Mediaboss Marketing

In today's digital era, having an online presence for a business is a critical requirement. If you are not online, you do not exist. However, a lot of enterprises and business owners today still feel that they do not need to know about digital marketing. If you belong to the strata that is popularly known as Small and Medium Enterprises (SME's), and if you really want to exist, let alone succeed and grow, you need people to know about you.

You also need people to become aware of the services and products that you have to offer - and how these offerings can help them improve their life. While age-old methods of advertising on billboards, newspapers, and TV are still available, if you wish your name to spread like wildfire, the only way out is going online.

Marshall Goldsmith says, "What Got You Here Won't Get You There." In other words, if you do not change the steps for doing something, you will keep getting the same results. Although the business practices you followed helped you reach the stage you are at, if you really want to grow your organisation, you need to try a different approach. It is critical for you to understand that today people use services such as Just Dial - or simply Google - on their mobile phones a lot more than they pick up the voluminous, not-updated since ages copy of Yellowpages. This means that if you are not visible online, you will lose out.

Creating an elaborate, complex website requires time, effort and money. To create an online presence, it is suggested to first buy a domain using a service as GoDaddy and create a simple website page, and link it to all services that promote your businesses.

With the ecommerce boom, the online nature of conducting business, and online marketing to support them, even small business owners are gearing up to make their own space in the market. That said, sadly, many small business owners feel, "Online marketing does not work for me because my customers are not online."

This is far from the truth. In fact, it is actually the opposite.

Once you have a strong online presence, you will gain new online, or in-person, consumers. With the massive presence of Google and Facebook, even if you use them for promoting your goods and services in the local region, you can reach a large number of potential buyers online - quickly.

This becomes all the more critical if you happen to run a retail store. If you are happy being the "neighbourhood kirana" store, it does not matter. But, if you want to become a bigger store with a brand recall value and grow in size, you do not really have much of a choice.

There is - and should be - no iota of doubt that you need to know, and do something, about implementing digital marketing practices to beat your competition. Getting a website has almost become fashionable these days. And it is a good thing. However, for businesses, it is not enough to just build a site and leave it at that. What is required is to market it digitally in a way that the search engine of the site is optimized, and the customers are able to interact and transact with you easily.

Though a few - a miniscule few - have started to take cognizance of the need and importance of digital marketing, a huge chunk of "traditional" business owners still are focused on making money and minimizing expenditures. They do not have the time, resources, or energy for such things as digital marketing.

Of course, I am not denying that making money and minimizing expenditures is something that should not be focused on. No one can. However, it is a well known fact that the more you invest, the more returns you can generate. Even the Bible says in 2 Corinthians 9:6-7, "Remember this: Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously." To reap bigger and better ROI, first you need to identify, and invest properly in something that will help you inch closer to those returns.

You may say - "OK, I get it. So I need an online presence, and I also need digital marketing. How can Digital Marketing help me grow my business?"

Well, here are a few benefits: Most importantly - it will help you and your business to exist and survive - Online! It helps you compete on the same level as other SMEs with both of you being online. It saves costs as online content lasts a whole lot longer than newspaper or hoardings. With savings going uphill, you end up generating better profits. It helps you avoid the expenses to be made towards middlemen. It creates a brand for your services, leading to a rise in your reputation. Aided with continuation of better services, it helps you earn more trust. It will prepare you for the favorable onslaught of the Internet of Things that is right around the corner It provides a better connect with the consumers. This includes customers who have now started using smartphones for searching and shopping for goods and services.

With changing expectations of customers and - more importantly - your competitors too going online, it's time you rethink your business and organizational strategies.

Do you still want to be the local small business owner who says "I do not need online marketing"? Think again.

(Amit Kapoor is Associate Director, Content & Marketing Strategist at Cigniti Technologies.)

More here:
Why SMEs should take digital marketing seriously - Economic Times

If you are a business owner and are being plagued by questions as to which online marketing strategy is better for you, if there is more than one strategy that you should follow, in what proportion you should use the strategies, which strategy is easier to manage, and which one would give you more success in your marketing endeavour, read on to get some insight into a couple of online marketing strategies: PPC and SEO and as to which one would be more suitable for you.

With regard to these strategies, it is also vital for you to know that both the strategies have one point in common: both are means of driving up the traffic directed to a website. Both the techniques can be used independently of one another and it is also true that both can be used simultaneously. This has more benefits.

