SEO Company

In-house SEO or SEO Company – Which is best for your small business?

Search engine optimization (SEO) is an essential part of getting your small business found online. It’s not something you can really decide to invest in or not – SEO strategies must be applied to your internet marketing assets (such as website, videos, social strategies, etc.) if you want your customers to find your business when they search online. The only question your small business truly faces is whether you should hire an SEO company or try to manage SEO on an in-house basis, or divvy up SEO duties and settle on a combination of these two approaches. There is no one right answer, as every company’s individual business model, strengths, and online goals are unique. We’ve put together some information that may clarify the issue and help you reach the decision that will best meet your company’s needs.

SEO is a time-consuming operation when done correctly. It is not a marketing strategy that can be quickly performed in addition to other duties – you can’t just look up trending keywords for your industry once then incorporate them in your blogs and media for the next six months and expect to reach the top spots in search results. Keyword research needs to continue on an ongoing basis because the highest ranking terms change over time as industry and search terms rise and fall in popularity. An SEO specialist needs to stay current with the latest news and developments in search, as Google and the other search engines are constantly making changes to their algorithms.

Link building, another key search tool, is a difficult skill to master. Search engine optimization experts need to know how to identify and develop the reputable links from related industries that improve search performance, while avoiding low-quality links that can result in a downgrade in search performance. While there are some free tools and inexpensive online tools that can help with keyword research and placement, more sophisticated software like HubSpot does a phenomenal job of helping companies to achieve the best search performance for all of their online marketing efforts. While a subscription to this advanced marketing software may be too costly for an average small business to justify, hiring an SEO company can gain you these benefits at a more affordable cost.

Many small businesses do not have the funds or sufficient need to hire a dedicated in-house SEO specialist who spends his or her full time and attention taking care of search marketing. Trying to have one or more employees take over SEO in addition to their current duties usually generates mixed results at best, and can actually damage the profitability of your business by splitting employees’ focus away from your primary business obligations.

When you hire an SEO company or interactive marketing agency, they have staff members whose sole focus is SEO. All of the energy and attention of these dedicated SEO experts is spent finding ways to improve search performance. They have the time to develop an in-depth knowledge of SEO that helps them to choose the highest ranking keywords for your online marketing efforts. SEO professionals are able to stay up to date on the latest submission guidelines, employ the most advanced optimization software, and develop relationships with search industry leaders so they are always current on the latest trends and best practices in search.

If you decide that hiring an SEO company is the best decision for your small business, consider Blue Interactive Agency. As a leading Boca Raton SEO marketing company, we have the experience and skills to ensure your marketing efforts achieve the high placement in search results that your small business needs to succeed. Our position as a HubSpot partner allows us to provide you with the most effective lead nurturing tools available to maximize your company’s search performance. Whether you just need a responsive website design to meet the latest mobile-friendly guidelines for search, expert SEO copywriting services to build your blog, or someone who can handle SEO chores for your full spectrum of interactive marketing strategies, Blue Interactive Agency can help you achieve the best search performance for all your online marketing strategies.

Contact us at Blue Interactive Agency today at 954-715-5436 for an expert SEO company with the skills and tools to ensure your small business achieves the high search performance you need to succeed!

Marketing Strategies for Small Business

How to make content marketing strategies more effective for small business

If your content marketing strategies aren’t gaining your small business the results you were hoping for, we’ve got some tips that will make them more effective. Many small business owners who enthusiastically jumped into content marketing are finding that effectively using these strategies can be a little trickier than they realized. It’s not enough to simply write a great blog or tweet some amusing comments if no one sees them; content marketing strategies for small business are only effective when they reach your target customers. Fortunately, there are some easy fixes that will help you improve the focus of your content marketing strategies to make them more effective at growing your small business’ marketing reach.

Define your marketing goals

Small business owners venturing into content marketing for the first time often take the plunge without planning out their marketing goals, and end up with a marketing message that’s a bit muddled and not very effective. If this describes your content marketing journey, take the time to step back and define your marketing goals, then refine your strategies so they are all working towards achieving that goal. Whether you want to focus on building your brand or generating online leads, you need to clearly define your goals in order to achieve the best result.

