Pronto Marketing

Building a Greener Web: Eco-Friendly Website Design

Ebrahim Jabbari — Thu, 07 Dec 2023 07:05:29 +0000

The inaugural webpage was launched on August 6, 1991, within the confines of CERN, Switzerland. This pioneering page served as an information hub for the nascent World Wide Web project and was meticulously crafted by Tim Berners-Lee. As 1992 drew to a close, there were merely ten websites in existence. A pivotal turning point occurred in 1993 when CERN released the W3 technology to the public, free of royalties. This marked the inception of the internet’s gradual transformation into the all-encompassing behemoth it has become today.

According to Internet Live Stats, the global count of websites has now surged to almost 2 billion, and this number appears to be growing at an accelerated pace. Nevertheless, it’s essential to recognize that only a fraction of these websites remain active and regularly updated.

Pixels consume a significant amount of electricity, making the internet a formidable energy consumer. To put this into perspective, if the internet were a nation, it would claim the sixth spot in the global electricity consumption rankings. This surge in energy usage is largely attributed to the increasing size of today’s web pages, with the average page exceeding two megabytes.

This not only results in sluggish load times and user frustration but also translates to a considerable amount of wasted energy (Tim Frick, 2016). It’s evident that sustainability principles can play a pivotal role in shaping the creation of websites that are not only swift and user-friendly but also energy-efficient.

As companies intensify their efforts to minimize their environmental impact, it’s imperative that their online presence isn’t an afterthought. Remarkably, the internet’s annual carbon footprint stands at a staggering 830 million tons, placing it in the same league as the aviation industry. If the internet were a nation, it would rank sixth in terms of electricity consumption. Yet, digital marketers and web designers have the capacity to mitigate their organization’s ecological footprint and enhance customer relationships by focusing on the development of energy-efficient user experiences.

Why Environmentally-Friendly Websites Matter!

A wealth of information about sustainable living and its implications for the environment and future generations is readily available online. An increasing number of individuals are adopting eco-conscious lifestyles by incorporating practices such as recycling, energy conservation, dietary changes, and various other measures.

Curiously, the green and eco-friendly labels, so prevalent in the marketing of products, are rarely applied to websites and the broader Internet landscape. This might be attributed to a general lack of awareness regarding the environmental impact of online activities. It’s crucial to delve into how internet activities contribute to this matter.

As early as 2016, the IT sector had already assumed responsibility for approximately 7 percent of the world’s total electricity consumption. This substantial share is primarily a consequence of the technology employed to power and access the internet, alongside the ever-expanding global online community.

Fast forward to 2019, and we find a staggering figure of over 4.5 billion active Internet users worldwide. This number is poised for continual growth as more people gain internet access, and companies increasingly embrace digital platforms.

Therefore, much like in the physical world, it is imperative to implement measures that mitigate the web’s impact on the climate and environment. The first step begins with individual actions and choices, underscoring the significance of taking personal responsibility in this endeavor.

Quick Facts

Production of servers requires more GHG-producing energy.
Every time we use a search engine, there’s an output of GHG gasses
because each unique search requires multiple servers.
Looking at a webpage with pictures or video emits an estimated 0.2 grams of
CO2 per second.
One Google search accounts for an estimated 0.2 to 7 grams of carbon dioxide emissions. (*7 grams is equivalent to boiling a pot of tea or driving a car 52 feet)
An email has an estimated carbon footprint of 4 grams of CO2, and a large attachment could have a footprint of 50 grams.

Steps to Solve This Issue and Create a Sustainable Web Design

Here are some straightforward measures to minimize your website’s environmental footprint:

Enhance Findability

Simplify the process of finding content on your website. The more effortless it is for users to locate information, the fewer pages they need to load. This in turn reduces the number of server requests as users can access what they need with fewer clicks. Additionally, this streamlined approach prevents unnecessary page elements, such as images and videos that consume significant bandwidth, from loading unless they are specifically requested. These seemingly minor energy-saving adjustments can add up significantly over time.

404 Error Pages (Broken Links): When users attempt to access a webpage that doesn’t exist, a 404 error page is displayed. This can occur when users click on broken or invalid links. Best practice dictates creating user-friendly 404 error pages that not only inform the user of the issue but also guide them to a relevant resource. To make your website greener, it’s advisable to adopt a monthly routine of using tools like Google or Bing Webmaster tools, or other link-checking utilities, to identify and address broken links. By rectifying these issues promptly, you can significantly reduce the occurrence of 404 status code errors on your site, leading to a more efficient and eco-friendly web experience.

Use 301 Permanent Redirects: A 301 redirect is a permanent redirection from one URL to another. When you alter a URL, it’s crucial to implement 301 permanent redirects. This practice enhances the findability of your content, boosts its SEO performance, and contributes to a more energy-efficient website. By implementing these steps, you not only improve the user experience but also reduce the environmental impact of your website.

Performance Optimization

Sustainability and page speed are intrinsically connected. A website that operates with enhanced efficiency not only provides a swifter user experience but also reduces its environmental impact. The rationale is straightforward: increased efficiency necessitates less processing power, resulting in reduced energy consumption and a diminished carbon footprint for your site. As users increasingly demand instantaneous access to the content they seek, optimizing page performance becomes paramount. Faster load times translate to a reduced bounce rate, ensuring that website visitors remain engaged and satisfied with their experience. In this synergy of speed and sustainability, not only does your website benefit, but so does the environment.

Design & User Experience

Sustainable design is characterized by its efficiency and accessibility. By focusing on creating excellent experiences for both mobile and desktop users, you enhance accessibility, ensuring that people can access your site regardless of the device they use. Embracing a mobile-first web design approach also aids in the conservation of energy. It prevents the unnecessary loading of large assets designed for desktop machines, resulting in improved site speed and enhanced energy efficiency.

Web Fonts and Sustainability: The use of web fonts has broadened the designer’s creative palette and often leads to a more engaging user experience. However, it’s essential to remember that the pixels displaying these fonts are powered by energy. Therefore, when selecting a font for a web-based project, you should consider the energy required to load that font. The choice of font can significantly impact the energy consumption associated with loading a webpage. There are a couple of ways in which a font can influence the energy required for page loading:

HTTP Requests: This term refers to the requests made to a server to load all the elements on a webpage, including fonts, images, and videos. The volume of HTTP requests directly affects your page’s loading speed, and it correlates with the amount of energy necessary to process these requests. In essence, the more HTTP requests your website generates, the slower your page will load, and the greater the energy consumption required to fulfill all these requests. To optimize your website for both user experience and energy efficiency, it’s vital to reduce the number of HTTP requests whenever possible.

Page Weight: Page weight, measured in kilobytes (KB) or megabytes (MB), quantifies a webpage’s size. A smaller page size translates to faster loading speeds and reduced energy consumption. This not only enhances user experience but also benefits the environment by requiring less energy to display content.

It’s essential to note that third-party code, such as chat widgets, analytics scripts, and social media embeds, often contributes significantly to page weight and data transfer. These elements can be major culprits in slowing down websites and increasing their energy consumption.

Furthermore, JavaScript, being more resource-intensive than HTML and CSS, can be a major contributor to excessive page weight. Many websites tend to rely heavily on JavaScript, often more than necessary. It’s advisable to critically evaluate whether a JavaScript framework is essential for your project and assess the impact of costly dependencies using tools like Bundlephobia. This scrutiny can lead to significant improvements in both performance and sustainability.

System fonts, those already installed on local computers, demand the least amount of energy to load since they are readily available on the user’s device. In contrast, web fonts, while broadening a designer’s creative options, can lead to an increase in HTTP requests to your page, add to page weight, and ultimately affect page load times.

By implementing proactive measures during the site planning phase, you can make substantial savings in terms of overall page size and server load. This pre-launch optimization results in the creation of a more sustainable website, one that consumes less energy and provides an improved user experience upon launch.

Optimizing Photos Within a Responsive Design: Image optimization is a crucial aspect of responsive design, contributing to better performance and increased sustainability.

When a website is accessed on a smartphone, it’s inefficient to load the same large background image that is displayed on a high-resolution desktop monitor. To address this issue, CSS provides a simple method known as “@media query” that allows for the optimization of images based on the specific device size. These performance optimizations benefit all users, irrespective of their screen dimensions, available bandwidth, or device capabilities.

Furthermore, these optimizations have a positive ecological impact. By minimizing unnecessary image data transfer, you not only enhance user experience but also conserve energy and reduce the environmental footprint of your website. In essence, optimizing images within a responsive design is a win-win for both users and the planet.

Green Hosting

Web servers, responsible for storing the files that constitute web pages, operate continuously, 24 hours a day, demanding a substantial amount of power. Consequently, the most influential step one can take to foster a more sustainable website is to opt for a hosting provider that operates on 100% renewable energy sources.

Choosing a green hosting provider signifies a conscious commitment to reduce the environmental impact of your website. By relying on renewable energy sources such as wind or solar power, these hosting services not only minimize the carbon footprint but also contribute to a greener and more sustainable digital landscape. Green hosting is a tangible and impactful way to align your website with eco-conscious principles and help create a more environmentally friendly internet.

Getting Users to Opt into Green Choices

Once we’ve implemented eco-friendly coding and services, the next step is to consider how our designs intersect with user behavior.

Encouraging users to opt into green choices can be challenging. Often, it involves requesting users to make small sacrifices in terms of money or convenience. However, by integrating sustainability into our product design, we can provide users with opportunities to align with their green objectives while fulfilling their immediate needs.

To guide this process, there are three fundamental questions to ponder:

What are we making?
By using it, will people be helping or hurting the environment?
If it isn’t helping the environment, can we give the users a way to do what they want in a greener, or less harmful, way?

The exciting part is that many of these sustainable practices can enhance both our environmental impact and the overall user experience. It’s a win-win scenario that offers opportunities to create a more sustainable digital landscape while ensuring users’ satisfaction and engagement.

Creating the Culture of Sustainability

By considering the damaging activity of humanity this mission looks impossible but creating a culture can start with just one person or small group. Think of the coronavirus! It actually spread all over the world by a single person and now the whole world is dealing with this nightmare.

So, In order to establish a culture of sustainability these individuals are committed to sustainable solutions and committed to programs that inspire others. Here are some ideas that I think might be helpful to create a culture among website owners and even web design companies and freelancers.

Start with yourself

As we already know, coronavirus started by one person. As a web designer we have our own websites, we can redesign our website according to eco-friendly ideas, Instead of having fancy website with animations, huge pictures we can design a simple one, we can make our website more findable, we can make our website more SEO friendly and shifting to a green server is must. So, we’re already green and let’s see how to create awareness.

