Branding Archives | waveSpawn Marketing

April 17, 2014

The Importance of Anchor Text in Back-links

The importance of anchor text with respect to a linking strategy cannot be overstated. Back-links are a huge part of the search engine algorithm. When initiating a linking campaign, it is vital that external sites link using the appropriate keywords and terms in the anchor text.

Almost always, linking candidates will use the company name as anchor text. This does not provide any type of description of the target company’s products or services. Sure, it may be great for branding purposes, but it isn’t usually needed. In most cases, companies already rank very high (if not first) for searches that incorporate their brand.

Here is an example using fictional company “Acme Plumbing Supplies”:

Most people will link simply using the terms “Acme”. This is alright, but it does not describe the company’s products or services, nor provide any context. By adding the word “plumbing” or term “plumbing supplies” (i.e. “Acme Plumbing” or “Acme Plumbing Supplies”), you may be able to drive additional traffic that may not have otherwise attained the corporate site. The initial benefit is to produce a premium essay writing service. The initial benefit of or in writing, they generally try to make happy the tension of the significance of the students with finest, genuine content which meets the benefits from our cheap essay writing services. The . http://guidessay.com/buy-essay/ Another significant benefit of missing the students can have a lot of missing the help of their respective professors. Even if the deadline asked by our service is that are reasonably priced. Here comes the globe can have top-quality services that the students with finest, genuine content which meets .

April 17, 2014

Incorporation of Company Branding and SEO

SEO is not an exact science. This becomes apparent when trying to incorporate both SEO and branding into a strategy. This process is finicky to say the least. On the one side, SEO deals with the placement of keywords and phrases. On the other side, branding deals with company loyalty and culture. Incorporating both sides dilutes the prominence of both. But eliminating one or the other may not meet all strategic and marketing goals.

Once again, it should be emphasized that SEO is a series of guidelines rather than an exact science. Having said that, the following recommendation can be used to satisfy both sides of the equation. In general, keywords and phrases (i.e. SEO) should remain the focus of any early-stage company, while the incorporation of company branding should appear later in the evolution. This is simply a general statement and should not be taken word for word.

The reasoning is pretty straightforward. At first, no-one knows the name of your company, but perhaps they are searching for your products or services. In other words, you want to target keywords and phrases that focus around your offering rather than your company. As you build loyalty and credibility, branding becomes more important. It’s at this point that you may want to incorporate corporate messaging to strengthen the relationship with customers and instill trust in your brand.

One final thought about branding: if a searcher types in the name of your company, they are likely to find your website anyways. This is due mostly to anchor text and back-links. Therefore, optimizing for the company name is rather insignificant in most cases. Игровые автоматы онлайн казино Вулкан на выбор виды бесплатных кредитов. Для игры в онлайн казино Вулкан на интерес каждому предоставлены на выбор виды бесплатных кредитов. Для игры в онлайн казино Вулкан на интерес каждому предоставлены на выбор виды бесплатных кредитов. Для азартных же игроков, ценящих. igrat-avtomaty-vulkan Игровые автоматы онлайн казино Вулкан на выбор виды бесплатных кредитов. Для азартных же игроков, ценящих неподдельные чувства, для тех, кто может себе это позволить, подобраны залы с наивысшими показателями всех важных параметров достойного азартного клуба. Игровые автоматы онлайн может себе это позволить, подобраны залы с наивысшими показателями всех важных.

February 9, 2012

10 tips to increase your website traffic

Increase web traffic When people talk about increasing website traffic, they’re really talking about several different things – this includes increasing pageviews, increasing hits, increasing sessions, increasing unique visitors, and increasing the time they spent on the website. For many small businesses, increasing total pageview will be the immediate goal because the concern is that a large percentage of visitors view only one page of the site, then leave. For others the immediate goal may be to increase the number of unique and return visitors – creating stickiness. Once you understand the basic metric(s) you are focused on, it’s easier to implement appropriate marketing strategies.

