SEO Checklist: 101 Ways to Improve Your SEO in 2022

Who says Search Engine Optimization (SEO) has to be difficult? You just need to figure out what’s best for your website and track your progress to check what is/isn’t working.        

For those who are new to the term, SEO refers to the process of improving your website to boost its visibility when individuals search for your services or products in search engines such as Google, Bing, etc.

If you are mulling over how to boost your site’s organic traffic and rank on Google, we have created a complete SEO checklist that talks about 101 ways to improve your SEO in 2022. Business owners and marketers in any industry can benefit from the SEO strategies and tips mentioned below.    

But before we begin with the checklist, let’s discuss the basic SEO elements. These serve as the key components to optimizing your website for search. Take a look:

• URL Structure: A URL is defined as the address of a given unique resource on the internet. It should be consistent throughout your site and reflect the path the website visitors should take to get to a particular page. 
• Meta Descriptions: These are short paragraphs appearing below the page title and URL link during a search. They should be easy to read and entice a searcher to click through. 
• H1 tags: Located in your website’s code, H1 tags are used by search engines to know and differentiate the theme of every page. 
• Page titles: A page title is a brief description of a webpage and is shown on search engine results pages (SERPs) and at the top of a browser’s window. Page titles should be structured the same way on all your website pages.
• Keyword and Alt text (more on these two terms in the checklist). 

Now, let’s begin with our SEO checklist. For better understanding, we’ve organized it in the following categories:

• SEO Basics   
• Keyword Research and Optimization
• On-Page SEO
• Technical SEO
• Off-page SEO
• Branding
• Backlinks
• Content
• General Checklist
• Advanced SEO Tactics And Tips

SEO Basics

First, let’s start with the SEO basics. Here’s what you should know about the plugins and tools you will need to rank in search engines:

1. Setup Google Search Console

Google Search Console is a fantastic free tool that you should use to improve your SEO. Set it up and track the performance of your website in Google search.     

2. Setup Google Analytics

Google Analytics enables you to see how individuals find and use your website. For instance, you can see how much traffic you get from Google, know the pages that bring the maximum traffic, your average bounce rate, and much more. This data gives you an idea of the areas you need to work on.

3. Install Yoast SEO (For WordPress Users)

Yoast is the most renowned SEO plugin in the world. It makes it extremely easy to optimize your WordPress website for search engines. 

Keyword Research and Optimization

Called the foundation of SEO, keyword research is an SEO practice where you find, analyze and use the phrases that searchers use to look for information on the web.

You must know how to find keywords that your potential customers are searching for. Here’s how you can do this:    

4. Discover Keywords in the Google Keyword Planner

Do you know what the official keyword research tool of Google is? It is the Google Keyword Planner. This tool is a great source of keyword ideas and lets you discover search queries that have a lot of searches.            

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5. Search for Long-Tail Keywords

Using Google Suggest is a great way to find long-tail keywords.

Enter a keyword in Google. Don’t click on “Google Search” or press Enter.

Just look at the keywords Google shows you:

These are the best types of keywords to optimize your website around as people are searching for them (that’s why Google suggested them to you!). So, ensure you follow this tip of our basic SEO checklist.

6. Search for Question Keywords with Answer the Public

Question keywords are ideal for articles and blog posts.

You can find them in almost no time on Answer the Public (ATP).

For instance, open ATP and enter the question – “How to make mint tea?”

This free tool displays questions that individuals search for on the internet.

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With these suggestions, you can easily answer questions through your content.

7. Use UberSuggest to Find Relevant Keywords

UberSuggest shows you a number of relevant keywords when you enter a single one. You can easily filter by media type (video, image, news, etc.) and geographical location.

8. Include Your Keyword in Your URL

Try Incorporating the target keyword in the URL of a website page or a blog post as it helps Google understand what the page is about.

9. Incorporate Keywords in Your Meta Description

Integrate your keyword at least once or twice in the meta description. Also, ensure you write a catchy meta description. Taking these steps will help you improve your SEO.

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10. Discover Low-Competition Keywords with KWFinder

When you enter a keyword into the KWFinder tool, you can fetch extremely useful data on it, such as:

1. cost-per-click (CPC)
2. Keyword difficulty
3. Search volume
4. Estimated visits
5. Trends

This information makes it easy for you to choose low-competition keywords (which are easy to rank for).

11. Always Focus on Quality

In an attempt to improve your SEO, do not compromize on the quality of your content. Remember, you are writing for readers and not for robots.

On-Page SEO 

Let’s see how you can optimize your content with the help of a few on-page SEO factors when you are looking for ways to improve your SEO.

12. Start the Title Tag With Your Keyword

If you are wondering what’s wrong with your SEO strategy, maybe you are not writing effective title tags. 36% of SEO experts believe the title tag is the most important SEO element.

You may already know that you should include your keyword in your title tag. But don’t forget to front-load your keyword in your title tag. Place your keyword at the start of the title tag. Check an example of this (the main keyword here is SEO basics):  

13. Integrate Your Keywords Once in the First 150 Words

Google considers the first 100-150 words of your page very important.

Hence, ensure you incorporate your keyword once here.

14. Use Internal Links

When you write a fresh piece of content, see if you can link to 2-5 other pages on your website.

Tip: In your internal links, use keyword-rich anchor text.

15. Use External Links

Ensure to link out to 5-8 trusted or authority websites in your article (e.g., Wikipedia). Such a step tells Google that your content is trustworthy and well-referenced.

16. Audit Your Content Regularly

This is yet another important tip of this SEO checklist. Remove content that doesn’t rank in SERPs, doesn’t add any value, and doesn’t provide any benefit to your website in the end. For doing so, check underperforming content and audit and remove any duplicate, thin or low-quality content 1-2 times annually.

Doing away with unnecessary content enables more valuable content on your site to flourish and shine. 

17. Optimize Images

To help Google understand images in your content, you must optimize your image filenames and alt tags.

How to do so? Use a filename that gives a brief description of the image. For instance, you should name a picture of a spinach omelet something like “spinach_omelete.png.”

