How You Can Build the Links that Really Matter

As businesses of all sizes utilize digital marketing, building links becomes increasingly important for growth purposes. Back in the day there was no such thing as building links - marketing was mostly geared towards cold calling, direct mail and print advertising. Today, though, links are imperative. So much so that links can hit businesses' bottom line and link acquisition can help build the businesses bottom line, bring in some serious conversions and profits, and maximum results.

The article below talks about ten different types of links that really matter and how you can get them:

Notable advantages of having been featured on other publications/blogs’ content are:

• It can send qualified traffic, since the link is highly perceptible to readers.

• Passes higher amount of link value and helps improve domain authority, which in turn can influence the site’s overall search rankings.

• Brand impression, which also affect or help increase conversions, especially if your brand has been cited by trusted content publishers.

How to get them: 

• Creating useful content is just the start (whether its text, interactive or tools), as the process of getting natural in-content links relies on your content promotion strategies (using outreach, social media and link marketing).

• Invest on developing evergreen content assets that are specifically tailored for researchers and customers. This type of content often performs well in search results, especially for competitive  terms, which allows the content to continuously attract more possible linkers to it.

• Branding through providing exceptional products/services and exemplifying expertise through the brand’s content marketing efforts to build mind share.

• Build relationships with your readers and with other content publishers in your online space. This can extremely help improve the sharing process of your content and in attracting more linkers to your site.

• Bring more traffic to your content. The more visitors you get, the higher chances of getting potential linkers to your content. Check out these 50 traffic tips for content from Informly.

Courtesy of: InformlyLinks from Ranking WebpagesGetting links from pages that are already ranking on search results for both short and long tail queries matter a lot for so many reasons. But the first reason that really comes into mind is because, in a way, they are already considered as trusted sources by Google.
Why these linking pages matter?:

• They are able to get constant traffic (through search), which means it will also continuously send traffic to the pages they are linking to.

• The topical relevance of the content, based on the keywords they are ranking for, adds more value to the link. And thus may help in improving the linked pages’ search ranking.

• Content relevance will also be a key factor in attracting potential leads to the link’s destination, which means the link can help drive conversions as well.

• Scalable branding, given that you’re getting continuous brand impressions from the new visitors that the page is constantly generating.

How to get them:Join popular discussions in your online space (popular blog posts, forum threads, discussions on Q&A sites like Quora and/or online communities like News Hacker, Reddit and Inbound.org).
Popular discussions are more apt to be more visible on search results (especially for long-tails), since they contain most of the signals that search engines look for when ranking pages.
Adding value to these discussions and making sure that your contribution will standout will help you entice more of their incoming visitors to check out your site.Seed content on high authority UGC and document sharing sites (like Slideshare, Youtube, Pinterest, etc…). These sites have strong search share, which means your content hosted on these sites have better chances of ranking for your targeted industry terms.
You’ll be able to absorb continual traffic and build brand awareness, as your content on these sites get search-driven traffic.
Guest blog on authority sites in your field. Use some of your targeted keywords when contributing content on other publications in your industry, to get long-term value from your guest posts.
Get links from resources and/links pages that are already ranking for industry terms using the broken link building technique.Basically, there are 2 ways to get links from pages that have good search rankings:

• Add value to already existing pages with high potentials of ranking better (or sustaining its rankings) on search results.

• Create pages on other authoritative domains with links to your site that will gain its own search rankings.

Links from Authentic ReviewsLinks from positive online reviews are definitely one of the most sought after marketing opportunities by any business that offers products/services.
Why does it matter?

• Online reviews can send new customers.

• Authentic reviews from users/consumers help strengthen a business’ brand. It can also help maintain the site’s reputation on its branded search results.

• They can help improve the site’s overall search rankings, based on the sentiments and volume of positive feedbacks that the site/brand is receiving from other websites/blogs.

How to get them:

• Blogger outreach on a personal level – to actually get experiential reviews. Dan Cristo wrote an excellent post on how to get more reviews of your products 2 years ago, and you might want to check that one out.

• Create an affiliate program or a referral commission system to attract more bloggers in reviewing your product or services. Offer this as a value proposition when reaching out to bloggers (give higher commission rates to authority bloggers in your industry).

• Provide great products and services, or be exceptionally great with customer service (think Zappos). This can extremely help you get voluntary online reviews of your products/services. You can also offer freebies (promo codes, discounts, etc…) to customers who own blogs or have strong following on social networks. That might also increase the chances of getting links from them.

