Author: Jarod

  • 5 Reasons Why SEO is Important for Small Businesses – SEO Marketing

    Why Should You as a Small Business Owner be Concerned About Search Engine Optimization (SEO)?

    Because you want to provide visitors to your website with such a fantastic user experience that they will tell others! Because you want to provide search engines like Google, Bing, and Yahoo critical information so they will place your site in the
    top 5 spots on the returns page!

    The job of a search engine is to take the information typed in by the user and locate the most relevant websites using those keywords. Simply put, if you are not engaging in SEO, you are not on that first page of results – the other guy is! By investing in search engine marketing, you are staying competitive with those other guys while giving your brand name exposure 24 hours, 7 days a week and are sure to gain new customers – even while you sleep. Let’s take a look at what a good SEO service can do for you while you take a snooze…

    5 Reasons to Invest in SEO Marketing

    1. Optimal User Experience

    SEO is ultimately about providing the user with the friendliest, fastest, best experience possible. A search engine wants to provide the user with what they are looking for, and when it can do that, both parties are happy. A happy visitor will become a returning visitor.

    2. Optimal Reach

    People unconsciously trust search engine results. If Google places Dave’s Donuts in the top spot of a search, then it must have earned that place and it must be good. User then tells all his friends on Facebook and Twitter that he’s going to Dave’s and he invites them, leaving the link for them to click as well. The laws of multiplication can work pretty fast, and before you know it, a dozen hungry teens show up at Dave’s Donuts! Why? Because the search engine matched everything perfectly, and it all pointed to Dave’s.

    3. Optimal Potential for Conversion

    Internet marketing, including SEO, attracts people who are already looking for your product or service. You don’t have to scream, dance, or wear cool clothes to gain an audience; they are already convinced of their need which is why they went searching in the first place. No bold print ad placed front and center on the magazine page is required. You just have to present yourself in one of those top 5 results and – voila! They were looking for you and you showed up right on time! You still have to convince them that you are the better company to purchase from, but half the battle is over. Once they come to your website, if you have invested the same tedious work to optimize the user’s experience with you by providing the content they seek, then you are well on your way to gaining a new customer.

     4. Optimal Exposure for Brand Awareness

    As stated in point #2, people unconsciously trust search engine results. If Dave’s Donuts is #1, then Dave’s serves the best donuts. But most users do not just run over to Dave’s the next hour and buy a dozen donuts (unless they are local teenagers)! They do, however, file it somewhere or bookmark it. They go clicking around the world numerous times before making a final decision. If your website is employing top notch SEO services, how often might that user come across your company name while conducting his search? What if your company came up 3 of the 5 times they searched for that desired product? Next thing you know, they have clicked through to your website.

    5. Optimal Insight into Your Customers

    If your website is properly optimized, it will increase your search engine visibility, usability, and credibility, all of which increase traffic to your site. Now that you are enjoying higher numbers of visitors, Google Analytics (which every website should have set up) can track valuable information about your visitors. Find out what browser they use, what key words, the technology they use, their geographical location, the days and times they are most active, how much time they spent on a page…on and on. This information will help you discover your target market, hone your advertising, and determine strategies based on facts rather than just educated guesses. The better you know your customers, the better product or service you can provide, the higher the ROI.

    Search engine optimization is no longer an option for businesses that want to be competitive, grow, and see returns on investment. But it is only one piece of the puzzle. If your website does not contain viable content, then no matter how much money or time you spend on SEO, it is wasted. Content will always be king. But when used in conjunction with other important marketing tools, SEO will provide visibility, traffic, credibility, branding and help you gain valuable insight into customer behavior.

    Read More

  • Employee Spotlight – Jeff Hill

    jeff and AshThe team we have here at eTekhnos/ Rockstar Technology is our greatest asset to both our company and the clients we serve daily. The Employee Spotlight is to help our clients get to know the staff they work so closely with and rely on personally and professionally! Read below to learn more about Jeff Hill – in his own words.

