Internet Marketing Professionals Houston - Archive - SEO Houston Experts & Search Engine Optimization Consultants

How To Optimize A Website

August 27, 2018 By SEO Houston Pros Leave a Comment

Website Optimization Tips

This post discusses a broad strategy for basic website optimization. The goal of search engine optimization (SEO) is to make sure that when search engine spiders find your website and rank it according to topic relevance, that it comes out ahead of other similar websites. The process of SEO is not a one time effort, but will require ongoing work, maintenance, and regular monitoring and testing to make sure your site holds its rank. This is a four-step process for search engine optimization that you can put to work on your website. Put it to work as a high level list of steps to follow.

1. Analyze Your Target Market Thoroughly

Analyze websites Take the time to analyze all visible text, keywords and metasets, and code, and compare how you are positioned against other sites in your niche. – For example, how much code is on your site compared to theirs? How much code is on your site compared to text?
Perform a competitive analysis Take the time to examine your keywords and the current rankings of websites that you’re in direct competition with to plan out a strategy. Choose the five best results in Google to start the process, then expand to more sites if you feel this is necessary.
Initial Keyword Selection Choose a list of search terms to target based on your target demographic. Start with words that you would use in a search engine if you were trying to find your product, website, or service.

2. Keyword Research and Analysis

Work up a list of specifically targeted keywords and phrases. Spend time going over industry sources and lists of competitive keywords generated by keyword search tools. Use this starting list to figure out important information about search engine hits and estimate how many websites may be competing for traffic on each specific keyword phrase. Consider using long tail search phrases, plural keywords, singular keywords, and misspellings. Track where you start from with each keyword so that you have a clear assessment of your baseline traffic and ranking, so that you have an accurate assessment of how your site has grown in the future. It’s important to understand where you start so that you can clearly see how you’ve grown.

A spreadsheet is often the perfect tool for this tracking process. Set clear goals and objectives for how you’d like to grow your traffic in a specific period of time. Define any objectives that you have well in advance, before purchasing any products, tools, or programs. For example, you may want to attempt to increase your website traffic from a baseline of 100 to 200 visitors a day in thirty days. Or you may want to double your conversion rate over a specific length of time. There’s no way to know if you’ve been successful or not if you don’t take the time to track your metrics. Website optimization is important if you are looking to boost your company’s ranking on search engines. Local SEO is also a thing to consider when you are doing the website optimization.

3. Optimize Content and the Submission Process

Design eye-catching titles for pages. Choose titles that include your keywords, establish a theme for your page, and provide direction for your keywords. Create meta tags for your pages These description tags may influence your click-through rates, but they aren’t directly used for ranking your site. Google doesn’t use the keyword meta tag any longer. Add search terms strategically to your pages Include the keywords that you’ve chosen in your web content and your source code. Be sure to work with the industry guideline of including one to three keyphrases per content page, and add more pages as necessary to work through your entire list of keywords. Be sure that you use natural language to work in your keywords. This allows the search engine to easily understand what the page is about. Shorter pages used to be recommended, with 100 to 300 words per page.

Now, however, user testing is showing that pages with 800 to 2,000 words per page are steadily outperforming pages with shorter amounts of text. When it’s said and done, the marketplace and end users will make the final determination as far as a site’s ranking numbers and overall popularity. Work up new sitemaps for both Bing and Google This will help make it a simpler process for your website to be indexed. Create both HTML and XML versions of your page. Then submit them via Bing and Google webmaster tools submission pages. Take the time to submit your website to directories. Professional marketers often don’t bother to submit their actual URL to major search engines, but you can choose to do so if you’d like. It’s often better to link back to your site naturally, instead. These links will ensure that your site gets indexed by the search engines.

4. Measure and Test Continuously

Determine the effectiveness of any programs you’ve put into place by analyzing search engine rankings, web traffic, and the performance of your individual keywords. Test the results of any changes that you make, and keep track of these changes so you know how they affect your rankings. It’s crucial that you add and modify website content and keywords on a regular basis, working to continually improve your search engine rankings. This helps keep your site growing and makes sure that it doesn’t stall or stagnate. Make sure that your outbound and inbound links stay current and relevant, as well. A blog will help you keep the ongoing content addition and structure that you need to keep your website traffic flowing. Often, your hosting company can assist you to install or set up a blog, if you need help.

