Tekkii Digtial Marketing Blog

How to Maximize Leads from Google Ads

Wed, 04 Mar 2026 16:07:59 GMT

If you're running Google Ads, or looking to run them soon, it's important that you set it up right the first time.

This means proper planning, budget, campaign structure, tracking, and knowing exactly how to get it to grow and continue to produce leads for your business consistently.

In this webinar, Tekkii will walk you through step by step how to turn Google Ads into a reliable lead generation engine, while making sure you understand how to find a clear path to return on investment and adspend.

What You Will Learn

How to plan and prepare to run an effective Google Ads campaign
How to find out how much you should really spend
How to structure Google Ads campaigns to generate more qualified leads
How to properly track calls, form submissions, and conversions
How to identify which keywords and campaigns actually drive revenue
Simple ways to improve lead quality while lowering cost per lead
The most common mistakes businesses make that waste ad spend

Secure Your Spot Today!

Secure your spot for the webinar by using the form below. The webinar will be conducted virtually and you will receive a calendar invite and reminders to attend. We're looking forward to seeing you there!

How to Actually Rank in AI Search (ChatGPT & More)

Fri, 20 Feb 2026 15:33:33 GMT

Want to position your business for the future?

AI search is on the rise and has already had a major impact on traditional SEO. If you're looking to make sure your business is still recommended in the places where customers are searching, this is the webinar for you.

In this live webinar training, we'll break down exactly what you need to be ready for when it comes to ranking in AI search, and building your digital entity so that you can continually be cited as a trusted source for customers using AI to find products and services online.

Here's What We Discussed

AI's Impact on SEO and how it affects your business
How AI search decides who to recommend and who to ignore in their results
How to build a strong online entity that gets referred by AI over and over
A strong checklist to know exactly what to do next to improve your business' AI results

Download the Workbook

You can get a copy of the workbook we used in this webinar by using the form below.

Your 2026 Digital Marketing Plan for Local Businesses

Mon, 19 Jan 2026 18:05:11 GMT

If you want 2026 to be a strong year for your business, you need more than random marketing tactics. You need a clear plan.

This webinar walks you through how to set realistic goals, understand how buyers make decisions today, and build a strategy that actually supports your revenue targets.

Here's What We Discussed

Setting realistic revenue goals and calculating how many leads you actually need to achieve your goal.
Understanding how AI and modern search behavior have changed how customers buy services online.
Improving visibility through SEO, Google Business Profile, paid ads, and video content.
Strengthening your website so it builds trust and wins comparisons against competing businesses
Fixing booking and follow-up systems so you stop losing qualified leads
Creating better customer experiences and stronger retention strategies

Download the Workbook

You can get a copy of the workbook we used in this webinar by using the form below.

How to Simplify Your Marketing & Grow Faster

Wed, 09 Apr 2025 13:44:00 GMT

With over 440,000 new businesses launching each month in the U.S. alone, standing out is getting harder by the day.
Customers are overwhelmed, competition is fierce, and the businesses that try to be everything to everyone are getting lost in the noise. If your marketing feels chaotic and your growth has slowed, the solution might be simpler than you think: specialize, simplify, and focus.

The Problem: Too Much Noise, Too Little Focus

I know it, you know it. The modern marketplace is crowded.
With every new business fighting for the same customers, it’s easy to feel like you're shouting into the void.
From a customer’s perspective, it’s even worse, everyone sounds the same. They just want someone they can trust to solve their specific problem.

So how do you become that trusted business? The answer is to stop trying to be the Cheesecake Factory and start moving your business towards being specialist.

The Breakthrough: Simplicity Scales

Think about a restaurant with a 10-page menu offering sushi, tacos, pancakes, and ramen. Sure, they technically “do it all,” but do you really trust them to be excellent at any of it?
Probably not.
Now think about a contractor whose website lists 25 different services—from drywall repair to holiday light installation. That’s not a specialist. That’s a business saying, “We’ll do anything for a check.”
When no one knows what you’re great at, no one refers you, and no one remembers you.

Why Generalization Slows You Down

1. Too Many Services = No Clear Offer

Offering a long list of services may seem like a strength, but it often leads to a vague and scattered marketing message. Each service requires its own strategy, tools, and communication.
That’s a lot of work for very little payoff.
Instead, narrow your focus. This doesn’t mean limiting your services entirely—but it does mean clarifying what you’re known for.
Are you the go-to drain expert in your city? The plumber for historical homes?
Own that identity and build your business around it.

2. Too Many Client Types = No Brand Power

Trying to serve every kind of client makes it hard to stand out to any one group. Each audience segment needs a different pitch, a different process, and a different marketing funnel.
This leads to burnout, inefficiency, and diluted messaging.
Specializing allows you to build processes that work at scale and content that speaks directly to your ideal customer.

3. Specialization Makes Marketing Easier

When you know exactly who you're serving and what problem you're solving, your marketing becomes plug-and-play.
No more guesswork. No more throwing things at the wall hoping something sticks.
Your content, your ads, your offers—they all align.

4. Specialization Cuts Through the Noise

Remember those 440,000+ new businesses launched each month?
On top of that, AI is making industries more efficient—and more saturated. Massive chains and private equity firms are growing fast and entering your space.
People are cautious. They're distracted. They’re bombarded with options.
If you can clearly communicate that you specialize in solving one specific problem for one specific group of people, you instantly build trust and credibility.

Announcing Visible Dental

That’s why we're making a big change this year.
We launched Visible Dental —a dental marketing company built specifically to help dentists become the go-to practice in their local market.
We're applying everything we’ve learned from helping hundreds of businesses dominate in search, but now with one focus and one mission: helping dental practices grow their patient base with clarity and confidence.

Final Thoughts: Simplicity Wins

Tekkii will still be operating and service new and existing clients. However, we will be working to grow the dental side of our company with a focused team as we become more specialized.
If your growth has stalled… If your marketing feels scattered… If you’re not enjoying your business like you used to…
Let this be your sign: specialize, simplify, and double down.

How Your Google Business Profile Name Impacts Local SEO

Sat, 14 Dec 2024 23:55:00 GMT

Your Google Business Profile name is more important than you might think. According to a local SEO study by Whitespark , it’s the second most significant ranking factor for Google Maps.
A well-chosen name can mean the difference between ranking in the coveted top three results or being buried further down the list.

Why Your Google Business Profile Name Matters

The name of your profile directly influences how Google perceives your business’s relevance to a user's search queries.
For example, we worked with an insulation contractor who had three profiles. The business name, Insulation Pros, was clear but didn't leave much in the way of location relevancy other than it's address.

To boost their local visibility for each GBP area, here's what we did:

Added the city name to the end of the profile name.
Monitored search results to measure the impact.

That's it.
The Results: The profiles began ranking in the top three positions for “insulation contractor” searches in their area within just a few weeks.
This is one of the easiest optimizations you can make to improve your rankings, but there are some things we should warn you about. Continue reading or watch the video below to learn more.

How to Optimize Your Google Business Profile Name

Before you rush to add keywords or city names to your Google Business Profile name, it’s important to follow Google’s guidelines .
Improper naming practices, such as keyword stuffing, can lead to penalties or even the removal of your profile. Here’s how to do it the right way:

1. Understand Google’s Guidelines

Google requires your business name to:

Represent how your business is known in the real world.
Match your branding across signage, stationery, and other materials.
Avoid keyword stuffing or excessive use of location names.

2. Add Location Names for Multiple Profiles

If your business operates in multiple locations, include the city name at the end of each profile name. For example:

Main location: Insulation Pros Kansas City
Secondary location: Insulation Pros Overland Park

This helps customers distinguish between locations and provides a ranking boost for specific areas.

3. Use a DBA (Doing Business As)

Filing a DBA allows you to:

Legally update your business name with relevant keywords or locations.
Build out citations and business listings using this new name
Ensure consistency across your website, logo and signage
Gain ranking benefits without violating Google’s guidelines.

4. Keep It Natural and Professional

Try to avoid:

Adding multiple cities or excessive keywords (e.g., "Insulation Pros & Energy Audits of Kansas City, Overland Park & Olathe")—this looks spammy and may get flagged.
Making changes that aren’t consistent with your branding.

Another Example of Success

One business that successfully followed this strategy is Mission Painting and Home Improvements Overland Park.
While the official name is Mission Painting, adding “Home Improvements Overland Park” helped them rank highly for specific services in their area.
This approach boosted visibility without compromising compliance with Google’s guidelines.

Key Takeaways for Optimizing Your Google Business Profile Name

Applying this tactic is very easy. However, this is the exact reason why it's also easy to mess up and harm your Google Business Profile.
Please remember to:

Be Strategic: Use location names thoughtfully, especially if you have multiple locations.
Follow Google's Guidelines: Ensure your profile name reflects your real-world business identity.
Leverage a DBA: File a DBA to legally use keywords or location names in your title, as you will then be represented in the real-world appropriately
Stay Consistent: Update your name across all online mentions, including your website, citations, and social profiles.

Need Help Optimizing Your Google Business Profile?

Optimizing your Google Business Profile name can give your business a quick boost in visibility and local leads—if done correctly. If you’re unsure where to start or want expert advice, we can help.
Contact us for an assessment of your local SEO services. If you found this guide helpful, please like this post and subscribe for more tips on local SEO and digital marketing.

Local SEO Review Generation Strategies Ranked (Tier List)

Sat, 02 Nov 2024 07:41:00 GMT

Getting good reviews online is essential for your local business' online growth. Reviews impact how well you rank, improve your Google Local Service Ads (LSA) performance, and can boost conversion rates across all of your marketing channels.
When a potential customer searches for your services, it's highly likely that the decision on whether they choose to call or not, comes down to your reviews.
In fact, 88% of customers read reviews to determine a business' quality. Having good reviews and gaining them consistently will make it easier for potential customers to want to choose you more often than not.
So what are the best ways to generate new reviews? Here’s a look at 10 methods to generate local SEO reviews, ranked from most effective, to the least effective.

S-Tier: The Best Review Generation Tactics

You can't go wrong implementing these tactics into your business.

1. Calling Customers to Request Reviews

One of the most effective ways to generate an online review for your business is by simply picking up your phone. Get a list of past customers who had great experiences and call them to ask for a review.
Speaking directly with your customer adds a personal touch that greatly increases the chance they’ll help you out. This method works great for both new and established businesses.

2. Training Your Staff to Request Reviews

Train your staff to ask for reviews after providing great service. If your team is face to face with a customer and if a job goes well and the customer is happy, they should ask for a review in person.
They should state that it only takes a few seconds, be able to show them how to leave a review, and even offer to walk them through the process together.
You can even turn this into a fun contest with rewards to motivate employees. This method is really painless once you have your staffed trained well. Not to mention, this approach builds trust and makes leaving a review effortless.

3. Using QR Codes on Cards or Collateral

Using QR codes on business cards is an excellent way to generate reviews. Combined with the strategy above, this helps to empower your team with a very streamlined way to get customers to a particular review page.
There are specific TAP cards for this that allow you to touch the card to the customer's phone to take them to the review screen. You can also use other print material or collateral. Customers that scan the code to leave a review on the spot.
This strategy makes the process quick and easy. Placing QR codes at your location or having your staff carry them to every job ensures convenience for everyone.

4. Automating Email and Text Requests

Automated emails and text messages are something that many CRMs and email marketing platforms have to offer.
These automations will request reviews shortly after a service is completed without you or your team needing to lift a finger. Timing is crucial—customers are more likely to leave a review while the experience is still fresh.
Many tools offer this based on your industry. There's weave, House Call Pro, Service Titan, Go High Level, and many more just to name a few.
Automation will keep requests consistent, which leads to a more reliable review velocity that search engines favor.

A-Tier: Highly Effective Review Strategies

5. Sending Personalized Text Messages

Texting a review link directly to customers is another strong approach. It’s especially effective if the link is for Google and they use an Android device.
This is because by default, Android users are logged into a Google account when using their phone and will automatically be taken to leave you a rating upon clicking your link.
Personalize the message and provide context so it doesn’t feel random. While it’s more manual, the personal outreach can have a big impact.

6. Recovering Hidden Reviews

Sometimes, Google hides reviews from your Google Business Profile because they are filtered out from their algorithm. Don't ask us, we don't really know why this happens to legitimate reviews either.
However, it's a good idea to reach out to Google and check your account to see if any are missing, and try to restore them.
This tactic can give your business a quick boost Google in reviews, but it’s not guaranteed to recover only five-star reviews. Use this method only if you’ve already built a solid review base already.
We cover exactly how to uncover hidden reviews in our article: Is Google Hiding Your Reviews? How to Recover Them

B-Tier: Effective, But With Drawbacks

7. Sending Email Blasts

Sending email blasts to your list of satisfied customers are a cost-effective way to reach many people at once. You can use a popular service like GetResponse, Mailchimp, Constant Contact, etc. to accomplish this.
However, emails like this are less personal and can be easily ignored. If you choose this route, follow up promptly to ensure you can increase your effectiveness.
Additionally, make sure the email goes out shortly after the service to keep it relevant.

C-Tier: Mixed Results

8. Offering Incentives for Reviews

Offering discounts or freebies in exchange for reviews is a controversial tactic. It really depends on the type of business you're in and your relationship with your customers.
Even still, performing this tactic could make your service look cheap.
Just think about it. If you did a really great job and provided a great service to a happy customer, why would you need to pay them to get them to give you a good review?
It’s best to avoid using incentives, as genuine experiences should be the reason for five-star reviews. Use this strategy carefully if you decide to try it.

D-Tier: Strategies to Avoid

9. Using Multiple Accounts to Leave Reviews

This involves using multiple Gmail (or other) accounts that you own to generate reviews fro yourself. Creating fake reviews from multiple accounts is risky and time-consuming.
Platforms like Google can detect these patterns and may penalize your business if you continue to do this repeatedly.
Even if you do attempt this, which we don't recommend, diversifying devices and locations is necessary to avoid detection. Overall, however, this tactic isn’t worth the effort.

F-Tier: Never Do This

10. Buying Reviews

Purchasing reviews is not only dishonest but also risky.
Your Google Business Profile could be suspended and many of these reviews will come from outside of your local area.
It’s simply not worth the risk, and it misleads potential customers. Avoid this tactic at all costs.

In Conclusion

Generating consistent, high-quality reviews takes effort, but using the right methods can make a big difference. Prioritize personal and genuine tactics, automate where possible, and stay away from shady practices.
Implement these strategies, and watch your review count—and your business—grow!
Have more questions or want to boost your local SEO? Contact Tekkii for expert guidance and solutions tailored to your business!

The Evolution of Digital Marketing | Digital Disruptors #1

Fri, 11 Oct 2024 12:39:00 GMT

T he first episode of the Digital Disruptors podcast is released! Join David Jackson and Brad Burrow as we tackle the subjects of the ever changing world of digital marketing.

