competitive edge | Advertising Is Simple Delaware

Top 7 SEO Tips for Local Business

April 19, 2021 by Sierra Foraker

Have you heard of SEO (Search Engine Optimization), and know that it can be beneficial for your business, but just don’t know where to start? Here is a checklist of our top 7 SEO tips to show you what areas you should focus on, what needs to be optimized, and what you need to do to fix any problems you may encounter to best position yourself for local search traffic and business.

1. Start with a comprehensive audit

When you create a complete snapshot of your current SEO efforts, along with an understanding of your competition, you’re able to curate a plan that is going to be more effective and sustainable. We recommend that you conduct regular SEO audits and maintain an organized worksheet to record and track your progress.

2. Optimize your Website & Landing Page

When it comes to organic and local search, having a properly optimized site is more important than ever before. Organic signals are now tied into the local algorithm and having a properly optimized website will help you outrank your competition.

3. Correct Basic Location Information

Correct all discrepancies and inconsistencies in your business Name, Address, Phone number (NAP) and other related information. Also, ask questions about previous business names or previous experience with SEO or SEO penalties.

4. Seek Reviews & Reputation Management

Reviews have a direct impact on local search rankings. They can make or break a local business regardless of how well their keywords can rank. So, you’ll want to spend some time acquiring them in a manner consistent with the directory or service, such as Google, Facebook, or Yelp. For any directory, we strongly discourage paying for reviews.

5. Analyze and Maintain “Google My Business” Page

Find the proper Google My Business (GMB) URL and record it in your Local SEO Audit Spreadsheet. Follow Google’s guidelines to assure your business NAP, category, and subcategories, and other items are represented properly on your Google My Business listing.

6. Create Organic Link Building & Avoid Penalties

You need to keep the site out of a penalty short term and long term. You need to identify any potential problems and prepare yourself to make effective business decisions. Google penalties can be brutal, and recovery is not a walk in the park.

7. Analyze your Social Profiles

Review your profiles – Facebook, Google My Business, Foursquare, Twitter, Linkedin, Youtube, Instagram, etc.- and verify they have consistent branding, NAP consistency, high-quality photos, a business description, positive reviews, effective geo-targeting, and other elements in accordance with the guidelines of the platform. It’s very important that you post regularly to these platforms for them to be useful in your SEO efforts.

At Advertising is Simple, we consistently stay up-to-date on the most effective methods of SEO, that’s why we call it Adaptive SEO. What works today, may not work a few months down the road. We monitor your advertising results through A/B testing and in-depth analytics to get you the highest rate of return on your advertising dollars.

We believe local SEO plays a big part in the digital marketing arena and we have no doubts it will remain for many marketing light years to come! If you have any questions or would like to find out more about how Advertising Is Simple can help you compete in the Digital Marketplace while managing your online presence, get in touch!

Advertising Is Simple | 302.407.0431 | info@AdvertisingIsSimple.com

Let’s Talk about Cultivating Customer Loyalty

November 3, 2020 by Sierra Foraker

In today’s increasingly over-crowded online marketplace, the key to cultivating customer loyalty is to consistently follow an effective digital marketing plan – something most companies still fail to do.

Customer satisfaction should be front and center for every business. However, for a small business, it is crucial. Making customer service a top priority can make you more competitive against your larger counterpart. Let’s be honest, a company’s top asset is its customers. Happy and loyal customers not only support a business by continuing to do business with you, but also by referring you to friends and family.

As a business owner, thinking of ways to rise above the competition should revolve around giving customers something they can’t get elsewhere. Want to learn more? Below are some actionable steps you can take now to ensure you’re cultivating customer loyalty in your business.

Cultivating Customer Loyalty

Asking for Customer Feedback

If you do this on a consistent basis, it will give you the power to improve the customer’s experience moving forward. A simple online form or social media poll is a great strategy for learning where you need to tweak your sales protocols and practices.

