Healthy Data Tracking 

Websites save user data to better personalize and improve the customer experiences with first party cookies. These are small data files placed in web browsers to remember your language, layout preferences, or the contents of a shopping cart. This helps maintain a positive user experience by keeping important and relevant elements intact. There are also third parties that work with websites to insert additional tracking methods like their own cookies and web beacons such as analytics and page tagging. 

Companies use third parties to record what users read, click, and visit online. This method of collecting data is ethical if it involves giving users the ability and opportunity to opt out your company tracking using third party cookies, usually in the form of a pop-up box that contains settings and data preferences. Remember you want to have the user to have the power to control their info. If they feel you are abusing their private info it can hurt your company’s reputation and at worst get you into legal trouble. You want to give users the choice of giving you information freely. You can use subscription or contact forms, quizzes, and surveys for your company website or email marketing. Make it easy to unsubscribe from your email list if you use email mail marketing. The data you gather from these methods, should assist in your marketing and advertising plans. You don’t have to have all these methods going at once. Apply data collection methods based on your business goals.     

Unhealthy Data Tracking 

While data collection isn’t inherently bad, what you do with the data you collect is important. Sometimes data collection for advertising can veer away from its true purpose. Using ads through Google Ads and on social media platforms should have the goal of showing user the most relevant and useful ad. Track only what is relevant to help you sell your product or service. Never sell the data you collect to data brokers. Data brokers are companies that can merge anonymized online data (like from a public record) with personally identifiable information to build a detailed profile of you and sell it to other companies that don’t have your information. Avoid purchasing from brokers as well. Pause and think about how you feel when you get an email or ad from a company you never were in contact with. This can demolish any organic relationship building with potential customers. 

Researchers at the University of Washington have shown that mobile ad networks tracking capabilities could be manipulated for highly targeted surveillance. Some banks can also use data collection to determine your creditworthiness. Insurers can use data to assess your premiums. These ways of using data collection, are examples of controversial and potentially damaging ways to use data. This is causing many users to turn to private browsing and ad blocking software causing a loss of revenue of content creators. As a business make sure when you collect your data keep it safe and come up with an ad strategy that is ethical and brings value to your customer. 

We can help with healthy data collection for your website and ads. Call 248.528.3600 or visit our Google Analytics page for more info. 

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 Avoid keyword stuffing for SEO

 Avoid plagiarizing body copy 

Avoid pulling images straight off Google & stealing artwork 

Avoid spamming email marketing

Avoid posting only selling content on social media 

Avoid AI generated content if unfamiliar with the tools & copyright laws 

 Avoid prioritizing traditional marketing over digital 

Avoid not proof-reading social copy 

Avoid hiding cost for ecommerce 

Avoid making hard to cancel subscriptions 

Avoid inconsistent branding 

Avoid vague creative goals 

Avoid ignoring data tracking 

Avoid these tactics by working with us! Call 248.528.3600

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1. Perform Competitive Research & Find Relevant Keywords

Look at your competition to see what their successes and mistakes are. See if any successful design elements or body copy tone that can be tailored to your unique company brand. By researching their negative reviews, you can avoid any obvious mistakes that have already been done by other companies your similar industry. Also use Google’s Keyword Planner to discover search engine friendly keywords you can use in your website’s headings and body copy. Incorporating relevant keywords will not only separate you from the competition but increase your value to Search Engines like Google and your potential clients searching from products or services like yours. 

2. Optimize Your Website’s Content for Mobile

Most searches come from users on their phone. Google also uses mobile-first indexing that prioritizing mobile-friendly design. If you want rank higher on SERPs, your website must be responsive and load fast. While most web templates come already responsive, it is still wise to check on your phone to see if any content or photos gets cut off or if your website loads slow. You may need help from a digital marketing agency if you can’t fix any cut off content on your own or if the template you chose is buggy and loads slowly. 

3. Set up Google Search Console

 Google Search Console is a tool that allows you to submit your website to be indexed, as well as view data about your website’s traffic and performance. This is useful for successful long-term SEO plans, digital marketing, and performance of your website. It allows you to view items such as user click-through rate and other performance elements. You can also keep track of any site errors that will help keep your website functioning optimally and prevent unsafe web practices. The data you gather will help you create comprehensive plans that don’t waste your money and maximize you ROI. 

4. Create a Sitemap and Submit It 

A sitemap contains a list of all the pages on your website in a single file. If you have a sitemap, this helps search engines index your website quicker and easier. Google has a tool that can help you create one or you can ask a digital marketing firm to help. It is also wise to include a link to your sitemap in your website’s footer. Once you submit your sitemap using web master tools, search engine crawlers will find your website and index for SERPs. The quicker this can be done more likely you will increase the rank of your website, thus gain more users and clients.