Also, at the time of adding the image to your webpage, give it a descriptive alt tag such as “spinach omelet garnished on a plate.”

Note: Optimized images help you rank in image search. 

Technical SEO

Technical SEO refers to server and website optimizations that help search engine spiders crawl and index your website in a more effective manner.

The common areas of best practice you need to focus on are:

18. Your Site’s Loading Speed

Having a slow website is one of the mistakes that can sabotage your SEO strategy. If your website takes an extra 2 seconds to load, bounce rates increase by 103%.

Check, does your site load extremely fast?

If not, your website will not rank as well. 

Visit a free tool called PageSpeed Insights to know how quickly your website loads for mobile and desktop users. It will also show what steps to take to increase speed.

19. Fix Broken Internal and Outbound Links

Broken links only mean one thing – poor user experience.

Check the list of broken outbound and internal links in your Site Audit Report and fix them (by either updating them or simply removing the link).

20. Ensure Your Website is Mobile-Friendly

Do you know Google switched to mobile-first indexing for all websites in 2019? If you don’t offer a mobile-friendly experience, your organic visibility will be affected.

Use Google’s mobile-friendly testing tool to check your site’s mobile-friendliness. 87% of smartphone owners use a search engine on a daily basis. Hence, ensure that your website is mobile-friendly.

21. Ensure you are using HTTPS

This is one of the most important factors in this SEO checklist. If you are not using HTTPS encryption on your site, it is time you do so. HTTPS has been a ranking factor since 2014.    

22. Use an SEO-friendly URL structure

An SEO-friendly URL structure enables search engines to crawl your pages easily and know what they are about. Your page URLs must be descriptive and simple.

An SEO-friendly URL looks like this:

https://www.domain.com/yellow-shoes/

Tip: Use hyphens in your URLs for separating words. Never use underscores.

23. Generate and Submit a Sitemap

A sitemap communicates to the crawler which files you consider important on your website and even conveys important information about these files. For instance, for pages, how often the page is changed, when was it last updated, etc.

Google supports various sitemap formats, with XML being the most used one. You can typically find your website’s sitemap at https://www.domain.com/sitemap.xml.

If you have to generate an XML sitemap, you can use the different sitemap generator tools available out there. After you generate it, ensure you submit it to Google Search Console and Bing Webmaster Tools.

In the end, ensure you reference your sitemap in your robots.txt file.

24. Create a Robots.txt File

Your website’s robots.txt file communicates to search engine crawlers the files and pages that web crawlers can’t and can request from your website.

Mostly, it is used to prevent specific sections of your website from being crawled.

Find your website’s robots.txt file at https://www.domain.com/robots.txt. If you don’t have one, you must create one (even if you don’t need to prevent any web page from being crawled).

25. Check the Page Depth of Your Website

The deeper a page, the less likelihood of search engines or users finding it. Ensure pages don’t need more than three clicks to reach them.

26. Check How Google Views Your Page

If Google cannot entirely access your page, it won’t rank.

Use the “Inspect URL” feature of the Google Search Console to see your page from the point of view of Google.

27. Add Structured Data

You must know that structured data markup has become more and more valuable today. If you are not using structured data, you must use it. This is because your organic listings stand out on the SERPs with the help of structured data.

Off-Page SEO

Let’s discuss the SEO checklist for this category:

28. Create social media profiles on the platforms your target audiences hang out on.

29. Get on LinkedIn Pulse (it is LinkedIn’s publishing platform).

30. Do guest podcasting (it lets you speak directly to new podcast listeners that are a part of your target audience).

31. Stay active on Pinterest and join relevant boards.

32. Comment on blogs to develop relationships.

33. Contribute to newsletters.

34. Search for events you can sponsor.

35. Set up and optimize Google My Business.

36. Turn unlinked mentions into links.

37. Check websites using your images and ask them to link back.

38. Get on websites that offer awards.

39. Do expert roundups (but don’t go overboard).

40. Make badges your community can use on their websites.

Branding

Here is a basic SEO checklist that comes in this category:

41. Your “About Us” page adds to your brand’s personality. Ensure you make it count.

42. Develop a voice and tone that you follow in all your blogs. Steer away from boring or formal.

43. Become popular for something in your industry (For instance, KISSMetrics is known for A/B split testing).

44. Brand the anchor text of your backlink.

45. Display a tagline on your website that exactly communicates what you are about to provide a glimpse of your business the minute visitors land on your site.

46. Carefully choose your logo as it is something that defines your online presence.

Backlinks

As per the latest SEO statistics, the more backlinks a page has, the more search traffic it gets from Google. If you want to rank in Google, links are an absolute must.

Here’s a basic SEO checklist you should follow for backlinks:

47. Think about guest posting for getting a backlink

48. Ensure you don’t over-optimize the anchor text. Try more generic keywords such as – click here, read more, etc.

49. Prioritize making connections with industry leaders in your niche. This is because bloggers link to other webmasters and bloggers who they know and trust.

50. Links from .edu and .gov domains are much more authoritative and advantageous than from .net and .com.

Content

How do you create content that ranks in 2022? Check it out:

51. Create fantastic content using the “Skyscraper Technique.” It helps you increase your search engine traffic. This is what the process includes:

• Get to know a popular piece of content in your industry.
• Create something much better than this content.
• Lastly, promote the content.

52. Break your content into chunks so that it is super easy to read. If you follow this step, your bounce rate (an important Google ranking factor) can become extremely low.

53. As per the analysis conducted by Backlinko on over 11M Google Search Results, content that ranks best in Google covers an entire topic in an in-depth manner.

54. Different forms of multimedia such as images, videos, charts, and visual content help your content rank better.

55. Make it a point to constantly update your blog and website. Search engines like to show the latest content to their users.

56. Create amazing, long guides that work as the best resource on a particular subject. They attract a huge amount of traffic, backlinks, and social shares.

57. Format your text to highlight your content, in turn making it easier to read.

58. Your content needs to be so amazing that readers get intrigued and check your blog every day/week.

59. Think about creating infographics. They attract a lot of comments, get tons of shares, and get a lot of backlinks. In other words, infographics can help you go viral.

