Proliferation

Mar 26
0

Millennials & Content Marketing Go Hand-in-Hand

By | content marketing, Millennials | No Comments

As the baby boomer generation ages, getting on into their social security years, Millennials are quickly taking over as the largest single adult age group in the United States. And yet, as the millennial generation grows in purchasing power, marketing companies from the East Coast to Utah are wringing their hands in worry.

Why, you ask? Well, millennials simply aren’t going for the old marketing tactics — such as billboards along the I-15 in Utah — that worked for previous generations. Instead, millennials are looking for something more authentic. Content marketing was made for millennials. Content marketing is about storytelling and bringing consumers to your brand of their own accord — concepts the millennial generation holds near and dear.

In 2016, the results are clear: To successfully reach the lucrative millennial generation, content marketing is the way to go.

What makes content marketing so enticing for millennials? For one thing, content marketing doesn’t interrupt people. By skipping the invasive pop-up ads and flashing neon widgets, content marketing doesn’t keep people from doing what they’re doing. Instead, good content marketing listens to the demands of the target audience, providing content that is both relevant and useful. In this way, content marketing brings the target audience to you — not the other way around.

Millennials love a good visual as much as the next generation, but they also love technology. Content marketing is extremely flexible in its application, with content in mediums such as video, text, graphics, mobile, social media and many more. And it doesn’t take a huge firm in the Big Apple to do it; even small businesses in Utah can take advantage of content marketing’s multi-media approach — all you really need a smartphone.

Finally, content marketing breeds engagement. Good content marketing gives millennials the opportunity and the incentive to contribute their own user-generated content — which is then repurposed in order to add authenticity to the brand and bring in more user-generated content in a glorious, self-fulfilling cycle.

With a plethora of original, relatable content, even the newest start-up business in Utah can take advantage of content marketing to reach out to the millennial market. So what are you waiting for? Stop interrupting millennials, and start listening to them instead.

Mar 25
0

The World of Content Marketing Is Oversaturated — What to Do to Stand Out

By | content marketing | No Comments

By this point in 2016, pretty much everyone and his mother is using content marketing. Eighty-eight percent of business-to-business marketers currently utilize content marketing; that number is expected to eclipse 90 percent in the near future.

At this point, content marketing isn’t anything new. Amid the onslaught of articles, lists and stories that abound on the Internet, how can a small content marketer in Utah garner the short-lived attention of his chosen audience? Let’s think about this closely.

Most of today’s content marketers in Utah and elsewhere know that content with images garners more engagement and more shares. Visual content is more than 40 times more likely to be shared on social media, and Facebook posts with images experience 2.3 times more engagement than posts without images.

But that featured image at the top of the article isn’t enough — did you know articles than feature an image every 75–100 words are shared twice as often as articles with fewer words? Consumers can’t get enough of images; so go Shutterstock shopping and build up that relevant image library.

Speaking of social shares, did you know that long-form content is actually significantly more likely to be shared than short-form content? On social media, content with 3,000–10,000 words is almost twice as likely to be shared as content with 0–1,000 words.

Considering most people in the content marketing business focus on pumping out a large quantity of short-form pieces, long-form content represents a serious area of opportunity for online marketers in Utah and elsewhere.

In terms of written content, additional length and image usage can go a long way. But that’s not all — research shows viewers don’t interact with all parts of a written piece equally. Across numerous sites analyzed by Web analytics company Chartbeat, 65.7 percent of viewer engagement on written pieces occurred below the fold, and most of that engagement is with the beginning of a piece.

What does that mean for content marketing professionals? Don’t save the most interesting part of the article for last — no one will ever read it. Instead, make sure the first couple of paragraphs are composed of rock-solid, share-able material. Your business partners in Utah will thank you later.

Mar 25
0

How Google App Indexing Can Help You

By | SEO | No Comments

Google announced a new way to get more users to apps on your cell phone, it’s a new thing called App indexing, similar to website indexing. So when a user is on their phone and they want to search for something, Google will link the phone apps to their Google search results. From there, Google lets the user use their apps to find what they’re searching for, if the app has the information. This new program is helping increase SEO by allowing customers to use their purchased apps from companies.

Along with the web search, Google users will also get results from their phone within an app. This new program will help SEO with knowing what the user wants to find with things they already have. For instance, let’s say you have an app for ESPN and you want to find the score of a game, Google search will use your app as a source to find the information.

