316strategygroup

[316strategygroup]

How To Go Viral on Instagram: Instagram Reels

Instagram claims that over 200 million of its users visit a business profile at least once a day, making it a useful platform to grow your consumer base. Because there is so much content posted on there, though, you might be having a hard time reaching a large audience.

The good news is Instagram recently came out with a feature called “reels,” which is perfect for marketing your business. These are 15-second clips that you can polish off with music and special effects.

To know how to go viral on Instagram, you’ll need to learn some tips and tricks first. Keep reading to get the inside scoop.

How to Use Instagram Reels

Once you’ve got your business profile established, making an Instagram reel is pretty simple. To get to the reels feature, click on your profile picture.

When your camera opens, click the “reels” button at the bottom of the screen. Just hold down the grey capture button to start filming.

If you want to break your video into clips, take your finger off the button, prepare the next shot and then press down again. With the timer countdown option, it only takes one person to film the reel.

As a business account, you can post your reels to your grid and your stories, as well as to the “Explore” page that Instagram just created. The Explore page is where any user can stumble across your reel and where you can become a featured pick. If you receive a notification saying that your reel is featured, that means the algorithm thinks it’s high-quality and will suggest it to more users.

How to Go Viral on Instagram

Coming up with ideas for your Instagram reels means that you need to balance trendiness and authenticity. You want to stand out from the crowd and establish a unique voice.

Because you only have ten seconds before the viewer decides to click off, you’ll need to hook them with a compelling opening line, like you would in a book. From there, you should find a creative way to showcase your brand, products, and services while incorporating popular aesthetics.

Furthermore, keep your audience in the back of your mind when you are creating content. You wouldn’t make the same types of videos for people in their early thirties as you would for teenagers. Look at your Instagram Analytics to gain a better understanding of who’s watching your videos.

Do you remember when hashtags were just for fun? Now, they’re a smart way to get your reels featured on multiple pages. Create a hashtag for your company and sprinkle in some more general ones to gain a wider following.

The last thing to keep in mind when you want to go viral is to engage with your audience and other brands. When your customers tag you in a post, leave a comment.

When their followers see that your page is active, they’ll be more interested in following you. It might be a bit more work on your end, but it is worth the results.

Keep Making Content

Joseph Kenney, a digital strategist with 316 Strategy Group, recommends the following:

Create videos you enjoy making.

Unleash your creativity. Don’t hold back. Get outside of your comfort zone.

Level-up your audio and visual equipment.

Stay consistent.

Don’t give up.

Kenney says, “The more content you make, the higher a chance you have of going viral.” Continue to crank out quality content to keep consumers coming back, and before you know it, you might have multiple trending videos.

Part of courage is simply staying consistent. ~ Joseph Kenney

Now that you know how to go viral on Instagram, you might be looking to hire a marketing and consulting firm to help you out. Check out 316 Strategy Group’s social media services today, and your Instagram reel views will start to soar in no time. If you need assistance crafting an award-winning strategy for your Instagram account, please reach out to one of our strategic consultants.

The post How To Go Viral on Instagram: Instagram Reels appeared first on 316 Strategy Group.

source https://316strategygroup.com/how-to-go-viral-on-instagram/#utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss

[316strategygroup]

Marketing To Baby Boomers: A Guide To Success

Is your company marketing to baby boomers? Maybe the better question is, should they be marketing to baby boomers? A recent study exposed the truth that “these ‘generations’ are simply random collections of people who share no special connection beyond when they were born. Marketing managers need to remember that not all baby boomers are going to be a relevant audience for your brand.

Social Media Segmentation

Marketing managers seeking to connect with new customers in 2021 must consider social media segmentation. Segmenting baby boomers can offer richer, and more relevant foundations for defining audiences beyond simple demographics and labeling them a baby boomer. We recommend defining groups of consumers beyond a demographic age alone and move toward defining them in terms of consumer passions and hobbies. By doing so, your company will be more likely to attract a cross-generational audience, which can lead to new opportunities and a stronger bottom line.

Marketing to baby boomers is often undervalued and certainly misunderstood. ~ Christopher Slater, 316 Strategy Group 

Pinterest For Baby Boomers

Yes, it’s true that over 70% of all baby boomers are on Facebook but we encourage you to look beyond Facebook and consider the benefits of Pinterest. This wildly popular social media platform has the strongest penetration among baby boomers of any non-Facebook social media platform. Why you may ask? Pinterest has been an obvious outlet for DIY, projects, and hobbies. After all, retired baby boomers have more time on their hands. Marketing to baby boomers is easier than you think with Pinterest. Give it a try, you’ll be glad you did!

Include Boomers In Your Creative

Poorly thought out marketing campaigns often depict boomers as old. In a recent survey by AARP, they found that just 5% of marketing material showed older generations interacting with technology. This is hardly the truth. Nearly 70% of boomers between the ages of 55-73 own a smartphone. Your business can quickly curate thousands of images depicting boomers in a more accurate light.

Bolster Online Reviews

We recommend all businesses capture online reviews but did you know online reviews influence boomers’ purchasing decisions more than any other online source? We recommend maximizing your ability to capture reviews on your Google My Business platform. This easy to use review system will be familiar to most boomers who are already using the Google platform as a search engine and to read restaurant and business reviews.

Target Baby Boomers by Passion & Hobbies

Marketing to baby boomers is never effective when you’re targeting by age alone. If you’re serious about connecting with baby boomers in 2021 then target them by passions or hobbies—not simply by age. Utilize the rich data and analytics of each social media platform to take your marketing to new heights, drive revenue, and increase profits in the new year!

Connect With 316 Strategy Group

316 Strategy Group is a multi-award-winning strategic consulting firm. Their focus is on growing businesses through a variety of digital services. Whether you’re an owner of a small mom & pop shop or an executive at a mid-sized company, 316 Strategy Group uses a creative approach to helping you connect with your customer base. With operations in Omaha, Des Moines, Kansas City, and Nashville 316 Strategy Group are perfectly suited to help you increase profits in the new year. We encourage you to set up a free consultation with one of our strategic consultants today! With a clear strategy for marketing to baby boomers, you’ll be off to the races in the new year!

We’re excited to help you create a winning strategy in your efforts to effectively target market the baby boomer generation.

www.316StrateygGroup.com?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss

  The post Marketing To Baby Boomers: A Guide To Success appeared first on 316 Strategy Group.

source https://316strategygroup.com/marketing-to-baby-boomers-a-guide-to-success/#utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss

[316strategygroup]

Hiring an SEO Company: The Benefits for Your Business

Hiring an SEO company will drive revenue and increase the profits you earn.

In 2021, it’s no secret that Search Engine Optimization plays a critical role in the success of a business. SEO helps build traffic and authority, boost your brand, and raise visibility to prospective customers already searching for you.

SEO Will Help Your Business

Build traffic

Increase authority

Boost your brand

Raise visibility

Drive revenue

Earn profit

But should you tackle search engine optimization yourself or is it better to hire an SEO company with years of experience?

What benefits do these SEO companies deliver for you to consider investing in their services? Yes, these experts bring experience and training to the table but what does that really do for your business?

These are all great questions to be asking. We’ll dive into several key aspects of why you should seriously consider hiring a professional SEO company!

A strategic partnership with a professional SEO company will take your business to new heights and drive massive revenue growth. ~ Christopher Slater, 316 Strategy Group

It’s Not About Traffic, It’s About Raising Profits For Your Business

A common misconception is that search engine optimization should help boost website traffic. Yes, that’s true but only one part of the equation. SEO should also be about raising profits, too. At the end of the day, your business must be profitable to survive.

Here’s something to consider: Think of the thousands of people who visit your site but no one purchases your products or subscribes to your lists, then there’s still something inherently wrong with your SEO efforts. Your bounce rate is still too high in comparison to your overall profits. It’s a frustrating scenario known all too well to entrepreneurs everywhere.

Hiring a company that specializes in SEO prevents businesses from experiencing this frustration. They know you hired them to work on your company’s SEO so that you’ll drive more revenue and earn more profits, not less. Pretty simple, right?

SEO Companies Have Better Tools

Most business owners have never stopped to consider how much time and money it’d cost their business to get all the necessary tools to run a successful SEO campaign? You’d need tools like copywriters, Ahrefs, Google Keyword Planner, Google Analytics, SemRush, Alexa, and more.

SEO experts have these tools and hiring an expert in SEO, like 316 Strategy Group, also guarantees access to their tools. After all, they need these tools to help you and your business drive revenue and earn profits!

Being search engine optimization experts in the field, they won’t use free or cheap tools. As a client of 316 Strategy Group, you get the guarantee that they rely on the most efficient tools in the field. As technology advances and the tools change, SEO experts upgrade their tools.

Efficiency In Data Tracking

SEO experts track data. It’s a big part of SEO and for good reason. A strong SEO strategy monitors which pages on your website perform better and why, the activities of your website visitors, and which keywords or keyword phrases perform better than others. The monitoring of page speed, link authority, and the performance of each backlink plays into the overall strategy.

Hiring an SEO company ensures you don’t miss a key component. After all, there’s a lot to track. Experts in the field know what to prioritize and can quickly alter their strategy based on new data, performance, changes in the business, and algorithm changes. You’ll waste a lot of valuable time trying to figure this information out on your own. Inefficient use of time reduces revenue and overall profits in a business.

Drive Revenue & Save Money

SEO takes time and commitment. Ethical strategies are never overnight success stories. The sooner your business gets started the faster you can drive revenue and profits to your business.

Effective search engine optimization requires time and commitment. ~ Joseph Kenney, 316 Strategy Group

Hiring search engine optimization experts to ensure that you hit your SEO and revenue goals faster and for a lower cost than if you had purchased the tools and attempted SEO on your own. The DIY route isn’t cheaper. You may not spend as much upfront but think of the losses when you realize you did steps incorrectly, created future problems on your website, and the missed opportunities.