60. Use numbered lists and bullet points so that your content becomes skimmable.   

General Checklist

Let’s discuss some general Search Engine Optimization (SEO) tips that you should follow:

61. Don’t make a URL for certain pages unnecessarily long in length. It not only looks unattractive but is harmful to SEO as well.

62. Don’t publish the same post twice on your website. In other words, don’t publish duplicate content.

63. Regardless of the media you upload, ensure it has the alt text in this format: your-keyword-here.

64. Read blogs associated with your industry to derive ideas from them.

65. Ensure you cover everything there is to know about a topic.    

66. The more comments you have, the better it is for your website (it tells Google that individuals are engaged and interacting with your site).

67. Develop your brand authority around a particular niche in your industry.

68. When you increase your blogging frequency, you increase your organic traffic.

69. Structure your site – make an architectural plan for it before you kickstart the development process.

70. More direct traffic equals a high-quality site which equals an increase in rankings.

71. Search and fix multiple H1 tags.

72. Find and fix duplicate and missing meta descriptions.

73. Visit Soovle and use it to brainstorm keywords from Amazon, Yahoo!, Wikipedia, and more.

74. Build your list and use your newsletter to create and build your community.

75. Schedule checks for your backlinks profile.

76. Stay abreast with the latest Google Guideline changes.

77. Use social sharing buttons that attract users’ attention and encourage social shares.

78. Reddit, forums, Quora, and various other online communities are fantastic places where you can discover more keywords.

79. Get on magazines as well as newspaper websites.

80. Social Crawlytics lets you analyze the most shared blog posts of your competitors. Check it out to know what potentially viral content you should be producing that brings you a lot of social shares.

81. Encourage your audience to share your blog posts on social media. Mention this at the end of your blog posts.

82. Incorporate a “popular posts” widget on your sidebar so that you are able to increase pageviews and make visitors browse your site even more.

83. Concentrate on user engagement as it reduces bounce rate, increases pageviews per visitor, and social shares.

84. Mention influencers in your blog posts and let them know that you mentioned them. Also, tell them that if they enjoy the guide, they can like or tweet it. Chances are, they will be happy to share your content on social media.

85. Remember, the older your domain, the better it is.

86. Tag your blog posts with the right keywords.

87. Use your keyword and relevant phrases twice in H2s, H3s, and H4s in your blog posts.

88. Use LSI (Latent Semantic Index) keywords in your blog posts. These are synonyms and relevant phrases that define your focus keyword.

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89. Ensure your images are as small as possible with no compromises on their quality.

90. Press releases work. But just be careful with them.

91. If your visitors return a second, third, or fourth time, it gives Google a clear sign that your site serves as a helpful resource to them.

92. When you search your keyword in Google by typing it with double-quotes, the number of results shown beneath the search bar is the keyword competition.

93. Find and Detect Redirect Loops and Chains and fix them. Redirects should go from page A to page B.

94. Find keyword cannibalization issues and fix them.

95. Keep URLs as short as possible.

96. Search for and fix missing, truncated, and duplicate title tags.

97. Search for and fix orphaned site pages.

98. Check duplicate versions of your website in Google’s index. 

Advanced SEO Tactics And Tips

The question of how to improve your SEO doesn’t end here. Let’s discuss some advanced SEO tactics and tips as well.

99. Limit Website Downtime

Google says that unplanned site outages can negatively impact the reputation of a site.

To track site downtime, you can use a tool called Pingdom.

100. Increase Your Website’s Dwell Time

Another important ranking factor is Dwell Time.

Dwell Time is the time a Google searcher spends on a web page from the search results before heading back to the Search Engine Results Pages.

When people get what they are searching for on your page, they stay. Google takes note of this. So, ensure you implement ways in which the searchers stay on your page longer.

101. Update Outdated Content and Relaunch It

Do you have old posts from your blog that are just collecting dust?   

You can update them and make them better by taking the following steps:

1. Enhance the formatting
2. Include new screenshots
3. Add more meaty content

Then, finally, you can relaunch it. You may now see an increase in search engine traffic.

This is how you improve your SEO!

Wrapping up

From SEO basics to on-page SEO techniques, this is the ultimate checklist on how to improve SEO in 2022.

As we have covered a lot of SEO strategies and tips in this SEO checklist, it may seem like a lot of information to grasp in one go. But you can always bookmark this post and come back again anytime you want to refer to it.

Now that you know how to improve your SEO with these 101 awesome SEO tips, it is time to get cracking!

Guest author: Sean Davis is a professional content developer at DashClicks, a white-label digital marketing platform for small and medium-scale agencies. He also has more than 5 years of experience as a content strategist, blogger, and digital marketer. Sean uses his expertise to spread knowledge through his writing. He is highly proficient in describing complex technical concepts with simplicity to make them widely accessible.

The post SEO Checklist: 101 Ways to Improve Your SEO in 2022 appeared first on Jeffbullas's Blog.

* This article was originally published here

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Why Best Practice Web Design Is Critical to Engage Your Audience

We are living in the age of the internet and chances are that one of the first encounters anyone has with your company or brand is going to be through your website. This means that there is no platform as important to your branding and image management as your website. That’s why so many marketing professionals emphasize the importance of good website design when it comes to marketing, brand management, audience engagement, and retention.

So first things first, what is web design and how can it help you and your audience?

What is web design?

Web design, unsurprisingly, is basically designing for the web. This includes website and webpage design, web graphic design, user interface (UI) design, user experience (UX) design, and more. Web design requires a range of different skills. Traditionally web design teams consisted of people from various backgrounds ranging from coders to graphic designers and content writing specialists.

Today with website builder platforms, web design has been made much easier and way more accessible to people from all walks of life. DIY websites have become a reality and it is possible to build a website today without touching a single line of code.

However, even with the best website builder platform at your disposal, building a successful website for your business and brand entails knowing the basic principles of web design. You need to understand how you can implement these principles to the benefit of your website’s audience in order to ensure the best user experience and maximize audience engagement with your website. This article will help you understand some of these things.

