Posts Tagged ‘Philadelphia Internet Marketing’

1SEO.COM SEO Professionals, AVENGE ME!!!!!!

Friday, May 24th, 2013

Hey look, even in the summer blockbuster hit, The Avengers, the military had to call in for help from a few great American super heroes, to fight off the menacing Loki. And with the internet marketing world growing today, companies can’t keep up with all of the SEO changes in-house, leaving them as useless as the military was against Loki and his mystical scepter. Many companies around the world are looking to incorporate high-quality SEO in their marketing process, because ranking better in search results can mean better business. Eventually, these companies will need to fight for their right to rank high on Google, and need to call on the 1SEO.com SEO AVENGERS! (If you come up with a more awesome name for a group, then by all means, be my guest!)

There are many benefits to outsourcing SEO to the leading Philadelphia Internet Marketing Company, and super hero group, 1SEO.com. Each person in our crew has diverse skills that will be used on improving your website and getting it ranked higher on search engines. Part of being the best is finding out how to incorporate the latest SEO strategies and implementing the changes that are going on in the industry. Our SEO team is always on the pulse of what is going on and will implement these changes before your website is negatively effected.

As an experienced SEO team, putting in endless hours of hard work, dedication, and ordering pizza (for fuel) you can be sure that we will be able to fly your website to the top of the search engines. By working with large number of clients, we have grown to deal with many types of businesses, such as Lawyers, Doctors, and Escort services. Our wide perspective will be a major benefit when competing with visibility against competitors.

It can take excess time and money that you cannot waste, to perform SEO services in-house. There are hours needed to purchase new tools and learn that your business cannot afford to lose. 1SEO.com has the means to work on your website, and complete tasks in seconds, minutes, and hours that it would take your company to complete in days, weeks, months and years. 

1SEO.com focuses solely on search engine optimization. The members of our team have joined forces, coming from all four corners of the world, to give you the professional SEO services you need to succeed. Don’t miss out on the wonderful experience of working with 1SEO.com. We can get your website to the first page of Google, while saving the world in the process!

And yes, as the contributing Super Hero Blogger of 1SEO.com SEO AVENGERS, I did wear blue and red tights awhile writing this blog!

Peer Pressured Into Buying End Of The World Sales

Friday, December 21st, 2012

Even from the start of time, man has said the world was going to end one day. Most of society is well aware that the “world is going to end”…today. We have seen meme’s blasted on Facebook, Twitter and every social media outlet you can think of. The Internet is a stomping ground for apocalypse talk and marketers feed off of the fear of the human race to make any buck they can. How many times have you bought something because it was on sale for a LIMITED TIME ONLY or ANNUAL SALE? I know I have.

Although I am probably not the best candidate to judge by, considering I make my purchases based on the idea that it’s not going to be there when I go back for it later. Now let’s take a second to think, every business whether it is retail or selling of services are always bombarding us with last minute aggressive sales to meet their quota or goals. Especially during the holidays you’ll find many incentives and sales that wind up getting people to spend more than their allocated budget.

Since most of us believe the world is not going to end today (obviously or else I wouldn’t have posted this) will we all continue to fall for these end of the world sales…maybe not so much fall for, but take advantage of. The marketing of businesses create this sense of urgency at all times and they do a damn good job of making us feel like were missing out on a great deal once it has passed. Whether companies push these sales through social media platforms because its topical or however they get their end of the world sales across they need these sales today, not tomorrow, not next week or by the end of the year, but now. I wonder how good will the increase in sales do if were all dead…jk lol.

However, it seems that businesses almost run knowing that the world is not going to end (at least they operate that way) because marketers will wake up the very next day pushing another convincing sale or promotion. We thrive and grow on these incentives and fall for them all the time. I’m no saint in these accusations. I simply will take advantage of these blowout sales with the mindset that the world will not end.

Since we all know that marketers wait till the end of the month or year or season to promote these sales, why do we continue to fall for these urgencies each time? If a company really loved our loyalty to their product or service they would not blast our inboxes with last minute deals online or in stores. They can emphasize the fact of not scaring us into purchasing which might seem like a much more natural marketing tactic. Just like 1SEO.com we want clients for long term and not these scaring marketing techniques that some businesses may use. But hey whatever works, right?