Always start with examples

As a web designer who committed to developing a sustainable culture to have a greener website and internet, we should set the examples. We can name top successful companies who already started moving green by changing their company websites, shifting to green servers etc… each individual must be made fully aware of the ecological benefits of sustainability. So our first web design customer is already aware of this concept and they’ll keep this in mind even if they’re not using our services.

Blogging and creating content

The greater the awareness we have, the more audiences will be familiar with the concept of eco-friendly websites. It’s important to run our own blogs and build audiences. The more readers we gain the more content will be shared and at the end more people will be aware of what goes on around us and why eco-friendly websites are important.

Develop a community

Creating a community of web designers and bringing up the environment issues and starting discussing the concept of eco websites is another way to create a culture, so there are more people around us with the green mind. This initiative or culture should easily reach all sector’s companies and freelancers as well as customers.

Conclusion

The internet’s growth comes with an environmental price, as it now ranks as a top energy consumer. It’s evident that sustainability principles are essential for creating energy-efficient websites. In a world increasingly focused on eco-conscious living, the internet must not be left behind. We have the power to shape a more sustainable digital landscape.

Take steps to optimize your website for speed and sustainability, contributing to a greener online world. Contact us to learn how you can make a positive impact with our website design, maintenance, and optimization. Together, we can create a faster, more eco-friendly internet.

The post Building a Greener Web: Eco-Friendly Website Design appeared first on Pronto Marketing.

How Much Should You Spend on Digital Marketing in 2024

Tim Kelsey — Mon, 20 Nov 2023 10:07:46 +0000

How much should your small business spend on digital marketing next year?

It’s a question a lot of companies are grappling with. As we navigate the ongoing ripples of recent global challenges and new technological innovations, many business owners are still finding new ways to adapt and thrive moving forward.

Marketing spend is often one of those items that gets targeted for savings, but what if you want to actually see results?

Digital marketing has become very necessary for businesses looking to improve their reach. This form of marketing covers a lot of scope though – some activities require budget (like ad spend), while others can be done by employees in-house, without always needing extra budget (like posting on social media or starting a blog).

This leaves the question, how much do you really need to spend on digital marketing to see results in 2024?

Why it’s important to keep marketing

First of all, let’s touch on marketing budget and why it’s important to still have one. In tough times, many companies retrench marketing in an effort to make savings. Marketing may be seen as a luxury that should only be used during flusher periods, but does it make sense to cut back in uncertain times?

There are a few examples that show taking the opposite approach can pay off. One that is widely cited is the example of two competing cereal companies – Post and Kellogg in the early 1930s. These two great rivals had held similar market share and were strong competitors.

When the depression hit, Post pulled back its marketing budget in an effort to slim its outgoings and ride out the tough economic period. Kellogg however, took the opposite view. They pushed ahead with marketing, even doubling its budget and investing heavily in radio advertising. During this period, the brand released its new Rice Krispies product.

The move worked for Kellogg – by 1933, while the economy tanked, its profits had risen by almost 30 percent and it had cemented themselves as the dominant player in the cereal market.

It seems that Kellogg took a much bigger risk by spending money during that difficult period, but it makes sense when you think about it. Which company was everyone now hearing from? Who was more likely to be on their minds if they were thinking of buying cereal?

On the other hand, pulling back marketing budget should be looked at as risky, too. Most companies have worked hard to get to the position they’re in now – if you go off the radar for a period, people start to forget. You just might find you have to work extra-hard to claw back a position in the market when you do decide to spend on marketing again.

In our view, marketing remains essential. Sure, you might need to cut back some budget depending on the current situation of your business, but it doesn’t make sense to cut all marketing. You might find you’re also cutting off your supply of customers.

Where should your marketing budget go?

Ultimately, marketing budget should go toward activities that help you to reach your goals. What is it that you want to achieve this year? Revenue growth? Growth of your email list? Brand recognition? Different types of digital marketing activities can help with those goals.

For example, let’s say you want to outrank competitors for certain SEO keyword phrases. Your ultimate goal is to rank near the top of search results for the term/s because this will naturally get you more search traffic to your website. This means you need to devote at least some marketing budget to SEO. You might look at something like Link Building for SEO to help boost your site authority, or Google Ads to ensure that your ad is placed near the top when people search for the keyword phrase that is relevant to your products or services.

Competitor analysis should always play a role in marketing budgetary decisions. If you have a competitor outranking you for some relevant local keywords, you’ll want to boost your paid search advertising in the short run, until you can outrank them organically in the long run.

Are you unsure how to do a digital marketing competitor analysis? We put together a list of the best free and paid SEO tools that can help you collect this data.

Here are a few other suggestions to help you prioritize and focus on where marketing spend should go:

Clearly define your target demographic and find where they are online. Those places are where marketing budget should go. (For example, it wouldn’t make sense to target Snapchat or TikTok if most of your customers are outside of the demographics that predominantly use them. Sites like Smart Insights regularly post data on social media use and trends).
Identify your key challenges. Are there any barriers in the way of you achieving your marketing goals?
Look at where competitors are spending their marketing dollars – what insights can you gain?
What “must do” tasks do you have requiring a budget? For example, if your website needs work done to optimize the user experience, that should be prioritized because there’s no sense spending to send traffic to a less-than-optimal website!
Is your target market mostly local? Then local advertising initiatives are your best bet to start with.
What resources do you have available? This plays a role in what is feasible for your business to take on. Marketing campaigns take research and careful crafting to be successful. Do you have someone in-house who knows digital marketing? Can you hire an agency? Do you need extra help with tasks that no one in-house has the bandwidth for?

Do bigger budgets always win?

Competing with larger businesses with bigger marketing budgets can be tough for small businesses. They seem to flood every platform and it might seem like an impossible task to compete.

Do bigger budgets always win though? The answer is no, not if you’ve done your homework, identified your target market and crafted messaging that will appeal to them. It’s more a matter of being wise about how your marketing dollars are spent, being very targeted rather than taking the “spray” approach that many big companies do.

Smaller businesses can find advantages in their size. For example, they tend to be more nimble than big businesses and able to adjust their strategy quickly. For example, you might spot specific customer pain points more quickly and adapt an offer to them.

You can find ways to be visible online with a consistent strategy. Remember too, people like to buy from small businesses! There’s a growing movement of people who prefer to “shop local,” so this could potentially be to your advantage too.

How much should you spend?

Many businesses find setting a marketing budget to be challenging. They’re just not sure what a reasonable amount means. A good place to start is with a percentage of revenue. If you can commit to investing a certain percentage back into marketing, you’ll have a figure to start with.

Getting into specifics, here’s what we’ve found:

If you can spend 6 – 9% of revenue on marketing, this tends to be enough to maintain your current position.
If you can spend 10-14% of revenue on marketing, this will grow your current position in the market.
In dollar value, that obviously varies, but we’ve found a minimum of somewhere around $3,000 per month will produce sustainable growth over time if invested wisely into marketing.

Another factor to consider is that the amount you need to invest to get results can vary widely from industry to industry.

An example is if you’re targeting highly competitive keywords – you might need to spend more if those keywords are used by multiple competitors. On the other hand, a small local law firm might get good results spending $1,000 per month targeting local keyword searches.

Focus on your “Blended Lead Cost”

Trying to figure out how much you should spend on web advertising is a stressful exercise for small businesses. You need to get your name out there and compete, but it’s not like you have a slush fund to burn. Every dollar you spend has to count.

The biggest stressor is that online ads can look too costly to be a viable option. In fact, you’re likely measuring your ad performance too narrowly.

Think of how you buy services for your business. Do you click on a banner and immediately sign up? Probably not. So don’t expect that buying behavior to apply to your own ad campaigns and don’t measure your ROI on that limited of a basis.

When you’re searching for a vendor yourself, you’re going to check out a business multiple times before you decide to reach out and buy. The same is true with your customers, and clicking on your ad is likely one of a number of touch points in their buyer journey.

Here’s a typical example of how this works in the wild:

There’s actually a whole suite of analytics products dedicated to solving this issue of “multi-touch marketing attribution.” Don’t freak out; you don’t need to buy another tool in order to figure out how much you should spend on ads. Sure, those tools are impressive and they might make sense for you as you get more sophisticated, but there’s a more simple (and cost-effective) way to take a more holistic view of how your ads contribute to tangible results.

The metric you need to focus on is your “Blended Lead Cost”

It’s myopic to view your paid and unpaid sources of traffic separately. As you see above, the customer journey is complex. A visitor who found you through an ad could easily come back and convert after multiple visits via direct or organic.

You need to measure your results as a product of all your marketing efforts.

A focus on blended lead costs helps solve the problem of “leads from ads are too expensive but I can’t scale my free, direct, and organic leads.” By focusing on the blended picture, you’re likely to find that as ad traffic goes up, overall traffic to your site goes up. This makes sense; you’re raising overall awareness of your brand.

For example, at Pronto we had a really hard time getting leads to convert from display banners, so we decided to test a reduction in banner traffic. Lo-and-behold, pretty soon we saw a marked drop in leads from direct and organic. We hypothesized that banners were increasing the number of people seeing our brand and as a result, typing in our URL directly or company name into their search bar. So not only did we turn the display back on, we increased the budget to get more traffic and we soon found we got even more leads overall at a blended lead cost we could afford.

You’ll likely find that the blended lead cost is much more tolerable in terms of ROI, and as a result, you can actually commit more ad budget. When you are able to commit budget to ads consistently over time, you get the benefit of seeing trends and can optimize related channels. If you’re staying under your target blended lead cost, you have lots of room to test.

Final thoughts

What should you be spending on digital marketing in 2024?

Enough that you’re able to successfully achieve your goals.

We’ve established it’s important to keep marketing, even if the temptation is to pull back the budget during uncertain times. History tells us that if you have a good product or service that customers want, you won’t lose with strategic marketing spend.

Bigger doesn’t always win. If you’re a small business with a limited budget, you can compete with careful research and planning. If you’d like to know more about how to get digital marketing working well for you in 2024, talk to us! You can book a free consultation here.

The post How Much Should You Spend on Digital Marketing in 2024 appeared first on Pronto Marketing.

Mastering SEO for Lead Generation: 5 Pro Strategies for Business Leaders

Matteo Trovato — Fri, 01 Sep 2023 05:07:33 +0000

You’ve likely come across the adage, “You have to spend money to make money.” But in the digital world, this isn’t always the case.

