The marketplace for SEO tools is no smaller than any other, and there are plenty of great ones.
Just as there has been a proliferation of marketing, social media and management tools, there has been a growth in the number of SEO tools on the market. How to choose?
While there are several tools that offer some great features and assistance when it comes to search, these five are among the best SEO tools on the market that every marketer should know about.
1. Moz
For anyone who has researched SEO tools in the past, it should come as no surprise that Moz sits on top of the list. Long-heralded as one of the best search softwares on the market, a brief overview makes it easy to see why.
When it comes to keyword research and link building, few tools are stronger than Moz. The software also provides a thorough competitive analysis and a series of additional tools (with the pro version) to help any search marketer find success.
The only drawback is found when looking into volume. While some other tools on this list allow for a fairly extensive number of keywords to be researched, programs to be tracked and social accounts to be analyzed, Moz doesn’t offer quite as many. But that doesn’t take away from its excellent value-added.
2. Raven Tools
Another powerful search software, Raven Tools, with a series of tools that will help any marketer – from newbie to experienced search pro – optimize a campaign or website.
Track up to 20 social accounts (more than Moz), receive extensive competitive analyses and conduct thorough keyword research with Raven Tools. There is also an extensive analytics dashboard, which any marketer loves to have.
Support is also outstanding, and the only drawback is the keyword research depth that is offered with the tool. While services like Web CEO Online offer 500 keywords for analysis, Raven only offers 100.
3. Web CEO Online
Web CEO Online offers tons of keywords for analysis and is a dream for the multi-faceted product search marketer.
There is also a keyword generator, a link-building tool, competitive analysis and plenty of reporting. Again, this service offers info and recommendations related to social (as any good tool will) and top-of-the-line reporting.
The online/cloud version of this service is not quite as robust as the desktop version, but if you’re willing to go pick it up at the store or order it online, it is well worth it.
4. SEMrush
With features like a phrase matching tool and up to 500 keywords that can be researched by a user, SEMrush is great tool-based service.
If you’re looking for help tracking competitors, SEMrush is also going to be one of your go-to services. While it is not quite as robust as its cohorts mentioned above when it comes to things like campaigns and social, it does give you plenty of insights into what is happening with your industry when it comes to search.
5. UpCity
While we are certainly grateful that UpCity included one of the t2 eBooks as one of the best on the web, we can assure you that their inclusion here is based on the fact that UpCity really is one of the top search tools on the market.
Now while UpCity is more of an online marketing solution, it does offer an SEO toolkit that can prove to be extremely useful to small businesses looking for all-in-one solutions. There is not quite as much depth in terms of keywords and reporting, but there is a suite of tools that will help you along the way when you are getting started with SEO.
It is particularly useful for smaller enterprises that need some assistance with every aspect of their online marketing initiatives and not just SEO.
Conclusion
There are plenty of SEO tools on the market today, and each one has its own value depending on what it is you are trying to achieve. Be sure to conduct proper research when deciding on a tool and outline your goals and necessities clearly in order to be certain that you are making the right choice.
We would love to know more about your favorite SEO tools! Tell us about them in the comments below or on Twitter!
4 Tips for Using Snapchat as a Business
/by Corey PadveenThese are a few tips for using Snapchat as a business that you’ll want to follow if you plan on finding success on the app.
Just two years ago, two thirds of teens and young adults considered Facebook to be the most important social network in the world. Now, according to a recent report by Piper Jaffray, Facebook is considered the most important social network by only 14% of this group of tastemakers, only 1% of the explosive Snapchat, which sits at 13%.
With that kind of growth, and momentum that’s poised to take the network to the very top of the list, there is a clear desire (and opportunity) for brands to be a part of the network. But how can a business jump into something like Snapchat?
These are a few easy-to-implement tips for using Snapchat as a business that will help make the foray into the network much smoother.
Know Your Audience
As with email, anyone on your list of recipients in Snapchat has opted to receive your snaps. One of the greatest benefits of an email list is the ability to tailor messages and offers to users based on previous interactions. So when you’ve had a history of sharing a certain type of content with a user, don’t dramatically change the formula in order to pitch a new product or service. Stick to what works and get to know the individual members of your audience on a personal level.