5. Add Structured Data Markup 

Structured data markup is a code that you can add to your website’s HTML code. It is used to help search engines understand the information on your website. This helps when trying to attract organic traffic. Structured data is a standardized format for classifying page content. For example, on a recipe page: what are the ingredients, the cooking time and temperature, the calories, etc. This will help your website become more engaging to your users leading to rich results. The more interaction users have with our website, the more value search engines register it as and keep it high on SERPs. 

Let us include a SEO plan with your new website. Call 248.528.3600

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1. Use Appropriate Medical Keywords 

Make sure you target the correct keywords for your industry. Start with the medical product or services you offer, then use Google’s Keyword Planner to help find the best keywords to incorporate into your content. Compare your results to what is and isn’t being search by users. Avoid keyword stuffing at all costs! This is a spammy tactic that will penalize your website. Instead, be specific. Use short-tail keyword in titles and long-form keywords into your body copy. Make sure your body copy is relevant, readable, and simple enough to understand. A lot of medical medicines or ingredients like to use long Latin words, don’t be afraid to mention their common names in your content as reference. 

2. Add A Lot of Content Pages

Other industries usually have to cut back on the amount of content they include, but for medical websites it is the opposite. Include high-quality information that goes into detail on how your product or service will help make your target audiences lives’ better or easier. The more long-form content you include, the more likely Google will recognize you as an authority and thus increase your ranking. Ideas on how to increase your content length are:

• Add a blog page
• Side effects section
• How-to-use section 
• When-to-use section
• Symptoms section
• Ingredient section
• When-not-to-use section
• How it will improve your life description 
• Meet the doctors page 
• About the manufactures page 
• FAQ section or page 
• What to ask your doctor section 

3. Optimize Visual Elements 

Include photos and graphic elements to make your pages more interesting to look at. If you can include a video, even better! Infographics are also an underrated visual medium that could display useful information for your users. This will increase organic traffic and encourage visitors to stay longer on your website. Increased view time tells search engines that your web pages have valuable content that is useful to users. For images, make sure you don’t forget to include accurate alt text and meta descriptions for Google crawlers and e-readers.

4. Optimize Website Speed, Security & Mobile Friendliness 

Website speed, security, and mobile friendliness are all ranking factors. First, use Google’s PageSpeed Insights tool to check your current site speed. Since you have a lot of content, your page might load slower than others, however, you still want in to be quick enough for users to know that your website is active. A few ways to increase speed is to:

• Have a performance-optimized hosting provider
• Compress images
• Reduce URL redirects 
• Cache your web pages
• Enable browser caching 
• Minify CSS, JavaScript, and HTML
• Eliminate unnecessary plugins
• Use asynchronous loading for CSS and JavaScript files

Second, check the security of your website. Use an SSL certificate to encrypt your website and ensure visitor data is protected from hackers. Also check for spam links in existing or old content. Always keep your website software, apps, and plugins updated (read more on keeping your website secure here). Lastly, ensure your website is mobile friendly and responsive. Check on phones, iPads, and desktops to see if your website is functional. Most CMS, like WordPress, have templates already optimize for responsive design, but if your site is still running on PHP you may want to hire a digital marketing firm to update the your web design. 

5. Offsite Factors 

Check your social media accounts, especially if you have a plugin linked to your website. Make sure the passwords are strong. Clean up comments that contain spammy links. Block suspicious accounts that want to follow you. Use social media platforms as a link-building tool that leads to longer form content on a landing page. You can also use social media to interact with clients by asking important questions. Then, you can incorporate their questions into your content. Not only does this make it so your audience feels heard, but Google will also see you as a direct authority.  

6. Local SEO

Have a Google My Business profile. This can by created through Google Maps. It is important to build local traffic, especially if your business relies on in-person experiences. You want your website to pop up in the top 10 results when they ask “(medical practice, drug store, med supplies, etc.)  near me”. Fill out the following information: 

• The business categories
• Your primary phone number
• The business description
• Your hours of operation (and any seasonal hours)
• Your address or service area.
• Google reviews of your business
• Photos of your business and products or services

Let us help with your medical business’ SEO. Call 248.528.3600.

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1. Do you stick to the recommended character limit when writing your ad copy? 

Character counts can be frustrating when you have a complex message to get across, but it is important that you stick to the limit. Narrow down what you want to say, so it reads clearly and precisely. If you are really struggling with narrowing down essential details, cut it off at an interesting point. Then add a call-to-action and link to your company’s blog or landing page. Sticking to the character limit makes it easier for the social platforms’ algorithm to recognize you and prioritize your business as a subject matter authority. 

