Tag: seo

  • Snippets Are Like Breadcrumbs Leading to the Doorway to Your Website – Real Estate?

    Snippets Are Like Breadcrumbs Leading to the Doorway to Your Website – Real Estate?

    Snippets = A Small Piece Becomes a Big Piece.

    Business owners and marketing teams continue to research and figure out what maximizes website traffic and engagement.

    Search engines use keywords to crawl the web to find the answers to the questions people search for, and the questions need to be quickly answered with relevant content.

    Search results like Google search results display the top three ranking websites, and this is where you want your website to be.

    Search result ranking can be paid search results and organic search results. Either way, being in the top three makes it easy for people to find your page (your real estate).

    The search engine results page tells people what the searcher needed to know and the search intent behind what was asked.

    Walkway next to water facing a mountain

    So How Do You Build a Walk Way to the Door Way to Your Website (Your Real Estate)?

    Organic Traffic

    Organic traffic is defined as users who land on your page from unpaid sources.

    Using the real estate analogy, your site is your real estate, and organic traffic should be someone seeing your house for sale and buying it without any realtor company involved.

    Essentially the traffic to your real estate was free.

    Organic search includes search engines like Google, Yahoo, or Bing.

    Organic traffic is essential, and it is targeted traffic to your website, and the search had a very specific intent.

    Using the analogy of real estate again. The passer-by was looking for a house to buy and saw yours. They knew what they needed, wanted, and were willing to accept. They came straight to you, and you provided them with the solution or answer they wanted.

    The same is true for organic searches. The user is visiting your particular website because they have a specific search intent, and you can provide them with a solution or answer their question.

    Organic search results have specific search intent, which leads to increased conversions.

    Paid Per Click (PPC)

    Paid per click is a marketing model where you pay a fee each time one of your ads is clicked. In other words, PPC is a way of buying visits to your site.

    Using real estate analogy, your page is the walkway to your business. You pay for advertising to get people to visit your store, and it’s not like the organic search query with specific intent. Search engine advertising is one of the most popular forms of PPC.

    PPC is advertising, as the real estate company, and the real estate company must adjust the ads, ad campaigns, etc., to sell the real estate. The same is true for PPC.

    As a business owner or marketing team, adjustments have to be made based on new data that measures how effective a specific campaign was. Data would include monthly search volume and click-through rate.

    Niche List

    The ‘Walkway’ to Your Real Estate (Website)

    Like all business owners, you want to make sure that the search engine results like Google’s search results show that people search and end up on your ‘walkway’ to your ‘real estate.’

    It makes sense that the more site visitors you have, the more customers you may get. But visiting has to be easy.

    When people search and get a quick answer to their questions because your site was ranked in the top three on the search results page is only part of the equation.

    You or your marketing team must create relevant, engaging content and meet the searcher’s need.

    Creating content includes long-tail keywords and target keywords so that search queries pick up your page. But the keyword needs to be based on keyword research that considers keyword difficulty.

    Creating content that reads well and makes sense to the user is equally important. No one wants to read a dissertation when asking when the first day of Spring is, right? Searchers wish to get a brief answer.

    So What is a Snippet?

    A snippet is defined as a single search result within a set of search results. A part of the snippet matches a part of the search query, and the keywords will be highlighted in the snippet description.

    A snippet is a small piece that can result in a more significant part of investment in the user’s time when they are looking for an answer to their question.

    Snippets are like ‘bread crumbs’ on the ‘walkway’ to your ‘real estate.’

    Snippets + Your Company’s site in the top search engine results = Engagement on your website

    Standard Snippets

    A standard snippet is the most basic form of snippets, and it is made up of your title, meta description, and URL.

    Rich Snippets

    Rich snippets enhance organic search results by using microdata on your webpage. Rich snippets give enhanced data that appears in search results.

    Featured Snippets

    A featured snippet that Google shows for specific search queries, particularly; who, what, where, when, and how.

    Types of featured snippets

    Types of featured snippets are paragraph snippets, list snippets, and table featured snippets.

    Featured snippets attempt to make things easier for the searcher by answering the searcher’s question within the search results. Featured snippets are also called answer boxes.

    The answer boxes show up at the top of the search results. Google gets the information for the organic listings on the first page of the search results, and if your page is used, Google will credit you via a link. You have to earn this type of featured snippet with your content.

    Remember to create content that makes it easy for google to make the searcher’s life easier. Google determines theater a page would make an excellent featured snippet to highlight for specific search queries.

    An answer box will contain a summary, page title, link to the page where the answer came from, and the URL.

    Getting featured snippets increases traffic to your page, and the increase will lead to more conversations, brand building, and awareness. Featured snippets increase keyword rankings.

    Structured Snippets

    Structured snippets are a type of ad extension for Google Ads, and these let you add supplementary information to your search ads.

    Structured snippets draw attention to your product, brand, or service details. A header like ‘services’ would include specific examples of the service your service like loans, repairs, etc.

    Google provides a predefined list of header options that you can use for your structured snippets. Some of the headers are amenities, brands, courses, and many more.

    Benefits, word in wooden alphabet letters isolated on colourful background

    Benefits of Snippets

    Standard snippets, rich snippets, featured snippets, and structured snippets increase brand building and visibility. To improve automatically pulled information that results in users finding your product through your page as an answer to a user’s question leads to the credibility of your company and brands expertise.

    Snippets succeed because they give visibility to your site without forcing searchers to waste time looking at information that is irrelevant to them.

    If customers deem the snippets worthy, they will use them. The vast majority of people are busy, and they want quick answers, and you want to make sure that your answers are in the featured snippet spot.

    How Do You Accomplish Snippets, On-Page SEO, Automated Texting and Call Forwarding, Email Campaigns, and More So Your Business Ranks and Drives More Conversions?

    Business marketing is very different today than before, when radio ads and newspaper listings were the means of getting your company’s name out there.

    Now with organic searches, paid searches, what google prefers, what google doesn’t choose, how search queries bring traffic to your website (real estate) and how these searchers decide to engage in your business can be complicated.

