The Marketer’s Guide to Slideshare

The internet is a visual place. With the absence of body language, social cues, and audible tone, the best way to communicate with your users is through visual content.

Now and then, an online platform comes along that makes it easier than ever to showcase your visual content on the internet.

SlideShare is one such example. 

The presentation-sharing platform has created a simple and seamless way to promote visual content while also encouraging user interaction.

In this post, we’ll teach you all about SlideShare, how to use it, why it matters to marketers, and how you can use it to create amazing content for your business.

Let’s get started.

What Is SlideShare?

SlideShare is a content-sharing platform that allows you to upload media presentations and share them on your website or social media profile. Content compatible with the platform includes presentations, infographics, videos, and documents. 

While SlideShare is not a tool for building content, it does work with existing content formats such as Google Slides, Adobe PDF, OpenDocument, and Microsoft PowerPoint.

SlideShare is best known for being a comprehensive educational resource that makes it easy to display presentations and webinars online. 

Here are some of the most popular ways to use SlideShare:

  • to share online webinars or training materials
  • as a visualization tool for presentations
  • to promote products or services
  • to display newsletters and attract new signups
  • to showcase visual materials such as guides or brochures

Acquired by LinkedIn in 2012, the company was later bought by the audiobook subscription platform Scribd.

SlideShare remains free to use and allows anyone to create a presentation to share privately or publicly. 

Why Should You Use SlideShare for Marketing?

For marketers, using SlideShare offers a unique and interactive way to display content online. By adding a presentation to your blog posts, web pages, and social media feeds, you create a completely new content type to engage your users.

SlideShare also allows you to display longer, more complex content in a simple way. Webinars or presentations can be easily uploaded and displayed for users to click through on their own time. 

You can think of these presentations as an infographic with more interactivity. 

It’s also important to note SlideShare boasts a user base of 80 million. Most of its user base are business professionals, and its most searched tags are:

  • #market
  • #business
  • #statistics
  • #socialmedia

SlideShare also receives 500 percent more traffic from business owners than Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, and YouTube. This offers a huge benefit to B2B marketers looking to connect with relevant audiences. 

5 Strategies to Use SlideShare for Marketing

Now that you understand what SlideShare is and why it’s important for marketers, it’s time to learn how to create an effective and successful presentation. 

Here are five steps to follow when using SlideShare for marketing.

1. Use Visual Content

Anyone who’s made a PowerPoint presentation knows they shouldn’t be text-heavy. When formatting your presentation for SlideShare, this is especially important, as online readers tend to lose focus on text-heavy content.

A general rule to follow when creating any type of presentation is the 5/5/5 rule:

  • 5 words per line of text
  • 5 lines of text per slide
  • 5 text-heavy slides in a row

Keep your readers interested and engaged in your SlideShare presentation by using mostly visual content and keeping your text short and succinct.

Visual metaphors can also be used to further cement the messaging of your presentation. You can see an example of a visual metaphor in the image below.

Strategies to Use SlideShare for Marketing - Use Visual Content

2. Add a Call-to-Action (CTA)

Your SlideShare presentation should work as part of your sales funnel, moving customers through the education, nurture, and convincing phases. In order to effectively move your customers through these phases, you’ll need to integrate calls to action (CTAs) throughout your content.

A CTA can be a request to contact your business or even a link to start a free trial. You could also ask your customer to sign up for your email list or visit your website.

Whatever you choose, place it strategically at a place where you know your customer will see it. As well, use a benefit-forward statement that shows your customer how they’ll see value from their click.

3. Keep Your Presentation Short and Sweet

Keeping online reader attention spans in mind, it’s important to keep your presentation short to ensure your users stay engaged.

Presentations that are too long or too bulky will lose reader interest and result in lost leads for your business. Shorter presentations are easier to digest and offer a better chance of a reader seeing your final CTA.

SlideShare itself has noted that shorter visual content is most effective on its platform.

Strategies to Use SlideShare for Marketing - Keep Your Presentation Short and Sweet

4. Use Customer Pain Points to Inform Content Decisions

The first step in determining the kind of content you should publish in your SlideShare is to understand your customer pain points

  • What do your customers want to see from your brand? 
  • What kind of content do they enjoy?
  • How can you strengthen your relationship with them through SlideShare content?

Before you publish your content, conduct customer research to find out what your leads are looking for and why.

Once you know what they’re after, give it to them. It’s really that easy.

5. Use Keywords in Descriptions and Tags

SlideShare comes equipped with presentation descriptions and tags. Be sure to make use of these features when uploading your content.

Adding keywords to your SlideShare descriptions and tags will help your SEO efforts and ensure your presentation is being seen by the right people. If you’re looking for a keyword research tool, try Ubersuggest.

SlideShare for Marketing Tips and Best Practices 

SlideShare can be a marketer’s best friend when used correctly. Here are a few SlideShare best practices to guide your process:

  • Source quality images and fonts: Because it is such a visual platform, it’s important your presentation looks professional and high-quality. Using grainy or low-quality images, hard-to-read fonts, or bad design will turn users away from your content.
  • Make your presentation simple and clear: As discussed above, don’t overdo it on text, slides, or images. Your users want quick and clear information they can easily digest. The sooner you give them what they want, the better your chances are of converting them.
  • Start strong: Think of your presentation as an essay. You want to set up your thesis at the beginning and continuously reaffirm your message throughout your slides. If it isn’t clear what you’re trying to say early on, users will likely click away and lose interest. Start your presentation off with your main idea and strongest imagery to hook your reader immediately. 
  • Measure your results: Like anything in marketing, it all comes down to the numbers. Leverage any analytical powers at your disposal and continuously A/B test and optimize your SlideShare content.

Examples of Great Marketing SlideShares 

You’re almost ready to start taking the SlideShare world by storm! Here are a few success stories to help you get started.

The Brand Gap by Neutron LLC

The Brand Gap by Neutron LLC is a beautifully designed SlideShare that explores the makings of some of the world’s most iconic brands.

This presentation is successful because it harnesses strong visual design with simple copy to deliver a clear, concise message. The conversational tone of the copy invites readers to continue moving through the presentation, ending with a clear CTA at the finish.

While this presentation is longer than we recommend, Neutron LLC gets away with it because of its masterful design work and messaging. 

How Google Works by Google

How Google Works by Google is a creative and effective presentation that explains how Google operates as an innovative company. 

Google used completely original and unique illustrations to provide clear visual metaphors throughout the presentation. Google’s brand colors are present in every slide, cementing their brand in the minds of the readers.

You Suck At Powerpoint by Jesse Desjardins

You Suck At Powerpoint by Jesse Desjardins is a humor design presentation that tells you everything you’ve done wrong in your past presentations.

Leaning on visual metaphor, this example is funny, concise, and clear in its messaging. 

Not only does Jesse tell you what you’ve been doing wrong, but he tells you how to fix it. If you can’t do it yourself, his information is on the last slide.

SlideShare Resources

How to Create and Share a SlideShare Presentation

Ready to create your first presentation? Follow these steps!

  1. Create a SlideShare Account

    The first step in creating and sharing your first SlideShare presentation is to sign up for an account. If you have a LinkedIn profile, you can use your LinkedIn account to sign in. If you don’t already have a LinkedIn profile, you’ll need to create one in order to use the platform.

  2. Create Your Presentation

    When creating your presentation, be consistent in your use of fonts and colors.
    It’s always a good idea to use your own branding assets when creating your presentation to ensure cohesion across your content.
    Create an intro and outro slide at the start and end of your presentation, and remember to add a CTA so your customers stay active after the presentation. 

  3. Upload Your Presentation

    Once you’ve finished creating your presentation, it’s time to upload it to the site. You can upload your presentation as a Google Slide, Microsoft PowerPoint, or PDF. 
    SlideShare allows you to schedule your presentation if you’d like it to go live at a specific time. Once it’s live, be sure to promote it widely and share it across your social channels to ensure a wide reach.

SlideShare Frequently Asked Questions

How much does it cost to use SlideShare?

It is free to use for anyone.

Can you earn money from SlideShare?

Not directly, no. SlideShare does not pay users for ads, and there is no direct way to make money from its platform. That said, by strategically including CTAs and actionable points, you can get an ROI from the presentations you upload.

What are the disadvantages of SlideShare?

It does not offer any direct monetization processes for its users, and it also does not include a built-in way to measure analytics. 

What’s the difference between SlideShare and PowerPoint?

SlideShare is an online platform that allows you to share your presentations across the internet. PowerPoint is simply a tool for creating presentations. 

SlideShare for Marketing Conclusion

SlideShare is a visual content tool that helps you share educational presentations across the internet.

Because online readers want fast and efficient information, it is a great way to engage your audience and move your customers through your sales funnel.

Have you found success using SlideShare?

The Marketer’s Guide to Reddit

Reddit is a social media and news aggregation website that ranks content based on a voting system. People worldwide post content (usually links, but also original content), and other users can “upvote” or “downvote” posts, pushing the most interesting content to the top. 

It’s a place where you can find groups of like-minded people. Reddit calls these groups subreddits, and they cover different topics, including niche interests, politics, hobbies, and thousands of other topics people want to talk about.

Since its launch in 2005, the site has become one of the most popular social media sites with millions of monthly active users. 

Its engaged, passionate community is just one of the reasons you should consider marketing on Reddit. However, the site has a tough stance on self-promotion, which makes marketing tricky, and it’s easy to fall foul of Reddit’s strict guidelines (including the unwritten rules.

That means you need to take a more strategic approach that focuses on conversations and providing helpful or interesting content. 

Before we cover how to create ads, let’s talk about Reddit marketing etiquette so you can get it right.

Reddit Marketing Etiquette

Start with the basics by reading Reddit’s page about self-promotion and what’s allowed and what isn’t. Once you’ve read that, look at the “Reddiquette” page so you can see Reddit’s main rules. 

The list includes:

  • using original sources when sharing stories
  • looking out for duplicate content before posting
  • being considerate in the way you speak to other users
  • reading the full guidelines for a community before contributing

You also need to be clear about why people use Reddit. According to Signity Solutions, Reddit users are looking for answers or entertainment. If you can offer either, then it’s worth contributing to the conversation. Just don’t try and sell anyone anything.

If you need ideas, there are plenty of ways you can avoid falling into overly promotional material, like:

  • posting survey results
  • creating subreddits around your brand
  • adding relevant content
  • being active in the Reddit community

Reddit is a massive site with thousands of subreddits. Each of those subreddits has its own rules, moderators, and culture. Whichever subreddit you join, take the time to familiarize yourself with the sub’s etiquette and what’s acceptable.

Above all, if you’re not sure, ask before posting something. Redditors are there to help and guide users.

Reddit Advertising Policies

Reddit’s advertising policies cover quality, style, URLs, and landing pages. Below are the basics you need to know for each section.

Video Advertising

Video advertisements must be high quality. That applies to the audio, visuals, and text. Make sure content is relevant and suitable for a wider audience. Also, the spoken language should be targeted for where you’re advertising.

Reddit allows mature-rated media. However, it needs to comply with the relevant rating laws for each country, and videos containing “shocking, graphic, or profane content” should be labeled as such.

Additionally, Reddit doesn’t permit videos that include strobing or flashing.

Reddit Ad Style Policies

Reddit stresses the importance of professional-looking ads that are concise and detailed. The main takeaways are:

  • Check ads for any typos and use correct grammar throughout.
  • Limit the use of emojis and symbols.
  • Unless mandated by law or a regulatory body, don’t include personal details in your ads.
  • Limit capitalization to 50 percent or less.
  • Use quality images.
  • Target non-English ads to the appropriate regions/countries.

Reddit Ad Quality

Quality primarily relates to accuracy and clarity about the products/services you’re advertising. That means:

  • not misrepresenting the product, service, or brand
  • ads should avoid clickbait
  • advertisements mustn’t promote individual Reddit content; the only exception is if you’re using managed ads

URL and Landing Policies

As with all of Reddit’s advertising policies, the main emphasis is on quality and consistency. Make sure your:

  • product shows on the landing page
  • landing page content complies with Reddit’s content and advertising policies
  • language on the landing page is the same as in the adverts
  • the landing page doesn’t spam users or use other questionable marketing tactics
  • URL is consistent with the landing page
  • not making limited/prohibited products readily available or linking them on your landing page

For more details, read Reddit’s full advertising policy

Non-Paid/Organic Reddit Marketing Strategies

Perhaps you’re not quite ready to commit to paid advertising. That’s OK. You can use some strategies to start marketing on Reddit without paid ads, like those listed below.

Use a Personal Account

Rather than using a business account, you could set up a personal account. From there, you can begin engaging with the community by answering questions and posting content related to your niche. This is a way of showing your expertise and gaining traction on the site while avoiding self-promotion.

