If you’re new to digital marketing and considering hiring an agency, you probably have a lot of questions. Digital marketing is an expansive field that involves numerous channels, each with its own strategy. How do you know where to begin?
As a follow up to our marketing 101 blog in which we outline digital marketing basics, we thought we’d offer a chance to post the common questions about digital marketing that we receive. Below, each section is divided by marketing channel. While this list is far from comprehensive, we hope it begins to paint a picture for the power and versatility of a digital marketing campaign. When you’re ready to ask your own questions, we look forward to hearing from you.
Paid Search FAQs
If you’re looking to post online ads within search engines, paid search is the place to start. Here are the basics of how it works:
WHAT IS PAID SEARCH DIGITAL MARKETING?
Paid search is a type of digital marketing where advertisers or businesses pay search engines to place ads on SERPs (search engine results page). When a user searches for a term relevant to your topic, your ad will appear in their results. Paid search is pay-per-click, which means you don’t pay until they actually click on your ad.
WHAT DOES PPC STAND FOR?
PPC stands for pay-per-click. Your business pays a set cost every time one of your ads gets clicked on by a user performing a search.
HOW EFFECTIVE IS PPC ADVERTISING?
PPC advertising is time and cost-effective. A huge benefit of utilizing PPC advertising is that you only pay when a user actually reaches your website. Additionally, PPC advertising connects your business with quality high-intent traffic right away, which can quickly lead to conversions.
HOW TO IMPROVE PPC PERFORMANCE
There are several ways to improve your pay-per-click performance. Here are key ways to increase PPC conversions for your business:
- Focus on high-performing keywords and filter out low-performing keywords
- Optimize keyword bids
- Write compelling copy
- Create ad-specific landing pages
- Work with a professional PPC management agency
At Gemini, we have experience creating and executing PPC strategies for many different types of companies and industries. Let us optimize your paid search strategy with a holistic approach that delivers new leads to your website.
WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN ORGANIC AND PAID SEARCH?
Organic search traffic comes from finding links within search engine results.
Paid search traffic comes from clicking on a link in an advertisement or sponsored listing that a business or advertiser has paid for.
SEO FAQs
SEO involves getting search engines like Google to notice your website and your business. By establishing your online authority, SEO can drive more traffic and more leads to you.
WHAT DOES SEO DO?
Search engine optimization (SEO) is a type of digital marketing where a specialist optimizes a site to get it to rank higher in search results. SEO encompasses a variety of tactics like content marketing, keyword strategy, site health and link building to improve search rankings for your website.
HOW LONG DOES SEO TAKE TO WORK?
Search engine optimization is a slow burn and the results are not instant. However, the results are worth the wait and hard work. When you begin an SEO program, be prepared for noticeable results to take anywhere from 2 months to a year. The good news is that you’re laying a strong foundation that improves your business’ digital authority.
WHAT IS AN SEO AUDIT?
Before you start your SEO strategy, it’s important that your website is aesthetically pleasing, easy to navigate, and on-brand. That’s where an SEO audit comes in. During an SEO audit, an SEO specialist analyzes the technical infrastructure, user experience (UX), and performance of a website. Starting your SEO strategy with an audit is a best practice.
WHAT IS THE MAIN DIFFERENCE BETWEEN SEO AND SEM?
SEO is free, focuses on organic search and gives you results over time. SEM costs you, focuses on paid advertising, and gives you instant results.
HOW DO I USE KEYWORDS FOR SEO?
Keyword strategies can be complex and are usually individualized. Here are seven keyword tips to help your strategy :
- Use keywords in your metadata (the data that describes content on your webpage)
- Focus on 3 to 8 keywords per article. Don’t force keywords where they don’t belong or don’t fit.
- Include keywords in alt text for photos
- Use keywords in headers and titles
- Add keywords to the first and last paragraphs of your content
- Sprinkle keywords throughout the rest of your content
- Include keywords in slug/URL
DOES BLOGGING HELP SEO?
Blogging is crucial in any SEO strategy; the two services complement each other. For example, blogs can help boost SEO by answering relevant questions that your customers want answered. Additionally, a blog that follows SEO best practices gives your site more opportunities to rank. Talk to your marketing team about the benefits of having content marketing and SEO work together in tandem.
WHAT IS SEO CONTENT WRITING?
Content writing (or content marketing) is the process of creating, optimizing, and writing content with the goal of ranking in search engines. It means that you provide the types of content people are searching for.
WHERE CAN I FIND SEO SERVICES NEAR ME?
If you’re looking for an SEO Agency in Minneapolis, you’re in the right place. Gemini’s Twin Cities SEO services cover all the bases to make sure you’re driving quality organic traffic to your site. And although we’re based in Minneapolis, we offer digital marketing services to businesses throughout the US.
