How to Kickstart Your SEO Strategy in Eight Easy Steps

/in /by

StrategyDriven Online Marketing and Website Development Article |SEO Strategy|How to Kickstart Your SEO Strategy in Five Easy StepsSearch Engine Optimization offers multiple benefits. The first is within the name – you want your website to appear at the top of certain search engine results. The added benefits, however, include a website that is cleaner, easier to use, and more enjoyable as a whole, as well as content that is more compelling and easy to read.

All of this and more can be enjoyed when you invest in a comprehensive SEO strategy because nowadays SEO is not just for search engine algorithms, it’s for people.

Though each SEO strategy will be unique to your company, it will go through several steps, and you can copy these for your own business and kickstart your strategy today:

Have Your Website Audited

Every website needs to be audited for performance on a regular basis. For high-performing websites, this should be done every three or so months. For others, bi-yearly or annually will do.

Improve the Technical SEO on Your Website

The audit will provide you a guide map on what you need to improve. Before you focus on the content, it is important to improve the technical elements. The site speed, security, page structure – all of these elements are essential to improve beforehand. Making these changes might change the page layout, which is why you will want to wait until after the technical improvements are made before updating the content.

Create Special Pages for Your Business

One of the content changes you will likely have to make (especially if this is your first time improving the SEO of your business) is to create specialized pages.

Location Pages

If your business has multiple locations, or if it serves multiple areas around your business’s location, you will want to create individual location pages. This is great for local SEO.

Service Pages

Alternatively, if you offer multiple services or even product types on your website for sale, then having individual pages with optimized, quality content is key.

FAQ

Voice search is becoming increasingly popular, and a great way to capitalize on voice search is to create an FAQ page in question and answer format.

Optimize your SEO for Local Search

Local SEO is very similar to standard SEO, and up until this point, you will have gone through the same steps as you would regardless of whether you are internet-based (and sell software, for example) or you are location-based.

If you are location-based as many small businesses are, it is now time to focus on local SEO. Have a local SEO agency near you set up your NAP (name, address, phone number) listings, create and optimize your Google My Business, and customize your link building efforts around local media. Local search is far more effective due to the reduction in competition, but you will need specialists to guide you through to success.

Build Your Backlink Profile

Your backlink profile can be built through multiple methods, but all methods must be done using white-hat tactics. Rely on your SEO agency to provide this service for you, and to create the optimized content that will feature your backlink. Doing this the right way will boost organic traffic and your search engine ranking.

How Start-Ups Stay Up – How I Run My Small Business

/in /by

StrategyDriven Managing Your Business Article |Start-Ups |How Start-Ups Stay Up - How I Run My Small BusinessI am a bankruptcy attorney in Philadelphia. I started my law firm over 20 years ago and have helped thousands of clients get a fresh financial start over the years. I have four tips for small business owners both new and experienced. I credit these basic principles with the success of my firm.

Create Your Niche

You might be the greatest widget-maker on the planet, but if the market for widgets is saturated that will not matter – it will be a struggle, up-hill, to get noticed by potential customers. Make sure that when you start your business you have identified a service or product that is fresh to the market, whether that market is local (like a bankruptcy law firm, or a house painter) or global (products that can be exported or services that can be done remotely).

Advertise Your High-Quality Service or Product Online.

The days when a website is just an online business card are long over. An effective website will clearly show what you do or are offering and be findable by people who need you. The structure and content of the site itself should attract the viewer to stay on the site, and eventually start on their Buyer’s Journey to purchasing your service or product.

Any commercial website these days absolutely must be optimized for mobile devices. Potential customers most frequently use their smartphones or their tablets to google solutions to their problems, and they will click away from an unwieldy site that is difficult to read or navigate.

The content of your site should establish your expertise and/or relevance to the viewer’s search, and a clear and easy way to contact you or to purchase your service or product.

Maintaining a blog is a great way to inform current clients and future clients of the latest developments in your field, of new products or services you are offering, and to establish your expertise or your product’s high quality.

Convert Satisfied Clients and Customers into New Clients.

The first order of business is to make sure you are providing current customers and clients with a high-quality product or service. What you offer should do what you promise it to do and if a problem arises, a customer must be able to contact you for a remedy. Good customer service is the primary driver of repeat and referred business. So many clients are referred to me by their friends or family who used my services. That is gratifying.

But how to harness the power of satisfied clients’ goodwill? Provide them with the opportunity to leave you a positive review. I’m not suggesting you email each client or customer yourself, but rather, that you purchase one of the many available systems that automate this process for you. It’s a nominal expense for what you get in return.