  Hire the Best SEO Company

It’s to your advantage to hire the best SEO company. They have the tools to help your business succeed. They have the training, the SEO tools, and years of experience. Remember, they’re experts for a reason.

Contacting a company like 316 Strategy Group to help determine your SEO goals is the next best step towards driving revenue and profits in the new year. Contact Christopher Slater at 402-881-2811 to request a FREE SEO AUDIT.

The post Hiring an SEO Company: The Benefits for Your Business appeared first on 316 Strategy Group.

source https://316strategygroup.com/hiring-an-seo-company/#utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss

[316strategygroup]

Business Logo: 7 Reasons To Crush It

A great business logo helps you cut through the noise. According to digital marketing professionals, the average person views around 4,000  to 10,000 advertisements per day. Consumers are flooded with messages all indicating why their service is the best- making it increasingly difficult for you to be found. A killer business logo will help you crush your goals and conquer your dreams.

With that being said, there is a way to distinguish yourself online and in everyday life- just by using a trusted business logo.

Design is the silent ambassador of your brand & great business logos tell simple stories.

~ Christopher Slater, 316 Strategy Group

You may be wondering why logos are important when consumers get more value out of a product or service itself. This guide outlines several reasons how a business logo can benefit your company and help you remain memorable to users.

#1 – Displays Your Identity

Your company logo is the first step to defining your brand’s identity. After establishing an emotional connection with your target audience, you can then branch off and design other elements of your brand.

These include landing pages, business cards, and social media pages. Additionally, to begin crafting your logo, you should choose elements that reflect your company’s story.

These elements include creative aspects such as font, colors, and tones.

For example, you can design your business logo to contain images of products or services you offer. A moving company may use a truck or unique symbol in combination with appealing colors to attract consumers.

#2 – Acts as an Effective Marketing Tool

If nothing less, a logo is the best marketing tool you can have for your business. Besides online marketing platforms and your company site, your logo can be displayed pretty much anywhere.

Displaying your logo on merchandise, packing products and billboards are a few options that may spark interest from new consumers. Also, with the right design, you can market your logo to help build a community.

For example, companies like Starbucks create brand loyalty through high-quality logo branding. For this reason, the Starbucks logo has become a symbol of status amongst consumers across the world.

Although it is a coffee company, consumers have begun representing their brand through customized cups and clothing.

#3 – Sets You Apart From Your Competition

A unique business logo design explains to your consumers why you are different than your competitors. Depending on your industry, you may have a more difficult time achieving this.

Industries like grocery stores or coffee shops are two of the most common industries that struggle with this. With that being said, your logo is a perfect opportunity to showcase what sets you apart from the rest.

Maybe you use organic products or are super conscious about being environmentally friendly. Regardless of what makes you unique, you should always use it to your advantage. It shows consumers why you are a better choice over your competition.

#4 – Grabs Attention

Capturing the attention of your customers is becoming more and more difficult due to an increase in products in an already over-saturated market. According to a 2019 study, an abundance of information is a direct cause of narrowing attention spans.

This is where a unique and eye-catching logo can benefit your business.

A good logo will be memorable even to consumers with the shortest attention spans. Ideally, your logo should be simple enough to appeal to the user while conveying your company’s core values.

If your logo is designed strategically, a few seconds is all you’ll need to resonate with consumers.

#5 – Builds Trust With Consumers

One of the less obvious benefits of logos is the trust they build with your consumers. Your target audience is already expecting you to have one, as they represent you in the digital world.

With the right design, customers can be persuaded to trust your company over a competitor. For example, using soft and inviting colors may increase a consumer’s likelihood of investing in your business.

Alternatively, if your logo is too crowded or has an unclear message, consumers may become overwhelmed and take their business elsewhere.

#6 – Showcases Your Professionalism

A professionally designed logo shows consumers that you value your public appearance. This is critical when consumers are initially forming an opinion on your company.

For this reason, you should always seek professional services when designing your logo. A sloppy design can be easily spotted by your customers- making it something to avoid at all costs. 316 Strategy Group is an award-winning company that has designed thousands of graphics and logos for clients in Omaha, Des Moines, Kansas City, Nashville, and beyond.

#7 – Establishes a Consistent Appearance

Some of the most successful worldwide brands use their logo as a statement piece. The most notable example of this technique is Apple.

Apple has branded itself to be one of the most widely recognized brands worldwide. Consumers are able to name their brand upon a single glace. In general, this makes it much more likely that it will capture, and hold, their attention.

To achieve a similar appearance, you need to create consistency with your logo. This can be applied across social media platforms and print marketing.

When you market content with the same image, you show consumers that the information is reliable and from a verified source.

Also, a consistent brand image builds your reputation within a community made up of your target consumers. Your audience is then able to interpret your messages in the same manner as other content put out by your brand.

As a whole, your logo acts as much more than an image attached to your company. It is the rubber-stamp of approval your customers look for when seeking information and updates on your service.

Drafting Your Business Logo Design

At the end of the day, owning your company’s unique brand voice is what will help you set your business apart. With a killer business logo and a carefully crafted marketing plan, you’re sure to resonate with your intended audience.

At 316 Strategy Group, we focus on helping you design and market your business using an effective approach custom to your company.

Whether you’re struggling with a concept or know just the design you’d like, we are here to help you meet those needs. For more information on our business logo design or style guide services feel free to contact us through our site.

The post Business Logo: 7 Reasons To Crush It appeared first on 316 Strategy Group.

source https://316strategygroup.com/business-logo/#utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss

[316strategygroup]

What Is the Main Difference Between SEO and SEM?

“Knowing the difference between SEO and SEM is important for business owners to understand,” said Christopher Slater, a digital strategist with 316 Strategy Group. He says getting started on a digital marketing campaign can be a little tricky, if only because there’s so much terminology that seems similar and overlaps in a number of areas.

“Once you get everything down, though, digital marketing can be the key to your business’ success,” said Slater. “We’re going to explore the difference between SEO and SEM in this article, giving you a framework from which to move forward with your understanding of digital marketing.”

Slater lays out the ideas below and hopefully can give you a general look at how to use these essential practices to grow your business.

Let’s get started:

Understanding the Difference Between SEO and SEM

SEO stands for search engine optimization, while SEM stands for search engine marketing.

They’re a little confusing because both methods of marketing your business aim toward drawing more traffic through different processes on the web. The key difference between SEO and SEM, though, is that one is paid and the other is organic.

Search engine marketing uses different methods of paid advertising to expose your brand to new and interested audiences. We’ll explore those methods a little more in a moment.

SEO and SEM nicely compliment each other. Our team will develop an individual strategy catered to your business or non-profit ~ Christopher Slater, 316 Strategy Group

Search engine optimization uses a number of practices to produce relevant content that’s optimized for specific terms. Additionally, there are a lot of things we do on the back end that help websites appear more relevant to the search engine algorithm.

Generally, search engine optimization uses what we know about the search engine algorithm to tailor websites with the aim of ranking higher in search results.

Let’s take a look at these two concepts in a little more detail.

Search Engine Marketing

The various paid methods of advertising your business are very effective at drawing traffic to your pages.

Search engines and social media sites make money, primarily, through the use of their various advertising platforms. In most cases, these ads show up on our feeds as sponsored posts or advertisements.

You might have noticed that these pieces of content in our search results or social media feeds have grown more relevant to you over time. In other words, you might be more likely to actually click on an ad now than you were five years ago.

This is because social media platforms and search engines gather a great deal of personal information about us and use that information to help advertisers target their market audiences.

It’s a little unsettling to think about sometimes, but it’s the truth that personal information makes marketing your business online exceptionally easy.

Additionally, it’s one of the cheapest ways to get your name out there. PPC advertising is the most common form of SEM. PPC stands for “pay-per-click,” and it only charges you when your content is engaged with.

Understanding PPC

Most search engines and social media platforms have an option for pay-per-click advertisements.

Once you have your target audience selected and know the keyword phrase that you’d like to optimize for, you can create the advertisement independently or by using one of your existing posts.

That post will only be displayed to people in the group that you’ve selected. Each platform charges different rates for engagements, but it tends to be the case that you’re charged a few cents every time you receive an engagement.

In some cases, that could mean that each post costs thousands of dollars, but the flip side is that thousands of dollars on one ad equates to dozens of thousands of engagements from users.

That doesn’t take into account the massive number of people that saw the ad but didn’t click on it. Further, you don’t have to spend any more than you’d like to.

Say that an advertisement takes off and wracks up a high number of engagements. You could keep displaying that ad forever and accumulating a larger bill, but a pre-set budget cap removes the ad from circulation once you’ve spent your limit.

Search Engine Optimization

Search engine optimization takes an entirely different route to achieve results.

As we mentioned before, SEO is the process of creating your website to fit into the specifications that the search engine algorithm lays out. There’s no real explanation from Google as to the exact factors in the algorithm, but they’ve given us enough to work with.

We know a few key elements of the algorithm and have used time and experience as a guide to determine which factors change rankings and which do not.

One overarching principle that guides the algorithm is value to users. Google, just like any other business, seeks to provide its users with the most relevant product to try and keep their business.

If Google starts slipping and another search engine takes its place, they will have failed. So, their algorithm is excellent at identifying what is most relevant and valuable to a particular user search.

Search engine optimization, just like the search engine algorithm, starts with the user’s keyword phrase.

Keyword Research and Content

Good keyword research can tell businesses a lot about what their customers are interested in online. You can look at who’s searching particular keyword phrases, examine the competition in rankings for that term, and decide how to make content in response.

The optimal keyword phrase is one that’s popular but has little competition from other businesses. That way, you can know that you have a good chance of ranking and your efforts won’t be out shadowed by large corporations or other successful businesses.

You then create content that’s optimized for that particular phrase. Naturally, the content has to be related to that term as well. Most importantly, it has to provide some real value to users, not just be well-optimized.

As it all starts to pan out, the process becomes very time consuming and costly to do on your own. That’s where we come in.

Need a Little Digital Marketing Help?

