Author: Trish Saemann

Google Analytics and the New GA4

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With so many factors at play with how well our business may be doing on the web, many questions might arise: How do we track how well we’re advertising online? How do we know where to allocate funds or time and energy? Are these investments getting the return that we’re looking for?

In the world of marketing, we know that tracking and analytics is the unsung hero of digital marketing strategy. Google Analytics is one of those ultra-useful tools that can direct your business to a better understanding of your consumer behavior, which can lead to marketing structure changes and ultimately more conversions and more cash in your pocket.

Whether it is why certain videos pop up in our For You Page on Tiktok, what ads we see on Instagram, or the ranking of search results when we’re googling, algorithms determine much of what dictates what we’re seeing online.

It’s essential to optimize the free and available tools to put yourself in the algorithm’s favor.

This is where analytics comes in. With insider knowledge of Google’s analytics system and the new GA4 programming attached with it, GoBeyond’s mission to deliver exceptional digital marketing has us ready to help you understand and optimize using Google Analytics to move your business to the next level.

Digital Analytics: The Basics

The goal of marketing is to get potential users interested, engaged, and then converted to customers. Before the world of the internet, these trends were difficult to identify and articulate. With digital analytics, however, we can track user data and make smarter decisions about the way we show up and engage with consumers online.

Now, with the technology available to us, we can in real-time assess user behavior. By making this information trackable, it becomes predictable. When it becomes predictable, we can control it in our favor. This means a higher return on investment, consumer loyalty, and effective branding without guessing games and throwing paint at a wall to see what sticks. This means more consumers converted to customers and more time.

With Google Analytics, it’s also free.

Google Analytics: What You Need to Know

Google Analytics is a platform that collects data from your apps and sites. From there, it creates detailed reports that give you insights into your business. Specifically, Google Analytics can isolate and track each individual that comes across your organization and tell you information about their experience.

This data can be used to show where marketing is successful, which products or services are garnering people’s attention, how much traffic your site is getting, or the frequency of clicks on a video on your website, among many other things.

There are two major ways Google Analytics functions. The first is Measurement.

With a Google Analytics account and a small piece of code added to your sites, Google Analytics uses a tracking code to determine pseudonymous information about how that user interacted with your page or pages. The measurement code is the data collection feature of Google Analytics. Anything from language to geography to how they got to your site in the first place are all trackable pieces of information to gain insight on who is interested in your business and how they’re engaging with you.

The second part of the Google Analytics system is processing and reporting. Once the measurement code collects the data, it packages that information and organizes it, resulting in reports. These reports can be customized to your goals or interests. Once that data is processed, it is stored in a database that can be viewed in your reports. However, that data will not change. An important facet of Google Analytics is its ability to translate user data as it is, not as you wish it would be. This can be an awakening and empowering step for a business owner.

Data doesn’t lie. A key advantage of using Google Analytics is its objectivity.

For example, if you introduce a new marketing campaign and find that suddenly there is a massive uptick in visits to your site because of that campaign, that is data that is useful to you in creating campaigns in the future. Alternatively, if there is evidence suggesting people viewing your site on a mobile device never make it to the purchase confirmation page, it could be a signal that there is a bug or design flaw in your mobile view.

The data has real world application. The data can change your business.

The New GA4: What’s the Update

GA4 is the newest update that has been rolled out from Google Analytics. If your company has already been implementing Universal Analytics from Google, there is a way to convert over to the most updated version, Google Analytics 4. If you’re looking to stay on the cutting edge of your reporting and to get the most out of your Google Analytics measurements, it’s important to make the switch sooner rather than later.

Here are some key feature updates:

An updated search bar to find the information you’re looking for faster
Added search terms to more easily access the data streams you’re looking for
A feature that allows you to see and manage up to 7 different Google Analytics 4 properties based on search terms
Analyze information about your products or services separately from analyzing important e-commerce interactions
New e-commerce dimensions and metrics
Name changes to be more intuitive and user-friendly

Technology is changing rapidly, all the time. Being on the forefront of the trends and technology updates can save your business its most valuable resource – time.

How We Can Help

You’ve got a lot going on. While the importance of Google Analytics is clear, the nuance of its utilization cannot be understated. If you’re investing all of this time into Google Analytics, it’s clear you care about your business and the data you’re collecting.

If you cannot properly read the reporting on that data or can’t decipher its impacts and application, it can have a counterintuitive impact on your business strategy. A misread of important data can result in a decision pushing your marketing in an antithetical, less profitable direction.

While the reporting and implementation of Google Analytics is accessible to all, the ability to properly use and manage the application will determine its usefulness to you and your business. The Google Analytics program’s success for you is dependent on your goals, strategy, and ability to determine what configurations best suit your company.

Let an expert walk you through it. We’re ready to help you. Contact us for a free call to talk about Google Analytics and other strategies you can use to level up your business.

