Category Archives: Internet Marketing

  • The Growing Importance of Content Marketing

    For most companies we talk to, content marketing is becoming a bigger priority. Content is needed across many areas of the business and serves the purposes of engaging, informing, convincing, and selling to your target audience. Since it is so important and needs to be implemented across so many marketing channels, it is important to take content development seriously. Content is not only text, it should be a mixed media combination of mostly text but also imagery and video. Building a plan for content marketing should be included in your immediate and long term goals. It has become painfully obvious that short cuts and cheap content won’t cut it. Investing in good quality content is going to be key to make it work for any …

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  • Google Zeitgeist: Top Searches of 2014

    Each year, Google releases the Zeitgeist, which is a review of the most popular and top searches performed during the trillions of searches done each year. Here is the 2014 year in search video that encompasses the global look top searches done each year. The video shows the categories or subjects of hope, fear, science, and fiction. Things we love, which is some of the top entertainment searched for, those icons that were lost in 2014, and greatness, which shows highlights from the world cup, the Olympics, and more. Since Google is based in the U.S., the search video is based on an American perspective. However, Google does separate the top searches by country and Australia’s top searches are not far off. Here are the …

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  • 10 Holiday Shopping Safety Tips: Keeping Your Data and Your Presents Safe this Season

    The popular holiday saying “Tis the Season” too often also has a dual, sinister meaning. Unfortunately, holiday joy, fun, and shopping is often overshadowed by an increase in crime and credit card fraud. Thieves and scammers take advantage of all the holiday cheer and shopping and prey on unsuspecting holiday shopper victims. Here are 10 ways that you can keep your data and your purchases safe this holiday season. Shop online with gift cards instead of using your own credit cards or debit cards. Instead, purchase gift cards and use those to do your online ordering so that you don’t have to worry about your credit card or debit card being compromised. Be smart about sharing your information. Many scammers call and try to tell …

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  • Seth Godin on the Future of Marketing

    Seth Godin recently was one of 6 marketing visionaries to participate in an ebook published by The Economist Intelligence Unit and Marketo. Here are 5 points from the interview with Godin about the future of marketing. Marketing is About Everything. Godin explains that up until the last 20 years, marketing and advertising was the same thing. In the last 20 years marketing changed from the strategy of old, which was to interrupt people from what they were doing and is now involves everything. Marketing is about everything. It’s a conversation with customers; you are telling them what they should expect when dealing with your business. Make Things That Matter. Godin explains that the marketers that are the most effective will know how to distribute their …

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  • 5 Tips for Paid Marketing Beginners

    Are you just starting a paid marketing or pay per click campaign? It can be a daunting task, but paid marketing is on the rise. Many companies are turning to paid campaigns for social media as well as the search engines. Setting up a new Google or Bing paid search campaign is pretty simple. However, there are quite a few nuances that can help save you some money and some headaches. Paid campaigns don’t have to have million dollar budgets. In fact, you can start out as small as $100, or even a test sample as low as $20 or $50. The low risk of a low budget can help you get started and give you some reassurance that you aren’t going to lose your …

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  • How to Set Up a LinkedIn Company Showcase Page

    Company Showcases Pages are one of the best expert tips for helping your business gain exposure for free on LinkedIn. These pages are very easy to set up. LinkedIn describes a Showcase page as way to “extend you Company Page presence and focus your message to engage specific audiences.” Each company can create up to 10 Showcase Pages. Three main objectives for Company Showcase Pages are: Create a dedicated page for each aspect of your business with its own message to share and audience to share with. Give LinkedIn members a chance to follow the aspects of your business they value most. Share focused content to build a relationship with your specific audiences.   Creating a Showcase Page is extremely easy. Here are 7 simple …

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  • The 3 Golden Rules for Keeping Your Computer Safe

    Your computers are one of the most important business assets you have. With all of the data that you keep on your computer, if you lose it or it becomes compromised, it can be a detriment to your business and your livelihood. However, losing your data is completely avoidable when you follow the 3 golden rules and advice for keeping your computer safe. Do not use Internet Explorer. You have other browser options in Google Chrome and Firefox, each of which has plug-ins and tools to help enhance your browsing experience. Internet Explorer, on the other hand is riddled with vulnerabilities and viruses. Back Up Your Data Daily. If you back up your computer data daily, you will never have to worry about losing your …

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  • Content Building and Best Practice to Keep You from the Wrath of Google’s Panda Updates

    Pandas and penguins were never such feared animals as they are now. Since Google’s algorithm updates have taken the name of these animals, they now often strike fear into the hearts and minds of many website owners and digital marketers. However, Google is really doing websites a favor because they are forcing ones who didn’t use best practices and promote the best user experience to change. Of course, businesses that were penalised won’t consider it a “favor”, but there are ways to recover and keep from getting penalised in the future. In late September, Google rolled out its latest Panda algorithm update 4.1. It is being called a softer Panda update because, according to Pierre Far, Google Webmaster Trends Analyst, the latest update is aimed …

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  • What Can You Learn from this Email Critique?

    A recent ClickZ article featured a critique of the email screen shot above. When you start marketing for your business, you can often spot problems with other email marketing campaigns. Careful analysis can help you improve your own email marketing because it helps you critique and analyse all of the details. You can even make a checklist to ensure that you don’t have any of the flaws in your own email sends. The author of the ClickZ article found 10 problems with the email. What do you see wrong with it? Here are some of the highlights of the problems. Look over your last email and look for any similar problems this company has with the email they sent out: Missing Newsletter Opt-in: The article’s …

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  • 5 Things You Must Do When You Have a Website Built

    Many business owners opt to hire someone to build their website without realising how much control you can inadvertently give to that person. Whether your web designer is in house, a private web development firm, or an individual consultant, these rules apply to all categories. This is the best way to protect your business from anything going wrong with your website. It doesn’t even mean that something would be done wrong maliciously, although that can happen too. Register Your Own Domain Names. Your domain name is your .com, .net, .com.au, etc. You should be the administrative contact and the email should be registered under your name. The administrative contact owns the domain and has control over it. Obtain Ownership of all Logos and Graphics. Even …

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