Attracting a steady flow of leads is critical for the success of any injury law firm. Whether you’re looking to grow your client base or solidify your reputation in a competitive market, implementing effective marketing strategies is essential. With the expertise of an injury marketing agency for law firms and a focus on targeted outreach, your law firm can connect with clients who need your services most. In this article, we’ll explore ten proven marketing ideas to generate more injury leads for your law firm.

1. Build a High-Converting Website

Your website is often the first interaction potential clients have with your law firm, making it a cornerstone of your personal injury law firm marketing strategy. A high-converting website should:

• Be Mobile-Friendly: Ensure your site looks great and functions seamlessly on mobile devices.
• Focus on Speed: A fast-loading website reduces bounce rates and keeps visitors engaged.
• Incorporate SEO Best Practices: Optimize pages for keywords like “injury lawyer” and “injury law firm”, and include variations with your city as well as symptoms related to an injury, example “injury lawyer paralysis” and other natural language variations someone might search
• Include Clear CTAs: Add contact forms, click-to-call buttons, text message options, and live chat features to make it easy for your prospective clients to reach you.

Partnering with a personal injury lawyer digital marketing agency like Exults to help you create a website tailored to attract and convert visitors into leads and clients.

2. Leverage Local SEO to Rank Higher in Search Results

Many injury cases are geographically specific, so local SEO is essential for driving leads and cases. Focus on:

• Google Business Profile Optimization: Ensure your profile is complete with accurate contact information, office hours, and client reviews.
• Location-Specific Pages: Create pages targeting local searches, such as “Injury Lawyer in [City]” or “Car Accident Attorney in [Neighborhood].”
• Citations: Build citations on local directories to strengthen your online presence.

A dedicated personal injury law firm marketing agency can assist in optimizing your local SEO strategy to generate leads effectively.

3. Use Pay-Per-Click (PPC) Advertising for Immediate Results

PPC campaigns allow your law firm to appear at the top of search engine results for high-intent keywords like “injury lawyer near me.” To make your campaigns effective:

• Geotarget Your Ads: Focus on specific regions where your clients are located.
• Use Negative Keywords: Exclude irrelevant search terms to maximize your ROI.
• Highlight Your Unique Value: Promote benefits like “No Fees Unless We Win” to stand out.
• Expand Reach on Numerous Mediums: Market and advertise on Google Ads, Microsoft Ads, Meta Ads – reaching Facebook and Instagram, X/Twitter Ads

With the help of a personal injury marketing agency like Exults, you can monitor and optimize your Paid Ads (PPC) campaigns for maximum lead generation.

4. Create Engaging Video Content

Video marketing is a powerful tool to connect with potential clients. Use videos to:

• Explain complex legal concepts, like how injury claims work.
• Share client success stories (with permission).
• Introduce your team and showcase your expertise and your team.

Optimizing video content with keywords such as “injury law firm” can increase visibility on platforms like YouTube and Google. A personal injury lawyer digital marketing agency can help create professional and engaging video campaigns.

5. Publish a Legal Blog

Blogging is an excellent way to showcase your expertise and improve your search engine rankings. Topics to consider include:

• Steps to Take After an Injury Accident
• How to Determine the Value of Your Injury Case
• Common Mistakes to Avoid in Personal Injury Claims

Optimize each blog post with relevant keywords like “personal injury tips” or “personal injury guide” to attract organic traffic.

6. Build Relationships with Referral Partners

Establishing strong referral partnerships can significantly expand your reach. Collaborate with:

• Healthcare Providers: Doctors, physical therapists, and chiropractors who work with injury victims.
• Other Attorneys: Lawyers in complementary practice areas, such as family law or workers’ compensation.

Offer value in return by referring clients to your partners when appropriate. This mutual relationship can drive a consistent flow of high-quality leads and cases.

7. Retarget Potential Clients

Not every visitor to your website will convert immediately. Retargeting allows you to reconnect with potential clients who have shown interest in your services. Use strategies like:

• Dynamic Ads: Show personalized ads based on the pages a visitor viewed on your site.
• Email Campaigns: Follow up with visitors who provided their contact information.
• Social Media Retargeting: Display ads to users who engage with your social media profiles or website.

Retargeting keeps your law firm top of mind and encourages potential clients to take action when they’re ready.

8. Host Educational Webinars or Events

Webinars and community events are excellent ways to demonstrate your expertise while engaging with your audience. Consider hosting:

• Q&A sessions about injury claims.
• Workshops on legal rights after an accident.
• Charity events to give back to the community.

Promote these events through email marketing and social media to maximize attendance and build trust with potential clients.

9. Collect and Leverage Client Reviews

Positive reviews are a powerful tool for building credibility and attracting new clients. Encourage satisfied clients to leave reviews on platforms like Google, Yelp, and Avvo. Highlight these reviews on your website and marketing materials to showcase your success.

Additionally, use a reputation management tool to monitor and respond to reviews promptly. This shows potential clients that you value feedback and are committed to providing excellent service.

10. Partner with a Personal Injury Marketing Agency

Collaborating with a specialized personal injury marketing agency ensures your marketing strategies are tailored to your industry. Agencies like these provide services such as:

• SEO Optimization: Improving your website’s search engine rankings.
• PPC Management: Running targeted paid ad campaigns.
• Content Creation: Developing engaging blogs, videos, and social media posts.
• Data Analysis: Tracking performance metrics to refine strategies.

A trusted personal injury law firm marketing agency can help your firm stay competitive and achieve sustainable growth.

By implementing these ten strategies, your injury law firm can effectively attract more leads and grow its client base. Investing in targeted personal injury law marketing ensures you’re connecting with the right audience and building a strong foundation for long-term success.

Ready to grow your injury law firm? Contact Exults today for a free consultation and personalized marketing strategy!

The post 10 Marketing Ideas to Get More Injury Leads for Your Law Firm appeared first on Exults Digital Marketing Agency.

That’s a lot of updates for you as a business owner to keep up with. This makes strategic SEO planning difficult for you and your team.

You may not even know what to do to make your website perform better. At Exults, you’ll find a team with expertise in web design, ROI-focused marketing campaigns, and, of course, the real keys to keyword research. Track the results your company wants and needs to succeed through the online marketing campaigns we set up for your business. 

If you’re ready to reach your target audience (and beyond), keep reading to learn how keywords influence SEO ranking in 2024. 

Searching for a reliable digital marketing agency? Exults is the answer!

Are Keywords Important For SEO?

In short, yes. Search Engine Optimization (SEO) has, from the beginning, been a big factor in Internet marketing success. Whether you consider yourself a novice or an expert at SEO and keywords, they have always been crucial components in SEO.

However, as the digital landscape changed, it became harder for entrepreneurs to keep up with SEO demands for their businesses. Most business owners rarely have extra time on their hands, much less the time required to conduct SEO research, review analytics, and make relevant changes to see improvements. So what do you do now? Dropping SEO altogether isn’t a good option as keywords are still a crucial factor in the Google ranking algorithm. But they are not the only critical factor to consider. 

Understanding Keyword Density

Keyword density was previously only the descriptor, but today the focus turns to key phrases rather than single words. Keyphrase density is the percentage of the keyphrase that appears in your content as related to the total content. Simply explained, if your content contains 100 words, with four being your keyphrase, your keyphrase density is four percent. 

Keyphrase density is significant for your SEO because Google matches search queries with web pages. To make the connection, Google must know what your webpage contains. The key phrases in your content then accomplish this task naturally. Of course, the challenge arises in overusing the keyphrase, which makes your content boring for your visitors. Not only that, but it also makes Google suspect you are over-optimizing and in turn have the opposite effect – negatively affecting your rankings. This methodology is referred to as keyword stuffing. 

Simply put, keyword stuffing is a manipulative technique that Google can and will penalize you (or your content) for doing. The following are a few ways keyword stuffing can damage your SEO efforts…

• Lowered ranking
• Complete removal from search results
• Non-sharable content
• Blacklisted website

Contact Exults digital marketing agency for forward-thinking solutions.

Factors That Influence Google Ranking: Keywords, Keyphrases, & Relevance 

Keywords or keyphrases are still relevant in 2024 as one of the main ranking factors used by Google and popular search engines. While they are no longer the only ranking factor for your website, you still need to include accurate, quality keywords to show up as relevant to the user’s search. 

What are the other ranking factors you need to consider? Well, Google algorithm now ranks on more than 200 factors, including a blend of quality, content, inbound and outbound links, navigation, speed, social media shares, and more. Let’s dive into the most important factors you need to be aware of when DIYing or even outsourcing your SEO efforts. 

Keywords & Key Phrases

On top of that, it is important to realize Google does not require exact matches for keywords and keyphrases any longer, which has changed the way internet marketing strategists operate. As the search engine becomes more human and gains greater intelligence, Google more easily understands natural language.

As a result, the over-repetition of keywords in your content can make your website be deemed less valuable and untrustworthy. Today, developing your content toward greater natural readability and the actual way a human user would search for information yields greater benefits. 

When you optimize, you should at least look at the following:

• Title tags are HTML code tags that offer the benefit of you giving each web page an appropriate title.

• Meta descriptions use HTML elements that allow you to give a summary of what your web pages are about, appearing as a search snippet in search engine results.

• Image alt text is search engine-processed and can be read aloud by screen reading software. The text behind this image should explain its relation to the content on the page.