Tags ga4, google analytics, marketing strategy, seo

Blog Law Firm Marketing Marketing Social Media Social Media Marketing

Choosing the Best Social Media Platform for Your Law Firm

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Determining the best platforms to establish your firm’s social media presence and establishing an effective social media presence may seem overwhelming at first. Here are some effective tips to consider as you begin to develop your firm’s strategy.

Evaluating which platforms are right for your firm follows a process of gathering data, and beginning with 1 or 2 platforms best suited to your defined goals for content delivery and marketing results. Measure your results against stated goals and course correct as you learn what efforts are most effective for your firm.

Gather Industry Data

Learn what works and what doesn’t by conducting competitor research. While evaluating reports and data on highly performing networks, identify similar firms that are successfully using social media strategies and learn from how they use their platforms.

What type of content investments are they making: blogs, legal podcasts, videos, webinars, eBooks?
How are they engaging with users?
What are they doing well?
How would you improve on their efforts?

According to the American Bar Association, law firms continue year after year to prefer LinkedIn as a social media marketing platform. This is because LinkedIn allows lawyers to promote themselves professionally, and because of its popularity within the legal profession.

Facebook follows closely behind, with 62 percent of firms holding a social media presence. This platform allows you to share related trends and articles, advertise to a targeted audience, and engage with followers.

Different platforms offer unique advantages in achieving specific goals. If your primary goal is professional development and networking with other attorneys, LinkedIn is the platform of choice. However, if your goal is community engagement, consider a more personalized network like Instagram or Facebook.

Setting Clear Goals for Social Media Efforts

Setting clear realistic goals around your social media efforts is critical to guiding your strategy and achieving success on your terms. Social media is about cultivating an audience and creating conversation. If your main goal is quick conversions, you will likely be disappointed. Some goals other law firms have in their marketing strategies are:

Professional development and networking (66%)
Maintaining client pipeline (51%)
Education and awareness (49%)
Community engagement (43%)
Case investigation (21%)

Content Delivery

Successful social media presence requires a sustained commitment to consistently create and publish timely, new, relevant content that caters to the interests of your target audiences. Different platforms require various levels of commitment to new content. Some platforms like LinkedIn can yield positive results with only a few short posts a week while others like Instagram require a steady flow of relevant high-quality content to capture users’ attention.

Next, carefully consider your ability to respond quickly to users who engage with your content. This is how you build your audience, network, and increase brand awareness. Responding to comments from two LinkedIn posts a week is a smaller time commitment than remaining in continuous conversation with users on other platforms.

In the beginning, set yourself up for success on one or two platforms and track your results. Gain a solid understanding of how much time you can dedicate to social media content creation, publishing schedules, and user engagement, and then adjust your strategy accordingly. Establishing and managing six different social media accounts on separate platforms is not likely to be successful right out of the gate.

Track Your Results

It is crucial to track and measure your results to learn what is working and what needs course correction. Add your social media accounts to your Google Analytics goals and review the data after your first 3 months. The data will help you discover what type of content is most relevant to users, will cultivate your target audience, and create brand-building conversations.

Firms with clear goals, a steady content flow, and an established presence on at least one platform need to periodically evaluate performance and adjust to maximize success against stated goals.

Use Available Reporting to Increase Investments in Your Highest-Performing Networks

Data will help you discover which platforms and activities deliver tangible results and which ones are a waste of your time. Google Analytics has several reports to help you evaluate the success of your networks and content:

Overview reports – Identifies how many users are converting from social networks
Network referrals – Measures engagement generated by each social platform
Landing pages – Tracks engagement for URLs by platform driving traffic
Conversions – Identifies total conversions by social platform
Plugins – Details how many users clicked your share buttons by platform
Users flow – Maps the path users take through your website by social network

Maximizing Social Media Success

Is your google profile set up to attract your ideal clients? Is your firm’s visibility maximized in search results? Optimize your google profile to bring in more cases with this helpful checklist.

GoBeyond, a full-service marketing agency, is ready to support your practice whether you are new to using social media or an expert practitioner. Contact us to discuss your needs or visit us on LinkedIn, Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter.

Tags law firm marketing, marketing, marketing strategy, social media engagement, social media marketing, social media marketing plan

Blog Local SEO Small Business Marketing

Why It’s Important to Have A Google My Business Profile

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“Google it!” We’ve heard it. We’ve said it. A staple in the cultural zeitgeist, we are all very familiar with Google as consumers. From a business standpoint, the importance of a Google My Business Profile cannot be understated. It is integral for every business; large and small, brick-and-mortar or exclusively online.

You may be curious why it’s important to have a Google My Business profile. Google controls about 92% of the search engine market share across the world. That means if people are searching the web, they’re almost certainly googling. Google connects people to businesses they may normally not have found and connects businesses to decision-makers that can elevate their status from good to great. When considering why it’s important to have a Google My Business profile, consider the impact of starting with trust, being seen, and increasing lead generation.