How good web design can help you and your audience

Good web design is not just important for your branding, it is also important for your audience. Good web design can objectively improve user experience and make your website more user-friendly. This improves engagement and in turn, increases your chances of making a sale or gaining a client/customer.

Here are some ways in which good website design can help you impress your audience and create a better overall experience for them.

1. Fast loading times

Did you know that a well-designed website can help you with your loading times? Web design is not just about making a site look pretty but also about improving functionality. This means that clean code, responsive templates, and loading speeds are as important to your website’s design as a color palette or a cool logo.

Your audience is more likely to simply abandon your website and move on if they find it loads too slowly for their taste. In fact, according to statistics, around 53% of all consumers will simply abandon a site visit if your website takes longer than 3 seconds to load.

Another thing to keep in mind is that Google and other search engines take loading speeds into consideration when determining website rankings for the SERPs (search engine result pages). This means that if you have a slow-loading site, it may not rank well on SERPs and may not show up in the search results when someone searches a keyword related to your website. This can harm your organic web traffic through search engines which can put a big dampener on your marketing plans.

Fast loading times and by extension clean web design are some of the most important factors in audience retention and organic web traffic generation.

2. Intuitive design

Intuitive design practices ensure that your website is easily navigated and easy to use. These include using an F-pattern (text blocks arranged, left to right in an F shape) to improve readability, using clean color palettes and minimalist design, sticking to readable fonts and typography, using breadcrumb navigation and easily accessible menus and home buttons, etc.

Using intuitive design practices is important because you want site visitors to be able to efficiently navigate your website and find everything they need even if they are visiting for the first time. When you visit a website, you don’t want to sit around and learn how to use it, do you? You want to quickly figure out what the website is all about and then click on other relevant pages where you can find what you need.

Intuitive design makes sure that your audience’s experience of using your site is seamless and requires no extra problem solving or energy. This gives them more time and energy to focus on your website’s content and your products or services which are more important.

This way, by using intuitive web design practices you can increase audience engagement and retention on your site.

3. Integrated CTAs

You may have seen a ‘Call us now!’ appended to the bottom of print adverts. Websites usually have a ‘Sign up’ button displayed prominently but unobtrusively on their homepage. These are calls-to-action (CTAs) and they are meant to improve audience engagement and promote the conversion of site visitors into consumers.

What a CTA basically does is encourage your audience to take some action that can further lead them to buy your products or services or interact with your website or business in a way that is beneficial to you.

CTAs are the heart of marketing and advertising but that being said audiences generally don’t like to feel like they’re being marketed to. Think about those spammy pop-up ads that are the bane of so many websites. The CTA on these ads usually covers most of the banner space and the pushy, pop-ups can get a little too in your face. As you may understand, this is not a very good marketing strategy.

A good web design practice is to integrate your CTAs into your website design in a way that is helpful, not spammy or overly intrusive. You want your audience to sign up for your website or buy your products or services, but you don’t want to push this in their face too much. A simple button or a contact form can do wonders here by encouraging your audience to make a decision now rather than later.

Such integrated CTAs can boost your audience engagement rates and sales by promoting conversions of site visitors into paying customers.

4. Branding and marketing

There is no better platform than your very own website for you to market yourself and your brand. Branding and brand identity are all about image control and distinguishing yourself from others by creating a distinct image. Since your website is entirely your own and the one platform where you have complete control it makes sense to turn your website into the center of your branding and marketing strategy on the internet.

A good logo, appealing color palette, brand story, testimonials, etc are all important elements in creating the perfect website that embodies your brand. Your brand is your answer to why someone should choose you over your competitors. When someone clicks on your website they know exactly who you are and why they should choose you over some other brand or business.

Good web design can help you communicate your brand better to your audience. It helps them understand your business and your values. It creates a sense of trust and credibility that helps build a better business-to-consumer relationship between you and your audience.

5. SEO optimization

As I mentioned earlier, good web design practices are not just about making your website look pretty, they are also meant to improve your website’s functionality. One way in which this can be done is through SEO optimization.

SEO stands for search engine optimization and what it means is to design a website in such a way that it performs well on SERPs. A lot of people discover new websites and businesses through search engines. By using good web design practices and proper SEO techniques, you can ensure a much more level playing field for your website’s marketing than many other more traditional avenues.

While SEO marketing requires a lot of time, effort, and consistency, it is incredibly budget-friendly as compared to other forms of marketing. In fact, with the right tools, you can do it all yourself. Using the right keywords, clean code, appropriate meta-data and tags, etc makes it easier for your audience to discover your website and your content. It also enables you to attract new audiences through organic traffic generated by SERPs.

How to create a website designed for your audience

When it comes to design, there are some basic principles that should be followed and web design is no different. Since design is a creative field it is very easy to get carried away by one’s imagination and need to be ‘different’ and ‘aesthetic’ while sacrificing good old functionality in the process. Good web design principles help you avoid that mess and keep your website clean, coherent, and easy to navigate.

1. Understand your audience

The first step to designing a website for your audience, unsurprisingly, is to understand your audience. What is the demographic that you specifically want to attract? Different brands in the same industry can have wildly different target bases and audiences. Think about the difference between Hot Topic and H&M. They’re both fashion brands but cater to different audiences and their website designs show this.

2. Visual hierarchy

Visual hierarchy is a simple concept that your web pages should always center on the most important visual or functional element. For example, Google’s search engine homepage is mostly white space with the Google logo and search bar front and center. Other buttons are placed towards the corner of the page. This is a visual hierarchy at work since the most important and useful element is the one that needs to be highlighted on the page. Visual hierarchy is a cornerstone of intuitive web design.

3. Grids and patterns

Most websites use some sort of grid and column mechanism to organize web content. While a lot of novice web designers may feel like grids and columns are old-fashioned and boring, experienced designers understand that grid systems are popular for a reason: they work. They are efficient, easy to set up, have just enough flex that you can play around with it without going overboard and creating a confusing mess.

