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November 4, 2011
Google has recently modified the algorithm it uses to display search results to include real-time or time specific results, in an attempt to level the medium for which people use to find real time information. Prior to Google’s change, the go-to place to find out about things happening in real-time were Facebook and Twitter. This is good news for the avid Google searcher since the new algorithm is said to affect 35% of searches.
I’m interested in hearing your thoughts on the topic so please leave a comment here.
Since Google’s search algorithm change will probably be old news by the time this is read, I’ll be sure to post it on our Facebook page also so you can comment on this topic in real time.
Want to find out how this will affect your search engine rankings? Contact FireDrum for an SEO consultation.
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March 21, 2011
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With so much changing in the online world, it’s easy to get confused and lose sight of your marketing goals. Between updating your website, staying on top of your social networks, monitoring paid click ads and managing your email marketing lists, it’s no wonder marketers are seeking professional help.
Especially now, it’s imperative that your marketing efforts cooperate with each other. Are your social networks really driving traffic to your website? Are customers finding you online instead of your competitors? When was the last time you analyzed your keyword performance? Are your efforts being wasted because potential customers are finding your site but not staying/not buying?
These are questions that FireDrum can help you answer. We can help you make sure your website, social media marketing, search engine marketing, paid advertising campaigns, email newsletters and print ads are all working together harmoniously, complementing and strengthening each other. Most importantly, we can help you maximize your ROI and turn more consumers into customers!
FireDrum is your one-stop-shop for internet marketing, because we handle it all:
- Web Design
- Domain Hosting
- Email Marketing
- Web Programming
- Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
- Social Media Marketing (SMM)
- Graphic Design/Brand Identity
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| Now through March 31st, we’re giving away 3 months of our exclusive Email Marketing services as well as 1 year of Basic Hosting with all new Web Design Agreements. We’re also throwing in basic On-Page SEO for your home page and 1 free hour personal Social Media Consultation; that’s hundreds of dollars in services for FREE! |
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St. Patrick’s Day 2011
May your Click-Throughs
be many,
Your Unsubscribes be few,
Your Campaigns successful,
With FireDrum here beside you!
Have a safe and happy
St. Patrick’s Day
from your friends at FireDrum!
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February 15, 2011
As a follow up to last weeks, Rise to the Top, here are a few more SEO best practices to take your site to the next level. You may have heard, “looks aren’t everything” which is true to some degree. Yes, it’s great to have plenty of aesthetically pleasing photos on your website but without naming images correctly, it’s a loss opportunity to use keywords from your photos to drive traffic to your site. For example, if you sell toys, one image on your site may be of a fire engine you sell. Instead of naming this image “redtruck1.jpg” use a more descriptive title such as “Red_toy_fire_engine.jpg.”
Linking to your site is another way to increase your web presence. This can be done by getting involved in forums and discussion boards and linking back to your site. But beware of partaking in this activity for your friends or requesting your friends do the same for your site as search engines are wise to this tactic and disregard it.
You may have heard of Meta tags being used for descriptions, keywords and titles but it’s important to know how to use the Meta tags correctly. Meta tags are unseen when visiting a website because they are HTML coding elements that are embedded within the code. Essentially a meta description is a smoke signal for search engines to find your page and determine the relevancy of search phrases. Meta descriptions should be short and sweet, but remember that each page of your website can – and should – have a separate description.
In addition to the Meta tags, headlines are visible on your website and are also important for search engines so make them relevant, better still; make them feature your site’s keywords.
Contact Matt Ricca today at 480-699-1524 to learn more about increasing your web presence and driving traffic to your site.
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February 2, 2011
We all know how important it is to have a web presence, but nowadays it’s not just about being on the web, it’s about being found on the web. No matter how good your site looks, it’s wasted if your online audience is too small. FireDrum can help you gain exposure with a few SEO best practices that are implemented with each website we design.
Here are some ways that FireDrum can get your website ranked higher with search engines:
Upon completion of a site, FireDrum submits your site to the “big three”: Google, Yahoo!, and Bing. Next steps include submitting to directories such as DMOZ and creating a site map which also needs to be submitted to the big three.
It’s been said over the years that content is king and it still holds true today. When thinking about content for your site, place yourself in the shoes of potential customers and build content around what you think your target audience may be searching for within search engines. This keyword-rich content, when used correctly, can help drive traffic to your site. And speaking of keywords – keywords are hidden within the code of your website and they should cover search terms that your customers might use.