Find us on YouTube, Apple and Spotify:
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@realmediakansascity
Apple Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/digital-disruptors/id1767930984 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/0rjjkos6fa0DSkQs3CRpjM?si=5d69b0b5df59472f

Google LSA vs. Google Adwords | Which Is Right For You?

Thu, 19 Sep 2024 17:53:00 GMT

As a local business owner, one of your top priorities is to attract high-quality leads from your target areas.
When it comes to driving leads from the web, two of the most effective options are Google Ads and Google Local Service Ads (LSAs), also known as "Google Guaranteed".
While both platforms can boost your business's visibility, understanding their differences is key to choosing the right one for your marketing efforts.
In our experience, it makes the most sense for smaller businesses to start with Google LSA first, as it's generally less risky and easier to get leads. Smaller businesses making $250,000 to $500,000 or more in annual revenue can greatly benefit from Google LSA before running traditional Google Ads across many industries.

Why is this?
We’ll break down the key differences between Google Ads and LSAs, with a special focus on why we think you should start with LSA and when to add Google Adwords to your marketing efforts.

Local Service Ads (Google Guaranteed) Overview

Google Local Service Ads function on a pay-per-lead model.
Unlike Google Adwords, where you pay per click, Google LSA only charges you when a potential customer directly contacts your business through the ad.
The customer can contact you via phone call, email, text message, or even direct booking through an approved CRM. This makes LSAs particularly cost-effective for local businesses looking to maximize their budget with less risk involved.
Best of all, if someone contacts you through LSA and Google's system determines that they are not a lead, you will receive a credit and not be charged for the the contact.

Google LSA is specifically designed for local search and target potential customers in your immediate area. For example, if someone searches for "electrician near me," Google LSA ads will appear at the very top of the search results, even above traditional Google Ads.
This top positioning increases your business' visibility and can drive more qualified leads to your business.

Another big advantage of Google LSA is earning the Google Guaranteed Badge to display on your profile and website.
To earn this badge, your business must pass a vetting process that includes background checks, insurance verification, and verified customer reviews. This badge is extremely valuable, as it builds trust with potential customers, reassuring them that your business is reliable, reputable and responsive.

Google LSA unfortunately isn't available for every industry, and in some cases, certain industries aren't available in certain cities.
Home service contractors, dentists, lawyers, real estate agents, etc are some of the industries that Google LSA is available to. You can see if your industry qualifies on the Google LSA Homepage.

Google Ads Overview

Google Adwords operates on a pay-per-click (PPC) model. This means that you only pay when someone clicks on your ad.
They allow you to take up another important spot in the search engine and give you much more control over your campaigns that Google LSAs.
One of the biggest advantages of Google Ads is the flexibility in targeting. You can bid on specific keyword themes that align with your business ("emergency plumbing near me" or "roof repair in [city]").
Your ads will appear on top of Google when potential customers search for these services using the keywords you selected or keywords that are related.

With Google Ads, your ad's placement is determined by a bidding competition between your competitors. If someone is willing to bid more than you (per click) for a particular keyword, it's likely they will show up above you.
Due to this, your costs could increase and will need tweaking regularly, especially in competitive industries.
Speaking of ongoing optimization, it's a must for Google Ads. The platform requires a lot more maintenance than Google LSA.
However, more maintenance means more over your budget, keywords and bidding, allowing you to target highly qualified customers and make your net more targeted and narrow.
Additionally, any business can use Google Adwords, not just approved industries like Google LSA.
When managed right, Google Ads can be one of the most effective and predictable growth platforms for your local business.

The Key Differences

To help you decide which is best for your, here's a compiled list of differences we've found between Google Ads and Google LSA:

Payment Models: With Google Ads, you pay per click (PPC), while Google LSA charge you only when a potential lead contacts you directly (pay-per-lead).

Ad Placement: Google LSA ads are positioned at the top of search results for local searches, while traditional Google Ads are served in the second position.

Targeting: Google Ads offers more control over audience and intent targeting, including keywords, demographics, devices and more. Google LSA, however, allows for more broad targeting for your business category, services and location.

Cost-Effectiveness: Google LSA ads are more cost-effective because you only pay for leads and not clicks. Google Ads, while flexible, can lead to higher costs per click and cost per lead if you’re in a competitive industry.

Lead Quality: Google Ads has a higher chance of bringing in the exact customer you're looking for through expanded targeting controls, whereas Google LSAs targets more broadly to people interested in your category and service only.

Availability: Google Ads is available to any business type or industry. Google LSAs are only available to local businesses and only specific industries.

Verification and Trust: Google LSA comes with the Google Guaranteed Badge, offering searchers a sense of trust and reliability. Google Ads does not have an equivalent.

Which Platform is Right For You?

If your industry is eligible, we highly recommend you start with Google LSA. If you're running Google Ads and not Google LSA, I recommend you go sign up for it and use it.
If you aren't eligible for Google LSA, or you target customers aren't always local, then we would certainly say Google Ads is the way to go.
However, a hybrid approach is certainly recommended. When you run both Google Ads and Google LSA, you'll be taking up more real estate in the Google search engine, and improve your business' chances of succeeding on the platform.
When it comes to generating qualified leads and sales from Google, your business should be taking advantage of both of these platforms, especially if you're a local business.

Is Google Hiding Your Reviews? How To Recover Them

Wed, 21 Aug 2024 06:57:00 GMT

The other day, we stumbled upon something that I think every local business will find useful.
Recently, we started to gather reviews for our digital marketing agency to try and help our Google Business Profile.
A couple of customers left us great reviews, but a few days later, they disappeared from our profile.
We immediately went to Google with the issue, and they assisted us in restoring not only the two reviews in question, but 9 additional reviews that were "invisible" prior to us contacting them.
Here's the full video on how we did it:

A Bit of Background

Back in 2020, Google treated reviews very differently during the pandemic.
Thousands of reviews were temporarily removed to prevent people from leaving reviews that could have been unfair. This is because many businesses had to close early, or not deliver the same level of service due to the pandemic.
Naturally, many businesses simply could not update their Google Business Profiles to reflect the unpredictability of those times.
Google felt it was in their best interest to heavily police reviews during this time.
Unfortunately for us, this mean letting almost no reviews get through for our business.
Honestly? We gave up for a while.
That is, until we tried the method above.

How to Recover Hidden Reviews

This is a very simple process to follow and takes about 5 - 10 minutes.
1. Go to your Google Business Profile's management screen. Typically this is done by typing in your business name, or heading to your Google Business Profile dashboard.
2. Once there, click "Help & Support"

3. Scroll to the bottom and select the "Contact Us" button.
4. Describe your issue ("My GBP reviews are missing"), and fill out the rest of the information to the best of your ability.

5 . After a successful submission, this will start an email conversation between you and Google.
6. Be sure to monitor this email and reply to it / follow up if they are not being responsive.
7. Eventually, they should get back with you on whether they will restore your Google Reviews or not. If they don't violate policy, they should!

We were able to get 9 additional five star reviews with this method. I'm hoping you can get a similar result!
Also check out: How to Get More Google Reviews Fast

How Long Until Google Ads Is Profitable?

Thu, 15 Aug 2024 21:00:00 GMT

Google Ads is one of the most powerful tools in digital marketing. It allows businesses to reach their target audiences with AI-driven precision and accuracy.
However, if there's one question we keep getting on a regular basis, it's, "How long until our Google Ads becomes profitable." and, "Can you speed up that process at all?"
The short answer is that it takes roughly 3 months for your campaign to mature and then another 4 - 12 months to developed, fully optimized and strong. However, many Google Adwords campaigns could see profitability in about 3 months .
This isn't without effort of course, it takes constant care to fully optimize an account and see a significant return on investment.
Understanding how long it takes for Google Ads to become profitable is essential for setting realistic goals so you can plan your ad budget accordingly.
Let's explore the factors that affect how long your Google Ads campaigns will take to become profitable and discuss best practices for optimizing your account to maximize returns. With the right strategies and a bit of patience, you can make Google Ads profitable in no time!

Google Ads: How Long Until You See a Profit?

The amount of time needed for effective results depends on the business. With our experience managing ad campaigns for companies big and small, we recommend doing the following to increase your chances of success:

Define clear goals for your ads campaign.
Set a proper campaign structure from the beginning.
Perform keyword research based on buyer's intent.
Keep your ad groups, ads and landing pages focused on a single keyword.
Make sure conversion tracking is set up correctly for your campaigns.
Daily optimization is needed in the first 1 - 4 weeks of your campaign.
It takes a minimum of four months to see results from a Google Ads campaign.
It will typically take 4-12 months to develop a PPC campaign that is powerful enough to bring significant results.

Let's get into a bit more detail on some of the points above.

Defining Your Goals

To run a successful Google Ads campaign, having a clear set of goals from the beginning is essential. This will give you a direction to aim for and help ensure that all your decisions work towards your desired outcome. Your goals will vary depending on what your business wants to achieve.
For example, if you're trying to increase sales or leads, you should aim towards optimizing for conversion targets. If brand recognition is what you're after, focus on driving traffic to your website with clicks.
Most companies we've worked with tend to focus on clicks first before switching to another bidding strategy to reach their advertising goals.

Doing The Research

Google Ads has revolutionized how businesses generate leads and increase visibility online. Understanding how these platforms work is critical to success for anyone looking to get started with Google Ads.
Whether you manage your own campaigns or hire an agency, research is essential to understand the steps and processes needed for success.
One of the first things businesses should consider is their campaign's overall keywords, structure and goals. Knowing what type of ads will suit your business's objectives is critical, including researching ad formats, targeting options, assets, budgeting considerations, and more.

Setting Up Your Campaign

Creating an effective and successful advertising campaign starts with targeting the right audience. You will want to refine your list of potential customers to those most likely to convert. This will help ensure you get the most out of your marketing budget.
Once you have identified your target demographic, you can create ads that speak directly to them. You could consider their interests, language preferences, and other variables influencing their decision-making.
It's also important to make sure that each of your ad groups, ads and landing pages are also focused on a singular idea. You wouldn't the same ad showing up for "toilet repair" and "kitchen sink repair" because those are two different types of audiences with different needs.
Catering to exactly what your customer is searching for is key in having a well optimized Google Ads campaign.

What You Can Expect to See in the First Three Weeks of Using Google Ads

If you're thinking about using Google Ads , you might be wondering what kind of results you can expect to see and how quickly. Here's a brief overview of what you can expect to see in the first three weeks of using Google Ads.

Week 1

In the first week, you'll likely see a lot of activity as your ads are going through what's called the "learning phase". You may also see some clicks and impressions, but don't expect too much traffic just yet.

Week 2

Things will start to pick up a bit in the second week. You should start to see an increase in traffic and click-through rates. Your ads may also appear in more places, such as on other websites.

Week 3

By the third week, you should have a good idea of your ad's performance. If everything's going well, you'll see steady traffic. If your landing pages and website's overall design is good, you should also see conversions.
If not, keep making adjustments and monitoring your results. You can select different keywords, rewrite your ad copy, update your landing pages and more.

Ways To Improve Your Google Ads Results

There are a few steps you can take to ensure your Google Ads campaigns get the best possible results. Here are a few things you could try.

Analyze Your Quality Score Components

Quality Score is a significant component of Google Ads. It determines how successful your ad campaigns are performing and can impact your success in the long run.
To improve your Quality Score, you'll need to analyze its components:

Expected CTR
Ad Relevance
Landing Page Experience.

By understanding how each of these components affects your Quality Score, you can take steps to improve it. Improving your CTR is an easy way to boost your score since the more your ads are clicked, the better their relevance and quality will be rated.
You can view these three components by following the guide found here .

Optimize Your Keywords

Keywords are the foundation of your Google Ads campaigns. Choosing the right ones ensures that potential customers see your ads when looking for what you offer. To optimize your keyword selection, research which terms and phrases people use when searching for products or services like yours.
Also, consider how specific these keywords should be, as more targeted keywords tend to perform better. A customer searching for "insulation" may not be as great of a choice as "insulation contractor" because we know more about what they are looking for with the latter.
As mentioned above, keep an eye on your Quality Score - a metric that measures the relevance of both your ads and keywords. A higher Quality Score can lead to lower costs per click and better ad positions.
Once you've selected the best campaign keywords, organize them into relevant ad groups. It's best to have one ad group per idea, not multiple ideas / keywords per ad group.

Upgrade Your Landing Pages

Where are you sending users who click on your ads? Is it just another service page on your website? While this isn't always bad if the service page is really good, it's best to send your ad traffic to a highly relevant and targeted landing page that speaks to their problem specifically.
If you used "dental braces specials" as your main keyword, the landing page should reflect exactly that. Pictures of braces, specials, call to actions and expectations for customers that may reach out.
Your page's design is also very important and should demonstrate your business' expertise, authoritativeness and trustworthiness. A bad landing page can look untrustworthy and cost you a click when it may have been a conversion if the landing page was just a little better.

Start Your Campaign Today!

Google Ads can be a great way to reach potential customers, but it requires time and effort to maximize its effectiveness. We'd be happy to help you understand how to best optimize your Google Ads campaign. To inquire, please reach out to us on our contact page .
Thanks for reading!

Website Local SEO Guide - How to Update Your Website to Rank Locally

Tue, 06 Aug 2024 07:06:00 GMT

If you're reading this sentence, it's highly likely that you know about local SEO and its impact that it could have on your local business.
You may have already completely optimized your Google Business Profile , but you may not be seeing the traction you'd like.
This is because in order to have and maintain strong rankings in Google Maps, you have to have a strong, optimized website backing it up.
With all of the recent changes to local Google search, it's crucial that your website should serve to support and promote your Google Business Profile more so than try to rank purely through its own organic rankings by itself.
This means properly targeting your city, creating service area pages, embedding your GBP profile and making sure to apply great SEO practices on your website.
We explain it all step-by-step in the video below, but keep reading for more information!

Download the spreadsheet used in the video above here: Download
This is part two of a three part series.
To view Part 1, please click here: Google Business Profile Optimization Guide

Step 1: Understand Your Targeting

Stop! Before doing anything else with your website's optimization, there's something very important you need to know.
Targeting is EVERYTHING!
Without targeting the right city, your Google Business Profile will continue to be buried underneath your competitors. So how do you know which city to target?
All you need to do is look at your Google Business Profile and where your business is physically located.
Often times, businesses like to target their major metro area, even if their business isn't specifically located there. For example, this is like someone targeting Dallas, TX when their business is located in Plano, TX.
Yes, Plano is in the major metropolitan area, but your Google Business Profile will be much better served by targeting Plano, because that's what your Google Business Profile says.
Relevance is key here. Your website is more relevant to your GBP profile if they are both referencing the same city.

