get more links. It’s not an effective goal, no matter what you have been told, and at Online Site Exposure we are happy to explain why that is. I know that you want to please all persons involved, but your goals should be to broaden/deepen relevant portfolios and increase targeted referral traffic. Secondary initiatives should include things like increasing market awareness. The core measurements used for analyzing link prospects are relevance, value, and potentiality, and you will want to make sure that your links hit these.

What is a link building campaign?

Link building is a form of online marketing. As with such, you should start with goals. Knowing the goals of your campaign right at the start helps to ensure that you create a strategy that gives you the best possible chance of success. There are many parts of a link building campaign; some will be crucial to success and others will be helpful but not necessarily essential. Much will depend on a combination of your available assets and resources. It isn't as simple as build links one day and see improvements the next. This is particularly true in competitive industries.

How do we make this work?

You’re going to use an asset to attract and earn links. This can also be known as the hook that will make people care about what you offer as a business or blog and will entice them into linking you. Obviously, all assets will probably require an investment of some kind, but these companies approach link acquisition as a pure cash transaction. Buying links is risky and usually the risks will outweigh the potential loss, but it’s a great idea. You will need to analyze what types of links you need to get. Four of them, more specifically with the combinations available.

Why does it matter?

Who will care enough to link to your site? You can target localized content to capture the local market. There is nothing the target market appreciates than personalized engagement with a site or product brand and this is what a small business can target with social media platforms. Small businesses can effectively lure the target audience using loyalty to interaction as a foundation since large players fail to create that individualized atmosphere. You can also jump on trends as they are happening, getting in the thick of things right at the cusp, and riding the popularity wave to ensure some success.

A beginner’s guide: https://moz.com/beginners-guide-to-link-building

Types of Links: http://www.stuntdubl.com/2006/08/21/link-types/

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What Not to Do When Creating Small Business Content

So, you’re ready to market your business online. First off, FINALLY! It’s about time. Online marketing has been important for a while. Fortunatley you are getting involved at the start of a new strategy: content marketing. Rather than just throwing a few keywords on a web page, you’ll find actual content that includes valuable information such as facts about the business, tips of the trade and other things that consumers actually want to read. Before you get started throwing together your sentences, let Online Site Exposure give you the rundown of what not to do. By avoiding the following mistakes, you’ll put your business ahead of the competition allowing you to get more exposure.

Do NOT sell

This may seem odd to say considering the whole point of online marketing is to sell your business to consumers, but this is not the content people want to read. Everyone is already bombarded on a daily basis of social media ads, commercials, and other forms selling a business. When a person does a search of buying a home in Las Vegas, they don’t want to be consciously sold on an agent. What I mean to say is they want to actually learn about the housing market, the process of buying a home and see real examples of homes for sale rather than just be yelled at to hire a particular agent. Of course, you want to end your content with a call to action or you’ll completely void the point of your content. This should be subtle and thrown in casually at the end of the content like, “For more information about buying a home in Las Vegas, contact NAME OF AGENT today.” Short, sweet, to the point, and not annoying.

Do NOT worry about quantity

I can never stress enough that quality is more important than quantity. Here, let me say it again for the people in the back: QUALITY IS MORE IMPORTANT THAN QUANTITY. I know that content marketing is important online and that you do need a decent amount of blogs to make an impact on your Google ranking, but that doesn’t mean you should just mindlessly post blogs. When I say quality, I mean more than just being grammatical correct. You need to have engaging content that can actually grab the attention of a potential consumer. It needs to be interesting, informative and relevant. While the occasional infographic for the blog can be a nice change of pace and eat up less of your time, long, informative blogs should be the main show on your site.

Do NOT be inconsistent

When I say “inconsistent”, I mean that in multiple forms. For starters, do not be inconsistent with the frequency of your blogging. You’ll want to put out regularly blogs and stick to a schedule. While you don’t have to blog every day, you should set aside time to put out at least once blog per week. There are really no excuses not to do this considering it can time less than an hour’s time to do so. While missing the occasional weekly blog isn’t going to demolish the progress you have made, you should try your best to keep up with this schedule.

Another thing I mean by being “inconsistent” is with the content itself. You want to maintain your company’s vision that it has established. This means keeping the same tone of voice and writing style throughout all forms of online marketing and advertising. If the social media posts are light hearted and funny, maintain the same tone in your blogging by throwing in a few jokes rather than posting only serious content.

After reading this guide of what not to do, you should have a general idea of how to move forward and do it successfully. In case you get caught up in maintaining a blogging schedule or even just coming up with blog topics, you always have the choice to work with experts of the trade. If you are literally at a loss for words, contact Online Site Exposure and see how our services can put your business on the map.