Hopefully, our exploration of the difference between SEO and SEM helped you get a decent grasp of how the digital marketing process works. If you’re thinking that you might not have the time to manage this process on your own, we’re here to help. Please give me a call directly to learn more about what working with a professional agency can do to boost your business’ bottom line.

Contact me, Christopher Slater, directly at 402-881-2811 or click on this link to schedule a confidential conversation and a free audit.

The post What Is the Main Difference Between SEO and SEM? appeared first on 316 Strategy Group.

source https://316strategygroup.com/difference-between-seo-and-sem/#utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss

[316strategygroup]

TikTok for Business: How TikTok Can Drive Traffic

TikTok for business? Yes! Aside from the obvious, the explosion of TikTok’s popularity helped define 2020. From dance crazes to lip-sync videos, TikTok!

This wildly popular social media platform, mostly favored by Generation Z but growing across all demographics. TikTok has 800 million monthly active users.

The platform lets users share short, viral videos. In some ways, it’s like the 6-second looping videos of the short-lived Vine platform. Recently, Instagram launched its Reels function to compete with TikTok.

TikTok has been downloaded over 2 billion times and has over 800 million users. You can no longer ignore those statistics if you’re a business owner. ~ Joseph Kenney, 316 Strategy Group

TikTok is perfect if your business targets Generation Z customers but don’t overlook this platform for other platforms, too. TikTok can be an excellent addition to your social media strategy.

Wondering how to use TikTok for business? This guide covers content ideas, how to find followers, and paid advertising options.

What Content Works Well on TikTok?

Other platforms often reward original thinking. Look at Medium, which prizes your innovative thoughts and writing. Or Youtube with its love of controversy. It can be daunting to figure out what to post on these platforms.

It’s much easier to capture the zeitgeist on TikTok. That’s because the platform loves a trend. Witness all the dance trend TikToks on the app.

Users might replicate existing TikToks, or create their own spin-offs. By using the hashtag for the trend, your TikTok appears in the feed.

Look at high-performing or trending hashtags. Where can you identify areas where your brand can create a TikTok? Which trends align with your brand values? Do these trends also appeal to your target customers?

This is where you can get started creating TikToks. It’s a good way to try the platform out without a large investment of time or money.

Brand Voice

You can also focus on carving out a niche for your own type of content. This is a good idea if you have an established brand and you want to continue its ‘voice’.

The Washington Post picked up over 400,000 followers in less than a year. Their TikTok focus is more light-hearted and entertaining than their presence on Twitter.

This reveals one of the keys to finding success in TikTok. Find a way to repurpose content to suit the feel and vibe of TikTok.

You can also upload an existing video. If they’re within 60-seconds, you can post them as they are. You’ll need to trim any videos longer than a minute.

Try uploading any videos you have for Instagram Reels. It’s a simple way to get started on the platform.

How Do I Get Followers?

Creating TikToks that combine your unique spin and existing trends is the quickest way to get started. Add trending sounds to boost your chances of TikTok showing your video to other users.

TikTok does take location into account when you publish videos. It prioritizes showing your videos to people in the same location as you.

That makes it a great way to get followers who live in your area. Local brands can capitalize on this to build a local following. You want a loyal, active fanbase that interacts with your TikToks. This will help push your videos to international users.

As with Instagram or Twitter, use niche-specific hashtags. This helps TikTok to show your videos to people who will be interested in your content. The more interested the audience, the more likely they are to interact.

Share Content

Unlike Instagram, TikTok works better when you share content from other users. This makes it closer to Twitter in nature. That’s because it’s a community-based platform.

You have options for sharing content. If you have a branded hashtag, like Nike, share content created by users. This is essentially free advertising, The only effort you need to make is hitting ‘share’.

Or you can share content from hashtags that you use a lot. This is a good way to build a following with users who match your target audience. Share their content because it’s good and you think your followers will enjoy it.

What Is a Good Time to Post on TikTok?

TikTok fiercely guards their algorithm so it’s difficult to ‘game’ the system. This provides a better experience for users and levels the playing field for brands.

That said, there are some commonly held factors about TikTok profiles. The app uses interactions with each video to decide what to show users.

It pushes these to users alongside popular videos. If those first users interact with it, the app pushes the TikTok to more users. And so on.

That’s why good, creative, or unusual content can go viral very quickly. You want to create the kind of content that gets shared, liked, or commented on.

This approach to sharing content means you’ll need to experiment with times of day for posting.

How Do I Use TikTok to Drive Traffic?

At the time of writing, not all users can add a website link in the TikTok bio. You can link to your Instagram feed or Youtube channel. It’s still a great way to drive traffic to your other social media platforms.

Make sure you have your website URL in your Instagram bio. Link to it in every YouTube video, if you have a brand channel.

You can repost your TikToks to your Instagram Stories, giving you new content for an existing account. Other users can also share your TikToks to their Stories. This helps to expand your visibility on Instagram.

Why Should I Use TikTok Marketing?

So far we’ve focused on how to use TikTok for business marketing. Let’s look at several reasons why you should use it in 2021.

It Rewards Innovation

One of the advantages of TikTok is no one has yet figured out a marketing playbook. The platform is young enough to have no definitive strategy but popular enough to make experimentation worth it.

That might sound unappealing. How can you know what works if there’s no specific marketing formula yet?

Look at it from another perspective. Every time a strategy becomes popular on a social media platform, it soon stops working. Everyone races to use it and have a short flurry of success until the platform changes its algorithm.

When you embrace a platform early, you get to define what works for your business.

You Don’t Need a Huge Following

Having a huge following doesn’t guarantee viral status, as it does on platforms like Instagram.

That means you can still aim for millions of views when your account is brand new. It makes it easier to establish a following on TikTok.

Getting views early means you can quickly gauge what content works well. Create more of that and watch your popularity soar.

Content Has a Longer Shelf Life

Be aware that older videos can also go viral. A less-popular hashtag might start trending, pushing your video to the fore.

This is a good factor that differentiates TikTok from other platforms. Content on Twitter and Instagram has a much shorter shelf life. That means you can end up spending a lot of time and effort on content few people see.

Focus on creating good-quality TikToks since you never know which of your videos may suddenly go viral.

The Homemade Aesthetic Works Well

TikTok’s content is made by amateur users in their homes. As a result, the production values are low. The only equipment you need is a smartphone.

That doesn’t mean everything looks terrible. Add filters or Beauty mode to improve your videos before you post them.

You won’t need to invest in a camera crew or expensive editing to create videos. Creating content needn’t take long. Focus on creativity or entertainment over aesthetic values.

This is a great way to use authenticity in your branding. You can embrace a more down-to-earth and approachable form of marketing on TikTok. ‘Playful’ and ‘spontaneous’ are your watchwords.

Using Social Media for Business: A Caveat

You want to be successful in using TikTok in your social media marketing strategy. So you need to remember this fundamental point.

Social media is still essentially social. Look at the brands who’ve done well on other social media platforms.

We’ll use Oreo as an example. In 2013, a blackout hit the Super Bowl. Oreo tweeted a simple image with the tagline, ‘You can still dunk in the dark’.

It was an awesome example of real-time marketing. The image took advantage of the fact people turned to their phones and social media while the game was off the air. The tweet entertained people and provided fun content while also advertising the brand.

How about Burger King? In 2019, they started liking tweets posted by social media influencers back in 2010. Their confusion created a buzz around the brand. It helped Burger King relaunch their funnel cake fries, originally introduced in 2010.

The point is this: people go to social media to be entertained. Maybe they want to share their gripes with the world. They want a connection.

Make sure whatever content you share on TikTok fits the vibe of the platform. Then you’ll earn loyal fans with whatever you post.

Paid Methods for TikTok Advertising

We thought it was best to finish this guide with paid methods for using TikTok for business.

Influencer Marketing

One option is influencer marketing. It works in much the same way that it does on other platforms.

Identify influencers on the app that suit your niche. Do they match your brand values?

If so, approach them about a collaboration. The influencer will dictate how their video works since it needs to fit their brand too.

Yet they might talk about services or products, or post a link to your URL in the description.

Influencers charge more for partnerships when they have more followers. TikTok videos can go viral with fewer followers. So try approaching influencers with smaller audiences first.

A small audience can often be more engaged than a large one.

Sponsor a Hashtag Challenge

TikTok shows these challenges on the Discover page. Users can create their own content and share it on the hashtag.

These are a good option for two reasons. First, users will watch your videos first as you explain the challenge. This is a great way to introduce your brand to a new audience.

Second, this gives you a raft of user-generated content to share on your own account.

These work well for brands that create products people use, like tech.

Brand Takeover

A brand takeover splashes ads on a user’s feed so they’re the first thing the user sees. If they tap the ad, they’re taken to your landing page.

It also means you get a specific category to yourself. The app only allows one ad per category on a daily basis.

This is a great way to drive traffic from the app to your website. Use a custom landing page to help measure conversions from TikTok.

Native Ads

You can also pay to run a video ad between TikToks. The ad can run for up to 15 seconds. The downside is users can skip the ads.

A Brand Lens

Finally, you can create your own filter specific to your brand. Users can then use them in their own videos for a period of ten days.

TikTok will add your filter to the trending list. This gives you a great way to promote your brand through user content.

Experiment with these options as you get more confident with the TikTok platform.

Will You Use TikTok for Business Marketing?

Now you know how to use TikTok for business. It can be a great platform for reaching younger markets and it works well for fun, quirky content.

You can get started without expensive equipment. Head to the Discover page to see what’s trending and put your own spin on it. Track what works well and create more of it.

Once you’ve mastered organic TikTok, try out their paid options. A sponsored hashtag challenge has a lot of benefits for the right brands.

Keen to get help in using the platform? Contact us today to find out how we can help you use TikTok in your marketing.

