SEO or Search Engine Optimization is the name of the game when it comes to making your website rank on the top of SERPs or search engine result pages. Without an effective SEO strategy, all your Internet marketing efforts can easily go to waste. The tricky part about SEO is that it changes with the passage of time and most of the businesses operating in Singapore are still hooked on to the SEO trends that were effective in 2015 or 2016. For many new businesses operating in Singapore, it can be very tricky to stay on top of everything going on in the search engine optimization world. The only way they can keep themselves updated with the changing world of pandas, penguins, and hummingbirds is to enroll in an SEO training course and become an SEO expert.

Besides enrolling in an SEO training course or attending an SEO training workshop, there are a number of different things you can do to make sure you have the latest information and updates regarding SEO. Follow these tips to keep yourself updated with the changing world of SEO:

• Use Twitter

Twitter is a great platform to keep you updated with the latest SEO trends. All you need to do is create a suitable SEO steam on the Twitter. You can use the following specific terms to create a relevant stream:
– Google algorithm changes
– Google updates
– Google Panda
– Google Hummingbird
– Google Penguin

Or you can even use general terms such as:
– Search Engine Optimization
– SEO
– SEO updates

• Subscribe to SEO blogs

Many small business owners operating in Singapore also take help from various SEO blogs to stay abreast of the latest changes and updates in the SEO world. The trick here is to only subscribe to SEO blogs that are updated on a constant basis and provide easy to read and follow information. By regularly following popular and authoritative SEO blogs you can easily stay updated with the SEO updates and by implementing them in your marketing strategy you can easily stay ahead of your competitors.

• Use Google Webmaster Tools

Besides giving you information whether your website is properly optimized or not, Google Webmaster tools can also give you information on how Google crawls your site, how it uses the specific keywords to rank your website, and much more. So, never forget to use Google Webmaster tools for all such information.

• Setup Google Alerts

There is no better way to keep you updated with the latest changes in the SEO algorithms than to use Google for this purpose. You can easily save a lot of time and get the most relevant and up-to-date information by setting up Google Alerts. This way, any time there is any change in Google algorithms, you will automatically receive an email alert.
Whether you like enrolling in an SEO training course or you feel comfortable setting up Google Alerts, make sure you know everything about the changing world of SEO, your business survival depends on this.

Many companies fail not because they have inferior products and services, but a lack of a marketing strategy that works for them. Very few companies enjoy a monopoly. The rest are competing for the same space and customers. If you have not aligned your businesses strategically, you’ll soon report a drop in sales. If nothing changes, you will become just another statistic for failed businesses.

The Internet has made it easy for us to buy and sell. Time and geographical boundaries no longer limit us. Many customers have shifted to purchasing online due to the convenience that comes with it. Where does such a move leave businesses that have failed to embrace Internet marketing? It means their customers have moved to service providers and companies who are willing to embrace change.

If you have already shifted your marketing to the Internet, you may have yet to realise the benefits simply because you are not the only one in the digital space. If you are stuck and not sure how to go about it, the following marketing strategies will help you hack Internet marketing;

Select your audience

When developing content for your internet marketing, pause and think about your audience. Reflect on the people who would be interested in buying your products, and then address them. If you develop content for a general audience, you will just be chasing the wind. Your competition will outsmart you and enjoy the sales. If you are selling products for women, narrow your marketing focus to that. Think about the demographic and geographic areas you wish to cover and include it in your content. That way, when potential customers start searching for products within their locality, they will be directed to you.

Positive reviews

You may have killer content, excellent products, and high traffic visiting your site, but sales are still not coming in. The answer to this could be poor reputation. The Internet has a way of rewarding and punishing us. When a customer likes a product on your site and finally makes the decision to purchase, what experience do they get? How did you make them feel when buying from you? Your customer is your greatest ambassador. This sounds cliché, but it is very relevant than ever. Customers will always check your reviews before purchasing. They want to understand the experience of previous clients. If you have negative reviews, the client will move to the next site, and just like that, you lose a potential customer. Therefore, when a customer visits you to purchase products, give them an incredible and memorable experience.

