Saba Digital Marketing

Top Predictions for Content Marketing in 2016

The goal of content marketers in San Diego will always be to create relevant, valuable, engaging, and consistent content across multiple platforms. As with anything done online, there are trends to be mindful of each year. With 2016 officially in full swing, here are a few predictions for the year.

1. User Information Will Tell a Better Story

Advances in data gathering will allow bits and pieces of info to be gathered from social profiles to tell a more coherent story.

2. Algorithms Will Get Better at Generating Content

What was once only imaged by Ray Bradbury may very well be on it’s a way to becoming reality as advanced robotic journalistic algorithms will generate more content in 2016. A human hand will still be needed for more extensive content–for now.

3. Long-Form Content Will Be Necessary to Drive Web Traffic

Websites that provide quick answers will need to be re-designed to focus on more complex and detailed topics as search engines become capable of answering longer queries.

4. Social Platforms Will Offer Publishing Options

New publishing options, similar to Facebook’s Instant Articles, will give publishers the option to publish articles immediately on social platforms.

5. Demand for Visual Content Will Increase

As internet speeds continue to improve, mobile users will demand more visual content.

6. Content Will Become Increasingly Interactive

The concept of customization, already seen in news feeds, will be applied to more content in 2016.

7. Larger Media Brands Will Purchase Niche Sites

Larger media brands will purchase smaller, niche sites that work within their brand. The result will be an expanded audience for some larger brands.

8. Advertising Will Be Further Linked to Content

Both content and advertising will become more personalized, with placement based on people’s search habits.

There will still be a lack of patience among some brands to venture out on their own and tell a story that’s different yet engaging due to the continued expectation for immediate results. In other words, while some promising possibilities are on the way, some things will remain unchanged.

Take your content marketing to the next level with help from Saba SEO in San Diego. We are a locally owned and operated SEO agency helping clients identify and connect with their target audience. Give us a call today at (858) 277-1717 and request a free website audit.

Reddit Is a Treasure Trove of Marketing Ideas and Resources

Reddit is one of the largest social media sites on the internet. Unlike Facebook, Twitter, and other mainstream social media sites, Reddit is a community-oriented platform that does not tolerate junk content. Because of this, Reddit is an excellent place for internet marketers to find fresh content ideas or to research consumers.

Use Reddit to Find New Content Ideas

Reddit is divided into thousands of niche communities called subreddits. These communities are focused on nearly every hobby, sport, and idea that exists. Millions of people go to subreddits to share their most recent discoveries and creations. For example, a computer enthusiast may go to the subreddit/r/buildapc to share their most recent rig modifications. If the information shared by a subreddit user is interesting or revolutionary, content writers for computer sites may benefit from incorporating it into an article.

Research Consumer Preferences with Subreddits

If your website is oriented around a specific industry or niche, you can go to subreddits to figure out the preferences of your audience. You can do this by reading posts, but a more effective method is to become actively involved in a subreddit. When you do this, you must avoid sales tactics and marketing at all costs. Users of Reddit tend to react very negatively to people who share advertisements instead of valuable content. Like most people on the internet, Reddit users want to be informed or entertained. Share images and posts that are insightful, funny, or entertaining. Like your SEO articles, these posts should be original and related to your niche. You can monitor the responses to these posts to learn more about your potential readers. This information can be used to improve your website’s articles and advertisements on other platforms.

Reddit is a valuable tool that can help online marketers create fresh content that truly engages readers. Discover other ways to improve your marketing strategy with help from Saba SEO in San Diego. We are locally owned and operated and specialize in AdWords management, SEO, and social media. Give us a call at (858) 277-1717 today!

 

What Would Happen to the Marketing World If SEO Disappeared?

Search engine optimization is the engine driving Internet commerce. Whether you know it or not, your favorite content creator or funny website would be nothing without SEO! Below are just a few of the important reasons why search engine optimization should be number one on your marketing to-do list.

Without search engine optimization, how would you find anything?

The answer is that you wouldn’t find anything at all! How can you market to an audience if there is no standard in place that helps your audience find your product? Street addresses make it possible to market a store in the physical world, and without them, no one would ever find the store. In the same way, search engine optimization creates order in the online landscape, giving online marketers a standard they can trust.

Content makes no money by itself!

Believe it or not, your favorite content creator likely does not make money from the website he or she performs on. That money likely comes from advertisers that the website attracts. Without search engine optimization, advertisers wouldn’t know what websites to target.

Spammers ruled the internet not too long ago!

If you were around in the early days of the commercial internet, everyone had problems selling. The major search engines were just getting together their search engine optimization standards, and underhanded marketers took full advantage of the new landscape. People would get their websites into searches through dirty marketing techniques, and often the website would have nothing to do with what the person was actually searching for. If SEO disappeared, spammers would take over once more.

