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Blog Business Blogging Search Engine Optimization Tips SEO Tips

Top 3 SEO Tips for Click-Worthy Headlines

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Are you a reader or a skimmer? We’re going to guess you’re a skimmer. After all, in a world overrun with information, who has time to dissect every detail?

But what if you need your clients or potential clients to read? You’ve written a blog or published an article and the information you’ve included would actually help them, but alas, they don’t think it’s worth their time.

There’s one way you can increase the chances that people would actually read your content: your blog titles and article headlines should be both obvious and promise a pay off.

Vague or off-beat titles may be fun to write–and you may even call yourself clever for writing them–but those titles do not get clicked on. Headlines are read six times more than the article itself is. You have a split second to get your reader’s attention and about two seconds to keep that attention. You’ve got to give it your best shot.

With that being said, here are three tips to help you draw readers in with your headlines.

Tip #1: Keep Character Length to 70 or Fewer

Unless you’re trying to be funny and you know your audience will get the joke, don’t name your blog post like the new Kristen Bell show on Netflix. If you’re unfamiliar with it, here it is:

The Woman in the House Across the Street From the Girl in the Window

If you want a click-worthy headline, make it clear and easy to read in under two seconds, preferably 70 characters or less–unlike the above example.

Tip #2: Bait the Hook Early

Tell your readers the most important thing they need to know first. Not only does this help with SEO because the “bait”, or most important thing to your reader, is most likely a keyword, but it makes them want to read more.

Example: Which of these two titles would you click on?

Bad: Digital marketing practices are helpful to most businesses.

Good: 67% of businesses experience business growth using SEO.

While both statements are helpful, the second cuts to the proverbial chase more quickly and is therefore more effective.

Tip #3: Use Numbers, “W” Questions, or Reveal a Secret

Nobody wants to feel ignorant. Pull in your readers by using information that they want or would feel foolish not having.

This includes information that you can use to answer “W” questions, such as who, when, where, what, and why. It also includes numbers, as people tend to focus on what stands out in an article or title–aka numbers in a sea of text.

Examples:

5 Tax Write-Offs You Could Be Missing
What Does Q2 of 2022 Have in Store for Family Law Practices?
Why SEO Is No Longer ‘Nice to Have’ for Small Businesses in 2022

Bonus Tip: Act Like You’re Writing to a Real Person

When writing content for clients or potential clients, write like you’re writing to a person.

Not to people. Not to search engines.

To one singular person.

It may feel weird at first, but the writing connects better with your audience when you act like you’re writing it to one person.

It takes a minute to get the hang of headline writing, but when you’re a small business owner, learning on the fly is what you do–you got this!
Find out more about how you can enhance your content marketing for the better by booking a free discovery call with GoBeyond SEO today.

Tags search engine optimization, seo, seo tips

Business Blogging Entrepreneurship

3 Ways Being Too Busy Hurts Your Business—And What You Can Do About It

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Being super busy is still a woefully outdated badge of honor for so many business owners. We equate busy with successful.

Why do we do this? Because we also have an outdated viewpoint of what success looks like.

We all need clients to be in business—the word itself reads like busy-ness. But being too busy will actually make your business suffer.

It’s understandable that you don’t want your business to be slow or have to worry about where you’ll get your next client. But that doesn’t mean we need to glorify being busy.

Here are three ways being overly busy hurts your business.

1. Being Too Busy Shortchanges Your Clients

When you’re busy, you tend to forget all the superior service details that set you apart from your competitors, and you end up shortchanging your clients. When your clients don’t get the attention they’ve come to expect from you, you risk losing them entirely.

2. Being Too Busy Isn’t Sustainable

Your business is reliant on your health and well-being, and, even if you have a team in place and can delegate tasks, you’re still ultimately in charge of it all. Studies show that we’re not using all our vacation days and are working longer hours. The stress to perform at top capacity is not sustainable physically or mentally.

3. Busy Leads to Burnout

When you’re in a place where you’re starting to hate your job and it’s a job you created for yourself, you’re in burnout or close to it. If you’re too deep in the day-to-day, you lose sight of the big picture and why you started your business in the first place.

Tips to Be Less Busy and More Successful

So how do you climb out of the burden of busy? Here are a few tips that can keep your business moving forward, but not buried in busy.