Using mobile apps from Utah and around the globe will help the consumer use their apps more and in return, will help the business that created the app. This is a new phase in the SEO evolution, and now we wonder, what’s going to be the next step?

Becoming Mobile

Becoming mobile is a new way of marketing, and with the many people who are on their phones, the app or company can be on a person’s hip all the time. In a study done by Pew Research, the U.S. alone, cell phone ownership has increased from 65 percent – 91 percent between the years of 2004 and 2013. Cell phone usage in Utah isn’t known, but you could probably guess it’s a large number.

App indexing is a new way that SEO is growing, and definitely a phase in the evolution. SEO is expanding and reaching out to new technologies that are helping people in Utah find what they need faster.

Mar 25
0

The Toolbox of a Web Developer

By | web development, website design | No Comments

Computers seems to have their own language with HTML, CSS and other acronyms that only computer savvy people know. So as a web developer, you will need to have some words and knowledge in your web developer toolbox, to help a company in their website design. 

Coding Knowledge

As a web developer, you will need to know at least basic coding. If you’re not sure what coding is, it’s the language of a computer. HTML is the underlying code in the Internet, and CSS is where web developers go to put the information together to create a webpage.  It’s important to know where to plug in words, numbers and symbols to help a website stand out and be useable. After learning your basic HTML, it’s also important to know how to connect the HTML with the CSS so you can actually do your job in the website design.

Know How to Research

When it comes to research, it’s helpful to know what language you are coding in, and we’re not talking Spanish and French. It’s helpful to know how to find the information online and in books on how to code. You’ll want to know your sources and feel comfortable knowing that they will help you in website design.

Bookmark useful websites and know how to navigate them, because as much as we all think we can memorize the language of coding, it is very unlikely. Practice makes perfect, and over time you’ll be able to remember different codes for different functions.

Becoming Knowledgeable

Learn how to use HTML and CSS in different ways and not in just basic design. HTML and CSS are just the basics in building a website, and knowing more than the basics is going to help. Different clients are going to have different needs when it comes to a website. Learn how to create your clients’ website, and really understand different codes.  Know the different platforms on websites, learn WordPress and spend time learning about media queries. In the end this will help you become a better web developer.

Mar 24
0

The 4 R’s of Good Content Management

By | advertising, content marketing | No Comments

In content marketing, both how much content you produce and what kinds of content are equally important for consumer engagement, sales and ultimately return on investment. Effective content management is an essential component of any content marketing campaign, for businesses in Utah and across the globe. For great content marketing strategy, follow the four R’s of content management.

Recycle

Unless you’re part of the world’s largest content marketing agency, chances are you don’t have the budget to produce only 100-percent-unique content every single day. Get the most out of your marketing content by recycling content and applying it to different mediums, tweaking things as appropriate. Change things up enough to develop a slightly different message for each format.

Reinvigorate

When you pull out old content to recycle it, make sure that all the information is still relevant in the present day. Update your information with all the latest statistics, latest website URLs, branding, etc. There’s nothing worse than recycling an old piece of work only to realize that one company in Utah or that particular website you reference no longer exists. And besides, content that’s no longer relevant is not content that drives conversions.

Retire

On the flip side of recycling content, know when to give up and retire old content that is simply no longer useful. Technology becomes outdated, trends change and people move on from one thing to another. Don’t risk letting your business get left in the dust, and get rid of old content in a timely fashion. Nothing’s worse than giving off the vibe of an outdated, out-of-touch business.

Replace

When you finally retire old content for good, it’s essential for content marketers to replace old content with something new and exciting. Keep things fresh and up-to-date with a mix of new and cutting-edge content and older staple pieces. You can even just spice up older pieces in order to maintain those original links and SEO value.

From businesses in Utah to the East Coast, content marketing is all about bringing in consumers organically. Stay on top of the game by following the four R’s of content management.

Mar 24
0

How Instagram’s New Algorithm Affects Mobile Marketing

By | advertising, Instagram, marketing agencies, Social Media | No Comments

If you do have an Instagram, then you already know the the Instagram traditionally posts from newest to oldest. Recently, however, Instagram has decided to change its digital marketing strategy. The new strategy involves having an image on top that Instagram thinks you will want to see the most, even if it was posted hours ago. So in relation to content marketing, the content a company advertises will now have to be an ad that an Instagram user will want to see.

