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WSI Optimizes Major Multi-Location Commercial Concrete Contractor

WSI Connect has recently completed the on-page search engine optimization for Conco Companies, one of the nation’s largest commercial concrete contractors. With major operations servicing the Western United States, Conco delivers full range concrete services on large scale commercial projects throughout the western half of the country.  The major goal for this project was to significantly increase Conco’s online presence, especially in the new markets that they are expanding into.

In all, WSI optimized 45 pages of the website to rank for general terms like commercial concrete contractor, rebar, concrete pumping, shotcrete, and concrete design.  We also created pages focused on geo-modified terms to reflect the markets they serve including the San Francisco Bay Area, Los Angeles, Sacramento, Seattle, Portland, Denver and Colorado Springs.

Off-page optimization for Conco will begin in December.  This involves creating relevant content and sharing it both socially, and on various third-party websites to improve their page rank and develop social engagement.  This activity sends direct as well as indirect traffic to the site. Blogs at BlogSpot, WordPress, and Tumblr, as well as local directory listings, and customer reviews will be the major focus of this campaign.  We also increased their social media presence by building out Google+, Facebook, and LinkedIn company pages to increase the flow of social signals.

At the start of the optimization, Conco only ranked for one relevant term in Google.  Upon completion of the on-page phase this figure increased to over 40 keywords, and it continues to grow at a consistent rate as we move into the off-page work.

Video Marketing: The Way of the Future


Embrace the Magic of Movies

Dating as far back as 1896, with the legend of the Lumière brothers’ Train Pulling into a Station, and continuing on with beloved classics like Citizen Kane, Casablanca and even modern blockbusters like Avatar, the magic of the movies has captivated our society for more than a century. Over the course of those 100 years, movies have drastically changed, not only in their style and technical composition, but also the way they are received by audiences. And while the reasons for the shock and lasting impact of Train Pulling into a Station and Inception greatly differ – viewers of the former supposedly retreated to the back of the room in fear that a train was coming through the screen, while the latter’s audience grappled with a mind-bending story and unbelievable effects – both movies made a similarly magical impression on people who viewed them, even decades apart.

As a society, we have declared our enduring love for movies. This love is independent of any type of film, as we have shown our appreciation for the many different forms of the medium. And that is the reason April 23, 2005 was such an important day for the world of digital marketing. It’s the day the Internet and movies became one and, in retrospect, the day that video marketing was born.

The rise of YouTube and the dawn of video marketing.

On that fateful spring day, YouTube co-founder Jawed Karim uploaded the platform’s first video, entitled “Me at the Zoo”, which officially launched what is now one of the most popular websites in the world. So, how much do we watch the videos of YouTube? In looking at these stats, it might even be an understatement to say that we have fallen in love with this shorter, often more personal and directly engaging style of movie:

  • Eight years of content is uploaded to YouTube every single day
  • YouTube receives more than one billion unique users each month
  • Over four billion hours of video are watched each month on YouTube
  • YouTube is localized in 53 countries and across 61 languages
  • YouTube is the second largest search engine next to Google
  • In 2011, YouTube had more than one trillion views (around 140 views for every person on earth)

The upshot of all this is simple. Our society loves movies – old movies, new movies, and short movies hosted on the Internet. Only one of these kinds of movies can be reasonably and affordably turned into a marketing tool and thus, you and your company need to embrace the magic of video marketing because it is certainly the way of the future.

Engage Customers Through Video Marketing

Create Effective Videos

Creating videos that effectively engage your customers and nudge them along whatever path you want them to follow (you do have a conversion goal in mind for your video, right??) isn’t easy. It involves high quality (but not necessarily expensive) production, professional delivery and most importantly, a well-defined message.

Determining your video’s message should begin with picking its subject and then figuring out what you want to say about that subject. A helpful exercise might be to think of a product or service that you bought or used based on a video you watched. Chances are the video spent more time trying to engage and entertain you than actually trying to sell you a product or service. But in the end, the video was still somehow related to solving a problem and highlighting the value of a product or service. It’s a very fine line, but completely achievable within any industry with a little bit of focus.

