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                    [post_content] => Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Instagram, Snapchat...the list is endless.

Some entrepreneurs see social media platforms as daunting or unnecessary work, but they actually provide free marketing opportunities.

If you aren’t already using social media, whether you’re a gung ho millennial or skeptical baby boomer, it’s high time you jump on the bandwagon. In the content below, we'll give all of our tips and insights from our last webinar about utilizing Instagram for your business.

 

First, a little about Instagram…

In September of 2017, Instagram announced it had 800 million monthly active users, and many expect it to reach 1 billion monthly users in 2018. Instagram also beats most other social media platforms in terms of user engagement rates with brands. According to Adweek, “User engagement with brands on Instagram is currently 10 times higher than on Facebook and 54 times higher than on Twitter. Also, Instagram is the social platform where users are most likely to follow brands, with roughly one-half of them doing so.” So clearly people not only use it to follow friends and family, but they also get on to follow brands. When you couple this with the fact that Instagram is still growing, it shows that this social media platform is not just a fad. This social media platform is here to stay, and it’s time to utilize it if you aren’t already doing so.  

Why should you have an account

Instagram allows businesses to showcase their products, services, and personalities while boosting SEO page rank. This gives your customers a place to learn more about your brand while they’re scrolling through social media -- which is pretty often since the average person spends almost 2 hours a day on social media. Although the Instagram captions require content (which can be just as important as the photos themselves), ultimately, your goal is to catch the “scrolling eye.” That being said, be sure to shoot for quality over quantity when it comes to photos posted. A cell phone photo can work just fine, but you definitely don’t want to post anything and everything just for the sake of posting. However, the photos you post also must be related to your brand or your story. Even behind-the-scenes photos or staff highlights can do exponentially well on your business’s Instagram page. But a meaningless photo of your dog might not. Remember that people are following you for your brand and your story, so don’t confuse them with posts that aren’t related to your business. If you don’t already have an Instagram account, we recommend creating 5-7 post ideas with photos and captions to post throughout your first week or two. This will allow you to be prepared so that you don’t post just to post.  

How to be found on Instagram

There are many ways to be found on Instagram. One is to use hashtags. A hashtag allows you to be more visible and searchable for your potential clients. For example, if you specialize in marketing tips (like we do!) you might use #marketingtips when posting about something marketing related. This will allow users who might be seeking out marketing tips to find your account and follow you. Another tip we have for hashtags is to always keep them within your original caption. Sometimes users will post them in a comment instead to keep the caption a little more clean -- BUT this can prevent your post from showing up in the hashtag search section. Another way to be found on Instagram is to use the location tool. You can tag your exact business location or a central location, which could give you more exposure. Let’s say that you own a landscape business in Richmond, Virginia and your clients live all over the Greater Richmond Area. Using your business’s address might be limiting your potential reach -- so we’d recommend using a variety of location tags for your target area throughout your posts. For example, you might tag one post in Chesterfield and the next post in Henrico. You can also use hashtags to help locate your target audience! Plenty of users look at the hashtags #Carytown or #ShortPump. If your target audience is a larger audience, we’d recommend using the location tool AND location-based hashtags for maximum exposure.  

How to engage with your users

Engagement is crucial on Instagram and it does play a part in the algorithm. If you’re receiving comments or messages and you aren’t taking the time to respond, Instagram can note you as inactive and push your posts farther down follower’s feed. Be sure to reply to every comment, tag, and message sent to your business’s Instagram page. Even if it’s a negative comment, you should respond, because you want all of your brand’s followers to see that you are present and ready to communicate with your fans. Also, be sure to engage with other accounts on Instagram. Commenting, liking, re-posting, and/or following accounts within your target audience can help get your business exposure while also building relationships and trust with your current followers. For example, let’s say you own a boutique in Carytown. A great way to get more exposure could be by commenting and following users that post about the Watermelon Festival. If they’re posting about a local event, even just commenting on their post from the festival can motivate them to check out your business page!  

What’s the insights page all about?

Just like on Facebook, Instagram gives business pages an insights page so that each post’s performance can be monitored. The insights page breaks down your profile into: In addition to all of these stats, the insights page can also tell you what day of the week AND what time your followers are online. This can be incredibly helpful for determining when it’s best to post. Not sure what age range your followers are in? Don’t worry. Instagram’s insights page also tells you the age, gender, and location of your Instagram followers. This can be especially helpful in figuring out if your posts are reaching the right target audience.  