Website Optimization Experts

We are available to help you with your website optimization. We are an experienced and top-rated online marketing agency in Houston, TX. Call us today at (832)230-4495. Do not miss out on potential clients by missing one very important step which is website optimization. SEO Houston Pros can help improve the overall performance of your website. We are only a call away.

Improve Your Rankings With The Best Houston TX SEO Tricks For Your Mortgage Website

June 15, 2018 By SEO Houston Pros Leave a Comment

Jump-Starting Mortgage Websites With The Top Houston TX SEO Techniques

1. Ensure Contact Information Consistency In All Formats

A frequent mistake made with regard to mortgage-related websites has to do with contact information. If you have moved offices in recent months or have brought additional branches on board, it is vital that important contact information be updated to reflect such facts. This needs to be done in a global way that includes not just websites, but also social media accounts that are used to prospective customers to find you.

2. Functional Click-To-Call Options

In essence, this is a dedicated link on the website that permits users to simply click and place a call to you from the mobile phone on which they found your site. Given how prevalent mobile searching has become and because search engines love sites that are mobile-accessible, this is a decision that can pay huge SEO Houston tx dividends. While coding for this feature is not complicated, it can be difficult to identify just the right place for it. Therefore, a web developer’s assistance is recommended. If you are among those who use third-party applications as part of a mortgage website, it is wise to reconsider in terms of using one for click-to-call functionality. Apps from third parties are well-known for crashes, and they are frequently unable to cope with certain types of updates. Therefore, a native click-to-call option is a safer choice for your mortgage site.

3. Positive Client Feedback

These days, an online review is akin to an old-fashioned word of mouth referral, and it is certainly true that search engines see them quite favorably. Reviews on sites including LinkedIn, Yelp, Zillow and the like are gold when it comes to search results, so it is important to generate a real presence and collect customer feedback. Always make time to reply to reviews that are received, because feedback platforms may post how long it takes for a response to be provided. Quick reactions can boost rankings to a notable degree.

4. Revising Meta Descriptions And Titles

It is worth remembering that meta descriptions and meta titles are what come up in search inquiry results. As such, a mortgage site needs to have topical and interesting to achieve success in the opinion of those driving the SEO Houston TX loves best. It is important to approach revisions to metas in a careful manner or risk harming existing rankings. Rather, just the metas for pages known to have good search outcomes but poor click-through numbers should be adjusted. Pages that rank nicely but do not receive a concomitant amount of traffic should have metas changed in order to spark interest from prospective mortgage clients.

5. Using Featured Images To Real Advantage

Featured images are the primary images used in conjunction with a blog or piece of content. If you have experience with sharing articles on social media, you have probably seen how images naturally appear in those posts. These are, in fact, featured images. It is well-known that images generate clicks, and this drives search engine results as well as appearances in Google image searches. Pinterest, for example, is a rare example of a platform that Google includes in search outcomes. Searchers are unlikely to get the same type of results from Instagram or Facebook. Therefore, to ensure that a given image works well in relation to search engines, its description ought to be written so that it encompasses the article’s title. You also want to make sure you are updating old content.

Call or contact SEO Houston Pros today for further information. Visit our blog for more tricks and tips for Houston SEO!

Houston SEO Experts: A Guide On Writing Quality Content For Your Mortgage Website

June 15, 2018 By SEO Houston Pros Leave a Comment

SEO Houston Experts: Effective Content Writing For Your Mortgage-Focused Websites

When it comes to creating effective content for a mortgage-centered website, the first thing to do is to come up with a discrete issue or subject that you would like to address. If this proves difficult, take some time to think back on common client questions and endeavor to provide a detailed answer in writing. Once the topic has been selected, it is wise to start researching keywords connected to the issue at hand. Houston SEO experts would agree that this is the way to do it:

1. Pick a primary phrase or keyword for your SEO

This ought to be clearly and directly linked to the topic of your content. Use the chosen keyword as part of the article’s title and also within the post’s body. Should you decide to use a phrase instead of a single word, try to put it into a form that would likely be used by someone searching online. For instance, it is more probable that a potential customer would type “home loans in Houston” than “Acme Mortgages in Houston.” It is also possible to utilize long-tail key phrases, examples of which might be “small down payments in Houston” or “loans for first-time buyers in Houston.”

