How Voice Search Is Emerging And How To Use It To Advance Your Brand Online

Without question, we have seen many changes occur in the Digital Marketing landscape this past year. From major events to fast-changing consumer trends, it can be a challenge for brands of all sizes to keep up. One major trend in Digital Marketing that has been emerging is Voice Search.

Voice search has been on the rise this past year. In fact, 40% of internet users in the US along with a third of its population use voice search. That is expected to rise in a big way in the near future. For brands big and small, this makes voice search crucial to helping them increase their online presence. That way, they’ll be able to keep up with fast-changing consumer trends and be able to reach their ideal consumer.

In this blog post, we’ll discuss a few ways how your brand can use voice search to advance your cause. In the end, you’ll be ahead of the game when it comes to fast-changing online trends. Let us explore them, shall we?

Use Conversational Language For Your Content

When it comes to search results, searchers want results that are quick and immediate. Google understands this and has taken steps to improve its search experience. This rings even more true for voice search. With voice search, Google has made direct answers their top priority.

Voice search results are prompt and to the point. At the same time, voice search keywords tend to be longer and more conversational compared to text search. When we use text search, we might type “pocket flashlights” or “recipe for chocolate cookies.” With voice, we might ask “How do I make chocolate chip cookies?”

To have success with voice search, you want to use conversational language in your content as opposed to computer language. When using language that’s more natural, there is a better chance at matching and appearing in search results. That’s why it’s crucial to research the intent of searchers to better understand how they ask verbal queries.

You always want to study the query and conversational styles of the searchers. Likewise, take the time to learn what question keywords or types of questions are being used and asked the most. This helps give you a better idea of what type of answers are the best fit for these query types. By addressing these areas, you’ll gain valuable data-driven insights that’ll help you know what people want via voice search.

Make Use Of Long-Tail Keywords

As mentioned in the previous section, voice search queries tend to be longer. This is where long-tail keywords come into play. With long-tail keywords, they are less competitive and give your content a better chance at getting seen by the right people. On top of that, they give you a better chance at achieving higher conversion rates. It sure makes a huge difference compared to shorter and more competitive phrases.

The best strategy at using long-tail keywords in your long-form content is by using them in the title. You can also use H2 headers with those long-tail keywords in the body text in a clear and concise manner. This helps your content at performing well in voice search rankings.

Make Your Content Readable

Something that gets overlooked a lot is content readability. With people constantly on the go these days, making your content scannable and easy to read is basically a must. This means that you need to create content that is precise and readable via a standard reading level.

You want to achieve a Flesch Reading Ease Score of at least 60 or 70. If you really want to achieve high-quality readability, then aim for a score of 80 or higher. The Ease Calculator here is a great tool that checks your score and helps guide you in writing your content. Grammarly is also a great tool to help you improve your readability and catches mistakes you never thought you’d make.

There are other things to also consider when writing content for voice search. You want to strive for short paragraphs (3-5 sentences long), divide your content with subheaders, and add bullet points as needed. You also want to use the Inverted Pyramid writing style. This means put your key points in the first paragraph and work to gauge readers’ interest as they read along. If readers can derive value by scanning the content text, they’ll be enticed to read more.

Using natural language while avoiding excess long words and sentences is key to helping you succeed at voice search.

Ensure That Your Website Is Up To Speed

One thing that is important for voice search but also gets overlooked is website speed. The speed of a page makes a big difference whether people do business with you or not. Websites with longer load times have higher bounce rates than those with faster load times. In other words, you’ll lose out on potential customers if your site takes too long to load. This makes keeping your website up to speed a crucial issue to address.

GTmetrix is a great tool that checks your and helps recommend steps to help improve it. Taking steps to ensure fast page speed is vital in helping your voice search efforts succeed while attracting paying customers.

