5 Easy Tips to Kickstart a Google Business Page

Google plus local business page effects small business's marketing in a positive way. When you create Google+ business page, you increase the chances of getting highly targeted visitors from Google's organic search results. You should pay attention to this strategy as it brings your business to the top as far as Google searches are concerned. Increasing authority and influence of your business and adding directions to your brand are benefits that you will not want to miss. You don't need a web designer to create a professional Google Plus business page. It is DIY process that can take only a few minutes to complete. This article highlights five easy Tips to Kickstart a Google Business Page.

#1 Verify Your Google Business Listing

The next step after creating a Google+ business page is to verify your business information. Any update that you include on your Google+ business profile such as description, contact details, operating hours or photos appears on the Google Maps and other Google properties. Before you add your local business, make sure meets the given Google guidelines

#2 Make Your Google Business Page Visually Appealing

You should put in extra effort to make sure your Google Business page is visually appealing. You can achieve this by adding appropriate branding information such as informative videos and captivating cover images. If you are running a boutique business, you can add beautiful behind-the-scenes photos on the cover section. If you are running a bakery business, you can add captivating photos of daily specials to draw in customers. You can also include external links to your social media sites to help improve your Google Search ranking.

#3 Using Hashtags Frequently and Strategically

Just like Twitter, Google Plus also has an open posting environment that supports the usage of hashtags. You can check things that are trending in your local areas under "What's Hot." In any trending hashtag, you can start your conversation or comment of the active conversations. As an added advantage, these hashtags also appear in Google searches. Additionally, when visitors search for your business, Google retrieves the recent Google+ post that you made on your page.

#4 Take Advantage of Gifs

Optimising Google business page also require you to take advantage of Gifs. However stupid they may look, Gifs are considered Google plus gold. In addition to allowing Gifs to play automatically on your page, Google Plus also offers a tool that collects your photo's to create Gifs for them. Engaging and funny Gifs not only adds beauty but also adds interest to the posts being shared. Unlike other social media business platforms, Google Plus business page is the only medium that plays gifs automatically. So you will need to utilize this feature.

#5 Continue Sharing Images

Make sure you include a high-quality, interesting and relevant photo in your post. Posts with images perform well compared to text-only posts. If you have other social media pages, you will find that these same rules apply. You can use an image that encourages your audience to click. Post interesting images and infographics with helpful information and share them on your other social media sites. One of the brands that understand how to use images on their social media platforms including Google Plus is the National Geographic.

About the Author : Tully Rickets is a writer with interests in healthy living and marketing. When he's not blogging about healthy behaviors, he enjoys researching ideas for his marketing website from many blogs and websites.

Yeah, Market Research Still Matters...

Successful businesses have expansive knowledge about their competitors and customers. Market research is the process of gathering market data about the current and potential customers to enable you react to the potential or current products or services. Many small businesses carry out market research without even knowing they are doing so. For instance, when a small business owner inquires from customers about how they feel about the services offered, or a business owner checks competitor product prices, then he/she is conducting market research.

The main aim of market research is to prepare for the marketing research report. Marketing research report includes a summary of the important data and analysis of the data for decision making in the business. Market research has been enhanced with the advent of the internet which makes it possible to reach the target market quickly and with ease and still gain important consumer knowledge to drive business forward.

The main questions property decision makers would want to ask themselves is - is there a useful way to conduct market research for a property business to make informed decisions about the way forward? And why is market research important? These questions can be answered by understanding how effective and efficient market research can be to help business find the opportunities and strengths, and where to eliminate opportunities to help the business expand.

Let’s start with why is market research important? Market research defines a clear direction for a company. When market research is done effectively and market research report is prepared well, businesses have a clear view of the customer needs and a clear path which the company need to take to achieve the needs of the prospective customers. Unfortunately, many small businesses may not be in a position spend the thousands of dollars to hire the most reputable market research firms. In this regard, many of them prefer to ignore taking market research into consideration or use approaches which may not lead to useful information.