Stay tuned for other helpful SEO tips to optimize your web presence.
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June 15, 2010
Lately we seem to have a few clients step aboard who have received websites and SEO from some shady places. You know those places on the internet – give us $1 to get you on the front page of Google or better yet for $29.95 a month we will build you a website and make your profits grow with SEO. Well, these snake oil salesmen have other intentions for your website and unfortunately you are going to get burned.
 If the offer is too good to be true....well....you know the rest It is unfortunate because these business have made sound decisions in running the enterprise however when it came to websites, SEO, online presence and brand they just wanted one result.
Get my business to the top spot…NOW!
A shortcut in web design, web presence, SEO or any other area is not a viable solution for any business and just plain-old, flat-out, any day of the week DOES NOT work. If you are in a rush to build your web, get rankings and visibility because you believe this translates to dollars – you are 5% correct – 95% wrong. The 5% correct is true. Visibility can translate to dollars, however there are more factors involved than just putting up a cheap website and paying $1 to climbing online rankings to get the $$/leads to come in through your web and business.
I am talking about your brand.
Establishing a brand is a long term commitment that translates into other areas of your business. Branding is a process which creates a unique name and image for a product or service in your customers” mind. Using websites, logos, advertising campaigns and other marketing media you will begin to establish a consistent theme that resonates with your customers.
The mistake of purchasing the snake oil from the salesmen is it does not establish trust, resonate your message or really even make a long term commitment to establishing your website (your online identity- your online brand).
Branding aims to establish a significant and differentiated presence in the market that attracts and retains loyal customers. A dollar cannot get me listed on Google let alone get me on the bus or get a cup of coffee (Bus Fare in Phoenix – $1.75 one way — Cuppa Joe – $1.95 ($2.07 with tax) I have the receipt to prove it  )
So lets look at a few things about your company that can really translate well online and in daily business life.
- Brand Relationship with your customers – How do they see you? Are you a quick stop or do you have a relationship with them?
- Company wide branding and marketing strategies – What is your voice and how well do you communicate it out to the business world?
- Reputations and buzz-worthiness – Do you have a buzz worthy product? This is great for PR, Search, Media Channels and Blogs!
- Creativity and market relevance - How does your creative stack up against your competitors? The more knowledge you have, the more creative you can be.
Review your online and company brand identity and understand how it resonates with your customer segment and how it ranks with your competitors. It takes the right marketing mix to effectively communicate, brand and market your message to the business world. Remember brand, marketing, reputation, SEO and creativity are intertwined with one another. Their relevance to the web, interpersonal relationships and customer relations do get you that visibility which translates into dollars.
So, moving forward what do you need to do next?
- Take a look at our brand identity and web services:
- Answer the above questions and think about the changes you would like to see in your business brand and online presence.
- Come in to our office…..ask for our seo expert Max Sandoval or Jacob Lebo and lets start building and branding
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May 25, 2010
At the core of any marketing strategy is developing a low-cost, high-impact marketing program that can be leveraged to get consumers to realize the value of products and services. Social media is a strong marketing medium that connects people to your products. Email marketing is a powerful feedback mechanism for social media.
Are you thinking what we are thinking?
At the core of any social media strategy is email marketing. The two were made for one another like chocolate is to peanut butter. FireDrum Internet Marketing is now offering Social Media Marketing and Email Marketing in a low-cost, high-impact marketing program.
With FireDrum’s Social Media Packages you will receive:
- In-Depth Social Media Monitoring and Reporting
- Custom Social Media Portal
- Priority Network Setup and Branding
- Online Community Building
- Social Bookmarking
- Custom Blog Creation
- Specialized Social Media Pay Per Click Management
- With our Social Media Marketing and Email Marketing services combined, you will be able to drive greater conversions, enforce your brand, and turn social media into new customers and revenue.
By using our powerful FireDrum 3.0 email marketing platform and integrating your social media tools you will see how:
- Email Marketing is at the center of any social media strategy
- FireDrum’s ‘Share to Social’ capabilities can extend the life of your email and social campaigns
- FireDrum’s Reporting mechanisms can help with customer feedback and monitoring effectiveness
So, what are the next steps? Give us a call at 480.699.1524 and let’s talk about your latest marketing venture and how we can help.
