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LinkedIn is a great platform to stay connected to our professional network, but I have to say I’m usually picky about who I accept into my circle of connections.

Why?

I often find that people I don’t know who want to “connect” with me on LinkedIn often send a sales pitch just moments after I accept them into my network.

And this is when selling winds up smelling like a rotten sandwich that nobody wants to be near.

Nobody likes to be sold, not even the people doing the hardcore selling — but their quest for more business has got them blind to the fact that they are essentially walking up to a complete stranger and proposing marriage — not even knowing their name.

No thank you.

Did you know that adding an “m” to selling literally spells smelling?

Avoid it, just as you would an expired container of milk.

Instead, use LinkedIn to offer value, insights and growth tips — that’s a fine way to develop relationships, because at the end of the day, the goal is not to sell but to develop relationships. And these relationships can lead to many things … friends, colleagues, mentors, and yes, even clients.

If you’re wondering how to shift your LinkedIn posts to this value-driven philosophy, here are three “magic questions” you can apply to every social media post (not to mention every web page, blog post, video, white paper, etc.) you create …

Three “Magic” Questions
To ensure your copy packs the most value possible, always do your best to CLEARLY and SUCCINCTLY answer these three “magic” questions on every web page:

1. What is it?
2. What does it do?
3. How does it help me (benefits)?

I call them magic questions because they get to the heart of what your content needs to contain. It’s something I talk about in my book, A Holistic Guide to Online Marketing, becasue it’s a critical component to successful content creation.

Just remember, even though you see hard-core selling often, that doesn’t mean it’s a good tactic. Slamming someone with a sales pitch — when you know nothing about them or their needs — is just bad form.

Yes, relationship building is more work, but it can also garner more benefits.

The post Is Your Selling Smelling on LinkedIn? appeared first on Cuppa SEO.

The image above is an example of what a well-constructed LinkedIn post looks like …Let’s dissect it to give insight as to how this post is using SEO, user experience and conversion.

Note:This same methodology can be implemented in your LinkedIn personal profile or business page. It’s just a matter of where you feel your post will have the most impact. For my business, I have many more connections on my personal profile page, so I post there and then simply share to my Cuppa SEO business page …

TITLE (HEADLINE)
What’s the Point of Having a Website Nobody Can Find?

The clear, emotionally engaging title is meant to connect with business owners who are frustrated because their website is not getting found — in other words, their sites are not generating enough traffic.

SEO: Whenever possible, I like to include a keyword phrase in the title of my LinkedIn Company Page posts. As you can see, this is NOT the case here. I always like to say, “Never sacrifice the quality of your content for the sake of SEO. Search engine optimization needs to support your content, not weaken it.”

Here, the emotional engagement I was looking for was paramount, which goes to show there is no one-size-fits-all solution for social media (or anything else, for that matter). Always take a moment to think about what your intention (or goal) is for every single post you publish, and then follow through on that intention.

UX: The title is clear, especially to those who are having problems with website traffic — and those are the folks we want to connect with. The title also offers a good UX to this demographic, because it shows understanding of a serious problem they’re experiencing. If people reading the post fit into this category, they might be feeling hurt (even betrayed) by their previous web developer who charged them a premium price for a sub-par website that isn’t performing.

The title is further clarified by the brief copy and imagery that follows it.

Conversion: As you might have guessed, conversion doesn’t come directly into play in the title. BUT, if the title didn’t have a good UX — say it was really long, ambiguous or didn’t have an emotional tug — you’d have less chance of someone reviewing the rest of the post and clicking on your link. That’s why I consider the title a “soft conversion,” or a conversion leader.

BRIEF CONTENT
Under our headline, the copy reads:

Cuppa SEO builds sites that get found, build trust & make it easy for visitors to become customers. Sound good? Find out more @ https://lnkd.in/eqrSePy

SEO: Except for “SEO” our copy doesn’t have keywords in it. And that’s OK, because once again I am trying to engage with readers on an emotional level — and connect with them in terms they understand. So if you’re wondering why my example isn’t chock-full of keywords, that’s why. Your LinkedIn Company Page post content (and title for that matter) may not always be optimized with keywords. If this is the case, it’s OK — as long as it’s a choice and not an oversight.

