Search engine optimization is becoming more prevalent in companies, both big and small.  There are tons of tips and tricks to getting started, so we want to take this article a bit further.  One of the most prominent question marks we get from clients is asking what backlinks are and how they can use them to benefit themselves and their digital presence.  This topic is going to be the focus of the article today. What are quality backlinks, and how can you make sure your site is taking advantage of them?

What Are Backlinks?

A backlink, in short, is any link within your website.  These may be links to a blog that you referenced, or a partner that you may have.  Similarly, these links can also be links to your website. These links help search engines index and find all the content within your sites that you want to be “crawled.”  Crawling a website is what bots from search engines like Google do to find and rate content.

The two main types of backlinks are going to be internal and external.  Both types of backlinks are critical for different reasons. External backlinks are crucial because these tell large search engines like Google to check out your website.  The more trustworthy the website, the more impactful their links are for search ranking. Internal backlinks are going to link to your website that you create.  A great example would be a link to your contact page from your home page.

Quality Matters

Before you go and start spamming your website and links, there is some important information you should know.  First off, not all backlinks are created equal. A backlink from a reliable source like a non-profit is going to rank much higher than a link from a brand new website.  These rankings are related to a statistic called “domain authority.” The domain authority of a website refers to how much content it has, how many backlinks it has, and how reliable the site is rated.  It is critical to focus on getting backlinks with high domain authority to boost your rank.

Having backlinks from unreliable sites with low domain authority can also hurt your ranking.  There are various tools and websites to track your backlinks to review them and possibly disavow any negative links.  Disavowing links takes away their negative rating. It is like telling search engines that you do not endorse that specific link, so it is not counted for or against you.

Creating Backlinks

Now that you have some idea what a backlink is, it is time to start making some for your website!  There are a variety of ways that you can get backlinks so that we will highlight our top recommendations.  Our first recommendation would be to add your business and information to different business directories online.  Many of these directories are free and have high domain authority. These are natural backlinks to start with that will not require a ton of work.  An alternative to this would be to use reputation management software like Yext. Yext will enter all your information onto various online directories, saving you time.

Once you have your information in the leading online directories, it is time to start branching out.  Contact your friends and family and have them do posts about your website. These are great ways to start generating buzz and links.  Start searching online for communities within your specific niche. These communities will often allow for guest posts. Guest posts allow your company to create articles for various websites.  Your company will provide free content, and in return, you can get great backlink opportunities for high ranking websites.

Agency Approach

We realize that taking the time to create and find these backlinks can be very tedious and time-consuming.  This approach is why at Kallen Media LLC, we offer backlink services to help bolster your online presence. We can help find other websites for you to work with, as well as create the content.  So what are you waiting for, get in contact with us to start boosting your digital presence today!

Have you ever done a Google search and wondered why the top results might be featured snippets?  That is because blogs are one of the top ways websites can have fresh content.  Writing on sites is the best way to give search engines and people a reason to keep coming back to your website.  With so many websites and blogs out there, you need to have quality content with quality takes to get noticed.

This crowded space leads to the question of what does it take to have your article stand out from the crowd?  There are a few essential takes that are surefire ways to help your chances. You need to sound unique while giving quality content and links.  Without enough content on your blog posts, there is no chance of ever being shared or featured in top search engine spots.

1. Pick a topic you’re interested in

The best way to get started writing is to choose an item that you are passionate about.  Typically this will be related to the kind of website that you run. The more similar your content and consistent the message, the higher you will be ranked within your specific section of Google.  For instance, a baker would not be competing for people searching for car parts and vice versa.

Choose something that you are both knowledgeable about and want to learn more.  The more inquisitive you are, the more attractive your blogs will turn out. A healthy balance of self and research will surely get you onto the right path of writing a high ranking SEO blog.

2. Get specific within that topic

Now you have decided what topic to talk about.  Time to get started, right? Well… Not quite.

If you want to see results and highly ranked blog articles, you are going to need to get specific.  Broad topics typically do not end up answering a single question. They may touch on specific points, but these articles are not as impressive as a particular piece.  By being specific, you can focus your points and keywords to a particular audience.  The narrower the audience, the better chance you have at advertising your content specifically to that niche.

3. Decide the structure of the article

Once you have decided on what your blog is going to be about, it is time to start mapping your outline.  Creating an overview will break up your blog into specific sections that make it easier for people and search engines to read.  The best way to start this is by structuring an introduction paragraph or two.

This will introduce the topic allowing you to make subheadings after that breaks down the remainder of the blog.  Many of the top blogs use listing mechanics for their articles using titles like “Best five recipes” or “7 great tips”. Utilizing this language peaks consumer’s interests and makes them more likely to click on your article.