    Couple this with competitors and what they know, how competitors’ snippets reach your target audience instead, how search terms lead to search volume, why you should use long-tail queries instead of target keywords, and a business owner like yourself may find themselves with a headache.

    Pawn Leads Logo

    Pawn Leads Automated Digital Marketing for Pawnshops and Small Businesses

    Pawn Leads is a full-service marketing solution for pawnbrokers and small businesses. Pawn Leads is a Customer Communication System.

    Understanding that as a business owner, you are too busy to sit down, let alone follow up on every potential opportunity that comes through your doors, nor do you have time to learn about featured snippets, google search console, link building, regular snippets, organic visibility, PPC, etc. we are the solution you need.

    All communications from your customers are tracked in one convenient place, so you don’t risk losing that Post-It with notes. Custom automated follow-up text, email, webchat replies. Get phone call feedback to help close more deals—integrated Marketing Solutions like Google and FB Ads.

    Our team of experts will help with on-page SEO and improving paid and organic traffic to web pages, improving your organic position.

    Sam and Lex, owners of the company, are both business owners and family men. They recognize that having an approachable team of experts with an automated customer service platform is essential in building their companies. They have worked together to build Pawn Leads as a solution for our pawn shop and small business.

    Contact us today for a free trial, so we can help you grow.

  • Search Engine Optimization – Is it Necessary?

    Search Engine Optimization – Is it Necessary?

    Search Engine Optimization – Is it Necessary?

    Do you sit in your living room after dinner and search the internet to get answers to various questions? What is gold selling for today? When is the best time to plant my garden? Who has the best car loan rates near me? What is really happening between Russia and Ukraine?

    Maybe you have downtime at work, and you need to research where to get the best laptop for an affordable price to replace the ones currently being used.

    It is estimated that each person processes three to four searches each day.
    Google processes approximately 63,000 search queries every second. That translates into 5 billion, yes billion, searches per day or about 2 trillion global searches per year.

    Knowing this, your business must rank in the top three results if you want to be found amongst the menagerie of search results. Why? It’s one of the ways you gain new customers.

    Years ago, you would compete with other businesses by running ads on the radio or television. Although these are still viable ways to gain attention and bring new customers into your business, there is no denying that people search the internet to discover what is available to them.

    Without an eye-catching business website with good content or a landing page that uses keywords effectively to encourage customers to look through the website and eventually visit your business, you are missing potential customers.

    A user or person searching on the internet is a possible lead, and a lead is a qualified lead if they engage. A qualified lead converts to a paying customer who can become a lifelong loyal customer.

    Yes, search engine optimization is a must!

    What is SEO?

    Search engine optimization, SEO is the process of describing, characterizing, and giving an item relevance so that the search engines can find your content quickly and list it in the search results.

    As a growing business, you must have an SEO strategy as part of your business strategy. Most business owners are so busy running the day-to-day operations of their business it is difficult for them to find time to look at their local search ranking so they can put plans in place to improve their search results. Without improving search results, your chance of losing leads because your business isn’t visible.

    An Experiment

    Take a minute and put your business name in the search bar. Do you come up in the top listings? How about asking a question like, “Where to sell gold near me?” Does your listing rank in the first few that come up?

    How do you get started with improving your business strategy to include SEO Optimization?

    Google my business which is Google “Your” Business! If you don’t show up, then leads don’t know you’re available to meet their needs for products and services.

    First, audit your google my business profile.

    Google my business is a free tool provided by Google that gives you as a business owner an opportunity to include details, phones, location, services, and products under your free business profile. Creating a free profile will increase yourvisibility across Google services. Information from your Google Business Profile may appear in Google Search, Google Maps, and Google Shopping. If you are trying to increase your visibility, Google my business is essential.

    Start with the google my business dashboard. This is a one-stop-shop to effectively help you use your google my business account.

    When you set up your google my business account, you need to use your actual business name in your business listing.

    Sometimes businesses serve customers in a specific location or designated service area, and by having a complete business profile, your prospective customers can find you. 

    Verified businesses on Google my business are twice as likely to be considered reputable.

    Google my business will have you verify your account by submitting a code that is mailed to your business address. The more complete and accurate information is in your Google My Business account, the more likely it will show up in local searches.

    Second, update any information on your Google my business listing and keep it up.

    A physical address is essential so that prospective customers know where they can go locally to find what they are looking for. When you add your business address, you might be asked to position a marker for your location on a map.

    To check if your address is correct, you can go to Google My Business and the business dashboard. You can then click the menu option and click share or embed map.

    Keep the hours you are open up to date on goggle my business.

    If the business hours change, update your listing. Don’t forget to add hours for holidays and events. A busy business owner often overlooks this, and you may have forgotten this as well. Nothing is more frustrating than going to a business thinking they are open because of the information contained on the business listing to find that the company is closed.

    These small steps give customers confidence in your business listing.

    Part of Google my business is google reviews.

    When customers are in your store, they give you a review when they leave. You cannot turn off reviews on your google my business page.

    Remember, google reviews show that your business is legit.

    Manage your reviews often. This takes time but will also help you keep an eye on who’s saying what about your products and services.

    You can’t decide which reviews to share, but you can make sure you respond to good and bad reviews. Prospective customers read business reviews to understand how other people described a particular business listing. They can differentiate between a lead becoming a paying customer or going somewhere else.

    Add photos to your google my business listing

    Every google my business listing needs to have a business description describing their product and services. A clear photo, snippets from Google Maps, and a Google Street View work wonders in informing your leads what to expect when they arrive at your business for the first time. These small details add confidence and reassure that business listings are approachable.

     

    Business Categories

    When setting up or updating your Google my business account, makes sure you apply keyword strategy when selecting a business category so you get the best results. Don’t be a stuffer and put too many keywords in your listing because this hurts your search results. The content you include needs to be helpful.

    There are 2,395 business categories, so review them and make sure you capture your customer’s correct classification. Be specific! You can choose up to ten for your listing, with one primary category, to show off what your business does.

    How does Google my business determine what businesses show up in local searches?

    Local results are determined by relevance, distance, and prominence when someone searches in your area for a similar business. These three factors help google my business match a user’s search to the best search results.