The importance of SEO in marketing cannot be overstated. Proper search engine optimization bookmarks your content so that the right people can easily find it. Make sure SEO is a priority, and don’t forget to stay current on best practices.

If you think your website could use a face lift, reach out to Saba SEO. We’re the internet marketing company San Diego businesses trust and can help you get your website in tip-top SEO shape. Give us a call at (858) 277-1717 and request a complimentary website audit today!

 

Developing Defined Digital Marketing Goals

Digital marketing is an excellent way to spread your brand to many consumers and increase profits. Before you start your marketing campaign, however, you should establish clear goals. This will save you time and money as you make decisions about your online marketing efforts.

Test Your Website

Over the past few years, search engine algorithms have changed rapidly. Because of this, many trusted SEO standards have become outdated and irrelevant. New rules have also been introduced. To ensure your website will continue to rank highly, you should evaluate your current SEO practices. This should be one of your first goals. If you can determine the strengths and weaknesses of your website, you’ll be able to develop a strategy for success.

Audit All Content

The old-school method of lacing articles with keywords is no longer effective. Instead, you must now rely on a natural growth of inbound links through other bloggers and social media users. To do this, your articles must be unique and useful. Google now penalizes sites that host duplicated content. When you audit your content, you should make sure that the information offers an original idea or a creative spin of an old one. Webmasters should also ensure that articles utilize all of the relevant HTML tags.

Expand Your Brand

One of the best ways to increase sales is to establish a mental connection between your company and the products that you sell. Nike is a company that has succeeded in connecting their brand with a specific product. Whenever people think about buying running shoes or basketball shoes, Nike is one of the first companies that comes to their minds. To expand your brand, take full advantage of social media marketing to promote your logo and attach it to a specific product. As your company gains traction, you can start to incorporate other products or services as well.

Increase Consumer Interaction

Most markets are saturated with companies that sell the same kinds of goods. In many cases, you won’t be able to convince consumers that your products are better than your competitor’s products. Fortunately, you can connect with consumers on a personal level to persuade them to purchase your goods and services. Use social media and surveys to learn what matters to your consumers. If you find a trend, you may want to incorporate it into your marketing efforts. Consumers appreciate companies who put forth the effort to directly communicate with them. Instead of using form letters and automated messages, you can respond to consumer concerns on social media. Facebook comments are an excellent way to show consumers that you care about them. Since Facebook comments are public, this may also increase your brand recognition.

Bolster Weak Areas and Reduce Costs

Most webmasters are very busy. Since time is limited, you should determine the strongest and weakest aspects of your website. If your social media marketing efforts are already fruitful, you should concentrate your efforts on other aspects of your business. To maximize the effects of your work, you need to make sure that you aren’t wasting time and energy on areas that are producing results. If it’s not broken, don’t try to fix it.

You should also analyze your marketing statistics on a regular basis to determine which strategies and keywords are not working to your satisfaction. Your company will certainly benefit from regular cost-benefit analyses. If you could use help creating and achieving defined marketing goals, give us a call at (858) 277-1717. We’re a trusted internet marketing company in San Diego and can help you develop your brand, further your marketing goals, and connect with your audience. Reach out today, we look forward to hearing from you!

Start Using Employee-Generated Video for Content

One of the content marketing trends in 2015 was employee-generated video content, and it will continue to be an important marketing technique. So what sets this particular type of content apart? There are a multitude of reasons why EGC on video is a great strategy for online marking in San Diego.

Why Use Video?

For one, most people find it easy to explain things while talking. Few people think writing is an easy or preferable task. If given the choice between teaching something through conversation or writing, the majority will opt for speaking.

Many employees enjoy being involved in video-related projects as well. It won’t be difficult to find volunteers to produce video content for your business.

Thirdly, your employees provide a perspective that writers outside of the organization can’t. That is because they are the ones actually working for you and involved in the business. As a result, they typically have a good understanding of the message and culture behind your brand.

How to Get Started — It’s not as difficult as it seems!

First, set a realistic goal, such as creating one piece of EGC per month. You can increase the number of videos you post once you get the hang of it.

Then, consider the strengths and expertise of your team. Who is the best at a particular task? Who is good at explaining concepts that are hard to grasp? Who keeps up with trends in your industry? Each employee has his or her own unique expertise and strengths. Tailor the video content to these strengths.

As you can tell, using employee-generated video content is easier than it seems and fun as well. Heading into 2016, make it one of your goals to generate EGC content on video as part of your marketing and brand awareness plan.

If you need help getting started, reach out to Saba, Inc. We help businesses gain visibility in the online world through personalized, high-quality content as well as other SEO strategies, PPC management, and website design and development. Give us a call at (858) 277-1717. We look forward to speaking with you!

