Category Archives: Marketing Strategy

Onset PPC Questions

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So, you have decided that it’s time to try your hand at PPC advertising to help you meet your business goals. ppc management strategies | BevelwiseBut, you’re having a difficult time deciding whether to hire a PPC agency, or keep your PPC efforts in-house by hiring someone full time to manage your program. Either way, you want someone working on your account that is diverse in best practices for PPC.

Yes, there is no doubt that this new addition or extension of your marketing team will do keyword research, set up your account structure, build out ad copy, adjust bids, test landing pages, and track conversion/goals with an ROI or CPA. But, even novice PPC managers know that PPC management goes deeper than adjusting bids or split testing ad copy.

Here are a few questions your PPC manager should be asking you.

What are your current business objectives?

I typically like to start with this question because it helps me get a sense of what their current business goals are, and where they want to take their organization over the next 12 months. If you can get your client to share their business objectives for the year, it can help you to develop their PPC strategy.

In addition to helping you craft your PPC strategy, this question also gives you a chance to ask how they measure goals internally. What cost per conversion targets do they have? What is their target return on investments?

Expect some push back from the client when asking these questions. If you experience some push back, explain to the client why it’s important to know what their business goals are and how it’s going to help you develop your strategy.

What are you looking to get from PPC advertising?

The second question I like to ask is, what are you looking to gain from PPC advertising? Are you looking to drive more sales? Leads? White paper downloads? By asking this question, you will find out whether or not your client has any predetermined goals set already.

This question will also give you the opportunity to uncover any unrealistic ideas your client may have. Sometimes clients get excited about their potential results that they come out of the gate with unrealistic goals. Don’t be afraid to “pop” that balloon.

What are your PPC goals?

Once the client has shared their business goals and what they are expecting to see from PPC with me, I asked them what their specific PPC goals are. A PPC campaign without goals is like traveling to a new city without a map. How can you expect to build a successful PPC campaign without identifying goals?

If your client sells products online, your goal(s) should be to drive more sales at a lower CPA and a higher ROI. If your client is lead gen, your goal should be to drive more leads to your client’s website. Either way, you should set PPC goals to help you gauge the success of your PPC initiatives.

What is your desired ROI or CPA?

After the PPC goals have been established, I typically like to ask the client if they have a target ROI or CPA in mind. Establishing a target ROI and CPA will help you gauge the success of your campaigns on metrics other than CPC or average position. Don’t get me wrong, CPC and average position metrics are important, but you cannot solely manage a PPC campaigns on those metrics alone. The additional metrics will help you determine in which ad position your keywords convert best.

Is there any Geo-Targeting?

The next question I like to ask is whether or not there is any geo-targeting that needs to be implemented. I like to ask this question because when you work with mid-size business, a few of them like to advertise locally or regionally. So, it’s important to figure out your geo-targeting to ensure you are driving relevant and qualified clicks and not unqualified clicks.

Top 3 Most Overlooked Google Analytics Reports

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People like to hate on Google. Whether it is because of privacy concerns, shady practices or the power they yield in their massive checkbooks it’s just…easy. While I certainly don’t agree with everything the “Don’t be evil” company, I have to say I’ll always be a big fan as long as they give me piles upon piles of data for free.

Google Analytics is an incredibly powerful and versatile tool that works just as well on a small mom and pop site as it does on a massive ecommerce site. It is often disregarded because of the assumption that free = junk, which is a massive mistake.

Those who do utilize this incredible resource, however, oftentimes only make use of 5-10% of its capabilities (Source: My head). A lot of top-level users simply look at total traffic, maybe some traffic sources and if they even have it configured, Goal reports.

While there are countless ways you can segment, filter and customize your reports, there are three main areas where all-too-many users glaze over. 

Top Conversion Paths

Find It: Conversions > Multi-Channel Funnels > Top Conversion Paths

Google Analytics Top Conversion Paths

A common mistake is simply looking at Goal reports, then only looking at the sources to see where these converting users are coming from.