Content FAQs
Content is an umbrella term for all written work in your digital marketing campaign. This includes webpages, blogs, landing pages, emails, press releases, ads and ebooks. Having clear, well organized content that places you as an industry authority can elevate your digital presence and generate more traffic.
WHAT IS CONTENT WRITING?
Content writing is strategizing, writing, and editing content for digital marketing. A few examples of content writing services include case study creation, blog optimization and writing service pages. It involves optimizing these formats to be recognized and promoted by search engines such as Google.
WHAT IS CONTENT MARKETING?
Content marketing is a type of marketing focused on the creation, publication, and distribution of content for a specific audience online. And although that may be a content marketing definition, the service and process goes much deeper than that at Gemini. It speaks authentically to your target audience, and makes you a leader in your industry. When done correctly, content marketing drives conversions.
CAN I JUST WRITE CONTENT MYSELF?
You can! You know your topic and your audience. However, there is a lot that goes into writing and creating lead-driving content, from keyword research, to metadata optimization, to word count. If you don’t have the time, tools, or resources to achieve this, it’s more efficient to have a team of content marketing specialists write your content from the get-go.
WHY IS CONTENT IMPORTANT FOR SEO?
Without quality content, search engines don’t have enough information to crawl and index your website correctly. Content improves your visibility, therefore driving traffic to your website and eventually boosting conversions.
Email Marketing FAQs
Email remains one of the easiest and most cost effective digital channels for attracting new leads and converting existing ones. Here’s what to know:
WHAT IS THE GOAL OF EMAIL MARKETING?
The main goal of email marketing is to engage with and nurture your existing customers and convert new customers.
WHY USE EMAIL MARKETING?
There are many benefits of email marketing including:
- It’s an inexpensive form of digital marketing
- You can reach an audience that is already engaged with your products or services
- Your company can send personalized and customized messages
- It drives leads
- Email marketing reaches a large audience
- It benefits your digital presence
WHAT IS AN EMAIL MARKETING CAMPAIGN AND HOW DOES IT BENEFIT OTHER DIGITAL MARKETING STRATEGIES?
An email campaign is a collection of emails sent to a list or audience with the goal of driving leads or sales. Email marketing campaigns not only drive leads via an inbox, they also help support your other digital marketing services. For example, use an email to promote new blogs. In addition, email marketing campaigns can run in tandem with your paid efforts to enhance both programs.
WHAT INDUSTRIES HAVE THE BEST SUCCESS WITH EMAIL MARKETING?
- Retail
- Healthcare
- Hospitality
- Consumer Goods
- Automotive
- Home Services
WHY SHOULD I CHOOSE GEMINI AS MY MINNEAPOLIS EMAIL MARKETING PARTNER?
There are a lot of email marketing agencies out there, which can make it tough to know who to partner with for your next email marketing project. At Gemini, we take a holistic approach to email marketing. We have experts in all-things digital marketing from paid search to SEO to content—this means we ensure that your email marketing strategy will support all of your digital endeavors. Our goal is to make sure you thrive in and out of the inbox.
Web Development FAQs
The heart of any digital marketing campaign is a user-friendly website that users can easily navigate to find the goods or services they’re looking for. Here are common questions about website design and maintenance:
WHAT DO WEB DESIGNERS DO?
Web designers design the layout and aesthetic of a website. They have many different roles and responsibilities, however, a few of their duties may include coding web pages, designing website templates or layouts, sharing designs with clients, and providing maintenance support.
WHY DOES MY SITE BREAK SOMETIMES?
There are a plethora of reasons a site breaks or goes down. However, a few of the most common reasons include:
- Too many plugins
- Outdated hosting
- Getting hacked
However, when you work with a responsive web team like Gemini, you can be confident that if anything goes awry, we’re on top of the issue right. We keep our client’s sites up and running smoothly.
WHAT IS RESPONSIVE WEB DESIGN?
Responsive web design focuses on the usability and satisfaction of a website on all devices, whether that’s mobile, desktop, or something else. Responsive web design is an integral part of all of Gemini’s website design & development services.
WHY IS MY WORDPRESS SITE SO SLOW?
WordPress sites can be slow for many reasons. However, the most common reasons include:
- Poor quality hosting
- No caching plugins in place
- High traffic with no content delivery network
WordPress is the industry standard content management system (CMS). We build and optimize wordpress sites every day but your site won’t last forever without constant care from a knowledgeable web dev team.
WHY HIRE A WEB DESIGNER?
Building and maintaining an attractive, user-friendly website requires the skill of an experienced professional. To remain competitive, you need a website that stands shoulder to shoulder with your competition. When you combine your web development program with SEO and content, you get more powerful results.
Get All Your Marketing Questions Answered
We love being a marketing resource. There are plenty of questions to ask a digital marketing agency. From digital marketing basics to your custom strategy, we’d love to talk to you about your business. Schedule some time with us to find out what sets Gemini apart and how we can set you apart from your competition.