Same with patterns. F and Z patterns are the heart of website design. They are an efficient way of directing your audience’s eyes to the most important elements on the website and are helpful in creating clean, coherent, and intuitive websites.

4. Fonts and typography

In general, it is a good idea to go for simple fonts and typography that is clear, legible, and scalable. Sans serif fonts are generally preferred for web design because they perform well on computer screens and are more readable overall. While it is acceptable to use more than one font, even encouraged in many situations, to make the page more lively and less monotonous, make sure not to go overboard. Too many mismatched fonts can make your web pages look overcrowded and clunky.

5. Color palettes

The color palette you choose depends on your brand but make sure to choose colors that complement each other and more importantly make for a legible and coherent web page. Everyone likes a splash of color but always remember that functionality should trump pure aesthetic considerations. Clean, cohesive and simple is a mantra that will never lead you astray.

The bottom line

Web design is an important aspect of your branding strategy. With the rise of website builder platforms, it has become increasingly easy and simple to create beautiful websites all by yourself, without touching a single line of code. However, this also means that understanding good web design has become an important part of being a brand owner.

It all may seem complicated but it really isn’t. All you need is the right tools and a little bit of time and research. I hope this article helped you out.

Guest author: Anisha Singh has experience of 10+ years in graphic design and content creation. She is currently working on content strategy and creation for Pixpa.com, a website builder for photographers, creators & small businesses. 

The post Why Best Practice Web Design Is Critical to Engage Your Audience appeared first on Jeffbullas's Blog.

* This article was originally published here

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How to Use Instagram Live to Grow Your Business

By now, most businesses have tapped into Instagram’s potential as a powerful marketing tool. Approximately 71% of American businesses use Instagram in some capacity. However, very few are taking advantage of the Instagram Live feature.

Instagram Live is a feature that allows you to broadcast live videos to your followers and interact with them. For businesses, this can be a great chance to connect with your audience and engage with them in a more meaningful way. As you develop strong relationships with your followers, you increase the chances of converting them into paying consumers.

Why should your business use Instagram Live?

Instagram Live is a powerful tool that offers businesses a myriad of benefits. Here are a few of Instagram Live’s biggest advantages for businesses.

Engagement

Instagram Live can be an amazing way to grow your business by strengthening your relationship with your target audience. Since you stream in real-time, your audience gets the chance to see an unscripted and more authentic representation of your brand. While this can be intimidating at first, broadcasting live can foster a deeper connection with your target audience. Since users can comment and react in real-time, businesses have the opportunity to directly interact with their followers. This form of high engagement can build trust and strengthen your relationships with potential consumers.

Visibility  

Live video is highly visible on people’s feeds. Unless they specifically turn off this notification, users are notified when an account they follow is live. If you are going live with another user, such as an influencer, their followers will receive the live notification as well. This enables businesses to reach a wider audience and possibly gain a larger following through their live stream.

“Doing an Instagram Live with an influencer whose content and values align with your brand’s is a strategically brilliant move as a business,” explains Jeff Perry, a business writer at Essay Roo and Academ advisor. “It exposes a substantial portion of their followers to your brand thanks to the Instagram Live notification and newsfeed priority.”

How to use Instagram Live for business

As a business, launching your first Instagram Live can be an overwhelming experience. While the live video will stream in real-time, there are plenty of steps you can take to ensure you are prepared beforehand. Here are a few tips to help your business start leveraging this powerful marketing tool.

Before the stream, ensure to check your Internet connection. The better your connection, the higher your stream quality will be. “A good tip before you go Instagram Live is to create another Instagram account,” advises Mary Rayner, a tech blogger at Ukwritings and Writing populist. “This could help ease any nerves and allows you to familiarize yourself with the set-up and various functions.”

Fortunately, Instagram is very user-friendly so going on Instagram Live is relatively simple. Simply swipe right after opening the app to arrive at the Stories interface. Next, select the Live option at the bottom of the screen, and tap it whenever you’re ready.

After the stream, share it to IGTV and post a preview of it to your feed. This saves your Instagram Live to your account which allows any followers who missed it to tune in at a later time.

5 Tips to engage your audience during an Instagram Live

As a consumer engagement tool, there are endless ways for your business to leverage Instagram Live. Here are five ways to use this awesome feature to connect with potential consumers and grow your business.

#1. Collaborate with an influencer

Since followers are notified of any live streams and Instagram prioritizes live stories on their feed, collaborating with an influencer on Instagram Live is one of the fastest ways to gain new followers as a business.

This strategy is especially effective if the influencer’s persona and values align with your brand’s image. Their followers are more likely to be interested in the product or service offered by your business. A survey found that 80% of people use Instagram to decide whether to buy a product or service. 61% of consumers trust brand, product, or service recommendations from influencers.

An Instagram Live session with an influencer could convert many of their followers into followers of your business and paying customers.

#2. Host a Q&A

Hosting a live Q&A is a great way to build trust with your followers. As a business, it’s a highly effective tool for addressing any queries or concerns regarding your product or service. It’s also an awesome way for your target audience to get to know your brand better.

Instagram Live provides an amazing way to directly communicate with potential customers. You could also use a Q&A session to gain valuable insight from your target audience about your brand, products or services, and their preferences.

#3. Interview someone

Many businesses use Instagram Live to interview influencers with a large following. This is a great way to capture the interest of their followers and introduce them to your brand.

Another strategy is to interview a member of your team. If you’re the founder of the business, ask someone from marketing to interview you. This allows your target audience to gain a deeper insight into your brand’s history and values. 

#4. Do a live tutorial

Tutorials are another fantastic way to engage with your followers on Instagram Live. Many influencers and beauty brands will leverage this feature to host a live makeup or skincare tutorial.

Image Source: Instagram

#5. Promote a launch

One of the most straightforward methods for growing your business using Instagram Live is to promote a new launch. If there is an event, you can stream it live to provide your followers with exclusive access. Another strategy is to provide glimpses of your product using Instagram Live before the official launch date.

Wrapping up

Instagram Live is a valuable marketing tool for you to engage with potential customers and grow your audience. 83% of Instagram users discover new products or services on the platform. With the help of Instagram Live, they could discover yours.