What is a Google My Business profile?

A Google My Business profile provides you with the ability to list your business and appear in local search results. You can display pertinent information on your business: location, hours of operation, and contact details. A link to your website can be listed and attract web traffic. There are even features available to link upcoming events or articles. With a Google My Business profile, you choose how you are seen in Google search and maps and can even accept online orders.

Plus… it’s free!

Start with Trust

When people are searching your business, knowingly or otherwise, they are beginning their relationship with your business. One of the reasons why it’s important to have a Google My Business profile, is to be in control of your first impression.

It can be frustrating to receive mixed messages from a business, especially after a simple introduction. When information is difficult to find, incoherent, or inconsistent, it turns away potential leads from engaging further or turns away potential customers seeking your goods or services.

There is also the possibility that your business does not get fair or accurate information posted online. Without claiming your Google My Business profile, you will not be notified of reviews of your business or any information that is listed that is inaccurate or outdated.

By having a Google My Business profile, you get to speak for yourself. You can visit your profile anytime to edit or see how many people have seen or clicked on your listing. There is even a question and answer feature that can connect you with your community. What better way to start a relationship of trust and competence than with being available and transparent with people from the second they’ve found you in a search.

Start with trust. Build a reputation for being clear, informative, and up-to-date as a business.

Be Seen

With the Google algorithm being directly linked to your company’s SEO, a Google My Business Profile puts you in a position to improve your likelihood of being seen just by optimizing your profile. With a Google My Business profile, your reviews and location improve your likelihood of being seen.

When questioning why it’s important to have a Google My Business profile, an immediate asset is the ability to be seen in Google Maps. More and more search queries are based on geography. This makes sense. With the immediacy of information available in search engines like Google, searching “restaurant near me” or “law office near me” is an efficient and concise way of searching to get relevant results. Whether or not you know it, you’re being shown businesses first that have a Google My Business profile. In fact, it’s got a cyclical benefit. A Google Business Profile improves your local SEO. A local business listing is more likely to appear when people search using Google maps.

Engaging with feedback from your community is another reason why it’s important to have a Google My Business profile. With a profile, you are able to see, respond, and contact people who leave you reviews. Reviews add to your credibility as a business. While branding yourself with legitimacy is integral to successfully running a business, reviews also benefit your SEO. The Google algorithm favors this and it highers your ranking in search results. Simply put, reviews on your Google My Profile listing improve your likelihood of being seen.

Improve your SEO

Google uses vivid phrases and keywords to help users find businesses in search results. Like traditional website SEO, implementing these keywords and relevant phrases in your content improves your visibility. Therefore it is increasingly important to add keywords that match your business and services to help potential clients find your business in all places possible – your business description, your comments, and your posts. The algorithm favors the specific. Take advantage of the profile tools like Question & Answer, Messaging, and GMB posts to consistently put yourself in the best position to be seen.

The importance of your search engine result page rank increases daily. More and more people are becoming less and less likely to keep scrolling and instead choose to click and engage with top results.

That is the difference between making a connection, completing a sale, or doing business.

To conclude

As our world becomes more insular and our online activity becomes increasingly targeted toward our habits, it’s integral for businesses to stay current on all of the opportunities available to them to gain and maintain people’s attention. With Google’s ever present impact on our daily lives, it is essential to think seriously about the benefits your company can garner from starting with trust, being seen, and improving your SEO with a Google My Business profile. All of this is at your fingertips when you make a profile with a few simple clicks, totally for free.

When considering why it’s important to have a Google My Business Profile, remember you have everything to gain and nothing to lose. Make an account today.

Tags google my business, search engine optimization, seo

Blog Content Marketing Law Firm Marketing Social Media Social Media Marketing

The Importance of Using Social Media for Law Firms

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A robust social media presence is a necessity today for thriving up-and-coming law firms. Social media strategies are used to establish brand awareness, connect firms with their ideal clients, drive traffic to your website, and generate sales.

Here is what to consider when making the decision to incorporate social media into your marketing strategy.

Increasing Brand Awareness

Law firms have always strived to get their brands in front of the largest audience possible. The primary platform to reach a targeted audience was once newspapers, and then it migrated to television and billboards.

To meet your audience where they are today, your firm needs a robust social media presence. According to a recent survey, 38 percent of people looking for an attorney check online first. Maintaining a consistent social media presence keeps you top of mind (and top of search results) when users are looking for legal help.

Humanizing Your Firm’s Brand

Incorporating social media into your marketing strategy helps to bring your firm’s culture to life by showcasing who you are and what you are passionate about. You can include features like personal stories about your team members and updates on notable events you have attended. That way, your followers will feel as if they know you and, when they need you, you will already feel like a trusted partner.