Don’t forget about the Insta story

Posting to your Instagram Story is a totally different ball game than posting a traditional Instagram post, but it's much, much less time consuming and just as relevant. Instagram Stories are meant to put the “Instant” back into Instagram. They are only visible for 24 hours and they allow your brand to show off photos, boomerangs, and videos that are relevant to the moment by moment. A great way for brands to utilize Instagram stories are to… Ultimately, you should use Instagram Stories as a way to connect immediately with your clients and followers. If one story is exceptionally great (perhaps a positive testimonial), you do have the option to add it to your Instagram profile as a highlight. To do this, just click on your profile, and click the plus sign that says “Add highlight” underneath it. Ultimately, you should use Instagram Stories as a way to connect immediately with your clients and followers and make your brand relatable.   To wrap up, Instagram is a free marketing tool that when used correctly, can gain you free exposure and connect you with other entrepreneurs in your industry. If you have any additional questions about how to use Instagram to promote your business or would like our professional help, reach out to us today and check out our full webinar below! [post_title] => How to Use Instagram for Your Brand [post_excerpt] => [post_status] => publish [comment_status] => open [ping_status] => open [post_password] => [post_name] => how-to-use-instagram-for-your-brand [to_ping] => [pinged] => [post_modified] => 2020-10-02 15:38:26 [post_modified_gmt] => 2020-10-02 15:38:26 [post_content_filtered] => [post_parent] => 0 [guid] => https://keyweb31.com/stagekwc/?p=6660 [menu_order] => 0 [post_type] => post [post_mime_type] => [comment_count] => 0 [filter] => raw ) [1] => WP_Post Object ( [ID] => 6635 [post_author] => 1 [post_date] => 2018-03-07 14:42:44 [post_date_gmt] => 2018-03-07 19:42:44 [post_content] => You might think that blogging is something that only photographers or DIY moms include on their personal websites, but think again! If you’ve decided that blogging for your business is unnecessary maybe because of time restraints or lack of skill, it’s time to re-evaluate. Here are a few crucial reasons why your business’s website needs a blog section and why failing to add one can end up limiting your leads.  

#1 Consistently blogging allows your website to stay fresh

Even if you do initial SEO on your website and buy monthly SEO services plans, without a blog section, you’re missing out on the opportunity to say, “Hey Google, this business is still here and we have good stuff to offer!” Every time a new sub page for a blog is created, it gets crawled by Google to see what the page contains and then indexed. It encourages Google to view your website as updated. This crawling and indexing reminds Google that your website not only still exists, it also contains content that might be helpful for the billions of people who use this search engine.

#2 Blogs open doors to your website

Failing to generate blogs for your business means a missed opportunity to open as many avenues as possible for people to reach your website from. Simply put, blogs drive more traffic to your site. In fact, a Hubspot survey shows that 60% of businesses who have a blog section draw in more customers and imPACT found that small businesses that blog get 126% more lead growth than businesses that don’t.

If you think about each blog like a door, you’ll see that having many doors to your website can drive more traffic and ultimately generate leads. Say you’re a plumber who writes a blog titled, “5 Ways to Avoid Frozen Pipes in the Winter.” If you optimize the content well, your blog just might rank well on Google, and when people start to search about frozen pipes, a door is opened to your site.  

#3 Google likes relevant, well-structured content

Throughout Google’s numerous algorithm changes, they’ve come to highly favor quality, well-structured content that answers the questions and meets the needs of its users. In fact, this is one of the most important SEO tactics currently. Deciding to leave out a business blog section for marketing, means that you’re forgoing one of the most attractive aspects of a website to Google -- helpful content.  

#4 It improves your business’ authority

When you help answer people’s questions, it builds trust and motivates them to look to you when they need more advice. Being a resource that provides commonly googled information related to your company, products, or services, encourages people to stay on your site longer, which can improve overall bounce rates.  