• Anchor text also appears as a hyperlink or clickable text that takes a user to a different web page. This text is usually underlined and shown in blue.

• Headers or header tags on a webpage are used to separate headings and subheadings, which should provide comprehensive information on the content you’re covering.

• Slug is part of a web page’s URL that comes after “.com”. A few examples of this include “/services/search/seo/” for Exults’ SEO web page and “/company/” for Exults’ About Us web page.

Readability Counts

Before dismissing the importance of readability, know that search engines do account for it when ranking search results. You may be familiar with readability if you use plug-ins and applications like Readable and AIOSEO for WordPress.

To be clear, readability does not simply mean running a spelling and grammar check. While extremely beneficial for correctness, these suggestions don’t necessarily account for the readability of your entire copy. Readability measures how easy it is for your readers to comprehend the information you’re providing. Whether in a blog, article, or website page, you don’t want to ignore the power of content with a high readability score.

Reader comprehension often gets lost in newly created content. This usually happens when the writer is overly focused on keywords, ignoring the flow of their copy. Low readability also happens in writing with too many advanced words or lengthy sentences.

The way your content appears also has an impact on its readability. Big blocks of text only, for example, are unattractive and difficult to read. There should be a visual representation for various sections, lists, and key points to make it easy to follow.

Bonus Tip: Read your copy out loud and see if it sounds right to you. If any spots are confusing, adjust them with simplicity in mind. If you’re still unsure, try giving your writing to someone you trust to provide honest feedback about it regarding clarity, word choice, sentence length, and overall messaging. 

Relevance Matters

Something that also influences ranking is content relevance. Your content must match the keywords or keyphrases it’s trying to rank for. You don’t want your content to be about “gluten-free recipes” when you’re trying to rank for “personal injury attorneys in Boston”. While that example is a little bit of a stretch, you get the point. Your content needs to match the keywords it’s ranking for. 

Why does it need to be relevant? Google is a business like yours. If they were to return a page ranked for one keyword but the content inside is entirely different, users aren’t going to be happy. They may even turn to a different search engine entirely. To avoid these potential issues, Google consistently filters through all content to bring only relevant topic results to its users. At the end of the day, make sure that you’re not keyword stuffing and that you’re producing suitable content that matches its keywords.

Use E-E-A-T

What does E-E-A-T stand for? And why has E-E-A-T become such a big part of ranking on Google? 

E-E-A-T stands for Expertise, Experience, Authority, and Trustworthiness. It’s important to display each of these four guidelines throughout your SEO content. Anyone can write and publish their own content in an attempt to gain clicks. But for marketing professionals, there is a certain framework that copywriters and content creators use to develop engaging content that flows.

Struggling to implement the E-E-A-T system? Try this:

• Provide accurate information about the topic
• Tell a personal story or a client story about the given topic
• Show how you’re an authority by shining some thought leadership
• Weave trust factors throughout your content (i.e. testimonials, reviews, case studies, etc.)

Call 877-437-3672 for a top-notch digital marketing team.

Producing High-Quality Content

When it comes to the quality of content, you need to consider what we’ve already discussed: readability, relevance, and E-E-A-T. But at the end of the day, ask these 2 questions: 

• Does my target audience actually want to read this content? 
• Can I easily skim this content?

For the latter question, consider the structure of your content. Readers do not want to read a 2,000 block of words. Instead, they want to quickly skim to find what they are looking for. You can do this by including H2, H3, and H4 headers in your content. This organizes your ideas, and topics, and ultimately makes them skimmable. 

Another benefit of separating your content into headers is Google can skim the content and pick lists to show them as featured snippets in a given search query. Remember, using lists and tables is a good way to showcase ideas with 3 or more points.  

Expand Content Length

Previously, a 500-word blog would suffice. But today, the average word count for the first 10 positions on a search engine results page is 1,890 words (MonsterInsights). Content length aside, you still need to consider what word count will cover a given topic adequately. Regardless of the exact word count, your blog should ultimately achieve your reader’s goal for their search (this is called search intent). 

At Exults, we’re expanding the word count to an average of 2,000-3,000 words. This allows us to target multiple keywords, cover a given topic more completely, and provide more opportunities for Google to scrap us.

Not sure how to expand content length? Consider the following: 

• Add an expanded FAQ
• Include definitions (don’t assume your reader knows everything)
• Answer the who, what, when, where, and why of the topic

SEO Keyword FAQs

Have SEO keyword questions? Look no further.

Is Keyword Placement Important? 

While exactly matched keywords may be a thing of the past, the placement of relevant keywords can still work to help Google identify your content’s intent, and help your webpage. Pertinent keywords should be placed high on the page (title, introduction, description).

This type of placement is crucial when Google indexes your site making it more identifiable. It is equally important to remember SEO and Google continually update its algorithm, making it necessary to be aware of industry updates and adapt your website content accordingly. 

What Are Seasonal Keywords? 

Your content strategy is crucial in optimizing engagement and boosting your rankings, but what about seasonal keywords? Should they be incorporated into your content, and if so, how? Seasonal keywords are simply the words and phrases internet users search at particular times of the year – Christmas, Super Bowl, Halloween, Valentine’s Day, Olympics  – you get the idea. If you develop evergreen content or content relevant all year long, you might find seasonal keywords are detrimental to your long-term SEO efforts. 

On the other hand, they can boost traffic to your site when used effectively, particularly if your competition doesn’t utilize them. To use seasonal keywords to your advantage, you will want to check out the forecast for their relevance at Google Insights, post your seasonal content before the season, and remain faithful to your long-term SEO goals as well. 

Where Should I Use Short-Tail & Long-Tail Keywords?

Social interaction and engagement are crucial in the world of digital advertising and internet marketing. Your business has to stand out and be unique from the competition. It also must understand and connect with your target audience. To do so, you have to maintain relevant advertising, from landing pages to advertisements, utilizing SEO successfully. SEO means the use of keywords, which includes short-tail and long-tail keywords. Let’s dive in. 

Long-tail keywords can be useful in title tags, Meta Data, and throughout your content, but you must keep your main focus on relevant content and readability.  Short-tail keywords contain a maximum of three words and are the words you would think of first when initiating a search. They tend to return large amounts of traffic as a result. Long-tail keywords are more targeted, attracting your target audience but not much more. 

Both long-tail and short-tail keywords can work to your advantage, but long-tail keywords tend to work best. Long-tail promises substantial, more targeted volume with a higher click-through rate (CTR) and lower cost per click (CPC) resulting in higher positions and increased conversions. Short-tail keywords can deliver lots of traffic to your site and are easy to develop, but they must flow naturally and easily into your content, registering a higher quality ranking score and relevance to your target audience. 

Ready to improve SEO for your business? Call 877-437-3672 to work with Exults.

How Do You Choose SEO Keywords?

There are several tools that you can use to choose SEO keywords like Semrush, Google Search Console, Google Trends, and Moz. But at the end of the day, you need to ask yourself:

• What is my target audience searching for? 
• What content can you produce that is in line with both your company and what your audience is searching for?
• Am I using a blend of local and broad keywords?
• Am I including search terms that are 3-5 words?

Where Can You Conduct SEO Keyword Research?

There are many tools you can use to conduct SEO keyword research, including: 

• Semrush
• Google Trends
• Google Keyword Planner
• Moz
• AnswerThePublic
• Ahrefs

Who Can Conduct SEO Keyword Research?

Anyone can conduct keyword research, as long as they know what they are looking at. The part that is difficult to keep up with for most business owners is the amount of time it takes to create a solid strategy. There are a couple of steps you can take to make it simpler.

1. Identify topics that are important and relevant to your business. 
2. Find keywords that can fit into each of those topics.
3. Measure those keywords against whether your audience would use them to search. 
4. Find related search terms; this is usually found on the search engine results page. 
5. Use an SEO tool to help conclude the keywords you need to focus on first. 
6. Maintain a document including all potential keywords for your business and update it quarterly (at least).

What SEO Terms Do I Need To Know Before Conducting Keyword Research?

Here are several terms that you may come across while researching and what they mean:

• Keyword or Keyphrase is a term that a user will search to find your website
• Keyword Difficulty is the score of how difficult a company will have to work to outrank a competitor for the same keyword
• Monthly Search Volume (MSV) is the number of times a keyword is searched each month
• Regional Keywords are terms that are specific to a region or population
• Search Engine Results Page (SERP) is the list of search results

The Keys To Keyword Success

Keyword success comes via SEO research, understanding your target audience, and developing the best strategy for your business. Exults is ready to help you meet all your SEO needs and optimize your website for success. Reach out today!

Unsure how you’re going to reach your SEO goals? Contact Exults for forward-thinking strategies.

The post How Keywords Influence SEO Ranking In 2024 appeared first on Exults Digital Marketing Agency.

On top of website copy, blog posts, and everything in between, small business owners trying to maintain an online presence face an uphill battle with such a crowded marketplace. Technology changes so quickly that keeping your name at the top of the search engine queue feels like a full-time job. And, it can be (we would know). 

One factor that many entrepreneurs miss is the power of online reviews to benefit search engine optimization (SEO). You may not be surprised to know that 90% of consumers read online reviews before visiting a business. And, of those consumers, 88% treat online reviews like personal recommendations.

If you’re having trouble understanding the role Google reviews play in your business, follow along for how they can help (or hurt) businesses like yours.

