Step 5: Analytics (Measuring your results)

After you have made your website live the first thing you should to do is install Google Analytics www.google.com/analytics (or a similar program). I like Google Analytics for a few reasons. First, it’s completely free and second, you can gather a ton a data on the traffic to your website.

When you log into Google Analytics you’ll see a graph showing the traffic for each day. This is great to get a brief overview of how much traffic your website is receiving, but doesn’t give you a ton of data as to where people are coming from or what they are viewing. Click on the tab called Visitors. You will then see much more detail about your viewers on the site including the number of unique visitors, bounce rate, time on site and new visits. Each of these sections can be clicked on to get additional data.

The next section I will review is the Traffic Sources tab. This tab gives me a quick overview of where people are coming to my site from, whether it be search engines, direct traffic or referring sites. As with the visitors tab you can click on each of the sections to gather more detail about each site or search engine. If you drill down into a specific website you can see how many visits came to your site for a particular day.

Next you want to look at your Keywords tab. This tab will show you the list of keywords that people are using to find your website. Google has now implemented a new security feature where if someone is logged into their Google account and search, their search phrase will not be provided to you, you will see (not provided) as one of your keywords. You currently cannot gather any information from those phrases. This is where you can see if the keywords you have chosen for your website are working properly. As before, clicking on a keyword will give additional detail such as number of times someone found you for a specific phrase.

Finally I will review the Content tab. This section shows you the amount of traffic that each specific page on the site is driving. If you are using a landing page for an advertising campaign you can see from this section if your ads are working. You can also see if people are not following to a certain point on your site, such as a check-out page. If your customers are not flowing to where you want them you may need to revise your on-site content to help drive them to the correct locations.

As you can see Google Analytics can supply a ton of information about your website. Even just scratching the surface you can gather powerful information about your company’s website and find places to make improvements. Google Analytics has a great help section as well if you have additional questions on what you are looking at.

So to recap, you should always install some sort of traffic monitoring software on your website, personally I like Google Analytics for the amount of data you can gather for free. Review your stats on a consistent basis such as weekly or monthly. Remember that your traffic will go up and down on a variety of factors such as time of year, economy etc.

If you have additional questions feel free to email me at eric@mltgroup.com.

5 Steps to Improving Your Search Engine Rankings : Part 5 is a post from: MLT Group - Creative Solutions - Industry News Column

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Step 4: Off-site Optimization

We’ve come to probably the most important aspect of your website search engine optimization campaign, off-site optimization. This is where the majority of any search engine optimizer will spend their time. While on-site optimization is done at the front-end of an SEO campaign the off-site optimization is what is keeping you moving up the ranks. Referring to our swimming upstream analogy before, the off-site optimization is the paddling keeping you moving forward. On-site optimization would be getting you in the boat and casting off.

While the off-site optimization can be the most difficult and tricky part of the search engine optimization campaign, I will help you through some of the most common issues.

Link Exchanges.
Most people think that a link exchange (where I put a link on my website to yours and you put a link on your website to mine) are great things. I’m getting a link to mine and helping someone else. They can be helpful especially if you’re getting a link from a well respected site (ex: technorati.com). However if both sites have a low page rank this can actually hurt as your links will “bleed page-rank”, basically meaning that you are passing page-rank from your site to someone else and canceling out the effect. What you want to get are one-way incoming links to your website. These are much more effective as you are stating to Google “I am a good quality resource on this topic. Others have linked to me because of it.” The more one-way incoming links you can get to your site the better, however this leads us to the next topic.

Poor Quality Links.
If you have been researching how to generate links back to your website you may have seen links or ads directory submission services. While you can get a ton of back-links to your site quickly, they are generally of lower quality and Google won’t pay as much attention to them. If your link profile (the break down of links on your site) is skewed heavily towards the low quality sites it will take considerably more links to compete with someone who has a better link profile. For example a website with links from 0 and 1 page-rank sites can need 10-100 times more links than a site getting links from websites with a page-rank of 9 or 10. These 9 and 10 page-rank sites are extremely difficult to get links from as they tend to be universities, governments and large social networking sites like Facebook. I would suggest focusing your efforts on acquiring links from sites with a page-rank of 3 or better.

Bad Neighbors.
Having a website is like having a brick and mortar store, you want to make sure that your neighbors are quality people. This is a bit more difficult in the world of web as you don’t technically have a “neighbor”, however you want to make sure that if you are linking to another website that it is reputable. By reputable I am referring to sites that offer good quality content, are free from viruses and are not linking to other bad neighbors.

With all of the things not to do you are probably wondering “What is a good off-site search engine optimization strategy?” Asking any search engine optimizer and you’ll probably get as many answers as questions asked. However there are few things that all of us agree on.

Good Quality Back-links.
A good quality back-link can be priceless to a search engine campaign. Generally these high quality back-links require work on your end to foster a relationship with the website owner. These types of links can come from industry specific journals or blogs, distributors or educational resources. You generally cannot simply ask the website owner to link to you (unless you are a well known company), you will need to become an active member on their website. Show that you are an expert in a field and you may receive a link.

Write Good Content.
This goes without saying for anything you do online. Writing good quality content is always a great way to gain links to your website. If you have a blog (which would be on-site optimization) people may put a link to it naturally on their site as your information explains the subject exactly right. You can also solicit the industry websites you are active in and offer to be a guest contributor. These websites are usually looking for great content and having an experts view on it can give you a lot of exposure.

Be Social.
Social media and social networking is here to stay. Be sure that you fully utilize your online profiles. Be sure that what you are posting to these places is interesting and informative, not a sales pitch. Your social followers are much more fickle than the general website searcher as they are inviting you into their profile. Be respectful and don’t bombard them with posts. Unless your company has a lot of news, posting once a week or so would be ideal. You want to keep your users aware of your business but not get annoyed with you.

Press Releases and Articles.
Both press releases and articles have their place in a well rounded search engine optimization campaign. Each of them have their own specific rules which you can find on their websites. Generally articles are not viewed as important because of the huge amount of garbage articles that have been submitted over the years, however there are a few good article directories still available. Press releases are a great way to toot your own horn. You can describe your company, services and offerings all you want in them, just make sure it is newsworthy. Most press release services will charge a fee for submitting your release but for this fee your press release is getting submitted to actual news organizations such as the AP, large market newspapers and high profile bloggers.

So to recap, your off-site optimization should be done on a consistent basis. Gathering a ton of back-links at once and then never looking at it again will give you a short boost but you won’t maintain your rankings. Always write good content. The same idea applies to websites as when you were in school, if you are using someone’s information be sure to credit them, or rewrite it in your own words. Google is extremely efficient at tracking duplicate content. Be a good online neighbor and social friend. Link to people who you feel do a good job and you will tend to receive the same. As for social media don’t over post. You don’t want to be de-friended.

5 Steps to Improving Your Search Engine Rankings : Part 4 is a post from: MLT Group - Creative Solutions - Industry News Column

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Step 3: Your On-Site Optimization

Any search engine optimizer will tell you that the most important part of SEO is your off-site optimization strategy (covered next week), however your on-site optimization is still crucial to being found for your products and services. Think of it this way: if you don’t put what you do on your website how will the search engines know what you do.

Your on-site website optimization goes hand-in-hand with a search engine friendly website architecture (covered last week). If your website architecture is properly constructed your on-page efforts will be much more successful. There are a few HTML tags to optimize properly that are a must for every page on your website, they include the “title” tag, “meta description” tag and “h1” tag. I’ll go into detail about each one below.

The title tag of your website (also called the meta title) is the first thing a search engine will see to understand what that specific page is about. The title tag is what shows up at the very top of your browser window and is used when someone bookmarks your page. Having a well written title tag should be common sense if you are wanting your page to come up for that keyword, however many people overlook this and leave the default “Untitled Page” text in it. This is great if you want to rank for “untitled page” however I doubt that is what you want.

You might be asking yourself, “How do I write a good title tag?”, well there are few rules you should follow:

• First: Be Concise. You only have 70 characters that the search engines will respond to, so make them count.
• Second: Include Your Keyword. I can’t stress this enough, if you want to come up for “blue rolling widgets”, by all means put “blue rolling widgets” in your title tag. This won’t necessarily make you come up number 1 for that phrase but you’ll be in the running.
• Third: Include Synonyms. If people search for “blue rolling widgets” you can also try variations on those words such as “rolling widgets” “blue widgets” etc. Each of those are words that your potential customers may search for.
• Fourth: Be Local. If your business is locally based include your location. Most people that are searching for a local service or product will put in the region they want to find it in. Adding a local identifier to your title tag greatly increases your chances of getting found locally.
• Fifth: Don’t Duplicate. If at all possible never duplicate a title tag on your website. This confuses the search engines when serving up searches to your website.

Next you should focus on the Meta Description tag. This tag is located in the head of the website. This tag doesn’t directly affect your page ranking as the title tag will, however it gives a nudge to Google as to what the page is about in case of a conflict return results. For example if you have two pages on your website talking about “blue widgets” and someone does a search for buying blue widgets. Google may not display the correct page because both pages are about the same topic. However if you populate your meta description tag properly the search engines will take that into consideration and display your buying blue widget page rather than a product detail page.

Again you may be asking yourself “What does a proper meta description tag look like?”, and just like the title tag there are some rules to follow:

• First: Be Concise. Again you have a limited amount of characters to use, about 150 for the description tag. The description tag gives you more flexibility with your writing as you can write in complete sentences.
• Second: Be Informational. Be sure to describe what someone would see on the page. For our blue widget example above our meta description tag could look something like this: “Buy blue widgets from ABC company, a provider of blue widgets to Anytown USA since 1988”.
• Third: Don’t Duplicate. If at all possible write a unique description tag for every page on your website. This helps tell Google what each page is about and gives them the ability to offer your customers the correct information.

The next tag you should focus on would be your H1 tag. The H1 tag is similar to the chapter heading in a book. It tells you what the entire section is about. H2 – H6 tags are for sub-headings and breaking up content logically on the page. From what I have seen the H1 tag has similar power as the title tag in the ranking algorithms of Google and other search engines, so having a well optimized title tag is important.

As with the title tag and meta description tag you may be asking yourself “How do I write an H1 tag?”, similar to the title and meta description tag the H1 tag also has some rules to apply:

• First: Only One Time. Each page on your site must contain only one H1 tag. If you cannot describe the entire page with one overall idea you need to split your content into additional pages until that can be completed. Sub-headings are great to use and give direction as to what is important on the pages.
• Second: Be Concise. The H1 doesn’t have a limit per-se however people should easily be able to tell what the page is about by reading it. I try to keep my H1 tags around the same length as the title tag.
• Third: Include Your Keyword. As with the title tag leaving the H1 tag blank or not including one on your site is hurting your chances at ranking well for your desired keyword.
• Fourth: Don’t Duplicate. This actually is important for two reasons, you don’t want to have the same H1 tag across multiple pages and you don’t want to just copy your web page title tag. The H1 tag should compliment your title tag.

So to recap, your on-site website optimization is a critical step in making sure you are well optimized. Having well written title, description and H1 tags give Google a good understanding of what your website is about, making it easier for them to give your users the correct page on your website. Since the title and H1 tags are both factored into the search engine algorithms using them properly is of great importance.

5 Steps to Improve Your Search Engine Rankings : Part 3 is a post from: MLT Group - Creative Solutions - Industry News Column

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Step 2: Your Website Structure

If you are starting with a brand new website, making sure your website is built in a search engine friendly architecture is an important piece of the puzzle to get right. Be sure your code is clean and concise. Google, just like people, will read and follow your the information on your website more often if the content is laid out in a straightforward manner.

When referring to a “search engine friendly architecture” I’m mainly talking about how the code is written on the actual pages. To see what the search engines are viewing go to the top of your browser, click on View then Page Source. Ideally you should be able to read through the code and have a basic understanding of where the parts of your website are, such as the navigation, content and images. If your code is difficult to read and follow, the search engines will have a more difficult time as well.

Your website should validate at W3C (http://validator.w3.org/) although this is not completely necessary for good rankings, it does help with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) compliance and ensuring your code is well formatted. Some 3rd party tools such as Facebook plug-ins and Javascript use code that is not part of the standard HTML library and can cause the page to not validate. Don’t worry about correcting these issues as they provide other functionality you are looking to keep.

One of the most important areas of a website that developers tend to overlook is the website “head” <head>…</head>. In between the head tags is where your page contains its Javascript, CSS and META tags for the page. Since the data in these tags doesn’t show up on the actual display of the website this area tends to get ignored and can become unnecessarily large. All CSS and Javascript code should be referencing external files. This not only speeds up the load time of the website (which is becoming more important to Google’s algorithms) it also makes editing the code later easier.

To load your CSS from an external file your code should look something like this:

<link href="/path-to-css-file/filename.css" rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" />

A similar approach should be done with any Javascript on your site. The code for loading a Javascript file should look something like this:

<script language="javascript" src="/path-to-js-file/filename.js" type="text/javascript"></script>

As with everything there are exceptions to the rule, plug-ins usually cannot but included in an external file, you will need to place them in the code where you want the plug-in to display.

Finally we come to the meat of the website, the body tag <body>…</body>. Between these two tags is what your visitors will see on screen. This is also where the majority of your on-site SEO will take place. In keeping with a search engine friendly architecture your site should make proper use of the HTML tags.

Rather than building your website with tables you should use div tags modified with CSS (CSS based layouts). Although tables can produce a similar result on screen as a CSS based layout, the code to create the same functionality with a table can be 3-4 times as large. While this may not seem like a big deal for a small page, but if you have a lot of tables or complex nested tables your page size can grow out of control quickly. Remember: the more code a page has the longer it will take to load, affecting its results in the search engines.

Be sure to understand and use the text modifications tags properly, such as “H1-H6”, “em” and “strong”. Each of these tags have their place in the site and should not be used just to decorate the text. If you need to make the text a different size, do that through your CSS file.

So to recap, your website needs to have a good foundation for your search engine optimization efforts to be most successful. You can build a building on sand but it won’t be as sturdy as if you built it on stone. The same applies to your website, a good foundation makes it easier for the search engines to read and understand your site.

5 Steps to Improve Your Search Engine Rankings : Part 2 is a post from: MLT Group - Creative Solutions - Industry News Column

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Step 1: Keyword Research – What are people searching for?

If you’re like most people you get excited about a project and jump into it before doing all of the prep-work necessary to make it a success. The same rule applies to search engine optimization, there is a lot of prep-work necessary before jumping into optimizing your website for the products and services you offer.

You need to first determine if 1) people are actually searching for the phrase and 2) how much competition you have for that chosen phrase. Thankfully Google has already built a tool that allows us to get some of that data. Do a search for “keyword tool – google adwords”. Google provides this tool for their AdWords service (also called pay-per-click) but we can use it to gather information about our specific phrases.

Say you are a website design company in Minneapolis, you probably want to people to find your website by searching “minneapolis website design”. Putting this phrase into Google AdWords returns some interesting data. The competition for that phrase is stated as “High” with around 5,000 searches a month. Competing for this phrase directly will take a considerable amount of time (and money).

Your best bet would be to look at the keyword ideas section and find keyword phrases that are either “Medium” or “Low” in the competition column. You can also take phrases from the keyword ideas section and add a geographic location to them, such as “corporate website design minneapolis”. You can see that the competition drops considerably, however so does the amount of searches. This is something in which you’ll have to weigh the return on investment.

With Google Instant competing for the shorter phrases has become more valuable, but may not always give the results the viewer is looking for. These long-tail niche phrases can drive a considerable amount of traffic compared to the high level key phrases and can be much easier to rank well with.

Before committing to a list of keywords for your website you should do some first-hand research and run the searches through Google to see who you are competing with online. Chances are that your local brick and mortar competition will be different from your online competition. Review their websites to see what they are doing in terms of keyword targeting, website structure, and on-site optimization to achieve the rankings.

After determining a list of phrases that fit your business you need to figure out how you want to work these keywords into your website content. Ideally each page of your website should cover a specific topic or keyword / key-phrase. You may have heard of the term “keyword density” before (the amount of keywords compared to  the rest of the text). While there is no hard set rule as to how often a keyword should be stated in your text I usually follow the rule of if it sounds goofy then you have it in there too much. The last thing you want is for your text to sound like you are writing for the search engine. This will turn off human visitors and may affect your rankings as it can be similar to keyword stuffing or keyword spamming.

Always remember that search engine optimization is not an instant process, I use the analogy that SEO is like sailing upstream. You should be consistently working on your SEO otherwise you can slide down the list. I always tell clients that a campaign reaches maturity around the one year mark. This does not mean that you will be number 1 for your chosen phrase but you should be seeing a consistent increase in your traffic. Your website will see some gains in traffic quickly but maintaining long term results will take time.

So to recap, before jumping in to optimizing your website you need to do some prep-work. Research your target keywords to see what the competition is and if people are actually searching for that phrase. Remember to be patient with your search engine results as they can take time to increase.

5 Steps to Improve Your Search Engine Rankings : Part 1 is a post from: MLT Group - Creative Solutions - Industry News Column

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Why is it so important to have a well designed website?

1. It gives your company a professional look. People want to work with companies who look like they know what they are doing. A well designed site will help to build confidence in your company.
2. People want to be able to find what they are looking for on a site. If a site is poorly put together and difficult to navigate people are likely to leave.
3. You want to capture people’s attention. Your site needs to make a great first impression.
4. Setting yourself apart from your competitor’s. If your website is better than you competitor’s you give yourself a leg up when fighting for clients.

Nearly everyone in business understands that a website is something they need, however some people miss the importance of a well designed site. Your website is a 24/7 representation of your business or organization that can trumpet your best qualities or whisper your weaknesses. If optimized correctly for search engines your site can drive targeted traffic from people looking for what you offer, and everyone you promote your business to, through any marketing medium, has the opportunity to validate your claims by visiting your website. What they find is extremely important! In fact, your web site is likely the most important piece of advertising you will ever do. Make sure you do it right.

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The finished product is a professional video production of approximately 25 minutes in length, produced on budget, which clearly and succinctly demonstrates the three levels of field testing for deicing chemicals. It is chapterized, close captioned and includes a resources area with a printable copy of the original Field Guide to Testing Deicing Chemicals, a sample data recording document and a clean data recording document for use by organizations doing testing.

MLT Group was thrilled to be a part of this exciting project and to utilize our experience in corporate video production to organize, script, shoot and edit this innovative training piece for Clear Roads.

“MLT Group solicited the Clear Roads ideas and suggestion at the start of the project. They also demonstrated a willingness to make changes at various points of the project as requested by members of the Clear Roads group. MLT Group was great to work with and they ultimately delivered a very good product that was intended for multi-state DOTs and local agency audiences.” says Tom Peters, Maintenance Research/Training Engineer at MN-DOT.

Click here to view a portion of the MN-DOT Clear Roads Training Video for Field Testing of Deicing Materials.

MLT Group gets graded on MN-DOT (Clear Roads Project)! is a post from: MLT Group - Creative Solutions - Industry News Column

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Integrity Real Estate of Austin MN, was formed in 2011 to serve home buyers and sellers with honesty and integrity! With several years of real estate experience behind each agent, Integrity Real Estate is sure to help you buy or sell your house with ease!

MLT Group met with Integrity Real Estate to create a website that would introduce the Austin area to the new company. With the use of recognizable Austin landmarks, we were able to display the amount of value they place on the community. The website also provides an Area Listings database that allows them to upload houses for the sale in the area, so local buyers can find just what they’ve been looking for!

Interested in buying or selling your house? Check out the new website today to see if the Integrity Real Estate team can assist you!

Live: Integrity Real Estate is a post from: MLT Group - Creative Solutions - Industry News Column

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Tech Tool & Manufacturing of Austin, MN  provides metal stamping, cnc machining, wire edm and tooling services.

MLT Group worked with Tech Tool to create a design that would be visually enticing, yet provide users with quick information of the services they can provide. With large product graphics and a brushed metal background, the look of this site is sure to capture customers’ attention!

Check the site out today and see what Tech Tool can do for you and your business!

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MIRRO is a consulting firm that provides marketing solutions, training, and human resource support to independent optician practices.

MLT Group collaborated with MIRRO to create a design that would capture web users’ attention visually and provide them with valuable information. The website features a customer log-in area for clients to have online access to resource materials, documents and more! An online free assessment was created for the site as well.

Take a look at the website today, and learn more about the exciting new company, MIRRO!

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As a mom, Jamie Van Vuren, BEE LINE’s president, noticed that it wasn’t just children who had limited options for healthy snacks. Despite the fact that America suffers from an obesity epidemic which threatens lives and costs billions of dollars each year, very few vending companies were willing to offer healthy choices in their machines.

Bee Line Vending for Health came to MLT Group looking for a fun, fresh design that gave a sense of modern technology fused with a fun, unique and healthy vibe. The website features videos about the vending machines, several product images, and lots of helpful information!

Check out the website today and learn what this exciting new company has to offer!

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Greg & Beth, licensed realtors in Minnesota, work closely together, but with distinctly different areas of real estate expertise. Greg focuses his time and attention on the needs of home buyers, while Beth is the expert when it comes to helping home sellers. As lifelong residents of the Rochester area, they’ve seen the growth and changes the area has enjoyed.

MLT Group worked with the Hostetters to redesign the previous website with a new look and updated content. The design needed to reflect their personalities while still looking professional and easy for web users to navigate. The new website features MLT Group’s Realtor listings gallery and a blog for all their real estate news!

Check out the new website today and see how Greg & Beth can assist you with buying and selling your house!

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Gift of Life Transplant House located in Rochester, Minnesota provides services for solid organ, bone marrow and stem cell transplant patients and their families. It is a place for patients of all ages from all over the world to find compassion, healing and hope.

MLT Group worked with the Gift of Life Transplant House to redesign the previous website with a fresh, modern look. The design created helped to give the site warmth and an inviting feel – just like what you feel when entering one of the Houses. The new website uses MLT Group’s customized Content Management System (CMS) so that the staff can update the website anywhere, anytime. With the integration of social media and an eNewsletter, the new website is covering a much larger web presence!

Take a look at the website today and learn about all the wonderful opportunities Gift of Life Transplant House is providing!

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MinStar Transport is determined to provide high-quality, on-time service to both our shipping customers and our drivers. Their knowledgeable staff is ready to deliver the secure, stable and courteous service your company expects!

MLT Group worked with MinStar Transport to redesign the previous website with a fresh, modern look. We also created a custom Flash animation, displaying the benefits and process of the Double Deck Trailer solution. With the integration of our Content Management System, MinStar is able to update the website content remotely!

Check out the website today and learn more about MinStar Transport!

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Meet Emily Halva: Project Manager

MLT Group is pleased to announce the addition of Emily Halva to our team as a Project Manager.

Emily obtained her Bachelor’s degree in Public Relations from the University of Northern Iowa. She brings with her to MLT Group public & media relations experience from the Minnesota Zoo, where she was involved in coordinating media events, as well as composing press releases for exhibits and programs.

Emily is involved in triathlons and lends her time and energy to the community as a Public Relations committee member for the Gift of Life Transplant House in Rochester, Minnesota.

Emily’s favorite commercial: The American Cancer Society’s “More Birthdays” campaign! http://www.youtube.com/user/AmerCancerSociety#p/u/19/I2BlFmPT26k

MLT Group’s favorite commercial: The Force: Volkswagen Commercial
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R55e-uHQna0

Tell us your favorite commercial and we’ll share them with you. Stay tuned!

MLT Group welcomes Emily Halva! is a post from: MLT Group - Creative Solutions - Industry News Column

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MLT Group is excited to announce that we’re revamping our search engine optimization and on-line marketing services to better serve our valued customers!

With search engine rankings and social media exposure more important than ever to your marketing, MLT Group is investing in new approaches to achieve maximum results and drive more targeted traffic to our customers’ sites. We’d like to explain the powerful SEO and Social Media opportunities available to you!

Opportunities to inexpensively and effectively expand your marketing message include:

• ePress Releases
• Back-link Artciles
• Google Places Optimization
• Viral Video Development
• Buzz Builder Campaigns
• Social Media Strategies

Learn more about these solutions starting at just $290 that can have a positive impact on your marketing and your ROI! Contact us today at 507.281.3490 to get started!

MLT Group & Your Search Rankings! is a post from: MLT Group - Creative Solutions - Industry News Column

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Conflict Management & Resolution offers a method and a place for people to identify their needs, define their interests and reach agreement in conflicts. Their highly trained and experienced mediation professionals have the skills, compassion and insight to help people sort through the issues and conflicts they are trying to resolve.

MLT Group worked with Conflict Management & Resolution  to re-design their previous website with a fresh, new look! Bringing in a new logo and warm palette of colors, the site gives a positive feeling to go along with the message of their business.

Check out the website today and learn more about Conflict Management & Resolution!

Live: Conflict Management & Resolution is a post from: MLT Group - Creative Solutions - Industry News Column

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Based out of Rochester, MN, they provide individual and small group instruction for boys and girls from 8 years old to college-age who want to improve their skills, confidence and athleticism on the basketball court!

MLT Group worked with Elite Playmakers to create a website that would grab the attention of youth basketball players interested in improving their game or just learning to play! The site features a large image rotation to capture viewers’ attention on the home page, while a faded-out basketball court provides a unique background.

Check out the website today and learn more about what Elite Playmakers has to offer you!

Live: Elite Playmakers is a post from: MLT Group - Creative Solutions - Industry News Column

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Old Fashioned Killebrew Root Beer & Cream Soda are brewed, bottled and packaged in Minnesota under the authority of RJM Distributing, Inc., in Ramsey, MN. To guarantee the highest quality, their ingredients start with pure natural spring water flavored with real Minnesota honey!

MLT Group worked with RJM Distributing  to create a website that would get people excited about the Killebrew Root Beer & Cream Soda brand and its products! The site offers you a Store Locator, where you can search to find Killebrew products in your local area. Even more convenient, you can order Killebrew products through the Buy Online area of the website! Filled with fun graphics, fan pictures, and weekly news, you’ll be sure to spend sometime online with the Killebrew company!

Check out the website today and grab yourself a cold Killebrew Root Beer or Cream Soda!

Live: Killebrew Root Beer & Cream Soda is a post from: MLT Group - Creative Solutions - Industry News Column

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At MLT Group, we have designed websites for several clients who own day spas. We understand how to connect you with customers who are searching for your services on the web, and how to design an attractive, unique site that will be pleasing for visitors. This means that you will not only have more people who are aware of your spa, but you will have a higher likelihood of converting them into customers.

We use several methods to attract customers to your brand. This include tactics such as submitting press releases, marketing your brand through social media, and using search engine optimization, which helps place your site in a location where people can easily find it when conducting an internet search.

Press releases can bring quite a bit of attention to your brand and legitimize your business. The social media networks are an especially helpful method of attracting attention, due to the fact that they are based on recommendations from friends. Most people now find out about new businesses using the search engines, which makes search engine optimization incredibly important for attracting attention to your day spa.

It has been our experience that clients are surprised at how much attention they can get using the advantages of the internet, and how high their return on investment truly is.

MLT Group Advertising & Marketing offers professional website design for day spas, including internet marketing services such as search engine optimization (SEO) and social media consulting. Call us today at 507-281-3490 or e-mail sales@mltgroup.com and begin experiencing all the benefits a professional advertising and marketing firm has to offer your business.

Website Design for Day Spas is a post from: MLT Group - Creative Solutions - Industry News Column

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The best solution for a small business is to hire a company that focuses their attention on helping other small businesses. Today, marketing goes beyond print ads and other traditional advertising options. The process requires a sophisticated approach to designing a campaign for the entire business. MLT Group Advertising & Marketing can help businesses do just that.

MLT Group focuses efforts on helping small businesses succeed in today’s marketplace. We have knowledgeable staff to help design marketing strategies customized to your business needs. We can help you with web design, web application development, social media marketing, search engine optimization, and other online marketing strategies.

MLT Group is ready to help your small business with all of its marketing and advertising goals. And you can depend on us to help provide effective and affordable services for your future.

Call us today at 507-281-3490 or e-mail sales@mltgroup.com and begin experiencing all the benefits a professional advertising and marketing firm has to offer your business.

Business Benefits of a Marketing Strategy is a post from: MLT Group - Creative Solutions - Industry News Column

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To succeed in this industry, you need your customers to know that you are the most trusted and professional tanning salon in your area. They need to know how your services are different from the competition, and most of all, they need to know you exist.

Have you been relying on your window sign and the phone book for customers to find your tanning salon? Today, more people find out about local businesses using the internet than the phone book. The internet has proven just as helpful for local businesses as global ones, today more than ever.

We understand how to work closely with you in order to send the right message to your customers. We build clean, efficient, attractive, and easy to understand websites that will convince visitors that your tanning salon is the real deal.

A website alone is not enough to successfully market your tanning salon online, however. Your website needs to be findable. This requires effective marketing using press releases and social media, which spread awareness about your brand. It also requires visibility in the search engine results, something which we can provide using a technique known as search engine optimization.

Many of our clients are surprised by just how much attention they can get for a relatively small investment compared to traditional advertising. Contact us today.

MLT Group Advertising & Marketing offers professional website design for tanning salons, including internet marketing services such as search engine optimization (SEO) and social media consulting. Call us today at 507-281-3490 or e-mail sales@mltgroup.com and begin experiencing all the benefits a professional advertising and marketing firm has to offer your business.

Website Design for Tanning Salons is a post from: MLT Group - Creative Solutions - Industry News Column

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MLT Group, we are a marketing and design company based in Rochester MN, and we understand what potential customers are looking for, and offer our expertise to professionals across the country. Specializing in design, advertising, research and website services, we are an all inclusive marketing firm for your business marketing needs. Highly trained staff can assist your company with detailed advertising assignments, present your products to your clients, and create the impressions necessary to achieve maximum sales and growth.

MLT Group will always ensure that your company has a competitive edge. We can also guide you through designing customized web content, social media marketing, and SEO for maximum impact. We can benefit your company by providing live feedback and market research. And we are capable of saving you money by not having the financial liability of a marketing team on-site. Don’t settle, when you can outsource, leaving your advertising and marketing needs in the expert hands of MLT Group.

Call us today at 507-281-3490 or e-mail sales@mltgroup.com and begin experiencing all the benefits a professional advertising and marketing firm has to offer your business.

Overview of Marketing is a post from: MLT Group - Creative Solutions - Industry News Column

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At MLT Group, we have worked with massage therapists in the past, and have found that small businesses such as this can benefit dramatically from the services that we provide. Today, more people use the internet to find out about new businesses than the phone book. If you want to build a reputation for professionalism in the massage therapy industry, an effective website design will serve you immensely.

We work closely with our clients in order to understand exactly what message they are trying to get to their clients, what services they provide, and, crucially, how they are different from the competition. We use this information in order to design a highly attractive, easy to use, professional website about your massage techniques, and the benefits that you offer to your customers.

While we feel that our clients’ knowledge of the industry comes first, we also have the tools to perform research in order to determine what customers are searching for in the search engines regarding their industry. This allows us to streamline the content of your site and use methods such as search engine optimization to bring the customers searching for those terms to your business. We also understand how to use social media and press releases to spread the word about your business, allowing you to prosper.

MLT Group Advertising & Marketing offers professional website design for massage therapists, including internet marketing services such as search engine optimization (SEO) and social media consulting. Call us today at 507-281-3490 or e-mail sales@mltgroup.com and begin experiencing all the benefits a professional advertising and marketing firm has to offer your business.

Website Design for Massage Therapists is a post from: MLT Group - Creative Solutions - Industry News Column

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Effective marketing is the only marketing that really works, and it requires knowledge and experience. MLT Group has the necessary experience and understanding of the advertising industry to be able to best serve the goals of our diverse group of clients. We place a special emphasis on search engine optimization, social media marketing, and press releases in order to ensure that the people searching for your services or products will be easily connected with your website. In addition, we are also a full service ad agency and can provide a wide variety of related services, such as graphic design and video production.

So take the guess work out of advertising and make the most of your marketing budget. We can affordably and effectively enhance and serve all of your marketing and advertising needs!

Call us today at 507-281-3490 or e-mail sales@mltgroup.com and begin experiencing all the benefits a professional advertising and marketing firm has to offer your business.

The Importance of Marketing Plans is a post from: MLT Group - Creative Solutions - Industry News Column

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