Saba Digital Marketing

Understanding and Using Intent Keywords

Action terms like “buy” and “purchase” used by searchers when they’re ready to make a purchase are referred to as intent keywords. Effectively using intent keywords, which differ from high-traffic keywords in that their sole purpose is to convince someone to take action, as part of your search engine marketing efforts can boost your odds of sealing the deal.

Selecting the Right Intent Keywords

What action do you ultimately want someone visiting your site to take? For instance, charities may use terms like “donate” and “cure” to solicit an action. Retailers use words like “buy now” and related terms like “free shipping” to further encourage a purchase. Words like “review” and “compare,” while not as strong, can still attract buyers who need a nudge to make a decision.

Tools to Identify Intent Keywords

The Keyword Planner tool on Google AdWords can help you identify less competitive terms that can signify intent. WordStream Advisor comes in handy if you’re interested in intent keywords that indicate a more immediate decision is needed.

Intent Keywords and Other Buying Signals

Increase the effectiveness of your keywords by incorporating those terms with other buying signals, or the clues someone gives when they’re ready to make a decision. Intent keywords are often combined with:

• Price keyword phrases: Terms like “costs” and “prices” target purchasers looking for the best price before they buy.

• Urgency keyword phrases: Words like “emergency” and “24-hour” catch the attention of someone needing urgent service.

• Comparison keyword phrases: Terms like “compare” and “versus” invite a comparison before someone makes a purchase.

Using intent keywords will allow you to focus more on generating productive leads. Such terms can easily be combined with local keywords to further target your intended purchaser. As with any keywords you use, monitor results and fine-tune your selection of terms based on what’s eliciting the desired actions.

Learn more about the right types of keywords for your online marketing efforts by contacting Saba SEO. We are a San Diego search engine optimization company helping businesses throughout the U.S. and Canada reach their target audience and increase website traffic. Call us today at (858) 277-1717 and schedule a free consultation

The Differences Between B2B and B2C Marketing

The purpose of any type of marketing is to deliver an effective message. When it comes to B2B (business-to-business) and B2C (business-to-consumer) marketing, however, there are several important differences in how to achieve that goal. After all, the consumers you’re trying to reach with each form of online marketing have very different needs, reactions, and expectations.

Content Requirements

B2B customers want website, blog, and social media content that’s useful, insightful, and detailed. With B2C, interactions frequently involve a mix of content that’s not only useful and to the point, but also emotional, humorous, and–most importantly — something they’ll want to share.

Terminology

When you’re marketing to other business consumers, there are certain terms and acronyms they’re going to expect you to know and use (like B2B). With B2C, you want to keep things clear, concise, and easy to understand, meaning that it’s okay to briefly pause to explain certain terms.

Logic vs. Emotion

Whether it’s concern over personal safety or the feeling of saving a few bucks on quality clothing, emotional responses are a perfect fit with B2C marketing. For B2B, however, your target consumer wants to know the value of your products or services and how it’s going to be good for their business and bottom line.

Short-Term vs. Long-Term Goals

The average consumer has immediate needs often met with a purchase. B2B customers want to know what you can do for them now and in the future, which often involves some type of long-term arrangement plus product education and ongoing support.

Completing the Transaction

Aside from input from friends and family members or taking online reviews into consideration, B2C buyers rarely rely on anyone else to make the decision to purchase. There’s often a chain of command involved with business purchases, however, frequently making the process of wrapping things up more involved and time-consuming.

Learn more about the best digital marketing strategies for your business from the friendly marketing experts at Saba SEO. We specialize in San Diego search engine optimization, PPC, social media, and mobile app development. Give us a call at (858) 277-1717 and ask us about our free website audits.

5 Ways to Turn Marketing Fails into Marketing Success

Every company has its fair share of marketing horror stories. From low-budget start-ups to major, well-known corporations, all businesses will fail in their marketing efforts at some point in time. Fortunately, it’s possible to turn these costly disappointments into unprecedented success. Following are five tips from trusted San Diego SEO company Saba, Inc. that will show you how.

1. Get in the Right Mindset

Failure in marketing is the surest way to identify the strategies that don’t work. Accept that there is always risk in implementing a new marketing campaign, but understand that win or lose, there will invariably be rewards. A low-interest campaign not only shows you how and where you’ve gone wrong, but it can additionally highlight the strategies that have the highest likelihood of producing desirable results. Study your failed efforts carefully and make the most of the learning experiences they provide.

2. Learn Your Market

One of the most common causes of a failed marketing campaign is insufficient or erroneous knowledge of the targeted market. As you review your past efforts, look diligently for any new information about your market that the blunder has revealed. It’s also a good idea to consider the benefits of implementing a customer relationship management (CRM) program or overhauling your old one. The more you know about the people you’re reaching out to, the easier it will be to streamline your outreach for optimal results.

