Blog - The Local Knock

Posted on April 21, 2018 October 14, 2018

17 Fresh Blog Content Ideas

As we talked about last week, keeping fresh blog content on your website that is relevant and timely is crucial to your search engine optimization ranking and people finding you online. If you missed it, check it out here at Keep Your Website Fresh. But, what sort of content should you focus on? Their are so many ideas that come to mind, be sure and check out our list below for fresh blog content ideas.

The best way to get somebody’s attention and keep them engaged is to talk about something that interests them, a possible solution to their problem, or a potential outcome they are seeking. If you fail to attract their attention, their is no reason for them to stay on your site and you will have increased bounce rate. If you need to learn more about what bounce rate is, check out Who Doesn’t Use Google Analytics. Resist the urge to talk about yourself or your business in the headline or the opening sentence of your content.

Try using the following keywords and headline templates in your own content to get the attention of your audience.

Fresh Blog Content Ideas:

We wanted to come up with some simple ideas that you could use for your target market for upcoming blog posts, free offers, or even case studies. So in this case, we will use the spa industry and wellness centers for fresh blog content ideas. Just enter your industry where we have “spa or wellness centers” and use our tips for your target market.

1. The 3 things every spa owner must know before…

What are 3 things they must know. Think of what spa owners must know to stay in business, this is just one idea. If you’re in the health industry, you could use The 3 things you must know before coaching with a health coach. If you have 5 things to tell them, don’t get stuck on the number.

2. The luxury spa guide to…

Here’s another one of those fresh blog content ideas, what kind of guide can you talk about that your community is dying to know about. The spa industry could have a guide “The Luxury Spa Guide” to getting the most out of your stay. If your in the health and wellness field, your guide could be to “The Health & Wellness Guide”, how to improve your health in just 30 days.

3. 10 questions to ask your…

What are 10 questions you could ask, or interview someone about your industry. What are the top 10 questions you would ask?

4. What day spa clients need to know about…

You could write your blog content post on what are the top things that day spa clients need to know about; is it cleanliness, promptness of appointments, environment the list goes on. Just start writing your ideas down on a piece of paper and then go write your blog post or article.

5. The 5 big mistakes wellness centers make when…

If you own a wellness center, you could talk about the 5 big mistakes that wellness centers make when not ensuring their clients understand their health needs. If you own a spa, you could write an article on the 5 biggest mistakes spa clients make when neglecting taking time out for themselves.

6. Spa industry insiders’ secrets to…

You could write an article to a magazine on Spa industry insiders’ secret to running a profitable spa. You could also get a backlink to your website, therefore improving your SEO ranking, what’s not to like about that.

7. 8 way’s your clients can get results now.

This one you can easily write, think of the 8 ways for clients to get results by coaching with you. It could be, feeling better, having more energy, reduced cholesterol, and so on.

8. Exclusive offer for luxury spa previous clients.

Offer previous clients a offer that they won’t be able to refuse. Remember, its always easier to keep a current client, then to go find a new one. Keep your clients happy.

9. What they don’t tell spa clients that they need to know.

Here you can tell spa clients what they need to know before booking sessions at your spa. Here you can tell them what they should expect upon a visit to your spa, whether that is about the spa, the environment, accommodations, expectations, you see how much content you could come up with here.

10. Startling news for recipients of spa memberships.

This one is great, because you can talk about the benefits of a spa membership. You can talk about the health benefits of a spa membership, improving their health for years to come. You get the idea here.

11. Turbocharge your clients health results.

Tell your clients how they can turbocharge or supercharge their results, by working with you. How will it benefit them, what’s the difference between working with you or just another health coach. Tell them how you are different.

12. The health & wellness insiders’ advantage…

Tell them the advantage of working with a health & wellness company versus trying to go it alone. Tell them how you will working with individually and how they will get better results.

13. How you stack up against your spa competitors.

Tell and also show your community or followers how you stack up the competition. Prove how you are different than others in the spa industry and how you truly care about you clients results. The results will speak for themselves.