    Relevant searches

    This refers to how well a local business profile matches what a user is searching for. A complete listing with helpful, informative content is vital because this is one of the factors google my business uses to understand your business to match it with relevant searches.

    Remember, the basic foundation of a search is to ask a question and get an answer.

    Google matches relevant answers to questions asked, so the information you provide tells google my business you are a legitimate local business, and you have the answers

    Distance

    The person searching may or may not put a specific location in their search. Distance considers how far each potential search result is from the location term used in a search. If a location isn’t exact, my business will use the information it has like a place on our phone or use the rough location the internet provider has to help calculate distance.

    29% of consumers search for local businesses at least weekly.

    Many users will place the name of the location they are searching for in the search bar. These local searches will return three Google Maps results, also known as the local 3-pack.

    Google reports that 46% of all searches have local intent meaning that potential customers in your business area need what your business has to offer.

    Prominence

    How well known is your business? Local search results are likely higher if Google knows your business from links, articles, and directories.

    Google review count and review score factor into local search ranking. More positive reviews could improve your local ranking. Remember to ask each paying customer to do a review before they leave your store. It works!

    Google algorithms might decide that a business that’s farther away from your location is more likely to have what you’re looking for than a closer business and therefore rank it higher in local results. Algorithms change often and contribute to where your google search results rank.

    The Need for Speed.

    Your business listing needs to load quickly. Load time is essential because nothing is more frustrating for the user if your webpage or business listing loads slowly. If your web page takes a long time to load, your search ranking will be negatively affected. Google doesn’t like to wait, so a website that takes longer than .4 seconds to load will adversely affect your rankings.

    Faster loading pages are essential to people searching because the experience is more satisfying, and users don’t like to wait. A business’s visibility is paramount, so the load time is essential. Page speed is probably the purest SEO factor. By addressing loading times, your can positively impact your rankings.

    The speed that a page loads at is affected by the hosting server, bandwidth, and web page design. Location, device, and browser type can also have an impact. There are performance tools to test your website. Google has google pagespeed insights that may help you understand yours.

    Google My Business Messaging

    Add google my business messaging to the mix so customers can get in touch with you in real-time. This creates options for customers to ask questions via text from your business listing engages potential customers. Google My Business Messaging is a free messenger tool designed to be used from your google business profile so you can interact from your computer or phone.

    SEO Analytics

    Google My Business Analytics

    As part of your business account, google my business has analytics. Analytics is the data on your users and future customers finding your business on a google search. Besides, insights also provide information about how your prospects find you on Google maps. Google Analytics will help you as a business owner keep track of all your content that receives views and shares from future customers and users. By knowing this data, you can enhance the top viewed content like blogs that appeal to users to use these blogs effectively to generate more views.

    A Marketing Strategy that Includes SEO Optimization Can Be a Daunting Task, But Does It?

    To help ensure that your customers know who your business is and what products and services you provide, having a business listing through google my business creates awareness and awareness leads to search rankings, and search rankings lead to the volume that leads to higher rankings on and on and on.

    Maintaining your google my business profile, online channels such as social media accounts, blogs, websites, speed, and google ads can be exhausting. As a busy business owner dealing with overhead costs, personnel issues, customer satisfaction, and business goals having a marketing team can help. There just doesn’t seem to be enough hours in the day to do it all and do it well.

    As a business owner, google tools provide avenues to increase visibility. You no longer have to depend on a customer hearing about your physical location by word of mouth or a poster in your store window.

    But even with all the google my business tools like Google Ads and Google Analytics, you may need a team to help you keep up. If done correctly, Google my business is the ultimate search referrer, and updates are regularly done to ensure people find your business. As you run the day-to-day tasks of running your operation, a marketing team will add to your success.

    pawn leads full logo

    Pawn Leads

    Pawn Leads is an automated customer relationship management (CRM) platform designed and tested by Sam Reading, an owner of pawnshops in Idaho, and Lex Case, a small business owner. Focused on supporting the owners of pawnshops and small businesses, the owners of Pawn Leads want to offer businesses a CRM that is user-friendly along with a team of experts who could help drive business leads and ultimately profit.

    Through support and the services provided by Pawn Leads, businesses have an opportunity to understand and improve their SEO services, google ads, and Facebook and social media presence.

    What is a CRM, and why would it save time?

    Pawnshop and business owners don’t typically pay marketers to assist them with achieving their business goals. Sometimes it is a matter of overhead, and other times it is because the value of paying someone for what you as a business owner can do yourself just doesn’t make sense. The bottom line in today’s online marketplace is that digital marketing takes time and can be complicated.

    With each person using google search, bing search, and other search engines each day to find the products and services, pawnshops and business owners need a marketing strategy that includes SEO is a must.

    Business owners are busy running the day-to-day tasks of a business, and there is seldom enough time to sit down as part of the routine of doing business to audit their google my business listing, run google ads, and write and post blogs.

    As a business owner, you know that these things are necessary to show up in google search rankings, but other emergent issues take precedence. Having a dedicated automated marketing platform like Pawn Leads will help business owners reach their business goals without impeding on an owner’s valuable time.

    Digital Marketing Connects Users and Businesses

    Digital marketing connects businesses with their customers when they are online on google. Through google my business, SEO, social media marketing, email marketing, and text messaging, it does so. It is effective in all industries for brand awareness.

    Users searching for information to their questions now expect and rely on information provided by websites through searching.

    Digital marketing is defined by numerous digital tactics and channels to connect with customers. Digital marketing supports a business’s goals.

    If your company is business-to-consumer (B2C), the goal of your digital marketing is to attract people to your website and engage through an accelerated journey from the moment a searcher lands on your website to the time they convert to a paying customer.

    Call to action buttons helps potential customers engage and want to be involved in your business.

    A Scenario

    It’s late at night after a long day running your small business. You know you have an effective business listing because several first-time customers have recently come into your store. You completed the steps to set up your Google business profile, including your business information, business locations, business address, business website, cover photo, and all other information you thought necessary for customers to find you.

    You go on to bed.