PPC Campaigns

Listed below are a few pros and cons with regard to the PPC online marketing strategy.

Cons

Search Engine Optimization

Listed below are a few pros and cons of the SEO online marketing strategy.

Pros

Cons

Closing Thoughts

At the end of it all, whether you select your online marketing strategy as SEO or PPC depends on the nature and purpose of the campaign. If you are looking for quick exposure, PPC may be the answer. SEO calls for long-term investment and the results are not visible as easily. The best solution for the business would be to use PPC as a campaign tool to fill in those gaps that cannot be filled by SEO. As examples, PPC can be used to run advertisements on content networks, to conduct research on suitability of keywords for the campaigns, test the design of an upcoming website, etc.

As a business owner, the online marketing strategy that you select will depend on the line of your business and the way in which you advertise your products to your line of customers.

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Online Marketing Strategy : PPC Advertising Vs. SEO - FX Daily Report

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Solutions Plumbing & Gasfitting Ltd. has enlisted the help of SEO specialists Canada West Internet Marketing to promote their services online to communities in Red Deer, Alberta and beyond.

Red Deer, Alberta, Canada February 3, 2017 /MarketersMedia/

The vast majority of initial enquiries on all goods and services are now made online, via major search engines. As such, it is increasingly important for even local businesses to be listed in these results, and ranked highly enough to hit the first page, where customers will make the vast majority of their enquiries and selections. Solutions Plumbing & Gasfitting of Red Deer, Alberta offer some of the most comprehensive plumbing and heating services in the region, with a commitment to the best possible service. Now, they have enlisted the help of Canada West Internet Marketing in order to create a targeted, localized SEO campaign to introduce these services to new audiences online.

The website has been thoroughly optimized with on-page SEO, enabling the site to be discovered easily by individuals searching online. Whats more, Canada West Internet Marketing has integrated the business with Google Plus and Facebook, geolocating the business and allowing customers to contact them through social media, both of which are increasingly important to mobile search performance.

The agency has developed a long term, locally optimized strategy that will target audiences in Red Deer and the surrounding areas, actively introducing the company to them, while making it organically discoverable via search engine. This two-pronged approach will serve to greatly increase the exposure of the business.

A spokesperson for Solutions Plumbing & Gasfitting Ltd. explained, We are pleased to have Canada West Internet marketing on our side to help promote our business locally. We offer heating, plumbing and gasfitting services together with emergency call outs, professional consultations and more, and do all of this with the utmost commitment to exceeding customer expectations. As such, we have a duty to make sure all residents of Red Deer and the surrounding areas have the opportunity to choose us as their plumbing service provider. That means making sure they know about us, and Canada West Internet Marketing can make that happen.

About Solutions Plumbing & Gasfitting Ltd.: Solutions Plumbing & Gasfitting Ltd. has been in the heating, plumbing and gas fitting business since 2007. Based in Red Deer, Alberta, they are a fully licensed, bonded and insured company. They offer safety inspections, preventive maintenance, repair, installation of commercial and residential natural gas appliances, as well as plumbing and HVAC services. They provide the best service, staff and products possible so that we can meet and exceed your expectations.

Contact Info: Name: PRWhirlWind Organization: Solutions Plumbing & Gasfitting Ltd. Address: 106 Larsen Crescent Red Deer AB T4R 0J2

Source URL: http://marketersmedia.com/solutions-plumbing-gasfitting-ltd-partners-with-canada-west-internet-marketing/167028

For more information, please visit http://solutions.plumbing/

Source: MarketersMedia

Release ID: 167028

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Solutions Plumbing & Gasfitting Ltd. Partners With Canada West Internet Marketing - Satellite PR News (press release)

Graham Buchanan, managing director, WSI Internet Consulting

11:58 Friday 03 February 2017

If you are serious about your business then you are most likely aware of the principle of value for value.

That is, if you want to get something, you must be willing to give something in return. Free promotional methods can bring good results but if you want great results for your business then you should seriously consider trying out paid online advertising methods such as pay-per-click or PPC Marketing. Here are 10 reasons why it can have a great impact on your business and benefits you can get from it.

