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DaBrian Marketing Blog: News, Insights, and Digital Marketing

Link Building: Then and Now

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Link building has always been an important aspect of SEO and, with the latest algorithm changes, still is. However, long gone are the days of simple mass directory submissions and overly-optimized content made for search engines. Even though these tactics may garner a smidgen of link equity, it will not suffice in the world of Google’s Hummingbird algorithm change and the direction the search engine is taking.

Google and the other major search engines are shifting their ranking factors to include content that is original, relevant, readable, and shareable. Therefore, it is imperative to take the time and effort to develop great content that will improve your search rankings, industry knowledge, and reputation.

Bridging Link Building and Measurement

While going through this infographic, keep in mind that to really understand any content’s impact and the significance of your linking opportunities, you need to measure. When you see a site that might make a good linking opportunity, be sure to check its domain and page authorities as well as what that site is linking to. Again, you’re evaluating the opportunity’s overall value.

Another good measurement to employ is looking at the bounce rate of pages that your content is on. Google defines bounce rate as “the percentage of visits that go to only one page before exiting”. If your bounce rate is high, not many visitors are staying on your site. There are several factors that can affect bounce rate but content is one of them. Check out the infographic below for more details!

link building services in Reading, Pa - DaBrian Marketing
Have any questions about link building or content development? Contact us today or leave a comment below!

Measure to Make the Most of Your Marketing

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The secret to better business decisions isn’t magic. It’s not rocket science either. The problems of missed opportunities, wasted budgets, and ever-elusive marketing ROI can be solved using one thing—data. It’s no doubt that both traditional and digital marketing tactics have a place in the business world, but the difficulty of justification so often rears its head. If you’ve allocated time and money to campaigns because “that’s what you’ve always done,” listen up. This post could save you major time and aggravation.

First Things First

Let’s clear something up. When it comes to marketing success, what matters most is the way your business uses its data, not the sole act of collecting it. In our experience, data in isolation is data wasted. With that being said, there’s more to this process than taking simple measurements. If your website saw 1,866 visits this month vs. 979 last month, you probably think you’re on the path toward more customers and visibility. Unfortunately, you’d very likely be wrong. With any piece of information you collect, your question should always be “Which of my goals does this data inform?” If you can’t determine one, then your measurement is either too vague or your goals poorly defined. In either case, you aren’t gathering the actionable insights you should seek.

Setting the Stage for Success

Solid goals should be the first place you start. Construct a detailed plan that incorporates specific, goal-centric measurements. Do you wish to gain a more established presence on social media platforms? Start by defining what constitutes “established” and assigning metrics that will show improvement over time. Some could include an increase in social media brand advocates, a greater volume of inbound social media conversations, more positive audience sentiment, etc. When it comes to determining progress, think about your goals using the SMART framework (Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, and Time-Bound). That way, you’ll avoid the pitfalls of collecting hollow data.

Putting Your Plan in Place

Once you’ve got some solid goals established, it’s time to collect and analyze your information. For example, if you’re working to determine whether your business’s billboard ads are worth the cost, you may place a “vanity” URL (a unique web address that redirects to your desired landing page) on the billboard. Using your chosen analytics platform, you can then filter traffic to those that entered your website using that URL to determine how well the billboard’s message resonated and how effective the medium was as a whole. Some additional components to keep in mind when analyzing include gathering benchmarks (standard measurements through which adequate comparisons can be drawn), testing campaigns (and components within campaigns, such copy or design), and honing in on audience trends (such as behaviors within your online shopping cart).

This information is far from exhaustive, but it serves to highlight a very specific point: marketing campaigns without data to back them up aren’t worth your time or your budget. Taking the time to map out SMART goals and the meaningful metrics by which you’ll determine your progress will be well worth it now and in the future.

Google Analytics API – Lesson 4: Authentication

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Google Analytics API – Lesson 4: Authentication

If you’ve been with us through the entire series, welcome back! This time we’ll get in and get our hands dirty in some code. If you haven’t been with us for the series, start by reading the first part of the series, which discusses some background, and the second part of the series. We also have added the third part of the series which prefaces today’s lesson.

Picking Up Where We Left Off

The next step in the process is to start editing and uploading the files. Before we begin editing files, we must first get the information to place in the files. This part is mainly Google’s authentication.

Well, How Does the Authorization Work?

Google uses Auth 2.0 with a special token to authenticate a user. If you have ever allowed an app to access your Google information, this is the same process. When you use a Google app, which is what we will be developing, it will first request access by you. This will require a Google login from the account you wish to use the app with. Then, it will ask for your permission for the app to access your account. Finally, it will return an authorization token to the application. This token has an expiration. It also may expire early depending on your browser settings.