4. Flesh out key points

You should now have your outline all put together!  This section is going to be the hardest part of any blog you write.  Once you have your structure and key points down, it is time to start blogging.  Filling out your bullet points should allow you to flow through your writing easier.

Typically it is best to stay between 3-5 sentences within each paragraph.  Having multiple paragraphs within each subheading is excellent as long as you limit the sections to no more than 500 words.  Longer blog posts tend to do better within search engines because of the additional ideas and keywords within each post.

5. Add conclusion

Now that you have your content done.  It is time to tie together your blog post.  Adding a meaningful outcome is crucial to wrapping up ideas.  This is also the perfect opportunity for you to tell the reader the takeaways they should have from your article.  Engaging the reader at the end of the article is how you will stay relevant and gain recognition within your niche.

Marketing is often used to describe a wide variety of processes and systems within a company.  Anything from sales to social media campaigns can be considered marketing. So, what is the most effective form of marketing that your business should spend the most money on?  That is the golden question that every business is trying to answer. Today, we are going to go over some of the most widely used marketing tactics and when to use them.

The six main marketing streams we are going to investigate are Social Media, Mailers, Search Ads, Email Marketing, Search Engine Optimization, and creating an Active Blog.

1. Active Blog

Search engines and people both enjoy fresh content.  The most effective way to display new information to your client base is through an active blog.  Here you can post anything from customer spotlights to further exciting details about your company! Optimizing your blog is another key to great digital marketing.  Finding the search terms that you want to rank for can be key. The more words and key phrases you have in your content, the higher it is going to rank on Google.  Adding pictures and subheadings is a great way to further optimize your post and make your content more professional. Blogs should typically be longer than 500 words because that is the low end of where Google picks up information from web pages.

2. Search Engine Optimization

Having a website is no longer enough to keep you relevant online.  You want to make sure that your site is fully optimized and is getting tracked by all the most significant search engines.  If you are not showing up in search engine results on relevant pages, odds are people are not seeing your website. This realization can be a significant blow to many companies that invest heavily in their website and online presence.

Optimizing your website for search engines can be done in a variety of ways.  The first would be to utilize tools like Google to crawl your site. This crawl will expose areas of weakness while giving you great recommendations for how to fix specific problems.  With WordPress websites, you can often use plugins to adjust certain aspects if you are not a coding expert. However, this can also lead to slower overall websites since more data needs to load.

3. Email Marketing

Email can be one of your most prominent friends when it comes to creating digital marketing campaigns.  You will want to build your list for email blasts and updates that can be done through systems like customer relationship management software.  By keeping an email list, you can keep track of clients, as well as individuals who may have decided not to buy. You can now send these people marketing material to try to close sales by promoting similar products. Keeping in touch with your client base is critical for maintaining top of mind in your client base.  Sending out updates and new features is an excellent way to keep yourself relevant. If you have seasonal deals or specials, send them out to your list!  Don’t hold your information a secret; the best way to spread the news is through individuals who have already expressed some interest in your company.

4. Search Ads

When most people go onto the internet, they use a search engine to find what they are looking for if they do not have an exact destination in mind.  This mindset would be if someone was looking for a restaurant and didn’t know what they wanted; they may type in the type of food. In the same way someone searches for food, they search for companies within your industry.  Similarly, people look up specific words or phrases about what they are looking for that can be bid on within platforms like Google and Microsoft ads. Advertising on these large search engine platforms gives opportunities to have your product seen by millions of people, depending on how large your budget is.  This is the best way to get discovered when you are first starting your business. In many cases, there will be no chance that you will organically appear on the first page of search results.  However, utilizing paid search ads, you can be seen by people looking for your specific niche.

5. Mailers

One of the oldest and most frequent tactics can still prove highly useful.  Depending on your type of business, mailers can be helpful when targeting your specific clients.  There are two critical situations where mailers will prove to be cost-effective: when you are targeting customers in your area, or if you are trying to use mailers to expand other marketing efforts.  Some digital marketing services, like Facebook ads, require mailers to be sent first, so sending direct mailers around the country can be critical to opening up other forms of advertising.

6. Social Media Advertising

The final type of marketing is social media advertising.  This advertising would be using services from websites like Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn.  Each different media outlet has a slightly different audience that may cater to specific businesses.  Instagram is strictly visual and media-heavy, so that attracts a much different audience than its parent company, Facebook. You will need to determine who your target audience is and figure out where they spend their time.  If you do not do your research, you could end up dumping hundreds or even thousands of dollars into campaigns where you do not see any real results.