2. Check into competition levels for your chosen keywords or phrases

Make sure to look into the competition status for the keywords you want to use. The greater the competition identified, the lower the probability that your SEO content will secure the high rankings and increased traffic volumes you seek. Rather, go for keywords with a lower degree of competition, but which still have a strong relationship to the topic at hand. Suggestion: Pay-to-use tools do exist for the purpose of making keyword research easier. But, if spending time of researching keywords does not fit into your plan, the in-house team of marketing professionals at LendingHomePage stands ready to produce a customized aggregation of phrases and keywords. Just click to learn how to get started.

3. Select another 2 or 3 secondary level keywords

Also referred to as Latent Semantic Indexing keywords, or “LSI keywords,” secondary terms are those that in some important way related to the primary keyword. Secondary selections are useful in helping search engines grasp the thrust of your content and assign it a proper ranking within the topic area.

Tips for selecting secondary keyword options:

Type the primary keyword into a search engine.
Review the related search results.
Select a few of the phrases that appear which still fit with the original keyword.

Once a primary and a few secondary keywords have been identified, it is time to begin the actual process of drafting the SEO content.

4. Readers should be the top priority, ahead of search engines

Picture yourself chatting with a client in person, whether in the office or somewhere else. You present a professional image but are also conveying a willingness to assist with their needs. Once you have paid close attention to their issues and concerns, you take the reins of the discourse. Is this something you can envision? Can you imagine the response you would have for the prospective client? If so, now is the time to get it in writing. Tackle the specific issue in a focused, clear and straightforward manner.

5. Produce an article that runs between 500 and 2,500 words

While this is not a hard and fast requirement, research has shown that posts of at least 500 words tend to achieve higher rankings than shorter ones. This is likely because such posts include sufficient content to help search engines grasp their meaning. Content can run the gamut in terms of length, but writing too long of a piece will probably not be a common concern. But, feel free to write as many words as you believe are required to convey the desired points, but work to limit yourself to 2,500 words. Suggestion: Should your mortgage-related content start to get close to 2,500 words in length, stop and review it to make sure you are not attempting to explain a topic that is too vast. If you feel you are just getting started at 2,500 words, it may be better to divide the subject into multiple, shorter posts.

6. Utilize the primary keyword often, but not in a forced or heavy-handed way.

Keep in mind that the beauty of SEO posts is the fact that they are produced for actual readers as well as for search engines. Though the keyword or chosen phrase needs to appear in various places within the post, this needs to feel organic. Forcing keywords is never a good idea.

Get in touch with us or call now for more information on getting your SEO started!

SEO Houston Pros: A Practical Methodology For Getting Google To Index Your Website Faster

April 25, 2018 By SEO Houston Pros Leave a Comment

Key Facts About Indexing & How To Get Your Houston Website Recognized By Google With The Right SEO Techniques

In essence, the process of Google Indexing involves getting your website listed in search engine results pages. Lots of folks in the online marketing world are under the impression that this is something that requires many weeks, or perhaps even months to accomplish, but this is not necessarily the case in all instances. The fact is that getting a site indexed is possible, and it can be done in the span of just a few hours. A number of techniques exist for making this indexing happen. Therefore, if you have a new website, the following information is sure to be helpful. Google indexing requires you to obtain links to your website from a number of highly-respected sites as well as sites that get crawled search engine spiders. While it is not necessary to pay for these sorts of links, work is still required. One way to begin is to go to a site such as Pingomatic.com and having your site pinged. Just put in your site’s name and its URL. The RSS feed link is left blank, and then you just need to hit submit.

How To Get Your Website Indexed By Google Faster

1. Social bookmarking

An additional fast method of Google indexing is to create social bookmarking websites. Such sites are wonderful due to the fact that they tend to be crawled multiple times daily, allowing your site to be picked up in rapid fashion.

2. Press Releases

It is also possible to produce press releases that can be issued on especially popular sites. Sites of this type are almost always crawled with great frequency, and it may be that your release will be picked up for posting on a host of other sites as well, making your reach even broader.