One thing you need to keep in mind is that a single user doesn’t always visit your site through a single source. Sometimes, a user might first be exposed to your site after clicking on a PPC ad, then searching you in Google, then a 3rd direct visit now that they know your URL by heart. If they convert, which source gets the credit? Paid Search? Organic search? Direct traffic?

Google Analytics uses what is called a last click attribution model, which means that they give credit to whichever source was the last to bring the user to the site before they converted. By viewing your Top Conversion Paths, you can see how all of your traffic sources work together to drive a conversion, because like any sales cycle, it often takes more than one impression with a customer to “convert” them.

Social Reports

Find It: Traffic Sources > Social

Google Analytics Social Reports

A common complaint among social media pessimists is that you can’t track the value of your social media efforts and you’re essentially “flying blind.” That is an outdated and unfortunate point of view because Google Analytics has come a long way in reporting the value of social media.

Your Social reporting includes an Overview and reports for Network Referrals, Data Hub Activity, Landing Pages, Trackbacks, Conversions, Plugins and a Visitors Flow.

With these wide-ranging reports, you can can an excellent view of which social media outlets are sending traffic, which ones send qualified traffic and where they convert.

Real-Time

The Real-Time reporting is the first item beneath your Standard Reports. Until recently, Real-Time was in beta and includes a couple reports that are in beta still. At first glance, it looks like nothing more than an area you can oversee your users as they traverse your site, however this section can be incredibly valuable for content marketing.

When you have a piece of high quality content you’re about to release—if all goes according to plan—you’ll be getting traffic from all sorts of referring sites and social media outlets. With Real-Time analytics pulled up as your command center, you can monitor in real-time where significant traffic is coming from and where conversations about your content could be popping up where you can go and respond and contribute. By doing so, you can get more conversations going and build more buzz around your content.

If you haven’t taken the time to fully explore Google Analytics, you’re missing out (there is no “could be” about it). There is valuable data at your fingertips which will help you refine strategies and increase traffic, conversions and impressions.

So what are you waiting for? Go dig in!

Is Linkedin Right for Your Business?

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A common misconception on the business side of social media is that companies should take on all the different type of social media profiles to have a wide swath of social presence, pervading all parts of the social Web.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m definitely an advocate for a big social presence, but there are limitations. Many businesses don’t need to be on Linkedin. There, I said it. Now, gather around and I’ll tell you why.

With most social media, the effort and time you put into it is indicative of the results you will inevitably see from it. However, with Linkedin, the effort and level of results does not stop with the person posting on the company profile, it’s the whole team effort of the employees that make your presence there a valid tool or a complete waste of resources. That’s what sets it apart.

If you want your company to be involved on Linkedin, not merely as a passive content distributor, your employees need to be engaged on the site. This is especially crucial if your company is B2B, but salespeople and most employees of any company on the site should be versed in Linkedin and be using it on a daily basis, acting as advocates for their company by sharing company updates, engaging in group discussions, etc.

Not only is it a fantastic networking resource, but Linkedin can also be a place to share newsworthy company updates. I think of it an extension of your company’s ‘newsroom’ where you can funnel PR updates, product launches, management transitions, employment opportunities, etc, giving them a wider audience than their usual static reach of the News section of your site and press releases most people will never read.

However, it should by no means be seen as a content dumping ground from the posts you are broadcasting on other social networks. That post you just made about spring cleaning tips is perfectly fine for Facebook, Google+ and Twitter, but is most likely not appropriate for Linkedin. This can go both ways, as the industry jargon-filled report you just posted to start a discussion on Linkedin may fall flat with your Facebook fans as the audience may be completely different: employees and industry peers vs. consumers.

Oftentimes, people who are encapsulated on a daily basis with their industry and company have a distorted view of what is important and interesting to them and what is actually interesting or social-friendly and appropriate for social media. Not every move your company makes should be broadcasted on social media, but Linkedin is a more appropriate arena than most for company updates.

To reiterate my main point from earlier, Linkedin success goes beyond company profile updates sharing your latest blog post. To truly benefit from this unique site, your employees need to be active on it, sharing and conversing: building relationships.

