Social Marketing Strategies

Twitter has removed share counts. What happens now?

Notice something different about the Twitter sharing button on your blog or website? On November 20^th, Twitter updated the design of its social sharing buttons. The buttons gained a modern, high contrast design of white text on a blue background, but it came at a high cost. Twitter’s social sharing buttons lost their key feature, the showing of share counts. Now that Twitter has removed share counts, the familiar button in your floating social sharing bar that was once a shining beacon of the social proof of your site has become essentially meaningless. The micro-blogging platform is also now curtailing third-party access to tweet share information.  Why did this change happen, and what does it mean for your business? To help you fully understand the ramifications of Twitter’s decision and the effect it will have on your social marketing strategies, we break down the specifics of this policy change and take a close look at why Twitter made this change, how this change will affect your company, and discuss what we can do going forward.

Why did Twitter stop showing Retweets and shares?

For the past five years, Twitter’s handy share buttons displayed share count by querying a JSON endpoint hosted on various domains. Now that Twitter has updated its button design and removed that functionality from its vertical Tweet buttons, the social sharing community is left searching for answers.

The micro-blogging site claims this decision was motivated by its desire to improve the user experience by moving to a more stable, multi-tenant distributed database. Twitter’s official announcement states that removing share counts and restricting access to sharing data is part of its “ongoing effort to consolidate and simplify the platform for supportability,” but social media influencers are expressing serious doubts about that being the prime motivating factor for the change.

Many social media insiders see this move as part of Twitter’s efforts to monetize the platform, and Twitter’s own actions seem to bear this out. Twitter insiders are encouraging developers and marketers to turn to Gnip, Twitter’s enterprise API platform, for information on the number of shares and retweets each post receives.

The only problem with this advice is that Gnip is a customized solution that is so high-priced that it doesn’t even post a price tag on its website. Gnip’s final price tag is rumored to be several thousand dollars a month, putting it firmly out of reach for small to mid-size businesses. Realistically, this means that reliable Twitter sharing information will only be available to the largest, best-funded companies, leaving everyone else out in the cold.

How will Twitter’s changes affect my business?

While share counts have often been decried as mere “vanity metrics,” the lack of access to Twitter’s social sharing numbers may have serious consequences for many marketers, developers, and small to mid-sized business owners. This important measurement tool helps us to gauge user engagement, provides positive, easily recognizable social proof of the viability of our products and services, and forms the basis for many app developers’ offerings. Losing it will be a hard blow for many in the social marketing community.

Social marketers may have difficulty proving the success of their online marketing strategies now that Twitter has removed easy access to its sharing numbers. While the number of Twitter shares and retweets a company receives is only one metric of marketing success, seeing the number of social shares prominently displayed at the side of a webpage has a proven positive effect on customer outreach and the success of marketing strategies.

If you are one of the many third-party app developers that provide plug-ins or widgets that rely on Twitter’s social sharing data, many or all of your product offerings may have just become obsolete. 

The number of Twitter shares a blog or website receives is often viewed as a reliable indicator of the site’s popularity and market viability.  This means that small to mid-sized companies that rely on Twitter shares as a form of social proof for their website or business could see a marked decrease in the number of customers they serve. This can have serious ramifications for these firms’ financial stability and long-term success.

So how can we take action to encourage Twitter to reverse these changes?

Although Twitter so far has shown no sign of bowing to customer pressure, concerned social marketers and small business owners are banding together to speak out on sites and express their opinions of Twitter’s policy changes.       

There are a number of ways you can take action. You can tag @twitter and @TwitterDev in tweets using the hashtag #SaveOurShareCounts. Share this article to inform your friends and customers of the changes that Twitter is making so they recognize its effect on your social sharing strategies. While we can’t force Twitter to respond the way we want, we can make sure our voices are heard on this important social marketing issue.

Count on Blue Interactive Agency  to fulfill all your social marketing needs, whether you need Twitter marketing tips or expert guidance through the changing social marketing landscape. As a leading internet marketing agency, we have the experience and skill to help your company to come out on top no matter what changes Twitter and the other social strategies throw your way.

Contact us at Blue Interactive Agency today at 954-779-2801 for information on the latest developments in social marketing strategies, along with comprehensive support to ensure your marketing strategies hit their mark!