Step 2: Update Your Page URL, Title Tag & Meta Description

If you're familiar with local SEO , you'll know that there are particular things you need to optimize on your website in order to rank in Google. We'll get into most of the important ones in this article.
Among these, let's start with the first three.

Page URL - This is the website address of your particular page.
Page Title - The title that displays in a search engine and can be clicked on.
Meta Description - The two line text description underneath the title within a search engine.

All three of these can be influenced and updated by you.
Making sure these three elements of your website feature your target city is very important.
If your domain name doesn't feature your target city, that's ok. Your inner / service pages can make up for this.
For example, if you have a page called "plumbing-services", you can update your URL to say:
"mywebsite.com/plumbing-services-plano-tx"
Your title tag and meta description should just feature your city in the name. Do this, and you're golden.

Step 3: H1, H2s and Content

Now let's talk about the content on your website.
When it comes to the text content on a website, including the very words you're reading right now, you have a few different formatting options.
There are headings, then there are the actual words. A heading is usually the large text that comes before a set of paragraphs that describe the next section or subject. In this case, it would be "Step 3: H1, H2s and Content".
There are many different types of headings, from "Heading 1" all the way to "Heading 6". The all represent a hierarchy of subjects.
You should only ever have one "Heading 1" per page, as this should contain your web page's main subject and city. You can have as many "Heading 2s" as you'd like, as well as any other heading tags. However, your other headings don't always need to feature your target city.
We normally recommend businesses just do their Heading 1, and then the rest of your page should consist of "Heading 2" tags. Heading 3s and onward are entirely up to you.
If your Heading 1 tag is "Plumbing Services in Plano, TX", then each following Heading 2 tag you create should support this. Examples could be:

Signs You Have A Plumbing Problem
When To Call a Professional Plumber
Why Choose Us For Your Plumbing Needs in Plano, TX

You don't need to feature the target city in all of your headings, just your H1 and some of your H2s.
Make it look natural and don't make your content look like obvious spam.

What About My Text Content?

Your content should mention your target city, but more importantly, you really want to make sure your content takes care of the following:

Communicates the client's problem effectively so they know you understand their issues
Gives your unique perspective on the services you offer with helpful information
Promotes your company as the clear solution to solve their issue
Discusses and uses your target city in the content in a natural way
Talks about more localized content like neighborhoods or local landmarks

Step 4: Embed Your GBP

Your Google Business Profile should be embedded onto your website and ideally on all of the pages that target your city.
Typically, you can put your GBP map in your footer, or place it on pages individually.
Here is a quick guide on how to embed your Google Business Profile Map: Embedding Your Google Business Profile Map

Step 5: Set Up Service Location Pages

A service area page is a landing page that you create specifically for a particular city or area. While your main website should target the city of your primary Google Business Profile, service pages can target anywhere in your metro.
Now, this doesn't mean you should go and start creating multiple service area pages. To stay focused, really just focus on the 3 - 5 cities immediately surrounding your target city.
After you know these 3 - 5 cities, you should do the following:

Create a highly relevant, localized page promoting your company and services
Make sure the page URL, title tag and meta description all reference the service area
Make sure your headings are set up correctly.
Make sure the specific GBP pertaining to the focus city is embedded
This is helpful if you have multiple GBPs
Link to this service area page from your GBP

Step 6: Additional Recommendations

Here are a few other things you could do on for your website to help with not only your GBP SEO, but your overall website SEO.

Use internal and external links
Always link back to the homepage from all of your service pages
Utilize local schema
Create local listings, submit your website to GSC (Google Search Console)
Acquire links and references to your website from other websites

Conclusion

Getting your website to support and boost your Google Business Profile ranking doesn't actually take a lot of technical know-how.
You just need the time and dedication it takes to implement these changes on each page that matters, making sure you are providing value and clear expectation to your client.
If you have access to your editor, you can take this concept and start applying these changes right away.
Need help?
Contact our team to request a review of your current website's performance, and we'll help you get on the track to generating more customers from your Google Business Profile and website alike.

The SEM Mountain - A Practical Digital Marketing Strategy Framework

Sat, 27 Jul 2024 22:29:00 GMT

As a small business, you might find it difficult to know where to start, or where to go next with marketing your business online. There's social media, your website, content marketing, email, SEO, Google Ads, Google Business Profile...the list seems endless.
On top of this, you might be seeing plenty of conflicting information telling you to invest into marketing tactics that your business just isn't ready for yet. Even worse, you may have also followed that information and ended up wasting plenty of time and money.
Knowing exactly what to do to grow your local business online doesn't have to be difficult.
We believe businesses should follow what we call the S.E.M. Mountain.

S.E.M. stands for Search Engine Marketing, and at our digital marketing agency , we believe it's one of the most powerful ways to grow your local business using the web.

The concept we follow called the "SEM Mountain" is used it to generate massive results for local businesses in terms of new customers, sales and profitability.
It's all about focusing on the right marketing tactics at the right time and in the right order. No skipping ahead, no shortcuts, no "hacks". Just natural growth that builds on top of each other, allowing you to reach new heights in your business.
Ready to climb? Let's dive in.

The SEM Mountain:

Step-by-Step

The SEM Mountain is divided into multiple phases. Each phase must be fully completed before moving to the next one.

Think of it as starting at the base of a mountain and then climbing up towards the summit with the right gear and the right momentum.
Whether you're a small local business just starting out or a more established business looking to expand, this approach helps you take the right actions in the right order, maximizing impact and minimizing wasted resources.
Now, at times, this does vary from business to business based on your marketing budget and ability to execute multiple areas of focus at once. Get in touch with us and our team can help you assess your unique situation and create a roadmap for your company.

Phase One: Set Your Foundation

If you want to start your digital marketing off right. You should really focus on getting these four things set up right before moving on to anything else.

CRM (Customer Relationship Manager):

Every business needs some kind of CRM.
A CRM stands for "Customer Relationship Manager", and it's typically a software to help you organize your contacts, customers, leads and communication with all of those people in one place.
I would say get this implemented before you even optimize your website or anything else, because your CRM will keep you well organized as you grow.
With a CRM, you can potentially get more revenue opportunities out of what you're already doing without needing to spend much on outbound marketing at all. Putting in systems for better efficiency early is much better than scrambling to implement it later when things are busy.

A Professional Website :

Chances are you have a website, but it might not be turning its visitors into customers like it should. Additionally, you may not be getting enough visitors to your website in the first place to get a chance at a conversion.
A website design built to attract and convert new visitors solves both of these problems. It will attract more visitors because of search engine optimization , and help turn them into customers from its design, and its content.
Similar to the results of implementing a CRM, a professional website can help you get more out of what you are already doing and in some cases, will bring near immediate results after launch in terms of your close rate.

Google Business Profile:

Your GBP profile will ultimately drive the majority of local phone calls and customer visits to your business. Completely optimizing your profile could result in ranking in the top 3 of the Google Maps results in your local area when customers are looking for services you offer.
Updating and optimizing your Google Business Profile is free and we have a full thorough video guide on how to do it right in this article:
Local SEO Google Business Profile Optimization Guide

Google LSA:

Google Local Services Ads (LSA) is a pay-per-lead system that provides quality leads that you only pay for when they call or message you. It's a cost-effective way to start generating business as you start to market your business online.
You do need a budget to pay for the leads, however, this platform will increase the number of monthly opportunities you get to be in front of, and close new customers.
If you're curious about what Google LSA will cost your business, they have a handy calculator you can access on their main page (about midway down): Google LSA Cost Per Load Calculator
Use these four levers to help your business grow until you're ready to move on to the next phase.

Phase Two: Increase Your Footprint

Once the foundational elements are in place, it's time to look into investing in paid advertising. This can be accomplished in one of the following ways:

Google Ads:

This is a pay-per-click system that allows your business to show up near the top of Google for a variety of keywords you can choose. Then, you pay whenever someone clicks on your ad.
This is a highly effective way to generating leads with more control and predictability than with Google LSA, however, it is more costly. When Google Ads is set up correctly for lead generation, the people who find you there are more likely to be ready to purchase or at least very close.
Learn More: Google Pay Per Click Services

Meta Ads:

Similar to Google Ads, you can also pay for impressions and clicks by advertising on Facebook and Instagram. These people can be directed back to your website, a landing page, or a lead form.
Ads run on the Meta platform (Facebook & Instagram) typically receive many more impressions and engagements for less money than Google Adwords. However, we've found that the people you find there are further away from making a purchase.

Phase 3: Build Your Authority

The next phase involves producing content for your website, and then getting that content promoted outside of your website.
There are three types of content you can produce for your website:

Blog Content - Usually informative guides for buyers who may be thinking about buying in the future.
Service Page Content - Content explaining your products and services that caters to someone looking to buy soon.
Localized Content - Content that is more localized targeting specific cities and neighborhoods. Catered to customers looking to buy soon.
Resources - Checklists, guides, online brochures, lists, calendars, etc.

This content helps establish your company as an authority in your market while also serving as potential lures for more visitors and eventually customers.
As you create this content, you should start to promote it across the web. This is done with link building, social media, bookmarking websites, email, and more.
Social media is the easiest way to do this. As you produce content, just make sure each new piece of content is shared on your different accounts.

Phase Four: Recapture Lost Visitors

Have you ever searched for a pair of shoes and then suddenly see those shoes all over social media trying to advertise to you? This is known as retargeting.
Retargeting is a great way to capture visitors who visited your website but took no action. At this stage in the SEM Mountain, your business should be attracting a good number of visitors to your website.
When you use retargeting, you are increasing your chances to maximize engagement with each of these visitors and potentially get more customers.
This strategy involves targeting warmer visitors (warmer because they already know who you are after coming to your website) and giving them a solid offer to return to your website and engage with you.

You can use both Google and Meta (Facebook and Instagram) to retarget your website visitors. It's highly likely your present and future customers visit at least one or all of these multiple times per day.

Phase Five: Stay Top of Mind

If you've had a CRM in place for some time, it's time to start utilizing all of the contacts you've gathered and start marketing to them regularly.

Targeted Emails - Send emails based on customer interactions, scheduled reminders for service, birthdays, and more.
Newsletters - Regularly send updates with information about your company, valuable insights, blog posts, offers, events and other programs to stay top-of-mind with your contacts.
SMS Marketing - Send out texts to multiple people at one time to alert them about information related to your company.
In this phase, we want to continually touch all of our contacts, past and present, to ensure we are making an impression on them regularly.

Phase Six: Deepen Brand Connection

Now comes the hard part. Producing video content.
There's no greater way to communicate your message effectively online than with a video. The other added benefit is that as people see your videos, they'll get to know you, your team, and your company better than any other medium you could invest in.

The videos should be about your products and services, sure, but more importantly, you should focus on conveying the unique point of view your company has within your industry.
Be helpful, be valuable, be authentic.
These videos can be used in ads on YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, TikTok and any platform where video is the primary method of consumption, which today are many of the most popular platforms out there.
Producing videos consistently and getting people to see them is going to give you serious traction with your brand, and company's growth.
Not to mention, it will make your entire sales process much easier, as video will make it as if customers already met you before they decided to call.

Phase Seven: Reaching New Heights

After scaling the first six phases of the SEM Mountain, you'll reach New Heights in your business. This usually means having your search engine marketing systems dialed in to reach your next million in sales and beyond.

From here, you can explore other marketing and advertising strategies outside of a primary search engine like Google.

Third party advertising platforms like Yelp, eLocal and more
Local community sponsorships
Local TV or radio
OTT ads such as Hulu and other streaming platforms
Mailers, print advertising, branding improvements
Etc...

Another thing you should consider is putting time and attention into Conversion Rate Optimization.
For example, if you have seen a conversion rate of 15% on your website, and that is bringing you roughly $120,000 per month in closed business, imagine if you increased it to 20%? You'd see an extra $40,000 just by improving what you already have in place.

Conclusion

By following the SEM Mountain approach, you can systematically grow your business by focusing on high impact actions first and then stacking on top of that growth to help fund the next strategies.
Additionally, you'll know where to put your time and attention into building up first prior to moving ahead.
We help local businesses generate millions of additional dollars in revenue using this approach and we believe it's the best way to start and grow your online marketing.
If your local business looks to know where you stand on the SEM Mountain, schedule a time with us here and we'd love to give you a clear roadmap.
Thanks for reading and stay tuned!

Google Business Profile Guide for Local Businesses in 2024 - Free Checklist

Thu, 23 May 2024 04:18:00 GMT

In this video, we're going to show you how to rank your local business in the top three results in Google Maps. This is a process that works for us just about every single time with our clients . This is part one of a three part series.

We've done this for dozens and dozens of local businesses here at Tekkii. There's a whole lot of information online about, should you do this or should you do that?
If you follow the checklist linked below, you can go through the exact process that has helped our clients generate over 100, 200 and 300 calls in a single month from their Google Business Profiles alone.
Get the Local SEO checklist here: Download
This process works well. We're happy to share it with you in hopes that it will impact your company and further our mission is to help businesses positively impact their local communities.
View Part 2 of this series here: Website Local SEO Optimization Guide

Why 90% Of Websites Get No Organic Visitors - The V.I.S.I.T. Method

Thu, 23 Nov 2023 22:16:00 GMT

Imagine putting plenty of hours and significant financial resources into crafting a brand new website for your local business, only for it to attract no organic visitors months or even years after its launch.
Unfortunately, this is a reality for an overwhelming 90% of websites on the internet and many local businesses are affected. You've paid for the website and launched it, so where are the visitors and increased sales?
If you're facing this problem, it's highly likely that your website isn't performing in one key area, your content.
Before a search engine can send organic traffic to your website, your content has to be V.I.S.I.T. worthy :

Valuable: Offers significant value to the reader, your target customer.
Illustrative: Employs images, video and other media assets to communicate.
Search-Optimized: Formatted for maximum search engine visibility.
Innovative: Presents unique perspectives or approaches from your business.
Trustworthy: Bringing all of the above together with expertise and credibility.

You should forget about paying for ads, building backlinks, boosting on social media, or any of the other tactics until you get this one right.
Let's talk about how you can create content that will not only rank in Google, but rank you on the first page and maybe even the top 3. That way you can actually get your website out of the 90% and into the top 10%!

Valuable Content: The Cornerstone of Attraction

When we talk about valuable content, we're talking about the heart and soul of your website and company as a whole. This isn't just about filling a bunch of service pages with text, it's about being extremely valuable to your audience.
Your content is the magnet that draws visitors and gets them to convert into customers. It also makes you much more likely to be recommended by a website search engine like Google or Bing.
So how do you make sure your content conveys value? It starts with key principle:

Understand What Your Audience Values

It's critical to understand your audience and their problems when writing any content that you want to bring more customers to your business.
Think about the customers that you've served in the past and the customers want to serve in the future - then think about their pain points, desires, and questions surrounding your industry.
These could be:

Why do I need this service?
What can I expect?
What does the process look like?
How much does it cost?
What sets this (your) company apart from others?