Connecting and Engaging with Your Ideal Clients

Social media is an effective tool for identifying and reaching your specific target audience. The platforms you select create a place for users to follow your firm and engage with your content as well as to stay informed on topics of interest and trending legal news. You are consistently working to build relationships with potential clients in a more organic way.

Driving Traffic to Your Website and Generating Sales

Using social media strategically generates quality leads for law firms and accelerates results from other sales and marketing efforts. Platforms like LinkedIn and Instagram can be used to encourage potential clients to take an action like visiting your website. LinkedIn followers do not always convert to cases, but if you share a link to a timely blog post, many followers will click through to your website to read it and, in doing that, learn more about your law firm.

Effective Use of Social Media Creates Competitive Advantages for Growing Law Firms

Is your google profile set up to attract your ideal clients? Is your firm’s visibility maximized in search results? Optimize your google profile to bring in more cases with this helpful checklist. An effective online presence and social media strategy creates competitive advantages by improving your firm’s visibility, credibility, relatability, and connection to an audience of ideal prospective clients cultivated for conversion.

GoBeyond, a full-service marketing agency, is ready to answer any questions and support your practice whether you are new to using social media or an expert practitioner. Contact us to discuss your needs and visit us on LinkedIn, Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter.

Tags content marketing, law firm marketing, marketing, marketing strategy, social media marketing

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7 Must-Haves for Your Law Firm Website

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People use the internet to search for all kinds of information. Where to shop, who to date, the weather report; the possibilities are truly endless. The ubiquity of the internet search has made web searchers more savvy and impatient when it comes to the sites they choose in their searches and also which sites they choose to continue to read before clicking away.

Law firms have an even more difficult challenge because most of the searchers who look for your practice have a legal issue. This makes them urgent, impatient, and self-conscious and they haven’t even picked up the phone to contact you yet. So how does a law firm ensure that its site will be intriguing and helpful enough to keep its visitors’ interest?

Here are some fast ways to tell if your website has staying power.

The Hero Section

The #1 mistake I see on modern law firm sites is this: The firm fails to make their clients the hero of the story. Don Miller of StoryBrand fame crystalized this idea and he’s spot on. If the homepage of your website has a picture of just you or you and your team, you’re missing a major opportunity.

The law is intimidating. If your clients see someone with whom they can identify on your home page, you are infinitely more likely to get them to continue reading on. They want to see themselves finding a solution with your firm. Make no mistake, they’ll want to know all about you too, but first, they must be able to see themselves in your success stories. Have an image of your ideal client represented on your homepage, then lead them to your credentials.

Website Load Speed

I don’t know about you, but a slow loading website makes me crazy. If it’s a potential client for my line of work, it’s one of the easiest things for me to demonstrate that they need to update their website. Web searchers are impatient and if your site doesn’t load in under 3 seconds, they are gone for good. Use this website to check your load speed. If it is too slow, talk to you web developer or reach out to my team to fix any issues that are beyond your technical expertise.

Easy to Navigate

If you were to ask your family members or friends, NOT professional colleagues, to go to your website and share with you what you do in under 5 seconds, could they do it? If your website doesn’t clearly state how you help people, what services you offer and how best to contact you, you need an overhaul.

Essential Pages to include on your website:

Homepage
Practice Areas (if possible, offer one page/practice area)
About / Team
Reviews
FAQ/BLOG
Contact Us
Privacy Policy
Disclaimer

If you have Google Analytics installed on your site (and if you don’t, please, please call me) look at the traffic to the pages on your site. If some of your pages are grossly under searched, it could mean they are hard to find.

Be sure to include clear options in your navigation bar, ideally with …. (see next paragraph)

On Page SEO

Much like the legal field, websites and digital marketing can have foreign and intimidating language. If you find yourself lost in the digital jargon, I’ve got you covered. Here are some of the website requirements that will help your firm rank in Google:

Meta description
Title tag
Headings tags
Keyword optimized copy
Keyword in URL (think navigation bar)
Short URLs
Alt tag in images

If you can add keywords to all of these areas, you’re on your way to an optimized site.

Google is an aggregator of data. In analog terms, it’s a filing cabinet. Each page needs to be labeled in a way that indicates where the file goes. Folder, section, cabinet, room, etc. Google does the same thing, just digitally. When your law firm, especially if you have a lot of competition, doesn’t digitally indicate where your site belongs, then it gets relegated to no man’s land.

Clear Practice Areas and Contact Info

Visitors to your site are there for one reason: They’re looking for a lawyer who can help them with a specific legal issue. So, it’s important to highlight your services on your home page, and have clear links in your navigation bar to pages describing each of your practice areas. Even though a client finds you online, they’ll often reach out through email or a phone call when they decide to consult you. It’s a good idea to keep these two contact methods highly visible at all times. For added mobile responsiveness, you can use click-to-call and click-to-email CTA formats. Other methods of contact, such as contact forms, live chat via a chatbot, social media messages and location information are also great way to leverage your website to connect you with potential clients.