It’s the preferred way of Beardbrand’s Eric Banholtz, who has attracted more than 600 members into his subreddit.

Beardbrand tends to post YouTube content like:

  • The Top Ten Best Beard Transformational Trims
  • The Best Way to Fade Your Beard at Home
  • Wild Beard Gets Shaped to Perfection

You get the idea.

In keeping with Reddit guidelines, there’s no promotional content. The account is just a way of sharing relevant news and touching base with subreddit members.

Ask Me Anything

There’s a subreddit called “Ask Me Anything.”

Members of the community post a huge variety of posts on just about every topic you can imagine. For example, one post is from a female gamer, while AMA is a person who had the same lunch every day for the last 16 years.

Basically, you post a topic and invite others to ask you anything.

Although regular members heavily use the community, you needn’t think you don’t have a place there as a business owner or marketer. The subreddit also attracts members from the business world.

One heavy hitter who makes the occasional appearance is Microsoft’s Bill Gates. Although it’s been some time since Gates contributed, there was huge interest when he did, including plenty of upvotes and lots of interaction.

Start a Subreddit

A popular way for businesses to stay on the right side of Reddit’s rules is to start a subreddit for their brand. Here, you can engage with your customers, answer any questions about your company, and share industry news.

This is a good approach if you aim to encourage engagement and build relationships with prospects.

Paid Advertising on Reddit

Reddit is often overlooked by marketers, but with 52 million daily active users, and high levels of engagement, marketers shouldn’t ignore the site.

Additionally, Reddit attracts 430 million monthly active users and it boasts 100,000 communities. 

Year on year, Reddit’s active users continue to grow. It looks like Reddit’s here to stay, and the potential is enormous for those that get their marketing right.

It’s also popular among younger age groups, so it’s a brilliant way to reach out to younger prospects.

What Are the Different Types of Reddit Ads?

There are two main types of ads on Reddit. The first is promoted ads, which you’ll see most often. Reddit displays these at the top of subreddits.

The other type is display ads. Reddit offers other types of advertising, like video and carousel, which we detail below.

1. Display Ads

These are the most common forms of advertisement on the site. With display ads, you’re not just limited to sharing your posts. For example, you can post a customer story that relates to your brand. 

You can choose from CPM, CPC, or CPV ads, and these are all made available as auctions via the Reddit Ads Dashboard.

2. Display Ads

Reddit aims to display ads at bigger companies with larger budgets. Unlike promoted ads, these aren’t self-serve, and you need to speak to Reddit’s sales team first. You need a minimum budget of $30,000.

3. Promoted Video

These are available as CPM and CPV bids. Features include an auto-play video and an optional call to action button.

4. Promoted Carousel Ads

Promoted Carousel ads allow up to six images/gifs, and the bid types are CPM and CPC. Reddit shows these ads in users’ feeds.

For greater visibility, Reddit also offers takeover products. You can view the complete requirements for each type of ad and the features provided on Reddit.

Examples of Great Reddit Ads

Before diving and creating your own Reddit ad, let’s look at a few examples.

Nordstrom Reddit Ad

Examples of Great Reddit Ads - Nordstrom

Department store Nordstrom uses Reddit in a way that just about everyone can adopt. It stays on the right side of Reddit’s robust guidelines by using subreddit groups to talk to customers and discuss products, overall service, and typical customer experiences.

It’s clear Nordstrom is playing the long game with its Reddit advertising approach. Its method isn’t likely to garner overnight results. However, it’s a strategy that works for the brand, and it has got hundreds of Reddit users keen to interact with them.

If customer engagement is crucial to you and you’re using it as a building block for your business, the Nordstrom method could be the way to go.

Ally Bank

Examples of Great Reddit Ads - Ally Bank

Ally Bank dared to be different with its advertising. Rather than posting in a financial subreddit, it reached out to Reddit’s vast audience of video game lovers. 

How did it connect the dots between the two topics? With a simple one-liner that demanded attention:

“You wouldn’t settle for a 1-star controller, so why settle for a 1-star bank?”

Ally Bank stayed away from the traditional banking advert because it was appealing to a non-traditional audience.

You can easily use this approach. Rather than limiting your marketing to your typical market, think about how you could reach different groups and win over consumers that you mightn’t usually market to.

Maker’s Mark

Examples of Great Reddit Ads - Maker's Mark

Maker’s Mark took a more direct way of targeting the Reddit community through the r/ads subreddit.

Its “Let it Snoo” tagline was a play on words around Reddit’s mascot, Snoo, and it aimed to make the audience laugh rather than despair at the sight of an advert.

Maker’s Mark was careful to tailor the nature of its advert to the typical Reddit user and talked to them in a style the Reddit audience would welcome.

That’s the key: Always target your audience in the language and the style they’re most comfortable with.

How to Build Your Reddit Advertising Campaign

Setting up your first Reddit campaign may take some time, but with plenty of detailed step-by-step instructions, you should find it easy enough. Here are the basic steps for getting started, but always check Reddit if there’s any part you’re not sure about.

  1. Identify Your Target Audience

    If you’re not sure how to narrow down your niche, here are a few pointers:

    -Create a customer avatar or profile of your typical customer. You can use the data you already have to do this. 

    -List any of the characteristics and demographics that you feel represent them. For ideas, you can find out the basics online to get started.

    -Understand your demographics’ pain points and how your products/services can help. 
    Keep your customer profile in mind whenever you create new marketing materials and market to your typical customer. 

  2. Gather Supplies

    Before you start crafting your ads, have everything organized. In addition to being clear about your goals, and how you’ll measure results, you need:
    -visuals
    -copy
    -destination links
    -target keywords
    -ad trackers
    -credit/debit card 
    -registration details
    -other creative content

    Now let’s get started building your campaign!

  3. Create Your Campaign

    1. Sign in with your usual Reddit details at ads.reddit.com, which will take you to the “Create Campaign” page.
    2. Give your campaign a name in the “name” box.
    3. Choose your payment options. Reddit accepts credit cards for self-serve advertisers. 
    Select your objective from the list. There are several you can pick from. For instance, building awareness, conversions, video views, or app installs.How to Build Your Reddit Advertising Campaign - Create Your Campaign

  4. Create Your Ad Group

    Creating your ad group requires a few steps. First:

    Segment your campaigns: Begin by segmenting your campaigns to make it easier to track performance. Reddit suggests experimenting with bidding for the different campaigns because of its second-price auction model. Consider segmenting based on device or location. Reddit suggests each ad group should have a $50 daily budget.

    Give your ad group a name: Ad group names make it clear what the ad is targeting. 

    Select your ad placement: Next, decide if you want your promoted posts appearing in feeds or conversations. When advertising in feeds, your ads appear in the home, popular, and community feeds. Conversation ads appear when users are discussing specific Reddit posts.

    Define your audience: This is your targeting criteria. You can target ads in several ways, including by location, communities, and devices.

    Set your schedule and budget: Reddit offers a daily or a lifetime budget, which allows you to specify a specific date range. Now select your bid. Reddit uses a second-price auction model for bidding and doesn’t guarantee impressions. Reddit states impressions are dependent on targeting, your bid, and Reddit traffic.

  5. Create Your Reddit Ad

    1. Enter the name of your ad in the “Ad Name” box.
    2. Add third-party trackers. Reddit has a list of approved ones, including Comscore, Appsflyer, and Adjust.
    3. Add impressions and click trackers, followed by the macros. 
    4. Include some creatives. For instance, you could write a new blog post or promote an older one.
    5. Create a call-to-action button.
    6. Preview your ad. 
    7. Now, you should see a review button. Click on this and check your ads, making any edits if needed.

    For fuller information, read Reddit’s pages.

Frequently Asked Questions About Marketing on Reddit

Can you self-promote on Reddit?

Like most other online communities, Reddit takes a dim view of self-promotion. Anyone who uses Reddit purely for promotional purposes should view the Reddiquette pages and FAQs to understand what’s allowed.

It’s also worth reading the FAQ page on spam.

How do I market on Reddit without getting banned?

Start by reading the FAQs and Reddiquette. If you want to include links to a blog, for example, then the content you’re sharing should be helpful and in context with the general topic.

This discussion details a suitable way to share links. Also, ask the admins of subreddits if sharing a link is OK, and build a good reputation or “karma” on the site before thinking about how you can use Reddit for marketing.

How much do Reddit ads cost?

Reddit bases its advertising costs on auctions. It sets its rates at $5 a day minimum, and costs vary dramatically from 20 cents per 1000 impressions to $100.

Marketer’s Guide to Reddit Conclusion

Reddit is a unique platform with millions of active users. It might seem like the ideal place to promote your business, you could get banned (or ridiculed) if you aren’t careful. 

Although Reddit is tougher on self-promotion on other platforms, that doesn’t mean marketers should steer clear of it altogether. Provided you stick to the rules and don’t stray into spamming or being “salesy,” you have the opportunity to grow a keen, engaged following. 

With hundreds and thousands of subreddits, there’s bound to be one that suits your brand, whatever niche you’re in, regardless of whether your business is new or established.

Reddit is also a fantastic way to get feedback and suggestions from your customers and get to know them better.

Do you advertise on Reddit? What tips do you have to share?

Internal Linking Guide: Actionable Tips, Strategies, and Tools

Internal links are a crucial part of a successful SEO strategy.

Small but mighty, simple yet complex, internal links help navigate users through your digital content and give search engine crawlers information about how your website works.

Internal links are found on almost every page on the internet. You’re probably already using them, even if you don’t know it. (Hint: there’s a few included in this intro,)

If you want to optimize your content for SEO, you need to understand how internal links work, where to place them, and why they matter.

In this post, we’ll dive into internal linking and cover best practices.

What Is Internal Linking?

Internal links are links from one page to another within a single domain.

These are different from external links, which point to pages on a different website.

Every website with more than one page should be connected through internal linking.

Think of your website’s home page. In the top navigation, you likely have a menu that links to other internal pages. This could be your About, Shop, and Contact pages.

This internal linking structure is essential for SEO because it establishes a site architecture and improves your link equity.

Having multiple web pages attached to a singular domain improves your chances of being ranked by allowing search engine crawlers to index more content.

Internal linking is a simple issue of site design and architecture, and the search engines expect it. All websites have a design and architecture that keeps them structured logically, such as this common silo model.

internal linking - silo model site map

Of course, site architecture and structuring can get far more complex.

internal linking guide - site architecture example

But as long as you have a strong internal linking structure, your website will be crawled, indexed, and ranked by search engines.

Internal linking is also an important part of your user experience, as it allows users to uncover related information or find what they are looking for, which improves dwell time.

5 Reasons Internal Linking Is Good for SEO

Internal linking is one of SEO’s most valuable weapons.

Why? Because it works.

Google’s machine-learning algorithm has come a long way since the early days of SEO. Nowadays, it’s nearly impossible to game the system.

As advanced as the algorithm is, there are still simple changes that will give you an immediate boost in SEO without gaming the search engines.

Internal linking is one of them. It’s not a trick or a gimmick, and it’s certainly not hard to do.

Here are some of the benefits.

1. Helps Google Index Your Site

Google’s crawler follows link paths throughout the internet to find and index websites.

If your website has strong internal linking, the Google crawler has an easier time finding new content you publish.

google crawler moving through internal links on website

Google’s bots regularly crawl the web for fresh content. If your content is woven together with multiple internal links, crawling happens a lot faster.

As a result, your content will get indexed faster, too.

Improved crawling and indexing can boost your SEO.

2. Increases Backlink-Earning Potential of Deep Content Pages

Take a look at where most of your website’s backlinks are coming from. You’ll probably see a lot of links that send users to your homepage.

When you compare the homepage backlinks to deep page backlinks, this is what you usually see:

internal linking start page and deep page

Unfortunately, too many home page backlinks are bad for SEO. We call this over-optimizing, and it should be avoided.

What you want to see is the pie chart reversed. The majority of your external links should point at deep internal pages, not your home page. That’s because the homepage doesn’t generally include the type of detailed information users search for.

When a website doesn’t actively publish and promote new content, its link profile looks like this:

internal linking structure ranking

Most of the links on the website go to social profiles or standard pages such as “About” or “Contact.”

This provides very little SEO value to the site.

If you create a strong internal linking structure, you can boost the link juice earning potential of the internal pages, by creating clear click paths and indexation throughout the website.

Why? Because you are increasing the overall crawl priority throughout the site with better distribution of your links.

3. Internal Linking Spreads the Strength of the Site to Internal Pages

When your website receives a link to the homepage, some of the link value is passed on to internal pages.

This is often referred to as “link juice.”

internal linking guide - link juice

If Page 1 then links to Page 2, the “link juice” flows from Page 1 to Page 2, helping it rank higher in the search engine results page (SERP).