To benefit from Linkedin, your company needs to do the following:

- Post regularly about company updates, industry news, etc.

- Completely fill out and optimize your company’s profile with products/services, design elements and more.

- Employees connect with your company profile and utilize the site to network, recruit, engage in industry discussions, etc.

Social Media Marketing

Remember, don’t feel like your company has to spread itself too thin throughout all the different social media sites. Excel at a few, and forget the rest, rather than weigh yourself down in mediocrity with a pervasive and overwhelming, but ultimately milquetoast presence.

How are people in your industry using this powerful networking tool? Tell us in the comments below.

Why you need Content Marketing.

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In the year ahead, content marketing, in all its shapes and forms, is going to become a more integral component of ones digital marketing strategy – if it already has not been. The value of including content marketing in your strategy and optimizing it for all channels, is crucial to the success of your content, as well as growing your online footprint.

But before we go any further, you’re probably wondering what exactly content marketing is! That is a great question. *By definition, content marketing is a marketing format that involves the creation and sharing of media and publishing content in order to acquire customers. Content marketing’s basic premise is to “provide some valuable information or entertainment – “content” – that stops short of a direct sales pitch or call to action, but which seeks to positively influence customers in some way. In layman’s terms, content marketing is the form of communicating with your target audience in a way where you deliver information that is educational in nature and helps them to make a more informed decision. Instead of selling, you’re helping your target audience become more intelligent.

Now that we have established the definition of content marketing, what exactly are forms of content marketing? Another great question! Some forms of content marketing include but are not limited to social media (Facebook, Linkedin, Google Plus), eNewsletters, articles, blogs, press releases, content marketing strategies
and more. All of these mediums can be used to reach out to target audiences and be used to build trust, educate, interact with customers, or drive conversions. As I mentioned above, content marketing is not about pitching your products, but more so about educating your target audience in effort to help them make a more informed buying decision.

Content marketing is an effective way to get your message in front of your target audience while persuading them to take action. And, I firmly believe that as more households continue to become multi-screen households (televisions, computers, tablets/smartphones), traditional advertisement will become less and less effective. I say this because consumers have become so immune to traditional advertisements that they do not even notice them or they scan right over them. For example, Internet users typically look right past Internet banner ads while “surfing,” television viewers can fast forward past commercials with DVR, making each of these advertising vehicles less effective as time goes on. You’re probably wondering how I know this. Well, a few years ago, I decided to take a sabbatical from internet marketing and try my hand at selling broadcast television advertising. It was there that I learned how television viewers watch television and what objections advertisers had about television advertising. And it was a very hard gig.

I am also a firm believer that if businesses utilize content marketing and marry it with other digital marketing efforts, they would see outstanding results (again, personal view). Why? Because content marketing is a vehicle where you can offer value to customers and clients with a consistent message of education and persuasion, which in return would ultimately reward your content marketing efforts by them becoming loyal patrons of your business or establishment.

You’re probably wondering by now if I am going to offer any tips that can help you develop a content marketing strategy. Well, below are some tips to help you develop a successful content marketing strategy.

  • Relevant, Ability to Share & Reusable: Develop content so it can be re-purposed down the road. The “blast and forget it” approach is not always the right approach. By giving your content a longer shelf life, you can help improve marketing efficiencies down the road. I want to mention that I am not recommending that you re-purpose the title and edit a few sentences. I am recommending that you use the same template, opening and closing paragraphs, and drop the new content in the middle.
  • Context of Content: Understand your target audience and deliver your message according to their interests. Develop a message that is going to resonate with them and prompt them to take action. Content and understanding your target audience is crucial to the success of your content marketing.
  • Adaptive: Again, make sure your content is consistent among all devices, as well provides the same user experience between computers, tablets, and smartphones.
  • Social Engagement: While developing your content, it’s important to ensure that your content is “social friendly” and it allows users to consume it, engage with it, and share it. This can help build and improve your social footprints.

I would like to leave you with this last thought before I jet. Content marketing will only continue to morph into a larger component of digital marketing and it’s important that you develop a content marketing strategy should you not have one.

