by Todd Boak | Jul 28, 2023 | Dental Marketing, Harris & Ward
Progressive Dental Marketing vs. Harris & Ward: A Comprehensive Comparison of Dental Marketing Agencies
In the highly competitive dental industry, effective marketing strategies play a crucial role in attracting new patients and growing a practice. Two prominent players in the dental marketing field, Progressive Dental Marketing and Harris & Ward, have built a strong reputation for their services. In this comprehensive blog post, we will conduct a thorough and fair evaluation of these companies, focusing on three essential areas of business: Dental SEO, Google Ads, and Custom Website Design. Additionally, we will delve deeper into the creative assets, specifically photography and videography, which set Harris & Ward apart in the industry.
Dental SEO:
Progressive Dental Marketing
PDM has garnered a reputation for its data-driven approach to Dental SEO. Their team of SEO experts conducts in-depth keyword research, analyzing market trends and identifying relevant, high-traffic keywords specific to dental practices. The goal is to optimize dental office websites for search engines, ensuring they rank higher in search results and gain increased visibility in the local area.
Their local SEO strategies are particularly commendable, as they understand the importance of attracting nearby patients to visit their dental practices. By optimizing Google My Business listings and local directories, PDM helps dental practices gain prominence in local searches, ultimately boosting foot traffic and increasing patient inquiries.
The company also excels in on-page optimization, fine-tuning meta tags, headings, and content to align with search engine algorithms. Through this meticulous process, they enhance the overall user experience, encouraging visitors to engage with the website and convert into potential patients.
Harris & Ward
Similarly, Harris & Ward’s Dental SEO services are driven by comprehensive research and personalized strategies. Their SEO specialists work closely all year with each dental practice to understand their unique offerings, target audience, and local competition. Armed with this knowledge, they craft tailored SEO campaigns that emphasize the practice’s strengths and differentiate it from competitors.
Harris & Ward also prioritizes transparent reporting, regularly sharing performance metrics and progress updates with their clients. This approach enables dental practices to stay informed about their online presence and make data-driven decisions for continuous improvement.
Verdict – Dental SEO: Both Progressive Dental Marketing and Harris & Ward demonstrate expertise in Dental SEO, utilizing innovative strategies to increase the online visibility of dental practices and attract potential patients. Dental practices can feel confident partnering with either company for exceptional SEO campaigns tailored to their unique needs.
Google Ads:
Progressive Dental Marketing
PDM’s Google Ads management service is designed to generate targeted traffic and maximize return on investment for dental practices. Their certified Google Ads sales professionals create and manage pay-per-click (PPC) campaigns, continuously monitoring and optimizing them to ensure optimal performance.
Through extensive keyword research and competitor analysis, they identify relevant keywords that resonate with the target audience, helping dental practices reach potential patients who are actively searching for dental providers. By crafting compelling ad copy and incorporating persuasive calls-to-action, Progressive Dental Marketing aims to drive more leads with high click-through rates and conversions.
Their focus on data analytics is another strong point, as they track the performance of each campaign meticulously, identifying areas for improvement and capitalizing on successful strategies to enhance overall results.
Harris & Ward
Harris & Ward’s approach to Google Ads is characterized by a deep understanding of each dental practice’s unique selling points, benefits and target demographic. Their team of Google Ads specialists designs customized campaigns that effectively communicate the practice’s value proposition and encourage prospective patients to take action. Their experience in advertising dental implants, full arch cases, all-on-4, cosmetic dentistry, orthodontics, and more makes them a quality candidate to partner with as it relates to lead generation.
To ensure optimal results, Harris & Ward consistently monitors campaign performance, adjusting bids and keywords as needed to maximize return on investment. By staying ahead of market trends and leveraging audience insights, they create engaging ads that resonate with potential patients, fostering strong connections between the dental practice and its target audience.
Verdict – Google Ads: Both Progressive Dental Marketing and Harris & Ward provide comprehensive Google Ads services, demonstrating a commitment to driving targeted traffic and achieving desirable outcomes for dental practices. Their data-driven and personalized approaches equip dental practices with effective advertising solutions to reach their business goals.