The more tightly-knit a website’s structure (through internal linking), the better the overall site will perform in search.

4. Internal Linking with Optimized Anchor Text Is Good for SEO

An internal link is a simple string of HTML that links one website page to another. It looks like this:

<A HREF = “http://www.example.com/internalpage“> an article on cat food </A>

When you create an internal link with anchor text, as opposed to with an image or navigational text, however, the value of the internal link goes up.

Anchor text improves the value of the link by adding keywords and content to the linking process. Google isn’t just looking at an A HREF tag. They are also looking at the anchor text that is part of that link.

The days of keyword stuffing anchor texts are long gone. But, there is value in optimizing your internal anchor text.

Anchor text that flows well with the overall content, versus over-optimized anchor text, is best.

5. It Provides Value to Your Users

This is the most important point of all. Internal linking is an SEO technique, yes. But, it’s more than that.

Ultimately, internal linking is useful for users.

Think about it this way: When you’re researching a topic, do you check one source or multiple?

Do you enjoy exploring other content that reinforces your understanding of the topic?

Maybe, you just like the writing style of the article you’re reading and want to read more work by the same author.

Internal linking on a site increases the value of each piece of content by backing up claims and leading the user to related information.

While it may not drive conversions directly, internal linking does have a place within the marketing funnel—carrying people to a target destination.

As an added bonus, you can help readers stay on your site longer and increase their trust in you by using internal linking.

SEO is about user optimization, not just technical tweaks and sneaky tricks.

Even if you don’t care about the technical value of internal linking, at least do it for your users.

Internal Linking Best Practices

Now, it’s time to get into the nitty-gritty. How do you do internal linking? What’s the best method for creating the biggest value with links?

There are two things you need in place first:

  1. Written content on the site: Even if you have a single article, that’s okay. That’s your starting place. If you don’t have any written content but want to create some, check out our The Ultimate Guide to Writing Epic Content.
  2. Continually writing new content for the site: Getting into a regular publishing schedule is important for internal linking to be effective.

Okay, let’s get into it.

Link to and From Content-Heavy Pages

The best internal links are those that connect one article to another. This creates a strong internal linking structure deep within the site.

If you have good site architecture, you’ll have enough links to the site’s main pages, such as the homepage, About page, Contact page, etc.

You don’t need more links to these pages.

Obviously, if you’re trying to drive conversions using a squeeze page or sales page and the opportunity is right, link to it.

For the most part, I recommend creating links in and among long-form articles. This automatically spreads your internal linking naturally.

Create Text Links Using Anchor Text

What kind of internal links work best?

It’s simple: Links with descriptive anchor text.

What do we mean by descriptive anchor text?

You’re familiar with anchor text, right? An anchor text is the word or words that link to another page. They typically appear as blue text to the reader.

This is anchor text.

Your internal links should use anchor text, but not just any anchor text will do. Include phrases that describe what the target link is about.

Here are some examples of strong anchor text:

If you wanted to link to an article about the 10 most important SEO techniques, you could do it this way:

Here are a few important SEO techniques you should be using.

If you wanted to link to an article about Google Hummingbird, you could do it this way:

Google’s algorithm has been updated with new machine learning capabilities.

Each of those examples is associating the subject of the link with relevant phrases. The first anchor text contains “10 most important SEO techniques,” which is the subject matter of the article you’re linking to. The second anchor text has the phrase, “Google’s algorithm has been updated,” and the linked article contains information about Google, Hummingbird, algorithms, and updates.

Here are three things not to do with your internal linking:

  1. Do not try to create an exact match between the anchor text and the link target. This technique, known as “exact match anchor text” has been associated with SEO penalties via the Penguin update. Today’s search engines are sensitive to the regular use of exact match anchor text because it wouldn’t frequently happen in regular content. It appears unnatural because it is.
  2. Do not use phrases like “click here.” This adds no value. Anchor text needs to be related to the linked page in some way.
  3. Do not link more than one sentence. An entire hyperlinked paragraph is unsightly and makes for a poor user experience. Just stick to a few words or a phrase when using anchor text to point to an internal link.

Add an Appropriate Number of Links Per Page

When you write a new piece of content, you should include five or more links to old articles. This is really important to your internal linking strategy and how the search engines review and rank your content.

Why?

Websites have a “freshness value” that Google detects and uses as part of its ranking algorithm.

According to Cyrus Shepard, “links from fresh sites [or pages] pass fresh value.”

two web pages show fresh internal linking

Pinging old pages with a new link helps to boost its likelihood of increasing rank in the SERPs. In the eyes of the search engines, readers who follow your internal links are actually “refreshing” your older content by showing it’s still relevant.

However, be careful not to over-stuff your content with links.

According to Moz, search engine crawlers have a limit of 150 links per page. After that, they stop spidering.

Overstuffing your page with links could negatively impact your SEO.

Be sure to link, but don’t overdo it. This will help both the search crawlers and your user experience.

Update Old Articles With New Internal Links

You’ll get the most power from internal linking if you combine it with another SEO technique—updating old content.

When you update old content, Google’s crawler sees it again, indexes it again, and may increase its ranking in the SERPs.

We always recommend updating your old articles regularly. Here is a good process to follow on your old blog articles:

  • Add a new paragraph of content at the beginning, explaining your updates.
  • Add several new paragraphs throughout, adding additional or updated information.
  • Remove or replace outdated stats or information.
  • Add several new internal links to content you’ve recently created.
  • Add links in places where it’s logical and value-added.

Remember, internal linking isn’t only about linking new content to older content. It’s also about circling back to older content and creating internal links that connect to your newer work.

You’re accomplishing two things by doing this.

  1. It updates old content, which improves its ranking value.
  2. It creates an internal link between an old established page on the site and a new not-so-established page.

Add Links Where It Makes Sense

Now that you’ve learned so much about internal linking, you’re probably wondering where you should put your internal links?

It’s tempting to get lazy and throw them in at the end of an article: “For more awesome content, click here!”

Don’t do that, please. Or at least, don’t do just that.

Instead, look for areas in the content where the subject matter overlaps. These are logical points of connection to create an internal link. For example, you can add links to define complex terms or explain a related topic.

Think of internal links as a reference point that improves the experience of the reader.

Only Add Dofollow Links

Don’t add a nofollow tag to your internal links. Nofollow links do not have any impact on the search engine rankings of the destination site.

On top of that, Google does not transfer PageRank or anchor text across nofollow links. It won’t even crawl them.

While some data from Ahrefs has shown nofollow links can be useful when used externally, there is no reason to use them in your internal linking strategy.

Link to High Converting Pages

Do you have pages on your website that convert visitors more than other pages?

If so, link to these pages.

Some articles in our blog have super high conversion rates. The content is compelling, and the CTAs are so powerful that users convert in droves.

We always make sure to link internally to these pages.

This is where internal linking has more than just SEO value. It can have revenue value, too. The more visitors you can drive to a high-converting page, the more conversions you’ll have.

Take Site Navigation and Information Architecture Into Consideration

Site navigation and internal linking go hand in hand.

Internal links define site architecture and hierarchy by creating funnels that direct users through your website.

Ultimately, this is an important part of your UX/UI and will impact how long people stay on your web pages and how often they come back.

When building an internal linking strategy, consider the most important content on your site and how you’re promoting it.

If you have a piece of cornerstone content that you want more eyes on, point more internal links to it.

Create Lots of Content

The best way to have a healthy internal linking structure is to have lots of internal pages.

When you create lots of content, you’ll have lots of linkable content. The more links to the more places, the better your internal linking strategy will be.

Remember, simply having a lot of web pages doesn’t equal a robust internal linking strategy.

While internal links are essential to your website navigation, repeatedly linking to your homepage won’t move the needle on your SEO score.

Instead, consider writing a blog or creating landing pages that house resourceful content.

Whatever your strategy, do it well and do it often.

Internal Linking Practices to Avoid

Now that you know how to use internal linking correctly, let’s review some of the practices to avoid.

Adding too many links to your content can be detrimental to your score. Remember, Google does not crawl pages that have more than 150 links. It’s also important to note that your header, footer, and menu links are included in your on-page link count.

Don’t overdo it!

Keyword stuffing in anchor text is another internal linking practice to avoid. This black hat tactic was popular in the past, as SEO’s thought it would improve their chances of ranking.

These days, sophisticated search algorithms penalize keyword stuffing in anchor text. So, don’t do it.

Using internal links in header text should also be avoided. Links in headers signal spam to Google crawlers and can negatively impact your SEO.

Finally, be sure to check all of your internal links before posting them. Broken links don’t spread any link juice and signal to Google that your website is low quality.

Internal Linking FAQs

How many internal links should I include per post?

There’s no set number, but 5-10 for every 2,000 words is a good best practice. Remember, Google won’t crawl pages with more than ~150 links, so be careful about overstuffing your content.

Should I add internal links to my pages with more or less traffic?

According to Databox, internal links can spread link juice from low-traffic web pages to high-traffic ones. That being said, it’s also important to point as many links as possible to your cornerstone content so it benefits from increased traffic.

What is an example of internal linking?

Internal linking is a link that points to another page within the same domain. Internal links show up as hyperlinks, like this: Tips for building better evergreen links.

Are internal links backlinks?

No, internal links stay within your website domain, they do not come from an external source. Backlinks are external links that point to your domain.

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Summary of Internal Linking Guide

Internal linking is a core part of a solid SEO strategy. When done right, it enhances the user experience and can help you rank higher in the SERPs.

While internal links are part of any strong website design, it’s important to find ways to include internal links in your content to ensure you’re getting the most out of your content. Make sure to use optimized (but not over-optimized) anchor tags, and add internal links that provide users with more information about a topic they’re interested in.

What internal linking practices have you found to be the most effective?

The Ultimate Guide to Customer Acquisition: Examples, Tips, and Resources

Customer acquisition is a huge pain point for many business owners. Even more difficult is developing a consistent way of bringing in new business.

Your goal should be to put together a system that acquires customers almost on autopilot. That’s easier said than done, though.

This guide should help get you started.

What Is Customer Acquisition?

Customer acquisition is your business’s process of bringing in new customers. The goal of every business is to create procedures that make acquiring new customers simple and systematized. Unfortunately, many small businesses and freelancers have a hard time developing a process for bringing in new clients.

An important piece of the puzzle is a business’s ability to measure its customer acquisition cost. In the digital marketing realm, this is often referred to as “CPA” or “cost-per-acquisition.”

It applies across the board, whether you’re using paid advertising, organic reach, print, radio, TV, or anything else. You should know how much you need to spend to acquire a customer. Once you determine that, it becomes much easier to scale up your marketing because you know you can pump more dollars into your campaigns and get XYZ in terms of customers out the other end.

What Is the Purpose of Customer Acquisition?

The purpose of customer acquisition is self-explanatory. Without a customer, you don’t have a business. Without consistent customers, you don’t have a stable business.

A little caveat here is businesses should also focus on customer retention, which is different from an acquisition. Retention is your effort to keep the customers you already have rather than going through the vicious cycle of constantly needing to acquire new ones. Increasing your retention by only five percent can increase your profits by as much as 95 percent.

When you combine customer acquisition and retention, you have a sure-fire recipe for success. Here’s why:

  1. It helps you make the money you need to cover costs and pay employees, allowing you to reinvest in the business and drive better results for your clients.
  2. It shows steady growth and success to partners, investors, and outside influencers.

Being able to continually drive new business towards your company keeps everyone happy, but it’s not the end goal. The goal is to retain the customers you have as long as you can. Although it costs money to acquire new ones, it doesn’t cost anything to keep them.

Customer Acquisition Versus Lead Generation

There may be some confusion about the difference between the two, but it’s actually simple: Lead generation is one step of the customer acquisition funnel. A person or entity must first become aware of your business before they can buy anything from you. This generally happens as a result of lead generation.

For example, let’s say your business is running a Facebook ad. This usually happens to cold traffic (people who have never heard of you). They see your ad and pause to look for a second. They’ve now become a lead and are no longer cold traffic because they are aware of you.

Maybe they click the ad, fill out a form, and end up having a conversation with you. All of these are steps in the overall customer acquisition funnel. Lead generation is simply one step.

How to Create a Customer Acquisition Plan

Now let’s talk about some of the actionable steps you can take to develop the best customer acquisition strategies.

1. Identify Your Customer Avatar

The first step for every business (before they’re even a business!) should be to create a customer avatar or buyer persona. This is your ideal customer: who they are, what they like, their problems, and their demographic information.