Ready to team up with an experienced digital marketing agency? Contact Exults to get a quote.

10 Ways Real Google Reviews Help Add Value To Your Business

Google reviews affect your presence on Google’s search engine, which makes sense. But not everyone understands why. 

For search engines like Google, customer reviews have less to do with what your customers are saying, focusing instead on how they’re saying it. Entrepreneurs typically care tremendously about Google reviews because they want to know what their target audience thinks in real time. This means addressing anything from inconvenient parking to poor customer service. 

Ironing out the details of your business using reviews is important. But depending on what your customers experience, their ideas can also translate into data you can use to improve your SEO in the following 10 ways…

1. Less Time Spent Marketing

Time is huge for entrepreneurs. Whether you feel as though you don’t have enough of it or have ideas about maximizing it, time is a fickle friend for business owners. Regarding your bottom line, saving as much time as possible is a priority. 

However, simply saving time is easier said than done. This is where many business owners feel stuck when it comes to their SEO strategies. In fact, according to Forbes, SEO teams say their biggest challenges are a lack of resources and strategy issues. 

One way to push past strategy challenges is by making your Google reviews a part of your digital marketing strategy to support your SEO team’s efforts. This gives your SEO team access to a ton of content they can track and filter through to boost your online presence. 

2. Money-Saving Hack

Before you decide to invest your entire marketing budget into paid advertisements, think about using Google reviews to attract your audience. 

In case you haven’t seen this suggestion so far, you don’t (and shouldn’t) use your time as a business owner to write your own Google reviews. But when a legitimate customer takes their time to write a positive review of your business, you should use it for your…

• Website’s testimonials
• Social media content
• Blogs
• Landing page copy
• Advertising

Their honest insight translates into free creative content you can use to market your business. Using Google reviews throughout your digital marketing saves you the typical time and costs needed to otherwise create unique content for your business. This brings us to the next big benefit of using Google reviews to help SEO…

3. Creates Fresh User-Generated Content (UGC)

In addition to time and money-saving perks, Google reviews serve a particular purpose for a user’s entire experience online.

Google’s algorithm weighs connected and linked content, focusing on content’s…

• Uniqueness
• Device friendliness
• Social sharing capabilities

When a customer or client writes a genuine review of your business, that’s a piece of fresh, new content for your site. The author’s voice is likely more genuine than anything you could draft yourself. Especially when changes are constantly being made to Google’s Search Engine Results Page (SERP), you can never have too much original and unique information. 

For example, ever since Google enabled its continuous scroll results, zero-click searches have increased. This sounds like a disappointment but offers an opportunity to explore digital marketing strategies you haven’t tried before. Who knows? You may be surprised by how effective a refreshed digital marketing strategy can be.

4. Effective Local SEO Tools

Unsure about the power of organic engagement? In 2022, organic clicks accounted for 45.1% of all search result clicks. This is huge news for businesses as they can use their Google reviews to increase their visibility in local search results. 

The best way to use reviews is by using those with trending search terms and keywords. These are the reviews that will attract consumers to your business by optimizing terms like “near me” to bring in local, organic traffic. But that’s not all you can do to improve your search rankings…

5. Increases Online Search Engine Ranking

Did you know that over 90% of searches online happen on Google? The #1 search engine in the world knows this as well. Google uses customer reviews shared on social media platforms, takes notes, and accounts for the information given in its search ranking algorithms. 

The more links and websites associated with your website and brand, the more valuable Google deems your website. If Google sees that you are rated favorably and have relevant content to what people are searching for, your website ranks higher. Having a high rank in search results improves your brand’s overall visibility.

Organic results that initially appear on a search results page have an average click-through rate of 27.6%. But to achieve this, you must add Google review monitoring to your digital marketing strategy. Most people won’t scroll for too long before either adjusting their search or starting a new one when they can’t find what they’re looking for quickly. 

Partner with Exults and start implementing a comprehensive digital marketing strategy for your business.

6. Builds Business Credibility

Consumers prefer to buy a product or service from a business they feel as though they can trust. Keep this in mind when thinking about the words your consumers might use when Googling your business. When they search for your products or services, what do they see?

The reviews your customers leave should describe a business that presents itself as a professional and informed authority figure. The more (especially positive) reviews, the more credible and trustworthy your business appears online.

7. Boosts Long-Tail Keyword Traffic

According to Hubspot, Google has about 8.5 billion searches per day worldwide. This increases your chance to be seen as your audience most likely uses the same or similar words to describe your business. You can take advantage of this by refining your long-tail keywords. Long-tail keywords usually have 3 or more words and are much more detailed than general search terms. 

Examples include phrases like…

Men’s extra large flamingo shirt with short sleeves

Best gluten-free sugar cookie recipe for kids

Antique gold silverware set for wedding gift

Honing in on your long-tail keywords won’t assist too much with improving organic traffic. But it will attract more of the traffic you’d like to target moving forward. Read Learn the Difference Between Long Tail and Short Tail Keywords. 

8. Answers Questions Without Lifting A Finger

Googling is an everyday activity for many. Just like taking a shower and brushing your teeth, an increasing number of people now use Google as an “answer” engine rather than simply browsing. 

The average internet user inputs about 3 to 4 searches per day on search engines like Google, Bing, Yahoo, etc. As part of its process, Google crawls through billions of sites daily to retrieve the answers to your questions in a matter of moments. Doing so allows it to bring answers directly to users with rich snippets at the top of SERPs.

Remember, Google does this type of work all the time, so it’s up to you and your marketing team to ensure your business FAQs are answered and easy to find on your website. You should also have a section for FAQs anywhere else that might be appropriate like on separate landing pages, blogs, social media accounts, etc. You can avoid repeating yourself multiple times a day AND still offer the answers your customer base is searching for. It’s a win-win!

9. Increased Social Hype

Impressive reviews can trend, ignite a viral conversation, or simply boost the sales conversation you’re having by offering real customer feedback. Share that awesome feedback on your social media channels and watch what happens. Showcasing client testimonials proves they love your offer and subsequently trust in your brand, which Google tracks and values in SERPs. Adding unique content in the form of genuine reviews increases your social reach and has the potential to boost lead conversion rates.

Advertising via customer reviews is nothing new. While it was once in-person, word-of-mouth interaction, now your clients can share their views with the whole world rather than just the neighbor next door. Most likely, online reviews of your business are going to happen. 

Why not take advantage of them to raise your online profile within the Google search engine? Contact Exults today, and we’ll show you how.

10. Enhanced Relevance Online

Google rewards businesses with more reviews (especially good ones). This is largely because they favor bringing “relevant” content to their users. It might sound complicated, but it’s a way for Google to help filter through results that use questionable SEO methods. 

Keyword stuffing and publishing duplicate content are 2 outdated digital marketing strategies that produce questionable results. Keyword stuffing is plugging in as many keywords as possible into any online content to boost its ranking. Publishing duplicate content is also done to achieve the same results. 

However, a major problem linked to these strategies includes promoted search results that have nothing to do with the search term or topic at all. This type of content is not only irrelevant but also negatively impacts Google’s user experience. This is why Google makes frequent updates to its operations to discourage the use of these SEO strategies. Engaging in these poor digital marketing practices allows Google to remove your website from its search engine results entirely, leaving you buried under your competitors.

How do I use Google reviews to improve my business’s SEO? Explore digital marketing solutions with Exults today.

General Best SEO Practices For Businesses

Tap into the following digital marketing tips for your business:

Use popular keywords. About 95% of keywords have a volume of 10 or less searches per month. Even with the help of an online keyword planner, they aren’t always accurate and can offer skewed results. It’s best to team up with an experienced digital marketing expert like Exults to find the right formula for your business.

Regularly dedicate time to SEO. Many online searches are brand new and equate to ample opportunity for your digital marketing strategies. You can target new searches by researching and updating SEO yourself or by hiring a digital marketing agency like Exults to dedicate time to your SEO strategies. 

Know what to track. Pay attention to your organic traffic, search volume, keyword rankings, click-through rates, bounce rates, engagement time, and conversion rates when reviewing SEO data.

Ask questions. Start by asking questions to find relevant keywords or phrases your potential and current customers are searching for. Simply asking a question can spark plenty of ideas for other questions, hot content topics, and beyond.

Use backlinks. Also known as an inbound link, you should add links to other relevant companies and resources in the content you create and publish to your website. These links act as a tool to build your business’s credibility and improve your search engine ranking.

Don’t leave meta descriptions blank. Meta descriptions exist for a reason so avoid leaving them blank. It only takes a few extra minutes to fill out and provides a summary of what users can expect before they click.

Google Review FAQs

Continue scrolling for answers to the most commonly asked SEO questions.

Should I Respond To Negative Reviews On Google?

Yes. You should respond to every review you get on Google, whether positive reviews or negative. Not only will this help with your SEO ranking, but it will also help your brand’s image to potential customers.

How Many Google Reviews Do I Need To Increase My Rating?

Generally, having at least 20 reviews on your Google Business Profile (previously Google My Business) is enough to get you a good and reliable rating and help your SEO strategy.

Does Google Remove Reviews?

Though it is not common, Google will sometimes remove reviews under the appropriate circumstances.

How Often Should I Update My Website For SEO Purposes?