Guest author: Christina Lee is a marketing manager at Top Canadian Writers and Research paper writing service. She writes about social media content strategy and consumer engagement tips for such services, as Top essay writing services, and others.

The post How to Use Instagram Live to Grow Your Business appeared first on Jeffbullas's Blog.

* This article was originally published here

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4 Ways to Generate B2B Sales Quickly Using UGC Marketing

There are two things that are key to the success of any business:

First, getting your brand seen.

Second, winning the trust of prospective and existing customers.

Naturally, there are several marketing strategies that can help you do both. But there’s one that can help you do it quickly and cheaply.

UGC marketing.

If you’ve ever read a thread on Reddit, you’ve engaged with user-generated content (UGC). And if you’ve ever reviewed a product on Amazon, you have created user-generated content.

In simple words, user-generated content includes any form of content that’s created by users outside your company.

But what makes this content so powerful? The fact that it is created by the customers and for the customers. You can advertise to your heart’s content, but in the end, it’s just your word, and not as powerful as the end user’s thoughts.

In addition, ads would be deemed as self-serving, whereas authentic UGC is more altruistic.

In fact, according to a 2021 TINT report, 93% of marketers agree that consumers trust content created by peers more than that created by brands.

Now that we know that UGC marketing really works, let’s look at four tips to make it work for your own B2B business.

Tip #1: Encourage customers to review your product

Did you know that nearly 90% of consumers worldwide look up reviews online before making a purchase?

That makes reviews and testimonials one of the most popular forms of user-generated content.

Why?

Because they’re the secret sauce to social proofing your brand – a persuasion principle that powers UGC marketing.

People seek social proof so as to avoid making wrong choices. They use social proof to validate their buying decisions. It’s simply a self-preservation tendency in netizens that B2B brands can exploit to drive sales.

And this explains why customer reviews guide shopping decisions so easily.

So, if you haven’t yet started soliciting reviews from your customers, here are some tips to get you started:

• Get your customers’ email addresses during billing.
• Mention how much you’d appreciate their feedback.
• Take time out to respond to reviews.
• Offer an incentive they can’t resist.

You can then go on to include these reviews on your website. You can even convert them into testimonials and put them out on your social channels.

Here’s an example of how Mangools leverages online reviews to boost credibility:

Image Source: Mangools

As if these benefits weren’t enough, customer reviews can also improve your SEO rankings. Since reviews are likely to contain keywords relevant to your business, it helps Google understand what your business does.

And again, Google wants to offer its users the best experience possible. So, naturally, it will prioritize businesses with high volumes of reviews.

Lastly, remember that things won’t always be rosy. There will be times that you’ll encounter negative reviews. However, responding to those can help you win your customers’ trust. It will prove that you really care about your customers and that you’re committed to improving your product or service.

Tip #2: Make things visual

A picture is worth a thousand words, and the same holds true for UGC marketing.

If you are able to show prospective customers how much people love your brand and your products, you can drive more sales over time.

You probably already have high-quality visuals of your product. While these are important and have their own role to play, they often look hyper-real, and a little too “perfect.” User-generated visuals, on the other hand, look real, and can strongly impact your visitor’s buying decisions.

Starbucks does an excellent job at leveraging visual UGC marketing.

What’s even better?

The brand goes on to share these visuals on its own social channels, accrediting the original creator to win even more user trust.

Image Source: Instagram

Another way to capitalize on the potential of visual UGC is by incentivizing your customers to include photos or videos in their reviews, which not only helps drive sales but also improves your eCommerce user experience.

Image Source: Amazon

In fact, platforms such as Amazon have enabled video reviews too now.

In order to encourage visual UGC, you can even go on to offer recording tips (film in natural light, use a microphone, etc) to your camera-shy customers.

Visual content often embraces a playful approach to storytelling, which makes it much easier to consume. What’s more, such content is avidly shared on social platforms, giving your brand added reach and visibility.

Tip #3: Gamify the experience

Want to generate UGC at scale? Of course, you do.

A good way to do this is by running a social media contest with great prizes up for grabs. Do this right, and you’ll have a sea of UGC pouring in.

And what do you get in return?

Lots of attention and the opportunity to boost B2B sales exponentially.

Gamification not only motivates people to create high-quality content but also goes a long way in building lasting relationships with them.

In return, you can offer special discount codes, free memberships, loyalty points, etc.

GoPro is one brand that has truly harnessed the power of gamification for generating UGC.

But how?

The GoPro awards program. This program is constantly coming up with contests that require GoPro fans to create quality content and share it on social media.

Image Source: Instagram

Winners stand the chance to bag camera gear, cash, as well as exposure.

Thanks to GoPro’s fantastic strategy, thousands of GoPro videos and images are shared on social media on a daily basis.

All GoPro had to do?

• Come up with a dedicated hashtag.
• Curate a webpage dedicated to showcasing the best UGC.
• Encourage users to submit their best work.

Now, you may argue that GoPro’s product is such that makes UGC marketing a breeze for the brand. But what’s noteworthy is that there are several other camera retailers in the market. And none of them have managed to realize the brand-building services of their customers to this extent.

Another great way to amp up your UGC marketing strategy is by partnering with an influencer.

These social media celebrities boast a highly engaged following and have a way with their audience. By having them spearhead a contest for your brand, you’ll be able to generate even more UGC.

What’s more, there are several platforms for influencer marketing that can help you zero in on the right influencer for your needs.

Tip #4: Promote UGC across all touchpoints

Your UGC marketing strategy will be incomplete without republishing your audience’s content on your own social channels and website.

Social media platforms can be leveraged for boosting traffic, driving engagement, and generating B2B sales.

Take a look at how Adobe boosts brand credibility by resharing art created by their audience:

Image Source: Instagram

As you can see, the original creator has even left a comment on the post. When done right, reposting UGC can help boost engagement, and expose your brand to a new audience.

Another way to gain from UGC marketing is to incorporate such content into your product pages. After all, this is where visitors make the final decision of whether or not to purchase your product.

