As the year draws to a close, I wanted to reflect on the successes of the past year.  And this year has been full of excitement and lots of growth! In 2019, I launched Kallen Media LLC as a digital marketing agency focused on growing small businesses.  So looking back, I wanted to create a recap article to highlight some of our first year.

 

The Start of Kallen Media

At the start of 2019, I was in the position of director of marketing at a small web and app development company.  Here I was able to hone in on what I enjoyed about digital marketing. And this year started by teaching customers how to use and building out a variety of WordPress websites.  The possibilities were endless for what we could create. So once the sites were up and running, it was time to start the process of optimization.

 

Finally, it was at this point that I realized it was time for me to start creating my own company, Kallen Media LLC.  I incorporated the company in May of 2019. The company was going to build itself on providing meaningful digital marketing services to small businesses.  There were so many businesses that had great products and services. However, in most cases, these businesses’ online presence left much to be desired. This trend left me wondering what services would make the most significant differences to my potential clients.

 

Digital Marketing Services

Social media management was what I thought digital marketing was all about initially.  However, this is the classic content creation and reputation management, so many businesses lacked.  Creating custom plans to promote brand image while interacting with customers made sense. Utilizing programs like Hootsuite makes social media management more straightforward and more accessible for small businesses to manage.  Because Kallen Media is looking to provide value, we offer our social media marketing services, starting at $200 to make it affordable for companies of all sizes.

WordPress web design was the next service that I was very eager to incorporate with Kallen Media.  Websites are becoming the most crucial marketing tool for businesses in an ever-growing online world.  If a competitor has a better website, search engines are more likely to rank it higher, and more customers expected to go there.  Creating custom designed websites can cost hundreds and thousands of dollars. Utilizing a CMS like WordPress lowers development costs without suffering on appearance.  WordPress websites can also more efficient. So these websites allow for quick and inexpensive changes.

Finally, I decided that focusing on paid digital marketing campaigns would be most beneficial to small businesses.  After doing extensive research and working with a variety of companies, I have found that Google Ad management is the most effective online marketing resource.  Other channels like Facebook, Instagram, and other social networks have also been successful for niche businesses.  Many businesses were not utilizing their ads effectively or had poorly structured campaigns. This trend can lead to poorly qualified leads as opposed to highly targeted groups.  Once our services list looked great, it was time for us to start opening our doors to working with clients!

 

Companies We Have Worked With

Starting almost halfway through the year, I am proud of all the clients we were able to provide service to during our first year!  Here is a list of the work we have completed in our first-year for-profit companies:

 

WordPress Web Design

 

• Casual Crypto was one of our introductory clients!  I was able to teach the CEO, Roman Hughes, how to navigate the WordPress dashboard and create an interactive cryptocurrency blog.  This website is one of the first clients we have trained and build a website that is perfect for people interested in CryptoCurrency Blogs.

 

• FarSuperior is a network of businesses designed to promote quality and expertise.  I had the pleasure of designing several of the base websites and creating content.  The content is ever-growing, and we are looking forward to Farsuperior’s official launch and growth in 2020.

 

Content Creation and Social Media Management

 

• Spark Organics is the first national e-commerce website that we were able to work on as a health brand.  We were able to create a social media campaign for the summer season while publishing monthly blog posts.  Be sure to check out Spark Organics website for the best organic fruit chews on the market!

 

 

• Aria Technology Solutions is a client that we have been privileged to work with from the International Technology Rental Association.  Currently, we assist in social media management and content creation. Aria has recently expanded to has a Las Vegas office, allowing them to provide quality technology rentals across the United States.

 

 

• The International Technology Rental Association has been our largest project. Kallen Media manages ITRA’s content and run the social media accounts. So I have been involved with the association for years.  The association’s yearly meeting is in the next two months.  This event is an excellent opportunity for technology rental companies to network and grow business.

 

 

Complete Digital Marketing Campaign

 

• GlassBiller is an auto glass billing software.  I am in charge of the marketing efforts and create all digital campaigns for GlassBiller.  The growth that GlassBiller has seen since the start of our efforts is immense, making me very excited for their future.  For any auto glass shop, I would highly recommend checking out the VIN decoder and free trial.

 

 

Nonprofit Digital Marketing Work

 

Finally, it is time to showcase over $50,000 in donated services to nonprofits in 2019.  I have been privileged to be able to provide my services to a variety of different organizations around the globe:

 

Google Ad Grant Setup and Support

 

• Operation Blankets of Love is currently our longest-running nonprofit client.  I have had the pleasure of meeting with the team who provides support for homeless animals.  This organization was the first Google Ad Grant account that I had worked on throughout the year.  It taught me a lot about the rules and regulations and led me to take a deeper dive into how to help nonprofits benefit from the Google Ad Grant program.  Currently, we have supported OBOL to spend thousands more than before.