Other tips and tricks to keep in mind when creating your videos:

  • KISS (keep it short, stupid): the slightly modified acronym for simplifying things feels right, especially since the stats support it. The longer a YouTube video goes on, the lower its chances of being viewed to completion.
  • Quality matters: no, your video doesn’t have to be a Hollywood production to be successful, but make sure you use a decent camera, get the lighting right, and film somewhere quiet so your message resonates loud and clear.
  • Ask for something: as with most methods of marketing, forgetting a call to action in your video is a huge mistake, so don’t make it. Provide your viewers with a clear path to completing the action your video is trying to persuade them to take.

How to Get More Viewers

Give Value to Your Video

Much like a blog post that doesn’t get read, a video that doesn’t get viewed serves no purpose. Ensure the value of the videos you worked so hard to create by doing the following things to increase the exposure of your mini-movies:

  • Feature your video on your web properties: you’ve got a website and microsites, so take advantage of this built-in audience and see how they like your video.
  • Share the wealth: you’ve created an engaging and valuable video, so share it with the world on all your active channels. If you’re in the video and you’re nervous about the exposure, don’t be. Share, share, share and who knows, maybe it’ll go viral!
  • Send an email: your email list is another pre-existing source of viewers that you should take advantage of. Even if they’re already customers, a little bit more value isn’t going to hurt them, right? These are only some of the many strategies and techniques for creating effective videos and ensuring they get found and viewed by your target audience.

For more information or guidance on how to embrace and unlock the magic of making movies for your customers, get in touch with a local WSI Consultant today!

Social Media for Professionals: LinkedIn and Google+

Social media has become an integral part of the personnel sourcing and job hunting process. Today, more and more companies rely on the Internet to research the candidates (including outside consultants) they plan to hire.  This makes it important to take a strategic approach when it comes to building your online reputation. Effectively leveraged, social media can help you create a strong personal brand and widen your reach across a wide array of job markets, industries, and organizations.

While there are many social media platforms that can help you build your network, there are two that all professionals should definitely consider and keep up to date – Google+ and LinkedIn. While the latter has now become synonymous with job search / hiring, the former can help you establish a strong online presence that you can leverage to enhance your reach. These two platforms alone can help you build a relevant network, and create and exchange information and ideas to give shape to your personal brand as a professional.

Linking Via LinkedIn

LinkedIn has become the most popular professional network in most parts of the world. Clearly, it has several advantages over traditional job portals thanks to its social media strengths and the fact that it is primarily driven by quality content.

  • LinkedIn allows its members to connect with each other. You can connect with like-minded individuals from the same profession and explore available job opportunities through this network.
  • It is a handy research tool. Most companies worth their name are present on LinkedIn with specialized digital marketing teams continuously generating content or strategizing to make their presence felt online. You can utilize this content along with inputs from your network to research a potential employer and their business before an interview.
  • You can identify the people that matter. Within minutes, LinkedIn can offer you insights into who the key persons in your area of interest are at a company you want to work with—as an employee, as a vendor, as a business partner, and so on. You can connect and engage with them to explore the possibility of a potential opportunity in their company.
  • You can build credibility. Your profile provides details about the people in your professional network, the companies you have worked with, and the capabilities you bring to the table, among other factors. Features like endorsements and recommendations add even greater credibility to your profile. 

How To Make The Most Of LinkedIn?

  • Develop your LinkedIn profile like you would your resume. Highlight your strengths and capabilities early in your profile page.
  • Create interesting content and share it with your network. This will help establish you as a subject matter expert. The more original content you post the greater the benefits, including search engine rankings.
  • Build your network. Identify people within your industries of interest and connect with them. Join relevant groups and make your presence felt within these micro-networks.
  • Post regularly on various forums and comment on topics that can demonstrate your expertise and show that you have a unique perspective on matters of interest to your network.
  • Use the right keywords while building your profile and even while posting in forums. This will help both, your search engine rankings and your association with certain specific skills and capabilities.
  • Let’s connect Luke Middendorf – LinkedIn

Enhancing Your Online Presence With Google+

Where do we all go when we want to search for information?

