WSI Digital Win

06/23/2023

Getting those emails about the end of Google Analytics UA (GA-3) on July 1? Seeing those threatening count-downs, and afraid to click "begin migration"? What is the Google Analytics GA-3 to GA-4 migration all about? Yes, it's legitimate, from Google, and for real going to take place in 7 days, July 1, '23. But ... don't fear. If you don't really do anything with your Analytics at all (haven't set up custom integrations), Google will automate the migration, and you will just have to get accustomed to some different formats of reporting. If you do have custom integrations in Google Analytics (i.e. with your ecommerce platform), you should be going through the migration steps now, to retain the integrations. (If not, it's still not the end of the world; you will just have to re-do the integrations.)

Don't understand any of this? This video from Google is the best, most helpful I have seen, or message me, and I can help with the migration.

You might’ve read articles or received emails about changes happening in Google Analytics. If you have NOT yet created a Google Analytics 4 property (or don’...

08/08/2022

Business Owners, just in time for getting back to school, schedule 30 free minutes to learn as much as a 3rd grader about digital marketing. Hey that's more than you know. (And as much as you want to know.) Bet ya.

For starters, here's a free lesson. Don't pay more for digital marketing than you make from it. Duh!, protect the lunch money!

Schedule Here:
https://lnkd.in/e2V_ARbv

Chris

09/21/2020

A gentle reminder: Owners of non-ADA-compliant websites can (and have been) sued, particularly if the site is an essential service needed by vision-impaired people for products and services of daily living.

This article does a good job of covering the most basic of ADA-compliance tasks for websites. Most of these tasks -- particularly alt-text and well-managed headers (H1s and H2s), were historically matters of SEO, and at this juncture of hindsight, it makes sense that SEO and ADA Compliance share the same objectives. What's this site about? What's this page about? What's in this image? What is this button for, and where does it take me? Reasonable, right?

ADA compliance is just one reason why any new business site needs SEO during the build of the site. Here are two other basic reasons: 1., a business site that isn't optimized for target traffic doesn't support the business; and 2., Building a site and THEN "SEO-ing" it will cost double in expense, time and frustration. An SEO expert worth his or her salt may have to re-configure the site navigation and rewrite most of the content ... not to apply "SEO tricks", but simply to ensure that the site content (and tags, alt-script, headers, etc.) is getting in front of target traffic and then satisfying their need for it.

Here are four ways to make your website (Americans with Disabilities Act) ADA-compliant, and how these simple tips will help you win at SEO.

07/13/2020

My new article on why a business shouldn't start monthly SEO until it has tested PPC for two months.

Most business owners hate the alphabet soup of digital marketing, but this is critical stuff. More than 85% of clicks on search results are from the top of results down to the third "organic search" result.

06/05/2020

Saying that SEO can be done on a shoestring budget, and then spelling it out in 13 steps of processes that a business owner doesn't know how (or have the time) to do ... isn't much help. (It would be nice to tell you to expect 13 steps ... and a few extra points.)

That said ... it's true that it doesn't necessarily take many months to get to the top of Google search for your keywords. Earlier this year, I had a client shoot straight to the #1 spot in Google search for "Association Health Plans Kentucky" (and still there), within about a week of completing his "technical SEO" work. Results vary COMPLETELY according to target keywords and online competition. If you haven't had "Technical" "On-Page" SEO done, this will instantly index your site for your keywords, and instantly reveal your initial search ranking. By instantly, I mean a few days.

So, yes SEO can be quick. But I don't know any business owners who want to DIY it. Technical SEO takes about a week and costs about $1,250. Monthly "Off Page SEO" (to improve rank for your keywords) costs about $1,250 per month, or you could test PPC (Pay Per Click) for about $1,500 per month for potentially immediate ROI.

What's the value of your shoestring, compared the time it takes you to learn SEO, compared to about $1,250?

Winning is possible with SEO on a tight budget. This article highlights small efforts made in time to help small businesses win the race.

06/03/2020

Easy to poll through LinkedIn, and some nice ideas here for how to make them useful and engaging.

Find nine ways to use LinkedIn Polls to improve your marketing insight.

06/02/2020

More fun with Google Trends. The search for a pool is looking like a pond.

In other trending search news, HVAC search is also trending way up with thoughts on beating the heat at home. If you haven't yet tested PPC (Pay Per Click) marketing for getting in front of the people looking for you, now is the time.

05/12/2020

Food for Thought: Pay Per Click (PPC) is the most reliable market research tool you'll find for discovering what your target audience is looking for, and which messaging/offers will produce the greatest leads and conversions at least cost.

We tend to think of PPC as a marketing tool, and it certainly is. However when you think of "intentional surveys" -- asking people if they would buy your product, and at what price, and with what offers -- the results are flawed from the beginning. However, if you set up A/B testing through a PPC campaign, targeting real market data, your results are actual market results.

Think about the cost/benefit of PPC results compared to cost/benefit of a focus group or an "intentional survey". The PPC research might even pay for itself with the initial results.

In Google PPC, you target by keywords/phrases (intentions), and you get insight in-and-of the clicks, responses, conversions by keywords. In Facebook PPC, you target by demographics and online shopping behavior, and you get insights in-and-of those results. Additionally (in both Google and Social), you test appeals, messaging, offers, and you get insights to apply to branding.

05/12/2020

Here's the best tip I ever received regarding branding: Make a unique promise that you keep with every transaction and encounter.

What's your promise? It's not always easy to see, and if you try too hard, you might make the common mistake of making an industry promise instead of your own. The branding process is exciting. Self Discovery. And the realization that successful marketing is exactly like success in relationships. The more genuine, the more successful.

05/07/2020

Educating, Motivating and Building a Community. Exactly right content at any time, but especially during quarantine and getting back to business, consider this: How and where to connect with your audience (very well covered in this article), is secondary to this main point that you DO connect with your audience.

If you haven't already, put together that 3-month content calendar with content planned for your blog/articles, posts on your social pages, and include some live-stream video for benefits of increased reach, engagement and quality branding.

Content types that can help businesses reach their people.Observations, tips, and personal examples of how Directive has performed in quarantimes.

05/05/2020

Regarding what you should get for your marketing spend, every business owner should be a Missourian.

(Never ceases to amaze me, when I present a cost-benefit proforma with a marketing plan ... the number of business owners who have never seen this from a marketer.)