Call to Action

If you have a website that doesn’t IMMEDIATELY encourage someone to contact you, you are behind the game. Your Call to Action (CTA) can be anything you want, but you want it to make the web visitor take an action right away. Book a consultation. Call us Now. Book your appointment. It may seem silly, but it works. You must be crystal clear about what you want your potential client to do when they come to your site.

Responsive design (mobile, tablet and desktop)

It’s 2023 (almost). Though it can vary by industry or practice area, chances are 50% (or more) of your first website visitors are on mobile. This number will continue to rise. Google is also prioritizing the performance of most mobile layouts over the desktop. So, that means your mobile layout is impacting your Google ranking more so than your desktop layout. If you’re not sure if your website is mobile friendly, chances are it is not. If you’d like to know for sure, use this link.

At GoBeyond SEO, we’ve been helping local law firms scale with simple lead gen and optimize their site for success since 2009. Contact us for a free consultation. We’d love to hear from you.

Tags law firm internet marketing, law firm marketing, law firm seo, marketing for law firms, marketing strategy

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How to Stay Engaged on Social Media in 2023 (Plus 3 Bonus Tips)

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In just a couple of weeks, the social media consumer blitz on your senses will have subsided, and you’ll be able to scroll through IG and Tiktok mostly unbothered by ads. The holidays are fun, but this can be a welcome relief.

But what happens when your business still needs to stay connected with its audience–how do you maintain a meaningful digital presence without being overwhelming?

Here are four simple tips to prepare for next year and stay engaged on social media in 2023 (without the holiday blitz).

1. Do a Content Makeover

Remember when makeover shows were all the rage? We owe a debt of makeover gratitude to Queer Eye, both the modern and the OG.

If you aren’t confident about the content you share on social media, or worse, you’re sharing the same stuff over and over, this will cause your audience to lose interest.

Instead, try going further with your social media posts by including elements encouraging discussion and debate. This will improve your Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook engagement and demonstrate your commitment to being an interactive and transparent brand.

You should also vary the length of your social media engagement posts. Both short- and long-form content is effective. By adding variety to your content strategy for social media, you can easily capture the interest of your audience and keep things fresh.

2. Adjust Your Scheduled Posts

Scheduling social media engagement posts in advance is the norm. So if you’re not already automating your posts, buy yourself some time and do it.

That said, your followers can quickly get bored if you don’t mix it up a bit. Track which posts get the most engagement, then play around with your scheduling. It would behoove you to see which post topics and which timeslots get the most attention. Audiences from different platforms have varying preferences regarding the frequency of social media engagement posts.

Here are the recommended number of posts by platform according to Hootsuite:

LinkedIn: Two to five posts per week
Facebook: One to two posts per day
Instagram: Three to seven posts a week
Twitter: One to five tweets a day (in light of recent changes, this may vary widely in 2023)
TikTok: At least one video a day

3. Prioritize Engagement

Social media can be a bit of a time suck and, frankly, a pain in the ass when you have a business to run. But the whole point is to connect with your audience and have them interact with you. So you’re better off with fewer social platforms and doubling down on engaging with the audience of one or two of them.

Here are the reasons why engagement, more than having a billion social media accounts, matters the most:

Trust. The days of businesses being seen as faceless entities in ivory towers are over. Your clients know you’re an actual person (or group of people). And most clients can discern your brand voice in emails and blog posts. The fact that they know it’s you instills trust. Customers don’t expect brands to be perfect, but they expect them to be authentic. Engagement demonstrates that.

Market Research. You can literally ask your clients what they want and they will tell you. How can we improve? What would you like us to start offering? Who else do you know that might want to work with us? You’d pay big bucks for that kind of money and yet, you can get it for free straight from the horse’s mouth.

Relationships. Be of value. Be of service. Build a relationship. Fostering a community of loyal customers and advocates who will speak highly of your brand is better than any kind of paid advertising you can find.

4. Get on Board With Video

Thank you, YouTube and TikTok! Visual content can do wonders for your social media campaigns as it generates more engagement than any other form of media. Don’t feel camera ready? Don’t worry–the realness that comes across in video content is actually a good thing.

So how can you effectively integrate video into your content strategy for social media?

Be consistent with your branding (and be yourself). Try to make it a habit to use your brand’s colors and imagery so your audience can immediately recognize you, but don’t make yourself crazy over it. Here’s a branding hack: Being yourself is the best and most consistent way to brand. Of course, colors, vibe, and font help too, but you’re the star.

The GIF that keeps on giving. GIFs capture attention quickly, especially if they get a laugh. They’re perfect for fast-paced social channels like Twitter and can also increase Facebook and IG engagement. Humor is a great way to connect on a human level, and a well-timed and tasteful GIF is always a good idea.

