How long to get SEO rankings?

You've probably asked yourself, or someone, "How long does it take to get good SEO rankings?". If so, you're not unlike those who requested this question to be addressed at the SEO Smackdown Event taking place on November 8th at the Grand Rapids Art Museum. Even in 2016 there is plenty of mystery that surrounds SEO (maybe more now than ever), one of the popular topics of debate is the length of time someone should expect to wait before their website ranks on the first page. My advice is often this, try not to look at SEO as sprint to the top of the page, instead, it is a grueling marathon that requires dedication and commitment.
 

Website Structure

Unfortunately, there are many factors that play into whether or not Google will decide to rank your site on the first page- proper website structure for SEO search-ability is a great place to start. Going further, the interactions that users have with you website have reported to influence Google's ranking of your site also. Okay, let's say that you have a new website that is built with SEO structure in mind and converts visitors into business leads (or paying ecommerce customers). Great, well done. Your next objective is to start increasing traffic to your website. Sure, you can do this using Google Adwords, however that can be costly and once you're budget runs out you'll no longer be ranked at the top of the page. Now what? Well you should strongly consider organic search optimization, and that starts with good keyword research.
 

Keyword Research

Above is a graph illustrating keyword search volume in relation to difficulty and conversion rates. To explain it further, the search term "Herring" is very broad and due to its broadness, it is presumed to be very difficult to rank on page one. However, at the other end, the "long tail" searches such as "Bob's Red Herring" are very specific. They typically result in lower competition, making it much easier to rank for those keywords. More times than not, you're optimizing around the WRONG KEYWORDS. That is what is causing your website to rank poorly.
 

Competition

Determining good keywords is strongly related to the level of difficulty in ranking for that keyword, as we just mentioned before. A good strategy is to find keywords that have a fairly high search volume, and then check for who is ranking for these terms. You can do this pretty simply but just Googling the term itself and seeing who comes up. Sites that have lot's of "authority", or clout. Which in the digital world are players like Amazon, Walmart, Forbes, you get the idea. Don't waste your time trying to knock down those pages as it is very unlikely. Instead you can find keywords that query results with less competitive website, who have inferior authority. A great tool to determine this is SeoQuake, but there are other great services out there from Moz, SEMRush, etc. The key, find the long tail keyword that is relevant to a single page, that has relatively low competition.
 

Conclusion

In closing, SEO should be looked at as something that becomes an ongoing practice or habit. Think of tackling SEO as if you were training for a marathon. You aren't going to start off by running 26 miles and feel great. Instead you'll probably equip yourself with a decent pair of running shoes, and then take it a mile at a time. Slowing increasing your mileage and intensity. Soon enough, you'll feel like Rocky Balboa on top of the stairs at the Philadelphia Art Museum. But, keep in mind, when you stop working your SEO strategy you're at risk of letting another competitor outrank you. Just like a marathon. You can find the original article on Deksia's blog: How long to get SEO rankings.

What is Deksia? A Marketing firm based in Grand Rapids. That's what.

    

    

In a broad sense, Deksia is a marketing company in Grand Rapids. Some of our notable clients include Second Time Around Furniture and Anchorpoint Christian Schools. If you like to eat out or frequent the downtown restaurants, you can see our work in the Gilmore Collection restaurants and at Rockwell's/Republic. In addition, you can see our work in the brand development of Eastown Veterinary Clinic. There are many marketing firms in Grand Rapids but Deksia has one of the most vast portfolios in the industry.

 Deksia is excellent with creating a one-of-a-kind brand. Josh Conran is one of the partners in the Grand Rapids marketing firm. He says that "depending on who our client is, we tailor a unique social media strategy." One specific example of this is the Eastown Veterinary Clinic's Facebook page. Another example of Deksia's work was put together in the form of a brochure for The Troxel Company; this particular client specializes in building homes and forming a warm working relationship with their clients. "It was a unique client," Conran says, "so we tried to tailor a brochure that could speak to the client on a more personal level. We created a customizable brochure for our client, by their client." Based on what Troxel's prospective client was looking for, they could put different pieces of information inside of the brochure, which would then fold up into a neat package. Deksia also created their signage and website to reflect "the way they speak and interact with clients," Conran says.