However, that is not to say that you shouldn’t send out mass snaps using your story…
Familiarize Yourself with the App
There are snaps, and there are stories. (Yes, there is more, but we’ll look at these two for now.) If you’re planning on communicating with an individual user one-on-one (as noted above) you’ll want to share personalized snaps. This not only shows that you care about your audience, but it creates a personal connection for the user to your brand, and that can make all the difference.
Your stories are where you will want to put the content that is important to share, but not vital to personalize. For example, a new announcement, showcasing your corporate culture a product release, or something along those lines. Because it is a less personal space, users will not feel as though you are imposing on them when commercial content is shared to a story.
Provide Value to Your Audience
As with any social medium, find a way to provide value to the audience with which you are sharing content. Personalizing your messages is a great practice, but more of your story content should be showcasing your value rather than the commercial content mentioned above. (That is really something that should be shared sporadically, not religiously.)
Use the ten seconds you have available to show or teach something. This is video at its most engaging. Showcase a value added to your audience that improves their experience and sells your expertise or offering in a very subtle way.
Cross-Promote
Another great use for Snapchat is to leverage the platform to cross-promote your other offers and social media. If you’re running a contest on Instagram, for example, Snapchat is a great space in which to promote it to matched demographics. That said, stick to the first pointer: know your audience. Those using Snapchat may not be the same users in your LinkedIn network. So cater your cross-promotion to the demographics that are most likely to be there.
These are just a few of the ways to start using Snapchat as a business. The network is currently a blank slate when it comes to brands, so feel free to experiment and get creative! How else have you used the network? Tell us in the comments below or on Twitter!
5 of the Best SEO Tools Marketers Should Know About
/by Corey PadveenThe marketplace for SEO tools is no smaller than any other, and there are plenty of great ones.
Just as there has been a proliferation of marketing, social media and management tools, there has been a growth in the number of SEO tools on the market. How to choose?
While there are several tools that offer some great features and assistance when it comes to search, these five are among the best SEO tools on the market that every marketer should know about.
1. Moz
For anyone who has researched SEO tools in the past, it should come as no surprise that Moz sits on top of the list. Long-heralded as one of the best search softwares on the market, a brief overview makes it easy to see why.
When it comes to keyword research and link building, few tools are stronger than Moz. The software also provides a thorough competitive analysis and a series of additional tools (with the pro version) to help any search marketer find success.
The only drawback is found when looking into volume. While some other tools on this list allow for a fairly extensive number of keywords to be researched, programs to be tracked and social accounts to be analyzed, Moz doesn’t offer quite as many. But that doesn’t take away from its excellent value-added.
2. Raven Tools
Another powerful search software, Raven Tools, with a series of tools that will help any marketer – from newbie to experienced search pro – optimize a campaign or website.
Track up to 20 social accounts (more than Moz), receive extensive competitive analyses and conduct thorough keyword research with Raven Tools. There is also an extensive analytics dashboard, which any marketer loves to have.
Support is also outstanding, and the only drawback is the keyword research depth that is offered with the tool. While services like Web CEO Online offer 500 keywords for analysis, Raven only offers 100.
3. Web CEO Online
Web CEO Online offers tons of keywords for analysis and is a dream for the multi-faceted product search marketer.
There is also a keyword generator, a link-building tool, competitive analysis and plenty of reporting. Again, this service offers info and recommendations related to social (as any good tool will) and top-of-the-line reporting.
The online/cloud version of this service is not quite as robust as the desktop version, but if you’re willing to go pick it up at the store or order it online, it is well worth it.
4. SEMrush
With features like a phrase matching tool and up to 500 keywords that can be researched by a user, SEMrush is great tool-based service.
If you’re looking for help tracking competitors, SEMrush is also going to be one of your go-to services. While it is not quite as robust as its cohorts mentioned above when it comes to things like campaigns and social, it does give you plenty of insights into what is happening with your industry when it comes to search.
5. UpCity
While we are certainly grateful that UpCity included one of the t2 eBooks as one of the best on the web, we can assure you that their inclusion here is based on the fact that UpCity really is one of the top search tools on the market.