The importance of market research include helping to understand the market, which may include the target age bracket, target gender and other demographics. Market research is critical to understand the competition, know the right product customers need and building connections.

Big Data has been a game charger as far as market research is concerned. Market researchers are faced with large amounts of data to analyze and monitor both online and offline to understand the customer needs. In this regard, Big Data is continually being used by researchers as a compliment to market research to know what consumers need and monitor changes in tastes and preferences. The five insights gained include - creating a more accurate profile of the target customers, to monitor and analyze the consumer reaction to product offerings and marketing messages, develop strategies for retaining customers in a more effective and efficient way, plan marketing campaigns and digital marketingto the target groups and monitor changes in tastes and preferences.

Queensland property market is currently a BOOM market thanks to Queensland’s economy which has started to improve. For instance, the latest RP Data CoreLogic Home Value Index for Brisbane show an increase of 0.7% for September 2014, 0.6% increase over the last quarter of 2014 and 6.4% year-to-year increase. Small businesses investing in Queensland property market should use these kinds of market data and outsource market research from property research companies to achieve real value of their investment.

This post comes from Sarah, an inspirational writer. She is part of crews at Real Estate Academy Australia (a specialized training center for the real estate industry), working with entrepreneurs and small business owner to grow their careers and achieve results that raise the standards of professionalism and respect in the Real Estate industry.

Social Responsibility Goes Vegan

Marketing gets responsible.  As a leading marketer and founder of The Marketing Blog, I know that companies have to stand for something. Whether it's giving back to the environment, focusing on positive outcomes for individuals, or helping those less fortunate, social responsibility is essential for any business who wants to thrive.

What is your social responsibility?

For a long time I've been helping companies grow, achieve marketing success, and deliver top line results.  But to what end?  Recently I had some pretty significant changes in my life and started asking some pretty big questions like, "What will I leave behind?", "Have I done enough?", "Have I been socially responsible?"  And it occurred to me that businesses need to be asking themselves the same questions.  As marketers, we should be leading the dialog.

It also occurred to me that my answer to the question, "Have you done enough" has been an emphatic NO.  But the good news is that it's never too late to change and individuals can make new choices and go in new, more productive directions at any time.  

I'm happy to announce the launch of a new website that has grown out of my own need to become more socially responsible and make a difference.  The site is called, Vegan For One Day, and we'll be changing the world one bite at a time.  This site is dedicated to millennials and other health conscious individuals who are looking more carefully at what they eat and the impact it has on the environment and their health.

You can make a difference

Our goal is NOT to make everyone on the planet a vegan (although we wouldn't mind). Rather, the goal is one of education and self reflection. When people are truly informed, they tend to make better choices.  Look at smoking for example. As individuals learned about the harmful implications of lighting up, they changed, albeit slowly over time.

The same is true about diet and nutrition.  Our goal is to educate individuals about the impact of what they consume on both their health as well as the planet and the lives of animals impacted every day.  We've also introduced a challenge for people to try going vegan, no meat or dairy, for a day, week, or month.  This will have a positive impact on all of our natural resources.

Social good

No matter what you do or who you work for, consider the implications of your actions.  Are you making the world a better place? Are you having a positive and lasting impact on the world or the people you care about most?  Social change happens when we start asking ourselves the right questions like, "Am I doing enough?"

Don't wait until the end of your life to begin asking questions about your legacy, the impact you'll make, and how you can help.  Get started today and make a difference.

SEO Coaching

Despite what hear, SEO is not dead.  In fact, finding a good SEO coach can help you optimize your website and drive tons of qualified traffic to your website to purchase products and services you offer.

SEO Coaching

As someone who's been in the search engine optimization field for over a decade, I can honestly say there are two types of people.  The first group is comprised of those who want number one rankings but don't want to do the work themselves.  The second group are the do-it-yourself'ers.  The reality is that both groups need to have a fundamental understanding of organic search if they want to be successful.