Links from Strong Social Brand PagesIntegrating content strategy with social media is a very effective approach in link building. Many people discover great content through social sharing, and that’s why it’s very vital to have strong social brand pages on social platforms where your target audience is.
Why does it matter?

• Brand pages on social platforms – like Twitter, Facebook, Google+, Pinterest and many more –allow you to generate traffic every time you promote both new and old content from your site.

• It’s an efficient channel where you can build relationships with your audience/followers, which can also result to more link opportunities, social shares and traffic.

• Sends out massive brand signals to both users and search engines – through the amount of followers, activity and interactions.

• Search engines use these external brand pages as signals to determine authority, which may also add weight to your site’s search rankings.

How to build a strong following base for your social brand pages:

• Let content drive your social media campaigns, by pushing out useful content on a regular basis and promoting them on social networks.

• Interact with the people who are sharing your content to get them to follow you.

• Share other influencers’ works to engage as well as to attract them in seeing your own works. Sharing useful stuff created by other brands/blogs is also a great way to nurture your followers.

• Make your social sharing buttons very visible on your site’s content to enhance their sharing rate.

• Promote your social media profiles on your site to encourage your visitors/readers to follow you. You can also cross promote your brand pages using the social networks where you already have built a strong following base.

You can read the rest of the article here. 

Aside from the tips mentioned in the article above, there are plenty of affordable marketing companies that will work within your budget to create a solid SEO and social media campaign. The great thing about utilizing companies is that they will manage the campaigns in their entirety, so you just sit back and focus on what matters most--growing your business.

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Exciting Advanced SEO Strategies for 2013

If you're a small or medium sized business it is very important for you to utilize search engine optimization or SEO as part of your marketing campaign because it will help to ensure that your business is searchable and that it will grow as you want it to. The key to profit, growth and wealth is a successful marketing campaign that incorporates search engine optimization, social media marketing and traditional marketing tactics such as direct mailing, email marketing and so on.

The slide show below is from an SEO trend presentation in June 2013. This presentation is very helpful for small to medium sized businesses that are looking to launch an SEO campaign as it includes some of the most important factors used in the realm of search today such as on-site technology, link development, online branding and so on:

Advanced SEO in 2013 - SEMTrends Iloilo 2013 from kaiserthesage

Aside from the tips mentioned in the article above, there are plenty of affordable marketing companies that will work within your budget to create a solid SEO and social media campaign. The great thing about utilizing companies is that they will manage the campaigns in their entirety, so you just sit back and focus on what matters most--growing your business.

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DIY SEO Tactics for StartUps

Many small businesses owners would probably run from the phrase SEO or Search Engine Optimization if they could. Why? Well, for many small businesses SEO campaigns can be pricey and too sophisticated to invest in. The downside to this is that Search Engine Optimization plays a major role in boosting your web presence and your entire business for that matter. Successful SEO campaigns could bring flocks of customers running your way...and in a reasonable amount of time. It's not a process that takes years if you know what you're doing. 

For small businesses who are on a shoestring budget there are various DIY SEO tactics that you can take advantage of. The article below discusses ten of these tactics--and all for little to no money:

Bootstrap SEO: An Affordable Solution

Bootstrapping, or do-it-yourself SEO, suits most small players who’d prefer to attempt SEO all by themselves instead of spending a large chunk of money. After all, SEO is not rocket science, and many website owners have amplified their traffic to spectacular numbers without having to become SEO specialists. 

Bootstrap SEO doesn’t guarantee success — and it’s not “free,” because you have to invest a ton of time. If you’re facing a tight budget where you can’t afford SEO services but want to optimize your website right away, however, this is the way to go. And if you’re already familiar with SEO ideas and concepts, the DIY method can be enormously beneficial. 

The Catch

#1: I’ll let you in on a little secret: DIY SEO is fun, interesting, simple, and straightforward… but it’s not easy. A consistent and prolonged effort is required if you want to see good results or returns.
#2: You’ll need basic on-page optimization knowledge. Check out this wonderful resource for on-page SEO. 

1. Write For Your Blog
Action: Write highly valuable and unique content and post it on your blog.Constantly updated content is the key to establishing value and making Google notice your website/blog. And in an increasingly competitive world, producing content that is unique and valuable (actionable) is mandatory. This helps you build keyword-rich and relevant content, which can then be used to generate traffic and drive business. 