The beauty of a small business is that you have a greater chance of making your customer service more personal and targeted. Customers can be very sensitive to whether you are genuine and sincere. Using their names and finding ways to compliment them will help to develop a trusting and loyal following.

Identify and Anticipate Customer Needs

Proactively listening to your customers and making an effort to get to know them as much as possible will help you fine-tune special deals geared towards their purchasing history.

Be sure to assure them that you are aware of and ready to fix any problems that they may encounter. An apology can go a long way when something goes wrong. Make it easy for them to complain and impress them with your willingness to listen and diffuse the situation.

Use Social Media as a Platform to Humanize Your Business

Keep your customer aware of any new products, special sales or events. Do your best to engage with them and be prompt in responding to any comments (negative or positive) that they post regarding your business.

Encourage Customers to Write Online Reviews

Whether it’s on social media or online directories, you can capture reviews from your customers by making an easy-to-follow instruction pamphlet. The search engines love ranking those businesses who have a larger social footprint. Video testimonials is another valuable asset small business can use to illustrate how satisfied their customers are with their service and/or product.

Above all, say THANK YOU! Saying thank you after every transaction is one of the easiest ways to build a loyal following. Showing your customers that you appreciate their business makes them feel empowered and more likely to return!

Advertising Is Simple helps small to mid-sized business owners who are too busy running their businesses to focus on their marketing and advertising efforts. We specialize in Internet, TV, and radio advertising, and are particularly vested in Search Engine Optimization, website design, mobile website design, pay-per-click campaigns, and original content management in order to help our clientele claim their share of the marketplace.

AdvertisingIsSimple.com | 302.407.0431| info@AdvertisingIsSimple.com

Google Trends as a Powerful Digital Marketing Tool

September 1, 2020 by Sierra Foraker

Your digital marketing is only as effective as your efforts to find the right target audience who’s interested in what you have to say. While there are many marketing tools available to do just that, figuring out which ones can bring you the most value and return on investment is crucial. Today, let’s take a closer look at a free Google data explorer called Google Trends.

Google Trends

With Google Trends, you can not only explore what the world is searching in real time, but you can also use your findings to later target specific keywords in your marketing efforts. Such database is priceless nowadays if you take into the consideration the fact Google handles over 3.5 billion searches per day across the globe.

Having access to such a vast database (for free) can be a very powerful digital marketing tool. Knowing what’s the most popular search term is relevant to marketers finding the map to a pot of gold. While they’re not exactly digging for gold yet, at least they have a very good idea on where to start.

How to Use Google Trends

You can use Google Trends to see search interest in a topic or search term over time, where it’s being most-searched and what else people search for in connection with it. You can also compare trends against each other and look at data regionally vs all other searches. In addition, a new Google Trends update allows now filtering the trends in a real or non-real time, meaning you can access data going back as far as 2004.

Google Trends can be especially useful if your marketing focuses on content storytelling. Seeing trends in what people are searching for and how they’re responding to different moments can easily explain the magnitude of each event over time.

For more industry tips and updates on different Google tools and features, click here.

Need Help with Your Digital Marketing Efforts?

Contact Advertising Is Simple today! We help small to mid-sized business owners who are too busy running their businesses to focus on their marketing and advertising efforts. We specialize in digital marketing with a strong focus on adaptive search engine optimization, website design, video marketing, pay-per-click campaigns, and original content management.

AdvertisingIsSimple | 302.407.0431|

info@AdvertisingIsSimple.com

Make Your Business Stand Out with Google Guarantee & Upgraded GMB Profile

August 4, 2020 by Sierra Foraker

Back in April 2019, Google tested a subscription-based service for a monthly fee known as Google Guarantee. Such certification means your Google My Business profile gets an upgrade, which is supposed to make it easier for customers to choose your company over others when they’re conducting an online search.

The Google Guaranteed badge is available for businesses that pass a Google screening and qualification process through Google Local Services.

If your business is backed by Google Guarantee, and your customers (who found you through Google) aren’t satisfied with work quality, Google may refund the amount paid for the service. The upper limit of lifetime coverage for claims in the United States is $2,000.