Influencer endorsement

There are certain people whose opinion, whether bad or good, influences people. These people enjoy a huge following, and their word is law in regards to certain products. Using them to promote and endorse your brand will give you visibility and soon customers will come looking for you. For instance, if you dressed a celebrity for a red carpet event and they openly said they are wearing your brand, the Internet will go gaga looking for you. You will enjoy huge traffic to your site, and people will want to look at the type of clothes that you sell.

Emailing

Make a mailing list and keep engaging your customers. You need to remind them of your presence constantly. The email does not always have to be about what you are selling. It can be about the customer. During your first interaction with them, ensure you get their details such as their dates of birth, their wedding anniversary, or even the birthday of their children. Send them a discount code to celebrate an event with them. They will never forget your brand. In short, work towards building relationships through your emails. Such small gestures will create brand loyalty, and they could even be your ambassadors.

Online shopping

The essence of Internet marketing is to get to where the customer is unlike traditional methods where we wait for the customer to come to us. If you are using the Internet to reach out to the client, you are doing great. However, what happens when the client has expressed interest in your product, and they wish to purchase? Do you proceed and direct them to visit your shop at a given physical location?

The customer today, just like you, has competing needs and time is as scarce. Unless what you are selling is meant to help them save a life, it will take a lot of convincing the customer to visit you. Instead, they will prefer to purchase from someone who can deliver the product. Therefore, if you do not have an online shopping option for your customers, you could be losing sales. Let them enjoy the products being delivered to their doorstep, and you will enjoy repeat sales.

Follow these guidelines and enjoy increased conversation and sales. However, if you are finding it difficult navigating the crowded battleground of Internet marketing, do not be discouraged. Enrol in a SEO training course and get the skills that will equip you to run your Internet marketing strategy like a pro.

Millennials are young adults between the ages 18 and 34 who are setting the trends and continuously creating a buzz in modern society. They are also branded as digital natives because they are born in an era where information and technology are at their fingertips. Moreover, they also boast of massive buying power, which is sure to stir up the attention of marketers. So what’s the catch?

Well, due to their preconceived notions regarding personality and interest, millennials are the most difficult group to connect with from a marketing point of view. In fact, millennials are usually resistant to traditional forms of marketing. As a result, choosing what type of marketing strategy to deploy for this generation can be challenging. Worried about making inroads with the millennials? Work with a social media agency to learn about online marketing strategies that will connect with this unique cohort of consumers.

Here is a list of practical, creative tips to help you win the hearts, minds and business of millennial customers.

Meaningful interactions on Social media

Social media channels are the primary sources of news, debate, and opinions these days. Logging on and liking or tweeting are vital parts of everyday exchanges. The number of friends and followers you have on social media has become vital to personal satisfaction and professional success.

Therefore, you should establish a social media presence on Twitter, Facebook, Snapchat, Instagram and the likes in order to appeal to the millennial generation. Then after, to capture the attention of millennials, the interaction should be meaningful and interactive.

A company can offer loyalty programs and special discounts to its social media followers or run creative contests to convey the impression that every consumer is special. You can be sure that such interactive communication will yield increased engagement rates as opposed to a company only tweeting thank you messages or liking fans’ comments.

Influencer marketing

Millennials don’t trust traditional marketing. Television commercials, billboards, and sales pamphlets have little effect on millennials on these days. They think it is all spin; thus they hardly pay attention. However, they tend to trust the opinions of experts or their peers on products and services, and that’s why influencer marketing has become a well-oiled marketing machine for the millennial generation. An influencer is a tech-savvy who tweets, posts, and snaps to their large number of online fans who then go out and purchase the advertised products. Companies can work with online influencers and bloggers to create a team of brand evangelists.