5 Easy Strategies to Build White Hat Backlinks for Successful SEO

Any successful SEO strategy relies heavily on building backlinks, which also happens to be one of the hardest SEO tasks. There are a lot of ways to do it, but many can cause the search engines to penalize your site or simply don’t work. The following are five safe and effective ways to build legitimate backlinks for better SEO from a local San Diego SEO firm.

Find Something Great and Improve On It

Find a well-written, popular, and heavily backlinked article then create a more comprehensive, informative, and well-written version of that article. Easier said than done, but this is worth hiring a writer for. Email a link to your new and improved article to all of the sites, which linked to the original. Not everyone will link back to your article, but the success rate with this technique can be as high as 20 percent, which makes it well worth doing. It also gives your site more high-quality content, which Google always likes.

Help Out Journalists

Pitch story ideas relevant to your website to journalists–even a mention in an article can lead to a high-quality backlink. You can use HARO (Help a Reporter Out) to make this easier.

Guest Posting

Writing guest posts on blogs isn’t as much about building back links directly as it is about reaching a new audience. Focus on blogs with a large audience and a good reputation. You’ll be getting your name out there and, ultimately, the backlinks will follow.

Just Ask (But Don’t Beg)

Whenever you post something that mentions another business or blog, send them a short note via email letting them know. Chances are they’ll link to your post without you having to come out and ask.

Get Rounded Up

A lot of websites include “best of” sections featuring links to other websites. If you can target some of these sites with content they’re likely to be interested in and reach out to them via social media, you’ll probably find some of your content linked to before long.

Need help building those backlinks? We’ve got you covered! Give Saba, Inc. a call at (858) 277-1717 and request a free consultation with one of our marketing professionals. We specialize in all facets of online marketing, including SEO, social media, website design in San Diego.

 

Content Marketing and SEO: The 1-2 Punch

As a business, one of your primary goals should be to acquire more customers.

The problem is that the obvious methods seem to be too competitive. Search engines have trillions of websites competing for the top three positions in any given results page. Content on its own doesn’t attract new customers.

The solution is glaringly simple: combine search engine optimization (SEO) with content marketing. You can establish your website as an authority while reaping the benefits of ranking at the top of search engine result pages.

The Synergy Behind Content Marketing and SEO

On their own, content marketing and SEO are relatively straightforward subjects to understand.

Content marketing involves publishing content that expands your website, establishes your business as an authority, or pulls visitors from other websites to your own. Blogs and guest blogging are two fine examples of content marketing.

SEO focuses on making your website and your digital properties rank high on search engine results page. This involves creating content, retooling existing content, and focusing on ranking for specific terms that seem most profitable for your business.

Given the nature of these two marketing approaches, they form an incredibly strong strategy when combined. One strategy complements the other to produce results that neither strategy could necessarily attain by themselves.

Taking Your Results Further

The best part about a one-two strategy that uses content marketing and SEO is the way it aligns with other methods of marketing.

You can utilize social media marketing, paid advertisements, community creation, and more to drive traffic towards your content. This allows you to generate buzz, which in turn creates off-site links that point back to your content.

This allows content marketing and SEO to establish your website as an authority in your field. You will drive visitors to your content from search engines and other websites, which enables you to turn those visitors into happy customers.

Hard Work with Great Results

While content marketing and SEO can be hard work, they produce amazing results. Strong content enables your SEO gains to remain stable across search engine algorithm updates, and SEO drives new visitors to your website who will hopefully share your expert resources with other people.

Content marketing and SEO forms the one-two move that businesses need to form a strong foundation for their digital marketing efforts. Learn more about making your company more visible in the online world by reaching out to Saba, Inc. at (858) 277-1717. We offer a full range of online marketing services including social media, PPC, and SEO in San Diego. Reach out today. We look forward to your call!

 

What You Need to Know About Creating Eye-Catching Infographics

As visual content marketing gains in popularity, more online marketing companies in San Diego are using infographics as an effective way to drive traffic and establish authority. If you’re venturing into the world of visual marketing, here are a few tips to create a killer infographic.

1. Gather and Structure Your Data

One of the most important aspects of creating an infographic is to pull pertinent data and ensure that it aligns with the project’s objective. The goal is to organize and present this content in such a way that it forms an easy-to-comprehend, visual narrative. Before putting numbers and stats on the graphic, however, make sure you double check information and verify sources.

2. Create the Story

Every infographic tells a story about specific trends through movements and processes in a clear and concise manner. Rather than throwing a bunch of numbers and graphics on a page, be mindful of how each item flows to the next. Good flow will keep the reader’s attention and help him or her remain interested in what’s being presented.