Go mini. Short-form videos such as Reels and TikToks are incredibly effective in increasing engagement. The video can be funny or educational. Want to be a superstar? Make it funny AND educational. To take it one step further, you can create a video series that tells a success story, a how-to, or details of an upcoming event. This will keep people coming back for more and improve your visibility within the platform’s algorithm. Win-win.

Using some or all of these tips can greatly impact your social media and help you foster a genuine connection with your audience in 2023. Want more ways to stay connected with your target audience and improve your branding? Reach out to GoBeyond SEO today.

Tags marketing, Social Media, social media engagement, social media marketing, social media strategy

Blog SEO Tips

5 Tips for Creating Irresistible (Yet SEO Friendly) Blog Titles

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Do you know the difference between website developers and website designers?

Bear with us for a sec.

From a distance, they look like one in the same. They are not.

While there are some uber-talented folks who can effectively do both, it’s far less common. Designers focus more on appearance and appeal while a developer’s job is making a website functional.

SEO is like that. You can create content that is tech-speak heavy and make search engines happy, but lose the humans. You can also make the content delightful for humans, but useless to search engines. It’s important to strike the balance between form and function when writing blogs and crafting blog titles.

Here are five simple steps to writing irresistible yet SEO friendly blogs and blog titles to grab the attention of both search engines and your audience.

Step One: Keyword Research

First things first, head to Google to do some quick and dirty research. Type in keywords for the topic you want to write about. Keep in mind this is not a comprehensive build-your-entire-SEO-strategy-level search. This is to help you find topics people are searching for most often so you can craft your blog title around what your audience wants.

Step Two: Pick Strong Keywords

Strong is a relative adjective, so let us clarify. Specific keywords are great if you want someone who is ready to move forward now. For example: “Best SEO Services Near Me”.

However, if your service or product requires some education, strong keywords could be more solution-focused: “How Can My Business Get Found on Google More Quickly?” Be discerning when choosing keywords for your blog titles.

Step Three: Write Multiple Headlines

Writer and entreprenuer Marie Forleo suggested this trick. Write multiple (like, 20) headlines. It seems like overkill and it isn’t. Sometimes you need to work through your thoughts on the page before they’re ready for the world. Avoid industry-speak when possible.

Examples:

Your Guide to Great Blog Writing
Five Steps to SEO-Friendly Blog Writing
SEO-Friendly Blog Titles
Four Tips for Great Blog Titles

Phrases like “Your Guide”, “Five Steps”, “Three Tips”, are key for a couple of reasons. It’s an easy way to slip in a keyword without it feeling forced and it gives the reader an idea of how much mental energy they need to commit: Five tips? I can handle five tips. Let me read this blog real quick.

Step Four: Write the Post

Be natural and educational. Don’t focus on squeezing in those keywords in your first draft if it feels forced. Say what you want to say and then add keywords during editing. It’s important to offer helpful information without selling. People change their thinking when they feel they’re being pitched. Be breezy, not salesy.

Step Five: Change Your Permalink

Most of the SEO nerds we know love WordPress, and with good reason. If your blog is on WP, we’re gonna nerd out for a moment, but stick with us and it will help!

WordPress allows you to change your permalink/slug URL. This is simply the actual URL for your blog post.

www.yourwebsite.com/your-blog-post

You will want to edit this permalink (you’ll find it at the top of your post, right underneath your blog title in WordPress).

Your permalink :

Should contain your keyword
Be short–no more than seven words if possible
Be descriptive and relevant to your post
Can be different from your actual blog title

Click “ok” to save and you’re ready to hit Publish on your blog post.

Are You Ready to Create Excellent Blog Titles?

When writing blog content, keep keywords in mind, but don’t sacrifice your audience. Whatever your headline, make sure it’s interesting and relevant enough to be clickworthy.

Insider secret: The amount of actual humans who read your blog impacts your SEO results. Google tracks search behavior and pays attention to how many clicks your post gets and if people stick around to read it. Big Brother is absolutely watching, so give ‘em a good show.

Need more assistance with jump starting your content strategy? Book a strategy session with GoBeyond SEO today.

Tags blogging, blogging for business, search engine optimization, seo

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Track Your Trends to Optimize Your Marketing

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Your customers change their behavior depending on the season, which impacts the content they interact with and the keywords they use for search. (Hint: this also means how, when, and what they decide to buy will change.)

Before you click away thinking that seasonality doesn’t apply to your business, stick with us. You may think you don’t have a season. Although buying trends can be harder to see when your business isn’t centered around a commonly recognized season (such as the holidays), the truth is that every industry has some version of a season.

However, business owners are often at a loss when it comes to adapting their marketing strategy to the seasonal shifts in buying behavior. Which is why it’s crucial to track your trends for more insight.