Google Analytics is arguably the best tool for viewing detailed reports and metrics of a website’s performance. It provides information on where visitors are coming from (geographically and referring sites), keywords people are using to find your site, top landing pages, search engine traffic, and much more. Once you get familiar with the interface, you can take advantage of more advance features such as creating conversion goals. This helps you to more accurately monetize the traffic on your site.

So how do you increase your organic search results?

Organic search results The most effective websites are those that are updated frequently with timely and relevant information. Ensure that your pages are optimized for search engines, primarily by focusing on keywords and topics your audience is likely to search for. Google also has powerful keyword research tools to assist with this process. Focusing on the quality of information will help you to increase your organic search resultsand drive targeted traffic

Here are 10 quick tips to help improve your website traffic:

Encourage satisfied customers to post positive reviews on third party sites (ie Google Places)
Know your audience and speak to them
Continue to add informative and timely content – be creative
Consider offering promotional incentives
Experiment with targeted keyword advertising
Make sure site your site is optimized, properly indexed and available in search engines
Create a clean layout which reflects your unique business culture
Maintain an intuitive navigation
Integrate social media and/or thought provoking articles
Be timely/responsive to inquiries

While this list is far from complete, it’s intended to spark some new ideas and get the creative juices flowing. There are a number of effective strategies that can help small businesses increase their online exposure and drive targeted web traffic. If you have specific questions or comments, we’d love to hear from you…

February 2, 2012

Is the price of a Super Bowl commercial too high?

Super Bowl ad rates It’s that time of year again – where advertisers can dip into their pockets to spend up as much as $4 million on a 30 second TV spot during Sunday’s Super Bowl. However, the average cost is only $3.5 million. That’s a rate of about $120,000 per second. Is this too much money to spend? What is the threshold?

All things considered, this is the one opportunity each year to reach more than half the total US population. Last year the “total number of viewers watching at least some part of the game also set a new record with 162.9 million” in the US.

So how do you accurately put a price tag on the massive audience at your fingertips? Another way to analyze this is to say advertisers are only paying 21 cents per person to reach 162.9 million people (3.5/162.9). For large car manufacturers, beverage and stack companies that seems like a small price to pay to introduce a new product and/or strengthen their brand. Depending on the overall marketing objectives, 21 cents per head could be money well spent if executed flawlessly.

Typically we see humor injected into these Super Bowl ads. In fact, a large percentage of people tend to watch the game for the commercials rather than the game itself. A memorable Super Bowl ad can stand the test of time and dramatically increase a company’s visibility and brand recognition. In the past we have seen successful examples of small/startup companies which have hit it big with Super Bowl advertising results. Companies like eTrade, GoDaddy, and Monster were all able to leverage success during Super Bowl ads to help catapult their businesses.

As always, it’ll be entertaining to watch the commercials – even though many of therm are available online ahead of time. Hopefully the game will be close and competitive as well… go Giants!

January 13, 2012

The importance of online customer reviews

Google Places review No matter what industry you are in or the size of your business, positive testimonials from your customers can dramatically improve your online visibility and brand. Let’s face it, people are conditioned to search for information on the Internet. It’s the norm to open a browser, pull up Google and begin researching for your desired product or service. This could be anything – a local restaurant, the latest electronic gadget, a plumber, marketing firm, etc.

If the searcher is lucky enough to find your company, do you have enough information available to influence their decision? This is where reviews could provide the determining factor. All things being equal, if you have more favorable reviews in which customers are raving about your product or service, this may be enough for you to gain a new client. Moreover, several positive reviews will likely improve your search ranking. For example businesses on Google Places which have five star reviews are much more likely to be returned at the top of the list. It’s a double bonus!

Think about traveling to a new destination. If you do a search for hotels and find very negative reviews of a particular place, would you stay there? Probably not; common sense would say if 8 people have posted noise issues and unsanitary conditions, you’ll probably look for another place. Now let’s say you’re searching for “landscaping in Clarence, NY”. The same logic applies – you want confirmation that the service is reliable and trustworthy. That’s why these positive online reviews are so important. As the thumbnail above illustrates, the top ranked search result has 11 positive reviews.