Where do I go to Authorize?

To get your information for authorization, head over to the Google API Console. When in the console and logged into the appropriate account, click the dropdown in the upper left hand corner to create a new project. Name the project any name you choose.

API Project

Once you have created a project, navigate to the services page. Ensure that you turn on the Analytics API. Once you have completed that, click the ‘API Access’. This will take you to an area where you can generate the keys you will need.

For our purposes, we’re going to be doing a web application. We are still working in PHP for this project. All of the demonstrations will be live and on the web. Input the appropriate information here.
After you have submitted the client ID settings, you’re done! You will be redirected to the API access page, where you can see all of the information.

What if it breaks!?

Luckily, you can’t exactly break this one. However, as we move forward with more coding, you will need to keep an eye on these settings. There are some errors that you may run into that could be caused by the settings you made here.
For the next installment, we will be discussing how to actually implement these items into the previously downloaded code. From there, we will move forward with uploading and testing the application!

Have more questions about starting with the Analytics API? Tell us in the comments, and stay tuned for the next part of the series!

DMG Gains Board Membership with Reading Downtown Improvement District

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Reading, PA, October 01, 2013 — Daniel Laws of DaBrian Marketing Group, LLC, a full-service digital agency based in Reading, PA, has been appointed to the Reading Downtown Improvement District’s board of directors.

Guided by its mission to create a “vital, productive, and commercially active environment in downtown Reading,” the Downtown Improvement District (DID) has worked toward a safer, cleaner downtown since 1995. Daniel Laws, principal owner of DaBrian Marketing Group, LLC, had previously served on the DID marketing committee. With this new position, he is confident that he can contribute toward an even greater level of positive change within the city.

“We always strive to give back to our community whenever possible, both as a company and on an individual level,” said Laws. “With our recent appointment to the Downtown Improvement District’s board, we hope to make a more substantial difference from an economic and business standpoint.”

Representatives and fellow DID board members expressed similar enthusiasm regarding this announcement.

“As the improvement district continues to focus on the revitalization of downtown Reading and the implementation of the state-designated Keystone Community Main Street program, effective and energetic leadership is crucial,” said Charles R. Broad, Executive Director of the Reading Downtown Improvement District. “We believe Mr. Laws brings a valuable skill set to our organization. He has exhibited leadership and commitment to downtown Reading.”

For more information about the Reading Downtown Improvement District, call 610-376-6424 or visit www.downtownreading.com.

A Guide to Data-Informed SEO Storytelling

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How our SEO Tools led us Astray

Experience has shown that for a large portion of business owners, a glaring issue exists with the accepted perception of search engine optimization and the plethora of assistive software suites. Everyone seems to tout that high rankings and “the top spot on Google” are the primary goals associated with an SEO campaign, so vendors make solutions to fit those expectations. The problem is that these tools are proving ineffective at impacting businesses’ actual goals and objectives because they don’t help answer some fundamental questions, including:

  • Why is the business choosing to explore search engine marketing tactics?
  • Why are high rankings the primary goal?
  • In what way(s) do rankings specifically impact future marketing efforts?
  • How will SEO be justified from a budgeting standpoint?
  • Where is the connection between SEO and more leads and sales?

Getting Back to Basics with Goals and Objectives

The first step toward finding the answer to the questions above falls to outlining goals and objectives. Generally speaking, these goals and objectives help businesses enhance their “kwan” (And yes, that was a Jerry Maguire reference!). An example of a business goal would be to grow sales. An example of an objective would be to grow sales among new customers through organic search traffic by 25% of the next 12 months. Note the distinct differences here. While goals are very general statements, objectives provide additional context with which appropriate metrics can be identified.

It is critical that all key stakeholders agree and sign-off on the business goals and objectives because they’ll form the foundation for the next step toward data-informed storytelling: identifying Key Performance Indicators (KPIs). Regardless of whether you work for an agency or an in-house marketing team, it always boils down to, “Did we make money or lose money as a result of our efforts?” For that, proper measurement planning is essential.

KPI Mapping that Aligns with Goals and Objectives

KPIs represent the way by which progress is measured regarding a marketing campaign. When defining these metrics, it’s important to also identify reasonable thresholds. That way, appropriate action can be taken if the numbers fall above or below your expectations. By aligning the KPIs with the aforementioned goals and objectives, it will help the key higher-ups to see SEO’s tangible value. Figure 1 (below) shows a very generic mapping of a goal and objective with a possible choice of KPI. If you complete this process, it will give you a better understanding of what data needs to be collected to show the impact the SEO is having on your business.