    • Question 1: What is your title at Rockstar Technology: President / CEO
    • Q2: How long have you been with the company? Since 2005 when it was formed.
    • Q3: What is the favorite aspect of your job? I love meeting with clients that have ong put off web and marketing projects because they seemed stressful and complicated and then hearing the clear relief when they realize we can handle it from start to finish and make their online presence a great reflection of their company and passion they have for what they do.
    • Q4: Do you have a favorite sports team? Texas Longhorns – Hook em!
    • Q6: Do you volunteer? I am passionate about working with the high school students in the Keller area as a member of the student ministry of Keystone Church. I also play electric guitar as part of the worship team also at Keystone Church.
    • Q7: What is something people might not know about you: I started a non-profit in 2010 to teach other the importance and easy to remember steps of CPR called Mission: CPR. My life was saved by a family member performing CPR on me when I was found without a heartbeat and not breathing – I try my best to share that message at no cost to companies and organizations in DFW as much as possible.

  • 10 Reasons to Upgrade Your Website

    Statistics overwhelmingly show that your website is very likely your customers’ first impression of your brand or store. That being said, keeping your site up-to-date and relevant is definitely in your best interest. An upgrade may mean a new site, but in some cases may be just mean fixing up what you already have. Here are 10 signs that it might be time to make some changes to your website:

    1. You cannot update your website’s content. The content on your website is the reason why people visit your site and also why they choose come back again or why they may lose interest. Not to mention the affect that out-of-date or irrelevant content has on your site’s SEO affecting the ability for search engines to find you. And, accordining to PR Newswire study, 89% of Consumers Conduct Their Product Research Using Search Engines. (Source: PR Newswire). Having the ability to update content or add new content is a must and some content management platforms, like WordPress, are as easy to use as editing text in a Microsoft Word document. So, if you cannot add content, you could be missing out on traffic.

    2. Your website does not link to your social media sites. Did you know that 78% of Consumers Say That the Posts Made by Companies on Social Media Influence their Purchases. (Source: Forbes). The conversations that are had on social media sites such as Facebook, Twitter and Instagram are beneficial to your website visitors as well. Linking the sites can open the gates for traffic to access your brand in more than one place online. This can give the user a deeper sense of your brand and your existing community.

    3. Your website is not set up to convert visitors to prospects. When a user visits your website, this is your chance to grab them by the hand and give them a tour of your brand, products and services, much like you would if they walked into your brick and mortar location. If your website doesn’t invite them to look around or give them opportunities to interact, you may be missing opportunities to filter users into your sales funnel. Look at your homepage. Are there opportunities for one to sign up for a newsletter, watch a video, view products, shop or browse? Is the call to action clear?

    4. Your website is not mobile friendly. If your website is built in Flash (which is not mobile or search engine friendly at all), you’ll definitely want to look into a new site. But, even if your website does not render well on a mobile device, or if you don’t have a mobile version of your website, you could be missing as much as 27% of your website traffic, according to Smartmetrics.

    5. Your website is not user friendly. If one can’t figure out how to navigate through or use your website, why would they visit or ever come back to your site? When thinking of how best to organize your website, try to put yourself in the seat of the user. What do they want to know? In what order do they want to know it?

    6. Your website loads slowly. If your site loads slowly, people are leaving your website without even giving it a chance. 47% of consumers expect a web page to load in 2 seconds or less.  Learn more about faster load times: http://www.rcpmarketing.com/faster-website/.

    7. Your website is not as good as your competitors website. People use the Internet to shop and learn about the products and services they are looking for or are interested in. So, chances are if they found your website, they also have looked at your competitors sites as well. If their site is more user friendly, draws them in and looks better than yours, you might be losing more money in missed prospects than it would cost to upgrade your website.

    8. Your website is more than 3 years old. The world of web development is ever-changing and in three years, the options have exponentially increased and changed.  There are so many new options, widgets, apps and integration opportunities that make your website more user-friendly and appealing to your audience more than ever before. Sometimes this means an upgrade to what you already have and sometime this can mean a completely new website.

    9. Your website is an online brochure. People expect more than just text about your offerings and brand when they come to your site. In fact, they need more to take full advantage of getting to know you. A website no longer benefits you or them if it doesn’t encourage and facilitate interaction.

