http://www.digitalthirdcoast.net/blog We share tips on search engine optimization, pay per click advertising, local search optimizing, and other tactics to improve your online presence. Thu, 02 Feb 2012 17:12:23 +0000 en hourly 1 http://www.digitalthirdcoast.net/blog/how-can-i-tell-seo-working http://www.digitalthirdcoast.net/blog/how-can-i-tell-seo-working#comments Thu, 02 Feb 2012 17:12:22 +0000 Taylor http://www.digitalthirdcoast.net/blog/?p=2785 Core Values. We recognize that one of the biggest challenges facing businesses is figuring out a way to evaluate if their SEO campaign is successful. Ultimately, the only factor that determines success is the bottom-line; like any investment, we do not think that our services are truly successful unless we can provide positive ROI.

At the same time, we recognize that SEO is a long-term investment, and it simply isn't possible to provide positive ROI right out of the gate. So with that in mind, we usually focus on three distinct indicators of SEO success:

Keyphrase Ranking Improvements
Non-Branded Organic Search Traffic
Conversions

At different stages of our campaigns, we tend to focus on these indicators to varying degrees. Because search engine rankings tend to improve relatively quickly to quality SEO, we can use rankings for individual keywords to measure our earliest efforts. Later on in the process, the additional data that trickles in over time allows us to evaluate success based on organic traffic and conversions.]]> http://www.digitalthirdcoast.net/blog/how-can-i-tell-seo-working/feed 0 http://www.digitalthirdcoast.net/blog/local-paid-inclusion-confusion-pays-skeptic-seo http://www.digitalthirdcoast.net/blog/local-paid-inclusion-confusion-pays-skeptic-seo#comments Wed, 01 Feb 2012 16:57:36 +0000 Tim http://www.digitalthirdcoast.net/blog/?p=2796 post on Search Engine Watch, a well-known and widely-read industry site, covering a new service called 'Local Paid Inclusion'. According to the article, LPI was some sort of a partnership between Bruce Clay, Inc (a long-running internet marketing and training agency), and multiple search engines and directories -- including Google, Bing and Yahoo. The post explained that the new service would allow companies to pay to show up in the local results section of a search engine results page.

At first glance, that might not sound unreasonable. After all, search engines do make nearly all of their money off of advertising, right. So it seems entirely possible that they might partner with a third-party agency to improve their local advertising solutions. But what really stuck out about this proposal was the suggestion that this wasn't advertising in the usual, search engine sense. Rather than placing their customers' sites in a clearly-marked 'paid advertisement' area on the site--which has been the MO of search engines since the dawn of online advertising--this new service would actually allow people to pay their way into the normal search engine results.]]> http://www.digitalthirdcoast.net/blog/local-paid-inclusion-confusion-pays-skeptic-seo/feed 0 http://www.digitalthirdcoast.net/blog/digital-coast-featured-crains http://www.digitalthirdcoast.net/blog/digital-coast-featured-crains#comments Mon, 16 Jan 2012 20:55:16 +0000 Taylor http://www.digitalthirdcoast.net/blog/?p=2658


You can read the full article about Digital Third Coast's bonus plan here.

A special thank you to Brad Farris and the Anchor Advisors team!]]> http://www.digitalthirdcoast.net/blog/digital-coast-featured-crains/feed 0 http://www.digitalthirdcoast.net/blog/goals-google-analytics http://www.digitalthirdcoast.net/blog/goals-google-analytics#comments Fri, 16 Dec 2011 19:42:00 +0000 George http://www.digitalthirdcoast.net/blog/?p=2495
If you're going to do only one thing in your analytics implementation, YOU SHOULD TRACK GOALS.]]> http://www.digitalthirdcoast.net/blog/goals-google-analytics/feed 1 http://www.digitalthirdcoast.net/blog/salesman-website http://www.digitalthirdcoast.net/blog/salesman-website#comments Mon, 05 Dec 2011 15:49:12 +0000 John-Henry http://www.digitalthirdcoast.net/blog/?p=2211 SEO fulfills one main purpose: making an introduction. When a Google user searches for a generic keyword like "Chicago internet marketing firm" they are turning to Google to sort out all the possibly relevant websites on the web and rank them in an order of most authoritative to least. But just because a search engine user comes to your site via Google from a non-branded keyword doesn't mean they are going to become a customer or client. SEO only gets them in the front door; it's your website that has to sell them.

