Tag: Companies

The 5 Best PPC Companies of 2020

Paid advertising offers a 200% ROI. So for every dollar you spend, you get two dollars in return. It’s no surprise that nearly 80% of marketers consider PPC profitable and beneficial for their businesses. 

But it’s not as easy as throwing ads up, seeing what sticks, and hoping people buy from you. 

There’s a reason PPC agencies exist — managing countless moving parts, and continuous algorithm updates take time. Plus… none of those things are easy to stay on top of, either. 

To make matters worse, choosing the best PPC company for your business presents a new set of challenges. So in this article, I cover my top recommendations, characteristics to look for, and what to expect working with an agency. 

Let’s get started!

The 5 top PPC companies in the world

PPC is an exciting type of digital marketing because you can quickly and directly evaluate your investment return. 

But whether you’re an excellent PPC manager looking to outsource or have no experience running pay per click advertising campaigns, choosing the right PPC agency isn’t always straightforward.

So to help you out, I put together this list of my top recommendations for different types of businesses. 

Let’s dive in!

1. Neil Patel Digital — Best data-driven multi-channel PPC agency

Ads in search engine results aren’t the only type of PPC advertising. 

Other examples include social media, programmatic, and Amazon, each with their own set of quirks and best practices. 

At Neil Patel Digital, we specialize in running multi-channel PPC campaigns using first-party data from our partners. Furthermore, we take this information and use it to create strategic, high-profit campaigns that meet your audience where they are. 

All while helping those in your audience make an informed decision to buy. 

We’ve helped companies like Intuit, GM, and Facebook make more money authentically, using our data-driven approach to digital marketing. 

2. Directive Consulting — Best for B2B, SaaS, and enterprise businesses

If you’re a B2B, SaaS, or enterprise business looking for consulting services or a dedicated PPC management partner, Directive Consulting is an excellent option. 

They specialize in helping software companies around the world run high-ROI campaigns with a dedicated team running and optimizing things behind the scenes. 

Directive Consulting says one of their key differentiators is the predictability of their results. 

They prove it by showcasing numerous case studies outlining their results. In one example, they facilitated a 91.1% increase in lead generation in the first three months on top of decreasing their client’s cost-per-lead by 21.8%. 

So you can rest assured that you’re in good hands.

3. Stryde — Best for B2C and eCommerce businesses

B2C pay per click campaigns are vastly different from B2B campaigns. With different markets and trends, it’s essential to understand your industry’s specific ins and outs. 

And who better to do that than an agency specializing in eCommerce? 

Stryde is an eCommerce-specific digital marketing agency working with small and large companies all over the world. 

While they focus on other aspects of digital marketing like SEO and email marketing, PPC is a huge part of what they do. 

They helped Lime Ricke, a swimwear brand, achieve a 5.2x ROI. Furthermore, they helped  Lucy Ave, a women’s clothing company, obtain a 4.3 ROI. 

With repeatable and impressive results like these (and others outlined in their extensive portfolio), you know you’re making a smart choice.

4. Loud Mouth Media — Best small agency producing big results

If you’re looking for an expert partner in search advertising or paid social, Loud Mouth Media has your back. They’re a small agency based in the UK specializing in PPC (specifically paid search and social) campaigns for businesses of all sizes. 

Loud Mouth Media is partnered with Google, Bing, and Facebook as well. So you know they’re always up-to-date with the latest trends and research across those platforms. 

They’re a small team of 23 expert marketers, creatives, and strategists producing impressive results for companies of all sizes around the world. 

And with numerous digital marketing awards under their belt and past clients like Volvo and BBC, their credentials and portfolio make them stand out as the best small PPC agency producing massive results.

5. KlientBoost — Best for PPC management + landing page design

Strong PPC campaigns go beyond excellent ad copy, design, and targeting. Where you send your targeted traffic matters.  

Which… is why it’s crucial to have well-designed landing pages optimized to convert visitors into leads or customers. At KlientBoost, they understand the importance of conversion-focused landing pages. 

Their in-house team of developers, conversion designers, and top-notch marketers gives them the power to design excellent customer experiences from start to finish. 

They’ve produced repeatable results like:

  • 300% conversion rate increase for Juniper Networks
  • 315% increase in click-through rates for Lemon Stand
  • 97% decrease in cost-per-acquisition for Caresync

So, if you’re looking for a bit of help optimizing your landing pages and a dedicated PPC advertising team to target the right people and turn them into buyers, KlientBoost is for you. 

7 characteristics that make a great PPC company

Now you know my top PPC recommendations based on what you need. 

Let’s move on to what makes these PPC companies the best at what they do. We’ll also walk through what to look for on your hunt for the best option for your business. 

1. Extensive industry knowledge

The best PPC campaigns focus on the right audiences and the right keywords. But not all audience segments or keywords are equal. 

Understanding what works and what doesn’t comes from experience and in-depth industry knowledge. Without the two of those, you’re banking on intuition. 

Which… works sometimes, but that’s not what you should expect from a top PPC agency. 

Take a look at who’s a part of the agency’s team and take some time to evaluate their experience level and expertise in your specific industry. 

You can also look at their published case studies in different industries to see the types of results they produce for their clients. 

If you’re not confident in their knowledge in your industry, move on to an agency that feels like a better fit. 