Your business can be a part of Google Guarantee if you meet these eligibility requirements including a background check. The cost of the program is $50 per month or $600 per year.

What does Google Guarantee cover?

This new Google badge covers claims up to the amount on the job invoice up to the lifetime cap for coverage. Services, however, must be booked through Google Local Services. The Google Guarantee doesn’t cover add-on or future projects, damages to property, dissatisfaction with price or provider responsiveness, or cancellations.

Whether Google Guarantee becomes successful and available to all business is still to be determined, but it’s definitely something to look out for when updating your Google My Business profile in the future. The competitive advantage may be worth this upgrade!

Advertising is Simple is in the business of making advertising simple and we begin by creating you a great website to show off your brand. We make sure that your site has all the necessary features so that you can create a lasting impression and take pride in your web presence. To view our website portfolio, click here.

Advertising Is Simple | 302.407.0431 | info@AdvertisingIsSimple.com

Here’s Why Traditional Advertising Is So Important Amid the National Lockdown

May 4, 2020 by Sierra Foraker

Timing is an important factor when considering how to market your business. While COVID-19 and the national lockdown forced a lot of small businesses to close down, we can’t help but think how the traditional advertising is still a force to be reckoned with. Here’s why.

Radio Advertising

If you’re looking to reach a local audience at a more affordable cost, nothing beats radio advertising. It connects with the right people at the right time. It is easy to build a strong presence on the radio because people actually listen to radio ads and they don’t do the channel surfing the same way TV viewers do during program breaks.

According to the Nielsen’s 2019 Audio Today Report, which was recently made available, 272 million Americans listen to traditional radio every week, an increase of 7 million or about 2.5 percent, from 2016’s figures.

It’s been proven that radio provides a friendly environment for advertisers and the consumers respond positively to ads they hear on the radio. Believe it or not, Radio continues to be the number one mass reach medium, topping both TV and internet.

Businesses with a local target market really have no need to advertise on the national level. They should consider taking their radio advertising to regional and local stations.

Local radio stations tend to be an important way for the surrounding community to stay informed on events and news. Businesses can more easily connect to the community and their target customers by advertising on these stations. Most local radio station listeners are loyal and engage with their favorite station by calling in for contests, making comments or music requests. That means that if you advertise regularly, you’ll be better able to brand your business and create brand awareness.

Here’s an example of a radio ad we converted into a video promoting some of our local businesses:

TV Advertising

For decades now, TV advertising has been a very effective way to reach and engage with potential customers. Not to mention, local cable ads are very affordable. With the use of both audio and visual effects, TV ads create a mixture of motion and emotion. TV creates a more powerful impact than either of the two by themselves. That’s why television commercials can transmit more information to the viewer.

But that’s not it. When done right, video advertising enables you to display your product, demonstrate its use and the advantages of buying it. It can also help businesses connect emotionally with potential customers, which is so important in today’s climate.

Here’s an example of a local TV ad for one of our clients:

Multi-Screen Advertising

Did you know that the average US adult spends 78 thousand hours of the life watching TV? Knowing that statistic, it’s hard not to think that businesses should still be investing their marketing budgets in TV advertising. There’s a great opportunity out there to reach target audiences by being where the intended audience is hanging out. Not to mention that when you combine Television and Digital Advertising, you’re more likely to increase your ads impact.

Internet advertising will not replace traditional media, it will compliment them. – Jeff I. Richards

This type of advertising allows for more specifically targeting geographic and demographic areas, meaning you’re spending your advertising dollars on reaching your most likely customers.

Ready to invest in Traditional Advertising?

Contact Advertising Is Simple today! We help small to mid-sized business owners who are too busy running their businesses to focus on their marketing and advertising efforts. We specialize in traditional advertising as well as digital marketing with a strong focus on Search Engine Optimization, website design, mobile website design, pay-per-click campaigns, and original content management.

Call 302-407-0431