 

How Email and Social Media Marketing Can Be A Great Asset

Friday, September 7th, 2012

The thought of email being dead seems to be a lingering topic I read consistently on the Internet. So in my opinion the idea of email marketing ceasing to exist seems a little overboard, but that’s just me. Think about how many times you have checked your email this week, and even today! The odds are you probably have. It is extremely effective and you can’t argue that almost every individual has an email address. So what better way to target your audience then through email marketing?

Since email marketing is very well alive and social media where a lot of people spend their time, why not integrate the two? Especially since social media seems to be where marketers are experimenting to see how effective it can truly be. Both email marketing and social media being from two different time periods it seems like a great way to balance and target people of all ages.

So you may want to begin with utilizing the ability to share socially in your emails. This will allow you to extend the reach of your email marketing campaigns and obviously the more it’s shared the higher potential for conversions. It also provides your audience with another platform to connect on. Maybe they still want to stay in touch with recent updates or product launches, but don’t check their email often. This allows for social networks to be a great way for someone to stay connected. Realize there are other ways to connect and as a marketer you should be taking advantage of them!

A few tips on integrating both social media and email marketing are to be sure to include those social icons in your emails. Just noting that your accessible on social platforms is not enough. It may not seem like a big deal but people want convenience and have their news where it’s easy for them to see. So be sure to ask customers to like or follow you on Facebook, there is no harm in that. Lastly, you may want to give your fans a reason to connect with you on a social level. What’s in it for me!?

There are numerous other ways to maximize your email and social media marketing effectiveness. We are in a social time period so make sure your emails are being put to good use!

Marketers New Playground: Pinterest

Wednesday, February 8th, 2012

It has not even been two years since it was launched and Pinterest is already on the top ten social networks list. Think of all the social networks you belong to, whether it may be Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, etc….they all seem to have one thing in common when they start, a free service that seems to have no intention to gain profit. Sooner or later, they gain recognition and it becomes a playground for marketing and advertising.

Deciding whether or not your business should become involved with this new social network is the question. Currently, Pinterest offers an array of categories such as home décor, recipes, wedding ideas, quotes, graphics, products, technology, fashion, and more. If you don’t see your business’s target market in any of these categories I wouldn’t run just yet. With its increasing progress and potential I believe Pinterest will be a great way for businesses to create brand awareness and bring traffic to their sites. Having a presence in the latest social media trends is important for reaching an audience. Especially with increasing users it is crucial to get ahead of the learning curve when it comes to your business on social networks.

Whether it is a service or product, establishing it and your business and starting a following is the first way to gain recognition. You do not want to have blatant advertising for your products and services—this is a big turn off.  For example, if I were an interior decorator I would pin some home décor that I like. Say it is a picture of a remodeled fireplace…I’d link the picture to my blog with other designs I have created, or work that I’ve done. This allows users on Pinterest too not only discover things you like, but the work you do. Pinterest can be like a gateway to your other sites that people will start to travel through and flow through more often, thus resulting in more traffic.

So, if your business is yet to be on Pinterest there are a few advantages that may get you to reconsider. One is that it can bring more traffic to your site by posting links in the titles and descriptions of your posts. Two, gaining a significant amount of exposure can build your brand and introduce new customers to your site. Raising awareness is ultimately a great marketing tool that can benefit your business (this can also allow your business to show a little bit of its personality.) Users want to know there are real people behind the business operations you do, and seeing more personable pins could help gain more followers and customers!

While Pinterest is still in the works, it is growing at an alarming rate in the social media world. Whatever your purpose or cause may be, why not take advantage of this free marketing tool to help your business become successful!

Social Media Platforms and Tips on How to Use Them

Wednesday, February 1st, 2012



Website
: Having a website is the first and most important step of Internet marketing. Your website is the first place people are going to look for information on your business. It offers one central location where you can put all material pertaining to your business and where you define who you are and what you do. It offers a fast and easy way for your audience to find the information they need and to have their questions answered – 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Within the context of social media, a website offers a platform for you to share your links to all your other sites. You can then encourage traffic from your website to your social media sites and vice versa.


Facebook
: Facebook is one of the best platforms for reaching an audience. With over 500 million Facebook users, this site offers a favorable means through which you can reach out to your target market, whether young or old. Facebook provides many ways to communicate with your audience such as allowing you to comment on posts, share links, or update your status. It’s also a great platform for promotional material such as giveaways. One example of a great use of Facebook, was Volkswagen’s use of the status update when they released their newly designed 2012 Beetle. After hiding the image of the new car throughout their entire campaign by only showing an outline of its new shape, upon its release they posted an image of the new car on their Facebook page with the caption “Status Update”. Using clever tactics like this is a great way to increase the interest of your audience and to get them excited about your message.