14. The best kept secret in the wellness industry is…

Tell your readers what the best kept secrets are in the wellness industry. If you’re in the spa industry, tell them how they can discover these secrets that you already know about.

15. The worst kept secret in the wellness industry is…

Talk about the worst kept secret in the wellness industry, here you could be talking about a certain kind of food that everybody knows about, but does nothing about it. You get the idea.

16. The spa industries new best friend…

Here you might talk about the new tools for spa owners to use in their spa’s and how it helps their clients. You could talk about new aromatherapy ideas here. The list goes on and on. You might even have “The top 10 new discovers we use in our spa’s and how they benefit you”.

17. Other handy words to keep in mind include: promise, problem, big picture, outcome, results, roadblocks, rookie mistakes, success stories, secrets, tips, tricks, techniques, riveting, claim your…

These are just a few keywords that you might want to use in your posts, articles, and even magazine pieces. Get that imagination going.

Listed above are lots of great fresh blog content ideas. Sometimes you just need some ideas to get those creative juices flowing. We have given you plenty of fresh blog content ideas, so go get started, take action and get results. Happy writing! Let us know which idea your are going to use for your next blog article will be on, we would love to hear it and let us know if this article on fresh blog content was helpful to you.

Posted on April 15, 2018 October 14, 2018

5 Local SEO Growth Strategies

Local Marketing Vitality

Local Marketing is vital to your businesses success. If you have a small business, such as Spa’s, Physical Therapists, chiropractic care, wellness centers, all of these are brick-n-mortar businesses and getting people to walk through your doors is what Local Marketing is all about. Local SEO growth is extremely important, and optimizing your profiles on Google, Bing, and Yahoo search engines are critical to your success.

According to comScore Release January 2016 Search Engine Rankings Report, February 15, 2016, here are the latest Search Engine statistics. Google has the largest market share at 63.8%, Bing – 21.3%, Yahoo – 12.4%, Ask Network – 1.7%, and AOL, Inc. – 0.9%, see the graphic below. It’s important to diverse and be invested in the top three search engines, don’t put all your eggs in one basket.

Google has been in the process of stirring the great big SEO pot with its local spoon; Local SEO growth is really crucial. Mobile has become the predominant outlet for local search in the age of mobile technology like tablets, smartphones, iwatches, and even in-car WiFi. Google has taken steps to ensure this trend continues with its largest update to its local algorithm in years – pigeon. Pigeon lent two major helping hands to local SEO. First, it reduced the number of “map packs” or result groupings. Second, it helped to increase the relevancy of local search directories.

So, let’s step back and look at why Local SEOs should even care about mobile. According to the Catalyst team of Catalyst Search Marketing, the following stats support the importance of Local SEO growth when it comes to mobile:

“One in three of ALL searches occur right before a customer is about to enter a store.”
“50% of consumers using a smartphone visit a location within one day of their local search. For computers and tablets, that number is a significantly lower, 34%.”
“19% of consumers made unplanned visits to a location after seeing a relevant local ad served up via smartphone.”

Mobile is simply becoming the way people seek local searches; so don’t forget to grow your local SEO. We could speculate a thousand different reasons why, but let’s suffice it to say it simply has a lot to do with the timeliness and relevance of mobile searches. If you are looking for a place to eat, you might already be out and about and you likely want something fairly local. Voila!

So, we have established that mobile and local are almost always inherently tied together. And, we recognize that Google is taking steps to improve its user interface to reflect this trend. But, what can you do to grow your local presence and keep up with the times?

Local SEO Growth and How to Take Action:

If you follow these simple principles and take action, you will be well ahead of the pack. So let’s grow your Local SEO.

1. Go responsive.

Make sure your site is responsive. Google has all but said responsive is more favorable than adaptive. This is probably because responsive sites may more readily allow Google to crawl, index, and rank your site’s local landing pages.

