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Top 5 Most Read Search Influence Blogs of August

It’s back to school time, and you know what that means—time to catch up on your reading! Here are the top five most read Search Influence blog posts of August. Study up!

1: What Happened to Facebook’s 20% Text Grid Tool?

Ranking in the top five for yet another month, this updated blog post gives the ins and outs of Facebook’s latest text grid update. Peruse this popular post to learn what this update means for your advertising.

2: Search Influence Jobs: What Does an Account Associate Do?

Get a sneak peak into daily life at Search Influence! This upbeat post talks about three great aspects of working as an Account Associate: personal growth, great team members, and helping businesses.

3: Local SEO: How to Clean up Citations for Better SERP Visibility

If the image above makes zero sense, then you should probably read this post. Learn all about how consistent citations can increase your website’s visibility to search engines.

4: 5 Ways Technology Has Changed the Olympic Games

There’s no better remedy for Olympic withdrawal. Instead of mourning the sudden lack of Michael Phelps and Simone Biles in your life, learn about technology’s impact on the Olympics.

5: Two New Hires Join Search Influence

Welcome Kayla and Mildred! Get to know the two newest members of the Search Influence team, complete with fun facts about cars, Google Android, and Wolverine 3.

Image 1 Credit

September 6, 2016
Facebook Live: How Small Businesses Can Drive Traffic to Their Website

Ahh, the age-old question. Similar to Periscope on rival social media company Twitter, Facebook Live is a free service that Facebook recently rolled out for their users, pages, and public figures to stream live video to their friends, followers, and fans. The feature first launched on Facebook’s Facebook Mentions app, which is used by celebrities such as actors, musicians, and athletes to engage with their fans. A year later, it was made public for all users who used the Facebook mobile app on their iPhone or Android device.

Using Facebook Live for Your Business

Facebook Live is a great tool that can be easily utilized by small, medium, and even large businesses. Live streaming is becoming larger and even more popular every day. This marketing technique is breaking down traditional marketing methods. There is nothing more authentic than live streaming, allowing companies to connect and interact with their audience in real time. No edits, cuts, or reshoots—just you and your fans. Opening a new location for your business? Go ahead and live stream the grand opening and show off the new pad. Own a restaurant? Give a behind-the-scenes look at the kitchen and how your chefs create a popular dish. Own a boutique? Show off new trends and looks. The possibilities are endless.

How Can I Start Using It?

First: If you are using your business page, go ahead and download the Facebook Pages Manager on your iPhone or Android device. If you are using your personal Facebook page, disregard this step.

Second: Tap on “Live” from the menu. The icon should look like this:

Fourth: Add a description of what your live video will be about. Choose your audience before hitting “Go Live.”

Fifth: Be sure to smile! You’ll see a three-second countdown before your broadcast begins.

Happy live streaming!

September 1, 2016
Here Are 10 Eye-Catching Medical Display Ads That Worked

Need a little inspiration for your practice’s online ad campaign? The following medical display ads are some examples of online advertising at its finest. They boast an impressive balance of striking imagery, audience targeting, creative calls-to-action, and concise copy.

These advertisements from Stewart Dermatology and Dr. Grant Stevens, FACS, at Marina Plastic Surgery utilize close-ups of women, which grab the attention of viewers more effectively than the alternative. Consider using real people in your ads to appeal to more potential patients.

#1: Stewart Dermatology

#2: Dr. Grant Stevens

You can also target specific audiences to yield even better results for your online ads. For example, these ads from Gleevec and Allure Dental could target people specifically in New York or specifically adult males seeking dental or orthodontic work.

#3: Gleevec

#4: Allure Dental

Using a creative call-to-action is also essential for conversions. The following ads from Medscape, Dermatology Associates of Wisconsin, S.C., and Hospital for Special Surgery challenge the viewer to do much more than “Click Here.” Consider trying “Request an Appointment” or “See Our Success Stories” on your display ads as a way to challenge your potential patients to more actively engage with your advertisements.