Twitter
: Twitter is a key platform of social media because of the ease with which you can link it to your other sites. Whether you want to share a blog post, picture, videos, news about your business, or simply bring traffic to your Facebook, Twitter offers an easy way to make a quick statement about what you’re sharing and why they should check it out. If people like what you have to say they can retweet, exponentially increasing the number of people who see what you shared. Twitter is also a personal form of communication between followers, it’s an easy way to engage yourself with others; to share a quick thought, fact, or opinion that helps to form a personal image for your business and thus fosters stronger relationships with followers and a better brand image. Its also a great way to get to know your audience; ask them questions on their interests or opinions to learn more about them. Knowing your audience will help you to make better business decisions in the future.


Blog
: The best thing about keeping a blog is that it offers a platform through which you can offer more in depth information about the company or topics related to the company. Posts can help the audience to understand better what it is the company is trying to communicate. If your audience is excited about a particular post it is easy for them to share the link through their own Facebook, Twitter, or other platform, which then brings your post to the attention of an even larger audience. Within your blog you can provide links that will carry readers to another web page, thus aiding you in driving greater traffic to your pages. Another advantage is its ability to provide you with free and easy market research. Simply look for your company and you can see what people are saying about you, this allows for more accurate knowledge of public opinions of your business and facilitates better decision making in the future. My most in-depth experience with blogging was while I studied abroad in Santiago, Chile. Throughout my time abroad I kept a blog of what I was doing which not only provided me with a way to look back this amazing experience, but also allowed my family and friends to keep up to date on what I was doing without the hassle of working around our schedules to find time to talk. This concept is also applicable to businesses, a blog provides a platform through which you can connect with others personally and keep them informed in an easy and convenient way.


Flickr
: Flickr is an attractive social media tool because of its focus on visuals. The saying a picture is worth 1,000 words is true; an image offers a way to easily express an idea without words. An example of this is that to tell your audience something like “We raised $500 in donations for a food pantry” does not have the same effect as posting an image of a large amount of food being delivered to needy people. A picture has the potential to stir emotions and foster greater interest in your business, it helps to build  stronger relationships through visuals. Another advantage that Flickr offers is its capability to link images to other platforms, such as Twitter, as well as geotagging and adding descriptions to images.


LinkedIn
: LinkedIn is unique in that it is geared towards professionals and business related purposes. It offers many advantages such as the ability to create a group or fan page, to answer questions, or to provide testimonials. It is also a great way for businesses to connect with employees as well as to join related groups and keep up with new information and trends. It offers a professional means in which you can communicate with other businesses, groups, and individuals. For an individual it is also useful in connecting with employers, businesses, co-workers, and business professionals. I use LinkedIn to offer potential employers with a snapshot of my experiences, skills, education, and interests. This allows me to present myself professionally as well as helping other to get to know more about me and to build positive relationships.

YouTube: YouTube is a user-generated site great for promotional purposes. Businesses have the opportunity to share videos that help them to engage their audience. These videos could be anything from a tutorial on a product to a video of employees enjoying a day at the office. It offers a great way to put a face to a business and generate a positive image for a company. Many companies have had success through using YouTube to engage its audience by encouraging them to upload their own videos. An example of this is offering a chance for your audience to win a prize or for their video to be featured in the company’s marketing campaign if they submit a video of themselves using your product or service. Techniques such as this will get people talking about your brand and excited about your company. One of my favorite examples of a company that recently utilized YouTube well is Hyundai. The videos of Jorge Narvaez and his daughter singing together, especially their cover of Edward Sharpe and The Magnetic Zeros “Home” became popular on YouTube and upon discovering them, Hyunadi offered the duo the chance to perform in a commercial for their 2012 Santa Fe. This sparked a lot of interest among consumers, and especially myself, because the pair was already popular and Hyundai was able to utilize their popularity to help develop a positive brand image for themselves. I personally love the commercials and my opinion on Hyundai is very high because of what they have done.


Foursquare
: Foursquare is an application through which people can “check in” to businesses and other locations. The advantage of this is the visibility it offers. When someone checks into a location all their Foursquare friends see this and users can even link their account to Facebook or Twitter, increasing the amount of people who see the “checkin”. The application also allows users to leave comments and tips relating to their checkin such as “try the Soup Du Jour” which encourages others to also visit the location. Businesses can also give offers to visitors for checking in such as a free beer at a bar when they show the bartender their checkin – another great way to encourage visits to your location.