Make Great Use Of Google My Business (GMB) Listings

When it comes to voice search, people like to use it for local searches often. This makes Local SEO a crucial factor in determining whether you’ll rank for these types of queries. This is where Google My Business (GMB) listings come to light. GMB listings let Google know that your business is located in a specific place. GMB listings are a vital tool for small businesses as they stand to benefit most from Local searches.

When using GMB listings, always include your name, address, and phone number (NAP) in it. On top of that, make sure that your business listings are consistent with your GMB listings. This is key in helping improve your standing in the voice search results. It’s also advised that you add posts with special deals and updates to help your brand stand out. If you don’t have a GMB listing, then take these steps in order to get top-notch results right away.

Ensure That Your Website Is Built To Handle Mobile

A voice search ranking factor that is perhaps the most vital today is the mobile-friendliness of websites. Today, mobile takes up a majority of our voice search and overall search queries. That’s why it’s vital that you work to deliver your users a top-notch mobile user experience (UX).

The best UX is one that is seamless across all devices (mobile, tablet, desktop). That’s why you should opt for your website to be of Responsive Design. This means work to design your site so that it scales your content automatically to match your device’s screen size. Also, run a test to ensure your site can handle mobile. This tool will also give you advice on how to improve your site to be more friendly to mobile.

Without question, mobile will be important both now and in the future. The same goes for voice search so making your site a mobile-friendly one should be in your plans. This crucial step is a voice search SEO best practice that will help set you up for future online success.

Voice Search Ready Websites Help Bring Your Brand Online Success

Without question, voice search will be a huge deal going forward. With that said, it’s vital that brands take measures like these to help advance their cause online. It’ll help ensure that they continue their success of reaching their audience online and help grow their business over time. By taking steps to optimize for voice search, you’ll be ahead of the game in meeting those fast-changing consumer trends. In the end, your brand shall stand out amongst the crowd and turn site visitors into paying customers.

What do you feel is key in helping a brand’s voice search efforts succeed? What other voice search tips do you feel will attract people to one’s website and inspire them to take action? Questions? Comments? Please feel free to share this blog post and share your thoughts below.

How To Make Your Brand Stand Out Via Email Marketing

Photo by Stephen Phillips – Hostreviews.co.uk on Unsplash

So, you thought email marketing is dead? Well, you’re in for a big surprise there. If anything, email marketing is now stronger than ever. With that said, there have been changes over the years when it comes to email marketing. That has a lot to do with the preferences of online consumers. These days, people want to see something of worth to them when they open up to read their latest email.

With the right plan in place, email marketing can help make your brand grow in a big way. That’s why I write this blog post today. Today, I share with you ways on how you can use email marketing to help grow your brand. Let’s begin, shall we?

Give Your Audience A Personalized Email Experience

One thing you need to do to have success with email marketing is to give your audience a personalized experience. This means that you need to take time to learn every detail about your target audience. This is a crucial starting point for any Digital Marketing campaign. Every consumer is different so sending everyone the same email is not ideal. With that said, taking a targeted approach makes the most sense.

A great way to accomplish that is by email list segmentation. This lets you divide your email list into smaller but more targeted groups. This goes a long way in targeting consumers based on their individual preferences. For instance, your brand sells movies. You can ask your customers what kinds of movies they’re into. Your list would look something like horror, action, cartoons, Mexican telenovelas, etc.

You can also segment your list by demographics, geographic location, and buyer persona to help your emails be more relevant. Looking at survey results, email activity and purchase cycle can also help accomplish that too. 88% of users say that they’re more likely to respond favorably to an email if it’s tailored towards them. By connecting at their interest level and giving them high-quality content, you will be on your way towards success.

Avoid Excess Sales Jargon That Turns Consumers Off

It’s also important to know what not to do with your email marketing plans. You never want to use excess sales jargon when sending out emails. Nothing turns a potential customer off than bombarding them with emails that push them into a sale. They will tune you out if that happens and will lead to them hitting the unsubscribe button.