2. Does this ad work for mobile users? 

Most social media users are on their phone when interacting with a platform. Make sure your ad is optimized for mobile. This means company logo, text, and images all must be recognizable at a small size. Different platforms have different sizes for video and picture layouts. You may want to have a few landscape and portrait versions of the ad so nothing important is cut off. 

3. Are the image and copy aligned with the goal of the ad?

Make sure your photos or illustrations match what your body copy is about. For example, if you are a dress boutique and your goal is to attract more people to your website. Have a photo of one of your dresses. Then add text. Your text might be something like this:

“This dress and other beautiful dresses like it are now available on our amazing online shop!”

Another example for a service-based company is say that you are a law firm, and your goal is to gain more bookings. You may use flat icon illustrations of the type industries that need your services. Then add text like this:

“We provide the best lawyers to help your business. Book now for your first free 30-minute consulting secession.”

4. Does your ad have a CTA wording on a button or link?

CTA stands for call to action. Social media platforms such Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn have built in call-to-action features that allow you to add to your post. You still need to design an ad that contains CTA for platforms that do not have built in features. Some basic CTA samples that you can as links or buttons are:

• Learn More
• Buy Now
• Purchase Here
• Book Now
• Order Online Today
• Sign Up Today
• Call Now
• Get Started 
• Contact Us
• Let’s Chat 

5. Is your ad directed towards the correct audience? 

Even if your imagery and body copy are well-designed and written, this means nothing if the correct audience doesn’t see it. Make sure SEO best practices are included. This means important keywords are included in your body copy and hashtags. Setting features on a lot of platforms have features such as alt tags, meta description, and location tags. Make sure that these are all tailored based on your target audience. You want to make sure your ad has maximum reach. 

Struggling creating an effective social ad? Let us do it for you. Call 248.528.3600.

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Review Snippet 

Recipe Snippet

Music Snippet 

Product Markup Snippet 

Movie Snippet

Events Snippet 

Use Structured Data to Get Rich Snippets

Structured data is a type of standardized code format that communicates information about your business’s web page content to search engines. It must contain two important factors to be successful: Schema and the format. Schema is the vocabulary that tells the search engine about the entity elements on your page and the format is the type of markup code that communicates schema to the search engine. These formats are JSON-LD, microdata, and RDFa with JSON-LD favored by Google. An example of creating structured data for a Rich Snippet would be:

Say you have a recipe for chocolate chip cookies on your bakery’s website. You could add structured data for the recipe:

• Cooking duration
• Nutritional information
• Ingredients
• Instructions, etc. 

Schema.org is a site dedicated to the universal vocabulary for structured data. You can use the website to help you write and test your structured data snippets, regardless of format. Additional tools like Google’s Structured Data Markup Helper can generate the markup code instead of writing it from scratch and Google’s Rich Results Test tool to see which rich results Google generates from your markup code.

Need help adding Rich Snippets to your website’s code? Call 248.528.3600.

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Step 1: Create a List of Keywords 

Depending on the industry your business is in, the topics, and access to research tools could be flooded. Here are some of the most common ways to create a keyword list: 

• Google’s Keyword Planner or SEMRush used for researching competitors’ keywords
• Check for common keywords with Ahrefs or AnswerThePublic

• Use your website data from Google Search Console
• Look in suggested searches on search engines and brainstorm ideas

Step 2: Sort Keywords into Groups

Group keywords using an automated tool such as Keyword Insights or manually plug the terms into a excel spreadsheet based on good search volume, same search intent, items your think you can rank on, or are appropriate for the marketing funnel stage you are currently in. After that, you will need to identify keyword modifiers around the cluster you formed. This can be enhancement terms, for example, you are researching search intent for strawberry jelly. Some repeat terms that show up might be “healthy” or “organic”.  

Step 3: Other Ways to Cluster by Topic

When you have identified the keyword clusters that answer the questions your audience asks the most, you can start creating a content plan around those clusters you have discovered. Some clusters have subjects in common and can be further grouped into topic clusters. Use the hierarchy of most to least relevant to create a page structure or sitemap for your business’s website. In the middle of every topic cluster, place a piece of content that can target a large number of keywords and phrases. Then surround the larger content withsmaller pieces of content. These content pieces are usually blog posts. This will allow you to focus more on certain topics, build up internal linking, and generally explore the various aspects of the topic that may be too rich to fit on one page without exhausting the reader. You could also use these keyword clusters for Google ads and other marketing campaigns if you fear your website is getting too crowded. 

