In effect, John was saying that he knew he was spending twice what he should be spending on advertising but was unsure where to make any specific budget cuts and still achieve the same results. Sure he could see the impact of advertising at the back end but which strategies were leading to these results? You could run circulars, newspaper ads or even advertise on television to a wide audience hoping to create interest in your products and services. Today, modern marketers have many more tools to gauge the effectiveness of their marketing. Especially in the digital marketing arena. John Wannamaker would have been please,

Today, modern website analytics software can provide you a wealth of knowledge about your customers – if you care to listen

In my experience Google Analytics can provide effective and low-cost data to determine exactly which digital marketing efforts are bringing actionable results.

What about Google Analytics?

Google analytics is a website platform provided by Google, in most cases free of charge

Google Analytics is a premium web analytics service offered by Google that tracks and reports website traffic, currently as a platform inside the Google Marketing Platform brand.

Just some of the insights Google Analytics can provide you include:

1. What search terms and social media sites are bringing traffic to your website.
2. What are the demographics and location of your website visitors.
3. Which pages are they visiting and for how long?
4. Which website visitors are taking a desired action, like completing a sale?

With data from Google Analytics you can easily gauge the effectiveness of paid social media advertising, your search engine optimization efforts and your long term trends. With so much actionable data available using Google Analytics, why aren’t most people taking advantage of what Google offers? It can’t be cost because there is no cost associated. Google Analytics is relatively easy to install on your website, so that shouldn’t be a problem. In my rears of experience, I have found that many small businesses do not fully understand the benefit of analyzing their website traffic. They seem to be comfortable navigating in the dark.

Let 2019 be the year you fully understand the benefit of website analytics.

As an Orlando SEO company. Taylortown wants Orlando small businesses to know their website data and make well informed marketing decisions based on actionable insights. Start using the free tools that Google has created to move your business to the next level. It’s easy to do and we are going to help.

In fact for the rest of 2019, Taylortown SEO will install Google Analytics on your website for free. That’s right Free! Just give us a call at (321) 230-3197 and we can schedule a time to set it up. Get insights on your website visitors behavior for free.

“Above the Fold” is the top half of your website which is visible on a computer screen without scrolling and must communicate clearly what is your intent.

The term “above the fold” is a newspaper man term which describes the top half of a newspaper. The top always gets more visibility than the lower half. Imagine seeing a stack of newspapers in a store or vending machine. The “big headline” is always above the fold along with the major stories. Websites are a lot like newspapers. You need to capture your visitor’s interest  “Above the Fold”.

While there is ample discussion on the scrolling habits of website visitors and how time is spent scrolling below, I believe the type of website and who is your target audience plays a large part in how you should treat the  “Above the Fold”. One thing is certain and that is the top of your home page is your prime website  real estate. By prime real estate, I mean that most people will make their usefulness evaluation of your site when they are at the top of the page.TaylorTown believes you must clearly state five things above the fold to capture attention.

These five points are: Who you are, What you do, Where you do it, Why you are the best and What do you want the visitor to do now! Also a phone number or contact form should be very prominent as a call to action to encourage conversions.

Clients will ask we questions concerning regarding SEO and the layout of their website. Some are questions are:

Is having a large expansive image in your “Above the Fold” area a good idea? Well, my initial reaction would be no, unless your chosen image answers these five important questions and contributes to your message. It’s definitely easier to write descriptive text explaining the purpose of your site than conveying this  info with images. Sadly I’ve noticed poor images above the fold with little direct relationships to the purpose of the site. A true waste of your website’s prime real estate and your visitor’s limited attention.

Will ads or affiliate links above the fold hurt my SEO? Yes, it likely will and this is a recent algorithm change meant to improve user experience. Ads above the fold invites your website in getting spanked by Google.

How else could my content “Above the Fold” hurt my SEO? If your content above the fold slows down your load- time then you may lose some SEO points. Try a page speed checker and if you get this warning ” Eliminate external render-blocking JavaScript and CSS in above-the-fold content.” you may want to consider coding improvements.