Stop Running Away

This tip may sting a little. Some of the time, being too busy is a symptom of low self-esteem. We can inflate our own importance and make ourselves unreachable by simply being “too busy”.

If you’re finding yourself overwhelmed and too busy to engage in the things you want to do, you need to do some soul searching and ask yourself why. Maybe you’re a people pleasing person or maybe you want your competitors or frenemies to think you’re important.

Spoiler alert: You already are. Sit with this for a while and ask yourself what being too busy satisfies in you.

Watch Your Mouth

Stop saying, “I don’t have time.” You do have time, but just not for everything. When you use your language to prioritize the things in your life, your perspective changes. When you reframe time by priority and not by activity, the game changes.

Try switching out the phrase, “I don’t have time to go to the doctor” with, “Going to the doctor isn’t my priority.” It changes the game, right? You’ll start to notice how “not having time” has been your go-to for everything. Only then will you be able to separate the things that are unproductive and useless from that which matters.

Raise Your Prices

If everyone wants what you do, that is fabulous. However, that does not mean they are entitled to it. If you offer different kinds of services that serve different needs for your clients, you need tiered pricing. What’s more is that, if you’re sought after to the point where you can’t take on new business, you’ll never scale. Growth is one thing; scaling is another. Your pricing should always focus on scalability.

Find Out How We Can Help

Being busy can be a symptom of a good business and a significant shift in the market. That said, busy should never be a substitute for running your business correctly. As business owners, we create our futures. Prioritize your time before you fill it!

GoBeyond SEO can help you automate some of your marketing processes and create a better way to sustain your business without jeopardizing the quality you offer your clients. Schedule a free strategy session with us for more information.

Tags business success, client services, Entrepreneurship

Business Blogging

4 Ways to Prioritize Your Client Experience and Customer Journey

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The 1960s were some of the most unique and intense times in American history: civil unrest, war protests, and drug use were prominent.

Television was a more pervasive and influential medium; the boundaries of fashion and the social contract were being pushed to the brink.

People were paying closer attention.

Television gave them more access to information on all fronts. Access to that information altered the course of history and how future generations would make their decisions and exercise their choices.

Sound familiar?

Swap out television for the internet, and much of what is described above can be said today. How people experienced the world changed with the introduction of a new, more efficient way to communicate information.

It’s All About the Customer Journey

The customer journey has changed drastically over the past decade. The accessibility of information has made us impatient for it. The client expectation threshold has increased drastically.

Customers want instant responses to their messages and seamless experiences across digital platforms. Despite these changes, many businesses have not risen to the challenge and have falling profits because of it.

So, what’s a small business owner to do? How can you prioritize your client’s experience and customer journey? Here, we’ll show you how to do that in four simple steps.

4 Ways to Give Your Clients a World-Class Experience Without the Price Tag

The ubiquitous nature of the almighty smartphone and social media replacing the morning paper means that people are using the authentic experiences of other customers to inform their purchase decisions. They also lean into instant gratification and ease of use: Amazon, anyone?

But you’re not Amazon, you don’t sell every product under the sun, and you can’t solicit 40,000 reviews to your site every day.

Don’t worry. We’ve got you with four simple steps to give your clients the experience they’re craving without breaking the bank (or, you know, being Amazon).

1. Listen Well, Empathize, and Validate

So simple and yet so undervalued. As business owners, we’re used to our clients having similar issues. When we sell that solution, it makes sense that we are ready with the answer. Sometimes, just letting your client share their concern fully will make them feel better. They already believe you have a possible solution or they wouldn’t be talking to you. Letting them feel as though their concerns are valid can make the difference between them hiring you or hiring someone else.

2. Automate Where Possible

There’s no shortage of automation solutions available regardless if you’re a solopreneur or an enterprise-level company. Sending follow-up emails or thank-you emails automatically work well to maintain those extra touchpoints when you’re not available. You can also choose to run active social media accounts where you interact with customers and interested prospects, answer their queries, run promotions, and so on. This is a good way to improve customer interaction.

3. Always Follow Up

Good news or bad news is always better than no news. If you don’t have an answer for a client or won’t have an answer right away, tell them. While there will always be pressure to have an answer right away, when you don’t, talk to them anyway and give them a progress report. People feel most comfortable when they know what to expect, even if it isn’t pleasant.