The post TikTok for Business: How TikTok Can Drive Traffic appeared first on 316 Strategy Group.

source https://316strategygroup.com/tiktok-for-business/#utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss

[316strategygroup]

How To Dominate SEO in 2021

Dominate SEO in the New Year

Dominate SEO and meet crush your goals in the new year! We’re prospective customers able to find you when searching with Google, Yahoo, or Bing? Is your business positioned in the SERPs where you hoped it’d be? Search Engine Results Pages (SERP) are the pages displayed by search engines in response to a query by a user. The main component of the SERP is the listing of results that are returned by the search engine in response to a keyword query.

If you aren’t where you wanted to be by now, 316 Strategy Group has a solution for you. Don’t worry. You don’t have to let SEO wear you down. It doesn’t have to be as complex as some companies might want you to believe. Sometimes, all it takes is a change in your SEO strategy to take your site from barely bringing in enough visitors to having too many!

Our FREE SEO audit often reveals a laundry list of missed opportunities. The results are often shocking to business owners who’ve been paying an SEO company leading up to our SEO audit.

Here’s a list of commonly missed opportunities for businesses and non-profits.

Google My Business not set up or optimized.

SEO plugin not installed or configured.

Blog articles not being employed.

Website load speed is slow.

Not using HTTPS.

The website is not mobile-friendly.

Broken links.

Images on the website are not optimized.

H1 tags need to be fixed.

Dominate SEO today by requesting a free SEO audit and scheduling a strategy session with one of our SEO strategists.

Search Engine Optimization Takes Time

Most business owners have received phone calls from so-called SEO experts claiming they can take your business to #1 on Google within a couple of days. Run, don’t walk away from these scammers. SEO takes time when done correctly. Our clients typically start to see movement in SERPS (search engine results pages) within a few weeks. Our SEO strategy is a slower and more methodical approach that is in line with the mission of our client.

Recently, a client of ours decided to let us manage their SEO, and within 2 months of their campaign going live, their organic traffic exploded! We developed a custom SEO strategy for them that included the following components:

Google My Business Management

Strategic Content Creation

Link Building

Article Syndication

Although this was a competitive niche, we were able to drastically impact our client’s web traffic, almost doubling it over the time they worked with us. Our client invested in a consistent long-term SEO plan and now they’re poised to dominate their niche! Committing to SEO over a long duration of time is what allowed our client to almost 4X their website traffic and sales this past year.

By using a custom SEO strategy that 316 Strategy Group designed for them, they now have an estimated traffic value of $14K+ PER MONTH. That means for them to get the same amount of traffic with paid ads they’d have to pay over $14,000 a month to Google! Their SEO paid for itself quicker than they ever thought possible.

Invest in SEO in 2021

Dominate SEO in the new year by implementing the right SEO strategy. The right SEO strategy can not only move the needle but turbocharge your bottom line. But it’s easy to get confused or spend time implementing the wrong strategy or work with the wrong company.

Sometimes all it takes is a helping hand to point you in the right direction. Our SEO team will conduct a free SEO audit. This is your chance to start your SEO off with a bang in 2021 and we want to help right now. We’d like to take a look at your website and show you what you should be focusing on to get killer results in the new ear.

Simply schedule a call with one of our SEO consultants and we’ll walk you through:

What’s going on with your site currently

Where you should be focusing your efforts to grow your traffic

Your keyword opportunities

The plan to get more traffic in 2021

Just click below to request your free SEO audit and book your complimentary 2021 SEO strategy session with us.

Click here to schedule a free SEO audit now! 

316 Strategy Group is headquartered in Omaha, Nebraska but has operations in Des Moines, Kansas City, and Nashville as well.

The post How To Dominate SEO in 2021 appeared first on 316 Strategy Group.

source https://316strategygroup.com/dominate-seo/#utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss

[316strategygroup]

How to Go Viral With Instagram Reels

Instagram is the perfect platform that any business can use to accumulate a customer base. A survey done in October 2020 has shown that there are over 1 billion active users of Instagram. Along with this, 71% of Instagram users are 35 and below in age, so this is perfect for those who want to market their products.

You may have heard people talking about going viral, which is when their photo, video, or reel has become extremely popular in just a matter of hours or within a day or two. It is the dream of many businesses to go viral because they will have an influx in customers and sales.

So, how do you go viral? Lately, it’s been best to use Instagram Reels to get your message or product out there quicker. Read on for our guide on how to go viral using reels and gain more customers.

What Are Instagram Reels?

On August 5th, 2020, Instagram announced its extra feature: Reels. These Reels are short videos that you can make and share with your followers or all of Instagram if you have a public account through the new Explore page. If you have a business, make your page public so that everyone can see your products.

These videos are 15 seconds long, and you can add music, sound effects, and Instagram filters. You can record them all at once or take shorter clips to make up the video. It’s a great way to show your creativity and a fun way to market your brand and products!

Tips to Go Viral With Reels

It’s not uncommon knowledge that humans have a short attention span, so you need to create content that will hook your viewers right away. A great way to do this is to use a font that will catch the eye and call out who your audience is; this will immediately get their attention.

Another tip is to make a bold statement that makes viewers want to watch your Reel. This will intrigue people to watch your Reel and can convert those viewers into customers.

You want to keep your Reel interesting. Even though it is only 15 seconds long, people will scroll past it if it’s taking too long to make your point. Therefore, you want to keep it fast-paced and get to your point as quickly as possible, but in a fun way.

Lastly, you always want to have your call to action. This should be concise, clear, and straight-forward. Add this to both the end of the video and in the caption so that your audience will engage better with your content. Doing this will help people find your profile in the future.

Use Instagram to Your Advantage

It may take a while before you go viral, but keep using Instagram and the Reels option regularly to catch potential customers’ attention. Doing this will encourage people to keep returning to your profile, which eventually will convert them into customers. Don’t expect to take off right away because most people don’t; this takes a lot of work.

Using Instagram for business is a great marketing choice when you use it consistently. Hopefully, the Instagram Reel tips we’ve provided here will help you gain customers. Remember to have fun with it! When you have fun making content, it shows in your creations and will draw people to your brand.

For more marketing advice, find out how we can help your company develop and implement powerful strategies. Our account managers are standing by in Omaha, Des Moines, Kansas City, and Nashville. Contact us today and turbocharge your business in the new year.

The post How to Go Viral With Instagram Reels appeared first on 316 Strategy Group.

source https://316strategygroup.com/go-viral/#utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss

[316strategygroup]

Best Social Media in Omaha: 6 Tips to Hiring the Best Management Company

Best Social Media in Omaha. Here’s what you need to know!

Did you know that 73% of small businesses invest in social media marketing? But unless you’re an expert, it’s easy to get lost among the noise, with so many businesses actively online. So you need the best social media in Omaha, Nebraska.

It’s not a surprise, considering how many people spend their time on social media. If you’re one of those people who’s constantly scrolling through Instagram or Facebook, then you know how effective it can be for a business to have a strong online presence.

If you find the right social media management company, then everything will suddenly fall into place. Your branding, your social media scheduling, the same voice used across each platform, with tons of engagement and followers ready to be your clients–you’ll have it all, and because someone else will be handling it, you can focus on what you do best: running your business.

It’s all about hiring the right company. Once you find a right fit for you, you’ll be well on your way to success. Read on to learn more about our tips on how to find the right social media company for you.

Understand What Social Media Help You Need

Even before you start researching the right companies, it’s important to know what social media help you need. Are you starting from zero, with branding? Are you a brick-and-mortar business looking to move into e-commerce? Or do you have a full-fledged strategy–but it just isn’t working?

Once you’ve identified where you are in terms of social media management, you’ll want to put together a list of specific strategies you want to work on, whether that’s a total social media audit or help planning your posts so that they are more likely to reach your customers.

This will help you both find the right business with the right services and lead them in the right direction once you start working together.

If you aren’t sure where to get started, conduct a social media audit. According to the Harvard Business Review, this means thinking about:

WHO is posting on social media (your business)

WHERE you’re posting content (on what platforms, for example, Facebook)

WHAT kind of content you’re posting (such as photos or videos)

WHEN you’re posting (how often, but also what kind of engagement you’re getting)

WHY (the purpose of your message, and what your KPIs are)

Having this information laid out in front of you will help you get a pretty good idea of where you might be lacking. For example, maybe you have a variety of high-quality content, but you aren’t getting much engagement because you don’t post enough–in which case you’ll want to focus on scheduling and researching your ideal clients’ online habits.

Study Their Successes and Clients

Any social media management company that gets results is going to brag about those results. When researching your options, take a look at their website to find reviews from happy clients.  These will give you a good idea of why they were great to work with, whether that’s improved ROI, higher engagement, great customer service, or all of the above.

Many of these companies will also work with a certain kind of customer. For example, if you’re running a hair salon in Omaha, Nebraska, working with a digital marketing business that specializes in working with high-tech companies in New York City might not be the best small business strategy.

Instead, you’ll want to work with a company that better serves your niche.

If the company has a list of past clients, this can be helpful, too. Take a look at those clients’ social media pages. Do the tone and style reflect a personality similar to your brand? Then they’ll be the right fit.

Check Out Their Own Social Media

Another great indicator of if this social media management company knows what they’re doing? How they manage their social media.

In addition to checking out their social media pages, do an actual analysis. Notice how often they post. Ask yourself if their tone is the same across all channels, or if shifts; it should be consistent. Then, play private detective and start engaging with their channels. Does it take them a while to reply, or do they get back to you right away?

Analyze their content, too. When they post it, is it shared often? Do people like and comment? Do you think it’s artfully done, or is the content itself not as impressive as it should be, given they’re the experts?

Look at Their Portfolio–or Ask for Samples

In addition to knowing what clients they work with and how happy they are, another way to find out if a digital marketing business is right for you is by looking at their portfolio.

Usually, a portfolio is available on a social media management company’s website. If you can’t find it there because of confidentiality issues, ask them for samples. There’s no point in working with a business if you don’t know what kind of work they’ll be doing for you.