Now while UpCity is more of an online marketing solution, it does offer an SEO toolkit that can prove to be extremely useful to small businesses looking for all-in-one solutions. There is not quite as much depth in terms of keywords and reporting, but there is a suite of tools that will help you along the way when you are getting started with SEO.
It is particularly useful for smaller enterprises that need some assistance with every aspect of their online marketing initiatives and not just SEO.
Conclusion
There are plenty of SEO tools on the market today, and each one has its own value depending on what it is you are trying to achieve. Be sure to conduct proper research when deciding on a tool and outline your goals and necessities clearly in order to be certain that you are making the right choice.
We would love to know more about your favorite SEO tools! Tell us about them in the comments below or on Twitter!
3 Steps for Optimizing Your Facebook Ad Scheduling
/by Corey PadveenWith Facebook ad scheduling now easier than ever, these are the steps you need to follow to do it right.
Nobody likes wasting money. So when you’re running an ad campaign, the last thing you want to see is your ad spend draining while no one is actively engaging with your content.
With Facebook’s updated scheduling capabilities, that no longer has to be the case. There are three steps that any Facebook advertiser needs to follow in order to successfully leverage the capabilities and maximize the impact of your budget.
Step 1: Review Your Page Insights
On your Facebook Page insights, you’ll find that under the Posts tab there is a treasure trove of valuable information about your audience.
Select first the ‘When Your Fans Are Online’ tab, and then begin to review when your audience is most active. Keep in mind that all of these data are going to be registered in your computer’s timezone. Look to see what days have the highest volume of active audience members, and what hours of the day present a great opportunity to capture their attention.
Step 2: Set a Lifetime Budget
In order to utilize Facebook ad scheduling in its current form, you’ll need to determine a lifetime budget for your campaign as opposed to a daily budget.
Consider how much you would like to invest in the campaign and determine how long you would like the campaign to run.
Step 3: Choose When to Show Your Ads
Using the Facebook ad scheduling feature (shown below) it is easy to determine the exact times that you would like to show your ads to the desired audience.
Identifying (through the use of your Posts data in your insights) when your audience is most active, and when the largest segments of your audience are online, you can limit wasted ad spend that is not being shown to a maximum number of possible users at a given point in time.
This is a fairly simple process but it can do wonders for improving the performance of your ads and the optimization of your ad budget.
Give it a try and let us know how it works!
3 Things Many Marketers Forget in a Digital Marketing Strategy
/by Corey PadveenThis article originally appeared on CoreyPadveen.com.
There are some things that even the most knowledgeable of marketers might be forgetting to include in their digital marketing strategy.
A digital marketing strategy is a pretty robust thing. With that in mind, it shouldn’t come as any surprise that most marketers and business owners often forget about a few important components that need to be included in a digital marketing strategy in order for it to be successful.
Like I said, there is a ton that needs to be considered in order to build a working strategy, and just because these three components are included, it does not mean that it’s a finished product. But they are important and they are going to help your brand grow online. That said, here are three elements that need to be a part of every digital marketing strategy in order for it to find success.
Social Media Advertising
Gone are the days when paid advertising was a luxury afforded to the largest and wealthiest of brands. Even in more recent years, digital advertising, which consisted primarily of Google AdWords and banner ads, was too grand a cost for most brands to bare. Now, with social media advertising becoming more commonplace (and about as simple a practice as any) all brands can and should be taking advantage of it.
A few months ago, I conducted a little internal case study/experiment in order to showcase the cost effectiveness of social media advertising when compared to ‘traditional’ digital advertising, Google AdWords. I decided to look at a relevant and pretty competitive keyword: ‘social media’. What I found was that on a CPC and CPM basis, social media advertising could be nearly ten times more cost effective when targeting the right demographics on social media (another value added).
So the question becomes, why are brands not jumping on the opportunity to build their digital presence by including a section devoted to social media advertising in their digital marketing strategies? The proof is in the numbers, and the more you work with social ads, the simpler and more successful they become to achieving business-specific goals.
Data-Backed Strategy
I’ve grown to accept that data is not for everyone; I guess my attraction to numbers makes me an anomaly. But if you don’t like data, at least do the longevity of your business a favor and find someone who can help you analyze data and incorporate it into your strategy. Hypothetical marketing plans are a thing of the past. We have a world of insights at our fingertips – literally!