Custom Website Design:
Progressive Dental Marketing
Progressive Dental Marketing prides itself on its templated website design skills, catering to the brand identity and vision of each dental practice. Their design team collaborates closely with clients, understanding their preferences, target audience, and desired aesthetics.
The end result is visually appealing and user-friendly websites that provide an exceptional browsing experience for potential doctors and patients. These websites are designed with responsive layouts, ensuring seamless navigation across various devices, including desktops, tablets, and smartphones.
Moreover, Progressive Dental Marketing integrates essential features into their websites, such as user-friendly appointment booking systems, educational resources, and informative content. By optimizing the website’s layout and content structure, they empower dental practices to effectively engage with their online audience and convert visitors into loyal patients.
Harris & Ward
Harris & Ward’s approach to custom website design revolves around creativity and originality. They understand that a dental practice’s website is often the first point of contact for potential patients, and thus, it must reflect the unique personality and values of the practice.
Their talented design team carefully crafts visually striking websites that not only captivate visitors but also ensure seamless functionality. Harris & Ward emphasizes the importance of user experience (UX) design, creating intuitive navigation and interactive elements that guide visitors through the website with ease.
Additionally, their custom websites are built to be fully responsive, adapting effortlessly to various screen sizes and devices. This focus on mobile responsiveness aligns with the modern user’s preference for browsing on smartphones and tablets, enhancing the overall user experience.
Verdict – Custom Website Design: Both Progressive Dental Marketing and Harris & Ward excel in delivering custom website design solutions that cater to the specific needs and preferences of their dental clients. Their commitment to creating visually stunning and user-friendly websites ensures that dental practices can establish a strong online presence and effectively showcase their services to potential patients.
Superior Creative Assets – Photography and Videography:
While both companies offer impressive services in Dental SEO, Google Ads, and Custom Website Design, Harris & Ward stands out with its exceptional creative assets, particularly in photography and videography.
Harris & Ward’s team of experienced photographers and videographers possess a unique talent for capturing the essence of dental practices through visuals. With an eye for detail and a passion for storytelling, they create imagery and videos that resonate emotionally with viewers.
Through captivating photography, Harris & Ward can showcase the dental practice, its team, and facilities in their best light. By highlighting the human element of dentists and patient experiences, these images establish a personal connection with potential patients, fostering trust and confidence in the practice.
Similarly, Harris & Ward’s videography services allow dental practices to convey their brand message effectively. Professionally produced videos can feature testimonials from satisfied patients, behind-the-scenes glimpses of the practice, and educational content that positions the practice as an authoritative source in dental care.
What Dental Marketing Agency Is Right For You?:
In conclusion, both Progressive Dental Marketing and Harris & Ward are esteemed dental marketing agencies, excelling in Dental SEO, Google Ads, and Custom Website Design. Dental practices seeking to enhance their online presence and attract new patients can confidently choose either company for their expertise and dedication to excellence.
While both companies offer competitive services in the core areas of dental marketing, Harris & Ward’s clear advantage lies in their superior creative assets, particularly photography and videography. The company’s commitment to visually striking content provides dental practices with a unique edge in effectively showcasing their services and connecting with potential patients on a deeper, emotional level.
Ultimately, dental practices must carefully consider their specific needs and goals when choosing a marketing partner. By conducting thorough research and understanding their preferences, they can make an informed decision and select the dental marketing agency that aligns best with their vision for success.
So now what?
In making this decision, dental practices should consider their target audience, budget and time constraints, and long-term business goals. Progressive Dental Marketing and Harris & Ward offer different strengths that cater to diverse practice requirements.
For practices seeking comprehensive and data-driven strategies, Progressive Dental Marketing presents an excellent choice. Their track record of success in Dental SEO and Google Ads, coupled with their user-friendly custom website designs, can provide a solid foundation for attracting potential patients online.
On the other hand, Harris & Ward’s emphasis on creative assets, including photography and videography, offers dental practices a unique opportunity to stand out in the competitive dental market. The emotional impact of high-quality visual content can help establish trust and foster strong patient relationships.