I’ve done a lot of testing and research, and I’ve found that even my marketing- savvy clients don’t respond well to words like “SEO,” “user experience” and “conversion.” They respond well to knowing that I understand their problem, and that I know how to solve it! Thus, the copy here offers solutions to the problem addressed in the title — in plain English.

UX: As you might have guessed, this content is good for UX because it “pays off” the title and adds clarification. It’s also on the short side, which also provides a solid UX. The shorter the better — as long as you’re not sacrificing a clear, engaging message for brevity. As we mentioned in the Google My Business section, the content in your post is an appetizer — not a main course. It’s meant to entice and engage readers so they are eager to take the next step, which of course is …

Conversion: Once readers have taken the time to read our title and copy, we need to give them a clear, easy path to taking the next step we want them to take. In this case, it’s visiting Cuppa SEO’s Web Design page. In our example, this is accomplished with a shortened text link (LinkedIn automatically shortens text links in posts; you don’t have to worry about it).

A note on content and text links …
These days, though, it’s totally OK to write your posts long form, as LinkedIn likes it when people stick around on their platform, and longer content (that’s relevant to the reader) can help accomplish this.

Another tip is to test out placing your text link in the first comment after publishing the post. This can GREATLY increase the amount of views.

Why? Because LinkedIn (and all other social media platforms for that matter) don’t like it when you leave their site. So, when they see a text link in your main message, there’s a good chance LinkedIn will present it to less people because it doesn’t want people leaving. Placing the link in the first comment is a loophole or sorts that still currently works … for now …

IMAGERY
It’s no surprise that imagery is a critical component of your LinkedIn Company Page posts, so let’s dive in …

SEO: The image is well optimized. The actual image name is: Cuppa-SEO- Madison-WI-Web-Design-UX-Services.jpg.

As we’ve discussed before, an optimized image makes your post easier to find on social media and in organic searches. Be sure to optimize your imagery as we outlined earlier in the book.

UX: Your picture/imagery is what I like to call your “stopper,” because it can literally stop viewers in their tracks while they’re scrolling through their Facebook feed. The picture is your instant UX meter — providing a positive, negative or neutral experience in the blink of an eye. If the image doesn’t cause a positive UX, the scrolling continues (which is why choosing or creating engaging imagery is so important).

Your imagery should always support your post’s headline and copy. When it does, the overall UX of your post rises. It’s all about creating a cohesive post so the reader doesn’t have to think about how the copy and the picture go together — because it’s obvious.

Conversion: If possible, make sure your imagery is clickable AND that it leads to the content you’re highlighting in your post. For example, when clicked, the imagery in our current example leads the reader directly to our Web Design page. But this does not happen by chance, so let’s discuss the process …

To have the imagery in my LinkedIn Company Page post to link directly to my Web Design page, the image first needs to live on my actual Web Design page. In other words, when I created the page, I needed to think ahead and use imagery that would also look good on social media. It needed to be sized correctly (so it fit well in within the parameters of my LinkedIn post), and have a clear message that made sense on my site as well as on social channels.

Once the imagery is on my Web Design page, when I add the link to my Web Design page into my LinkedIn post, LinkedIn automatically pulls the image into the post. Even better, that image is coded (by LinkedIn) to be a direct link to my Web Design page!

Now my image and my text link both drive people to the same place, which is a big plus for conversion (and for UX, too).

On the other hand, if you upload an image directly into your LinkedIn Company Page post (from somewhere like your desktop, Dropbox, or photo library), when clicked it won’t lead people to where you want them to go. Instead, it will only make the image bigger — which means you’ll potentially lose out on converting someone. Avoid this. Take the time to set things up right, if it’s possible to do so.

Want to learn more?
This post is an excerpt from my book, A Holistic Guide to Online Marketing, which contains many more tips to help you with your online marketing.

Thanks for visiting, and stay well!

The post SEO, UX and Conversion in Your LinkedIn Posts appeared first on Cuppa SEO.