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May 12, 2010
Earlier today I was asked by a FireDrum client about the the difference of singular versus the plural of a keyword in SEO/Google Adwords. It was a simple question with a “somewhat” straightforward answer, however the answer does not apply to all singular versus plural keywords.
Does singular vs. plural make a difference?
Is one better than another or are they the same? Does it really even matter? It is a good question that so often people look over who are not experienced with keywords/adwords. So, I thought I would investigate further and write about it.
For example purposes only, lets take a look at some keywords, “dental bur” and “dental burs”. For those of you who do not know what a “bur” is – do not feel bad, not a lot of us do. As my Economics teacher once said, “It could be widgets or butter – it really does not matter, your job is to figure out a solution to the problem.” So, with that said let’s jump over to Google Keyword tools to help determine which one is going to be the best performer as well as figuring out the difference of singular and plural versions.
 Keywords and SEO local and global search As you can see, there is a difference in the local and global search volume as well as advertising competition for each keywords. One thing to keep in mind as well is how this affects the SEO of your website. Since the plural version outperforms the singular version this is something to keep in mind down the road.
Lets head over to Google Insights for Search and see what is happening. Google Insights is a tool SEO’ers use to compare search volume patterns across a section of where you are looking to advertise. This is a great tool for SEM because …well it gives great insight into what terms people are using to search.
As you can see “dental burs” is searched considerably more that the singular across the US and the world. With Google insights you are also able to pick a region and take a look at what activity was happening in your section of the world.
 Google Insights for Keywords Another thing to keep in mind is how the people purchase the product, online and in a store. Dental burs are bought in groups, so the plural version is more applicable, however consumers search for ”individual” items they are looking to purchase in singular terms, ”Apple Computer” or ”iPod Shuffle”. These products also have singular naming conventions so this makes it more straightforward as well. Normally people do not surf the plurals of these terms.
So, I hope I have given you some insight into what Keywords to keep an eye out for when you are looking at some of the tools/products Google offers. As always we are here to help.
Come in to our office…..ask for our seo expert Max Sandoval or Jacob Lebo and lets start building and branding
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May 5, 2010
Here is a video that has been around and it was just recently updated. It is one of those videos that just makes you think and is a great segway into debating the effectiveness of the Social Marketing medium.
Check it out and tell us what you think.
Social Media Revolution
Let us know what you think??
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March 20, 2009
So I gave another presentation today about Internet Marketing. I am really getting into this public speaking thing. I was talking with members of the Arizona Trucking Association about a general overview of how FireDrum views Internet Marketing. Big thanks to the ATA for having us out. I was just doing my normal routine, comparing houses to websites and Search Engine Optimization to buying real estate…
It is a great analogy, if you want to hear it in full, give me a shout. Anyways, I wrapped up my section of the presentation and was followed by two gentlemen that are extremely knowledgeable in the realm of Social Media. These two guys Michael Hayes of Momentum Specialized Staffing and Bret Wingert of Souvia Tea are knowledgeable because they have real world experience since they use Social Media everyday for their businesses.
At the end of the presentation in the Q and A section of the morning we started to feel some resistance to change…. Arms were crossing and brows were furrowing amongst the audience. Should my business be on MySpace? What do I do when someone requests me to join Facebook? What has been your return on investment, and how long should I spend on social networking? Uhmmm….. No, Ignore it, and Not much…
See don’t get me wrong, I am a Facebook addict and you personally will probably find value in having a Facebook page. I seriously could check it like 8 times a day. I love the concept of social media, and feel that it is the way of the future, but for the majority of businesses my house/website foundation analogy applies for your entire Internet Marketing presence. It goes something like this. If you don’t have a strong foundation, your house will fall down. Same with a website, if the foundation (the parts you and your customers will never see) is not strong your website will essentially fall down.
This holds true for starting a social media campaign for your business as well. If your Internet Marketing presence doesn’t have a good foundation with a strong website, a deep Search Engine Optimization campaign, and an effective follow up email marketing campaign, do not even think about adding that Social Media addition to the second floor of your business.
Again big thanks to the Arizona Trucking Association and to Michael and Bret that presented with me. Rest assured Momentum and Souvia have strong foundations.
-Jacob
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