#5: Medscape

#6: Dermatology Associates of Wisconsin

#7: Hospital for Special Surgery

Short and catchy phrases and slogans can do a great job of getting and holding viewers’ attention. Here are a few examples from Doctors of Osteopathic Medicine, Hass Plastic Surgery and MediSpa, and Coolsculpting: “We treat the woman. Not the symptom,” “Love the memories, forget the lines,” and “Lose the fat. No needles. No surgery. No downtime.”

These slogans perfectly utilize short, concise phrases that successfully capture the viewer’s attention.

#8: Doctors of Osteopathic Medicine

#9: Hass Plastic Surgery and MediSpa

#10: Coolsculpting

August 31, 2016
How to Leverage Pokémon Go to Drive New Sales for Your Business

From the first time I booted up Pokémon Blue in my Gameboy Pocket way back in ‘98, I dreamed of being the very best—like no one ever was. Fast-forward to July 7th, 2016, and we all actually live in a Pokémon World. Once Pokémon Go was released, it quickly smashed the previous records of most downloads in a week, fastest app to ten million downloads, and in less than a month after its release, it has topped over twenty million downloads. This is great news for Nintendo. Prior to the release of Pokémon Go, their market share was showing a strong downward trend. The Wii U console was not keeping pace with the powerful technology of the PS4 and Xbox One, they had to liquidate most of their majority share of the Seattle Mariners due to new management, and they had not released a new handheld system (or even talked about a new one) since November 2014.

How Does This Affect Me?

After a little more background, I’ll make this relevant to the business world, I swear. In addition to the 151 unique Pokémon that people are running around trying to catch, there are two very important structures that have been placed in this game — Gyms and Pokestops.

The image above is a Pokémon Gym. Once a player reaches Level 5 in the game, they join the blue Team Mystic, the yellow Team Instinct, or the red Team Valor, represented by the “legendary” birds Articuno, Zapdos, and Moltres, respectively. These three teams constantly battle their Pokémon for control of these locations and can train with their teammates to help their gym gain more prestige, which allows more teammates to add their Pokémon to it.

This image is a Pokestop. These locations were selected as landmarks to add the travel aspect of the game. By tapping on a Pokestop, a detail screen pops up which has the name of the location; a photo of the location; and in some cases, a brief description of the location. Swiping the image causes it to spin, which makes it drop a few items and gives the player 50 experience points towards leveling up their avatar. Pokestops can only be activated every five minutes so, under normal circumstances, it is beneficial to collect your items and continue moving on towards the next Pokestop. However, even the most seasoned Pokémon Trainer needs a break every now and then. Unfortunately, to be the very best, training can’t stop. Niantic, the developer of Pokémon Go, thought of this and included an item called a Lure Module in this game.

When a Lure Module is set at a Pokestop, Pokémon are attracted to its location and appear without having to walk around constantly. With enough trainers present, it is even rumored that rare Pokémon show up to the Pokestop. Lure Modules are very seldom given to players as they level up but they are also available for 100 Pokecoins, which is equivalent to $0.99. They only last for 30 minutes, so players are constantly purchasing them and placing them at their favorite Pokestops.

Okay, So How Does This Actually Affect Me?

Yes, there is actually a point to all of this, but it requires a little bit of creativity. Businesses that normally serve as gathering places for large groups of people make ideal candidates for utilizing Pokémon Go to bolster their business. First, you need to see if there is a Pokestop near your business. If a player can stay at your business with the Pokestop active, you’re golden. At the base level, it costs a Trainer a dollar per half hour to keep a Lure Module active on a Pokestop. Once the Lure Module is set, other trainers will be attracted just as much as the Pokémon. The Lure Module owner is the particular subject that you want to collaborate with.