When looking at the portfolio or samples, there are certain things you’ll want to watch out for, to ensure they’re the right match:

Tone of voice (Does it match yours?)

Branding across channels (Is it consistent? Or all over the place?)

Actual evidence of success (Such as KPIs)

An aesthetic that appeals to you (If it doesn’t, they won’t be a good fit)

For a fee, you can ask the company to create some samples for your business specifically. This can also include ideas about scheduling and how they see your company improving its social media presence with their help.

Know Your Budget

Your budget is going to determine a lot when it comes to what company you choose to hire. However, it’s not as simple as you may think, since you can get a bit creative here.

Remember at the beginning of this article, when we told you to understand what social media help you need? Let’s say that, turns out, you only need help managing your accounts 24/7. In that case, you can reach out to a high-end social media management company and ask if they’ll give you a discount if they only cover the hours when you aren’t in the office.

Generally speaking, you’ll want to follow this rule: any business with a revenue of less than $5 million should be spending 7-8% of revenues on marketing.

When working with a social media management company, be upfront about your budget. Otherwise, you’re wasting their time–and yours. You’ll also want to ask about payment options.

Some businesses will expect all the money upfront, while others might base it around milestones completed or followers gained. Others may have a sliding scale or discounts for nonprofits, so be sure to ask about this if you think this might apply to your business.

Interview the Best Social Media Management Companies

Once you’ve taken these steps, you’ll be ready to start interviewing the different companies you’re considering.

First, you’ll want to see if they’re a right fit in terms of working together. Even though they might seem like a right match from having looked at their portfolio and client work, they may not have the same mindset as you. Their approach to work may be different, too. Ask them questions such as:

“How often do you meet with your clients?”

“How involved do you expect clients to be in social media strategy?”

“What would you expect me to work on?”

“How would you describe your ideal client?”

It’s also great to ask them for ideas about what they would improve in your business’s social media strategy. If they seem to want to change so much that your business brand wouldn’t have anything to do with what you imagine, then they won’t be the right fit.

Finally, ask about specific services you identified when figuring out what social media help you need. That way, you can find a company that specializes in exactly that.

The Best Social Media Management In Omaha, Nebraska

Once you’ve selected which is the best social media management company for you, you’ll want to get the most out of your working relationship. Whether you’re based in Omaha, Nebraska, or anywhere else, these strategies will help pave the way to making a real impact with your business’s social media presence.

To learn more about these strategies–and other tips, such as the best social media management tools you can use and marketing strategies for small businesses–contact us today. We offer the best social media management In Omaha, Nebraska!

The post Best Social Media in Omaha: 6 Tips to Hiring the Best Management Company appeared first on 316 Strategy Group.

source https://316strategygroup.com/best-social-media-omaha/#utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss

[316strategygroup]

Instagram Business Profile: Create The Perfect Profile Now

The Perfect Instagram Profile will Turbocharge Your IG Game!

Do you have a business you’re passionate about, but whenever you post on social media nothing comes of it? Instagram business accounts have what you’re missing.

With an Instagram business profile, you can look more professional, get access to your analytics, and take advantage of advertising. Sounds great, right? But how do you do it?

Keep reading to learn how to create a high-quality Instagram business profile so that you can reach millions of new people.

Set Up Your Account

If you already have an Instagram account, go to your settings. Click on “account” and then “switch to a professional account.”  If you don’t have an account already, sign up for Instagram, and then follow the same steps.

You’ll be given the option to choose between a creator or business account. If you’re planning to use Instagram to sell products or services, select the business account. If you plan to interact with brands or create content as an influencer, select creator.

From there, you’ll be able to choose from a list of categories that best represents your business.

Design Your Page

Once you have a business profile on Instagram, you’ll want to make sure it stands out. First, you’ll want to create an attention-grabbing bio.

Use a target keyword that describes your business in your bio. If you have a unique brand hashtag, include that as well. Be careful not to use a general hashtag that can lead to lots of competitors. Put your website in the designated spot.

The use of emojis or bullet points in your bio can make it stand out. It will also be easier to read.

When it comes to your posts, find a color scheme, and stick with it. This will make your page look professional and aesthetically pleasing. We are happy to help you create a striking brand and logo design.

Use the Instagram story highlight feature as an opportunity to make your page cohesive. You can create story highlight covers that match your theme on Canva. Story highlights allow your followers and visitors to see various topics in one place.

Plan Your Posts

Create a calendar for your posts so that you never run out of ideas. You can come up with a hashtag for a weekly series so that one day a week is always covered. Use #MotivationMonday, #SmallBusinessSaturday, or create your own!

You’ll want to plan your posts during high engagement times. You can schedule posts with a business profile, but you’ll need to use a third-party application to do so.

Use appropriate hashtags in each post and aim to post once a day. You can also post on your story every day. Include questions that promote engagement in your captions. Don’t be afraid to do a giveaway every once in a while!

Get Started with Your Instagram Business Profile

Starting an Instagram business profile without a plan can be overwhelming. These tips will help you feel confident and prepared as you create your account.

Don’t wait any longer to make an Instagram business profile. Start connecting with hundreds of potential new customers today.

For more marketing tips and tricks to help grow your business, check out our blog.

The post Instagram Business Profile: Create The Perfect Profile Now appeared first on 316 Strategy Group.

source https://316strategygroup.com/instagram-business-profile/#utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss

[316strategygroup]

How Tony Hsieh Impacted a Speech & Transformed a Company

Tony Hsieh, former visionary and CEO of Zappos.com dies unexpectedly at 46.

“If you want to go fast, go it alone. If you want to go far, go it together.” It’s the quote attached to every outgoing email from 316 Strategy Group. What’s the origin of the quote and what does it have to do with Tony Hsieh, the former CEO of Zappos?

In April of 2010, Joseph Kenney was preparing a speech. He reached out to Tony Hsieh through a general email box at Zappos.com and to Kenney’s surprise he received a response. Kenney asked for Hsieh’s help in crafting a message that would help unite his audience. Hsieh shared his favorite African proverb with Kenney.

“If you want to go fast, go it alone. If you want to go far go it together.”

Kenney delivered his speech and included Hseih’s message. Then Kenney added it to his signature line and every piece of correspondence since.

Kenney’s chance correspondence with Tony Hsieh didn’t end there, though. Kenney and Hseih continued to correspond via email.

“Tony’s kindness and generosity with his time has touched me personally and impacted 316 Strategy Group in immeasurable ways.”  

Kenney and Hseih exchanged emails on a variety of topics over the last ten years including passion, growth, happiness and even branding. Here is an excerpt from a recent email exchange.

Kenney: My question to you Tony is, do you feel it’s necessary to build an idea out or can you think of times in your own business where you ran with something in hopes of “flushing” out the end product? I don’t want this to be a distraction from our daily business yet each one of us knows this “identity” we created has legs.

Hseih: Joseph, I’ve been busy on my “Kindess Tour”. I like to figure things out as we go rather than try to plan everything out, because things never turn out exactly as you expect anyway. I hope this is helpful. If there is anything else I can do for you, please let me know.

Kenney and Hseih exchanged emails as recently as October 22, 2020 where they discussed meeting in person.

Kenney was shocked to learn of Tony’s passing on November 27th. Hsieh, 46, died from injuries sustained in a house fire that occurred in Connecticut while he was visiting family.

Hsieh who at one time was America’s youngest self-made billionaire was well known for his leadership of online shoe and clothing retailer Zappos. He had recently retired after spending 20 years with the company.

Kenney knows better than anyone the impact Hsieh had on the growth of 316 Strategy Group through the years. “The world has lost a visionary and an incredible human being,” Kenney said. “We recognize that not only have we lost a great business mind, we also lost a mentor and a friend.”

The post How Tony Hsieh Impacted a Speech & Transformed a Company appeared first on 316 Strategy Group.

source https://316strategygroup.com/tony-hsieh/#utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss

[316strategygroup]

Business Logo Ideas. Here Are 11 Stunning Ideas.

Business Logo Ideas. Take Your Brand To The Next Level!

Did you know that your logo can have a significant impact on your company’s performance?

Designing an attractive logo that captures your brand’s image is crucial for building your brand identity. With an effective logo, many people will remember your business when they see it on the web or in advertisements.

In a world where design trends are always changing, it’s not easy thinking of ideas for your new company logo. But don’t worry! We’ve done the hard work for you. Here are 11 business logo ideas that will blow your customers away.

1. Wordmark

Wordmark logos, also called logotypes are words that have been designed to be logos. Wordmark logos are popular among businesses and large corporations. Coca-cola, Apple, eBay, and Google all use wordmark logos.

Does your company have a distinctive name? Consider designing a wordmark logo. Unique typography that fits your business’s personality helps to build a strong brand identity.

2. Monogram

Monogram logos are also called lettermarks. These logos are created by using the initials of a company’s name. Many of the most well-known companies use lettermarks, including Hewlett Packard (HP) and Cable News Network (CNN).

If your business has a long name, you could consider shortening it with a monogram logo. These types of logos are usually very simple and rely on clever use of typography.

3. GIF/Animated Logo

If you really want your company’s logo to stand out, why not create an animated version? Dynamic GIF logos capture people’s attention more easily than static logos.

You could also consider creating different variations of the same animated logo. You can then use these animations in different contexts to showcase different aspects of your brand.

If you do decide to create an animated version of your logo, make sure it’s subtle. A logo with too much motion can be distracting and off-putting.

4. Abstract

An abstract logo incorporates a shape or abstract image.

There is plenty of room for creativity when designing an abstract logo. Think about your business and what kind of work you do. This can help you think of ideas for abstract images that would fit your brand identity.

When you decide on an image, distill it down to create a more simplified version. A good example of this is Spotify’s logo which looks like soundwaves.

5. Minimalist

Minimalism is a popular trend right now when it comes to design. Many companies are designing their websites according to minimalist principles.

If you want your business to have a clean and straightforward look, then consider designing a minimalist logo. Minimalist designs work best with wordmark or logotype designs. This is because logos that are made up of words or letters are easy to turn into minimalist designs.