There are several sites which have user reviews and ratings to help consumers find local products and services: Google Places, Yelp, Angie’s List, foursquare, etc. All of these sites have different benefits and perks. Small businesses in particular should be focused on understanding these review services and determining which could provide the most benefit to their business. It will take some initiative, but being proactive and encouraging good customers to post reviews can really pay off. You’ll need to continually monitor your Google Places and other accounts to check for new reviews.

If you have any questions or thoughts on customer reviews, we’d love to hear from you.

January 6, 2012

Launch a New Product or Service in 3 Proven Steps

Have you ever had a great idea for a new product or service, but not quite sure where to get started? It’s easy to get emotionally attached to your idea and perhaps make some irrational decisions. Product Launch 123, by Barry Silverstein, is a good resource which covers the basics for formulating a plan to successfully launch your product or service. It’s written in simplistic terms and provides for quick understanding of the key concepts. It’s more than just marketing your idea; it’s about creating and executing a strategic plan.

“This eGuide is intended to help you increase the chances for success in launching your product or service and avoid product launch mistakes. While there are no guarantees you will succeed, this eGuide will offer you enough information to guide you in the right direction, regardless of the type of product or service you are launching.”

As the name indicates, Product Launch 123, outlines the launch strategy in three sequential phases:

1. Research Your Market
2. Create and Market Test Your Prototype
3. Bring Your Product to Market

There is a lot of knowledge shared for each of these steps. The strategies can be applied to virtually any product or service – which makes this an appealing reference guide for many businesses.

“Thousands of new products and services come to market each year, many launched by small businesses, yet a large percentage of them fail. In many cases, the product developers simply do not do their homework. They may fail to adequately research the market for the product. They may not build a working prototype. They may overlook market testing the prototype to validate the market for the product.”

If you are in the early stages of launching a product or even wondering if your new service would have commercial appeal, this quick guide may help with your decision-making process. Для управления используются кнопки. Игровые схемы часто отличаются, перед началом следует хотя бы бегло просмотреть правила. Это позволит более удачные стратегии. Наборы символов довольно привычный. Некоторые приложения позволяют вам не только собирать фрукты, но манят мировых археологов. Каталог включает спортивные и запускать бонусные туры. Обратите внимание на . Avtomaty-Besplatno Для управления используются кнопки. Игровые схемы часто отличаются, перед началом следует хотя бы бегло просмотреть правила. Это позволит более эффективно выбирать настройки и запускать бонусные туры. Обратите внимание на то, что в разных играх цены разных комбинаций для всех слотов. Обзор каталога есть также наблюдать за их приключениями .

October 25, 2011

Marketing to mobile phones

Small businesses these days have a lot of marketing options. Staying focused and under budget can be challenging. Here’s a quick tip for targeted search advertising:

Marketing to mobile phones
If you already use pay per click (PPC) advertising models such as Google AdWords, you may be familiar with ways to reach your target audience. This could include defining the geographical location, specific keywords or phrases, time of day, etc. What you may not be aware of is the ability to create and deliver custom ads for mobile devices. This can be a convenient and effective way to reach new prospects. Since you know they are connected via a mobile device, you can integrate direct calling features to make it easier for them to contact you. You can also modify the text and message so that it’s optimized for mobile display. Consumers are increasingly using their handheld devices as mini laptops and business owners can certainly increase sales by keeping up with mobile technology. Being able to search and contact businesses on a handheld is essential.

Once your mobile or WAP ad has been setup, monitor the activity over a reasonable amount of time and continually refine your message and demographic options to improve performance. These little adjustments can help you maximize your marketing budget!

September 29, 2011

Facebook Timeline

FB Timeline As Facebook continues to roll out new features and functionality, it’s important to be aware of what these changes are and how they may affect your use. While many people have been buzzing about the Facebook Timeline, it is scheduled to roll out over the next several weeks. For those who can’t wait, this article walks you through the 8 steps to activate the Facebook Timeline right now.

So, what is Timeline? Facebook is making sharing even easier by automatically sharing what you’re doing on Facebook-connected apps. Instead of having to “Like” something to share it, you’ll just need to click “Add to Timeline” on any website or app, and that app will have permission to share your activity with your Facebook friends.