3. Article Marketing

While it represents an older technique for getting a site indexed, article marketing still tends to work quite well, provided it is not overdone. Lots of article directories maintain high rankings and offer great opportunities for exposure.

4. Comment On Relevant Blogs

Also useful for fast indexing is the tactic of commenting often on relevant blogs. It is important to never leave spam comments, but rather add valuable insight together with your site’s link. It should be noted, though, that blogs on which comments are posted should not have “nofollow” tags on them, otherwise search engines will be prevented from crawling links left by commenters.

5. Nofollow Tags

Nofollow tags are the subject of hearty debate in the SEO world at present. There are those who believe they offer a bit of an advantage, while others suggest that blogs bearing them will be of little use to those seeking rapid indexing.

6. Render Links So They Are Easily Found

While building your site, make certain to boost the likelihood that search engine spiders can actually crawl it. Render links in such a way so that they are easily found and followed. Make sure text links, not images are used, and Flash and image maps should also be avoided. Work to ensure that your pages are not too link-heavy, as this tends to flummox the spiders and thwart the indexing you seek.

7. Relevant Forum Comments

Comments are also useful when placed in relevant forums. These types of pages are crawled often, given that they contain continuously updated content. Lots of highly-trafficked forums have pages show up in Google searches mere minutes following their publication. Make sure comments you place in forums have a link within the signature.

8. Exchange Links With Fellow Webmasters

Finally, those who provide Houston SEO services remind us that it makes sense to consider exchanging links with fellow webmasters. This allows you to take advantage of other sites’ popularity and frequent attention from crawlers. Links of this nature do not result in Google penalties unless they are placed in large quantities in a brief period.

All of the above ideas can have a positive impact on your site’s ability to be indexed fast, and the list is by no means exhaustive. Call or contact SEO Houston Pros today for further information. Visit our blog for more tricks and tips for Houston SEO!

Should I Fire My Houston SEO Firm Or Keep Them?

April 25, 2018 By SEO Houston Pros Leave a Comment

Reasons Why You Should Probably Fire Your SEO Agency In Houston

Advantages To Staying With Your SEO Digital Marketing Agency

True potential – Being with an SEO Houston agency for a couple of months isn’t really enough time to see everything that they can offer you. A flawed or bad initial strategic plan can potentially be grounds for having a new strategy session, instead of completely abandoning the agency.
Brand familiarity – The agency is familiar with your brand. Having to teach the standards of your brand to a new agency is going to require a large upfront investment of both money & time.
History and data – The new agency might be doomed to make the same mistakes if it is blind to your history and metric information.
If you are working with the top-rated Digital Marketing Agency in the nation ie SEO Houston Pros, that means you are getting amazing results already.

Problems With SEO Results

Timing – Keep in mind that search engine optimization is a long-term strategy. Therefore, during the first few months, you shouldn’t expect any meaningful results. However, if it has been six months or even longer and the campaign is still not providing you with anything valuable, that could be a sign that you have an ineffective strategy.
Type of results – You might be dissatisfied as well is you don’t see your campaign providing you with the kind of results that you wanted. For several queries, you may have number one rankings, but it isn’t giving you any organic traffic. That might mean that your priorities are misaligned between your agency and you.
Responsive Actions – Does your agency admit that your campaign should perform better, and have strategic change suggestions to get things to improve? Or are they using the same ineffective tactics over and over again?
If your agency or firm doesn’t do content marketing, definitely fire them. Don’t waste time thinking about it.

Communication Problems With Your Current SEO Company

Another thing that could be happening is you and your agency might be having communication problems:
Unresponsiveness. A big red flag is untimely responses or gaps in communication.
Lack of clarity. When you don’t understand something, then that problem must be addressed and solved.
Lack of transparency. If results are promised by your SEO agency without them telling you what is occurring behind the scenes, that can potentially be a red flag to watch out for.
Misleading conversations. If you are receiving many empty promises, or your account reps mislead you at all, then that can be signs of intentional lying, apathy, disorganization, or all three.
Reporting. It may be time to find a new agency if you don’t get suitable information in this area.