So even though your friend posts another picture of her feet five minutes ago, that won’t be the first picture you’ll see which could be a good thing. Instead, Instagram will post a picture first based on the interaction you’ve had with another friend.

So What Does This Mean for Digital and Content Marketing?
Companies will definitely be put to the challenge of content marketing, making sure that the new 30 percent of photos that the viewer is seeing, is something that they’ll want on their feed. Digital marketers will need to revamp their looks and images to make them appealing at a glance. According to Instagram, people are only seeing 70 percent of their photos, and the new change will on average let them see about 30 percent, that 30 percent though is based on what the viewer wants to see.
Digital marketing companies who pay to have their ads on Instagram may likely have their post within those posts being seen by users. Users then have the option of following the business on Instagram and if they do want a follow, your company will be showing up on their feed more often. Of course the content marketing they see will be based off what the person is interested in.

Digital marketing companies, however, are seeing pros and cons to the change. Many have said that their posts may be missed due to not having much relevance to the viewer, while others feel that this new change is going to challenge them and they’ll have to bring a new strategy to the table.

Mar 23
0

Dodging the Dreaded SEO Slump

By | SEO, Utah SEO | No Comments

It happens to the best of us — one minute you’re riding high in the search rankings, bringing in more views and webpage clicks, and in the next moment everything seems to be tapering off.

Search engine optimization, known colloquially as SEO, by nature is more a long siege than a quick battle, but that doesn’t make SEO practices immune to stagnation. On the contrary — Google is always subtly changing its algorithm. So why shouldn’t search engine gurus also update their strategies once in a while?

For businesses from the East Coast to Utah, stagnant or slowly slipping rankings are bad news. If your SEO efforts aren’t delivering at the same rate as before, it may be time to broaden your perspective. If your usual niche market is approaching the saturation point, it may be time to expand your strategy to incorporate other keywords — even bigger and better ones.

Work to broaden your catalog of backlinks by giving links away. While this may initially seem like an unwise decision, promoting other industry influencers around your level will both boost your industry cred and encourage other authority figures to link back to you. Just don’t overdo it — you want your references to feel authentic.

If your SEO campaign is tied to content marketing, try mixing up the kinds of content you produce. If your website deals with current events in Utah, move beyond short blog posts and incorporate more long-form pieces. Integrate photos, graphics, videos, lists — you name it. Look to competitors or industry role models for inspiration, and give their techniques a try.

Give pay-per-click a try. SEO professionals like to look down on PPC, but PPC can be a good way to bring in instant traffic and get more potential customers interested in your brand. When your search rankings need a little pick-me-up, PPC can be the shot in the dark.

For companies in Utah and across the U.S., SEO is a long-term process. SEO stagnation can be frustrating, but don’t throw in the towel yet — with a little hard work and innovation, you too can stave off that SEO slump.

Mar 23
0

Content Marketing in the Pre-Internet Era

By | advertising, content marketing | No Comments

Content marketing is the new big thing in online marketing — from billboards to in-your-face pop-up advertising, content marketing is like a breath of fresh air that brings consumers to your business the natural way.

Yet while content marketing is a buzzword currently trendy among businesses from the East Coast to Utah, content marketing has been around longer than you’d think. Let’s take a look at some examples.

John Deere

Back in 1895, agricultural manufacturer John Deere launched its own consumer magazine, known as “The Furrow.” Originally published quarterly in Clarinda, Iowa, “The Furrow” is now available in 12 different languages and 40 different countries around the world, with a consumer reach of 1.5 million people.

Michelin

A mere five years after John Deere’s “The Furrow,” in 1900 tire manufacturer Michelin came out with it’s “The Michelin Guides,” a series of comprehensive guides to automobile maintenance, travel and local restaurants and hotels. Originally distributed for free in France, “The Michelin Guides” expanded into annual releases that covered various different countries.

Jell-O

The next big foray into content marketing in the 20th century came from American gelatin company Jell-O in 1904. Facing low sales, the Jell-O company began door-to-door distribution of free copies of its Jell-O recipe book, featuring creative uses for the gelatin dessert. The recipe book was a smash hit throughout the Midwest and Utah, reaching $1 million in sales by 1906.

Procter & Gamble Co.