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Tips for a Successful Hashtag Campaign

Everywhere you turn it seems that you are inundated with a new social media or more specifically a hashtag campaign, from restaurants and hotels (#food, #hotels) to weddings and sororities (#partyof2, #PHC), with even political parties getting deep into it (#imwithher or #feelthebern). The hashtag movement is growing and all-encompassing, and at Online Site Exposure we’d like to help you to make the most of this powerful new marketing tool. This is because it is the fastest way to increase engagement with fans/followers on social accounts. While brands and companies may choose to launch social media marketing campaigns for a myriad of reasons, in the end, they are looking to increase attention, customer engagement and brand affinity. The best thing about this type of marketing is that it usually does not require payment.

Set your goals

Do you know how to get started? Establishing a strong team and a plan will be one of the best ways to start. What does your brand or company want to ultimately gain with their hashtag? Do you want to gain a bigger following? Are you looking to be talked about online? Accumulate brand mentions? Once you find your focus and identify how your social campaign, you will be able to achieve your targets. Use it to organize your campaign’s short-term objectives for each of the social channels you’re using, team assignments, general content ideas you can build on and how you’ll use features of specific platforms

Pick your Platform

Should you use Twitter? Facebook? Instagram? Or should you focus on some of the lesser-known platforms? It depends. Once you have set your goals, you will want to pick the ones most suited to collect customer content on. The channels you choose must reflect your target audience. If you are a paint-by-numbers customized picture company, your focus will be completely different than a luxury hotel trying to drum up business.  It will help you hone in on what hashtag to use, and the next steps that you will want to take. Brainstorming, lists and determining your market audience will be the most beneficial.

Pick a Timeline

One of the biggest social media blunders is sporadic posting. The key to enhancing visibility and engaging consumers is regular posting. If you abandon your social media accounts for weeks at a time your consumers are much less likely to find you relevant. Life gets busy or you let go of the only person who had your passwords can be problematic, but do not fall behind. Once you have a timeline for a campaign and have identified major milestones, it is time to create a content calendar. Decide what you will be posting, which networks you want to publish to and when you will be posting it. Always include specific days and times.

Foster Customer Engagement

How do you get the word out there? You can focus on what you can do for the follower, because when companies do that, it comes naturally. The biggest trick is to create content that is interesting, compelling, and most importantly, relevant. Think about how what you are sharing will be of use to your target consumer. Will it help them save time? Will it teach them something new? Will it help them to save money? Whether it is a new quick and easy dinner recipe or a great coupon, consumers are always appreciative of content that they can use in their everyday lives.

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Why Branding is Important to Your Small Business

Just because you consider your business “small,” don’t think that how you brand yourself is not significant. You might be asking, “But I’m not a nationally recognized brand so what does it matter?” Well, if your goal is to grow and expand to perhaps becoming a household name like Amazon or Staples, how do you think these big companies did it? Yep. Branding. And with the internet as the fastest growing marketplace for products and services large or small, perhaps it’s time to take another look at what your product or service name could mean to your bottom line if it’s effectively branded.

Begin with One Customer at a Time

Like most small business entrepreneurs, you are probably more concerned about the selling end of your services or products than making a name for yourself. This is the right spirit, because it says to your customer that you have their best interests at heart and not just your ego. Let’s work with that for a minute. A customer decides to buy from you rather than a competitor. And because you did such a great job or provided a really good product, you have earned their trust. When they think of your company name, they think of good quality that is actually worth the money they spent. So, they tell another person, or even a group of their friends or relatives who then also call you when they need your product or service. The trust you earned has just multiplied. And, in your “small” universe, you have now become a brand.

Your Website Should be an Honest Expression of You

Now we move from the one-on-one customer relations – which you’ve done really well so far – to reaching an unknown audience in cyberspace. That would be the job of your website. The trick here is to translate the appeal of your hometown good ol’ boy or straight talk girl self into a persona that expresses that same authentic connection in person to an online presence. Interacting from your website with customers who decided to give you a rave review. Also engage as a representative of your business on social media sites like Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn, and regularly post videos of you having a conversation with the unknown customers as if they are your best friends. Of course, in each of these cases, you include links to your website to they can purchase your product, see the latest deals, and perhaps get coupons for additional purchases.

Get a Trusted Professional to Make Your Website Personal

Since you are an expert in your business but not necessarily a website engineer, find a good website professional or company that can put together all the elements that make your personality and the quality of your business shine through. One of the most important aspects of a website is includes ways to monitor where your visitors are going when they come to your site, and what they’re doing when they get there. The design should make sure the real you is expressed in every element, including the graphics, the content and the overall structure, as well as the ease of navigating the various pages.  Once all these elements come together, you are on your way to successful branding. We at Online Site Exposure are more than happy to offer you the branding advice you need.