I get them all the time, an other than the call being a mild annoyance, they worry me because they are a scam that preys on small business owners …

The caller, or should I say pre-recorded message, typically states that he or she is calling from Google, or a company working with Google, and there’s something wrong with your Google My Business listing.

What’s being served up us a baloney sandwich — and should be ignored (or even better, the number should be blocked).

Why?

Because Google doesn’t call people about their Google My Business listings — EVER! They just don’t.

Sure, your Google My Business listing is something that should be kept current — and well optimized — so it helps you get found more easily in local search queries. But the people who are calling you should not be given access, on any level, to your listing.

Here are some additional insights on how to optimize your Google My Business listing yourself.

And if you’d like in-depth, step-by-step instructions on how to optimize your listing, you can check out my book, A Holistic Guide to Online Marketing, where there are two whole chapters about it!

Want more tips and insights from Cuppa SEO?

The post Google My Business Tip #8: Google Doesn’t Call You appeared first on Cuppa SEO.

In case you haven’t read them yet, you can check out all of our previous Google My Business Tips here. They’re chock-full of great info on how to optimize your listing.

That said, did you know that you can add a video to your Google My Business listing?

Once you know how, and what the rules are, it’s a breeze. So let’s take a look at how to upload some video to your listing …

To begin, log into your Google My Business listing.

Once you’re in, you’ll see something like this …

Next, click on “Photos” in the left-hand nav, which will bring you to this page …

I’ve already brought us to the “Video” tab in the top navigation, and you can see I have one video uploaded to my Google My Business listing. Whether you’re adding your first video, or want to add additional videos, simply click the blue button with the plus sign in it at the top right corner of the page, and the following window will pop up …

Now, all you’ve got to do is drag your video into this window and it will automatically upload to your Google My Business listing.

But before you do …

Follow these Guidelines from Google Before Uploading Your Video

• Video duration: up to, but not exceeding, 30 seconds
• File size: Up to 100 MB
• Video Resolution:must be 720p or higher

Once you meet this criteria, you’re ready to upload video for all the world (or at least people in your region) to see!

Uploading video to your Google My Business listing is one of the ways you can ensure your listing is complete, which Google likes.

Want more tips and insights from Cuppa SEO?

The post Google My Business Tip #7: Uploading Video to Your Listing appeared first on Cuppa SEO.

In this installment of our spotlight series, we’ll get to know Brian Lee, a local Madison business owner. I’ve known Brian for years and have always been impressed with his approachability and keen insights into business growth. He’s also a fantastic speaker, and a good guy. I hope you enjoy our piece about Brian and the businesses he runs!

1. Who Are You?

My name is Brian Lee. I’m a native Madisonian, die-hard Badgers sports fan and food fanatic.

2. What Do You Do?

It’s a good thing my head is so big, because I wear a lot of hats. An acquaintance of mine once described me as a serial entrepreneur, and that’s fitting. I run four businesses, the primary of which is an agency called Revelation PR, Advertising & Social Media.

I also run a dining guide called EatDrinkMadison.com, an online newspaper called Madison Startups and a corporate event planning business called Revelation Events. That’s in addition to serving as a digital marketing specialist for the Center for Business Intelligence and an Entrepreneur-in-Residence at Madison College.

Why Do You Love Doing It?

I am one of those people who wants to get the most out of life. Plus, I really do enjoy helping businesses grow, reviewing different foods and beverages, sharing stories of startups and hosting parties.

How Does it Help People?

Marketing and branding are crucial to every business. That’s because selling a product or service is the core of every business, and the success of selling correlates to your marketing and branding efforts.

Interested in learning more about Brian and the business he runs? Here are some links …

• Revelation
• EatDrinkMadison
• Madison Startups
• Revelation Events

The post Fresh-brewed Small Business Spotlight: Brian Lee appeared first on Cuppa SEO.

A Means to an End

It’s easy to get caught up in the success of a social media campaign. As more and more people follow your pages, and Like and Share your content, it can give you the satisfaction of a job well done. But you need to remember that social media is just a means to an end.