2. Use Keywords.

It’s important to use Keywords, but, maybe you don’t know what keywords are relevant to you. That’s okay. We have a simple solution: Google has a #KeywordPlanner where you can put in what you think your keywords are and it will tell you how many people are searching for that locally. It’s sure to amaze you. To access the Keyword Planner, click Google Adwords. Note that you will need an #Adwords account to access this tool. No worries, you can get a free account.

3. Take note of directories.

Local directories and aggregates like Yelp and Cityscape appear to be ranking better with the Pigeon update. So, it is even more important to make sure your local business information is optimized for directories like Yelp or TripAdvisor and aggregators like Yellow Pages. These will offer more targeted traffic than in pre-Pigeon days.

4. Pay attention to landing pages.

Non-map based organic searches are receiving higher visibility with the reduction in maps results. Renew your focus on those local landing pages and make sure you are being local enough when targeting customers. Make sure people can find you even if they are a few blocks outside of your serviceable radius.

5. Don’t forget social.

Foursquare, once known for its check-ins has created a spinoff called Swarm that works as a “socially-driven local data and sentiment aggregator.” So, creating and optimizing Foursquare profiles could be a big help on the local front. Another up-and-coming social presence is Waze. As it now offers users the ability to share information about local businesses and share tip, photos, and more of the placed they have visited. Also, Facebook Open Graph markup and Twitter card markup may be a good idea to implement on your local landing pages so that any users who share these pages socially is using pre-optimized wording which can increase your click through rate (CTR).

It’s a brave new world out there when it comes to the constantly evolving world of Local SEO growth. If you are ready to take the leap into Local SEO, check out our Local SEO Services to discover how we can work together to increase your growth.

Posted on April 5, 2018 October 14, 2018

Measure Data Using Google Analytics

Measure your data using google analytics

Google Analytics is the most widely used website statistics aggregator out there, it’s helpful to measure using Google Analytics. Unfortunately, most users don’t pay enough attention to the data to realize the epic insight it is capable of providing. It’s not that users don’t see the value in the information; it’s just that they don’t know what to do with it. Remember, you can’t measure what you don’t track!

You can use Google Analytics to follow those goldfish we spoke about last week and find the areas of real interest. You can use this knowledge to prioritize what you should KAF (see last weeks tip for more on that) and how to effectively produce more content that your users pay more attention to.

The best jumping-off point to that wealth of knowledge and opportunity is to get to know the three most important statistics offered by Google Analytics.

Using Google Analytics to view data:

1. Bounce rate.

As Google puts it, “bounce rate is the percentage of single-page visits in which the person left your site from the entrance (landing) page.” Bounce rate is one of those factors that can impact your Search Engine Optimization (SEO) ranking. So, we need to make sure to keep your bounce rates low to help boost your SEO positioning. Think about it, if your entrance pages aren’t relevant to your visitors (or if the most important information about your business and the products/services you offer) is not using KAF rules discussed last week-your bounce rate will likely be high. It’s an important statistic that defines the quality of your entrance page content.

2. Time on Site.

Again, straight from the horses mouth, “time on site is one way of measuring visit quality. If visitors spend a long time visiting your site, they may be interacting with it exclusively.” A high time on site statistic shows that you have effectively fascinated or captivated your viewers enough for them to stay for an extended period of time. Fascination is key to motivating consumers to buy into what your business has to offer. (More on fascination next Tuesday.) But, be wary of this statistic. Time on site is not the holy grail to customer fascination with your content; it could be misleading in the cases where those darned goldfish (short attention spans and all) leave that browser open even though they may not actually be viewing your site. (A sandwich or TV after all can easily win the fascination contest.)

3. Length of Visit (Visitor behavior).

Another quality indicator, this is similar to Time on your site. The graphs provided with this data give a more detailed picture of user visits (better than just an average number from Time on Site). With this, you get a picture of the whole distribution, but remember this data is skewed by the aforementioned sandwich/TV lovers.

So now that you know more about Google Analtyics, you need to take action and get your account set up. If you need more help in setting your account, be sure to contact us.

Posted on March 31, 2018 October 14, 2018

Meta Tags, The Long and Short of It.