 

 

• Therapeutic Ranch for Animals and Kids is a project that we were able to provide exceptional support.  I created Google Ad Grant campaigns to utilize a significantly higher percentage of the Ad Grants while increasing overall website traffic.  If you are interested in providing support for animals and kids, they are a fantastic organization to work with for your whole family.

 

 

• Tucson Girls Chorus is another local Arizona charity that provides girls chorus programs for all ages.  Initially, the focus for regional growth has been great through the introduction of new campaigns in their Google Ad Grant program.  Finally, the campaign was exposing women of all ages to choral programs is one of the many excellent services that the Tucson Girls Chorus provides.

 

• REACH provides comprehensive, personalized support for people with disabilities.  I was able to walk them through the Google Ad Grant application process from start to finish.  We have just activated the grant and are eagerly looking forward to increased traffic in 2020.

 

Google Ad Grant Activation & Setup

 

• Mystic River Watershed Association works with communities to make sure their ecosystem survives and thrives going forward.  Through excellent communication, I was able to setup Mystic’s Ad Grant account within a week!  This speed allowed us to create programs that would be active before and into the new year.

• Gray Matter Experience provides inner-city teens with an opportunity to grow their entrepreneurial skills.  I guided their team to activate their Google Ad Grant account. Next, I worked on increasing traffic in time for the new year.  Focus on spring and summer programs will be the core focus going forward to seasonal campaigns.

 

Social Media Setup

 

• Tuskegee Airman Scholarship Foundation was the first nonprofit organization that I worked with, providing digital marketing services.  I set up their social media profiles.  Additionally, I provided insight on how to run successful campaigns. Find out about this year’s current scholars through their excellent website.

 

Exceeding Expectations In 2020

I would highly encourage my readers to check out all of the fantastic companies we have had the pleasure of working with throughout the year. There are several more organizations that we have ongoing projects that we are eager to complete during 2020.

 

Looking forward to the new year, I am excited about the direction that Kallen Media is going!  My hopes are continued growth and the addition of clients who I can bring meaningful changes to, at an affordable price.  But going forward, we are hoping to expand our website, team, and client base. Be on the lookout for custom business plans.  You can see what all of our clients have said about us in our testimonials section, Facebook page, or Google My Business page!

Check out our feature as a top 50 Marketing Blog to watch in 2020!

Get in touch with [email protected] to get a custom quote on your digital marketing package for 2020.  We have a full list of digital marketing services we provide on our website.  Finally, take a look so you can decide what type of plan will help your business grow in 2020. 

 

What Is Structured Data?

Today I am going to cover an introduction to structured data and why it is essential for your website. Most people are familiar with using search engines to find results based on their search. However, what people may not be as familiar with is why your search results look the way they do.  Before we dive in, I want to start with an introduction to structured data that may seem more familiar. Take a look at the image below. You may notice a variety of differences within each result that comes up for the “casserole recipe.”  This structure is because of structured data written on the backend of the website.

At the top of the search results are card-like structures.  Instead of a standard link, you get the recipe name, author, review ranking, and even some ingredients.  All of this is thanks to the structured data. Google uses data from a website’s “site map” to show more detailed results.  When you add a specific piece of code to your website that is structured data, it allows Google to augment your listing. When standing out from the competition is vital, this will give you an advantage. All of this together is why structured data is becoming such an essential holistic search engine optimization practice.

Where Does Structured Data Come From?

Structured data is what tells Google and other search engines what is important and what it should be displaying.  The project is primarily based on a web project called Schema.org. This website is a database for a markup language used to communicate with the search engines.  The communication happens by using a method of encoding data called JSON-LD. There are other ways available, but for this article, we will be focusing on Schema.org and JSON-LD.

Now you know that structured data is composed of JSON-LD markup.  The markup taken from Schema.org can now convert to structured data. Within the website, there are a variety of sections that highlights the type of data that can be composed.  Some great examples would be recipes, business hours, or author name. Not all posts or page types can break down into structured data for all search engines.  This is why it is essential to also take a look at the Google-approved markup. By doing this, you will ensure that the largest search engine can correctly index your website.  Indexing a website is when Google sends out their bots, which go from website to website capturing data. These bots are often called crawlers and are critical factors in how your website ranks in search results.

Website Integration

 

But now lies the question, what do we do, and how do we integrate it within our website?