The people viewing your content represent the top of the sales funnel: brand awareness. Those likes and shares don’t mean anything unless they can prompt your audience to move through the subsequent levels, until they eventually make an actual purchase.

Lead Generation

If you want people to move from casual followers of your brand to actual customers of your company, you need to get them to do more than just view your content. They to interact with it, and with you.

Try offering them something more than just what they see on your page. Invite them to download an in-depth ebook or white paper on a topic that interests them. Encourage them to subscribe to your newsletter, so you can send them even more premium content. Offer them an exclusive coupon or discount code.

To claim these special offers, first they need to click a link and be taken to a landing page on your website. Then, they need to enter in their name, e-mail address, and other basic contact information. Now you have a direct line to the people with more than just a passing interest in your brand and what you do. And just like that, they’re no longer viewers. They’re leads.

Follow Up

Once you have your list of leads, the next step is to follow up with them. Don’t spam them or inundate them with ads they don’t want or sales pleas they won’t listen to. Take note of what they downloaded or requested from you. Now you have an idea of the specific area they’re interested in.

Start by offering them more content that’s related to that same specific area. You can also ask if they have any questions, or if there’s anything specific you can help them with. Develop a real relationship with them over time. Find out what it is they’re looking for, and do what you can to help them find it.

By taking an active interest in your target audience and what they want out of your brand, you can go a long way towards converting them to sales. Not only that, but by treating them well and making that extra effort, you can make sure you’re the first one they think of next time they need something too, and keep them as a customer for years to come.

Conversion aversion is an easy rut to fall into. But it’s not hard to get over. Just make sure your customers are cared for, from the top of the funnel to the bottom, and you’ll be increasing your sales in no time.

Want more tips and insights from Cuppa SEO?

The post Do You Have an Aversion to Thinking About Conversion? appeared first on Cuppa SEO.

Yet somehow, you still haven’t started actually blogging yet. What’s holding you back? There are a number of things that might be doing it. Here are some of the most common blocks that keep brands from blogging regularly, and how you can overcome them.

“How Will I Find the Time?”

Your brand’s marketing department has a thousand other tasks to perform at any given time. The team is stretched thin as it is. How will anyone manage to write and research three or four high quality, engaging blog posts every week on top of their regular duties?

There’s a very simple solution. If you don’t have anyone on staff available with both the time and the writing talent to maintain a good quality blog, you can simply outsource it. By hiring professional writers, your brand can produce high quality content, week after week, that will engage your audience and generate interest, while at the same time freeing your own team up to focus on the myriad other tasks on your plate.

“How Do I Come Up with Topics?”

This is another issue that can turn people off of blogging. They start out strong at first, creating three or four brand new blogs each week, each on a different topic of importance or concern to their audience.

But after a while, their ideas start to run out. Three or four times a week becomes once a week, becomes once or twice a month at most, simply because they don’t know what else to write about. Even if you’re outsourcing your blog, you’ll likely have to come up with many, if not most of the topics, yourself. So how do you keep things fresh, week after week?

Keep your ear to the ground. Search popular news sites for new stories about your industry. Set up Google alerts for the most popular keywords related to your brand, industry, and products, to be notified whenever someone else posts about them. Check LinkedIn and other sites to see what people in your field are talking about at the moment. All of these things are fodder for blog topics. The potential is limitless, if you just know where to look.

“What If Nobody Reads It?”

Maybe you maintained a blog for a while, but you couldn’t get anyone to take notice. With nobody reading it, it didn’t seem worth the time and resources to continue blogging.

Well, just writing the blog isn’t enough. You need to promote it. Post it to social media. Share it with friends and connections in your industry. Develop an e-mail list and send it out as part of your weekly newsletter.

Also remember that building up a following takes time. The readers won’t come overnight. But if you continue blogging consistently, and continue promoting your blog, then people will start to take notice, and you can build up a loyal readership that’s invested in you and your brand.

You can always find plenty of reasons not to blog, if that’s what you’re looking for. But in the end, you have to remember that there are many more reasons TO blog, and a lot of success to be had by creating content for your brand. But the only way to see that success is to get over your aversion and blog, blog, blog!