 In marketing firms Grand Rapids, with so many options, that message is important when attracting and retaining those clients. Deksia's method of research and innovative design has led them to boast 65 percent growth in 2011, appearing in Print Magazine, winning multiple awards, and receiving invitations to speak at engagements around the country. "It's been exciting," Conran says, "and has opened new markets." Even the most niche of clients can develop their brand with Deksia. Shine, a West Michigan-based company, specializes in window cleaning and holiday lighting. Deksia devised a campaign where they sent out ambiguous, teasing mailers. The first would say "25 days until," the second said, "18 days until the lighting?" then, "11 days until the lighting of your tree." Finally, they sent out a box of candy canes and made the final push. Josh recalls that "[Shine] just landed a $25,000 contract, and now he's franchising. But four years ago, he was one man with a truck. Now he's got four or five different franchises." Prior to Deksia's home at 100 Stevens SW, the Grand Rapids marketing firm was housed in 1111 Godfrey SW, a large warehouse space full of artists and innovators, and also home to the yearly arts event, Destination 1111. So they're accustomed to being a part of an artsy culture, something Conran thinks is increasing in Grand Rapids. Deksia also has employees who work out of Des Moines. Deksia also enjoys being involved in the community, donating time and talent to nonprofits and churches, so you just might see us around.

Click here to view Deksia's client portfolio. If you are seeking advertising agencies in Grand Rapids or a marketing consulting company in Grand Rapids, look no further!

Facebook Advertising For Small Businesses [Case Study]

THE ADVERTISING OBJECTIVE:

Veenstra’s Garage is an auto mechanic shop located in Grand Rapids, Michigan. In the past, Mike Veenstra (owner) has turned to direct mailing campaigns in order to generate new sales for their auto garage. While the direct mail campaigns were considered to be working, Mike was interested testing our ability to promote his offers using Facebook’s sophisticated advertising platform. Agreements were made, parameters were set, and we went to work creating the advertisements.

Over the course of 1 month, we ran a series of targeted Facebook ads promoting Veenstra’s oil change offer. Through continuous testing and optimization, we were able to narrow down our digital ad targeting to only the individuals who were most likely to claim Veenstra’s oil change offer. When finished, the latest digital ad targeting group accounted for nearly 50% of the total number of oil change offers claimed.

THE RESULTS:

The results from Veenstra’s oil change offer were very optimistic. Veenstra’s reported a total of 57 oil changed offers that were redeemed. More importantly, of the 57 redeemed offers, 42 were from new customers! The average ticket price for new customers redeeming a $12 oil change was $207.00, contributing a total gross sales of $9,697.00, not bad for a coupon offer.

Going further, we asked Veenstra’s to assess the lifetime value of a new customer. They discovered that a new customer’s lifetime value averages around $2,500. According to their data, the 42 new customers acquired for Veenstra’s Garage equates to $105,000 in new business! Not bad, huh?

RETURN ON ADVERTISING SPEND:

Try looking at it this way, for every $1 that Veenstra’s invested in their digital advertising spend, they received $14 in new sales generated for the company. You don’t have to be Mark Cuban to recognize that as a good business opportunity! Veenstra’s was so pleased with the results of their initial Facebook ad campaign, they doubled-down for a second campaign the following month.

CONCLUSION:

When used appropriately, Facebook ads can be a great way to reach potential new audiences and increase sales revenue. Facebook’s sophisticated targeting capabilities allow businesses to hone in on their ideal potential customer. For this particular campaign we used a combination of Facebook ad types, targeting parameters, and bidding strategies. One key variable we want to point on in this study, is the suspicious presence of Veenstra’s consistent branding throughout all of the web assets and in the store. 

How much of this campaign’s success can we attribute to great brand synergy? What is the overall of a great rebrand? What does a rebrand do for your new customer acquisition strategy? These are questions we’re passionate about solving at Deksia. You can start looking at your own brand strategy today by downloading our branding guide, found at deksia.com/thebrandingguide.

DOWNLOAD THE FULL CASE STUDY:

The full case 

Why Context Is Everything In Advertising

1. 
   
2. Advertising context is incredibly important when it comes to our creative considerations. It’s really what it’s all about, because it tells us how to most effectively communicate. You have to use the brand rules as inspiration of course, but the context is really everything.
3. 
   

   
   

   

   BOREDPANDA

   ·

   AN HOUR AGO
   
4. When envisioning an ad, it’s more important to start with the context and then create rather than vice versa. You can’t try to reverse engineer an idea to fit a format; the compromise will show for all to see. We always start with the context. What are our options? What’s the sandbox look like? We only want to build a sandcastle with the toys at our disposal. We’re more creative with parameters in place.
   