*Definition courtesy of Wikipedia

How Much Value Does Social Media Really Have?

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Many clients and conversations we have with marketers ask us: Is social media worth any investment? The answer is yes, but maybe not from every channel that’s available.  Just make sure you set up measurement data points, implement tracking tags from Google Analytics (or some other program), and post relevant content to your audience(s) and not just “clutter.”

You also have to look at what you deem as having value to your organization. If you see your audience, followers, comments, “retweets” are growing, and your Facebook, Twitter, Google+, Pinterest, YouTube/Vimeo, Linkedin and Instagram are all growing in numbers and in some cases driving people to your website, then it’s valuable and driving awareness. More than likely, you will find a few of them are not worth any direct time investment.
social media marketing
True, social media doesn’t allow you to measure it as closely as other Internet marketing pieces such as banner ads, Pay-Per-Click, or email marketing, but you can track direct leads and/or sales from each social media medium you use – if that is what you need to make sure the time, money, effort you spend on it is worth it.  One key piece…don’t be lazy.  Don’t just use a feeder system (like Tweetdeck or Hootsuite) that cuts off posts or uses hashtags where it’s not appropriate. Dedicated users will know you did not intend that message for that medium and it can lose some impact.

You also have to find what works for your organization – every business is different based on size, geography, client demographics, etc. You need to watch the data and optimize for what works specifically for your business.  We can tell you – just a bunch of self-promotion is NOT going to generate social media strategy that will maximize the efforts you are putting into it and there is no “cookie cutter” solution that will maximize results.

Social media also allows people to use the Internet on their terms.  They may never leave Pinterest or Facebook until they are ready to transact.  If you aren’t there in that space, you could be missing 10-20% of your desired audience that didn’t know about you because you weren’t there and part of “their conversation.” If you could get 10% more sales from having a solid strategy here, that could be a lot of growth – but it won’t happen overnight.

The ultimate goal is to get a post in front of thousands through their networks – through the use of tagging, timely posts, and community/industry cross promotion. Marketing is the sum of all parts and the number of touch-points – something known as frequency – the number of times someone has to be exposed to something before they are willing to take an action.  Through social media, you can increase those touch-points and be in front of them more often, which helps speed up the frequency time-period until an action will occur.

With an agency/resource who can monitor and report on social media for you (and also bring some creativity to your strategy), it can be the most effective $500-$1,500 a month (local-to-national type budgets) you spend out of your marketing budget and go a heck of a lot further than any advertising dollar could with reach.  Just make sure you give it a few months and your resource for this is showing you the data and how it is moving in the right direction on the way there.  Happy posting…

Local SEO Building Blocks

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If you are a local business owner that has a physical location, it’s important for you to optimize your site for Local SEO. A report from Chitika found that 43% of search queries on Google seek local results, which demonstrates the value of a Local SEO strategy that targets local customers.

Often times when you talk to local business owners and mention Local SEO or SEO in general, you get a blank stare paired with a look of confusion. This is your cue to educate the local business owner on what Local SEO is and why it’s important. It’s also important to explain the complexity of Local SEO in layman’s terms so the business owners can understand what you are talking about.

With that said, I wanted to take a few minutes and outline some important features of a Local SEO strategy that would be simple for any local business owner to implement.

Get your site up to speed

Since local search volumes continue to grow exponentially, it is important for you as a local business owner to make sure that your website is properly optimized to target local searchers.  Here are a few tips to implement on your site to help facilitate better rankings and increase search traffic: (1) optimize your site’s architecture to ensure that search engines can easily navigate your site and determine what it is about, (2) author good content that engages users and moves them through the sales funnel, (3) optimize your pages for 2-3 keywords paired with local geo-modifiers, (4) optimize your on-page content to incorporate local keywords as well as helping to build relevancy between the page title, description and on-page content, (5) make your content information easily accessible for users to find.