Here’s how dog food manufacturer Jinx improves its bottom line by placing customer reviews right beneath the product description and photos:

Image Source: Jinx

Finally, if your brand has a blog, you can include your customers’ posts, success stories, and comments about your products, in the articles.

Even if this doesn’t impact B2B sales directly, it will help you enhance brand awareness.

Ready to grow your business using UGC marketing?

The people that buy from you are often your best brand ambassadors.

And this explains why UGC marketing is one of the most powerful tools for eCommerce stores and other brands alike to grow their business.

If you’re still unsure about how to use UGC marketing, simply start by following the tips mentioned in this article.

Should you have any questions or suggestions, share them in the comments below.

Guest author:

Gaurav Sharma is the Founder and CEO of Attrock, a results-driven digital marketing company, and a Google Analytics and Google Ads certified professional.

He has scaled an agency from 5-figure to 7-figure income in just two years. He has increased leads by 10X, ranked 5000+ keywords, conversion rate by 2.8X, and traffic to 300K per month using content marketing, SEO, influencer marketing, landing page optimization, sales funnel, and LinkedIn.

He contributes to reputable publications like HubSpot, Adweek, Business 2 Community, HuffPost, TechCrunch, and many more. He leverages his experience to help SaaS businesses, influencers, local businesses, and eCommerce brands grow their traffic, leads, sales, and authority.

The post 4 Ways to Generate B2B Sales Quickly Using UGC Marketing appeared first on Jeffbullas's Blog.

* This article was originally published here

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Ignite Your Multi-Location SEO Strategy with These Optimization Tips

There are a reported 1,664 IHOP locations and close to 2,000 Applebee’s restaurants in the United States. That’s a whole lot of world-famous buttermilk pancakes and Bourbon Street Steak with an Oreo Shake.

If your business has more than even one location, you have a clear opportunity to promote every single location and aim those properties toward occupying Google’s most valuable local real estate: The Local Map Pack.

Single location brands may get by with a well thought out Google My Business profile linked to their website, but for multi-location companies who intend to rank in search engine results with “near me” or city-specific queries, creating a separate and unique Local Landing Page (LLP) for each location cannot be skipped.

A 300-page study on how to create and optimize these multi-location web pages revealed these key areas to focus your time and energy:

• Essential Content for Local Landing Pages
• Add Hyperlocal Content
• Optimize with Technical SEO in Mind
• Mobile-First Page Design
• Other Critical Ranking Factors

Ready? Let’s dive in.

The goal of multi-location SEO

Keep your eye on the straightforward prize of multi-location SEO: to regularly boost the number of qualified visitors from unbranded search engine queries, such as “restaurant near me”. Simply put, someone searches in Google for the products and services you offer, in the area you serve, but does not specify the name of your business. If you’ve done your local SEO well, you should be ranking in Google Maps and local organic results, capturing traffic from the billion different ways your customers are searching.

Essential content for local landing pages

Make sure your understanding of a Local Landing Page (LLP) is clear: these are standalone web pages, each created for a specific business location. LLPs offer the opportunity for each location to have its own separate listing in Google My Business (GMB). Many industry experts agree that GMB listings are a major ranking signal for Google Maps.

Our multi-location study found that you should pay attention and implement these content elements onto your location pages:

1. Add hyperlocal content to each page
2. Provide unique links to social media profiles for each location
3. Add a link for directions to your location
4. List your hours of operations and an obvious “Open Now” status
5. Feature “native” reviews on your LLPs – especially ones that are hosted directly on your website (instead of third-party reviews like Yelp or Facebook)
6. Add relevant Coupons with trackable QR codes or barcodes
7. Add keywords that emphasize your products or services and your location

Our study demonstrated a strong search engine ranking advantage (listed by percentages) for pages that added many of these elements to their LLPs, versus those that did not.

Add hyperlocal content to your LLPs

Hyperlocal content can be understood as content that is specific enough to each property’s location in order to differentiate it from your other properties.

Local pages that are too similar to other existing pages run the risk of not being indexed by Google, which can easily flag these pages with “Duplicate, submitted URL not selected as canonical.”

Our study of location pages revealed that pages that included hyperlocal content had a 107% probability of outranking pages without it. Take that stat to your key stakeholders to push through a test of your own.

Examples of Hyperlocal Content

With a little research into the local area of each business property, hyperlocal content becomes a clear differentiating factor to make each location page unique. Here are some typical examples of hyperlocal content to add to each location page:

1. Location-Specific Images and Videos – So it’s not a photo or video of your main office or your brand, but very specific to each property. Make sure these are high-quality and focus on both the inside and outside of the location, B-roll footage, even local customer testimonials. Our study noted an 84 percent advantage for pages containing these hyperlocal images.
2. Add a 360-degree Virtual Tour of your location, filmed by a Google Certified Photographer. This will add value to the location page and provide your Google Street View. Our study noted a 20 percent boost in local landing page rankings.
3. Add Helpful Location Information by reaching out to your franchisees or location managers. Where relevant, this could include:
   
   1. Wi-Fi availability
   2. Delivery, Takeout and Curbside Pickup options
   3. Parking information
   4. Distance to nearby local freeways, parks, historical landmarks, universities and similar places
   5. Flashpoints of neighborhood history and founders
   6. Safety information about Covid-19

If you’re dealing with dozens or hundreds of locations, keep in mind that it may often be enough to build one main location page template, and then inject unique hyperlocal fields throughout the page to demonstrate differentiation to Google for indexing purposes.

Optimize with technical SEO in mind

The technical side of SEO can become a major headache – both when diving in, but especially when left ignored. Technical SEO plays a crucial role in providing the best page experience for users while ensuring an optimal experience for web crawlers (such as the Googlebot).

While our study determined many factors like visitor privacy, security, and accessibility for the disabled, two main focal points rose to the top for technical SEO in the Page Experience Update. Nail these two local page optimization focal points below and you’re well on your way to strong location pages:

1. Fast Speed for Page Loading

A slow-loading webpage can kill the user experience, and Google takes note. Factors that commonly affect page speed may include ​​overuse of heavy code, large file sizes for images, videos, HTML and CSS, and too many redirects for a page.