Google. Where else? No other search engine today comes even close. A strong presence on Google+, is therefore, a definite advantage. However, as Google says, Google+ is now more than a social media platform. It has integrated various other offerings from the Google stable such as YouTube, Google+ Communities, Hangouts, Google Local and Reviews, Google Analytics, Google+ Ripples, and Google Mobile to provide a single window platform that can have a significant impact on your SEO.

How can you take advantage of Google+?

  • Build a profile page on Google+ to let Google know of your existence. While there is no stated preference, there is enough evidence to show that Google does favour content hosted on its products when throwing up search results.
  • Create backlinks to your blog, website, and LinkedIn pages using Google+. Also ensure that these links can be shared by those who visit your profile.
  • Upload content and make it shareable on Google+. The more shares you can manage the better it is in terms of SEO for your profile.
  • Build the right connections. The Circle function offered by Google+ helps segregate your contacts. This is a valuable tool you can use to employ targeted messaging and relevant communications.
  • Let’s connect Luke Middendorf on Google+, WSI Connect 0n Google+

Contact WSI Connect to help you plan and leverage social media for businesses.  WSI Connect is a digital marketing agency located in Concord, CA.  We service the San Francisco Bay area and help our clients grow their profits through strategies such as search engine optimization, online advertising, website optimization and social media. 

Social Media for Businesses: Twitter and Facebook

Social Media for Businesses: Twitter and Facebook

Engage to connect

Social Media for businesses can be a powerful way to boost SEO, engage new prospects and communicate with existing customers.  Facebook has almost twice the number of users than the population of both Canada and the United States combined. Twitter has close to 200 million users. Reaching out to this online universe can be more useful for business than leveraging any other medium that you can think of. These two major social networks have cut across geographical boundaries and evolved to a stage where even traditional advertising barriers such as age and language can’t hold back their stupendous growth and popularity.

More and more businesses are now looking at ways to effectively utilize social media in their digital marketing strategy and reach out to their clients and prospects. Yet, only a few have been able to successfully enjoy the benefits this medium promises. Most businesses seem to think that having a social media presence suffices. Some even make the effort of posting and updating on a regular basis. Yet, they fail to see the traction they were expecting and soon give up. Why?

The most common mistake that business are making with social media…

The key to social media success lies in understanding that it is all about building relationships with your online network. Ironically, most businesses often seem to forget this social aspect of social media activity. You need to engage with your target audience on these platforms to meet your goals. And that engagement can only come from providing value not from making noise.

What should your social media objectives focus on?

  • Brand Building: You no longer need to depend on expensive television commercials or advertising in the leading print publications. Social media can help you build your brand online.
  • Win new customers: The immediate benefit of being a recognized brand is business growth. You can leverage social media to drive traffic to your website and even foot traffic to your store.
  • Customer service: You can leverage social media to interact with your customers and answer queries or address any complaints they may have.
  • Feedback: You can be in regular touch with your customers to understand their requirements, concern and feedback, and utilize the information to improve your product or service offering.

Now let’s look at how you can develop a strong social presence on Facebook and Twitter to get the most out of your social media marketing across these dominant social properties.

Build Brand Awareness and Increase Traffic On Facebook

Facebook sees more than three million likes, comments, and shares every single day. If you can build a strong network on this platform then even half a percent of these likes and shares are enough to set your business soaring.

Begin by building online relationships with your existing customers. Provide them incentives to help you reach out to their networks. Word-of-mouth marketing continues to remain one of the most powerful mediums ever, and Facebook enables this. A strong presence on Facebook matched by good products and services can lead to your business becoming part of the conversations in your network. This, in turn, will lead to recommendations to the larger network, thereby, enabling you to reach new prospects and extend your circle of influence.