While investing in Google Ads and PPC campaigns can offer quick wins, they often come with a hefty price tag. In today’s competitive market, relying solely on paid placements might not provide the sustainable growth your company needs. Enter SEO for lead generation – a strategy that promises not just traffic, but quality leads that convert.

As seasoned digital marketers who have navigated the tumultuous waters of pay-per-click advertising, here at Pronto we’ve witnessed firsthand the power of organic traffic. When done right, it not only boosts your marketing ROI but also lays a foundation for consistent, long-term growth.

But it’s not just about ranking high on search engines. Ensuring that your website is optimized for user experience, that your content resonates with your target audience, and that you’re capturing leads effectively are all crucial components of a holistic SEO strategy.

In this guide, we’ll delve into the details of SEO for lead generation. You’ll understand why it’s more than just keywords and backlinks – it’s about creating a digital ecosystem where potential customers can find you, trust you, and engage with you. We’ll shed light on strategies that not only drive traffic but also ensure that this traffic has a high potential to convert.

Quick summary

SEO lead generation is the process of finding potential customers for your products or services through search engines. It involves targeting specific terms and phrases that your potential customers are searching for, ensuring that the traffic coming to your website from search engines is interested in what you have to offer.

The SEO lead generation funnel is a delicate balance of attracting, engaging, and converting potential customers as they go through the erratic decision and buying process of your product or services. Each stage of this funnel has its nuances. Attracting isn’t merely about visibility, but relevance. Engaging goes beyond captivating content—it’s about building trust. And converting is the art of ensuring your solution aligns perfectly with a potential customer’s needs.

Organic leads truly lay the foundation for enduring business growth. Not only do they save on costs, but they also bring in a level of prospect engagement that’s genuinely superior. When a meticulously optimized website and a content strategy tailored for search engines work in harmony, they become a magnet for potential customers actively seeking what you offer.

The pivotal role of SEO in modern businesses

SEO plays a vital role in every aspect of business and its impact can be felt throughout the digital buyer’s journey, connecting all the pieces together. It’s not just about being on the first page of Google anymore.

Establishing a strong digital footprint is crucial in gaining authority and increasing visibility for potential customers.

By prioritizing your online presence, you can ensure that your name is the first to appear when they search for services or products you offer.

The connection between SEO and lead generation

Imagine SEO as the bridge that connects potential and prospective customers to businesses. On one side, you have a sea of internet users searching for solutions, products, or services. And on the other, businesses eagerly wait to cater to these needs.

With SEO acting as a reliable guide, the journey from a potential customer’s initial query to your website can be a smooth and seamless experience.

When done right, SEO doesn’t just bring traffic – it brings in organic leads, individuals genuinely interested in what you have to offer.

The essence of lead generation through SEO lies in establishing a strong connection with your website visitors.

Understanding SEO and Lead Generation

In the vast ocean of digital marketing, SEO stands as a lighthouse, guiding businesses to the shores of success.

The intricate dynamics between search engines and businesses can be difficult to navigate, but with the right approach, success is within reach.

What is SEO lead generation?

SEO lead generation is the activity of generating new potential customers for your products or services through search engines such as Google, YouTube, and Bing.

It’s not about casting a wide net and hoping for the best. Instead, it’s about precision – targeting terms and phrases that your potential customers are searching for, from the moment they realize they have a problem to the moment they are comparing solutions and trying to find the best one to solve it.

When done right, SEO lead generation ensures that the traffic coming from search engine results pages to your site is not just any traffic; it’s traffic that’s already interested in what you have to offer. It’s like setting up a shop in the busiest street of the city, where every passerby is a potential customer.

Benefits of organic leads in business growth

Organic leads, those precious gems obtained without paying for ads, are the lifeblood of sustainable business growth. Why? Because they’re cost-effective!

Now you are benefiting from having a website and content strategy that are fully optimized for search engines.

Moreover, organic leads tend to be more qualified. They’ve found you because they were searching for something specific, something you offer. It’s like a match made in digital heaven.

Over time, as your SEO strategies mature, the cost per acquisition decreases, leading to a higher ROI. And isn’t that the dream of every business?

Why search engines are the gatekeepers to your potential customers

Think of search engines as the modern-day Yellow Pages but with a twist. Instead of businesses deciding where they want to be listed, it’s the search engines that make that call.

However, they have high standards and are particular about the results they display.

To appear in search results, the material on your website must be relevant, accurate, and informative – otherwise, you will be left in the digital dust. But, if you play your cards right, optimize your content, and provide genuine value, search engines will reward you by placing you front and center.

The role of SEO in lead generation

SEO is more than just a term you’ll hear in digital marketing meetings. It’s the silent engine driving businesses to online success.

So, how does this technical concept result in actual business leads? Let’s break it down.

The importance of relevant keywords and search intent

Imagine you’re a fisherman. Instead of casting your net into the vast ocean, hoping to catch something, you’ve got a map that shows you exactly where the fish are biting.

That’s what keywords and search intent offer. They’re your map in the vast ocean of the internet.

By understanding search traffic and targeting specific keywords that your potential customers are searching for, you’re effectively placing your net where the fish are.

But it’s not just about any keywords; it’s about relevant keywords. It’s about understanding the intent behind those searches. Are they looking for information? Are they ready to buy? By aligning your content with search intent, you’re not just attracting visitors; you’re attracting the right visitors.

Breaking down the SEO lead generation funnel

The SEO lead generation funnel is a beautiful dance of attracting, engaging, and converting.

Picture this: At the top, you have awareness. This is where potential customers first discover you, perhaps through a blog post or an informative video. As they move down the funnel, they enter the consideration phase. They’re thinking, “Hmm, this solution seems right for me.” They might sign up for your newsletter or follow you on social media.

And then, the magic happens.

They reach the decision phase, where they’re ready to take action, be it making a purchase, signing up for a webinar, or any other conversion goal.

This sales funnel isn’t linear; it’s dynamic, and SEO plays a pivotal role at every stage, ensuring that the right content reaches the right people at the right time.

The transformation of website visitors into potential leads

So, you’ve got traffic. Great! But traffic alone won’t pay the bills. It’s the transformation of these visitors into leads that’s the golden ticket.

Think of your website as a party. Visitors are your guests. Now, how do you turn these guests into friends? By engaging them, understanding their needs, and offering value.

Whether it’s through compelling content, an irresistible lead magnet, or an engaging call-to-action, the goal is to build a relationship.And just like in real life, building this relationship takes time, effort, and consistency.

But the rewards? Oh, they’re worth it.

Because once a visitor becomes a lead, they’re not just a statistic; they’re a potential customer, a potential advocate, a potential part of your business’s growth story.

Important Note! To be successful in SEO and lead generation, avoid dishonest tactics and shortcuts.

The key to success with any type of lead generation activity is to demonstrate real value to your target audience before expecting anything in return from them.

When you understand their needs and make it your mission to unselfishly meet them, success will be the only possible outcome.

Implementing 5 SEO Strategies for Lead Generation

Improving your website’s visibility is just the beginning of SEO. The ultimate goal is to attract qualified traffic and convert it into leads.

But, how can you make sure that your SEO strategy is generating tangible results?

Here are five proven tactics that can take your lead generation efforts to the next level. Let’s dive in!

1. Why keyword research is your foundation

Keyword research isn’t just the first step; it’s the cornerstone of your entire SEO lead generation strategy. Think of it as the blueprint for your digital house. Without it, you’re building on shaky ground. But with keyword research as a solid foundation, every brick you lay (or content you create) has a purpose and direction.

Using tools like Google Search Console and Google Analytics

Ever heard the saying, “You can’t improve what you can’t measure”?

Google Search Console and Google Analytics are your go-to tools when it comes to measuring your website’s performance.

With them, you can see which keywords are bringing in traffic, how your visitors are engaging with your content, and identify any areas where your SEO strategy may be lacking. It’s essentially a top-down view of your online presence, providing you with the data you need to make informed decisions.

Understanding the difference between informational and transactional keywords

Imagine walking into a store. Some people are just browsing, while others have a shopping list and a mission. Informational keywords cater to the browsers, offering answers and insights. Transactional keywords, on the other hand, are for those on a mission, ready to take action.

By targeting both, you’re catering to visitors at every stage of the buyer’s journey, ensuring no opportunity is missed.

2. Optimizing web pages for SEO

Your website is your digital storefront. Just as you’d ensure your physical store is inviting and easy to navigate, your website needs to be optimized for both search engines and visitors. It’s a delicate balance, but when done right, it can transform your site into a lead-generating machine.

On-page optimization best practices

On-page optimization is like the interior design of your digital store. It’s about ensuring that every element, from your headers to your images, is optimized for search engines. This includes using relevant keywords naturally within the content, optimizing image alt tags, and ensuring that your site’s structure is search-engine friendly. But remember, it’s not just about ticking boxes; it’s about creating a seamless user experience.

The importance of meta descriptions and SEO-optimized content

Ever judged a book by its cover? That’s what meta descriptions are for your content – a sneak peek of your web page that entices readers to click. A compelling meta description can be the difference between a click and a pass. And once visitors are on your page, SEO-optimized content ensures they stay, engage, and hopefully, convert.

3. Embracing the power of link-building

In the vast digital ocean, links are the bridges connecting islands of content.

A robust link-building strategy is what makes the difference between a website that appears on the first page of Google and one that doesn’t. Links are considered a vote of trust from a website to another and what search engines use to determine its credibility and authority.

The more quality links from reputable sources pointing to your website, the higher you will rank, and the more chances you’ll have to drive organic leads your way.

Identifying and fixing broken links

Ever been on a road trip and hit a dead end? That’s what broken links feel like to your visitors.

Broken links are links from one page to another or from one website to another that no longer lead to the intended page or website.

Broken links aren’t just bad for website users but for your SEO as well. Anything that deteriorates the experience of people visiting your website will have a direct impact on your ability to convert them into leads.

Regularly auditing your website for broken links and fixing them ensures a smooth journey for both users and search engines.

Harnessing high-quality links for SEO credibility

Imagine getting a recommendation from a trusted friend versus a stranger. Which holds more weight?

Similarly, high-quality backlinks from authoritative sites within your industry will transfer part of their authoritativeness to you, boosting your credibility in the eyes of Google.

When it comes to building links, quality trumps quantity. Make sure the websites linking to you are in the same or closely related industry as yours, in the same geographic area or community, and share similar goals.

4. Local SEO: Tapping into local lead generation

For local businesses, their local community is just as important to their success as their online presence.