Struggling to cluster keywords? Our SEO service term can help! Call 248.528.360

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41% of shoppers go to Google when discovering a new brand according to their survey across countries. As your company’s brand grows, it’s important to appear across places where potential customers may be browsing and to create real value that is meaningful and distinct through your content. Immersive and creative content in channels such as video, search, and feeds on Google can help build brand awareness. It will also help you differentiate your brand from your competition with shoppers who are in the market for products or services like yours.

Connect with Customers Through Video Marketing 

Over its lifetime YouTube has evolved from purely an entertainment platform to a place where viewers go to learn, stream, and get inspired by their next purchase. Google found that every day people watch over a billion hours of video and generate billion of views on YouTube. That is a huge amount of people and opportunity to create potential new customers. Video reach campaigns can help spread your brand’s message, product advertisement, or service demonstration reach as many people as possible in your target audience demographic at a reasonable cost. This is perfect if you are small business or if you marketing budget is tight. 

Let Your Business be the Answer When Users Search and Browse 

According to the guide, 61% of consumers in surveyed countries around the world say they visit multiple websites before settling on what to buy and who to buy it from. This means shoppers do not always have a specific company in mind when they search the category they are interested in. They usually search for reviews or articles first to help inform their decision. There are many ways to highlight your good reviews or demonstrate trustworthiness. Here are some important items in include in your digital marketing strategy to achieve this:  

• Broad match keywords & Smart Bidding

 Broad match can save time, simplify your Google account, and increase website traffic by finding all relevant searches that are expected to perform. Combine with Smart Bidding to set the right bid for each search within your performance goals.

• Responsive search ads

Responsive search ads combine creativity with machine learning to help show relevant ads to users. If a customer is searching Google without a specific brand or product in mind, you can put your products in the spotlight by appearing in these searches.

• Image extensions 

Compelling visuals can help you differentiate your brand from companies that sell something similar with shoppers across Google. To optimize your ads’ performance, use image extensions to complement your existing text ads with relevant visuals that engage your audience and drive a call-to-action.

• Discovery campaigns 

Discovery campaigns can help you deliver highly visual and inspiring personalized ad experiences to your target audience who are ready to discover and engage with your brand. With this solution, you can reach up to 3 billion users on feeds across Google and YouTube with a single campaign.

• Audience solutions 

To build consideration among users who are actively looking to make a purchase, use in-market audience targeting. This drives action from new customers who share similar characteristics with existing customers, use similar audiences. To reengage existing customers across the web, use Customer Match. Telia Norge increased their revenue by 15% and conversion rate by 22% among existing customers using this service. 

Ready to optimize your marketing plan with these Google tips? Call 248.528.360

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How Do You Identify Content Spam?

1. Analyze Ranking Losses
2. Conduct an SEO Audit 
3. SEO Analysis to Narrow Down Problem 
   • Auditing your domain
     • Analysis of backlink gains or losses
     • Backlink audit
   • Auditing competitors 
     • Analysis of backlink gains or losses
     • Analysis of competitors’ content
   • Check your on-page SEO & technical SEO
     • Site Audit & technical issues
     • On-page check (page titles, subheadings, etc.)
   • Check for Google Updates

How Google Detects Duplicate Content 

Google is great at identifying duplicate content and detecting on which pages the content appeared first. So why do so many spam sites rank? John Mueller of Google provides some insight to why that might be:

“But even if we know which one is the original and which one is the copy, sometimes it makes sense to show a copy in the search results…And one of the situations where I have seen this happen consistently is if a website is of lower quality overall, where when our systems look at it they’re like, well we can’t really trust this website. But if a higher-quality website were to take some of this content and publish it, we would say, well we know more about this website and actually maybe we should show this content in the search results.”

— John Mueller, Google Web Trends Analyst, June 2021

Translation: Google believes that copied content should sometimes show up in search and may work better on some else’s domain rather than the original website. So, making sure your website is updated in design, function, and content is extremely important. Spammers duplicate the original content until the original page ranks worse and destroys the original website’s authority. The original site usually has fewer backlinks and is often overall smaller that the, while the spammed content aims for ranking on a national level. If you find your business’s website is under this spam attack, Google provides a dedicated form for reporting spam websites. In addition, if the spam site is spreading malware or aims to steal data, you can report these phishing attacks through Google Safe Browsing.

How is Stolen Content Used on Content Spam Websites?