4. Be Consistent Across All Communication Channels

Two of the most common customer service tips are having multi-channel communication and being consistent in all channels. Even if you’re a sole proprietor, you likely have a few ways to communicate with your clients. Keep your brand messaging consistent across all channels. One of the areas where this best practice is overlooked is on your company website. An outdated site or a site that is hard to navigate points to what an experience with you might be like. Build your site and social media in a simple, user-friendly fashion and you’ll delight your clients with a great experience.

In 1967, Jimi Hendrix released his first album, Are You Experienced. It is still regarded as one of the most innovative and groundbreaking albums of the last century. The album literally changed how people experienced the electric guitar and psychedelic music. It wasn’t the album cover or Jimi’s face. It was the experience they had when listening to his music. Their experience is what sold millions of copies.

How Well Are You Prioritizing Your Client Experience?

It’s not easy to put your clients first, but by doing so, you can reap the benefits. Want to know more about how we can help you simplify this process? Contact us at GoBeyond SEO today!

Tags client communication, client experience, client relationships, customer journey

Business Blogging Content Marketing

How to Create Great Content & Solve the Content Conundrum in 3 Simple Steps

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Just like most small businesses owners, you may have heard that Content Is King. So you do some research online and decide you’re going to create some content for your website or social media. You can check the marketing box on your to-do list and you feel good about this.

Sitting in front of your laptop, ready to write, you’re suddenly flooded with the dread of “what the hell do I write about?”. Your cursor is blinking at you, menacing. What do you do? You know you want to create something, but you’re not sure where to start. Sound familiar?

You’re not alone. When getting started with content creation, small businesses owners often ask themselves these questions:

What does my audience want to hear from me?

What expertise or advice do I have to offer?

How can I find topics that my target customers will actually be interested in?

Even if you’re an expert in your industry and struggling to break down all the details of what you do and how you serve your clients, these three simple steps will help you get started with the overwhelming task of creating content.

Step 1: Segment Your Audience

It’s tempting, but don’t try to be all things to all people, especially as a business owner. A customized audience makes for a more personal and effective message when creating content for your website. Breaking down the details of your expertise for creating content is easier when you know your audience.

Step 2: Make a List of Your FAQs

Each FAQ is great inspiration for content writing, and can give you ideas about where to narrow your focus based on your target customer. Detailing your FAQs is also a great opportunity to go more in-depth with a short video or infographic to put on your site.

Step 3: The Editorial Calendar

Now that you’ve segmented your audience and made a list of your FAQs, look up some of your favorite publications and search the editorial calendar.

There you will find topics by month, hashtags (sometimes), and what topics are coming up in the next month. Using your favorite publications as a guide for your own content writing topics demonstrates that you’re in the know and that your clients and prospects should listen and trust your expertise. It’s the not-so-secret sauce to great content.

What Prevents You From Creating Great Content?

Is it time? Not knowing where to start? Not knowing the value that you offer your clients? Schedule a consultation with us at GoBeyond SEO to learn more about our strategy for bringing the game with your content marketing!

Tags blogging, blogging for business, blogging topics, business blog ideas, content marketing, small business blog ideas

Business Blogging Entrepreneurship

6 Bull$h!t Free Success Hacks

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Let’s say you’re still working your regular job, but you’ve started offering your professional services on the side.

Your clients are people you know, such as neighbors and friends. Although making some money, you don’t believe you’ll ever close new clients because you’re less than stellar at sales. You don’t think you’ll make any money because talking about money is too scary. You don’t believe anyone would want to work with you over your competitors because they’ve been in business longer.

Spoiler Alert: You’re gonna need to believe in yourself. The survival of your business depends on it.

If you don’t believe in yourself, why should anyone else? Of course, it’s normal to feel like you won’t make it sometimes. It’s normal for your competitors to kick your ass, or a global pandemic to turn everything you thought you knew upside down. Sometimes “believing in yourself” really DOES feel like a bunch of BS.

Here’s a list of non-negotiables to manifest success, and NONE of them are BS. Pinky Swear.

1. Rest

Have you ever been on a roller coaster? Can you focus on anything other than the immersive experience you’re having?

It’s nearly impossible.

On the other hand, have you ever been to an amusement park and watched a roller coaster? You can sit on a bench, snack on some chips, fill a toddler’s sippy cup, talk to your Mom on the phone, and make a decision about dinner that night.