Yelp
: Yelp offers businesses the opportunity to create a page for themselves. Yelp is used to find places such as restaurants, cafes, gas stations, and other locations nearby. Yelp allows users to rate each location and leave reviews on their experiences. This is advantageous to businesses because if they provide quality products and services people will be happy to leave positive reviews which then encourages others to also visit the location. Although not all reviews are positive, this is not a disadvantage. This allows you to apologize for mistakes and learn about the opinions others have about your business, which allows you to then improve your flaws. I use the app myself, and when I am in an area that I am unfamiliar with I rely very heavily on what others have to say when making my decision on where to visit.


In today’s busy society filled with the clutter of advertising everywhere, people have become numb to advertising. To be able to develop influence over your audience, it’s important to come up with something different and unique that grabs their attention and will get them to stop what they’re doing.

Very often people don’t trust advertising because the source is the company itself, this is why it’s important to develop something that your audience will want to share with each other. People are more willing to look at something their friends shared with them than to pay attention to something that a company is trying to get them to look at. People rely on the opinions and recommendations of their friends rather than what an advertisement tells them. This is where links and apps come in handy for businesses. When people use apps such as Yelp and Foursquare they read the reviews and then base their decisions on the recommendations and opinions of others.

Choose the platforms that are relevant to your business and that you think will be the most beneficial for you to invest your time in. If you can successfully manage your social media, you will be able to take advantage of all that it has to offer and improve your business.

SEO and PPC For Seasonal Businesses

Friday, January 20th, 2012

Are you a seasonal business?

If so, then you need to adjust your advertising for the seasons now and for the future.

If you are doing Pay Per Click and/or Search Engine Optimization (SEO), you should have two separate strategies for when you are planning your advertising for the year.

For example, take a heating and air conditioning company:

With Pay Per Click, it is very easy to control this.  You just need to pause the right words and start the right words during the correct busy season.  So, if you are coming into winter time, it is time to shut off all your air conditioning repair and air conditioning service keywords.  During winter you would focus on keywords such as heating repair, heating service, and heating installation.

With SEO it’s a little more tricky.  SEO keywords take longer to rank, so you have to carefully gauge when your keywords will rank on the first page.  While doing SEO you have to plan months ahead of time to make sure that the correct words are ranked at the right time for you to draw in the business that you want to capture.

When you work with an advertising company you should have meetings and discussions with them to insure that you are doing the right strategy to capture the business you are looking for during the correct season.

Here Are Some Examples Of Seasonal Businesses:

  • Landscaping
  • Snow Removal
  • Painting (Interior/Exterior)
  • Roofing
  • Hardscaping
  • Golf Coursee

Can you imagine how being found at the right time on the search engines could totally change your business?

Call 1SEO.com so we can come up with a good strategy for you!

Philadelphia SmartCEO Magazine Announces Winners of 2012 Future 50 Awards

Tuesday, January 10th, 2012

“Philadelphia SmartCEO magazine is pleased to announce the winners for the 2012 SmartCEO/ Clifton Gunderson Future 50 awards, which recognizes the Greater Philadelphia area’s 50 fastest-growing companies based on employee and revenue growth over the past three years.”

Click the line below to check out 1SEO.com listed under the “Emerging Growth” Category!

Philadelphia SmartCEO Magazine Announces Winners of 2012 Future 50 Awards

Congratulations 1SEO.com!

Would you build the Empire State Building out of Legos? Tips for Finding the Right Internet Marketing Firm

Tuesday, September 27th, 2011

For those businesses that play online (less than 10%), there seems to be an inundation of companies who CLAIM to have a quick and easy fix to all of your online dreams.  Like most business owners who dream of candy coated conversions and sugary sales leads, it is very hard to weed out the aces from the pawns when trying to find a top SEO agency.  I can’t make this any clearer.

If your business is your life—your marriage and your passion, why would you put the most important visible element in the hands of someone who is not proven?

I look at it this way. When choosing an internet company, look at their body of work. Here is a list of key phrases to be leery of when being “pitched” by an internet marketing company:

1.  “Hi, this is ______________, from GOOGLE.”

  a.  Reason: Google rarely calls companies directly and even if they did, they wouldn’t spend their resources calling companies vying for their local marketing budget.

  b.  Instead: Look for a company that takes ownership in being an SEO agency not claiming to be Google, and focused on getting their clients ranked. Get with an agency whose sole purpose is to get  their clients ranked, build great websites that convert, and to generate leads for their businesses.