2. Advanced analytics and reporting

Analytics and reporting are essential aspects of any PPC campaign. 

They help you get a better understanding of what segments and copy work well to shift your budget toward high-profit ads while reducing ad spend on those that don’t work. 

So your PPC agency must provide accurate and transparent reporting, so you always know where every dollar goes and the ROI it produces. 

Furthermore, top PPC agencies aim to collect as much information as possible regarding everything about your campaign. 

This insight helps them to adapt and produce higher ROI campaigns with first-party data directly from your business. 

You may not be able to find out much about this from an agency’s website. So it’s important to ask questions regarding the data and metrics they measure to influence their suggestions and future campaign strategies. 

3. Intent-driven keyword selection

The top PPC marketers know the best way to improve ROIs and reduce wasted ad spend is by focusing on transactional keywords rather than informational keywords for paid search marketing. 

Why? Because people searching for transactional terms are more likely to spend money. 

And good PPC strategists know this is the best way to get your business in front of the right people at the right time without wasting ad spend on irrelevant terms that aren’t going to turn into purchases. 

You may have a hard time learning about this from their website. So be sure to ask questions and gauge their knowledge around intent-based search queries before moving forward. 

4. First-party data sources and strategic partnerships

Search engines and social media platforms are continually updating their algorithms to be as human as possible to provide the best experience for their users. 

So the best PPC companies to partner with are on top of these continuous changes. 

Search and social partnerships provide those deep insights and industry trends non-partners don’t have. 

Furthermore, agencies with a pool of first-party data sources have a first-hand look at your audience’s attributes and behavior to make strategic decisions regarding your campaign before using your ad spend to test the market. 

Look for partnership badges for major search engines and social media platforms on their website. You can also look for an indication of first-party data sources. 

5. Mobile optimization

Fifteen years ago, mobile browsing and searching weren’t around. But today, mobile devices account for more than 50% of all searches made around the world.

But there’s something else a bit more interesting. Mobile devices account for 53% of paid clicks, which means there’s a huge opportunity (and need) to optimize your paid search strategy for mobile.

On top of that, there are nearly 3.5 million mobile social media users across the globe. So the opportunity for mobile-optimized paid social media campaigns is massive as well.

This makes an excellent case for mobile PPC campaigns. And the best PPC companies know this. So make sure the company you choose is prepared to strategize and optimize your campaigns for mobile devices. 

You may have to ask questions if you can’t find this information on their website. 

And if you’re not confident in their mobile capabilities, move on to a different PPC agency. 

6. Local PPC capabilities

90% of shoppers turn to search engines when looking for information on local businesses, and 33% perform these types of searches every day.

Pair that with the fact that 40% of total clicks go to the top three ad spots for transactional keywords, and you have a strong argument for local paid search marketing. 

So if your business operates in specific areas or you have a physical location to sell products or meet with potential customers, local paid search experience and capabilities are must-haves. 

Some PPC agencies specialize in local PPC, but that doesn’t mean those that don’t can’t produce impressive results. 

So be sure to ask questions to ensure you’re a good fit for each other. 

7. Multi-channel PPC services

If you’re looking for a specific type of PPC marketing, this isn’t necessarily a deal-breaker. 

But if you’re interested in cross-channel marketing, it’s easier to run all your campaigns through a single agency. 

And the more you work with them, the more in-tune they become with your business, industry, and specific campaign goals. Plus, you have the benefit of communicating and coordinating with one agency rather than managing several at the same time. 

Furthermore, you don’t have to worry about misaligned messaging from one platform to the next. 

So carefully consider where your target audience hangs out. Don’t forget to consider search engines, social media, paid shopping, and programmatic advertising on sites they frequently visit. 

Then, choose a PPC agency experienced in those areas.

What to expect from a great PPC company

If you’ve never worked with a PPC company before, it’s hard to know what to expect. So now that you know what to look for let’s talk about what working with one of the best PPC companies looks like. 

The details of each phase look different depending on the company you’re working with, but the general approach is typically the same. 

Phase 1: Discovery

The best PPC companies do everything they can to learn everything there is to know about your business and what you’re looking for. So, the first step to any new PPC project is discovery and onboarding. 

During this phase, you and your agency should hash out:

  • Your budget (including monthly ad spend)
  • The goals for your PPC campaign
  • What makes your business different from your competitors
  • How to improve your landing pages to increase conversions
  • Specific details about your business and target audience like where they hang out online, when they tend to shop, and where they live
  • What happens next

This is your chance to share everything you can possibly think of with your PPC agency. Even if it doesn’t feel relevant, it may be crucial to your success. So come into this phase as an open book with an open mind. 

Phase 2: Planning and testing

Once the agency understands your business, target audience, and marketing goals, it’s time to plan your upcoming campaign. This includes defining critical metrics and KPIs as well. 

This phase may also include running a small, low-budget pilot campaign to test different audience segments, copy, and overall execution. 

So, the more information you know about your target audience, the easier this will be. 

By the end of this stage, you’ll have a plan in place for full-scale execution and a deeper understanding of how you’re going to work together moving forward. 

Phase 3: Full-scale execution

Now it’s time to launch the full campaign. The specifics of this depend on the type of advertising and the agency you’re working with. 

Your project could be short-term, long-term, or ongoing. But during this time, you should get regular feedback and thorough reporting outlining everything about your campaign. 