It’s a great strategy for a business to know who their customer is as early as possible. For example, if you sell anti-aging cream, you have a very clear audience who would be interested in that product. Your audience might be women ages 40+ who have a developed skincare routine but are looking for a little extra help. They might be middle to upper-middle class and can’t afford surgery or cosmetic procedures, but they can afford your cream.

If you know exactly who your target is, you’ll have a much easier time acquiring them because your ad copy, text, images, and products will speak their language.

2. Determine Goals

Once you have your customer avatar, jot down some goals and objectives. What are you trying to achieve with your marketing efforts? Here are some examples:

  • Awareness: Are you trying to spread awareness of a cause, shed light on something, or make yourself known to a specific audience?
  • In-person: Does your business require people to physically come into a brick-and-mortar location?
  • Phone call: You might need to convert the online traffic into a phone inquiry.
  • Form: Is your traffic still in the early stages of learning about you? If so, you might just want them to complete a form.
  • Conversion: If the traffic you’re targeting already knows who you are, you might simply be trying to get them to convert into a sale.

Regardless of what your goal is, you need to have one. The clearer the direction you take, the easier it will be to convey the proper message and get your audience to do what you want them to.

3. Choose a Platform or Avenue

Once you’ve figured out who your audience is and what you want them to do, you need to determine what method to use to reach them. There are many different customer acquisition channels, both online and offline. Here are some of the most popular:

Content Marketing

Content marketing is a great long-term way to develop customer relationships and drive traffic to whatever it is you’re looking to accomplish. Best of all, there’s no right or wrong way to do it because you can put together content based on your niche.

Just keep in mind that content marketing isn’t as simple as blogging on your website and expecting people to find it. You need to understand basic SEO and realize that this is a long-term strategy and can take months before you see results.

Social Media

Acquiring customers on social media offers a few different avenues. You can use paid ads, which I’ll discuss shortly, or you can do it the slow way by building up an organic following, posting regularly, and reaching out to people to start conversations.

I like using social media in the most natural way possible, and that’s by “being social.” Start conversations, send messages, and provide value to people. They will respond. Seventy-three percent of marketers find social media “somewhat effective” or “very effective” in their business. It all starts with a conversation.

Paid Advertising

Whether you choose PPC on Google or social media ads like Facebook, paid advertising is a great way to get your business in front of the right audience right away. Keep in mind that Google Ads have a 100 percent ROI, but that does require you to understand how to do it right.

4. Set a Budget

You need to have a budget and customer acquisition cost formula if you plan to have success. Marketing can quickly run more expensive than you expected if you don’t have a set budget in place ahead of time.

Start with a small budget and work your way up as you start to experience success.

5. Optimize and Tweak

Once you’ve had a chance to compile data on how people are receiving your ads, pieces of content, etc., you can optimize and tweak as necessary. For example, if you find that a specific demographic is converting the best on a social media ad, you might want to allot more ad spend to those people and take some away from the people who aren’t converting.

3 Examples of Successful Customer Acquisition

One of the best ways to understand how to implement and measure customer acquisition is to see other companies do it successfully. Here are some examples you can piggyback off of:

Shopify: Interactive Content

Examples of Successful Customer Acquisition - Shopify

Shopify is the e-commerce giant responsible for thousands of successful e-commerce stores. One great way that they drive customers towards the site is with interactive content such as business name generators, quizzes, and even product choice suggestions. This is not only fun, but it keeps you on the site longer, which looks good to Google.

The content you create needs to be interesting and unique. The internet is a highly competitive environment, and you can’t just post anything and expect people to read it and react.

Turbotax: Free, Free, Free

Examples of Successful Customer Acquisition - Turbotax

Turbotax is a great example of using multiple platforms to convey your message. We’ve likely all seen their ads somewhere when they talk about how their service is free for individuals and always will be. If you understand neuro-linguistic programming, you know that “free” is a big buzzword.

Make sure you’re offering enough value to your customers in exchange for what you’re asking. Advertising has changed, and it’s no longer as simple as telling people what you do. You need to provide value.

Swagbucks: Referral Marketing

Examples of Successful Customer Acquisition - Swagbucks

One of the best ways to get more customers is to have your customers get them for you. Referral marketing is a powerful method because it doesn’t cost much, and you’re rewarding the customers you already have, which can help increase customer retention.

This method is especially useful at the beginning of a business’s life when you’re trying to grow your network and establish credibility. Offer something to your customers for every lead they bring your way.

5 Tips to Improve Your Customer Acquisition Strategy

Here are some bonus tips to help you nail down your customer acquisition:

1. Master the CTA

Your call-to-action (CTA) needs to be perfect once you know your audience and have traffic. At this point, it becomes all about what you’re doing to convert the traffic you have. Conversion rate optimization becomes the key, and it usually starts with having a crystal clear and persuasive CTA.

2. Track Everything

You should be tracking every little detail about your prospective customers. Most importantly, focusing on the right metrics will take things to the next level. Demographic information, heat maps, abandoned carts, retargeting—all of these are important. This data can help you understand more about your audience so you can further optimize the ads for future success.

3. Make Sure the UX Is Perfect

If you’re getting traffic, the ads are working, and everything seems to be going well, but you still don’t have customers, there could be another reason. Make sure your site is fully functional, mobile-optimized, fast-loading, and easy to use.

4. Be Patient

It can take as long as a week to build up enough data on Google ads. If you change or cancel an ad before that time, you might be shooting yourself in the foot. The same applies to content marketing. It takes a long time for Google to recognize your content and index it properly.

5. Diversify

I believe in spreading yourself around and making sure you’re reaching as many people as you can. If you think some of your audience would respond to a different method of customer acquisition, set a budget for it, and give it a go.

Customer Acquisition FAQs

Below, see some of the most frequently asked questions about customer acquisition.

What is a good customer acquisition cost?

A good customer acquisition cost is whatever you need to be profitable. It will vary from business to business. All that matters is that you’re not spending more to acquire a customer than they will pay you. Keep in mind operating costs as well.

How do you manage customer acquisition?

Many businesses have people in charge of this or an entire department. Of course, it can be difficult for small businesses, so it might make more sense to outsource it.

Is it more cost-effective to keep a customer than to acquire a new one?

Acquiring new customers has been deemed the “startup killer” for a reason. It’s much cheaper to retain than acquire, but you can’t have one without the other. Make sure you’re focusing on both.

What is acquisition rate?

Find this number by dividing the total number of people who opted into your campaign by the total number of people who saw it.

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Summary of The Customer Acquisition Guide

There are many ways to approach customer acquisition, and while most of the methods lead to the same place, there is no one-size-fits-all solution. You need to figure out what marketing method works best for your business and how you can implement it consistently.

Most importantly, understanding your customer and their objective is crucial. Once you’ve done that, the rest falls into place.

What customer acquisition methods do you use in your business?

Facebook Marketing: A Comprehensive Guide for Beginners

With over 2.74 billion monthly active users, Facebook is the world’s most popular social media platform. From a marketing perspective, there are many opportunities to engage with new audiences and expand your company’s reach.  

How do you capitalize on these opportunities? By devising a Facebook marketing strategy. 

For beginners, this can all seem a little daunting but don’t worry. If you’re new to Facebook marketing, let me walk you through using the tools available to your advantage.   

What Is Facebook Marketing?

Facebook marketing is a catch-all term for the different ways you can market your business on Facebook. It includes: 

  • Facebook Ads
  • Business Pages
  • Facebook Marketplace
  • Facebook Groups 

There’s a marketing strategy for every budget, whether you’re looking for a free social media marketing solution or you want to set aside a regular sum for paid Facebook Ads. 

Why Should You Use Facebook Marketing?

Firstly, over 90 million businesses are already on Facebook. Around 1.88 billion users access Facebook at least once per day, and at least 17 percent of users join Facebook to connect with brands and products.

In other words, businesses are actively pursuing customers across this social media platform, so it makes sense to build your own presence there. 

What’s more, 45 percent of internet users across the globe turn to platforms like Facebook to find out more about products they want to buy. You can help them discover your brand by advertising effectively on Facebook.

Types of Facebook Ads

Facebook lets you choose from four main ad types

Image Ads

Static image ads are ideal for driving traffic to your website. 

They must be in JPG or PNG format, and the headline shouldn’t exceed 40 characters. Since you only have 125 characters for the main message, they’re best for clear and concise calls to action (CTAs).  

Video Ads

With video ads, you can showcase a product, promote customer testimonials, or boost your brand. Video posts, in general, have a 6.09 percent engagement rate on Facebook, which is impressive, but you’ll lose viewers if it’s a poor-quality video with an unclear message.  

Carousel Ads

With carousel ads, people can scroll through a host of images to see the same product from multiple angles. 

While this is great for e-commerce, carousel ads aren’t ideal for showcasing different products or listings e.g., properties in real estate marketing.  

Collection Ads

Image collections are great for showing products in your e-commerce store, but as with image ads, you’re limited to a short headline and a 125-character primary message, so they’re not suited for conveying much information. 

The ad type you choose depends largely on your campaign goal. For example, an image is great for driving home a visually compelling CTA, whereas videos are useful for engaging audiences. 

There’s no set cost for Facebook Ads, either. Since you bid on ad slots across the platform, how much the ad costs depends on how much you’re willing to pay to secure the slot you want.  

Steps to Start Facebook Marketing

To use Facebook Ads, it’s best if you set up a Facebook Page for your business if you don’t already have one. Set one up by heading here.

Access Ads Manager

First, you need to access Ads Manager. 

Ads Manager is the “hub” to create, manage, and track Facebook Ad campaigns. You can log in here.  

Choose Your Ad Objective

Next, determine what you want from your campaign by setting your ad objective. There are three categories to choose from:

1. Awareness Goals

  • brand awareness
  • reach

2. Consideration Goals

  • traffic
  • engagement
  • app installs
  • video views
  • lead generation
  • messages

3. Conversion Goals 

  • conversions
  • catalog sales
  • store traffic

Click the green “Create” button and choose your goal:

How to Start Facebook Marketing - Conversion goals

Name Your Campaign

A name helps you keep track of the campaign within Ads Manager. 

Once you’ve chosen a name, confirm if you want to test different versions of the same ad against each other using A/B testing. This is optional, and you can change your mind later. 

Move on to the next screen.

Set Your Budget and Schedule 

First, choose which Page to promote. This is probably your company’s Page.

Then, set either a monthly or daily budget for your Facebook Ad campaign, and determine when you want your campaign to start. You can set an end date, too.  

If you want, you can schedule your ad based on time zones to ensure your target audience is most likely to see it. For example, if you’re targeting a U.S. audience, you can run your ads during U.S. daytime hours, and so on:

How to Start Facebook Marketing - Set Your Budget and Schedule

Choose Your Audience

Build your target audience based on gender, age, location, and language. Once you’ve got a broad sense of your ad reach, you can customize your audience based on user behaviors and interests to improve your chances of reaching the right people. 

If you’re happy with your ad reach, move on.  

Select Your Ad Placements

Decide where your ad should appear. For beginners, you might be best choosing “Automatic Placements” so Facebook can determine where you’re likely to get the best traction.

If you’re more knowledgeable, you can customize placement based on, for example, device type, social media platform (Facebook or Instagram), and operating system:

How to Start Facebook Marketing - Select Your Ad Placements

Determine Your Brand Safety Controls

You can specify content you don’t want your ad to appear alongside, such as violent, sensitive, or offensive content. 

From this screen, you can also customize your bidding strategy a little more. For beginners, though, it’s a good idea to stick with the default options at first and make changes later if required.

Create Your Facebook Ad

Finally, choose your ad format, type in the ad copy, and enter your images or videos. Once you’re happy with the ad, click the “Publish” button to go live.   

Congratulations, you’ve created your first Facebook Ad!

Tips for Creating Great Facebook Ads

To get the most from your Facebook Ads, here are some tips to bear in mind. 

  • First impressions matter, so use quality, high-resolution images for every ad. 
  • Highlight your value proposition clearly and avoid overly busy, cluttered graphics.  
  • Keep your CTA highly visible and compelling to grab a user’s attention.
  • Bring your products to life by showing people using them in your video ads.   
  • Include user-generated content where appropriate to build a sense of community.
  • Make your videos and images vertical, so they display properly on mobile devices. 
  • Monitor which version of an ad works best by deploying A/B testing.

Examples of Great Facebook Marketing Campaigns

Want to see how businesses just like yours are making Facebook advertising work? Here are two companies putting some of the tips I’ve just outlined into action.      

The Teaching Company

To advertise its one-month free trial, The Teaching Company, a college-level course provider, ran a variety of image ads to appeal to different demographics:

Examples of Great Facebook Marketing Campaigns - The Teaching Company

The value proposition is clear, the CTA is unmistakable, and the company makes it easy for customers to sign up for the trial. As a result, the campaign generated 15,540 new subscriptions, which was 10 times more than its average monthly subscription numbers. 