With a bit of clever design work, logos that incorporate images can also be made to look minimalist.

6. Mascot Logo

Plenty of companies have a mascot as the focus of their logo. Think about the Michelin man or the Wendy’s logo.

Mascots are best for brands that want to build trust with their customers. Businesses that do a lot of public interaction such as entertainment brands or family-friendly brands can use mascots to connect with their customers.

If you do decide to create a mascot for your business, make sure your chosen character is fun and likable. A good mascot should embody your brand’s image.

7. Emblem

An emblem logo is usually an image of some kind with a border or shape around it. Emblems often look like badges or crests.

Emblems add a feeling of prestige or luxury to your brand. If your business deals in an upmarket industry, you might want to design an emblem logo. Alternatively, emblems can be used to signify that your business is the best in the industry.

Famous brands with emblem logos include Starbucks and Harley-Davidson.

8. Illustration

Another trendy logo design is the illustrated business logo. An illustrated logo looks like it was drawn by hand. These logos are often either simple and minimalist or complex with a lot of detail.

An illustrated logo gives your business a feeling of authenticity. These kinds of logos are often used for small, niche brands. Illustrated logos suit brands that have a natural, organic vibe.

If you want an illustrated logo, find a skilled designer with experience designing these types of logos.

9. Symbols

Logos based on symbols are also called pictorial logos. These logos often look simplistic and clean. Companies choose to design symbol logos when they want to foster strong brand recognition.

Some of the most iconic logos are symbols. This includes the Apple logo, the Twitter bird, and the Quicksilver logo.

If you decide to design a symbol for your logo, make sure the mage you choose is relevant and unique. You don’t want to risk your brand being confused for another, similar-looking one.

You can design a symbol based on your company’s name or you can choose one that has a less obvious meaning.

10. Images With Letters

Also called combination logos, these designs consist of images and letters together. This is one of the most famous logo styles. Think about Burger King, Adidas, and Puma. They all use the name of their brand combined with an image.

The picture and text can be stacked on top of each other or they can be side-by-side. Combination logos give you the flexibility of combining two styles together to create something truly attractive.

11. Flexible

Your logo should be flexible enough to use in a variety of different contexts. That means designing a logo that looks great in different sizes and on different media (web, print etc). A logo that’s overly stylish might look great in one context but it may fall short when it comes to another.

If you need to, create different versions of your logo for use in different places. Just remember not to make them too different otherwise people may wonder if it’s the same brand.

Take Your Brand to the Next Level With These Business Logo Ideas

These business logo ideas should help you design an attractive logo for your new company.��Before you decide on a particular style for your logo, think about your brand’s personality.

Do you offer luxury items? Then an emblem design might work well. Maybe your business offers organic, homegrown produce? In that case, an illustrated logo would suit you best.

Whatever style you choose, the most important thing is to find a competent designer with experience creating company logos. That’s why you should consider working with us on your next project. Contact us today if you’re interested in 316 Strategy Group creating business logo ideas for your next venture!

The post Business Logo Ideas. Here Are 11 Stunning Ideas. appeared first on 316 Strategy Group.

source https://316strategygroup.com/business-logo-ideas/#utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss

[316strategygroup]

On-Page SEO: 10 Techniques That Will Boost Your Site Traffic

Master On-Page SEO and change your bottom line!

If nobody knows you exist, how will you ever get customers through the door? Sure there’s advertising, but that comes at a significant cost and doesn’t guarantee you the traffic you’re after.

That’s why search engine optimization (SEO) is so important to your business. It is the frontline to spreading the word and getting you found. So, you want to maximize your on-page SEO as much as possible to get more people to visit your site.

This article helps you to do just that by giving you the lowdown on SEO. Here you’ll find ten of the most effective techniques you can implement and rank up today.

What is On-Page SEO?

While off-page SEO encompasses background processes, such as link building and domain authority, what you really want to focus on first is boosting on-page SEO. This involves optimizing your website and its content to allow search engines to identify what you’re about and rank you accordingly.

This is essential, because the more data that falls in line with your business niche, the more authority you get in search engines. So when they see you providing valuable and relevant content that people like, they start increasing your rank so more people see you.

1. Audit Your SEO

The first step to improving your on-page SEO is to identify what’s currently working and what needs improving. This is a great way to find out what you’re missing and what you can do to fix it.

On-page SEO tools like Ahrefs and SEMRush are excellent for this. They basically scan your whole site and locate errors such as lack of keywords, alt tags, broken links, page speed, and so on. Once you know where you’re at, you can start implementing the next tips.

2. Create Quality Content

If your content is bad, as in providing little value, or is irrelevant to your service, your search ranking is going to suffer. When you create great high-quality content that people want to see, the search engines take notice. More time on your site, more clicks, and shares – all help prove your authority.

Make your content original, well-researched, and exclusive to your website alone. Include descriptive text for videos and images to show what they’re about. Also, include as many keywords as you can to satisfy user intent. So, if they search for something, you’ll pop up at the top.

3. Optimize Your Content For SEO

Before you create any content, you’ve got to do the research. But, even before that, you’ve got to do keyword research. This not only shows you what people are searching for within your niche, but it gives you an idea of what content to create in the first place.

Once you know what your keywords are, build a list, and find longtail keywords and related phrases people are searching for. Then it’s simply a case of adding them to your content, titles, headings, and descriptions to boost SEO.

4. Fruitful Formatting

For pages to do their thing properly, correct formatting is key. Each must have an h1 tag for the title which is displayed in the search results. Make them interesting and easy to read. Then include the other subheadings (h2, h3, h4) for the rest of your content with additional keywords.

All text should be presented so it’s as easy as possible to read. Use a font size of at least 12-14 and use underlines, bold, and italics to highlight important points. Break up large chunks of text into paragraphs of 3-4 lines only to help readers too.

5. Top Titles and Magic Meta

Each page on your site needs a title and meta description. This gives search engines a good idea of what your site is all about and ranks it accordingly. So it’s incredibly important, and a good way to include more keywords.

Keep your titles relatively short and descriptive (less than 60 characters) with the keywords preferably at the start. Meta descriptions (200 characters) add more details to what the site is. And just like the title, you want to make it informative and interesting to get those clicks and rank.

6. Perfect Your Permalinks

A permalink is the URL unique to each page and it also affects your SEO. They’re the part that follows your main website URL after a “/”. They should follow the same rules as your titles to include keywords, as well as being short and descriptive.

Each URL should follow the same structure as your website too. This means categorizing your content so that it’s easier to follow its trail. So if you have a blog that is categorized, the URL should read something like this: https://www.mywebsite.com/blog/topic1.?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss

7. Internal and External Links

When search engines read a page, they also look for any links to follow other pages. This gives them a better idea of what your site is about and indicates pages they may not have been aware of. Also, by linking within your site, it keeps visitors there for longer.

When you link externally to other sites, it helps increase authority and value on a topic further, as well as build relationships with others in your niche. Don’t go overboard with internal and external links, and make sure they’re relevant and useful.

8. Multimedia SEO

Breaking up text with images and videos not only add information to content, and makes it easier to digest, but it also helps with SEO. Use small images and include an alt tag description to let search engines know what it is.

Anything interactive like an embedded video is another great way to add more information with less text to read. People generally prefer to watch and listen than read, so it’s another great way to increase time on your site and provide value.

9. The Need For Speed

People’s attention spans are rapidly decreasing. They like to scan more, read less, and don’t like waiting around for pages to load. Search engines see this too as bounce rates affect your rankings considerably.

Make sure your site is up to speed so everything loads quickly and people can get to your content fast. If not, they’ll leave which doesn’t look good for you. Things like reducing image sizes and background processes that slow things down. Aim for max load speeds of 3-5 seconds.

10. Get Phone Friendly

About half of web users access websites through their mobile phones. So if you’re not mobile-friendly, you could be losing out on a huge chunk of traffic. Be sure to include a responsive design so that your site looks great on mobile as well as desktop. Test everything and make sure images load, the text is easy to read, and all links are visible and clickable.

Maximize Your SEO

By implementing just a few of these on-page SEO tips will do wonders for your website and maximize the amount of potential traffic. Include all ten and you’ll be well on your way to the front page in search results.

If you’re struggling, you can always find some on-page SEO services to help. Once everything’s in place, you’ll start to see your numbers go up more than you ever thought possible!

The post On-Page SEO: 10 Techniques That Will Boost Your Site Traffic appeared first on 316 Strategy Group.

source https://316strategygroup.com/on-page-seo/#utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss

[316strategygroup]

Style Guide: Why Your Small Business Needs One

A Style Guide Will Point You In The Right Direction

As a small business owner, your brand is how the world sees you. Do you want potential customers to think you’re sloppy or polished? Boring or creative?

When you create a brand style guide, you get to choose. A style guide defines every aspect of how you present your company to the public.

As your business grows, the number of employees creating branded content will also grow. You might have different individuals managing your website, social media channels, and print marketing. Maybe you even outsource certain projects to freelancers.

Brand guidelines will help everyone get on the same page so you don’t end up confusing customers with disjointed visual and written messaging. Customers love consistency, and giving them what they want will help you earn their trust and loyalty.

Designing a style guide can feel overwhelming at first, but once you understand the essential elements, you’ll be ready to get started.

Read on to learn more about how a detailed branding plan can help your company thrive.

What Does a Brand Style Guide Look Like?

There’s no right or wrong way to design a style guide, as long as it includes a few basic elements. Brand guidelines come in many formats – your brand bible can be a PDF file, a physical book, a page on your website, or anything you dream up.

The most important thing is that it should be an accurate representation of your brand. The style guide provides written guidance for your team, but it also serves as a primary example of how the content your business produces should look and feel.

It should be simple and clear, but detailed enough that if you email it to a freelancer, they can return a deliverable that is unmistakably yours.