#5 Blogging provides opportunities to include keywords

Not only does blogging benefit your business by answering popular questions and providing relevant information, it’s also a chance to include specific keywords and improve your PageRank game. However, don’t get carried away packing in phrases associated with your services, products, or target locations every chance you get. Maximizing user experience within content is still more important than stuffing in keywords, so keep your audience in mind as you write. You can still refer to certain services or locations and link those pages if they’re relevant to blog topics. As long as the content is still easy to read and enjoyable -- you’re good to go!  

#6 You’ll see results in the long-run

Writing even one blog can drive long-term results, because after you get the initial views and leads from sharing it, search engines start to rank it, and then the blog continues to generate traffic for an extended period of time. According to Hubspot, “the effort you put in yesterday can turn into hundreds of thousands of views and leads in the future.” Hubspot even claims that 90% of leads they gain result from blogs posted in past months. So creating blogs requires initial work but they keep working for you years down the road.   If you still aren’t convinced that blogging is worth it or you simply don’t have the time or skill to sit down and write, reach out to us today! We’d love to give you more insights and take that responsibility off your shoulders, so you can go back to doing what you do best.   [post_title] => Deciding Not to Have a Business Blog Can Limit Your Leads...Here’s Why [post_excerpt] => [post_status] => publish [comment_status] => open [ping_status] => open [post_password] => [post_name] => deciding-not-to-have-a-business-blog-can-limit-your-leads-heres-why [to_ping] => [pinged] => [post_modified] => 2020-08-07 19:07:53 [post_modified_gmt] => 2020-08-07 19:07:53 [post_content_filtered] => [post_parent] => 0 [guid] => https://keyweb31.com/stagekwc/?p=6635 [menu_order] => 0 [post_type] => post [post_mime_type] => [comment_count] => 0 [filter] => raw ) [2] => WP_Post Object ( [ID] => 6595 [post_author] => 1 [post_date] => 2018-02-16 15:02:23 [post_date_gmt] => 2018-02-16 20:02:23 [post_content] => If you’ve ever used a Google Analytics account for your website or had someone show you a SEO report, you may recognize the term “bounce rate.” But what does a bounce rate actually represent and how does it affect your business? First of all, a “bounce rate is the percentage of visitors who come to your website and leave without viewing any other pages on your website” according to Kissmetrics. A bounce rate actually isn’t related to the amount of time spent on a website page -- it just means that a user only visited one page before leaving.   User bouncing from website   One of the most common causes of high bounce rates is having entrance pages that don’t contain what your customers are looking for. To reduce your bounce rate and retain more users on your website, implement these few tips:  

#1 Improve the readability of your content

The modern-day purerser of the Internet is always looking for quality website content that they can scan and get the gist of as quickly as possible. If the content hooks them, they’ll typically slow down and read more in detail. This is why it’s crucial to break down your content well so that users can scroll through it easily. Incorporating the following items can increase the amount of time a user spends on your website and how many pages they click through:

#2 Add more internal links

Incorporating more internal links throughout your website content can cause users to visit more pages, which improves overall bounce rates. However, make sure that each word or phrase you plan to link is relevant to the linked page. Google’s algorithm doesn’t favor poorly connected pages, and people will get confused if “roofing repair services” leads to the About Us page.  

#3 Target relevant keywords

When picking keywords to target within your industry, it’s important to build authority by being specific rather than just targeting everything.   Targeting specific group of keywords   If you include keywords related to products and services you don’t offer, you can attract people who bounce quickly once they don’t find those things. For example, if you service particular areas, it would be helpful to focus on a key phrase like, “mexican restaurant Chester, VA.” In fact, 97% of Google’s revenue comes from targeting expensive, high-value keywords.  

#4 Make sure the navigation is simple

It’s true that people want to do as little work as possible to find what they’re looking for on the Internet. If they open a website with a confusing or complicated navigation bar, they typically will just leave and go to a more user-friendly website. Adding an appropriate amount of options in the navigation bar that clearly direct people to the subpages they’re looking for is crucial for improving your bounce rates. Usually businesses include “About Us,” “Services” or “Products,” “Our Work,” “Blog,” and “Contact.” However, reach out to us to find out what you should include in your specific navigation bar.  

#5 Add a clear call-to-action on the landing page

One reason a user might bounce from a landing page is because there wasn’t a button inviting them to take action. For example, placing a button that says, “Get Offer,” “Start today,” or “Learn More,” can intrigue potential customers to click on them and get directed to another page of the website.  