Most people are not going to want to learn the code and backend of JSON-LD.  Luckily, there are a wide variety of other ways that you can implement your Schema markup.  The most common is going to be through utilizing a plugin. Currently, there are a wide variety of broad SEO plugins on the market.  These plugins are going to be the most comfortable option for most users. This will allow you to fill out data about your website and posts from a smooth user interface.  Some great examples of plugins to use would be the Moz or Yoast plugins. These companies offer both free and paid options that vary on the amount of support and opportunities given. This research is a significant first step in creating an optimized website while still being introduced to structured data.

A great alternative for people who may want to dive a bit deeper into their website would be to utilize Google Structured Data Testing Tool. Before we do that, I want to show you what the JSON-LD code for structured data will look like.  Don’t be overwhelmed by the code. If you focus on the few key points that I highlight, you will be able to use templates on most of your pages.  The first picture represents the JSON-LD code put in while the second represents that outcome.

Google Tools

After looking at the picture you should be able to see that there is a connection between the left and right sides.  This means that you will check Schema.org for the parts of markup required. For the example above, I used an article from Kallen Media.  The “@context” and “@type” will always start on the JSON-LD code side.  Below that is where you begin to describe to search engines what your page is composed of.  The reason we do this is that it is harder for computers to understand the meaning and context compared to humans.  By assigning values to names and specific aspects, it tells the search engines what it should be showing searchers. These values can change based on what type of post or page you are making your structured data markup.

Using Google’s Structured Data Testing Tool is one of my top recommendations when first getting acquainted with JSON-LD and Schema.org.  This is because it will tell you the errors that will occur for Google. This is important since Google is the top search engine and you want your website showing up!

Once you have created the markup that you want to add to your site, there are a few options for how to install it.  The easiest and most effective way is going to be using Google Tag Manager.  This interface allows you only to have to add a few pieces of Global site code to your website, instead of every bit of structured data you have done.  If you do not feel comfortable doing this, we offer search engine optimization services that include structure data creation for your website.

Finalize Your Data

Google Tag Manager will allow you to enter in the JSON-LD added to your database.  This then will allow all search engines to read the structured data snippets that you have.  However, you will need to slightly change your code for Google to accept it. The easiest way to do this is to paste the code into Yoast’s Script Helper.

Once you have done this, you can test your tags from within Google to make sure they are activated.  Once complete, your structured data should be ready to go for your website. This will mean that search engines will be able to read your content more accessible.  That means that your website should start standing out from competitors who invested in structured data. We are eager to see how structured data impacts businesses we work with.  If you have your website showing up using structured data snippets, let us know in the comments! Finally, if you need assistance setting-up SEO practices for your website, please reach out to [email protected] for more information on getting introduced to structured data.

Content marketing is quickly becoming one of the most common digital marketing practices.  Odds are you have probably heard of this term before. But what exactly makes up this “content”?  Most frequently, it is companies hiring marketing agencies or hiring in house for writers and bloggers.  These people then create content centered around the company’s products or services.

Now, this may seem pretty simple.  However, doing this without a clear plan or strategy could mean your company is wasting hundreds or thousands of dollars a month!  Some specific strategies and tactics used when creating pieces of written work to increase traffic to your website.  These strategies include developing focus keywords, examining text length, and utilizing a free SEO plugin like Yoast to assure top quality content. Here is the Kallen Media guide to getting started with content marketing.

Choose Your Niche

The first step in creating your content is determining your niche.  This step means getting specific about what you want to focus on. Choosing a broad topic is a perfect starting point, but you will want to build on it.  For example, if you are an artist, what type of art do you make? What is your medium, and what is your favorite style? All of these questions are questions that your potential clients might have when determining your niche.

Once you have answers to these questions and know where you want to place yourself, you will begin to start finding topics to write about.  Think about what you would be interested in reading. Find the hot topics and create your views and opinions to make your content uniquely your own.  A great place to start is searching for the topics you’re interested in and see what the top results are online.

Look At Competition

Next, you are going to want to take a look at your competition.  This insight means reading your competitors’ blogs and marketing content.  See what resonates with you, and see what you don’t like. By doing this, it will help you create the ideal campaign that you know has critical points of other successful campaigns.  We do not recommend stealing their campaigns or trying to copy what these companies do. All this will do is waste time and resources. This reasoning is because you would be vying for customers who already have what you are providing.

There are some critical points that you will want to examine your competitors’ content.  One of the most significant aspects is going to be the keywords. Keywords are what search engines look at to determine what appears for various searches.  The goal is to have a campaign that targets keywords that your potential clients are interested in. Some websites provide research services like Moz and Ahrefs.  Here you can find information for sites from their backlinks to domain authority. I recommend looking at several successful websites that are in your niche.