We’ve been focused on SEO and several of the factors that can impact your SEO for better and for worse. Because of this, we have received a few questions from our followers asking what are meta tags and how do I use them?

The long and the short of it is that meta tags are small segments of code (done in HTML) that describe certain aspects of a website. Think of them as tiny summaries of what your page is about. These tags help the search engine algorithms determine what each page is about.

Meta tags should not be confused with title tags. Title tags are required elements while meta tags are optional page descriptors.

Description Meta Tags Help Your Site in 3 Ways:

Search Engines Know Your Page Content.

Your description needs to be on point. If the search engine decides your description is poorly written or inaccurate, it will replace your description with its own version of what your site is about. Let us remind you, this isn’t a person looking at your page and rewriting a description. This is a computer that is only as smart as the code around it. That code doesn’t come with logic, so you are trusting a computer to speak for your brand. Tech is great, but there are limits. If your site is difficult for a search engine to process you may very likely come out with a numeric description and a few keywords that doesn’t make sense when put together.
Site Click Through Rates.

A good description not only prevents search engines from rewriting it, but it entices the “right” people to click your site. Let’s put it this way: a good description is an appealing window display for your shop. A great window display is what pulls the window shoppers in and loosens their grip on their wallets just enough.
Site Rankings.

It isn’t weighted heavily, but it is a great place to use those secondary key words. For example: if your primary keyword is graphic design, you might use graphic designer or custom graphic design in your meta tag description. Also, if your meta tags are better than you competitors, and the person searches clicks on your link instead of your competitor, it will push your site above the competitor site. So, as you can see its still important to create compelling meta data tags and descriptions.

There are plenty of other types of meta tags out there but a lot of them have become antiquated and virtually useless. Got questions, let us know in the comments and we will be happy to address them.

Posted on April 13, 2016 October 14, 2018

Fascination is Key to Driving Website Traffic

website traffic, Miami, FL — Increasing traffic to your website is vitally important to your website.

Fascination can be the key to driving website traffic and increasing sales. Fascination is what Sally Hogshead, author of Fascinate calls an intense interest in someone or something. It is an unwavering attention to someone or something that wins over other distractions.

Fascination is driven by seven triggers. All of us naturally use two triggers that define our personality brand.

1. Power

Can be defined as the ability to lead others. Political campaigns use power to demonstrate their candidate is a successful leader.

2. Passion

The ability to connect emotionally to others. Publix effectively uses passion in their holiday commercials that show family and gives a warm-hearted “aw how sweet” emotional response.

3. Mystique

Is a trigger that can be used to create some mystery or wonder. Careful communication can give just enough to draw your audience in but not so much that they have no reason to continue their fascination. Candy with “mystery” flavors use mystique to draw in customers. Spaghetti Warehouse (a popular food chain) recently put mystique to use when they hired a “well-known” artist to sing their anniversary song. They have successfully created a lot of buzz in the guessing game.

4. Prestige

Is setting a standard. Brand name products (like Gucci or Prada) tend to leverage their prestige to further their brand.

5. Alarm

Close out sales tend to use alarm. “Sale ends today! Hurry in.” Alarm gives a feeling that you might miss out or in terms of the anti-smoking campaigns, alarm is used to instill enough fear of sickness to motivate the audience not to smoke.

6. Rebellion

Inspires creativity and innovation simply because those who are motivated by rebellion are not content with the status quo. Dyson is a great example of this. Dyson continually propels its brand through innovation that no other company has touched like “no loss in suction” vacuums.

7. Trust

Builds loyalty through consistency. Fast food chains like McDonalds capitalize not on great food, but on the idea that you know what you are getting no matter which store you go to. You can trust a BigMac will taste like any other BigMac you have had.

Understand what triggers will impact your audience and you are one step closer to becoming the most fascinating brand in your industry. Now that you know what it takes and that Fascination is the key, its time to increase traffic to your website and be fascinating.

For more on fascination, check out Sally Hogshead website. Please note, we are not an affiliate of her products, but we are avid readers of Fascinate.