In conclusion, both Progressive Dental Marketing and Harris & Ward are reputable dental marketing agencies, each with its unique strengths. By carefully evaluating their services and creative assets, dental practices can determine which company is the best fit for their specific needs and growth objectives.
Ultimately, the key to a successful partnership with a dental marketing agency lies in open communication and collaboration. Dental practices should not hesitate to engage in conversations with both agencies, discussing their goals, concerns, and preferences. By doing so, they can gain valuable insights into each agency’s approach, ultimately leading them to choose the dental marketing partner that will maximize their potential for success.
As the dental industry continues to evolve and adapt to the digital landscape, both Progressive Dental Marketing and Harris & Ward remain committed to working towards helping dental practices thrive in a competitive market. Whichever agency a dental practice chooses, one thing is certain: with the right marketing strategy and creative assets, they can effectively attract new patients and build a lasting, successful practice.
by Harris & Ward | Jul 24, 2023 | Harris & Ward, Web Design
In today’s digital age, having a strong online presence is crucial for the success of any business. A well-designed website serves as a virtual storefront, allowing potential customers to explore your products or services and learn more about your brand. If you’re ready to take your business online and create a website, this guide will walk you through the essential first steps to get started.
Establishing Your Goals For Your Website
Before diving into the website creation process, it’s essential to establish clear goals and objectives for your website. Ask yourself what you want to achieve with your online presence. Are you looking to generate leads, sell products directly, provide information, or establish your brand identity? Understanding your goals will help us shape the overall design and functionality of your website.
How Will You Structure & Design Your Website?
Organizing your website’s structure and navigation is also vital for user experience. Start by creating a sitemap that outlines the main sections and pages of your website. This may look different for everyone depending on your business. For example, a dental website sitemap could have pages that outline different treatment options, a staff page to meet the dentists, and a page with information on how to schedule an appointment. Different types of websites will have different pages and sections. It’s important to consider how you want your visitors to navigate through your content, ensuring it is intuitive and easy to follow. A well-structured website makes it effortless for users to find the information they are seeking.
The design of your website plays a significant role in attracting and retaining visitors. Create a visually appealing and user-friendly interface that aligns with your brand identity. Choose a color scheme, typography, and imagery that convey the right message and appeal to your target audience. Keep the design clean, consistent, and intuitive, ensuring effortless navigation and readability across devices.When meeting with clients to work on the design of a website, we start by asking if they already have a branding package. If the client only has a logo, we use their logo to pull colors and create a palette with 5-6 colors. Different colors evoke specific emotions and associations. For example, warm tones like red and orange can convey energy and passion, while cool blues and greens evoke a sense of calmness and tranquility. Understanding the psychological impact of colors helps in aligning the color scheme with the intended message and brand identity. Clients are given two options of color palettes to choose from to represent their brand.
Clients are also sent an on-boarding form when we start a project and this asks questions about the design and feel of the site. Some of the questions we ask clients are: Do you have any branding for your business? Will a logo revision be needed? Do you have any recent photography from the past 5 years? What is the primary goal of your website? Is there a design theme to your office or branding? Do you gravitate towards vibrant colors or neutral colors? Do you have a tagline? Are there any websites that you love? etc. These questions allow us to inform decisions for the design.
Fonts are usually determined by the feedback given on the on-boarding form. Mood boards can also be created to help get the look and feel clients are looking for nailed. A well-crafted mood board should evoke a specific mood or atmosphere. Consider the emotions you want your website visitors to experience. Do you aim for a vibrant and energetic vibe, or a calm and serene ambiance? Select images and colors that align with the desired emotional response.
Design styles are really important because different styles can portray the type of business you are and the message you are trying to convey to your customers. Some clients may want a website with a more professional feel versus others who may want a funky vibe. This can all be conveyed on a website through the color scheme, typography and branding. Design styles on websites act as a language, speaking to visitors and conveying messages beyond words. By carefully selecting a design style that aligns with your brand’s values, target audience, and intended message, you can create a visually compelling website that captivates users, communicates effectively, and leaves a lasting impression. Since this is so important, we work with clients to determine exactly what they are looking for during the on-boarding and design process.
