Mother’s Day is right around the corner…and it got us thinking about the sage advice we’ve received from our mothers over the years. Things like:

“Call everyone Mr. and Mrs.

Don’t talk bad about anybody

Wear clean underwear, and

Call me if you have any problems.”

Over the years, we’ve taken these small bits of wisdom to heart. And we’ve come to realize that this advice is not only relevant for day-to-day living, but equally relevant to proper Facebook, Twitter, Google+, etc. etiquette (yes, even the clean underwear bit…we’ll explain).

Proper Address and Conversational Topics

The first two pieces of Mom-advice tell us how to properly address those with whom you engage (or hope to engage) on social media platforms.

Good social media interactions are all about knowing your audience:

• What interests them
• What they’re looking for
• How you can interest them and give them what they’re looking for

No matter who your target demographic is—tweens, college grads, Baby Boomers, etc.—they want you to respect their online time.

Customers will engage with a company that’s relevant to their lives and interests. But they do know a marketing pitch when they see one…and they’ll avoid a company that does nothing but trumpet their own products, services and accomplishments, no matter how relevant they may be.

Customers will be loyal to companies they engage with if given a proper incentive. Sometimes that may mean online only specials, but it doesn’t have to. You can make your business relevant by providing free information, advice and links to additional resources and injecting personality into your posts and tweets.

But you have to focus on the positive—you, your business. Openly bashing your competition is a sure-fire un-incentive to be brand loyal.

Proper Attire

Per Mom’s advice, underneath your clothes should be clean undergarments. There should also be a clean presence underlying your social media activity—your website. To date, social media platforms provide amazing marketing opportunities, but you don’t own those sites—they’re not yours. Every social media campaign should be undergirded by a solid website.

So if you’re going to invest your time and effort into a solid and lasting web presence, your website needs to be clean—attractive, user friendly and packed with quality content.

Calls For Help

If you should find that meaningfully engaging with your (potential) customers adds more to your workload than you and your staff can handle or…

You just don’t feel comfortable wandering into the world of social media marketing on your own or…

You want to spruce up your website before venturing into the Twitterverse, you’re not alone.

Just like Mom was only a phone call away, SonicSEO.com is just a click away from helping you with all of your online marketing needs!

From SonicSEO.com to all the mothers out there: thank you for all the love and advice you’ve given over the years. Happy Mother’s Day!

Last year, we wrote about Twittiquette: The Etiquette of Twitter. There, we talked about generally accepted social norms and expectations that can help you when getting started on Twitter. Today, we’d like to go into a little more detail about social boundaries you just shouldn’t cross when using Twitter to promote your business.

So, what’s the fastest way to see your Twitter account tank? Here’s our list of top 7 behaviors to avoid when engaging on Twitter:

#1 — Prescheduling Tweets Incorrectly

So, there’s been a lot of talk about whether it’s okay to automate your tweets or not. As the saying goes: all things in moderation.

There’s nothing wrong with prescheduling tweets as long as you are actively engaging throughout the day as well.

The problem comes in when people only post prescheduled tweets. Oftentimes, people who aren’t actively engaging on Twitter will not only preschedule their tweets, but they’ll post lots of tweets in short blasts (i.e., back-to-back tweets where you don’t even take a breath between posts).

Gotta be honest with you: that’s annoying.

If you’re not able to really engage with people on Twitter, you may be doing your business more harm than good by incorrectly using tools designed to help you manage engagement better.

#2 — Only Tweeting About Yourself

Just like no one likes to hang out with someone who only talks about themselves, no one likes to engage with someone who only tweets about themselves.

Sure, your business may have received an award that you want people to know about. Or maybe your business really is the best in the field. Or you have a special offer you’d like to promote. It’s okay to tweet about these things; just don’t do it all the time.

Let your expertise and excellence show in the way you engage…in how you carry yourself…in how you help others. There is wisdom in the saying, “Let another praise you, and not your own mouth; someone else, and not your own lips.”

#3 — Tattletales

A tattletale is someone who is overly concerned with the actions of others—to an unhealthy degree. The tattletale outs people for perceived wrongs in an attempt to gain sympathy from others, and/or to get the ‘wrongdoer’ to comply with their demands.

This is just wrong.