Once you have clients’ email addresses, you can create a mailing list to inform list subscribers of sales or specials or a change in operating hours, etc. Make sure to ask clients first before you add them to your mailing list, and in each email sent, offer a simple way to unsubscribe. There are many good list managing companies online who will organize this for you.

Create a Network of Professionals and Peers

Word-of-mouth is valuable not just among former clients and future clients, but between professionals and your peers as well. Here are some ideas about how you can start and grow your network:

  • Join your national professional associations and attend conferences
  • Join your state or local professional associations and attend meetings
  • Join your local rotary club or other organization to network with local businesses unrelated to your business
  • Once established in your field, offer to give talks at meetings and conferences, to establish your expertise
  • Invite members of your network to subscribe to your blog or email list, for the latest news, and join theirs
  • Be active in your community. Volunteer your time or funds to support any quality-of-life events in your city or town, like a July 4th Town Picnic, or a Thanksgiving 5K. You can’t put a price on the goodwill that will generate for you and your business.

About the Author

StrategyDriven Expert Contributor | David M. Offen, Esq.Mr. David M. Offen, Esq. is a bankruptcy and foreclosure attorney in Philadelphia who attended Temple University College and Law School. Mr. Offen is licensed to practice in the States of Pennsylvania and New Jersey. He is a member of the Eastern District of Pennsylvania Bankruptcy Conference and the National Association of Consumer Bankruptcy Attorneys and maintains an active blog on all aspects of bankruptcy filing and current events.

What Is Agile Marketing? The Strategy You Need to Know About

/in /by

StrategyDriven Marketing and Sales Article |What is Agile Marketing |What Is Agile Marketing? The Strategy You Need to Know AboutA 2018 study shows that 37% of polled marketers rely on agile marketing.

Most people associate agile with the software development world. In a world where operational efficiency is critical, it was inevitable that agile would impact marketing. The allure of consistent growth and flexibility in operations demands that you know how to take advantage of agile marketing.

Here’s a primer to help you answer the question, “what is agile marketing?” and show you the benefits you can reap from it.

What Is Agile Marketing?

Agile marketing is the tactical process where marketing teams identify, test, and execute high-value projects collectively.

The agile approach can trace its origins to the software development sector. Here, teams craft development objectives over a particular period (typically seven days).

For the next seven days, every team member focuses on these few objectives. When the set time passes (or the project gets done), the team reviews to gauge its performance.

Agile marketing adopts a similar approach. A project will be split into tasks during the planning phase. The team then follows that up with the execution and a review of the project for future improvement.

Features of Agile Marketing

When a team plans to execute a campaign using agile methodologies, there are critical features they must consider.

They include:

1. Sprint

A sprint is the amount of time a team has to complete its project. Typically, a sprint can range from one to six weeks.

2. Team Work

A critical feature of an agile approach is that the team has to work together. Even when one member spearheads the project, each teammate will still need to contribute meaningfully.

3. Standup Meetings

With agile marketing, a team has to hold a brief meeting every day. During this meeting, each team member goes over their previous day’s actions. Additionally, each team member analyzes the challenges they experienced the previous day and lay out their plans.

4. Progress Tracking

Since everyone on the team needs to keep track of what’s happening in each sprint, you need a centralized information point. Thus, teams working through the agile approach use a board or software to track the progress. Every member then gains access to this information.

The Agile Marketing Process

Once you choose to adopt agile marketing, there is a workflow process you need to use as your guide. The ultimate goal of this process is to promote a continual setting of goals and executing them. Here’s an outline of the process:

1. Goals

The starting point for any agile marketing project is setting SMART goals. That is, goals that are specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and timely. You should give each goal its appropriate priority and review it with every iteration.

2. Personas

Once you set the overall goals for your project, you need to zero in on your target audience. Creating buyer personas helps you accurately define who you want your campaign to impact.

A well-crafted buyer persona will accurately represent real audiences that your campaign can successfully resonate with.

3. Performance Indicators

You now know what goals your agile marketing campaign needs to hit. You also know who your marketing campaign is designed to reach. The next thing you need to do is develop key performance indicators (KPIs) to help you track the progress.

As you develop your project in each sprint, you should compare the results with your KPIs. Doing so helps you identify areas to improve upon for better results.

4. Jobs to Be Done

Jobs to be Done (JTBD) is a running list of tasks that the team needs to complete. During the regular sprint meetings, any action points you identify then turn into tasks you need to do. JTBD can also feature a list of tasks you plan to save for the future.

5. Journey Mapping

Although sprints are critical to ensure the task at hand gets done, you shouldn’t ignore future growth. You need to create goals and tasks for the future that can take your project where you want it to go.

Benefits of Agile Marketing

Agile marketing employs unique methodologies to deliver compelling benefits for your campaign. Let’s take a closer look at some of these advantages.

1. Clarity

A significant advantage of agile marketing is that it clears up any ambiguity with your project. With each sprint, you get to develop specific action points that move your campaign forward.

On top of that, as you track and analyze each stage, you get to test what works best. Thus, your implementation moves from a guesswork approach to a precise effort.

2. Flexibility

Agile marketing places a premium on the ability of the team to respond to changes throughout the project. As you assess the work done in short periods, you get to respond faster to any dynamics that face your project. The result is a more flexible workflow that helps you achieve the results you need.

3. Data-Driven Growth

Agile marketing campaigns rely on real-time data to inform the decisions you make. Consequently, you have better odds of developing more reliable strategies. As you execute one reliable strategy after another, you deliver consistent growth.

Whether you’re working with MediaFace marketing agency or marketing partners, finding out about their data capabilities is critical. Take time to ask them how they plan to leverage real-time data to boost your campaign.

4. Nuanced Campaigns

Spray-and-pray marketing is ineffective because it does not go as deep, despite its broad reach. Therefore, while many people get to see your campaign, a significant number of these viewers don’t fall into the category you want to target.

Agile marketing helps you develop accurate buyer personas that get you to understand your target audience better. The more you know your target audience, the better you can predict their buying decisions.

Such focus on getting to know your audience with every iteration enables you to make smaller marketing audiences profitable.

Agile Marketing Has the Power to Lift Your Campaign

Agile marketing holds the capacity to help your team respond to changes faster and be more efficient. To get the most out of this approach, you need insightful responses to the question, “what is agile marketing?” Understand the elements you need to make the strategy successful and train your team to execute on them.

Are you a busy executive looking to grow your organization? Check out more of our content for insights that can help your business deliver superior results.

9 of the Best Online Small Business Loans

/in /by

StrategyDriven Managing Your Finances Article |Online Small Business Loans|9 of the Best Online Small Business LoansOnly 80% of all small businesses survive the first year after inception. Often, finances are at the center of the untimely collapse of the other 20%. But even when 80 % of the small ventures survive the first year, they still struggle with financing during incubation.

Lack of capital and operational financing is the primary business killer if not well-addressed. However, many online small business loans have emerged to bridge this gap.

There are many suitable online small business loans you should consider getting. Check out our list of the best ones by clicking here.

1. BlueVine

If you have a small business and are looking for quick short-term funding for the venture, then you should consider BlueVine. Most of the traditional loan application methods had an apparent limitation in that they required more than a few working days to complete a loan request. But with BlueVine, your online loan application is easy due to the same day funding assurance.

BlueVine offers small business loans of up to $ 250, 000 repayable in 12 months. With such an amount, a small business can easily thrive and overcome the financing concern that affects most startups. Considering that you have a starting rate of 4.8% spread across 12 months, you can easily thrive past the five years of incubation.

However, for you to qualify for BlueVine small business loans, you must have a minimum credit score of 600. Your business must have also been in operation for more than six months before the application. As a matter of due diligence, your business must also have a minimum annual revenue of $100, 000.

2. SBA 7A Loans Are Also Useful Online Small Business Loans

No one wants to see you lose a startup you have struggled so much to build. This is the primary reason why SBA 7a loans exist. This option offers excellent loan terms for small businesses, which makes the financier the best SBA lender.

The expected turnaround time of SBA 7a loans is 5-10 days, but you could also access these loans in 36 hours, depending on the prevailing circumstances. A critical advantage with these loans is that you can access as much as $5 million with a maximum of 75-85% SBA guarantee.

Most of the time, the interests are within the ranges of 2.25% – 4.75%. With minimal fears about the risk of balloon payments, your business should be on its path to success soon.

A unique yet vital factor associated with these loans relates to the ability to negotiate your preferred terms of engagement. This makes SBA the best place to get a loan.

3. OnDeck

OnDeck provides term loans and lines of credit for your small business. OnDeck lends you up to $500,000 for business, with the option of both short-term and long-term loan application.

Your small business may thrive with this loan option because of the flexibility of repayment it offers. With OnDeck, you can repay your loan in up to 3 years, depending on the size and the monthly payments. This online small business loan option also offers small business substantial loan sizes depending on factors such as business size.

OnDeck offers you the flexibility of easy application and fast funding for up to $100,000. But you must have a credit score of 600, and your business must have been in operation for at least 12 months before the loan application.

4. Kabbage

This loan option is your go-to whenever you need access to quick loans. Kabbage gives you loans of up to $250, 000 within a few hours of a loan application. Kabbage loans fall within the lines of the credit category, with a minimum loan amount of $10, 000.

