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How To Develop a Local Marketing Strategy

Posted on February 27, 2014 by Hosting

The post How To Develop a Local Marketing Strategy appeared first on HostGator Web Hosting Blog | Gator Crossing . For many small businesses, salvation has come in the form of local Internet marketing efforts. Never before has it been easier for a local business to get their name out to customers, giving them a much-needed edge over nationally marketed competitors. But local marketing isn’t something that happens by accident; to make the most of it, local businesses need to go on the offensive and push their brand harder than ever. Here are a few tips to help maximize your local marketing campaign.   Get Online Marketing in the past used to mean buying space in the Yellow Pages and ads in the local newspaper. But today more and more people are looking to the Internet to find new businesses. Over the next 3 years, businesses that have and maintain web presences are expected to grow 40% more than sites that do not have websites. A common excuse for not having a website is the costs associated with creating it, but even that is becoming less of a hurdle. In 2011, Google launched a promotion to build websites for small businesses for free as a way to bring them into the 21st century. Even without this promotion, the costs of building a website can cost as little as $1,200 dollars which will quickly pay for itself.   Claim Your Market Once you have a site , the most important step is to connect your business with your region using the correct keywords. For example, focusing on the keywords “hardware store” is almost useless; “hardware store Albany, NY” can help draw people who are looking for a local hardware store nearby (assuming you own a hardware store in Albany, NY). The advantage that local stores have over large businesses is that the local site can focus on a particular area. Programs like WordTracker or Google AdWords will show you the level of competition for each keyword and suggest variations that may offer you more success. Once you have the keywords decided, the next step is to implement those across your site. Add them to your site’s title tags, meta description, images, and header tags; anywhere search engines are looking.   External Pages Use sites like Google+ and Bing Places for Business to their full potential. These sites often are favored by search engines and require very little technical know-how. Your business will then show up on sites like Google Maps and Bing Maps. All that’s required of you is fill out the pages with as much information as possible about your business. Creating a profile on sites like Yelp! is also an important step. Because Yelp! pages are constantly updated with reviews, they show up at the top of search results pages and can drive significant amounts of traffic.   Local Link Building In SEO, links are a great way to boost your site’s reputation. Getting reputable, published sources to link to your webpage boosts your search rating significantly because they are, in essence, vouching for your site. One of the most common methods of link-building is to have a local blogger link to your site; keep in mind, the bigger the blog, the more it will affect your SEO. With that in mind, when link building focus on quality over quantity. There are plenty of services that promise to link to hundreds of sites across the web, but search engines aren’t that blind anymore. As a result, these packages are usually just a waste of time and money.   Mobile Marketing Mobile Marketing is the quickly becoming one of the most important methods of marketing for local businesses. 97% of mobile users have used their device to search for local stores and services and over half are not targeted to a specific business. Also, the majority of customers who search for local businesses act upon the search results within the hour, which means the returns on a well-made mobile site can be seen very quickly. While mobile is an emerging market trend, many sites have failed to capitalize on it which means having a well-designed mobile-friendly site could put you miles ahead of the competition.   Old Fashioned Methods While it may seem archaic, word-of-mouth marketing is still an extremely effective way to increase awareness of your business locally. Connect with other local business owners and ask to hang flyers or put business cards in their shops. In the same way that link building from reputable sites will boost your SEO, getting a word-of-mouth recommendation from local shop owners that are trusted in the community can boost business, and referral bonuses can increase loyalty among customers.   Conclusion There isn’t one end-all-be-all fix to local marketing. Successfully spreading the name and reputation of your business takes time and effort, but will pay off in the end. web hosting Continue reading →

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The Case for Simplifying Website Navigation

