Being extremely busy is a very good thing. However, I was looking at our site and realized a post had not been done since December of 2013.
Time to Do a Blog Post and…
We have been blogging, but as it turns out, it is usually done on client sites or as guest posts for other marketing companies.
The Cobbler Needs Shoes
Being in the Internet marketing business, it seems we are always working on someone else’s site or social media, so neglecting our own marketing is all too easy, unless that is if we make it a priority.
What’s New @BaldyDog
Being in the SEO(Search Engine Optimization) field for over a decade now, we(Baldy Dog Search Strategies and myself) have certainly seen a wide variety of tactics that have been successful one day and the next, could cause a website to drop down into the abyss of rankings.
Social Is More Important
Social is now a standard component of all SEO campaigns. Social Media(SM) campaigns are not only a factor but they are essential for building online authority in almost every niche. I do come across websites that appear to not be using Social Media, but searching in Google for their name + Facebook or twitter usually indicates that someone is talking about them at one time or another. If the company isn’t actively using SM then they are missing out an opportunity to connect either a brand evangelist, or an angry consumer that really should not be ignored.
Needless to say, Social isn’t going away, and will continue to be more important every day.
Developing Local SEO Packages
Just as SM has been increasing in importance for business, Local SEO has continued to grow in importance for any business that gets business from a geographic demographic. We have seen an increase of requests for Local SEO from all sizes of companies. And with the ever increasing use of mobile devices, local SEO that has a strong emphasis on mobile search will continue to increase in importance. (a future blog post and service offerings about mobile SEO are forthcoming)
Increasing Emphasis on Becoming the Online Authority
This really is not new to us, but it has become increasingly easy to sell our clients on it. Back not to long ago, numerous clients only wanted to do minimal updates to their sites, and wanted us to focus on link building as the primary method of increasing their online authority.
10 Methods we Use to increase online authority
- Blogging on both an onsite company blog and guest blogging on other blogs.
- Increased use/participation in Social Media. This means communicating on Social Media channels, not just using it to broadcast their offerings. Selling on SM is acceptable, but it needs to be limited.
- Increasing positive user experience with client websites(this is more of the on-page optimization)
- Practice Reputation Management – monitor mentions and respond accordingly.
- Press Releases
- Content Marketing – This could be the same as blogging, but it could include publishing blogs to publishing eBooks, novels and newsletters.
- Seek out Public Relations opportunities – this could be in the form of sponsorships of events to do interviews.
- Using email marketing to connect with brand evangelists.
- Using Social Media to increase email lists.
- Utilize video as an essential part of their online marketing.
In summary
Link building is not entirely dead, but it certainly has been d-emphasized. Social is hot and will continue to increase. Due to the increased use of mobile devices, local/mobile search is ultra important.
A few Other Changes
This year, look for a revamped Baldydog.com, which will be rebuild in WordPress. We will also be increasing our spend on marketing, and pursuing a few other income streams such as the sales of my wife, Elizabeth Donkus’s Art.
