SEO
5 Ways Blogging Will Support Your Marketing Campaign
Think of your company’s blog as the eyeglass to a socialgraphic world populated by millions. We all know that blogging, inbound marketing in general, can be a daunting set of tasks. For starters, where do we start? Who do we target? How do we target our sponges? What tools that are available to us will be most effective and efficient for our shrinking budgets?
During the old days of advertising, these questions were easier to answer. Today, with the onslaught of Googlers and Bingers, the new world of power online marketing is not always in the marketing department’s toolbelt.
JASE can help you when you get to that point, but here are five items outlining how blogging will support your marketing campaigns and sales goals. And YES, blogging is where you should start.
- Search Engine Optimization. Our team preaches two main concepts of inbound marketing - content, content, content and inbound links. The top way to improve your SEO rankings is to increase the number of inbound links to your web entities (website and blog). In order to increase the number of inbound links, you must create quality content for your website and, more easily and frequently, your blog so others will want to link back to you.
- Lead Generation. In order to fill the sales funnel with active tasks for your sales team, you must have a steady source. For JASE, our blog leads the way for inbound traffic that generates leads that fill our sales funnel. The majority of our inbound traffic leads go straight to our RFP form, one of our very informative and educational marketing webinars, and sign up form for our This Week in Digital Media email newsletter.
- Executing Brand Strategies. JASE centers itself around 4 major talent areas - Inbound Marketing, Brand Management, Creative, and eBusiness Solutions. The values we live by, products we produce, and the services we provide are communicated almost daily on this blog. If you want to understand the JASE brand, simply read through our Digital Media Blog. We should be able to say that about your company.
- Public Relations. The old days of publishing a press release to your database of fax numbers is gone. You hear us? Gone. Your blog can be, and should be, your shouting box to the world. Think socialgraphics. Share new products, uncovered statistics, breaking news, and educational advice through your blog posts. Then follow them up with an email to your database of contacts that include relative news organizations.
- Social Media Optimization. Think of an octopus with tentacles. At the end of each of your tentacles is a social community of your sponges - Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube, Flickr, etc. Leading back into the main brain center of your octopus is your blog. And all trails lead to your brain center. We know you are already active in social media. Just make sure your social media interaction leads those potential clients back to your brain center where you can 100% control the conversations and more successfully guide those generated leads into your sales funnel.
photo source: ccaviness
New Webinar is Available :: Wide, Wide World of Video Blogging … for Business
View & Download the FREE Webinar
Video blogging, sometimes shortened to vlogging, is a form of blogging for which the medium is video, and is a form of Internet television. In this session we talk about why you should video blog, how you should video blog, several techniques for video blogging, and what benefits you can generate for your business by video blogging.
In the class, we will talk about many topics, but a few of them are:
- What is Video Blogging?
- Should you Video Blog?
- Video Shooting Tips
- Do you really have time for this?
- The Storage Facilities
- Streaming Video
- Video Blogging & Lead Generation
- When to Hire A Professional
- Are you sure Video Blogging is for you?
5 Ways to Promote Your Event through Inbound Marketing
Over the past few years, JASE has sponsored, helped promote, and actively participated in many offline events. Digital Media Seminar is the latest example of this. For each of the events, we have used and tweaked the inbound marketing techniques we use to promote the events.
Based on our experiences, below are a few guidelines that could help you in promoting your event.
- Create a website for your event. If the event is part of a series, such as Digital Media Seminar, feature each event separately within the event series’ website. Use solid SEO strategies describing each event uniquely.
- Use a hashtag for your event. Digital Media Seminar uses #DMS2010. Coffee with the CEO uses #CWtC. These hashtages used throughout your Twitter network are easily searchable and provide a nice brand tag for your event(s).
- Talk about your event everywhere. When you’re on Facebook, talk about your event. When you’re on Twitter, talk about your event. When you’re on FriendFeed, talk about your event. When you’re on YouTube, talk about your event. And again, be sure to use solid SEO strategies linking back to each event.