Claim Local Business Listings

Claiming your local business listings will help boost your local SEO search rankings because the number of citations, reviews, more specifically, how positive those reviews are will help boost your Local SEO rankings. You will also want to claim your Google+ Local Profile, which now is a combination of Google Places and Google +. Reviews left on your Google Local pages will help increase your Local ranking quicker than reviews left on other citation sites.

One of the resources I like to use when search for local business listings for clients is, getListed.org. getListed.org is a resourceful website that allows you to enter your business name along with your zip code to see how your business is listed on the three major search engines, as well as other second tier directories that can create good local citations.

Another great resource for building local citations by city is getListed.org’s “Best Local Citation Sources by City” webpage.  If you’re not comfortable building citations by city, you can build them by business category. Both of these citation guides are very helpful in building authority citations.

It is very important to make sure the continuity of your business information is carried throughout all of your local business listings and citations. Also keep in mind that local business listings are a support tool to your primary website. That’s why continuity is important.

Social Media for Local Businesses

Recently Facebook updated the “Nearby” feature within their interface that allows Facebook users to search for establishments near their current location. This update changes how local businesses should be utilizing Facebook. Local businesses should optimize their Facebook pages for the appropriate service category or categories; include their physical address, phone number, hours of operation, and a link to their site.

Social indicators are also an important factor in Google’s Local Search algorithm. It’s important to not passively watch, but to actively engage with users on your social media profiles.

Local Business Schema and Geotag

Local business schema and geotag essentially allows you to use schema markup for your business type, business address, business contact information, business hours, and much more.  Another great feature that Schema offers is giving webmasters the ability to specify your geographical location by including your longitude and latitude coordinates.

Google has favored structured and semi-structured data for years, and when reviewing a site, Google will look for structured or semi-structured data before review plain HTML.

Here is an example for Schema.org:

Local SEO Schema Example

 If you are a novice and would like to implement schema markup on your site, I have found Schema’s Local Business instructions to be very helpful with implementing this code.  You can also implement schema markup through Google Webmaster Tools with their newly released markup tool.

Mobile Versions of Your Site

Earlier I mentioned that 43% of searches done on Google are local searches, but what I did not mention is that the same study found that 27% of the 43% of local searches were done by users using smartphones.  With that said, it is important to not only optimize your primary site for local SEO, but it is equally important to have a mobile version of your site that is optimized for local search as well.

Not only do you want to optimize your mobile site for local search, but you will also want to make sure your site and your Google+ Local profile are listed on Google maps, and that you are listed on all popular local review and citation apps (yelp, Google+ Local, and so on).

If you are feeling up to the challenge and want to test a mobile site before having one professional designed, Google does offer a free mobile site builder that will allow you to create a mobile version your site. However, if you want a mobile site that is going to yield a return, as well as help boost your local rankings, I would partner with a firm that has experience doing so.

So there you have it. I have put together a simple list of tips that will help you make an impact in 2013 with your local SEO.

8 Ways to Improve Your Online Marketing Efforts in 2013

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With the end of the world behind us (we made it!) and 2013 just a few days away, it may be time for us to start looking ahead. In 2012, the world of online marketing took some hard turns and some trends have begun that will carry us into the next year.

I won’t ramble about what happened in 2012. Instead, I’d like to focus on some actionable items that will play a larger role in your online marketing success in 2013, based on changes and shifts we’re already seeing.

8. Pay per click

If you have been putting off pay per click (PPC) marketing, I have some unfortunate news for you: search marketing is increasingly becoming a paid game. First, Google announced that Google Shopping results are now “Pay to play.” Meaning, if you want your product feed to receive the benefits of higher clickthrough rates and conversion rates that come with Google Shopping results, you need to integrate that feed with your AdWords account.

Second, we’re seeing search engine results pages (SERPs) increasingly dominated by paid results. Between Shopping results, regular PPC ads and the increasing availability of rich snippets, organic results are being pushed out of view. Below is what I see above the fold (view of the SERP without scrolling) following a search for a new camera:

I see a total of eight full paid ads and just 2 ½ organic listings. Plus, how can I resist clicking on those Shopping results in the upper-right corner?