Most often, tattletales show up in the form of people who follow someone and don’t get followed back. For some reason, their feelings get hurt and they post tweets about who is not following them back in an attempt to shame the person into following them.

Ummm…that’s just not a nice way to play on Twitter (or in life).

When you start engaging on Twitter, keep in mind that not everyone is going to follow you back. And that’s okay. It doesn’t make you less of a person or your business an operation of less importance.

If you start feeling offended when others don’t follow you back, ask yourself why you’re engaging on Twitter. Are you really trying to make connections? Or are you just trying to feel important?

#4 — Misusing @Mentions

Sometimes, desperate tweeters will mention as many people as possible in a tweet without saying anything meaningful. They’re most likely trying to get the attention of those mentioned, or trying to make it seem like they have a relationship with those mentioned.

That’s kind of like going to a party and name-dropping.

Or going to the home of someone you don’t really know and shouting their name in an attempt to get them to open the door.

And that kind of behavior is really unsavory.

If you’re going to mention people on Twitter, make it meaningful. If you’re going to recommend that your followers follow some people in a #FF recommendation tweet, let your followers know why they should follow the people you’re naming. Don’t just blast out a bunch of names.

And if you want to establish a relationship with someone, don’t be self-serving in the way you go about doing it. Respond to their tweets. Engage them on their turf; not yours.

#5 — Asking for Favors without taking the Time to Build a Relationship

It happens all the time. People will start @mentioning important people asking for favors. They may be asking for a review of their product or an endorsement or any number of other self-serving things.

That’s not cool.

Take the time to build a relationship.

#6 — Auto-Posting from Other Social Media Accounts

It’s so easy to set up social media accounts in such a way as to be lazy. Most people don’t want to hear about every picture you post on Facebook when they’re engaging with you on Twitter. Remember: they’re on Twitter for a reason. Not Facebook. The audiences are different and the expectations are different.

While you can integrate social media streams, be careful to set it up correctly. And make sure that’s not all you do. There’s a reason social media platforms are separate entities in the first place. They are different. Remember that.

#7 — Broken or Misleading Links

Don’t tweet out a message that doesn’t accurately reflect the link you are including. Nobody likes to be mislead. And nobody likes to have their time wasted.

And be sure to double-check your links before you post them so that you don’t frustrate people.

So, if the above actions could be perceived as annoying, it begs the question: how can you set yourself up for success on Twitter?

Well, that’s an answer we’ll save for another post. But the simple answer is: engage and be engaging.

So, let us know what you think. Have you encountered any annoying behaviors on Twitter that weren’t included in our list? We want to know about it! Leave your comment below.

How will Google's Penguin update affect your business?

Change is inevitable – especially when it comes to search engine ranking algorithms.

Last year, all the talk was about Google’s Panda update cracking down on low-quality content. And if you’ve been keeping up with search engine news, you know that all the talk is now about Google’s Penguin update.

Here’s what’s key to remember: Google makes over 500 updates to its algorithm every year. They’re not all significant enough for press, or even to be named, but the point is: search engine algorithms are constantly changing. And at SonicSEO.com, we are constantly monitoring the search engines for changes in algorithms so we can ensure your site complies with the latest standards.

So, What Exactly is the Penguin Update?

Google’s Penguin update is essentially an update that enables the search engine to better enforce its already established quality guidelines. In other words: it’s better able to combat webspam. So, if you’re playing by the rules, you really have nothing to worry about.

And How Do the Changes Affect Your Business?

Your site could be affected if you utilize any of the following tactics:

• Link Spam
• Keyword Stuffing
• Hidden Text
• Cloaking
• Paid Links
• Poor Backlink Quality
• Any tactic that tries to dupe the search engines

Penalties may include everything from losing rank in the search engines to having your site removed from ranking consideration. That could all translate to a loss of business.

If you have a good SEO company working for you, they should be aware of the changes and making sure spammy techniques are not used, maintaining a strong network of quality links and advocating on your behalf if your site was harmed for no reason.

If you are trying to maintain your site on your own, it can be hard to keep up with all the monitoring that is required to maintain high rankings. Finding a good SEO company can not only increase your bottom line, but enable you to spend more of your time running your business.

What it all Means

In a nutshell: follow Google’s Webmaster Guidelines.