- Create a following around your event. Create a buzz on the event, its speakers, and its content. Create a group for your event on LinkedIn. Create a Facebook Fan Page for your event. Create a blog for your event. Create a space for your event to be talked about. And again, be sure to use solid SEO strategies linking back to each event.
- Advertise your event on Eventbrite and Yahoo! Upcoming. Aside from the SEO advantages of these powerful websites, they have a nice toolset of scheduling, registration, and communication features.
We hope these tips help you with advertising your next event. We are available to assist where needed with your inbound marketing strategies.
image source: xtra_xtra
8 Tips to Help Your Blog Succeed
We have written here several times on blogging and general ground rules for writing on your business blog. Here a few more tips on helping your blogging efforts become successful.
- Worry about your looks. If your blog is not organized and does not follow your existing branding guidelines, people will not find you attractive. Pay attention to the cosmetics.
- Comment on other blogs. We talk about inbound links all the time. Commenting on other popular blogs and leaving links back to your blog articles is a great way to build inbound traffic.
- Use media in your blog posts. Add images to your articles. Add video to your articles. Tons of text with no personality makes Jack a dull guy.
- SEO! Know it. Understand it. You don’t have to be an expert but understand how and why you need organic traffic that Google can send your way.
- Proofread your copy. Not everyone is a grammatical genius. Actually, there not too many grammatical geniuses in the world. But grammar and spelling can quickly discourage your readers from returning to your blog for more information. Microsoft Word has wonderful spell checking and grammar checking tools. Use them.
- Blog on a schedule. It doesn’t matter what the schedule is or how often you decide to blog. Just set a schedule so your readers can know when to expect new content.
- Keep track of your visitors’ comments. Reply back when someone comments on your blog articles. Even if in a private conversation like we sometimes do, don’t ignore your visitors.
- Write killer headlines. What would strike the interest of your readers? Put yourself in their shoes for a moment and ask yourself if you would click on that link with that headline.
image credit: salendron
Google Announces Local Business Center becomes Google Places
We talk quite a bit on this blog about branding your organization and modeling the public’s perception of your talents and achievements. So it is not a surprise that we place quite a bit of emphasis on an organization’s listing with Google.
Google announced yesterday that they’ve rebranded their Local Business Center as Google Places. Google Places enables business owners to manage their presence on Google. What better online branding tool could you find? None.
Google Places will continue to offer these same tools, but the new name will simplify the connection with Place Pages. This reflects our ongoing commitment to providing business owners with powerful yet easy-to-use tools.
We’re also introducing several new features:
- Service areas: If you travel to serve customers, you can now show which geographic areas you serve. And if you run a business without a storefront or office location, you can now make your address private.
- A new, simple way to advertise: For just $25 per month, businesses in select cities can make their listings stand out on Google.com and Google Maps with Tags. As of today, we’re rolling out Tags to three new cities — Austin, Atlanta and Washington, D.C. — in addition to ongoing availability in Houston and San Jose, CA. In the coming weeks we’ll also be introducing Tags in Chicago, San Diego, Seattle, Boulder and San Francisco.
- Business photo shoots: In addition to uploading their own photos, businesses in select cities can now request a free photo shoot of the interior of their business which we’ll use to supplement existing photos of businesses on Place Pages. We’ve been experimenting with this over the past few months, and now have created a site for businesses to learn more and express their interest in participating.
- Customized QR codes: From the dashboard page of Google Places, businesses in the U.S. can download a QR code that’s unique to their business, directly from their dashboard page. QR codes can be placed on business cards or other marketing materials, and customers can scan them with certain smartphones to be taken directly to the mobile version of the Place Page for that business.
- Favorite Places: We’re doing a second round of our Favorite Places program, and are mailing window decals to 50,000 businesses around the U.S. These decals include a QR code that can be scanned with a smartphone to directly view the mobile Place Page for the business to learn more about their great offerings.
Don’t wait. Have you setup your Google Places Page?