Delving into your owned media (i.e. any digital media that you are in total control of, such as your website or branded social media channels) and industry media (using a listening or data aggregating technology) can produce some incredibly valuable information. This information can help you create things like content strategies, help you identify new demographics and opportunities and begin building ResponsiveBrandingTM campaigns.
Don’t let a distaste for numbers deprive you of a huge amount of potential. Let the data be the driving force behind your digital marketing strategy, and let it reinvent your strategy as it changes.
Influence Marketing
We often hear a lot about influence and influencers, but what exactly are we talking about when we say ‘influence marketing’? Leveraging the power of influencers can launch your brand into a new realm and expand your reach and your own influence in the marketplace. Why is that? It all comes down to trust.
According to the results of the 2014 Edelman Trust Barometer – an annual, global trust and credibility survey – 67% of people trust experts in a particular field, and 62% of people trust their peers (or, as the study puts it, ‘a person like yourself’). The beauty of influencers is that they can be – and often are – both of those things: industry experts that people consider their peers (in large part thanks to social media and its ability to connect people).
By identifying your industry’s influencers and reaching out to them, you can forge relationships that can turn into brand advocacy. This can be an invaluable asset when looking to build your business not only in the short term, but in the long run as well.
Conclusion
There is a lot that will go into your digital marketing strategy. These three assets will only be a small part of the overall product, but they can play an important role in the overall success of your business, and so few people are properly taking advantage of them. Next time you review your business strategies, consider including these three elements in your digital marketing plan.
4 Social Media Persona Criteria to Consider Targeting
/by Corey PadveenThese are a few social media personas you might want to consider targeting in your next campaign.
When running a campaign on social media (or simply targeting your content), creating social media personas and leveraging their tastes and preferences for improved engagement is always a best practice.
Every brand will have its own strategy when it comes to crafting social media personas, but, just as there is the (more or less) universally coveted 18-34 demographic for advertisers, there are certain social media personas that virtually any brand can consider targeting for a number of reasons. Here are a few.
Existing Brand Advocates
Your brand advocates might be there to help you grow at every turn, but showing them a little bit of extra appreciation every once in a while does not go unnoticed.
Targeting some of your content to brand advocates that will appreciate it slightly more than the average follower/fan helps keep them around and goes one step further by strengthening their relationship with your brand.
Engaged/Active Online Spenders
This is an advertising category that is readily available on Facebook, and one of the more powerful capabilities, particularly for ecommerce or retail operations.
Centering your content around the benefits of your product or service, and targeting that messaging to users that are willing to spend online can lead to a very low cost-per-acquisition and high returns. Granted, just because they have spent in the past, it does not mean they will always be willing to spend. But when targeting by interests as well, you can increase the likelihood of conversion significantly. Speaking of which…
Interest/Preference
In what is probably the easiest form of targeting your messaging, preferences and tastes allow you to customize your message according to the themes around which your target audience is most engaged.
The ability to frame your messaging according to content or categories (e.g. the NFL or sports, in general) leads to an immediate ability to capture the attention of a particular group. The key to remember in a case like this is that as you cater your content to a given interest, your conversion increases, but your audience size decreases rather rapidly – but at least now you are focused on an audience that will be most receptive to the content. Creating multiple groups with a message around a theme is a best practice in this case.
Connections
When trying to grow your brand, your audience size or simply attract new prospects, consider creating a set of content that is a little more tame with regards to your product/service and more relatable from a personality standpoint.
Even the largest social media accounts in the world still hold only a fraction of the total social audience that exists on a given network. So for every campaign you run targeting your own fans and followers, there will be a virtually endless pool of prospects floating out there in the socialsphere that you have not targeted. The content that you create for these users should focus on the brand’s personality and appeal to their social side.
Conclusion
You’re going to craft your own social media persona as your audience, program and individual campaigns take shape. These are a few early criteria to consider when building hyper targeted content.
What other criteria have you included in your social client persona? Tell us in the comments below or on Twitter!
6 Email Marketing Traps to Avoid [Infographic]
/by Corey PadveenIt’s no secret: cold calling is a thing of the past.