Competitive Threats Between Different SEO Service Providers In Houston

Even if you and your existing agency have a decent relationship, you might still think that it’s time for you to fire them if there are any discrepancies between them and other potential agency alternatives:

Service discrepancies – Another agency might offer more thorough or modern services. It doesn’t make any sense to stay with an agency that doesn’t meet your needs any longer.
Pricing discrepancies – Many digital marketing agencies offer different price packages with similar if not the same products. Make sure to pick one that is charging according to your budget. Keep in mind that the agency that is charging a little bit more may provide better results.
A better fit emerges – You could come in contact with an SEO agency that has everything you are looking for in an agency. If this happens you should definitely consider.

Sometimes, an agency will fit better with your brand than another. It could be a combination of personnel, industry focus, services, and price. Whatever it happens to be, it is always worth exploring upgrades. If you are experiencing any of the signs discussed in this article, then it may be time for you to consider firing your SEO agency. If that is the direction you are leaning in, then be sure to check out your contract. There might be language in it that requires you to provide advance notice to the agency or might preclude you from ending the partnership prematurely without incurring a financial penalty. If you decide it is time to find an agency that will provide you with better results and takes the time to pay attention to your specific company, look no further. SEO Houston Pros are a great team of experienced digital marketers that have been named the best SEO company in Houston, time and time again.

To get started, call us or contact SEO Houston Pros. We invite you to visit our blog for more SEO tips and tricks!

The Best SEO Company In Houston Lists The 5 KPI’S You Need To Track In 2018

March 23, 2018 By SEO Houston Pros Leave a Comment

Top Five SEO KPIs to Track in 2018

Over the last several years, search engine optimization has evolved. Additionally, search engine optimization metrics have changed. One of the most important components of an effective SEO campaign is keeping track of your results. Continue reading to learn the top five key SEO KPIs to track in 2018.

What are KPIs?

KPI is an abbreviation for Key Performance Indicators. These indicators measure several things and help you determine the effectiveness of your campaign and evaluate if you are achieving your objectives. Let’s take a look at the five most important metrics to track.

1. Page Speed –

As internet speeds increase, page speed becomes more important. Starting in 2017, page speed was one of the most critical KPIs. Google wants to provide its users with a first-rate experience, which includes giving internet users immediate access to each website. Because most visitors are directed to your site through Google or another search engine, it is essential that you rank high in search engine results. One way to improve your ranking is to have a fast page speed. Finally, fast loading websites provide a better experience for your visitors. Studies show that website navigation efficiency results in higher conversion rates.

2. Indexed Pages –

Many website owners think that when they submit a page to Google that Google automatically indexes it. This is untrue. When you submit a page to Google for indexing, Google considers it a suggestion. This does not mean your page will ever be indexed. Keeping track of your indexed pages on Google is critical. Your unindexed pages can be causing you to miss out on important opportunities, especially if those pages are critical to the success of your website. In order to ensure that your pages are indexed, submit your sitemap using the Google Search Console. Finally, make sure that the important pages on your website aren’t blocked by robots.txt. If you struggle to improve your website’s performance, make sure to contact the best Houston SEO company for help.

3. Bounce Rate –

Website owners often forget to look at bounce rates; however, this is an essential metric that should be tracked. A bounce rate is the number of website visitors that leave a website after viewing a single page. Bounce rate metrics show you how a visitor navigates your site once they click your link. If you notice visitors are leaving within seconds of visiting your landing page, it should be a red flag that there is something wrong with your website. One of the most common reasons for this is that your meta description or ad has unclear information. For example, if a visitor thinks your website is offering something and they visit and realize you are not offering what they want, they will leave immediately. Therefore, it is essential that your meta description and ads are easy to understand and accurate. Once you have verified this, you will need to evaluate your web design, layout and content to help you determine why your bounce rate is high.

4. Conversion Rate –

The point of getting visitors to your site is to convert them into customers. Even if your website has 50,000 visitors each day, it is not productive if these visitors are not converted into customers. Keeping track of your conversion rate can help you improve your website so you can turn casual visitors into paying customers.

Here are several things to look at when you are trying to improve your conversion rate:

Can visitors easily navigate your website?
Is your call to action statements simple and easy to understand?
Does your website have an easy to follow conversion process (newsletter sign-up, brochure download, purchase, etc)?
Is your website mobile friendly?
Does your webpage load quickly?
Does your website provide valuable content that meets the needs of your visitors?

