It is common knowledge that the 3-pack on Google Maps is the holy grail of local search, and that appearing as one of the hallowed trio is a feat that can be really profitable for your business.

Every time someone searches for ‘XX near me’, or ‘XX in XX-City’, it is more than likely that they will find what they’re looking for within those Google Maps results, and won’t even bother scrolling down to the organic results beneath. (In fact, if you haven’t searched for a business near you using Google Maps in the last month or so, and then chosen one of those top three businesses you found yourself, we’ll eat all our keywords.)

Ranking high on Google Maps can make all the difference to your bottom line. The burning question is: just how do you rank high on Google Maps? We answer this, plus a few other important questions related to Google Maps, below.

What Is Google Maps?

Google Maps is an extensive free web mapping service developed by Google designed to help users find whatever they want, wherever they want, whenever they want. It offers directions, street maps, 360° panoramic street views, satellite imagery, aerial photography, route planning for travelling by car, public transport, foot, bicycle and air, as well as real-time traffic and roadworks conditions.

In short, Google Maps helps make your business easier to find – in the physical sense. But wait, there’s more. (There always is with Google.) Not content with mere physical facts, Google Maps also offers up suggestions to users on which businesses will best satisfy their query, suggestions based on far more than just proximity. This is where SEO comes into play.

Used properly, Google Maps can be a key player in your SEO marketing strategy.

Why Should I Care About Google Maps?

Over three-quarters (77%) of smartphone owners regularly use navigation apps. Of those, Google Maps (67%) is by far and away the most popular, being the preferred navigation app for nearly 6x more people compared to the second-most popular app Waze, which comes in with only 12% of total users. (The Manifest)

What’s more, three out of every four people who search for something nearby using their smartphone end up visiting a store within a day. Twenty-eight percent of those searches then result in a purchase. (Wordstream)

What do these stats combined mean for you and your business? Well, if you want local consumers to find you, and give you their money, you need to be using Google Maps to its full potential and making yourself easy to find.

By ranking well in Google Maps you are bolstering your online presence in local search results. This, in turn, gives your business the Google version of a big yellow thumbs up, thereby boosting your legitimacy and relevancy, which translates to increased trust on the part of the customer. Google Maps has helped the user find you, and helped you bring customers in. Everybody wins.

How Do I Get on Google Maps in the First Place?

You can’t rank (higher) on Google Maps if you aren’t even on Google Maps. So start there.

To create or claim and verify your listing, you’ll need to set up a Google My Business account. Here’s how to find and manage your business on Google (if it’s already there) or add your business to Google:

1. Go to Google My Business.
2. Enter your business name into the ‘Find and manage your business’ search bar.
3. Click on your business listing if it appears among the suggested matches.
4. Your business isn’t there? Click on the ‘Add your business to Google’ link.
5. Follow the easy step by step instructions to the end.

Now, to rank higher on Google Maps, you’ll need to optimize your brand new, sparkling Google My Business account.

How to Rank (Higher) on Google Maps in 2019

During this entire process, it is important to remember that organic search results and the local 3-pack for Google Maps have similar requirements. What this means is that conventional local SEO techniques should apply. More than that, as with all things SEO, patience is crucial. There is no quick fix. Do the work, continue to monitor, update and improve your listing, and, for the love of Google, avoid scammers guaranteeing Google Maps rankings.

With all that said, there are a number of fairly easy, quick fixes you can make to ensure you have a shot at better rankings in Google Maps and beyond. Here are our top 10 crucial pit stops on the road to great Google Maps results.

1. Verify Your Google My Business

As mentioned above, the first step for any business, local or otherwise, to getting ranked on Google Maps is to create or claim and verify your Google My Business listing. To do this, Google will either mail a postcard with a unique PIN to the physical address listed in your Google My Business profile to confirm verification, or they will call you on the listed business phone number to give you the pin. Make sure you are standing by!

2. Consolidate Your Google Maps Listings

If when searching for your business on Google you find that there are multiple listings on Google, you need to weed them out and remove the duplicates. Google gives you step by step instructions on how to do this. You need to do this to (a) avoid confusion for your customers and (b) Google will discredit businesses with multiple phone numbers or locations listed for one actual business.

3. Complete and Optimize Your Google My Business Listing

Now we’re getting to the good stuff.

There is a direct correlation between how well your business ranks in Google Maps and how complete and accurate your Google My Business listing is.

Remember: Google is always putting the searcher first. The more information you give Google, the more information Google can give searchers, and the more love Google will give you in its rankings.

To rank higher on Google Maps, you need to optimize your Google My Business profile by accurately completing each and every available section. We repeat: accurately complete each and every section in your Google My Business profile. Follow this checklist, with handy tips included for each section where necessary, then go back and double and triple check:

3a. Phone number

Make sure you list a local phone number, including the area code of your location. Google doesn’t love a toll-free (800 and 877) number as they know that these numbers are often spam-central.

3b. Website URL

Make sure you include your website address.

3c. Business hours

• Make sure you keep your hours updated! Google Maps will tell users if your business is open, closed, or opening or closing soon. Users have become used to this and trust us when we tell you: there is very little more frustrating than arriving at a business to find closed doors when Google said the business would be open. That’s on you, not Google, and the savvy searchers of today know this. It is highly unlikely they will return to your business.
• On a similar note, Google My Business will send you emails asking you to update your hours for specific holidays – it’s a simple click and adjust. Use that function.

3d. Optimize your description

The description has a character limit – use it to the max.

• You will need to keep your description succinct however, so be sure to use it wisely: what is the most important thing you want searchers to know about your business? Tell them that.
• And be sure to include local SEO keywords.

3e. Business categories

Complete the category field of your Google My Business profile (and Maps listing) by adding as many relevant categories as you can.

• You don’t have to choose only one, so go ahead and max them out!
• Again, Google makes this easy for you: to add categories, type in keywords to describe your business and Google will spit out a bunch of matching categories for you to choose from.

3f. Business info

Make sure all the sections under the ‘Info’ tab are completed.

• When entering your address into your Google My Business profile, ensure that you use the exact same address information used by the relevant postal service in your area. This includes room, suite, or subdivision information, the accurate postal code, and anything else that makes your business easier to find.
• You can also add service areas where you operate if those are different to your actual location. For example, a plumber in Comox, BC, may operate across Vancouver Island. Make sure Google – and their searchers and your potential customers – know this by completing the Service Area section. This could include the names of nearby towns or cities that you serve, or a geographic radius (in miles or kilometers) from your physical location. To complete this section, click on the Info tab in the left hand column, then scroll down to ‘Add Service Area’ directly beneath your address.

3g. Posts

Post updates about your business using the Post tab. Google will use these to rank you higher. They also make it easy for you by giving you hints and tips about what to post: click on the ‘Home’ tab; on the right hand side of the page, you will see a section populated by Google which says ‘Businesses like yours are posting!’ with the associated post attached to give you inspiration. Be inspired. Create a similar post for your own business. Then keep posting.

3h. Photos

Add photos to your listing. See below.

3i. Reviews

Get and respond to reviews. See below.

4. Add Photos to Your Google My Business/Maps Listing

Google – and Google’s users – love photos. A picture paints a thousand words and all that. One of the best, and simplest, ways to stand out on Google Maps is to add photos to your Google My Business listing. Google will reward you for adding high quality photos to your listing.

• Add photos showing the exterior of your business – making it easy to identify from the street.
• Add photos of the interior of your business – making it enticing for customers to step inside.
• Add photos of your employees at work – making your business more personal and giving it a human element, which also makes it more enticing for customers to step inside your world.

Listings without photos tend to rank than those with photos.

5. Get and Respond to Google Reviews

We’ve spoken at length about how reviews can help, or harm your business and your SEO efforts. Simply put: Google reviews add trustworthiness to a business, and Google rewards businesses with good reviews by ranking them higher everywhere – including on Google Maps.

The key with reviews, though, is to make sure you respond to all of them, the good, the bad, the mediocre, and the downright ugly. Responding to reviews ensures that your customers, and Google, know that there is someone on the other side who genuinely cares about them and their experience of your business.

To start gathering reviews, simply follow this advice from Google:

• Sign in to Google My Business.
• If you have multiple locations, open the location you’d like to manage.
• In the menu on the left, click Home.
• In the “Get more reviews” card, you can copy your short URL to share with customers via social media, in an email newsletter etc. But remember: it is technically against Google’s policy to incentivise or actively ask customers to leave a review – Google will punish you for this. Simply share the link and leave it at that.

6. Optimize Your Website to Rank Higher on Google Maps

When optimizing your Google My Business listing, you added a URL to a page on your website which you wanted customers to land on. It stands to reason then that this landing page – and, indeed, the rest of your website – should also be optimized for local SEO.  Google will also use your website to make key associations with your Google Maps listing such as keyword targeting, business category relevance, and domain authority – all of which impact your rankings. To make sure your website is ranking friendly:

• Make it responsive and consistent across any and all devices and screen sizes. The majority of Maps and local searches are performed on mobile, so if your listing links to a website that is slow, has broken links, or requires pinching and zooming (ACK!), your ranking will suffer.
• Make sure your Title Tag on your landing page (usually your home page) includes your business name, category, and your metro area or location name.
• Make sure your Meta Description again includes your business category and location.
• Make sure the content on your landing page is consistent with the information in your title, description and local keywords.
• NAP / Citation: Finally, be sure to include your business Name, business Address, and Phone number (NAP) on the homepage of your website in order to maximize the ranking power of your Google Maps listing. You can simply include this in the footer of every page on your site and then it’s done. Easy as NAP.

7. Use Local Keywords

Make sure all the important pages of your website, not just the home page or landing page, are optimized for location-based searches. This means placing geographically modified keywords into titles, headers, body, image tags, and URLs.

8. Embed a Google Map on Your Website

Another great way to improve your rankings on Google Maps is to embed a Google Map right into your website. Whether this is in the footer of your site or on a page like the contact page doesn’t matter. And it really couldn’t be easier!

• To embed a Google Map on your website, search for your business name in Google Maps. Click on the “Share” tab in your listing, then select the “Embed a map” tab. Copy and paste the link into the content on the page where you are including the map. Done.

9. Build Citations and Backlinks

The more websites that know who you are and where you are, and are willing to share that information, the better.

A citation is simply a record of your NAP (see above), and in some instances your website URL as well, which is displayed online for searchers to find. By adding your NAP to sites like TripAdvisor, Yelp, Foursquare, Infogroup, Better Business Bureau, Yellow Pages, Apple Maps, Facebook, Factual, 411, canpages you are improving your chances of ranking on Google Maps and beyond. Google uses these citations as a way to validate your business location. Note: the more relevant the citation sources are to your business, the better the boost to your Google Maps rankings.

Similarly, by getting backlinks to your site from other relevant, authoritative websites in your industry, you are signalling to Google that you too are considered relevant and authoritative in your industry. Make friends within your industry and share the link love for mutual Google ranking respect.

10. Monitor and Update Your Google My Business Listing

Finally, once you’ve done all the above work, remember that it will amount to nothing if you don’t keep it up to date and relevant. Mark it in your calendar to do a weekly check on all things Google My Business and reap the rewards of your vigilance.

As you can see, Google Maps is far more than just a handy tool to give you directions to your nearest Starbucks. As Rob Marvin of PC Mag puts it, you can really think of Google Maps as more of an SEO “Swiss Army Knife chock-full of hidden navigation, geospatial search, and customization tools.” What use is a Swiss Army Knife left in your pocket? Pull it out. Use it to its full potential. And slash your way to the top of Google Maps rankings.

For more information on how to rank higher in Google Maps in 2019 and beyond, contact 1st on the List today by calling 1-888-262-6687 or email us at contact@1stonthelist.ca.

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If your business doesn’t rank well on Google Maps, does it even exist? It is common knowledge that the 3-pack on Google Maps is the holy grail of local search, and that appearing as one of the hallowed trio is a feat that can be really profitable for your business. The burning question is: just how do you rank high on Google Maps? We answer this, plus a few other important questions related to Google Maps, below.

GENERAL FAQS ABOUT RANKING IN GOOGLE MAPS

1. How do I rank higher in Google Maps?

Get on Google Maps in the first place by creating a Google My Business profile. Claim and verify your listing. Fully complete and optimize your Google My Business profile. Optimize your website. Add photos to your GMB profile. Get and respond to Google Reviews. Build NAP citations and backlinks. Monitor and update your profile regularly.

2. How long does it take to rank on Google Maps?

Ranking on Google Maps requires patience. There are no quick fixes. According to multiple sources, ranking on Google Maps courtesy of long-term and ongoing SEO practices can take anywhere from three to six months. Beware scammers promising you immediate results in Google Maps rankings.

3. What is Google Maps?

Google Maps is an extensive free web mapping service developed by Google and designed to help users find whatever they want, wherever they want, whenever they want. It offers directions, street maps, 360° panoramic street views, satellite imagery, aerial photography, route planning for travelling by car, public transport, foot, bicycle and air, as well as real-time traffic and roadworks conditions.

4. Does ranking on Google Maps matter?

If you want to do well in local search results ranking in Google Maps is crucial. Google Maps is by far and away the most popular navigation app with 67% of total users, nearly 6x more compared to the second-most popular app Waze (only 12% of total users). Plus, three out of every four people who search for something nearby using their smartphone end up visiting a store within a day.

The post How To Rank on Google Maps appeared first on 1st on the List Promotion Inc..

If you are new to the scene of Local SEO and search optimization for your local or small business, here are five Google local SEO tips to help you navigate through the steps needed to ensure that your business has the presence it needs to earn the Search Engine Results Page (SERP) results you deserve.

1. Attractive and Click-Worthy Title and Meta Descriptions

This is often an overlooked opportunity by many local SEO campaigns. These HTML elements are customizable features which are used to represent your website in search results. Typically, titles range from 50 – 60 characters and descriptions can range up to 200 characters.

In years past these titles and descriptions were used to incorporate keywords and help with rankings. Current SEO best practices tell us to use these titles and descriptions as an opportunity to improve user experience and attract clicks. Your meta titles and descriptions need to be a clear depiction of your page content, be persuasive, and of course specifically unique. Including your city in the description is recommended. Targeted keywords should be as close to the beginning of the paragraph as possible but not at the expense of user readability.

Use this opportunity to set yourself apart – do you offer 24/7 service? Free shipping? 25% off for first time customers?

2. Keep a Consistent and Prominent Online Presence

Whether your business is brand new or has been around for decades and moved locations several times, it is extremely important to make sure that your business name, address and phone number is consistent and visible across the Internet, no matter where someone may find you.

This consistency instills consumer trust and builds your authority. The consistency also plays a large role in your local SEO performance. The Search Engines want to understand your company and have confidence that you are a legitimate company.

Here is a starter list for online business directories where you can establish your presence:

• Citysearch
• Merchant Circle
• YellowPages
• Yelp
• Facebook
• LinkedIn
• Houzz
• Local Chamber of Commerce
• BBB
• Local Trade Affiliations

3. Claim Your Google My Business (GMB) Listing for Full Control

Over the years Google My Business and Bing Places for Business have built their database of business listings. Even if you have never claimed your business listing the Search Engines may still be showing a listing for you!

It is critical for you to claim this listing so that you have full control over proper categorization of your business, description, address, and business hours.

There is a simple verification process for your GMB listing. Google mails you a postcard containing a PIN number you need for verification purposes. This confirms to Google that you are whom you say you are and indeed own the business you are attempting to claim.

4. Manage, Respond To, and Grow Your Reviews Online

Nowadays, both personal word-of-mouth referrals along with online reviews can influence whether or not we stay at a hotel, eat at a restaurant, hire a plumber, or even order a shirt from an online retailer.

The importance of controlling, managing, and growing customer reviews is finally catching the attention of businesses. A BrightLocal survey indicates that:

• Online reviews are trusted as much as personal recommendations by 84% of those surveyed.
• If asked, 70% of consumers will leave a review.
• Positive reviews encourage 54% of consumers to visit a website.
• Local businesses are trusted more when they have positive online reviews.
• Less than 10 reviews are read before a consumer forms an opinion.
• Reviews older than 3 months are not deemed relevant by consumers.
• Over half of consumers agree that star ratings are important.

Seeking quality reviews on an ongoing basis is good business practice and keeps your brand in the forefront of consumers’ minds, helps you stand out from competitors, and also helps to minimize the one-off bad review you may get.

Don’t have the time or find it awkward to ask your customers for reviews? Consider our online Reputation Management Services that offer a fully automated software system that actually works behind the scenes to grow your reviews.

5. Structured Data Markup for Local

This markup language provides more information about your business to Google once it has been implemented in your website code. Most businesses use only the basic markup. This provides opportunities for business owners to outdistance their competitors by utilizing uncommonly used markup.

Google has a Structured Data Testing Tool you can use to determine if your markup implementation meets the required standards.

Want to learn more about how to win at Local SEO? Here are some additional articles by other SEOs in the industry as well as articles by our own team:

• 9 Tips for Successful Local Business Listings
• Local SEO Opportunities Exclusive to Local Businesses
• 16 Insanely Smart Small Business Blog Ideas

You can also call 1st on the List at 1-888-262-6687 if you have specific questions. We’d love to help you optimize your business for Local Search!

Additional Local SEO Marketing Tips and Articles:

• Local SEO in 2017: 5 Simple Ways to Dominate Local Search
• Create Local Content That Boosts Your Local Search Rankings
• Understanding Consumers’ Local Search Behavior
• Bing Places for Business
• Google My Business

The post Best Local SEO Tips and Resources for 2019 appeared first on 1st on the List Promotion Inc..

The time for preparing your website for Google mobile search is now. In an online environment where competition is steep you can earn an advantage by being an early adopter. A early New York Times article on mobile search from way back in 2011 suggested that mobile search would soon surpass PC search. And they were right!

Before discussing some technical details on how to prepare your website for mobile platforms let’s look at the unique opportunities Google mobile search presents.

Mobile Search Trends – What Can Mobile Search Do For Your Site?

Smart Phone owners walk around nearly 24/7 with a computer in their pocket! You should never underestimate the power of using a phone to gather information, answer a question or find a business – on the spot! Because of this time sensitivity issue, Google mobile search has presented new and unique opportunities for websites.

Wouldn’t you perform mobile Search Engine Optimization for this size of increase in CTR? Here are guidelines to optimize your mobile site using both SEO best practices that can be applied to Google mobile search and mobile SEO best practises.

First Use SEO Best Practices To Optimize Your Mobile Site

Many of the main aspects of regular website search engine optimization remain the same for mobile SEO.  Like regular website optimization you want to be sure that you optimize your mobile sites:

• Focus on making fast loading pages (under 20kb per page)
• Optimize your Title and Meta data
• Optimize your Header Tags (h1, h2, h3)
• Optimize anchor link text
• Keep your main content as close to top of source code as possible

Then Use Mobile Search Specific SEO Best Practices

Particular to mobile sites, these are additional areas you will want to cover:

• Convert any tables on a website to CSS so that they can be viewed properly on mobile phones
• Avoid using i-frames, flash or Ajax
• Simplify the site since your space is limited (typical screen is only 2×3 inches)
• Focus on your main navigation
• Meet and comply with the website accessibility guidelines
• Use images sparingly and make sure they are optimized
• Use UTF-8 Character Encoding
• XHTML Mobile 1.0 Doctype
• Test on a number of different mobile phones and tablets
• Use 100% XHTML code (WAP 2.0), cHTML (iMode) or WML (WAP 1.2)b.
• Optimize for Local Search
• Create a mobile sitemap
• Develop a link strategy with other mobile sites
• Create a mobile robots.txt file that gives the user-agent the best version of mobile site dependent on the mobile platform
• Make sure to submit your mobile sitemap to the various mobile search engines
• Submit to local mobile directories, dependent on if your site is local or regional

As always, Google offers up some good mobile site advice well worth a read!

Mobile Search Engines

The major search engines have created mobile specific search engines and algorithms to satisfy the unique needs of mobile searchers. The most popular mobile search engines include:

• Google XHTML
• Google Mobile                 https://www.google.com/mobile/
• Yahoo Mobile                  https://mobile.yahoo.com/search
• MSN/Bing                        https://live.com/
• AOL Mobile
• ABPHONE
• Nokia Mobile Search
• Technorati Mobile
• 4INFO Mobile Search

The time to start mobile SEO is now

This Search Engine Land article reports that mobile search has become the preferred search platform for many people and that nearly half of early mobile search adopters are using mobile search while at their computer, perhaps predicting a future preference to mobile over PC.

Now is the time to start outperforming your competitors on this up and coming preferred platform.

Preparing your website for Google mobile search can be a little difficult but when done correctly can provide big returns. At this point in time mobile search ads are considered a bargain compared to PC search ads, but costs are expected to rise as mobile search volume takes over PC search volume.

Contact 1^st on the List Promotion Inc. today to launch your newest Internet Marketing Strategy. To ask us about our Mobile SEO services call toll free at 1-888-262-6687 or Contact our SEO Experts.

The post Is Your Website Ready For Google Mobile Search? appeared first on 1st on the List Promotion Inc..

Keyword research for SEO is as crucial in 2019 as it has ever been. If not more so. 

As we explained in our recent blog post ‘How to Choose the Right Keywords for Your Blog Posts’, the world of keywords has changed. Keyword strategies for SEO used to be as easy as targeting a bunch of keywords you wanted to rank for then stuffing them into your content willy nilly. No more. In fact, that strategy is almost ancient history at this point. Between then and now, Google has undergone a myriad tiny – and a handful of titanic – algorithm changes, all of which affect how you use keywords for SEO purposes. (We’ll dive into more details on those changes below.) 

In a direct correlation, keyword research, the way you find those keywords, has changed. Changed and, if anything, become more important. Without proper keyword research, tailored to not only your own content and business but to the caprices of search engines, you’re just flinging keywords into a void, the ever-changing, ever-updating algorithm-powered black hole that search can become if you’re not meeting its demands.

To meet those demands, read on to find out how keyword research for SEO has changed for 2019, and how to research properly, for right now.

What is keyword research?

Quite simply, keyword research for SEO is the practice of finding and analyzing the words and phrases people use to search for information on the Internet. Then utilizing that knowledge to optimize your content online using the best possible keywords to get you found on the internet. Find keywords. Analyze keywords. Use keywords. Remember those three phrases. They form the very core of your keyword research plan. 

Why is research so important?

75% of Internet users never scroll past the first page of search results. Enough said. 

Need it spelled out for you? If you’re not on the first page of search results, you’re practically invisible. 

How do you get to the first page of search results? A selection of strong, relevant keywords. How do you find strong, relevant keywords? Yep, you guessed it: keyword research. 

Keyword research for SEO gives you the data to move forward confidently into each new day, each new search, each new algorithm update. Because no matter how often Google’s algorithm evolves, changes, bamboozles, the goal is always the same: 

• To give the searcher exactly what they are searching for. 
• To provide value to the searcher. 
• To meet user demand. 
• To answer user questions. 
• To satisfy user intent. 

Keyword research allows you to do all those things. And by giving your audience exactly what they are looking for, you are giving search engines what they are looking for. The reward? Great rankings ↠ SEO wins ↠ Improved traffic ↠ Better bottom line.

How keyword research has changed for 2019

How has keyword research changed for 2019? The short answer: Keyword research has changed because Google has changed. 

The long answer? 

Google (and their cohorts) have gotten smarter. More focused on user intent. Keyword research for SEO must follow suit. 

Google continues to strive to improve the user experience at every search, and in their effort to spit out the most relevant results for each and every search, results that perfectly match the searcher’s intent, they have gotten smarter. To do this, over the last few years they’ve hit us with the following algorithm updates (amongst others):

Google Panda (2011) – penalized thin, low-quality content and duplicate text

• Google Penguin (2012) – targeted link spam and manipulative link building
• Google Hummingbird (2013) – improved semantic search and focused on search intent
• Google Rankbrain (2015) – started using machine learning to understand how users interact with organic search results and understand the search intent behind each query
• Google Maccabees (2018) – improved the relevancy of search queries

All core algorithm updates which have had a major impact on SEO strategies and keyword research. Updates which sought to improve the quality of online content, banish dodgy link building practices, improve the relevancy of search queries, measure and improve user satisfaction. But do you see the common theme here? All these updates, and no doubt all future updates, are geared towards one thing: an improved user experience. Google wants its customers – your audience – to find exactly what they searched for. 

Which, really, is exactly what you should want too. By updating how you do keyword research, it’s also something you can achieve. Here’s how.

How to do it right, for right now

Instead of trying to keep up with Google and its thousands of annual algorithm changes to search (yes, thousands: in 2018, Google reported 3,234 updates, an average of almost 9 per day!), the key to effective keyword research in 2019 is to go on your own search journey. Search for keywords that really and truly work for your niche, your industry, your business, and your customer. 

This will not only circumvent the need to update your own keyword strategy with every new update – an exhausting thought which is enough to blacken the soul of any SEO, no matter how passionate, but will ensure that your keywords are always relevant and rankable. 

3-Step Keyword Research Process

Your keyword research for SEO for 2019 involves common sense applied to your unique situation and a fairly simple 3-step approach. 

1. Find keywords.
2. Analyze keywords.
3. Use keywords.

Step 1: Find Keywords

We’ve already covered how to find the right keywords for your blog pretty extensively here. This can be applied to any of your online content. 

• Read the blog. 
• Use common sense – what keywords are a natural fit for your brand or business, or the topic at hand?
• Always, always put user intent at top of mind: when researching and choosing keywords to create content around, ask yourself: What is the user searching for (in relation to your industry/niche/topic), and can I fulfill that intent?
  • As a reminder, the four categories of searcher intent are:
    • Navigational intent – users search for a particular website.
    • Informational intent – users search for the answer to a question.
    • Investigational or commercial intent – users search for information that may lead to a transaction.
    • Transactional intent – users search with the intention of actually buying something.

• • Once you know what that intent is, and how your business can fulfill that intent, you can create content containing relevant, intentional keywords to drive users there. To find those intent-driven keywords…
• Use the many, many keyword research tools available. (AnswerthePublic.com is a favourite.)
• Use Google. Go to the source to see what other people are asking in search in relation to your industry and the user intent you’ve already established. Google offers three easy ways to see what others are searching for as soon as you type a query into the search bar: 
  • In an uncanny Google guessing game, ‘Google Suggest’ lists suggestions as you’re typing; 
  • ‘Searches related to [insert your search term here]’ will pop up at the bottom of Google’s SERP once you’ve finished typing your initial query, showcasing other often-searched keyword terms and phrases related to your query; and
  • Google’s ‘People also ask’ section offers a series of long-tail keyword phrases that, well, people also ask a lot on Google. Google has led you to the water, it’s up to you to drink from it.
  • For more data-driven keyword ideas, try Google Keyword Planner on for size. This powerful tool from the source of all search itself provides you with a ton of keyword ideas. Enter an idea into Keyword Planner, and be amazed by the more than 800 Google-relevant suggestions. (It is also a powerful tool to pull out in ‘Step 2: Analyze Keywords’ below, letting you evaluate monthly global and local search volumes for keywords, competition levels, and more.)

• Use your creativity when conducting keyword research for SEO. Try find relevant, valuable keywords that others may not have thought of. Soovle is a great tool for this. Type your keyword or query into their search bar and they’ll come up with a list of suggested keyword ideas from Google, Wikipedia, YouTube, Amazon, Bing, Yahoo and Answers.com – all on one easy-to-read screen.
• Use your current keywords that are already working for you. You can find out which keywords your website is already getting found, and ranked, for. Your Google Analytics account is a good place for this information. Google Console’s Performance Report can also help here by revealing the pages on your site that get the most clicks from search queries – and the keywords that brought them there. 

Step 2: Analyze Keywords

Once you’ve got your list of possible relevant, user-intent-friendly keywords you need to narrow them down to find those that will actually work for you in search engine land. To do this, you can turn to data and analytics. 

• Check out your competition: Head on over to your competitors’ websites to see what keywords they’ve targeted and whether those make sense for your business. Ahrefs Keyword Rank Checker tool can come in handy here. 
• Check search volume, clicks and traffic potential: Review search volume, clicks, and traffic potential of a potential keyword phrase to see how well it might work for you. The free Moz Keyword Explorer tool makes this much easier than you think it might be. Don’t forget to use the power of Google here too – see above note about Google Keyword Planner.
• Check difficulty: Explore how hard it will be to rank for a certain keyword – the higher the keyword difficulty, the harder it will be for your website to rank for the keyword. The SEMRush Keyword Difficulty tool allows you to find keywords with less competition and estimate keyword difficulty instantly.

Step 3: Use Keywords 

You’ve done the research, analyzed the data, made your choice. And the winner is…

Now that you have your focus keyword for a particular piece of content, blog, or website page, it’s time to bite the bullet and use said keyword, or keyword phrase. Some best practices include:

• Use it, don’t abuse it. Never overuse your chosen keyword. Start with a few key places – like the page title, meta description, at least one sub-header, and the first paragraph of your content. Then stop! Read more about where and how to use your keywords in your content here.
• Use various LSI – Latent Semantic Indexing – keywords. Latent what now? LSI is really just the techie term for the search engine equivalent of the thesaurus, referring to a specific mathematical method used by search engines to identify which keywords are semantically related. In other words: search engines will recognize synonyms of your focus keyword. Use them throughout your text wherever they fit naturally.
• Use modifiers to make your root keyword more unique and drive higher search volume specific to your area of expertise and your actual physical area. Modifiers, phrases attached to the beginning or end of your root keyword, are key to local search success. For example, if your root keyword is ‘autobody shop’, then a modifier would be ‘in Vancouver’.
• Use your head. In the SEO version of dance like nobody’s watching, write your content as if Google isn’t watching. If you write about what you know – your business, for the people you want to know – your customers, more often than not you’ll find that your keywords will find their natural, organic fit in your text without you even knowing you put them there.

This really just scrapes the surface of keyword research for SEO. It continues to be an evolving, living, breathing beast, the beating heart of SEO. And while there are hundreds of keyword research tools online to help you tame the beast, it continues to overwhelm with its breadth, depth and magnitude. Which is why if you still need help with your keyword research for SEO for 2019, you are not alone! 1st on the List can help: call 1-888-262-6687 or email us at contact@1stonthelist.ca.

The post Keyword Research For SEO In 2019 – How To Do It And How It Has Changed appeared first on 1st on the List Promotion Inc..

At the end of September 2019, Google had 92.96% of the Search Engine Market Share Worldwide. (statcounter GlobalStats) As a small business, or even a big business, you really need to play nicely with Google, and optimize your ‘Google My Business’ to get anywhere online.

Google My Business is one of the most obvious, and easiest ways to improve how your business performs, and how it appears to searchers, in search results. Yet so many businesses are still failing to make the most of it, obstinately refusing to take the time to make their Google My Business listing as useful and effective as possible. Face, meet palm. Don’t be one of those businesses. Please. Especially not when you’ve got access to our straightforward beginner’s guide to optimizing your Google My Business account.

What is Google My Business?

Google My Business (GMB) is a free, super-easy-to-use tool that can help you manage your business’s online presence and appearance in Google Search and Google Maps.

If you’ve ever searched for a business by name in Google – and really, who hasn’t? – it’s more than likely that you will have seen their GMB listing first. This appears in the form of a ‘knowledge card’ – a snapshot of everything important you need to know about that business front and centre. Because Google is clever like that. On desktop, this shows up at the top of your SERP, on the right hand side of your screen. On mobile, it more often than not takes the top spot, above organic search results.

What exactly does this knowledge card display? Well, if your Google My Business is optimized, the question is more like what doesn’t it display.

Used to its full potential, the knowledge card displays a ton of valuable information, exactly the kind of information you customers want and need to know in order to engage with you. Things like your:

• Business name and type
• Physical address (where applicable)
• Hours of operation
• Phone Number
• Website link
• Images
• Google Maps link for directions to get to you
• Customer reviews and overall star rating
• Related searches
• And more

In short, GMB gives customer pretty much every single piece of information they need about your business to help push them in your direction.

Why Should I Optimize Google My Business?

Why wouldn’t you? 92.96% of the search engine market share. Over 4.5 billion searches per day (as recorded on October 10, 2019 on Internet Live Stats). You want to be a part of those search successes on Google? Go to the source – Google – to ensure you’ve got everything they recommend to get you seen.

The more Google knows about you, the more types of searches your GMB listing can appear in – including that holy grail of search: Google’s 3-Pack, that handy dandy 3-pack of businesses which appears under the map for any local-related search query. For example, search for ‘best plumbers near me’. You see the three businesses that pop up under the map? Nine times out of 10 you’re going to call at least one of those for a quote!

So, to summarize, an optimized Google My Business listing can:

• Increase your visibility in search
• Drive more traffic to your website, social channels, and front door
• Improve your bottom line.

Like we said, why wouldn’t you optimize your GMB listing? #justsaying #nobrainer

How to Optimize Google My Business – 7 Tips

Fortunately, unlike a lot of SEO which, admittedly, can be kind of a brain bomb, optimizing your Google My Business listing is quite easy. No. Really.

Here are our top tips to make the most of your Google My Business account.

1. Complete all your business information

Add your:

• Full business name
• Business category
• Phone number
• Address
• Website link
• Email address
• Hours of operation etc.

And, for the love of all things SEO and Google, add a description of your business. Google gives you 750 characters (~250 characters before the “Read More” separator) to describe your products, services, value, or whatever you want to communicate to your audience. Use them well. The more people know, the more they’ll trust you. Plus, descriptions improve your search rankings in Google.

2. Add your service area

Aside from your physical address, you’re going to want to complete your service area – where applicable. For example, if you’re a plumber, you may have a bricks and mortar location where people can find you. But you don’t really do any plumbing there do you? (Well, there was that one time post-curry… but that’s a story for another day.) You need to tell folks where you offer your services. Enter ‘Service Area’.

Sign in to Google My Business. ➔ From the menu on the left, click Info. (If you have multiple locations, open the location you’d like to manage, then click Info.) ➔ Scroll down to the ‘Add service area’ section, then click Edit. ➔ Enter your service area information. ➔ Click Apply.

3. Add your products/services

Add in the services and/or products you offer. Restaurants can even add their menus.

For some accounts, Google My Business now offers a new feature that lets businesses add collections of products to their listings, rather than services. And for some, GMB offers both. Either way, add yours!

Sign in to Google My Business. ➔ From the menu on the left, click Services and/or Products (Beta). ➔ Follow the instructions for each. ➔ Click Add.

For each product, businesses can display the name of the product, a 1,000 character description, the price, and a photo.

4. Add photos

A picture paints a thousand words and all that. Add authentic photos of your business, staff, products, etc. Update them every month or two. Why? Because, as Google tells us: “Businesses with photos receive 42% more requests for driving directions to their location from users on Google, and 35% more clicks through to their website than businesses that don’t have photos.”

Bonus: Other people can upload images to your Google My Business page too. Encourage your customers to do just that.

5. Respond to reviews – ALL reviews

Customer reviews, the good, the bad, and the ugly, can make or break your business. But only if you ignore them. By responding to all reviews, you can thank customers for their loyalty, deal with any customer issues that may arise, and show anyone reading the reviews that (a) there is a real, live person on the other side of the screen who (b) really cares about their customers’ experience of their business.

Don’t believe us? Check out some of these local consumer review statistics from a Brightlocal survey:

• 85% of consumers trust online reviews as much as personal recommendations
• Positive reviews make 73% of consumers trust a local business more
• 68% of consumers left a local business review when asked
• 30% of consumers say they’ve judged a business based on its responses to reviews

Note: That negative review? The scathing one that lambasted you and decried their inability to give negative stars? With a professional, full response you can turn that troll into a loyal return customer. Don’t turn it into a slinging match; if they are dead wrong, you don’t need to bow to that old chestnut that ‘that the customer is always right, but you shouldn’t turn it into a slinging match. Simply outline your policies clearly if they are wrong; and if they are right tell them how you would like to fix it.

6. Post to Google My Business at least once a week

Even though Google Plus is going, going, gone, dead and buried, Google My Business is only getting better with time, including the addition of Google Posts to that platform. Posts can really help Google know more about you, and reward you for that knowledge with improved search results. You can use posts to promote events, offers, news about your business or your staff, new products, and new content. In other words, post about stuff that is interesting, relevant to your business, and that people will want to know about you.

Bonus: You can also upload video via both Google My Business posts and direct to your GMB page via the photos link in the menu on the left. Do it.

7. Build citations that confirm your NAP information

Wait. Build what? …citations? … to confirm your what?

In simple terms, citations means gathering mentions of your business across the web on other relevant websites and directories (local and otherwise – like GMB, Facebook, Apple Maps etc) that confirm your Name, Address and Phone number (NAP). This is important if you’re hoping to rank well in local organic search results, because Google takes it into account when gathering results for or geo-targeted searches.

You want your NAP citation to include:

• Your name as it appears on all documents and business registration forms
• The best email address for all business queries
• Your company name – don’t deviate. For example, if your company name includes Limited don’t shorten it to Ltd.
• Your exact address as it appears on your mail, including suite or floor number where relevant, city, province, postal code.
• Your phone number – as it appears locally, don’t include international codes etc.
• Your landing page specific to your business’s location – match this to each location you’re building the citation for.

Want more awesome information on how to “Make your business listing awesome” (which is exactly how Google puts it in their abbreviated version of how to optimize your GMB account)? Contact 1st on the List today by calling 1-888-262-6687 or email us at contact@1stonthelist.ca.

The post How to Optimize Google My Business – Beginner’s Guide appeared first on 1st on the List Promotion Inc..

You do need to grow your social media following, otherwise what’s the point of being on social media at all? We’re also here to help you do just that, with our beginner’s guide to increase your social media following.

Why Growing your Social Media Following Matters

The story continues to persist that your social media follower count is nothing more than a vanity metric. While it’s true that this number tells you little about the engagement of your audience or the click through rate of your content, it is still, in fact, a number which can, and does, tell a story about your business and brand.

Your social media follower count matters because:

1. Followers equal trust – the more followers you have, the more people who are new to your brand are going to be inclined to follow you as well. A healthy follower count offers up to others positive social proof that your brand is worth following.
2. Influencers will look at your numbers to determine if they want to partner with you.
3. You care – numbers don’t lie, and this number tells you whether you are succeeding at putting your message out into the world in a way that will influence people (i.e., customers) and win friends (i.e., the kind of customers who will spread the word on your behalf).

We’re talking real followers here. Not the dodgy kind that you can bulk buy by the thousand. (Can anyone say bot?) Quality is what you want when growing your social media following. You want followers who are interested in what you have to say, interested in your products or services, even want to buy your products and services. Engaged followers who like your brand and, even better, want to talk about your brand, the content you’re posting, your products, and your services. 

The only way to build this kind of authentic social media following? Slowly. Patiently. And with our help in the form of tried and true social media strategies.

5 Tried & True Strategies to Grow Your Social Media Following

Here, we reveal our top 5 tricks of the trade to build just this kind of social media following. (No actual dodgy tricks used.)

1. Create high quality content

Write what you know. Write what you truly care about. If your content speaks to you, it will speak to your audience. People don’t want to know what undies you’re wearing. (No really. Unless you’re an underwear company, of course.) Make your posts helpful. Make them relevant to your target market. Make them true to your brand. 

Pro Tip: Everything you need to create beautiful graphics and other content, in just the right size for just the right social media channel, is available to you using online mega-tool Canva.com. No graphic design degree required.

2. Be consistent

If only we had a social media post for every infographic we’ve ever seen telling us exactly how many times to post per day, per week, per year, and exactly which day to post what and what time… well, we’d never have to create another post ever again! 

There is no magic formula for how many times to post on social media and when, but there are some proven posting strategies which can guide you.

• Consistency is more important than frequency when growing your social media following. Be realistic about your time and capabilities, then post as often as you can with those parameters in place. The key is to post quality content as often as you can, but to keep those posts coming consistently rather than sporadically. So, if you can only post quality twice a week do that, rather than posting random, non-relevant poppycock twice a day.
• You need to keep your name, and your message, in front of your followers with content that is recognizably you. Develop a voice, a message, and a key content focus – then work it.
• Don’t post too infrequently or too randomly. Conversely, don’t post too often – your content will turn into social media noise, a nuisance, which will result in losing followers.

And remember, even if you post 50 times a day, it doesn’t mean your posts will all get seen! The different social networks’ all work with different algorithms to put your content in front of users. Engagement and relevance are most important, whereas posting frequency seems to not factor in at all.

Pro Tip: Too vague for you? Okay, we’ll bend enough to give you this overview: 

Facebook ~ Post at least 3-4 times per week, at a time that seems to generate the most engagement for you. (Look at your posting history and platform insights tools to gather that information. Yes, we too have seen all those studies and infographics telling us to post on Facebook at 3pm on a Wednesday or else… sure, that may work for some people but let’s say it all together now: social media, like those undies we were speaking of earlier, is not a one-size-fits-all situation. #dealwithit)

Twitter ~ Post at least once a day, but given that a Tweet has a viewing life of about a split second if you can do more, do more.

Instagram ~ See Facebook. If it’s feasible, though, aim for 1 per day.

LinkedIn ~ Post at least one, thought-provoking, insightful, relevant post per week. This is one of those platforms, though, where if you have nothing interesting or good to say, don’t say it.

3. Choose your channel

You don’t need to be on every social media platform when growing your social media following. Pick a few, then do them well. How to pick? Think about:

• Where are your audience playing? For example, if your target market is teens, you might have to dabble in Snapchat. (Sorry!) Middle-aged professionals float your business? LinkedIn is the channel for you. New moms? Say hello to your new best friend, Pinterest.
• What makes the most sense for your business? Do you sell a product which lends itself to stunning images? Instagram wins hands down. DIY services? Try your hand at short videos – then head for YouTube, Instagram and Facebook.

Pro Tip: Match your content to your channel. Chirpy tweets may appear unprofessional on LinkedIn; all those hashtags you used in your Instagram post are just overkill on Facebook.

4. Go live

Use the power of video when growing your social media following and go live at least once a week! 

Whether it’s on Instagram stories, which disappear after 24 hours, Facebook Live, or Twitter Live with Periscope, both of which stay up as a post/tweet forever, live video is an intensely personal way to interact and engage with your audience. 

More than this, live videos get given preferential treatment, and increased visibility on almost all the social media channels. For example, when you stream a live video through Instagram Stories, your story immediately gets moved to the very first spot in the Stories lineup. YouTube also gives live sessions prime promotion, with a red LIVE badge in the main feed and in recommendations.

Whatever channel you choose to go live on, a couple of tips to maximize the return on your effort: 

• Promote your live video before the time via posts on Twitter or Facebook etc.
• Run your live video for at least 10 minutes. 
• Consider including giveaways or exclusive info in your live stream as an incentive for people to join and listen in. Tease these in any pre-promotions of your live video.

Pro Tip: Use live video for a Q&A with your audience, offering them an intimate space to get immediate answers about your and your brand. This works particularly well on Facebook, where your audience can type their questions right into the comments and you answer them as you go.

5. Engage with every comment, respond to all reviews 

It’s called social media for a reason. You need to get social when growing your social media following.

Respond to all comments, questions, reviews or mentions made by your followers. And we do mean ALL – the good, the bad, and the ugly. By responding to comments etc in a timely fashion, you show that you genuinely care about your followers, and your customers, thereby building trust and deepening connections. Just for reference: nearly 50% of all social media users choose to connect with brands to receive direct responses to queries. And, 78% of people who complain to a brand via Twitter expect a response within an hour (Brandwatch). Our point? You need to connect back – and quickly.

Pro Tip: Why not try starting the conversation? Ask questions. Add your opinions to posts from accounts you follow. Don’t be shy! Give it a try!

Bonus: 5 Hacks to Increase your Social Media Following – Fast

1. Follow others to get your own social media follows

Follow unto others as you would have them follow unto you. In other words, follow influencers and other accounts relevant to your industry, share their content with your followers, contribute your (relevant) two cents to the conversation to get noticed, and they may very well return the favour. 

Pro Tip: Use a tool such as BuzzSumo to find influencers relevant to your industry.

2. Get social with yourself

Cross promote yourself on your own social media channels. For example, if you are hoping to increase your Twitter following, mention your Twitter handle in your Facebook page profile or Instagram bio. 

Pro Tip: Use the force of Instagram for good, and let Instagram push your photos to Facebook at the same time. A BuzzSumo study of more than one billion Facebook posts from three million brand pages found that images posted to Facebook via Instagram received 23% more engagement than natively-published content. 

3. Incentivize

No, we are not advocating buying followers. Yuck. We are saying, though, that a well-placed contest can do wonders for growing your social media following! Throw a contest on any one of your channels and watch the interest in our social media accounts grow!

Pro Tip: Boost the post for $20 to drive more followers.

4. Ask people to follow you

What’s that saying? Ask, and you shall receive. You can simply ask people to follow you (don’t beg!). Facebook, for one, makes it so easy for you to do this. If people like a post of yours, but they don’t yet ‘Like’ your page, Facebook will send you a notification telling you to invite them to like your page. Simply click on the notification, then click on the ‘Invite’ button next to each new prospect. Voila.

Pro Tip: Make use of the various channels’ recommendations on who to follow. Both Instagram and Twitter ‘read’ your content and recommend relevant accounts for you to follow. Do it – and watch the follow-backs trickle in.

5. Connect the dots

Connect your website or blog with your social media pages, allowing website users to click directly to your profile in each social media channel for a quick and easy follow. You can also add social media ‘sharing’ buttons to your content, allowing users to immediately, and easily, share your content to their social media feeds with just the click of a button.

Pro Tip: Consider pulling content from and embedding your social feed right into your site. Instagram, Twitter, Facebook… they all have integration options to showcase your social media content anywhere you choose on your site.

For more information on growing your social media following and how to win at social media marketing, contact 1st on the List today by calling 1-888-262-6687 or email us at contact@1stonthelist.ca.

The post Beginner’s Guide to Growing Your Social Media Following appeared first on 1st on the List Promotion Inc..

Google made the big announcement concerning HTTPS and how its Chrome browser users will start to see your website as follows:

Today we’re announcing that Chrome will gradually start ensuring that https:// pages can only load secure https:// subresources. In a series of steps outlined below, we’ll start blocking mixed content (insecure http:// subresources on https:// pages) by default. This change will improve user privacy and security on the web, and present a clearer browser security UX to users.

Essentially, starting in December, Google will gradually start blocking all mixed content that isn’t secure by default.

What is Mixed Content?

Mixed content refers to sub-resources like images, audio, and videos loading over an insecure http:// connection, despite the website loading on a secure https:// connection. If this is you – you’re not alone. Google states that many https:// pages currently have this problem.

What is the Problem with Mixed Content?

Google Chrome will block mixed content that is loaded insecurely over http:// because they feel that the users’ privacy and security could be threatened.

The examples Google provides is an attacker tampering with a mixed image of a stock chart to mislead investors. Or, a hacker injecting a tracking cookie into a mixed resource load.

In addition to privacy and security issues, mixed content creates a confusing browser user experience. The page isn’t clearly presented as secure or insecure – but somewhere in between. Can your visitors really trust the security of your website when getting these mixed signals?

How Will This Affect My Website?

In a nutshell, Google Chrome will block mixed content, which means that if your images, audio, and videos are loading over an insecure http:// connection they will be blocked.

Essentially, all the hard work you put into creating and selecting great visuals for your website will be wasted as they will be not be viewable by visitors.

The blocking of mixed content is a gradual roll out starting with Chrome 79 in December 2019, followed by stricter actions with Chrome 80 and Chrome 81.

• Chrome 79 – a new setting will allow users to unblock mixed content on specific sites that Chrome currently blocks by default. This is set to replace the shield icon currently in the omnibox.
• Chrome 80 – mixed audio and video resources will be auto upgraded to https:// and will be blocked by Chrome if they fail to upload (ie. if they are insecure).
• Chrome 80 – mixed images will still load but with a “Not Secure” chip in the ominbox to warn users and motivate website owners to transfer their images to https://.
• Chrome 81 – mixed images will also be auto upgraded to https:// and will be blocked by Chrome if they fail to upload (ie. if they are insecure).

Key Takeaways:

1. Chrome users now spend 90% of their browsing time on https:// websites – evidence that your website visitors prefer the secure browsing experience!
2. Before Google Chrome blocks mixed content, all website owners should migrate mixed content to https:// immediately in order to avoid warnings and breakages in the future.
3. You still have time to deal with mixed content – Chrome 79 will launch December 2019 and slowly roll out changes. This means you have about two months to get your website fully secure.

At 1st on the List, we’ve been tracking Google’s stance on Secure HTTPS and discussing security with our clients over the last five years. Since Google Chrome will block mixed content very soon, you need to act now. If you need to go HTTPS for the first time or get rid of Mixed Content on your HTTPS website, we can help! We also offer full service website security and maintenance plans.

Call us at 1-888-262-6687 to find out exactly what is involved for adhering to Google’s requirements before Chrome 79 launches in December 2019.

You can also read the official No More Mixed Messages About HTTPS announcement on Google’s Security Blog.

The post Get Ready! Google Chrome to Block Mixed Content Starting December 2019 appeared first on 1st on the List Promotion Inc..

Blogging is good for SEO, and good SEO is good for business. Yay you. That was the easy part. Now you have to actually write said blog. Where do you even start?

Start with what you know. A topic relevant to your business that you know, inside and out. One that you are passionate about; that you have things – insightful, interesting things – to say about. 

Got that? Good. Now it’s time to move onto your blog keywords: the most important words or concepts you’d like your blog to rank for, the words you think your readers will use when searching online for great articles – like yours is destined to be (we have faith) – on the topic you’re writing about. 

Got that? You think so, huh? Sorry, it’s not that easy. Back away from your those keywords you think are perfect… and rethink everything you ever thought you knew about keywords. It’s a whole new algorithm-riddled world out there. 

Fortunately, we’re here to guide you through all the key principles of keywords and how to choose the right blog keywords for your articles. Helping you get your blog out to just the right people, in all the right places, one keyword at a time.

What are blog keywords and how do they work?

Let’s start with the obvious question: what are keywords anyway, and how do keywords actually work?

Keywords are:

1. Words and/or phrases central to your big blog idea, and
2. Words and/or phrases (target words) that people use when searching online for information on certain topics.

Keywords work: 

When you are able to match numbers 1 and 2 your audience will have an easier time finding your content.

For example: think about how you came to be reading our blog right now. Perhaps you Googled ‘how to choose keywords for blogs’. That’s a long-tail keyword (more about those below). Or something shorter, like ‘blog keywords’ or ‘keywords for blogs’. Either way, you used some specific words (aka. keywords) to search for information about something, and our content matched.

Keyword research allows you to find, and choose, the right blog keywords to make this match.

Are keywords still important for SEO?

A decade ago it was common practice to stuff your blog with as many keywords as possible, then just sit back and let the ranking magic happen. Quality was less of a consideration than the right keyword density – a certain percentage of the same keyword per X number of words. It was a dark, dark time for writers who considered their craft and editorial integrity defiled by numbers and percentages. And they were right! Because today, Google and co. will penalise you for that very same keyword stuffing they once rewarded. 

Since 2011, Google has released three major algorithm updates, all of which focused on rewarding high-quality content over strategic placement of keywords. (As writers around the world rejoiced.) Panda, Penguin and RankBrain have shown that Google is getting smarter and smarter at recognizing truly valuable, pure-of-intent content that genuinely matches what users are searching for. RankBrain in particular, which uses artificial intelligence and machine-learning to measure user satisfaction with content by looking at users’ interaction with search results, means there can be no more deceiving Google with a bit of savvy keyword placement. 

Which leaves many questioning the importance of even using keywords. Are keywords still key? Do they even matter?

Why yes, yes they are, and yes they do. All that’s changed is that Google is forcing us to do better. Write better. We are still being told to use our (key)words. (After all, online users are still searching for information online using specific keywords and phrases, which we need to match.) We’re just being told to use them wisely.

How to choose keywords for blog posts

The key to this wisdom? Common sense. Google. And keyword research. Here, our 3-step process, incorporating all three, for how to choose keywords for your blog posts:

Step 1: Use your common sense

1. If you were searching for information about the topic, product or service you’re blogging about, what would you type into Google?
2. Brainstorm. Ask your friends, your family, your current customers for phrases or keywords they would use when searching online for your products, services or information related to the blog you’re writing about. 
3. Take the 5-second test: without thinking about it, write down five words that sum up what your blog is about. And go. 

This common sense process will leave you with a list of words and phrases you think potential customers might use to search for content related to your blog topic. You can now use this list as a starting point to dive into a more specific and data-driven approach to choosing your final list of keywords which you’re most likely to rank well for. 

Step 2: Use Google

Use the force, ahem, source. When researching and choosing keywords, the most obvious place to start is with Google. 

Google receives over 63,000 searches per second, 3.8 million searches per minute, 228 million searches per hour, and 5.6 billion searches per day. On any given day. (SearchEngineLand).

Meanwhile, as of September 2019, Google also has 92.96% of the search engine market share worldwide. (StatCounter)

Given the above stats, it’s safe to say Google knows a thing or two about search activity. Plus, Google is where you want searches for your topic to rank well. In other words, when (re)searching the keywords you want people to use when searching for your topic, head to the source of all searching.

Using your list of keywords and phrases gathered in Step 1, type each of them into Google. You will notice three things:

1. As you’re typing your phrase into the Google search field, Google will begin guessing what you’re looking for. Much as you like to think that nobody is a mind-reader, that nobody can understand your unique thought-processes, we’re going to have to disabuse you of that notion: Google totally is and totally can! Google is anticipating what you’re looking for, based on the popularity of past searches, and offering you suggestions. Called ‘Google Suggest’, this list of suggestions can offer you key insights into what your keywords should be: these are the popular phrases used to search for information on your topic. 
2. Once you’ve typed in your full keyword/phrase, scroll down to the bottom of Google’s SERP and you will see ‘Searches related to [insert your search term here]. Google is offering up, in the internet equivalent of neon lights, other excellent, oft-used keyword terms and phrases related to your topic. (Bonus round: type in some of those related search terms to find their related search terms.)
3. Once you’ve typed in your full keyword/phrase, you will also see a ‘People also ask’ section either one or two entries below the first result on the SERP. Hello more neon light keyword suggestions.

Step 3: Use keyword research tools and techniques

While Steps 1 and 2 are certainly a part of keyword research, the tools and techniques we’re referring to in Step 3 are more analytical and data-driven.

Keyword research, the more technical kind, is the process of finding and analyzing actual search terms that people use in search engines. The insights you gather can: 

• Help you learn more about your customers overall,
• Inform your content strategy, allowing you to,
• Help you create quality content that actually meets your potential reader’s/customer’s expectations, and
• Inform your bigger picture marketing strategy.

Keyword research involves:

Studying the competition

This can be as simple as making a list of your main competitors – you know who they are – and heading on over to their websites, incognito, to see what keywords they are targeting. You can glean this information just by reading their content, focussing on Title tags, headers, sub-headers and metatags for a quick and easy overview. 

Want to go full spy? Use one of the many tools available to dig out your competitors’ keywords in all their fascinating fullness. Two great tools to start with are:

SEMRush ~ SEMRush has a number of free reports that show you the top keywords for the domain you enter. You can search by keyword or URL, and with a bit of clicking around can find an absolute wealth of information including organic keywords, average organic position in the SERP, approximate search volume, the keyword’s difficulty (how hard it will be to rank for that specific keyword), average CPC, trend data over time, and more.

Ahrefs ~ Although Ahrefs is not free, it is an industry-legend when it comes to all things SEO. Their keywords tools are no different. They have three core tools to check keyword rankings: Site Explorer shows every keyword the website or web page in question ranks for; Rank Tracker tracks ranking progress for up to 10,000 keywords over time; and Keywords Explorer unveils useful data about the current top-ranking pages for any keyword.

(Note: Both SEMRush and Ahrefs offer a ton of other keyword related functionality, which we will review below.)

What to do with the info and competitor keywords you find?

1. If your competitor is ranking for certain keywords that are on your list, you need to make sure your content does a better job of ranking for those.
2. Are your competitors ignoring some of the keywords on your list? Don’t throw them out prematurely! This could be a great opportunity for you to own the SERPs for some different terms related to your topic.
3. Are your competitors ranking for keywords that aren’t even on your list? You don’t have to copy them – if it makes sense for your content, then by all means use your competitor’s keyword knowledge to add to your keyword list, but don’t try massage your content to include keywords which just don’t work for you.

Understanding keyword types

It is important to research and study the different keyword types you can choose from.

• Head or seed keywords are usually just 1 or 2 words – these tend to have a high search volume and can be difficult to rank for.
• Body or modifier keywords are 2 to 3 word phrases with a good search volume – the ‘meh’ category of keywords.
• Long tail keywords consist of three to four-word (or more) phrases. These tend to have a low search volume, because they are so specific, but lower search volume isn’t a bad thing. These also yield the most relevant traffic, which means this is where you can really shine in search.

Let’s look at these in practice, using the topic of “keywords”:

A search for “keywords” will yield millions of search results;

A search for “keywords for blogs” will yield hundreds of thousands of results;

A search for “keywords research tools for blogs” will yield the smallest number of results, but results which are the most specific and the most helpful.

Long tail keywords, the longer phrases, add context to search terms, and context adds value. 

Understanding searcher intent

To really key in on the keywords which will do the most for you, you need to key in on the keywords which will do the most for your user. In other words, to find keywords that really, really work, you need to understand the intent of the searcher who uses them. Searcher intent can be one of four categories:

1. Navigational intent – users search for a particular website.
2. Informational intent – users search for the answer to a question.
3. Investigational intent – users search for information that may lead to a transaction.
4. Transactional intent – users search with the intention of actually buying something. 

By tailoring your keyword strategy to what the user actually wants to do (and what you want them to do at the end of reading your content) you can drive the right sort of traffic towards your blog.  

Checking for keywords that are already working for you

Instead of trying to invent the wheel, why not build on keywords that are already working for you? Find out which keywords your website is already getting found, and ranked, for. 

Your Google Analytics account is a good place for this information. But if GA makes your head spin (don’t worry, you’re not alone) Moz’s Keyword Explorer tool is a really user-friendly place to start! Simply type your website URL into Keyword Explorer, select the country where you audience is based, click the search button, see your top ranking keywords. Not only will you see all the keywords your site is ranking for, but you’ll see the Difficulty and Monthly Search Volume ranges for those keywords. Bonus: this tool also allows you to find ranking keywords for your competitors’ sites.

Using keyword research tools to find new keywords

Still at a loss as to what keywords you think may work for you? There are so many keyword research tools out there to help you. So many. As long as you have a topic in mind, these tools can help you decipher the best keywords for that topic. 

Google Keyword Planner ~ Let’s start, as always, with Google. Although this tool was created to serve marketers using Google’s PPC ad platform, you can create an account even if you never plan to create a single ad. Google Keyword Planner lets you evaluate monthly global and local search volumes for keywords, competition levels, and provides you with a ton of keyword ideas. Enter an idea into Keyword Planner, and this powerful tool will return up to 800 suggestions pulled from Google’s (obviously massive) database. It will also give you related keywords, and their search volumes, for your consideration. Flag keywords that have a ton of search volume, as well as those that have very little to no search volume, and make sure those aren’t important players in your list of potential keywords. 

Google Trends ~ Sticking with Google, you can check trends and behaviours of your potential keywords over a certain time period. So, for example, one of your keywords may work well over summer, but perform dismally in winter (don’t we all?). In this way you can tailor your keyword usage to certain times when they will work best for you.

KeywordTool.io ~ Think of Keyword Tool as Google Suggest on steroids. This free tool generates up to 750+ long-tail keyword suggestions for every search term you type into the search bar. The best part? You don’t even have to create an account. 

Answerthepublic.com ~ The best blogs answer questions already being posed by users online. Answer the Public allows you to find those questions which, in turn, allows you to give exactly the right answers. Answer the Public spits out questions currently being asked online for every topic, providing you with your answer to what pressing questions you need to answer for your public around that topic. You can also then use those questions as the basis for your long-tail keywords. 

Ahrefs Keyword Explorer ~ Coming out of the mothership of all things SEO, Ahrefs Keyword Explorer allows you to discover thousands of great keyword ideas, review their search volumne, analyze their ranking difficulty and calculate their traffic potential. Amongst other things. 

SEMRush Keyword Magic Tool ~ Aside from their great name (who doesn’t love a magic tool?), the SEMRush Keyword Magic Tool offers up over 2 million keyword ideas (overachiever much?); allows you to segment your keywords by topic using Keyword Grouping; pick the best keywords and save them in Keyword Analyzer; create up to 50 target keyword lists and more. Meanwhile, their Keyword Difficulty tool allows you to find keywords with less competition and estimate keyword difficulty instantly. 

Where to Use Keywords in Content

Now that you’ve conducted the research, used the tools, and found a vast array of keyword options, you have to choose. Make the cut. Take your pick. 

Then use them. 

Without ever resorting to keyword stuffing, there are a few strategic places to use the chosen ones, the keywords you’ve selected to make the grade:

1. Page Title: this refers to both the actual title of your blog and the SEO title – the title which shows up in search results as the clickable link.
2. Meta Description: this is the description that appears below the clickable link in SERPs. If you don’t use an SEO tool, this will be automatically generated using the first 160 characters of your content, so that’s a good place to use keywords too.
3. Sub-headers: these are H1s and H2s within the body of your content. 
4. URL: your URL is likely one of the first places bots are going to crawl, so this is more for the search engines than your readers (which goes against everything we’ve been saying) but it is still worthy. 
5. Image alts: this refers to the alternative text you use to describe images in your blog. If your images don’t load, users can still ‘see’ the picture in question by reading the description.

But remember, and we cannot overstate this enough: make your content natural and don’t use keywords where they aren’t an organic fit. Plus, there’s no need to use an exact match keyword all the time – Google understands, and likes, synonyms. The thesaurus is your friend. Use it.

The case against keywords

Finally, there is a case to be made for not focusing on keywords at all. 

Don’t write with keywords in mind. Write with the reader in mind. Write with your own passionate interest in a topic in mind. Write with your heart. The end result will be relevant content, quality content, and that is better than any keyword. 

Besides, if you write about a topic you know, and love, at the end of it all you’ll likely find that your keywords are in there at the end of it all, without you even thinking about it. And those naturally-come-by keywords are the best keywords of all. 

For more information on keyword research and creating content that kills it at the keyword game, contact 1st on the List today by calling 1-888-262-6687 or email us at contact@1stonthelist.ca.

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Either way, influencers have been in the market for as long as people have been trying to sell stuff. Santa Claus helped sell Coca Cola back in the Thirties. In the Nineties, Joey from Friends helped a Japanese firm sell Ichiban lipstick for men. (Yes, we are entirely aware that Friends wasn’t real life, but we stand by this example.) In the Noughties, Grumpy Cat influenced millions to buy everything from cat food, to clothing, to soft toys. (And nobody could blame us… that cat!)

But who, exactly, are these ‘influencers’? What, exactly, do they do? And why does your business need them?

The short answer?

Who: An influencer, social media or otherwise, is a content creator who is recognized as an authority in a particular industry or niche.

What: By virtue of their authenticity, following and reach, an influencer can influence their audience, and oftentimes a huge audience at that, to act (buy something/do something) based on their say-so.

Why: 1. Word of mouth has always been a powerful tool to help promote businesses. Think of influencers as word of mouth on steroids. 2. Getting someone well-known, and trusted, in your niche or industry to endorse your products or services – gladly and of their own free will (even if it is compensated) – to a relevant, massive, eager audience, can boost your traffic, conversions and sales.

The long answer? Read on for everything you need to know about the who, what and why of influencer marketing, as well as exactly how it can help you grow your business.

What is influencer marketing?

Remember that time you bought a pair of jeans because your sister had a pair and convinced you they were the best booty-boosting jeans ever? Or the same watch as your best friend, because he told you it tick-tocked better than any watch he’d ever owned?

We jest, but in all seriousness, we’ve all bought something before because someone we liked, trusted and admired used or owned that very same something.

Influencer marketing works on this exact logic, and the knowledge that all of us trust our friends, peers, and people we admire more than the companies selling us stuff.

Quite simply, influencer marketing is the strategy of:

• using a well-known, well-respected, admired and trusted content creator
  • already operating in your specific niche (i.e., they already have a following made up of your ideal audience),
    • on a variety of digital channels (social media, blogs, etc.)
      • to help get your brand message to, or product noticed by, your target market.

You partner with influencers to leverage their influence over others to improve brand awareness; increase your own following; increase traffic to your website; and ultimately boost sales.

Who would be an ‘influencer’?

Of course, you have your celebrity influencers. Celebrity endorsements of products and services continue to play a big role in marketing and advertising. (Pre-Matthew McConaughey, had you ever even looked at a Lexus? You can tell us the truth!) But celebrity influencers are in a class of their own and, to be truthful, closer to ‘advertising’ than influencer marketing. Well, in our books anyway.

For the purposes of this article, we are not talking about celebrity influencers (no matter how tenuous their grip on true celebrity – hello Kendall Jenner.) Instead, we’re talking about your average, garden variety digital influencer: online content generators, like you and me, only with nothing garden variety about them.