Now It’s Time To Build Your Dream Website
After collecting this information about your design and layout, our production team will begin the wire-framing process. Wireframes serve as a skeletal representation of your website’s structure and layout. They focus on organizing content, determining page hierarchy, and mapping out navigation. Wireframes are typically created to allow you to visualize the website’s structure without getting distracted by visual design elements.
Once the wireframe is approved, we will proceed to the design phase, where we will work with developers to transform the wireframe into a visually appealing and interactive mockup. They will create a comprehensive representation of how your website will look and function. The mockup will showcase the website’s color scheme, typography, imagery, and other visual elements, allowing you to envision the final product. We also offer professional photography and videography for small businesses so your website can have pictures and videos that show off your company.
The mockup is not a final product but rather a starting point for collaborative feedback and refinement. Our team will share the mockup with you, seeking your input and suggestions. Your feedback is crucial in this stage as it ensures the design aligns with your expectations and preferences. Together, we will make necessary revisions and adjustments until it accurately represents your desired website design.
After multiple rounds of feedback and refinement, we will present the finalized mockup for your approval. Once you are satisfied with the design and functionality, we will build out your site with our content writers and web developers.
Prioritizing The User Experience On Your Website
Before launching your site, we will do testing to make sure everything is user-friendly and technically sound. In addition, our website hosting service offers routine maintenance checks to keep your site live and secure and make sure everything is working correctly. We monitor website performance, uptime, and speed, addressing any issues promptly. Regular backups and security checks are conducted to safeguard your website and protect it from potential threats. Additionally, we stay on top of software updates, ensuring that your website is running on the latest versions of content management systems, plugins, and other essential components.
After creating your website, our agency also performs search engine optimization (SEO) maintenance. We conduct keyword research, analyze website analytics, and optimize meta tags, headings, and content to ensure that your website is easily discoverable by search engines. By staying on top of algorithm changes and best practices, they help your website maintain a competitive edge in search rankings.
Looking For A Website To Match the Quality of Your Business?
Our company offers website design for a variety of clients including dentists, orthodontists, chiropractors, optometrists, financial advisors, and many more small businesses. Our team creates affordable websites and provides video and photography services to get your website started. If your business is seeking a new website, visit our website to get started!
Top 6 Elements of Great Web Design
by harrisward | Jun 22, 2022 | Harris & Ward
The Basics of Google Analytics for Dentists
The number one priority of dentists that own a dental practice is to provide high-quality dental care to those in their surrounding community. Our digital marketing experts understand that in order to achieve this goal, there needs to be traffic driven to the practice’s website.
Increasing your website’s traffic can help increase your domain authority, which allows you to rank higher on search engine results. This may leave you wondering how exactly you can boost your traffic, and hopefully increase your amount of dental patients.
That’s where Google Analytics can help by providing website analytics for dentists. In this article we will introduce you to a data tool that can help you create a strategy for increasing traffic to your site.
What Is Google Analytics for Dentists?
Google Analytics is a data collection tool that can be used to track the performance of your dental practice’s website. This data includes the amount of visitors to your website, along with the amount of time spent on each page. It also collects data on the user visiting the site in order to track the amount of new and returning traffic is being generated.
All of this information and more can then be generated into reports that allow you to gain a better understanding of your online presence. The different report types are as follows:
- Real-Time Reports: This is a live report that shows you the user data from your site during the time you are viewing it. This is a great way to get an overview of your site traffic at any given time.
- Audience Reports: These reports give you insight on the demographics of your website users, including age and location. You can also learn the type of device they are using to view the site. User information like this will help you to cater your web, social, and advertising content to those specific audiences.
- Behavior Reports: This gives valuable insight over how users are interacting with your website, detailing which pages they view and the page they were on when they left the site. This can help you decide which of your website pages has the most engaging content, and determine areas for improvement.
- Acquisition Reports: This report type tells you how your website visitors came across your website. Having this information can aid you in determining your ad spend budget, and if you need to invest in Search Engine Optimization (SEO) services. The acquisition methods include:
-
- Organic – by searching on Google or other search engines.
- Paid Ads (CPC) – when a user clicks on a paid “cost per click” ad.