To begin with, you need to determine who would be the ideal influencers to use for your marketing campaign, and what type of followers they have. You don’t want a mismatch between your company and the influencer.  Another point is to allow your chosen influencers to be creative. Allow them to choose how best to market the message because they know what their online followers like and dislike.

Authenticity

You cannot just create an account on Facebook and immediately connect to the millennials. You have to build a relationship based on authenticity between your brand and the millennial generation. One way of achieving authenticity is by establishing an authentic identity in everything a company does. Millennials also assert that they hate communication centred on buying or selling a product and instead love brands that build a relationship with them as individuals, not only as consumers.

Another way of building an authentic relationship is to find out what both the company and the target audience mutually value. For example, millennials like brands that give back to the society. Moreover, if the product is eco-friendly, millennials may be willing to pay for the product. When you identify a mutual connection point, the millennial generation is more likely to pay attention to your brand.

Desist from publishing ad campaigns that scream ‘buy.’ In contrast, promote your company’s unique values and show that you care about the same things as your customers.

Engagement is an aspect you can optimise to take advantage of the views you get when you post online content. Meaningful social media content isn’t easy to create. However, content remains central to generating engagement and that should be the starting point for all brands.

Does engagement actually work? Well, yes. In fact, marketers rank engagement as among the top three parameters for analysing social media advertising success. Moreover, marketers also hold the belief that interactive content creates engagement with buyers. Social media users hate one-way communication where the brand is the one talking while the users are the ones listening. The defining feature for all engaging posts is the ability to attract and maintain the attention of the social media user beyond the usual human attention span of 8 seconds.

What tactics you employ to achieve that is up to you; however, to make things a bit simpler for you, here are four types of online posts that attract the most engagement.

Interactive writing

Your online posts should be written in the most humane way possible. Your choice of words should attract readers into the update, and to do that you need to use a warm tone to directly address them as well as their questions through your post. If possible, write in first person point of view and don’t try to sound more complicated. Always feel free to add a sense of your personality in your posts. It helps to set your posts apart from the rest. In fact, your audience will be able to easily identify you from the crowd based on how you craft your posts.

Stir emotion

To connect with your followers, you need to appeal to their emotions. There are several ways you can connect with your audience from an emotional point of view. First, humor often elicits brand recall and positively drives buying decisions when incorporated into an online marketing post. Who doesn’t need a good laugh?

Entertainment is another way to stir up emotion with your followers. Memorable, entertaining content gives your followers an incentive to engage with your brand. Sharing inspirational content in the form of images, best quotes, and videos has a considerable pull on social media users and will attract attention and engagement.

Open-ended posts

Open conversations bring about brand loyalty and sales. Ask your followers what their wants and needs are and listen carefully to their responses. For example, you could create an #AskMeAnything hashtag campaign. Now comes the enjoyable part. The idea is that when you give such freedom to your audience, it awakens their urge to respond immediately. Introducing incentives is also another way promoting more engagement. A pizza company, for instance, could look to slash the selling price of its giant pizza every time followers tweet or post the hashtag #comeweeat. You can be sure the brand will receive innumerable tweets or responses. While they would end up selling the giant pizza at a lower price than its original price, the engagement achieved that day with followers will cover several times that margin in future.

Visual content

Are you aware of the power of images in attracting the attention of users to an online post? So what types of visual content can you use in your brand updates? First, consider infographics. Generate unique infographics for essential topics in your expertise or industry and brand them. Put your brand logo as well as a link back to an editorial on your website in every social media post. Secondly, you can turn to graphs if you often quote studies on your social media shares. Graphs are a better fit compared to written data because people understand concepts, messages, and ideas more deeply when presented visually, visual content is also retained much longer in the memory and usually shared more.

Want more engagement on your posts? Work with a reputable social media agency and improve your SEO ratings. With the implementation of visual content, interactive writing, open-ended and emotion-stirring content in social media posts, brands can take the guesswork out of creating engaging posts.