Posted on February 24, 2014 by Hosting

The post The Case for Simplifying Website Navigation appeared first on HostGator Web Hosting Blog | Gator Crossing . In world of online shopping, a website should be thought of as part of your product or service. Derek Halpern of Social Triggers recently asked 15 participants to give feedback on a website which was purposely ill designed to study the effect that website design has on buying influence. 94% of the feedback focused on the design and layout; 6% was focused on the business. The most common complaints were things like complex layout and lack of navigation aids, and caused customers to trust the site less. Below are some common layout mistakes, and how to fix them.   Three Clicks Rule Website navigation doesn’t need to be complicated; in fact, simpler navigation is often more effective. The Golden Rule of website navigation is the 3-Click Rule: all pages on your site should be accessible by three clicks or less. Customers aren’t the only ones who don’t have the patience to go past three pages; neither do search engine crawlers. Any content or information past three pages won’t be seen and might as well not exist.   Use Tags to Categorize Pages Organizing an index of products or services can be tricky; the content of a site is expected to be unique, but the navigation of a site is supposed to be as predictable as possible. Poor structure is likely to turn off users who are unable to find what they are looking for. The least complicated way to structure pages would be an A to Z index of all pages. Of course, this makes a couple of fatal assumptions: it implies that the user knows exactly what they’re searching for, and that they know the exact name under which to find it. Because these conditions are very rarely true, the best option to organize content neatly in the navigation bar is to start off with broad terms that gradually become more specific. Assigning pages to each category requires tags. In website navigation, there are three types: crucial, optional, and irrelevant. Crucial categories are categories that are important to all users, and have very little—if any—overlap. Examples of crucial tags for a clothing site would be “Men’s”, “Women’s”, and “Kids’”. Using only crucial tags, it should be possible for a user to find relevant information. Optional tags further refine the search results, but are not necessary for all users. Sticking with the clothing store example, an optional tag would be the brand. Only after a user has chosen gender (“Men’s”) and type of clothing (“Pants”) would they be presented with the option of selecting a brand. It is entirely possible that a user cannot select an optional tag, and simply browse all Men’s pants, but the option to further refine the search is available. Irrelevant categories, in short, are irrelevant to the users and are used for organizational purposes on the back-end of the site. These sorts of tags include word count and date added.   Go Home On every page of the site, there should be the option to immediately return to the home page, whether it be a link that states “Click here to return to the home page” or by clicking the logo at the top of the screen. This gives users the option to restart their search and explore the site further.   Create a Sitemap Sitemaps serve multiple functions. They give users a complete overview of your site as well as assist search engine crawlers in navigating your site. In fact, failing to incorporate a sitemap can pose a serious threat to your search engine rankings. Best of all, a sitemap is painfully simple to make. Sites like www.xml-sitemaps.com/ will create a sitemap for you, then all you have to do is add it to the “public_html/” folder of your site.   Conclusion What’s been detailed here is only the tip of a very complicated iceberg, but taking the time to properly categorize your site will make it easier for customers to find the information or products they are looking for. Customers can be surprisingly fickle when it comes to online experiences, and a poorly structured site could be costing you countless customers and killing your search engine rankings. web hosting Continue reading →

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10 Marketing Strategies for Proven Startup Success