- Referral – a user clicks on a link to your website from another website.
- Social – a user clicks a link from a social media platform.
How Does Google Analytics Benefit Your Dental Practice?
These reports along with other Google Analytics features enable you to analyze and monitor your website data and give you the means to visualize that information into deliverables you can easily digest. This allows you to take control and create an effective strategy to market your business and continue building an online presence.
No matter the size of your practice, people are using google analytics for businesses large and small.
Implementing Google Analytics for Your Website
In order to get started with Google Analytics, it is important to become familiar with one of their companion tools, Google Tag Manager. This tool works as the link to connect your website to your Google Analytics dashboard.
Within Google Tag Manager you can create an account for your business that holds the tags for your website within a container. For each container, a unique set of code is created (referred to as GTM code). When the container tags are properly set up with your Google Analytics properties and your GTM code is added to the backend of your website, you will then be able to start collecting data for your site.
Although the details for this process seem a tad complicated, we can assure you that it is well worth the time and effort. There is nothing more valuable than the opportunity to understand the needs and interests of our customers and patients.
Taking control of your online presence doesn’t just increase your amount of website traffic, but it also improves the overall user experience for those navigating the site.
Experts in Google Analytics and Digital Marketing for Dentists
We understand that your number one priority is providing the best possible dental care to your patients. That can sometimes mean that your experience with digital marketing tools gets left on the back burner. At Harris & Ward, we help dentists just like you remove the burden of digital marketing for your dental practice.
Our team is experienced in SEO for dentists and dental websites. We can even help you set up your own Google Analytics account. Sometimes it can be difficult knowing where to start, but we can guide you along the way.
Your focus should be on building relationships with your current patients and catering to their unique dental needs. That’s why you can trust having our marketing professionals in your corner to help find potential patients to help your practice grow.
Interested in learning more about Google Analytics and the services we have to offer? Don’t hesitate to visit our website for more information on dental marketing.
by harrisward | Jun 10, 2021 | Harris & Ward, marketing
Are you struggling to draw new clients to your dental clinic, law firm, or small business? You’re not alone. In fact, about 65% of businesses struggle to draw in leads and web traffic.
With the right digital marketing services, you don’t have to struggle! Instead, you can give your business the boost it needs.
Not sure where to start? Keep this marketing services list handy. With these online business marketing strategies, you can set your business up for success.
You can generate more brand awareness, acquire more website traffic, and gain new leads. Then, you can improve your ROI and start growing your business.
Set your business up for growth and success! Get started by learning more about these marketing services for startups today.
1. Branding
Before you start using the rest of this marketing services list, it’s important to consider your brand. Your brand will set your business apart from others within your niche. Without a distinct brand, consumers might not recall your business.
In fact, it takes an average of six impressions before you build even a smidge of awareness. In order to build brand recognition, consistency over time is key.
You can create brand guidelines to ensure your brand remains consistent across all marketing channels.
In fact, consistency could increase revenues by up to 23%.
When developing your brand, take a moment to think about your target audience. What do they care about? Shared values account for about 64% of brand relationships.
Then, determine your:
- Vision statement
- Mission statement
- Unique value proposition
- Logo
- Color palette
- Font styles
- Imagery styles
- Voice
- Tone
- Personality
Keep your branding consistent as you explore the rest of these marketing services.
2. Web Design and Development
In some cases, your website is the first time consumers interact with your brand. It’s important to make a strong first impression. If your website is old and outdated, consumers might leave.
They’ll take their business elsewhere instead.
Consider hiring an experienced web design and development company. They can create an eye-catching, wow-worthy website that will draw consumers in. Your website will host the content you create as part of your lead generation strategy.
Work with a design agency that can create a mobile-optimized website for your business.
More people are exploring websites from their smaller phones and tablets. If your website isn’t optimized, you could lose business. Consumers might struggle to explore your site from their smaller screens.
They’ll remember their negative user experience and maybe even tell others.
3. Content Creation
Start creating engaging, informative content for your website. Content creation is an important step in your online business marketing strategy. You can create content to demonstrate your experience and expertise.