    A future customer is up late after her kids go to bed because she is interested in selling her gold bullion. She puts in the search bar, “Who buys gold near me?” She’s hopeful she can find a reputable business through her discovery searches. She sees your business listing name in the local search rankings and decides to explore your website and landing page.

    Unfortunately, you don’t have a form or lead magnet to draw her in. She doesn’t engage. There is no quality customer engagement. Your potential customer moves on to another business in the local search rankings.

    Customer lost!

    You get up the next day and get ready for work. You sit down and look at your business account. You take some time to look over your google my business account and switch the time your store is open because of an upcoming holiday. It appears that your Google business listing is up to date. You realize that the primary and secondary categories aren’t updated, and you don’t have the time to do so. Because the phone rings and you need to get to the store.

    You feel overwhelmed. You know something has to be done, but you lack time.

    Researching different marketing firms, you check in with a friend at another pawnshop, and they refer you to Pawn Leads. You look at their website and decide to complete the form for a seven-day trial, and you set up some time to talk to the owners.

    In your consultation meeting, review your business goals and look over your google my business account. You get some feedback on what might help improve your rankings and interpret the google analytics. The ideas make sense, but there aren’t enough hours in your day.

    The Pawn Leads team and you develop a plan for your website, landing pages, your google my business account, social media marketing, and how to use the business messaging feature to increase engagement with your customers.

    Direct searches show that people are searching for your services and products. The issue seems that your website lacks a call to action buttons. The Pawn Leads team talks about adding a contact form to your webpage, so contact information is automatically gathered and stored for future marketing. Jordan, Pawn Leads SEO expert, reviews your SEO and makes some suggestions.

    Automated Text Campaigns

    The Pawn Lead team explains that in the future automated two-way text messaging will engage customers as conversations are saved reviewed, and prospective customers can be contacted to invite them to engage. Through text campaigns, customers can receive notice of other sales, programs, and incentives that may save them money in the future.

    These campaigns are set up through Pawn Leads, and there are several templates to choose from so they can be altered to meet your needs.

    This is part of the marketing-supported through Pawn Leads to meet your business goals.

    The team at Pawn Leads knows that knowing and understanding performance marketing, trends, social media marketing, how two-way texting benefits businesses, data analytics, how to use artificial intelligence to engage like chat buttons, and how to plant lead magnets for action so users can engage. A CMO Survey from February 2021 stated that marketers agree that digital marketing is a pillar to a business’ success. “A 32.7% increase in contribution from digital marketing to company performance was reported over the last year.”

    The Plan

    To begin the Pawn Leads journey for your business Jordan, an SEO expert, will work on SEO optimization and optimize your google business profile to give you an idea of how much more attractive and engaging an optimized google business profile is. You agree to send him some clear pictures he can use to improve your presentation on business posts, and if someone visits your business location, the photos represent your store.

    During a review of your google my business account, he noticed that the primary and secondary categories don’t reflect your product and services, so he will fix these along with a few other adjustments to optimize google.

    Review your website for improvement.

    He has set aside some time to review your website and its content to ensure keywords are used to bring users to your site when discovery searches are completed.

    He uses a keyword strategy that helps your business account rank. He noticed your load time is relatively slow and will work with you on speed.

    The result is Pawn Leads helps business owners manage their marketing, two-way texting, and converting leads into paying long-term customers, and Jordan is your dedicated rep. who will do this.

    Jordan sends you the link to Pawn Brokers Helping Pawn Brokers, and the Pawn Leads Community page on Facebook so that you can consult with many businesses doing the same thing for ideas and suggestions. The wrap-around services offered by Pawn Lead will improve your local SEO and search representation bringing future customers in.

  • A Silver-Haired Blogger Answers “How Do I Write Blog Posts?”

    A Silver-Haired Blogger Answers “How Do I Write Blog Posts?”

    A Silver-Haired Blogger Answers

    How Do I Write Blog Posts?

    I want first to introduce myself, my name is Shell, and I write all of my son’s blog posts for his pawnshops and Pawn Leads. I started writing blogs to help out after I retired from being a therapist for 30+ years. As I began to write the blogs, I had no idea what I was doing nor how to improve. I was a bit intimidated by all the experts writing blogs and how much traffic they received.

    I read about what makes a successful blog, social media, the different main social media networks, social media platforms, paid advertising, blog traffic, guest blogging, blog promotion strategies, and how to encourage readers. Frankly, my head hurt.

    When I was in college, I learned how to research and gather data. These tools were helpful but didn’t tell me anything about how to write relevant blogs for a pawn shop and a pawn marketing company.

    Sam, co-owner of Pawn Leads, said, “it’s easy, mom, just write and use these tools.” It seems Sam can pick up and run a business idea and turn it into a well-oiled machine in no time at all. That is not the case for me. I have to study, practice, and convince myself to take risks. I had so many questions. What were these things called an avatar or target audience, content marketing, keyword research, and links?

    While I was getting my degree, working as a therapist, raising children, and moving to our farm, the language of business changed dramatically, and I was undoubtedly behind the times. So many buzzwords to describe what was going on with the most relevant social networks and social media platforms that I had no idea where to start.

    Being that Sam is my son, I certainly didn’t want to let him down, and I had a vested interest to ensure whatever I wrote was a success so he could continue to succeed with his business ventures, if not for himself, for my grandson, Cruz.

    Let’s talk about Cruz for a minute. Cruz is the light of my life. At eighteen months old and the spitting image of his parents, he reminds me every day how precious life is. He is intelligent, engaging, and social. He is quick to build relationships with everyone he meets, and his little toddler sounds and how he plays provides this Grams excellent content for happy living.

    He’s like a little chubby blog post inspiration.

    I look back over the last year of writing blog posts, and I would say I am no expert, but I am learning, and each blog I write seems to be a bit better. As I write, I learn; as I learn, I grow, and as I grow, I am willing to take more risks.

    Now, on to teaching you how to write blog posts.

    Blog Post Writers

    It is essential to understand the roots of a tree if the tree will flourish, and the roots provide the anchor for future growth. So let’s explore where blogging began and the roots of blog posts today.