Web Design Agency

10 important questions to ask when hiring a web design agency

How can you be sure you’re choosing the right web design agency to create your company’s website? Now that mobile devices and smartphones have made online searches so convenient, the Internet has become the first place consumers go when searching for a local business. In fact, 90% of consumers use online searches to find local companies or services, according to a consumer tracking study sponsored by BIA/Kelsey and ConStat. Your company website plays a key role in determining whether a consumer chooses to do business with you, which means the web design agency you hire holds your company’s future success in their hands in a very real way. To help you make this critical decision, we’ve put together a list of the 10 most important questions to ask when hiring a web design agency, in no particular order. 

1. Do you have any specific experience in our industry/vertical?Depending on the type of business you have, experience designing websites for your specific industry may be very important. For instance, specific experience is critical when designing a site for real estate professionals, because your web designer will need to incorporate an IDX feed, MLS listings, etc.
2. Will you use responsive web design for our website?Mobile devices and smartphones have become the most popular means of accessing the Internet. That makes responsive web design, which ensures your website will deliver flawless performance no matter what device it is viewed on, the only design system that makes sense.
3. Are you experienced in SEO strategies?In order for your website to perform well in online searches, it needs to be designed with SEO strategies in mind from the start. Google considers everything from page titles to image names when assigning position in search results, so make sure any design firm you hire is experienced and skilled in creating SEO strategies.
4. Can I speak to your client references?To get a true picture of the experience of working with a web design company, you need to speak with companies that have employed their services. Consider it a clear warning that something is not right if a web design firm is unwilling to have you contact their clients.
5. Will all of the design work be done in-house?Many “full-service” web design agencies actually farm out some or all of their design work to outside agencies and freelance designers. This can pose a problem, because you have no way of knowing the professional capabilities of any subcontractors, and no guarantee they will not drop your project midway through. The most secure option is to choose a website design company that performs all design work in-house.
6. How long will it take to design my website?A professional web design company should be able to give you a solid timeline, with a variety of benchmarks that will be completed at specific dates.
7. Will I retain ownership of all design source files?This is a critical issue with long-term ramifications for your company. Ownership of the design source files for your website needs to be clearly assigned to your company in your contract. Otherwise the design agency can refuse to release your files if you part ways, forcing you to pay another design firm to recreate your entire website.
8. Who will own the web address?Some web design agencies register the URLs (web addresses) of the sites they create in their own name, rather than in their customers’ names. While this may simplify billing in the short term, it can have devastating consequences for your brand. If you decide to sever relations with this agency, they can legally retain the rights to your company’s web address and website name, forcing you to abandon all the good will, search authority, and name-recognition you have established.
9. How do you price your work?There are a few different ways that fees for web design services can be calculated. The most common three are project-based, where you are charged a flat rate for the entire website; component-based, where prices are assigned to each of the different elements (pages, videos, transitions, etc.) used on your site; and time-based, with charges figured by the number of hours it takes to complete your site. There are pros and cons to each; before signing a contract, be clear on which pricing model the agency will use.
10. What support services do you offer after our site is up?Will the design firm simply post your site and leave you to manage its operation on your own, or do they offer a full list of website management services? Some firms offer everything from basic maintenance services to comprehensive monthly SEO packages, complete with blog writing services, social marketing services, and more. Discuss what services your company will need before you finalize your choice of web design firm.

As you interview web design firms to create your company’s website, consider Blue Interactive Agency. As a leading Fort Lauderdale website design agency with a full roster of satisfied clients, we have the experience and knowledge to create the ideal website to introduce your company to new customers. Our dedicated staff includes expert web designers, graphic artists, SEO copywriters, and skilled social marketers, all ready to create a winning website design to help ensure your success.

Contact us at Blue Interactive Agency today at 954-779-2801 for a dedicated web design agency with the skills and knowledge to ensure your company’s online marketing success!

Affordable Search Engine Optimization Services

Cost-effective SEO services that can make a big marketing difference 

If you’re looking for some affordable SEO services that will improve your website’s search performance without breaking your budget, you’re in luck. Many marketing firms now offer SEO services on an a la carte basis, so companies with limited marketing budgets can improve their search engine performance even if they are unable to bear the cost of a major SEO overhaul. If you’re one of these tightly budgeted owners, the first step to better SEO performance is deciding which of these affordable search engine optimization services you should invest in first. Examining your website’s search performance can help to make the choice clear: 

Keyword Research Analysis  

If you’re not sure which keywords you should be using to drive traffic to your website, keyword research analysis should be your top priority.  An SEO service provider will research your industry to identify the terms that customers use when searching for the services or products that you offer. They will provide you with a report that identifies top trending keywords, slightly less popular keywords that provide an easier opportunity to reach top search position, and the long-tail keyword phrases that customers use with mobile search. 