Informative, helpful content will help consumers recognize your value. You can show people you understand the problems they’re facing. Then, you can create content that offers them an easy solution.
You can create different forms of content, including blog posts, articles, eBooks, and infographics. Then, you can optimize your content for search engines to help more people find your business online.
4. Search Engine Optimization
Search engine optimization (SEO) can help your website content appear higher on Google and Bing. A higher ranking will position you in front of more customers. When someone searches for your product or service, your website might appear.
About 70% of all experiences online start on a search engine like Google. SEO can help you boost brand awareness and generate more website traffic. Once you draw people to your website, you can use your content to convert them into leads.
Only 0.78% of Google users look beyond the first page of a search, though. Without SEO, you might not reach customers.
Consider working with an experienced SEO agency. They can help you create content with SEO in mind. Then, they can optimize your content based on the keywords consumers use in a search.
Google’s search algorithm changes constantly. If you’re not up-to-date with the latest trends, your ranking could drop. Finding an agency that offers digital marketing services can give your business an advantage.
You can rank ahead of the competition and draw in new leads.
5. Custom Photography and Videography
Consumers can now recognize stock photography on sight. Stock images could make your brand look ingenuine. Instead, work with an agency that can capture custom photography for your brand.
You can use your photos for social media, your website, and other branded materials.
Consider creating engaging videos as part of your content creation strategy, too. A content creator small business expert can help you create attention-grabbing videos for your website.
6. Pay-Per-Click Advertising
Pay-per-click (PPC) advertising can also help you reach more consumers online. Consider creating text and visual ads. You can use ads to direct more people to your website.
These ads can appear on social media platforms, other websites, and search engine pages.
Once people click on your ad, they’ll appear on a landing page on your website. Then, you can convert those visitors into leads.
7. Social Media Marketing
Social media marketing is a great way to keep your customers engaged. Let them know about upcoming deals or events. You can also let them know about your latest accomplishments.
For example, a law firm can mention new additions to the team or accolades they received. A dentist’s office can share before and after photos of their patients.
As people start commenting on your posts, make sure to comment back.
Consider working with influencers in your industry, too. Influencers can help spread the word about your business. You can boost your brand’s visibility and draw in fresh leads.
Give Business a Boost: 7 Digital Marketing Services for Dental Clinics and SMEs
Don’t fall behind the competition this year. Instead, consider these seven digital marketing services. With these marketing services, you can wow your customers and draw in fresh leads.
Get ready to stand out from the crowd with these online business marketing tips today!
Need help developing your digital marketing strategy? We’re here to help.
Contact us today to discuss your web design, SEO strategy, and more!
by harrisward | Mar 31, 2021 | Harris & Ward, marketing
There are around 31 million small businesses just in the US. That’s to say nothing about foreign businesses that operate in the same space, a common problem for e-commerce businesses and freelancers. In short, you can come up against a lot of competition depending on your industry.
That makes marketing an essential component in any small business plan. The challenge, of course, is how you can make your small business marketing succeed in the face of that competition. Keep reading for tips that can help you get your marketing in the right place.
Make a Plan
Marketing is one area where you can’t throw it together as you go. You need a marketing strategy that informs a marketing plan. That starts with defining your target market.
What kind of person or business represents your ideal customer? What characteristics define that person or business?
Let’s say you run a dental practice. Is your ideal customer a family or someone looking for cosmetic dentistry?
If you want family business, you structure your marketing plan around things like preventative care for kids and essential procedures. If you focus on cosmetic dentistry, your target market is likely adults with disposable income. For those customers, you focus your marketing on lifestyle and aesthetics.
Once you define your ideal customer, you build a plan around them and their needs or wants.
Set a Budget
Marketing can and will eat as much money as you throw at it, regardless of results. That means you must set a sustainable marketing budget before you begin.
Sustainable means different things to different businesses. For a cash-strapped business, that might mean a couple of hundred bucks a month. For a high-profit business, it can mean thousands of dollars.
Rather than think of your budget in numerical terms, think of it as a percentage of revenue. Assuming you can afford it, a good rule of thumb is around 7% of your revenue. If you can’t afford that, crunch the numbers until you find a number you can afford and work with that amount.