    In 1994 Justin Hall wrote the first ‘blog,’ a personal homepage, when he was on a break from college. Wired Magazine was the first commercial web magazine during this time, and he joined HotWired, a subsidiary of the magazine. Justin began his eleven years of personal blogs with Howard Rheingold, critic, writer, and teacher.

    Another early blogger was Jerry Pournelle, who died at 84 years old. J Pournelle was a scientist in operations research and human factors research, a science fiction writer, essayist, journalist, and one of the first bloggers. In one of his best-known blog posts, 1999’s, How to Get My Job, he wrote, “The secret of becoming a writer is that you have to write. You have to write a lot.”

    After reading Mr. Pournelle’s blog post How to Get My Job, it is evident that Sam was on to something, “it’s easy, mom, just write.”

    By 2003, Google launched AdSense as a blogging advertising service, and other major sites followed with their version of blogging advertising platforms like TypePad and WordPress.

    wordpress blog

    WordPress Blog Platform

    WordPress is a free, open-source content management system (CMS), and it is one of the easiest blogging and website builders today. Written in PHP, a popular scripting language that creates dynamic pages, it uses a MySQL database, a powerful open-source database server capable of handling a large concurrent database connection.

    In short, WordPress started as a user-friendly blogging platform that can now be used for many purposes like building websites, web stores, blogging, content marketing, and just about anything else. There are hundreds of themes and plugins available to use with WordPress.

    2022 Blog Post Statistics

    Leep, forward the blog post statistics for 2022 by firstsiteguide.com; you’ll be excited to discover that the blog posts with an average length of 3000 words are more successful.

    Why are you excited? Because this means you get to write more! Remember, “it’s easy, mom, just write.” And, the more you write, the better you will be.

    There are 7 million blogs published each day, and 77% percent of internet users actively read blog posts.

    The most important statistic for the business owner; 61% of online users in the US bought something after reading a blog post.

    The 2022 statistics provide valuable insight into why you want to start writing blog posts and including them as part of your marketing strategy.

    Content Marketing

    Benefits of Blog Posts

    A blog post is one of the most cost-effective and easiest ways to promote your pawnshop or small business. Blog posts with relevant content that include keywords based on keyword research will drive traffic to your website, increase sales, increase potential customers turning into loyal customers, and establish you as an authority in the industry.

    Sharing your blogs to social media accounts like a Facebook group or online communities or sending them to email subscribers will expand your reach.

    The more reach you have, the more traffic you get, the more traffic you get, the more potential customers you nurture, the more potential customers you nurture, and the more paying customers you see in your store.

    Writing blog posts for your pawnshop or small business promote your business because you share more about your company. The relevant content of the blog posts makes your company a real place to do business.

    Blog posts are your direct line of communication in a friendly tone with your target audience. Writing and publishing a new blog post weekly will create an active community of consumers who read your blog posts and convert them into paying customers.

    Why don’t more pawn shops and small businesses write and publish blog posts?

    Business owners are busy people.

    Pawnshop and small business owners are busy taking care of the day-to-day tasks of running a business. They may not have the time to learn to write blog posts, which may be true for you. After you know to write an effective blog post, you may not have time to find images and label the pictures, include backlinks to other sites, internal links to your web pages, and then publish your blog.

    Blog posts take a least two or three hours a week to write, as long as you know the content. Suppose you post a blog post a week, 12 hours of extra work a month. Busy business owners just don’t have the time. Add in a few more hours of research if it is a new topic you’d like to trend on.

    Blog writing requires a consistent approach.

    Most pawn shops and small businesses don’t have a blog post strategy, nor do they have a plan to write blog posts consistently.

    Blog posts posted regularly will boost your sales and generate exposure to your brand, product, and services. Blog visitors see your regular blogs and read them because the blog posts have perked their curiosity or provided them with answers to a question they hadn’t yet asked but had been thinking about.

    Because you have been writing weekly blog posts, your ranking moves towards the top of the search engine results pages. The ranking caused potential customers to see your web page and identify you as an expert in the industry.

    Once on your webpage, you can use internal links in your blog post to get readers to move through your pages as you showcase other products and services you offer. Because you answer questions in your blog, they move from a visitor to a buyer.

    No time to edit.

    You may be one of the pawnshops or small business owners that run on limited time to get things done perfectly. Unfortunately, sloppy, typo-filled blog posts won’t encourage search engines to rank your blog and increase the traffic to your website. Unfortunately, a poorly written blog will impact your company’s credibility.

    Effective writing, editing, and fine-tuning take time.

    Business owners may have to compete for high-priority tasks, and reviewing a blog isn’t that important when a crisis occurs.

    You’ve got style and no time to develop it.

    Social media, email marketing, and blog posts require an online writing style that encourages meaningful conversation with the target audience. Developing excellent content that stands out from other bloggers will promote your blog. Owners can learn to write blog articles from their perspective and style, but like all things, development and practice require time.

    Social media marketing skills.

    Social media marketing skills, understanding social media platforms, how search engines rank your business page, how to promote blog posts, fix broken links, and google analytics may be barriers to publishing and promoting blog posts online. Owners or their teams may be able to write blog posts, but jumping through all the social media skills needed to increase search results and engagement may be a problem.

    Trusting your blog writer with a set of keys to your business can be scary.

    Blogging can be done by a member or members of your team, but you have to trust your blog writer to represent your brand, product, and service online. Sometimes you may not have this kind of trust in your team. You have to decide.

    A team member can write new blog posts with high-quality content, but the content may not support your business’s mission, vision, and values. Blog posts are about engagement and personal and meaningful conversation.

    It could be that the style that your team member used to write the blog isn’t how you would have a conversation with a customer about a topic you would like them to know more about. If you find that you have to read every blog and edit it, do you have the time?

    Marketing Content with Blogs

    Blog Basics – The Anchor to Blog Content and A Way to Promote Your Blog

    First, the blog posts are not for you!

    Blog posts are for your customers. They are for your readers. Like a webpage, blog posts need to consider your target audience and all of the characteristics that make them potential customers of your business. Bloggers who write relevant blogs with meaningful content understand that what they write about is beneficial to the target audience.