Today is the perfect time to setup your Google Places page if you have not yet done so. SEO is too important for the success of your inbound marketing initiatives that generate quality leads for your sales funnel.
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Inbound Marketing vs Outbound Marketing - Huh?
Simply, inbound marketing is the opposite of outbound marketing. Remember the old days of setting up outbound call centers (telemarketing), creating television and radio commercials, and pushing out email blasts to get your word out?
Well, that inefficient and expensive method of advertising and marketing is no longer a necessity.
- Think smart web design and web development.
- Think online call-to-actions.
- Think strategic blog content.
- Think SEO (search engine optimization).
- Think social media marketing.
- Think audio and video marketing.
- Think efficient online lead generation.
Photo credit: simplesolutiontech07
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Blog? What? Me? Why?
The age old question - okay, maybe not age old, but Internet 2.0 age old - why should I blog is one we hear all the time. True that blogging is not for everyone but it’s a great way for people and organizations to obtain a presence in the online world. Blogging is a great way to be heard, to spread your message and to find out information fast.
Here are few reasons why people blog:
- To share thoughts about a particular topic such as a product you’re interested in or an experience you had.
- To communicate your satisfaction or frustration with a product or company.
- To drive traffic to your other web properties. SEO!
- To earn money through advertising and sponsorships.
- To obtain links from other sites and blogs pointing to your blog. SEO!
- To add valuable content to your web presence.
Remember how you used to write notes in class and maybe even wrote a letter to the editor of a newspaper? Blogging has the same goal except with a greater result - faster delivery to a larger audience.
Here are few reasons why organizations blog:
- To interact with clients and potential clients.
- To build your ‘verifiable’ authority on specialty topics.
- To announce the launch of a new project.
- To build brand awareness.
- To address reputation management issues (we can talk at length about the increased value of blogging to handle and manage(!) negative press).
- To build trust and alliances with other organizations.
- To provide almost real-time feedback about strategies, products and future initiatives.
- To generate a viral buzz about a product or topic.
So you see? Blogging is good. Yes, it can be time intensive and definitely addicting if you get the fever. But what better way to network and build your web of trusted individuals and organizations.
Image credit: antigone78
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JASE Web Specialties - How does your web shop match up?
Web Presence Specialties
- Static websites.
- Search engine optimization (SEO).
- Content Management Systems.
- eCommerce websites.
- Database-driven websites.
- Creative blog designs.
- Open source development.
- Motion graphics.
- Intranet & Extranet development.
- Information architecture.
- Mobile development.
- ASP.NET application development.
Complimentary Services
- Web marketing.
- Search engine marketing.
- Social media marketing.
- User-friendly interface design.
- Web strategy consulting.
- Print design including full collateral catalog concepts.
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Not to get too technical … but …
Our eBusiness Solutions team loves technology! That’s the understatement of the year.
The team is made up of software engineers, data engineers, information architects, and system administrators. And believe it or not, they work well together with our creative team, marketing team, even the SEO (search engine optimization) guys.
Let’s talk tech. Contact us today to have the perfect, customized software solution created for your organization.
Web Application Programming Services
- Database-driven applications.
- Mobile applications.
- eCommerce websites.
- Custom software applications.
- Content Management Systems (CMS).
- Intranet & Extranet portals.
- Order tracking & fulfillment systems.
- Inventory tracking systems.
- Customer Relationship Management (CRM) systems.
Programming & Database Technologies
- ASP.NET.
- C#.
- VB.NET.
- ASP.
- PHP.
- Javascript.
- XHTML.
- CSS.
- Micrsoft SQL Server.
- Oracle.
- MySQL.
Complimentary Services
- Website hosting.
- Email hosting.
- Blog hosting.
- Database hosting.
Photo credit: alles-schlumpf
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Web Design Help
Our graphic design artists understand that your company is unique. The team’s goal is to provide you with an efficient design supporting your brand identity while utilizing advanced search engine optimization techniques. Let’s work together to create an affordable, creative online solution that will provide solid internet marketing results. We are your web design team!
Request for Proposal
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