Now, let’s look at specific things you can do.
Professional Website
Your business operates in an Internet-connected world. That means you need a website as a focal point for your business marketing efforts. More than that, though, you need a professional-grade website.
Customers these days regularly interact with websites built by Fortune 500 companies that poured millions of dollars into their site development. Those websites inform customer expectations about look and performance in any given industry. While you can’t compete with the budgets of those companies, you can get a website built by professional website developers.
That means you end up with a site that performs well and meets customer expectations for your industry. It also means you get a website that natively offers any industry-specific features you need.
SEO
It’s difficult to separate search engine optimization from any small business marketing plan, as it’s a core part of digital marketing. SEO is a set of tactics that help your pages on your website rank better in search results. If your site’s pages don’t rank well, people looking for businesses online simply won’t find you.
The most familiar elements of SEO for most business owners are keywords and link building. In essence, keywords are specific terms that people use when searching for products or services. By incorporating keywords specific to your business, you improve your odds of ranking well.
If you focus on a local market, location-specific keywords can help you even more.
Link building takes on two main forms: internal and external. Internal linking focuses on creating a web of links on your site between related content, which tells search engines that your site focuses on a specific product or service. External linking focuses on connecting your site to high-quality resources, which demonstrates you understand your own industry.
Custom Images
Many businesses rely on stock images for their websites. This is a cost-effective tactic, but it’s not an ideal one. There are a finite number of stock images for any given industry, which means you run the risk of using the same images as a competitor.
Custom images help you overcome this problem by ensuring originality. As a bonus, people respond to images in a more meaningful way than they do solely to text on the screen.
Video
Video does the same thing for your that custom images do, but even more powerfully. They let you speak directly to your visitors, which can help solidify an emotional connection. People also recall information from videos better than information they get from skimming written content.
Video has another advantage. It’s an ideal way for you to reinforce your brand message.
You can do slice-of-life videos from inside your company or office or offer messages from the owner. Assuming your brand message is authentic, it’ll shine through in the videos. If people liked your brand messaging before, you’ll reinforce that emotional connection.
Social Media
Let us not forget the 800-pound gorilla that is social media. Very few businesses possess the staff, budget, or know-how to maintain a presence on every social media site. Yet, a small business social media presence is essential.
Dig down into the benefits and pitfalls of different social media platforms. Then pick a maximum of two platforms to focus on as a starting point. Look for sites that play to your business’s strengths.
If your business has lots of products, an image-focused site makes sense. If your business relies on personality and in-person services, lean more into sites that let you leverage those factors.
Small Business Marketing and Your Business
Small business marketing matters as much as big business marketing for the long-term survival of your business.
That means you need a plan that focuses on your ideal customers and a budget you can sustain. It also means leaning in to the reality of digital marketing.
You need a pro website with solid SEO. Your marketing should use custom images when possible, and video if your budget supports it. Your business also needs a focused presence on social media.
Harris & Ward specializes in small business digital marketing and site development. Have a larger project? We offer enterprise SEO and marketing services.
by harrisward | Sep 21, 2020 | Google, Harris & Ward, Search Engine Optimization
Did you know that 71-92% of search engine users don’t click past the first page after making a query?
The statistic surprised us, too, but it’s undeniably true. If you want your business to be successful online, it’s essential that your page is on the first page of Google rankings.
But how can you make this happen? The answer lies in search engine optimization (SEO). Read on to learn the main types of SEO and how you can begin executing a comprehensive and effective optimization strategy!
On-Site SEO
Generally, there are two categories that an SEO strategy can fall under: on-site and off-site. On-page SEO is a term used to refer to manipulations that a site builder makes within their own website to make it more appealing to both consumers and crawlers. It’s the most direct way to get your page to rank and there’s no need to rely on external pages and off-site factors.
Conducting keyword research and finding high-volume keywords to put onto your site is arguably one of the most important aspects of on-site SEO. These keywords stand out to Google crawlers when they are inserted into descriptions, page information, and blog posts. Crawlers then believe that your page is relevant to the keywords that get the most searches in relation to your page and place you at the top of the search results for these terms.