7. Company Blog

The trend for the past two years will continue: Fresh, quality content is crucial to maintaining favorable organic rankings. Search engines want to present sites that offer continuous and useful content for their audience. It isn’t always easy for what some would consider “boring” industries, but you need to find a way to always add value to your website. Continue reading →

5 Things I Learned from Marketing in the Real World

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I asked to do today’s blog post because I wanted to share some thoughts on my first “big girl” job out of college. Yes… today is my last “official” day as a member of the Bevelwise team, which still hasn’t hit me just yet!

My time at Bevelwise has been priceless, and despite previous internships and part-time jobs, it was my first step into the “real world”. You know, that first time when you realize there’s no more semesters, no more grades and that Thursdays are indeed not part of the weekend.

Thanks to the wonders of the internet and my next role being virtual, I’ll still be working with Bevelwise part-time during some transition periods, so we don’t have to officially say good-bye just yet. I chose to follow a path that would lead me to the East side of the state because a certain important person is over there, and let’s face it, we were tired of driving!

What I Learned from the Real World

Since I’m sure there are plenty of other people out there getting ready to embark upon their own professional careers in marketing (or any industry for that matter), I thought it would be nice to wrap up some thoughts and takeaways from what I learned in the past year and a half. What I’ve learned extends way beyond this of course, but I will try to boil it down to 5 things.

You don’t get a syllabus anymore

Syllabus day was always kind of a joke, a day taken for granted. But just like how you ask yourself why you never took advantage of those naps in kindergarten, you never want to take advantage of a syllabus either. It’s so simple. It tells you exactly what to do if you want to be successful. You’ll quickly learn that you don’t get a cheat sheet on how to succeed in the real world, and it’s up to you to determine what’s required of yourself if you want to get where you want to go. And you aren’t just working for your own grade anymore; you’re working for a whole team of peoples’ success. Oh, and you don’t get a fresh start every 4 months either!

Papers really aren’t that bad

I can’t tell you the number of times I heard, “You’re so lucky that you don’t have to write papers anymore!” from friends that were still taking classes. It always made me laugh, because papers really aren’t that bad. We’ve all done the tricks a time or two… procrastinate until an all-nighter, add ample amounts of “fluff” or change the formatting to make it longer without actually writing more. (Well, I mean I’ve certainly never done any of that… it’s just what I hear.)

But after college you’re not writing for a professor anymore, you’re writing for a client. There are infinite more eyeballs on your words, and with that extra attention comes some extra pressure. However, you get to see your content come to life on the internet and drive results. As part of the online media team, I was very involved in creating content that would positively impact our clients through SEO, PPC and social media marketing as a whole. Whether it be a press release, email blast, case study, landing page, blog post or social media content, there was always something new and different to be writing.

Time is money

I’ll keep this post to a one cliché maximum, but time really is money, especially at an agency or firm. You sell your time, so every minute of your day is billed to someone else. Whether it’s your company or the client, your time has a price tag and it’s important to efficiently show return on it. Make sure every minute is worth what it costs!

Wheels on chairs are key

While we may not realize it, I think the wheels on our chairs could be one of the biggest assets at Bevelwise. Between the online media, development, design and sales teams, everything that we do affects every department. Communicating and making sure that everyone is on the same page and that their piece of the puzzle is in place is essential.

Luckily, Bevelwise has a very free-flowing workspace (thanks, Bold Furniture), and it’s not uncommon for someone to be wheeled over to another team member’s desk asking a question or discussing a detail about a project. Staying confined to a three-walled cube would do a real disservice to the communication between teams.

You are the expert

The world of online media is vast and ever-changing. Each member of the online media team at Bevelwise specializes in a slightly different role, and it’s up to that person to be the expert on the ins-and-outs of that niche. Every niche influences the rest (as David demonstrated so nicely in “How SEO, PPC and Social Influence each other for success”) so it’s important to have an expert for each.

However, being an expert doesn’t mean that you will always immediately have the answer to every question that comes your way. But It does mean that you will seek out the info you need (articles, blog posts, media reps, case studies, demos…anything and everything) and educate yourself until you have the answer. Anything can be thrown your way, so we never stop learning and growing.