SEO coaching is a great way to start.  The benefit of using and SEO coach is that simply the efficiency by which they can help you achive your goal.  When you start with an SEO program or book such as SEO Made Simple, you'll acquire the fundamentals but they won't be customized to your specific website history and situation.

That's why having someone who can understand where you are on the organic evolutionary chain can save you time and money.  Just because you want to achieve an online, don't be fooled into thinking you have to start from scratch.  

What Will Your Coach Do?

A good SEO coach will begin by understanding your current situation and doing a technical crawl on your website.  SEO's have tools they can use to evaluate your site and pinpoint areas that are deficient. With the proper keyword research and technical analysis, you learn about your website's strengths and weaknesses.  Both of these factors are essential for achieving your online goals.

Often times a technical crawl is all you need to get started.  Sites, no matter how bad they are, have some qualities that are worth leveraging and others that need to be brought into compliance with the current Google algorithm changes.  Begin your optimization process here and you will see gradual improvements in organic traffic.

Where to Find Your Organic Ranking Coach

There are plenty of people out there who claim to be SEO experts.  Make sure to ask your potential coach about his specific experience - what sites he's worked on, the company's he has helped, and also, ask him to validate his authority (articles, interviews, books, etc.). You obviously want to make sure you're getting good advice.

When I coach others, I like to charge by the hour and work with clients to direct the sessions.  Said another way, it's important to work with my clients in a way that allows them to set the agenda while being directed towards a specific outcome.  My goal is to teach people to, "learn to fish" organically.  Good SEO coached do that.  They want clients to be able to recognized good SEO from bad SEO on their own.

If you're looking for someone to mentor you in the search engine optimization space, then be mindful of your goals and expectations.  Find someone who you can learn from and acquire all the resources necessary for top organic rankings.

SEO Made Simple 5th Edition Review

When people think about search engine optimization (SEO), they can't help but do a quick Google search for information that can help improve organic rankings.  When looking online for SEO resources, you'll likely find conflicting information - this is why it's so helpful to use a simple guide that only shares the best practices for improving website rankings.

SEO Made Simple 5th Edition

There's lots of information available online on SEO best practices.  However, information related to the organic search changes regularly as Google improves their ranking algorithm. As such, the best place to find the latest and most accurate information is by follow leading SEOs who work across numerous websites and industries - specifically within the SEO field. This ensures access to the most effective strategies from those getting real-world results. 

In this book, SEO Made Simple (5th Edition), you'll discover the latest information on optimizing your website for improved organic rankings. It's designed to cut through the clutter and misinformation that can be difficult to navigate. The book has been recently updated to educate those interested in search engine optimization in both the standard optimization techniques required to get them most from your website as well as advanced techniques to further enhance organic results.

There are a number of topics that have been updated to further enhance SEO results for your website. An updated section on developing an authoritative link profile is worth 10x the book's value as it shows how you can easily attract quality links to your site. This improves website authority and organic rankings.

The second area that has been significantly update is the information on local  and mobile search which is now driving more than half of all search engine traffic. If you are a business owner or trying to promote your business online, this is critical to the success of your organic marketing.

People who purchase SEO Made Simple 5th Edition will be impressed with the level of detail and simplicity related to learning and implementing effective search engine optimization strategies.  The book has been updated for 2016, reflecting this year's changes as well as pre-planning for upcoming changes announced for next year.  

Pros:  

--SEO Made Simple (5th edition) has been updated with the latest techniques for proper search engine optimization.
--The book has been updated to include information on local and mobile search.
--Strategies included have been proven effective across thousands of websites.
--Top selling book in the category, more than 30,000 sold.
--Techniques are presented in a very simple format, ideal for beginners and intermediate SEOs who want to improve organic rankings.
--Additional resources are included with the book at no additional cost.

