For those who implement white hat tactics, it’s a question of where do we begin? The creative options can be overwhelming.And what follows is a six-month content-driven action plan that can be easily leveraged for any new or existing site.

This plan is for marketers who are willing to get their hands dirty reaching out to people and know that exceptionally well-written content is important to grease the link building wheels.

The altering statistics 2k18

The quickly evolving world of search engine optimization has experienced remarkable developments.The most notable being Penguin 4.0, Accelerated Mobile Pages (AMP), the rise in video content and social sharing.

EarnedLinks provided a list of must-know SEO statistics for 2017 It revealed several different figures under quality content, link building, keywords and Content Management System (CMS). According to the report;

• The Google Search Quality Strategist survey shows that the two most important signals to rank websites during searches are quality content and link building.

• At the end of December 2017, around 47% of all websites used CMS as their development platform.

• In 2017, respectively 62% and 63% of B2B and B2C marketers had optimized their blogs for mobile devices to boost their SEO efforts.

How to build links in 2018 – the six-month plan

According to Shaun Anderson at Hire Me, off-page SEO factors such as link building can be tricky business.For some, it’s a tactic to avoid altogether.

Some tech-marketers would say that is because Google has equated link building with online spam and the industry news is fuelled by Google PR enforcing its quality guidelines.

All link building tactics are not webspam. In fact, planning link building in 2018 has become an incredibly important aspect of search engine optimisation.

The first month: plan it out

During the initial stages of blueprinting, you should know who your target audience is. You can either choose to pick what has been predetermined or use quantitative analysis to identify your segments.

Because there are so many influencers and potential targets, either route will bear fruit.The Noob Guide to Link Building teaches you persona development for link building.

It is important to know your market to create relevant site content. You can then quickly prospect those users via different tools.

Month two: content auditing

Google tends to inform its search rankings. Hence, details are essential in the SEO space. It is easy to get lost and miss important factors for success. At this stage of planning, you would want to ask four very important questions:

• Where does the website stand?
• Is any content unclear or can be repurposed for link building efforts?
• What existing content can be used as click bait?
• Is there any piece of online content that has performed well on social media?

You can also take all popular content to Open Site Explorer to determine the number of naturally attracted links. It will be easy to identify site pages that have performed well on Facebook in most cases, and could be utilized for link building efforts. Marketers can keep track of these people as prospects.

Month three: creating SEO power pages

An SEO power page isa page on your site that has enough relevant content to support a lot of natural links pointing to it. In other words, it is the kind of content that people love to read and feel obligated to leave a comment on or even link to,organically.

According to the editor at thehoth.com, this is also sometimes referred to as ‘pillar content’ or something that is worth linking to, as opposed to a product page.

“This makes the whole white hat link building process 10x easier because other blogs are happy to link to valuable resources.”

It is any website owner’s ‘top tier’ content – ranging from 1000 to 2000 plus words. You must strategically use these pages for two purposes:

• Choose two or more keywords and heavily target those on the page
• Build up SEO power through link building and pass that power to smaller pages via internal links

The reason why expert marketers target keywords on the main/power pages is that Google expects you to do so.

The backlink research done for SEOJet shows that non-homepage power pages typically have 55%-75% of their backlinks with one or two keywords mentioned in the anchor text.

Fortunately, a link map inside of SEOJet lets a user know which anchors to use everytime on her power page.

During the initial months, TheHoth’s main strategy for Guest Port Tracker – a blogger outreach software –was to collect thrice as many links to the 3 – 6 main pages combined.

As the team built links to their website, they were just following what each link map was telling them to do, while the backlink profile for every page matched that of an ace backlink page.Or in other words “it always looked extremely natural to Google” all along the way.

Month four: taking control of social

This may not be possible with big clients as many will have a dedicated agency or a well-established in-house department that looks after social. Link building and social media, however, are slowly becoming one so the need to have access to usable social accounts is important.

In a few situations, website owners can use the main social media account of the client, but when this isn’t possible, they can create an internal sub account – someone they are working closely with – and make them the face of the business campaign.

It is recommended to have some form of social presence as it enables authentic communication with valuable prospects that might need a bit of warming up before email outreach.

It also gives a further boost to the promotion of guest blogs and posts so that as time goes by you have more material to show off to influencers.

Month five: Claim blogging

What does blogging have to do with a 6-month link building plan? Blogging is seen as a central aspect of link building because many opportunities can come from it such as:

• Credibility to help with outreach
• Earning direct links via solid content
• A platform that gets the attention of link prospects

When it comes to the blog-link idea, in particular, it is preferable to coordinate your content calendar with your guest blogging targets a month in advance.It will allow you to include links to websites you might be targeting.