Not spending enough time thinking about your business’s Google reviews? Think again and get to transforming your SEO strategy. Unfortunately, high search engine rankings don’t happen overnight. With patience and hard work, you can slowly but surely watch your pages jump up in rankings.

Have questions? We thought you might. Support your digital marketing strategies with a team of digital marketing experts. Contact Exults today to get started.

The post Do Google Reviews Help SEO? Everything You Need to Know appeared first on Exults Digital Marketing Agency.

You should. More than half of consumers search for home services online before booking an appointment. 

Worried about what the competition is doing?

You don’t need to be. Most home service consumers don’t even have a company in mind when they run a search.

It’s equally important to know that there is no one way to achieve the perfect search engine optimization (SEO) formula. And seeing tangible results starts with knowing your target audience, relevant keywords, and how to measure their success daily. More importantly, in addition to elevating your home service business and brand, local SEO practices scale your impact without having to do all of the work yourself or door-knocking in your target neighborhoods. 

Need a dedicated team to take control of your local SEO goals? Contact Exults today.

5 Reasons To Invest In Local SEO For Your Home Service Business

You keep hearing that you need to invest in local SEO to grow and make your business seen. But what is it and how does it work?

What Is Local SEO?

The overall goal of investing in local SEO is to improve your conversion rate – turning your potential customers into paying ones. Using relevant keywords in your content for your website and other platforms improves the chances of making more sales. This is because you’re using keywords potential customers are already searching for to bring them to your website and, ultimately, to your particular product or service. 

A few of the most popular home services people search for include:

• Air conditioning installation and repair
• Air conditioning sales
• Construction and contractors
• Heating and furnaces
• Landscaping
• Pest and rodent control
• Plumbing
• Pools and spas
• Roofing and gutters

Keeping up with your local SEO regularly doesn’t simply push you to the top of popular search engines like Google, Yahoo, and Bing. Managing your local SEO also allows you to review your results and make changes to your strategies quickly. It’s a cost-effective way to reach your target audience completely online.

1. Improve Home Service Company Visibility

Home service business owners know that there’s plenty of competition for customers to explore when they hop online. So it takes strategic digital marketing to stand out and shine. 

Local SEO attracts people already looking for your home services directly to your website. As soon as they reach your home page, that’s your opportunity to pull them in and keep them engaged with unique content covering your home service business and what makes it special. Keep in mind that while local SEO can bring in many more leads, it may take a fair amount of work to convert those leads into sales and ensure those strategies remain in line with your business’s goals.

Lucky for you, local SEO doesn’t have to be a complete guessing game when you know how to implement it properly. Talk to Exults about local SEO for your home service business. Get started right away!

2. Results Are Measurable

One of the best aspects of local SEO is that it’s capable of being measured. This means that you or your trusted team of local SEO experts can make adjustments in response to which keywords are trending and which are no longer working to generate traffic for your business. 

In the world of digital marketing, this is a huge plus and a game changer for those looking to stretch their marketing budget further. 

Analyzing and adjusting your local SEO strategy is usually done in one of three ways:

1. Free or low-cost online tools like Yoast SEO
2. SEO-specific tools like Semrush
3. Cost-effective solutions using a dedicated team to do the work for you like Exults

Although it is possible to DIY your local SEO methods, it may not be worth the time and effort you need to spend to see tangible results.

3. When You Need Balance In Your Life

The fact is that business owners and their employees have enough on their plate to worry about aside from cross-channel marketing. With technology and algorithms constantly changing, it requires too much time that distracts you from other more important tasks – such as delivering your service and operating your business efficiently. This is why companies choose to have an experienced local SEO team on their side to research, test, understand, and tweak those keywords for them. 

4. Money-Saving Benefits

You’ve already invested in your company’s website. So make sure your website is being seen and viewed to make that investment worth it! Even the most stunning and engaging website design won’t do anything for you if it isn’t searchable. This is where a local SEO digital marketing firm comes in handy. 

Hiring a team like Exults for your home service business’s local SEO means you can…

• Reap the rewards of intentional SEO practices
• Have SEO experts on your side without having to pay for them to be in-house
• Ensure your SEO is up to date and adjusted as needed

…All while running your business and remaining focused on your responsibilities.

5. Achieve ROI Goals

Using local SEO as a tool allows you to create a user experience that flows smoothly from an initial search to your main call to action (CTA). Whether your CTA is buying now, scheduling a call, or something similar, your customers should be able to quickly navigate each step to make a purchase or book an appointment.

With the right strategy and reports in place, you should be able to tell which CTAs are working for your business and which need refining to be more effective. 

Change Your Growth Results With Local SEO For Your Home Service Business

As a full-service digital marketing agency, home service business owners often prefer to outsource their local SEO needs because it saves them time and money. You have an important job to do – keeping homes in working order. As such, we keep your home service business flush with leads thanks to our local SEO services and comprehensive marketing strategy.

You don’t need to drain your resources and energy to get quality leads from your local SEO results. Using a multi-talented digital marketing firm for your search engine optimization maximizes your sales opportunities and stretches your budget further. Plus, you have more power to tell your story and stand out from the competition in your area.

Begin tapping into the audience you want to do business with. Get started with Exults today.

The post 5 Reasons Why Home Services Companies Need To Invest In Local SEO appeared first on Exults Digital Marketing Agency.

As a regular web user, you likely see both types of websites all the time without thinking about it too much. Before you decide fully on one or the other, it’s beneficial to know the differences between website templates vs custom design and how it applies to your vision, budget, and ROI goals. 

Before simply hiring any website designer and developer, you should know that certain website aspects like plug-ins, integrated features, and other additions aren’t always built-in. They are also not guaranteed to function 100% as your website goes live. It takes the right team with enough experience and expertise to customize your website for an optimal customer journey from start to finish. 

It is crucial to understand the key differences between a custom website vs. a template before you make a decision that will impact the future of your business.  

Need a custom website for your business? Contact Exults today.

5 Differences Between A Custom vs. Template Website

You’re ready to use what you have to revamp your business’s website to fully reflect your brand and its purpose. But you’re still not sure exactly how much help you’ll need to get what you want out of your website. It’s easy to overthink something like this, but it may help to break down each one before getting into the nitty-gritty details.

What Is A Custom Website? 

A custom website is typically built from scratch and coded to include the integrations you want to offer your visitors to enhance their experience. A few of these integrations include items like…

• Chat capabilities
• Pop-ups
• Drop down navigation
• Contact forms
• Interactive scheduling

In addition to creating the exact user experience you envision, having a custom website vs. a template allows you to infuse your brand’s personality throughout with endless design options like…

• Consistent branding throughout
• Scrolling style
• Font and headline options
• Embedded videos
• Multiple photo galleries

And so much more! Custom websites are best for businesses needing a unique look and feel with added plug-ins and capabilities. This type of website design takes considerably more time and effort than a website template.

What Is A Template Website? 

Finding a website template for your business is much different than building a website from scratch. However, you will be limited in the number of features and custom integrations that are available. This is because a template is pre-designed or set to a specific amount of additional features that you’re capable of using. 

Using a pre-set website template means you can worry less about your website’s overall design. This type of website design is best for businesses that need to keep the user experience straightforward. But, there are a few drawbacks involved in going the templated route.

Here are 5 areas of focus to refine your website needs…

1. Code

As mentioned before, a custom website gives you the power to customize the user experience down to their final click – from choosing a dropdown style to ensuring branding is consistent throughout. Many people think these types of features come standard with any website build. However, this isn’t always the case.

First things first…The biggest difference is the one that you don’t see as a consumer, and that’s the code. 

To keep it simple, custom websites are built using custom code. As a result, it does require longer development hours; however, the end product is not limited by a templated framework and is instead highly flexible. And you own the website outright – meaning no one will have a website exactly like yours. With a solid developer, you reduce your risk of security breaches as hackers will have to spend dedicated time on your website alone to crack it. Templated websites provide hackers the opportunity to attack websites on a bigger scale. 

The downside is that your site may crash more frequently with updates unless you have a development team on standby to manage your website updates. 

Templated code is great for easy-to-launch sites and standardized development. For some companies, this is great as you may not use your website as a key driver in your business. So if you see your website as a brochure rather than a member of your sales and marketing team, templates may be the best option for you. Usually, templates are in the form of website builders. These are great for visual people because it offers a transparent view of what your website will look like when you’ve added all the necessary information.

Want to combine ideas from different website templates into one custom website design? Talk to the Exults team today.

2. Functionality

Do you have a special program for returning customers? What about seasonal promotions?

Depending on your website’s needs, you may prefer having a custom website vs. a template. Certain actions are simple and can be easily built into a template. But you may want to take your design a step further and go from “Call Now” leading to a contact form to “Schedule An Appointment” leading to an interactive calendar instead. Or, perhaps, you need an e-commerce website that allows users to safely navigate and purchase products.

Defining the functionality of your website is best done with a web designer or developer that can think through all of the possibilities from a user perspective. It’s essential to get this nailed down before putting anything else into action.

Whether you want to ensure a seamless mobile experience or create timely notifications with your colors and branding, compare a quote with a custom website developer compared to using a template. Fewer features on your website might leave you feeling as though using a template is the most effective way to communicate your business’s message.