Optimize your content marketing strategies for search

SEO strategies aren’t just for your website – you can improve the effectiveness of all of the online marketing strategies your small business is using by optimizing them for search. By applying search engine optimization techniques to the appropriate elements in your content marketing strategies, you can help them reach a much wider audience. Be sure to address all these optimization opportunities to achieve the best results:

• Optimize your written content by making sure your website, blog, and social posts include a focus keyword in the headline/title, a few relevant keywords in the body of the copy (no more than 3 or 4 at the most!), and an enticing Meta Description that contains your focus keyword.
• Generate a higher search rank by editing the meta data on your photos, graphics, and videos to include keywords in titles, tags, and descriptions
• Boost the performance of your videos by including links in the descriptions
• Be sure to include long-tail search phrases that mimic the spoken phrases that are commonly used in mobile searches

Coordinate your content marketing strategies for a concerted marketing push

One of the best benefits of content marketing strategies for small business is that the interesting content you create for one strategy can be used to engage customers in others with just a little tweaking. There are many easy ways to improve your marketing strategies’ effectiveness with interactivity:

• Tweet quotes from your engaging blog to draw customers to visit your website
• Bundle together two or three blogs with a similar theme to send out as a targeted email newsletter
• Turn some of your best blog ideas into slideshares, infographics, and videos to entice customers across the whole range of media types

Use analytics to tightly target your content marketing strategies

The analytics associated with all of your online marketing strategies can generate an immense amount of data for your small business that will help you better understand your customers. You can leverage these valuable insights to make your marketing strategies more effective. Focus your efforts on the marketing strategies that held your customers’ interest, get rid of the ones that garner a poor response, and you’ll soon be building your small business into a content marketing powerhouse!

For help implementing these and other small business marketing strategies, you can always turn to Blue Interactive Agency. Our dedicated team of marketers will provide you with a full range of affordable small business marketing services that includes mobile-friendly responsive web designs, professional content writing services, expert SEO marketing strategies, and much more to ensure the success of your small business.

Contact us at Blue Interactive Agency today at 954-613-2347 for more information on improving your marketing strategies to help your small business succeed!

Mobile Website Design

Top 4 reasons your business should invest in a mobile responsive website design  

If your business already has a website, do you really need to invest in a mobile responsive website design? As any savvy business owner knows, the health of your company depends on your ability to allocate your marketing budget wisely. It doesn’t make sense to spend money redoing strategies that are already working – you should concentrate your funds on improvements and strategies that will yield a significant ROI. Since your website has been serving you well for some time, you may think that the benefits of upgrading to a mobile website design will not be worth the time and expense it will take. Actually, investing in a mobile responsive website design may be the wisest marketing decision you’ll make all year. To help you understand why this upgrade is so important, we’ve compiled the top 4 reasons why your business should invest in a mobile website design, along with some illuminating facts and stats from top industry experts.

Mobile responsive website designs satisfy customers

Searches on mobile devices now outnumber searches through desktop devices, according to Google, who confirmed the switch last year. Google has a lot of insight to offer on mobile performance and consumer search behavior, finding that 80% of smartphone users use their devices to research purchases, and 61% of users will leave a site if it offers a poor mobile experience. That reveals two critical facts: a majority of your customers will be using a mobile device when they encounter your website, and if your site doesn’t provide a positive experience for mobile device users, you could be turning away a significant number of potential customers.

Websites designed for viewing on a desktop computer are often difficult to navigate using a mobile device – the buttons are too close together to use with thumbs, users have to scroll from side to side to view the entire page, and fonts are too small to read without constantly zooming. Mobile responsive websites adjust to fit whatever device they are viewed with, so they provide a flawless performance on mobile devices of all types.

Mobile responsive website designs save you money

Trends in mobile devices are constantly changing, as new devices are introduced and adopted. Trying to update your site to accommodate each new device type and trend can be extremely expensive and time-consuming. When you have a responsive website design, you don’t have to update your site to accommodate changing standards each time there’s a major shift in mobile device type or size. Your website will automatically adjust to provide the best possible user-experience, no matter what size or shape screen the future holds. Judging by the vast numbers of new devices that are added each year, that can add up to some serious savings!