Posted on February 20, 2014 by Hosting

The post 10 Marketing Strategies for Proven Startup Success appeared first on HostGator Web Hosting Blog | Gator Crossing . The startup world is cutthroat. Any previously-successful strategy, plan, or method that can provide even a small edge in this highly competitive arena is worth a look. For that reason, relying on previously successful methods, especially when constructing something as important as a marketing plan, is not only wise, it can keep your business afloat. What’s important is to focus on what works, bringing in leads and developing positive brand image, without relying on gimmicks with no staying power. In this post, we’re outlining ten marketing strategies for proven startup success.   1. Content Marketing Kicking off (and potentially topping) the list is the new marketing darling. As customers overwhelmed by media eschew mass consumption for important and value driven posts, photos, and videos, businesses are forced to adapt to the changing climate. By delivering valuable, intelligent information to customers with a clear goal to enrich the lives of viewers, companies will see increased returns from this strategy in the coming year. And its track record is solid. A study by Kapost and Eloqua found that the cost-per-lead for paid search was $111.11, while the cost-per-lead for content marketing was less than one-third that amount, at $32.25. Furthermore, a Hubspot study found that 82% of marketers who had daily blog posts reported a positive ROI for their efforts. The writing is on the wall: content marketing is growing, and for sound fiscal and practical reasons.   2. Take Advantage of Social Media Leveraging social media is nothing new, but it remains a sound, cheap tool for startup companies. By producing quality content on some of the mostly highly frequented traffic channels on the Internet, social media not only offers the opportunity for exposure, but “virality”. “Going viral” has worked in the past, even if doing so is not an exact science. The Dollar Shave Club’s introductory video made them an overnight success due to its humor and high level of sharing. What creates virality is simple, if inexact: create content and marketing materials that possess characteristics people would want to be associated with. Doing so can result in “views + 1″; sharing that spreads the word in a way that money can’t buy.   3. Don’t be Afraid of SEO SEO or Search Engine Optimization has seen diminished returns in recent years , however the practice of optimizing metadata and searchability is not without its logic. Google remains the most heavily trafficked search engine on the web, and the index queried by Google searches depends upon strong keywords, accurate site titles, and a circus of other considerations that “optimize” your site’s profile. Focus on your product and company as a whole and consider what keywords may lead an individual to find you.   4. Utilize Pay-Per-Click Advertising At present, the jury is out on the effectiveness of pay-per-click advertising. On the one hand, the method has little in the way of longevity by its own merits. Paid users will need some quick convincing to stick around and even more convincing to become repeat visitors. On the other hand, PPC gives your website the chance to reach curious eyes regardless of your page rank. Considering the challenge of establishing a sufficiently robust link base and traffic rank to appear near the top of search engine results, PPC is, realistically, a good option for startups looking to make a quick impact.   5. Lean on Reputation Marketing In stark contrast to the quick injection of viewers, reputation marketing depends on slowly and methodically building a body of customer reviews and comments that speak highly of your services or products. The challenge here is the lack of control, but the payout is immense. This is due to the fact that a vast majority of online users trust users they do not even know, and that same percentage consult customer reviews before making a purchase. Building a reputation through consistent quality and customer service may take time, but once your reputation is in the zeitgeist, get ready to enjoy the ride.   6. Consider Native Advertising A lesser-known but no less intuitive form of marketing involves placing advertisements in familiar contexts. For example, BuzzFeed, the popular GIF sharing site, hosts advertisements that appear to be site articles. The articles differ in appearance to avoid unwanted confusion, but the context and similarity associate your brand with an activity or site that people voluntarily visit and enjoy. And the proof is in the pudding: According to Vitamin Talent , consumers looked at native ads 52% more frequently than banner ads.   7. Get Creative “Business as usual” has become a dirty word to consumers. With generalized disdain toward “impersonal” big businesses, startups have a unique opportunity to capitalize on the creative energy that fueled their founding. The aforementioned Dollar Shave Club video comes immediately to mind. Utilize humor, and the element of surprise. Aspire to be unconventional and unpredictable. Reach out and touch customers in a new and interesting way and even the most under-the-radar entrepreneur can benefit.   8. Embrace Delight Brand perception is about far more than just quality and on-time delivery. For companies to have a real impact in the life of their customers, they must aspire to transcend the rigid, analytical roles of a traditional firm. Be delightful. Bring a feeling of interest, curiosity, and discovery to your customers in any way that you can. Studies show that positive emotions, especially those associated with discovery, have a powerful impact on forming a positive impression in consumer minds. Hold live events, create eCard templates, and tap into seasonal cheer in order to bring whimsy into the “boring” business world.   9. Diversify Any one of the aforementioned channels can provide nascent businesses with valuable views. But the key, in a world dominated by multi-channel viewing and diverse media consumption, is to establish your presence across all avenues. By doing so, you establish a brand identity that is as ubiquitous as it is well-defined, never leaving the mind of plugged in viewers. And customers respond to this approach. According to Mashable, 72% of customers prefer an integrated marketing approach. If that doesn’t tell you something, nothing will.   10. Be Yourself Okay, so it isn’t exactly rocket science, but there’s something profoundly inspiring about the startup company. Entrepreneurs inspire us to chase down our own dreams. Silicon Valley has produced countless startups with unique character, practices, and workspaces, many of which have gone viral due to their status as symbols of freedom and innovation. As a startup company, you have a unique identity as a high-powered mover and shaker, making the world a better place. Be yourself and show yourself through your voice and your story. Incorporate these things into your marketing materials and create a human connection with your customers that will last well beyond your startup years.   Navigating the waters of the startup sea can be tricky for even the hardiest sailors. But time-tested strategies for marketing and advertising should give you a compass when the waters get choppy. Dive into the new digital age of content and friendly advertising and embrace your unique identity and its positive associations. Inspiration is a powerful motivator these days, so inspire yourself to step outside your comfort zone and make a difference for you and your exciting new company. web hosting Continue reading →

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How To Effectively Evaluate And Learn From Competition