Without the Procter & Gamble Co. (P&G) approach to content marketing in the 1930s, we wouldn’t have today’s classic soap operas such as “Days of Our Lives” and “The Young and the Restless.” The P & G company, purveyor of all things household goods, needed a new way to appeal to stay-at-home housewives in Utah and elsewhere. Through the creation of dramatic storylines full of mystery and intrigue, the classic soap opera was born.

Hasbro & Marvel

In 1982, comic book legend Marvel and toy company Hasbro teamed up to create the iconic G.I. Joe comic book. Through cross-channel promotion via both comic books and a television series, G.I. Joe became a household name — and sold an unprecedented amount of merchandise.

While content marketing has come a long way since the turn of the century, the core concepts remain the same. Tailor your branded content in a way that is both relevant for consumers and beneficial for your brand, and people from the East Coast to Utah will be clamoring for your products. For a strategy that has stood the test of time, content marketing is it.

Mar 23
0

Caught on Snapchat: The Newest Trend in Advertising

By | advertising, Snapchat, Social Media | No Comments

Snapchat is the fun quick way to send videos and pictures to friends without having the worry of people looking at your craziness for too long. Now many companies like McDonalds and Taco Bell, along with other successful marketing and advertising agencies, are moving some of their advertising over to the popular app.

Finding What People Are Looking For
Snapchat is easy, it’s fun, it’s quick and that’s what people are looking for. Snapchat allows marketing agencies in Utah as well as around the world to put a short fun video up, showing just how diverse their company is. The user, if they don’t want to watch the whole thing, can see the name quickly and move on to their next photo. The image may have been quick, but it was memorable.

Snapchat Discover
Snapchat recently added a new way of seeing news and other ads with Snapchat Discover. Different from regular Snapchat, Discover lets the marketing companies be front and center, instead of fighting for space — like on Facebook or Twitter. Discover allows for graphics, text overlays, animation and sound. Discover uses unique channels for different publishers. Advertisers can have their own place where they can market to those using the Discover feature.

Know Your Audience
Snapchat is a social media platform for people who want a quick idea of what their friends are doing, and Snapchat makes that possible with videos and images that last for a short time. One thing you will want to look at is how are you going to get your message across quickly and with flare. Doing ads with flare, color and humor will help make your company feel more approachable. Remember, the people who use Snapchat are in a younger generation and want something fun — not long and drawn out.

Overall, to make sure your advertising is effective, especially to the Snapchat users here in Utah, make an advertisement that can represent your company at a glance in a fun and effective way.

Mar 22
0

So You’ve Been Hit with a Google Penalty — Now What?

By | Google, SEO, Utah SEO | No Comments

Any search engine marketer from the East Coast to Utah knows the feeling of dread that sets in when traffic to your website suddenly takes an unexpected nosedive.

Lower traffic numbers aren’t necessarily a sign of a stiff penalty from the search engine giant, however if you’re experiencing significant drops in traffic on individual pages, for certain keywords or a number of your pages suddenly get de-indexed, it’s probably a good sign the SEO gods have come down to Utah to smite your website. In the world of search engine optimization, Zeus has got nothing on Google.

If you suspect you’ve been hit with a Google penalty, don’t panic. The first thing to do is to figure out if you have actually been hit with such a penalty, and if so, what kind. There are two types of SEO penalties — manual penalties and algorithmic penalties.

Manual Penalties

Manual penalties are pretty easy to figure out. Take a look at your Webmaster Tools — If Google’s Webspam team has assigned you a penalty, it will appear as a warning under Search Traffic/Manual Actions. Manual penalties are typically accompanied by lower search engine rankings or site de-indexation.

Manual penalties can be difficult to recover from, but the good news is Google rarely doles out manual penalties for your overage site for some small company in Utah; they’re really only reserved for truly sketchy websites.

Algorithmic Penalties

Algorithmic penalties are less straightforward to identify; however, they can actually be easier to fix. The penalty could be related to offsite factors (most likely due to Penguin) or onsite factors (Panda).

Determining exactly which update caused the penalty can be tough though, so dive into Google Analytics to figure out what went wrong. Fruition Google Penalty Checker offers a good visual representation of penalties across time, and how each update affected your website traffic.

Now What?

Nobody likes getting hit with a Google penalty, but it’s really not the end of the world unless you make it out to be. Review both your current and past SEO strategy, do some serious backlink analysis, get rid of useless or duplicate content and perform a full SEO audit.

With the proper time and dedication, anyone from the East Coast to Utah can recover from a Google search penalty.