    Ideally, clever and engaging blog posts written to solve a problem or provide insight into your industry will meet the needs of your audience.

    Second, the best-made blogging plans will promote your blog.

    You are busy as an owner, and there is limited time to write blog posts and get them published. Having a lack of time is one reason that hinders pawn shops and small businesses from using blogs.

    Planning and making a calendar with a list of ideas for weekly blogs will keep you ahead in the traffic race. Think about the different questions your customers have asked when they are at the counter checking out. These questions convert into ideas for blog posts. Remember, blog posts should solve your customers’ problems or provide insight into your industry.

    keywords

    Third, learn to do keyword research

    Several online tools provide keyword searches. These searches can be helpful to get a list of keyword phrases that people who are searching use to search for your services. Using the keyword phrases you identified in your keyword research will help drive more traffic to your website. Google Adwords Keyword Tool may be a helpful resource for you.

    Fourth, write a blog post with meaningful and valuable content

    To establish your website, the face of your company, as an authority in your industry, write blogs that share valuable insight and content. Well-written, high-quality content will ensure you will build relationships and have readers return for more. The 2022 statistics reported that 61% of online users in the US bought something after reading a blog post.

    Valuable content in one blog will differ from the content in another blog post. Each blog you write will have different topics and expectations assumed for the reader.

    Don’t be afraid to take risks and write about something you remember a customer asking at the checkout counter that hasn’t yet been answered. When you answer questions, readers come back for more.

    maintain consistency

    Fifth, do what you can to maintain consistency

    The frequency of how many blog posts you post is directly related to what you can maintain consistently. Some companies post weekly, others bi-monthly. The key is to consistently give your target audience something to look forward to.

    Google and other search engines want fresh content, and so the more frequently you update your blog posts on your website, the more likely your website, the face of your company, will soar to the top of the search engines rankings.

    Higher search engine rankings mean that when someone searches for your company, product, or services, you will be more likely to be visible in the search results.

    If they can’t find you, they can’t see you; if they can’t see you, they can’t read your blog.

    Sixth, It’s all about the style

    Remember, blogs are not technical reports or dissertations. They are meant to be informal and a personal and meaningful conversation.

    Nothing is more boring than waiting on a slow internet connection or watching glue dry. Don’t write blogs that bore your audience.

    Try to keep the sales pitch down and your style up. People want to connect. Writing in the first person (I and we) and addressing the reader (you and your) is informal yet has connectivity. Consumers want to be a part of your business, and a successful blog will build relationships.

    Connection with your customers nurtures them and increases loyalty. Loyalty decreases the risk that you will have your customers stray off to competitors. Sixty-four percent of consumers say that their loyalty to a brand increases when they feel connected.

    Seventh, less is more, and more is less, and what is the best word count, or is there one, or am I just confused? Oh my!

    According to Wix Blog, an ideal blog post should be between 1,500- 2,500 words, and the magic number is 2,450. This range will help your blog posts rank higher on search engines and get social media shares and backlinks.

    I read this and thought, “golly molly, 2,450 words, no way!” Then I remembered Sam’s wisdom, “it’s easy, mom, just write.”

    300-word blog post

    Shorter blog posts of less than 300 words are not ideal for search engine optimization or social media shares.

    300-600 word blog post

    Blogs with a word count from 300 to 600 words have historically been the standard. With the growth of searches, blogs with this number of words are too short of ranking on search engine results pages. There aren’t enough words to get deep into a topic and show authority.

    600-800 word blog post

    If the range of your blog post is between 600 and 800 words, it may include social media shares and backlinks because they are most common in professional journalism and newspaper articles.

    1,300-1,700 word blog post

    Blog posts are 1,300 to 1,700 words long, and these get more social media shares and have more educational content that gets backlinks. Blog post influencers use this word length to write promotional posts.

    2,300-2,500 word blog post

    “The golden ticket” are blog posts that are 2,300 to 2,500 words long. Search engines like this length of blog posts. A workable format is to use listicles, and Listicles are list posts. These blog posts are written in a list-based format with shortlists of 10-20 items based on specific themes. These blogs are more education and thorough and rank with the potential of bringing in more traffic.

    4,000-word blog post

    4,000-word blog posts are all-encompassing articles covering a topic in extreme detail to build authority.

    How do you determine the ideal “best fit” blog post length for your company?

    As part of your blog promotion strategy, the best solution is to determine the appropriate length of your blog posts, one article at a time.

    Take time to plan. Is your post going to be comprehensive or a summary? Can you answer who you are writing for and the target audience’s characteristics? These are all great questions to ask yourself when you are planning.

    Did you know that the longer blogs cause the reader to stay on the page longer, sending ‘good vibes’ to the search engines? Search engines see your blog as relevant and have meaningful content.
    Longer blogs also get more social media shares and backlinks, which helps to boost your authority.

    Steps to Being a Successful Blog Writer

    Step One: Research:

    Oh, the days of research. A side note story.

    I sat in front of the microfiche machine, painfully looking up newspaper article after article, trying to find the most relevant information I needed to complete my paper with my hands aching from taking copious notes on what I read and then forgetting to write down my sources. I would have to go back, get the librarian to get back out the microfiche, and remember where I got the information from. Tired, I would get out the note cards and organize my notes into an outline. Oh, and then the click…click of the typewriter to pull it all together, hoping I had relevant content.

    Okay, I did just date myself talking about microfiche and typewriters. But there is no denying the first step in writing a successful blog is the same, start with research.

    The assumption is you have a blog promotion plan in place with a calendar listing all your ideas.

    Take one of the ideas and do all the research you can about the topic before starting. The research will make outlining your blog easier it will also spur other ideas you may want to include in your blog post or future posts.

    keyword research

    Step Two: Keyword Research

    Keyword research is essential if your blog will rank and generate more traffic to your business. There are tools available to help you, like Google Keyword Planner, and these tools create words used by searchers to find your company, product, service, or industry. Another trick is to try and use one of the keywords in your title, so your article is picked up and ranked.

    Step Three: Create a detailed outline

    An outline will help you organize your blog. If you use bullet points to identify the sections of your article and what will be covered, this will help you if you decide to write other blogs on a similar topic and link to the main points. Bullet points and a detailed outline will help you remember where to use the keyword phrases you identified from your keyword research.