However, this is not the only important aspect of on-page SEO. The relevance, semantics, and engagingness of the content that you include on your page are also critical. If site visitors aren’t engaged by your content, they’re likely to click away within 15 seconds of coming to your page. This looks fishy to search engine crawlers who then believe your page to be irrelevant and unreputable.
Technical SEO
Technical SEO refers to certain on-page SEO strategies that are concerned with making your page run more efficiently. Improving the technical aspects of your website is an important way to make it more appealing to search engine spiders. This includes things like improving site speed, making the page easier to crawl, and updating system content regularly.
One of the most important parts of technical SEO is manipulating the HTML of your website. Include keywords and short, searchable phrases in the descriptions, headers, and alt/meta tags on your page. Additionally, make sure your blog posts have clickable titles that will keep people on your page.
Using SE indexing and appropriate URLs is also important. Sites that have been appropriately indexed are easier for Google crawlers to understand and index within the wider internet. As a result, they will believe your site to be credible and well-maintained, which makes it rise in the rankings.
Off-Site SEO
Off-page SEO refers to manipulations that you do on parts of the internet that aren’t your website to drive traffic to your page. You don’t change anything on your webpage, but instead are trying to get people on other parts of the net to visit it. The main goal of this is to build your credibility with consumers and make crawlers also view your site as reliable.
Most people associate off-site SEO with link building, and with good reason- establishing appropriate backlinks is one of the most important ways to optimize your webpage. A backlink is a link that you incorporate within a blog post that takes the reader to another relevant, reputable website that they may be interested in. These links are related to the content and have an anchor text of between 2-5 words.
When search engine crawlers see backlinks on your site, they immediately associate you with the page that your content links to. If you pay for quality link-building services, you’ll only be associated with pages that have been proven reputable. This will lead to you being indexed higher on Google because you’ll be viewed as on par with these already high-ranking pages.
Comprehensive Off-Page Strategies
However, executing a comprehensive off-page SEO strategy requires much more than simple backlinks. You also need to have inbound links to your website on other areas of the internet. This will drive traffic to your site and get you higher traffic. It also will make your page appear reputable since it has been found relevant and cited more often than your competitors.
There are a few ways that you can get inbound links, the first one being guest posting. You can purchase guest post packages from SEO experts, which essentially is you paying for another reliable site to use you as a backlink.
However, this isn’t always necessary. You can also link to your own website on social media platforms like Twitter and Facebook. This is also a great way to make your social media pages more interesting to those who follow you. You can show relevant blog posts and services to people who are already interested in your business and they’ll follow the link to your page. It’s a win-win situation!
Building trust in your consumers is also a good off-page strategy. Positive reviews that mention you are categorized as good citations by crawlers, as are indirect mentions on other websites (including social media platforms). The more often your website name is shared, the more reputable you look.
Which SEO Marketing Techniques Are Right for You?
So, should you use on-site SEO for your business? Or would off-site SEO be better?
The answer to this is that you need both on-page and off-page SEO if you want to rank. Your competitors are using comprehensive strategies, and if you neglect one type of SEO, you’re sure to fall behind those who are investing in more well-rounded solutions. However, it’s also important that you ensure that you’re investing in white hat SEO rather than black hat alternatives.
White hat SEO refers to getting SEO content that has respect for your competitors and your industry as well as your client’s time. This means having relevant and engaging fresh content, natural keyword density, and links to and from relevant sources in your industry. This is in contrast to black hat SEO, which creates duplicate content, has keyword stuffing, and cloaks text and links that have been farmed from other sources.
Using black hat SEO could get you thrown to the bottom of Google rankings if you’re caught. Plus, duplicate content that’s been overstuffed to the brim with keywords just isn’t quality content.
So, to recap: you want white-hat SEO services that perform both on-site and off-site SEO.!
Get Started With Different Types of SEO
Now that you know the main types of SEO, it’s time to begin optimizing your website to its fullest potential.
Contact us with any lingering questions that you may have about SEO and how it can benefit your webpage. Our experts are happy to chat and come up with a comprehensive strategy to optimize your webpage, so we look forward to hearing from you soon!