3. Scalability

Regarding website design and development, scalability often goes hand-in-hand. On one hand, a template may not grow with you and your business as you reach higher revenue goals. On the other hand, a custom website means more routine maintenance to keep your website up-to-date and aligned with your business as you grow. If you have a trusted team of developers in your corner, you can worry less about maintaining your website and spend more time offering valuable information to your target audience.

Along with being able to maintain your website, having a custom-built website gives you more power in real-time to make changes as you see fit when reviewing your bounce rate, keyword standing, etc. A website template will usually let you change most copy or content, but certain other features may be set and unable to change.

4. Design

One of the major benefits of having a fully custom design versus being locked into a template is that your brand’s voice, tone, style, and branding can be intertwined into everything from headings to special effects that appear on certain pages. Your website will stand out compared to others in the same industry because it will have your company built into every aspect possible. 

Building your website from scratch with custom website design services means having FAQs with easy-to-read dropdowns and interactive graphics, videos, and beyond with your brand logo, colors, font choice, and so much more built-in. For many business owners, this is an ideal choice to stand out as a company and break through the noise associated with duplicated content, reused designs, and stock images. However, this can be a costly choice when compared to using a web template.

In addition to saving money, you can also adhere to a stricter timeline from strategy to launch. A website template is done for you and, for the most part, is set as far as features and functionality. Because of this, you have more control over its content and how quickly you plan on producing said content to be published on your website. After plugging in the right information into the pre-designed template you choose, you can launch your website knowing the technical details are taken care of. Again, a drawback here is that you’re limited to only what’s available.

5. SEO

Content is still king. And unique content will always be favored by popular search engines like Google. Because using a website template limits some of your ability to be creative, you won’t likely be largely distinguished as having more original content as a custom-built website. Even more, if you’re using pre-set copy, your SEO rank is susceptible to taking a hit. Unique copy with properly researched keywords and SEO strategies is more likely to appear at the top of most search engines. If SEO isn’t a concern for your business, this may not matter as much to your or your team when it comes to launching your website.

Beyond these 5 differences, choosing between a custom website vs a template usually comes down to one essential facet of your business – your budget.

Custom Website Design And Development All With One Dedicated Team

Still trying to decide whether you want to go with a custom website vs a template? 

Choosing a web template can be an ideal choice for companies without a website at all or startups without the larger budget of a well-established business. They can be a comprehensive tool used to showcase your services, company, and a way to connect with your potential customers.

Exults specializes in custom website designs for businesses across the nation. Interested in a custom web experience for your business? Get started with Exults today.

The post Differences Between A Custom Website vs. Template Website appeared first on Exults Digital Marketing Agency.

When done right, your website can be your most powerful sales tool. And with the right law firm website integrations, you’ll spend less time on minute tasks that would otherwise fill your schedule. Plus, you can be confident that your information is correct with zero opportunity for human error. 

If you often wonder how other law firms manage to focus on what matters most, then you need to step up the capabilities of your legal website. These 8 integrations can make your website do more and allow you to focus on big-picture items, increase revenue, and provide an exceptional client experience – all with less effort on your part. 

What Is A Custom Integration? 

If you’re not familiar with custom integrations, you may wonder why you need them. However, once you experience the benefits of integrations added to your law firm’s website, you’ll wonder how you ever lived without them. 

A custom integration is a software solution customized to meet your law firm’s specific needs. This may include plugins to transfer data, scheduling tools, and more that will save your office hours every day.

Learn more about what integrations to your website can do for your law firm. Contact us today for a custom quote. 

Strengthen Your Law Firm Website’s Functionality With These 8 Integrations

If your quarterly or annual goals include…

• Streamlining workflows
• Reducing administrative tasks
• Increasing productivity
• Improving client experience
• Increasing revenue

…It’s time to stop trying to recreate the wheel. In fact, there are several tried, tested, and proven integrations that competing law firms are already using. So rather than sit through another brainstorming session with your team, talk to Exults about integrations you can add to your website today.

CRM Integrations 

Your customer relationship management software (CRM) is the powerhouse of your law firm. Because no matter how capable your law firm is, you need the contacts to put your skills to use. 

With CRM integration, you never have to worry about a lost lead. When potential clients visit your website, they will have the opportunity to input their information. And that goes directly into your CRM.

Now, you can easily add these contacts to your email newsletter list and long-term nurture campaigns. Need an incentive to encourage website visitors to input their information? Speak to Exults about creating a valuable lead magnet or list builder to offer your audience in exchange for their contact information. 

Ready to experience the results driven by Exults? Contact us for a custom quote today! 

Booking Links

Scheduling a meeting seems easy enough. But then you get caught up in comparing multiple calendars to find a time that works for everyone. It can easily turn into a majorly time-consuming task that results in delayed responses to your potential or existing clients. 

Instead, add a booking link integration to your website. Visitors will be able to schedule meetings within seconds. The integration utilizes you and your team’s calendars without anyone having to sift through pages of upcoming events. 

You can even provide specific links for different types of meetings. For instance, a discovery call may require 30 minutes and a select few people from your team. Whereas another type of meeting may require a different amount of time with a different selection of your employees. 

Search Bar 

A thoughtful, well-executed website will accomplish several goals. For instance, it’s encouraged to include the answers to questions that you often find yourself clarifying over phone calls and emails. 

If you’ve made the decision to include a wealth of information on your website, help yourself and your audience by making that data easy to find. The best way to do this is to include a search bar. This way, your website visitors will be able to locate helpful resources within seconds. 

Otherwise, you may continue to find yourself on the other end of phone calls and emails explaining information that’s already on your website. 

Case Management Software

Look around your office. Do you see handwritten to-do lists scattered across every  desk? Moreover, are you constantly being asked by your team to confirm deadlines for specific tasks?

This can become time-consuming, confusing, and downright frustrating. But now, you can save your entire office time and energy with integrated case management software that will simultaneously improve your workflow.

Helpful case management software will allow your office to create tasks, delegate responsibilities, track time and progress, and confirm when each action is completed.  

Client Portal 

It’s fairly common for your law firm’s clients to call, email, or even stop by unannounced to inquire about the status of their legal case. While client communications are important, this can be burdensome and even annoying at times.

Between your CRM and client portal, you can keep your clients happy and apprised of their current status through these integrations. PRO TIP: Take a note from Exults and include key performance indicators (KPI) tracking in your client portal. If you’re a current or former client of ours, you know that you can access your KPIs at any time through our ARC client portal. It is mutually beneficial to all of our clients and the Exults team. 

Online Billing Software

How many people do you employ for the sole purpose of handling your billing and other finances? 

With so much of our lives happening online these days, it’s fairly common to not receive change of address updates as was once the norm. And with the amount of scammers and phishing attempts, legitimate emails are often inaccurately marked as spam. As a result, communications go missing. When this affects collecting payments, this can cause major issues for your law firm.

Instead of dealing with the headaches, streamline your bill collections into an online billing website integration. Clients will know to securely sign in to pay their bills. Plus, you can set up your online billing software to send reminders until the bill is paid. This saves your office time, energy, paper, postage, and more.

E-Signature Software

Whether your clients have all embraced technology, it’s a safe bet that the majority are fully capable of using your e-signature integration. 

Rather than having to track down all parties whose signatures you need, you can easily have them e-sign from their computer, tablet, or even smartphone!

Gone are the days of progress being held hostage while you wait for someone to get back in town or take the time to swing by your office to sign on the dotted line.

Google Connections

Are you showcasing your best client feedback? Or tracking your marketing efforts to see exactly what is and what is not working?

By integrating Google connections, like Google reviews and Google Analytics, your law firm can do more of what is creating positive feedback and results. And when the analytics show that a certain campaign isn’t performing as intended, this gives you the opportunity to pivot your marketing budget for the best results. 

Enhance Your Legal Website’s Capabilities With Integrations By Exults

Aside from integration research and implementation for clients, we use them ourselves. Having seen the results firsthand, we know that integrations are useful in streamlining workflows to increase productivity and revenue. 

Trust your law firm website to the experts at Exults who drive results. Contact us for a custom quote today!

The post Custom Integrations To Consider Adding To Your Law Firm’s Website In 2023 appeared first on Exults Digital Marketing Agency.

AI may be all the buzz right now, but it’s nothing new. 

For instance, have you ever communicated with a chatbot? Taken advantage of your email suggesting the first sentence or subject line? Used editing software to help improve your writing skills? If the answer is yes to any of these questions, you have experienced the power of AI – whether you realized it or not.

The truth is, AI comes in many forms and has been changing the way businesses work for a while now – especially when it comes to driving meaningful results for your marketing. 

ChatGPT Is Leading The Technical Revolution

Taking the business world by storm one prompt at a time, ChatGPT is changing the inner operations of businesses across the globe with digital marketing at the forefront.

Integrate marketing campaigns that bring results. Reach out to Exults today for a custom quote.

The Evolution Of ChatGPT 

Whether or not you believe it’s been a game changer, ChatGPT has certainly made a name for itself. After previous versions meant for applications such as video games, OpenAI released a new version built on top of the former with a language model chatbot included. 

The results have been met with awe. The first takeaway is the AI’s ability to perform infinite demands with a prompt command. With a little further utilization, users have been continuously wowed by the AI’s ability to follow along and adjust its outputs based on conversation history. 

While it does not currently perform the conversational functions that chatbot-specific AIs have excelled in, it doesn’t mean that won’t be happening soon. However, conversational functions or not, ChatGPT is making strides in the marketing industry – especially in social media marketing and search engine optimization (SEO).

