How To Be Found Online In a Noisy World

Is it harder to be noticed in today’s internet world?

Is it possible to rise above the noise and get noticed?

According to a study conducted by IBM in the last couple of years, we process more information in one year than our forefather’s did in their lifetime.

The deluge of information in modern times by the media and other information sources has led to daily “bombing” of the average human brain with such a large volume of information which could overload even a powerful computer, according to a new U.S. scientific research.

IT’S IMPORTANT TO BE FOUND ONLINE

97% of consumers use the web to find local goods and services.

Source: Google

HOW GOOGLE SEARCH WORKS – ORGANIC

How often do you go to Google to do a search for something?

Most people would say daily if not multiple times daily.

What do people put in the search box?

Keywords & Keyword Phrases

In it’s most simplistic terms, this is one of the components of ranking better in search.

Are you using the right kinds of keywords and phrases that a customer would choose to find you?

You see everyone wants to rank on Page 1 of Google. There are no guarantees that it will happen and it takes time to continually improve your organic search rankings. It’s not a set it and forget it strategy. SEO is for the persistent. There are multiple strategies and tactics if executed properly will propel you to great search rankings. However, it doesn’t happen overnight.

If you have a static website, unless you pay for ads…it won’t happen. The top three search engines, Google, Bing and Yahoo are looking for content. Fresh continual content, fuels search.

That’s why people that blog, if done correctly outrank those that do not.

TIPS FOR PROMOTING YOUR WEBSITE

Your Website is your Hub! Social Media Platforms are the spokes. When you utilize social media networks, you are using rented land. You Own your land when you have your website.

Use various Social Media Platforms to develop relationships with your fans.

Did you know that Google and the other search engines, now index your social media footprint? So if you are not on numerous Social Media Platforms, it’s hurting your search results.

2. Gather email addresses to use in sending out a newsletter. It’s still very efficient and inexpensive.

3. Ask customers for testimonials or to write online reviews.

4. Promote your site on receipts and other print material.

5. Provide relevant information, give them a reason to come back to your website.

CREATE THE WOW

Have you heard of Blake Mycoskie?

in 2006, Mycoskie was traveling in Argentina and saw that many of the children had no shoes. So when he returned home to America, he created a new company, TOMS Shoes.

For every paid sold, TOMS matches it – one for one – with a pair of new shoes given to a child in need.

When he returned to Argentina with reinforcements the next year, they placed ten thousand pairs to kids in need around the world.

One child said, “I’m excited because when I woke up this morning, I did not know when I’ll have something like this.” A teacher said, ” I can tell you these children will not sleep today. They will be talking about those shoes the whole night!”

Now that’s WOW!

Image: Screenshot

OPTIMIZE YOUR CONTENT

1. Put yourself in the audiences shoes when writing your articles.

Google’s smarter now, and to stand out on social, you need to be, too. Google knows what its searchers want, and it works hard to deliver that. Sometimes, it knows your audience’s needs better than you do.

By producing higher-quality content and putting more time and effort into the articles you write, you’re more likely to be rewarded with a share or a link from an audience that appreciates your efforts.

2. Analyze your analytics.

According to a recent study, if you “can hold a visitor’s attention for just three minutes, they are twice as likely to return than if you only hold them for one minute.” Watch what type of content gets the most buzz and then create more of it.

Drop the content topics that don’t work.

Summarize your metrics for each piece of content into one score to understand the overall performance.

3. Craft “How To” content.

People love learning how to do something new. Offer this type of training material and you’ll have evergreen content that people will love to read and share. But make sure the content is high quality and fulfills a needs.

4. Drop the clickbait headlines.

A spike in readers doesn’t equal a rise in social shares, according to a Chartbeat study of tens of thousands of articles. Clickbait headlines might drive people to your website, but they rarely lead to an increase in social chatter.

HOW TO RISE ABOVE THE NOISE WITH YOUR MESSAGE

“You need to be a king of the information, research, and the data that’s out there and utilize that.”

This is a task that every brand is trying to accomplish, so your company’s message needs to be:

Something really special
Completely unique
Exceptionally creative

Once that has been cultivated, you must have a process, tools in place and a strategy for each social network. Figure out which networks are most advantageous for your company and dive in to creation and domination. Identify your audience and drill into the related data.

