Who doesn't want to know what content is bringing visitors to their website? Is the content  engaging  visitors? Am I missing any opportunities?

These questions are  frequently asked by business owners and marketing managers. Why? If you can understand what is bringing visitors to your website and what makes them stay you can easily grab opportunities to bring more people to your website. Great news! You do not have to be a marketing expert or SEO guru to figure this out. Google Analytics has done the analysis for you and provides it at no charge.

3 Ways To Use Google Analytics To Improve SEO

1. Connect Search Console in Google Analytics

Google Search Console used to be called Webmaster Tools. It is very easy to install and does not require a webmaster. In Google Analytics, click the gear at the bottom to open the Admin tab. Once there, Click All Products.

After you have clicked All Products, look to see if search console is connected. If not, follow the directions to connect.

You are now ready to rock it like Davy Crockett.

2. Use Landing Pages in Search Console

In Google Analytics click Acquisition and then click Search Console.

The first place we like to look is  Landing Pages. Add the secondary dimension of  Source/Medium to find out which organic content is getting the best traction. It will look like this.

As you can see from the image, Google has done the work for you.

A favorite place to start for us is Low Bounce Rate and poor Average Position. A low bounce rate means the content is engaging and moving buyers through the website. Improving SEO for these landing pages is low hanging fruit.

If you click the Landing Page in Google Analytics it will provide you with the actual queries  people used that made your content appear in their search results. Now get to work and improve the content and meta description and this will improve your ranking in search.

3. Use Queries in Search Console

How much would you pay to know what search terms made you show up in search results?Google provides this free of charge in Search Console. Could you improve SEO if you could build content around these terms? Yes!

All this information is provided in Queries in Google Search Console. We like the add in from KeywordKeg that  provides Monthly Volume, CPC and Competition.

 High Monthly Volume and low Competition ( the bigger the number the greater the competition) are great opportunities to focus on improving SEO.  Remember, search engines like Google hate keyword stuffing. Keyword stuffing is just throwing the word on page as many times as possible without context.  Take your time and write content that incorporates the keyword or phrase in a natural context that is beneficial to the reader. While it is important to write for SEO, a human being is actually going to read it. Readers bounce off your website, not search engines.

Connecting Search Console in Google Analytics provides a wealth of information to help you improve SEO. We highlighted these 3 Ways To Use Google Analytics To Improve SEO. There are more. Ready to talk about them?

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5 Ways To Improve B2B Marketing On Mobile

Mobile is no longer a "channel" for B2B marketing.                                                                  It is the way most B2B researchers look for new vendors.                                                Here is the latest research from Google on B2B marketing on mobile:

The user experience with your B2B marketing on mobile can no                                        longer be ignored.  A poor experience on mobile does adversely                                      affect your brand and will cause you to lose potential business.

Source: Google

Click Here To Find Out How Your Website Performs On Mobile Devices

 

Here Are 5 Ways To Improve B2B Marketing 

On Mobile .

AMP - Accelerated Mobile Pages

Accelerated Mobile Pages are "skinny" versions of your website                                  designed to load quickly on mobile devices.  

Current research has revealed the average website page takes                                             15 seconds to load.

The problem is your conversion rate decreases dramatically as                                        page load time increases.

Source: Google

We recommend that you integrate Google Search Console                                        (formerly webmaster tools) with Google Analytics.                                                            Look at Acquisition, then Search Console.   

Click on Devices.  You will see desktop, mobile and tablet.                                            Compare bounce rate across devices.  A high bounce rate on mobile                         compared  to desktop indicates a problem.  

Now click on Mobile. 

You will see Landing Page Impressions, Clicks, Average Position and                         Bounce rate.     

If you see a high bounce and no conversions e.g.                                                          Request Quote, Download Offer, etc. you have identified an area                                          of improvement in B2B marketing on mobile. 

Next look at Behavior you have a drop down for Site Speed.                                                      Under Site Speed you will find Speed Suggestions.                                                                 Google has done the work for you. 

Click on the suggestions and get to work. 

Optimize Images

"Images often account for most of the downloaded bytes on a page.                                      As a result, optimizing images can often yield some of the largest                                             byte savings and performance improvements: the fewer bytes the                              browser has to download, the less competition there is for the client's                             bandwidth and the faster the browser can download and render                                   content on the screen."-Google 

This is low hanging fruit! We really like tiny.jpg and tiny.png for image                      compression. They provide a very simple drag and drop interface.  

It is common to see up to 70% reduction in file size. 

This will dramatically improve page load speed.                                                             Another option is a CDN- Content Delivery Network.                                                        They speed up content delivery by allowing websites to cache content                                on a network of servers spread out geographically instead of retrieving                                 it from a single location server every time . 