The takeaway? Keep your ad fresh by switching out the images regularly, and always include a clear CTA.  

GoPro

To build hype around its HERO9 camera, GoPro ran a contest called the “Million Dollar Challenge.” In exchange for sending in raw GoPro footage from a HERO9 camera, people entered a contest to win a share of the $1-million prize pot. 

Twenty-nine thousand people entered the contest, over 668,000 Facebook users viewed the video, and 56 winners took home nearly $18,000 each. 

The lesson? Use video ads to bring your audience closer to your brand and reach diverse new demographics. 

Other Ways to Use Facebook Marketing to Grow Your Brand

As I explained earlier, Facebook Ads are definitely not the only way to grow your brand through the platform. If you’re looking to make the most of your Facebook presence, here are some other strategies to try out. 

Start a Facebook Group

Give your customers a place to interact by setting up a Facebook Group for your business. 

You can use Groups to:

  • build hype around products.
  • promote brand events 
  • start conversations about your business 
  • engage with your followers

It’s free to start a Facebook Group. 

Join the Facebook Marketplace 

If you sell products online, check out the Facebook Marketplace. The Marketplace lets you quickly connect with potential customers who are already primed to buy, and you can also reach local buyers more effectively through highly targeted listings.

It’s free to list on the Marketplace, too. 

Use Your Business Page

Your Facebook Page is essentially a free marketing tool. 

At the most basic level, you can use it to share content and engage audiences. However, depending on your business type, you can also use it to:

  • set up appointments 
  • answer questions
  • share promotions
  • nurture people to download an app.    

What’s more, you can link to your Marketplace listings to help turn Page visitors into loyal paying customers. 

How to Track the Success of Your Facebook Marketing Campaign

When you run a Facebook marketing campaign, you want to track metrics such as:
– ad impressions
– ad frequency
– click-through rate (CTR)
– conversion rate
– cost per conversion

Facebook offers three main tools for tracking metrics like these: Ads Manager, Events Manager, and Facebook Business Suite. 

  1. Ads Manager

    The Ads Manager “reporting” feature lets you view, at a glance, how your ads are performing. From video ad views to website conversions attributed to a Facebook Ad, you can view all the relevant stats by creating a report. 

    To create a report, simply open Ads Manager, go to “Analyze and Report,” click “Ads Reporting,” then select the data you want to report on:
    facebook marketing guide ads manager

  2. Events Manager

    With the Events Manager tool, you can set up a pixel to analyze what actions people take on your website. 
    For example, whenever someone adds an item to their cart or completes a sale, the pixel records this as an action or “event.” You can view this data in a report and then target these users with customized ads in the future. 
    Access Events Manager here.  

  3. Facebook Business Suite

    The Facebook Business Suite lets you quickly view key data about your Facebook account, including:
    -audience demographics  
    -post and content engagement
    -paid ad performance

    What’s more, if you have an Instagram account, you can access key insights through the Facebook Business Suite, which helps you unify your social media metrics tracking. 

    You can also use alternative tools like Google Analytics to measure ad performance and conversions if you prefer.

More Facebook Marketing Resources

Need some extra help with your Facebook marketing? Here are some other resources to read. 

  • Facebook Business Help Center: The Help Center has a range of guides and troubleshooting articles to help you navigate the platform.
  • Facebook Blueprint: Facebook Blueprint offers online courses and training programs to help you build effective campaigns.   
  • Shopify Blog: Do you run an e-commerce store? This Shopify post can help you tweak your e-commerce ads most effectively.  

For even more help, check out my personalized consulting services

Frequently Asked Questions About Facebook Marketing

What Is Facebook Marketing?

Facebook marketing offers a variety of ways for businesses to reach customers and advertise their products across Facebook. From ads to Facebook groups, you can choose which tools you want to use based on your digital marketing objectives.

How Do I Start Using Facebook Marketing?

Open a Facebook Business Page then access Ads Manager. Choose your objective, name your campaign, set your schedule, pick your ad placement, and you’re good to go. 

Is Facebook Marketing Free?

It’s free to set up things like a Facebook Page or Group for your business. You need to pay to use Facebook Ads, though. The cost is generally calculated per click or impression, depending on the type of ad you select.

How Can I Create Great Facebook Ads?

Less is often more. Keep images and videos clear and uncluttered, and make sure you highlight your CTA and value proposition. Choose the right ad type for your objectives by figuring out your goals beforehand. 

Facebook Marketing Conclusion

If your audience is on Facebook, then you should really try out Facebook marketing for your business. Try a variety of Facebook Ads and measure your progress regularly to ensure you’re getting the most from your campaigns. 

Got a limited budget? You can still utilize Facebook Pages and Groups to draw traffic, nurture leads, and ultimately increase sales long term. 

Are you ready to give Facebook marketing a try?

The Marketer’s Guide To Medium

Are you searching for new audiences to tap into to grow your base?

If you answered yes—and, let’s face it, all marketers are looking for new audiences—then you’ve come to the right place. 

The platform offers marketers a unique opportunity to further brand recognition and grow their follower base in a somewhat unconventional form.

Part blog-host, part social platform, Medium provides writers with a unique mode of connection with their audiences.

The platform has over 400,000 paying subscribers ($4.99 per month or $50 per year), which should make Medium attractive to marketers from size alone. 

Read on to learn how marketers can take advantage of the unique capabilities of this platform and why you should consider giving this content platform a whirl. 

What Is Medium?

Self-identifying as the “YouTube of writing,” Medium offers writers of all kinds (poets, journalists, comic artists, etc.) space to share their work with a vast audience and get paid in the process.

The platform averages over 200 million views a month, making it a hot destination for the web’s readers. With over 100,000 writers actively using the platform, it could be an excellent destination no matter what kind of content you create.

Wondering how these writers get paid? While there is the option to write just for the sake of sharing ideas with no payment, they can also join the Medium Partner Program (MPP) and just get going! 

Unlike other writing opportunities, which typically pay by the word or the hour, MPP members are paid based on the amount of time paying subscribers readers spend reading their articles. They also get a small commission if a non-paying member subscribes within 30 days of reading their articles.

And while this is all well and good for writers, your marketer brain may have snagged on that 200 million monthly views.

How can marketers take advantage of this unique audience willing to pay to gain access to the platform?

The answer is simple: advertise on Medium. 

Types of Ads of Medium

“Advertising” on the site is, in a word, unusual.

While the term “advertise” may conjure images of paid search and skyscraper banners, Medium doesn’t allow conventional advertising. While companies can’t promote products, they can harness the unique platform to grow brand following and exposure.

Understandably, and especially since making money isn’t guaranteed, this may sound like the soundly disliked idea of “creating for exposure, not payment.” I suggest switching your way of thinking on this one: Rather than this being an opportunity to sell your stuff, you’re selling your brand and building trust.

Selling brand vs products, easy on Medium

People are, frankly, tired of constantly having ads thrown in their faces. Reading an article that may hint at your brand’s goals (perhaps by using subtle embedded links) but focuses on helping or even entertaining them in other ways may draw attention to your brand in a less pushy way.

The platform rewards content visibility purely on the strength of writing, using a unique algorithm that considers post reach, likes, and comments. Plus, everything posted gets indexed by Google, which is a boon to your search engine optimization (SEO). 

While we’ve briefly discussed the rationale of sharing content on Medium to share your reach and grow your audience base, there are several other benefits for harnessing the platform’s power:

  • Build brand awareness without overwhelming readers with sales-focused materials.
  • Increase visibility by inviting industry influencers to collaborate on your publication.
  • Diversify channel content promotion since Google indexes all Medium content.
  • Drive more clicks to your website through embedding links inside your content.
  • Create an audience by encouraging readers to subscribe to your publication.
  • Increase backlinks to your website to bolster your link-building strategy and SEO.

In short, starting a content stream on the site could improve your audience size, strengthen your SEO strategy, and drive more clicks to your website. 

Rules and Guidelines for Medium Content and Ads 

Medium intends to make people engage their minds, not their wallets, so there are rules about what you can and can’t publish on the site.

In addition to pretty standard rules against harassment, hate speech, and doxing, the platform includes some additional rules that posters must adhere to.

Ads, Promotion, and Marketing

  • Don’t post third-party sponsorships.
  • Avoid affiliate marketing.
  • Disclose all affiliate links.
  • Post nothing that remotely resembles spam or exists primarily to drive traffic or sales.

Deceptive Content

  • Don’t impersonate a brand or individual.
  • Avoid deception to generate traffic.
  • Disclose all gratis goods and services received.
  • Don’t use deceptive metadata.

Duplicate Content

The site has recently taken a firm stance against duplicate content, prohibiting: 

  • unlisting and republishing an old post
  • deleting and republishing a post without large-scale changes
  • posting the same story in different publications

Much like any other content platform, there are best practices content creators should keep in mind.

Medium Best Practices

  • Craft a strong, clear headline.
  • Share original work that isn’t simply a review of industry topics.
  • Avoid calls to action (CTAs) and salesy language. This may go against every marketing instinct, but Medium isn’t about sales—it’s about sharing ideas. 
  • Employ images on the cover of your story, as they improve the user experience (UX).

As you begin building your Medium content strategy, be sure to follow these best practices and be mindful of the rules to help ensure content success. 

How to Create Ads on Medium

Now that we’ve covered the benefits of creating content on the platform, let’s discuss how to start a publication on the site.

1. Navigate to the Publications Option

Select your picture in the top right-hand corner of the screen, then navigate to and select “Publications.”

How to Create Ads on Medium - Navigate to the Publications Options

2. Select “New Publication”

Look near the top right of your screen and click the “New Publication” button.

How to Create Ads on Medium - Select New Publication

3. Identify Your Publication

Fill out all information the site and readers need to know about your publication. 

When adding your publication’s name, think beyond your business’ name and consider options that may resonate in your industry. A publication avatar is required, and it shows up in all previews of your content. So, choose wisely.

How to Create Ads on Medium - Identify Your Publication

4. Add Your Social Profiles

In addition to adding your email address and social profiles, you can (and should) select up to five relevant tags, allowing your work to be discovered by interested parties.

5. Include Editors and Writers

In this infinitely editable space, include people with posting power on your publication.

6. Customize Your Medium Homepage

Your homepage is infinitely customizable, allowing you to change colors, header layout, background images, and much more

How to Create Ads on Medium - Customize Homepage

Analytics for Medium Content

While there are other strategies for tracking your analytics on Medium, the platform offers metrics to help you track your content’s performance.

You can view your metrics by clicking your profile picture and then “Stats.”

From there, you can access a ton of metrics that could provide insight into your content. These include:

  • views
  • reads
  • fans
  • views by traffic source
  • reader interests
  • internal vs. external views

By assessing these metrics, you can track individual pieces’ performance and gain a better understanding of your audience. You can then tailor your content to appeal to that audience or adjust your content strategy to appeal to a different group of individuals.

How to Publish Content on Medium

Sharing your first piece of content is just a few steps away. Here’s how to post and optimize Medium content:

  1. Add your story

    To begin, select your profile picture from the top right-hand corner and choose “Write Story.”

  2. Add Photos

    Select the + button from the left side of the post and then click the “Camera” button to upload a pre-saved image.

  3. Embed Third-Party Media

    Navigate to a new line of your story and paste the URL of the content you want to embed, then press “Enter.”

  4. Schedule and optimize your post

    Select the “Publish” button in the top right-hand corner. From this menu, schedule your post, add tags, or adjust your title and subtitle.

  5. Publish!

    After you’ve made the necessary changes, choose “Publish now” to make your story available.

Medium FAQs

How Much Does It Cost to Advertise on Medium?

Not a dime! Starting your publication on Medium is free.

Is the Paid Version of Medium Worth It? 

Yes, though remember: This is to subscribe, not write. Although you needn’t subscribe to write, subscribing allows you to read work from a diverse population of writers and may provide a unique perspective into popular industry topics and competitors’ work.

What Is Medium’s Partner Program?

Medium’s Partner Program was created to pay writers and ensure wider post-distribution across the platform. Writers are compensated by how engrossed members are by their work: The more members read, the more writers learn. In addition, the site distributes a portion of every subscription fee to the writers their individual subscribers read most frequently each month.

What Analytics Does Medium Provide?

Medium offers publishers a robust metrics view, including:

-views
-reads
-fans
-views by traffic source
-reader interests
-internal vs. external views

Guide to Medium Conclusion

As with all content platforms, be sure to follow Medium-specific best practices, with a particular eye towards ensuring your content doesn’t sound too promotional. 

As you begin to familiarize yourself with the tools offered, you’ll likely become more adept at targeting audiences that may be interested in your content through the tagging tools and other strategies. 