2. Build Relationships & Publish Guest Blogs
Action: Connect with other businesses, websites, and blogs by emailing the authors personally.Somewhere along the line, you’ll figure out that interaction is a key factor in establishing brand reputation and authority. Guest posts are particularly useful for driving establishing credibility and authority, and generating powerful inbound links from established websites and blogs.
To reach that level, first you’ll need to build relationships with fellow bloggers in your field, get to know their work, and pitch them for guest posting opportunities. Along the way, you might even pick up a few ideas straight from the other horses’ mouths. 

3. Follow People/Businesses In Your Industry
Action: Follow relevant people/businesses on Twitter, LinkedIn, FacebookNothing gets instant visibility like following the right people on Twitter, Facebook, and other social media sites. After you create a social profile (on Twitter, Google+, Facebook, LinkedIn, etc.), you should start following relevant businesses and people.
There are usually hundreds, if not thousands. You can start by following 10 people every day. Pretty soon, you’ll get followed back by folks. You can use tools like FollowerWonk or WeFollow.com to find relevant users and businesses in your niche.
The benefit here is that you’ll align your business and your brand with industry movers and shakers. Engaging and interacting with these folks will result in exposure to other industry-related folks, driving inbound links, referral traffic, and credibility.

Read the rest of the article here.

Aside from the tips mentioned in the article above, there are plenty of affordable marketing companies that will work within your budget to create a solid SEO and social media campaign. The great thing about utilizing companies is that they will manage the campaigns in their entirety, so you just sit back and focus on what matters most--growing your business.

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Best Advertising Tips for the Small to Medium Sized Business

Marketing and advertising tactics have changed a lot over the last decade due to the rapid technological growth and social media. If you are a small business or company who has tried marketing the same way you did even just a few years ago it's likely that you're wasting a lot of money. The truth of the matter is that a wise business owner changes with the times and gets the most from both their advertising and marketing budgets.

Today there are a wide variety of tactics that can boost your conversions quite fast by utilizing inbound and outbound marketing tactics including, but not limited to:

• Social Media Marketing
• Search Engine Optimization
• Link Building
• PPC Advertising
• Backlinks
• Content Marketing

And so on...

There are many marketing companies that will provide all of the above for a reasonable monthly rate and in many cases, they will provide discounts or specials rates. However, if you're a business who is looking for the best solutions that you can handle on your own, the article below talks about the top ten low cost advertising techniques: 

• Create partnerships and cross promotions. Find other companies that hit your same target audience and are complementary to what you offer. Come up with a win-win barter proposal of how to steer clients to each other. Or, offer bundled promotions using the products/services of each to boost interest in both of your companies. Or, pool your marketing dollars together and create a campaign you could not afford on your own. It can be as small as one or two partners you barter with individually or a group, similar to the wedding industry where florists, hairstylists, veil makers, dress makers, bakers, and printers work together to help each other out.
• Find place-based advertising opportunities that are creative and free.Example: an author coming out with a book about parenting had post-it notes printed about it and they were posted above diaper changing tables in the area. A financial consultant had bookmarks created promoting his business and put them in financial books at local bookstores (very creative, however it may not have gone over well with the bookstore!). Think of how you could use your partnerships as mentioned in #1 for more place-based opportunities.
• Have an effective website. An old study says 70% of people will research online before walking into a store to purchase. That percentage is probably much higher now. A website is a must. There are free services you can use like joomla.org, etc. Or, you can use a blog format like WordPress.com. Having a custom made website with your domain and email is not cost prohibitive as some might imagine. Be sure to use search engine optimization (SEO) to bring people to your site, write articles and place them in free ezines to push people to your site; and use social networking to push people to your site (MySpace, Facebook, LinkedIn, etc.). Of course, it may require that you invest a little time in learning new technology that you may not be familiar with, but the reward is well worth the time invested.
• Teleseminars and webinars (webex.com) are cheaper than doing in-person seminars. This is good for businesses that have a long purchase process or a complicated product that is best sold as a demonstration, etc. You can also film a demonstration/presentation and place it on YouTube.com and your website.
• Leverage your workforce to spread the word. This can be accomplished through inexpensive flyers or coupons and/or magnetic signs on their automobiles. This can also be accomplished through word of mouth but it is far more difficult to control the message.

You can read the rest of the article here.