Use Forms Optimized For Mobile

It is often difficult to fill out a bunch of fields when on a smart phone. 

Your website needs to be mobile responsive in order to fit the device in                            use.

 In addition,  use smart forms that automatically adjust for the device in                               use.

 Make Phone Numbers Clickable

This may seem a bit obvious, but have you ever tried to click on a                                  phone number when viewing a website on a mobile device and nothing                  happened? Frustrating and annoying. 

Don't forget to position the phone number so it is easy to click. 

White space is your friend here. 

To  do this you simply use the hyperlink function and use                                                    tel: then the phone number.

859-653-1759

 View Your Website On A Smart phone/Mobile Device

Even better than you looking at your website on mobile, have your                            customers tell you what they like and dislike about your B2B marketing                               on mobile.   Every time you hear "It would be nice if...", you have an                        opportunity for improvement. 

Pro Tip- Consider an APP for your business.

FREE Mobile Checkup

Good News! Based on historical data over 214,000 new businesses will be started this year. More good news. The odds are in your favor to make it past the first year! Bad news is only 50% will be around in 5 years.

Having personally bootstrapped 3 businesses, I have made a few mistakes along the way. It is very likely you will also. You will survive making multiple mistakes as long as you learn from them. Even better, learn from the mistakes of others.

5 Big Mistakes New Businesses Make

1- Failing To Identify Your Ideal Client

This is a common problem for many businesses. Who is the perfect fit for your product or service? Particularly at startup, you most likely have limited funds for marketing. This makesit extremely important to clearly understand your ideal client so you precisely target your marketing. Check out this article A Surefire Way To Find Your Ideal Client Or Customer from Be Visible. Once you have identified your ideal client, then you can segment them into Buyer Personas. Buffer has a helpful article on creating Buyer Personas. You can also download our Free ebook on How To Create Buyer Personas.

Download How To Create Buyer Personas For Your Business

2- Not Having A Business Plan

You have heard the adage: "Businesses don't plan to fail. They fail to plan". A business plan allows you to clearly articulate where you fit in the marketplace, understand the competitive marketplace, your management structure and marketing approach. A well written business plan not only increases you success rate it is crucial if you are looking for venture capital or traditional loans.  Surprise! You have already paid for this service.

The SBA- Small Business Administration provides FREE business planning tools as well as ongoing support. Click here for free business planning tools from the SBA. You can receive additional support through SCORE, Small Business Development Center, Women's Business Center and Veterans Outreach Business Center. These are great resources to connect to others that have been there and done that.

3- Thinking Professional Graphic Design Is Too Expensive

Unless you have received training in graphic design, it is best to leave this to the professionals. If you do not know when a PDF, JPEG or png is the proper format or what it means for a image to be  vectorised, you need to hire a professional. A common mistake is to take a graphic and just resize it. Big mistake. This can morph the proportional aspects of an image. 

Don't know how to hire a graphic designer?

Look at samples of their work. Different designers will have different styles. Take your time in the review process. If they don't ask you a ton of questions, they will not be a good fit.

Expect questions like: Describe how you fit in the marketplace? What makes you different? What is your unique value proposition? What is the message you want to convey?  Who is your target audience? Do you want graphic and text? Describe the demographics of your ideal client? What other companies logos do you like? What is your budget? Is this for your website, print, social media or all of the above?

Something that appears as simple as your logo design is a very important process and will take some time. A professional graphic designer will understand the  requirements for different social media platforms. Don't try to do this yourself. Simply changing the size does not always work.  HubSpot has an excellent article on image size for social media.

4- A Mediocre Website 

Research from Google has shown that 90% of B2B researchers who are online use search specifically to research business purchases. If your website takes more than 3 seconds to load, you could lose 50% of your visitors. This means your website must be on point connecting to your ideal client and do it quickly. 

Source: Google

One of the biggest challenges facing a new business is the capital expense of a website. In addition, traditional website design projects rarely stay on budget and launch on time. One of the biggest bottlenecks is the back and forth with the individual coding the website.  A very simple and significantly less stressful approach is to capitalize  on templates and off the shelf assets. 

Platforms such as Squarepace, WordPress, Wix,       GoDaddy and HubSpot offer themed templates for websites. All the coding is done behind the curtain so the end user can add content without any special coding skills required.

Services like 123rf, Shutterstock and Storyblocks offer high quality off the shelf visual assets.Canva and Venngage are also great resources for customizing off the shelf assets.

We really like the Growth Driven Design approach.  This approach eliminates all the frustrations mentioned above and allows you to make continual improvements to your website. Your website is no longer static, but now becomes a continuous improvement project that you can easily modify to meet quick changes in the market. You should never think of your website as being done. Failure to adapt leads to extinction. We capitalize on the Growth Driven Design approach by providing retainer packages that include continuous improvement of your website. This eliminates a stale out of date website.