Using the platform’s offerings in conjunction with your existing content marketing strategy, you can significantly expand your reach, grow your audience, and reach new markets.

What’s the best piece of content you’ve seen on Medium?

Accelerated Mobile Pages (AMP): The Definitive Guide for Marketers

When it comes to your website, speed matters. The longer your page takes to load, the more traffic you’ll lose.

A few years ago, Google launched its mobile-friendliness update and made page load speed one of its mobile search engine ranking factors. Today, load speed affects your position in the SERPs; so uses may not be able to see your page at all if it loads slowly.

What’s the solution? Accelerated Mobile Pages, or AMP. Well, maybe — there’s actually been pushback on AMP pages in recent years.

What is AMP? Is it still relevant? If you want to dig deeper into AMP and learn how to use it to grow your online marketing strategy, you are in the right place.

What Are Accelerated Mobile Pages (AMP)?

The AMP plugin was born out of a collaboration between tech giants like Google and Twitter.

In simple terms, Accelerated Mobile Pages is an open-source project designed to optimize faster mobile pages. It’s like taking a page that’s already mobile-friendly and making it load quicker, by stripping it down to basics.

If AMP isn’t already part of your marketing strategy, you should consider it.

Webmasters, marketers, and SEOs have analyzed how AMP can affect mobile web pages. They found AMP can have a huge impact on mobile search engine rankings, though Google maintains this isn’t directly factual.

In a roundabout way, however, it might be true. According to Google, the AMP plugin increases page load speed, and site speed is a confirmed ranking factor.

Faster mobile pages + readable content = better user experience

In a nutshell, pages that are AMP-optimized load faster and therefore rank better than other mobile web pages.

what is accelerated mobile pages? why you need to think about it

You can visit the open source initiative platform here.

How Does The AMP Plugin Work?

Paul Shappiro, from Search Engine Land, lays out the three part structure of AMP:

how does AMP work

The AMP plugin renders mobile pages faster by cutting back on the HTML coding and rendering only those suitable for mobile users.

This diagram and explanation from Will Critchlow’s Whiteboard Friday make it pretty easy to understand:

what are accelerated mobile pages - diagram of http coding
how amp works from moz

AMP renders your pages using optimized HTML code. The pages are expected to load faster because certain HTML code tag manager aspects that would otherwise slow down the page are eliminated.

If JavaScript is included in your mobile pages, the script won’t be rendered for your Accelerated Mobile Pages.

Here are a few more things you should know:

  • With AMP, you have to use a streamlined version of CSS.
  • You are only permitted to use the JavaScript library that AMP provides. Since you’re not in control, you may experience lazy loading. This might be the only downside to AMP.
  • For AMP sites to work every time, they must be properly validated.
  • For a better experience, custom fonts have to be specially loaded.
  • To avoid quirky-looking images, make sure to declare height and width.
  • Use AMP-approved extensions if you want to have videos on your page.
  • There has been some controversy with AMP, with some experts reporting it lowers ad revenue and makes it harder to spot “fake news” articles.

When you integrate the AMP plugin and use it to improve your mobile pages, what should matter to you most is speed and readability, not share-ability. Your social share buttons may not even display properly since the majority of them are developed using JavaScript.

Benefits of Accelerated Mobile Pages

There’s a significant correlation between site speed, page views, and mobile search engine rankings.

One thing that you have to remember is that whenever a particular web page loads up quickly, mobile browser users will view more pages on the site, thereby reducing bounce rate.

When bounce rate is reduced and onsite experience increases, Google will reward the page.

Truth be told, there are many benefits to optimizing with the AMP plugin. Here’s the top four:

1. Insanely Fast-loading Web Pages That Users Love

Speed is the lifeblood of your mobile browser page. Great content is important, but unless your pages are accessible, users won’t read them.

AMP helps you to achieve that.

Remember the way and rate at which people consume content (e.g., articles, blog posts, videos, and podcasts) has changed dramatically. People browsing the internet want their content to load quickly as they jump from site to site, usually consuming many different kinds of content in quick succession or even at once.

If your mobile pages are as slow as a snail, you won’t get mobile browsers that land on your site to convert into customers. AMP gives you dramatic page speed increases that will help you keep users who click on your site from clicking away.

2. Improved Mobile Search Engine Rankings

There’s a strong relationship between site speed and conversion rate. If users are happy on a fast-loading site, they’re more likely to subscribe to a list or purchase a product.

Although a lot is still expected of AMP, Google hasn’t yet made it a ranking factor.

Since AMP works closely with mobile pages, it may never be used as an independent ranking factor; it has nothing to do with the desktop version of pages.

That said, since sites that are mobile-friendly are rewarded with higher rankings in organic mobile search results, pages developed with AMP tend to rank higher than non-AMP pages in the mobile results pages (MRPs).

3. Flexible Ad Support

Most people started a website or blog in order to make money and to possibly replace their day job.

Looking at the desktop and mobile browser versions of a site’s pages, it’s easy to conclude if there are too many distractions.

These distractions, such as the header image, navigational menu, sidebar, social share buttons, forms, popups, and other unnecessary elements, can lower your conversion rate.

With AMP, you can get rid of distractions on your mobile browser pages.

That’s because not all HTML code tags are executed, you use a streamlined version of CSS, and JavaScript is out of the question (mostly).

That means that you can make money more easily from your ads.

When you click on an Accelerated Mobile Page, it’ll load nearly instantaneously, even before you’re done clicking.

When displaying ads from a third party on your Accelerated Mobile Pages, make sure that you deliver ads that load quickly but also grab the user’s attention and deliver immense value.

As you already know, this content marketing approach is the easiest way to increase your influence, help users get answers to their questions, and improve ROI on ad spend.

If you’re ready to monetize your AMP-optimized pages, here are some of the most popular ad networks that are currently using the AMP-ads functionality:

  • Amazon A9
  • AdReactor
  • Google Doubleclick
  • Flite
  • Adform
  • Google AdSense
  • AOL AdTech
  • Taboola
  • plista
  • Smart AdServer
  • Yieldmo
  • DotAndAds

4. User Tracking is Simplified

It’s not enough to send traffic to your mobile browser pages. You also have to know how they arrived at your site.

Tracking helps you determine where people came from, which pages they viewed and so on.

Tracking users and site performance is pretty easy on AMP because there are analytical tools in place, where you can study your AMP versions in greater detail.

User behavior can only be influenced when you track it. With AMP, publishers can utilize such tag manager analytics to choose from two tags.

These tags help to automatically track essential data, such as clicks/conversions, video and link tracking, visitor counts, new vs. returning visitors and more.

Other technology solutions companies, such as WordPress, Parse.ly, Chartbeat, LinkedIn, Adobe Analytics, Pinterest and, of course, Twitter, are also already supporting AMP.

How to Set Up Accelerated Mobile Pages

There are several options when you’re looking to optimize your web pages for AMP. If you’re a beginner, the first step is to maintain at least two versions of your content page.

Your original content page would be the mobile browser friendly version that users will see, but you’ll also have the AMP version of that specific page, which will definitely speed things up.

Remember that AMP versions contain basic HTML code, which doesn’t allow form elements and third-party JavaScript.

As marketers, we all want to build our email list. The downside to AMP is that it won’t allow you to easily achieve that.

Moreover, user comments and other activities that users participate in when viewing your content on a mobile page may not be possible with AMP.

Again, the focus is on speed and readability.

To get started with AMP right now, if you’re a WordPress user, then you just need to download and install the WordPress plugin at GitHub.

Simply click on the “Download Zip” button.

how to download accelerated mobile pages

Note that you can install the AMP plugin through your WordPress dashboard, just as you would any other plugin. It’s pretty straightforward.

Once you’ve successfully installed and activated the plugin, all that you have to do is append “/amp/” to your blog post pages. Here’s how it looks on a mobile browser:

example of amp URL

Here’s the AMP version of this page on The Guardian:

example of accelerated mobile pages page

If you don’t have a friendly permalink, then you can append this “?amp=1” instead.

Don’t forget to validate and tweak at Google Search Console. That way, you can help Google pick up your AMP versions faster.

Accelerated Mobile Pages FAQ

How do AMP pages work?

AMP pages strip down pages to their essentials, which helps improve page load time. They do this using a three step configuration.

When should I use AMP pages?

When most of your site traffic comes from mobile devices or you want to lower your bounce rate.

Are AMP pages still relevant in 2021?

AMP doesn’t appear to be going away, but there has been some controversy. Google recently announced it will not AMP pages for news sites to show up in top stories, so it does seem to be less important.

Are AMP pages good for SEO?

They can be helpful, but are not essential for SEO. Optimizing for page speed and mobile experience can be done in several ways.

Accelerated Mobile Pages Conclusion

AMP is powerful, but some marketers say it is losing steam. As an upgrade to mobile-friendly pages, it can help you meet Google’s expectations for site speed.

While there is still a focus on AMP, don’t forget to use proven mobile marketing strategies. That’s the best way to attract mobile customers and grow your business.

Before you leave, I have a question for you: Have you accelerated your mobile pages for speed and readability? If not, what’s stopping you?

The Complete Marketer’s Guide to YouTube

marketer's guide to youtube

If you’re looking to get into video marketing, there’s no better channel than YouTube. They’re the second most visited website on the entire internet, with over 2 billion users, have virtually no competitors, and consumers are increasingly spending more time watching more online videos.

With this flood of consumer attention, it’s no wonder companies are putting more of their ad dollars into digital video advertising.

The good news is you don’t need to flood thousands of dollars in YouTube advertising. If you create a good channel that constantly puts out quality content that people want, you’ll get the attention and eyeballs you need to drive customer acquisition through YouTube.

Here’s how to do just that.

Part 1: Create a Great Channel Layout & Organize Your Youtube Content

This blog post won’t get into the weeds of how to upload a profile picture, cover image, or the steps to upload a video. YouTube already has those steps. It’s easy, and you don’t need any instructions from me.

I’m going to use this first part of the guide to talk about why you need a great channel layout.

The first step to YouTube marketing is to have a great channel layout. When people come to your channel, they need to know what you’re about and what types of videos you have.

Here’s how my channel looks:

My value proposition and color scheme are simple and match my website. The CTA says how often I publish new videos. My trailer is like an extension of the value prop.

People want to learn SEO and social media marketing from me. So, I’ve created a ton of videos on those topics and organized them into different sections:

search engine videos neil patel youtube for marketers
social media videos youtube for marketers

This organization makes it easy for people to get an idea of what types of content I publish. If you have a lot of videos, I’d recommend you do the same.

Create Regular YouTube Video Content

Consistently updating your channel with content will keep your channel feed active, increase your presence on YouTube, and help you build an audience.

You should aim for a minimum of one video per week, but the right amount of content depends on your audience, your goals, and your content.

One simple way to create a steady stream of content is to produce shorter versions of long-form content. Build a theme around a topic and then post bite-size versions of the theme on a weekly basis. This will keep your audience engaged and coming back for more.

How to Write a Great YouTube Title

This is one area you cannot ignore. Titles are very important in YouTube. No matter how great your video content, it won’t matter if you can’t get anyone to actually click on your video in the first place.

There’s a few different tactics I see marketers and creators on YouTube using.

The first one is the sports gossip outlet TMZ Sports. They’re not marketers, but they know how to get attention, and that’s important for marketers. Let’s see if you can find a trend in their titles:

tmz sports youtube video titles

Business Insider follows a similar formula. Let’s see some examples from their YouTube channel:

business insider youtube video titles

What TMZ Sports and Business Insider essentially do is write half a sentence and leaves it as a “….”. This means that if you want to find who said what or what the kids should, you’ll have to click on the video to find out.

None of these titles are mistakes. They are intentionally written this way to get you to click.

Is it clickbaiting?

A little bit. But you shouldn’t completely avoid clickbait, because some of it works.

Here’s how to do it yourself.

YouTube’s title character limit is 100, but right around 50-55 characters is where they start to cut off the text on the desktop. This is where you write your cliffhanger. Look what TMZ Sports does when they write their titles.

If I had a video about my SEO hacks, I may write a title like this:

Search Engine Optimization | These four SEO hacks will skyrocket your traffic

The part in italics is what will show as the title on YouTube. You see that I leave a cliffhanger that will make people want to click. I also put in the keywords search engine optimization and SEO in there to make it clear what the video is about.

I’d then put the Google logo in the thumbnail to catch the eye and make sure people know it’s about Google SEO.

Keywords are the other important aspect of YouTube SEO. You need to make sure you put those keywords in your title so it attracts the right audience. Keywords like social media marketing, search engine optimization, conversion rate optimization, ROI, and blogging are all keywords you’ll find me using. If you know your niche, you’ll know what keywords you need to use.