If you have time to be constantly monitoring and updating your site to stay in compliance with the latest standards and practices of SEO, by all means, go for it. But if you don’t, hiring a quality SEO firm is essential to making sure you maintain consistent results in the search engines.

As far as we’re concerned, any change that makes search engine results better is good change.

Super Hero SEO Powers

The Avengers started the summer movie season with a bang this past weekend, shattering records like Thor’s hammer shatters glass. If you’ve seen the movie (or even a preview), you know that the members of the Avengers work together as a team to save the world from destruction. At SonicSEO.com, we’re a lot like the Avengers!

Okay, so we’re not really superheroes, and we don’t go around saving the world in tights. Well, maybe some of us do (we’re looking at you, SonicGuy), but we wouldn’t call pulling cats out of trees saving the world, exactly. . .

But our team knows SEO and internet marketing, and they do it really well!

And the similarities are astounding—aren’t they?

Ironman

Ironman uses cutting-edge technological tools like the Ironman suit to fight evil.

In addition to becoming overnight YouTube sensations, at SonicSEO.com, we use technological business tools to stay on the cutting edge of online marketing technologies like SEO, web design, and social media for business. Technological business tools like these help your business’ online presence stay visible and reach as many potential customers as possible.

Hawkeye

Hawkeye uses arrows and exceptional marksmanship to defeat his enemies. Archery requires you to hit a target precisely, and our aim is to hit your target audience —converting visitors into customers.

Black Widow

We don’t have elite spy skills at SonicSEO.com, but we do have elite SEO skills! We know what goes into a successful internet marketing campaign, and we wield that knowledge to get your business results on SERPs, social media, and conversions.

Captain America

Just like Captain America, we fight on the side of good! We only employ white hat techniques to get results for your business!

The Sonic Avengers

We may not have superpowers to wipe out your competition (although we can give you an advantage over your competition on the search engine results pages!). And we don’t have a mythical hammer to hit them over the head with (SonicGuy is already on it). But just like the Avengers, our team packs a punch in the online marketing world. Our team of SEO experts, Copywriting pros, Link Building ninjas and Web Design marvels work together to get great results!

Besides, even though he hasn’t quite saved the world yet, our SonicGuy does bear a striking resemblance to Captain America!

So far in Parts 1 and 2, we’ve told you exactly what not to look for in an SEO company and why. To summarize: watch out for signs that an SEO company is just a design firm parading around as an SEO company or that an SEO company has only their best interests in mind, not yours.

A Good SEO Company Provides…

To find an SEO company that keeps up with the latest SEO strategies (to keep pace with ever-changing search engine algorithms), practices ethical SEO (aka “white hat”) and is committed to helping your business grow through effective SEO and online marketing, look for a company who provides the following:

Demonstration of SEO performance on their own website.

Remember when we said to Google an SEO company (service + location)? If they appear on the first page of the SERPs, they’re practicing what they preach. They have the ability to do for your website what they do for their own.

Earned high rankings on search engine results pages (SERPs).

You want an SEO company that gets results but doesn’t overstep their bounds by guaranteeing them. To get a more objective look at the company’s results, don’t just take the company’s word for it. Ask them for references. Google each SEO company’s clients—where do they rank on the SERPs? Talk to these companies to find out how business has been helped (or not) through the SEO company’s performance.

An SEO package that includes everything necessary to achieve improved ranking results…ethically.

Effective SEO is based on keyword research—finding out what phrases people are actually using to find the products or services related to your business. Once these keywords are identified, your site is optimized through the synergy of:

• Good copy—copy that incorporates keyword phrases in a way that does not distract human readers scanning the page. It should also appeal to your target audience and building your brand’s reputation and credibility with quality information.
• A rich backlink profile—a mix of inbound and outbound links to quality sites that is continually monitored and updated.
• Current and compliant coding—coding that reflects industry trends and updates.
• User-friendly navigation—a site that allows readers to easily navigate to any page from the home page and back again without getting lost and clear call to action buttons or links on each page.
• Attractive design—an eye-pleasing design that minimizes viewer distractions but allows call to action buttons or links to “pop,” which helps to encourage viewer-to-costumer conversion.

But SEO results aren’t static because search engine algorithms aren’t static. You need an SEO company that will provides continuous monitoring and analysis of your website’s performance and make the necessary adjustments to maintain high rankings. Look for an SEO company that doesn’t charge by the hour for those changes; it should be included in your package.

