Services: Agile Coaching
Keyword Research
Keyword research provides the starting point for a brand’s digital marketing efforts in three important areas:
- Organic SEO Development
- Pay-Per-Click (PPC) Campaigns
- Social Media Campaigns
When working without the list of a brand’s most important keywords, marketing efforts seem disjointed to the average consumer and the lack of cohesion between marketing efforts — including both off page and online marketing efforts — creates brand confusion.
At AlignTech, we use an iterative approach to find the list of most important keywords for each client. We created a Five Step Keyword Development Process to help us provide good and consistent results:
Discovery
Inputs are from client’s goals, client’s preferences, available market research on client’s industry, trial searches and competitors’ successes
Analysis
We determine the relative Keyword Effectiveness (KEI) for each potential keyword given search engine statistics at the time of discovery and the nature of the content development plan
Consultation
We share our initial results with the client or marketing partner and together we determine which keywords to tackle first, while maintaining an appropriate ratio of simple/popular keywords to long tail keywords
Implementation
Assets and campaigns are matched with the best identified keywords. Each keyword is then positioned across the various online assets so as to avoid confusion among all stakeholders
Evaluate & Repeat
Evaluation of results and repeat Steps 1-4 over time and as needed
Competition
Most business operators can list their five top competitors at a moment’s notice. These competitors are typically companies or organizations that are well known and, in many cases, are local: Local to city or county; or state, region or country. These competitors sell products and/or services in direct competition to the business operators to which we refer.
AlignTech identifies both real and virtual competitors for our clients. Why identify competitors in this way? Because we want to learn from them. Once identified, “good competitors” can help us understand:
- Which other keywords to think about using
- Which backlinks might be appropriate and of high quality
- Which optimization techniques have worked for them; and which have failed
- What the “AdWords landscape” looks like, if desired
Optimization
A primary goal in most digital optimization efforts is to improve sales. Sales increase when two things happen concurrently:
- Brand awareness increases for the target audience; and
- Logical actions are presented to this audience such as, for example, “call now” or “schedule a visit”
Optimization of a brand’s online (or on page) assets — website, landing page(s), social media accounts, etc. — is only the first step to ranking well with the search engines. The relative importance of the various search ranking factors changes over time, requiring optimizers to stay alert so as not to miss game changing opportunities for positive brand exposure. The best optimizers are also continuous learners.
Categorically and in order of importance (at present), the general search ranking factors include:
- On-page optimization
- Backlink quality
- Business categorization and location
- Consistency of business information across internal and external links, plus backlink volume
- Clickthrough rates
- Uniqueness of online assets
- Reviews – both quality and quantity
- Social network affinity
Represented by these categories are dozens of ranking factors, both positive and negative. Here are a few examples:
Positive Ranking Factors:
- Domain authority
- Consistency of business information across online assets
Negative Ranking Factors:
- Presence of malware on website
- Incorrectly recorded business address
Backlinks
A key search ranking factor for each domain is its collection of backlinks — links that can be found online that point to the domain being optimized. The development of high quality and relevant backlinks provides fuel to elevate a domain in search engine rankings for its desired keywords.
Citations consist of both backlinks and unlinked references to a domain. Merely mentioning a domain in online content constitutes a citation, albeit the unlinked varieties are not quite as valuable to a domain owner. Solid and consistent online marketing efforts tend to increase the number of organic citations over time.
AlignTech uses a Six Step Backlink Development Process to help produce results. These are:
Discovery
Discover existing backlinks for the domain
Analysis
Analyze each backlink for its value to the domain
Cleanup
Cleanup links that contribute negative value to the domain
Development
Build and reinforce backlinks that are relevant to the brand and are of high quality
Verification
Verify target backlinks for quality and message consistency. Repair if needed
Evaluate & Repeat
Repeat Steps 1-5 over time and as needed
Reputation
Abraham Lincoln said:“Character is like a tree and reputation like a shadow.
The shadow is what we think of it; the tree is the real thing.”
In a way the World Wide Web is like Lincoln’s shadow of real things. It is far more expedient for persons and companies to seek out our businesses via online hints — reviews, blog posts, news articles, etc. — than it is for them to get to know the business operators personally.
Because of this it is important to establish and maintain our online reputations to:
- Reflect the persons and businesses we truly are; and
- Provide hints as to our good character in ways that are relevant to our target audiences
“Character is like a tree and reputation like a shadow.
The shadow is what we think of it; the tree is the real thing.”
Building a positive reputation as a business operator takes time and hard work. In the past and in many parts of the world, word-of-mouth marketing was all that was required for a business to flourish; or to fail. Today, the three actively working generations of consumers — and particularly Millennials — increasingly look for shortcuts to maintain their busy lives. In this sense, you are what you appear to be online.
AlignTech follows a simple process for finding and addressing problematic domain references for our clients:
Discovery
Search for problematic domain references
Analysis
Analyze references to determine potential harm
Recommend & Consult
Recommendation to client and consultation to determine next steps for mitigation
Mitigation
Mitigate the problem links
Verification
Verify the intended changes
Repeat
Repeat Steps 1-5 on occasion or continuously
Pay Per Click
An obvious benefit to building your brand slowly and consistently over time is that you can develop a powerful and effective set of search engine rankings. The major search engines reward longevity, keyword consistency, appropriate and consistent content publication, plus over 100 other positive keyword ranking factors.
In contrast, some businesses don’t want to – or cannot – wait for this organic value to develop. We use a set of simple steps to make pay-per-click advertising (PPC) work well for you, namely we:
Plan your PPC campaign
Execute the plan
Measure the results daily
Adjust your campaign for greater effectiveness
Repeat as needed
Let us show you how PPC can quickly bring you the customers you want.