Take their strengths and identifying their weaknesses is a great way to make yourself stand out.  Start with low ranking keywords. As you create more content, keywords will be more accessible for your website to start ranking for.  As you build credibility and traffic, you will be able to start going after more popular searches.

Create A Schedule

Time to create a schedule and stick with it.  Nobody reads content on a website that only has one post or article.  Constant content is essential to improve your website’s overall ranking continually.  My recommendation is to look at times when your possible consumers are most active. Odds are for most that will not be at 2:00 am.  Finding the perfect time to release and blast your content is essential for traction. You don’t want to spend hours on content that does not reach your desired audience because of timing.  One recommendation is to create weekly posts that people can rely on. This way, you will have a weekly announcement that your customer base will grow to enjoy.

Develop A Writing Style

Now it is time to create your style and add flair to your writing.  There are thousands of blogs on the internet. For your industry, there could be hundreds or more.  To stand out in the crowd, you need to have a unique style and voice. Voicing your passion and developing unique takes on popular topics is a great way to grow your audience.  Take a look at leaders in your niche and see what tactics they are using to succeed. By doing this, you will be able to take the best aspects of your favorite writers to create your unique pieces.  This discovery is where most content marketing will see the most traction.

Broadcast Your Message

Everything is complete on the content side.  Now it is time to make sure you are reaching your desired audience.  There are a variety of ways that you can do this. Broadcast new content onto all of your social media outlets. This new content will direct your followers back to your website, where you will convert them into paying clients. For smaller businesses, you may need to grow your primary audience.  Broadcast your new posts through paid advertising fronts. Examples would be using Google Ads or Facebook Ads to target your specific audience. Utilizing these Ad services also gives you the ability to use advanced tracking systems.  Through integrating these tactics, you will be sure that your content directed towards those most eager to buy your product or service.

There’s many good reasons to choose WordPress.  First, WordPress powers approximately 33% of all websites which are currently active on the Internet. When you think about it, that is a staggering statistic. The single system is so popular and so prevalent online, that one-third of all sites are powered by it.

It’s not just a blogging platform, although that is what many people use it. It’s also a very powerful website builder and is one of the most popular content management systems (CMS) on the market today. A primary factor for the popularity of WordPress is that it’s so flexible and easy to use. Although, web designers use different software to build a website however, WordPress stands on top. Some of the biggest corporations in the world have their websites powered by WordPress, which is one reason why you should too. If you’re looking for some other reasons to choose a CMS, consider these reasons to choose WordPress.

Easy to customize

The vast majority of people who use WordPress start with no real web design or programming skills. Simplicity is the ideal solution for people who were not tech-savvy and don’t have any specialized knowledge of web design or development. There are thousands of free website templates ready to start online. However, to have a fully optimized website, there are a variety of guidelines to follow.

No matter what kind of business you’re in, there are formats and templates available to get started right away! There are probably WordPress templates that you can use as your base template. One of the things that makes WordPress so easy to customize is the template’s customization options. These allow you to change the background, colors, upload your logo, and make changes to fit your needs. Kallen Media LLC, leading Tempe web design service, is happy to take the worry out by offering fully integrated WordPress services.

It’s also straightforward to add or change functionality on your website through plug-ins. Combining these plug-ins allows for intricate website design without spending hours coding.

Easy to manage

WordPress comes fully equipped with its update management system, and that allows you to do any updating you need of plug-ins or themes, right from your administrator dashboard. Whenever a new version is available, your account becomes notified about it, and you can apply the update by simply clicking on a button. Be sure to do a bit of research before. Updating your website before checking could lead to breaking your back end, rendering your site useless.

You can enhance your security by adding a WordPress backup plug-in. The plug-in automatically creates backups for you, safeguarding your data in a remote location. It’s even possible to manage your WordPress away from home or while you’re on the go.

SEO friendly

All WordPress software created through the use of high-quality computer code. This means Google and most of the other popular search engines favor WordPress. This is one of the big reasons why most WordPress websites tend to rank higher than others. Additionally, this is one of the most persuasive arguments for using WordPress if you’re trying to draw traffic to your site.

Right out of the box, WordPress is exceptionally SEO-friendly. Still, you can also make use of several plug-ins that will optimize your site even further if you want to improve your website ranking, making use of some of these as SEO plug-ins will do the trick.  This is another one of the reasons to choose WordPress.

Flexibility

Although WordPress has gotten recognition as a terrific platform for bloggers, it is far from a text-only kind of software. It has its own built-in media uploader so that it’s very easy to manage all your audio and video files, as well as any images you want to transfer to your website. You can also embed all kinds of photos and videos just by pasting the URL in the post editor.