Quality customer service.

A good SEO company needs to perform on your timeline, not their own, which isn’t possible if you can never reach them or get a return phone call or email in less than a week. Talking to an SEO company’s past and current clients is the best way to gauge the company’s customer service, including how they approach website maintenance.

Where Do You Find a Good SEO Company?

Dishing up good SEO is a tall order, but one that SonicSEO.com is able to provide time and time again. In our 14 years of business in the internet marketing industry, we’ve helped over 4,000 clients grow their businesses through effective online marketing. You can ask them! We’re happy to give you references. With a 95% renewal rate  on our SEO service, we already know what our clients are going to tell you about our services.

What Makes Us a Good SEO Company?

Bottom line: SonicSEO.com is good at SEO because we care.

We care about keeping up with the changes in the industry.

We care about doing things the right way.

We care about details.

But most importantly, we care about our clients!

But don’t take our word for it. Ask us for our results. Ask us for references. Talk to other SEO firms. We’re confident you’ll discover that SonicSEO.com is the complete package you need for success online.

Social Media for All Sizes of Businesses.

Social Media is Important for Businesses of All Sizes

Social media can’t be ignored by businesses anymore. Not even direct sales businesses that typically rely on door-to-door, word-of-mouth sales.

A recent Wall Street Journal article outlined cosmetics company Avon’s struggle to remedy falling sales; the profit per representative in the US has seen a 75% decline over the past decade.

Why?

Many are attributing it to the company’s reluctance to adopt technology that’s relevant to today’s culture — namely, social media.

While Avon does have a website and e-catalogs, they are just beginning to establish a strategic and unified social media presence.  

Battling against such beauty retail giants as Sephora (which recently launched their highly re-designed social media campaign) and Beauty.com, Avon has come to the late realization that social media is critical for a company that wants to remain relevant in a digitally-connected culture.

It’s not enough to only have a website anymore. Internet users are looking for a way to connect with companies on a more personal level.

How Social Media Can Help Your Business

Avon representatives are recognizing the need for social media to remain relevant in today’s culture, and other businesses can learn from what’s motivating Avon to adopt social media. Two of the primary ways a strategic and active social media presence can help a business include:

1. Social media helps businesses generate leads, no matter how big or how small  

 Studies have found that more than half of active Twitter users follow companies, brands or products, and that 79% of Twitter users are more likely to recommend brands they follow.

What’s more, companies that use Twitter average about two times more leads per month than those companies that do not engage in social media.

Using Twitter and other social media should help Avon generate leads, just as it could help your business. What matters isn’t the size of the company. It’s the social media presence that helps businesses generate leads.

2. Social media can help you reach more clients   

Avon has been around since the late 1800s, and is known by its trademark phrase: “Avon Calling!” Yet Avon is struggling to remain relevant as social media takes over customer outreach from the traditional door-to-door or make-up party methods.

63% of companies using social media say it has increased marketing effectiveness, and more than half of US small businesses say social media plays an important role in active sales.

Avon is a large and well-established company, but dwindling US sales mean that customers are connecting elsewhere for their make-up needs. By utilizing social media, Avon and companies like your business can increase their marketing effectiveness.

Now is the Time to Join the Social Media Revolution

Social media is a revolution of business marketing. With nearly 2/3 of US internet users logging on regularly to a social network, there is an immense pool of potential customers for businesses to connect with.

What Avon teaches us is that no business is too big — or too small — to have a strong social media presence. Whether it’s Avon, Mary Kay or Tupperware, we believe direct sales businesses can benefit from a strong, strategic social media presence. Large companies with local sales representatives need to create a unified social media front that enables them to engage clients at the corporate level, as well as encourage reps to engage clients on an individual level.

A successful social media campaign does take effort to strategically engage clients and potential clients on behalf of your business; there is a right way and a wrong way to interact and reach out. Social media is also an investment when it comes to time. An experienced internet marketing firm like SonicSEO.com understands the ins-and-outs of social media and can help you successfully navigate the marketing revolution that is social media.

It’s never too late to join this revolution in communication for the benefit of your company!

Contact SonicSEO.com to learn more about our social media packages today!