Local SEO ensures that when someone nearby searches in Google for the services you offer, your website appears right there at the top of the organic and map results.

Benefits for local businesses

Local SEO is like having a neon sign in a bustling market. It ensures that local customers find you easily. With optimized local listings and positive reviews, you can stand out in local search engine ranking and results, driving foot traffic and local online leads.

Leveraging Google Search Results and local search

Remember the last time you searched for “best pizza place near me”? Google’s local search results, complete with map listings, reviews, and business details, guided you.

Consistent use of relevant local keywords and maintaining a uniform business identity across all your web properties will allow Google to more easily associate your business to local searches for the products and services you offer.

5. Content strategy for organic lead generation

Effective SEO relies heavily on quality content. Your ability to engage, communicate, and convert your website visitors hinges on the value of the information you publish on your website.

However, to ensure success, you must create content that equally informs, engages, and builds loyalty with your ideal customers.

Crafting blog posts that resonate with the target audience

Ever read an article or watched a video and felt like it was done just for you? That’s when you know the person behind that piece of content took the time to understand your pain points, interests, and desires.

If you pay close attention when that happens again, you’ll notice references, examples, and a tone of voice that closely resonates with your own personal experience.

Creating resonance is the ultimate goal of any type of content. Resonance is what draws you back into your favorite music artist, author, or tv series. Building resonance with your target audience means speaking their language in relation to the problems your services are able to solve for them.

Why fresh website content boosts search engine rankings

Search engines love fresh content. Their goal is to offer the most up-to-date and accurate information to online searchers. When you publish new content to your website, you’re essentially giving Google and other search engines new content to scan, index, and rank.

The more frequently you publish content on your website, the quicker search engines will crawl and index it, giving you an edge and helping you increase your organic traffic and improve your visibility in the search results.

Measuring success and iterating

Navigating the world of SEO is akin to sailing on a constantly shifting sea. You must continuously make micro-adjustments to ensure they are headed in the correct direction.

So, how can you be certain that you are on the right track?

The solution is to regularly analyze your website metrics and make adjustments to your strategy.

Let’s delve further into the techniques that will assist you in gauging your SEO accomplishments and adapting as necessary.

Competitor analysis: Know where you stand

In the ever-evolving world of SEO, keeping tabs on your competitors’ moves is key to gaining a strategic advantage.

By analyzing their every move with specialized competitive intelligence tools, you can identify areas where your own marketing strategy could use some improvement and uncover opportunities to outrank them.

The game of SEO is mostly played with the top 10 organic Google results for the keywords you want your website to be found. By studying and applying the same on-page and off-page SEO strategies that brought those websites to the frontpage of Google , you can fastrack your own success and better align your own website with what Google is looking for in terms of keywords, content format, and backlinks.

SEO tools to gauge performance and guide adjustments

Imagine trying to assemble a puzzle without seeing the picture on the box. That’s what SEO feels like without the right tools.

Tools like SEMrush, Ahrefs, and Google Analytics provide invaluable insights into your website’s performance and its direct competitors. They help you understand which keywords are driving traffic, which pages are resonating with your audience, and where there’s room for improvement. It’s like having a GPS for your SEO journey, guiding you toward your destination.

The long-term vision: Why SEO is not a one-time task

SEO is not just a one-time thing that you do or a one-time action that leads you to the top of Google search results. SEO is the product of many micro-actions that compound over a long period of time and that allow you to drive rankings

Conclusion: Embarking on your SEO journey for maximum lead generation

The insights and strategies presented in this article are tried and tested methods that have proven to be indispensable to countless businesses in their pursuit of generating leads through SEO.

SEO is an ever-evolving field and as such it can be seen as an art form and science where commitment to understanding your audience, refining your approach, and consistently delivering value are the pillars to achieving success.

If you are interested in learning more about how SEO can help boost your business’ lead generation efforts, speak to one of our marketing experts. We’d love to put you on the right path.

The post Mastering SEO for Lead Generation: 5 Pro Strategies for Business Leaders appeared first on Pronto Marketing.

MSP SEO Guide to Ranking Higher on Google

Tim Kelsey — Thu, 17 Aug 2023 13:35:00 +0000

Search engine optimization is incredibly important for MSPs to attract the right type of leads that are not only looking for the specific type of IT services you offer but also are located within the areas you serve.

That first page of Google results is the ultimate billboard for your services but getting on it and staying there is an inherently complicated process that has become significantly messier in recent years.

Just about everyone now claims to be an SEO expert, touting some secret sauce recipe that only they can use to push your site to the top of the listings. Don’t fall for the trap. A few back-end tweaks to your website won’t get you to the first page of search results. Advancements in the algorithms that power the search engines have put the power in the hands of the searcher. To rank well, your site must offer tangible value to the people who are searching for your services.

There are hundreds of factors that influence search rankings, but when boiled down, there are three important categories to focus on: on-site SEO, content creation, off-site SEO .

In this article, we’ll not only share MSP SEO best practices but also how you can win at local SEO by optimizing your Google My Business profile and a real world case study on how to get more traffic and leads.

On-Site SEO for MSPs

So, what does good on-site SEO look like for an MSP?

There are six key areas, and some important considerations for each:

Copywriting – Every page of your site should provide optimal value for your visitors. That means high quality writing that is focused on specific pain points of your target personas, and how your company can resolve them. Don’t blindly follow the guidance of SEO tools that may recommend stuffing your site with keywords. To provide value to your site’s visitors, it’s most important to be clear, focused, and relatable in your copywriting.
Service Pages – At the same time, no matter how good your copywriting is, if you don’t have a page on your site dedicated to a specific service, it’s unlikely you will rank for that term in the search engines. If you provide IT Consulting, make sure there is a page on your site titled “IT Consulting,” that explains exactly what you offer.
Industry Pages – If you target a specific industry, create a page on your site that explains how you serve that industry. For example, if you’re targeting medical offices, you may mention that you’re HIPAA compliant and include testimonials of your happy medical office customers. This can benefit your MSP SEO and it can also be useful to your sales team.
Location Focus – Ranking on the first page of results for something like “IT Support USA” is nearly impossible unless you’re a large corporation with a huge budget for SEO. However, ranking on the first page for something like “IT Support Portland” is a much more achievable goal. Once you’ve identified your local region target, include it in your site’s title tags.
Title Tags – Title Tags are HTML elements that define the name of each page of your site. Your title tags should accurately and concisely describe the content on the page. For example, a good title tag for your IT Consulting page might be “IT Consulting – Portland | Company Name.” A search engine can easily understand the content of the page so it’s more likely to show in the search results if someone in Portland searches for “IT Consulting.”
Crawlability – On the technical side, you need to ensure that search engines can crawl and index all the pages on your site that you want to be shown in search results. Likewise, you should make sure that search engines can’t access pages that shouldn’t be included in search results (e.g., the backend of your website or landing pages that you’ve duplicated for various marketing campaigns).

This isn’t a fully inclusive list for on-site MSP SEO, but it’s a good starting point and will help build your SEO foundation. If you decide to build your MSP Website with Pronto, on-site SEO optimization is included. Pronto’s Search & Advertising team conducts on-site optimization when your site goes live and will gladly answer any questions that you have along the way.

Once you’ve got your on-site SEO taken care of, it’s time to start thinking about how you can stand out from your competitors. If your competitors have their site optimized with good copywriting, service pages, location focus, etc., why should the search engine rank your site higher than theirs?

Search engines are trying to deliver the best search results to the searcher. So the question becomes, what can you do to make your site the best search result? This is what I’ll be covering the the following sections.

Content Creation for MSP SEO

The second piece to a good MSP SEO strategy is content – specifically on your blog. This is content that answers specific and common questions you receive from your clients and prospects. They will likely relate to technology but may cover topics that small business owners frequently search for, or questions they have that relate tangentially to your services.

The goal here is to have fresh, unique, and consistently published content.

Instead of competing only for high level terms like “IT support Portland”, you may show up for “how much should I pay for IT support in Portland” or “what are the most common problems when moving to the cloud”. These are called long tail keywords. If you answer these questions with blog content, you have a better chance of ranking when someone types them into a search engine.

For this strategy to be effective, you must put in time and money. The content can’t be taken from your vendor sites and it can’t be syndicated. It must be content that is only published on your website in order to get the SEO benefit. Content that is syndicated from other sources may help with user engagement on your site, but it provides no original value to your users and search engines will ignore it when indexing your site.

To select the right blog topics, start with your audience. Map out who you want to engage with and which personas you will write for. You can read more about MSP buyer personas to better understand some of the different decision makers who may read your blog. From here, you’ll have an easier time brainstorming blog topics that will be highly relevant to your target audience.

You’ll find a wealth of blog topics in the conversations between your sales team and clients and prospects. If you hear these questions frequently in meetings, those same people are almost certainly searching for them online. Preemptively answer these questions, provide valuable resources to your target prospects, and engage with them before they even enter the sales conversation, and you’ll enhance your brand credibility and benefit from stronger search rankings.

Off-Site SEO for MSPs

The third piece of the MSP SEO puzzle, and arguably the most important, is the relative authority of your website compared to your competitors. This includes some factors that you don’t have control over, such as the age of your domain name, and other factors that you can influence, such as the relative popularity of your site.

Remember, search engines are trying to deliver the best search results to the searcher. If a website is already popular for a certain subject matter, chances are a user searching for that subject on Google or Bing would also find that website useful. So how do search engines assess the relative popularity of a website for a certain subject matter or topic?

Search engines are constantly crawling websites with bots to identify where the content resides on the internet. But they don’t stop there. If a search engine bot sees a hyperlink, it will check to see where that link goes. If a specific blog post or webpage is getting links from several different websites, the search engine is likely to consider it popular. The links themselves are called backlinks.

To learn more about backlinks, watch the short video below:

While more backlinks going to your website is usually better, they are also weighted. Links from sites with higher Domain Authority (which in turn have more and better links themselves), will provide more value to your site if they link to you. Alternatively, irrelevant backlinks from sites that aren’t credible are more likely to harm your SEO than to help.

You can read more about Domain Authority, a score provided to individual domains and specific URLs within those domains indicating their relative strength compared to other sites, on Moz.

Speaking of backlinks, the link above goes to the Moz website so Moz just received a backlink!

So how do you influence your backlinks and Domain Authority?