Want to Jumpstart Your Blogging?
Download Cuppa SEO’s complimentary Blogging 101 ebook for tons of tips and strategies!

The post How to Overcome Your Aversion to Blogging appeared first on Cuppa SEO.

That was my reaction the first time LinkedIn prompted me to add hashtags to my post.

It feels like it was just a couple years ago I’d see posts on my feed ranting, “LinkedIn isn’t Twitter! Stop using hashtags!” Now things have changed. It’s official — the hashtag is ubiquitous.

First Thing

We need to figure out what hashtags are relevant to your community before you just start using them all haphazardly.

For this, you’ll refer to the “Your Communities” box on the left side of your LinkedIn homepage. You want your content to resonate with your consumer, right? This is actually a great way to tailor your content specifically to your LinkedIn audience!

You can find “Your communities” on the lower-lefthand part of your LinkedIn page, just above the scroll line (at least on my 13″ Mac). Please note that this can be found on your LinkedIn Professional page NOT your Company page.

Choosing Your Hashtags

Start your research by clicking on the various hashtags trending in your community and digging into the content already associated with those topics. This will help you determine which hashtags you should be using by identifying which topics are already trending and are a good fit for your business. I recommend you start with 3-5 to use consistently and see how they perform.

Always Triple Check …

Before you publish a hashtag, it’s a good idea to triple check there are no unintended meanings. You need to be sure you’ve thoroughly checked LinkedIn (outside your community too), Twitter and Instagram. Here’s an example: one client was debating using a hashtag to announce a major acquisition but, when they checked Twitter, they realized one of their three biggest competitors had been using that same hashtag for years on their posts. As a result, the messaging was tweaked to ensure the client was not inadvertently promoting the brand messaging of the competition. While you’re checking, also make sure the users employing the hashtag are the people you hope your content resonates with. No sense in using one that won’t reach a potential customer!

Go Forth and Hashtag

Don’t stress! There’s always an element of trial and error when employing a new marketing tactic. Have fun with it. And don’t forget, you can edit your articles after they are published but not the hashtags so make sure you insert those properly the first time.

Want more tips and insights from Cuppa SEO?

The post LinkedIn Has Hashtags Now? appeared first on Cuppa SEO.

Here’s an example, I recently worked with a client whose clients were entirely B2B. Naturally, they expected the best time to post to all their social platforms was during normal business hours. Once we dug into their Facebook page analytics, we learned the largest volume of their audience tended to be online at 9:00 p.m. The organization was one with limited resources. Based on our new information, we were able to make a plan. If there was only time for one post in a day, it would be at 9:00 p.m. because that was when there was the most opportunity for organic reach.

Let’s Get Started!

I assume you’re all so fascinated by this story that you’re logging on to your business Facebook page right now. Are you there? Great! Let’s figure out when your audience is online.

At the top of the page, you’ll see an “Insights” button on the toolbar. This is where the magic happens. Once you click on “Insights,” you’ll be presented with an overwhelming amount of data. Don’t get stressed! We’re only here to look at one graph.

Along the left side of the page, you should see a long menu of options. Click on the button for “Posts” and be sure you have selected “When Your Fans Are Online” at the top.

This graph provides a holistic view of what times a day your audience is online. In this case, you’ll see the audience is online fairly consistently throughout the day. Next, you’ll want to mouse over each of the days of the week to learn about you audience habits for that day.

In this example, I’ve moused over Tuesday to see how the audience on that day might differ from the average. The graph tells me that 8:30 p.m. is when I have the most number of fans online. Now I know I should adjust my planning calendar to ensure that Tuesday’s posts publish at 8:30 p.m.

Make a Plan

Now that you’d learned how to check in on you audience’s activity, it’s important to keep checking. As your number of followers grows, your trends will change. Ideally, I’d recommend checking in each month before you make you planning calendar. If you tend to post on the fly, make sure you’re at least checking once a quarter.

Want more tips and insights from Cuppa SEO?

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