Give your audience the information they need to communicate to them that you understand their problem. Only then can you communicate and convey how your company is the best to solve it with them.
If you're interested in how to find some of the best keywords to write about to rank on page one of Google, we talked about this in our other article: How to Find Low Hanging Fruit Keywords

Illustrative Content: Boosting Engagement Through Visuals

If you're looking to get more customers online, there's one thing you should know about them:
They consume content and a lot of it...
Visual content is not just a preference anymore, customers expect it. According to Oberlo, consumers are spending up to 17 hours per week consuming online video , while spending 454 minutes per day consuming digital media in general.
Great visual content communicates, explains, and even persuades customers in a way that text alone cannot, allowing brands to communicate in the most effective way by showing, not just telling.
When writing content for your website, the key things you should capture in your visuals include:

Your team
Your services and products
Your outcomes / results
Your location / building
Your office space
Your guarantee
Your culture

Nothing Beats Video Content

Video content for your business is the most powerful type of content you can produce today. In as little as 30 seconds, a video lets your prospective customers meet you, meet your team, visually see what you do and how you do it, and understand your company's value in a highly engaging way.
As stated above, it's no secret that video is just the preferred way people consume content online. Roughly 96% of people turn to videos to learn more about a product or service , and that's not going to change anytime soon.

Search-Optimized Content: Gaining Maximum Visibility

To not end up in the 90% of websites that get no traffic, you not only have to produce great content, but make sure it is properly formatted for search engines like Google.
Search engines like content that is structured and easy for them to read and understand. However, this doesn't mean that you should write content purely for a search engine. You always need to write for the customer...always.
Now this may be a bit technical, but getting this right is the difference between ranking in a search engine and remaining mostly invisible.

The Building Blocks of SEO Content

When writing an online piece of content, you may be using a website platform such as Wordpress, Squarespace, Wix, Duda, Godaddy, etc.
The content editor on these and other popular website platforms contain the following elements:

Headings (H1 - H6)
Paragraph Text
Images / Video
Alt Text
Lists
Links

Here is how you should use each one to ensure that the search engines can properly read them.
Headings
There are six types of headings. H1 through H6.
An H1 demonstrates the main idea of your topic. This is likely the title of your content and should feature the keyword you're looking to get traffic for. You should try to have an H1 on each page of your website you're looking to rank, but only one instance of it per page.
Having multiple H1s on a page could confuse a search engine as to what the main idea of your page could be. Having only one is a best practice.
Next, there are H2s, of which you can have multiple of on a page. Each H2 should demonstrate customer questions or sub-topics of your main idea.
H3s and beyond aren't always necessary, but they should be sub-ideas of the H2 they are placed under. This repeats for H4s, H5s and H6 headings. Using headings are all about topical hierarchy. H1 is your main idea, H2 is a sub idea of that main idea, H3s are sub ideas of the H2...so on and so fourth.
Paragraph Text
This is just normal text on your website where you actually write about the details. Nothing much to say about this and how it needs to be used other than making sure what your write about matches the heading it goes under.
Images / Video
Feature relevant videos and images throughout the page. The number of pictures or videos you use isn't as important as how they are used to push your point across.
Alt Text
Since search engines don't have eyes, they can't see what images you actually placed on your page. To understand them, you describe what the images place in your content are with "alt text".
Many website builders give you the ability to set alt text for images. Don't think too hard about this text, you just need to describe the picture as if someone were explaining it to you if you couldn't see it.
Lists
Lists are just bulleted or numbered lists of information that you can use to break up content. This article has done it a few times now. This tactic may not have a major SEO impact, but that it helps readers more easily consume your textual content.
Definitely use lists whenever you need to draw attention and break up the large walls of text in your content.
Links
Your content can be more helpful and valuable to your readers if you provide links to additional resources for them to view. This could be links to another page on your website, or links to other websites with content your readers may find helpful. This also includes any sources to cite information you feature.
Links are a very important part of ranking your content in search engines, and we will likely dive into the reasons why in a separate article.

Best Practices for Formatting SEO Content

Here's an example of how you can structure your content to increase your chances of ranking in Google:

[HEADING 1] - Roofing Repair Services in Atlanta, GA
[PARAGRAPH TEXT] - Introductory paragraph.
[IMAGE WITH ALT TEXT] - A nice picture of a roof with alt text describing it.
[HEADING 2] - Common Symptoms of a Damaged Roof
[PARAGRAPH TEXT] - Text to explain.
[HEADING 2] - How Much Should Roof Repairs Cost?
[PARAGRAPH TEXT] - Text to explain with a link to a 3rd party website talking about the costs.
[HEADING 3] - What Impacts The Cost of Roof Repairs?
[PARAGRAPH TEXT] - Brief one sentence explanation.
[LIST] - Listing out the things that impact roof repair costs.
[HEADING 2] - Trust Your Roof Repair Experts in Georgia
[PARAGRAPH TEXT] - Text to explain with a link back to the home page and additional service pages.
[IMAGE WITH ALT TEXT] - A nice picture of your team.

A piece of content structured similar to the above example will ensure your content is ready to be seen and understood by the Google search engine.

Innovative Content: Set Yourself Apart

You're not the first person to create content in your industry. Whatever you want to write about has likely already been written or is being generated by ChatGPT as you read this.
Every second, new content is being written and placed on the internet, it wouldn't be farfetched to say that it's happening in your industry too.
So how can you compare and stand out in the sea of content?
Why do people continue to purchase new business books even when many of the general ideas and concepts have remained the same for decades? It's all about your unique perspective.
We all know that most roofing companies offer roof repair and have a page on their website talking about it. However, how many actually share their own perspective on what roof repair means to their company? Only the top 10%, that's who.
You may think you have nothing new to say, but you do. According to an interesting article by Lightspire, you can find some unique perspectives by trying some of the following:

Start venting
Talk to a friend
Think about the status quo
Add a personal touch
Answer non-obvious questions

There's a Stigma for Every Industry

Every industry has a stigma and it's your job to beat it. We love the third point above because it presents exactly what you need to do to not only have a unique perspective on writing your content, but also in how to position your company.
When thinking of a plumber, the idea of a 35 - 55 year old heavier set man with a toolbag under the sink is probably one of the first thoughts that pops into most consumer's heads. If you were a plumber, what would you say to a person like this to set yourself apart?
While this is a pretty basic example, you can get a good sense of the stigmas in your industry by listening to customers past and present, or reading online reviews from your competitors.
Your unique perspective comes from how you understand and overcome the stigma within your company.

Trustworthy Content: Seeing Is Believing

Perhaps the most important piece of the content puzzle is building trust with your potential customers. Many of the items we mentioned above will all lend themselves towards building trust in your company.
To summarize, we'll recap:

Offer value to your customer and audience by giving them the answers they actually want to know about your products and services
Be sure to reference other useful pages or websites by using links in your content where necessary
Make your content more digestible to a wider audience by using images, video and other graphics where necessary
Structure your content is a way that makes sense to the reader, which will in turn make sense to the search engines
Present your unique opinion and point of view on your subject and defeat the common stigma in your industry

Outside of referrals, these are the expectations for what consumers expect when considering who to hire for their next project.
If you put together a solid piece of content that employs everything mentioned above, you will naturally build trust with your audience by putting so much care into their potentially first experience with your brand.
At the end of the day, Google wants to serve customers what they expect. This is why Google is the #1 search engine on the planet. If your content doesn't meet the standards of what people want, Google won't recommend it because that would make Google look bad.
The main reason your website is in the 90% that receives no traffic from search engines is because your website is not giving your audience what they want to see, learn and understand.
This year and the next, invest a lot of time into understand your buyer and position your website to deliver this to them in the most digestible way. You'll be surprised how quickly you'll being to see the fruits of your investment.

Need Help With V.I.S.I.T. Worthy Content?

Need help getting into the 10%? We help companies fix their digital foundation, find their marketing formula, and use these to propel them into the future.
Find out what's holding your business back from its online growth potential by requesting a strategy call with one of our experts today.
Thanks for reading!

You Should Be Using QR Codes In Your Video & TV Ads - Here's Why

Sat, 05 Aug 2023 16:33:00 GMT

Over the years, video advertisements have held a prominent place in marketing strategies of all types. For a time, TV was the dominant player in the space, then YouTube, Hulu and other streaming platforms came along to shake thing up.
However, for many local companies, one challenge has always remained - the ability to accurately track the performance of your video ads showing on TV and seamlessly transition your viewers into your sales funnel.
Measuring the effectiveness of your video ads that appear on TV is challenging. This leaves businesses wondering if their video ad spend is resulting in a return beyond just viewership numbers alone.
Enter QR codes – a dynamic solution that allows marketers to directly engage their target audience and seamlessly bring them a digital experience that can be fully captured and measured.
Let's face it. When you run a TV ad, you're competing not only with other advertisers in your time slot, but with TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, Snapchat, mobile games, etc. Why? Because up to 95% of consumers have their mobile device in hand while watching TV.
This presents a perfect opportunity to capitalize by utilizing QR codes in your video ads. Most consumers know what they are, how to use them and have their phone in their hand ready to scan one. What are you waiting for?
Let's talk about QR codes and how they're one of the best ways to elevate your ads and your ROI in your video advertising strategy.

What Are QR Codes & How Do They Work?

QR codes are two-dimensional barcodes that store information in a matrix of black and white squares. You probably have seen one before, especially over the last 3 years.
These codes can hold different types of information that can easily be translated to a viewer's device:

Website URLs
Text
Contact Information
Product Details
Social Media Links
Buy Now Links
And more

QR codes have the ability to lead viewers online to any information that you want them to see. Best of all, many smartphones come with the ability to scan a QR code using the phone's camera and no additional apps.
Many people were introduced to QR codes from eating out at a restaurant in the last few years. Restaurants have recently adopted digital menus that customers can access using a QR code on the table or table card.
The coolest part of a QR codes comes from their ability to bridge the offline and online worlds together . With a simple scan, users are transported from print materials, such as posters, business cards, or flyers, to interactive online experiences.
This boosts engagement and leaves a lasting impression on the audience.

QR Code's Uses in Marketing & Some Interesting Statistics

Forward thinking small businesses have embraced QR codes for their numerous applications and the opportunities they bring for audience engagement.
In TV advertising specifically, QR codes have emerged as a powerful tool to extend the viewer experience beyond the screen and bring them directly into the sales funnel. Just as important, when someone scans that QR code, we know that the video ad is doing its job to get the user to take further action.
For example. Let's say someone is running a YouTube ad that has a placement on television via the YouTube app. If they set a click-thru destination (such as a URL or their website) for the YouTube ad, visiting that destination from a TV is highly unlikely, leading many YouTube advertisers to exclude TV all together.
With QR codes, YouTube advertisers can not only bring that TV audience back to expand their reach, but can give viewers a way to easily engage while tracking the success of their video along the way.
In the last few years, companies leveraged QR codes to prompt viewers to take immediate action, explore additional content, participate in surveys, and make purchases with very little effort on the viewer's behalf.
The viewers responded, and the results were very positive. Have a look at the following:

Up to 60% of 18 - 34 year olds scanned or have attempted to scan a QR code on TV ( Source )
48% of people surveyed said they are most likely to scan a QR code to learn more about the advertised product ( Source )
In 2022, 89 million smartphone users in the United States scanned a QR code from their phone, an increase of 26% since 2020 ( Source )
59% of people believe that QR codes will permanently be a part of their smartphone usage ( Source )
A further 75% of people are eager to user more QR codes in the future ( Source )

Image Source Here

Really, it comes down to this. There are 310 million smartphone users in the United States, 95% of them have their phone in their hand while watching TV , ~87% of them have scanned a QR code at least once in their lifetime and about ~37% scan a QR code every week .
It's time to start using them in your video ads.

The Benefits of Using QR Codes in Video Advertising

One of the key challenges in TV advertising is capturing and maintaining the audience's attention. This is much harder in the world of smartphones.
Secondly, tracking and measuring the ad's effectiveness can be difficult - some even try to measure it with a "correlation" in increased business, which sometimes isn't satisfactory.
By strategically placing QR codes within video ads, businesses encourage viewers to take immediate action and form a better connection with their content. When you set up the QR code correctly, you know 100% for certain that the visitors to your QR code's destination came from the video ad.
For example, imagine a roofing company featuring a QR code in their TV ads discussing a seasonal service offering. Viewers can scan their code to access an in-depth video explaining their process in more detail. The roofing company can also offer a limited-time discount on the service if they call or fill out a form.
Another great benefit of using QR codes in your ads, is that they will quick take your audience from offline to online instantly.

If you're a restaurant or food delivery service, you could feature a QR code in your TV ad that will allow viewers to instantly start placing their order. Fewer steps, less friction to the sale, and a better experience for your customer is what this all boils down to.

Here's What You Can Track With QR Codes

Unlike traditional TV advertisements, which may leave businesses guessing about the impact of their ad spend, QR codes provide on-demand data on viewer interactions.
Using analytics tools, companies can monitor a number of important data points that may have previously been hard to measure.

Geographic location
Time of day when scans happened
Age of viewers
Gender
Specific device used
Time spent on destination site (from QR code)
Conversion rate
Engagement / bounce rates
Repeat scans by the same person
Much more

Data obtained from QR code tracking provides invaluable insight for making informed marketing decisions beyond just viewership numbers.
By adding QR codes to your video ads, you're introducing a more comprehensive understanding of how audiences interact with your video advertising and the actions they are taking, if any.
You can also compare and split test performance across different video advertising campaigns with this enhanced data. Sooner rather than later, this approach gives more objective evaluation on what is working and what is not.
Don't be in the dark on the effectiveness of your video advertising budget! QR codes help you get the data you need to optimize and discover how to produce a more consistent ROI.

QR Code Best Practices & How To Use Them In Your Video Ads

Have a Good Design

If you're going to use QR codes on your TV ads, it's key to prioritize the design and aesthetics of the code itself. A well-designed QR code is eye-catching and easy to scan.
Also important are the graphics, colors and overlays surrounding the QR code. Too much clutter or "over-doing" it could interfere with readability, leading to missed scans or no scans at all.

Add a Call-To-Action

Make sure to always add a simple call-to-action near the QR code to encourage viewers to scan it. Clear instructions, such as "Scan now to learn more," can entice viewers to engage and actually scan the code.

Make Sure It's Clearly Visible

As far as position, many QR codes are positioned in the bottom right of the screen. This isn't always necessary, however. As long as the QR code is in a position that is easily viewable and accessible to your viewers without getting in the way of the actual ad, it will be fine.
You don't always need to have the QR code visible for the full duration of your video ad, but that is an option. If you'd rather not feature the QR code during the entire commercial, featuring it at the end, after the audience has already absorbed your message, is best.
Make sure the code remains on-screen long enough for viewers to scan it.