Offering the owner of the Lure Module a small discount is one way to attract business. The chance of getting more business increases as long as you continue to have Lure Modules active. If your business is a coffee shop, maybe consider offering a pastry with a coffee if a customer shows you that they set up a Lure Module. If your business is a bar, maybe consider offering the Lure Module owner a $1 discount on a well drink or domestic beer if they decide to set a Lure Module. The potential is limitless. Some larger locations, such as zoos and parks, can have multiple stops. A zoo, for example, could advertise all of their Pokestops and offer a discount for Pokémon Go players.

Pokémon Gyms may seem harder to work around than Pokestops, but once you consider that every player has already pledged feverish allegiance to their team, a Pokémon Gym all of a sudden becomes the best thing that could’ve happened to your business. In this case, there’s really nothing that you actually have to do. People will eventually migrate towards your business to try to maintain control. It would be worth mentioning that your establishment is a Pokémon Gym on your social media profiles to help spread the news. Maintaining team neutrality would be a good idea; no one really goes into a New Orleans Saints bar and proclaims the Atlanta Falcons are the best team in the league.

That’s a Lot to Poke-think About

Though this may seem very straightforward, any sort of campaign, especially those that involve online presence, is oftentimes left up to the pros. Here at Search Influence, we offer a full suite of online presence options, one of them being Social Media Optimization, which would allow you to relax and let us create your PokeAds for you.

Image 1 Credit | Image 2 Credit | Image 3 Credit | GIF 1 Credit

August 9, 2016
How Can Facebook’s New Profile Layout Affect Your Business?

Facebook recently rolled out a new layout for business pages and the marketing implications could be more than initially meet the eye.

Profile Picture Positioning

We’ve all seen clever interactive cover photos with the overlapping square profile image on the standard desktop site. A drink from the cover photo is poured into a glass in the profile picture. A man in the profile picture passes a ball to a woman in the cover photo. A giant cat in the cover photo peers down on a tiny human in the profile picture. The square profile image also acts as quick and effective brand recognition when seen standalone in a newsfeed as well as when viewed on the mobile version of Facebook. But with the profile picture now located in the sidebar to the left of the cover photo, the playful effect of the overlapping images is null and void.

Example 1:

Example 2:

How Does the Relocation Affect Your Business?

Although businesses won’t be able to get creative with the overlapping interactive profile images, the relocation of the square profile picture actually frees up a lot of valuable visual real estate on the cover photo that was once covered up by the image, company name, and CTA buttons. Even if you didn’t have interactive profile images on your business page, there’s a lot of space—over 20% of the area of the cover photo to be exact—that was considered off limits for content and is now fair game. Even on the new mobile version of business profiles, the cover photo isn’t covered up by the profile picture or text.

Additional Sidebar Elements

Beneath the profile picture, you’ll also see tabs that were once accessible under the cover photo on desktop sites. In the old layout, only a few tabs were visible, with the additional tabs located in the dropdown “More” option. With the new sidebar, however, all of the tabs are now visible. The buttons that were located on the cover photo itself are also positioned right below it, with the main CTA button located on a more eye-catching blue background. This left-aligned navigation also stays in place while the user scrolls down the page.

July 22, 2016
These 10 Expert Tips Will Drive Traffic to Your Business’s Website
It doesn’t take a web expert to know that more traffic to your website means more business. However, researching ways to improve your online traffic isn’t always easy. We asked our in-house experts for their thoughts and came up with these ten ways to drive traffic to your website.

1: Implement Schema Markup and Rich Snippets on Your Site

Schema Markup is structured data that labels existing elements on your website so search engines can better understand the content. Essentially, when Schema.org markup is implemented into your website’s HTML source (the only place where it should be visible), it clearly defines specific parts of your content, such as your business address and telephone number.

Rich Snippets are a structured data markup only recognized by search engine algorithms. When used on appropriate content, Rich Snippets can show exact content from a website on Search Engine Result Pages (SERPs) of search engines like Google, Yahoo, and Bing. These snippets are the few lines of text under every search result. For example, if you run a medical practice that wants to advertise its high rate of patient satisfaction, you can markup content from patient testimonials so that your glowing reviews show up when people search for doctors in your area.