If you're a small to medium sized business that has yet to implement a successful marketing campaign, it's due time. Both inbound and outbound marketing is a way for you to build relationships with your current or prospective clients and grow your business -- faster than many of your competitors. Today there are many companies that you can hire -- and for a reasonable price -- to manage your marketing campaigns, like Classic Image. These companies will handle the day-to-day marketing needs of your campaigns while you can focus on what matters most... growing your business. In many cases you can get a reasonable quote to jump start your campaign, ensuring that you don't break your bank.

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Top 10 Marketing & Advertising Ideas of 2013 (So Far)

When it comes to marketing and advertising a business it's important to try to think outside the box. There is unlimited potential when it comes to marketing and the more creative you are with your tactics, the more your business will stand out (in most cases). There are many companies out there that will manage your marketing or advertising campaign entirely for a reasonable price, but how you go about launching the marketing campaign for your small to medium sized business is entirely up to you. 

Marketing and advertising your business can be a lot of fun, so why not let loose and think outside the box. The article below is from a recent article at SpringWise, in regards to the top 10 marketing and advertising ideas as of June 2013. These creative, fun ideas have made various companies and products stand out from the crowd: 

1. Magazine ad offers free wifi to readers   

Smartphones are everywhere these days, but finding that elusive free wifi connection to use them can be much more difficult. To advertise its Office 365 software, Microsoft teamed up with Forbes magazine and T-mobile to insert a miniature hotspot into selected copies of its May 6 2013 issue. The campaign, created with advertising tech firm Americhip, simultaneously promoted the validity of Microsoft’s cloud-based program and gave Forbes’ readership another reason to carry the publication with them – killing two birds with one stone.

2. In South Africa, drones repurposed to deliver beer to festivalgoers 

 Brand sponsorships at popular music festivals can be great for businesses, but often limit product choice for attendees. Looking to go that bit further to create brand engagement, Windhoek developed a system whereby revelers at the OppiKoppi festival – taking place in South Africa in August – can order a free beer through their GPS-enabled smartphone and promptly receive a can to their approximate location, delivered through the air via specially-repurposed flying robots.

3. Shopping cart-mounted tablet detects nearby items and offers recipes in real tim 

Having made our Top 10 Food & Beverage Ideas list last year for its innovative Recipe Receipt campaign, Hellmann’s returned to provide another unique way to experience the supermarket. Trialled in Brazil, the initiative saw shopping carts fitted with NFC-enabled tablets. When users placed a Hellmann’s product in their trolley, the display showed potential meal ideas they could make with the other items on the shelves next to them. According to the company, sales rose by 70 percent. This is a marketing campaign with serious potential as a future option for in-store advertising.

4. Thailand billboards can be used to build homes when they’re not in use 

It’s clear that in the age of internet, consumers know a lot more about brands and how they act on their social responsibility. In order to present itself as a people-centered business, Thailand’s HomePro DIY store collaborated with BBDO Bangkok to create The Other Side campaign. Since the country’s homeless population often reappropriate road-side billboards in order to create makeshift shelters, the company decorated the reverse of their advertisements with wallpaper and fitted them with practical shelves and hangers. When they’d served their use as marketing tools for HomePro, they could then be used to brighten up the lives of those less fortunate.

5. Concept store enables customers to make and share their own digital ‘look book’ 

Social media has arguably become an integral element to any business’s marketing strategy, although there are different ideas on how it can best be used. For the launch of the new Karl Lagerfeld Store in Amsterdam in April, the fashion label tapped into consumer desire to share purchases with friends and family by placing iPads in changing rooms, loaded with an app that enables shoppers to take photos of their look, apply a filter and post online. The store also enables visitors to leave their comments on the Karl Lagerfeld Facebook page via tablets located around the space. A great example of combining the online and offline worlds.

You may read the rest of the article here.

If you're a small to medium sized business that has yet to implement a successful marketing campaign, it's due time. Both inbound and outbound marketing is a way for you to build relationships with your current or prospective clients and grow your business -- faster than many of your competitors. Today there are many companies that you can hire -- and for a reasonable price -- to manage your marketing campaigns, like Classic Image.

These companies will handle the day-to-day marketing needs of your campaigns while you can focus on what matters most... growing your business. In many cases you can get a reasonable quote to jump start your campaign, ensuring that you don't break your bank.

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The Necessity of Integrating SEO and Social Media

Search Engine Optimization or SEO is a marketing tactic that is imperative to the success of small to medium sized businesses today, along with a strong web presence and advertising campaign. A successful SEO strategy can provide a business with the profit, growth and wealth it deserves even if it doesn't utilize social media, but integrating social media is a growing need for SEO campaigns, merging the two worlds as one and delivering a SEO campaign like no other. In fact, integrating social media and SEO can provide a faster success rate in your marketing campaign. 