Build A Great Landing Page

To increase your conversion rates after the code is scanned, make your landing page (or content accessed through the code), align with the theme and message of the video ad itself. This keeps your branding consistency solid, which is marketing 101.
Just as important is ensuring you're delivering an excellent mobile-friendly experience. Remember, most viewers, if not 100% of them, will be viewing this page on their phones. A bad mobile experience means an interrupted experience and that viewer isn't likely to stick around, wasting advertising spend.

Let's Recap - QR Code Best Practices

Prioritize Design & Aesthetics
Don't clutter the QR code with bad contrasts
Add a Call-to-Action
Position your QR code in a clearly visible spot on your video
Keep the QR code on screen long enough for it to be scanned
Keep your destination page consistent with the video's message & theme
Make sure your destination page is mobile-friendly

QR Code Pitfalls To Avoid When Using Them In Your Next Video Ad

As with any marketing strategy, QR codes comes with their own set of challenges and pitfalls. Take special care to test your ads thoroughly before tackling this strategy with your marketing company.

Code Readability

Make sure your QR codes are a proper size and have the right contrast to be able to be easily scanned. Also make sure to test and different distances. (how far back do you sit from your TV?) It's also important to test the QR code on multiple phones, not just your own.

Generic Looking Your QR Code s

Did you know that you can frame and add your company's logo to your QR code? You can also change the color, add icons and even squeeze in a simple call to action mentioned below. This will help your QR code stand out even more and perhaps even entice a scan.

Instructions & Call To Action

Be sure to clearly state what is going to happen when they scan the code. In some cases, you may provide simple instructions too. Phrases like "Scan with your camera to get 5% off now" can go a long way.

Not Tracking Destination Visits Properly

If linking to a website or URL (which many QR codes do), be sure that URL contains proper tracking parameters such as UTM codes. This will be dependant on your needs and the tracking tools you're using.

Not Saving Your QR Codes

This makes it easy to reuse codes and destinations in multiple campaigns without having the design and generate the code all over again. There are plenty of services you can use to do this, or you can just save them yourself.

3 Great QR Code Generators You Can Use To Get Started

N ow that you understand the impact and potential benefits of using QR codes in your video advertisements, it's time to actually create one and get started!

Beaconstac - Paid, Free Trial
QR Code Generator - Free & Paid (We use this for our clients)
QR Code Monkey - Free

The differences between free and paid come down to the customization, traceability and ease of use. Please visit all of the options and perform research on your own to see what fits best for your situation. Maybe we'll do a review in the future based on our findings!

Start Optimizing Your Video Ad Performance Today!

I hope this guide has empowered you with the knowledge to start tracking your video ad performance more effectively using QR codes. Have questions or need expert assistance? Don't hesitate to contact us by requesting a review of your current website and digital marketing strategies.
Together, let's unlock the full potential of your video advertising performance and help your brand meet modern expectations.
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10 Excellent Dental Websites For Inspiration & Best Practices

Wed, 01 Mar 2023 23:29:00 GMT

To create an appealing dental website that potential patients will enjoy is difficult. A canned or template website sometimes just isn't enough to stand out among the competition and encourage patients to choose you.
Below, we highlight 10 dental website designs to both inspire and help make your site more appealing to potential patients. We break down the top features of each site. That way, you find opportunities to copy their best practices and apply them to your project.
Quick disclaimer. Just because we don't list certain best practices doesn't mean that the website isn't incorporating them. Many of the dental websites below absolutely nail it on multiple fronts when it comes to best practices for a website in their industry.
It's safe to say you can learn from all of them. Let's begin.

1. Mint Dental

A great first impression is key for a dental website to convert visitors into customers— Mint Dental has nailed that. The high-quality photos of happy, bright smiles on the homepage will undoubtedly grab website visitors' attention.
The homepage has all the must-haves to be fully effective:

Visually compelling photos that tell a story without distracting visitors
The simple navigation bar helps visitors access information quickly
Sufficient use of white spaces to improve the user's visual experience
Clear call to action (CTA) to encourage visitors to take action

The clean design invites people to learn more about the brand. A web visitor can quickly identify dental services offered and the brand's locations. Most importantly, a button to schedule an appointment floats at the top of the page for easy reach, regardless of where you are on the website.
Best practice:

Use relevant, high-quality photos showing healthy teeth and smiles
Make it easy to access different sections of your website
Use clear, action-oriented CTA

2. Sweet Tooth Pediatric Dentistry

How does a dental website make a strong first impression? Sweet Tooth uses an amazing video illustrating the brand's unique approach.
The poppy color scheme on the website isn't simply for visual appeal but also consistent with the brand color. A signature color can help your brand stand out in the industry.
What makes the website's design a success is how users can easily explore the company's offerings. The menu at the top and navigation anchors at the bottom allow visitors to jump easily to specific sections.
And no matter the device you use (mobile or desktop), the web design is very responsive to ensure the site's content fits perfectly on different screen sizes. Responsiveness influences how Google ranks your dental website.
Best practice:

Use video on your website to showcase your practice's experience
Make your website's colors consistent with your brand colors
Use responsive web designs (mobile-friendly designs)

3. Tend

Tend has all the strongholds of a successful dentist website, from great visual appeal to responsiveness and simplicity.
Tend uses video in a different way. Their video is from the perspective of an ideal patient going through their full day, including visiting Tend. The navigation bar at the top shows the brand's full services and locations.
Visually compelling photos and easy-to-read web copy blend perfectly with the site's simple design, from the selection of photos to how they are edited to fit the color scheme. CTA buttons are strategically placed and action-oriented to inspire web visitors to book appointments.
Best practice:

Make your copy easy to read
Combine copy with appropriately edited photos for a great visual appeal

4. Implant Center of Miami

Implant Center of Miami appears on this list of top 10 dental websites for a good reason: easy-to-navigate web design and relevant information available right away.
This website is utilizing it's hero (the first thing you see on a web page) to get across as much relevant information as possible.
There are no shortage of call to actions and invitations to explore the rest of the website and its rich content. From the videos on the front page to the welcoming images of the doctors, the design and content blend well for a very inviting and engaging website experience.
This website is top quality and waste little time getting the visitor to engage in some way.
Best practice:

Utilize the hero on a website to convey extremely relevant information
Use plugins such as live chat and accessibility widgets
Include pricing on your website

5. Bowles Dental

Bowles Dental wows patients with a modern, engaging web design. Several things make their dental website a success.
First, there are multiple ways for patients to make an appointment: calling, texting, or booking online. Your dental website should make it easy for visitors to book an appointment in the way that is most convenient for them.
Second, the copy is patient-centered; it answers typical patient questions that usually delay booking appointments or tie up time on the phone. Visitors can easily understand why they should become Bowles Dental's patients instead of the competitors.
The photos contribute to a fantastic visual appeal and compliment the design near perfectly. The expectation of a beautiful smile people would get from booking an appointment is clearly evident.
Best practice:

Be very customer oriented with your website copy to reduce anxiety
Answer common questions on your pages
Ensure web visitors have multiple options for booking an appointment and can easily see where to get started

6. Downtown Dental

Downtown Dental web design clearly emphasizes the fact that they are located in Chicago. From the name to the prominently featured image, the website's professional look instantly suggests that they are one of Chicago's best.
Here's how Downtown Dental's website streamlines the user experience and builds authority:

Very quick loading times
Clear information regarding their locations and the available services at each
High quality design that's both professional yet simple
Consistency between pages, including featured testimonials and an easy booking widget

Best practice:

Use imagery that is highly relevant to your location
Don't waste the user's time with information that doesn't pertain to their intent
Improve your page load time to streamline the customer experience
Keep your service pages consistent

7. MillBridge Dentistry

MillBridge Dentistry uses a minimalistic web design that's eye-catching and outstanding. High quality photos, fun color schemes, and thoughtful icons make this website stand out.
Apart from visually appealing aesthetics, the MillBridge Dentistry website is easy to navigate and has compelling CTAs. The copy is also SEO-optimized and explains why they are different.
Overall, their design is very approachable and coupled with their copy, it shows that their practice is very welcoming to patients of all kinds.
Best practice:

Tell potential patients why you are unique
Highlight benefits to different types of patients
Be thoughtful in how colors and icons open up your brand to be more welcoming and approachable

8. Embassy Dental

With dozens of dental clinics in the industry, standing out can be difficult. Embassy Dental has managed to break through the competition with a unique web design and navigation.
The website's sleek design makes it easy to identify where to learn more about a service, book an appointment, and choose a location. This streamlines the user experience.
Embassy's location page also contain the bulk of the information, as that where many of their local customers are most likely to land.
The creative use of icons also contributes to the site's overall appeal.
Best practice:

Use content rich location pages if you are a multi-location dental practice
Use a minimal homepage if you are multi-location
Redirect users to their preferred location in a convenient and noticeable way

9. Grand Street Dental

Grand Street Dental is where to draw inspiration if you want a dental website with the vibe of a modern art gallery.
Visually appealing images, striking colors, and thoughtful icons engage people from the moment they land on the website. Their design is pretty hip and you can almost picture it's location just from the imagery and artsy aesthetic.
Beyond aesthetics, they don't dive too deep in on their services and content. Instead, Grand Street provides essential information that is easy to find and understand quickly.
Best practice:

Use vibrant and artsy images to establish a trendy brand
Write straightforward, essential content for a more to-the-point experience
Highlight your visual social media sites, particularly Instagram

10. The Gleamery

The Gleamary makes a strong first impression with a short video, which gives people a glimpse of the practice's dental procedures and the variety of patients they have welcomed. The site engages web visitors with appealing fonts, images, colors and detailed copy.
Also important is that The Gleamery highlights a small but effective expectation that their services and pricing. This is just an extra push to help them seem more approachable to newer patients and eliminates one of the most common questions people have when it comes to any new service.
They are also further setting expectations by showcasing their reviews and how an appointment will play out when a visitor wants to engage.
Best practice:

Set expectations for pricing and a typical appointment
Include images of your practice
Set expectations by providing and answering FAQs

Conclusion

Want to build an appealing dental website that gets consistent traffic and new patients? Tekkii can help translate "web" into revenue for your dental practice.
If you want an analysis and breakdown of your existing dental website, Contact us today to learn more.

7 Crucial Items Your Website Needs To Succeed

Thu, 16 Feb 2023 19:16:00 GMT

Creating a website can be challenging, but it's essential for any business or individual looking to establish a strong online presence.
A well-designed website can attract more customers, increase brand awareness, and ultimately drive more sales, while a poorly-designed website can drive your visitors away.
According to the latest statistics:

Nearly 1 out of 3 businesses still don't have a website. (Source: Forbes )
94% of a website's first impressions are design-related. (Source: Research Gate)
88% of online consumers are less likely to return to a site after a bad experience. (Source: HubSpot)
67% of consumers are more likely to purchase from mobile-friendly sites. (Source: Google)
Businesses with a website grow 2.5 times faster than those without. (Source: Small Business Administration)

Creating an effective and engaging website requires careful consideration of all the elements that make it up. In this article, we'll outline 7 of the most important things to include when creating your website.
These important items include such the website's purpose, phone number and call to action, custom photos and videos, FAQs, pricing, testimonials, awards, and Google My Business page.
By following this checklist, you'll be able to create a winning website that will help you establish a strong online presence and attract more customers. Let's get started.

#1: What is the Purpose of the Website?

The purpose of your website should be the first thing you consider when creating it. Are you looking to sell products or services? Provide information? Entertain? Provide validation?
Knowing the purpose of your website will help you design or redesign it in a way that achieves your goals . For example, if you're trying to sell products, you'll want to include a clear call to action and easy-to-use navigation that makes it easy for visitors to find what they're looking for. Images of your products should also be front and center.
If you're trying to provide information, you'll want to ensure the information is easy to find and understand. Your website's pages should also know why a user is reading them and how to solve their issue as quickly as possible.
Knowing exactly what goal(s) you want to achieve with your website will help you construct it effectively. A website without a purpose is like taking a road trip without a destination. It could be fun if that's your thing, but also cost you a lot of time and money.

#2: Phone Number & Call To Action

Including a prominent phone number and call to action on your website is crucial. This means the phone number and call to action need to be immediately visible upon visiting your website.
Visitors will appreciate the convenience of being able to call you directly, and it will also increase the likelihood of them reaching out to you. A call to action can be something as simple as a button that says "Contact Us" or "Book a Consultation."
If you go to your website right now and don't see your phone number or a call to action, you need to fix this ASAP !
Make it easy for visitors to reach out to you, and they will be more likely to do so.

#3: Real Photos & Video

Custom photos and videos are a great way to showcase your products or services and make a strong visual impression on visitors.
Quality photos immediately establish authenticity with your business, as potential customers get to see examples of your work and proof that you are a real company with real results.
Video production pushes this even further by serving as an easily digestible greeting for the customer. This gives them a stronger connection to who you are, your company's values, offerings and more.
Using high-quality images and videos can help visitors understand what you're offering and make them more likely to take action. If you're not a professional photographer, it's worth investing in one to take high-quality images of your products or services.

Pictures of Your Team

If you're a local business, having images of you or your team is a very important step . To push this further and make a stronger impression, have each person's photo accompanied by a short bio outlining their qualifications and experience.
This can build trust with visitors and add a personal touch to your website. Visitors will appreciate seeing who they'll be working with, and it can also help visitors connect with your company on a personal level.

#4: FAQs & Answers About Your Services

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) can be a great way to provide visitors with the information they need without them having to reach out to you. This can help save you time and reduce the number of contacts you receive that aren't qualified.
Include answers to common questions about your services and products, such as how they work, their cost, and how to use them. Make sure you include detailed answers that explain clearly how your services work, the benefits of using them and why they should choose you.

#5: Pricing

When it comes to pricing, transparency is key.
Visitors will appreciate it if you are upfront about the cost of your products or services. This can help prevent visitors from feeling like they're being taken advantage of and can increase the likelihood of them taking action.
Be sure to include the prices of your products or services on your website, and make sure they are easy to find. Being upfront about any additional charges or fees will give customers an accurate idea of what to expect when working with you.
Adding pricing to your website also reduces the amount of unqualified leads or contacts you'll receive, and increase the chances that a lead will convert since they know exactly what they'll be paying.

#6: Testimonials & Awards

Testimonials and awards are great ways to build credibility with visitors. Share testimonials from satisfied customers and any awards or certifications you have earned.
You can have customers submit new testimonials or take reviews from 3rd party websites like Google, Yelp, BBB or Facebook.
It's more effective if you include a photo of the customer, and the most effective if you can get their testimonial on video.
This can help visitors see that you're a reputable and trustworthy business and increase the likelihood of them taking action. Customers are more likely to make a purchase if they can read real reviews from previous clients who have had success working with you.