It’s all about being active, building relationships, and engaging with other sites. Here are some of the best ways to generate inbound links:

Local Chamber of Commerce – Your local Chamber of Commerce site is highly credible, has a high Domain Authority, and has a strong relevance to your business. Getting your business published on their site is a good first step to building inbound links.
Guest Blog Content – Reach out to relevant sites with high domain authority that accept guest blog content. Offer to write them a blog post at no cost in exchange for a link to your site. They get quality content for their audience, you receive a backlink, and your overall credibility and exposure increases. Subscribe to our Link Building service if you’d like us to do this for you.
Press Releases – If you’ve done something truly newsworthy recently, be sure to write a press release about it. Your press release can be sent to a press distribution network such as PRWeb. Make sure that it’s something worthy of being shared. If the content isn’t newsworthy, it won’t get picked up by the news outlets and thus won’t benefit your SEO.
Work with Vendors on Case Studies – Offer to write a case study to publish on your vendor’s website – once completed, it will link to your website.

The goal here is not just quality links, but also contextual links.

You want links from content that is specifically related to the things you do. If you have an IT Consulting page on your website, for example, getting a link from a highly respected website’s blog post about IT Consulting is immensely valuable.

Ready to promote your MSP? Check out our MSP Marketing services

Winning at Local SEO with Google My Business (GMB)

Local SEO for MSPs is crucial if you’re looking to improve your online presence and attract more local leads. One of the key components of local SEO is optimizing your Google My Business listing (a.k.a. Google Business Profile). By claiming and optimizing your profile, you can significantly impact your rankings on Maps which appear at the top of the search engine results page.

To start, make sure you create a complete and compelling business profile on Google My Business. Provide accurate information about your services, contact details, upload photos, and choose 2-3 business categories. This ensures that potential customers can easily find and connect with you. Then once the set-up is done, encourage your satisfied customers to leave reviews on your listing. Positive reviews not only build trust with potential customers but also contribute to higher rankings on Maps. By using local SEO strategies, you can tailor your GMB profile to meet the specific needs and preferences of your target market.

When optimizing your Google My Business listing, remember to incorporate local SEO techniques. For example, focus on including relevant keywords in your business description, responses to reviews, answers to questions, and posts

Another key local SEO technique for MSPs is leveraging Google My Business posts. To send Google a positive signal that your MSP has fresh and relevant content for local searchers, you’ll need to post regularly on your GMB profile. Share special offers, product updates, and event details. These posts provide additional opportunities to engage with local searchers and drive more traffic to your website.

Learn more by watching our webinar on GMB for MSP, The Only Marketing You’ll Get for Free!

MSP SEO Campaign Case Study: Focusing on High-Value SEO Tactics

Learn the 3 SEO tactics that helped a local MSP company achieve a 150% increase in organic traffic, 300 top 10 keywords, and 150 top 3 keywords in Google in just 10 months.

Read the case study on how MSP SEO Services Led to 150% Spike in Organic Traffic and Increase in Leads

Bringing it all together

Whatever you’ve read online, there is no “quick fix” to SEO which will get you ranking #1 in the search results. Google employs some of the smartest people in the world, and their algorithm is constantly changing and adjusting to the ways in which people try to game the system. Rather than try to outsmart them, follow the rules and make your site better and more valuable than those of your competitors. This alone will often be enough to get your site ranked higher in Google and Bing.

Lastly, don’t forget that to get new clients, you must appeal to your audience and convert them into leads via your sales funnel. SEO can help drive traffic to your site, but make sure you’re doing everything you can to convert leads and follow up with them through relevant emails. If you’d like our help, check out our Google My Business Management service that focuses boosting your local SEO visibility.

The post MSP SEO Guide to Ranking Higher on Google appeared first on Pronto Marketing.

Frequently Asked Questions About AI

Matteo Trovato — Tue, 18 Jul 2023 04:34:30 +0000

Artificial Intelligence has started a new chapter in digital marketing. The introduction of AI into our operations at Pronto Marketing has enabled us to optimize strategies and enhance the impact of the work we do for our clients.

This page addresses some commonly asked questions concerning artificial intelligence, its purpose, and its possible influence on the future of digital marketing.

What exactly is AI?

Artificial Intelligence, often abbreviated as AI, emulates the complexities of human thinking. It has the capacity to execute assignments and further develop its proficiency by learning from data feedback and training.

When we discuss ChatGPT, Bard, Bing AI, and other sizable language models, we’re delving into the realm of generative AI. This groundbreaking technology possesses the ability to produce human-like responses to a diverse range of prompts and inquiries.

These language models undergo extensive training on substantial data quantities, enabling them to produce highly congruent and context-specific replies.

Considering the advancements in AI, should I continue investing in SEO for the foreseeable future?

We firmly believe that AI and SEO are not adversaries; instead, they work together to elevate your brand’s digital presence. SEO is fundamentally about understanding user intent and delivering relevant content.

AI can help in deciphering this user intent more accurately and tailor SEO strategies accordingly, but it does not replace the need for quality SEO. Instead, AI can make your SEO investment even more valuable by enhancing its precision and effectiveness.

I’ve come across discussions about AI-generated content. What is Pronto Marketing’s philosophy on the balance between AI and quality?

While AI can write content, it’s not about replacing human creativity but complementing it. At Pronto Marketing, we see AI as a tool that helps us refine our content, making it more relevant and personalized.

However, it’s the human touch that instills the emotion, empathy, and creativity that truly resonate with your audience. Our stance is about leveraging AI’s analytical prowess to augment, not overshadow, the human creative process. This balance guarantees that the content we write is of the highest quality and strikes a chord with your audience.

How can AI amplify my digital marketing strategies?

AI is more than just a buzzword. AI helps dissect vast amounts of data to uncover actionable insights, enhance personalization, and streamline marketing operations.

For instance, AI algorithms can analyze user behavior, engagement patterns, and other metrics to suggest tweaks in your marketing campaigns. The result is a more targeted and efficient strategy that resonates with your audience and bolsters your brand’s digital footprint.

In what ways does AI enhance content creation and marketing strategies?

AI can help enhance content creation and marketing strategies by providing valuable data-driven insights. These insights can help tailor content to match user intent, predict trends, and automate content distribution.

In addition, AI tools can help identify gaps in your content, suggest relevant topics, and even help with basic content creation tasks. However, as we emphasized earlier, AI is a facilitator in the process, complementing human creativity and strategic thinking, not replacing it.

How will AI change the future of digital marketing?

AI has the potential to significantly transform digital marketing. AI will allow more personalized and dynamic marketing tactics as machine learning and natural language processing progress. It will simplify marketing processes and promote data-driven decision-making.

However, keep in mind that the goal of AI in marketing is to complement rather than replace humans. As we view it, the future of digital marketing is a perfect marriage of AI skills and human ingenuity, with one complementing and enriching the other.

At Pronto Marketing, we are committed to responsibly harnessing AI to make our services – website design, support, SEO, PPC, and content writing – more efficient and valuable to you.

We believe in a human-centric approach, ensuring that AI aids us in doing our jobs better, not replacing us. AI is a tool, and it’s up to us, the human masters of this tool, to ensure it adds value to our clients and their audiences.

The post Frequently Asked Questions About AI appeared first on Pronto Marketing.

Ads for lawyers: All you need to know about running Google Ads

Toma Juceviciute — Fri, 23 Jun 2023 12:52:04 +0000

Google Ads can be a valuable part of your lead generation strategy. After all, the quickest-growing law firms are the ones that excel at online marketing and advertising, not necessarily the ones with lawyers who went to better law schools.

Unlike organic SEO, which takes an extended period of time to show results, if done right, Google Ads can bring in cases almost immediately.

It’s also superior to other types of online advertising, such as Facebook or Instagram ads. Google’s pay-per-click (PPC) solution targets the bottom of funnel keywords precisely when the potential client is searching for your services as opposed to showing up on their screens when they’re casually browsing the Internet with no urgency to find a lawyer.

However, while getting started is easy given the extensive Google Ads resource library you can use to learn about the platform, running successful campaigns for law firms has its learning curve. It requires a level of expertise or else you might end up easily wasting your budget.

Do you know that the keywords “lawyer” and “attorney” are among the top 5 most expensive PPC keywords? (Source: WordStream).

In this article, we’ll take a look at common Google Ads challenges law firms face and share some tips on the things you shouldn’t overlook when running ad campaigns. Let’s dive in!

Is Google Ads for lawyers worth it?

Google is among the most frequently used search engines worldwide. With over 270 million unique users in the USA alone, the majority of people turn to Google to find a trusted lawyer when they need it.

But is it worth it for every law firm out there to run paid ad campaigns on Google? The answer depends on multiple factors, such as your main goals, the type and size of your firm, competition in your local area, and most importantly budget. Google Ads can be a costly investment for those with limited resources and much more affordable for already seasoned law firms, which tend to already dominate the search results.

Cost of running Google Ads for lawyers

Let’s take a closer look at the data of popular lawyer and attorney keywords.

Keyword	Table Header	Table Header
accident lawyer	27K	$145.00
personal injury lawyer	134K	$110.00
personal injury attorney	74K	$100.00
personal injury lawyer oakland	90K	$80.00
divorce lawyer	39K	$30.00
family law attorney	47K	$20.00
family law attorney houston	1.2K	$20.00
social security disability lawyer	9.3K	$17.00
custody lawyer	6.2K	$13.00

As you can see in the table above, you could be spending as much as $145 every time someone clicks on your ad to relatively as little as $13. The costs vary greatly depending on the type of law you practice as well as the area your law office is located in.

With these price points, let’s do a quick math to see how much you’d need to allocate to ads.

For instance, to get at least 100 clicks per month for $20 keywords, you’d need a minimum starting budget of $2,000. If your landing page converts at an industry-standard rate of 3% (3 leads per 100 clicks), you’d be paying approximately $666 for each inquiry or call received.

The actual cost per click may vary based on the quality of your ads and your bidding strategy. Over time costs per click can become cheaper if your ads are well-targeted and landing pages have high Quality Scores.

To determine whether Google Ads is a right fit for your practice in terms of costs, You’ll need to do some forecasting and calculations using tools like Keyword Planner, which comes free with a Google Ads account. In the end, don’t forget to account for the time and manpower that will need to be spent on ongoing ads management and optimizations.

Google Ads leads quality

While paid ads can bring in leads almost immediately, let’s be real – not all of them are going to be qualified to meet your specific criteria. If you’re like most law firms, you probably take on only the cases that bring in certain returns.

You may decline to take on a case if you don’t believe the potential financial recovery justifies the time and expense of pursuing it. There might be a conflict of interest, or clients unable to afford your rates. It’s necessary to talk with the person who contacted you to know if the lead is qualified.