Site owners have used WordPress to build everything from the most straightforward website to a complex e-commerce marketplace. There are as many different types of WordPress websites as there are businesses. You can make your business website, you can start up an online store, you can sell online courses, and you can even establish your membership website. People have been very creative in their usage of WordPress to build websites, and you’d probably be amazed at some of the innovative ideas incorporated into today’s modern websites.

Making common mistakes while designing a business website is a fact, however, as compared to other CMS programs, WordPress is flexible enough to allow you to quickly restore and make fixes on your website immediately.

WordPress is free!

WordPress software is free, which means you can download it, install it, and use it any way you want. You can also use it to create any WordPress website design you can think up. All you need to get online is a domain name and a web host, so the website is online. The domain name is your website address on the Internet, while the web host will provide actual server space.

Undoubtedly, the fact that WordPress is free has contributed to its tremendous popularity. That’s yet another reason why developers all around the world have created a plethora of plug-ins WordPress compatible. Any specific function that you could dream up developers has probably created. Once developed, it can be made into a plug-in which anyone can make use of. All things considered, it’s not at all surprising that one-third of all Internet websites today are powered by WordPress.

Social media is how modern companies can communicate directly with their clients.  There are a variety of different channels that are best suited to targeting different audiences. Using these platforms in a way that benefits your business is essential in the growing digital world.  I want to focus on how small businesses and large corporations alike can utilize social media management services. Using these tools will create a company with strong brand recognition and customer loyalty.  When we talk about social media, we are talking about platforms like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and LinkedIn, to name just a few.

1. Audience engagement

 

Your company should be active on social media is because it helps gets you recognized.  Take a look at the biggest brands. Every one of them has extremely active social media accounts. These accounts are, especially for consumer-oriented products. Social media management services allow companies to personalize messages and make their clients feel important.  Previously, companies would have to pay hundreds or thousands in advertising dollars to reach their audience. It is easier than ever to enter both your core audience and expand it.

Many of the social media companies like Facebook are pushing paid advertising on their platforms.  Because of this, the number of natural attention posts is getting is lower than ever. This shift is a push from social media marketing giants to encourage advertising and discourage free promotion.  To properly engage audiences going into 2020, I recommend entirely building out your pages with as much information as possible. This will allow potential clients to view all your store’s information at a glance.  Having messaging features open is highly encouraged. Opening a dialogue may be what rights a miserable experience, or what gets you noticed!

2. Brand Loyalty

 

At the heart of most companies is their desire to create brand loyalty with their customers.  This bond creates a lasting connection that will generate significant business for large and small businesses.  Social media marketing services allow for more natural connection and exposure to previous clients. Diving deeper into this, the open channel of communication allows for more interactive programs.  An example of this would be custom deals exclusively available to previous clients.

Offering promotional deals is also a great way to encourage clients to buy.  Advertising channels allow you to get this offer in front of thousands of people without spending more than a few hundred dollars.  Make sure you do your research before you start paid promotional campaigns on any social media outlet. By doing this, you may uncover a different channel may be more optimal.

3. Top-of-mind awareness

 

Clients are more likely to buy from companies that they are familiar with.  Before social media, this meant buying signs or print ads for many to see. The technique was more of a “shotgun” method than a highly specialized one.  With the revolution of in-depth advertising consoles, the limits now are endless. Utilizing tools like Google and Facebook advertising campaigns, you can have ads track both current and previous clients.

These ads encourage similar products that the clients may be interested in.  Alternatively, you can target keywords, groups, and demographics that you believe will be interested in your product or service.  This focusing is another point where I would highly advise in using testing techniques or hiring a professional social media management services provider like us!  Not only will this save you time and money, but it will also allow you to put more time into your actual business.

4. Fantastic Opportunity

 

Currently, there are no fees to join all the largest social media networks.  This non-existent barrier to entry means that the time could not be better to start building your digital empire.  Clients are never going to know your company exists unless you tell them. Seize the opportunity to start building your brand and telling your story.

One of the most critical aspects of social media you should remember is to stay active.  People are much more likely to buy and interact with dynamic pages. If there has been no activity for months, it will signal that you are not active online.  In a world where there is more commerce done online than in person, your business must take control of the aspects you can. If you feel that this is too much extra work, there are many affordable social media management services.

5. Affordable Social Media Management Services

 

There is an easy way to have your social media channels taken care of.  That is hiring an agency like Kallen Media LLC to do your social media. The way we work is that we start by sitting down with our clients to talk about their company and brand.  Once there is a clear picture, we map out the goals of social media.