5. 
   

   
   

   

   BOREDPANDA

   ·

   AN HOUR AGO
   
6. Context is especially important when considering ad placement. If you’re thinking about advertising on Fox News for example, you need to keep in mind that it’s a very polarizing media outlet. To some it’s the gospel, while to others it’s the exact opposite. So if a brand like Whole Foods, that has more of a liberal, consumer-conscious image, advertises in the middle of Bill O’Reilly’s show, the audiences for both might be confused or put off by the association.
   
7. When it comes to context, you do your best to assemble the research you need to make the best decisions. But sometimes even that’s out of your hands, especially with retargeter ads online. I was recently retargeted by the NRA while visiting a vegetarian/vegan recipe blog. If you took a screenshot out of context, some people may really believe this vegan blog was choosing to take money from the NRA for advertising, something which goes against the core beliefs of many in their audience. But when you have more control over an ad placement situation, it’s always to your advantage to exert it.
   
8. 
   

   
   

   

   BOREDPANDA

   ·

   AN HOUR AGO
   
9. With any form of advertising, you need to consider what your clients will respond to. But as far as creating design, you should consider the context. You could have 10 locations, whether that’s environmental or print or digital, and all 10 of those have the potential to communicate to different segments of your audience that all want your products or services. They just want different pieces of them, and they both need to be respected in different ways.
   There’s been a lot made lately about the fragmenting of audiences. We don’t come together like we used to; now we have a million things to choose from. I think the more you can speak to different audiences in the places they live, the better off you are.
10. 
    

How Establishing A Brand Tone Leads To Success

From a business perspective, it’s absolutely crucial to establish and maintain a clear brand tone. Ensuring that your business’s brand statement, tone of voice, and tagline are all on the same wavelength will do wonders for your company. If they’re all working together, then you’re in good shape. But they not only have to work together; they also have to work with your business.

THE BRAND STATEMENT

The brand statement is like a company’s secret decoder ring. If you hold it up to anything related to your business, it should tell you what works and what doesn’t. The tone of voice is more related to how you communicate with the public. It’s going to be a little more drawn out and longwinded. The tagline is the public brand statement. It’s a summary of the tone, but it communicates the message to the public without saying “this is our brand statement.”

It’s important for the brand statement to line up, because if it doesn’t, your brand integrity will be called into question. Think of it like this: at a restaurant, you see something on the menu and think, “Wow, that looks amazing. I want to eat that.” But when it comes to your table, it’s haphazardly put together. You were anticipating a gorgeous burger, but what you got was closer to Alpo. You have to make sure you are who you say you are, because if you don’t live up to your brand statement, you’re dead.

THE BUSINESS MODEL

A business like the restaurant above doesn’t set out to sell a false bill of goods, but they end up doing just that, because they’ve ignored their brand statement from a business perspective. They look at it as just a marketing thing: “I don’t have to actually live that in my company culture. I just have to live that when my marketing material goes out.” You really have to connect the business model to the brand statement.

We work for NAI, a real estate firm in West Michigan. What’s cool about them is they take a team approach to real estate. Emphasizing this aspect of their business sounds obvious now, but it wasn’t initially, because to them it was part of their normal business routine. I asked NAI and their clients why they thought NAI was special; working as a team was just one of the many reasons they gave me. But when I asked potential clients looking for an agent how they felt about having a team of realtors selling their property instead of just one, they said they would choose that option every time. So I crafted the NAI brand statement around the idea of commercial real estate with a team approach. The approach really started to become the backbone of the company. When they send out any correspondence now, it always says “from your real estate team.”

If everyone involved with your business feels the same way about the business, your continuity and your flow works so much better. The janitorial staff has to feel the same way about your business as the owner. If you have everyone in the company on board with the brand tone that’s been established, and if you’re able to maintain continuity, a strong, unified brand identity can be developed.

THE BRANDING GUIDE

We've been helping small businesses brand and rebrand themselves for years, and along the way we've kept a few of the key ingredients that go into performing such an endeavor. What has resulted is a sophisticated branding approach that has lead to one successful brand after another. That brand strategy has now been release, and you can download your free Branding Guide today by visiting: Deksia.com/thebrandingguide