Dense Content

Content Density

This the concept that deals with the idea of avoiding superficial posting. Content these days has become quite superficial and that does prospective customers no good. The goal with content should be to highlight your uniqueness, your differences, from your competition. The challenge comes with keeping it interesting. Getting truly lengthy and in-depth on your website can take you straight down the rabbit hole and you’ll lose your audience.

Creating your dense content is only half the battle.

 The other part is identifying what works best with your audience. Is shorter content better? Or something more creative and in-depth? Based on that kind of feedback you can focus on keywords and be specific to your product or service and price. If you can get more creative you may prefer more shorter write ups to draw in your audience without overwhelming them. Finally, be sure to include local terms or locations of significance that will mean something to your clients. Phew! Lots to remember but the most important part is to stay connected to your clientele. Try to put yourself in their shoes as you work your write ups. Lucky for you, Marlin specializes in dense content and local clientele!

NAP – Name, Address, and Phone Number. Local Strategies to Boost Your Business

As obvious as this seems, you’d be amazed how difficult it can be to find this information on a business homepage. Aside from the basic importance of letting potential customers know how to contact you, NAP data is actually used by search engines when local searches are performed. If your NAP is prominently part of your website, each time it is cited in directories or web searches counts toward your local SEO. To ensure absolute maximization, you’ll want to add all of your business’ details to your Google My Business listing.

Part of the NAP puzzle is accessibility. You need to keep your NAP data consistent, easy, and straightforward to make it easy for Google and other search engines to snap it up. Another little tip, Don’t put your address and contact info in an image. Business owners tend toward flashy, eye catching images and graphics but typing actual text is better for SEO purposes.

Interestingly enough, in the last two years people have been using questions more and more instead of keyword searches. Google has begun returning search results that don’t require users to click on search results to get details. You can even test this thesis. Search a famous person on Google, their details will show as a “knowledge panel.” If you type in a question like “how to” or “where is” and you’ll get a Featured Snippet at the top of your results page or a map with locations and Google My Business listings.

Who cares, right? But imagine what that sort of return will do for your business when a potential new customer is on the hunt for a convenient nearby option and you pop up with all your data AND a mapped location. You’ve taken the variables out of the game and guided someone directly to you. Everybody wins!

Search Engine Optimization vs Pay-Per-Click Advertising

Search Engine Optimization and Pay-Per-Click advertising are some of my favorite topics because of their great use use for small businesses. I think it’s important we regularly get into the nitty gritty of what these two marketing strategies bring to the table so everyone understands our focus for your success.

We’ll define each first. SEO, or Search Engine Optimization, is a plan to get your website noticed by search engines. You want your business showing at the top of a results page when someone searches anything that has to do with your business. If you are a real estate agent, you want your name and website first when someone searches “realtor” in your area. PPC, or Pay-Per-Click advertising, is a plan that actively places your website at the top of a search results page with an ad that looks like an organic result. Both require an investment on your part. For SEO you pay a company like Marlin; PPC you may pay Google directly.

There are pluses and minuses to both options AND let’s be clear, both are good options. SEO doesn’t show you results as quickly but costs less. That being said, paying for PPC directly to Google or Bing or your personal favorite search engine has the benefit of demystifying the secret to getting to the top of the search results page. You’ve already paid them to be there!

In a perfect world, you have the means to utilize BOTH strategies. You’re able to ensure traffic and revenue from every angle and avoiding putting all your eggs in one basket. Your PPC efforts can get you noticed/increase traffic immediately while your SEO work gets you rolling with keyword results and moves you up the results page. If you’re not able to dive into both strategies at once, that’s okay! We can mold and flex your campaign to maximize results and get your website noticed! Call Marlin today and let us build your online advertising plan!