Curious about how ChatGPT can optimize your business? Contact Exults for a custom quote today!

Why So Many Companies Are Using ChatGPT In Their Marketing

Technical advances are constantly changing the digital marketing landscape. From automation and optimizations to augmented realities and a reduction of human labor hours, the technical revolution can’t be ignored. 

With so many advances, why is ChatGPT creating a bigger buzz than the rest? Simply, it’s streamlining the existing functions in a way that’s never been seen before.

The amount of work ChatGPT can help with would have been unfathomable only a few years ago. These days, AI users can explore the intricacies of ChatGPT without sign-up fees or restrictions. Meaning, digital marketers have seen the results and it comes down to the detailed input. Overall, the more detailed the prompt, the more detailed the response. 

Market Research Analysis

Need to see how your brand is stacking up against the competition? What used to be a job role in its own right can now be completed with a well-thought-out ChatGPT input. 

To perform your own market research analysis, ask ChatGPT to create an assessment of the similarities and differences between competitors and your own business. Include parameters such as branding, messaging, pricing, and marketing positioning. Furthermore, ask ChatGPT to provide a detailed report that includes charts, graphs, and tables. And ask, “What actionable steps can my brand take to improve and be better than the competition?” 

From the results, you will not only have a clear understanding of your brand’s current standing, but you’ll also have visual representations to present to your business partners and investors. 

Content Creation

How do you stay relevant in today’s world? Many businesses are finding success through social media. But the caveat is you have to consistently create and post across your social media platforms. 

Finding the time to do this has held many businesses back…until now.

With ChatGPT, you can fill in the social media section of your editorial calendar with specific prompts. To do this, tell ChatGPT to create social media captions for the platforms you use. Then include in your input to focus on unique, eye-catching, on-brand, witty, and aesthetically pleasing copy. 

Take it further by telling ChatGPT that the goal is to capture the attention of your current audience and any potential new followers with hashtags for the most visibility. Add that you want it to continue this process and create a content calendar with the same parameters for 3 posts a week for a month – or however many posts per week you need. Finally, tell ChatGPT that all posts should utilize varying verticals for this content creation.  

The ChatGPT response will lay out a social media content calendar that would take a person hours to complete. 

Email Responses

How do you focus on tasks when the emails just keep rolling in? 

It can be time-consuming and distracting to shift gears to respond to emails. But now with ChatGPT, you can have AI draft these responses for you.

Write a prompt demand telling ChatGPT to respond to the following email. Include any parameters necessary. This may include the tone, whether you want to agree or disagree with any questions, and so on. Then, copy and paste the sender’s email under your prompt. 

Capabilities like these allow ChatGPT to work in the background while you work in the foreground. Like having a personal assistant without the added expense, ChatGPT is giving businesses more multitasking power than ever before. 

What To Expect From ChatGPT Moving Forward

Nothing breeds innovation like competition. With that in mind, we expect OpenAI to continue releasing improved versions of ChatGPT. 

It will not be a surprise to see new functions that were once primarily known to be specific to other AI platforms. For example, ChatGPT may hone in on focused conversational abilities to offer more abilities to OpenAI users. 

Overall, expect ChatGPT (and other AI platforms) to introduce new versions that pull from each other’s capabilities. 

A few of the specific AI benefits that we can expect to further improve include:

• Expedited content creation
• Reduced human labor hours
• Improved automation and optimization

When used in digital marketing, professionals are already able to exceed what was once the standard. When treated as the tools they are, it’s an exciting time to see how AI continues to positively impact the businesses that utilize the platforms to optimize their marketing. 

Exults’ Take On The AI Platforms

As a digital marketing agency that truly drives results, the Exults team doesn’t back away from innovative tools that improve our processes and increase productivity. 

For over 5 years, we have utilized AI in various ways to help our clients reach their goals. With that being said, when there are tools available to you, such as ChatGPT, use them!

By optimizing our process with automation and more, we are able to support our client’s growth goals. Because when it comes to improving your business through digital marketing – you need a team willing to go the distance and use the best tools available.

Ready to boost your efficiency with a team that can support your growth goals? Contact Exults for a custom quote today!

The post ChatGPT: How AI Can Drive Meaningful Results For Your Marketing appeared first on Exults Digital Marketing Agency.

One way to look at digital marketing is by seeing your business as a central destination that anyone across the world has access to. But the customer journey is a long one full of roadblocks, distractions, detours, and beyond. 

Digital marketing is a crucial element in the success of businesses across all industries. The entire strategy made simple gives your business a strong digital presence across multiple platforms to…

• Reach consumers
• Build a positive brand image
• Increase revenue

These are your main goals measured and led by your digital marketing efforts. The problem here is that because most business owners are already wearing so many hats, they have little to no quality time to spend on their digital marketing strategies. Without up-to-date knowledge of best practices in the digital marketing realm, it’s even harder to know what to do next. 

Digital marketing agencies (like Exults) act as a top-notch travel guide for your business. We will make suggestions (social media posts, paid ads, sponsored landing website pages, etc.) as your target customers road trip or browse the Internet – leading them towards your business on their travels. Again, because most business owners are generally too busy, we give them the marketing services they need to establish and maintain a presence in the digital landscape.

Many digital marketing agencies make promises but fail to execute results. So how do you choose the best digital marketing agency for your business? Dive into the top 10 things to consider when hiring a digital marketing agency.

What To Look For In A Digital Marketing Agency

Want to know what to look for in a digital marketing agency? Questions on how to choose the right digital marketing agency and why hire a digital marketing agency? After working with hundreds of companies, we’ve learned a thing or two about what to look for in a digital marketing agency when hiring (and especially what to avoid). 

1) Determine Business Goals

Remember your simplified digital marketing strategy from above? The reasoning behind having a multilayered digital marketing approach is to support your ultimate goals. 

Whether you’re starting from scratch or power-boosting your digital marketing efforts, the first thing that you need to do is to evaluate your organization’s unique goals. Then you need to tie that to your digital needs to answer the question…What digital marketing services does your business need to reach its goals? 

Explore these sample business goals:

• Grow revenue
• Increase conversion rates
• Decrease bounce rates
• Expand lead generation pathways
• Improve brand image
• Boost brand awareness
• Reach a certain number of social media followers

Keep in mind that narrowing down your ideal business goals also assists in providing you with an accurate budget quote. A successful digital presence requires businesses to be established on several online platforms. This includes having a core website, relevant social media accounts, Google Search Console, and online directories. 

As you explore your needs, consider digital marketing services that will help you achieve your goals. When looking at this part of your business from the perspective of your “road-tripping” target audience, it helps to think of each actual service as a billboard along the highway. You can also look at your efforts as an aircraft flying with a banner advertisement or a digital pop-up ad that appears as you wait and pump gas into your car. The point of any of these is to grab your attention as you travel and learn more about the business being advertised. In the digital world, those ads look more like the following:

• Digital Branding
• Website Design and Development
• eCommerce Platform Development and Management
• Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
• Social Media Marketing
• Digital PR
• Pay Per Click Advertising (PPC)

Digital marketing also requires businesses to engage in regular posting, website updates, search engine optimization, and other creative services. Businesses turn to digital marketing agencies to handle all of these aspects of their online business. It is important to research each agency thoroughly because not all agencies offer a full suite of marketing services.

2) Performance-Based Results

Performance-based results are one of the most important elements to consider when choosing a digital marketing agency. Does the agency provide its clients with promised results?

A reputable agency should gladly share data that demonstrates the effectiveness of its services. Measurable results should be available, including past client ROIs and other analytical data.

Additionally, we realize that most customers gauge whether they want to try a business for the first time through reading testimonials. The best testimonials a business can offer are ones that are real, honest, timely, and detailed. You should expect the same level of quality testimonials from your digital marketing agency. 

3) Clear & Frequent Communication

Regular communication is the key to any professional business partnership. This means choosing a digital marketing partner you don’t need to micromanage. You already don’t have the time to do your own digital marketing, so the digital marketing agency you choose to hire should be a self-starter. 

Regardless of who you initially speak to, the agency you choose should be open, honest, and available to communicate when you have questions or concerns. Having someone available at all times, via email, chat, or phone to put your mind at ease makes a huge difference to our clients. 

Don’t forget to look for answers on the agency’s website to commonly asked questions and issues. This gives you extra padding in your communications and saves everyone time as the answer is (usually) readily available and can be answered quickly (or as fast as you can scroll and click).  

In addition to having a clear point of contact and answers to FAQs, look up whether the agency you’re considering offers additional forms of support through a crafted newsletter, blog, podcast, etc. These tools can offer valuable information, insight, and tips that you can use or learn more about as they’re updated.

4) Creativity

Creativity is at the core of all elements involved in digital marketing. Standing out amongst the competition requires creative thinking and original ideas. This requires an agency that employs a team of natural creative thinkers who are knowledgeable in what can set a business apart.

While creativity is one of the more subjective factors to consider when hiring a digital marketing agency, it’s crucial to determine what’s important to you in this category. 

Are you searching for…?

• Diversity in design
• Scale of deliverables for a given client
• Uniqueness 

5) Flexibility

Digital marketing is an ever-evolving industry. An agency must be flexible and able to adapt as changes occur. Look at the recent developments in AI…That’s changed the landscape for digital marketing agencies around the world. 