Once accomplished, you can create custom audiences, engage with them daily, and watch word-of-mouth magic start to propel your company forward.

HOW TO LEVERAGE YOUR SOCIAL NETWORKS

One of the first things that should be done is to establish all of the brand’s social media networks (Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Google+, YouTube, Instagram) with all of the…

Necessary icons
Banners
Color
Look and feel
And handles

The handles (names) should all be the same if at all possible. From there it is about identifying a very specific audience and smart methods to target them.

Additionally, create a list of similar companies and target their followers as well. Be sure to filter out any inactive or spam profiles to get to the best of the best and engage these folks on a daily basis.

Provide Value Consistently

If I am providing value consistently, people will come to know me as that person to go for.”

Focus on a high percentage of valuable information for the audience (aim for 80% of each post). Most brands fail to get right.

If you are constantly pushing out material that is beneficial for your audience, you will come to be recognized as a “go-to” source, and therefore build your reputation and distribution.

INNOVATE THE EXPERIENCE

It’s undeniable that technology has impacted the way we build brands. The good news about the digital age is that it’s a lot cheaper and less risky to launch a business to consumer business because you can move past traditional retail distribution channels.

The bad news is that competition is fierce and everyone has access to the same information through the Internet from anywhere on Earth. Much lower barriers to entry have led to more than half a billion active websites clamoring for attention.

Regardless of the implications of the digital age, here are some golden rules to make your business rise above the noise and succeed:

Innovating the experience can be done through the customer’s interaction with your website and with the actual consumption of your products.

Netflix and Hulu have also dramatically changed the consumption of their product in the entertainment industry. These companies are known for changing the way consumers watch movies and television and building brands as major stakeholders in television.

These companies are so well-known for giving their customers the experience they want that a new expectation of on-demand, original content has emerged, which has proved to be Emmy worthy.

These companies have succeeded in building their brands and reimagined an entire market. Because of the emphasis on improving and changing the way customer’s think they should experience a product.

Building your brand is a constant battle of keeping up with customer expectations while staying innovative and one step ahead of the competition.

Following these three golden rules will help your brand break through to your audience and succeed in even the noisiest market.

2. Know that original content lives forever. When weighing the return on investment between traditional online advertising and developing original content, remember that ads are fleeting, but content lives forever.

Although a clever ad — like Oreo’s famous Super Bowl blackout ad — can go viral, most advertisements simply disappear without any residual effects.

Rich content served on your site, conversely, will last. For example, even if your blog post “The Top 10 Vacation Spots in Miami” isn’t a smash hit when first written and shared on social media, it will pay dividends over time. Search engines will crawl the post providing you two huge benefits.

First, this content (in aggregate) will increase your SEO score, giving you higher visibility.

Second, you now have permanent content that can pull customers when they most need your product or service. In 18 months when someone searches for “vacation spots in Miami” there is a reasonable likelihood that they will land on your article and subsequently discover your travel service.

Look beyond Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.

Most companies limit themselves to sharing their original content as well as third-party content on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter, which can severely hamper reach. Don’t forget the other great social media platforms that are often under-utilized by content marketers.

LinkedIn for example is number one in B2B, business to business.

Create habits to share your content regularly on everything from Google+ to StumbleUpon, and Reddit.

Maximize your time with great tools like Hootsuite that can help you manage it all in one place.

Be strategic and recognize under the radar social media platforms like Google+ can provide residual effects.

For example, Facebook and Twitter heavily restrict the data Google can see when performing searches hindering the SEO impact of your content shared. Quite the contrary on Google+ meaning that any social content shared on Google+ also provides profound SEO effects.

FINAL THOUGHTS

Just hitting “publish or post button” on an article won’t make you, or your brand, go viral. You and your team need to incorporate thoughtful strategic content and tactics. Be clear about your goals and objects but be flexible about the process in getting there.

If you don’t know where you are going any road will likely take you off course.

About Blair

Blair Evan Ball is a Social Media Coach and founder of Prepare1, a company that works with businesses, individuals and non-profits. He is a former executive with a Fortune 50 company, and his national division did $1Billion+ in sales annually.

Blair has written three e-books: Facebook for Business Made Easy, Facebook Pages for Business Made Easy, and WordPress Blog Setup Made Easy.

Blair also educates, trains entrepreneurs and business professionals how to amplify their brand, increase revenues, and raise more funds.

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