While this is true, though, 50% of companies that struggle with SEO are not integrating social media, according to a recent survey. A research agency surveyed almost 600 business and marketing professionals in June 2013 and found that 15% of these professionals were "very successful" with SEO while 18% said they were not. 

According to the article below, the biggest difference between the very successful and not successful is their use of social media within their SEO campaigns: 

The biggest difference between the “very successful” and “not successful” companies is their use of social media as part of the SEO strategy. As the chart below shows, 38 percent of those “very successful” with SEO are doing extensive integration of social media, compared to only two percent of the companies that aren’t succeeding with SEO.
And a full 50 percent of the latter group — the ones not succeeding at SEO — aren’t integrating social media at all.

That chart only compares the successful and not-successful companies. Elsewhere in the study is a chart using the whole group of respondents, which shows that almost one-quarter of the group aren’t integrating social media at all into their SEO strategies.

Our columnist Trond Lyngbø just wrote about this last week, in fact. In his article, You’re Dead… If You Don’t Integrate Social Media & PR Into Your Local SEO Strategy, Trond said
A couple other interesting notes from the Ascend2 survey:

• 48 percent of all respondents said “creating original content” is the most effective SEO tactic — the top answer

• only 19 percent said “external link building” is the most effective, but that may be due to difficulty — 45 percent said it’s the most difficult tactic, more than all the other tactics they could choose from

• at 48 percent, “lack of budget and/or headcount” was listed as the most challenging obstacle to SEO success

Social content ranks well on search engines. What happens on TripAdvisor (a social review site) and Yelp (a business directory) stays on Google (a search engine). What people say about your business — their feedback, the ratings they leave — everything — is publicly accessible to your prospective buyers. And this, of course, impacts the research/purchase cycle.

You can read the rest of the article here.

As a small to medium sized business it is important for you to implement a social SEO campaign so that your company can experience the growth it deserves. Both inbound and outbound marketing is a way for you to build relationships with your current or prospective clients and grow your business -- faster than many of your competitors. Today there are many companies that you can hire -- and for a reasonable price -- to manage your marketing campaigns, like Classic Image. These companies will handle the day-to-day marketing needs of your campaigns while you can focus on what matters most... growing your business. In many cases you can get a reasonable quote to jump start your campaign, ensuring that you don't break your bank.

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Marketing Your Business on a Tight Budget

There's no way around it, marketing your business is essential for its success. In fact, successful marketing can provide your business with a significant return in a very short period of time -- even on a tight budget. In the past the only choice a business had to market their business effectively were outbound marketing tactics such as advertising, direct mailing, cold calling and so on. Outbound marketing can still be a bit expensive, but there are so many over avenues that you can take today that are much more affordable.

The article below discusses some ideas for marketing on a shoestring budget:

1. Start small. Set aside a small budget to begin with. Re-invest some of the dividends from these campaigns into further marketing.
2. Leverage free tools. Social media tools and many free online tools can help you do marketing well. Build a following on free social sites, create profiles on professional business sites. Submit your business to local online business directories.
3. Shop for discounts and coupons. Many marketing tools and programs will offer you a free trial. This can translate to profit before you spend any money. Google Adwords is a good example of this as Google will often give people a $50 or $100 Adwords coupon to start their paid search engine advertising campaign with. (Tip: Do some extensive research about effective Adwords campaign before using your free coupon so you can increase the chances of getting good results with it)
4. Try tier two advertising programs. If you think a search engine marketing advertising campaign sounds too expensive, consider doing an ad campaign on a specific site, instead. Facebook advertising for instance, can be less expensive than many other online marketing campaigns and can provide you with laser targeted focus to geographic areas, age groups, gender, interest levels, and so on.

You can read the rest of the article here.

If you're a small to medium sized business that has yet to implement a successful marketing campaign, it's due time. Both inbound and outbound marketing is a way for you to build relationships with your current or prospective clients and grow your business -- faster than many of your competitors. Today there are many companies that you can hire -- and for a reasonable price -- to manage your marketing campaigns, like Classic Image.

These companies will handle the day-to-day marketing needs of your campaigns while you can focus on what matters most... growing your business. In many cases you can get a reasonable quote to jump start your campaign, ensuring that you don't break your bank.

Read More