Yes, You Have a Busy Season–Trust Us

At this point, you may be thinking that you’re in an industry where people will always need what you do with some minor peaks and valleys. It’s true that you may not get all of your business exclusively during your busy season, but you definitely have one.

Here are a few examples of businesses that you would not traditionally associate with seasonality:

Divorce lawyers. More people file for divorce right after the holidays. Why? They didn’t want to ruin the holidays with divorce discussion or the holidays confirmed their decision to end the marriage.
Emergency vets. Emergency vets will see more dogs the first week of July. Why? It’s super hot, fireworks scare pets into unsafe behavior–including running away–and big parties are an opportunity for pets to eat dangerous foods and objects.
Plumbing companies. The day after Thanksgiving is the busiest day of the year for plumbers. Why? Food scraps and turkey grease can clog sinks. In addition, several guests staying at a home can overwhelm the plumbing system, leading to problems.

However, keep in mind that seasons are not limited to holidays. For example, spring can bring hail storms, leading to a surge in calls to windshield repair companies, roofers, and exterior contractors. When these businesses run ads around this time, they can optimize their busy season.

How to Adjust Your Game Plan for Your Season

Once you’ve taken the time to track your trends and identify your busy season, here are some ways to adjust your game plan to fit your season and make it convenient for your customers to hire you or purchase from you.

Busy Season

Google Ads. Ads show up when someone searches for what you offer. They are looking for you. Don’t hide from them!
Facebook Ads. Ads show up based on demographics and self-proclaimed interests. They told you they love animals. Show them your animal-related services or products!
Email marketing. Give them a reason to choose you over your competition by being visible, available, and easy to buy from. Touching on their most important reasons to buy in your email will encourage them to buy from you.
Direct mail. Depending on your industry, this can be one of the most effective ways to connect with your audience during your busy season.

Slow Season

Upsell and cross-sell existing clients. Slow season is a great time to upsell or cross-sell your current clients to help maintain your revenue.
Work on getting referrals. Contact satisfied clients and ask them to refer you to someone else who might want your services. You can offer a reward for referrals, such as a gift card.
Grow your online reviews. Ask past clients to review your business online. Make it easy by emailing them a link so all they have to do is click and type. Then, be sure to pay attention to your reviews and deal with any negative or fake ones.
Promote early payment specials. To keep cash coming in, try offering discounts for early payments for next season.
Educate your clients. Teach clients how to make the most of your products or services. Focus on low-cost marketing methods like in-person networking, email, and social media. Stay in front of them even when they’re not ready to buy. They will be soon enough. Create the association with your brand, even if they aren’t looking for you right now.

Learning when to mitigate expenses and maximize ROI can vary, even for businesses within the same industry. For example, some companies use Google Ads during their busy season so they are visible when people search for them, but use Facebook Ads as more of an awareness or educational tactic when people are not yet in need.

Get More Insight Into Your Long-Term Marketing Strategy

Following the trends within your industry and examining your own peaks and valleys are the best ways to know when and how to adjust your marketing efforts. If you’re ready to take a more advanced approach to your long-term marketing, set up a strategy session with GoBeyond SEO. It’s free, customized, and informative.

Tags content marketing, marketing, marketing strategy

Content Marketing Marketing

Achieve These 6 Marketing Goals With Video Client Case Stories

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Everyone has a story. Actually, everyone has several stories. Stories of triumph and success and stories of failure and regret. We lead complex and layered lives.

Your clients, just like you, have stories to tell. If they are your client, you are a part of their story. It sounds hyperbolic, but it isn’t. Your clients will be talking about their experiences, including the one they’ve had with you, as part of their story.

Wouldn’t it be so cool if your clients could share their success story and, by proxy, your role in that success, with other potential clients?

Hell yes it would be. Here’s how you can transform your marketing with client case stories: all on video.

The Move Away From Business-Centric Reviews

People are moving beyond 5-star reviews on Google and collecting testimonials that are focused solely on their business. Companies are moving toward client case stories: letting their case study be expressed as a case story.

The narrative focuses on their clients and how their lives have changed and less on what the company offers. What’s more? It’s all on video. Video is

Easy to digest
Easy to understand
Easy to share
A powerful tool for building trust and engaging new clients

Video isn’t the cheapest form of marketing content. But when you invest the time and money necessary to develop a strong video marketing plan, a plan that doesn’t pitch but actually shares stories, your results will reflect that effort.

Think about it: why do people love movies so much? They don’t. They love stories. A movie that is just a sales pitch will not be watched over and over again–but a story will be.

6 Powerful Goals You Can Achieve With Video Stories

Video stories shared by your happy clients nearly guarantees you’ll accomplish these six goals.

1. Increase Conversions and Sales

84% of people say they have been convinced to buy a product or service by watching a brand’s video (Wyzowl survey).