#7: Google My Business Page

Google My Business is a free tool that allows you to manage your business information on Google. Having a Google My Business page is essential if you want to ensure your website appears in search engine results.
Make sure to include all the relevant information on your "My Business" page, such as contact details and services offered. You should also add images and videos to give customers a better idea of what they can expect from working with you.
Once your Google My Business profile is all set up, it's important to embed your page onto your website. Preferably, your My Business embed would go in the footer or Contact Page of your website.
Follow this guide to learn how to embed your Google Business page onto your website: Embed a Google My Business Listing

Conclusion

In conclusion, creating a website that is both effective and engaging requires careful consideration of all the elements that make it up. Building an effective website takes time and effort, but it's worth it for the long-term success of your business.
By including the items outlined in this article, you'll be able to create a winning website that will help you establish a strong online presence and attract more customers.
If you are not confident in your ability to make the necessary changes to your website or don't have the time to do it, we'd love to have the opportunity to help you with our Website Design Services .

Conversion Tracking Benefits & How To Use It to Grow Faster

Fri, 20 Jan 2023 04:12:00 GMT

When we speak with small businesses that have an existing website, we hear the following more often than I wish we did.

They don't know what their website conversion rates are
They think it's impossible to track the performance of every marketing initiative and channel
They are unsure of how to optimize for conversions to maximize their ROI

All of the issues above and then some can be resolved by making sure you have conversion tracking in place in all of the right areas.
By using conversion tracking, you can identify precisely which traffic sources are driving conversions, phone calls, revenue and more. This gives you an accurate understanding of your customer's journey and how you can target future customers who are similar.
This article will explore why conversion tracking is a must-have for any successful digital marketer and discuss best practices to ensure success when implementing this powerful tool.

What is a Conversion Anyway?

When it comes to internet marketing and digital sales, conversions are the lifeblood of success.
A conversion is a term used to describe when a potential customer takes an action that benefits your business. This could be filling out a form on your website, clicking through to purchase your product or service, subscribing to an email newsletter, or whatever else you determine.
At the same time, conversion tracking gives you an understanding of each individual customer's journey. This means questions like "how did they find us" or "what page encouraged this sale?" can easily be answered and measured.

Conversions Tell You What is Working, and What Isn't

All businesses want to increase their conversions, as this generally indicates more people are engaging with the brand - thus increasing revenue and profit margins in the long term. However, improving your conversion rate often requires careful monitoring of data trends and ongoing optimization of advertising dollars.
By keeping a close eye on your campaigns and understanding how users interact with them, you can make better decisions about allocating your budget, making the necessary tweaks, and improving each campaign's performance.
You're also able to see which channels are performing better than others - allowing you to double down on successful campaigns and cut back on the ones that aren't producing results.

Quick Benefits of Conversion Tracking

Conversion tracking give you a variety of benefits to digital marketers and businesses alike. By understanding how users engage with each campaign, you're able to:
More effectively allocate your budget across different channels: As mentioned above, with a thorough understanding of user behavior, you can allocate your budget in the most effective way possible. This could include doubling down on successful campaigns or cutting back spending on non-performing ones.
Analyze the success of campaigns in real-time: Conversion tracking allows you to track and analyze user behavior. This means that you can respond quickly to changes in user behavior, enabling more effective decision-making.
Identify any potential issues or areas of improvement: Conversion tracking can also help you identify any potential issues or areas of improvement. This could include identifying and fixing broken links, or redesigning a page with too many distractions for users based on the Engagement Rate or other factors.
Track the customer journey from start to finish: When set up properly, you can use conversion tracking to help you understand your customer's journey from start to finish. This allows you to make improvements based on user feedback and optimize your campaigns for better results.
Measure the ROI of each campaign: Last but not least, conversion tracking allows you to measure each campaign's return on investment (ROI). This allows you to better understand which campaigns provide the best value for money and make informed decisions about budget allocation.
If you are engaging in a search engine optimization campaign, conversion tracking can help you see if your results match up with your predictions. Check out our article on Predicting SEO ROI to find out more.

How to Get Started With Conversion Tracking

Fortunately, numerous tools are available to help you track conversions more effectively. Many of them are even free. Some of the most popular tools include:

Google Analytics

Google Analytics is one of the most popular and powerful platforms for tracking website and marketing performance. It provides in-depth insights into visitor interactions, allowing you to easily understand how customers browse through your website, where they came from and what they did on your site.
From start to finish, it tracks user behavior with valuable metrics like pageviews, traffic sources, engagement rate and conversions. With custom reporting and segmentation tools, you can slice data in any way that's useful.
Furthermore, with Google Analytics 4, their most recent update, Google Analytics offers an intuitive dashboard that gives you crucial information in a visually appealing way. All of this makes Google Analytics a great choice for anyone looking to gain key insights into the performance of their site or marketing campaigns. It's also free and a must have for your website.

Google Tag Manager

Google Tag Manager is a valuable tool for website and app owners. It simplifies adding and managing tracking tags that can report on user behavior across your entire digital presence online.
Google Tag Manager integrates with Google Analytics, allowing it to provide you with detailed reporting on what people are doing on your website, such as which pages they visit most often or how long they stay on a page before leaving.
This data helps webmasters make informed decisions to improve the user experience or better their digital marketing efforts. With Google Tag Manager, managing tracking tags is much easier.

Other Tools For Tracking Conversions

In addition to the popular tools mentioned above, there are several other great options for tracking conversions. While we haven't used all of these ourselves, we think they are worth mentioning here:

Smartlook

Smartlook provides a simple yet robust way to analyze user behavior on your website and mobile app. They are a product analytics tool with an aim of giving you a full understanding of user behavior. By combining qualitative and quantitative data, Smartlook gives you the answers to what and why people do what they do on your website or mobile app:

"What's wrong with my mobile app?"
"Are visitors doing what I need them to do?"
"Where and why do my visitors drop off?"
"What are the most important elements on my pages?"

Smartlook offers session recordings, heatmaps, custom events and more. Best of all, it integrates well with many of the tools you are already using and familiar with - though, it's easy enough to configure and use out of the box as well.
Have a look and try it for free here: Smartlook

Mixpanel

Mixpanel allows you to track user behavior across multiple devices in real time. Similar to Google Analytics, it tracks user engagement with your website or app, but provides powerful, highly customizable reports that should give an answer to any data-based question you have.
Have a look at Mixpanel here: Mixpanel Analytics

HubSpot Website Grader

HubSpot Website Grader is a tool for tracking website performance. It provides insights into your website's SEO, accessibility, speed and mobile-friendliness. It also tracks conversions for you. Check it out here: Hubspot Website Grader

Kissmetrics

Kissmetrics is another great real-time option for tracking user behavior across multiple devices. It tracks key user activities, such as how users navigate your site or app, where they came from, and what actions they take. Kissmetrics is much more robust than Google Analytics and provides a great comparison between their two tools here: Google Analytics vs. Kissmetrics

PixelMe

PixelMe is a tracking tool specifically designed for digital marketers. It helps track conversions from marketing campaigns and provides detailed analytics on user behavior. It tracks clicks, page views, time spent on the site from third-party campaigns using shortened links and more.

Conversion Tracking is Essential

Conversion tracking is an essential tool for any digital marketing campaign. Tracking leads to measurement which ultimately leads to assessment and growth.
Fortunately, several great tools are available to help you gain these insights. With the right tools in place, you can easily track conversions and start getting more out of your website and digital marketing campaign.
Tekkii can help you set up detailed conversion tracking and help optimize your campaigns. If you have any questions, please don't hesistate to contact us today!

Does Responding to Reviews Help Your SEO? What Businesses Need to Know

Wed, 11 Jan 2023 06:12:00 GMT

Local SEO plays a critical role in driving customers in your area to your business. As you develop your SEO strategy, it's important that you make it a habit to not only encourage customers to leave a review on your Google Business Profile, but that you also respond to all reviews that come in.
In short, yes, responding to Google Reviews, both good and bad, help your SEO. It demonstrates that you care about their experience with your business and gives you a chance to share your gratitude and observations.
If you're looking for a way to help improve how frequently your business shows up in Google and even get a slight edge against your competitor, keep reading.

Do Google Reviews Help SEO?

If you are like many business owners, you be underestimating the value that reviews on your Google My Business (GMB) page can have when trying to improve your SEO.
When Google ranks websites in its SERP (search engine results page), it will first assess a website to measure whether or not it has good E-E-A-T: Experience, Expertise, Authority, and Trust. This being the case, Google reviews actually play a key role in determining how a website ranks on Google by making a business look more trustworthy.
The fact is that Google trusts what customers have to say about your business more than what you say on your website. This is true of your potential customers too, as 93% of users say reviews factor into their buying decisions .
If your business has numerous positive reviews, Google will take this as evidence that your business is trustworthy, which will have a positive effect on your search ranking as you do this over time.

Responding to Reviews Further Improves SEO

While encouraging customers to leave reviews can boost your SEO, you should take things a step further by making a point of responding to as many reviews as possible.
Putting in the time and effort to respond to each one of your customer's reviews has a number of benefits:

Making Your Business Look Trustworthy

These days, online reviews play a critical role in helping customers decide which businesses they can trust. When you respond to reviews, whether good or bad, you're showing potential customers that you care about your reputation and are willing to ensure that all of your customers have a good experience.

Adding Keywords

Google scans the reviews on your Google My Business profile for keywords that can help it learn what your business does and whether your business is relevant to specific user searches.
When responding to reviews on Google, you have an opportunity to include keywords in your response than can help Google better categorize your business, improving your future search results.

Increasing Your Position in Search Results Through Engagement

Another factor that influences your ranking is how many people engage with your Google Business Profile. Whenever prospective customers spend time swiping through your pictures, requesting directions, asking questions on your profile, or even reading reviews, this is very positive for your business' visibility.
Whether positive or negative, you should give people not only a chance to read a customer's review, but also your response. When it comes to negative reviews, you have a chance to provide your side of the story instead of it appearing one sided and potentially out of context.

Google Says You Should Do It

Though many businesses choose not to interact with customer reviews, the fact is that it is no secret that doing so improves SEO. Even Google has made it clear to businesses that responding to reviews improves your local ranking.

Be A Customer-Centric Business By Responding to Google Reviews

When you take the time to thank happy customers and apologize to unsatisfied customers, this demonstrates that you are a customer-centric business.
Something as simple as responding to customer reviews can be essential for your online reputation, which can help to boost your local SEO and make potential customers feel much better about choosing you.
Thanks for reading! Now go and ask your customers for a review today!

Using A Website Builder in 2023? The Pros vs Cons

Sat, 03 Dec 2022 01:44:00 GMT

Anyone can create a website. No, really, it’s true! Website builders have been around for many years, providing a platform for users of any experience level to create websites of just about any type.

Due to their clean templates, drag and drop interface, and expanding set of tools, people of virtually any skill level can create a website that fits just about any business industry.

No coding or professional design skills are necessary. The easy to use drag and drop interfaces and features allow you to build a great website and even achieve a quicker launch time.

Some website builders can even be used free of charge. The pros just seem to keep coming, right?

Well, before you make your decision on how you’re going to power your website, there are a few things you should know. Does it make sense to use a website builder in 2023, or hire a freelancer / agency?
Let's find out.

What To Consider Before Using a Website Builder

Your website is an extremely important part of your business and shouldn’t be taken lightly. It is the first impression many visitors will have on your business and when done right, you'll have no trouble with visibility and exposure.

While a website builder is the perfect option for many, doing it yourself could be the wrong decision for your business based on what we'll be covering in this article.

This guide is intended to provide information to help you make an informed decision on whether you should use a website builder, or you should hire someone to build your website for you.

The Pros & Cons of Website Builders

If you’ve done some research, you’ve likely heard of some of the popular website builders available today.

There’s Wix, Squarespace, Weebly, Duda, Shopify and GoDaddy just to name a few. Options like these offer a great tool set to get you online, and quickly. Let’s take a closer look at some of the pros and cons of these popular website builders.

#5 Affordability

The Pros

Starting off with probably the most searched inquiry, let’s start by talking about the affordability of website builders. If you’re considering using a website builder for your next business or project, you’re likely to save money up front.

New or young businesses aren’t the only ones who could benefit from this. The affordability of website builders is great for:

With the quality of website you get for such a low investment, this decision seems to make the most sense.

The Cons

When using the free option that many web builders offer, you may find the end result to not quite be what you expect. Because of this, there is additional functionality you may need when it comes to your website.

Be on the lookout for:

If you don't factor in certain premium features, you may end up paying more than you think to get your website online and maintain it. While the extra fees aren’t too bad, it’s important to think about the all of the features you really need for your website and do your research.

Last but not least, the investment isn't so much your money as it is with time. Building a website yourself takes time and a lot of care.

Sure, you may only be paying $15 - $55 each month for your website's hosting on the builder, but the true cost comes from factoring in the initial time to build your site, plus the hours to maintain it each month. Are you still able to afford it?

#4 The Ease of Use

The Pros

Website builders are very easy to use, providing a drag and drop interface, and access to an ever-growing list of features. Not to mention, many of the themes come with great resources such as high quality photos and video to use for free.

Many of the builders allow you to create online shops, beautiful galleries, cool parallax effects, newsletter email forms, and more with a few easy clicks.

Popular website builders like Wix or Squarespace offer beautiful, modern templates for you to choose from, yet, are easily customizable. So even if you’ve had no experience with web design before, you can create a good looking website in record time.

This is a perfect do-it-yourself solution to get a site online for your perspective audience.

The Cons

Believe it or not, the ease of use in itself is a con. When it comes to web design, do it yourself is not for everyone. Not everyone knows what looks good, or what best design or marketing practices are.

Just because you can build a great looking website, doesn’t mean it will function well if at all. That’s ok though, the builders help you out where they can and even offer professional help and support.

That being said, there are limitations using a website builder, and you are often restricted to the set of tools and boundaries it gives you. Due to these restrictions, your website may not appear or feel very unique when compared to another built on the same platform using the same theme.

Customers and visitors alike will see the effort put into your website as a reflection of your brand. It may be difficult to portray your brand as unique on a website builder without having the skill or an eye for design.

To help with this, consider looking online for example websites and tips from the builder you choose. Don’t be one of the people that dismisses your website just because it was built using a website builder!

#3 Tons of Features

The Pros

You can expect to find a range of features available with every website builder. There are contact forms, image sliders, newsletters, online stores, blogging tools and more just to name a few.

Since website builders are designed with many different users in mind, you can expect quick and easy easy configuration to fit your needs.

Need customers to make appointments online, get in touch with you, see your videos, connect social media? Expect to do these things and more all quickly and beautifully.

We want praise Wix here for offering great online ordering and online reservation systems to restaurants. We would recommend checking it out for your restaurant and may write a blog on it in the future.

You will likely find the tools to meet a simple, or even more complex need.