I think it’s safe to say that no two days of mine were the same here at Bevelwise. These 5 points barely touch the tip of the iceberg of the experiences I’ve had, but you can begin to see the foundation that it has instilled in me. I’m thankful to have joined such a great team for my first step into the real world.

Learn something from your first job that you’ve always taken with you? Share it in the comments!  

Designing Infographics with the 10 Second Rule

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Guest author Christopher Wallace, Vice President of Sales and Marketing for Amsterdam Printing, has more than 20 years experience in sales and marketing. At Amsterdam, a leading provider of personalized pens, promotional pens, and other personalized items such as imprinted apparel and customized calendars, Christopher is focused on providing quality marketing materials to small, mid-size and large businesses.

Make Your Point, Fast! — Designing Infographics with the 10 Second Rule

It’s no secret that in today’s information age, where everything we need to know is literally at our fingertips, there’s an accompanying problem. With so much to take in, we’re forced to throw on our blinders.

Imagine if you took the time to read every word of every email — even spam and junk — that arrives in your inbox. That’s a full time job. Instead, we’ve learned to filter, at lightning speed. In less than one second, we can identify emails that deserve the ‘delete’ button before they’re even opened.

That same principle carries over into every facet of our lives, from media to advertising to thumbing through a magazine. Enter the infographic — in a world where we value aesthetics and the quick digestion of information, there’s no better way to tell a story (especially one with numbers) than in a picture. With attention spans at their lowest point in history (I’m just observing – there’s no science behind that claim), those pictures need to convey their primary message in ten seconds or less.

Let’s start with a recent infographic from CertaPro Painters in Louisville, Kentucky. Give it a ten second gander and then check back with me here.

designing infographics

There’s a lot going on there, but it’s very simple at the top. Where the roof awning peaks, we’re told ‘What colors to paint your home and why.’ That leaves six more seconds to notice that we’re being given reasons to paint each room a certain color — blue equals productivity, red encourages appetite.

You can click away from that without ever examining the rest of the infographic below the house, and you know the basic point: different colors have an effect on the mood and purpose of a room.

“Someone can look at it and go, ‘That’s neat,’ and then move on, but still get the message,” says Randy Krum, president of infographic design firm InfoNewt and the founder of CoolInfographics.com.

Continue reading →

The Latest in Local Search

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Remember the days of cracking into a fresh phone book, rifling through the yellow pages to find someone to fix your roof? Would that be under “Roofers?” “Contractors?” “Construction?” Hey, these people have a huge ad, let’s start with them. Or, maybe browsing through the pages of your local Zagat guide to find a restaurant?

Yeah, me neither (or at least I’d like to forget).

The reality is that the usage of traditional yellow pages is on a decline in recent years. Have you noticed your phone books getting considerably thinner?  With advancements in online local search, the swell of social media and our natural tendency to seek answers the fastest way possible, your potential customers are taking to Google, Bing, Yelp and a handful of other sites first.

If you have a local presence, it is absolutely crucial to build out your local profiles. Best of all, most of these channels are free. No more spending more for a larger ad; everyone operates on the same playing field. Only those with the most optimized pages, plenty of reviews and information gain the clicks. Your customers are looking for you, get in front of them!

That said, there have been some big changes in the world of local search as of late, so I wanted to bring everything under one roof.

Google Places is Now Google+ Local Pages

First on the list is probably the biggest change affecting local search. Google Places, the old go-to source for information on local businesses, has been migrated into the Google+ social media machine. This was a widely anticipated move, considering Google’s massive push to promote usage of Google+ and the addition of Google+ Business Pages.

Learn About Google+ Local

Google Places was well-known for general clunkiness when it came to managing your Place page (if you had multiple locations, your headaches only grew exponentially). From difficulties verifying your address, to potential bans for PO Boxes, virtual addresses, shady service areas and so on, and finally the ability for just anyone to move your location or close your business; Places had its fair share of issues. Continue reading →