Some of the SEO-relevant aspects of a webpage are the title and the types of keywords that are chosen to appear throughout the content. A search engine rates the title pretty high when considering what search result the page will appear in, and they also rate a page by how often keywords appear. That does NOT mean that a company should type “auto mechanic Florida” a hundred times on a page. but it should appear enough times so that a search engine can understand that it is the topic of the page. Similar relevant keywords should be included, such as the specific types of services or products offered, so search engines can narrow down exactly what searches a page should appear for. Additional keywords help with what we call long tail keywords. That would be a phrase such as “cheap transmission auto mechanic (city).”

Content should be user-friendly. The text should be easily readable by users and the more readable and interesting that it is, the more likely the users will hit the share button. When a user hits the share button, search engines track that a link was built to the webpage and if that happens enough times then the placement of the webpage will begin to increase within the search results page.

The combination of the two items equals what we like to call content marketing. Content marketing is one of the most valuable commodities on the Internet. Everyone wants it but very few want to do it or do it well. Did you like this article? Hit the share button! (See what I did there?)

Most business’ goal on social media is to get the consumer to go to their website, so they just post often with links to their website or blog. This is ineffective because many people view this as spam and will not engage companies that use this practice. Consumers want to engage companies on the social network itself. The 2013 study results showed that companies should craft custom messages that encourage interaction. That interaction strengthens the bond between the consumer and the company.

When crafting a post it is important is to ask other users to reply. For example, on Facebook, there is plenty of space in a post to ask for the consumer what their opinion was on the topic or at least say “leave a comment below.” Twitter, on the other hand requires a little more work, since you are limited to 140 characters, you must interact by responding often so they know that they can engage you.

When posting, a good policy is to include a mix of images, text and links, and then see which tactic works better for your particular business. Once you have a feel for what your audience wants, do not stop the other tactics but simply do them a little less. On Facebook they have recently changed to a pay-to- play model, which means you will need to advertise just to reach your own audience, those who have liked the page. For example, only a certain number of the people that have liked your page will see your posts without advertising. They do reward you for having posts that engage by showing more of your posts to your audience. Those are just a few additional considerations when using Facebook.

There have been a number of studies on the users of Pinterest which are called Pinners. The studies have found that among active Pinners, 96% have used Pinterest to research and gather information, 93% have used Pinterest to plan for purchases, and 87% have purchased something because of Pinterest. The Pew research Center says that 28% of Internet users used Pinterest in 2014, which was up from 21% in 2013, with 42% of online women using the network. Men’s use is also on the rise — there are 75% more men on Pinterest in 2015 than there were in 2014 according to the Ahalogy 2015 Pinterest Media Consumption Study.

Pins largely represent brands and products. Pinners can help each other because, unlike other social networks, multiple people or companies can share boards. This means that each company can amplify its reach by the number of Pinners on a board. For example, I may have 500 followers and you may have 500 as well; if we add a third party with the same then we could have 1,500 followers for a board. Expanding your reach without having to pay for advertising. Companies can join together that may be similar but do not compete in some way. A boutique, for example, could join forcess with another one that serves a different geographic area.

To engage the users of Pinterest there are some general guidelines. Use high quality images or infographics. The users are looking at images often, so they will spot, and often ignore, low-quality work. Pin high quality images from your website. Each image can be uploaded from a computer or from a website. Once you upload it, an interesting thing happens, if any other pinner pins that same image you get credit; Pinterest adds a “via YourPinterestUserName” which links back to your profile, gaining some additional exposure. Small businesses can engage users by pinning new products or examples of works completed and then thanking others that repin it. Don’t forget to reply to every comment, that makes people happy and they are more likely to pin your product again. Happy Pinning!

One important aspect of SEO is is the purchase of a domain. You may want to buy one that is keyword based or related to your company name, you could also do a combination of both. The importance on the domain name is because those terms should support the type of traffic you want to get. If you sell plumbing supplies then you may want companynameplumbing.com for example. if you bought plumbing.com then you certainly would start ranking in the search results for plumbing but it might be harder to come in for your company name. This is because search engines partially associate your domain name with the keywords that you should place for.

How your website is built is a key aspect of search engine optimization so it is important that you choose a company to build it that takes into account the items needed to help increase the placement within the search results. The title of a page, title of images, webpage load time and content are all items that can help you achieve your seo goals. A mobile friendly website is a consideration in today’s era of of smartphones and tablets.