Your SEO service provider can also give you pointers on how to apply these keywords in the right density and placement to achieve the highest search engine boost. This is one of the most cost-effective SEO services and a good compromise for frugal business owners who want to improve their search ranking performance as affordably as possible. 

Basic SEO Audit 

If you have someone on your staff who knows how to make changes to your website but isn’t up to speed on the latest SEO strategies, a basic SEO audit can be a valuable tool. The cost of a basic SEO audit varies, depending on the number of pages on your website and the amount and type of content on those pages.   

With a basic SEO audit, a search engine expert will go through your website page by page, examining a variety of elements to see how they are affecting your site’s search performance. The expert will write a general guideline of how to improve the SEO value of your website, providing some specific examples of the changes that your staff will need to implement throughout your site.  

Website Search Engine Optimization 

If no one on your staff has the necessary skills to adjust the keywords on your website, you can hire an SEO expert to optimize your website for you. The SEO service provider will optimize each page of your website, applying keywords in the proper places and density to gain the highest position in search results. The SEO agency will make sure every element on your website, from URLs and page titles, to the Alt tags on your images and content on your pages, is correctly optimized for search. While this full-service strategy is a bit more costly than the basic SEO audit listed above, it is absolutely essential if your website was not designed with search strategies in mind and your staff is unable to implement search engine optimization strategies on their own. 

Local SEO Services 

Is your business in one of the high competition industries such as hospitality, travel, restaurant, or real estate, where large directory and review sites have captured all the top ranking positions in industry-related search results? If so, local search optimization services can help you market your business and bring it to the attention of prospective customers in your vicinity.  

An SEO agency that is skilled in local search can adjust your website’s SEO strategies to help your site rank higher for local search terms. Using tightly targeted keywords and local geographically relevant search terms, the SEO agency will optimize your website for better performance in local search. Next, the agency will claim your business listings around the web so they all accurately portray your physical location, and set up localized content marketing strategies that will boost your SEO efforts and actively attract customers to your website.   

If you are ready to start implementing some affordable SEO strategies to get your business noticed, Blue Interactive Agency can help. As a leading SEO marketing agency in South Florida, we offer a full range of search engine optimization services, from the basic services mentioned above to comprehensive SEO service packages. We can customize an SEO package for your company that includes SEO content creation services, analytics to trace your search strategies’ ROI, and monthly SEO maintenance packages that include expert SEO blogging services, social marketing strategies to build backlinks, and more to help your website gain and maintain the high search ranking it deserves. 

Contact us at Blue Interactive Agency today at 954-779-2801 for effective, affordable SEO strategies that can help your website gain the high search ranking your company deserves! 

Internet Marketing Company

4 Signs You Need To Hire an Internet Marketing Company

Does your small business need the expertise of an internet marketing company to ensure its success? In today’s digitally attuned society, there is a limit on how successful businesses can become without having effective internet marketing strategies in place. You can try to employ these strategies on your own, but your primary focus needs to be on running your business and internet marketing strategies are not easy to master. You realize that having the expertise of professional online marketers on your side could help ensure the success of your business, but you’re not sure if hiring a marketing firm is absolutely necessary at this juncture. Here’s a hint: examine your company’s marketing performance. If your small business is experiencing any of these 4 warning signs that you need to hire an internet marketing company, it’s time to discover what a professional marketer can do for you. 

Your online marketing strategies are falling flat

If your internet marketing strategies have leveled out and are no longer generating many new leads, a professional online marketing agency can revitalize your internet marketing efforts.

A knowledgeable internet marketing firm will be able to assess your marketing strategies to determine how they can be improved. Whether you need to upgrade to a responsive web design to cater to your mobile audience, or simply improve your SEO strategies to gain a higher position in search results, a skilled marketer will be able to make any needed changes. If you need to increase sales, a professional marketing company can help you develop a search engine marketing strategy to capture new clients at the instant they are looking for the products or services that you offer.

If you haven’t ventured into online marketing yet, an internet marketing agency can develop a comprehensive online marketing strategy that includes SEO strategies, social marketing, email marketing, and more to promote your business.

Your competitors have captured the top spots in search results

If your company doesn’t have a strong internet presence, your competitors are inevitably going to capture the top spots in search engine results. That means that any prospective customers who search online for businesses in your industry will find your competitors, not you.

An interactive marketing agency can employ the full range of SEO strategies to help your business climb to the top of search results. They can upgrade your website with a responsive web design so it scores high in mobile search, and include a weekly blog so your site gets the benefit of the latest trending keywords. Some internet marketing agencies even offer SEO content creation services and will actually write your blogs for you.