If you answer no to any of these questions, it is time to identify changes that need to be made to your website to increase your conversion rate.

5. Web Ranking –

Where Google ranks your page when an internet search is performed is one of the most important things to track. Google has made changes to how they rank a website, so it is essential to stay up to date on the latest updates. When Google updated its SERPs to Rank Brain, the content on your website became even more important. Content that answers visitors’ queries can help improve your rank better than content developed based on keywords.

Final Thoughts

As you monitor and track your search engine optimization KPIs, you may find a number of issues arise. When this occurs, it is time to take a look at your website and make the necessary changes. When you do this, you will find that your conversion rate and web ranking will improve quickly. Take the information listed above to help your website succeed in 2018 and beyond.

To get started, call us or contact SEO Houston Pros. We invite you to visit our blog for more SEO tips and tricks!

Free Web Hosting Negatively Affects Your Houston Internet Marketing

November 27, 2017 By SEO Houston Pros Leave a Comment

7 Reasons Not To Use a Free Web Hosting Service

There’s an old saying that nothing in this world is free. Even if a company offers a free product or service, there’s usually an ulterior motive, such as collecting customers information or upselling them additional products or services. Well, web hosting is no exception. There are many reasons that can impact your website negatively. Here’s why you shouldn’t use free web hosting.

Ads, Ads, Ads

Free web hosting services have to make money somehow, otherwise, they wouldn’t be able to keep their servers running. The most common monetization method used by free web hosts is forced advertisements. They’ll display ads for which they earn money on users websites. The user doesn’t earn this money, however, nor can he or she opt out. Instead, they are forced to display ads while filling the host’s coffers.

Downtime

Not surprisingly, free web hosts have more downtime than their premium counterparts. With limited personnel and outdated hardware, free hosts often struggle to keep their servers up and running. Granted, many still advertise 99.9% uptime, but this is far from what they offer.

Security Vulnerabilities

Roughly 30,000 websites get hacked each day, according to a Sophos Security Threat Report. While factors affect a website’s susceptibility to cyber intrusion, web hosting is one of the most influential. Free web hosting services often run outdated software, such as PHP, phpMyAdmin, and MySQL, that hackers can exploit to access clients’ websites.

Furthermore, nearly all free hosting services use shared hosting instead of dedicated or virtual private servers (VPS). As a result, servers are congested with thousands of websites. That is concerning because the security of a server is only as good as its weakest link. With thousands of sites hosted on the same server, there’s a higher risk of cyber attack when using free hosting services.

Limited Disk Space

Free web hosting services also offer limited disk space. If you just recently launched your website, this may not be a problem. If your site is established and contains hundreds of pages of content, however, you may encounter a “Disk Space Limit Reached” message in your account.

Most free web hosting services offer between 500 MB and 1 GB of disk space. According to a report by the HTTP Archive, the average size of a web page is roughly 2 MB, which means you can publish 250 to 500 pages if each page is 2 MB. Realistically, though, you’ll probably reach 500 MB to 1 GB with significantly fewer pages due to the large file sizes of images, video, and other media.

Limited Bandwidth

In addition to disk space, free web hosting also places limits on bandwidth. Bandwidth refers to the amount of data that can be transmitted between the server and clients in a specified period. If a free web host offers 5 GB of bandwidth per month, for instance, visitors can only download and upload 5 GB worth of data from your site every month.

Again, limited bandwidth may not be an issue if your site is new or otherwise small. As your site grows and becomes more popular, though, your bandwidth requirements will also increase.

Pay for Upgrades

While free web hosting services have limited bandwidth and disk space, you can usually increase these limits – but only if you’re willing to pay. As previously mentioned, free web hosts make money by displaying ads on users’ websites. However, another way they make money is by selling optional upgrades.

Poor Customer Service

Finally, free web hosts offer poor customer service at best or non-existent customer service at worst. When a server fault causes your website to go offline, you’ll want to contact your web host as soon as possible to resolve the issue. The longer your site is offline, the more traffic you’ll lose. And for online businesses, traffic means money. Unfortunately, it can take days to get a response from a free web host.