If it’s your first time creating brand guidelines, professional guidance can be well worth the investment. Having the support of an experienced designer or branding agency will ensure you end up with a high-quality, useful document.

The Essential Elements

A style guide should be specific to your company’s needs and goals. Every set of brand guidelines is unique, but there are a few elements that should always be included:

Your brand story

Logo guidelines

Your company’s color palette

Typography guidelines

Your brand voice

Image and illustration guidelines

Now let’s explore these elements and why they are so important.

Your Brand Story

Your brand story explains what your company is all about. This section typically covers your mission, vision, and core values.

You can think of your mission as your immediate goal and how you intend to achieve it. Your vision describes the future you hope to see. Your core values are your guiding principles – they inform every business decision you make.

Your customers want to know if you’re socially conscious, environmentally friendly, or if you have the most helpful customer service agents on the planet. Maybe it’s all of the above!

If your business has an interesting history, maybe you’ll decide to mention that in your brand story as well.

The brand story sets the tone for every single piece of visual and written content your employees produce, so be sure to give it the attention and thought it deserves.

The branding team at 316 Strategy Group will help you define your story in as few of words as possible.

Logo Guidelines

Customers can recognize a great logo from a mile away, in under a second. On the other hand, a bad logo will often scare off potential clients, even if your product is top-notch. Inconsistent logo use is one more thing to avoid – it’s a sure way to create confusion.

Logo guidelines paint a crystal clear picture of how your logo should and shouldn’t be used. In your style guide, you will definitely want to provide examples of proper logo use.

At a minimum, provide instructions and samples for color use, sizing, and spacing. You might want to make full-color and single-color logos available to choose from, and perhaps even explain when to use each one. Maybe your brand new website displays a stacked version of your logo, but your letterhead still uses a vertical logo format.

It can also be helpful to illustrate what not to do. Remind designers not to use outdated versions of your logo, change the aspect ratio, or modify the font. If you always want your logo to be straight, never angled, let your team know!

Some companies are even particular about which backgrounds their logos can or can’t be placed on. The level of detail is up to you.

Your Company’s Color Palette

You probably put a lot of thought into choosing the perfect colors to represent your brand. Colors can have significant effects on the mind, body, and mood, an experience that is not lost on customers. In fact, there’s a good chance your color palette is what attracted some of your clients in the first place.

Think about it – have you ever been drawn in by that perfect shade of ocean blue on a beach hotel’s website? Or maybe you’ve wandered into a restaurant because of its warm, welcoming hues.

Even the slightest change in your brand colors can have your customers wondering if that’s really you, so designers need the tools to get each shade exactly right.

The color palette section of your style guide should display each brand color. It should also provide each color’s Pantone number for color matching, CMYK code for printing, and RGB and HEX codes for digital applications. Online tools make it easy to convert your color codes between formats.

It’s also common for companies to have a secondary color palette, in addition to the primary palette. The primary palette is used for most projects, but a set of complementary colors might be used on your website, social media channels, or for special events.

For your primary color palette, designers recommend choosing a light color for background use and a dark color for text. You can also add a neutral shade and a bright shade. With this combination, you’ll be prepared for almost any design challenge.

Typography Guidelines

  Most communication happens through writing, so typography presents a huge opportunity to express yourself. Finding the right combination of fonts to capture the feel of your brand is an art.

For print and website headings, you can get away with bolder, more expressive options. The font you use for sentences and paragraphs should be subtle, to keep the attention on the words. Make sure any font you choose is readable.

Picking clean, easy-to-read fonts for your business is so important. Intricate fonts require extra effort, and you definitely don’t want to distract clients from what you’re trying to say.

If you feel lost, hire a designer to help. They will be able to suggest fonts that pair well with your brand story. Or maybe the perfect font doesn’t exist yet. Some companies decide to create their own.

Your brand style guide should specify which fonts you use for which purposes. Headings, subheadings, and paragraphs will each have their own rules. Maybe your website looks different than your brochure.

You’ll want to list information such as the font name, size, and weight. Your employees also need to know if there are any special spacing requirements. This section is also a place to say if you like your text centered or aligned left or right.

Your typography guidelines should ultimately make your writing even more meaningful.

Your Brand Voice

Think of your brand voice as what sets the mood of your company. What tone do you want to use with your customers when you write or speak? You should also think about what kind of language appeals to your target audience.

If you run a summer camp, friendly is an obvious choice. Or maybe you own a tech business with a sense of humor. A company’s personality can be casual or formal. Welcoming, professional, and sincere are words commonly used to describe brand voice.

You can write a few paragraphs about your brand voice, or you can keep this section short and sweet. Just make sure it’s easy for your team to understand.

This is one area where examples can be helpful. Look through past communication and identify what you like about it. Consider sharing a few sentences from your website or marketing materials that really capture the tone you’re aiming for.

You can also include a list of any words or phrases to avoid. Maybe “thinking outside the box” makes you cringe, and you are welcome to say so.

Image and Illustration Guidelines

Visuals can make or break a brand. Hundreds of millions of new images are uploaded to the internet every day, many to sell a product or service. Your brand’s visual content needs to stand out, or it will get lost in the mix.

As with all brand elements, consistency is key here. This section outlines how photos and illustrations should be used to represent your overall brand.

Your preferences can be conveyed in a variety of ways. Maybe there’s a style of photography you love, an emotion you want to capture, or even specific camera settings you want employees to use.

Color use is important, too. A company that grows fresh herbs might require at least one shade of green in every photo.

You can also cover lighting and subject preferences. Do you like natural or studio lighting? Are landscapes your thing, or should the focus be on smiling faces?

An inspiration board can help team members understand your vision. Collect photos that feel aligned with your brand and make a collage or add them to a shared folder.

Graphic designers will need to know if they should work with specific colors or shapes and if you like your shading and shadows a certain way. Do you want the illustrations they create for you to be whimsical or realistic?

The same details apply to data visualization. Most businesses will want to keep charts and graphs simple, using their primary color palette.

Again, examples are key. If there’s an infographic on your website that you just love, share it as inspiration for future projects.

Optional Elements

Before you finish your brand style guide, think about any unique situations your company might face. You can add sections accordingly.

Social media templates and guidelines can help you maintain consistency across multiple channels like Instagram & Facebook. If you produce audio or video content, some related information could be helpful. Believe it or not, scent marketing guidelines are a part of many retailers’ brand books.

Instead of following someone else’s format, adapt your style guide to meet your own needs.

The Evolution of Your Style Guide

Your company is constantly adapting to change, and your style guide should too. After you publish your first set of brand guidelines, notice if there are any frequently asked questions. Keep a list of additions or edits that could make things clearer.

Revisit and revise your style guide annually to prevent it from becoming outdated and irrelevant. Older versions can serve as a fun record of your brand’s history.

Your Team Will Thank You

Developing a style guide takes time, but in the long run, it will save you hours. Instead of having long conversations about branding every day, you can attach your brand guidelines to an email and hit send.

A style guide is also a great way to ensure quality control as your brand grows and adds employees. You won’t have people making arbitrary design decisions because you’re not available to answer their questions.

Your team will appreciate your clear communication that helps them do their jobs more effectively. Best of all, you’ll end up with beautiful, consistent brand collateral that will delight your clients.

If you need help getting started, contact us to learn more about our branding services.

The post Style Guide: Why Your Small Business Needs One appeared first on 316 Strategy Group.

source https://316strategygroup.com/style-guide/#utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss

[316strategygroup]

Is Guerilla Marketing Right For Your Business

Is Guerilla Marketing Right for Your Business?

Guerilla Marketing is an advertisement strategy in which a company uses surprise and/or unconventional interactions in order to promote a product or service. And no one is better than Red Bull at pulling together an effective guerilla marketing strategy.

In Red Bull’s early years, they created a strategy to penetrate an already saturated energy drink market in London. They placed empty cans in crowded public areas throughout London. In an instant Red Bull changed the narrative and quickly gave the impression that the Red Bull brand was popular. Given the high pedestrian traffic, this was an ingenious way to get free advertising and quickly gain notoriety throughout London. They even target certain demographics by leaving cans on college campuses, stadiums, and popular night clubs.

While this guerilla marketing strategy was controversial and likely unauthorized at the time, it was worth the gamble given the low-cost and high reward. And, years later we’re still talking about Red Bull’s bold marketing move!

Red Bull by Design

Red Bull through the years has carefully crafted a winning guerilla marketing strategy that goes beyond having a good product. Their strategy goes much deeper, invoking emotion among customers throughout the world. That’s what all companies should strive for. Brand loyalty. For 316 Strategy Group it’s “We Grow Businesses,” and for Nike it’s “Just Do It,” and for Apple it was “1,000 songs in your pocket,”. What emotion does Red Bull create? Red Bull “Gives you wings.”

Sell a Story Not a Product   

With an anything is possible approach, Red Bull started sponsoring events ranging from Formula One to record-breaking orbit jumps. Red Bull was less about selling drinks, and more about creating a strong brand image that connected with those who sought adventure, thrill and adrenaline.

Don’t get us wrong. The end goal has always been about Red Bull selling energy drinks, but creating stories is what gives Red Bull an edge over its competitors in a saturated energy drink market. Their edgy advertising campaigns and guerrilla marketing strategies allow them to charge a premium price and still maintain a loyal following.

The Element of Surprise

Guerilla marketing is a tactic that plays on the element of surprise. In the warfare context, guerilla connotes ambush, sabotage, raids, but how does that translate into marketing, brand loyalty, and ultimately sales?

Generally, guerrilla marketing techniques involve unconventional, out-the-box campaigns that are original and experiential. Usually low-cost but high-impact, these immersive experiences are a great way to market to current customers as well as potential future customers.

Now It’s Your Turn

Take a page right out of Red Bull’s playbook. If you’re interested in running a guerrilla marketing campaign and need help with anything from thinking of new ideas, to strategy, to executing the master plan then get in touch with 316 Strategy Group for a quick consultation. We’re an award-winning digital agency headquartered in the Midwest. We have operations in Omaha, Des Moines, Kansas City, and Nashville. Wherever you live and work, we can craft a winning social media strategy that will build brand loyalty and turbocharge your business.