Now that we have the title, let’s move onto the visual title – the thumbnail.

Design The Right YouTube Thumbnails

Don’t skip this part. Choosing your YouTube thumbnail is just as, if not more, important than crafting a great title.

Let’s first go through a couple of the goofy hacks marketers use on their thumbnails.

Use Arrows and Circles

Marketers are increasingly using red arrows and circles in their YouTube thumbnails and their social graph images. Here’s what I mean:

elon musk business insider youtube

There is clearly no need for a red arrow here. So why do they add it? Because it draws eyeballs and clicks.

I’ve used this tactic as well.

You may want to give it a shot and see if it increases your views!

Include Your Logo to Boost Brand Awareness

Here’s another hack that marketers like to use: putting your logo on the thumbnail. That way, even if no one clicks your video, you’re still drawing awareness and spreading your brand.

CNN puts its logo on every thumbnail:

CNN youtube thumbnail exampe

Look how big that logo is. Does it need to be that big? Of course not, but it spreads the CNN brand, even to people who won’t click and watch the video.

I do the same thing, but instead of a logo, I use my face and include my brand colors.

Neil patel youtube thumbnail examples

I don’t need to put my face on this thumbnail, but it helps my fans recognize me. And if people aren’t familiar with me, they’ll see the title of this video and wonder who the heck that guy is and may click and video and be introduced.

Just remember that viewers shouldn’t feel like they’ve been tricked into viewing your video. Your thumbnail needs to accurately represent the content of your video.

Cross-Promote with Other Channels

To increase your reach on YouTube, make it a priority to identify and reach out to other similar channels to cross-promote or collaborate in a mutually beneficial manner.

This doesn’t mean that you need a huge following on YouTube already. You can use your email list, social following, or even embed videos on your website to drive traffic.

We’ve covered how to get people to click on your videos and cross-promoting. Now let’s go on to another facet of marketing on YouTube, which covers optimizing your videos for YouTube search.

Part Two: Use YouTube SEO To Increase Traffic

YouTube is the second most popular search engine, and with 30,000 hours of video uploaded every minute, you have your fair share of competitors.

Here’s how to put your best foot forward to get near the top of YouTube’s search results (without having to pay for it):

Writing Great Descriptions

YouTube has a great section detailing how marketers and creators can write great descriptions. I’d recommend you take a look at that if you need a full guide.

The part that I want to emphasize is the importance of using keywords early in your description. Here are the keywords I put in one of my videos:

keywords early in youtube description

When you know what keywords you’re trying to rank well for, you can put those in the title and description. You can also mention those keywords in the video and put those in your closed captions.

Just never force anything and keyword stuff. It just makes you look spammy and untrustworthy.

Your descriptions should be at least one paragraph. YouTube gives you 5000 characters to write. Don’t be bashful. Use as much of it as you need to.

I use my description as a transcript. But I also put links to my blog and social above the fold. So even if people don’t read the entire description, they still see links to read my blog or get in contact with my social:

neil patel youtube video description tips

Write descriptions with keywords. Make it easy for people to find more information about you.

Add Closed Captions on Videos

Ever remembered a great line from a TV show, typed it into Google or YouTube, and found the exact clip on YouTube?

If that great line wasn’t in the title or the description, then you found that because the search engines used the captions to find the video.

That alone should convince you that you need to have captions available for your videos.

You can use the automatic captioning. You can take those and edit them, or add your own.

Use YouTube Tags

The key to optimizing your tags is to place your important terms first. Use quotes for keyword phrases such as “video production” and provide a blend of common and long-tail keywords.

You want to provide enough tags to thoroughly and accurately describe your video. Think about what your potential viewer may be searching for on YouTube.

Drive Comments, Likes, and Subscriptions

When watching a video on YouTube, how often near the end of the video do you hear the phrase, “If you liked this video please give it a thumbs up or make a comment”.

That’s because more likes and comments signal to YouTube that the video is getting audience engagement. People are talking about it and rating it. It struck a chord with them.

As a result, YouTube will rank it higher in their search results.

Another thing that will get a higher ranking is a large number of people subscribing to your channel, and most good YouTube creators and marketers know this. That’s why they ask you to subscribe.

I could write an entire article on getting more YouTube subscriptions. And fortunately, I have. Take a look if you want more subscribers.

Part Three: How to Produce a Great YouTube Video

This is the last part of this blog post, but you should treat it as the most important part of YouTube marketing.

Create a Great Opening and Sustain Viewer Attention

If you’re relatively unknown, then the first few seconds of a video are absolutely crucial to get exactly right. They “hook” the viewer in so they want to watch your entire video.

I’m sure you’ve all seen some ads from Tai Lopez. But have you actually watched them to truly understand what makes him such a great creator?

This was one of Tai’s ads:

When creating an ad, you have five seconds to hook the viewer in so they watch more of your video. You see what Tai Lopez does? The background is him standing in a mansion, and the first thing he says is that he’s going to give you a tour of his mansion.

Then he introduces himself. To keep you watching, he gives you a video tour of the mansion while he talks about himself and what he offers. This is great marketing that few people have done.

Who would want to click “Skip Ad” on this video?

Can you imagine if he was sitting at a desk with a white wall as his background giving the same talk? No one would watch it.

Your videos should work the same way. Even if they aren’t ads, you should treat it them as such. Hook the viewer in with visuals and a few great opening lines. Then keep them entertained. Watch what I do in this video:

My hook comes in with high energy naming companies I’ve ghost-written for. The rest of my intro (which is only 15 seconds) outlines what the video is about and why you can benefit by watching the rest of my presentation.

Create Calls to Action

annonying orange cta youtube

The key to a successful marketing campaign, even on YouTube, is creating clear and concise calls to action. Depending on the message, you can use the beginning, middle, or end of a video to direct the actions of your viewers.

Having too many prompts can cause confusion, so keep your CTAs minimal and simple. The goal is to make it as easy as possible for viewers to perform an action.

Here are a few important actions to use on your videos:

  • Subscribe: Give your viewer a reason to subscribe (e.g., new videos every week or never missing an episode).
  • Like / Add to Favorites / Share: Ask your viewers to “like,” “favorite,” and “share” the video so your content appears in more places across YouTube. You’ll be amazed at the reaction you get when you simply ask for it.
  • Comments: Encourage your audience to participate by asking a specific question or requesting a topic they’d like to see covered in an upcoming video.
  • Video Graphics: Create a video “end slate” that appears at the end of the video to direct viewers to your website.

How to Grow Your YouTube Channel

Want to grow your business with YouTube? Here’s a complete guide to building a successful YouTube channel to market your business.

  1. Create a great channel layout.

    Use branded images, a video trailer, and organize videos by topics.

  2. Create regular YouTube content.

    Aim for a minimum of one video per week, but the right amount of content depends on your audience, your goals, and your content.

  3. Write great YouTube titles.

    Write a cliffhanger, but make sure to include key terms.

  4. Design the right thumbnails.

    Use arrows and circles to draw attention to your video and consider including a logo to stand out.

  5. Cross-promote your channel on other platforms

    Make it a priority to identify and reach out to other similar channels to cross-promote or collaborate in a mutually beneficial manner.

  6. Get your YouTube SEO right.

    Use your title and description to target important key terms and increase your visibility.

  7. Add close captions to videos.

    Ever remembered a great line from a TV show, typed it into Google or YouTube, and found the exact clip on YouTube? If that great line wasn’t in the title or the description, then you found that because the search engines used the captions to find the video.

  8. Optimize YouTube tags.

    The key to optimizing your tags is to place your important terms first. Use quotes for keyword phrases such as “video production” and provide a blend of common and long-tail keywords.

  9. Ask for comments, likes, and subscriptions

    More likes and comments signals to YouTube that the video is getting audience engagement, and YouTube will rank it higher in their search results.

  10. Create a great opening.

    The first few seconds of a video are absolutely crucial to get exactly right. They “hook” the viewer in so that they want to watch your entire video.

  11. Create calls to action.

    Having too many prompts can cause confusion, so keep your CTAs minimal and simple. The goal is to make it as easy as possible for viewers to perform an action.

Conclusion

Congratulations, you made it all the way through this massive guide. Now you are set to become the next YouTube star! Or, at the very least, build a relationship with your target audience through this massively popular platform.

Apply the principles outlined here and grow your presence on YouTube. Remember, it may not work on the first try, but continuing to produce high-quality content on YouTube can deliver amazing results.

Success on YouTube comes with time and practice, so get out there and start shooting your video!

What YouTube marketing techniques have you learned?

A Complete Guide To Using Business Credit to Buy Real Estate

If you need to buy commercial real estate, it is probably best to do with business credit rather than a personal loan.  Of course, if you can buy real estate with any loan at all, that’s even better.  But how would you do that? How do you go about using business credit to buy real estate? What is business credit exactly? These are all questions that you need answered. 

The Ins and Outs of Using Business Credit to Buy Real Estate

To put it simply, business credit is credit you get based on the creditworthiness, or fundability, of your business, no you the owner.

Find out why so many companies use our proven methods to get business loans.

So, what are the options for funding real estate?  There are a few! If you are using business credit to buy real estate, you can do a commercial loan or hard money loan.  If you want to try to reduce the amount of debt you have to take on, you can try crowdfunding a well. You may get all you need, but you may need to combine funding methods.  

Real Estate Crowdfunding 

Crowdfunding real estate is not all that different from crowdfunding anything else. You use a crowdfunding platform, and others on the platform can donate, or invest, in your cause as they see fit. It began the JOBS Act of 2012.  Small businesses gained relief from a lot of requirements in place by the SEC. These requirements held many businesses back. 

Though similar to crowdfunding for small businesses, crowdfunding real estate investing isn’t exactly the same. Most of those that list on real estate crowdfunding sites are commercial real estate businesses. They are seeking funding for their endeavors. Anyone can invest in commercial real estate. This is similar to investing in the  stock market. Then they can enjoy the returns without actually buying an entire piece of commercial property.

As a result, commercial real estate investors can raise equity and avoid a loan. At the same time, individuals can enjoy the benefits of commercial real estate investing for as little as $500. 

Benefits of Equity Crowdfunding for Real Estate Investors

First, you can raise funds without debt. This is the same reason crowdfunding is a popular way to fund a small business startup. It isn’t free money. There are fees and profit sharing involved. It is often substantially cheaper than borrowing the funds, however. 

Real Estate Financing Using Hard Money 

If you struggle with bad credit, hard money  loans are an option.  The loans are asset-based. They can fund any real estate investment. They are based on the property value. This means, there is no need for background checks or credit scores. Some lenders even offer hard money loans based on the after-repair value of a building. 

Since it’s based on the real estate value , a borrower with poor credit can get these loans. Hard money loans are fast, sometimes even within 24 hours of application.

Interest rates can be very high, some even up to as much three times that of banks. Terms can be very short, like 6 – 18 months, versus a standard 30-year mortgage.

Plus, a hard money lender wants you to have some money in the project as well.  Typically at least 10% of your own money is required. That way, the lender knows their interests are protected because you don’t want to lose your money. Hard money loans are usually not subject to consumer lending regulations. 

Commercial Real Estate Loans

Commercial real estate is income-producing property that is solely for business purposes, not residential. Examples include retail malls, professional offices such as for medical professionals, office buildings and complexes, and auto dealerships. Financing, including the purchase, development, and construction of these properties, often comes from commercial real estate loans. These are mortgages secured by liens on the commercial property. 

Commercial real estate loans are often made to business entities. These include developers, corporations, limited partnerships, and funds and trusts. These entities are sometimes formed for the specific purpose of owning commercial real estate.

Find out why so many companies use our proven methods to get business loans.

However, such a business entity may not have a financial track record or any credit rating. In that case the lender may require the principals or owners of the entity to guarantee the loan. 

The owner then puts their property on the line. In case of loan default, the lender can recover from them.

If the lender does not require this type of guarantee, and the property is the only means of recovery in the event of loan default, this debt is a non-recourse loan. It means the lender has no recourse against anyone or anything other than the property.

What are Typical Commercial Loan Terms for Real Estate? 

Using business credit to buy real estate usually means shorter loan terms.  Usually, they range from less than 5 years to 20 years rather than the typical 30 year residential mortgage. The amortization period is often longer than the term of the loan. 

Amortization is an accounting technique. Its use is to periodically lower the book value of a loan or intangible asset over a set period of time.

For example, a lender might make a commercial loan for a term of eight years, with an amortization period of 30 years. Then, the borrower would make payments for eight years, of an amount based on the loan being paid off over 30 years. 

Then one final balloon payment of the entire remaining balance on the loan is due at the 8 year mark.