1.7 million websites, 1.5 million images, and more are imported into the hijacked Search Console via the sitemap. The hacked page was also can be accessed via a WordPress to exploit. Once a site has been hacked, a thorough expansion of subpages begins. For Example, 25,800 Google results for a small pipe cleaning website that is distributing dangerous malware attacks on hacked websites. Spammers’ websites use plagiarism to not only place is search results, but in post snippets for easy SEO wins on social media platforms as well. 

They use backlinks alongside known, relevant text content in social media linking to completely different domains to boost these domains and entire sentences are taken from third-party content to post on Facebook to enhance their own content. Sometimes text content is taken from a webpage with a top 3 ranking and appears on a competitor’s Facebook profile. 

OnlySpams.expert by Seybold found 17% stolen content on a website at the top 3 Google SERPs Page. That may not sound a lot, but for a 10,000-word article, 17% is 1,700 stolen words. When attackers’ websites are removed from the index after a webspam report is sent to Google, rankings may recover, but a complete recovery under continued DDoS attacks and restoring an online store’s top rankings can take up to 7 months with considerable SEO skills. That is a lot time taken away from authority and brand building. 

Avoid negative SEO tactics and create an ethical SEO strategy with us. Call 248.528.360 

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1. Title Tags 

Title tags appear within the search engine result below the URL and above the meta description. Create on-brand and eye-catching titles with optimized keywords. Target 51-55 characters for the best odds that Google won’t rewrite your title tags. Try to use the language of your target audience with an exact-match keyword. Make sure it matches the intent of your audience. Also make sure it is descriptive of the content because if inaccurate your bounce rate will increase instead of decreasing. An example of an effective title tag might be if a manufacturing company searches “web design near me and your title reads “Stunning Websites for the Industrial Market”. 

2. Detailed Snappy Headings

Putting target keywords in page headings and subheadings is a simple, but a surprisingly forgotten way to optimize your page’s search results. Your H1 should be crafty, compelling, clear, concise, and front-loaded with keywords to draw your target audience into the main content. Utilizing descriptive keywords in your H2s and H3s is also a great way to break up long content, making it easier for the user to find what they are looking for. Any and every type of page can benefit from optimizing subheadings, including templatized pages like ecommerce product detail page and other standardized listings, not just information websites. 

3. Rich Content (no matter the length)

On Page SEO relies on semantic search and natural language processing. Great content should answer the query, anticipate the user’s next questions, and answer those in advance. Make the most of shorter content by being intentional with every word. Make sure your content is rich with terms semantically related to your target keyword. Try swapping out pronouns like “it” for words that are more descriptive. Make sure your writing is easy to read by people and machines. Resist fragments and run-on sentences.  

4. Internal Links with Optimized Anchor Text

Internal links are easy high impact on-page SEO optimization. It anchors text to a destination page and facilitates a path to purchase. Optimize anchor text with your target keywords or semantic terms. Also choose link placement wisely because links with related content will reap more benefit to your target landing page. 

5. E-A-T Signals 

E-A-T is a way Google measures the value of your content and stands for Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness. Add high-quality external citations to informational content, long-form articles and other sources with an author that is reputable. E-A-T signals are not only there for users but for quality Raters, awards, testimonials, and studies that can all add value for your target audience. Establishing beneficial purpose and demonstrating trustworthiness is important for rankings, conversion, and thus overall lead generation. Visitors are more likely to choose to company that looks like they know what they are talking about vs one with no expert opinion. 

6. FAQs & “People Also Ask” Content 

Research on SERPs and the People Also Ask (PAA) box based on your target audience. PAA allows Google to increase the number featured on Snippets, which means answering an important question will increase the chance on SERP longevity. Target PAA that have weak answers that can be improved upon. If the current PAA results are accurate and you don’t expect to unseat the current ranking page, you should still incorporate these questions in your content to be seen as an authority. Directly ask the relevant questions in subheadings and answering in list or paragraph format as appropriate. For long form articles, put this directly in an H2. For ecommerce pages, create a dedicated FAQ section.

7. Descriptive Image Alt Text 

Make sure your alt text is optimized and falls into the “truly essential” grouping. Descriptive alt text is always critical for visually impaired users, especially if they rely on a e-reader. This does not only apply to photos, but infographic as other flat images as well. Google and other search engines value descriptions due to its ability to target a wide range of users.  

8. Valid Schema Markup 

Schema Markup is a collection of code snippets that can be placed on any page of a website. It is used to call out specific aspects of the page in the search results. Pages with structured data tend to receive higher click-through rates than those without, as the snippets are more engaging and attractive to searchers. A good example are recipes. Google any recipe and the top will show a photo, link, rating, time, and mini description of the subject. This is very important to ecommerce business as it will entice more users to click on your partner. 

Need help with your on-page SEO strategy? Call 248.528.360 

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