The post Is Guerilla Marketing Right For Your Business appeared first on 316 Strategy Group.

source https://316strategygroup.com/guerilla-marketing/#utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss

[316strategygroup]

How Instagram Affects Your Business

Instagram for business?

Learn Instagram for business and turbocharge your bottom line! When you post on Instagram, do you ever feel like you’re shooting blind? Do you watch some posts exceed your wildest expectations, and others flop with no idea why? Do you always feel like you’re behind the curve with the latest trends and hashtags?

Successful Instagram marketing doesn’t have to be a matter of guesswork and luck. Read on to discover the best time to post on Instagram for business and more tips and tricks for success.

Why Use Instagram?

Before we dive into all the best practices for using Instagram in 2020, let’s talk about why your business should even be worried about posting on Instagram in the first place. For one thing, just under 40 percent of all American adults have an Instagram account. If you’re trying to find another single website where 40 percent of your customer base is active, you’ll be hard-pressed to do so.

Instagram also gives you a chance to connect with your customers on a more personal level. Customers tend to buy from businesses they like, and having a strong social media presence makes your customer base feel like they know your business personally. The platform is also an excellent place to stay up-to-date on current trends, so you’ll know what your customers are looking for in their marketing content.

Focus on Quality Images

When you start using Instagram for business, the first thing you’ll want to do is focus on having high-quality images. Instagram is a visual platform, and you need to make sure the experience you’re creating for your followers is beautiful. Blurry camera shots with high exposure and bad angles will drive your customers away rather than drawing them in.

Take a moment to adjust your camera’s focus and exposure, especially if you’re shooting on a smartphone. Try to take photos in natural light, and steady your shot with a small tripod or some stable surface before you snap the photo. Make sure you’re using the rule of thirds in your photos, and use your phone’s portrait or HDR mode if it has one.

Stay up to Date

To quote everyone’s favorite truant, “Life moves fast,” and in the age of technology, things are moving at light speed – literally. Information zooms around the globe on fiber optic cables, and it seems like as soon as we find out about a trend, it’s over. If you want to keep up with what your customers want, you’ll need to work to stay up to date on the latest in your industry.

Follow influential accounts in your industry, as well as some of your best customers. Spend some time every day reading up on what they’re talking about, what hashtags they’re using, and what meme formats are popular. Staying abreast of the current trends can avoid you rolling in like Steve Buscemi in 30 Rock trying to fit in with the fellow kids.

Post at the Right Time

Although your social media marketing may feel like guesswork at times, one of the more concrete ways you can improve your engagement rate is by posting at the right times. There are certain peak activity times in the social media world. If you post during these times, your posts are more likely to hit a wider audience, giving you more bang for your marketing buck.

Engagement is generally highest on Instagram around the middle of the day, somewhere between 9 and 4. Engagement also tends to be higher on Wednesdays and Fridays and lowest on Sundays. For peak engagement, post on Wednesdays around 11 or Fridays between 10 and 11.

Use Visual Storytelling

When most of us think about storytelling, we think about words. Our minds go to blog posts, Facebook write-ups, website updates, and email newsletters. But when it comes to Instagram marketing, you need to reorient your mindset around a visual storytelling platform.

When you’re taking pictures for your feed, think about interesting ways to tell your brand’s story through the photographs you post. Try to take photos that will make viewers want to know more about what’s happening and will draw them to your brand. Your captions can come as a secondary explanation to the narrative you create with your imagery.

Master Hashtag Use

If you want to grow your Instagram following, one of the best things you can do is master hashtag use. Hashtags are a handy way to sort posts by theme or topic. For instance, if you search the #selfie tag on Instagram, you’ll find millions of self-portraits people have taken and posted on their feeds.

Search hashtags related to your industry or posts and try to use the ones that have the most traffic. If someone searches or follows one of these hashtags, they’ll find your post and may click through to your page to see more. Also, pay attention to the hashtags your customers and industry leaders use and find ways to work those into your posts.

Keep an Eye on the Numbers

Most importantly of all, don’t let your social media marketing efforts become a guessing game. Instagram has fantastic analytics that will tell you how your page is performing day to day and week to week. Pay attention to these numbers and use them to guide your future efforts.

If you notice a spike or dip in your engagement rate, take a look at what you posted last and figure out what caused the change. If you notice trends in these changes, focus on posting more of the things that get you the best response. Over time, you can hone your marketing to meet exactly what your customers want to see on their feeds.

Discover the Best Time to Post on Instagram for Business

Social media marketing can often feel like throwing spaghetti at the wall, but it doesn’t have to. Knowing the best time to post on Instagram for business and other such best practices can help you find more reliable success with your posts. Master hashtag use, improve your photo quality, and, most of all, listen to what your customer base is telling you through their engagement.

If you’d like help telling your business’s story, check out the rest of our site at 316 Strategy Group. We listen to your story so we can help you create an engaging solution that will draw in repeat customers. Learn more about our strategic approach and start taking the guesswork out of your marketing efforts today.

Feature Image Attribute: Austin Distel via Unsplash

  The post How Instagram Affects Your Business appeared first on 316 Strategy Group.

source https://316strategygroup.com/instagram-for-business/#utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss

[316strategygroup]

The Best SEO Companies in Omaha

How to Choose The Best SEO Companies in Omaha

Are you a business owner in the greater Omaha area? Do you need to optimize your website to increase conversions for your business? If you’re looking for the best SEO companies in Omaha then you’re in the right place.

Don’t worry if you’re not sure what the next step is. We’ve got you covered. Keep reading to learn exactly what not to do and then what you should look for as you embark on your journey of finding an SEO expert to optimize your website today.

Still confused or still don’t have time or resources to tackle SEO on your own? No worries. 316 Strategy Group has a team of dedicated SEO professionals ready to help turbocharge your business or non-profit. Contact Christopher Slater to learn more about what search engine optimization can do for you.

3 Mistakes Most Business Make When Signing a Local SEO Company

Finding the best SEO services not only means knowing what to look for, but also what not to look for. So, be sure to avoid these three costly mistakes when you’re looking for your SEO expert:

1. Don’t Sign Your Nephew or Your Neighbor’s Cousin

You want to work with a professional. You’re in business to make money and to do this you need to ensure you work with the best. That’s why you’re here reading this article.

So, while it might feel good to help out your neighbor and their cousin as they begin their business you still need to work with the best. Stick to an established professional with a successful track record.

2. Don’t Sign Anyone Without References

As mentioned in the mistake above, you want to work with an established professional. So ask for references and follow up with them. Call each reference and ask about their work processes and the results that followed.

3. Don’t Choose Based on Price Alone

You’re in business to make money and seeing a tangible result from SEO can take months, so it might be tempting to choose based on a cheap price. However, remember the old adage that you get what you pay for. That still reigns true in this arena as well.

When it comes to hiring the best SEO expert who will be able to deliver the results you want, you will need to invest in the best. Be ready to choose based on their track record and results rather than price.

5 Features You Want to Look for in the Best SEO Companies

Now that you know what to avoid, here is the list of what you should look for as you find the best SEO companies in your area.

1. Know Your Goals Before You Start (and Be Specific)

Just as in any project you start in your business you need to know where you’re going before you get started. Don’t start updating and optimizing your website without first establishing your goals for your site.

Will your site encourage visitors to purchase even on their first visit? Or will you encourage visitors to sign up for a freebie and then convert them into customers via your automated email series? Knowing what your goal is from the beginning will allow your SEO expert to optimize your site for the goals you want to convert.

2. Ask Your Current Network for Referrals

Don’t sit down at your computer and Google “best SEO agent”.  Instead, reach out to your current network of contacts. Ask business owners you respect who they used to optimize their website.

Also, don’t limit yourself to business owners. You never know who you know that recently went through this same process for their company. Reach out to your network and ask for referrals then get started with this list instead of a generic search.

3. Ask Questions and Listen to How They Answer

While you’re listening to their answers, you also need to focus on how they answer you. You want to work with someone who is happy to answer your questions and does so with an educational and informative attitude.

Don’t let anyone talk down to you or pretend that you can’t understand SEO. While you might not know what a canonical tag is, the basics of SEO can be explained in plain terms. So listen to how they answer you and choose the expert with the educational heart.

4. Focus on Communication and Transparency

You don’t want to work with someone who ignores your questions or doesn’t share their methods or your results. You’re hiring them to work for you and improve your website in the rankings. Be sure that they give you regular updates and results.

While you understand that search engine optimization is a long-game you still deserve to receive updates regularly from the beginning. In the beginning, your updates might simply outline what steps they are doing for you and your website.

However, after six months to a year, you should start to see tangible results in visitors to your site and conversions to your client list. Transparency is vital in business transactions, and working with an SEO expert isn’t any different.

5. Start Small and Move Up

If you’re concerned about signing a large contract with an unfamiliar company, consider signing a short-term contract for a smaller project such as an SEO audit. This can be eye-opening on many levels.

It will show you how much work needs to be done to optimize your website. It will show you if you work well with the company you’ve chosen. Pay attention to their work process so you can decide if they align with your own workflow.

Additionally, this will show you some of the other concerns on this list such as their communication styles, their ability to be transparent with regular updates, and the results they deliver to you.

You’re Armed With the Steps to Success in SEO

Remember, just because you want to find the best doesn’t mean you have to look at the national level. You can find great options for top SEO companies right here in your own backyard. Here at 316 Strategy Group, we’ve been helping business owners just like you here in Omaha for years.

So, if you’re ready to get started in optimizing your website for SEO success, then sign up for your free consultation today. We’ll show you how we can help you optimize your site for conversions and increase your ROI every day.

The post The Best SEO Companies in Omaha appeared first on 316 Strategy Group.

source https://316strategygroup.com/the-best-seo-companies-in-omaha/#utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss