Part 18 (1/2)

Monthly scorecards are one way that agencies can use analytics to continually adapt and evolve client cae transparency, demonstrate a commitment to results-driven services, and help to build confidence, trust, and loyalty

Activate Builders and Drivers

I introduced the concept of builders and drivers in Chapter 1 as a key variable of value-based pricing Builders are services designed to set the foundation for future success, whereas drivers are intended to produce short-ter value to clients requires a balanced and strategic approach to both

The Builders Builders lay the groundwork They create the necessary base on which you will develop your client's brand, differentiate them from competitors, and expand their reach and influence

Builders are essential, but often not anizations have liets to do theht into the ratification and dee ”likes,” increased blog subscribers, e a encies can be a tremendous asset, but they can also be an enorinning Clients and prospects that do not understand or value the iencies get paid to do it right They refuse to take shortcuts or give in to clients' desperate desires for quick fixes

Rereatest return froency relationshi+p if they have a realistic understanding of their current situation, and focus on builders first Consider the following questions when assessing the need for builders in your clients' cans: Market research: Do they understand their market, and how they fit in the co: Have they defined whattheir unique positioning in theirand sales materials?

Website development: Is the website user-friendly with distinct calls to action, strong brandback?

Search engine optimization: Has a keyword analysis been conducted to identify the most relevant words and phrases for the website? Is the website properly optie titles, URLs, headings, i, and meta descriptions? Has an inbound link analysis been perfor strong, action oriented and buyer-persona focused? Does the website orcollateral need to be refreshed?

Social media: Have they established profiles on all thereach and influence online? Are they engaging with the co content? Do they have a socialand education to eer, anizations, chances are their internal ency partners, have already coencies, this is where your services begin

It is also important to note how dependent the builders are on each other, because this deency ecosystem For exath andeffectiveness of websites is essential to your clients' success, but websites can no longer be designed in a vacuum by web-development firms These are not brochure sites any more They are, or should be, dynaement, and the metaphorical front door to brands and businesses

A powerful website requires professional design, strategic brand aging copywriting, landing pages, lead forinal content It has to enable real-tiement system (CMS), and it needs to connect to a custoe of online data

Every agency in the ecosystem, from disruptors to soloists, has to understand that there are nois connected Success depends on the integration of services, and collaboration a firms

The Drivers Once the foundation is in place, it is ti activities that generate traffic, create inbound links, produce quality leads, row your client's business

Selective consuh web, search, social, content, and PR activities, including link building, case studies, ebook, e-mail newsletters, online videos, podcasts, webinars,

Like builders, drivers ly deencies Consider the dependency of these core disciplines on each other: Brand h the personal brands of their eement, trust, and loyalty As ith the Matt Cutts exa requires content creation, social ement, and an adherence to the values and principles of the corporate brand

Web development: Websites without dynamic, optimized content becoive visitors the desire to experience and share the site, and reasons to return, over and over again

Contentposts, podcasts, case studies, reports, and videos-requires social distribution channels to be discovered and shared Qualitymust be exceptional Corporationson es

Public relations: Next generation PR professionals-not the traditional flacks that have given the industry a bad reputation-build relationshi+ps and enhance communications with all core audiences They use social media and content to create transparency and trust They focus on personalized approaches to enerate third-party validation that builds brand awareness and preference

The Inevitable Convergence To further validate the inevitable convergence ofin the SEO industry

Search-engine optiorithines that value content quality over quantity, greatly consider user experience, and are continually integrating social circles and recoine optiinal content, social sharing, and engaging site designs that capture and keep visitors

Every two years, SEO Factors report in which it surveys the top SEO minds in the industry, and asks the algorith factors for 2011, and the overall iine result page (SERP), according to the experts Note that I have consolidated different sections of the report to simplify the concepts

Inbound Links-42 Percent of SERP Impact Inbound links are continuously hout this book The SEOs, and de services that create inbound links

The report indicates that the nuines-that is, have a high PageRank orfactor when it comes to a website's ability to rank for a search query

As we discussed in Chapter 2, the h-quality inbound links is by publishi+ng and sharing valuable content, including blog posts, videos, ebooks, and original reports In other words, SEO requires copywriting and social ies in order to e-26 Percent of SERP Ihly relevant to site perforines look for keywords in the domain and subdomain of a website, and the order in which the keywords appear For example ordABCcom will likely rank better than ABCkeywordcoencies have to take a strategic approach to other on-page elee title, internal-link anchor text, headings, and ie ALT text

The key here is that the es a site has, the better its chances of attracting traffic and inbound links for specific keyword phrases So again, it co content that people ant to share, and then taking actions to get that content found

Social Media-7 Percent of SERP Iree that Twitter is the ard to its iorith links and the quantity of tweets to a page

Other influential social media factors include Facebook shares; authority of the user who is sharing the links; votes on and co, Reddit, and Stule Buzz

Agencies need to the take the initiative to get their clients active in socialresources, and engaging audiences Depending on the situation, including their internal resources and willingness to participate, your responsibilitythe accounts on their behalf

Brand Popularity-7 Percent of SERP Inificant role in search engine rankings According to the experts, some of the most important factors are search volume for a brand name; quantity of brand mentions on websites and social sites; citations for the domain in Wikipedia; and active accounts on Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn

Other Important Factors to Consider The SEO experts also called out the importance of unique, fresh content across the entire site, and the visitor bounce rate as tracked by the search engines; this refers to visitors who go to a site and then use the back button to return to the SERP The lower the bounce rate, the better, so ive them reasons to stick around for more

The Case for Social Media The SEO iine results Social raph, in addition to functioning as a publishi+ng channel for your clients' original content

Social encies the opportunity to build ers, and analysts, and take a more personalized approach to PR For exa reporters' tweets or Facebook shares, you can get to know more about them than just their beats As a result, you can tailor pitches to directly relate to their interests and needs, thus i your chances for success

Social ather information online Witha social network,5 individuals areto sites such as Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn to ask questions, share resources, and research products and services

Through active social media participation, your clients can connect with qualified consu for products, services, and infor to a 2011 ForeSee report, ”visitors to websites influenced by social media are more loyal and satisfied customers, and they spend more than visitors ere not influenced by social media”6 There is also correlation between social media involvement and financial performance A 2009 study from Wetpaint and the Altimeter Group shows that of the 100 brands evaluated, those with the heaviest social rew company revenues by 18 percent froed companies saw revenues sink six percent over the same time period7 In addition, 2010 data froest that individuals are more likely to buy from brands hich they are friends or followers on social networks8 The Case for Content Marketing Inbound row sanizations must maintain powerful and informative websites and continually publish valuable content online

Content can be used to connect with target audiences on an e in business coht processes, goals, and preferences As we have seen, it also has the ability to establish your clients' professionals as industry thought leaders and trusted resources, which is especially valuable in business-to-business (B2B)This increases the likelihood that prospects and custo to a study of HubSpot custo have 55 percent more visitors, 97 percent es than the websites of co the ith9 In addition, business-to-consuenerate more leads-88 percent and 67 percent, respectively-than their nonblogging counterparts10 Content has also been proven effective at helpingsales cycles