When you’re in the throes of entrepreneurship and self-doubt, you’re on the roller coaster. Take some time on the bench. You’ll make clearer decisions and be better equipped to manage emotions.

2. Embrace Discomfort

When did being uncomfortable become such a deterrent? Discomfort is a sign of progress. Discomfort can show you your boundary so you can find the best way to expand it.

When you’re faced with the discomfort of pursuit, focus on what you’ll miss if you don’t go for it, not what you’ll risk if you don’t make it.

3. Honor Your Dreams

Many people send their dreams and goals away in the name of helping or pleasing others. This can feel like the right thing to do.

Spoiler Alert: It isn’t.

When we don’t honor our dreams, we demonstrate to ourselves and others that they don’t have value. This is a breeding ground for bitterness and resentment. It will also keep your entrepreneurial goals completely out of reach.

Honoring your dreams isn’t just an activity to get you started. You must practice and honor your dreams every day to make them a reality.

4. Take Radical Accountability

Famine, drought, hurricanes, global pandemics, a new Google Algorithm (this one may be just us). All of these things can potentially blow up your business.

You think, “Why me?”

Totally understandable to feel that way. None of the above roadblocks are your fault, but now your business is in shambles. No one will make it better for you. It’s still on you to take responsibility. It’s not your fault, but how you choose to manage difficulty is your responsibility.

If you want your business to succeed, you need to maintain the mindset of radical accountability. When you practice radical accountability, trusting and believing in yourself becomes much easier.

5. Practice Active Gratitude

This step is crazy easy when things are going well, and wildly difficult when they are not. Active gratitude check-ins are a foolproof way to find calm, grace, and cultivate a healthy state of mind.

The best way to manage chaos is to avoid becoming a part of it. When you’re feeling down, defeated, foolish, or failing, start counting the things that you’re grateful for. If your mind is racing, be thankful for air in your lungs and food in your belly. Be grateful for access to coffee, a blue sky, or the opportunity to go to the beach that one time you and your friends had a blast.

Gratitude isn’t just for greeting cards and kitschy coffee mugs. Gratitude is literally fertilizer for the life you want.

6. Be Passionate and Optimistic

Passion is one of the most powerful emotions available to the human soul. Passion builds relationships, launches careers, and inspires those around you. Finding your unique passion can be difficult and can send you down that path of self-doubt if you don’t take the time to find it.

Get quiet. Write lists about things you love about yourself and about life. Cultivate optimism. Optimism helps us see the beauty of our dreams and all that is available to us.

The list of non-negotiables above aren’t meant to be exhaustive or executed perfectly. It is in the wandering that we find the path directly. It’s absolutely possible (and even commendable) to implement everything above flawfully and still absolutely believe in yourself, even while battling your own moments of doubt.

Success is within your reach—let these mindset hacks help you on your way!

And while you’re cultivating your passion and building your belief in yourself and your business, schedule a free strategy session with us at GoBeyond SEO to learn how we can help you implement the right digital marketing strategies to support your business’ success!

Tags business success, entrepreneurs, Entrepreneurship

Business Blogging Lead Generation

Choosing Your Clients Carefully & Spotting Client Red Flags

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Finding the right clients to work with, in which the relationship will be mutually beneficial to both of you, isn’t easy. And often, it requires experience to know how to spot the right clients early on, rather than finding out at the wrong time later.

The good news? There’s a way to identify clients that’ll make a good fit: treat prospects with the same energy you would when hiring someone.

When you meet a prospect with the hopes of doing business together, remember that you’re evaluating them as much as they’re evaluating you. Think more in terms of opening a relationship and less like closing a sale.

Clients It’s Ok to Work With

So how can you choose your clients carefully now to avoid the headache of dealing with a bad client later on? First, let’s talk about the clients it’s ok to work with.

Clients who ask questions. Repeated questions, “dumb” questions, they all exist to clarify. If they keep asking, find new ways to explain or answer them.
Rookies. They’re not quite sure why they need you, but that’s your job to explain to them and help them see the value of hiring you!

Clients who talk about money or pricing. They are assessing your value. It can be nerve-racking, but this is always a good sign.
Stoic or serious personalities. They can be more challenging to work with, but remember, they’re not talking to you to be friends. Cordial and succinct is not an issue.

Provided none of these things impede your ability to work together, all of these clients are generally ok to work with. However, there are other clients who you might want to consider doing a hard pass on.

