Proximity Marketing Blog

As sales people, we have to be excellent communicators. This means managing open lines of dialog with current customers, building rapport with prospects, and continuously networking both offline and online. So how do you make your sales call unique? How do you find relevant topics to discuss with customers?

It has been widely tested to see just how many points of contact it takes for an inquirer to become a lead, and then to become a customer. Whichever study you see, the answer is rarely ever just one or two contact points.

First 3 Steps for Creating a Winning Search Engine Optimization (SEO) Strategy

It's a new year and you have a renewed commitment to your online marketing efforts. Your business needs to gain new visibility, new web traffic, and new leads, right?

Recently, a friend of mine asked about website strategy and my thoughts on how she could improve her site. And, a couple of basic questions arose:

SEO Best Practices

When it comes to search engine optimization, remember, it’s not rocket science. Think of it more like an art. But you don’t splash paint on canvas, and voila! You can’t optimize your website, walk away and forget about it. It’s an ongoing work of art.

While there's many different schools of thought, weighing the success of your SEO program is almost completely based on the commitment you or anyone else puts into it and your expectations of the results.

Creating an SEO strategy, optimizing a website, writing content and distributing a continuous content schedule are big undertakings.

To accomplish these in-house, you need to have employees trained and ready for the task. Beyond tactical execution, this task requires a lot of research and planning.

Consider the components we apply when working with our clients before determining if your company is up for the task or would prefer to opt for an agency.

1. The research and the plan
Before any optimizing, research hundreds of keywords/key phrases and analyze where your site currently stands in Google search rankings. Then, evaluate your top competitors. The results of this research are compiled into a Benchmark Analysis. Future content optimization and creation revolve around keyword strategies.

2. Site optimization
Once you determine a keyword strategy, begin the process of optimizing the current website to include the backend coding and on-page content. This ensures all the correct headers, tags and descriptors are included in the webpage coding so Google can properly crawl and index pages.

3. Content development
This is the keystone of an SEO strategy--the generation of new and keyword-rich content for the website each month, so the website is continually relevant and fresh. It’s Google’s primary gauge for scoring your website. This means you should write and post one to three new pages of content on your website per month.

4. Distribution
After you write new content, articles should be distributed in accordance with the marketing plan. Consider expanding your website by adding pages, distributing content via social networks, and managing your company blog by writing and posting articles.

5. Back linking
In addition to all of the on-site optimization and content development, research appropriate directories and partner sites to list your business website. When credible sites point to your website, Google sees your website as a valuable content resource.

After reviewing these five key components, is your company up for the task?

It turns out a lot of businesses choose to partner with an agency to develop and execute an SEO plan. An agency has the dedicated resources to drive an SEO plan and generate continuous new business leads. A lot of companies simply don’t have the resources to manage everything for an SEO strategy to be successful. An agency is in a constant state of learning on behalf of its clients and maintains knowledge of all current Google algorithm changes.

If your company is up for the task, consider both of these tips to help accelerate your SEO strategy. 1) Create keyword rich blog articles, white papers, and videos. 2) Task employees to assist with listing the company’s website on relevant directories.

Remember, whether you opt to hire an agency or do the work in-house, developing a successful SEO strategy is an ongoing process, not a one-time adjustment to your website.