    10. The purpose of your website has changed. If your marketing strategy has changed, it may be time to change your website to match the new plan. For example, at the time that you built your website, your goal may have been to sell products. Now, your goal may be to increase repeat business. In order to keep your website relevant, you may want to evolve your website navigation and options to match your goals.

    Source: Carly Crow – RCP Marketing

  • Happy Labor Day Weekend!

    Have a fun and safe Labor Day Weekend!

    – From everyone here at eTekhnos

  • The Advantages of Email Marketing

    Used appropriately, email represents a way to reach potential and existing customers inEmail marketing erases traditional borders. an organized and targeted way. As the Internet grows, potential clients spend more time online, according to Internet marketing company, Self SEO. Statistics back that general claim, according to Email Marketing Reports, an email marketing data website. A Direct Marketing Association study shows “email marketing generated an ROI (return on invested capital) of $43.62 for every dollar spent on it in 2009.”

    Global Demographics

    The nature of the Internet and of email means a marketing campaign reaches as far as an advertiser wants. Identify whom you want to reach and where that target is located. Once you develop the structure and content of your marketing campaign, send targeted emails promoting the greatest positive responses. Without standard postal and other mailing constraints, your company’s reach is bounded only by your ability to conceive appropriate targets.

    Immediacy

    Email marketing is not restricted by traditional time restrictions. Whereas direct mail campaigns rely upon using snail mail, email promotions, says Email Marketing Reports, generate immediate responses. In the time it takes an email to arrive and for a reader to consume the information, you have increased awareness, paved the way for more information and promoted your brand. Send a newsletter, for instance, offering discounts for travel packages. Include a link to your travel site. Customers can instantly respond by requesting more information or by booking a package.

    Read More (Source: Alyson Paige, Chron.com)

  • New website launched for AEIS

    Here is another of our latest websites, just launched for AEIS.

    aeis

    Unique features: Rotating Banner & Integrated Blog and News Feed

    The AEIS website was recently launched with a special focus on engaging the user with interesting content and design.  We integrated a rotating image banner and blog/news feed into the site to provide updated content daily. The site is easy to navigate, clean and concise, with UBA resources featured prominently.

    Visit the new AEIS site at http://www.aeisadvisors.com/.

  • 4 Things You Need to be Doing on Social Media — Now

    By now, if social media isn’t a critical element in your online marketing strategy, it should be. Having a presence on sites like Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn can add value to your product, to customer service and ultimately to your brand.

    But simply having an account and broadcasting company news isn’t enough. To attract and keep customers — and to build a strong brand online — business owners need to be active on social media. They have to provide valuable information and engage with their followers.

    Here are four things businesses should be doing on social media in order to grow the brand online:

    1. Engage with followers and provide customer service.
    Your customers are engaging with your brand wherever they are — including over social media. Don’t miss this opportunity to listen to what they’re saying to and about you, and to provide the best customer service.

    Why is this so important? Responding to customer questions and resolving issues over social media shows everyone who’s following you — and potentially anyone who is online — that your company cares about its customers, potential customers and goes the extra mile for people.

    Related: 10 Tips for Using Twitter Like a Pro

    Tools like Hootsuite and Tweetdeck can be handy for monitoring mentions of your brand over social media. As for when and who you respond to, set the tone early. If you reply often, people will expect it. If you don’t reply a lot, people will see that as well and might stop engaging with you as often.

    2. Crowdsource ideas.
    Use social media as a marketing research tool. Just as people can reach out to you, follow you and stay connected with you, business owners can do the same with their customers. Social media is a two-way street.

    Say, for instance, you’re getting ready to launch a new product. You can ask your fans and followers what they think about specific details like which colors they prefer or what types of features they want. Not only can you get real, valuable market research at no cost, you’re involving the consumer in decisions. Asking customers for their opinions can help show that they matter, and when they see their ideas become a reality, ideally you create brand and product champions.

    Read More (Source: Scott Levy, entrepreneur.com)

  • 3 Reasons Why Responsive Web Design is the Best Option For Your Mobile SEO Strategy

    As smartphone and tablet adoption rapidly increases, so does the importance of mobile-friendly websites.  If SEO is a core component of your digital marketing strategy, having a mobile–friendly website is becoming essential.