3. Recognize the Importance of Good Timing

Surprisingly, even the best marketing campaigns can fall short of their goals if they’re not implemented at the right time. Just because a campaign hasn’t worked doesn’t mean it’s an ineffective one. Study patterns in customer buying habits and see if the same marketing effort might be better implemented later on. This will help you limit both your losses and your spending on future promotions. Many companies have found that failed strategies can provide incredible success several months, years, or even decades after their introduction.

4. Start Thinking Outside of the Box

If you have the right mindset about your marketing failure, you’ll be able to identify your missteps and you’ll have a clear understanding of what not to do. More importantly, you’ll have sufficient confidence for further pushing the envelope. If you’ve been struggling to make tried-and-true methods work for you, failure should be seen as an invitation to step outside the box and to do something that your competitors aren’t doing.

5. Laugh at Yourself Publicly

The web has made commercial failures all the more public and embarrassing. Even some of the largest companies in the world have made social media blunders that have had people from coast to coast mocking and laughing at them. Try poking fun at yourself. This is a great way to gain exposure for your business and it shows your target market a fun, personable side. Surprisingly, companies that laugh at their own marketing missteps in public arenas are often viewed as trustworthy. It exhibits qualities like transparency, honesty, and humility, and these are all things that are essential for building a strong and unforgettable brand.

Looking for more internet marketing tips? Reach out to Saba, Inc. at (858) 277-1717 and request a free website audit and consultation with one of our experienced SEO analysts today. We look forward to hearing from you!

Making Your Landing Pages Work for You

Business owners, SEOs, and AdWords managers in San Diego all know the majority of sales and marketing efforts share one goal: conversion. This means getting potential customers to take that next step, and it all starts with your landing page.

What problem does it solve?

Instead of prattling off the features of your product, you might want to play on visitor needs by sympathizing with a problem and telling how your product solves it. They may already be familiar with similar products and don’t need more facts–they’re only interested in how your particular offer helps them.

Add Video

If you have a more complicated offer to present visitors, it may be easier for both you and potential customers if you show an explanatory video rather than paragraphs of text. Give it a prominent place on your page so it can’t be missed. And, of course, make sure it’s a quality video that’s both entertaining and informative.

Highlight Product Features

Video does have certain drawbacks, such as the assumption that your visitors will have the patience to sit and watch. Sometimes it’s better to break down your product’s features and benefits into a bulleted list of well-worded phrases they can quickly scan and assimilate. Also, search engines can’t index video, so inserting keywords where possible may work to your benefit.

Remember the Marketing Funnel

“Cold” leads are visitors who never heard of your product and take more convincing than people already more familiar. The funnel works by directing visitors through a brief series of pages that present further information, such as features, reviews, and special offers, each connected by a prominently displayed link. The idea is to keep visitors hooked on an interactive setup that has them primed and informed by the time they reach the actual purchase page.

Create a Web Hub

Most users don’t buy right away. You could keep them coming back by making your page a central hub. Include related videos, articles, and useful links that make you an authority on the subject who they are more likely to purchase from.

Want to know more about creating landing pages that work on your behalf? Maybe you want to incorporate improved SEO strategies to improve SERP rank. Either way, let us help! Give the marketing experts at Saba SEO a call today at (858) 277-1717 and request a free website audit today!

5 Eye-Catching Headline Formulas for Shared Articles

If you’re producing great content as part of your online marketing strategy, but your articles are still not being shared, you might have an issue with your headlines. The fact is that your headline is the most important part of your blog post, ad, or content. Perhaps they’re not “punchy” enough, or just aren’t intriguing readers. Here are some ideas that will get your content the attention it deserves.

1. “Tips”

Tips are a common formula for headlines, and one that will attract more readers, because they know they’ll be in for short bits of information as opposed to a long-winded read. Here are a few examples:

10 Tips to Optimize Your Golf Game
6 Tips from the Pros about Carpentry
12 Tips to Improve Your Small Talk

2. “Mistakes”

Nobody wants to make mistakes–that’s why this is such a popular formula for headlines. For example:

5 Mistakes to Avoid When You Remodel
8 Common Mistakes Beginning Photographers Make
Selling Your Antiques Online? Don’t Make These 12 Mistakes

3. “How To”

This is a great formula if you’re trying to provide simple instructions to your readers. Some examples are:

How to Remove Dust from Your Home
How to Test Your Carbon Monoxide Detectors
How to Register to Vote

4. “Guides”

The Guide headline formula is very similar to the “how-to” lists, but it implies that you will provide more in-depth information for your readers. A few examples include:

Complete Guide to Brewing Your First Beer
The Definitive Guide to Golf Swings
The Ultimate Guide to Holiday Gift-Buying

5. “Data and Research”

If you’re producing content that is heavily fact- or research-based, this is a great headline formula to use to convey serious and informative content. For example:

Fascinating New Data About Workouts
6 Research-Driven Insights About Marketing
New Market Research About the Fast-Food Industry

Learn more about creating share-worthy articles from the marketing professionals at Saba, Inc., a trusted SEO company in San Diego. We help businesses large and small improve online visibility and increase traffic. Give us a call at (858) 277-1717 and request a free website audit today.