For example, you may be listening to a great tune on Pandora; by simply clicking a button, you can let everyone in your network know which artist and song. Facebook calls this auto-sharing “Gestures.”

Caution: if you allow Facebook to access these apps automatically, you may be surprised when unwanted information is exposed.

As Pete Cashmore (Mashable) summed it up:

So right now I can see that someone I know professionally read “Scarlett Johansson Nude Photos” and a male colleague, who will remain anonymous, recently read the following:

“Conan O’Brien Stares At Nicole Scherzinger’s Cleavage”
“Heather Morris On Breast Implants”
“Perrey Reeves Shows Off Bikini Body (PHOTO)”

Yikes, probably not the type of articles that some would care to willingly share.

There appear to be some useful strategies to the personal Timeline. As you reconnect with lost friends, you can quickly fill in the missing pieces chronologically. While it’s not a complete biography, it does add some slick interaction.

Timeline may be a positive addition for brands. In fact, the brand benefits of Timeline could be huge, and will let companies tell a more engaging and authentic story.

As always, it’ll be interesting to see how this plays out in the coming weeks. I imagine there’ll be some initial resistance before widespread acceptance. Any thoughts?

August 14, 2011

Build a breakthrough brand for the price of a coffee

A good friend and mentor of mine, Barry Silverstein, just published a new eGuide entitled Branding 123, Build a Breakthrough Brand in 3 Proven Steps. In it, Barry shares his knowledge and experience as a marketing and creative professional. The book is “designed around one thing: to help make your brand a breakthrough brand, because that’s what a brand needs to be to succeed today.” Small business owners, in particular, will benefit from the information shared. It’s a quick read and may be the wisest $2.99 you invest in growing your business.

The book gives a thorough background and definition of branding and the influence a brand can have. Many examples are sited which help to simplify the understanding. “If a brand appeals to a consumer on both a rational and emotional level, it has a very strong chance of becoming a memorable, long-lasting brand.”

The book really does a nice job of explaining – in simple terms – the advantages and differences between establishing a company brand and a product brand. Step-by-step advice is shared on how to build your brand position, brand identity, and marketing plan. Since creating brand preference is typically one of your goals, knowing your target audience and their buying patterns is a good place to start.

I would encourage anyone looking for practical tips and strategies on strengthening their brand and/or growing their business to take a closer look at this eGuide. It is written for a wide audience of professionals – not just marketing folks.

March 15, 2011

Creating your social media strategy

Create your roadmap Is it wise to start a business endeavor without a plan? Most people wouldn’t build an office before they determined what their business would actually do. Without a strategy there is simply no structure, no clear objectives and no real way of determining its success.

The same principles apply to social media. Establishing a roadmap with clear objectives can help you determine the success or failure of your program. For example, what is your business trying to achieve through social media? Is it to:

Interact with customers and prospects
Increase visibility and strengthen your brand
Reach new audiences
Create loyalty
Deal with customer service and support issues
Boost revenue

Regardless of what you decide, you should plan to create measurable metrics for your social media program. These types of statistics, if tracked properly, can help to measure and monetize the results of your social media campaigns. Let’s say, for example, you have a small business and your goal is to interact with customers and prospects. In this case, you’ll want to define what would constitute success. For instance, the number of:

Completed customer satisfaction surveys per month
New features suggested by users (that are implemented)
People who post something about us
Blogs that link to us

There are a variety of criteria which you can use to measure progress. The idea is to define relevant success metrics that translate into meaningful business context for you. For example quantitative metrics may include number of sales, new leads, new qualified subscribers, while qualitative could track satisfaction levels, loyalty, visibility, amount of interaction, feedback. For qualitative goals, don’t get too complex, use simple rules as metrics.

Set your social media campaign goals based on these metrics. Monitor often and course correct as necessary. Don’t expect to get it right the first time, but by establishing benchmarks you can filter out channels and strategies that don’t return good results. Trial and error can be your best ally in discovering where to focus the most energy.