6 SEO Results You Should Be Searching for

An organic approach offers benefits well beyond increasing website traffic

Search engine optimization isn’t just about getting visitors. It’s about getting the right visitors – along with better data and a stronger competitive position.

The most successful SEO is aligned with your unique strategies, built with best practices in programming and driven by content that’s relevant to your audiences. When you take this approach, here are six key advantages. 

1. Gaining credibility – If you’re on the first page with your subpages listed, your company and your brand command a level of respect that ads and PPC alone cannot bring (and at a lower cost, too). 
2. Standing out – There are hundreds of millions of active websites. It can seem nearly impossible to get attention. But when your website is optimized for targeted keywords your audience uses, it can provide the differentiation you need.
3. Getting clicks – About 18 percent of click-throughs on Google go to the very first search result, according to a 2011 study by Slingshot SEO. The second position comes in at 10 percent, the third at 7 percent, the fourth at just under 5 – and all others at sub-2. Securing a spot at or near the top is a key way to gain a significant edge.
4. Increasing competitiveness – Your competitors are applying SEO practices, too. Stay ahead of them by executing in a way that’s smarter and more strategic.
5. Helping your customers – Search engines are unique in that they provide targeted traffic – people looking for what you offer. Support their quest by making it easy for them to find you through a search engine.
6. Learning and adapting – By revealing what people are searching for in your industry, SEO analytics help you uncover shifts in demand and market conditions, which can in turn help you adapt your products, services and strategies for more revenue.

Integrate to Elevate – How to Get More from Your Digital Investments

Want people to see your company as the leader you know it is? Great interactive design and content can make it happen.

However, to take full advantage of what’s possible online, it pays to have a good plan. In an earlier post, we highlighted three keys to integrated digital marketing. Now, let’s take a quick look at how a few of today’s best online marketing elements can enhance your integrated strategy.

Web Video 
There’s little doubt about the engagement power of video. Consider the ongoing, explosive growth of online video viewing on mobile devices, laptops, TVs and more.

Start with a brand-based strategy that adds up to more than just features or capabilities. If you’re taking a content marketing approach, make sure you’re reinforcing your expertise in a way that supports your brand.

In any case, you can get a lot more from your investment by integrating your video across multiple platforms – presentations, email, social media posts, even embedded in an online press release – to drive more awareness and leads.

Photography & Graphics
Get real. Be interesting. Those are perhaps the top two ways you should be connecting with your audiences online.

Fortunately, with original digital photography and a variety of options for creating engaging graphics, it’s never been easier. Photography keeps it real and unique. Infographics and icons make it clear and simple.

A solid strategy will help you develop the widest variety of images and graphics that best demonstrate your value proposition – whether it’s technical work, customer service or another attribute on display. Then you can stretch your initial photo shoot or graphic development investment by using images across collateral, direct marketing, PR efforts and more.

The point is – there’s a web of opportunity out there. If you make the effort to do it right, an integrated, professionally created online presence will help your company show up like a force to be reckoned with.

Rethinking the Stock Answer for Photography

The heroic handshake. The people in suits jumping for joy. The meeting room full of diverse employees.

I’m sure you have your own examples of stock photography clichés. Of course, there are reasons why stock images are so popular. They’re fast. They’re easy. They’re affordable.

Problem is, certain types of stock photos have become way too common. That’s not to say there aren’t lots of great stock images around. You just have to work harder to present the images in a fresh way and make sure they’re relevant and meaningful to your audience. (Here’s some good use of stock photography, for example.)

Or, if you have the right opportunity and resources, and you really want to stand out and show what’s special about your company, it may be time once again to consider original photography in some instances – your website and your brand collateral, perhaps.

Yes, it’s a significant investment. Yes, it takes more time and effort. But here are just three reasons why it may be worth the trouble:

• Personality. Pictures of the real people in your real organization show who you really are – much better than images of nameless guys and gals with call-center headsets ever could.
• Professionalism. High-quality original photos convey a strong company and a respect for your audiences, who don’t have to see those same old, arms-folded executive teams.
• Relevance. You can set up your images to support your message and brand, instead of scouring iStock for a standard image that’s only marginally related.

Some of the advantages of original photography are on display at www.lubar.com and www.mertz.com (above right), two award-winning sites we’ve developed recently for clients.

So please, don’t force us to look at another generic close-up of fingers on a keyboard. Give your stock images some more thought, or give original photography a shot in your next marketing communications vehicle.

3 Reasons Why Your Website Needs a Newsroom

Years ago, maybe your company could have managed without an online newsroom – a home base for releases, media coverage, byline articles, event information, team biographies, fact sheets, media contacts, images, logos, etc.

But in the information age, it pays to make as much information as possible available and easy to find.

Here are the top 3 reasons an online newsroom is a smart investment and a crucial component of a successful marketing communications strategy.

Reason #1: Real-time reporting and shrinking staff.

At a time when overburdened media members are facing tighter deadlines than ever, if you don’t make information easily and quickly accessible, guess where reporters, editors or even potential customers are going to go for the information they seek?

A well-developed and populated newsroom turns browsing media into interested publishers who are more likely to tell your story than that of your competitors.

Reason #2: Digital distribution and re-purposing of content.

Remember that release that you wrote, that earned you an interview, which you videotaped and then edited, that you put on your YouTube channel and then announced on multiple social networks?

Well, where is all of that content now? What return is it earning you if no one can find it? All of that owned content should live right there on your newsroom.

• Integrated into social media feeds
• Linked to your blog
• Archived in your releases

Reason #3: Search engines love them.

