Inbound Marketing Blog

SEO used to be a lot easier to do before Google’s search algorithm became as sophisticated as it is today. Couple of keywords here, a few links there, and you were sure to start ranking for some pretty competitive terms.

All that has changed. The problem, however, is that some SEO companies and “professionals” will still practice these tactics in order to see quick results. You know the type: the ones that can “guarantee” you top rankings on Google in 3 months. While these black hat tactics may still work to some degree, the risk of being penalized or de-indexed is a far greater threat to your business than taking a little extra time to rank on Google.

No industry is untouched by the current situation with Covid-19, which means most businesses are rethinking their approach to marketing and sales. For many, this change has prompted an interest in Search Engine Optimization, or SEO. 

Web marketing services are more essential than ever for businesses right now. With the markets crashing and businesses closing their physical doors left and right, having an online presence is the only thing that will keep businesses generating revenue. Before the Coronavirus pandemic made its entrance, roughly 80% of business focus was on brick-and-mortar efforts and (if a company was mindful of this digital age) roughly 20% of their business efforts were spent on digital advertising and web marketing. So, what happens now that brick-and-mortar businesses have to close their doors? How do they keep employees employed and continue to see cash flow?

Affiliate websites are often described as "passive income" opportunities, but anyone who has run an affiliate site knows it's far from passive. In the early days of affiliate marketing, markets were less saturated, fewer sites were going after the same niche, and many site owners were able to add content, include affiliate links, and set it and forget it. 

After building and marketing websites for over ten years and working in technology, marketing, and visual design for many years before that, you can imagine that I've seen my share of the good, the bad, and the ugly.

Perhaps my mental frame is skewed a bit because of what I know, but I see consistent problems with websites.

What's interesting is how many websites are close to being great but miss by a few key elements. I see this problem across websites both large and small. It doesn’t seem to matter how much companies spend. This issue is present on websites that are less than $1,000 and websites that are more than $100,000.

Take a look at your website and see how you stack up against the following issues. Note that these issues are in no particular order. So, don't place more weight on one because of where it sits on the list.

When I started working remotely a few years ago, I thought I had a good idea of what I was getting myself into- but man, was it a shock. Many professionals who have made this switch cold-turkey like I did understand what I’m talking about. Going from face-to-face interactions and working in a cubicle daily, to suddenly having the freedom to work from anywhere, without your coworkers in your immediate circle, is a shock, among so many other changes you experience.

I’ve learned a lot in my time as a remote professional and have learned to set myself up for success. If you are new to remote work, are considering it, or you’ve been doing it for a while but don’t feel your rhythm is sufficient, this blog is for you. I want to impart the things I’ve learned along the way to help you set yourself up for success.

If you're writing content for a website and you're hoping that website will grow and attract plenty of visitors, then you understand the importance of getting that content just right. There's a lot that goes into optimizing your site for search engines and user experience, but what you write is just as important as any of those SEO and UX tactics. 

See what I did there? The 5 C's of selecting photos for your site... now that they're all C's, you'll all remember them better!

I can't stress enough the importance of beginning with good content. From a design perspective, so much of the impression your online presence leaves on users depends on the imagery you select and how you use it. More often than not, clients come to us with little to no imagery for their web project. Even when they do, the odds of it being good imagery are pretty slim. Needless to say, I spend a lot of my time scouring stock photography sites searching for fantastic imagery to bring all the elements of a web masterpiece together.

Whether you're searching for imagery as a client or on behalf of a client, here are a few items to keep in mind:

Is it crisp?

When we talk about algorithms, it's usually in the context of the factors you need to consider for ranking in the search engines. But did you know that email also has algorithms that determine whether or not you get into someone's email inbox? Say you write an email to send to many of your leads. You've drafted (what you think) is an incredibly persuasive email--perhaps one of the best you've ever written. You send it out, excitedly anticipating a great response to it. A few days go by, and you haven't gotten a single response.

What happened? Did anyone get it? Did they read it if they did get it? Are they upset that I sent that email?

It can be hard not to take the lack of response personally.

If you have HubSpot software, you're able to see this kind of info after an email has been sent out. You'll see exactly who opened, who clicked through, who didn't receive it and why, as well as additional helpful information. If you don't have access to that kind of info (because you don't utilize software that provides it), you're just left guessing at what happened, and that can be unnerving.

Whether or not you have access to these kinds of analytics, there are a few things that are important to know when it comes to sending emails and how to conquer email algorithms.