Use audience extension to reach your target audience online

Audience extension advertising campaigns, also known as retargeting, are advertisements that are placed online on sites other than the client’s own.  These ads can be targeting specifically to the client’s target audience and show up on top web sites such as CNN and Auto Trader.

Website browsers such as Google Chrome use cookies to track user data including demographics such as age and location, as well as interests, purchases and more.  When an audience extension campaign is set up, digital marketers can assign certain parameters to the ads, such as show to people in zip codes A, B and C, display to people ages 18-40, etc.

Audience extension campaigns ensure that only people in the client’s target audience are being exposed to their message, which is cost and time efficient. And, because the campaign is charged only when the ad is served, no advertising dollars are wasted on people who would most likely not be interested or being charged regardless of if the ad is actually displayed or not.

And the client picks the budget, so they are guaranteed not to spend more than they want.

Why Facebook is not a substitute for a business website

By Jenny Hopkins

ISJ Media

jhopkins@journalnet.com

208-239-3532

Surprisingly, many small businesses do not have a website. These business owners say, “I have a Facebook page so I don't need a website.” Facebook is a great tool for small businesses because it is free and pretty much everybody uses it.

But there are some things that Facebook just can't do for your business. Here are a few advantages to having a company website:

• You don't have ownership. Yes, it is your business page, but ultimately it is still owned by Facebook. Your page may get hacked or spammed, and if it accidentally gets deleted or shut down for some reason you have to start over. Also, you have to follow Facebook's rules and guidelines when it comes to promotions, but on your own website you make the rules.

What is SEO and how does it apply to my business?

Search Engine Optimization, or SEO, is making sure your company ‘s website and web presence is optimized for a user’s mobile experience.

With more people than ever using their mobile devices rather than desktop computer for Internet surfing, having a prominent and user-friendly mobile presence is critical.

SEO includes: Making sure your web site looks great on a mobile device. Sure your web site looks great on a desktop computer, but how does it look on your phone or tablet? Try it out.  Is it easy to use? Is it “clunky?” When your customers come to your mobile site are they going to get frustrated and leave for your competitor’s site?

Also, Google’s new algorithm won’t pick up sites that aren’t optimized for mobile on a mobile search. In other words, if a user searches for “pizza delivery” on his or her iPhone, and your pizza business does not have a mobile website they won’t see you.

Also, recent research done by a group of SEO Professionals reports that long form, in depth content is more likely to rank highly in a Google search than short, brief posts. Read more about the study here.

Use Google to increase organic traffic

Most small businesses have a tight budget. After paying for building maintenance, employee wages, supplies, etc. there is not much left over to pay for advertising.

There are countless services out there that offer to advertise your company online, such as Facebook and Google ads, but with a little bit of research you can reach people who are searching for your product or service by using the content on your web site.

Getting people to your web site without paying for advertising is called "organic traffic." It's a lot like word of mouth.

When adding content to your website, keep in mind the keywords that your ideal audience would type into a Google search to find your product. For example, people looking for digital marketing are searching for "digital marketing," "social media," "social media marketing," "online marketing," etc.

Make sure the content on your website is rich with keywords related to your product. Google "bots" routinely crawl the Internet and make a record of wording on websites. that's what fuels the search results.

Not sure what keywords to use? Google AdWords has a keyword tool that gives you a list of the most used keywords that relate to your product or service. Using AdWords is free, you just have to have a Google account. Using the keyword tool is free, you are not required to buy a Google ad.

Click here to learn more about organic traffic and writing quality content.

Going mobile means more now than ever

Chances are you've used your smart phone to search for a local business in the last few months.  Search engines like Google are great for finding the phone number and addresses of local restaurants and stores, but online business listings offer so much more than the ancient phone book. Online business listings can offer reviews, directions, specials, services and more.

With so much information literally at our fingertips we can be much more selective about the information we want to find. And if you are a consumer searching for a specific product or service, such as coffee shops that are open at 6 a.m., if you coffee shop does not have an online presence those searchers might not even know you exist and will take their business to a shop that has hours, prices, specials etc. online.

Think about what you expect when doing an online search. Your keywords bring up a list of web sites, and if your click on the first one does not yield useful information then you're on to the next.

So having an  informative and well-designed website is a great way to get new customers, but in this increasingly mobile era it is not enough.  It is estimated that 60% of searches are done on a mobile device. Is your website mobile friendly? Sure it looks great on your office desktop, but remember that mobile device screens are much smaller and things like videos and large image files can slow down how fast your page loads, especially on a mobile device.

Most people won't sit around and wait for a page to load on their device. If it does not load they'll simply go to a different web site or get frustrated and
 not come back.

Need another reason to make your website mobile friendly? Google searches done on a mobile device will no longer yield results with non mobile-friendly websites.  That's a relief for consumers, but if your business has not hopped on the mobile bandwagon it could be suffering.

So what does having a mobile-friendly website mean?

The design should be responsive. Responsive websites can detect when a user is visiting from a mobile device and automatically fits the content to the correct size.

Read more about how mobile can benefit your business in the article How to Seize Untapped Mobile Opportunity in 2016