James Agate, the Founder of Skyrocket, has produced a comprehensive and regularly updated guide to blogging for your business, encouraging marketers to have more detailed thoughts on corporate blogging.

Month six: outreach for new content

Based on all your marketing activities over the last six months, you should have developed some relationships with influential bloggers, editors, curators and maybe renowned journalists. The market should now have an idea about you and your client, developing some sense of goodwill towards your company.

Outreaching for content is all about building relations. At the same time, it involves leveraging the write-ups since you will be seeking the help of larger sites you are now acquainted with to help you launch new content assets.

There might not be a template outreach email for this one, but you can subtly interweave some ego bait into the process or simply ask for people’s help.

Take a deep breath and repeat!

By now, you must have developed an unbreakable ‘corporate’ bond with many influencers such as curators and editors.

Keep working on your relationships with them as they will help you entice your potential targets. From here on, put all the activities of guest blogging and website promotion on repeat, until you finally make it to the top.

The post 6 Month Link Building Plan For A New Website appeared first on Relevance.

It is also the first place customers go to vent out about a business they perceive as ‘not good enough.’

Many small businesses find it hard to ignore Yelp’s importance for marketing. Michael Luca, a Harvard University Professor, showed in a 2016 paper that a single star increase in Yelp’s rating led to a 5-9% increase in the overall revenue for Washington State’s independent restaurants.

It is a common misconception that Yelp is only for restaurants. Instead, categorically, restaurants are its second most viewed business category (18%), above home and local services (13%), and behind shopping (22%).

A successful Yelp tactic does not require you to spend money. The platform provides you a chance to represent your brand via your interactions with consumers positively.

Finnegan’s Marina local tavern

While searching for affordable restaurants in his new hometown, Shel Israel, CEO of SI Associates and a Yelp user, found Finnegan’sMarin – a local tavern. The place had an a4-star rating and turned out to be almost exactly as Yelp reviewers had guided him to believe.

The following day, Israel wrote his first Yelp review. He considered himself on the tough side but gave the eatery four stars. A few hours later, the owner emailed him a thank you note.

Impressed by the gesture, Israel has since then used Yelp to find a car wash, plant nurseries, and a dentist. “I’m not as addicted to it as I am to Twitter, but I find it very useful in the same way I found Google Search, which recently bought a Yelp competitor,” he said.

Why you should care

A survey by BrightLocal revealed that 84% of customers trust online reviews as much as personal recommendations. Indeed, reviews influence customers’ buying decisions to a huge extent.

Simply put, when customers are searching for trusted local businesses, they look at what other people have to say. Yelp provides customers with confidence and sparkling online reputations to help them make buying decisions. Consumers are not going to give local businesses attention or money if all they see is negativity surrounding their Yelp review pages.

So, if almost half of the consumer base is using Yelp, maybe it is time for small businesses to start integrating reviews into their work.

• Building customer trust

Small businesses always look forward to building credibility. With Yelp reviews as an outlet, a company can develop that sense of trust with its community and customers.

Consumers are searching for brands that are trusted and reliable, instead of a business that fails to go beyond ‘one-star’ reviews.

Zach Anderson, National Client Partner with Yelp, believes the app provides users with the most helpful information available. Reviews may not be the only reason to visit Yelp. The platform is known to provide credibility to a business – ‘a trust signal for users.’

There is nothing worse than spending money on a retailer that provides terrible service and does not put its consumers on top of its priority list. Consumers check online reviews to reduce the risk of a bad customer experience.

As a business owner, the higher your ratings on Yelp, the better your chances of attracting potential buyers.

• Ideal for mobile browsing

Yelp listings have a concrete advantage over Google listings for small businesses. Since Apple and Google are both battling for top honors in mobile technology, a Google list may not show up as quickly on an iOS device, but Yelp listings will.

Instead of searching for senior living communities and filtering through dozens of website listings, users can head straight to Yelp and read reviews about various facilities in one place. This also boosts the opportunity for your brand to get noticed by influencers.

And there is always the Yelp mobile application; another way for people to locate your business while asking for recommendations online.

• Increasing website views

Another important reason why small brick-and-mortar businesses maintain their Yelp listings is because it helps increase their website views. Yelp makes it easy to see how much impact a social media platform has on your website traffic.

Through the Yelp dashboard, you can see the number of visits your Yelp page receives. A brand can also refer to its site’s Google Analytics to understand referring traffic sources as well.

• Advertising

Any small business can get a lot out of the Yelp platform by solely investing their time in its free page features. For companies in competitive spaces, it may be beneficial to test advertising and check if it can help drive traffic.