An exceptional digital marketing agency will be able to identify emerging trends and adjust campaigns accordingly. This puts your business at the forefront of the latest digital marketing trends.

How do you determine whether an agency has flexibility? Evaluate the conversations they’re having on their blog, podcast, social media, and/or in meetings.

 6) Specialized Team

An innovative and passionate team of marketing specialists is a crucial element in every successful digital marketing agency. A reputable digital marketing agency should employ a team of experts who specialize in each of the elements of effective digital marketing.

The last thing you want is to hire a full-service digital marketing agency that is a one-man show. There is not enough time for them to be a master in every service they offer. 

A full-service marketing agency should have a team, including social media marketers, search engine optimization (SEO) specialists, and skilled account executives. This vast range of skills is essential for effective web marketing.

7) Transparency

Transparency is crucial for all business relationships. It’s the starting point for building trust and rapport between the client (i.e. you) and the agency. 

First, check the agency’s website. A website that seems too good to be true, does not provide enough information, or otherwise seems sketchy is probably not legitimate. 

Then, trustworthy digital marketing agencies should provide prospective customers with complete transparency. This includes honest pricing, easy-to-understand contracts, and customer testimonials. If there is anything that you considered sketchy in your search, ask them about it. Their response will tell you a lot about whether you can trust that agency with your business’s marketing.

Finally, a reputable agency will also be happy to review documents with prospective clients before any commitment is made.

8) Data-Driven Services

How data is measured is often a frequently asked question and rightfully so. It’s incredibly hard to track progress without having any way to do so. Effective digital marketing campaigns require advanced tools, technologies, and skilled professionals. All of these, are not typically available or easily understood by someone unfamiliar with digital marketing.

When searching for a digital marketing agency for your business, you should ask them how they measure data and whether they can track your digital marketing progress in real-time. One way an agency might do this is by offering data and analytical reports to keep their clients abreast of any major changes or trends. 

Furthermore, frequent data tracking is the best way to adjust your campaigns as needed to maximize your budget for optimal success. True professionals should use analytical data to drive decision-making processes that generate results.

You may also ask about tracking your digital marketing progress on your own time with client dashboards. These dashboards will keep you informed about the progress that the agency’s services are providing. An added advantage of having a client dashboard includes quick and easy ways to get in touch with your team should you have any questions.

9) A Strong Focus on Business Revenue

A full-service digital marketing agency is the best way to ensure your web presence reaches its maximum potential. Some agencies focus solely on lead generation, website traffic, or other web goals. While these are important elements of a successful digital marketing campaign, this is not the end goal. The right digital marketing agency will work to plan beyond these initial elements of marketing and focus on the end goal of increased revenue.

Marketing’s purpose is to generate quality leads that turn into sales. 

That starts by improving your brand image and building a greater reach into your target audience. 

Beyond that, marketing needs to funnel leads so that your company can see a significant increase in conversions.

NOTE: Marketing is not sales, so you must have an effective sales process to close the quality leads your marketing efforts provide. 

10) Attractive Web Presence

Finally, evaluate the strength and reach of any prospective digital marketing agency’s web presence. A reputable company should appear highly on search engine results pages and regularly post on social media. They should not fall under “the cobbler’s kid goes shoeless”. 

You want to choose an agency that has invested in and successfully established its own digital presence before hiring them to handle yours. There are several reasons for this:

• Their website is the cornerstone of their entire marketing. 
• Agencies should use their website as their personal portfolio.
• They are most likely testing different marketing strategies before trying them out with your brand.
• If they can’t generate leads through their website, how will they be able to generate leads for you? 
• Their ability to invest in their marketing indicates their willingness to invest in other areas of their business (i.e. technology, personnel, continuing education, etc.).

Exults is a full-service digital marketing agency that provides our clients with a range of results-driven services. Explore our services below:

• Website Design
• Website Development
• Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
• Sponsored Search
• Social Media Marketing
• E-Commerce Development
• Digital PR

4 Questions To Ask When Hiring A Digital Agency

Wondering how to choose a digital marketing agency? Ask these questions when interviewing agencies. 

How Does Your Digital Agency Track Metrics? 

Every digital agency should hold itself accountable for the leads they are generating for businesses. However, that is not always the case. So ask how and what metrics they track. You may also want to find out if they will provide those metrics to you so you can hold them accountable. 

How Do You Adjust When Things Aren’t Going The Way We Want It To? 

Leading into our second question, the data may show that things aren’t going the way they should’ve gone. Although marketing does require a level of testing and experimentation, it should also have an iterative process. The most important thing is to search for in an agency is someone who will be transparent and proactively provide the next steps to circumvent a negative trend. 

What Involvement Do You Need From Me As The Client?

Depending on what your digital agency proposes, your involvement may vary. When you ask this question, you also need to communicate if you can be involved at any level. 

When Will I See The Results? 

This is a great question because it sets expectations for both parties – the client and the agency. 

The agency will be able to see how quickly you’re expecting leads. That may impact their recommendations. For example, if you want leads yesterday, they may offer paid ads instead of SEO (which can take a couple of months to produce meaningful results). 

The client, on the other hand, will be able to set their personal expectations so they aren’t hounding you for results.

6 Factors To Consider When Choosing A Digital Marketing Agency

Beyond what to look for in a digital marketing agency and questions to ask when hiring a digital agency, you also need to consider the following factors:

• Experience
• Expertise
• Communication
• Budget
• Reputation 
• Business model 

1. Experience

Based on what you’re trying to accomplish, you need to know that the digital agency you’re considering has the experience to take you where you want. For example, if you want a digital agency to create an omnichannel marketing strategy that includes SEO, public relations, social media, billboards, and paid ads, you don’t want a green agency that has experience in only one or two categories. 

Take inventory of what experience you require from an agency.

Then evaluate their work – either through clients listed on their website, case studies provided on their website, or even blogs outlining what they’ve done for themselves. 

2. Expertise

Paired with experience, the next factor to consider when hiring a digital agency is expertise. Your agency needs to be able to know how, when, and what they need to do in the specific marketing strategy they’ve pitched you on. 

As your prospective agency about the team members that will be assigned to your business. What are they skilled in? Why should you trust them with your business?

3. Communication 

This is a big one. Communication can either be the key to a successful partnership or the demise of one. While you may not be able to get a good read in the sales conversations alone, there are a couple of things to look at: 

• Responsiveness via phone, email, and/or text
• Do they answer your questions (or skirt around them)? 
• Welcoming messages to get you excited about partnering together
• Recap emails from meetings or conversations
• Follow-through on action tasks

4. Budget 

Do you have those narrowed digital marketing goals in mind? You need to know if your budget aligns with the agency you’re evaluating and what services you’re requesting. Some agencies have minimum monthly retainers. Others have no floor or ceiling for monthly budget requirements. 

5. Reputation

Another factor to consider when hiring a digital marketing agency is its reputation. What do clients say about them on Google or social media? What do employees say about them on sites like Glassdoor? 

When evaluating reviews, here are a couple of things to consider:

• Recency. Throughout the lifetime of a business, there may be rougher seasons. That may not tell the current picture though. So it’s imperative that you look at the most recent reviews to see what people are experiencing right now. 
• Detail. Evaluate the level of detail a reviewer is providing. Too much detail may be as much of a red flag as too little detail. If you’re unsure about the legitimacy of the testimonial, check out the reviewer’s other comments. 
• Response. There will always be bad reviews. But what matters is how the company responds to those reviews. Are they being gracious, understanding, and proactive? Or are they blaming the reviewer and leaving a bad taste in your mouth? 
• Your Gut. As always, take a gut check when evaluating the agency’s reputation. If something feels slimy, you may be avoiding a potential disaster of an agency relationship.

When searching online, be sure that the digital agency you’re looking into has testimonials readily available on the marketing agency’s core website. You can also search online for reviews from previous clients. You should also pay attention to any agency-given responses to customer complaints or praises. However an agency chooses to respond to their customers online can say more than you may think about their daily operations.

6. Business Model

Depending on the agency and your personal preferences, one type of agency may be better than another. 

First, there’s a more boutique approach where every strategy is designed around the client. Because of their uniqueness, they may take on fewer clients. There may also be a little more experimentation here, but the results could take you into the stratosphere. 

Then there is the other approach where the agency has a proven formula for marketing success. While there may be a little less customization and flexibility here, it’s no less effective. And you’ll see amazing and more importantly, consistent results!

Determine what style and results you’re looking for and keep that in mind when choosing a digital marketing agency to hire. 

Expand The Power Of Your Digital Marketing Strategies With Exults

There’s far more to a successful digital marketing campaign than meets the eye. Where you see social media posts, we see a number of clicks, copy that converts, and eye-catching images. When you’re browsing through blogs, we see relevant and real content with custom copy optimized for the right audience. And where you see your website as it is, we see a ton of measurable results that change daily.

If it sounds like a lot to be responsible for, you’d be right. This is why we partner with businesses and entrepreneurs like yourself to help you stand out among your competitors, promote your brand and voice, and give you access to higher-quality leads.

Are you ready to elevate your customer journey with digital marketing solutions?

Contact Exults Digital Marketing today if you are interested in rebranding your company for the digital business world to spark meaningful engagement and online sales. Visit the Exults website or call 866-999-4736 for more information.