You always want to strive to use emails to build relationships over time. Once you’ve done that, then you can use sales emails once in a while. In the end, strive for a more balanced approach of non-sales and sales emails. This will help make your email marketing practices a success while attracting new customers.

Make Your Headlines Grab The Attention Of Your Readers

Headlines are crucial in helping attract the attention of your readers if done correctly. To attract their attention, you need to be short and to the point while describing what your email is about. The proper length for an email subject line is six to ten words as evidenced by a Retention Science study. That same study found that a subject line in that range had a 21% email open rate. Anything more or less had a lower open rate.

You also need to connect with your audience in a personable and authentic manner. Emails with personality tend to get liked or shared more. Also, don’t be afraid to use emojis in your subject line but don’t go overboard with them either. To go the extra step, talk to your audience and ask if they want to be addressed by their name or a nickname. Of course, do keep an eye out on any name or initial misspellings, and don’t use their name in excess.

One last piece of advice about email headlines is to make use of questions and numbers in them from time to time. They tend to give you a higher click-through rate (CTR) if done in a way that gauges the readers’ attention. These email headline tips will help go a long way in enticing people to open your email and read more.

Make Your Emails Scannable And Easy To Read

People these days are on the go which means their time is limited in getting to read their emails. This is why working to make your emails scannable and easy to read is crucial. Your email structure needs to have plenty of white space.

Work to shorten paragraphs (3 to 5 sentences), use subheadings to divide your content, and add bullet points when necessary. In your body, work to use the Inverted Pyramid writing style. This is where you put your key points in the first paragraph and work to draw readers’ interest. If readers can derive value from email content by scanning the text, then they would be enticed to read more. A top-notch reader experience will help lead to increased sales in the long run.

A/B Test Your Emails To Improve Campaign Performance

One crucial tip that will help improve your email marketing performance is by doing an A/B Test. A/B Testing or Split Testing is where you split your audience in two to find out which email version performs best. This will help you better understand which type of email content resonates best with your audience.

You can increase the open rate with the right subject line and the CTR when changing your email copy after testing. There are several things below you can test that can help improve your email marketing campaign performance.

Welcome email opening
Subject line
Day of the week
Time of the day in which email is sent
Pop-up opt-in forms
Name of sender

Taking steps to make your emails better will help go a long way in helping enhance that email experience. It’ll make it more likely that your readers will be inspired to take the actions you desire.

Have A Top-Notch Landing Page For Your Email Campaign

Lastly, you want to have a landing page that best matches the message conveyed in your email. Like with email headlines, you want to have strong headlines that entice the visitor to read further. The same thing goes with subheadings. Make sure it gives you the best preview for the accompanying content and best supports your headline.

You also want to have a supporting image or video that addresses the landing page purpose within a minute. Also, you need to have social proof on your page such as reviews, testimonials, and trust seals. This will help remove any trust issues site visitors may have. It also helps give them a positive and consistent experience from beginning to end.

One important tip to keep in mind is to stay on the same topic as your email. Be careful not to dilute it with other topics or offers. This will help prevent any confusion or concerns that your visitors may encounter. With landing pages that follow through with the promises in your email message, you’ll help turn those readers into customers.

People-Focused Email Marketing Helps Brands Succeed

Without a doubt, striving for a people-focused approach to email marketing will help grow your brand. It all comes down to learning every detail about your consumers and following it up with a personalized, high-quality experience. Taking these steps above will help go a long way in improving your email marketing strategies. In the end, it’ll be worthwhile when you convert readers into paying customers while growing your brand for the better.

What do you feel will help make email marketing campaigns a success? What other email marketing tips do you recommend will help attract readers’ interest and inspire them to take action? Questions? Comments? Please feel free to share this blog post and share your thoughts below.

Eight PPC Tips To Help Grow Your Online Presence In 2021

Another eventful year is now behind us and another has just begun. So many events and changes have occurred this past year. This is especially the case when it comes to the fast-evolving world that is Digital Marketing.