Mobile responsive web designs improve your search rank

Google added mobile-friendliness as one of its ranking parameters for mobile search last year, and singled out mobile responsive website design as providing the best experience. Any site with elements that offer poor performance on mobile are now relegated to a lower position on search results. The adaptive performance offered by mobile responsive website design means you never have to worry if your web design company missed some element that will cause your site to slip in search rank. Every element on your website will automatically adjust to provide perfect performance on mobile devices, securing the highest possible position in search results.

Mobile responsive websites are the best way to reach today’s multi-screen consumers

Multi-device and cross-screen usage is becoming standard for today’s consumers, according to a Microsoft study that found that 46% of consumers use multiple devices to accomplish tasks on the Internet. Since 83% of consumers said that a seamless experience across all their devices is somewhat or very important, according to a 2014 mobile behavior report from Salesforce, business websites need to offer a uniformly  superior appearance and performance no matter how they are accessed. Sites created using mobile responsive web design provide the same consistently high-quality performance whether they are accessed using a desktop computer, smart phone, tablet, or other mobile device.

If you are convinced investing in a mobile responsive website design is the right move, considerBlue Interactive Agency.  Our dedicated team of mobile web designers will create an attractive, highly functional mobile responsive website design for your business that will perform perfectly no matter how your customers access your site.

Contact us at Blue Interactive Agency today at 954-613-2760 for a mobile responsive web design that will prove a wise investment for years to come!

Internet Marketing Strategies

Top internet marketing strategies for small businesses

Internet marketing strategies have become an essential tool for small businesses of every type. Whether you’ve just started a new business or are trying to extend your existing company’s marketing reach, you need to market your business on the internet if you want to find success in today’s digitally attuned society.  When prospective customers want to locate a business or find information about products, they don’t reach for a phonebook; they use their computer, tablet, or smartphone to search the internet.  To ensure the health of your company, you need to make sure that what your customers find during their internet searches leads them to your business rather than your competitors’. That’s where internet marketing strategies come into play. These strategies use a variety of methods to raise your search rank and establish a strongly visible profile for your business on the internet, so you can reach more customers. To help jumpstart the success of your company, we’ve compiled a list of the top 4 internet marketing strategies for small businesses, along with a quick description of how each strategy can help your business grow.

1.       Responsive Website Design
Creating a website to establish your online presence is the first step in implementing internet marketing strategies. The majority of customers now use mobile devices when they search online for information on businesses and products, so it is critical that your website performs perfectly no matter how it is viewed, whether through a laptop, smartphone, tablet, or other mobile device. Responsive website designs automatically adjust to give the best performance according to how they are accessed so they won’t need to be updated every time new technology is introduced, and their ability to perform well on all mobile devices actually helps these websites rank higher in mobile searches.

2.       Search Engine Optimization (SEO) Strategies
In order for your website to bring in business, it will need to show up on the first page of search results. Applying SEO strategies to your website will help search engines like Google and Bing to see it as a relevant, reliable source for answers to search queries, which will cause them to give it a higher position in search results. Search engine optimization encompasses a number of strategies, including adding the right mixture of industry-related keywords to your website structure and content and creating backlinks to other reputable websites in related fields. Adding a weekly blog to your website is a key SEO strategy for small businesses. Each blog gives you the chance to add current, trending keywords to your site so search engines find it more relevant and give it a prominent place on their search results pages.

3.       Social Media Marketing Strategies

Social media has emerged as one of the best ways for businesses of all sizes to keep their company top-of-mind with customers. We recommend you concentrate on just 3 or 4 social marketing strategies to start; most small businesses turn to Facebook and Twitter, along with one or two sites that are ideal for their industry. If you have a B2C business that translates well to visual media, such as a travel agency or restaurant, Pinterest or Instagram would be a good choice. B2B businesses generally find success with LinkedIn or Google+, where they can connect with clients through forums and video hangouts. Recently, many social sites have introduced paid posts and made it more difficult for posts to reach customers organically, so you may want to  plan on using a portion of your marketing spend to invest in paid ads and promoted postings, such as Facebook’s promoted posts.

4.       Search Engine Marketing (SEM) Strategies
Also known as paid search, pay-per-click, or SEM, search engine marketing is a pay-as-you-go strategy that makes your website more visible to customers through the use of paid ads that let you jump to the top of search results. Search engine marketing is a great internet marketing strategy for small businesses, even those with limited marketing budgets. The cost per click is determined by the popularity of the keywords, so you can adjust your bid according to how much you have to spend. Determine a specific budget; once you reach your limit, the ads are simply put on hold.