And when your campaign comes to a close, you should have a clear picture of your results. 

Phase 4: Next steps

Lastly, your agency will walk you through the data they collected and explain what everything means. They’ll also probably provide suggestions and feedback on what they can improve if you want to continue working together. 

This stage should also cover what happens next. 

Strategy + creative + the right audience segments = high ROI

Hiring a top PPC company is a smart choice if you’re looking to save time, strategize with experts in your industry, and enjoy short-term results (when compared to something like SEO). 

But choosing a PPC agency you can trust is harder than it sounds. 

So whether you’re looking for advice or someone to take over and manage your campaigns, use these tips and recommendations when making your decision. 

Do you have any experience vetting and hiring a PPC agency? What criteria did you consider when making your decision?

The post The 5 Best PPC Companies of 2020 appeared first on Neil Patel.

The 6 Best Digital Marketing Companies of 2020

Digital marketing covers everything from SEO and content marketing to email campaigns, social media strategy, and video marketing too. 

With new digital marketing companies popping up left and right offering a bit of everything (and truly speaking to no one), it’s no surprise you’re having a hard time finding the right one. 

The best thing to do is narrow down your options by bypassing those digital marketing companies trying to do too many things at once. 

Why? Because true highly-niched experts are the best way to get the results you want (and deserve) for your business. 

But, it’s not always easy to find those experts when you need them. 

So, I put together a list of the top digital marketing companies who genuinely excel at what they do to help you find the right fit for your business depending on what you need. 

Then, we’re going to talk about what makes them great and what to expect when working with them. 

Let’s get started!

The 6 top digital marketing companies in the world

Digital marketing can be done from anywhere in the world. 

So, it doesn’t matter if you’re living in New York and want to work with a company in Houston. Or living in London interested in an advertising specialist in Australia. 

All this freedom does make it difficult to narrow down your choices. 

But this list is a great place to start. 

1. Neil Patel Digital — Best for content marketing and SEO

Let’s face it — consistent content creation and effective content marketing are the banes of a lot of business’s existence. 

Pair that with constantly evolving search engine algorithms and you have a recipe for burnout and frustration (on top of your every-day to-do’s). 

Thankfully there’s an easier way than staying on top of it on your own. 

Neil Patel Digital was built by marketers — not bankers — interested in disrupting the way brands (and their target audience) think about the content they create, publish, and promote. 

We’ve helped businesses like Facebook, Intuit, and Google, as well as small to medium-sized businesses, disrupt their industries with our holistic and authentic approach to content creation and search engine optimization. 

From research to execution to promotion and ongoing optimization, we know a thing or two (or twenty) about helping your brand create the best content for the right people… and putting it in front of them as well.

Your business deserves to be heard and there’s no one more dedicated to making that happen than our team of professional experts equipped with my world-class digital marketing strategies.

Plus, with seven offices around the world, our team is here for you when you need us. 

2. Cubicle Ninjas — Best for brand design and app/website development

You can have the best ideas and products in the world but without a brand that portrays your story and core values, you’re going to have a hard time connecting with your audience. 

But cohesive brand design goes beyond the basics of graphic design best practices and Googling for free information until your eyes gloss over. 

That’s where an experienced specialist comes in and saves the day. 

Cubicle Ninjas uses a strategic combination of design and technology to develop innovative, inspiring, and one-of-a-kind branding design paired with the mobile apps and websites brands need to stand out in our online world. 

They’ve designed high-end customer experiences for companies like Red Bull, Microsoft, IBM, and Hilton but they also work with smaller boutique brands as well. 

Cubicle Ninjas believe the best brands encompass visual, written, and interactive elements to create a cohesive customer experience through every stage of their journey from casual visitors to loyal repeat customers. 

Their client-proven process works for businesses and projects of all sizes interested in developing a brand and creative assets that help them tell their story. 

3. Storm Brain — Best for advertising and social media marketing

Social media seemingly changes by the second. 

It feels impossible to keep up with new platforms, updated policies, and ever-changing social media marketing techniques on top of running your business. 

But thankfully, you don’t have to. 

Storm Brain is a digital marketing company specializing in effective advertising campaigns and social media marketing that helps brands of all sizes generate more leads, build brand ambassadors, and make more money with a strong focus on ROI. 

They’ve worked with some big names like Zillow, Ford, and Citi Bank but they also work with smaller brands in a wide variety of industries. 

Storm Brain focuses on planning, creating, and executing both paid and organic social media campaigns that help your audience connect with your brand across social media channels. 

However, they specialize in Facebook and paid social media advertising. 

Their four-step strategic approach centers around your target audience and capitalizes on paid media, owned media, and earned media to ensure your brand is in front of the right people. 

4. Mad Mind — Best for eCommerce development and product branding

As a product-based business, you have different marketing roadblocks than service-based or blogging-based businesses. 

And there are a lot of other branding elements coming into play as well.

Thankfully, Mad Mind is here to help. 

They’re a creative digital marketing studio for both large and small eCommerce brands looking to develop cohesive branding from their website design down to the smallest details of their product packaging. 

Brands like Lyft and Sony Music trust Mad Mind to help them create an impactful brand, attract the right people, and turn them into lifelong paying customers.