From Google Core Updates to fast-changing consumer trends, having a solid Digital Marketing plan is basically a must. This helps ensure that your audience has high-quality content that best addresses their needs when they most need it. It also helps your brand stand out amongst the vast sea of brands competing for those same customers.

A great way to achieve those things is with a top-notch Pay Per Click (PPC) strategy. PPC is a form of Digital Marketing in which brands pay each time visitors click on their online ad. In other words, you only pay when someone clicks on an ad whether it’s search, display, social, or ad types. These eight PPC tips below will help address the users’ needs and grow your brand’s online presence in 2021. With that said, let’s dive in and find out what PPC can do for brands like yours.

Strive For A High-Quality User Experience (UX)

As I discussed in my previous blog post, a high-quality user experience (UX) for website visitors is a must. First, you need to ensure that your website is up to speed. The longer it takes for your page to load, the higher the bounce rate will be. That means that customers will be lost if your page is slow at loading. That is why taking steps to improve site speed is crucial. Using the GTmetrix tool will test your site speed and gives you details on how to fix on-page issues.

You also want to ensure that your site is easy to navigate. To address this, work to make your content easy to find in the least amount of clicks possible. It’s advised that you limit it to three clicks or less. That helps site visitors find what they’re looking for quickly and helps make their on-site experience that much better.

In addition to all that, you want to ensure that your website is compliant with responsive design. This means that your website needs to smoothly adjust to screen sizes. In other words, the website automatically changes to fit the device in use whether a desktop, tablet, or mobile device. This helps improve that UX greatly to the point where you don’t have to pinch the screen to zoom in. A convenient experience indeed.

Provide A Consistent Experience For Your Site Visitors

Without question, consumers look for consistency when they consider doing business with a brand. This is vital when it comes to PPC campaigns. Not only must your PPC ads be of most relevance to your audience, but there’s also something else to consider. You must also show consistency in each phase of your online campaign. This rings true for landing pages as this is the first thing your audience sees upon clicking your ad.

It’s not enough to just attract people to our website via PPC ads. We must also strive to give them a top-notch landing page experience once they’ve arrived at our page. We sure don’t want our ads to say one thing and for our landing page to say another. That will be a big turn off for potential customers. With that said, here are three steps we can take to ensure our landing page is consistent with our ads.

Make sure that you match your ad text to your main keyword at least.
Match your ad to the right landing page where customers can do what you’ve promised to them.
Ensure that your landing page is relevant to your ad text and keywords.

Following these steps will help ensure a high-quality UX and make it more likely that you’ll gain new customers.

Take Advantage Of New Features

Looking to really make your PPC ads stand out towards the right online consumers? Then making use of the new features and ad extension options should be a big part of your plans. Promotion extensions that are right below your ad title help searchers spot a top-notch deal with a slight glance. They can also help you generate high-quality leads for your brand.

Call extensions are another great option in helping you attract leads. With this type of extension, you can add a phone number without having to use any of the primary copy. It even lets people tap a button to call your business via a mobile device. The best part is that it’s really easy and quick to add so definitely consider this for your PPC ads.

Make Social Media A Part Of Your PPC Marketing Plans

Another crucial avenue in helping your PPC ads succeed is social media. With 84% of people with internet access on social media, making it part of your PPC strategy is vital. Most people are on platforms like Instagram, Facebook, Pinterest, Twitter, LinkedIn on a daily basis. All age groups, especially young people, make up a big chunk of that audience.

This makes social media an attractive avenue for PPC marketers. In this new year, definitely add social media to your PPC marketing mix to go along with your Google Ads.

Dig Deep In Targeting Your Audience

When we say target your audience, we mean target the RIGHT audience that’s most likely to go with your brand. You always want to be detail-oriented when identifying which audience you’ll be going after. You can specify things like household income or age group to appeal to a specific audience. For ad preferences, you can exclude people that you think may not appeal to your services.