As you can see, free web hosting poses many problems for webmasters. Even if there is no cost for the initial service, you could end up paying for upgrades later down the road. If you’re serious about building a website, choose a premium, reputable hosting service. It’s a smart investment that lays the groundwork for a successful online presence.

Call or contact SEO Houston Pros for more information on Houston internet marketing today!

The Benefits of Influencer Marketing for B2B

November 21, 2017 By SEO Houston Pros Leave a Comment

How Influencer Marketing Can Work Brilliantly for B2B

Whatever your business area, it’s been hard to miss the buzz surrounding influencer marketing in recent months. However, the application of influence has mainly been in the consumer sectors of beauty, lifestyle, and other niches where the focus is on high-volume, low-value sales.

Farless has been seen of it in big-ticket B2B marketing but there’s no reason the concept can’t be used to boost business-to-business success as well. The use of internet marketing in Houston alongside the use of influencer marketing has become a power house when looking to create more online exposure for your business.

What is Influencer Marketing?

Influencer marketing is a new take on the venerable technique of celebrity endorsements, translated into today’s social media-dominated digital landscape. It works by leveraging the popularity of a social media figure within a tightly defined niche and having them either overtly endorse a product, or merely give some neutral exposure to increase awareness.

Compared to mass-media endorsements made by mega-celebrities, the numbers involved may be small, but the credibility of the influencer and the highly targeted interest group means it can be a winner if you get it right.

How Does Influence Translate to B2B

Critical areas for B2C influencer marketing have been beauty and fashion, travel, and consumer technology. However, the technique can be pressed into service for B2B as well. It just requires a slightly different approach and a recognition of the overarching marketing differences between the B2B and B2C arenas.

The B2B Buying Process

Much of consumer buying depends on impulse purchases, with marketing strategies playing on emotional triggers to generate interest. That makes influencer marketing a perfect fit, relying as it does on social proof, loyalty, and credibility.

The business buyer operates in a significantly different way. Purchasing decisions are taken much more methodically, with a longer buying cycle, and with greater importance given to cold figures instead of an emotional appeal.

When using influencers to reach business buyers, it makes more sense to take a brand-building approach rather than pushing for direct sales. You should aim to be forging a reputation among decision makers, who will then add your brand to the consideration mix during their next purchasing round.

That has a massive impact on the choice of influencer, who needs to have a strong standing within a sector rather than sheer celebrity. Consumers must see the endorsers as trusted business operators rather than famous but ephemeral figures. Considering this, ideal candidates for B2B influencers include:

Prominent operators within a defined industry, who have established a history of proven success.
Thought leaders who can provide distinctive views on a sector, even if they’re not necessarily major players commercially.
Sector personalities are known for their conference and media visibility.
Journalists who enjoy wide respect and trust in specialist publications, or who are communicators in more general media.

Whether you’re dealing with B2B or B2C, the crucial point is that influence is about far more than pure numbers. Unlike traditional celebrity endorsements, you’re not aiming for saturation exposure which translates into emotional buys, but to leverage reputation within your direct market. Focus and credibility are essential.

Connecting with B2B Customers

Once you’ve identified a candidate figure within your niche, you then need to make sure they’re capable of reaching your target audience. The major players in consumer influencer marketing tend to focus on Instagram, Facebook, and other social media platforms with large user bases. However, few serious business decision makers will be found frequenting these services in a commercial capacity.

Instead, LinkedIn is the obvious choice for reaching professionals, although depending on your industry, Twitter can provide rich hunting grounds too. Your ideal influencer will have a following that overlaps with your business accounts but enjoys a broader reach.

Quality Content for B2B influencer Marketing

There’s little point in using an influencer to try and boost B2B sales in a one-off campaign. That may work for lifestyle-based purchases, but B2B marketing requires a more extended game. You should aim to have your influencer become a brand advocate and explainer, who can transfer some of their trust and credibility onto your reputation.

You’ll need to get your influencer entirely on board and committed to the project, working for the long term, rather than signing them up for a one-off product placement deal. For this, quality campaign content is critical.

The straightforward promotional material isn’t particularly useful; you need to provide genuine value to the reader. Ideally, the entire arrangement should be beneficial to everyone involved – the customer should learn something that helps their business, the influencer should bolster their reputation, and your brand should gain visibility and credibility within your sector.