2.  “We can Help you get found on the internet.”

  a.  Reason: Winning SEO companies will “GET YOU FOUND” and show you their body of work like current ranking reports and Google keywords with their clients listed.

  b.  Instead:  Listen for words like -

      (1)  OUR CLIENTS RANK FOR…

      (2)  OUR CLIENTS CONVERT AT THIS RATE…

      (3)  HERE ARE OUR CLIENTS RANKINGS

      (4)  OUR CLIENT TRAFFIC IS UP BY X THIS MONTH…

3.  “We can show you INSTANT RESULTS!”

  a.  Reason:  (This most likely means one of two things.  Either they are selling you PPC management which has nothing to do with SEO, or they are completely lying to you, or possibly selling you long tail local keywords with no search volume.)

When entering into the online space, it is just like anything else you will purchase in your life.  Would you take a first date out to the local Exxon and grab a pack of peanut butter crackers?  Would you let an 18 year old run your marketing department just because they claim they know Facebook?

When it comes to your business, you need to treat your online marketing with just as much, if not more importance as any sales rep, advertising budget or HR department.

For any questions or advice on choosing an online or digital agency, please do not hesitate to reach out or follow me on twitter @1seomatt.

Cheers–

Matt Freedman

Project Manager

1SEO.com

Understanding Your SEO

Thursday, September 15th, 2011

Is your SEO being done correctly?  Do you understand SEO? Do you even know what SEO is?

Well if you are a business owner, you should!

SEO stands for Search Engine Optimization.  To keep it simple it means the optimization of your website so that Google, Yahoo, Bing, and other search engines find your website relevant when someone is doing a search for one of the keywords that you want do show up for in the search results.

Search Engine Optimization is crucial for businesses that are looking for new clients and customers.  Lets face it, print advertising is all but dead, and on top of that it is very expensive for the limited exposure they give you.

Here are some examples of the status of print adverting today:

-Not many people read the newspaper every day, and they rarely open it up to look for a product or service that they need; ads need to be daily, and they are very expensive. Also you are sending it to people that most likely do not even need your service or product.

-Yellow Pages rarely get used by people anymore, they are very expensive, they are confusing because there is usually more than one book in the area, and they put you in long yearly contracts; and once the book is printed it is out for a year, you can’t change your ad. 

-Direct mail usually gets thrown out or pushed to the side, most of the time people are not looking for your service at that time and that is why the conversion rate is so low. 

Now take doing SEO for your website:

-People that are doing a search on Google or the other search engines are doing it because they need your service or product and are looking to make a purchase.

-People can do a search from their PC, laptop, smart phone, and can do it from work or home. 

-In emergency situations searching from your phone anywhere, anytime, can be done

-Websites are live and working for you 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year.  Giving people the opportunity to call, leave a message, and send an email to you for your product or service, and for E-Commerce sites they can shop at any time. 

How great can these points be for your business?  Well, if your website is not SEO’d properly and you do not show up in searches, you are missing out on daily visits to your website by prospective clients and customers, which means you are missing out on revenue!  Just so you know the Internet is not going anywhere and if you are not represented properly on the web or in the process of doing so, you are missing out on a lot of potential business.

Call me today so I can discuss with you how to get the most out of your website.  If you do not have a website, we can build you one, so you can start getting regular business from the web.  Call me at 484-908-3663 or email me at ddipaolo@1seo.com.

SEO—The Secret Ingredient To Winning On The Web

Tuesday, September 13th, 2011

When building a website or an online presence for you brand, there are many things to consider.  There is always design vs functionality, there is ecommerce vs blog, etc.  The ONE commonality all successful websites share is that they are searchable on Google.  With over 73% of search going through Google, why would you even bother having a company without playing online?  When was the last time you did any of the following:

     -Went to the Yellowpages

     -Watched a Banner Ad

     -Played a Pop Up game

If you are reading this, then the answer is probably not as of late.  The TRUE results that matter when you play online is your conversions.  If your site doesn’t convert to sales leads or prospect to answer a goal your site seeks to accomplish, there is not a reason to have a website

SEO is the key factor when playing online and generating conversions.  If you want leads, sales, and more traffic you NEED to SEO your site.