3. Build a Hierarchy of Elements

The main goal when creating an infographic is to avoid boring the audience by providing them with a thoughtful, illustrated graphic. One way to accomplish this is to maintain consistency with how the visual elements are presented. Establish the fundamental point first, followed by supporting research and facts.

4. Play with Elements to Guide the Eye

To create a cohesive infographic, utilize line, shape, and color. These basic design elements will establish a visual guide for your audience. For instance, placing numbers within circles or using dotted lines to lead from one section of content to the next are clear ways to keep the eye moving through the data. Variations in color can also be used to make essential information stand out, but take care to avoid clashing or visually abrasive hues.

5. Keep It Simple

It’s easy to get carried away when designing an infographic. Like most other things, infographics are best when kept simple. Stick to a limited color palette, opt for similar styles with images, and remain consistent with your font choices.

To learn more about visual marketing, call (858) 277-1717 and speak with a friendly marketing specialist at Saba, Inc. We help businesses increase visibility through SEO, social media, and San Diego PPC services. Give us a call. We are looking forward to speaking with you!

Essential Content for Any Editorial Calendar

You may notice that you’ve fallen into a pattern of three or four types of reliable content. It’s easy to do, and most of us have been guilty of it once or twice. To mix it up, SabaSEO in San Diego suggests trying these 15 different types of editorial content.

1. The List (Theme and Variations)
Start with a central idea, then identify several ideas that bring greater meaning to the original.

2. Company Stories or News
Stories related directly to your company allow your audience to identify with you more. Remind them of your humanity and that you are passionate about making their lives better.

3. Case Studies
Show how your company provided world-class service to a customer. Or, demonstrate new or unexplored ways to use your product.

4. Keyword Exploration (SEO)
Take one or more of your most powerful keywords or phrases to build an article around. Explore the language of your audience.

5. Explain Why
There are issues in almost every industry that may not be clear to most customers. If you can describe something complex in a way that’s easy to understand, you create authority for yourself.

6. Explain How-To
This is another way to create authority. If you can help potential customers to do something they couldn’t do before, that builds trust and gratitude.

7. Product Review
Review a product that has solved problems for you that your audience would be interested in.

8. Book Review
When you read something you know your audience will love, share it with them.

9. Unexpected Angle
Take an idea that we think we fully understand and shed new light on it by describing it from a significantly different point of view.

10. Predictions
They are especially relevant at the end of the year, but can be used whenever a big event occurs in your industry.

11. Research
Explain new research done within your company or from outside sources.

12. Interview
Discuss an interview with an industry influencer published elsewhere. Or conduct the interview yourself.

13. Facts and Stats
Share unusual and interesting stories and figures that your audience probably doesn’t know about.

14. Roundup
Instead of creating purely original content, share with your audience the best ideas that you’ve recently discovered from other industry sources.

15. Testimonials and Quotes
It’s always good to have customers tell their own stories of how much better your company has made their life.

Interested in learning more? Give us a call at (858) 277-1717. We help businesses build their online presence through SEO, social media management, and PPC. Reach out today. We look forward to hearing from you!

Are You Following the Golden Rules of Content Marking?

It never hurts to stay ahead of the game and prepared for the future by keeping up with the many rules of content marketing. Because of the way the marketing world works changes so frequently, San Diego search engine optimization companies recommend staying sharp on the latest golden rules that will bring you success.

1. Start a blog

There’s simply not enough content to market if you don’t have a blog. Blogs are the fuel for all different types of marketing, including search, social media, and most importantly, content marketing. 

2. Use social media

There are literally hundreds of free social media websites that businesses and websites can market on. Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Pinterest are just a few of the main outlets, but there are also places like StumbleUpon and Google+ to share your content on.

3. Don’t keyword spam

Maybe when Google had the old rules for search engine optimization keyword spamming in your content worked. Now, if Google crawls through your page and sees keyword stuffing it actually hurts your overall ranking.

4. Customize your blog

Remember that blog you started? Make sure that it’s actually tailored to your customer’s tastes instead of what you want. Changing things up based on the overall preferences of your customers and target audience is a great way to increase sales through content marketing.

5. Make your content easy to understand

With a few caveats, it shouldn’t take a genius to read your content, and the way your article is written shouldn’t give your customer a headache. Make it easy to read using numbering, bullet points, short paragraphs, subheadings, pictures, and much more. Utilizing these can help you rank through search engines as well.

It’s not difficult to understand the rules of content marketing, and by getting a clear image of the golden rules of content marketing in your head, you can easily incorporate them into your website.

Looking for a little more guidance when developing your marketing strategy? Saba, Inc. can help! As an internet marketing company San Diego businesses and business across the country trust, we’re happy to offer free consultations and website audits to show you what a difference working with a professional company can make. Give us a call at (858) 277-1717. We look forward to hearing from you!

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