In some cases, we then put together budgets for how much ad spend clients are looking to spend through various channels.  Similarly, there are also many cases where we provide the content as well.
Our social media management services start as low as $200.  This includes access to our social media dashboard designed to make scheduling easy.  We also offer blogs alongside our content to help boost your website’s ranking. If you are interested in learning how you can get started, you can email [email protected] or call (773)524-1483.

Who We Help

 

The holidays are almost here, which means it is time to look back at 2019 and revisit some of the good we have accomplished.  Kallen Media LLC is a local company in Tempe, Arizona. Founded in Tempe this past year, we have been creating websites and digital marketing plans for all sorts of companies and people.  I want to shed a spotlight on the different non-profit companies that I have been able to help. The three most significant projects include the Tuskegee Airmen Scholarship Foundation, Operation Blankets of Love, and The Wayne Foundation.  Within this article, I will highlight these wonderful non-profits and tell you how you can get in touch with the charities we work with to help their causes.

Kallen Media is proud to be able to do pro-bono web design and social media work for charities that are doing great work.  I am continually looking for charities and organizations to lend a hand.  If you know a local charity in the Tempe metropolitan area who are looking for web work or assistance, let me know so Kallen Media can help them out!  Currently, we have found our non-profit clients through a service called “CatchAFire.”  This organization connects service providers with non-profit clients. We highly recommend checking them out if you are with a company, or a professional looking to give back.

 

What We Provide

 

At Kallen Media, I have created a service geared towards non-profits. I Create and maintain Google Ad Grant accounts.  If a company is a registered non-profit, Google offers them a unique program to reach potential volunteers and donors.  This service is Google Ad Grants, which gives up to $10,000 a month in free ad spend. For small non-profits, this can be a major.  We recommend that non-profits reading this take a look at the Google Ad Grant Program. Similarly, send us a message if you need any help setting up a Google Ad Grant account, we would be happy to help!

I have the privilege to work with the directors of these organizations personally, and I am thrilled with the results that we were able to produce.  Creating meaningful content and plans is essential for non-profits. Because, like small business owners, non-profits have minimal budgets that they need to be able to direct appropriately.  Offering services pro-bono is my way of sharing Kallen Media’s passion for making the world a better place. The following are a few of the charities that I have had the pleasure of working with over the past year:

 

Charities We Work With

 

 

The Tuskegee Airmen Scholarship Foundation (TASF) dedicates its scholarships to providing technology scholarships to minority groups in need.  TASF started from the first African American airmen group to fly during World War 2. Now they are sponsoring STEM scholarships to students who want to follow in their footsteps.

OBOL is a leader in animal rescue dedicated to providing food and critical pet supplies at No Cost for over 12,000 homeless animals a year in California to shelters, rescue groups, and pets of the homeless.  OBOL has donated food, crates, pet beds, blankets, toys, bowls, and critical pet supplies to those forced to evacuate with their pets. We’ve assisted more than just dogs and cats — rabbits and tortoises were also in need of our supplies.

Finally is The Wayne Foundation (TWF), which dedicates itself to helping individuals find their lost money.  This organization has found millions over the past two decades in lost assets and funds from the government.  The first two charities are both located in California, while TWF is in Mesa, Arizona, at the Falcon Field Corporate Center.  We are excited to present the charities we work with, and the causes they fight for so passionately.

 

Tuskegee Airmen Scholarship Foundation

 

The Tuskegee Airmen Scholarship Foundation required a social media plan.  I dove into their content and message right away. We were able to get the TASF setup with a Hootsuite account that would allow them to create and manage all their content from one place.  Once our content calendar was complete, it was time to lay out the plan for the scholarship winners.  The social media accounts we focused on included Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter with interest in branching out more in the future.

The most important part of the foundation is the students that they give scholarships.  This behavior led to creating posts highlighting the future graduate who would be receiving the award.  Once the plan was complete, I assisted in helping TASF applying with the Google Ad Grant foundation. Currently, TASF is posting the recipients of their scholarship for the upcoming year. We couldn’t be more excited to see how they can grow in the forthcoming years as one of the first charities we worked with pro-bono.

If you are interested in learning more about the Tuskegee Airmen Scholarship Foundation, you can find their website here.  We are proud to get behind this cause, and I would strongly urge our readers to check out their foundation and donate before the end of the year.

 

Operation Blankets of Love

 

Operation Blankets of Love was a non-profit looking for assistance in both setting up and maintaining their Google Ad Grant account and campaign.  I am a certified Google Ad specialist. Previously I have worked with maintaining Google Ad Grant standards, so we were the perfect match.  OBOL focuses on building campaigns to target their specific volunteering events or donation drives.  Through working together, we created a set plan with target keywords. This way, we were able to create a Google Ad Grant campaign that is both compliant and generating clicks back to the website.