Our study noted that LLPs with lower page sizes had a 14 percent ranking advantage, a 10 percent ranking advantage with faster full page load times, and a 7 percent advantage with stronger PageSpeed scores.

Need to know where you stand? Start with Google’s PageSpeed Insights.

2. Healthy Core Web Vitals

Core Web Vitals can be thought of as your overall page performance and how it might impact users. Although page speed is considered with core vitals, there’s indeed more to it. Google’s Search Console provides an opportunity to review your core vitals in order to “fix poor user experiences on your site.” The report provides a “Poor,” “Needs Improvement,” or “Good” score for URLs based on three main criteria:

1. Largest Contentful Paint (LCP)
2. First Input Delay (FID)
3. Cumulative Layout Shift (CLS)

To learn more, start by reviewing Google’s Core Web Vitals report page. 

Mobile-first page design

When designing your local landing pages, make sure mobile devices are at the forefront of your quest. Some web design companies may deliver a stunning desktop mockup for your consideration. However, our study honed in on restaurant chains and noted that 84 percent of all visits came from mobile users. Be sure your web designers are using a mobile-first design strategy.

It may look great on your laptop or large screen, but if it doesn’t shine on a mobile phone or tablet, users may bounce and return to the search results for a better user experience. 

Just as important from the data we uncovered – provide the most relevant location details first on your LLPs. That will typically include:

1. Type of Business and Location (featured in a prominent headline)
2. Hours of Operation (with “Open Now” status)
3. Contact Info (with clickable phone number)
4. Social Media icons (clickable to local profiles)
5. Directions (with links to Google or Apple Maps)
6. Positive Local Ratings and Reviews (go for “native” first-party reviews!)

Other critical ranking factors for multi-location SEO

We’ve covered the importance of creating unique Local Landing Pages for each location. We’ve signaled the value of strong Ratings and Native Reviews (commonly referred to as Reputation Management), and now we’ll leave you with two elements that cannot be ignored for a thorough Local SEO strategy: Business Data Management and Business Data Visibility.

Managing Your Online Business Data

Consistency of your business information across the entire internet can be a beast to manage, but it really matters. Users get frustrated when Yelp has one phone number, and your webpage has another. Search engines recognize these discrepancies, and your rankings can take a hit. For this reason, give your full attention to accuracy, particularly with:

• Exact Business Name
• Exact Business Address
• Exact Business Phone Number

These three elements together form the NAP (Name, Address, Phone Number), and your goal should be to improve the accuracy of this info everywhere it exists on the web.

The two most straightforward ways to manage your business data are:

1. Updating your info in popular “Data Aggregators” – Data Axle, Foursquare, and Neustar. These will roll data out across many, but not all, directories, and platforms.
2. Streamline your data with third-party management tools like Moz Local, Yext, BrightLocal, Rio SEO, and Uberall.

Business Data Visibility

As mentioned, the main data aggregators will only take your business info so far. Your goal with visibility is to see a consistent boost of your local company details (for each property) listed in popular industry directories and local directories.

How is this done? Often manually, by allocating a team member or company who will research opportunities for listings (commonly called “citations”), reach out to these directories (both free and paid), and get your business listed alongside your competitors. Whitespark’s Local Citation Finder and GeoRanker are two common tools used to find these opportunities.

Citations can be categorized and organized into the following types:

• Aggregators are the online databases used by several online directories to gather new information and to validate user-submitted information. They are paramount to the management of accurate data as mentioned above.
• Search engines are what we are trying to rank within, but each has its own product for business owners to claim, manage, and optimize. These include Google My Business, Bing Local, and Yahoo! Local.
• Navigation engines, such as TomTom, HERE, Apple Maps, MapQuest, and similar are used by real people trying to navigate in their vehicles or getting walking directions, two activities that should not result in confusion or a lost customer.
• Social-local websites are called such since they not only offer business information but are active social networks users engage with via the web or through proprietary mobile apps, such as Yelp, Foursquare, and Facebook.
• Industry directories are just that, directories specific to your industry. For a restaurant, it might be OpenTable or Zomato. For a law firm, it could be SuperLawyers.com.
• Local directories help organize all businesses in your local area. If your business is Chicago-based, for example, some local directories would include usa.businessdirectory.cc/chicago and 312area.com/directory.
• General directories such as MerchantCircle, Hotfrog, and Manta monetize business listings or upgraded listings, despite rarely being visited by real humans (most humans use search engines, not directories). Though inclusion is sold as a value proposition for many data management platforms, the value of these directories is questionable.

Organize your local team and get to work

It’s very helpful to create or dedicate resources for your local efforts. A local SEO team might include:

• Content Writer – to research and write the LLPs, content for each location’s Google My Business profile, and weekly GMB posts.
• Web Designer – to bring your LLP vision to life and launch on your site.
• Technical SEO Specialist – to dial in your web core vitals, including page speed.
• Local Citation Builder – to get your LLPs listed in local and industry directories (and to request often-needed updates for accuracy)

While you can attempt all multi-location local SEO efforts on your own, the more locations your company offers, the more it may make sense to build a team to focus exclusively on Google Maps and local organic SEO. Greater attention to the tips discussed above may in time point to stronger map rankings, eventually translating into increased traffic to your location webpages and more customers visiting your stores, purchasing your products, and booking your services.

Guest author: Brian Wallace is an entrepreneur, writer, and podcast host. He is the Founder and President of NowSourcing and has been featured in Forbes, TIME, and The New York Times. Brian previously wrote for Mashable and currently writes for Hacker Noon, CMSWire, Business2Community, and more. His Next Action podcast features entrepreneurs trying to get to the next level. Brian also hosts #LinkedInLocal events, promoting the use of LinkedIn among professionals wanting to grow their careers.

The post Ignite Your Multi-Location SEO Strategy with These Optimization Tips appeared first on Jeffbullas's Blog.

* This article was originally published here

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