Furthermore, they’ve been featured on Shark Tank, The Los Angeles Times, and Vogue. 

From WordPress, WooCommerce, and Shopify development to custom websites and thoughtful eCommerce branding, their team of “marketing geniuses” delivers powerful results and dynamic marketing strategies you can leverage for years to come. 

5. Pop Video — Best for video and visual content marketing

Video and visual content marketing are booming right now. 

But it’s no secret planning, creating, and producing videos feels overwhelming and downright difficult, to say the least. 

The good news is… you don’t have to do it all yourself. 

Pop Video specializes in doing the heavy lifting (read: video creation, execution, repurposing, editing, etc.) for you. 

They know your audience expects more than one-off videos and other types of visual content. And they also believe your business deserves better, as well. They don’t call themselves a “lean, mean, content-generating machine” for nothing. 

Pop Video has partnered with hundreds of brands including Phillips 66, Academy Sports + Outdoors, and Mattress Firm to revolutionize the way their audiences consume and interact with digital content. 

However, they don’t just produce great videos. 

They help you create a library of visual assets by repurposing content as well so you can walk away with all the visual content marketing material you need. 

6. Action Rocket — Best for email marketing and design

There’s a reason 93% of B2B brands use email to distribute the content they create — it works. 

But starting your email list and growing it into a database of raving fans and customers isn’t easy. Most businesses know this and do everything they can to avoid it like the plague. 

Good thing you have another option. 

Action Rocket is an email marketing studio leveraging strategic approaches, creative thinking, and in-depth customer journeys to develop results-driven email marketing campaigns. 

Furthermore, they’ve worked with some huge names you may have heard of like QVC, Unicef, and American Express. 

However, they also work with businesses of all sizes anywhere in the world. 

Action Rocket offers courses, workshops, and training as well as world-class email campaign creation services so you can start leveraging one of the most effective forms of digital marketing for your business. 

7 characteristics that make a great digital marketing company

Now you know my top recommendations. 

So, let’s talk about what makes these digital marketing companies great and what to look for if none of the companies above match what you’re after. These are the key steps in how to pick the right digital marketing agency.

1. A great website and digital marketing strategy

Smart digital marketers understand the importance of having a well-designed website and an effective digital marketing strategy. 

So, it makes sense to expect your digital marketing company to have both, especially if they offer web design or custom development services.

Take a look around their website, sign up for the email list, and peek at their social media profiles to make sure they’re practicing what they preach. 

And if they’re not… move on to a digital marketing company that is.

2. An impressive portfolio

Agencies use their portfolio to show off their best work. 

So, look through their published portfolio pieces to see examples of the types of work they produce for their clients. 

This also gives you an idea of the types of clients they frequently work with. 

Pay close attention to the style and quality of what they do and make sure it closely aligns with what you hope to get out of working with them. 

Furthermore, look at the list of clients they have to see if you recognize any of the names. 

If anything seems off or doesn’t fit what you’re looking for, move on to a digital marketing company that feels like a better fit for you and your business. 

3. Aligned company culture and core values

It’s important to work with companies that value the same things and have a strong company culture you can appreciate to get the results you hope to achieve (without wanting to pull your hair out). 

Do you prefer a creative and collaborative atmosphere or a more rigid and structured approach? 

Look at the words, phrases, and photos they use on their website to get an idea of how they work and make sure it’s a good match to what you’re looking for. 

Some digital marketing companies use humor and playfulness while others are more serious. 

So, decide what type of experience you want to have and find a company that matches that. 

Example: Would you use the word “disruptive” to describe your brand and vision?

4. A diverse team with appropriate specializations

It’s important to hire a digital marketing company with the right team that can deliver the results you’re hoping for. 

If you’re looking for high-end brand design services, make sure they have an experienced team of designers to take on your project. 

Or maybe you’re interested in a custom-coded website. 

Check out that company’s team on their about page (if they have everyone listed there) or on LinkedIn to make sure they have an experienced designer and a coder or developer on staff. 

5. Timely and effective communication

Strong communication is one of the most important parts of a fruitful and beneficial partnership between a company and its digital marketing company. 

So, it’s important to consider their communication skills and overall customer service before hiring them. 

You can do this by evaluating the responses you get and how long it takes for them to respond to your messages and questions before giving them any money. 

This doesn’t always work but if they take weeks to respond to a simple question, consider moving on to someone else. 

6. Realistic promises and proven results

Before scheduling a consultation or reaching out for more information, look through their website to make sure their promises are realistic. 

Furthermore, look to see if you can find any data-driven case studies they have regarding the type of results they regularly produce for their clients. 

If they’re promising unrealistic things and making outlandish claims on their website, that’s a huge red flag. 

Why? Because this means they probably don’t understand how the industry works and they don’t have any actual client results to share. 

7. Real-world client testimonials

93% of consumers turn to customer reviews and testimonials when deciding to buy something. They do this because it helps justify the expense and ensure they’re going to get what they pay for. 

So, you should do the same. 

Keep an eye out for detailed and honest customer reviews or testimonials to give you an insight into what working with the company is like. 

If you can’t find any, they probably haven’t worked with many clients and they may be inexperienced. 

Which… is fine if you’re on a budget. But it’s not fine if you’re looking for the best possible solution for your business. 

What to expect from a great digital marketing company

Now you know what to look for, so let’s talk about what to expect when working or partnering with a digital marketing company.