Because It Provides First Page Exposure On The Top Of the Most Popular Search Engines:

If you want your business to succeed online then you must aspire to be on the first page on the top three search engines, namely, Google, Yahoo and Bing. In fact, some experts would say that you should be on the top five of the results. This is because people rarely click on the search results below the 5th listing. Even fewer are those who bother to go to the succeeding pages. If you want your website to reach a top five position on the search engines then pay-per-click marketing is the way to go.

Because It Provides Immediate Traffic:

It is so easy and fast to setup a PPC campaign on Google, Yahoo and Bing. If you are working with an expert, the account set-up may take less than 1 hour. This is the reason why PPC marketing is also the fastest way to get traffic to any website. After an hour or so of putting up your PPC ad, you can expect people clicking on your ad and visiting your site. This is why PPC is ideal for new websites with little or no exposure.

Because It Provides Consistent Traffic:

PPC does not only provide immediate traffic, it also provides consistent traffic. Its important that traffic should be consistent on a daily basis and you can do that by using PPC. You can easily set your daily budget and see your traffic grows day by day. The bigger your daily budget is, the more traffic you can get to your site.

Because It Provides Targeted Traffic:

Visitor numbers do not mean anything. If you want to attract more customers to your site, then you need to get the most targeted visitors to see what you have to offer. And in PPC, you are giving a chance to target those people who have an immediate need for your products and services. By targeting the keywords that your prospective customers will type in the search engines, you are exposing your business to the highest quality of visitors that you cant find elsewhere. The more targeted traffic your business will get, the better chance for you to convert them as high-paying customers or clients.

Because It Allows You to Change Your Ads Easily:

With PPC you can change, edit, test and optimise your ads to make sure that they will bring you the results you are looking for. If you think your current ad is not attracting your target market then you can easily change it until you get the right combination of keywords, ad texts and landing page. Ultimately, what PPC gives you is control over your ads, the message you want to send out and the people you want to reach.

Because It Allows You to Test Your Campaign Easily:

Free ways to advertise online can be very effective but they can also be very inefficient. To make sure that you are not wasting your time, you should be able to test the effectiveness of your campaign. This is something that can be easily done with PPC marketing. With PPC, you can set up a campaign, run an ad campaign for a month and then check the data afterwards to see if the campaign is successful or not. If not, then you can simply make changes to it. You can even make a split test and compare the campaigns to each other to see which is performing well.

Because It Allows You to Reach More People:

When you visit websites, you often see advertisements displayed on different parts of the site. Most of those ads are usually from Google. You can just imagine the number of people you will be able to reach with ads like those. And the best thing about Googles sponsored ads is that they are posted in some of the most popular

websites on the Internet. In case you just want to show your ads in Google search network, you can also do that. You can even enable the Search Network and the Display Network to your campaign to reach even more people.

Because It Allows You to Track Results:

The problem with conventional ways of advertising is that it is hard to track whether or not you are successful in reaching your target audience. When you put up an ad in a newspaper, the only thing that you can do is to rely on readership data (which is not very accurate). With PPC though, you can track your ads and other parameters easily and accurately. You can tell whether a particular keyword or ad campaign is effective. You can even know where your money has gone, down to the last pence. This means you can determine ROI faster with a PPC campaign. Some PPC vendors like Google Adwords even offer conversion tracking tools that you can use to track whether or not a campaign is earning you money.

Because It Allows You to Have Geo-Targeted Ads:

With PPC, you can choose which parts of the globe your advertisement will be visible. This is especially useful for local business. If you have a window cleaning business in Eastbourne, for example, and you only operate with the immediate vicinity, then it is useless to show your ads to people outside of Sussex or even outside of Eastbourne. With PPC, you dont only get to choose where your ads will be visible, you also get to choose when it will be displayed. You can target multiple or single (cities, counties and countries) and ban those which you dont want your ads to be shown in. With some PPC vendors like Google Adwords, you can also input your address directly in your ads making it even more relevant to the searchers which in return will be converted to higher click-through-rate.

Because It Allows You to Schedule Your Ads:

Most local businesses which have physical locations typically operate on regular working hours each day. And with PPC, you are able to show your ads during the exact working hours of your operation and disable it on the hours of non-operation. By doing this, you make sure that only those people who are looking for your business in your working hours will be the ones who can see your ads.