Cons: 
--None to mention

Get started today optimizing your website, blog, and other digital assets.  Join the tens of thousands of individuals enjoying more organic traffic thanks to the powerful strategies revealed in this top-selling SEO guide.  SEO Made Simple 5th Edition is the best SEO book available today.

Ty Cohen Interview Ranks Number One

Some days, you have an epiphany, that moment when the light bulb goes on and you experience a moment of SEO euphoria.  Sunday was that day!  I realized that all I needed to do for improving the ranking of a recent interview was to share a link on an authoritative site - The Marketing Blog.

Ty Cohen Interview

For those of you who haven't heard of Ty Cohen, he is one of today's leading online marketers.  I met Ty a couple of years ago through a mutual friend and have followed him ever since.  He is the author and publisher of Kindle Cash Flow and other popular products and inspiration to many of us looking to achieve multiple revenue streams and the Internet lifestyle.

I was fortunate enough to conduct a Ty Cohen Interview a few months ago and had been working on optimizing the interview for top rankings.  Instead of focusing on the keyword "Ty Cohen", I decided to focus on "Ty Cohen Interview".  This is because sites like YouTube and others already have the top placement for this entrepreneur.

In an effort to get the top spot on search results, I decided to leverage social media in addition to on page optimization techniques. We all know that organic results take time so I gave myself a few weeks of making social media posts to see if I could get a particular web page to the top of search engine results.

In just a few short weeks, I was able to move this page to the number 3 position on Google.  At that point, I decided to give it a slightly bigger boost with some inbound links for high profile sites where I could make updates or direct links.  Boom, the ranking went to #2.

SEO is about Quality Links, Social Media and More...

On Sunday I was doing a little work on my next update to the top-selling book, SEO Made Simple, and had an epiphany - generate more quality links to the page I'm trying to optimize using my own resources.  Whether you know it or not, you have a number of high quality websites at your disposal.  
Whether you have a blog like this one here or a profile on Facebook, there are a number of digital assets at your disposal you can use to give your rankings a boost.  Think about all of the places where you can control information being distributed online and determine how best to use them for improving link authority and website rankings.

For now, I'm glad I realized there are things in my control easily leveraged for top rankings when I need them most.

8 Tactics To Help Manage Your Marketing Campaigns & Boost ROI

As digital marketing becomes more complex, the more difficult it becomes for businesses to
manage an effective budget. Spreading resources across every avenue of the industry is a 
difficult task, and it can lead to key areas being neglected. 

Why is it important to get campaigns right? In 2014 marketing budgets went up by 10% - by 
2016 it’s expected to make up 35% of the average businesses’ budget. Maximizing your 
strategy for strong ROI is now all important, and understanding how to get a shrewd plan 
together should be at the center of any business plan. 

In this 8 point guide the vital tactics which can make a campaign work are explained. It’s an 
insight on how to spread a digital marketing budget across the right areas, ensuring the best chance of excellent ROI. 

1. Get A Plan In Order

Many businesses (particularly start-ups) have a habit of launching into digital marketing 
campaigns without a thorough plan. The idea of winging it and expecting good results can betempting, but the fact is it is essential you work out what your objectives are.

Promoting brand awareness and increasing conversion rates tend to be the key goals, but how do you intend to achieve this? Can it be managed on a long term scale? Who are you going to employ to make it happen? 

The questions can pile up, and there’s also the need to manage a budget between the likes of social media, PPC, and SEO. Knowing where your business needs to focus is the essence of a strong digital marketing plan, which means you need to understand your audience. 

2. Research Your Industry 

One of the forgotten factors is not all businesses can work with SEO and PPC. Not everyone is always looking for the keywords you may want to rank for, meaning there is no point in funding a SEO campaign. Conversely, a PPC strategy won’t work if you have low margins –all this tends to do is lose you money.