KPI mapping for Sales Growth
Figure 1 is a simplified version of mapping sales growth for new customers via organic search traffic and potential outcomes from this audience.

The Case for a Measurement Plan

The fact of the matter is that with all of this data making its way into your SEO campaigns, you’re going to need analytics to effectively capture your metrics and provide a way to visualize progress (and tell a truly impactful story). This will require an approach and a plan of action to accurately collect the data necessary for reporting. One of the most simple, but effective approaches can be found on Occam’s Razor By Avanish Kaushik. Just be sure to thoroughly document what data you’re collecting, how, why, and provide an example of the output. It should help everyone not only understand what you’re trying to show, but also offer them the chance to make changes to the approach if necessary.

Analytics Implementation

Google Analytics is a commonly used solution for analyzing this type of information. It’s important that you implement the measurement plan accurately and evaluate the data that’s being collected for reporting. A good place to start is the setup checklist and starter guide provided by Google. There are also numerous videos available on the Google Analytics YouTube channel.

Reporting

Using GA’s more advanced features as our primary example, there are multiple opportunities to not only streamline your reporting process, but also add deeper dimensions to your data-driven “story.” Creating advanced segments, custom filters, and dashboards can bring to light information you may not have otherwise seen. Exploring deeper into the data you’ve collected can make for more established insights, which lead to greater impact among your audience.

Custom SEO segments in Google Analytics

For your SEO campaigns, this could mean creating a dashboard showing correlations between site visit metrics and organic keywords or pages per visit organized by geographical location. With a little analytical know-how, you’ll have no problem tying your data back to your high-level goals and objectives.

SEO traffic data in Google Analytics
Conversions broken down by traffic source.

Figure 3 and 4 are example of items that might be found in your SEO performance dashboard.

Conclusion

There is a big misconception surrounding SEO for the average uninformed business owner, VP of marketing, or IT professional. On the frontlines, we always seem to hear business professionals talk about rankings, but they rarely care to understand why their business is even paying for or considering paying for SEO services. We still hear that the need for “visits” or more “hits” to the websites is the be-all end-all. Rather than the end in and of itself, SEO provides the means towards achieving unique business goals. The story of this journey from campaigns and tactics to business success is told through data, first and foremost.
Have your SEO tools and processes led you on the path to righteousness or dishonorable data? Let us know in the comments below!

Why Manage Local Listings?

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For any business, your customers need to be able to find you. You wouldn’t take any signage down from your building, would you? This includes the customer having quick and easy access to basic information such a telephone number and hours of operation. The majority of customers now turn to the internet to find this information; about 97% of customers use the internet to research business and products at a local level according to a study conducted by Bia/Kelsey. With this much purchasing intent at a local level, wouldn’t you like to boost your visibility?

Benefits of Local Listings

As mentioned in the previous paragraph, the obvious benefit of managing local listings is to make your business visible to those customers searching at a local level. But what else is there? When internet searchers utilize a specific geographic location, they are usually close to converting (i.e. making a purchase). It is imperative to draw these searchers in to convert, whatever you choose to define as a conversion.

Local listing management allows you to stay visible.
Example of one of our Local Listings.

Speaking of drawing in searchers to convert, making sure you have top notch local listings can help you stand out among the plethora of competitors. A great way to ensure that your local listings are up to par is to develop a local listing strategy for your business.

Local Listing Strategy

The process of managing local listings sounds relatively simple, but there are actually many steps in this entire process that require attention. The first step in your local listing strategy is to verify your place of business. Google, Bing, and Yahoo! have similar processes in which the business must fill out an online form. The form automatically generates and will send a postcard with a verification PIN to the business address listed. Therefore, you must have a physical location to claim a local listing via these major search engines.
While implementing a local listing strategy to the fullest extent, you will be maintaining business information across several platforms. It is important to ensure that this information is consistent across the board so that your prospective customers can find the correct information. Not only will you have to provide the correct information initially, but you will have to maintain this information. If there is a large-scale re-branding or something as small as a new telephone extension number, remember to update your local listings.

Local Listings are Going Mobile

Knowing the importance of local listings, where will it go from here? Will it affect certain demographics? With the rapid growth of mobile searching, business information will have to be available at a local level to be seen by this growing demographic. Just to explain this point by some numbers: According to Google, 95% of smartphone users look for local information specifically. Knowing this, local listings can be a significant source of traffic and potential customers. In conjunction with local listings management, it may be a good idea to create a mobile site or configure your current desktop site to fit a mobile screen. As mobile usage continues to rise, it will be critical to stay on top.
Have any questions about local listings management? Contact us today or leave us a comment below!