The details of each phase look different for every business out there. But, the fundamentals remain the same regardless of the company you choose to work with. 

Phase 1: discovery and research

The best digital marketing companies want to learn everything there is to know about your business from top to bottom. 

This usually happens through a series of phone calls/zoom chats and detailed questionnaires so they can get to know you and what you’re looking for. They’ll also do a deep dive into your target market, audience, and competition. 

Phase 2: developing a plan of action

Once they know who you are and what you’re looking for, they’ll work with you to develop a detailed timeline and plan of attack to get the job done well and on time. 

Phase 3: executing the plan of attack

Once everyone agrees on the plan, it’s time to start executing. 

Your digital marketing company will work through the process of creating and finalizing everything you both agreed to during phase 2. 

This includes building infrastructure, creatives, ongoing strategies, and anything else you need to achieve the results you’re after. Again, this looks different for different types of projects and the company you’re working with. 

Depending on the complexity of your project, this could take anywhere from a few days to several months (or even a few years depending on the type of partnership). 

Phase 4: results and offboarding

After everything is complete, good digital marketing companies will walk you through the results and outcomes you achieved by working together. 

From there, you’ll discuss the next steps and how to move forward on your own (or what happens next if your partnership isn’t over).

Digital marketing = long-term relationships and results

Investing in digital marketing is a huge step in the right direction for your business. But, these strategies don’t return results overnight and they generally tend to ramp up over time. 

So, expect a long-term relationship with your digital marketing company.

The longer you work with them, the more fine-tuned they are to your needs, and the quicker they can get to work producing even better long-term results for you and your business. 

So, whether you choose one of my top recommendations or scout out your own, use the tips and best practices we talked about to make a smart, educated decision… like the future of your business depends on it. 

Because it does!

Have you worked with any digital marketing companies recently? How did it go and did you get the results you hoped for?

The post The 6 Best Digital Marketing Companies of 2020 appeared first on Neil Patel.

Companies That Help Build Business Credit: What Should You Pay For, And What Should be Free

Regardless of whether you are an existing business or a startup, your business needs its own credit.  The problem is, a lot of owners are unsure of how to start building business credit.  There are companies that help build business credit, but if you aren’t careful you will get scammed.  You should always know what you are paying for, and if it is worth it, or not.  

Lenders are becoming more picky and there are more automatic denials than ever before.  Working with an insider familiar with the system can help tremendously. It can help everything go faster and it can minimize denials. Your time is money – working with a company to help build business credit can be a wise investment. But there are things you should know.

Check out our best webinar with its trustworthy list of seven vendors to help you build business credit, even in a recession.

Companies That Help Build Business Credit: Know What You Are Paying For

First and foremost, you should always know exactly what services you are paying for.  The truth is, some “services” just aren’t worth it.  For example, you should never pay a company to report your payments to the business credit reporting agencies.  There are plenty that will do that for free.  However, they do not usually advertise that they do that, nor do they typically make public which companies they report to.  Paying someone to help you find these companies? That is worth paying for.  

Companies that Help Build Business Credit: Why Separate Business Credit? 

companies that help build biz credit Credit SuiteThere are a few reasons why it’s a good idea for your business to have credit separate from your personal credit.  First is protection.  If your business goes south, it will not directly affect your personal credit.  You can still buy a home and a car other things you need to based on your personal credit. 

Also, business credit almost always has higher limits.  If you try to finance a business on personal credit cards, you will likely stay at or even go over the credit limits on your cards.  This will affect your debt-to-credit ratio in a bad way.  That, in turn, will negatively impact your personal credit. 

Companies That Help Build Business Credit: What NOT to Pay For

We’ve established why you should not pay anyone to have your on-time payments reported.  While no company has to do that, there are plenty that will, and they do it for free.  Here are some other things you should never pay for. 

  • An EIN
  • A Credit Protection Number (CPN) 
  • Correcting mistakes on your credit report
  • A peek at your personal credit score
  • A list of lenders from whom you may qualify for financing 
  • Trade accounts

Companies that Help Build Business Credit: What Does it Take to Build Build Business Credit

The thing is, business credit doesn’t just happen in the same way that personal credit does.  It has to be intentional, and there is a process to make it all come together.  It is a complicated web, and before you can understand why certain things are worth paying for, you have to understand little about what it takes to build business credit and make it all work. 

Of Business Credit and Fundability

 Your business needs to be set up in just the right way to be fundable.  I like to call this the foundation of fundability. If you do not have a fundable foundation, payments may be reported, but there will be no record of your business with the business credit reporting agencies so they will not know how to apply it.   Here is what it takes to have a fundable foundation.

Separate Contact Information

The first step in setting up a foundation of fundability is to ensure your business has its own phone number, fax number, and address.   That doesn’t mean you have to get a separate phone line, or even a separate location.  In fact, you can still run your business from your home or on your computer if you want.  You don’t even have to have a fax machine.  

Actually, you can get a business phone number and fax number pretty easily that will work over the internet instead of phone lines.  In addition, the phone number will forward to any phone you want it too so you can just use your personal cell phone or landline if you want.  Whenever someone calls your business number it will ring straight to you. 

Faxes can be sent to an online fax service.  That is, if anyone ever happens to actually fax you.  This part seems outdated. However, it does help your business appear legitimate to credit providers. 