You are having limited success attracting local customers

Local customers are the life-blood of most small businesses. If you are having a difficult time reaching customers in your area, a dedicated internet marketing company has the necessary experience in local search strategies to bring your business the attention it deserves. 

A skilled online marketing company will know how to research to find the highest trending location-based keywords in your target area. They will then apply the full range of SEO strategies to ensure your company’s website gains a prominent position in local search results. The marketers can also design and place a mobile ad campaign that employs geo-fencing to market to customers entering your vicinity.

You need to do a better job of cultivating your existing clients        

                         

If maintaining a positive relationship with existing clients is a key component of your company´s continued success, an internet marketing firm can help you leverage social marketing strategies to keep your customers engaged and interested.  They can also help you develop an email marketing strategy that will help you remain top of mind with clients, while leveraging discounts and special offers to motivate repeat visits or orders.

If you are ready to hire an internet marketing company, consider Blue Interactive Agency. We offer a comprehensive list of internet marketing strategies and services for small businesses, including responsive web design, SEO strategies, social marketing, search engine marketing, email marketing strategies, and more to ensure your company's success. Call us for a free, no obligation evaluation of your current marketing strategies.

Contact us at Blue Interactive Agency today at 954-779-2801 to discover what a dedicated internet marketing company can do to help ensure the success of your small business.

Online Search Marketing

How to Tell If Search Engine Marketing Is Right for Your Company

Now that the internet has become such an integral part of consumers’ lives, online search marketing has emerged as a highly effective marketing strategy. Companies of all types are investing paid search marketing, as it works well for both B2B and B2C companies and generates proven results. In fact, search marketing was rated the most effective paid strategy for content marketing, according to Content Marketing Institute’s latest online marketing strategies report. If you haven’t engaged in paid search before, you may be wondering how to tell if search engine marketing is right for your company. If your company has any of the following marketing needs, online search marketing could be the perfect solution for you:

1.       You need to see fast results from your marketing strategies

Many online marketing strategies are long-term investments that mature over time. Social marketing strategies that build your brand recognition, for instance, take time to develop. These marketing strategies can prove to be quite valuable in the long run, but they will not necessarily generate more sales or conversions right now. 

When you employ search engine marketing strategies, you reach customers at the precise moment they are searching for a product or service. Visitors are already motivated and looking for what you can provide; you don’t need to nurture these leads to bring them to the purchase point.

2.       You need to show measurable ROI for your marketing strategies

Tracking the exact path to purchase can be difficult with many marketing channels. There is a lot of overlap that makes it difficult to narrow down what part each marketing channel played in generating a particular sale or conversion. This can present a real problem for marketers, because many companies are reluctant to allocate their marketing budget to strategies without a clear and quantifiable ROI.

When you use paid search marketing strategies, you get quantifiable results. You can clearly track the effectiveness of each of your online search engine campaigns to determine a direct ROI. Determining the ROI of paid search strategies is simple: establish a dedicated landing page for each campaign, use an analytic program to track your visitors’ journey through your website, and compare the number of conversions each campaign generates to your PPC costs.  

3.       You need a marketing strategy that you can tightly budget

Online search marketing is a pay-as-you-go marketing strategy. You determine how much you are willing to spend on each campaign, and when you reach your limit the campaign is done.

Cost-per-clicks are determined by the popularity of each keyword, and you can adjust your spending strategy as needed. You decide how much you wish to spend and how large a marketing push you want to make. During times when you need to spend more conservatively, you can bid on lower-priced keywords. If you want to boost sales or conversions in a major way, you can increase your spend and bid on the most popular, highest trending keywords. You have complete control of your marketing spend.

4.       You need to reach customers in highly competitive search categories

Reaching the top spots in organic search results can be difficult or even impossible for certain search terms. Companies in the hospitality and restaurant industries, for example, are competing with well-established online travel agencies that are firmly entrenched in the top search results for many related keywords.

With paid search marketing, you can reach customers even if your website is not ranking on the first page of search results.  You don’t have to wait for your website to rise through the ranks of organic search results. Google lists paid search results first, in essence letting you skip the line.

If you’re ready to try online search marketing strategies, Blue Interactive Agency can help. We are a search marketing agency that provides  a complete list of search engine marketing services, including keyword selection, mobile search strategies, landing page design services, and more.

Contact us at Blue Interactive Agency today at 954-779-2801 to discover how online search marketing strategies can help ensure your company’s success!