Track metrics and drive profitable social campaigns

Facebook Insights, Facebook’s proprietary business page analytics tool, enables you to track the activity on your page. This insight helps you to understand what is working for your business, and accordingly tweak your campaigns to gain maximum mileage. However, you would need to gain some expertise in garnering actionable insight from the vast amounts of data that the tool lays at your disposal. Key metrics that you can track using this tool includes page activity, demographics of your visitors, new subscriptions and people who have unsubscribed, and posts that are getting maximum visitors.  You can leverage this information to fine-tune your campaign for greater effectiveness.

Join Conversations and Demonstrate Your Brand Expertise On Twitter

Twitter can help you spark conversations about your brand. It can also help you meet potential brand ambassadors who will indirectly promote your business.  By following conversations within your industry you can gain insights into your business as well as the mindset of your prospects and customers.

Build respect for your brand

Identify the people who are interested in your brand, seek out forums which your potential customers regularly follow, and zone in on the individuals who are considered leaders in your business. Engage them in conversations and position yourself as an expert in your industry. You could even set up periodic discussions on Twitter by leveraging the hash tag feature. Provide a call-to-action that encourages them to either visit your website or register for a newsletter or even connect with you for a free consultation.

Conduct market research by talking to current and potential customers

Use Twitter to keep your finger on the pulse. Hear what people are saying about your products or services. You can leverage this information to become more client-centric in your approach. You can similarly use Twitter to listen in on what your ideal prospects are saying about your competitors. This can provide valuable insights into what your target audience is really looking for and where the gaps in the industry exist. Research who the key influencers are in your market and work on gaining their trust. Engage with them to encourage discussions about your brand. Gain first-hand knowledge on trends and best practices; match those with your market and customer intelligence; now plan your strategy accordingly!

Contact WSI Connect to help you plan and leverage social media for businesses.

A Beginners Guide to LinkedIn

A Beginners Guide to LinkedIn

LinkedIn has become one of the more popular social networks out there today. Sure, Facebook and Twitter – and even Google+ – have gotten quite a bit of notoriety when it comes to public press and media attention, but LinkedIn has developed into the top social networks for business professionals.   It provides powerful insight into your network as well as those that you connect with.

Here are just a few things you can think about when it comes to getting the most out of your LinkedIn profile in a simple but effective way:

Post A Picture

Sounds simple, right? You wouldn’t believe how many people miss this point.  We are visual creatures, and your picture goes a long way to help establish credibility and trust.

Fill It Out!

The worst thing about poor LinkedIn profiles is that they aren’t fully filled out. Use yours to fill everything out, and display your professional history proudly, from college education to job experience, to extracurricular activities and various interests.

Connect In Your Industry

It’s important that you connect with people who are in your industry when you get online. After all, doing so can help you make connections and network with people when it comes to getting the most out of interacting with those around you. In turn, you can not only make sales but improve your business by pushing through the right type of connections.

Have Contact Information Readily Available

It’s important that your contact information is out there and available, so there is no question about who you are and how people can contact you. That way, you can be sure that you are getting the most out of your profile and allowing other people easy access to contact you if they ever have any questions or concerns, or anything ever comes up about various topics that you may be of assistance.

Give More Than You Get

Finally, the key to solid social networking online or in person is to give more than you get. Go out of your way to help people, and in time you will find that people not only want to be around you more, but they want to help you in return and assist you with what you want and need. Doing so will provide for you the perfect opportunity to build your brand and reputation on LinkedIn – and more importantly, build yourself up as somebody who can be trusted and depended on for others around you.

Overall LinkedIn is a phenomenal way to do business, improve your networking and outlook in your industry – especially when done correctly.  Need a little more help with your profile, feel free to reach out via LinkedIn.