You can use a virtual office for a business address unless like Supply Works, the credit issuer does not accept a virtual address.  Many do accept them though.  How do you get a virtual office?  It’s not what you may think.  This is a business that offers a physical address for a fee, and sometimes they even offer mail service and live receptionist services.  In addition, there are some that offer space for face to face meetings. 

EIN

The next thing you need to do is get an EIN.  It’s an identifying number for your business that works like your SSN works for you personally.  You can get one for free from the IRS.

D-U-N-S Number

Dun & Bradstreet is the largest and most commonly used business credit reporting agency.  Every credit file in their database has a D-U-N-S number.  To get a D-U-N-S number, you have to apply for one through the D&B website. 

Incorporation

Incorporating your business as an LLC, S-corp, or corporation is not negotiable.  It lends credibility to your business as one that is legitimate, and also offers some protection from liability. 

Which option you choose does not matter as much for getting a net 30 account with companies that help build business credit.  What it does matter for is your budget and needs for liability protection.  The best thing to do is talk to your attorney or a tax professional.  Fair warning, you’ll lose the time in business that you already have  once you incorporate.  When you incorporate, you become a new entity.  You basically have to start over.  You’ll also lose any positive payment history you may have accumulated before you incorporate. 

For this reason, you have to incorporate as soon as possible.  Not only is it necessary for fundability and for building business credit, but so is time in business.  The longer you have been in business the more fundable you appear to be.  That starts on the date of incorporation, regardless of when you actually started doing business. 

Business Bank Account

You have to open a separate, dedicated business bank account.  There are a few reasons for this.  First, it will help you keep track of business finances.  It will also help you keep them separate from personal finances for tax purposes. 

There’s more to it however.  There are several types of funding you cannot get without a business bank account.  Yu probably noticed that most of the companies above require one.  In addition, you cannot get a merchant account without a business account at a bank. That means, you cannot take credit card payments.  Studies show consumers tend to spend more when they can pay by credit card.

Check out our best webinar with its trustworthy list of seven vendors to help you build business credit, even in a recession.

Licenses

For a business to be legitimate it has to have all of the necessary licenses it needs to run.  If it doesn’t, red flags are going to fly up all over the place.  Do the research you need to do to ensure you have all of the licenses necessary to legitimately run your business at the federal, state, and local levels. 

Website

I am sure you are wondering how a business website can affect your ability to get funding.  These days, you don’t exist if you do not have a website.  Yet, having a poorly put together website can be even worse.  It is the first impression you make on many, and if it appears to be unprofessional it will not bode well for you with consumers or potential lenders. 

Spend the time and money necessary to ensure your website is professionally designed and works well.  Pay for hosting too. Don’t use a free hosting service.  Also, your business needs a dedicated business email address.  Make sure it has the same URL as your Website.  Don’t use a free service such as Yahoo or Gmail. 

Here’s another reason why a website is important.  Elsewhere on our blog, there is actually a comment about a company asking for a website to help make the decision to  extend, or not extend,  net30 terms.  

You’ll notice many of these things are listed in the requirements of our list of companies that help build business credit.  These are all things that you need for a variety of reasons, including to make your business more fundable.

Check out our best webinar with its trustworthy list of seven vendors to help you build business credit, even in a recession.

Companies that Help Business Business Credit: What You Should Pay For

This is just the start.  There are so many other factors that affect the fundability of your business and business credit that it can be completely overwhelming.  This is why it can be very profitable in the long-term to pay a company to help you through the process.  Most of the time they do not actually complete the steps for you, but they can help you get where you need to be and tell you what to do once you get there. 

This is crucial. You don’t waste time with companies that don’t report, and you know what is reported is showing up in the right place. There is so much more though. 

The lending world is changing fast since COVID-19 hit.  Lending has been cut drastically, and more changes are happening everyday.  Having someone who knows how to navigate the system and both current and future changes is priceless. 

Companies that Help Build Business Credit: 6 Things You Should Definitely Pay For

  • Guiding you through the process of setting up your business to be fundable.

All of the things mentioned above are necessary, and many of them have to happen in the right order.  If something gets out of whack, it can take even more time and money to fix it.  Paying someone to help you get it right the first time, or help untangle a mess that is already there, is well worth it.

  • Helping you find  accounts that report.

It’s more difficult than a simple Google search.  You need to know which accounts will report that you are actually eligible for.  Otherwise, you will spend a lot of time applying for accounts that you either cannot get, or that you can get but do not report.

  • Helping you apply for financing.

A lot of companies will just give you a list of lenders with products they hope you qualify for.  You have to fill out the applications on your own.  Why would you pay for that?  What’s worth paying for is a company that has a list of lenders for whom they know the underwriting requreiments.  Then, as you work through the credit building program, they cross-reference so they know exactly where you pre-qualify and fill out the applcaitons for those lenders for you!  Now that’s worth paying for!

  • Guidance for analyzing fundability.

Fundability doesn’t stop with how your business is set up.  In fact, the overall fundablity of your business actually begins before you ever have a business.  This is because a lot of personal stuff can affect your ability to get funding.  That’s true even if you have separate business credit.

  • Step-by-step guidance through the business credit building process.