This is why it’s crucial to have a clear understanding of your ideal client’s needs and create the right set of ads to attract them to contact you. By having well-researched keywords and well-written ads, you can increase the likelihood of capturing leads that are more likely to result in successful cases.

When can a law firm see results from Google Ads?

This can be a difficult fact to take in, but the real success of Google Ads campaigns can’t be judged after the first month or even the first 5-6 months after the launch. You can only start evaluating the real performance of your campaigns when you have collected data over longer periods of time, ideally year-by-year data.

The reason for that is, Google Ads isn’t linear. There are countless external factors impacting ads performance every month, such as new competitors entering the market, existing competitors increasing their spend, changes in social trends, economical situations, and even weather conditions.

It’s natural to see dips in ads performance and revenue losses in some months. But it doesn’t always mean that your ads aren’t working and profitable overall. To determine that, you’ll need to have enough data to look at, ideally at least a year worth of it.

In addition, the legal sales cycle tends to be extremely long too. From the day the person inquired to the day you closed the case, 4-9 months might pass. Only when you have all of the numbers can you determine the real profitability of your ads.

7 tips to get the most out of your Google Ads for lawyers

If you decide to give it a go and invest in Google Ads, that’s fantastic! Here are some of the best practices you should follow to set your Google Ads campaign for long-term success.

1. Make sure to differentiate yourself

First things first, robust differentiation is an absolute must when running paid ads in a saturated field like law. You’ll want to make sure that other law firms aren’t overshadowing you or that your ads don’t sound just like everyone else.

Here’s what you can do to stand out:

Write unique ad copy: Create a punchy ad headline and copy that reflects your target audience’s goals and needs. Always think about the objective of the person who needs help from a lawyer like you and present it in a catchy manner. People click on ads because they see an answer to their problems or are intrigued by what you have to offer.

If you don’t charge unless you win the case, you have 24/7 customer support or offer a free consultation, mention that in your ads description.

Use ad assets: Use as many assets (formerly known as ad extensions) as possible to make your ad appear larger in Google’s search results. There are multiple assets to choose from when setting up the campaign, and while they’re not guaranteed to show up every time, they’re free to use.

Assets can provide additional information about your law firm, such as featuring your phone number, location/address, reviews, site links, etc. So go ahead and make the most out of them as you see fit.

Create highly targeted landing pages: Align your landing page content and design with the specific ad group or, better, the individual ad. That way, you can ensure that visitors who click through are presented with a page that closely matches their search intent.

Mention target keywords throughout the copy, incorporate relevant images and highlight benefits that resonate with your target audience. By creating a landing page that is highly relevant and compelling, you’ll increase your chances of converting visitors into clients. Google would reward your efforts with great ad quality scores as well.

2. Consider multiple sources of conversion points

Talking about call-to-actions, calls are important, but most Millennials would rather not talk on the phone and look for alternatives to reach out to a lawyer.

To make sure you cater for all types of audiences, consider providing multiple ways for people to contact you. In addition to having a phone number clearly present on your landing page, have a form, email address, and consider getting a live chatbot too.

3. Use video

Having a video on a landing page can increase conversion rates by as much as 80%-86%. The majority of people would go as far as checking your social media profiles, LinkedIn, and review sites to form their opinion. There’s no doubt a short video can help you establish a personal connection with potential clients in less than a minute. A video can be a great way to showcase your personality, speaking style, and expertise.

Consider turning some of your most impressive case studies or testimonials into video format too. Potential clients would trust you even more if they saw your current client’s raving about working with you in motion.

4. Have a correct campaign structure

Make sure you have a correct campaign structure from the beginning. A well-structured Google Ads campaign should consist of a campaign, ad groups, ads, keywords, and landing pages. The campaign is the top level of your account, while each ad group should contain a set of ads targeted to specific keywords.

By following this structure, you can ensure that your ads are relevant and measure the success of your campaigns more accurately.

To make this step easier, download our free campaign planning spreadsheet. The sheet is fully formatted to ensure your ad headlines and descriptions are within Google’s limits.

5. Review your search terms every 3 days

Monitoring your keywords every few days is crucial when running Google Ads. Otherwise, you might end up spending your budget on low-intent terms that are unlikely to bring in results. At the begging of a new campaign, it can be time-consuming to go through each and every search term your ads showed up, but it’s extremely important you catch negative keywords and also discover new longer search terms that you weren’t aware of before.

By completing search term reviews regularly, there’s a high chance you’ll see an increase in your overall conversions.

Pro tip: Every month, reshuffle your budget to allocate more money to ad groups that have a high conversion rate but low spending.Take away the budget from the campaigns that have high spending but low conversion rates.

This can be calculated by dividing the individual ad group cost by the total campaign costs. You then can see how much of the total cost is coming from each of the ad groups. Follow the same process to calculate campaign conversion percentages by the ad groups.

From the analysis table above, we can see that the DSA – Experiment costs more than it converts. As a result, the campaign was paused, and its budget was spread across better-performing campaigns.

6. Retargeting

Around 97% of visitors never return to a website. To turn around missed opportunities, it’s important to keep your brand top-of-mind for people who have already visited your website or engaged with your content but left without converting.

This is where display retargeting ads come into play. They can be personalized to different stages of the buyer’s journey, such as targeting users who have abandoned a consultation form or left only after viewing your ads landing page. To learn more about retargeting and its benefits, visit this article.

Important. Google doesn’t show retargeting ads for law firms that focus on finance, crime, and marital status or divorce.

7. Use a CRM to track your leads

It can be challenging to keep track of incoming leads and manage them effectively when the sales cycle takes a few months. This is where a CRM (Customer Relationship Management) system can be a game-changer.

By integrating your Google Ads account with a CRM such as Clio, you can easily track and manage your leads in one place, no matter how long your closing process is. Using a CRM to track your Google Ad leads can save you time and ultimately help you get a more accurate picture of your return on investment.

Conclusion

In this ever-growing digital era, any law practice’s success is heavily dependent on the ability to market and sell services online. With the right techniques and strategies, Google Ads can be a golden tool to help you advertise your brand and attract new legal clients almost instantly.

Running successful Google Ads campaigns can be a complex long-time project, which is why we encourage you to learn about PPC advertising beforehand. Alternatively, contact Pronto, we’ve been building websites and running ads for lawyers for over 14 years.

Want to see Google Ads for lawyers in action? Check out our case study: Paid Search Case Study for a California Law Firm – Pronto Marketing

The post Ads for lawyers: All you need to know about running Google Ads appeared first on Pronto Marketing.

Significant Changes to Our Customer Portal: Retiring Web Metrics and Suggesting Alternatives

Adam Selley — Fri, 26 May 2023 12:48:35 +0000

Starting in July 2023, we’ll be launching a new customer portal for all of our clients. This new portal comes with lots of updated features, but as part of this transition, we’ve decided to retire the website metrics feature currently available on the legacy dashboard. The legacy dashboard will continue to be available until the end of 2023 and you’ll be able to access all the metrics for your website via the dashboard until then. Please continue reading for more information about what’s changing and alternative solutions for accessing website metrics after the legacy dashboard has been fully retired.

Understanding the Changes

The elements being phased out at the end of 2023 include:

Traffic Overview
SEO Metrics
Form Submissions

Importantly, clients enrolled in our SEO or advertising services need not worry about these changes. We will be automatically creating a new dashboard for you at no additional cost via Agency Analytics. For those interested in learning more about these services, please complete this survey and we’ll follow up with more information.

Alternatives for Web Traffic Tracking

The removal of the website metric features should not cause any disruption in your ability to track your website’s performance. We recommend the following tools as alternatives:

Traffic Overview

Google Analytics and Google Search Console (Free)

Google Analytics is already installed on all the websites we manage, and we have verified your site in Google Search Console. These free tools provide the same data as the Traffic Overview report. In case of any issues in accessing these tools, please reach out to us by email, and we will assist you promptly.

Google Site Kit (Free)

For an easier way to view your traffic data at a glance, we suggest Google Site Kit. This connects to your Google Search Console and Google Analytics and displays data within the WordPress backend. If you want us to install the Google Site Kit plugin on your website, please fill out this survey.

Keyword Tracking

Google Search Console (Free)

This tool provides detailed information on your site’s performance in Google’s search results, including keyword rankings and click-through rates. If you need access to your Google Search Console account, please email us.

Agency Analytics ($99/year)

This comprehensive reporting tool integrates your ranking and traffic data in one single report. For clients not enrolled in our SEO or advertising services who wish to have their dashboard, we offer configuration and maintenance at just $50/year. If you are interested, please fill out this survey.

Form Submissions

Gravity Forms (Free)

If your website was built by us, your form submission data is already being collected and stored in the WordPress backend via Gravity Forms. Should you need assistance accessing this data, please send us an email. Additionally, we can install the Gravity Forms Google Analytics Add-On on your site for enhanced visual data about your form submissions. Kindly fill out this survey if you wish to make use of this service. We are committed to ensuring a smooth transition through these changes, and we appreciate your understanding and cooperation. We believe these alternatives will enhance your experience with us and are excited about our continued partnership.

Survey

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How much do you rely on data from the Pronto Insights reports?(Required)

Pronto Insights data is critical to my business operations

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Which alternative tools would you like assistance with?(Required)

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I need help accessing Google Search Console

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Any additional comments or feedback you’d like to share?

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4 ChatGPT Prompt Templates for your Web Marketing Projects

Matteo Trovato — Tue, 09 May 2023 06:53:55 +0000

If your small or growing business is trying to compete online, you know things move at light speed. You blink, and you’ve missed the next big thing. That’s why it’s crucial to keep your eyes open for the game-changers, the tools that can make your life easier and your business boom.

Right now, that’s ChatGPT.

AI has been kicking up quite the storm lately, but ChatGPT? It’s not just another drop in the ocean.

This thing’s a tidal wave.

And it’s all about supercharging your content execution.

ChatGPT is more than a high-speed content generator. Its true strength lies in its ability to brainstorm, outline, and build templates when given the right prompts.

It’s like having a creative partner on standby, ready to assist in crafting your message for your target audience.

But remember: ChatGPT isn’t about producing complete pieces — it’s about laying the groundwork.

The human touch comes in to refine and polish, creating a powerful blend of AI efficiency and human creativity. That’s where ChatGPT really shines.

And the really exciting part?

Being ahead of the curve on this could give you a serious leg up on your competition.

It’s a crowded field out there, and anything you can do to stand out from the crowd is gold. So why not let ChatGPT help you break away from the pack?

Let’s dive in and look at 4 prompt templates that can supercharge your web marketing projects.