For more internet marketing tips and help implementing internet marketing strategies for your small business, you can always turn to Blue Interactive Agency. As a leading Fort Lauderdale internet marketing company, we can provide you with a comprehensive list of internet marketing strategies and services for small businesses, including responsive web design, SEO and SEM strategies, social marketing, and more to ensure your company’s success.

Contact us at Blue Interactive Agency today at 954-779-2801 for help implementing the full range of internet marketing strategies to ensure the success of your small business!

Social Media Marketing Tips

How to start using social media to market your business

If you’re eager to get the benefits of social media marketing for your business but you don’t know how to start, we’ve got some tips that can help. Companies of all types and sizes are finding great success using social media to market their business. It doesn’t matter if you have a B2B or a B2C company – with the right approach, social media can be a terrific tool to engage your customers’ interest and keep your business top of mind. Simply starting a Facebook page for your business isn’t going to get you the results you want, though. In order to gain the most benefit from your social marketing efforts, you’re going to need to develop a coordinated approach that takes into consideration your company’s strengths as well as your customers’ social media habits. We’ve got some social media marketing tips that will help you get off to a successful start:

Tip #1: Develop a specific social marketing strategy

If you just start randomly posting on various social media sites, you can end up with a very mixed message and a social brand so muddled it barely makes an impression. Before you begin your social marketing, you should decide how you want customers to perceive your company. Consider your company culture, the products and services you provide, and the sensibility of the customers you are trying to reach. Use that information to set the tone of your social media communications. Are you a B2B company dealing with large financial institutions? If you offer financial advice or business services, you’re going to want to establish a more serious presence that fits into the corporate world while showcasing your competence. If you market real estate, a more personable social presence will garner better results. Tailor your social presence as carefully as you would your personal appearance if you were meeting with your customers in the flesh.

Tip #2: Choose the right social media sites to market your business

The best social media sites to market your business are not necessarily going to be the ones that have the largest group of users; they are going to be the ones where the most potential customers are. Choose social media sites that match up with your company’s goals and provide the best access to your target demographic. Ideally, you should establish a presence on a social media platform that is particularly relevant to your industry as well as two or three of these top social sites:

• Facebook – If you’re a B2C company trying to build brand recognition or increase general engagement with your brand, Facebook is a good choice. Facebook is still the most popular social site, with an extremely high level of social engagement. Its main strength lies in family and friend connections, making it a natural choice for businesses that rely on referrals.
• Twitter – Twitter’s micro-blogging format of 140 characters is perfect for busy owners looking for a fast, easy way to interact with young, savvy customers. Twitter works for well for B2C businesses that lend themselves to topic-based commentary and customer updates.
• LinkedIn – LinkedIn is the site of choice for motivated business professionals looking to increase their knowledge and network with other engaged professionals. The social site is the best choice for B2B companies interested in peer to peer networking and developing industry authority.
• Pinterest and Instagram – These highly visual social sites are a great fit for businesses with products or services that translate well to visual media. Travel agencies, businesses in the hospitality segment (hotels, restaurants, etc.), and certain retail businesses are a great fit. Pinterest and Instagram rely heavily on user interaction, so they work best for B2C companies trying to build customer engagement.

Tip #3: Establish a strict posting schedule

Once your social media marketing strategies start attracting a following, you’re going to need to deliver content on a regular schedule to keep customers engaged. Trying to remember when and where to post on top of running your business can be difficult, so it’s best to set up a social media posting schedule. You may want to use a social media management program like Hootsuite. These helpful services allow you to upload all your social media posts at one time; the program automatically publishes your posts at optimum times throughout the day.

If you decide that social media marketing takes too much time away from running your business,Blue Interactive Agency can help. As a leading Fort Lauderdale social marketing agency, we have years of social media marketing experience and a full roster of satisfied clients. Our marketing team can provide you with a full range of social media marketing support services including social marketing strategy development, paid social marketing services, monthly social media marketing packages, and more.

Contact us at Blue Interactive Agency today at 954-613-2760 for more social media marketing tips expert support services to help ensure your company’s success!