2. Track Your ROI

HubSpot conducted a recent survey that found more than 93% of video marketers say it’s an important part of their marketing strategy and you can measure the results from your video campaign, including tracking impressions, play rate, viewer engagement, lead generation, and click-through rate.

3. Build Multi-Purpose Content

You can use your videos on your website, social media, newsletters, and ad campaigns. Multiple videos, multiple iterations, multiple applications.

4. Build Consumer Trust

Consumers evaluate your website and marketing content with a highly skeptical eye, and possibly a predetermined reason NOT to spend money on your product or service. You have to work to gain your customer’s trust, especially if you’re handling sensitive matters or if you’re in an industry that many people are unfamiliar with (like SEO). People want to see and hear other people. Humanize your business and you’ll gain their trust.

5. Boost Your SEO Efforts

As video is becoming an increasingly popular way to create content, Google gives ranking priority to pages that have videos. So not only is video a good marketing tool, but it’s a powerful search engine optimization (SEO) strategy as well.

6. Engage Mobile Users

Not only does Google prefer online video content, but so do most mobile users.

Pew Research Center found that 85% of Americans currently own a smartphone, and what are people doing on their smartphones? Watching videos. According to eMarketer, 75% of all videos are played on mobile devices.

Are You Harnessing the Power of Video Yet?

Your competitors are already harnessing the power of video stories as a humanized alternative to business. It’s fierce out there, and video case stories from your happy clients are a tool you definitely want in your arsenal.
GoBeyond SEO has partnered with a company that does exactly this kind of work and they are awesome. Because of this partnership, GoBeyond clients are offered a discount on this work. Find out more by clicking the link or contacting us today.

Tags content marketing, lead generation, marketing

General Leadership Marketing Small Business Marketing

4 Signs It’s Time for a Fractional Chief Marketing Officer (CMO)

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Many small business owners, this year especially, are still trying to get a grip on what works and what doesn’t. All the marketing goals in the world are only as good as the direction and leadership of the marketing efforts coming from the top.

Did your marketing efforts pay off during the first quarter of this year? Are you woefully unsure and wildly self-conscious about it? You’re not alone.

Whether your marketing is directionless or you need more financial resources to invest in a solid strategy, here are four signs it’s time to consider a fractional chief marketing officer (CMO).

1. You Have a Marketing Plan, but No One Is Available to Be in Charge of It

This is a common trap when the marketing direction is steered by multiple people or by someone who is not solely focused on marketing.

Your company brand and success may have been built long before the days of complex marketing channels and automation. In order to prepare for the future (or present), businesses are tasked with adapting at lightning speed, to keep pace with contemporary strategies, tools, and tactics.

Oftentimes, especially in small and growing businesses, marketing initiatives are scattershot and lack a cohesive plan. An experienced marketing strategist can help right the proverbial ship for a strong and successful future.

2. Your Sales Team Is Creating Their Own Marketing Materials

Your sales team may be great or your sales team may be YOU. Either way, if your sales team is creating their own presentations, one sheets, and PDFs, it’s very likely that those materials are unfocused and weak.

A fractional CMO can develop a unified message that creates an exceptional customer experience, makes you and your team feel more confident in presenting your offerings, and improves conversions – all for a more cost-effective approach.

3. You Have Lots of Pricey Marketing Tactics Without a Supporting Strategy

It’s an easy trap to fall into. Someone says you need a new website, so you get one. You sponsor events and buy branded swag. You create a Google Ads campaign and get swallowed by the ad costs. You hire an intern to manage your social media because young people know social media, right?

You did all the things and yet, not a penny of ROI to be found. The absence of strategy will leave you frustrated and broke. You need marketing insights that help inform executive decisions, build the reporting you need to make smart business decisions, and then closely track revenue and growth. That will give you ROI for miles.

4. You Need More Financial and Organizational Flexibility

The very first ingredient needed for continued success is flexibility. You need to be agile so you’re available to capitalize on shifting situations or unforeseen challenges.

Locking your business into a yearly salary commitment for a CMO, Marketing Strategist, or even a social media coordinator is antithetical to the needs of many small businesses. Why? Hiring staff is a big commitment. What’s more? So is firing them.

If the relationship doesn’t work out with someone closely involved in your marketing efforts, separating from them can be an arduous and costly process.

Conversely, if your fractional CMO or outsourced marketing team isn’t working out, it’s much easier to end the relationship and find another fractional CMO or team.

How Is Your Marketing Going?

As your business grows and your needs shift, a fresh perspective with more experience may be needed. While reviewing your first quarter sales this year, ask yourself this: Do I have the time necessary to devote to marketing and sales?

If you’re not sure, feel free to score a free strategy session with GoBeyond SEO. ROI is within reach, we promise.

Tags brand marketing, marketing, marketing strategy, smb marketing

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