Over recent months, the fires in California have left more animals stranded without care or supplies.  OBOL is asking for any support through donations on its website to help these animals survive and find homes.  You can find out more information if you go to OBOL’s website, found here.

We are proud to have an on-going partnership with OBOL, where we assist in managing their Google Ad Grant.  This management includes updating keywords and adjusting campaigns to try and keep the calls as relevant as possible. Learn more about Operation Blankets of Love and how you can make a difference visit their donation page.

The Wayne Foundation

 

The final organization that we have had the pleasure of working with this year is The Wayne Foundation.  Due to these changes, there was significant restructuring occurring within the organization. This restructuring resulted in a need for extra help in their web development team.  Kallen Media redesigned content for The Wayne Foundation and its sister company LostMoney.  LostMoney helps individuals lost property and assets that the government has claimed over the years.

With oversight from upper management, we were able to design fully customized websites.  LostMoney remade their entire website with the help of Kallen Media!  We were extremely excited with the results and being able to help a non-profit that was dedicated donating to other non-profits.  Several on-going projects are occurring, and I could not be more excited to help design websites for companies that are helping others.

The best part about LostMoney is that they are not looking to take your money.  Because LostMoney is free, the organization urges individuals who find money to donate a portion to charities in LostMoney’s name.  We believe these types of acts of selflessness are what genuinely make the world a great place.

Through the remainder of the year, we are hoping to serve more non-profits than ever.  If you have a non-profit and need some help with your website or internet marketing, please get in touch.  For those looking for more information, we have the “2019 Digital Marketing Recap” article.  This article goes more in-depth on charities we work with during 2019.

Digital Advertising and Its Future

In the past years, many businesses have started getting acquainted with being able to speak to their audiences directly through digital advertising.  This engagement is a relatively new trend. While companies have been getting messages out to their audiences for years, it’s only been recent that companies can do it for free.  In the past, businesses would have to pay for advertising to send any messages out to their customers. Whether this was in the form of postcards, email, or print, it was all paid forms of advertising.

Nowadays, paid digital advertising has taken over a large portion of the advertising space.  While there is a large segment of paid digital advertising, there is a more significant segment of original brand promotion.  This advertising channel is where brands can directly interact with their customers without having to pay money. Many large companies like Facebook and Google are looking to capitalize on this by limiting the amount of natural traffic by replacing it with paid traffic.

Going Forwards or Backwards?

Currently, when a business post on Facebook, it is not being shown to everyone that is following the page.  A great example would be a business that has 1,000 followers. Odds are less than 500 of those followers seeing the post even if they are all on Facebook. This low view rate is because Facebook wants businesses to invest in promoted posts. For Facebook, this is an additional ad revenue stream, and it is a way to incentivize companies to spend money.

As we look ahead to 2020, the trends look like they are only going to increase.  2020 will be the first year that the GDPR compliance laws are going to be in effect within the US.  This will mostly limit data collection and use without the knowledge of the individual. The reaction to this comes from massive corporations like Facebook and Google passing on the fees to their users.

Odds are this will fall onto the businesses more than the users because they will the group hit largest by the data companies.  It is possible that soon businesses will only be able to interact with people is going to be through paid advertising. In some ways, it is like we are going back in time before free internet exposure was even possible.

What Does This Mean For You and Your Business

The most significant impact that this is going to have for small businesses is going to be forcing them to expand their marketing budgets.  The likelihood of companies or posts going viral without spending money is going to s. We would recommend focusing your energy on ultimately building out your pages and utilizing all the features offered to you.  This may seem like common sense, but in many cases, both Google and Facebook rank pages higher that have more information filled out within them.

Start investing within your website.  While it is essential to have active pages on social media websites, it is more important to have something that is your own.  Facebook policies can change, but your site will stay the same. Invest time and money into building out a website that displays the message you want your customers to hear.  Kallen Media offers WordPress website services at an affordable price, specifically for small business owners. By getting a site with Kallen Media, we will fill you in on all the latest news and information pertinent to both your brand and website within the digital world. Ranging from local Phoenix WordPress websites to small business web design, we have your back.

Try For Yourself

Don’t just take our word for it.  You can test out what we are saying!  Next time you post on a business page on Facebook.  Look at the number of views and engagement, compared to the number of people actively following your page.  More likely than not, there is going to be a significant gap if you are not spending money to boost posts!

Links May Be Hurting Your Views

Backlinks have been a critical resource for many years.  What if they were suddenly not such a good thing? That is what Google and Facebook are portraying with the limiting of views on posts that have outbound links.

Why might this be?

