Week 2: Search Engine Optimization (MKTG 348)

Hey guys!

So the next topic we are discussing is search engine optimization other wise known as SEO. According to the Inbound Marketing website Hubspot, "SEO is the process of improving your website so that it attracts more visitors from search engines." Search engines need to find the most relevant, useful and trustworthy answers. From all  the data they create a list of results. They rank the websites according to popularity and authority of the website. The main goal is to be in the top results known as organic results. If you own your own business and are trying to be in the top organic results you need to know who your audience is and what questions they might ask.

If you were to have a more sophisticated audience the words you use to represents your self will have to sound like them. If you were to have a younger audience then look for key words that kids would use. Your vocabulary would change depending on who your audience is. You need to mimic the vocabulary your buyer might use. Another way to do key word searches is expanding the list by searching the web for alternatives. Type one of your keywords into a search engine and see what the results are.

The third thing you are going to want to do is determine which key words people are using in order to find your site. This is so important because you need to know who your audience is and see what they are looking for. You need to make your site more noticeable. The last thing is decide which keywords you have the best opportunity to rank for. Shoes is a short or broad keyword and makes it harder to rank. However if you were to be more specific and type tennis shoes for women with flat feet then your search narrows down your results and will sort your results to what is more popular. Knowing what you want to type is the hardest step. Being more specific will help you decrease your research for what you are looking for. Hope this information can help you guys out.

See you guys!

Week 1: Inbound Marketing (MKTG 348)

Hey Everyone!

It is a new term filled with brand new and exciting marketing content. The topic we covered is all about Inbound Marketing and what it involves. We are also switching things up from using Hoot-suite to Hub-spot Academy. Hub-spot is an inbound marketing software platform that helps companies attract visitors, convert leads, and close customers. In the video we watched we examined buyer personas. You may ask what a buyer persona even is.. Well buyer personas are semi fictional representations of your ideal customer based on real data and some select educated speculation about customer demographics, behavior patterns, motivations, and goals. Personas are created by research, analysis, and taking a close look at who is already buying from you. Since personas are the people you are trying to reach then you need to research as much as needed because they are going to be your ideal customers. Also your research must be factual not assumptions because that will throw off your whole persona if it is not correct. 

In the video in Hub-spot the instructor went through the process of creating a persona. There are many questions you need to ask in order to get the right information you are looking for. In order to conduct research you need to interview your current customers, former customers, and even your employees. The more research you have the better your personas will be. Without trends your personas will be harder to identify. Below are the questions you will need to ask in order to formulate your buyer persona. 

See you guys next time :).