If you are trying to bring in business by ranking for generic keywords in Google you are relying on your website to be the initial point of contact for a potential lead or sale. You don't just need to have a website that is, "up to snuff," Your site needs to persuade the visitor to convert. A conversion is a predetermined goal of a website - it can be filling out a lead form, a download, a sale etc... and if you have a bad site there is a good chance your visitors aren't converting as much as they should be.]]> http://www.digitalthirdcoast.net/blog/salesman-website/feed 0 http://www.digitalthirdcoast.net/blog/how-do-you-know-ppc-will-work-for-your-business http://www.digitalthirdcoast.net/blog/how-do-you-know-ppc-will-work-for-your-business#comments Mon, 01 Aug 2011 18:47:26 +0000 Nathan http://www.digitalthirdcoast.net/blog/?p=1599 PPC will work for your business – unless you try it. There are many factors that affect how successful your PPC campaigns will be; everything from the quality of your website to the keywords you choose will directly impact how well your accounts perform. That said, there are a few key indicators that should help you decide whether or not to make the commitment of both your time and your money.]]> http://www.digitalthirdcoast.net/blog/how-do-you-know-ppc-will-work-for-your-business/feed 0 http://www.digitalthirdcoast.net/blog/4-foursquare-business-owner-mistakes http://www.digitalthirdcoast.net/blog/4-foursquare-business-owner-mistakes#comments Mon, 20 Jun 2011 20:09:13 +0000 Taylor http://www.digitalthirdcoast.net/blog/?p=1459 Foursquare is especially interesting for businesses because it reinforces customer loyalty and repeat business. However, there are a lot of caveats when it comes to social media; some business execute it seamlessly...while others leave something to be desired.]]> http://www.digitalthirdcoast.net/blog/4-foursquare-business-owner-mistakes/feed 1 http://www.digitalthirdcoast.net/blog/phone-call-tracking-101-tracking-offline-conversions http://www.digitalthirdcoast.net/blog/phone-call-tracking-101-tracking-offline-conversions#comments Mon, 16 May 2011 19:58:52 +0000 Nathan http://www.digitalthirdcoast.net/blog/?p=1144 PPC conversion tracking codes on your site so you can better optimize your site based on actual user search queries and account metrics you can't see through analytics. You seem to have your bases covered. But what happens when your business does a large portion of their conversions offline? This is when you'd want to use call tracking on your website!]]> http://www.digitalthirdcoast.net/blog/phone-call-tracking-101-tracking-offline-conversions/feed 3 http://www.digitalthirdcoast.net/blog/review-spelling-matters-site http://www.digitalthirdcoast.net/blog/review-spelling-matters-site#comments Wed, 11 May 2011 17:29:19 +0000 Tim http://www.digitalthirdcoast.net/blog/?p=1369
Repeated comments attacking Justin Bieber on completely unrelated videos
Vile expressions of hatred
At least one commenter saying 'I'm only [insert age here] and I love [insert relatively older band]
Repeated comments attacking Lady Gaga on completely unrelated blogs
Repeated comments defending Justin Bieber and/or Lady Gaga
Trolling
And above all else, grammar, punctuation, and spelling that could make a third grade teacher weep for the future]]> http://www.digitalthirdcoast.net/blog/review-spelling-matters-site/feed 0 http://www.digitalthirdcoast.net/blog/5-tips-effective-email-marketing http://www.digitalthirdcoast.net/blog/5-tips-effective-email-marketing#comments Thu, 28 Apr 2011 14:21:12 +0000 John-Henry http://www.digitalthirdcoast.net/blog/?p=1243 Orbit Media Studios. It's a meet up for professionals to discuss best practices in digital marketing and have a few glasses of wine. Last night's topic was email marketing and it was packed with useful information and best practices. Here's a list of the top five valuable take aways from Orbit's April 19th #WineWeb:]]> http://www.digitalthirdcoast.net/blog/5-tips-effective-email-marketing/feed 0