FAQ’s
Advertising
What is Search Engine Marketing? (SEM)
Search Engine Marketing is a digital marketing strategy through paid advertisements that is used to increase the visibility of a website on search engine result pages. These advertisements can be executed through search engines, social media platforms or various 3rd party channels.
Where can I advertise on the internet?
A user can advertise on the internet (or SERPS) through various types of advertisement methods. A few examples include: search, display, shopping, video, email and more! If you’re looking to get started, you have a few options. If search engines is where you think your brand can flourish the most, Google Ads & Microsoft Advertising are available at your disposal. If you’d like to expand your reach elsewhere, social media is a great alternative option. For manufacturing, Vive recommends LinkedIn for a more granular advertisement approach.
How do I know my spend is worth the investment?
When evaluating if your business’s daily, weekly or monthly budget is worth the investment, it’s important to monitor the user engagement that your advertisements or website is receiving. Initially, identifying a conversion is a crucial step to understanding the user(s) engagement and activity. A conversion can be anything you want it to be. A website visitor visiting the contact us page, filling out a form or signing up for a newsletter. So, begin understanding and tracking how users are interacting with your website and determine if those users are turning into business opportunities or qualified leads.
What's better? Google Ads or Bing Ads?
There isn’t necessarily a right or wrong answer to this question. Analytically, Google receives more visitors than Microsoft Bing, Yahoo, AOL, etc. BUT, it all depends on what platform the audience being targeted spends their time on. Google Analytics is a great resource to identify sources of website traffic. Google Analytics provides data that illustrates if website traffic is coming from mediums such as: Google, Bing, DuckDuckGo, Baidu, etc..
I don't get analytics. What is an impression? What's CTR? Please help!
An impression is the amount of times a URL is being displayed in a search engine. For example, each Google results page includes 10 results, plus advertisements. If a user were to type in Google “injection molding” and your company’s URL was displayed on the first page, that is an impression. A CTR or Click-Through-Rate is the percentage of how many users clicked on the URL that was displayed to them. Impressions/Clicks = CTR. More often than not, companies use this metric to determine the quality of their SEO or advertisements.
Digital Marketing
Do I need a new website?
This is one of the most common questions asked when determining digital marketing success. More often than not, if you’re asking this question, the answer is yes. With a strong digital presence becoming more crucial for brand visibility and brand recognition, a new website or refreshed website is the perfect opportunity for your brand to introduce itself. Think of your website as a virtual handshake or opening the door for someone. If your website is lacking aesthetic appeal, relative content, updated imagery and pertinent information it’s probably time for a new or refreshed website.
Another route to identify if a new website is necessary is to analyze traffic and user engagement statistics. Google Analytics and Google Search Console are resources that help paint the bigger picture. The following metrics are important when analyzing these data points: overall users, user time on page, pages visited per visit and bounce rate.
How can I get more traffic to my website for free?
- Re-visit your websites SEO. Are the keywords and content aligning with what you want to show up for in a search engine? Does each page have a title-tag and meta description? SEO is going to be the most important and highly successful way to increase website traffic.
- Increase activity and cadence on social media. If you don’t have social media accounts, create them today. They are FREE! This is a phenomenal way to provide value, thought leadership and create the narrative that your brand is a subject matter expert.
- Blog, Blog, Blog! Blogs work similarly to social media that gives your brand the opportunity to offer content that resonates with your audience. And again, its FREE! Creating a blog page that touches on relative industry news, topics or things going on in your organization will increase search engine visibility.
- Start e-blasting! Generate a list of users in your audience you want to speak to, share information with and provide consistent value. Email marketing platforms provide performance metrics like clicks, opens & open rate once all emails have been delivered. With these metrics, a list of interested user(s) is more obtainable to attain.
Do I really have to blog?
I mean you don’t HAVE to, but you really should. Keywords, key phrases and long-tail keywords are how websites are displayed in search engines. Blogs offer a free and purposeful way to include more keywords on a website…and Google recognizes that. Let’s say a user searches “who has available resin near me” on Google. If you’re a resin distributor or supplier looking for more business, I’m sure you’d like to answer this question! Blogs give you this opportunity. Your blog could be titled ” Resin Shortage, We Got You Covered”. In this blog, your company could explain areas you can help and what resin you have available. Even if the resin is not applicable to their needs, now they know your brand and have visited your website.
Where can I go to find data and analytics on my website?
Analytics to website can be found on Google Analytics & Google Search Console. If you’re looking for information on the company’s Google profile account, Google My Business also provides various user engagement metrics. If Google is not the primary source of traffic, Bing Webmaster Tools is another applicable resource available free of use.
Why is photography and videography important?
Fresh photography and videography are simple and effective ways to keep the user(s) engaged with content. Photography on your website is important for users to tie the content to a picture or real-life application. Videos are a great way to display process’s, procedures or value add provided by your business. Both photography and videography can be utilized in website content, social media, blogs, e-blasts and much more!
What are my competitors doing?
What is content marketing?
Content marketing is a specific approach focused on creating value, relative content and information that is fine-tuned for a specific audience. The ultimate goal is driving profitable customer action.
Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
How does SEO work and what does it do?
SEO or Search Engine Optimization is a set of best practices that is designed to improve the appearance and positioning of web pages in organic search results. With the improved appearance and positioning in the marketplace, the ultimate goal is to rank higher in search engines.
Improving SEO can be executed by conducting the following SEO best practices: 1) Optimizing keywords 2) Crafting enticing Title Tags & Meta Descriptions 3) Internally linking throughout website 4) Backlinking to respected websites or domains 5) Improving page speed of website and all web pages 6) Adding alt txt to all images.
Why is SEO so important?
SEO is so important because websites and algorithms are constantly being updated. If your website is not SEO optimized, you have an increasingly diminishing chance of showing up in the top spots on search engines. Even if your product, services or offerings are a better fit for the user’s search, if SEO best practices are not utilized it does not matter.
Are there any resources I can use to enhance my websites SEO?
There are various resources that can be used to help guide you to SEO success, but certain resources are more helpful than others. Vive has found the following to be of greater influence: 1) https://moz.com/ 2) https://neilpatel.com/ 3) https://www.semrush.com/blog/?page=1
What keywords should I be using in my content?
Use keywords that define who your company is and how your company can provide value to the end user. If the correct keywords, key phrases and long-tail keywords are being utilized in your content and copy, web user(s) will have a better chance of stumbling upon your brand with search engines advanced algorithms.
Social Media
When is the best time to post on social media?
Vive has found that Tuesdays and Thursdays tend receive the highest user engagement when posting on social media for a manufacturing audience. Studies show that between the hours of 9am-1pm, social media platforms are at its highest volume of engagement.
What are some common mistakes company's make on social media?
One of the most common mistakes a social media champion will make on their profile is not speaking to their audience in a way they can understand. Understanding the demographics, geographical location and role of your following base is pertinent when creating content. Another common “mistake” is when a company is not consistent with their social media activity. If establishing your brand as a though leader, subject matter expert or resource in a specific niche is the end goal, consistence is key. Users want to be able to rely on your account or brand to keep pushing out information that may be relevant to their needs or inquires.
What is the best social media channel for my brand?