2: Improve Your Site Speed

Site speed is the amount of time a page needs to completely load. This matters for both users and search engines, as users are less likely to stay on a website that takes a long time to load and search engines will penalize your website for being too slow. Google’s PageSpeed Insights Tool is a great way to analyze your site for ways to improve your site speed and will provide you with detailed information on how to fix each issue.

3: Use Google Search Console

Google Search Console (formerly Webmaster Tools) allows you to indicate to Google the various details of your site. A very important part of this process is submitting your sitemap so that search engines can better crawl and categorize your site—if you haven’t done this yet, you should! Search Console will give you a report on the average ranking of your website on SERPs for specific search queries. These reports will let you know what you should be improving on your site to gain a high position and click rate.

4: Publish Press Releases

Press Releases are great when you have an announcement to make or a story to tell. They’re also highly useful for helping you own your business name in SERPs. Sites like PRWeb and Cision will distribute your press releases for you and get them published on news sites and blogs. For a little extra money, they’ll also send your release to journalists and bloggers, in hopes that they’ll publish it on their sites as well.

5: Perform On-Site Link Building

Internal Linking is a link from one page to another on your website. This process fosters a great user experience, as anyone visiting your site will find themselves easily hopping from one page to another without having to really search for the information they’re looking for. Search engines like Google are very focused on user experience. Good internal link building helps googlebot understand the relationship between pages, among a set of content.

6: Perform Off-Site Link Earning

By submitting your website to online forums, specifically those that pertain to your business’ physical and professional communities, you’re naturally increasing the chances that someone will visit your website. Engaging on social platforms like StumbleUpon, Reddit, Digg, and Delicious can be more valuable than you think.

7: Perform Off-Site Citation Building

Similarly to off-site link earning, submitting business listings to niche directories (industry & categorical), data feeds, major directories like Google, Yelp, Bing, Foursquare, YP.com, and secondary directories like Merchant Circle, HotFrog is a great way to drive traffic to your website.

8: Syndicate Your Videos

It’s no secret that having a YouTube channel filled with optimized videos drives up web traffic. However, you should also syndicate your videos across other sustainable video channels, such as Vimeo and DailyMotion. Videos will earn links and citations on social sites because they’re highly shareable. These increase link source diversity.

9: Post and Promote on Social Media

This may seem like a no-brainer, but you would be surprised by how many businesses don’t actually do this. Paying for promoted posts on Facebook offers a relatively inexpensive way to get your business in front of target consumers. Facebook also offers radius-based targeting for ads, which lets you target people who are/were:
- Living in your area
- Located in your area
- Recently visiting your area
- Traveling to/in your area
Posting and promoting isn’t limited to Facebook, though! LinkedIn and Pinterest are other examples of great social media sites that are perfect for driving traffic to your website.

10: Be a Resource in Your Industry Through Sharable Content

It’s one thing to be ahead of your competition, but it’s another thing entirely to be an industry thought leader. You can do this by creating shareable content. For example, you MUST have a blog. Your blog should be on site, not offsite. If your website is hosted on a CMS like WordPress, then you can easily integrate a blog within your existing site! Not only does blogging build authority for your brand and show off the human side of your company, but according to Hubspot, businesses who prioritize blogging experience 13 times increase in ROI.

You should also start to create infographics. They combine easily digestible—but valuable—information with a visually appealing information, making them highly shareable across all social media websites. For example, this infographic, created for a medical directory, was shared more than 900 times, got more than 300 Facebook shares, and was pinned more than 150 times.

Want more information? Watch our recent webinar for more information and tips.
June 20, 2016
Earn More Facebook Friends for Your Business with These 4 Tips

According to the National Day Calendar, what we all know as February 11 is actually observed as National Make A Friend Day, not to be confused with June 8, which is National Best Friends Day (though we celebrate that here, too!). As it is described on the National Day Calendar website, new friends can broaden our horizons by guiding us to see with fresh perspectives, challenging us to try something new, and connecting us to opportunities, all of which are common features of Facebook friends.