Posted on February 17, 2014 by Hosting

The post How To Effectively Evaluate And Learn From Competition appeared first on HostGator Web Hosting Blog | Gator Crossing . It’s not always easy to admit that our opponents are better than us, even if it’s glaringly obvious. Overcoming our pride and opening ourselves to a little learning can be a challenge, but doing so is essential to survival in a competitive marketplace. Being willing to set your pride aside, build a data-driven analysis of your competition, implement their strategy, and track your progress will ensure that your shortcomings are short lived.   Be Humble Self-knowledge is a powerful tool, but confronting our shortcomings can be difficult for even the most confident among us. For many companies, the countless man-hours spent pouring effort into a marketing plan or content schedule can be hard to swallow if that time yields little in the way of results, but accepting your situation is the first step in understanding your competition. Begin by eschewing your ego for cool observation. Where do your analytics fall short? By how much? What are your goals? How far are you from meeting them? Lean on your analytics and refuse to sugar coat the hard truth, as doing so prevents meaningful introspection. Now look at your competition. What does their social media community look like? What kind of engagement do their blog posts see? How do their prices compare to yours? Once again, stick to hard numbers and do not color the truth in any way. This approach carries two advantages. First of all, it allows your company to evaluate its successes from an objective viewpoint, circumventing emotional roadblocks and the invariable detriment of pride. Second, it allows you to view things as they are, instead of as you wish them to be, creating a foundation for accurate and actionable insight.   Ask Numbers aren’t the only source of objective insight when evaluating your competition. Current and previous customers can provide a bevy of information, provided your relationship with them enables this sort of interaction. Simply ask questions such as, “What do you like about our competitors?”, “What do you believe their strengths are?” and so forth. This adds a counter-balancing element to your assessment that also provides the necessary subjective interpretation that all business must contend with in order to find success.   Observe With a humble demeanor and objective approach, it’s time to evaluate your competition the old fashioned way: research . Leverage the insights gleaned from your customers and target specific aspects of their operations, product, or marketing that demonstrate particular strength. Posit hypotheses to test against and then take notes and collect data in order to better understand what’s going on. Let’s take a fictitious example to illustrate the approach. Your company sees little to no audience interaction on its social media pages, while your competition has a bountiful following and a community of loyal users willing to shout their enthusiasm from the rooftops. You notice from a cursory viewing of their social media that video is heavily emphasized. You build the hypothesis that their video strategy is building engagement, collect data, noting that the number of comments on video posts are much higher than on their other social posts, and confirm your theory.   Assess Once you have data in hand from a number of tested hypotheses, it’s time to determine what you’ve learned. Gather the data drawn from successful testing and adjust failed tests to fit the collected data until a direct correlation is discovered. Collect the resulting information and sit down to the metaphorical drawing board. What have you learned from your observational testing? What theories proved to be true? What differences exist between their operations and yours? How does their audience differ from yours? What else have you learned? Use the data you’ve collected to build a body of useful insights. Ensure that you’re asking the right questions by aiming for aspects of their execution that your business can emulate. Avoid dead-end queries such as, “Why don’t our customers use social media as much as theirs?” Instead, look at the hard information and draw conclusions about their approach and the results based on what’s available. Doing so will ensure that the discovery that occurs is data-driven and, therefore, actionable.   Employ With a thorough understanding of your competition’s strategy, it’s time to implement what you’ve learned. Take the insights gleaned from the previous step and build action plans around what was discovered. Adjust product development, ad tone, content strategy, and market positioning in order to leverage your newfound knowledge in a way that’s uniquely useful to your firm. The key aspect of this implementation lies in understanding that no one approach is universally successful; that attempting to directly copy the strategies of competitors is a recipe for failure. Instead, evaluate what works for your competition on a strategic level and adapt it to your business’s individual circumstances. In doing so, you’ll harness the best that your rivals have to offer without compromising the character and integrity of your own.   Evaluate With your strategy in place, the last step that remains is to evaluate the effectiveness of your new plan. Regularly measure crucial metrics and determine where improvements or changes could be made. Compare your own results with those of your competitors and, if your numbers fall short, consider what you may be doing wrong, what they may be doing better, and what about your disparate circumstances may be fueling the gap. It’s important to remember as your plan initially unfolds, that patience is paramount to objectively evaluating your results. With any change, there’s the potential for both drop-off in results as previously successful methods are altered, and over-adjustment to your method born of worry. Give your plan time to take shape, make adjustments once sufficient data is available to guide the change, and keep a level head at all times. Sometimes your greatest asset in a competitive market is the competition itself. With a cool head and an intelligent approach, your team can determine what makes your biggest rivals tick, distill their strategy, implement it in your own firm, and turn it into a competitive advantage. Acknowledge your strengths and your weaknesses, and your business will be stronger for the effort. web hosting Continue reading →