When it comes to SEO, the red flags indicate that an SEO company may be unequipped to properly provide SEO services, is approaching SEO in a way that could get your site penalized or is just plain out to get your money. Let’s walk through them one by one:

Red Flag: An SEO company whose website is not SEO’d

Indicates:

1. The company is not keeping up with SEO strategies, which are always changing in response to changing search engine algorithms.

   If an SEO company isn’t keeping up with the times, not only is their website obsolete, yours could be too.

2. The company is too busy with other things to update their website.

   If an SEO company is too busy to effectively maintain their own internet presence, how do you know they aren’t too busy to help you improve or maintain yours? A too-busy business could mean that your SEO company isn’t able to provide a timely response to your questions, concerns or maintenance issues.

3. The company just may not know what they’re doing.

   Unfortunately, some SEO companies aren’t really SEO companies. They’re web design firms that know that SEO is a buzz word. But there’s a lot more to SEO than an attractive web site.

Red Flag: An SEO company who promises ranking results

Indicates:

1. An SEO company that is likely using “black hat” SEO strategies that produce quick results, but not sustainable ones.
2. Black hat SEO tactics are often “read” by search engine algorithms as spam. If tagged as a spammer, your website may be penalized—i.e., taken out of ranking consideration, making you invisible to internet searchers.

Red Flag: An SEO company who says they’ll “submit” your site to search engines

Indicates:

1. The company may not really understand how search engines work.

   Sometimes, people confuse directories with search engines. And you do have to submit content to directories…but not to search engines. This may be one of those tell-tale signs that a design firm is overreaching its expertise.

2. The company may be trying to take advantage of your not knowing how search engines work.

   If a company says they’ll submit something, it makes it sound like 1) they know the process and 2) they have connections to get your website ranking well. It can be a way to keep the internet a mystery to you so that you feel powerless to get your website up and indexed by major search engines.

   Truth be told, if you publish your own website, the search engines take care of the rest. Their “crawling” algorithms recognize new content and “read” it to figure out what to do with it.

Red Flag: An SEO company who gives strict limits on what they’ll do

Red Flag: An SEO company who parses out parts of the SEO process into different marketing packages or contracts

Indicates:

1. Both of these red flags are signs that an SEO company may be trying to maximize their profit potential without any concern for how their packaging or keyword phrase/paragraph/page/inbound link limits affect your site’s performance (odd, considering your performance reflects their performance).

   We realize some limits need to be set. An SEO company can’t develop and optimize a 200-page site at the same cost as a 50-page site.

   But if an SEO company is really interested in helping your site perform better, they should offer service that reflects the understanding that effective and lasting search engine optimization only happens when all parts of your site (i.e., text with strategically incorporated keywords, coding, design, inbound links, etc.) are the best they can be for both human viewers and search engine crawlers. “Optimizing” individual paragraphs or a few pages here and there isn’t effective.

One Last Thing

Like we said in the last blog: bad SEO really upsets us because we’re passionate about helping you get more clients through improved website performance by doing SEO the right way. And in Part 3, we’ll tell you exactly what that looks like.

But you don’t have to wait for the final installment of our Beginner’s Guide blog trilogy to find the right SEO company and start improving your website’s performance. Contact SonicSEO.com today!

Recognize Bad SEO Business

When you’re looking for an SEO company, you want a company that’s kept up with search engine optimization industry and understands that optimizing your website is a holistic process, not one that can be done in pieces and still be effective.

You can start finding a good SEO company by process of elimination. When you see these red flags, look elsewhere for your SEO needs:

• An SEO company whose website is not SEO’d

  If you Google “your city + SEO,” does the company you’re looking for appear in the first two pages of results? Try a few different search terms like “SEO consulting” or “internet marketing.” See them yet?

• An SEO company who promises ranking results

  Search engines are changing their algorithms all the time, and that changes rankings frequently, too. If a company promises they can get you to #1 in Google’s SERPs, raise an eyebrow.

• An SEO company who says they’ll “submit” your site to search engines

  You don’t have to submit anything to a search engine. It just doesn’t work that way. (We’ll talk more about this in Part 2)

• An SEO company who gives strict limits on what they’ll do

  If an SEO company limits the number of paragraphs on a page or pages on your site or search terms they’ll optimize for, watch out. They’re probably protecting their time and resources more than looking for ways to optimize yours.

