We are a cutting edge, Online Marketing Agency, based in Frederick, Maryland. We specialize in effective Sales and Marketing strategies that help Small and Medium-Sized Businesses get more Leads, Customers and Sales in their local market.

The word “local” is key here. Local businesses need to make sure they’re prominently visible to people searching for a “near me” solution. This usually applies where business is conducted face to face, as opposed to through the mail or 100% online.

Online businesses can provide their service or product from pretty much anywhere. Face to face business usually (but not always) needs to be “local”.

The first step in setting up the business location should be claiming, verifying, and fully optimizing your Google My Business page (GMB).  Beyond that, there are myriad ways to promote what you do.

We can help do that in various ways, including:

• Pay Per Click Campaigns on Google
• Facebook Campaigns (Targeting and retargeting specific audiences in various ways)
• YouTube with video
• Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn etc.
• Email Marketing
• SEO / SEM (Search Engine Optimization and Marketing)

The last one in that list, SEO (Search Engine Optimization), is probably one of the least appreciated of all. Why? Mainly because there are so many businesses vying for the top handful of spots on page 1 of…, well, Google. There are others but the word Google has become a verb for searching the Internet, just like hoover became a verb for vacuum cleaning.

Is it worth it?

It seems like SEO is almost not worth really trying, doesn’t it? “Getting to page one just takes so long.” We hear. “SEO can take months before you even see the slightest improvement.” Yes, both these things can be true. But I’m here to tell you that it’s worth it. It’s worth it because you can win in at least one, maybe, two ways. Two ways, if you pay for advertising. The other way you can win, is simply by gaining more customers because by optimizing your website (SEO), they can find you in the search results. You then cut your costs and improve your income. Boom, boom!

Wait!

Actually, there are currently THREE ways you could get your site onto the first page of Google search results, but the third way depends on your location and type of business. It is all about your business location. Have you noticed the Google map that often appears on the first page of the search results? And, have you noticed, in the box next to it, the 3 or 4 listings? The first one is an ad, the other three are businesses that Google determines are the best match in terms of the search criteria entered. i.e. “Plumber near me” etc.

Yes, there are a number of things to do to make it happen but, if you want more information about how to get your listing in that box, give us a shout.

Search engines are a moving target

It does take a lot of work. But it’s done by professionals like us who are experienced in online marketing and the ways of how search engines work. Yes, they change their ways, but it’s our business to learn and keep up with the changes.

The Googles and Bings might make radical changes that throw everybody off the scent for a while. That’s just to ensure the search results being shown are relevant to the person doing the searching. Otherwise, the top slots get flooded by computer-based systems and bots that simply bully their way into that position. Even so, unfortunately, this does still happen.

What are the important things?

There are some key things that help a website climb up the rankings. Number one is probably content. Relevant content that is respected and referred to by websites trusted by the search engines. When I say referred to, I mean sites that contain links back to your website because your content is congruent and/or complimentary with their content.

These links are called “backlinks”. Backlinks, if from valued sources, are like gold dust. They can give ultimate kudos that will help your site rise like cream to the top. Having said that, your particular market may already contain some fierce competition. If the competition knows a thing or two, they can be tough, but not impossible, to overcome.

Doh!

Fortunately, most of the competition does know a thing or two. Literally, and that’s it, and no more. Luckily, we’ve done our homework, again, literally. And we continue to do our homework. Because, if you don’t continue with it, you become complacent and start to lag behind.

It can be a tough job, and that’s why a lot of people get tired of it and can’t be bothered. Then slowly, but surely, the results start to fade away, imperceptibly, at first. Is it the time of year? Has the market slowed? Is it the economy? No, you’ve taken your eye off the ball and dropped it.

SEO is a skill that is forever continuing to evolve.

SEO, as with all the online marketing skills, is just that, a skill. It’s also an art and a valid profession. Just like whatever you do in your business, it takes dedicated training. A lot of it. It takes trial and error and it can be a painful learning curve that gets you to a position where you can help businesses in their hour of need. And that’s what we do.

Planning ahead

What is it that you want to achieve with your business? Have you set business goals? Are they SMART? Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant/Realistic, and Time-bound? Tell us about your business and your website. We’ll take a look and do an audit to highlight any possible areas that might need improvement. Sometimes, the slightest, little adjustment can have a huge beneficial effect on the performance of a business.

Cutting costs here, investing there, plus a little restructuring, and wow! Three months down the road…! That’s all it took?

Once we take a look at your online presence and the present level of results, we will aim to identify areas that can make a difference in the shortest timeframe possible. It might be:

• Facebook or Google,
• making sure you’re collecting reviews from your customers,
• making sure you’re following up with leads immediately and not until they’ve moved to someone else,
• getting your site up there on page one,
• building you a specific and dedicated lead-generation website.
• checking how many citations your site has
• checking the quantity and quality of backlinks
• making sure your site is verified with Google My Business (GMB)

What have you you got to lose?

Just to prove that we can do what we say, we offer a FREE Advertising Action Plan. This is aimed to assess what you’re doing now in terms of online marketing. Then we put together a plan of action for you. This will show you what you can do yourself to make your business more proactive and profitable by generating more good quality leads.

If you decide you would like us to do it, we offer you a FREE TRIAL to get leads coming in. We are confident that, when new business starts coming in, you will see it’s a no-brainer. Still, this is totally without obligation. It will be your decision.

What else should be part of your marketing mix?

Alongside our SEO and other online marketing services, we also provide web design and website building. Dedicated and highly targeted lead-generation sites are our forté. We have the secret sauce. Contact us to learn more.

Plus, if we build your website, we include an optional free 2 year hosting package.

Why not click this link INQUIRY PAGE  and tell us about your business or hit up our calendar and SCHEDULE A CALL

Encourage customers to express their gratitude

Something that is not always obvious is Reputation Management.  This all about making sure your company details (NAP – Name Address and Phone number) are kept up to date, accurate and consistent across the internet.

Also, and more importantly, we can implement a system to help you capture reviews from your past, present and future customers. If you have either just a few reviews or no reviews, or a less than 4 star rating on the major review sites, our system helps you turn that around and help beat your competitors. Learn more REPUTATION MANAGEMENT