Conclusion: There is no better source of hungry people who are willing to spend their money on products or services than PPC. Search engines are where people look for solutions when they have problems. And if you use PPC to offer real-world solutions to the problems of those hungry people, then your customer base and business growth will surely skyrocket in a short space of time. If youre not yet doing PPC marketing, you should consider starting today.

info@wsileadingwebdevelopment.co.uk - 01323 724159.

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Why pay-per-click should be part of your online marketing strategy - Eastbourne Herald

For more than two weeks now, Cameroons northwest and southwest regions have had no internetaffecting businesses like internet cafes, microfinance institutions, and money transfer agencies.

The internet shutdown has also had an adverse effect on the budding tech industry in the country. Known as the Silicon Mountain, a play on Silicon Valley and Mount Cameroon, most of these start-ups are located in Buea, a small town that has been described as the countrys home of innovation and Africas next tech hub.

The internet outage has disrupted operations in these tech centers, forcing many developers to leave for big cities like Douala and Yaound. Entrepreneurs and founders who spoke with Quartz Africa described leaving back empty offices; losing clients, working hours and thousands of dollars in revenue; and struggling to pay salaries to already dispirited staff members.

Silicon Mountain is now in a coma, says Otto Akama, the founder of ActivSpaces, the countrys first tech hub. As a co-working space and incubator, Akama said that eight start-ups who were part of their community partnership have been affected. And even though they paid rent for office space, and made a one-year payment for internet connection to the government-owned CAMTELwhich also controls and cut the internet Akama was less hopeful that they would get a refund.

ActivSpaces has invited tech founders leaving Buea to work out of its office space in Douala, the countrys largest city, and its commercial capital. But because of the costs involved in traveling, the over 70-kilometer distance between Douala and Buea, and the challenge in finding affordable accommodation, not all start-ups are able to move with their entire teams, Akama said. And since all employees are not working at full capacity, many have missed deadlines to submit clients work on time.

Its all very costly, Akama said.

The access to international bandwidth was cut off on Jan. 17 following months of protests and strike against the imposition of the French language in educational and judicial institutions. Cameroon has 10 regions, and except for the two Anglophone regions that currently have no internet, French is spoken in the other eight. And given much of the leadership of the technology world mostly runs in English, the two English-speaking regions have over the years experienced great leaps in digital technology.

But uncertainty has currently enveloped the industry, as recent figures show significant consequences that might have an impact on the national economy. According to estimates calculated by advocacy groups Internet Sans Frontires and Access Now, the first 15 days of the shutdown cost Cameroon $723,000. The ban and its outcome are contradictory to the governments policy towards young people, whom president Paul Biya described last year as being dynamic and ambitious, conquering and creative.

To us, it is a sign that the government has no regards for our business, which directly contradicts its policies on youth development and professionalism, says Kenneth Ngah, who established LCM Tours, a web platform that connects tourists to travel agencies and tour guides in Cameroon. No right government does such thing in the 21st century.

Akama says that his company Makonjo Media, which does web design, online marketing, and advertising, lost 2 million CFA francs ($3275) in January. Mohamed Felata is the founder of VIVA, a pioneer company that provides entertainment services inside Cameroons bus and train networks. Users can access VIVA content through smartphones, tablets or through the screens equipped inside the buses.

But with no internet now in Buea, Felata says they have had to move around physically between Douala and Buea to deliver content. Every other day, somebody has to go back [to Buea] and meet the rest of the team. This, he said, has made them incur transportation costs of more than $1,000. Felata says that if the shutdown keeps on going, they might have to move towards a less optimal business model or even let go of the team in Buea.

Other affected start-ups include Skademy, which provides tech skills online; Agro-hub, which helps farmers access markets; Skylabase, which develops affordable computer software for businesses; and Njorku, which is one of Africas biggest job search engines.

The internet shutdown has drawn condemnation all over the world, with many using the Twitter hashtag #BringBackOurInternet. The blackout has also reportedly affected civil servants, with the government instructing banks to pay them manually now that ATMs services were suspended. Entrepreneurs say they cant predict or see an end to the ban, given that the government is yet to even publicly acknowledge the internet.

The looming February 11 date, celebrated as both the national youth day and as the plebiscite day when the two Francophone and Anglophone regions united, might also aggravate the current problem.

Weve taken the time to build this vibrant community, Akama said. But the government taking away the internet for two weeks is devastating.

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How do you build Africa's newest tech ecosystem when the government shuts the internet down? - Quartz