#6 Ensure that your website is responsive

Having a responsive website is essential because roughly half of consumers visit websites on their mobile devices. In fact, Google now penalizes businesses whose websites aren’t responsive. Making sure your website is mobile friendly not only can save you from getting in trouble with Google, it also can improve your bounce rates.   Man using responsive website on phone  

#7 Open external links in separate windows

One last tip to improving your bounce rates is to make sure all of your links to external sources open in separate windows. If you allow the linked source to open in the same page, the user is automatically pulled out of your website and into the linked one. However, opening the external page in another tab allows people to stay on your website and look at the related information simultaneously without bouncing.   Interpreting bounce rates and what they mean for your website can be tricky sometimes, so it’s important to understand how to achieve the perfect percentages for your specific site. If you’d like more tips about how to lower your bounce rates, reach out to us today! We’d love to chat. [post_title] => Bounce Rates and 7 Tips for Improving Them [post_excerpt] => [post_status] => publish [comment_status] => open [ping_status] => open [post_password] => [post_name] => bounce-rates-and-7-tips-for-improving-them [to_ping] => [pinged] => [post_modified] => 2020-10-20 19:05:05 [post_modified_gmt] => 2020-10-20 19:05:05 [post_content_filtered] => [post_parent] => 0 [guid] => https://keyweb31.com/stagekwc/?p=6595 [menu_order] => 0 [post_type] => post [post_mime_type] => [comment_count] => 0 [filter] => raw ) [3] => WP_Post Object ( [ID] => 6570 [post_author] => 1 [post_date] => 2018-02-05 10:59:15 [post_date_gmt] => 2018-02-05 15:59:15 [post_content] => One of the most deadly things a startup can do is fail to find a unique selling proposition (USP). This mistake causes many small businesses to crash and burn, which reimburses the statistic that 80% of entrepreneurs fail in the first 18 months. Avoiding the trap of blending into the crowd is tricky, but here are some effective tips to determine your company’s USP:

Target a specific niche of people

As Laura Click says in her article on how to get your business to stand out, “when you try to serve everyone, you serve no one.” Targeting “everyone” as your audience is foolish and just downright impossible. Don’t shoot for the stars when it comes to marketing to as many people as possible since focusing on a specific niche of people allows you to concentrate your effort and resources. Also, by selecting a niche audience, you distinguish yourself from the competition out there simply by targeting a slightly different crowd.

Walk a mile in your customers’ shoes

One of the most crucial things to focus on as you develop a product or service is to listen to what your target audience wants. Failing to meet current needs within the market and creating something that people aren’t looking to use can mean a rapid spiral for your business. Although it’s tempting to make assumptions about what your customers are craving, don’t. It’s risky business to produce any kind of product or service without thoroughly listening and engaging in dialogue with people.

Pinpoint how your business meets an emotional need

When finding your company’s unique selling point, it’s important to ask yourself, “How does my product or service meet an emotional need?” As humans, we’re driven by our emotions, and they can influence a lot of the decisions we make. So pinpointing the emotional needs of your customers helps you brand your business in a way that’s relevant. A great example of how a company successfully told a story and appealed to emotions is Extra Gum and their commercial on Sarah and Juan. In general, to find the driving emotions, you need to study what motivates and inspires your customers to buy. Uncovering the real reasons, whether it be convenience, fear, or comfort, can allow you to develop cutting-edge marketing strategies.

Communicate your proposition clearly

No matter how profound or well-thought out your proposition and mission are, they fall flat if you can’t communicate them to your customers in a way they understand and can relate to. Practice summing up the purpose of your business in just one sentence. For example, you could say something along the lines of, “With [insert business name], you can connect with like-minded entrepreneurs to partner and build connections.” After you “figure out the true value you bring to the table which is unique and different than others in the marketplace,” as Wagner writes, articulate it in a “clear, concise, and compelling” way.