Friends Are for More Than Just People

For this reason, people aren’t the only ones adding more friends to their Facebook lists. In fact, businesses, brand names, and even franchises have joined the world of Facebook. The more friends your company can make on social media sites such as Facebook, the more your audience grows, as will your SEO, and from there, the success of your business.

Facebook itself understands this great significance of friendship, as it just recently celebrated its 12th anniversary with a new goal of having five billion of the world’s seven billion humans connected to the social network by 2030.

But first, you have to know how to make those friends, so we’ve gathered four main ways to grow a Facebook friends list for your franchise.

1. Post More Videos – It’s All About the Movement

In the same way that YouTube grew to be so popular, Facebook Live is allowing people to broadcast in real time to their audiences directly from their mobile devices. The movement of the video in the News Feed catches the attention of those who are watching, and they’re more likely to share such content with their own group of friends, which will result in more views on your page, and from there, more friends.

2. The Message – Communication Is Key

The recently enhanced communication tools on Facebook help businesses offer real-time customer support through messages in the form of an online chat type of private messaging system. With this advanced messaging ability, your franchise can respond to conversations in private, more quickly, and with greater sensitivity than ever before.

3. Pass It On – The Ripple Effect of Shareability

Organic reach via Facebook is increasingly becoming a thing of the past, but there is one way around it, and it is through shared content. When you craft your Facebook status in a way that will encourage or entice your friends to pass it on to their friends, this will increase your reach, which will therefore lead to an increase in your list of friends.

4. Advertise with a Purpose – Give Them What They Want

When creating paid Facebook ads for your franchise, try to think with regards to what your audience wants more than what you seek. If you create an attention-grabbing, thought-provoking advertisement in a unique way, such as the carousel format available on Facebook, then you will be more likely to succeed. Along with that, create content that requires or encourages an interactive response from those who will view it. The more that people respond to what you post, the more others will see it and visit your Facebook page as a result.

When it comes to the nature of growing a Facebook friends list for your franchise, think in the same way that you would if you were trying to make friends yourself. With that, you will personify your franchise in a way that makes it relatable to those who see your content, encouraging them to engage with you and therefore continuously add more friends to your list!

February 11, 2016
The Easy Guide to Holiday Marketing: Four Tips to Help Land Last-Minute Shoppers

The Black Friday frenzy might be over, but that doesn’t mean people are done shopping. If your customers are anything like me, they’ll be walking through your doors at noon on Christmas Eve.

So how do you score the last-minute shoppers? Here are a few easy, last-minute marketing tips to help your business succeed this holiday season:

1. Go Mobile

According to Think with Google, 28% of all holiday retail sales were influenced by shopping-related mobile searches last year. Having a mobile-friendly site weighs heavy in user experience; users can better navigate your inventory, contact you, and see what kind of holiday deals you can offer them.

2. Utilize Social Media

Utilizing social media sites like Facebook, Twitter, and even Instagram can be a great way to draw customers into your brand. Showing them their shopping options and being easily accessible is a way to set your business apart in such a busy and competitive season.

3. Tailor Your Content

Tailor your content specifically for the holiday season. Your social posts should be helpful to the customer, something along the lines of “We’ve picked out the perfect gifts, so all you have to do is buy them!” Your posts shouldn’t add to the stress of their last-minute shopping. Website content should feature holiday hours, holiday shipping notifications, and anything else that might affect a customer this holiday season.

4. Make Your Business Stand Out

Offering incentives like free shipping, free gifts with purchase, and giveaways can help your business stand out among local competitors. Advertise these incentives on your site, social channels, and in your store. With so many ways to reach your business, you want shoppers to easily know why they should choose you over a competitor.

Use these four super quick and easy ways to better market your business this holiday season.