Influencer marketing is one of the fastest-growing techniques in the consumer sphere but has hardly begun to find its feet in B2B. That means the opportunities are enormous for those who can move quickly to establish firm foundations before their competitors see the potential.

Call or contact SEO Houston Pros for more information!

Content Marketing In Houston Is A Great Tool To Use

October 12, 2017 By SEO Houston Pros Leave a Comment

The Benefits Of Utilizing Houston Content Marketing

Content marketing is nothing new, but it is more important now than it has ever been. Remember, content is king and it is usually the cornerstone of all digital marketing strategies and it is one of the best ways to get the most from the internet. In other words, there are many rewards you can reap from content marketing.

With that said, there is no single strategy that works for everyone when it comes to content marketing. If you want to get the most from it, then you have to focus on creating content that is useful, of high-quality and unique, as well as entertaining and interesting to your targeted market. It doesn’t matter whether it’s video content, text content or podcasts, you want to make content shareable and relevant. With that said, read on to find out what exactly determines content is king.

Content Marketing Is Great For SEO In Houston

Houston SEO companies know that quality content writing is a must, and there are two reasons why high-quality content impacts SEO and ranking. One reason is that content that is unique and between 300 to 500 words long and that include internal links to relevant content can boost a site’s organic rank, so does including keywords in a natural way. When a site is ranked high, then it will be exposed to many more consumers who are searching for similar content.

Also, the authority of your brand can improve via a consistent content strategy. It may also help you create a backlink profile. Having a strong backlink profile is important in regards to SEO.

Content Encourages Engagement

Great content encourages users to engage with you, regardless if the content is in the form of a blog post or social media post. If the content is amazing and people love it, then they will comment on it, share it with others or like it. If you want to increase engagement on your content, then you’ll want to make sure your strategy includes posting content on social media channels, and this includes all social media channels you use and not just one or two.This is how you’ll expose your content to as many people as possible.

Generate New Leads And Make More Sales

The better your content, the more awareness you’ll raise for your brand and this will help you generate more leads. Not only will you generate more leads, but you’ll make more sales. High-quality content is described as being content that is not that sales-oriented nor reads like an advertisement. This allows consumers to read and enjoy content without feeling like they are reading a sales pitch.

Content is king and there are many reasons why. If you need help with content, work with one of the few Houston SEO companies that can help. Contact us or call SEO Houston Pros if you want to make the most of your content and SEO.

How To Pro-Actively Respond To Online Reviews In Houston

September 29, 2017 By SEO Houston Pros Leave a Comment

Customer reviews online are playing an ever-increasing role in a company’s ability to build trust with their audience. If you have a business with an online presence you will find that the better your reputation and the more good reviews that you have will increase your bottom line and if you have too many poor reviews it could cost you everything. If you need help, consider getting SEO services Houston, Tx. The most important fact to be aware of is that when a person is satisfied they are less likely to make an effort to post a review but when they’re unsatisfied they are highly motivated to let everyone possible know about it.

To Put Things In Perspective Take A Look At These Statistics

1. Over 90% of all consumers check for and read online reviews.

2. Almost half of those who read a review online formulate an opinion after reading only 1 to 3 of the reviews posted.

3. One of the top factors used by consumers when judging a business is its star ratings.

4. Your search engine ranking is significantly impacted by your online reviews.

5. Most people today will make a search online to check reviews and star ratings before making any buying decision.

6. It’s imperative that you respond to your reviews.

If you’ve managed to get a good amount of reviews online for your business in places such as Foursquare, Yelp, Google and Facebook, then that’s an excellent start. But it’s necessary for you to continue making additional efforts. You need to begin to respond to reviews whether they’re good or bad and you need to learn how to respond to them in a way that encourages others to leave good reviews.

Online Review Management Is Key

Take a look at the video to see our recommendations on how exactly how you should respond to negative and positive reviews and how those responses can have a positive impact on your web presence. If you need help managing your online reputation then you should consider using SEO services Houston, Tx to help improve your business. You can call SEO Houston Pros or contact us for a free consultation to learn how you can control your online reputation.