    Mobile sales have already overtaken desktop sales, and mobile Internet usage is predicted to overtake desktop internet usage by 2014. It is only logical that mobile search will overtake desktop search at some point in the near future as well.

    Since 67 percent of users claim they are more likely to purchase from a mobile-friendly website, companies that rely on SEO are wise to begin making the transition to mobile-friendly websites, and responsive web design specifically.

    The argument between whether to choose a responsive website or a separate mobile website is a highly debated topic. However, the truth is that both options have their pros and cons.

    The option that is best for your business depends on many factors, such as the purpose of the website, the intended target audience, and whether SEO is a factor.

    If SEO is a factor, here are 3 reasons why responsive web design is the best option for your mobile SEO strategy.

    1. Recommended By Google

    Read More (Source: Jay Taylor, Search Engine Watch)

  • 10 Benefits of Using WordPress to Power Your Company’s Website

    WordPress has been around since 2003 and is the most popular blogging software on the market. Over the last few years, WordPress has also become the content management software of choice for non-blogging websites. Here are the top 10 reasons why WordPress is so popular and why you might want to consider switching to a WordPress platform for your company’s website.

    1. Ease of Use

    WordPress is very easy to use and has an intuitive interface.  Adding new pages, blog posts, images, etc. on a regular basis is a breeze and can be done quickly.  Because the technology is so simple, time spent on formatting is greatly reduced.

    2. Manage Your Website from Any Computer

    WordPress is browser-based. You can login from any Internet connected computer and manage your site.

    3. No HTML Editing or FTP Software Required

    WordPress is a self-contained system and does not require HTML editing software (such as Adobe Contribute or Dreamweaver). You can create a new page or blog post, format text, upload images (and edit them), upload documents, video files, image galleries, etc. all without the need for additional HTML or FTP software.

    4. Search Engines Love WordPress Sites

    The code behind WordPress is very clean and simple, making it easy for search engines to read and index a site’s content. In addition, each page, post, and image can have its own meta tag keywords, description, and title, and be optimized for specific keywords, allowing for very precise search engine optimization.  You can also use tags to further enhance your search engine optimization efforts.

    5. You Have Control of Your Site

    No more waiting for your web designer to make simple updates to your site. With WordPress, you have control of nearly every aspect of your site and can easily make those simple updates yourself.

    Read More (Source: Aspire Internet Design, aspireid.com)

  • Everyone Benefits from an Employee Portal

    Not so long ago, it was only large corporations that could even consider setting up self-service portals for their employees. But now, thanks to the outsourcing model, companies with only a handful of workers are taking full advantage of employee portal technology.

    They’re saving everyone involved – employees, the HR department, management – significant time, money, and effort.

    Perhaps best of all, by reducing paperwork and speeding access to important information, such employee portals are helping companies to boost employee satisfaction and loyalty – and, in turn, productivity. Here’s how:

    LESS WORK

    Think of the employee portal as your HR department embracing the power of e-commerce. That means eliminating the tedious filling out and shuffling of paper forms and having to decipher employees’ scrawl. And it means no re-keying of data into a computer. In addition, most follow-up phone calls are done away with, as well.

    Instead, workers can visit their company’s employee portal via any web-equipped computer or hand-held device and gain direct – and entirely secure – access to a wide range of useful work-related information all on their own, with practically no need for anyone in HR to get involved.

    INSTANT ACCESS

    Employees can view insurance benefits, 401(k) plans, company policies, you name it, all with just a few clicks of their mouse. And they can browse or print out any number of important documents, such as the employee handbook. Likewise, should their employer decide to make it possible – and many do – employees may enter and update their HR-related data all on their own. They can change their withholding status, enroll for new benefits, or update time and attendance records.

    Naturally, all of this employee portal activity is controlled with the latest in security techniques. Each employee can be assigned his or her own, unique log-in ID and password for authorizing entry to the portal. In addition, the HR department can specify exactly which data and documents are to be made available to each particular employee.

    MORE PRODUCTIVITY

    Clearly, this kind of employee portal pleases its users. They no longer have to waste time filling out form after form or waiting on hold when calling HR for, say, an explanation of their medical plan. Moreover, the people in HR are freed to devote their time and energy to productive tasks, as well. It’s win-win for everyone.