For a long time, email marketing has been replacing the once-dominant form of reaching prospects, and, when used properly, email is still a hugely viable means of developing new (and maintaining existing) business.
Though it is more or less commonplace in the world of marketing, many of us still fall victims to some of the most detrimental traps when it comes to email. So if you hope to see success from your efforts, I can’t stress enough how important it is to avoid these six email marketing traps.
This very informative and creative infographic from Mailify goes into detail on how to avoid sinking your email campaigns. Number 6, ‘No Personalization’, is by far the easiest trap to avoid. It only takes a small effort to make an email personal. And the fact that personalized emails have, on average, a 20% higher open rate than those without personalization, is more than enough reason to make that effort.
So take a look, and keep these six email marketing traps in the back of your noggin when putting together your next email campaign!
How to Win Friends and Influence People (On Social Media)
/by Corey PadveenThis article was originally shared to CoreyPadveen.com.
Almost 80 years after its first run, the tenets from Dale Carnegie hold true. (With a few notable differences.)
From the greatest businesspeople in the world (Warren Buffett still has his certificate from Carnegie’s course) to the not-so-impressive (Charles Manson reportedly used these techniques to influence his followers) people have found value in Carnegie’s lessons in How to Win Friends and Influence People. Today, on social media, a lot of this still applies. But some adaptation is needed for the modern era of communication.
How to Handle Your Fans and Followers
In order to properly handle members of your community, it is important that you not criticize, condemn or complain about them. You should also regularly show your appreciation for those members. That is especially true on social media.
Letting your fans and followers know that you appreciate their involvement in your community goes a very long way. One brand in particular that does this well is Cadbury. Here is one of the gestures they made to show their appreciation:
Making People ‘Like’ You
Now, the term ‘Like’ means something somewhat different on a social network like Facebook than what Carnegie had in mind, but the concept still holds up.
Of the six core traits that will lead to people liking you, there are a few that are particularly important on social media. First, developing a genuine interest in your fans and listening to what they have to say will improve the personal connection they have to your brand. What’s more, sending personalized messages using users’ names will be an important component of your communications strategy on social as well.
The idea of making people feel important when you talk to them is paramount when it comes to improving the customer experience. I don’t want to feel like ‘just another customer’ when I reach out to a brand. Even if that might be the case, I, the customer, should feel like the only person that matters when engaged with a brand online.
Winning People with the Way You Think (Your Brand’s Message)
“The only way to get the best of an argument is to avoid it.” Truer words have seldom been spoken.
As a brand, the moment your start to argue with a customer on social media, you’re wrong. It doesn’t matter how right you are, you’re wrong. It is important to know when you’ve been beaten, and when to walk away. Getting into a debate is not worth the harm it will almost certainly cause.
Often times, when a customer is upset, they simply want to be acknowledged and heard. Social media can be that platform. Simply letting a customer voice their displeasure and responding in a respectful way can be a major factor in turning them into a brand advocate, rather than a detractor.
Turning a complaint into a constructive conversation about how your products or services can be improved is beneficial for a number of reasons, not the least of which is the fact that your business can improve its operations as a result.
Conclusion
If you haven’t read through Carnegie’s book, and you or your brand spend time talking to people (which you almost certainly do) it is worth a read. While there is some content that is dated, there is clearly a lot of information that can help you better communicate with your community on social media (and other forms of communication).
This article was originally shared to CoreyPadveen.com.
3 FREE Social Media Measurement Tools
/by Corey PadveenFree social media measurement tools are always a hot commodity for marketers.
If you’re like a lot of social media marketers, then you are often faced with significant hurdles when it comes to both measuring your results and receiving any sort of significant budget to make it easier. Luckily, there are options that exist to make your life much easier!
While there is a whole host of tools that exist on the paid side of the spectrum (some very affordable and others quite the opposite) it is always useful to start your endeavor into the world of social media measurement with some free tools. These are a few that can be particularly useful and provide quite a bit of insight.
Google Analytics
It might seem like Google Analytics does little more than track website traffic, but when you are using it properly, it can be one of your most valuable resources for measuring the success (and even revenue) of your social media strategy.