Let’s say that you’re selling super expensive Rolex watches. You might exclude people who make less than $75,000 a year. We say this since they’re less likely to spend big bucks on those kinds of fine items. This is the kind of targeting you should consider for your PPC ads. It will go a long way in attracting the exact audience you’ve been seeking to look into your brand.

Get Ahead Of The Game With Voice Search

Voice search has also become important In this day in age. Half of all online searches are now being initiated by voice. With that said, making voice part of your PPC marketing plan should be one of your top priorities. While paid voice search hasn’t yet made it to the mainstream, it will emerge in the near future. Until that happens, you can be ahead of the game with some high-quality preparation strategies.

There are two great ways to accomplish just that. One great plan is to enhance your website so that it can have a more conversational tone. Since people are more conversational when making voice searches, it’ll significantly improve your chances of attracting the right people. You also should update your FAQ pages on your site with the use of long-tail keywords. These actions will help set you up for success in voice search both now and in the future.

Get Ahead With Visual Search

Visual search is also on the rise and will be expected to see major advances in the near future. Visual search works by using an image as the search query as opposed to just a text search. Let’s say you take a pic of a mini-fridge. What happens after that is the visual search will output the links to buy it. People want results quickly and visual search helps achieve that than typing in something long.

A great way to optimize for visual search is by creating a photo catalog of your products and services. You want to add metadata to each image to ensure that search engines sort it out correctly. For example, a photo of a chrome mini-fridge would have an alt-text like “travel-sized chrome mini-fridge.” Taking these steps will go a long way in helping your brand get ahead of fast-changing paid search trends.

Utilize Re-Marketing In A Personalized Way

Re-Marketing is most commonly used on users once they have left your site. Re-Marketing ads tend to be very personalized which makes them an effective marketing strategy. When you show people ads for things they’ve shopped for before, they tend to have high conversion rates.

When it comes to re-marketing, it all comes down to keeping your brand in the minds of people. It’s no longer just about wooing people who aren’t ready to buy yet. It now mainly comes down to knowing where your prospects are at in the buying cycle. After that, you would create targeted, personalized ads based on where they’re at which helps them decide to convert.

Digging deep to understand your audience goes a long way in helping convert people into paying customers.

Top-Notch PPC Strategies Help Grow Your Brand For The Better

Without question, the online landscape is changing as are the online search habits of consumers. That’s why you need top-notch PPC tips like these to help you get ahead of the game. In the end, you’ll attract the right people to your website and gain loyal, paying customers. Following these steps will no doubt help your brand achieve new heights.

So what are you waiting for? Make PPC marketing a part of your online marketing strategy. It’ll help transform your brand into that next great thing and be a top leader in this fast-changing online world.

What do you feel will help grow your online presence and get people to convert into paying customers in 2021? What other PPC tips do you feel are key in helping your brand succeed? Questions? Comments? Please feel free to share this blog post and share your thoughts below.

Eight Ways On How To Use Conversion Rate Optimization To Bring Your Brand Success

You have succeeded in attracting your ideal customers via quality SEO strategies. The question now is, “Now What?” Now that you’ve attracted them to your website, the next thing you do is to seal the deal. To accomplish that, you need to give them what they’re looking for in a way that makes your brand unique.

There’s one method that will help turn your website visitors into paying customers and that is Conversion Rate Optimization. Conversion Rate Optimization (CRO) is the act of increasing the percentage of users who perform a desired action on your site. Desired acts can include anything from signing up for a newsletter to purchasing a product.

To succeed with CRO, you’ll need a clear strategy that offers clarity and differentiates your brand from your competitors. These 8 tips below will help bring your brand success via CRO. Let’s dive in, shall we?

Make Your Web Design Simple

People these days look for information that is clear and to the point. This could not be more true when it comes to your web design. You never want to have your visitors go through a maze when searching for information on your site. That is a good way to harm your bounce rate which we don’t want at all.

