The Content Strategists at Green Group Studio have already given you some great tips and tricks to writing copy for your website, but blogging is a whole different medium. While website copy is typically centered around informing customers about products or services, blogs are generally written in a more conversational tone and seek to inform users about how their problems can be solved based on the company’s offerings. This helps to draw potential customers to your website and makes them feel more comfortable with your brand. This unique ability to relate to customers is the true value of a company’s blog.

Know Your Audience

When starting any business, it is so important to know exactly who your target audience is and thereby who your company is marketing to. This same approach is extremely important when it comes to blogging. When you know who you’re writing for, it makes it easier to come up with a direction for your blog and ideas for relevant posts. A great way to keep your voice consistent in your blog posts while also effectively targeting your ideal audience is to create a fictional representation of who they are. Think about every aspect of this person, what they look like, their background, their daily routine etc. Your avatar should essentially be your ideal client, with all the wants, needs, and/or problems that your business addresses for them. If you write to this person every time you sit down to write a blog post, you’ll continuously find new ways to reach out to your target market.

Keep It Short and Simple

Today, people want what they want, when they want it. This has lead to the decrease in usage of printed newspapers, traditional television, and even movie theaters. However, there are effective ways to get around the short attention span of today’s younger population. Shorter paragraphs and sentences that include subheads make blogs easier to skim for specific information. Of course, this all depends on your target audience. While the older population or those who are looking for an educational resource generally won’t mind reading a longer blog post (like this one), younger audiences prefer more direct answers to their questions.

Include A Photo

People are automatically drawn to visuals, so adding a photo to your blog post will immediately attract more attention than a post with just text. In fact, posts with images get up to 94% more views than posts without and get shared far more often. Make sure your photo is a reflection of your post, too, meaning that it is a visual representation of the content.

Use Targeted Keywords

Targeted keywords will help to improve your SEO, making it easier for your current and potential customers to find your business. The key to using keywords correctly is to not over- or under-use them. Don’t throw a specific keyword around too often, because then it becomes obvious that you’re writing for a machine rather than people. Instead, use a variety of keywords associated with your topic, like bakery, cookies, and dessert. However, not using enough keywords can also harm your business by not allowing you to gain all of the benefits associated with organic SEO. Instead, there’s a sweet-spot that gets easier to find the more blogging experience you gain.

Guest Blogging

As great of an impact as having current and consistent posts on your own company’s blog can be for your SEO, guest blogging on other sites can be just as beneficial. Guest posting for other blogs can be slightly more time consuming, but will help to spread your company’s name and improve its credibility. The key for writing guest posts is to provide content that is aimed at genuinely improving the lives of the guest blog’s audience. The most important thing to look for when searching for a guest blog to write for is that they give credit to guest writers. If you aren’t allowed to link back to your own website, it’s not worth your time.

Blogging is so important when it comes to improving SEO, but is all too often overlooked. Creating a good blog with genuinely helpful information that also increases sales can be difficult, but with hard work and practice it gets easier and easier. Don’t have the time or the know-how to maintain your own blog? Call Green Group Studio at 561-594-7336 and ask about our content management services.

The post How to Make the Most of Your Business Blog appeared first on Green Group Studio.

Why is Google Making These Changes?

This latest round of changes is prompted by Google’s desire to make the mobile search experience a better one for its users—i.e. one that doesn’t annoy them or require them to visit multiple sites in order to get the content that they want. This is evident in past changes which were aimed at encouraging mobile-friendly websites and sites with encryption, and discouraging app download pop-ups.

What Changes is Google Making?

On January 10th of next year, Google will start penalizing mobile websites that abuse pop-up ads by negatively impacting their quality score and showing them below compliant mobile websites on search engine results pages (SERPs). This will directly impact mobile site’s impressions, CTRs, and cost per click.

What Types of Pop-Ups is Google Targeting?

As most marketers know, there is a difference between legitimate pop-ups and those that are just down-right annoying (usually paid). Google sees this division as well, and has specified which pop-ups and overlays are acceptable, and which negatively impact the viewer’s experience and thereby a site’s rankings—among other things.

Google will allow the following to appear on mobile search engine results without being penalized as long as they are used responsibly:

• Those pop-ups or interstitials that are prompted due to a legal requirement (age verification, cookie usage, etc.)
• Login dialogs prompted for content that is not publicly indexable (email, etc.)
• Banners utilizing a reasonable (small) amount of screen space and that are easily dismissible

Google will penalize mobile sites with less accessible content, including:

• Those sites with popups that cover the primary content on a page, either right away or after a reader has scrolled down the page a certain distance
• Those sites with intrusive standalone interstitials or overlays that the user has to exit out of before accessing the content
• Those sites with a layout where the top portion of the page appears like a standalone interstitial or overlay, causing the main content to be positioned underneath the fold

While Google has definitely led mobile advertisers on a rollercoaster ride throughout the years with their many search algorithm changes, it’s safe to say that these changes have improved the experience of users across all device types. Providing customer-facing content that gives search users what they want, how they want it, and when they want it (NOW!) is a theme that has consistently launched mobile marketers to the top of SERPs. To learn more about Google’s latest announcement, or to improve your own mobile site, call Green Group Studio today and ask to speak with one of our SEO professionals!

(Images courtesy of Google)

The post Google Announces Pop-Up Penalty on Mobile Devices appeared first on Green Group Studio.

Efficient Clients…

Establish a Realistic Budget

Don’t expect to receive a shopping cart worth of products and services if you’re only committed to paying a third of what the total is worth. If you somehow manage to receive the whole cart for a lower price, don’t expect the items to be of very good quality. Branding, websites, and marketing cost money, and good ones cost even more. Before approaching an agency, do some quick research to find out what the standard prices on the market are to determine what the current budget you have in mind will actually get you.

Nail Down Project Objectives Beforehand

Whether it’s a promotional ad or a full website, failure to nail down what the objectives and parameters of a particular project are is the number one reason clients lose money. Unfortunately, we see it all the time in our line of work. Clients come to us with an idea in mind, which we then proceed to work towards, and then either allow others to alter the direction or simply change their mind. This can be devastating for a budget as it often requires designers and developers to start over again from scratch. So either nail down your specific business goals before you approach a creative agency, or talk them out with the company before the project starts.

Have A Single Point of Contact

Having a single point of contact (on both the agency and the client side) is extremely important as it helps to keep the relationship uncomplicated. When there’s too many people involved in the communication between the agency and the client, it can get fairly complex and take a significant amount of additional, billable time. Make sure that whoever you decide to represent your company in this important relationship is aware of the objectives of the project, as well as organized, responsive, and able to make certain project decisions on their own.

Have a Plan for Content

Copy, images, and videos—these types of content need to come from somewhere. Content is one of the key elements that can prevent a project from being completed on time and budget. This is usually because business owners start out with every intention of providing it themselves, yet find that they’re too busy to complete it. Efficient clients know when they’re able to provide content (and what types) and when they need to seek out the assistance of a professional. Whatever you decide, remember that having a professional create, review, or edit your content will add additional time to your budget.

Respond in a Timely Manner

Responsive clients are probably some of the most pleasant for agencies to work with because the communication is often open and fluid. From experience, there is nothing worse than having to send a client multiple correspondences to receive the answer to an important question because they’ve disappeared—yet again. Make sure that you respond to your agency as quickly as possible. This will prevent your project from becoming delayed and your company from possibly facing rush charges (time and a half) because of last-minute requests (same day or next day).

Understand That Agencies Have More Than One Client

Sometimes, clients are so caught up in their own company’s inner workings that they forget that creative agencies usually have a multitude of projects going on simultaneously. Everything takes time (especially show-stopping branding). Keep in mind that agencies work with multiple clients, and that your to-do list will need to be added to a schedule where other deadlines are also promised. This can result in your changes taking upwards of a few days to complete, even small ones. Efficient clients have realistic expectations and plan ahead, providing requests to their agency with plenty of time before their expected due date.

Know When to Trust Their Agency

While it’s true that no one can know your company like you do, it’s also true that creative agencies know best when it comes to designing effective web and print materials. Knowing when to trust your agency’s experience results in a better product, as well as a lower budget by avoiding an overabundance of unnecessary phone calls and meetings. The rule of thumb for agencies is that if it takes time away from performing work for another client, it gets billed. So multiple, hour-long phone calls can quickly eat away at a strict budget. If before you even start a project you know that you’re going to need the reassurance that comes with frequent meetings, include this time into your budget and set a time or frequency limit to keep yourself on schedule.

Pay On Time

Failing to pay your agency in a timely manner after receiving an invoice can prevent your company from moving forward with the project, obtaining future services, or receiving live files. Agencies often have signed contracts detailing the agreed upon payment plan in order to protect themselves from risky clients. These contracts can sometimes include an interest rate for jobs not paid by a certain pre-determined time. In order to maintain a respectful and pleasant relationship with your agency, avoid interest, and show them your appreciation for a job well done, pay your invoices as soon as you receive them.

These are just some of the ways, from our personal experience, that clients can contribute to a project going off course and blowing a budget. In order to get the most out of your agency relationship, we recommend approaching a creative agency after you’ve considered the items listed above. Remember that your agency is your partner, and that reputable companies are as invested in your objectives as you are. To learn about the Green Group Studio difference, or to start a marketing, branding, or design project of your own, call 561-594-7336 today!

The post How to Get the Most Out of Your Agency Relationship (and Keep Costs Down) appeared first on Green Group Studio.

1. Define Your Brand

There are many components that go into building a complete and unified brand. Every company, big or small, should have a clean and legible logo that visually represents its company persona. Creating branding guidelines that define the uses of elements like color and verbiage can help your marketing pieces (business cards, ads, signs, etc.) maintain a consistent look and feel while offering coherence throughout your marketing channels.

To learn more about our branding services, click HERE.

2. Create a Website

Whether it’s a custom content management system (CMS) or an open-source CMS (WordPress, Joomla, etc.), having a website lends your business credibility and exposure. Depending on your company’s strategy, consumers may visit your website for a variety of reasons, including to learn more about you or to make a purchase. So if your business doesn’t have a website because it’s not in your budget, just remember that without a web presence, your company can only be found by word of mouth and—if you have a physical location—foot traffic.

Green Group Studio works with businesses of all sizes, click HERE to learn more about our web services.

3. Get Your Business Listed

Google, Yelp, Bing, and Facebook are just some of the sites where you’ll want to have a business profile. Having your business represented across the web will provide potential consumers with a higher chance of finding you. These sites also offer a quick and easy way for customers to find out the details of your business, like what you sell, where you’re located, and how they can contact you. Most importantly, the more places you’re listed, the higher your SEO will be.

To learn more about Green Group Studio’s SEO services, click HERE.

4. Send Out the Occasional E-Blast

Sending promotional and/or informative e-blasts to your target audience is a good way to gain interest in your company, thus increasing traffic to your site, and growing your business. There are many different email marketing platforms to choose from, some for free and others available at a low monthly cost. Who you send your e-blasts to, however, is usually the tricky part. Purchasing leads can be a disappointing investment due to a variety of reasons (age of the list, number of times purchased, etc.). Those found on opt-in lists are the preferred audience if you want to reach interested and qualified consumers.

Whether you need help designing, coding, or distributing e-blasts, Green Group Studio does it all! Click HERE to learn more about our Email Marketing and Newsletter Design Services.

5. Try Pay-Per-Click (PPC) Ads

PPC ads are great for smaller businesses that are competing in an overly saturated market—think plumbing, construction, and towing companies. PPC campaigns, like those set up on Google AdWords, allow companies to set a budget, schedule, specific keywords, and a location for their advertisements, thus helping to target ads toward viable consumers.

Sometimes, running your own Pay-Per-Click campaign can be an unprofitable task if you’re not familiar with the process. To be sure, have Green Group Studio handle it for you. We offer PPC Services for companies of all sizes and budgets. Click HERE to learn more.

At Green Group Studio, we provide businesses with the tools they need to thrive. From designing printed marketing materials to improving their online presence with customized websites, SEO services, e-blasts, and more, we make it our goal to help take small businesses to the next level. Call an expert today at 561-594-7336 to learn more!

The post 5 Ways To Get Your Small Business Noticed appeared first on Green Group Studio.

Google AdWords Layout Changes in a Nut Shell:

• Increased the number of paid ads at the top of the page from 3 to 4
• Pushed 1st organic search engine result even lower, and even below the fold on some devices
• Removed the (up to) 8 paid sidebar ads
• Added 3 paid ads at the bottom of the search results page
• Total number of paid ads being displayed decreased from a possible 11 to a maximum of 7

The Benefits:

• Paid search ads now look more natural with the new format
• Paid ads located in the 4th listing position (now at the top of the page as opposed to the side) will receive significantly more click-throughs than when they were located on the side
• All ads will now display additional features like sitelinks

The Pitfalls:

• Organic search listings will take a hit since they are no longer immediately visible on the loaded page
• Pay-Per-Click campaign budgets will need to be increased in order to beat the competition and appear on the coveted first page results

What These Changes to Google AdWords Means for Your Business

Unfortunately, only time and the resulting data will tell how these changes will truly affect advertisers and the effectiveness of their campaigns and current strategy. However, a few things are already becoming clear:

• Advertisers will need to adjust their bidding strategy in order to optimize their campaign(s)
• An increase in cost per click (CPC) will result due to the lack of “supply” (primarily for service providers)
• The more commercial your business (insurance, hotels, gym memberships) the larger the number of competing ad spaces will be shown

Additional Thoughts from the Experts:

• It is important to note that this latest round of changes to Google AdWords will only display on a user’s desktop, while mobile results will remain the same visually—for now
• Google claims that the appearance of the top four ads are only meant to appear under the occurrence of a highly commercial query (those showing a deep intention to buy), however, we’ve found that these four ads will display even under such general search terms as “makeup tips”
• This change is global, meaning that no matter where you are searching from or what language you are searching in, these newest changes to Google AdWords will still appear

Wait, There’s More!

While the SEO and SEM world are abuzz with talk of the latest Google AdWords update, the real story here may be about how this AdWords update is setting the stage for their next rollout. Our sources have hinted towards the development of what we’ll refer to as the “Google Store” (seeing as how a name has yet to be released to the public).

While we’ve all seen Google’s Product Listing Ads (PLAs) which allows for those users searching for a particular product to be able to view (currently located on the right-had side or within the top paid ads) different business offerings, the Google Store will (we assume) be more along the lines of a rival to Amazon. This Google Store is said to feature the ability to shop through search results, allowing you to purchase products with just the click of your mouse from the search listings page, and are presumed to take the place of the not-long-gone sidebar ads.
At Green Group Studio, we offer SEO and SEM services to companies big and small. In such a competitive market, it’s important to maintain and increase your online presence on a consistent basis. This requires an SEO professional who is up-to-date with what’s going on with leading search engines, and who understands how their actions can affect your online marketing strategy. To learn more about Google’s latest AdWords update, or to find out about setting up or optimizing an AdWords campaign, call us today at (561)594-7336!

The post Google Changes AdWords Layout in 2016 appeared first on Green Group Studio.

What is WordPress?

WordPress is a Content Management System that was natively designed to be a blogging platform. As WordPress got more popular, it turned into a hybrid Content Management System (CMS) that integrates into its blogging platform.

What is Wix?

Wix is an online website building service that provides pre-made templates and web solutions that anyone who isn’t experienced in the website field can put together.
Pros of Using WordPress

• 100% open source so you aren’t stuck with one provider
• Fully customizable
• Allows 3rd party plugins that can turn a WordPress Blog into pretty much anything
• One of the most secure open source Content Management Systems
• Search engine friendly right out of the box
• Lightweight and superfast

Cons of Using WordPress

• Can be expensive to customize
• Needs managed hosting to stay secure
• Needs to be updated every once in a while to stay secure and up-to-date

Pros of Using Wix

• Inexpensive
• Quality templates
• Drag and drop building functionality
• Websites can be built by anyone without programming knowledge
• Plugins

Cons of Using Wix

• Duplicate websites all over the Internet
• Not search engine friendly
• Very limited options available
• Not open source, so you can’t move from Wix to another hosting provider
• Most templates are not responsive
• Wix DNS is a very complicated system and doesn’t work as advertised (you will need to point your nameservers to Wix to have your DNS propagate successfully) 

Search Engine Optimization: WordPress VS. Wix

Search engine optimization is very important when creating and maintaining a website. Using a platform like Wix is not a good idea when your goal is to improve your SEO. This is because Wix doesn’t have the customizable elements that are needed to have 100% control over SEO. WordPress is 100% open source, which means that every aspect of WordPress is customizable. WordPress also supports plugins that can actually make SEO easier for someone who has no experience with SEO. This is very important when you write an article without any SEO knowledge so that you can turn it into a search engine optimized article. Wix does not offer any features like this, and cannot be integrated with these types of tools since it’s not an open source CMS.

Why Use WordPress Instead of Wix?

There is no doubt in the web development world that Wix shouldn’t be used by any company. Website builders like Wix should be avoided at all costs to make sure that your website is developed professionally. With Wix, you won’t be able to enjoy the results you would see from a custom-built website designed by professional web developers.

Here at Green Group Studio, we highly recommend staying away from website builders such as Wix. You will ultimately save money and many unnecessary headaches by making the right choice to have a custom website built in WordPress.

Are you looking to have a WordPress website developed for your business? Green Group Studio offer WordPress website development services for great rates. Please contact us at 561.59.GREEN for more information or to receive a quote.

The post WordPress VS. Wix: The Website Creator Shootout appeared first on Green Group Studio.