As owners of their own personal brands, influencers have established themselves as thought leaders and trusted advisors in a specific industry or niche. They have built up huge, dedicated and engaged audiences on their online channel of choice (social media, blog etc), with whom they share said thoughts, knowledge and recommendations. And by some charismatic quirk of fate, they have an uncanny ability to influence that mass following to like what they like, do what they do, wear what they wear, eat what they eat, and so on and so forth.

Note: Good influencers, the kind you want to work with, genuinely believe in their own personal brand and niche and, if will only work with you if they genuinely believe in your brand, product or service. Those who are willing to collaborate with anyone for a quick buck are also the ones who are likely buying likes and followers. Back away. (Keep reading to find out how to spot a spammer.)

Why should you consider adding influencer marketing to your marketing strategy?

We’re going to let you sit with these influencer marketing statistics for a bit.

1. 49% of consumers today depend on influencer recommendations for their purchase decisions. (Digital Marketing Institute)
2. 80% of marketers say influencer marketing is effective for their businesses, and 35% say it’s very effective. (MediaKix)
3. 89% of businesses say their ROI from influencer marketing is comparable to or better than other marketing channels. (MediaKix)
4. Influencer marketing delivers 11x higher ROI than traditional paid advertising. (MediaKix)
5. 82% of consumers said they were highly likely to follow a micro-influencer recommendation on a product or service. (MarketingDive)
6. 71% of marketers say the quality of customers and traffic from influencer marketing is better than other sources. (MediaKix)
7. 86% of women use social media for purchasing advice. (Digital Marketing Institute)
8. 74% of people trust social networks to guide purchasing decisions. (Digital Marketing Institute)
9. 60% of consumers have been influenced by social media or blog while shopping at a store. (Digital Marketing Institute)

Suffice to say, given the right influencer, who:

• is already in the relevant market,
• already has great reach with an established, engaged audience on social media, blog or other online channels, and
• already resonates with your audience…

why wouldn’t you?

5 ways influencer marketing can help you grow your business

Influencer marketing can help boost your business in 5 key ways:

1. Influencer marketing can reach new audiences

For influencers to qualify as influencers, they need to have an audience to influence. Influencers have large (sometimes supersized) social media networks and followers, with audiences ranging from thousands into the millions. What’s more, since influencers tend to have gotten to where they are through intensely personal posts sharing details about common interests, their audiences are engaged. Invested. By working with an influencer in your market, you get to tap into this massive, engaged, invested audience. New invested audience equals new leads equals potential new sales and conversions.

Top tip: Make sure you choose an influencer already creating content in a niche market relevant to your brand. The audience may be new to your brand, but the topic/product/service in question shouldn’t be a stretch for the influencer they are following. It needs to be a natural fit for their personal brand and niche market.

2. Influencer marketing can build customer loyalty – quickly

By introducing yourself, and your business, to new audiences through an influencer, somebody they already know, love and trust, you are providing immediate context and credibility for your brand. They don’t have to know you to love you – they can skip to that good stuff immediately by virtue of the fact that they know and love the person ‘vouching’ for you. In this way, customer loyalty is built quickly and effectively.

Top tip: Brands working with influencers often collaborate by offering their, now mutual, audience discount coupon codes, customized specifically for that influencer and that collaboration. Incentivizing customers with a discount for a product validated by someone they trust builds customer loyalty faster than you can say incentivize.

3. Influencer marketing can yield a higher ROI

This bears repeating: 89% of businesses say their ROI from influencer marketing is comparable to or better than other marketing channels. (MediaKix), with influencer marketing delivering 11 times higher ROI than traditional paid advertising. (MediaKix) As a rule, influencer marketing campaigns are low cost, mostly due to the fact that if your brand is an organic fit with an influencer’s ‘brand’, they won’t ask for much to endorse it. Some influencers will love and believe in your brand so much they’ll work with you simply for the cost of a sample product! The result: low cost + effective advertising = big return on investment.

Top tip: For the best results from your investment, work with influencers playing with these three most effective content formats: Instagram Posts (78%), Instagram Stories(73%), and YouTube Videos (56%). (MediaKix)

4. Influencer marketing can beat ad blocking technology

Because influencers only work with brands they believe in, endorsing products and services they would genuinely use and recommend, their posts, on whatever platform, are generally considered trustworthy and ‘organic’. (Even though, by law, they must label that post as ‘sponsored’.) As such, influencer posts are able to escape those pesky things called ad-blockers. And these days, with 40% of customers using ad-blocking technology (Marketing Land), finding new, organic and engaging ways to share your brand message with the public is crucial.

Top tip: By creating content that is a natural, organic fit with an influencer’s brand, you are not only beating ad blockers, you are avoiding potential ad annoyance by your potential customer. Think like your audience. Always. Will this content annoy the audience? Will they lose faith in the influencer they’ve always looked to for recommendations?

5. Influencer marketing can boost sales and drive conversions

To recap: Influencer marketing can help you boost your business by leveraging your chosen influencer’s good standing with their trusting audience to:

• Expand your reach to an already engaged, relevant audience;
• Build brand trust and strengthen brand messaging through the authentic endorsement of the influencer; and ultimately
• Gently nudge consumer buying decisions in your direction, courtesy of their trusted advisor’s influence, thus boosting sales and driving conversions.

How to find influencers

Now that you know what they are and why you should work with them, the big question is ‘who’ exactly is the influencer you should be working with. How do you find the right influencer to work with?

The answer is obvious: you’ll find them in their own backyard. Online.

Use influencer software: It seems crazy, but influencer software – technology and software designed specifically to help businesses find influencers (and judge them) – is a thing. Influencer marketing has become that important! Try Buzzsumo, Mention, upFluence or BuzzStream on for size. Tools like these allow you to research influencers, identify key influencers popular in your desired target audience, review influencer interactions and engagement metrics, measure their success – by content and platform, and more.

Do a Google: Thank Google for Google, eh?! Google industry-related terms and keywords to find frequently mentioned experts, thought leaders, content contributors in your niche market. You’ll find that certain names will keep appearing on industry-specific sites, blogs and other web pages.

Search social media: Search your competitors’ social media platforms for sponsored content to see which influencers they are collaborating with. You can also search for hashtags, keywords and phrases, specific users, and tagged audience members to see who’s posting what, who’s collaborating where and with who, and who’s kind of a big deal.

Ask someone: Ask your industry friends (frenemies?), team and colleagues, even your current social media audience who they are following and who they’ve partnered with in the past.

Ask yourself: Once you’ve identified a few key influencers within the right industry, you then need to ask yourself a few questions:

• Does this influencer fit my brand image?
• Does my product fit their brand image?
• Is their audience my dream audience?
• Is my dream audience even on their favoured content channel?
• Does this influencer partner with any brand who will throw them a freebie or some cash? (Just scroll through their content and the answer to this will quickly become clear. If it’s a yes, back away.)

How to spot a scammer

Some influencers buy followers and likes. They even buy comments. True story. Here are a few simple tips to spot a scammer.

Look at their followers for the following warning signs:

• Keep an eye on how many followers they have that don’t have a profile photo.
• Check their followers’ Instagram handles – do you see a lot of random letter/number combination handles?
• Does the number of followers seem excessive in comparison to their number of posts? For example, if they’ve only posted 100 photos, but have 1 million followers, that doesn’t ring true, does it?

Pry deeper into posts:

• Do the comments on posts seem genuine? Poor grammar, robotic language. It’s easy to spot a bot comment, trust us. You’ll know it when you see it.
• Do all their posts seem to be some sort of plug?
• Do they post frequently?
• Are their posts consistent in tone and subject?

At risk of trying to influence you, by now we think it’s safe to say you’ve probably seen the value in influencer marketing. It’s little wonder that the influencer marketing industry is expected to hit $10bn by 2020. (Digital Marketing Institute) Still not entirely sure how to make the most of this increasingly go-to marketing strategy though? We can help. For more information on how to leverage influencer marketing to boost your business, contact 1st on the List today by calling 1-888-262-6687 or email us at contact@1stonthelist.ca.

General FAQs About Influencer Marketing

The post How Can Influencer Marketing Help You Grow Your Business? appeared first on 1st on the List Promotion Inc..

1. Make sure your content is written with the mobile-user in mind.

Great SEO copy that can help lead to more leads and sales include:

• Mobile-friendly headlines
• Answers to top questions
• Local search keywords

Mobile visitors are viewing your website on a smaller screen size and are typically “on the go” with less time to sift through your content. Once you think you have your content right, move away from your desktop and take time to read your website on your phone. With SEO for lead generation and sales in mind, you may notice ways to improve your website content for mobile visitors!

2. Make sure all header tags are optimized.

Integrate proper H1, H2, and H3 SEO optimized titles to establish hierarchy. This will make it easier for your visitors to skim the content for the information that is most important to their needs. These header tags make it easier for your visitors (especially mobile visitors) to skim and understand your content. They also help the Search Engines to better understand what information is on your page. This SEO for lead generation strategy will help the search engines to properly rank your website and send the right visitors your way.

3. Make sure you reoptimize and update old content.

Why reinvent the wheel? Update old and dated site content to keep it fresh and current. This SEO for lead generation strategy is an effective way to help increase organic traffic…some studies suggesty by as much as 111%. Start by adding new information, updating statistics, and integrating answers to reader’s comments left in the comment section. You can also add in new links or update old links.

Start Generating New Leads Today!

Not sure how to implement these SEO strategies on your own? Let our 1st on the List team of Content and SEO Experts are here to help you with SEO for lead generation.

We are a Canadian SEO company near Vancouver Bc and listed as #3 in DesignRush’s list of local and global SEO companies! View the full article here.

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