Kabbage loan has no origination fee. Your small business will also enjoy an interest rate drop, which occurs once in the course of the loan term. Your small business must, however, have been in operation for the past 12 months with an annual revenue requirement of $50,000.

5. LoanBuilder

LoanBuilder is among the most accessible loans that you can customize to fit your needs. If you are looking for the best places to get credits, then this option may work for you. You can access up to $500,000 with interest rates that range between 2.9% and 18.72% depending on the loan size.

The starting interest rates range from 2.9% with an expected APR of up to 136%. Your repayment terms for this loan option is 13 to 52 weeks with a required personal guarantee. You will enjoy the flexibility of a turnaround time of just 24 hours after application.

6. Fundation

One of the common concerns when taking a loan online may be the risk of accumulated penalties due to prepayment related concerns. But with fundation loans, these fears rarely emerge. You’ll have the option of taking up to $500, 000 for term loans.

The loan term goes up to four years, but you may also have the option of accessing lines of credit for up to $150 000. Fundation approves your loan request within one business day. With an APR from about 8.99% to 29.99%, fundation stands out as among the best options.

7. National Funding

National funding is the other suitable small business lending option that would be applicable for your venture. The loans are appropriate for both small business operations and equipment financing.

You can access $5000 to $500,000 on small business financing for your business at an interest rate of 8%. The estimated APR goes up to 136%, with a 2% original fee. Your repayment period ranges between three months to one year, with a loan processing turnaround time of three days on the maximum.

8. LendingClub

If your business is looking for peer-to-peer lenders who can guarantee funding for such ventures, then the LendingClub would be the best place to get a small loan for your undertaking. Your business only needs $50,000 in annual sales to qualify for loans that are up to $300,000.

The option charges fixed rates of 5.99% to 29.99%. But you must have a credit score of 640 or better. Further, your business must have been in operation for more than one year before the application.

9. Funding Circle

If you’re looking for the best place to get a small loan, then you may consider the funding circle. This peer-to-peer lending entity offers businesses up to $500,000 with a maximum APR range of 22.9%. With a notably fast online application process, this option allows you quick access to funding when you need it the most.

Your business must have been operating for at least two years before the loan application. This repayment period is business-friendly, especially for ventures struggling to survive the incubation period. Your annual revenue must also be more than $150,000. The funding circle also requires a minimum credit score of 640 and above to qualify.

Do Not Let Your Business Collapse Due to Lack of Financing When Most of These Loans Are a Click Away
Gone are the days when investors waited with bated breath for banks to approve loans. Online small business loans now offer you quick and reliable financing options for all your business needs.

How to Start a Business with Little to no Capital

/in /by

StrategyDriven Starting Your Business Article |Start a Business|How to Start a Business with Little to no CapitalYou have a great idea for starting your own business, but you’ve got little or no savings. While starting a business when you’re strapped for cash is a challenge, know that this doesn’t mean you can’t go into business. Nor does this mean that people will think less of your new business. There are many firms famous for starting with a few hundred pounds in someone’s garage, and you could be one of them if you take advantage of the resources that are available to you. Let’s look at a few ways you could start your business with little to no capital.

Use Sweat Equity

Don’t buy things when you could rent, and don’t buy new if you can make do with used. The main source of capital will be you and your efforts. Do everything you can yourself before you hire others.

This route isn’t an option if you don’t have the time to work for the business for free or the cost of entering the field is more than you have saved. But, if you are able to start the business on effort alone, recognise that you’ll have a lot of competition and will have to hire people to scale it up.

Leverage Your Day Job for Capital

A common criticism of artists and entrepreneurs is ‘don’t quit your day job’. There are several good reasons to keep your day job while building your small business, too.

First, you can live frugally off your income and funnel the rest of your money into the business. This does mean you’re pressed for time, but you can often build your business if you carefully budget your time outside of work. Your job also improves your credit. You’re eligible for no guarantor loans based on your current income. You don’t have to ask anyone else to co-sign the loan or ask family to loan you money for your business.

A side benefit of starting your business as a side business is that you have margin for error. If you need to tweak the design or change your business model, it won’t hurt the business. You can get feedback from friends, family and referrals.

Find Ways to Generate More Revenue from Your Business Idea

You may have to find new ways to generate revenue from your business. Find ways to generate cash flow from services while designing and selling a product.

Product-based businesses are capital intensive. Try to find ways to make money servicing current owners of the product, such as repairing or appraising the item. If you want to build an app, get started building websites and apps for others. Provide tech support for customers while you’re designing hardware. This will not just generate cash flow you can live on, but it will connect you to potential customers.

You can start a business with little to no cash, and it doesn’t have to involve a ton of debt. Understand your options so that you can find the best solution for funding your start-up.