The Cons

We go back to limitations here. Customizing the look and functionality of many features is not possible. Let’s say there is a rental form for vacation homes, and you need to capture if the customer is bringing pets.

Let’s also say that with pets, the system needs to charge an added fee if that option is selected. You might not able to meet this requirement especially with a basic plan or account, if it’s even possible to do with the feature.

Certain integrations or extended features may come with extra cost. If this is the case, expect to pay a one-time fee or monthly for the feature. Consider the features you need and exactly how they should work ahead of spending hours to find out you can’t achieve what you need.

#2 Google Rankings & SEO

The Pros

Many website builders come standard with search engine optimization tools. These tools will help you rank in search engines, allowing user to find your brand online.

While each website builder has had its fair share of ups and downs when it comes to SEO, many have made great improvements over the years. Options in the editor help you set up your website to be search engine friendly in a quick, and easy way.

The tools allow you to change titles, meta descriptions, insert alt text and more to customize how you show up in search engines results.

You can even track your traffic data with built in Google Analytics.

The Cons

Despite the improvements, many websites built using website builders do not rank well in popular search engines like Google. Due to the limitations with some of the builders and access to their source code, a user cannot take all the steps to truly optimize their site.

The exception that we've found when it comes to this, however, is Duda . We've found that their SEO tools for website optimization, along with their website performance, is top notch.

While website builders meet the basics of SEO, we haven't used many that actually deliver results like Duda does.

However, that doesn’t mean you can’t rank and rank well without using a specific website builder. We’ve seen also seen Squarespace perform very well when it comes to SEO optimization and ranking.

#1 Suitability

How do you know if a website builder is suitable for your brand? Ask yourself the following questions:

Keep in mind this is based entirely on opinion and the questions above are fairly basic.

Consider Using a Website Builder If:

A website builder is great if you answered the following to the questions above:

Consider Hiring An Agency / Freelancer

You should consider hiring a web design agency or freelancer if:

Why?

Whether or not a website builder is right for you is all about your investment. Are you going to get what you want out of what you are putting in?

The first set of questions mainly refers to an individual or small business who looks to do the design and marketing of their website on their own / in house. It also highlights the website’s purpose as being more information based. Going this route means you will spend less money, but more of your time.

The second set of questions refers to a more established business looking at the website as a tool to drive more sales. The business also has no intention on trying to do this on their own. Going this route means you will spend more money, but save on your time.

Conclusion & Recap

There is nothing wrong with using a website builder, however, it’s always best to do research before making your decision.

Your website is a crucial part of your brand. It is your businesses’ reflection online, and as a result, one of the first impressions your brand could make to a potential customer.

Website builders are fantastic and can work in many scenarios. We’ve used website builders for many client websites with excellent results.

However, in our opinion it all comes down to if you should do it yourself or if you should hire a professional.

As stated above, if have time on your hands and need to get your brand online / official, certainly research and use a website builder. If you have a budget, not a lot of time and need to increase sales, certainly hire a freelancer or agency to help you achieve your goals.

So will you be using a website builder for your next project?

If you have any questions about website builders and what’s best for your project, please don’t hesitate to contact us .

How to Predict SEO ROI – Free Calculator Download

Sun, 20 Nov 2022 23:22:00 GMT

You may have heard that SEO is one of the best investments a business can make in their long term growth. Well is it true?
When done right, your SEO optimized website will regularly receive brand awareness and new customers to your business for free.... sort of . SEO takes a careful strategy, consistent execution and time. How do you know that investment is worth it?
Fortunately, there is a formula for predicting return on investment from your SEO marketing efforts. We also created an SEO ROI Calculator below that you can use to discover if SEO is worth it for your business.

Information Needed To Calculate ROI from SEO

Before you calculate your SEO return on investment, you’ll need to know a few pieces of information from your business, as well as perform a bit of keyword research.
You should know your:

Average Revenue Per Sale / Customer
Your Profit Margin
Your Close Rate
Keywords + their monthly volume
Your monthly SEO investment

The more accurate you are with your numbers, the more accurate your predictions will be.
When it comes to finding keywords, you can take a look at our recent article on How to Quickly Find Low Hanging Fruit Keywords if you need a few insights into finding excellent terms to rank on page 1 quickly.

The Basic Formula for SEO ROI

You can find SEO return on investment with the following formula:

Organic Traffic * Conversion Rate = Leads
Leads * Close Rate = Customers
Customers * Average Revenue / Sale = Revenue
Revenue * Profit Margin = Profit
Profit – SEO Investment = SEO ROI

Key Assumptions

It's important to note that this formula, along with our calculator you can find below, relies on a few assumptions.

First, your website must rank on the first page of Google.
Second, that your website ranks in the top 3 for all of your chosen keywords.
Third , it's likely going to take roughly 4 - 6 months for your SEO to kick in.

With this in mind, let’s get into the details of calculating the ROI.

What Industries are Most Successful with SEO ROI?

The answer to this question depends on how large your average sale is, the demand for your industry, profit margins and monthly investment.
Home services businesses have a lot of demand and a high ticket price making them excellent contenders of an SEO campaign. A restaurant, however, has a low ticket item and thin profit margins.
Their ROI will be much harder to achieve than the former.

How To Measure SEO ROI

Now that your numbers ready to go, let’s get into how it all comes together.

1. Estimate Traffic from Keywords

Start by taking the volume from each keyword in your list and add them all up to get your total keyword volume. From here it’s time to find the percentage of that traffic you’ll be receiving to your website from your keyword list.
Let’s say the total monthly volume of your keyword list was 3,000, which we’ll be using throughout our example.
According to stats from Smart Insights , here is a chart showing the share of clicks that each of the results in Google’s first page receive based on where they rank.

So if you rank #1 for a given keyword, you should be receiving approximately 34.2% of the keyword’s volume each month. Make sense?
Our SEO calculator uses 21% , which is the average percentage you would get from the top three search results based on the list above. We believe ranking in the top three is a great goal to achieve for any keyword and will be using the 21% average for our example.
With our earlier number of 3,000, the estimated visits we would receive to our website each month would be 630 people, assuming you rank in the top 3 for our chosen keywords sticking to the 21% average.
Feel free to use the chart above to estimate your own averages, or put together calculations based your website ranking in a specific search position.

2. Estimate Conversions from Traffic

By now, we should have estimated the total number of monthly visits to our site based on our chosen keywords. Next, we need to estimate just how many customers or leads we will receive from this total.
According to a study by Smart Bug Media , roughly 15% of your organic traffic should be converting into leads. This number varies widely and there are a few factors you should take into account when it comes to your own conversion rate:

You website design impacts your conversion rate
Your content impacts your conversion rate
Your online reputation impacts your conversion rate
Conversion rate varies largely by industry

If we take the average of 15%, we end up with 95 leads per month from ranking in the top three for all of our chosen keywords. It’s all starting to come together now.

3. Estimate Revenue from Conversions

Now that we know we’ll receive approximately 95 leads each month, it’s time to figure in the estimated revenue. This part is pretty easy.
Take your total leads and narrow these down based on your average lead close rate. What percentage of leads do you turn into customers on average? If that number is 60%, then you’ll be left with 60 closed sales in a given month.
Next, take this number and multiply it by your average revenue per sale / customer. If you’re a plumber, that number could be around $450.
When your SEO and rankings kick in, this means you’ll be looking at $25,650 per month in revenue coming from your website. Lastly, if your profit margin is 35%, SEO will be generating $8,978 in sales profit for you each month.
Let’s not forget to factor in is your SEO investment. Local SEO services can be anywhere from $500 – $5,000 per month . For our example, let’s just say $1,500 is your monthly spend. Your SEO ROI is $7,478.

4. The Full Calculation Visualized

Here’s that calculation broken down:

Total Keyword Volume * Traffic Share from Top 3 Google Ranking = Estimated Monthly Traffic
3000 * 0.21 = 630 traffic

Estimated Monthly Traffic * Average Organic Conversion Rate = Estimated Monthly Leads
630 * 0.15 = 95 leads (rounded)

Estimated Monthly Leads * Your Lead Close Rate = Estimated Customers
100 * 0.60 = 57 customers

Estimated Customers * Your Average Revenue per Sale = Estimated Monthly Revenue
60 * $450 = $25,650 / month

Estimated Monthly Revenue * Your Profit Margin = Estimated Monthly Profit
$25,650 * 0.35 = $8,978

Estimated Monthly Profit – Monthly SEO Budget = Estimated Monthly ROI
$8,978 – $1,000 = $7,978 profit / mo

SEO Takes Time, You Need to Factor This In

You know how to calculate SEO ROI, but the question remains…how long does it take to see results from SEO?
While no person or agency can say for sure, it’s widely accepted in the industry that the average amount of time it takes to start seeing results is 4 – 6 months of executing a solid SEO strategy consistently.
However, if your ROI will ultimately be $7,978 per month after 6 months, you will make your return on investment by month 8 , assuming you were spending $1,500 per month on your SEO investment.
Be sure to factor in the delay in ROI when accounting for SEO.

Use Our SEO ROI Calculator

We’ve put together an easy to use calculator that makes finding SEO ROI very easy. Run as many calculations as you want!

Want the full version? Enter your email below and we'll send you the full version of the SEO ROI Calculator that lets you modify SEO conversion rates, traffic share and add your keywords.

In Conclusion

While SEO is great for many businesses, we hope this tool helps you understand whether it's a good investment for your business and if your research will bring you a healthy return.

How to Find Low Hanging Fruit Keywords & Drive Traffic Fast

Thu, 17 Nov 2022 05:54:00 GMT

When it comes to driving traffic to your website, learning the ins and outs of all that's involved can be a long, difficult process. It's hard to know what keywords to target and how they should be structured on your website.
Here's the secret, there's actually plenty of opportunities for "low-hanging fruit" keywords out there, all ripe for the picking, or in this case, the ranking.

What Are Low-Hanging Fruit Keywords?

Before we dive into how to find these keywords, let's take a minute to define this term and make sure we're all on the same page. "Low-hanging fruit" is simply a keyword phrase that has plenty of opportunity to rank on the first page of Google with less effort than a more competitive keyword.
In this article, we're going to show you some tools you can use to find these easy opportunities quickly and for free. Then, we're going to give you tips on how to implement them on your website so you can be on your way to ranking higher and attracting more visitors to your website.

What Tools Can I Use to Find the Keywords?

There plenty of tools out there that you can use to find low hanging fruit keywords and it doesn't really matter which one you use. However, the key is to find tools that allow you to find what's called a 'keyword difficulty' score, or 'competition' score.
Today, we'll share a few tools we know of. They are:

SEMRush
aHRefs
uberSuggest

The three tools accomplish the same goals, but there are a few differences we've noticed from using them over the years. Here some quick descriptions below:

SEMrush - Paid

SEMRush is a paid tool that allows you to identify and discover millions of keyword opportunities. Like the other tools mentioned above, you can see what keywords you already rank for, as well as what your competitors rank for.
In our opinion, SEMRush has the best keyword data when it comes to finding low hanging fruit keywords. This is the tool we use at our agency and we highly recommend it if you are able to invest into their monthly cost.

aHrefs - Paid / Free

aHrefs is similar to SEMRush and is commonly found in your average SEO agency's toolkit. While we prefer SEMRush, aHrefs delivers exceptional keyword data that is updated regularly. The also offer a free search tool that gives you a good amount of results with no cost.
You can find their free option here: aHrefs Keyword Generator

Ubersuggest - Free / Paid

Ubersuggest is a fantastic keyword research tool that gives you excellent data as well. Unfortunately, the more recent limitations that have been added to this tool only allow you to do so much per day.
However, the data you receive with the free searches it gives you is up there with the data you'll receive with the paid tools. It's great!

How To Prepare Your Keyword Sheet

To perform this research well, you're going to need to capture the following information for each keyword you search for using your preferred tool:

Keyword Name
Volume
Difficulty
URL of #1 Result

Ideally, you can set up a spreadsheet with the columns above and it'll be just fine. Sure, there's so much more data you can gather on keywords, but for the easy ones, we're going to keep it simple this time around.
Capturing the URL of the #1 result for the keyword is important. Simply type your discovered keyword into Google to see who is currently ranked at the top, then add the page URL to your spreadsheet. It's ok to exclude top 10 lists like the ones that show up from Yelp and other directory websites.
See below for an example of what your spreadsheet could look like:

Start With Keywords You Already Rank For

At our agency, we believe the first rule of increasing a website's traffic is to identify keywords that you already rank for and improve them.
This also includes finding keywords that you rank for on the 2nd page and beyond. Often times, a little bit of optimization will help bump these keywords up to the first page and bring you more traffic in a matter of weeks.

Next, Find Competitor Keywords

Once you've done the research to identify the keywords you already rank for and want to improve, you should use one of your chosen tools to see what keywords your competitors rank for as well. It's a good idea to start with the top competitors your niche or even local area.
This strategy really helps you to uncover opportunities that your competition isn't putting enough effort into. For example, if your competitor has keywords ranking on the 2nd page of Google or later, they may not be targeting them specifically, but still rank for them due to Google thinking their page is related.
You can capture these keywords and give them proper attention, which in turn will help you earn a higher ranking than what your competitor has.

Finding Brand New Keyword Opportunities

New keywords are keywords that neither you or your competitors rank for. There are several ways on how to find new keywords that are also low hanging fruit opportunities. Here is what we recommend:

1. Keyword Lists

You can find pre-existing lists of keywords that are related to your business and sort through them to add to your own list. To do this, you need to find keyword lists that are relevant to your website and niche. Most of these lists will be on forums and other places like blogs.
Just search Google for "YOUR NICHE + keyword list", so if you are an HVAC company, you'd search for "hvac keyword list".
Some of these lists already provide the volume and difficulty, but in case they don't, you can punch each of the terms you want into one of the tools we mentioned above to fill out your spreadsheet.

2. Google Keyword Tool

This is a very powerful tool for finding keywords and niches. The best thing about this tool is that it's free. It provides all of the data you'll need to complete a full spreadsheet and best of all, it's Google's data.
To do this, you'll need to sign up for a Google Adwords account. Once you're signed in, go to Tools > Keyword Planner and perform a search. This is where you'll see a slew of valuable information about these keywords, such as search volume and competition level.
Google's Keyword Planner tool is also one of the only free keyword tools that allows you to search for keyword demand by a specific geographical area.

3. SEMrush Keyword Magic Tool

This is our favorite tool for keyword research and finding low-hanging fruit keyword opportunities. Here's a quick list on how to find keywords that are easy to rank on Google's 1st page for.

Go to SEMRush's Keyword Magic Tool
Type in your term, service, niche or idea.
Semrush will give you a list of related keywords and data.
Filter the list by keyword difficulty and word count.
Set the difficulty range from 0 - 29, the word count to be 4 or greater.
Be sure to sort the list by volume.
Add the keywords you want to your spreadsheet.