The answer is more straightforward than you might expect.  These massive technology companies do not want you to leave their websites.  By keeping you within the same environments, these companies can show you more advertisements and make more money.  Once a user leaves the site, companies now can no longer profit from them. This action leads to Google creating features like “Google My Business.”  The feature incentives users to not go to a company’s website, and stay on Google where they can find all the relevant information they need about the business.

If you are like many business owners, you probably decided to go the route of creating a WordPress website.  This reasoning is due to the immense amount of plugins and creative freedom provided by the platform. While it is easy to throw together a website and forget about it, that won’t generate you much traffic.  Today we are here to go over how to keep your WordPress website fast and up to date.

1. Choose a dedicated hosting plan

Believe it or not, the first step to having a speedy website is determined by your hosting provider.  It can be easy to go down the path of choosing the cheapest provider, but this also comes with its downsides.  Many of the most affordable hosting plans from large companies like GoDaddy and HostGator.  While the affordable prices seem appealing, they arrive at the cost of service.  These providers offer shared hosting.

Shared hosting means that the server that your website is on is shared. This website becomes paired with hundreds, if not thousands, of other websites.  Naturally, this leads to slower speeds from the get-go. Our recommendation is to look for a dedicated server to host your website.  These plans can cost a bit more money, but if you are planning on growing your business digitally, it is the way to go. Recommendations for possible platforms would be Kinsta and WP Engine.  Both offer excellent support with quality dedicated servers to maximize your website’s speed.

2. Update your PHP

PHP is another language of computer coding language that WordPress is built.  Like most current software, it needs to be updated. Currently, we are on PHP 7.3.  Before choosing providers or plans, you will want to make sure that your hosting company uses cPanel.  This is where you will go to find the PHP version tab. Here you will want to make sure that it is at 7.3.  If you are on an older version, it is smart to check your websites compatible with the new PHP version. By doing so, you can prevent your site from breaking with old or unusable code within the backend.

3. Update WordPress

Now you should be at the point that your back end is entirely up to date.  Keeping updated will allow you to start focusing on the front end of your WordPress website.  Once you have logged into your WordPress website by going to your domain and adding wp-admin at the end, you will be on the WordPress menu screen.

Here you will be prompted by options that will let you know if your version of WordPress is up to date or not.  The smartest thing to do is to update your version before starting any work. This update ensures that you will not run into the issue of breaking old plugins down the road.  Updating WordPress should only take a few minutes, and once it is done, the prompts will go away, telling you to upgrade.

4. Reliable Theme

Time to start adding in the building blocks of your website.  Your theme is going to be the core of how your website is structured.  There are tons of different WordPress themes to choose from. Our recommendation for a great free theme is going to be Ocean WP linked with the Elementor builder.  For our premium recommendation, it is going to be the Divi theme and builder from Elegant Themes.  Divi can be used on unlimited websites and is the perfect option to get started with your website.

Both of the recommendations come with fully integrated visual builders.  These allow the user to bypass coding and quickly build gorgeous websites at lightning speeds.  There are also a plethora of videos on Youtube and guides online to help you create the perfect site from the builders I described.

5. Plugin Optimization

Plugins are going to be your best friend if this is your first website, and you are not familiar with coding or back end logistics.  A crucial point is keeping the number of plugins you use limited, and the plugins you use quality. By following those rules, your website will be able to be faster than ever.

The following are our recommendations for quality free WordPress plugins that will both speed up and further optimize your WordPress website:

Autoptimize – Use this plugin to make your website faster through optimizing your JSS, CSS, HTML, and images.

Google Analytics – If you want to implement tracking onto your website, this is a must-have.  Integrating this is as easy as creating a Google Analytics account and then logging into your website, and adding in the tracking code, you will be provided.

Limit Login Attempts – Security should always be at the top of your mind.  A great way to provide that is through this plugin that does as its name says, prevents unlimited login attempts by potential intruders.

UPDraftPlus – Backing up your website should always be in mind.  This will save you from losing all your data and hard work in the case of any problems.  Our recommendation is to backup both locally and to a 3rd party application like Google for additional security.

Yoast SEO – SEO stands for Search Engine Optimization.  Yoast is a premier plugin in SEO. This plugin will allow you to see how your posts and pages rank on various levels.  I would highly recommend this for websites using blogs, as this gives you useful guidelines.

Conclusion

There is a plethora of other great plugins and premium plugins, but these should create an excellent foundation for your website.  By following this guide, you will ensure that your website gets off the ground as fast as possible. For more information about how to create a WordPress website, get in contact with us!  Kallen Media LLC is happy to teach and design WordPress websites for small businesses and individuals alike.