Client’s You’ll Want to Pass On & Client Red Flags to Look Out For

It’s true, not everyone is an obvious jerk. So how can you identify prospects with potential versus those who will be problematic?

Here are a few client red flags to watch out for when you’re courting a new prospect:

“I’ve been burned by someone like you—you guys are all alike.” This statement is usually an attempt to subvert your expertise and disrupt the power dynamic. The MOMENT you sense this, move on. Proving them wrong is time-consuming and a terrible place to start. Sharing that they’ve been frustrated with other providers is ok, but automatically lumping you in with them is a fast track to a bad relationship.

They don’t respect your time or honor commitments. We’ve all been late or missed appointments. It happens. When you’re prospecting and your prospect blows you off or shows up late, even with a valid reason, Strike 1. If they take days to respond to your emails or phone calls, Strike 2.

Again, this can happen occasionally and it may not be purposeful. If it’s done as a power grab, that’s an obvious Strike 3. If it’s done because they’re poor time managers or are drama magnets, the outcome for you is exactly the same. Pay attention to how someone values YOUR time. That’s one of the earliest indicators of a good or bad relationship.

They tell you that they know more about your business than you do. This is a very common tactic to get you to devalue your work. The subtext of “I know how much this should cost, so you better give me a fair price”. Again, this is tricky. Is this the foundation upon which you want to build your relationship with them? It’s a strange thing for someone to try to minimize your career in the name of saving money.

If your business is based on clients who you work with closely and regularly, do yourself a favor and choose them carefully. Questions and challenges will always come up. It’s a part of life. Find the clients who are willing to grow and learn with you through this journey!

Need help finding your ideal clients? Schedule a strategy session with us at GoBeyond SEO to learn more about how you can find the right clients for your business!

Tags client red flags, client relationships, ideal clients

Business Blogging Lead Generation sales

How To Narrow Your Target Market (And Why You Need To)

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Narrowing your market is a scary prospect. Why? You probably already know who your customers are, and the more people you reach, the more you sell. Here lies the rub. The broader your audience, the broader your messaging becomes. Your bandwidth needs to be able to handle all sorts of clients from all walks of life and realms of expertise. Because of all this, your leads end up taking a little longer to come in and the experience you want to provide isn’t what you’d like it to be.

When you focus your energy on targeting a narrower audience, your message can be more customized. Customized messages are the ones that get the real engagement, and when that happens, there is a higher chance they will trust you understand their needs. They will know you are a good fit for them.

As you consider who exactly that narrow audience is, consider:

Are they buying for themselves or someone else?
What are their biggest problems or desires as it relates to your business?
Where do they get their information as it relates to your business? Social media? Google search? Asking friends or colleagues?

After you’ve answered those, it’s time to refocus and zone in. Here are the top 3 areas of focus when determining how to narrow your target market.

How to Narrow Your Target Market in 3 Steps

1. Focus on Desired Outcomes

Your clients come to you for the benefits, not the features, you offer…so promote them. Instead of talking about what your business does, discuss the outcome or emotion your clients will get after working with you. Will they acquire more security in the financial realm? Feel more confident when preparing for mediation? Leave with lasting family memories? Whatever business you are in, reminding your audience what you can provide them with is what will get them interested, and get them at your proverbial doorstep.

2. Focus on Customer Experience

When you are pulled in multiple directions, it gets increasingly difficult to juggle all of the needs and desires of your clients. With a more specialized, narrower audience, you are able to customize your client experience. When you understand your client’s needs so well, which is far easier to do when you narrow your market, you make it easier for them to say yes. They are reassured you can do what they need with minimal effort. That in itself is a huge selling point.

3. Focus on Acquiring Trust

When you keep your focus on a very specific market, the reviews your business receives will also be specific. Your narrow market will find comfort in seeing themselves in those reviews, increasing trustworthiness within a market. Prior to even contacting you, they will feel confident in your expertise.

Narrowing your target audience helps you create customized messages for the right audience. This, in turn, will shorten the sales cycle and lower the barriers they may have to get to you. They’ll benefit from your specialized knowledge of their area, and you’ll benefit from the lower cost of focusing on a smaller market.

Do you need help identifying how to narrow your target market in your specific industry? Contact our team for more insights!

Tags lead generation, marketing, narrow target market, target audience

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