Kallen Media is available to help with all of your different marketing strategies.  For any other comments or questions, be sure to contact us at kallenmediallc@gmail.com.

The blog can be the most vital part of any website, even though it may not have the style any essential information other sections of your website has.  Why is this? It comes down to a mixture of attracting people to your site with quality content, while also “showing off” for the search engines.

People stay on websites when there is information they are interested in.  Writing blog posts designated for your website’s niche is a great way to keep these potential clients on your site.  Blogs that are boring with lots of text and no pictures can leave to people quickly leaving your site. It is best to have lots of separations in paragraphs and to implement images or videos when possible.  The photos create more time on your website, which leads to better potential leads when blogging in your niche.

Target Audience

Your website viewers are smart and know what they like.  If you are putting out fluff content to fill your site with no real goal, both visitors and Google will notice. Fluff can occur if you are using any auto writer consistently. Due to the negative impact on your Google search ranking, this is not encouraged as it can end up hurting your website as opposed to helping it.

Google is the most widely used search engine, so its ranking is significant.  When you first create your website, you will be low in the ranks for a variety of reasons.  The first being Google recognizes a website’s age and gives older sites more credibility, thus ranking them higher.  This can immediately put you at a disadvantage to any competitors who have older websites, and who are already blogging in your niche.

This can make getting a newly created websites to be recognized by the significant search engines difficult.  The blog is one primary free gateway to this. You can post as much content as you would like about your niche while helping your site get found without having to spend any money!

Promote Yourself

Paid promotions are the fastest way for any website to be recognized.  Before they have site authority or have started working their way up the natural search results.  You can pay for ads through either social media networks like Facebook and Twitter or through Google itself.  Doing research will ensure you show up for the keywords that you bid on. This can all be done through Google’s AdWord program, which allows you to promote your website based on a customizable budget.

Whether you are an individual with no budget or a large corporation, you should be blogging in your niche.  It helps with search engine optimization and gives your clients additional useful information about your industry. Kallen Media can rocket your company forward, so get in contact with us today for your free demo.

When a company or an individual decides to create a website to market their wares, one of the single most notable additions is a regularly updated Blog.  Over the lifetime of your website, this weblog will typically help increase natural traffic to your site. Blog posts capture both the attention of search engines as well as potential clients, making them a marketing necessity.

1.      Skimming –

When a new user stumbles upon your site, a blog is often the right place for content and keywords. These thoughts and ideas attract users and encourage them to dive deeper into your site. Similarly, search engines like Google browse your articles for keywords to rank your website.  Often a blog post is one of the first places a user will land on your site.  Give them something interesting to catch their attention, so they’re likely to stick around as we discussed in “How Do I Get My Business Noticed.”

2.      Content is king –

When a casual user is skimming through your site, it is the exciting content, linked to other pages in your website, that will keep them browsing for more extended periods. This creates potential leads and takes these users to areas that will result in engagement. The purpose is to give your business the best chance to win their business.  Your blog is the perfect place on your website to have more abundant information about various subjects of interest relating to your field.

3.      New content –

While generalized content can be useful for guiding a reader to the next page you want them to discover, it is original content that will likely keep a user coming back to find out what’s new.  In the world of blog posts, regularly scheduled fresh content is always preferable. The occasional post for both potential clients and search engines will no longer cut it in the competitive online world.

At Kallen Media, we recommend a minimum of one new post per week. With that said, content optimized for SEO should be no less than 500 words. This is because Google “crawlers” often do not pick up on pages or posts that have less content on them. Top ranking posts often will have over 1,000 words. Posts that last the reader an average of 7 minutes to read through the material are ideal.

4.      Lifetime value –

One of the best features of a blog post is that once it is live on your site and gets indexed by the search engines, then it’s there for users to find forever.  In other words, this one post will be on the internet for people to see. The link refers back to for as long as your site is active. These links make posting quality content that much more critical. You want your company linked to trustworthy articles and sources, not poor content. Often it can be better to edit and change old material rather than trying to delete it for search engine indexing reasons.

5.      Blog posts are the #1 marketing tool for SEO –

Down to the most fundamental point for internet marketing… adding a blog and keeping it regularly updated can seem like a chore and can be a challenge.  However, the reward is that your addition of regular content to your website (quickly done through scheduled blog posts) tells the search engines that your site is active and provides valuable information for the potential client.  If you want users to find you, start blogging!

Kallen Media can help you create and maintain a blog on your website.  Call us today at (773)-524-1483 or click here to find out just how easy and economical it is to get started.