When making changes to your design, you want to keep it simple for your visitors. This means to make their search in as few clicks as possible. You also want to remove any unnecessary links or design elements from your navigation bars and copy. This will help make your page short, simple, and to the point for your visitors. This will help give your visitors a great user experience and increase the likelihood of them converting.

Add Testimonials & Reviews

Nothing helps build consumer confidence in your brand than what people like them have to say about you. That is why it is essential to include testimonials and reviews on your page. Adding them will help make big-time improvement in conversions – even up to 400% as in this case. You can also add logos of companies who do business with you and trust your brand. This will also help build consumer trust in a big way.

Don’t Have Too Many Form Fields

One thing you never want to do when trying to turn visitors into customers is having too many form fields. In many instances, this is a big turn off with many people asking for more fields than they’re willing to give. That’s why you need to limit your fields to only the essential ones needed to accomplish your end goal. Taking this step will help you improve that conversion rate while opening the door to future opportunities.

Have A Strong Call To Action

Do you know what else will help improve your conversion rate? Taking even a few minutes to work on your call to action (CTA) copy. Generic CTAs like “sign up” won’t give you the best results in terms of conversions. You need CTAs that paint offers in a positive light. CTAs that start with the word “Yes” such as “Yes, Give Me [Offer]” help accomplish that. In the end, you’ll make it more likely to improve on getting your visitors to convert.

A/B Test Your Headlines

Headlines make a big difference in whether people decide to read more or not. That is why you need a headline that is to the point and helps engage consumer interest. A great way to ensure that your headlines lead to success is to perform A/B Tests on each.

A/B Testing (or Split Testing) is the practice of showing two variants of the same web page to different visitors at once and then comparing which one converts more. It is advised that when deciding between headlines that you experiment with variants like tone, length, and use of statistics or numbers. This will help give you a better idea of which headline type resonates best with your audience.

Offer One Clear Path For Your Visitors

Another great way to put your brand on a path towards increased conversions is offering your users only one path. That means have a clear, predetermined roadmap for your website visitors that leads to only one action. Work to avoid any distractions and stick to only including what your visitors need to know.

Always great to use visual cues like arrows that point to the end goal you want your visitors to take. On top of that, resist any thoughts of adding more than one choice. These actions will help visitors see the path you want them to take as clear and to the point. This helps make it more likely that they’ll do business with you in the end.

Offer Guarantees To Help Build Trust With Your Audience

When it comes to conversions, trust is a major factor. Oftentimes, customers feel uneasy when they’re about to click the Buy button. That’s why you need to work to make your site one that is trustworthy for your online visitors. A great way to do that is adding trust seals like McAfee Secure to your website. 48% of users were more likely to trust a site they’ve never heard of if it had guarantee seals. Taking this step will help remove any doubt users may have and makes it more likely that they’ll click Buy.

Use Colors That Best Compliments Your Brand’s Message

One key detail that gets overlooked when it comes to CRO is color usage. Who doesn’t love colors? Colors contain messages, evoke emotions, and encourage action. For example, the purple color is seen as wise, creative, and imaginative as Yahoo is known to be.

Not only do colors work wonders in encouraging action from users, they also help complement your web design. This will help encourage visitors to stay longer on your site. The longer you keep their attention, the more likely that they’ll convert into paying customers. With that said, always make color usage a part of your CRO strategy.

Quality CRO Makes Your Brand Unique In Your Own Way

There is no doubt that CRO will help bring you success in such diverse ways. It helps your brand stand out amongst the crowd in your own unique way. On top of that, you’ll be turning those visitors into customers while growing your brand in a big way. With all that being said, always take time to invest in your CRO strategy. It will pay great dividends for your brand in the long run

What do you feel is essential in helping make your brand’s CRO strategy a success? How do you feel about CRO being a crucial part of your overall Digital Marketing strategy? Please feel free to share this blog post and share your thoughts below.