You may be surprised at how many great keywords you'll find in your niche that have low competition. They're always out there waiting for someone to target them.
Similar strategies can be performed on aHrefs and Ubersuggest. You simply need to filter for low competition keywords. It's recommended to filter for keywords that have 4 words or more, but this will vary based on your business and the type of content you are trying to rank.

Implementing Your New Keywords

Now that you've got your low-hanging fruit keywords, it's time to implement them into your website. You'll want to have captured the top URL that is ranking for each keyword (as mentioned above). This will give you some insight into what you need to do to achieve a page 1 ranking in Google.

1. Keyword Targeting With Page Metadata

This is the simplest way of implementing your new keywords. The strategy involves making sure that your page targets the relevant keyword in its title tag, meta description, and URL.
If you do end up changing the URL of your website's page, be sure to implement a 301 redirect or you could hurt your existing SEO.

2. Content Targeting

This usually goes hand-in-hand with the optimization strategy above, especially if you are trying to rank for a new keyword. To do this successfully, you'll need to write content that is relevant to the keyword you are targeting and follow proper on-page optimization strategies.
The goal is to write quality content and provide information that is worthy of being on the 1st page of Google for they keyword you're trying to rank for. How do you know if your content is worthy? Well, that's why we recommended you write down the URL of who is currently ranking #1 for the term.
By doing this, you'll have a great benchmark of what to aim for content wise, design wise, structure wise and more. That URL you placed in your spreadsheet ranks #1 for that keyword because Google finds it to be the most relevant to the searcher. If you want to rank too, you'll need to give the searcher more.

3. Blog Posts and Articles

If you have a blog on your website, it's important to make sure that each blog post targets a particular keyword. If you don't have a blog....get one now! Just kidding....maybe....you really should have a blog on your website.
Anyway, targeting keywords using a new or existing blog post can be done by making sure that the title tag and meta description use the relevant keyword for that post, just like normal pages do.
You also need to make sure the blog goes into detail, answers questions and provides great information around the keyword you've chosen.
If you can remember to do it, it's also important to have your blog posts reference each other. You can do this by linking to them where relevant within your content. You've likely seen it done in this article a number of times.

4. Promote Your Content on Social Media

By using social media, you can help improve your website's rankings in organic search engine results. This is primarily because social media is an easy way to get visitors to your website and you can't rank without having traffic first.
Additionally, sharing articles and pages from your website to social media is a great way to get them seen by Google's search engine and more quickly determine how to rank your newly optimized content.

5. BONUS TACTIC - Use Google Search Console

This is something we've done at our agency for years to get thousands of keywords on the 1st page of Google for our clients. After performing any optimizations above to your website, you need to submit your website to Google.
Unless you've got a huge website and a very well known brand, Google won't visit you very often. So what can the little guy do? We get Google's attention by asking them to check out our newly updated website. This is done using Google Search Console's sitemap submission function and request indexing feature.
Sending the sitemap to Google will trigger a crawl, allowing them to easily see an index of all of your website's pages. Using the request indexing feature will allow you to request that Google view a specific page on your site that you recently updated.
This means you don't have to wait on them to visit you, which could take weeks or even longer. You can find more information on Google's request indexing tool at this link .

Did You Pick The Right Keywords?

Concentrating on low-hanging fruit keywords can greatly improve your organic search rankings and fast. Do you think you picked a good set of keywords for your website?
Get in touch with us here at Tekkii if you have questions and we can help you find out. Thanks for reading!

Save Your SEO After a Website Redesign – 4 Questions to Ask

Mon, 19 Jul 2021 23:55:00 GMT

A website redesign can really help your business if it's done right. When done wrong, however, it can hurt your traffic and reduce the amount of people who can find you online. We recently redesigned the website for a pediatric dentist in Overland Park. After the redesign back in April, not only did the ... The post Save Your SEO After a Website Redesign – 4 Questions to Ask appeared first on Tekkii.

10 Signs It’s Time to Redesign Your Website

Thu, 24 Jun 2021 16:43:00 GMT

If you're a small business, chances are you already have a website, but have you ever wondered if you website was actually losing you business? Your website is one of the most important marketing assets for your business. If it appears outdated, thrown together or or doesn't connect with your prospective customers, you could ... The post 10 Signs It’s Time to Redesign Your Website appeared first on Tekkii.

4 Ways to Get More Google Business Reviews

Sun, 20 Sep 2020 00:05:00 GMT

There's a high likelihood that you've used Google Reviews to make a buying decision recently. In fact, it's 97% likely, as nearly all online consumers read reviews before making their decision to engage a business. Seems obvious right? People want to know that the place they're about to do business with has a good reputation, ... The post 4 Ways to Get More Google Business Reviews appeared first on Tekkii.

Why You Need Web Video Production for Your Brand

Sat, 29 Jun 2019 20:20:00 GMT

The data is in and it’s been here for some time. Video marketing works and this year it’s going to account for 80% of all internet traffic . That’s quite a bit, and it only goes up from there.

In the past, video marketing required more resources and a large budget, putting you on television in your desired time slot. Today video marketing is more accessible than ever and virtually any business can use it right away.

Video is like a Swiss army knife when it comes to a marketable digital asset:

With smartphones as advanced as they are today, you likely have the video production tool you need right in your pocket. Not to say that fits for every situation, but the point is that it doesn’t take much to start getting video content out there working for your brand.

Let’s take a look at why video marketing and production are a crucial part of your digital marketing strategy.

Your Customers Love Video

Video is the most convenient way to get your brands message across to your audience. Put yourself in the shoes of the average website visitor. Typically someone will arrive to your website via a search engine like Google. In fact, it could be up to 93% of your users .

If your visitors are arriving via a search engine, this means they could be comparing multiple businesses and yours is in the running. What would be the most appealing for a user when deciding on where to spend their money?

a.) A lot of descriptive text describing your service.
b.) Text with images of your services
c.) A quick video explaining everything the customer needs to know

Video is a more digestible way for users to engage with your brand and compliments your website design nicely. It also enhances the perception of your brand and helps build instant trust. Speaking of trust…

Build Trust With Video Marketing

Continuing from what we said above, video marketing will help your brand stand out and build instant trust. Your location, team, service, philosophy and more will all be on display, condensed down into 1 or 2 minute video.

A great example of this would be a video produced for a company of emergency plumbers in Kansas City . They are celebrating 100 years in business in 2020. A video placed on their home page highlights their incredible business achievement to both new and existing customers.

Video Production by MattyD Media

Beyond showing the business achievement itself, it shows something much more important. It shows why they’ve been in business for so long.

With a variety of businesses out there all offering similar services, you must show the reason why someone would choose your brand over the others. One of the quickest ways to build trust online is with high quality video production.

Video & Social Media Are The Perfect Pair

If you were to check Facebook, Twitter or Instagram right now, there’s a high chance that you’ll run into a number of videos all attempting to grab your attention.

64% of consumers say that watching a video on social media has influenced a purchasing decision. That’s great news especially considering that videos are the most shared media on social platforms.

When it comes to video for social media, many times you can get away with video shot on your smartphone. These simple videos cost virtually nothing to shoot and only need an idea and your authenticity.

Great example of videos for social media include what happens behind the scenes of the business, education videos and funny videos involving the staff. You can make these with your smartphone without a large video production budget.

When done correctly, your past and future customers will love seeing your brand’s personality through more personal videos like these.

Web Video Can Improve Your SEO

At surface level, the best way to explain how video will improve your SEO is that it will increase the time users spend on your website and may encourage them to check out your additional pages.

Your website’s accessibility goes up when you include video and search engines love that you are accommodating a wider variety of audiences online. Some people prefer the detail of written text while others enjoy images. When it comes to video, all sides are likely to enjoy a well crafted video that answers their questions.

If you’re using YouTube, a Google owned entity and the #2 website on the internet, your chances of being found go up quite a bit. The competition for video is relatively low because many businesses are not producing them at all, or are not doing so consistently.

Google also loves to show YouTube results in their online searches. This means you potentially have a higher chance of showing up in the results for relevant keywords.

I highly suggest releasing videos that answer common questions in your industry and serve as how-to guides. This can be paired with a blog post for a highly sharable piece of content to raise the authority of your brand.

Video Will Continue To Work For Your Brand

The effects of your video will continue to work long after you’ve first produced it. Visitors will continually engage with your video, get answers to their problems and gain exposure to your brand without you needing to manually do so.

Every time someone visits your website, finds you on social media or happens to find you on YouTube, they will see your brand’s personality on full display in a more effective way than what text or images could do alone.

Every brand should produce video content as soon as they can. Your first video may not be perfect, maybe your 2nd or 3rd won’t be either. However, the purpose is to get the videos out there and be consistent. Over time, video marketing will work wonders for your brand.

If you need help with your web video marketing. Contact us to get in touch!

How Photography Can Make Or Break Your Website

Wed, 08 Aug 2018 04:40:00 GMT

One of the elements that catches your eye first on a website is the photography …or lack of photography.

In marketing and media, our eyes tend to gravitate towards more visual elements. Maybe a high-res photo of a delicious meal, or an HD video that gives you a tour of a cool event space.

Paired with a great tagline, eye-catching imagery will tell your story in a universally understood way. So how does this apply to your website and online presence?

When it comes to your website, we believe photos should be on subject, tell a story, and above all build trust .

We talked to professional photographers working in the industry to get their opinions on how they view the importance of photography. You’ll see their insights below.

The Purpose of Photography

So what is the purpose of photography ? Well that answer changes depending on who you ask.

Silas Cook is a photographer from Kansas City who runs the company Ants & Uncles . He has worked professionally with a number of organizations such as Vintage KC , Uptown Arts Bar , Kansas City Fashion Week , and more.

Independently and with his company, Silas has a decade of experience in photography, working with clients, and capturing art on film .

Here’s what Silas had to say:

A photo focusing on emotion will help your website better achieve it’s goals. How do you want your visitors to feel once they arrive on your website?

Think about what images you need to obtain in order to really tell your story. Furthermore, take the time to go and actually take them or hire someone to help you do so .

Now that you have your photos, how do you know which ones to use on your website?

Identifying The Right Images To Use

After a photo shoot, you probably have your work cut out for you looking through dozens if not hundreds of images. Even after your photographer sends you the images, you will likely only use a fraction of the pictures taken.

How do you choose the best images to use to convey your message?

We talked to Lauren Nicole who owns Lauren Nicole Photography to get her opinion on this question. Lauren focuses on people, family, and special moments rather than object or location photography. She always manages to shoot and choose the right images that keep clients happy.

Here’s what Lauren had to say:

The photo’s quality has to be great . After you or the photographer edits the images, it’s still important to choose the one that speaks an impactful message. It’s probably best to let your photographer edit your photos, while you both choose them together.

If your photos are raw and you are unsure of how to edit them, check out Enhance.Pho.To for an easy online photo editing tool.

Stock Photos Vs. Original Photography

There are a handful of free stock photography websites out there.

Stock photos are great for use in certain areas online and offline. You should use stock photos for:

While there are other areas besides these you can use stock photos, you should follow the golden rule we’ve highlighted up to this point. The photo needs to have meaning . Trust us, customers will certainly know the difference!

Christopher Hosmann is a freelance photographer that seeks out photos that others may not. Specializing in wildlife and landscape photography, Chris captures images that are truly stunning to look at.

Chris also understands the importance of what users are looking for. Because of this, all that’s needed is his short and sweet answer on producing original visual content.

Content is king in the kingdom of the internet.

As a result, your brand’s narrative depends this content being the best quality you can obtain . Now that you’re ready to find a photographer, how do you find the one that’s right for you ?

Questions to Ask A Photographer

While it seems like there are no shortage of photographers in 2018, this could be a good and bad thing. You’ll want to make sure to ask the right questions so that the photographer you choose can properly convey your vision.

Here are some questions you’ll want to remember to ask:

1. What kind of gear do you use?

2. What is your favorite lens to shoot with and why?

3. How do you get the person, thing, or place exactly how you want it in the end result?

4. How long have you been a photographer?

5. What inspires you to be a photographer?

You don’t have to know anything about camera bodies, lenses, filters, or lighting kits. The key thing to look for in these answers are how prepared they are, how confident they sound, and how passionate they are in their answers.

Did they seem sure of themselves and were you convinced by what they had to say? It’s best to talk to more than one photographer just so you can hear the difference in how these questions are answered. After this, you can ask to see additional work before making your final decision.

Conclusion

Hiring a photographer is one of the greatest decisions in content creation that you can make, and as a result there will be a noticeable difference in how people view your website.

Good photography and imagery is a centerpiece of great marketing. Find a photographer who not only understands the importance of photography, but has also learned why they have come to their own conclusion.

That’s certainly going to be someone you can grow with.

The post How Photography Can Make Or Break Your Website appeared first on Tekkii .

Students Lead With Beliefs – SkillsUSA 2017

Wed, 28 Jun 2017 05:33:00 GMT

This year, we had the honor of being invited back to the SkillsUSA National Leadership and Skills Conference. This was our second year in a row and it was even better this time around! The SkillsUSA conference brings students from all over the country to compete in a many different competitions. Like last year, Tekkii served as judges for the web design competition. This allowed us to interact with the students, while seeing the passion they all shared for the industry. As a result, the future of web design is bright.

Promising Young Individuals

“Why should we hire you?”

“Walk us through the process…”

“How did you start in web design, and what makes you passionate about the industry?”

Our bonus question was, “What were our names?” While some remembered and answered quickly, this stumped many students. Luckily, we didn’t grade that question. While we let students know about the last question, that didn’t stop the great reactions we got from them!

In general, the majority of the answers given this year were great. Many teams were clear, concise, and sold themselves well. Most noteworthy were students that included their beliefs in their answer. What do we mean by this?

More than Just Knowledge and Skill

While we received many good answers, we received bad answers as well. For instance, to our first question, “Why should we hire you?” Many students replied, “ We work really well as a team. ” A few teams had even told us they had done websites before. Well, of course you do, this is something we expect! This and many answers like it were given to the questions we asked. Consequently, we had to take many points off for answers not being very convincing. As the client, we expect experience, teamwork, and most of all professionalism from a web design company. The beliefs are what set the company apart.

What do you feel a website should be? What inspired you to take this approach? Why do you do this for a living? These are questions that showcase a belief. They present the “ why ” of the angle, which is, in our opinion, the most important aspect to convey. Students this year understood that, and it was incredibly inspiring to hear! There is no doubt that every student at SkillsUSA can make a splash in the industry. This year, however, there were many teams that we know will shine bright. So young, and they already get it. Incredible.

The Rest of the SkillsUSA Was Great Too

Apart from web design, there were many other awesome competitions to see at SkillsUSA. Check out some photos we took! You can find a full list of them here: Skills USA Competitions

The post Students Lead With Beliefs – SkillsUSA 2017 appeared first on Tekkii .