Building business credit doesn’t just happen.  Unlike consumer credit, you have to intentionally work to start and build it. Having a partner come alongside you and show what to do at each step is priceless.

  • Help navigating the lending system in this post COVID-19 economy.

Lenders are buckling down and there are more automatic denials than ever before.  You are more likely to get an automatic denial rather than an automatic approval. Having someone familiar with the system, an insider if you will, can help tremendously.

  • Business credit monitoring.

Unlike consumer credit reports, there is no way to know what your business credit report says about you or what your score is without paying.  You can pay the credit reporting agencies directly, but it works much better to pay a monitoring service that can help you keep up with your business credit on an ongoing basis. We can help you monitor your credit at Experian and Dun & Bradstreet for less than it would cost you at those business CRAs.

The bottom line is, paying companies that help build business credit can be useful.  They have more time, knowledge, and experience.  It can save you a lot of time and money in the long run, if you know and understand exactly what it is you are paying them to do.

Companies That Help Build Business Credit Are a Good Idea, Just Know What You Are Paying For

As you can see, it takes a little more work than just getting accounts reporting to build business credit.  Your business has to be set up properly for the reporting to matter. Then, you have to keep a close eye on your business credit reports to ensure things are progressing.

It’s not a complicated process, but it takes time.  The best thing to do is to set your business up to be fundable before you ever get started.  Then, you should meet most of the requirements related licensure, business bank account, business address, and website.  It can be extremely helpful to have guidance and help as you go through the process.  Let us help you build business credit. Find out how.

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Work at a Startup: job list of YC companies most actively hiring for engineers

Article URL: https://www.workatastartup.com/job_list?utm_source=hn_jobs Comments URL: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=23033802 Points: 1 # Comments: 0

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How to Outrank Big Companies When You Have No SEO Budget

There’s a formula to SEO and as long as you follow it, you’ll get rankings.

So, what’s this formula?

Well, you write amazing content, optimize your code, create a great user experience, and you mix in some backlinks.

Sounds simple, right?

Well, the formula isn’t too complicated, but it does require hard work and patience.

Now what makes SEO challenging isn’t the formula, or the time, or the patience. It has more to do with how you beat people who have more money than you because, in theory, they can do more of everything, which should cause them to outrank you.

But you know what? I’m going to let you in on a little secret. I love SEO because it’s the one channel where you can beat big companies even if you can’t outspend them.

How? Well, let’s go over that.

Let’s first start with the two mental shifts you’ll have to make.

Mental shift #1: Speed is everything

What most people won’t tell you is big companies need to spend more to get the same results that you can for pennies on the dollar. They have way too many employees and layers in their organization to move fast and nimble.

In other words, everything moves slowly.

So, what do they do? They spend money in hopes that it makes them move faster. But the reality is, spending more doesn’t necessarily get them faster results.

If you want to beat them, the first thing you’ll have to do is focus on execution. If you can’t move fast, you won’t win.

This is your biggest advantage.

The reason I have gotten to where I am today is due to my execution speed. And now that we keep growing in size, things are moving slower.

For example, because my business has continually been growing, we now prioritize based on what makes us the most revenue and I bet you SEO isn’t as high on that priority list as it used to be. Not just for me, but for all companies my size and bigger.

You have to remember, we have multiple offices, hundreds of employees… we have to focus on what pays the bills.

So how do we compensate? We spend more money in hopes that it fixes it. Just like how I write less content these days, and I spend money on things like Ubersuggest and Backlinks in hopes that it helps.

But that won’t fix everything.

The point is, if you can move fast, it will give you a huge advantage.

Mental shift #2: Scrappiness beats money

Alright, let’s recap the formula to SEO…

Content + SEO friendly code + user experience + backlinks = rankings.

I know Google has over 200 ranking factors, but the formula above encompasses the majority of it.

Now you are probably thinking that if you want to write content or build links you have to spend money, but that isn’t necessarily the case.

With my previous marketing blog, Quick Sprout, I grew it by partnering with other writers.

I wasn’t as well known in the marketing world back then, but I hit up people like Brian Dean and co-authored guides like this one on link building with him.

That guide is over 20,000 words. And Brian did the majority of the work and for free.

I also did something similar with Ritika Puri and we created a guide on marketing psychology.

And every time I partnered with other writers and marketers to create these in-depth guides my traffic skyrocketed.

The first time I published one, my traffic went up by 117% in 2 months.

quicksprout traffic

Now, that’s something that you can still do to this day to see great results.

Another way you can boost your SEO traffic is to get people to contribute content to your site for free.

I did this with the KISSmetrics blog before I acquired it. During its peak, it generated 1,260,681 unique visitors a month.

kissmetrics traffic

We grew the KISSmetrics traffic through one simple approach… we hit up tons of writers in our space and asked them to contribute articles.

At first, we had to pay a few because the blog wasn’t known and we barely had any visitors. But once we paid a handful of well-known writers who were guest contributors on competing sites, we now had a great foundation.

We still didn’t have much traffic, but having those writers publish content was enough to convince other writers to submit content for free.

It’s a simple approach that still works to this day.

There are many ways you can be scrappy, you just have to think outside the box. Don’t think you need tons of money to solve your marketing problems. Being scrappy in most cases is more effective.

Now that we’ve covered the two mental shifts you need to make, let’s focus on the 4 quick wins that will yield the biggest results in the least amount of time.