1. Crafting Compelling Case Studies with AI Assistance

Case studies are powerful tools that help communicate the real-world value your product or service provides to your customers. But, creating compelling case studies that resonate with your target audience can be a tough nut to crack. That’s where ChatGPT comes in.

Your prompt template:

Imagine you’re a marketing strategist for [your company name]. Your task is to craft a compelling case study highlighting the benefits of [your product/service] for [your client company name].

The case study should feature key performance metrics such as [key performance metric #1], [key performance metric #2], and [key performance metric #3] to demonstrate the positive outcomes of their use.

Also, incorporate [client testimonial #1] and [client testimonial #2] to showcase the real-world value your product/service brings to your clients.

The AI will generate a detailed case study draft, allowing you to focus on the finer details.

2. Accelerate Content Creation: Designing Web Page Outlines

Creating a needle-moving web page outline can be a slog. But no worries! ChatGPT can help accelerate this process significantly.

Your prompt template:

“Can you assist me by creating an SEO-focused web page to showcase [your product/service] to [your intended audience]?

Your task is to craft an effective outline that contains optimal headings and subheadings with relevant keywords.

In addition, provide an ideal title tag, meta description, and URL structure to make the webpage more attractive to search engines and improve its reach.”

The AI will then create a structured plan for your content, providing a solid foundation to build upon.

3. Transform Your Landing Pages with Persuasive AI Suggestions

Want to supercharge the conversion potential of your landing pages? ChatGPT can assist by generating persuasive copy that resonates with your target audience.

Your prompt template:

“Can you provide compelling copy suggestions for a landing page that promotes [your product/service] to [target audience]?

The purpose is to enhance the headlines, call-to-action, and highlight the essential benefits. Refer to the existing landing page text provided for inspiration. [copy and pasted landing page text].”

The AI will offer suggestions that can potentially enhance your landing pages’ conversion rates.

4. Ignite Creativity: Brainstorming Blog Topics with ChatGPT

Coming up with fresh, engaging blog topics can sometimes feel like a chore. The research, the SEO considerations, the creative juices — it can feel like a lot. Fortunately, ChatGPT can help spark creativity by generating a list of relevant blog ideas that captivate your target audience.

Your prompt template:

“Brainstorm a set of ten compelling blog topics tailored for a [client’s industry] readership, with a specific focus on [theme or issue], that captivates their attention and keeps them coming back for more.

List the tiles one-by-one and include an accompanying keyword to target for SEO purposes.”

Conclusion

Yes, AI is powerful and ChatGPT is a trailblazer, helping you create a higher volume of quality content that engages your audience.

But here’s the thing — while AI has made tremendous strides, it’s not at a point where you can directly take its responses and paste them onto your website.

It’s more than just about increasing content quantity. It’s about igniting creativity and letting your brand truly stand out.

Embracing this AI revolution early puts you ahead of the pack. But, the journey into AI can feel a little overwhelming, can’t it? Well, that’s where we at Pronto step in.

Whether it’s publishing new web pages, launching landing pages, writing blogs, or refining and posting compelling case studies, our WordPress Support service is here to turn these projects into reality.

So, are you ready to supercharge your content strategy with ChatGPT and Pronto? Let’s level up your content game together!

If you’re already a part of the Pronto family, let’s elevate your website projects with the power of ChatGPT. Submit a new support request and let our WordPress experts breathe life into your AI-enhanced content.

For those just discovering Pronto, we invite you to explore how our team can seamlessly transition your AI-generated content from mere concepts on your screen to engaging realities on your website. Request a consultation today.

The post 4 ChatGPT Prompt Templates for your Web Marketing Projects appeared first on Pronto Marketing.

How to Write a Highly Engaging Homepage Headline

Ravin Nair — Thu, 30 Mar 2023 16:09:28 +0000

This guide explains how to create an effective homepage headline for your business website. It includes best practices, SEO considerations, and multiple examples of good and not so good homepage headlines.

Introduction

Why is your homepage headline important?

Homepages are all about inspiring people to stay on a website and explore what’s on offer. A homepage has to capture the attention of a visitor and tell them who you are and what you do. It also needs to tell them how you can provide what they’re looking for, and direct them where to go next. With short attention spans and an oversupply of options, many people are not willing to invest a lot of effort trying to figure these things out on their own. Therefore, your homepage has to make things clear at the beginning, from the top. In other words, starting with the headline.

Unfortunately, with most websites, people do not get past the first impression stage: they land on the homepage and then leave. When someone visits a page of a website and leaves without taking action or exploring other pages, it’s known as bouncing. A key objective of website optimization is to lower the bounce rate metric. Low bounce rates correlate to increased conversion rates on business websites, so it’s crucial to think about the impression your homepage makes with your visitors, and how you can keep them on your site and engaged.

Analysis of typical website user behavior reveals how important the homepage — and particularly the top of the homepage — is. Services like Google Analytics can record how far users scroll down website pages before they bounce, and this data shows that most first-time visitors to a website spend their time looking at the top section of a homepage, which is the section they see before they have to start scrolling down.

This section is called above the fold, and it contains the header: the menus across the top, a headline and other text, a banner image and/or video, and it introduces the design theme of the website. You’ve seen thousands and thousands of them, but how many captured your attention and inspired you to keep exploring the site?

Well, there’s data for that, too. It seems the 80/20 rule comes into play here and fully four out of every five homepage visitors are not scrolling down. This means 80% of visitors to most websites are only viewing the website header, then bouncing. Add this to the average attention span of 8.25 seconds and you’ll see that most people likely never go past the headline.

The sad fact is the vast majority of websites follow this trend. They have high bounce rates and low conversion rates. So let’s make sure your site isn’t one of them. In this article, we’ll focus specifically on creating a captivating, informative headline that will assure the visitor they are in the right place and inspire them to scroll down the page and click through to other pages. One last bit of data: A/B testing has proven that these kinds of effective headlines lift conversion rates by 10.4%

First, let’s clarify the anatomy of a homepage above the fold. The current term for this familiar area is the header. As mentioned above, this is the top section of the page users see before they need to scroll, and it’s your prime real estate.

Here is an example of an effective homepage header:

(1)homepage headline, (2) subheadline, (3) call to action, (4) supporting imagery

It’s of paramount importance that your homepage headline, subheadline, and other elements above the fold pass the “grunt test,” a term coined by Donald Miller of Storybrand. To pass this test, your customers need to be able to answer three questions in their minds within a few seconds of seeing your homepage header:

What does this business offer?
How will they make my life better?
What do I need to do to buy it?

The example header above accomplishes these three goals. Being able to quickly and concisely tell a visitor what they need to know will capture their attention and make them want to spend more time on your site or take meaningful action like filling out a contact form.

Struggling to come up with a good homepage headline?

Experiment with our selection of headline and subheadline templates, curated from a variety of successful websites, to start crafting a more effective homepage headline.

So, how can I craft an attention-grabbing homepage headline?

Note: Before you start brainstorming headlines for your business homepage, you need to be clear about who you’re targeting. You have to understand your customers’ motivations, needs, and what will inspire them or prevent them from taking action. If you’re unsure how to go about this, refer to our article on defining your target audience.

Here are eight tips and best practices for creating headlines:

1. Describe what you offer in as few words as possible.

Your headline should communicate your core service/product/offering so that readers know they’ve landed in the right place.
Your subheadline can back up the message in the headline with context or details. Note that the subheadline does not normally contribute to SEO (search engine optimization) performance or ranking.

2. Make the core message of the headline about the reader and their outcomes, not about you.

Elucidate the benefit to the reader of doing business with you — highlight what’s in it for them. How will their life change by engaging with your company or using your products/services? What kind of transformation can they expect? How will you be able to solve their problem?

3. Be as clear as possible.

A headline like, Data for Building a Sustainable Long-Term Strategy is too vague. Is this a tool? Is it a service? Is it a strategy? How does it ensure sustainability? Why should a person look for this to improve their operations, and what operations are we talking about? Vague or jargon-laden headlines like this one raise more questions than answers, and that triggers skepticism, which leads to bouncing.
Your headline and subheadline should hook and guide the reader with a message that reaches the creative, emotional, right side of the brain. Less is often more here, so don’t try to make it too clever or complicated. Here is a list of “power words” in English.

4. Develop the body copy first.

Most professional copywriters write the headline as the last step after the page copy is finished. This ensures the headline conveys the actual vision for the product/service that’s described on the page. To replicate this, summarize everything the body copy of your homepage says and make sure your headline is consistent with this messaging.

5. Create different versions of your headline.

Headlines are rarely perfect the way they are and seem to always benefit from tweaking. Creating different versions will help you find the best version. Try narrowing down to a few versions addressing a very specific problem or even just a single most important use case.

6. Test and test again.

Run A/B tests on the headlines to see which is able to catch the attention of the most users. Show them to people in real time and see which can pass the “grunt test” described above.
Use tools like this for a better understanding of the emotional aspect: Headline Analyzer – Emotional Marketing Value

7. Familiarize yourself with SEO and search ranking performance. For example, if you know there are keywords associated with your business and with what your customers are searching for, be sure to include these words in your headline. Other technical aspects of SEO regarding headlines include:

The ideal headline length is from 6 to 12 words.
The H1 headline coding can be applied to smaller lines of text placed above your headline. Known as an eyebrow, this is a way to have your large-text headline focus on the benefit/transformation you offer to your audience and still get the SEO benefit of having your primary service/product keyword in the headline. Examples will be shown in the following section.

8. Use strong supporting visuals and a call to action.

Your headline will probably only take up a small portion of the homepage header real estate, leaving you space for an appealing image, video, or other graphics. Reinforce your headline and subheadline with visuals that support your message and a call to action that directs readers to take a next step. Also, avoid using stock photos.

Do I need to strictly follow these recommendations?

The short answer is that it depends. The tips above are guidelines and best practices, not rules. You’ll find many established companies who don’t adhere to these guidelines because of their high levels of brand awareness. Think, Apple, Nike, Tesla, etc. They don’t need to spell out what they do, who it’s for, or what a visitor to their website should do next because the vast majority of people already know. It’s tempting to use these major brands’ websites for inspiration, but don’t try to replicate them.

However, if you’re reading this, it’s likely that you own or work for a small to medium-sized business and don’t have the luxury of being overly creative with your messaging. Simply being clear and concise with your homepage headline messaging will put you ahead of most of your competition.

Next, let’s take a look at some homepage headline examples.

Examples of good homepage headlines (and some mistakes to avoid)

This section will outline some good and bad examples of homepage headlines and weigh them against the guidelines and best practices discussed above.