Between the social dashboard (under Acquisition) and the ability to set Goals and Filters from social networks, there is no shortage of what can be measured on Google Analytics. Use the system to better understand your social audience, identify which pieces of content are driving the most engagement (segmented by network) and even see which networks are driving the most revenue (either through direct sales or some sort of quantifiable action) in order to optimize your budget allocation.
Google Analytics does a whole lot more than simply track your visitors.
Simply Measured
Granted, there is a paid version of Simply Measured and it is certainly not the least expensive option on the market. But, the free reports offered by the service are amongst the most comprehensive and valuable of any free service on the web.
Perhaps one of the benefits of these free reports is the fact that they are not limited to only the most basic of networks. In addition to Facebook and Twitter, you can also generate reports for networks like Instagram, Vine, Google+ and even link to your Google Analytics reports and better understand your audience.
If ever there was a way to entice users to upgrade to a paid version, Simply Measured has figured it out by offering such detailed free reports that you almost need to see what more they could provide.
Social Mention
Though not a brand-specific analytics tool for social media, per se, Social Mention does provide detailed analytics around keywords (branded or otherwise) that can serve as valuable guidelines on creating content and participating in the social conversation.
Understanding what is being said about your brand, your competitors and your industry as a whole, and examining the audience discussing these topics is important to the practice of strategy optimization. As a free tool, Social Mention is one of the more valuable ones and one of the easiest to use. Simply jump in and start analyzing the conversation, then take the data you’ve pulled and apply what you have learned about content, trends and the audience to your strategies.
It should be noted that there are several niche tools that focus specifically on one network. For example, there is Tailwind for Pinterest, which offers a fairly extensive free trial, and Iconosquare for Instagram, but the three listed here will help you measure your social presence in its entirety as opposed to a network-by-network basis.
Are there any other tools – free or paid – that you like using? Tell us about them in the comments below or on Twitter!
How Brands Use Instagram [INFOGRAPHIC]
/by Corey PadveenInstagram is a popular platform for brands, and marketers often want to know how the most successful brands are using it.
How brands use Instagram is of interest to a lot of marketers. The visual nature of the network makes it a treasure trove for engagement, but so often, brands miss the mark.
For example, how long should a post be, and should brands be mentioning others or not? This brief but informative infographic from Simply Measured showcases how some of the top brands in the world are using Instagram. Take a look at some of these interesting stats and determine whether or not your brand is using the network like the most successful brands in the world.
How Web Directory Listings Will Boost Your Business
/by Corey PadveenModern entrepreneurs understand various strategies of their business in depth. They are also aware of various marketing strategies to create a good brand name. Hence, the need for web directories is there in recent times.
There are many web directories that are available today. For example, Google+ has around 250 million users that are reaching great heights in their businesses. This number is ever increasing as Google has made it mandatory for marketers to create a Gmail account. One of the most important factors for successful business is the ability to create business networks.
Thus, one of the most important business networking tools is online business listings. The best and the easiest way to do this by listing in web directories. Free website directories offer the easiest way to get high ranks in Google search engine results. This in turn will boost your business.
Role of Web Directories
In order to make your business a huge success, it is necessary to create a unique identity for it. Web directories enable your website to get indexed by major search engines like Google, Yahoo and Bing. Your website and its content play a major role in page rank on Google. Thus, article marketing comes into the picture.
Article marketing is the process in which you generate interesting articles and then submit them to popular directories. Directories are specially designed to provide visitors with easy access to the best websites available in the specific category. Webmasters are the most common visitors of the directories. However, directories can be accessed and used by anyone on the internet.
The best thing about the article submission on web directory is that it generates targeted traffic. Article marketing has become extremely popular in recent times. Many articles are being submitted everyday to well known directories. However, most articles are of low quality with many grammatical errors, selling mistakes and inadequate knowledge. To succeed in increasing page rank in Google, the quality of content plays an important role.
In order to maintain high standards in the online world, there are a few points that must be kept in mind:
So before submitting your website to web directories, ensure that your website has these features:
Hence, web directories are a great asset to increase your page rank and boost your business. Now, you can easily expand the web traffic and increase the chances that your website gets easily noticed online.