Tell your personal story

Your personal story can pack a punch when drawing in customers because your personality and experience can make a business unique just like a product or service can. Maybe you’re starting a nonprofit to help homeless people because you’ve gone through poverty at some point in your life. Maximize experiences that relate to your mission to: If you want your business to stand out from the competition, the key is to find your unique selling proposition, target a niche group of people, understand their tendencies and emotional needs, communicate your purpose clearly, and include your personal story. Do you have questions or feedback about this blog? Shoot us an email at email@keywebconcepts.com or contact us today through our website! [post_title] => How to Make Your Business Unique from Competitors [post_excerpt] => [post_status] => publish [comment_status] => open [ping_status] => open [post_password] => [post_name] => how-to-make-your-business-unique-from-competitors [to_ping] => [pinged] => [post_modified] => 2020-08-09 17:57:29 [post_modified_gmt] => 2020-08-09 17:57:29 [post_content_filtered] => [post_parent] => 0 [guid] => https://keyweb31.com/stagekwc/?p=6570 [menu_order] => 0 [post_type] => post [post_mime_type] => [comment_count] => 0 [filter] => raw ) ) [post_count] => 4 [current_post] => -1 [before_loop] => 1 [in_the_loop] => [post] => WP_Post Object ( [ID] => 6660 [post_author] => 1 [post_date] => 2018-03-15 08:54:11 [post_date_gmt] => 2018-03-15 13:54:11 [post_content] => Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Instagram, Snapchat...the list is endless. Some entrepreneurs see social media platforms as daunting or unnecessary work, but they actually provide free marketing opportunities. If you aren’t already using social media, whether you’re a gung ho millennial or skeptical baby boomer, it’s high time you jump on the bandwagon. In the content below, we'll give all of our tips and insights from our last webinar about utilizing Instagram for your business.  

First, a little about Instagram…

In September of 2017, Instagram announced it had 800 million monthly active users, and many expect it to reach 1 billion monthly users in 2018. Instagram also beats most other social media platforms in terms of user engagement rates with brands. According to Adweek, “User engagement with brands on Instagram is currently 10 times higher than on Facebook and 54 times higher than on Twitter. Also, Instagram is the social platform where users are most likely to follow brands, with roughly one-half of them doing so.” So clearly people not only use it to follow friends and family, but they also get on to follow brands. When you couple this with the fact that Instagram is still growing, it shows that this social media platform is not just a fad. This social media platform is here to stay, and it’s time to utilize it if you aren’t already doing so.  

Why should you have an account

Instagram allows businesses to showcase their products, services, and personalities while boosting SEO page rank. This gives your customers a place to learn more about your brand while they’re scrolling through social media -- which is pretty often since the average person spends almost 2 hours a day on social media. Although the Instagram captions require content (which can be just as important as the photos themselves), ultimately, your goal is to catch the “scrolling eye.” That being said, be sure to shoot for quality over quantity when it comes to photos posted. A cell phone photo can work just fine, but you definitely don’t want to post anything and everything just for the sake of posting. However, the photos you post also must be related to your brand or your story. Even behind-the-scenes photos or staff highlights can do exponentially well on your business’s Instagram page. But a meaningless photo of your dog might not. Remember that people are following you for your brand and your story, so don’t confuse them with posts that aren’t related to your business. If you don’t already have an Instagram account, we recommend creating 5-7 post ideas with photos and captions to post throughout your first week or two. This will allow you to be prepared so that you don’t post just to post.  

How to be found on Instagram

There are many ways to be found on Instagram. One is to use hashtags. A hashtag allows you to be more visible and searchable for your potential clients. For example, if you specialize in marketing tips (like we do!) you might use #marketingtips when posting about something marketing related. This will allow users who might be seeking out marketing tips to find your account and follow you. Another tip we have for hashtags is to always keep them within your original caption. Sometimes users will post them in a comment instead to keep the caption a little more clean -- BUT this can prevent your post from showing up in the hashtag search section. Another way to be found on Instagram is to use the location tool. You can tag your exact business location or a central location, which could give you more exposure. Let’s say that you own a landscape business in Richmond, Virginia and your clients live all over the Greater Richmond Area. Using your business’s address might be limiting your potential reach -- so we’d recommend using a variety of location tags for your target area throughout your posts. For example, you might tag one post in Chesterfield and the next post in Henrico. You can also use hashtags to help locate your target audience! Plenty of users look at the hashtags #Carytown or #ShortPump. If your target audience is a larger audience, we’d recommend using the location tool AND location-based hashtags for maximum exposure.  