3bExam

3bExam offers online occupational health tests. Their homepage headline communicates a promise of transformation from doing things the old way to doing things in a newer way while also stating what they offer. The subheadline builds trust with visitors by highlighting the company’s authority and the number of years they’ve been in operation. Their headline message is supported further with an explainer video just below.

Ahrefs

Ahrefs is an online SEO support service provider. Their homepage headline does a good job of succinctly communicating two major benefits their audience can achieve with their solution. Note that they don’t need to tell website visitors that they are an SEO software suite because their niche audience of marketing and SEO professionals will have heard of their software in their professional circles.

Baan Thai Immigration Solutions

Baan Thai is an immigration law firm providing legal services for expats in Thailand. Their homepage headline utilizes one of the best practices listed above, including the primary keyword in a small-font H1-tagged “eyebrow” headline above the main large-font headline. Here, the keyword phrase is Immigration Lawyer Thailand, but it’s styled so that it’s not the first thing people focus on when they land on the website. Instead, they are drawn to read the headline and subheadline. This way, they get the SEO benefit of having the keyword in their headline but can direct the reader to focus on the benefit they will derive from engaging with this company.

Basecamp

Basecamp provides online project management software. Their homepage headline, subheadline, and call to action pass the “grunt test” with flying colors. Plus, they manage to include the primary keyword phrase, “project management platform,” in their headline.

Broadwing Legal

Another good example of including the primary keyword in the headline, but styling it so that visitors are drawn to focus on the positive outcome they could experience by working with them.

Cliniko

Cliniko makes healthcare-specific software. Their headline and subheadline clearly tell the visitor what they offer, who they help, and highlight their latest telehealth features to demonstrate how they are solving a newer problem for their target audience. Furthermore, the imagery in the header does a good job of reinforcing the message about their new telehealth features, too.

Crazy Egg

Crazy Egg offers services that help businesses improve the SEO performance of their websites. Their homepage headline spells out the desired outcome that visitors are looking for — that is, improving their website quickly. Their subheadline and call-to-action box includes impressive social proof to back up their claim — “300,000 websites” — and logos of some of the famous companies that use their solution.

Dear Watson Consulting

DWC is an IT services provider specializing in Microsoft’s Power BI software. Their homepage headline and subheadline quickly and concisely communicate what they do and the benefit that their audience can derive. The headline is also optimized for a key search term like “power bi consulting.”

Gant Systems

Gant is a B2B IT services provider. They do a good job of emphasizing transformation and benefits in the headline and use the subheadline to highlight what they offer and who it is for.

Milanote

Milanote is an online tool for organizing ideas and projects on visual boards. Their header is a great example of how powerful supporting imagery can be for reinforcing the message in a headline and subheadline. The imagery shows exactly what the headline means by “Get Organized. Stay Creative.”

Record Retrieval Solutions

Record Retrieval Solutions provide client medical records to legal professionals for use in court cases. Their target audience will be familiar with their services. Their header demonstrates a good, straightforward example of passing the “gunt test” — the headline and subheadline quickly and concisely tell the audience what they do, who it’s for, and the benefit they can expect.

Homepage headline mistakes to avoid

IT Company

Although this homepage headline has successfully included the keyword “it solutions,” their message is unclear. It does not clarify who the target audience is or what benefit they might derive. They are also missing a call to action, so it’s unclear what website visitors should do next to engage with their business.

Personal Injury Lawyers

It’s great to see images of real people in this website’s homepage header, however, their headline “Our team is committed to you” is a missed opportunity to communicate and engage with the visitor. How are they committed? How do they help? Who do they help? How do they benefit their audience? They have also missed the opportunity of including a key search term in their headline.

Wireless Connectivity

This is another example of an ambiguous and unengaging headline. The headline could be improved by describing who this service or solution is for and how they will benefit.

Data Analytics Consulting

In this last example, you can see that the headline isn’t clear about what this company does and who they serve. Also, they make the mistake of focusing on themselves rather than the reader by including “we” three times in the subheadline. Remember, the audience wants to know what’s in it for them, so speak to them.

Struggling to come up with a good homepage headline?

Experiment with our selection of headline and subheadline templates, curated from a variety of successful websites, to start crafting a more effective homepage headline.

FAQs

What makes a good homepage headline?

A headline should clearly state what your business offers, who it’s for, and how they will benefit. It should make the user feel confident that they are in the right place to find solutions to whatever problem they’re trying to solve.

How long should my headline be?

Ideally, as short as possible while still communicating the three goals above and including your primary keyword. Usually, effective headlines are in the 6–10 word range.

What is a homepage subheadline?

A subheadline (also called subheading) is text that is found under the main headline to give further context or support.

What is a homepage header?

The header is what a visitor sees on their screen when they land on your website homepage before they do any scrolling down. It includes the menu across the top, the headline, subheadline, a call to action, and some kind of background visuals.

What is an H1 tag?

H tags are behind-the-scenes bits of code that determine the hierarchy of headlines within web page copy and communicate this to internet search engines like Google. The H1 tag designates the main headline at the top of a page, and can be important for that page’s SEO performance.

Should SEO keywords be added even if they compromise the language of the headline?

No. The headline is so short and impactful that it should never have errors or awkward wording of any kind. Google’s search AI will ignore ungrammatical or incoherent copy — this means that if your headline has issues, your site won’t be listed near the top of your customers’ search results.

If your keyword doesn’t easily fit into your headline, an option is discussed above in tip #7 and demonstrated in the Baan Thai Immigration Solutions and Broadwing Legal website : Place the keyword in a small-font “eyebrow” headline above the large-font main headline. Then, attach the H1 coding tag to the eyebrow. This way, Google’s search AI will link your H1 tagged eyebrow keyword with people’s search results, and visitors to your homepage will still be able to see the messaging in the large-font main headline.

Conclusion

Your homepage headline is your website’s self-introduction. It needs to appeal to the people visiting your website. It also needs to be short, clear, and easy to read. Professional copywriters will tell you that the shorter a bit of text gets, the harder it sometimes becomes to make “perfect.” If you follow the guidelines above, create a few headline options that you believe in, and test them to see which makes the best introduction, you will have made a major contribution to the conversion rate of your site.

If you’re looking for help creating a strategically guided website or need assistance with your marketing strategy in general, schedule a call directly with a Growth Connect Fractional CMO and see if they can be the missing link in achieving your marketing goals.

The post How to Write a Highly Engaging Homepage Headline appeared first on Pronto Marketing.

IT Firm Jumps Up Google Rankings with SEO Campaigns

Toma Juceviciute — Mon, 30 Jan 2023 07:47:25 +0000

An IT firm from Kansas City subscribed to Pronto Marketing’s fully managed SEO service in order to improve their search engine ranking and attract more leads through a well-coordinated link-building campaign.

Background

Complete Technology Services caters mainly to small and medium sized firms and provides a ‘complete’ offering of hardware, software and IT services.

Campaign Objective: Boost Online Visibility with a Strong SEO Foundation

Complete Technology approached Pronto Marketing to improve their rankings and increase their search visibility in their target areas in selected cities in the US Midwest, namely Kansas City, Omaha and Des Moines.

At the start of their project, they were not ranking highly in any searches made by potential customers who were searching for services such as Complete Technology.

Ranking outside the top 10 on Google means that you are not appearing on the first page of search engine results, which significantly impacts your firm’s chances of being noticed.

Complete Technology signed up for Pronto’s Page Booster service, which is a fully-managed link-building service tailored to increase a company’s website traffic through a meticulously planned campaign of competitor analysis, keyword research, and editing and creating pages on the site that are SEO optimized.

Campaign Objective: Boost Online Visibility with a Strong SEO Foundation

The Pronto team got to work quickly, breaking the task down into six stages:

Keyword Strategy: We started by sitting down with the client and finding out which location they wished to prioritize as their target.

The customer provided its services in three cities (Kansas City, Omaha and Des Moines) and so was open to suggestions.
Keyword Research and Competitor Analysis: In order to establish the best location to begin with, our team conducted keyword research and analyzed the competition to identify a list of potential location keywords to target.
Choosing the Right Keywords: Based on the search volumes, traffic potential, and keyword difficulty (the likelihood of the word featuring highly in search engine results), they identified the most suitable term – “IT Support Omaha”.

The client agreed and gave our team the green light to proceed.
Generally speaking, keywords with higher search volumes have a greater chance of generating traffic to a website. However, ranking well for such keywords can involve a considerable outlay from the perspective of a small business.
This is why it is crucial to properly evaluate each client’s circumstances and budget before deciding on a chosen keyword and making a spending commitment.
Location Page Creation & Optimization: Once the keyword was approved by the customer, the SEO specialist created a new location page to target it. The Pronto team ensured that the URL, title tags and headings were optimized for keywords, and related words and terms were used multiple times on the page to help it rank highly in search engine results.

The SEO specialist optimized the page further by running SurferSEO audits, which help to find synonymous terms that will help rank more highly than the original text. In addition, he ensured that the title tag, headings, and meta description were also completely optimized.
Google Search Console: After the new location page went live, our team of specialists submitted it to Google Search Console for crawling and indexing. It is one of the most vital stages of new page creation, as it causes the page in question to appear in search engine results which is the first step to ranking.
Building Backlinks: Finally, the new Omaha location page was ready to start getting backlinks on a monthly basis.

Good quality (from websites with high authority), and relevant backlinks are valuable for SEO because they not only represent a “vote of confidence” from one site to another but are also one of the most important ranking factors. The more quality backlinks the website has, the higher Google will eventually rank it.

Project Outcome and Next Steps

Within a year of commencing with Pronto’s Page Booster service, Complete Technology’s location page for Omaha was at an all-time high position – number 5 in Google search results.

A secondary key term, “Managed Services Omaha”, also reached previously unseen levels, coming in at number 3 by July 2022.

From having no visitors at all in May 2021, Complete Technology’s Omaha location page leapt to 723 cumulative views just over a year later.

Complete Technology weren’t featuring on Google’s first page. After teaming up with Pronto’s SEO specialists and subscribing to our Page Booster link-building service, they are now one of the first sites that potential customers see when they search for IT professionals in the company’s targeted areas.

Pronto has plenty of experience in helping IT companies unlock their online potential, and we are very comfortable handling issues that are specific to the IT services industry.
Get in touch to request a consultation and find out how we can help your business move up a gear.

The post IT Firm Jumps Up Google Rankings with SEO Campaigns appeared first on Pronto Marketing.