The solution to this is to understand your audience and get to know what your competitors are doing. Examine the market and your position in it – how authoritative do you genuinely see yourself? If you’re entering an established and competitive market, for example, then PPC is a great way to learn which keywords to focus on. In turn, this can shape your SEO efforts. 

3. Get Your SEO Structured

Capturing key SERPs is what SEO is all about. SEO is more sustainable than PPC, the problem is the results take quite a while to show, and you run the risk of facing a Google penalty if you get it badly wrong (such as with Black Hat SEO – steer well clear of it).  

For start-up businesses Google uses a cautious tactic to wait and see how the new site 
develops. Many new businesses can fold and the site is essentially abandoned – if this isn’t 
your plan, get on with SEO before your launch: ensure your site is streamlined on a technical front, is mobile-friendly, and structure excellent on-site content. 

Off-site work is also vital – with online buzz around your business, the signals sent to Google will be positive and will assist your ranking. In the meantime, PPC can generate interest in your site whilst Google’s algorithms crawls your site and organic traffic builds up. 

4. PPC Will Always Back You Up

PPC is a safety net of sorts as it can be used to drive relevant traffic to your site. In moments of marketing uncertainty, turn to PPC – even a budget of $1,000 based around broad keywords can have significant results. 

This tactic can help you understand top-performing keywords and popular new ones (again, 
which comes in useful for SEO activities). However, do be aware if you’re a B2B company 
as competition is rife and prices can be extremely high. Respect your budget and see what 
you can achieve with it. 

5. Take A Look Into PPC For Mobile

With Google’s mobile algorithms now in place (benefiting sites with mobile-friendly sites), 
now is the time to capitalize on mobile marketing features. For mobile PPC, there are brilliant CTA options which come in particularly useful for lead generation. 

6. Use The Power Of Remarketing

Setting aside budget for remarketing is another essential tactic which, when deployed 
properly, can deliver great results. Your marketing efforts can’t always win over your 
audience, as many will visit your site, show some interest, but then leave.

Remarketing is an unobtrusive way to get back into their field of vision – setting up tracking 
codes can ensure they return to your site with subtle imagery and clever wording. 

7. Take To Content Marketing With A Flourish

Having good content is now more important than ever. Google’s algorithms will notice poor 
copy and send the site plummeting down SERPs - sculpting quality content through a White 
Hat SEO campaign can build a strong link catalog, boost your authority, and have a steady stream of CTA driven social media output going. 

8. Recognize Key Social Media Tools 

Most businesses are on Facebook and Twitter – this is a given. However, many brands don’t put the effort in to taking advantage of other formats, such as Pinterest, LinkedIn, Instagram, YouTube, and even the likes of FourSquare. 

YouTube, as an arbitrary example, offers an advertising format where companies can tap into utterly vast audiences. It remains largely underused by brands, so try setting aside some budget to get in front of a site which has a hundreds of millions of views a day. With its localized options and specific targeting services, you can effortlessly focus in on your 
demographic.   

Use This Handy 8 Point Guide To Keep Everything On Track

Now we’ve highlighted the areas to focus on, it’s time to take action and make sure your 
budget is spread over the most crucial areas of digital marketing. To get things moving you 
can:

1. Identify if your business is better suited to SEO or PPC – if both, set aside your 
budget appropriately. 
2. Setup a PPC campaign to identify keywords which and relevant to you and, 
importantly, convert.
3. Take the data from this to develop your on-site SEO efforts.
4. Set aside budget for off-site SEO/
5. Begin a major PPC campaign to attract your target consumers.
6. Monitor your progress in Google’s SERPs – perhaps subscribe to Moz to have 
detailed results of your search rankings. You can adjust your PPC expenditure based 
on the results, and focus your efforts on SEO areas which need work.
7. Put in place a remarketing campaign which will boost your conversions. 
8. Don’t forget about your mobile opportunities – accommodate your budget towards 
appealing to this vast audience. 

The award winning Soap Media is a digital marketing specialist from the UK. It has been 
delivering quality results since 2005.