Where you place your most important message which around here we call our “power statement” gives guidance to Google of it’s relative importance. Learn page organization from the newspapers to hit a bulls eye with your audience and Google.

If you have questions about your effectiveness ” Above the Fold” contact TaylorTown SEO and we will utilize many free tools to help you understand how  Above the Fold  effects your SEO and User Experience. Don’t waste your most valuable web real estate. State your message clearly to capture your visitor’s attention and their interest.

Some unscrupulous marketing companies  and businesses have decided to manufacture phoney online reviews in Orlando. What you need to know to protect your business.

Consumers base buying decisions on reviews they read online but are being mislead by manufactured online reviews; both positive and negative which are unethical and most likely illegal  By some estimates 50% or more  of the online reviews on the internet are planted by businesses or marketing companies trying in influence your buying decision. Often marketing companies will hire offshore contractors in Bangladesh or Pakistan to write reviews.

Below is a job description posted by one marketing company.

We need a person that can post multiple positive reviews on major REVIEW sites.  Example:  Google Maps, Yelp, CitySearch.  Must be from different IP addresses… So you must be able to have multiple IPs.  The reviews will be only few sentences long.  Need to have some understanding on how Yelp filters works. Previous experience is a plus…just apply –) we are a marketing company

Q. How do search engines or review websites know the difference between a true or false online post? 

A. Systems which examine many factors are in place but they are imperfect.

Most review sites utilize algorithmic systems to flag false or deceptive reviews or will allow individual users to do the same. It’s important that you understand these systems so your legitimate reviews are not caught in the spam net. Factors like originating IP address, location of the reviewer, reviewing habits all come into play, but it is easy to get trapped in the spam filter.

Case in point. You have a business and you invite customers to post online reviews from the computer in your waiting room. These are all real customers writing their own valid opinions,  but their reviews will likely be disqualified because they all come from the same IP address in your office. One potential value a qualified SEO company could provide you is insight into how the search engine’s spam software filters reviews.

Flag an inappropriate comment on Google +

Search Engines and review sites depend on users to flag inappropriate reviews.  Most review sites and Google allow users to flag inappropriate reviews which are spam or deceptive according to their published guidelines. If you have researched reviews on your site and have determined that they could not possibly be written by actual customers, I encourage you to flag the review. Ways to investigate the authenticity is to research the background of the reviewer, where they live and how how often they review. I have personally flagged many reviews which I believed were compensated; which is certainly against most website guidelines.

Deceptive reviews and the law

The State of New York recently took action against marketing companies and business owners who manufactured phoney positive reviews and disparaged competitors with manufactured reviews. Read Here . The Attorney General set up a storefront business and contacted marketing companies to optimize their online presence. These companiesHired reviewers were hired to knowingly submit phoney reviews on popular websites. A professional SEO company can work to track down the online profiles of these hired individuals and take action to flag these compensated reviews.

Reputation SEO is a more proactive than reactive

One of the best methods to eliminate the damage of negative reviews is to ethically promote positive reviews. Google has set up clear guidelines on how to go about this. When you encourage actual customers to post reviews that are truthful, you will find these  reviews  will help you much more than the paid reviews. They have a ring of “authenticity” that rings true. Perhaps they are not 100% positive, but online users expect to hear recommendations for improvement.

I encourage people to garner reviews on websites like Facebook or Linkedin where the users can investigate the background of the reviewer. That way there is often a way to message a reviewer if more detail is desired.

Deceptive reviews are just another form of website spam and you can be sure the public will discount reviews if there is a perception they are false. With the increasing sophistication of the filtering software utilized by companies like Amazon, Yelp and Google to detect deceptive reviews and the aggressive actions of State  Attorney Generals, perhaps we can turn the tide on this unsavory business practice. If you need more information or have questions on this topic, I can be reached at (321) 230-3197. My website is www.taylortownseo.com