Marketing Blunders That Can Wreck Your Business

An effective inbound marketing campaign can create brand awareness and form positive connections with the right consumers. Conversely, unintentional marketing blunders can do serious damage to your brand. While not every misstep is going to deal a lethal blow to your business, San Diego online marketing professionals encourage marketers to be aware of some of the big ones.

Overlooking Proofreading Errors

A few misspelled words here and there can easily minimize your intended marketing message. Misspellings and other proofreading errors can also diminish the credibility of your brand. Take the time to review any website content, blog posts, emails, and social media messages before making content available to your target audience.

Failing to Identify Customer Needs

Jumping into a marketing plan prematurely can quickly become costly in terms of missed opportunities if you’re not connecting with your audience. Before creating and executing a marketing plan, fine-tune your understanding of customer needs by determining:

  • What existing customers already like about you
  • Top priorities among your target audience
  • Primary concerns within your demographics

Deviating from Your Brand Image

After you’ve established a solid brand image, anything that deviates from that image could, at the very least, confuse your existing and potential customers. Be mindful of how your brand is presented across all platforms.

Annoying Customers with Emails

The last thing you want to do is annoy customers who currently or previously used your products or services. Use a reputable email service provider like Constant Contact to reduce the risk of sending unwanted solicitations that may damage your brand.

Falling for SEO/Digital Marketing Scams

It takes time to see results with SEO and digital marketing efforts. If a company is making promises without a healthy dose of reality, do some research before making a decision.

Discover new marketing strategies or find the support you need to push full steam ahead with your efforts by reaching out to San Diego SEO company, Saba, Inc. We are a full-service boutique marketing agency, helping businesses drive traffic to their websites through a combination of SEO, PPC, social media, and web design and development. Give us a ring at (858) 277-1717 today!

How to Use Video to Promote Your Business

San Diego internet marketing professionals recently learned that roughly 80 percent of internet users say they remember video ads better than those with mostly text. Therefore, it only stands to reason that relevant videos can help promote your business online. As the prevalence of such visual content continues, however, it’s worth considering creative ways to achieve this goal.

Offer a Virtual Tour of Your Business

People like to get an inside look at behind-the-scenes happenings. A virtual tour of your business that includes introductions of key personnel shows the human side of your business. Such a video can also be used to spice up your “About Us” page.

Pose Questions and Solicit Video Answers

Post a video question that’s somehow related to your business. If you’re in the process of developing a new product, for instance, solicit suggestions about preferred colors and design features. The response videos can easily be peppered through your social media to spur conversations and generate buzz about your brand.

Show How to Do Something

“How-to” videos can do wonders for your brand and increase your reputation as a reliable source of information. If you sell draperies, for instance, you might show how the right curtains can make a smaller room look bigger.

Encourage Video Testimonials

An effective way to promote your business is with video testimonials since people tend to trust the word of other customers. The clips can be edited for use on your website or posted to your various social media platforms.

Optimize Your YouTube Channel

Take time to produce or collect enough video content to keep your YouTube channel engaging. Divide everything into convenient sections and archive older videos for easier browsing. After you’ve done that, encourage visitors to your website or social platforms to become subscribers. Send emails or post messages to announce the addition of new videos to further encourage visitors.

Interested in learning more about using video content as part of your internet marketing strategy? Reach out to Saba SEO in San Diego. We help businesses increase online visibility, connect with their target audience, and drive revenue. Give us a call at (858) 277-1717 and request a free consultation.

4 Tips for Marketing on a Limited Budget

Effectively marketing and promoting your business is a task easier said than done when faced with the reality of a limited budget. With some creativity and planning, however, you can still reach your target audience without spending a small fortune in the process.

Create Informative Video Content

Jump on the video content bandwagon in a cost-effective way by creating informative videos somehow related to your business, which can be as simple as a few “how-to” videos or your thoughts on industry trends. There are plenty of free tools and tutorials you can use to create quality videos with nothing more than a smartphone.