When choosing a website design company it is essential to consider SEO as a key component of your online marketing strategy. Especially for small businesses that do not have the market spend that larger corporations do. Local Lighthouse has the knowledge and experience to help you achieve your online marketing goals.

Getting included in the local search results is not automatic. Your company information needs to be submitted to the search engines or certain business directories. In some cases hours may be displayed and at the time a user searches, it could say “Closed Now” or “Open 24 Hours” which could make your search listing stand out among the competition. All three major search engines offer a way to get directions if an address was entered when setting up the listing. In some cases stars be be present showing that a review was left and how the person rated their service.

When searching on Google for a branded search the rating stars do not appear but if your address is available a  directions link will appear. Many companies have their address on their website but with the starting point for people most likely being the search engine it is so much easier for a fluid user experience if the don’t even have to go to your website then navigate to the directions page.

In the future Google may use only those who pay for local ads through adwords accounts. They have been beta testing for an ad only version of local results. Local Lighthouse is qualified to help you with both types of local listings in the search engines.

It is time to start brainstorming. Sit down with your team members and create a list of potential strategic partners using the B2B or B2C checklists. Is there a local bank with a small business audience? What about a Real Estate agent out there networking with your potential clients on a daily basis? Or a graphic designer working in your niche? Simply creating this list is the first step, coming up with how to target these possible partners is next.
Co-brand educational content

Now that you have your giant list of possible partners, it is time to narrow it down a bit to your best possible opportunities. I would recommend starting with a list of your top five partners to target and then expand from there if needed. Once you have your top 5, audit your current and future content plans with your focused list in mind. What eBooks, workshops, videos would the other businesses want to share with their audience and therefore introduce you? Once you have “X company” and “X content” in mind, it is time to reach out and see if the potential partner would be interested in sharing the valuable content with their audience with the idea that they could co-brand the content. The gift to their audience is valuable education, the gift to you is exposure.
Get in front of a live audience

Speaking for leads is one of the most effective ways to get your message out there. One example of how a Duct Tape Marketing consultant speaks for leads is holding a 7 Steps to Small Business Marketing Success Workshop for an audience of small business owners. A great opportunity here would be partnering with a local bank, lawyer, and insurance agent and having them invite their client base to an educational workshop. The consultant then provides value to their client’s while also establishing themselves as an expert at a live event. Another win-win in the books.
Come up with a follow-up plan

You have created your list, produced co-branded content, and spoken in front of a strategic partner audience – your job is done right? Nope – it’s just getting started. The main goal here is to add value. However, the 2nd goal is to gain exposure for your business. Before you partner with a company, make sure to have set guidelines for follow-up in place. Will you get the names and emails of the people that downloaded your ebook to target them directly? Will you get to add a sales pitch at the end of your presentation? After you agree on the process, think of the follow-up as another opportunity to add value. Don’t simply send off an email asking if they are ready to sign up for your services. Instead, follow up with an eBook or checklist where they can learn even more about your topic and by they way introduce the ways you could help them implement.

By Sara Jantsch is the Vice President of Operations at Duct Tape Marketing.

There are reports and screen shots of the notifications from Search Engine Roundtable and SEM Post. Read the full article here.

The minimalistic UI offers users arbitrary floating point formatting, big number logarithm, trigonometric functions, and exact ration arithmetic, according to the app’s release notes. Google says the app “uses exact rational arithmetic so it can handle arbitrary precision. Values may be input as integers, rationals, or floating point values.”

Google has yet to make an official announcement for the new app that went live on the App Store earlier today. Unlike most of its other iOS apps, Google lists “The Go Authors” as a seller on the app, in addition to Google Inc, which appears to be in reference to The Go Project, an open source programming language developed by teams at Google and other contributors. It seems possible the Ivy app was developed as a companion tool for the project. Here’s a description of The Go Project from its website:

Go is expressive, concise, clean, and efficient. Its concurrency mechanisms make it easy to write programs that get the most out of multicore and networked machines, while its novel type system enables flexible and modular program construction. Go compiles quickly to machine code yet has the convenience of garbage collection and the power of run-time reflection. It’s a fast, statically typed, compiled language that feels like a dynamically typed, interpreted language.