The length of the loan term and the amortization period affect the rate the lender charges. Depending on the credit strength of the borrower, these terms may be negotiable. However, general, the longer the loan repayment schedule, the higher the interest rate.

Credit Suite Options for Funding Real Estate Investments

These options are all viable, but some work better than others. It can be hard to determine what will work best for you.  

Credit Suite has commercial real estate financing that you should check out.  It ranges from $100,000 – $10,000,000. This financing can be used for refinancing a property, even if you are doing a cash-out refinance. The maximum LTV 70% and loan-to-values range from 55 – 65%, depending on the purpose of the loan. Renovations get loan-to-value of up to 60%.  Credit Suite has funding programs available including: 

  • conventional property financing
  • money for investment properties and hard money loans
  • bridge loans and
  • loans for the purchase of commercial real estate

Credit Suite offers financing for various, and even unique, property types. You can get funding for offices, industrial offices, industrial facilities, light manufacturing buildings, self-storage facilities, mixed use properties, commercial condos, auto dealerships, light auto services, day cares, assisted living facilities, entertainment venues, multi-family properties, retail warehouses, and more.

Find out why so many companies use our proven methods to get business loans.

How a Business Credit Expert Can Help

If you plan on using business credit to buy real estate, you can do so even if your personal credit score isn’t great. However, you may get better terms and interest rates if you have a strong business credit score also. A business credit expert can help you evaluate your fundability and guide you as you navigate the process of increasing fundability and building a strong business credit score.

The post A Complete Guide To Using Business Credit to Buy Real Estate appeared first on Credit Suite.

The Definitive Guide to Online Reputation Management

The Definitive Guide to Online Reputation Management

There are a lot of misconceptions about online reputation management. Some people think it’s just social media monitoring, while others believe it has something to do with public relations, and still others have no idea the impact it can have on sales.

In this guide, I’ll explain the role of online reputation management in today’s digital age, explain why it matters, and outline 10 tips for improving and protecting your brand’s online image.

Why Does Reputation Management Matter?

Just a few years ago, the internet was very different. Companies didn’t engage customers, they just sold (or tried to sell) to a passive audience People could not express their voice in a powerful way, and the overall communication landscape was very “top down.”

The situation has radically changed. Today, websites are no longer static brochures. User-generated content is a must. And regular interactions on social networks are vital to any business success.

No matter the size of your business, people are talking about you, including prospects, customers, clients, and their friends. They are tweeting about your latest product, leaving a comment on your blog, posting a Facebook update about their customer experience, and much more.

If you think you can skimp on reputation management, or if you think you can make it without taking into account people’s voices, opinions, and reviews, think again.

Today’s Brands Need to Be Transparent

One of the most important business commandments is “Be transparent.” Opening up to criticism and feedback seems beneficial for companies that embrace this new communication mode with their audience.

What does being “transparent” mean? Here are some examples:

  • allowing employees to talk about products and services publicly
  • establishing a 1-to-1 communication channel
  • asking for feedback
  • not hiding criticism, and addressing it publicly

Easier said than done! Most small and medium sized companies do not invest much on communication, and they struggle with this concept. As a result, their efforts usually are incorrect or inconsistent.

Being transparent is risky. But in the long run, not being transparent is riskier.

Online Reputation Management “Failures”

Being open does not come without a price. If you and your brand accept feedback, customer opinions, and so on, you also must be ready to face them promptly.

Consider these scenarios:

  1. What if your product/service sparks too much criticism?
  2. What if your employees are not social media savvy?
  3. What if your competitors take advantage of this?

These are just a few reasons you need to have a proper online reputation management plan in action before embarking on a transparency journey.

Here are three famous cases of reputation management failure in the digital era:

  • Dark Horse Café received a tweet criticizing their lack of electrical outlets for laptops. Their response was something like: “We are in the coffee business, not the office business. We have plenty of outlets to do what we need.” Needless to say, defensive/aggressive behavior doesn’t work in the online world. Many blogs reported the fact as a negative public relations case.
  • Nestlé received negative comments about their environmental practices a few years ago, and they did not address them. People started becoming aggressive and posted altered versions of the Nestlé logo, forcing the company to close its public page. Takeaway? Do not pretend people are not talking, and address criticism as soon as possible.
  • Amy’s Baking Company fought fire with fire against a one-star internet review. Their insults against the reviewer eventually were picked up by the local news. Negative attention is not good publicity.

The lesson here? Pay attention to your online reputation and respond–kindly–to poor reviews. Don’t let your ego get in the way of being professional. Remember, you aren’t just responding to the person who left a review, you are showing everyone else online who your brand is.

The Key to Online Reputation Management: Listen To What People Are Saying About Your Brand &amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/p>

What are people saying about you? Good online reputation management is not just reacting well to what people say about you, your brand, or your products and services, but also about whether to react at all and, if so, when.

Sometimes a reaction is not necessary, and sometimes a reaction that is too late can cost you millions.

A proactive approach to the matter consists of monitoring your public reputation regularly, and not just when you come to know about a specific event to deal with.

How do you do this? By using social media monitoring tools that keep an ear on what people are saying about your brand.

Social media monitoring allows companies to gather public online content (from blog posts to tweets, from online reviews to Facebook updates), process it, and see whether something negative or positive is being said affecting their reputation.

Social media monitoring can be both DIY (Google Alert is an example of a free web monitoring tool accessible to anyone) and professional, depending on the size of the business involved.

Watch for Online Reputation Bombs

In the online reputation management scenario, companies should be aware of two types of harmful content. One is represented by complaints on social networks. They need to be addressed properly, but unless your company has serious problems, they do not pose a real challenge to your business.

The other is what I define as “online reputation bombs,” which affect your reputation and sales long term and can severely damage a business. They are very powerful because, unlike social network content, they are prominent in search engine results.

What if someone Googles your brand name and finds defamatory content? Let’s see what they are:

  • Negative Reviews: Review sites allow users to express their opinion on your brand. Did they like your service/product? Would they recommend it? Negative content can affect your sales, and addressing the criticism on the site may not be enough. Websites like Ripoff Report and Pissed Consumer provide the perfect platform for this kind of negative content.
  • Hate Sites: Some people go beyond simple negative reviews and create ad hoc websites with their opinions, some of them containing illegal content. So-called “hate sites” sometimes address companies and public figures with insults and false information. Needless to say, a search result like “The truth about NAMEOFYOURCOMPANY” or “NAME scam/rip off” will make your potential customers run away!
  • Negative Media Coverage: Phineas T. Barnum used to say “There’s no such thing as bad publicity.” That may be true for controversial public figures, but unfavorable TV, print, and online media coverage negatively impact companies and brands.

What do you do if your business is the victim of a smear campaign?

What To Do if Your Company is Subjected to an Online Reputation Smear Campaign

The first thing most companies wonder is “Can we call the cops?” I get it; being unfairly targeted feels illegal. But in most cases, online comments are not a legal matter.

Article 19 of The Universal Declaration of Human Rights states that:

“Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers.”

Everyone has the right to express their voice about your brand. There are, however, certain boundaries that need to be respected. Some of the negative content online actually is illegal. Why?

  • It uses defamatory language
  • It reports false information
  • It is aimed at damaging the company’s reputation

How do you react to all of this? How do you defend yourself or your company from this kind of illegal behavior?

Depending on the scope of the problem, several paths can be pursued in order to restore your online reputation:

  • Aggressive SEO: Ranking on pages one or two of Google for your industry and brand name is one of the best ways to push down bad publicity. The first thing that you or your online reputation management company should do is devise a search marketing strategy that increases the ranking of positive content, owned by either you or third parties. The search engine game is too important to be ignored, and it is the first step in restoring your image.
  • Review Removal: Did a user claim something false about your company? Is that review clearly aimed at destroying your reputation rather than providing feedback? Does it contain improper language? Legal liaison and speed of reaction will make it possible to remove the negative review.
  • Online Investigations: In case of serious attacks on your brand image, it may be necessary to hire skilled online analysts to investigate untraceable threats and attackers via email tracing, data cross-indexing, and other information collection techniques. Cyber investigations are the definitive path to get to the bottom of the most difficult reputation management cases.

These strategies are only required in the most extreme cases. Most businesses can manage their online reputation by following these 10 tips.

10 Online Reputation Management Tips

Calling it “online reputation” really is redundant. Your online reputation is your reputation. In the digital era, nothing protects your brand from criticism. This is good from a freedom of speech perspective; bad if your company has been defamed and attacked.

To help you stay on top of your reputation, here are ten practical tips that sum up what we have covered in this guide. The world of brand reputation will change in the coming years, but following these simple tips will help you keep your name.

1. Become Well Respected

Trust is a perishable asset and it is hard to gain. Working to build respect work is more important than any other online reputation management commandment.

2. Be Radically Transparent

After years of hiding critics, McDonald’s publicly forced egg suppliers to raise hens’ living standards according to the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals request.

Being transparent about shows you care about your customers and are willing to make changes when things go wrong.

3. Monitor What People Say About Your Brand

In addition to all the reasons to monitor your online reputation, social media monitoring also can increase sales. These days, lots of people ask questions via Twitter and Facebook because they evaluate whether or not they should buy from you. Showing you are responsive makes your brand look reliable.

4. React Quickly and Politely

In case of a customer complaint via Twitter, for example, a prompt and simple “Thanks for making us aware of the problem. We are working on it and will get back to you as soon as possible.” is better than a late reply with more information.

5. Address Criticism

In 2009, Whole Foods CEO John Mackey wrote an op-ed on Obama healthcare reform, which caused a controversy among WF customers. Two days later, the company published a written statement recognizing there were “many opinions on this issue, including inside our own company” and invited people to share their opinion about the article and health care changes. They didn’t just ignore it and hope it would go away; they addressed the issue head-on.

Responding to negative feedback shows you care and are working hard to fix any issues.

6. Pay Attention to Your Google Results

First impressions count, and we do judge many books by their cover. If the words “scam” and “rip off” are associated with your brand, then that is something you should worry about.

A strong SEO strategy is your best defense against negative press, reviews, and false reports.

7. Learn From Your Detractors

Criticism can be the chance to learn more about your audience and craft a better message in the future. Motrin’s controversial “baby-wearing moms” commercial sparked a lot of criticism. It did not come from competitors or illegitimate attackers, but from people in Motrin’s target audience who felt offended by their promotional content.

If the online responses to your brand are legitimate, it might be time to reconsider your marketing strategy or responses.

8. Attack Your Illegitimate Attackers

Sometimes we simply have to fight illegal behavior. In 2009, Domino’s Pizza employees who posted disgusting videos of themselves playing with food were fired and arrested. Another example is people who post false information on the internet. Sometimes, if you don’t sue them, they might do it again.

9. Learn From Your Mistakes

Sony certainly learned a reputation management lesson back in 2005. The company placed copy protection (XCD) on its CDs which created computer vulnerabilities that malware could exploit. Instead of being upfront about their mistake, Sony stonewalled criticism and lost millions in class-action lawsuits.

If you’ve made a misstep, own up to it and take action to fix the issue.

10. Ask For Help If Necessary

If your online reputation management efforts are not enough to protect or restore your brand image, you have the choice to request help from a professional. Working with an online marketing company or reputation management firm may be your only resort.

Time needed: 5 minutes.

Here are 10 tips to protect your online reputation management

  1. Become Well Respected

    Building and maintaining trust in your business can protect you from online smear campaigns.

  2. Be Radically Transparent

    Share the good — and the bad– about your company to build trust.

  3. Monitor What People Say About Your Brand

    You can’t protect your reputation if you don’t know what people are saying.

  4.  React Quickly and Politely

    A prompt “Thanks for making us aware of the problem. We are working on it and will get back to you as soon as possible.” is better than a late reply with more information.

  5. Address Criticism

    Don’t ignore criticism, responding quickly shows you care about your customers.

  6. Pay Attention to Your Google Results

    If the words “scam” or “ripoff” are associated with your brand, it is time to take action. A strong SEO strategy can protect your brand by pushing down negative feedback.

  7. Learn From Your Detractors

    Criticism can be the chance to learn more about your audience and craft a better message in the future.

  8. . Attack Your Illegitimate Attacker

    Sometimes, if you don’t sue or push back against detractors, they might do it again.

  9. Learn From Your Mistakes

    If you’ve made a misstep, own up to it and take action to fix the issue.

  10. Ask For Help If Necessary

    If your online reputation management efforts are not enough to protect or restore your brand image, you have the choice to request help from a professional.

Conclusion

Managing your online reputation starts with listening to what your customers have to say and finding ways to connect with them. Replying to online criticism is crucial and building an SEO strategy is crucial, but it might not be enough to protect your brand from smear campaigns. In those cases, it might be time to get professional help.

What do you do to protect your online reputation?