How to engage with your users

Engagement is crucial on Instagram and it does play a part in the algorithm. If you’re receiving comments or messages and you aren’t taking the time to respond, Instagram can note you as inactive and push your posts farther down follower’s feed. Be sure to reply to every comment, tag, and message sent to your business’s Instagram page. Even if it’s a negative comment, you should respond, because you want all of your brand’s followers to see that you are present and ready to communicate with your fans. Also, be sure to engage with other accounts on Instagram. Commenting, liking, re-posting, and/or following accounts within your target audience can help get your business exposure while also building relationships and trust with your current followers. For example, let’s say you own a boutique in Carytown. A great way to get more exposure could be by commenting and following users that post about the Watermelon Festival. If they’re posting about a local event, even just commenting on their post from the festival can motivate them to check out your business page!  

What’s the insights page all about?

Just like on Facebook, Instagram gives business pages an insights page so that each post’s performance can be monitored. The insights page breaks down your profile into: In addition to all of these stats, the insights page can also tell you what day of the week AND what time your followers are online. This can be incredibly helpful for determining when it’s best to post. Not sure what age range your followers are in? Don’t worry. Instagram’s insights page also tells you the age, gender, and location of your Instagram followers. This can be especially helpful in figuring out if your posts are reaching the right target audience.  

Don’t forget about the Insta story

Posting to your Instagram Story is a totally different ball game than posting a traditional Instagram post, but it's much, much less time consuming and just as relevant. Instagram Stories are meant to put the “Instant” back into Instagram. They are only visible for 24 hours and they allow your brand to show off photos, boomerangs, and videos that are relevant to the moment by moment. A great way for brands to utilize Instagram stories are to… Ultimately, you should use Instagram Stories as a way to connect immediately with your clients and followers. If one story is exceptionally great (perhaps a positive testimonial), you do have the option to add it to your Instagram profile as a highlight. To do this, just click on your profile, and click the plus sign that says “Add highlight” underneath it. Ultimately, you should use Instagram Stories as a way to connect immediately with your clients and followers and make your brand relatable.   To wrap up, Instagram is a free marketing tool that when used correctly, can gain you free exposure and connect you with other entrepreneurs in your industry. If you have any additional questions about how to use Instagram to promote your business or would like our professional help, reach out to us today and check out our full webinar below! [post_title] => How to Use Instagram for Your Brand [post_excerpt] => [post_status] => publish [comment_status] => open [ping_status] => open [post_password] => [post_name] => how-to-use-instagram-for-your-brand [to_ping] => [pinged] => [post_modified] => 2020-10-02 15:38:26 [post_modified_gmt] => 2020-10-02 15:38:26 [post_content_filtered] => [post_parent] => 0 [guid] => https://keyweb31.com/stagekwc/?p=6660 [menu_order] => 0 [post_type] => post [post_mime_type] => [comment_count] => 0 [filter] => raw ) [comment_count] => 0 [current_comment] => -1 [found_posts] => 38 [max_num_pages] => 10 [max_num_comment_pages] => 0 [is_single] => [is_preview] => [is_page] => [is_archive] => [is_date] => [is_year] => [is_month] => [is_day] => [is_time] => [is_author] => [is_category] => [is_tag] => [is_tax] => [is_search] => [is_feed] => [is_comment_feed] => [is_trackback] => [is_home] => 1 [is_privacy_policy] => [is_404] => [is_embed] => [is_paged] => 1 [is_admin] => [is_attachment] => [is_singular] => [is_robots] => [is_favicon] => [is_posts_page] => 1 [is_post_type_archive] => [query_vars_hash:WP_Query:private] => f95e83a428e184f74f9a02b14631e458 [query_vars_changed:WP_Query:private] => [thumbnails_cached] => [allow_query_attachment_by_filename:protected] => [stopwords:WP_Query:private] => [compat_fields:WP_Query:private] => Array ( [0] => query_vars_hash [1] => query_vars_changed ) [compat_methods:WP_Query:private] => Array ( [0] => init_query_flags [1] => parse_tax_query ) [query_cache_key:WP_Query:private] => wp_query:21ba577ca4fe03f6ef793d590e00609c:0.16359200 1749863094 )

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