• An SEO company who parses out parts of the SEO process into different marketing packages or contracts

  When it comes to SEO, the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. You can’t just do some SEO stuff and not others. It chips away at the effectiveness. If a company is trying to bundle some SEO practices together but withhold others until you upgrade to a bigger package, look somewhere else.

   

In Part 2, we’ll help you understand why these practices are red flags. When you know more about how SEO should be done, you are better equipped to find the best SEO company that will show you real ROI for your internet marketing dollars.

(If you don’t want to wait for Parts 2 and 3, just contact SonicSEO.com now…we’re the best!)

So, what’s better? SEO or PPC?

We don’t believe that’s a fair question. Both SEO and PPC have value. And when they’re strategically combined, great things can happen.

When a PPC Campaign makes Sense

At SonicSEO.com, we believe the foundation of any solid Internet marketing campaign is SEO. It provides lasting results and a strong ROI over time.

So, when does it make sense to add PPC to the mix? Two of the main reasons include:

You Have a New Site

PPC is a great way to get noticed fast. Whereas SEO is a slow-cooking process that yields strong long-term results. If you’re counting on your new website to get noticed quickly, using PPC while your SEO has time to marinate may be a good solution.

 You’re having a Special or Promotion

Since SEO takes time to see results, if you have a time-sensitive special, discount or promotion you’re running, PPC may be a great way to get the word out and get noticed fast.

Of course, PPC ads can also help you test landing pages and keyword phrases as you continue to grow your overall Internet marketing strategy.

So, What do you Say in 95 Characters?

When you’ve decided that a PPC campaign is right for you, next comes the challenging task of creating compelling copy—in 95 characters (yup, that’s less space than a tweet)!

While the character limit may feel intimidating, you can pack a lot of punch if you craft your words carefully.

How do you do that?

Well, there really is no definitive answer. But there are some general guidelines to follow:

First, make a list of the features and benefits of your product or service. Features are those things that describe your product or what it does. Benefits are those things that describe how a product or service is going to positively impact a person’s life.

Once you’ve made a solid list of all the features and benefits of your product or service, take the time to understand your audience. Why would someone need your product or service? What is the impetus that is driving people to seek your product or service?

Based on your audience analysis, determine which benefits would be best to highlight in your ad and which features need to be included. Keep in mind that attention-grabbing, effective ads often emphasize benefits over features.

Finally, make sure your ad is compelling, that it meets a specific need and calls people to take action.

Generally, it’s a good idea to craft a couple ads about the same product or service and test them to see which one generates a stronger response. Learn from it and continue to build on your knowledge of what works for future ads.

Of course, if you’re having trouble coming up with the language for your ad, we’re here to help! Just contact us. J

Under the right conditions, combining short-term solutions (PPC) with long-term solutions (SEO) can help you yield the results you’re looking for from your search engine marketing.

Google+ is (relatively) new. It’s cool. It’s fresh. And it’s yet another social network that businesses need to learn how to use. Since it’s social in nature, there are no hard and fast rules on how to succeed (just like there are no hard and fast rules on how to succeed in life). But there are some general principles that can help move you in the right direction toward maximizing your presence on Google+.

Here are a few quick tips for businesses new to actively engaging on Google+:

• Organize your circles. Have a different message you want to communicate with potential clients than you do with established and loyal clients? Google+ enables you to segment your audience so you can send targeted messages to people.
• Use Unique Google+ Tools to Engage. The most noteworthy tool for businesses is the opportunity to ‘Hangout’ with your target audience using live video chats.
• Be Consistent. Make sure you know what message you’re sending to your audience, and keep it along the same lines. Switching up your online image all the time can leave users feeling less connected to you and your business.
• Be Interesting. Okay, we know that’s easier said than done, but don’t just talk about yourself on Google+. Use the platform as a way to show people the personal side of your business. Focusing your message on consumers’ needs—without blatantly promoting yourself all the time—is a good place to start. Be genuine.
• Respond quickly to customers. You can do this by posting links, videos, or just responding to them with an answer. Any way you do it, make sure that you’re always monitoring your page for updates.

Developing a strategic plan for reaching audiences on Google+ is important for any business. Does that mean you should stop using Facebook? No. Does that mean you should stop engaging the Twitterverse? No. It means you need to have a multi-faceted approach to social media marketing to meet consumers where they are.