(Photo credit: Jamie Clayton Photography)
The company relocated to Nashville this week one year ago. It was a joyous event for me personally. Tennessee has always been home, and having built a team here, I was so thankful to return to my home state and my home town of 13 years. My wife Tracy and our four boys are grateful for each of you allowing Epps to serve you.
As the springtime finally approaches, we're eager to see what's coming up in this new season of online marketing. More and more people have discovered just how effective a tool Search Engine Optimized--or SEO--content can be for driving traffic to local businesses. By targeting customers through strategic keywords, we're helping businesses enhance their online presence and make connections to the local market. Yet there are changes ahead we need to consider if we want to stay ahead of the competition.
When evaluating your business’s yearly gains, make sure that you’re comparing online traffic secured in year over year time frames. For example, compare May 2013’s growth to May 2012’s and not February 2012's. A big part of SEO is understanding how and why people come to your website, and when they do so most often.
Over the course of the next calendar year, GoEpps is embarking on an innovative component that is currently missing from most online marketing. We’ll be creating videos, articles and paid-search campaigns for Spanish-speaking audiences in the U.S. Working with manufactures, we’ll continue to create English language content, but we'll also offer Spanish-language content for markets that are interested.
Whatever industry you're in goes a long way in determining your level of competition in natural search results. We were contacted recently about developing a new SEO program for a business in an industry we hadn't worked in before.This experience reminded us was that not all industries are created equal when it comes competition in online traffic. Fortunately, there are some easy steps we can take to find out how we stack up against competitors who are vying for those valuable search results.
Recently, the corporate consultants and leadership experts at the Riverstone Group interviewed GoEpps president, Michael Utley, about his insights as a leader in the field of online marketing.Listen to the podcast “Your Leadership Story Podcast: Building A Business While Creating What You Love” at theriversidegroup.com.
Google's new search algorithm, Hummingbird, was launched this month to some concern. Traditionally, Internet users have typed in simple keywords or keyword phrases. For example, while looking for a local residential painting company, someone might have typed in the words “Nashville painting company.” In recent years, however, Internet users have begun to depend on search results for the majority of their questioning; therefore, more complex searches are being generated. Now, that same individual searches for “compare residential painting companies in Nashville, TN.”
Here at GoEpps, we are SEO experts with a knack for cost-saving techniques. In recent blog posts we've covered topics such as popular keywords and valuable content. Now that we’ve established that good SEO is valuable, let’s explore the cost effective ways to get started. Unfortunately, a lot of people have the misconceived idea that they will need to spend a lot of money to achieve good SEO. This is simply not true.
In recent blog posts, we’ve talked about social media, video production and split testing. All of these are tools for combining strategy with action to generate qualified leads.
Earlier this year, GoEpps started making preparations to move from Maryland to Nashville, Tenn. This move was inspired by a number of things and was confirmed by the advantages we knew we’d find in Tennessee. We’re now located in the eclectic and thriving neighborhood of East Nashville, and we’re motivated by the belief that East Nashville is the absolute best place to start a business.