Search engine spiders are out there crawling for fresh, valuable content. And that’s just what an online newsroom gives them. Quality content built around industry keywords is your ticket to a major traffic spike.

A newsroom also can increase your online real estate – meaning you have more unique pages for search engines to index, increasing the likelihood you’ll be found in search queries.

In a future post, we’ll look at the key components of a successful online newsroom. In the meantime, here’s a pretty good example to shoot for: InsideSH News..

3 Vital Steps to Take as Recruiting Makes a Comeback

News that Ford is aggressively recruiting engineers across the country is encouraging for the entire American manufacturing sector.

But it also reminds us of a challenge many companies may have lost sight of during the recession: the shortage of skilled workers.

If you’re targeting the same top-tier engineers as the big guys, you’d better realize the competition you’re facing. An afterthought of a “careers” page on your website and a couple of job-board postings will no longer suffice.

It’s time to step up your recruiting efforts with a complete brand that emphasizes what’s special about your company in ways that appeal to today’s best job candidates.

Three key components:

n An interactive online portal that acts as your main recruiting communications hub (while supporting database development critical to connecting with individual recruits and their unique interests)

n A public relations program—including traditional college outreach and relationship-building, media relations, social media and mobile-specific communications—to drive interest and traffic to the portal and, ultimately, to create a candidate pipeline

n Internal communications that support recruiting through clear explanations of why it’s so important and how current employees benefit, along with continuous recognition of successful recruiting efforts

Of course, there’s so much more to an effective recruiting brand. In 2011, we’ll be talking a lot more about these issues, including the use of mobile platforms, the challenges of global recruiting and more. If there are aspects you’d like to see as part of that discussion, don’t hesitate to let us know in the comments.

News Flash: Adobe ♥ Apple

The escalating Apple-Adobe feud is fascinating and fun to follow.

But it isn’t really a fair fight.

The Adobe team must recognize that they have little chance of cajoling Steve Jobs into changing his mind about shutting Adobe’s Flash software out of Apple product development.

So if you can’t beat ‘em, and you can’t join ‘em, what’s Adobe to do?

The answer is a new ad that proclaims the company’s love for Apple. And creativity. And innovation. And so on. Kind of a kill-them-with-kindness approach.

It’s also a less direct message for the thousands of professionals who use Adobe software on Apple products every day (web developers, graphic designers, etc.).

OK, so Adobe isn’t going to win this battle. But the ad and its connected landing page are a good way to score some points by playing nice—or at least appearing to—in contrast with the scathing critiques of the big, bad bully.

New CNN Site Did Your Web Design Homework

CNN.com, the country’s highest-traffic network news site, went live this week with a redesign that’s worth further study.

Not sure if it’s as “beautiful” and “visually arresting” as the CNN folks claim, but it definitely has a greater emphasis on images, video and easily digestible, modular content. Adweek says there’s a lot more interactive, social functionality, as well.

The redesign reflects an important step in CNN’s transition—from just an online iteration of a TV network, toward a distinct news site that takes advantage of the web’s unique capabilities. But good as the new site is, it isn’t by any stretch revolutionary. CNN’s really just following the lead of non-mainstream news sites such as The Daily Beast and Newser.

The difference? CNN is a big organization backed by an even larger corporate parent, Time Warner. The changes they’ve made are almost certainly driven and justified by thorough research. They’ve looked carefully at what the audience wants: a more custom user experience and greater involvement with the content. These results appear to validate the savvy design and social aspects of those alternative news sites.

That’s why it’s a good idea for all of us to pay attention. The new CNN shows that social functionality, quick-read convenience and interactive communication are now mainstream must-haves on the web.

OK, so your site won’t make Alexa’s top 500 anytime soon, but you can still benefit by deploying some of the best practices of those that do.

Dear NFL: You’re Doing It Wrong

So, the National Football League is moving to restrict fans’ in-game tweets and other microblogging activity. The justification? The threat posed to the NFL’s exclusive TV contracts by fans giving play-by-play updates and posting video clips.

This attempted crackdown is so misguided we’re not even sure where to start. Maybe here: Are Roger Goodell and the gang really so worried about random, shaky handheld video on Twitter enough to risk alienating hundreds of millions of fans with these heavy-handed, paranoid/defensive tactics?

From a Forbes article on the topic: “The strong-armed tactics demonstrate how worried sports leagues are about the impact of social media on their business. But they also open the NFL up to a potentially ugly legal battle if the league cracks down on fans.”

But it’s a lot more than a litigation nightmare. The NFL has a great community of rabid fans. And even if social media was a slight drain on sports broadcast audiences, this would still be just plain bad PR. Instead of going on the defense, the NFL should play a little offense and leverage social media to channel the enthusiasm of its fan base.

Walking the Talk of Brand Evolution

We talked a couple of weeks ago about the importance of evolving your brand. But if it ain’t broke, why fix it?

Well, it’s like home maintenance. Better to reinforce the roof before it caves in. Or think of it like a romance: You’ve got to keep it fresh.

Never get too comfortable with your brand, because the marketplace in which your brand lives is always changing—and besides, there’s always room for improvement. We aren’t just saying that. Right now, we’re launching a new Scheibel Halaska website, with an updated, refocused brand message.

We took some time to look deeper into what our clients care about and what we do that accelerates their success. That gave rise to a new tagline and a complete redesign of InsideSH.com.

The new site was a long time coming … but it won’t be long before you see more changes. That’s because we’re determined to keep our public face lively and up to date, just as we’re working every day to keep our services relevant and valuable to our clients. After all, it’s what we tell our clients (and blog readers) to do all the time.