Yes, many of these “quick wins” are well known, but less than 1% of SEOs focus on them. I know this because I have an ad agency that works with large Fortune 100 companies… and it doesn’t stop there, most companies no matter what size they are, don’t focus on these quick wins.

Quick win #1: Land and expand

They say the more content you create the more traffic you will get.

Do you want to know what the big issue with this strategy is?

Writing more content doesn’t guarantee more traffic.

Content marketing has changed. Writing no longer guarantees you more traffic because there are over 1 billion blogs.

With people cranking out so much content on a daily basis, Google now has the choice of what content to rank and what not to rank.

Similar to me, your top 10 pages are going to make up a lot of your traffic… and probably more than me.

The top 10 pages on my site make up 29.23% of my traffic. That’s crazy considering I have 5,171 blog posts.

With your site, your top 10 pages will probably make up over 40% of your traffic as you probably don’t have as much content as me.

So instead of spending the majority of your time writing new content, why not get more traffic out of the content you have.

I call this the land and expand method. In other words, you already have pages that are getting search traffic and rank on Google, might as well adjust them so you can 2 or 3 times more search traffic to those pages.

Best of all, this method gets results within 1 month for most sites and within 2 months if your site doesn’t have as much authority.

If you want to leverage this technique, follow “step 2” in this article where I break down how to land and expand step by step.

Quick win #2: Optimize for revenue, not traffic

Your goal is to increase your search traffic, right?

Well, if you are reading this blog it is. 😉

But as you get more search traffic, what’s happened to your revenue?

Actually, let’s rephrase the question… as my traffic climbed, can you guess what happened to my revenue?

search traffic neil patel

That traffic according to SEMrush is worth $1.2 million.

traffic cost

But here is the thing: as my search traffic grew by 123%, my revenue only grew by 12.5%… not a good deal.

Yes, you want to optimize your site for Google so you can rank higher. But what’s the point if it doesn’t increase your revenue?

You need to look at the pages on your site that are responsible for revenue generation activities and first optimize those so they rank higher on Google. You can do this by setting up goal tracking within Google Analytics.

Once you set up goal tracking, you’ll now know what pages to focus your attention on so that those extra visitors you in bring will turn into revenue. You can then take that extra revenue and reinvest it in your marketing initiatives.

Quick win #3: Optimize for clicks, not rankings

Question for you…

If everyone did a Google search and clicked on the second results instead of the first result, what do you think will happen?

Well, it would tell Google that people prefer the second listing and it would move that ranking to the number 1 spot.

To prove this theory, Rand Fishkin told all of his Twitter followers to search for the phrase “best grilled steak” and click on the 4th listing instead of the 1st.

best grilled steak

And within 70 minutes the 4th listing jumped up to the top spot.

steak rankings

It was so effective that the listing Rand Fishkin told everyone to clicked on skyrocketed to the top of Google for the phrase “grilled steak”.

google rankings

If you want to boost your rankings, it isn’t just about the content you are creating or the links you are building. If people don’t want to click on your listing, you’ll find that your rankings will continually tank.

And if people click on yours more than the competitors, then your rankings will skyrocket even if you don’t build as many links.

So how do you increase your click-through-rate?

Well you don’t want to tell your friends to click on your listing as that is a temporary effect and your rankings will only climb for a short period of time. You want to optimize your title tag and meta description to encourage people to click on your listings over the competition.

This will cause your rankings to climb slower, but they will stick once you reach the top.

I won’t bore you with the details in this article on optimizing click-through-rates as I have already blogged on it… just head over to this post and follow hack number 1. 😉

Quick win #4: Update your old content

Have you noticed over time that your rankings fluctuate? No matter how good you are at SEO and no matter how much money you have, there is no guarantee you’ll be at the top spot.

Do you want to know why your rankings drop?

Most people assume that it’s a penalty. But Google is very friendly (believe it or not), and their goal isn’t to penalize sites. Their goal is to rank the best sites at the top.

You know… the sites that users love the most.

Just think of it this way, if Google hypothetically penalized BMW for building backlinks and removed them from the index, what do you think would happen when people search for “BMW”?

People would be pissed that BMW isn’t showing up.

And they wouldn’t be pissed at BMW, they would be pissed at Google and they may not use Google again.

Google’s goal isn’t to penalize your site or be mean to you or tank your rankings. Their goal is simple… always put the site that is best for the end user at the top.

When your rankings tank, it’s typically because someone else created a page that provides a better experience for the term you were ranking for.

The way you fix this, maintain your rankings, and even climb higher is to continually update your old content.

If you have content that is old, outdated, or if your rankings drop, read this. It breaks down what to do step by step, and it will help you outrank your competition because I bet they aren’t updating their old content.

This is so effective I currently have 3 full-time people updating my old content.

You don’t have to get as crazy as me, but you should update your old content.

Conclusion

Money isn’t stopping you from beating your competition. The only thing standing in your way is you.

That’s ok though. We can fix that.

With a few mindset shifts and some quick wins, things are about to change.

I’ve never let my competition get in my way. I don’t care if they have more money than me or that they have been at this longer.

If I started my journey cleaning restrooms and picking up trash and eventually got here… you can too.

There is nothing really stopping you from winning.

So what do you think, are you ready to beat your competition?

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