    Step Four: Clearly Label Headings and Sections

    Because you did a detailed outline in the previous step, you have the tools to label headings and sections clearly. By breaking up your blog into heading and sections, you will encourage readers to stay connected.

    Readers will often skip around when reading an article, taking from the article what they need. Headings will help guide readers’ eyes to the places they want to read and gain information. Headings and sections make the blog ‘user-friendly.’

    The title for your blog should be 60 characters.
    Blog titles that get your reader to think causes engagement. Think about asking a question.
    As a guide, headings need to be between 3-10 words.

    Step Five: Use Pictures/Images to break up paragraphs

    Images tell a story, and one picture can send multiple messages conveying a meaning more effectively than words.

    Images break up long text. Images are creative and bring attention to relevant information. Black and white on a page or screen is black and white.

    The text delivers a message or meaning, but add a picture, and the words come to life.

    A bonus is that images effectively labeled with alt text will help with search engine optimization (SEO). Remember to use keywords when naming your image file. You want your new blog post to end up at the top of the search engine results page so whatever you can do to improve SEO is a plus.

    Step Six: Variety Is Key For Sentence Structure

    A well-written blog should be ‘music’ to the reader. There should be a rhythm, flow, harmony, melody, timbre, dynamics, texture, and form. Your words should be like beats are to music. Sentence structure is like music, with shorter and longer sentences coming together to create a ‘song.’ Sentence structure is key to making your blog posts reader-friendly.

    Step Seven: One, Two, Three…Include Bullet Points and Numbered Lists

    Longer blog posts need to be well organized and simple to follow. Bullet points and numbered lists will help with the flow of your article and get to your point. Bullet points help with clarity and make a blog post more concise.

    Readers who want to skip to the section following a number list and read more about the topic can do so with ease. Ordered lists help a reader follow along and understand steps in a process.

    Another helpful hint is to include a table of contents at the top of your blog post, so the headings and sections help the reader easily navigate through the blog.

    Step Eight: Readable Text in Active Voice vs. Passive Voice

    Short of sounding like an English teacher, here are the basics. Active voice is when a sentence has a subject that acts as a verb, and a verb takes action. Passive voice means that a subject is the receiver of the verb’s action. Verbs have five properties, voice, mood, tense, person, and number.

    When writing a blog post, use an active voice. This doesn’t mean that a passive voice sentence isn’t okay from time to time; this means that the active voice is clear, direct, and strong.

    Readability Score

    According to the Center for Plain Language, the readability score in the United States is at a 7th to 8th-grade level or 12 to 14 years of age. People read differently online than they do when they read printed materials.

    Using shorter words and sentences will present content in a much more user-friendly way and suit how the reader approaches text on a website better.

    Step Nine: Short Paragraphs Reach Higher Levels of Reader Engagement – Paragraphs Need Transition Words to Bridge Them Together

    Paragraphs need to be 100 words or less, and each paragraph needs to cover one idea at a time. A long paragraph might make a reader turn away because all the words seem overwhelming. Each paragraph needs to have transition words or a ‘bridge’ that help the reader move from one point to another throughout the blog post.

    Transitions are like road signs guiding the reader through the blog.

    Most people use their phones to search and read. Think about it. How many hours a day do you carry your phone with you and use it during downtime to check emails, read updates, text people, and search for things you are thinking about?

    A blog post will look really long; I mean really long when read on a mobile device, so make paragraphs short with bridges. Break long blog posts into multiple parts!

    Step Ten: Be You and Add Your Perspective!

    I can’t say enough be yourself. Write your company’s blog post from your perspective. Cover the main points of the topic you are writing about but make sure it is ‘from you.’ The person searching the internet and found your blog came to read your blog, not someone else’s.

    There may be other existing posts about a similar topic with critical points, but they are not from you, your company’s blog writer. New blog posts you decide to write need to be from your point of view. The facts may be the same, but the angle may be different.

    So let’s think about it. At the beginning of this blog, I wanted to understand who I am. I started by saying I was a silver-haired blog writer, someone who had no experience writing blogs, and someone who loves helping people find solutions. I couldn’t have been a therapist for 30+ years if I wasn’t vested in people and their long-term success.

    I am Sam’s mom and admire and think he is one of the best businessmen I know, not just because he’s my son but because he is good at what he strives to do.

    Most important, I am Cruz’s Grams, and all of his little ventures make him my little chubby blog inspiration.

    I wanted to get you to connect with me and understand my perspective. I am, what’s the new word, “a nube” to writing blogs, and have so much more to learn. I by no means know it all, and there are many ways to get started; whether you write them yourself, have a team member write them, use a WordPress blog, or hire someone like Pawn Leads to write them for you, blogs work!

    promote your blog through social media

    Promote your blog by being original, authentic, and you. Readers will come back to read more!

    A Blog Promotion Strategy

    Now you know the steps to get you started writing your first blog. Are you excited? I am for you while you practice. Practice makes perfect, and by the time you write four blogs a month, you will have the process down pat and feel good about the personal and meaningful conversations you are having with your potential customers.

    In your blog promotion strategy, one thing to consider is that a blog needs a purpose and provides something to your audience.

    Through not just words but valuable content marketing with blogs, you can increase revenue, boost conversions and build brand awareness.

    Social media platforms

    For each blog you write, you will need to decide which social media platform you will use to promote your blog. Not all platforms are the same, and researching which social media sites your future customs use the most will help get your blogs in front of them.

    Shine the blog up and use images that meet the look and feel of the social media you’re using to draw attention to your blog.

    Branch out and post a summary of your blog on your Facebook account or in a Facebook group you are a part of, and link it back to the main blog on your webpage. You can use Facebook boosted posts to reach more people as well. Add a blog link to your bio, which is the first thing people see when clicking on your account.

    Do you have a Twitter account? Your Twitter account can be a great way to promote your blog. Twitter is a fast-moving social media platform that is ideal for you to get your high-quality content information to the right audience. You don’t have ad dollars to spend, so that’s even better.