If you use Yelp advertising, don’t let them pressure you into spending more than you need to test the channel. Try to remain in contact with a member of the Yelp sales team as they can help you with any problems you face; for example, an incorrect address.

Final thoughts

Renowned review sites like Yelp offer a gigantic opportunity for small businesses since the-contemporary customer’s shopping decision is based on online testimonials.

Companies can make use of an outlet like Yelp and receive positive feedback and traffic on their sites. Not only that, but the chance to promote, solidify and rave about your brand is priceless.

The post Yelp Reviews: Why Small Businesses Should Care appeared first on Relevance.

These businesses require salespeople who can bring in leads and are open to challenges. They care about consultative selling, what the customer thinks and pitch to them accordingly. When you are talking to a good salesperson, it appears like your business goals are as important to them as they are to you and they will do whatever it takes to help you fulfill these goals.

Listed below are some qualities of a good salesperson:

• They are optimistic.
• They are confident of their pitch.
• They are so subtle that it never looks like they are forcing a sale.
• They are dedicated and committed.
• They provide key insights to help you make educated decisions.
• They are respectfully persistent.
• They are honest with you and are open to negative feedback.
• Their worldview is broad and they are upbeat and cheerful.

If you’re running a business in the consulting realm, you need to find these passionate individuals and make them a part of your team. Here are some ideas your team can apply to increase sales and impress your customers with your consulting business.

Regular follow-ups          

The easiest trick in the books is to followup with your clients regularly. This is one of the simplest methods of getting commissions. Don’t call them when you’re going through a rough patch. In ecommerce ideas, educational institutions or financial institutions, clients are made by follow-ups.  Instead, call them regularly at important events to remind them that your company genuinely cares about them.

“Persistence, when done respectfully and consistently, breaks through. It reminds [customers] that you are there with a solution to their problems. It gives them multiple chances to connect. And, though it may take half a dozen times to get a response, land that meeting or open a discussion, they will thank you in the end.”-Michael Mehlberg, co-founder, Modern da Vinci

Your call can remind the client about a problem they were facing recently, to which you can present a solution.

Build trust

Nowadays, clients feel that a salesperson was nice to them only throughout the duration of making a deal. It feels like the moment a deal is closed, the salesperson would forget all about you. Your company needs to break this stereotype by being there with the client at all times.

It is more important to retain customers because customer retention is proven to be more profitable than new customer acquisition. 44 per cent companies focus on customer acquisition while 18 per cent focus on retention. Only 40 per cent companies keep a balance between acquisition and retention. It was also calculated that the probability of selling to an existing customer is 60-70 per cent while to a new customer it is 5-20 per cent.

You can widen the circle of clients who trust you and want to continue being your customers. If clients feel your trust and value your services, they will never move on to another business for help.

Educate your audience

“In today’s marketplace, most customers are much better informed and educated before reaching out to a vendor. Simply providing specs and product data isn’t enough. A sales professional with a consultative mindset identifies customer needs and seeks to tailor custom solutions that fit those needs.”– Rudy Joggerst, digital marketing manager, Janek Performance Group

Online availability of comparative options lead a customer to choose wisely, based on the exact services they require from a business. You can cash on this opportunity by educating your audience first and turning them into strong leads. The client needs to make a confident decision to try your services. Why not educate your audience first and then slowly start pitching them?

There are many ways to do this. You can create a company blog and write articles, post videos and hold webinars about topics in your niche. The easier it is to access this content, the stronger are your chances of turning people into loyal customers. You can offer training to your customers for free or for a small amount as well. The point is to nurture this audience so they can regard your presence as industry influencer.

Your consumers will be well equipped to decide when you have trained them well. When people see your blog and the amount of content you are willing to offer for free, you are bound to receive some calls. Your sales team can take the responsibility of educating the audience, be it over the phone, on social media or through the blog.

Send something small first

If your business deals with complex services, the client will feel hesitant in making a decision to buy from you the first time. Clients require more time to think and research if their decision is valid. You can begin this process by selling something small at first, to build the relationship with your customer. Your sales team can bring these clients in the loop and increase their trust over time. However, it is important to charge them at first so they know that you can’t offer them free solutions at the time.

Last word

In business, you know that the most important part of the deal is your customer. You have to make decisions which benefit the customer in one way or the other. Gather information through your sales team on customer feedback about pain points so your next strategy can cater to a larger section of the audience and create marketing campaigns that click. Be proactive and initiate a great service from your end, so the leads can trust your service and expect an even greater result in the future. By focusing on these ideas, you can increase sales for your consulting business.

The post 4 Ideas To Increase Sales For Your Consulting Business appeared first on Relevance.