The post The Most Important Things You Should Consider When Hiring a Digital Agency appeared first on Exults Digital Marketing Agency.

Although this information has been neither confirmed nor denied, this is a possibility that companies must prepare for by making adjustments to their current SEO strategies.

The following information will explore the significance between SEO and social media, our current digital environment, and what this potential deal would mean for all organizations.

Benefits of Social Media Accounts

Organizations utilize social media outlets because they provide a means of reaching and engaging with a vast range of audiences, increasing public relations, and promoting their brand. There are several ways that these outlets can be used to improve business operations, including:

• Sharing Community Engagements
• Posting Articles, Blogs, Press Releases
• Networking with Other Professionals
• Sharing Promotions and/or Coupons
• Increasing Google Search Rankings

These methods have the potential to increase the visibility and reputation of your organization. The majority of traffic that websites receive from social media is due to networking and sharing with other users.

What Are TikTok and Instagram?

Many businesses already use social media outlets Facebook and Twitter. These outlets allow businesses to share their photos, videos, articles, and more with audiences all over the world. Both Facebook and Twitter are indexed by Google.

Instagram and TikTok are newer applications. Many businesses have yet to take advantage of these social media outlets because of their lack of Google indexing, the short lifespan of posts, limited capabilities, and younger audience demographic.

Instagram

Instagram is a social media application that was not integrated for Windows 10 until October of 2016. Developed by Facebook, Inc., Instagram appeals to a lighthearted audience of mostly female young adults. This is because Instagram is driven by a community of users who share photos, rather than written content, making it easier to avoid politics, news, and quarrels.

TikTok

TikTok is a social media site that has become fairly popular in recent years among younger audiences. The application launched in 2016 and has over a billion users all over the world. Users post short videos, sharing routines, recipes, performing, advertising and more.

Social Media’s Effect on Google Search Rankings

For several years, companies have utilized social media to increase their relevance on Google search engines.

Twitter

Currently, Twitter is the most indexed social media website on google. This is due to a deal made in 2015 when Google agreed to post individual tweets in their results feed in exchange for compensation.

Facebook

Googlebot also crawls Facebook pages in search of content that is potentially indexed in their database. Although not as deeply connected as Twitter, there are vast opportunities on Facebook to network with big spenders.

TikTok and Instagram

It is likely that a potential deal with TikTok and Instagram would result in the search engine listing TikTok videos and Instagram photos in their search result feed.

This May Benefit All Businesses

This possibility would potentially create a new environment for Google Search where potential consumers can discover both written and video content. This would provide all businesses and audiences the opportunity to explore the same search platform.

Expanding Google’s index to include TikTok and Instagram content could be beneficial for organizations in numerous sectors. This could lead to an increase in search volume on the platform, increasing visibility for all brands. For example, this could entice younger audiences to interact with new brands.

How To Get Your Social Media Account Indexed by Google

Google scans the web regularly for new websites to determine which are reputable and relevant sources of content. It can be difficult for many businesses to increase and maintain their web presence online. There are things that can be done to increase this likelihood, including:

• Update Content Regularly
• Reindex Your Page on Google Search Console
• Network
• Like, Share, Comment

The most important aspect of acquiring and maintaining relevance in search engines is through regular page maintenance and engagement. Many businesses choose to hire professional SEO services and/or social media management agencies.

Social Media Management

There is a significant link between an organization’s social media presence and SEO. Google evaluates your brand’s worthiness based on how relevant your company is in terms of the number of likes, shares, retweets, and comments. It is important to choose your outlets based on the unique demographic of audiences.

There may be more than one account that would be beneficial to your business. Some companies choose to hire an in-house digital marketing account manager. This is an effective strategy but often more expensive than hiring an outside agency. There are digital marketing agencies that offer their clients a full range of internet marketing campaign services.

Exults Provides Social Media Management Services

Exults is a full-service digital marketing agency that specializes in developing effective social media campaigns for organizations across numerous industries. Exults is proud to assist in the creation, management, and public relations aspects required to operate a successful social media campaign.

Exults also provides additional services to help brands reach their unique goals, including:

• Search Engine Optimization
• Website Design
• WooCommerce Development
• Digital Branding
• Social Media Marketing
• Metaverse Development

Their team of experienced marketing professionals are happy to create custom plans that cater to the needs and budgets of their clients.

Contact Exults Today

Reach out to Exults today to learn more about what social media development, campaign management, and search engine optimization could do for your organization. A full list of services can be found on their website.

The post Social Media Giants TikTok and Instagram May Require SEO Adjustments – A Deal With Google appeared first on Exults Digital Marketing Agency.

Online reviews can make or break a company. In addition to negative reviews costing companies sales and public image, even a lack of customer reviews can dramatically reduce a company’s customer engagement and conversion.

Companies with an online presence must have a review engagement plan to encourage customer feedback, implement positive reviews, and gracefully handle negative reviews. Exults can assist companies with soliciting and handling online reviews to increase their online presence as well as customer satisfaction and new business.

Asking for Reviews

Of course, hiring people to write reviews is dishonest, and Google will respond negatively to such tactics. However, encouraging customers to leave feedback is both valid and encouraged. Companies can post customer reviews on their website and urge customers to leave their own reviews on third-party review sites or through a form on their websites.

Common review request reminders include adding a reminder after the purchase or sending a follow-up email a few weeks after the purchase. Software – both smartphone apps and traditional desktop applications – have routine reminders for their users to submit feedback either directly to the company or to a third-party review site.

Positive Reviews Lead to Higher Google Rankings

When determining the search result ranking of a page or company, Google performs a deep search on the company and media related to it. Customers who submit reviews for a company yield more hits for Google to investigate. And Google will award higher rankings to companies with multiple honest reviews. (This only applies to genuine reviews; Google will detect generic, false reviews from bots and lower the company’s ranking.)

Customer Reviews are Free, Fresh Content

Roughly 90% of online consumers read customer reviews before visiting a company’s website or going to a brick-and-mortar office. Customers who write about their experiences and their unsolicited reactions and feelings can be a great boon to a company, especially companies that rely on word-of-mouth or do not yet have a sizeable marketing budget. Customer reviews can also help emerging companies establish or solidify their brand or their corporate image.

Positive Customer Reviews Make for Great Press

There is a significant difference between a company claiming that their product is great and a group of satisfied customers praising the company’s products and services. Companies with multiple positive reviews should spread positive reviews to bolster their image. In addition to sharing positive reviews on the company website, companies can include positive reviews in marketing content and press reviews.

Customer Reviews Generate Long-Tail Keywords

Long-tail keywords are terms that help customers find companies with certain specialties or geographic locations. “Needle-free acupuncture” and “free delivery in Chicago” are examples of long-tail keywords that can guide customers to a company that closely meets their needs. Customer reviews with similar terms or themes can create organic long-tail keywords which Google will detect and apply to search results. Although companies should consider which keywords are associated with their company, they should adopt the positive keywords suggested by customer reviews instead of ignoring or resisting them.

Vitral Reviews Lead to a Conversion Surge

Customer reviews that are memorable, humorous, or issued by a popular public figure can spread quickly over social media sites. A company that goes viral due to excellent customer service and products will receive a significant boost in website visitors, emails, phone calls, and other communications that can lead to new customers and new sales.

Get Familiar with Google SEO and Major Online Reviewer Sites

There is a difference between buying customer reviews and learning more about the sites that will, directly and indirectly, affect a customer’s search rankings and reputations. Many sites offer plug-ins, tutorials, and similar technical assistance that will simplify the process of companies soliciting feedback. And keeping a watch of what customers are saying can allow companies to adjust their media outreach and marketing efforts to respond to common customer comments, memes, and other online communications.

Niche Companies Should (Also) Engage with Niche Review Sites

Companies with a strong online presence in mainstream review sites have a significant edge over their competitors. However, companies whose products and services are not mainstream and companies with a specific target audience should also look for alternative review sites that closely match their products and services. This can be an essential marketing strategy for companies with a new or unique service or companies with a specialty service.

Turning Negative Reviews into Strengths

“You can’t please all of the people all of the time” applies to companies as well as it does to people. Even companies with well-earned reputations for quality service will have negative reviews. Companies should reply to negative reviews to demonstrate customer engagement.

Companies’ media liaisons should not let their emotions taint their response; in addition to the appearance of unprofessionalism, companies should seek to calm customers’ anger, not intensify it. Customers should thoroughly research both the complaint and the source as such research can differentiate between a problem with the company and a perpetual complainer (or a bot-generated review).

Responding in a personal matter is crucial. The response should indicate that the company understands the negative complaint and that the company’s response is not a copied-and-pasted generic reply. When a company can convince a dissatisfied customer to continue the conversation in private venues, the company can more freely work on satisfying the customer without attracting system abusers or damaging their Google search ranking. And when a company can successfully resolve a customer’s issue in a way that satisfies the customer, asking the customer to update their review can mitigate or neutralize the effect of the negative review.

Exults provides multiple online services for new and established companies. We can help clients manage their online presence on many popular social media sites. Our staff can create new websites from scratch or optimize existing websites for higher SEO rankings. Additionally, we create targeted ads that will increase customer engagement and conversions. Please feel free to contact us by requesting a quote online, filling out our online form, or calling us at 1-866-999-4736.

The post Utilizing and Managing Online Customer Reviews appeared first on Exults Digital Marketing Agency.