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Seven Branding Books You Should Read This Year

Posted on January 30, 2014 by Hosting

The post Seven Branding Books You Should Read This Year appeared first on HostGator Web Hosting Blog | Gator Crossing . The role of business is ever changing, and with it, the practice of crafting identity. Competitive companies must continually position themselves as a necessary part of customers’ lives in order to stay relevant and profitable. Educate your staff, re-imagine your practice, and build a better practice through the knowledge imparted by these seven highly acclaimed resources.   StoryBranding For many businesses, the concept of branding is difficult to grasp. Building recognition in the marketplace takes more than exposure and advertising, it takes a compelling story. That’s what 30-year advertising veteran Jim Signorelli preaches in this high-impact volume entitled StoryBranding : Creating Stand-Out Brands Through the Power of Story. The book takes a look at the practice of branding as an extension of corporate identity. By asserting that modern branding practices should favor messages that resonate with customers over editorialized benefits, he challenges long-held preconceptions about what branding means and how to execute it successfully. The 6-step process guides businesses large and small through the process of finding their story and sharing it effectively with their target audience to build identity.   Designing Brand Identity Branding and marketing are ever evolving practices, and brand managers that wish to stay abreast of changing trends need a reference as relevant as their work. Enter Alina Wheeler’s Designing Brand Identity , a powerful resource rebuffed by dozens of case studies highlighting the best practices of successful brands. Through a five-phase process that begins with research and leads through product implementation, launch, and continuing governance, the tome is a veritable users manual for the practice of branding in the modern marketplace.   Ancient Secrets of Lead Generation A brand adorned with Facebook likes and clever aesthetic is nothing more than window decoration if it doesn’t generate sales. Fortunately, Daryl Urbanski’s cheekily titled volume examines what brands mean to customers and how to turn sentiment into revenue. By looking at what brands and businesses mean to communities and groups of people, Urbanski inspires and entices with techniques designed to tap human psychology and satisfy customer needs. By combining message with method, Ancient Secrets works to build relationship with customers that bring profit and prosperity for both parties.   What Great Brands Do Design can seem like hokum to the analytically minded. For those unconvinced of branding’s power, What Great Brands Do : The Seven Brand-Building Principles That Separate the Best from the Rest is like a marketing foreign-language dictionary. Denise Lee Yohn takes world-class brands like Nike, Zappos, and Apple and examines their method on a scientific basis that makes branding understandable and approachable. Designed to examine companies from the inside out, from culture to capital, and build a brand-as-a-business model that facilitates profitability and personnel satisfaction, her seven key principles highlight the commonalities that can turn have turned multiple businesses from bit-players into superstars.   Kellogg on Branding When you’re building the backbone of your corporate identity, leaning on the experts is never a bad idea. Northwestern’s Kellogg School of Management takes an academic look at the practice of branding in this 352-page book that will educate your practice and hone your craft. It’s academic themes may feel inaccessible to some, but the information, presented scientifically or otherwise, is steeped in knowledge that only years of university research can provide.   Essential Elements of Brand Identity A strong brand requires a strong visual identity and Essential Elements of Brand Identity tackles the aesthetic aspect of branding with aplomb. Kevin Budelmann, Yang Kim, and Curt Wozniak outline a platform for building brand identity predicated on a common framework of terminology and tools that both designers and customers can comprehend. The work dives deep into the concept of visual identity by creating a structure of brand analysis. By deconstructing how aesthetic affects brand perception and linking the process of design to business concerns, it becomes immediately applicable and immediately understandable for both designers and management; a marriage that can lead to cooperation, impact, and profitability.   The Brand Gap The strategic and creative forces behind your companies brand can sometimes become divorced, mired in a disconnect of goals and methods. Marty Neumeier’s The Brand Gap seeks to combine the two in a coherent fashion that aligns branding efforts for maximum effectiveness. Breaking the concept down into the “five essential disciplines of brand building”, the book looks to remove the disconnect between marketing arms and unite them in a way that strengthens image and breeds revenue. Building a strong brand is an essential part of any successful business. Understand your goals, your allies, your customers, and your market through these seven volumes, and make 2014 the year that your brand reaches new heights. web hosting Continue reading →

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