Image Credits:

Orange gift

Red gift

December 15, 2015
Will Camp Out for Marketing Tips: Your Black Friday Survival Guide

November is here! A month full of falling leaves, dropping temperatures, giving thanks, and many people’s favorite shopping day: Black Friday. Last year, 133.7 million people shopped during the Black Friday weekend, according to a Fundivo.com study. As a local business, you may be trying to get a piece of the Black Friday pie this year, but you might not know where to start. Follow these tips to make the most of your online marketing efforts on one of the busiest the shopping days of the year.

Plan Early

The time to start thinking about marketing for Black Friday is now. If you traditionally experience a high volume of customers and sales during this time, like a retail store, you won’t necessarily be able to think about your marketing plan as you’re stocking extra inventory a few days before.

One of the first things to decide is what your business is going to offer for Black Friday. Is it going to be a storewide sale? Will you sell a product you don’t typically offer? Consider your goals and determine what makes the most sense for your business.

Get the Word Out

Once you’ve chosen your Black Friday offer, you need to let people know about it. By promoting your offer online, you’ll be able to reach significantly more potential customers than by promoting it in-store alone.

If you don’t have extra budget specifically for your Black Friday offer, use social media to connect with your fans. Stand out amongst competitors by posting images of products that will be available during your sale or offer an online-only incentive to entice shoppers to stop in on Black Friday.

If you’re willing to put a bit of spend behind your efforts, Facebook advertising is an affordable alternative to a costly pay-per-click campaign. You can use their impressive targeting options to get your message in front of your specific demographic. Facebook targeting ranges from gender, age, and location to education, income level, interests, shopping habits, and more.

Also, consider adding a page to your website with information specific to your Black Friday offer. That way, anyone scouting out sales in your area beforehand will know exactly what to expect from your business.

Be Creative

Black Friday isn’t just for retail. Although retail stores tend to see the majority of the action, it doesn’t mean other industries can’t jump on the bandwagon.

Not everyone loves waiting in line overnight and battling crowds all day, but who doesn’t love a bargain? If you’re a service area business, reward your customers for being productive with home maintenance on Black Friday by offering discounted service or installation. Since many people take the day off work, it’s a great time to take advantage of gaining some extra business.

Restaurant offers are also a great way to capitalize on Black Friday foot traffic. Let customers know ahead of time that appetizers are half off or you’re offering happy hour prices all day so they know where to go when they need a break from the shopping crowds.

Make sure your business is taking full advantage of Black Friday this year by creating your marketing plan early, making your offer known, and utilizing creativity to gain more customers.

Image Sources:
Jingle All The Way
Glee
Gossip Girl
Shopaholic

November 10, 2015
Google My Business Brings the Holiday Cheer with Special Office Hours Pre-Sets

Yesterday, a new My Business feature was published by Google in the product forums. This new feature allows business owners to pre-set special hours to their My Business listing for holiday closings or special times that are exceptions to your day-to-day office hours.

There is more information in Google Support documentation. If you have many locations to update, there is a spreadsheet upload feature. If your business has hours that extend into a second day, there is information on how to manage that scenario.

Editing Your My Business Special Hours

This morning, I updated the office hours of a local credit union. This feature will be especially helpful in publicizing the dates their office is closed in the upcoming weeks. It will also be especially helpful to the community for finding the times each branch is closed, and we know Google is focused on user experience.

Once you log into your Google account, navigate to your list of locations and choose one location to edit the location details. Scroll down to “Special Hours” below the standard “Hours.”

Click on “Special Hours,” and you can choose a day from a drop-down calendar and either apply early closing hours or mark if the office is closed the entire day.

If the hours will be the same at all of your locations, Google has thoughtfully provided a button to apply the hours to all locations within your account.

Your final Special Hours or office closing times may look something like this for your summary review. Some days they are closed, and some days the branch is closing early:

Great New Feature

You may want to set up some reminders to update your holiday hours every quarter or every six months.

I know businesses have wanted this feature for quite some time, and now it’s available just in time for Thanksgiving and the December holidays. Very good timing, Google!

November 4, 2015