Embrace Your Niche on Reddit

The key to breaking through the initial resistance you may find on Reddit is to embrace a very specific niche aspect of your business. Find a niche, referred to as a subreddit, that best fits in with your business and begin sharing content.

Pick and Choose Your Social Networks

Social media is a great way to focus your reach while spending very little. Pick and a choose a few social networks that best fit in with your demographics and start distributing content, monitoring trends, sparking conversations, and participating in discussions.

Explore Paid Discovery

With paid discovery sites like StumbleUpon, your content is the advertisement. Not only is native advertising more likely to engage the audience, it’s also an economical choice. You’ll start with a base rate of 10 cents per click with the option to add further demographic specifics for a few extra cents.

One of the most affordable ways to connect with your audience is to publish fresh, engaging content that’s been search engine optimized. Well-crafted content can easily be peppered throughout your website, blog, and social media posts, and combined with SEO, you have a recipe for marketing success that won’t break the bank.

There are dozens of ways you can market your business without spending heaps. If you could use a little help, we have you covered. As a trusted internet marketing company in San Diego, our mission is to help brands increase visibility online through a combination of search engine optimization, PPC, social media, and effective web design. To learn more, give us a call at (858) 277-1717 today. We look forward to hearing from you!

Understanding the Basics of Canonicalization

When variations of a URL lead to the same page of a website, it’s referred to as canonicalization. Pages with identical content but different URLs, even if it’s only a slight variation, pose a problem because traffic to those pages gets split up among each URL, ultimately making it difficult to achieve a desirable ranking on search engines. Learn more from trusted San Diego online marketing company, Saba SEO.

Decreasing Page Popularity

Canonicalization of specific pages of a website decreases the popularity of those pages. Even though the content is exactly the same, the search engine bots count each variation of a URL as a different page, effectively splitting up your traffic, even though it’s all going to the same place. The reason why this happens is because of the default settings for various web servers, which can produce results like this:

  • www.webpageone.com
  • webpageone.com/
  • www.webpage one.com/index.html

Effectively Redirecting Canonicalized Pages

Ideally, you want the preferred URL associated with your page to be the one that counts towards how that page ranks. Pages with different URLs for the same content can be directed to the preferred URL with server redirects, with the option to either redirect permanently or temporarily. Most servers do, however, correct to the version with the preferred format, which is usually the one with a backslash.

Correcting Canonicalization Issues

All internal links should be formatted with your preferred URL, a step that can correct a lot of canonicalization issues. Canonicalization can also be addressed by:

  • Using preventative redirects
  • Avoiding tracking IDs in organic links from other sites
  • Using a single homepage URL and linking consistently to that page internally

When steps are taken to ensure your web pages go the preferred URL, canonicalization doesn’t have much of an impact on rankings. It is, however, still important to be mindful of how traffic is counted and pay particular attention to internal links.

For help with online marketing efforts, including website development in San Diego, reach out to Saba, Inc. We offer free website audits and free consultations. Call (858) 277-1717 today!

How to Create a Powerful Call to Action

Effective content is essential to your online marketing efforts. Yet it’s the call to action that entices browsers to do what you want them to do. If you need some help polishing your CTAs, consider the following tips from San Diego internet marketing experts:

Use Command Verbs

A powerful CTA starts with a strong command verb that clearly states the requested action. Effective verbs typically include words like “call,” “buy,” and “click”.

Provoke an Emotion

An effective CTA is one that sparks enthusiasm by evoking an emotional response. For instance, “Buy now for free shipping!” is more effective than “Buy now!” since the thrill of getting free shipping as an added enticement.

Use Numerals When Possible

Numbers tend to catch the eye. When appropriate, include at least one key number in your CTA, as in “Shop today for fashions under $20!”.

Provide a Reason to Take Action

“Call today” for what? A CTA only packs a punch if you give someone a reason to do something. “Call today to request a free estimate” clearly provides a reason to call.

Play up Fear of Missing Out

Create a sense of urgency to take action. A CTA like “Call now while supplies last!” implies a need to make a decision now rather than later.

Tailor CTAs to Devices

The screen size on desktops/laptops and tablet computers is about the same, so a traditional CTA towards the bottom of the page is likely to be effective. Mid-page CTAs typically get more attention on mobile devices since users tend to want instant gratification.

Experiment with CTAs

Don’t be afraid to do some experimenting with your CTAs beyond the standard phrasing. The CTA “Call today for more information,” for instance, which is fairly generic, could be reworked as “Save the planet! Get more info on our green rewards program today!”.

Learn more about strengthening your online marketing campaigns by reaching out to the experts at Saba SEO. We help companies increase online visibility and connect with their target audience through local SEO, PPC campaigns, and social media marketing. Reach out today by calling (858) 277-1717. We look forward to hearing from you!

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