Ready to learn more about Growth Driven Design? Click the image below.

Pro Tip: Make sure you have HTTPS on your website.

5- Overvaluing and Undervaluing Social Media

Determining where social media fits in your business marketing plan is complicated. There are so many platforms to evaluate and by the time you read this a new one will be the latest & greatest.

How do you start?

Review your ideal client profile and Buyer Personas. The information gathered will provide insights into which, if any social media platforms make sense for your business. Here is a high level overview of some of the most prevalent social media platforms.

When selecting a social media platform you will need to perform extensive research to determine alignment with your business goals. Go deep into the demographic information. Does your ideal client use this platform? If it is a new platform, will it appeal to my Buyer Personas. Don't be afraid to try a platform not listed above. You may want to read How Getting More Facebook Likes Is Not A Business Strategy and Why You Should Verify Your Facebook Business Page Now. If you don't see a fit, then don't invest the resources. On the other hand, if you see a strategic opportunity with social media then move forward. 

Pro Tip: Set a specific goal for social media. X posts per time frame with Y conversions by Date.

Check out this free ebook from HubSpot: How to Learn Social Media Marketing: 30 Resources for Beginners.

Avoid the 5 Big Mistakes New Businesses Make. Not sure what to do next?

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3 Reasons Websites Go Over Budget and Over Schedule

I have been involved in several new websites and website refreshes over the years. Can there be a more frustrating process. There always seems to be a reason it can't be completed on time or on budget. My experience is not unique. Can you imagine how nice it would be for a website project to be completed on time and on budget?

 

There are several inherent problems with traditional web design. One of the biggest stumbling blocks is the reiterative process. A single change starts the process all over again. The adage of 1 step forward and 2 steps backward definitely applies. Another problem is the dormancy of a website. Websites are put on set it and forget mode. We will revisit it next year. In the meantime, the market has changed and new opportunities exist and the website just sits there.

3 Reasons Websites Go Over Budget and Over Schedule

1. Web Developer/Code Dependent 

In traditional web design, unless you are experienced in web development and coding you are dependent on someone else to make changes to the website.

Submit a request.

Wait.

Publish.

Find issues.

Submit another change request.

Wait.

Publish.

A month has now passed! The use of templates that are designed for the end user solve this problem. The coding piece is removed.

Platforms such as Squarepace, WordPress, Wix, GoDaddy and HubSpot offer themed templates for websites. All the coding is done behind the curtain so the end user can add content without any special coding skills required.

2. Lack Of Website Hyper Focus

We need to update our website. Why? Our competitors sites look better than ours. Reminds me of what my mother used to say to me." If all your friends jumped off a cliff, would you?" Me being the snarky little ginger that I was would reply "Yes! All my friends would be dead." Didn't work well with my mother and won't work well for your business. It costs money to refresh a website. The lack of a hyper focus makes your website a cost center not a revenue generator. If you are going to spend money on your website, then shouldn't it have an desired outcome and ROI? If all you want is your contact information, then go with a simple contact page. The reality is, most people use the internet to research potential vendors.

Research from Google has shown that 90% of B2B researchers who are online use search specifically to research business purchases.

Average Searches Conducted Prior to Engagement

Image Source: Google

A hyper focused website will solve problems for visitors. Potential customers, when searching the internet for vendors,  want to understand your capabilities and unique value proposition to solve their problem so they can move forward in the buying process. This is why it is important to understand your customers using Buyer Personas. Once identified, you can provide highly relevant hyper focused content that will lead them through the buyers journey.

Download How To Create Buyer Personas For Your BusinessPro Tip: Ask your current customers what they want to see on your website. 

3. Ignoring Low Hanging Fruit

While a cool digital online tool seems like a nice addition, they can be expensive to develop. Focus on low hanging fruit first. The revenue generated can then be used to pay for the cool digital tools. How do you find low hanging fruit? Identify friction points in the conversion process with Google Analytics. An easy way to do this is to set up goals in Google Analytics. If you have not set goals in Google Analytics read this article.

 Once you have identified the friction points, design the conversion process so it is easy for your website visitors to get the information they need. Solve the problem. Don't be the problem.

Another method to identify low hanging fruit is to look at the conversion rate via form submission.

Are the forms the same? Where are the dropping off? Is the offer perceived as high value to the visitor? Consider using a heat map to find friction points. Heat maps follow user flow so you can visually see problems. If you are unfamiliar with heat mapping take a look at crazyegg, Hotjar, Luckyorange and Optmizely to learn more. Decisions are always better when informed by factual data. 

ProTip: Launch your High Performing Website pages first when doing a website refresh.

We have prepared an road map to help you with this process.

Click the image below to receive your free copy.