    A few sites like Reddit have thousands of communities of like-minded people engaging in conversation to connect. Whatever topic interests the searcher, Reddit’s online communities are waiting. Being one of the biggest online communities with 17 million users, Reddit is a great blogger outreach opportunity.

    Niche social bookmarking sites serve industry-specific communities. When you share your blogs in these communities, you will engage and connect with more like-minded people. Make sure your blog’s title is a magnet for potential readers so they engage. A few niche social bookmarking sites are Marketing GrowthHackers, Startups, and Business & Growth Hacking Hacker News.

    The more consistent you are with posting and interacting with other users, the more reliable you seem to be. There are reciprocal sharing sites like Viral Content Bee that work with credits that are given if you share other people’s blogs. You will earn credits, and the credits can be used to post your blog, and then your blog will get shared with other users.

    Competition

    Take some time to understand your competition. Competitors provide you with ideas of what’s working and what isn’t. Notice what they are writing about, and think about how you can adjust your style and content so your blogs are unique and gain consumers’ attention.

    Tools like QuickSpout and SEMRush Competitor Research could be used to explore what your competitions are posting and how they are ranking to look at the gaps in their content and use this information to build your blogs.

    Mention Influencers

    What is an influencer? An influencer is a blogger with a compelling writing style who uses videos and images creatively to get connections to their readers. There are influencers in almost every industry, and they maintain online communities of readers wanting to know which are the best brands relevant to their hobbies and lifestyle.

    Getting to know an influencer and managing the connection will go a long way to promote your blog and blog content. Keeping in contact with them will ensure they accurately represent your company, product, and brand.

    To solidify the relationship with your influencers, interact with their content regularly to show your support.

    Influencers are experts in your industry, and they are seen as having credibility. They know what is happening in the industry and promote positive improvements for their followers.

    Vito Wise and Yigal Adato – It’s terrific to know influencers in your industry!

    Two of the influencers I am impressed with and follow on social media and the PHP Facebook group are Vito Wise and Yigal Adato. Both are experts in leadership, business, the pawn industry, and balancing family and work; I have to say I am honored to have them consider sharing and promoting any of the blogs I write.

    Maintenance Keep traffic moving toward your website

    Creating and marketing your blog will take time and effort. Consistency is vital in having a blog reach your audience and your readers returning for more. Planning posts, updating them, repurposing, and republishing them will help efficiency.

    By frequently posting fresh new content to your website, the more relevant Google and other search engines see you, which helps with ranking.

    You can decide what to repurpose and update by auditing your existing posts. If you put stats in your original blog or infographics, you could edit these and repost them.

    Repurposing existing posts by taking out irrelevant ideas or adding new details; thus, improving your blog content will save time because, as I said before, creating a brand new blog post is time-consuming.

    Summary Ideas From The Silver-Haired Blogger:

    Steps For Writing Blog Posts

    1. Create a calendar and fill it with ideas for blog posts.

    2. Choose a topic for your blog and decide what you want to accomplish by writing it.

    3. Do your research.

    4. Research keywords to use so the search engines will pick you up in search results.

    5. Put together an outline with bullet points to design and organize your blog.

    6. Write compelling and relevant content.

    7. Decide how often you will post blogs and be consistent.

    8. Publish your blog.

    9. Evaluate and analyze the success of your blog and decide which ones to repurpose.

    Thank you, Sam, co-owner of Pawn Leads, for boldly and confidently encouraging this silver-haired blogger to take a risk by confidently saying,
    “It’s easy, mom, just write.”

    From me to you, “it’s easy, just write” and Pawn Leads is here for support if you need us.

    Pawn Leads Logo
  • How Is a Blog For SEO & Goldie Locks & the Three Bears Related?

    How Is a Blog For SEO & Goldie Locks & the Three Bears Related?

    How Is a Blog For SEO & Goldie Locks & the Three Bears Related?

    Once upon a time, there were three bears. Early every morning, they would go for a walk. When along came Goldilocks a girl with long and golden locks and then upon the door she knocks (Knock, knock, knock) But no one was there no one at all…

    SEO Blogs

    What is a blog?

    A blog is a weblog, an online journal where an individual, group, or corporation records and report informative posts to online searchers. People want information, and they look to the internet to search and use their favorite search engines to find helpful information.

    Some blogs operate mainly as news filters, collecting various online sources and adding short comments and Internet links.

    The moral of the story Goldie Locks and the Three Bears is the need to respect the privacy and property of others and how your actions could hurt others.

    So how in the heck are blogs and Goldie Locks and the Three Bears related?

    Very put, they aren’t.

    Okay, they weren’t until a search engine found the story of Goldie Locks and the Three Bears when the question was typed in the search bar “What stories teach about respecting privacy?”

    The search query brought up the story of Goldie Locks, another website, and another blog about respect written by Susan McCuistion about Compassionate Business Connections. As part of the Susan McCuistion page, drop-down menus encouraged people who used their search engines and found her blog in the top three results.

    A blog for SEO is an effective tool in a business’s strategy to help rank towards the top of search results.

    It works!

    Coupling a well-written blog post with relevant keywords and content with at least one internal link to your articles and webpages will increase how users easily navigate to other pages. The internal links engage users more, creating contextual relationships between your website pages.

    Four Types of Blogs with Valuable Content

    Personal Blog Posts for SEO Strategy

    In 1994, Justin Hall began personal blogging when he was a student in college. Along with Jerry Pournelle and Dave Winer, who were also personal bloggers. Blogging was a way of putting yourself out there regularly. A successful blog depends on post frequency and good content.

    Business Blog Posts for SEO Strategy

    Business blogging is a marketing tool that uses blogging with valuable content to get online visibility by organic traffic and paid SEO. A business blog is a marketing channel like social media, direct mail, and email marketing, and it makes sense in building business growth.

    Affiliate Blog Posts for SEO Strategy

    A blogger who is the affiliate promotes a business’s product or service by using a unique link that identifies the affiliate’s blog as the traffic source. When the user clicks on the blogger’s link or purchases the promoted product, the blogger earns a commission.

    Using affiliate blogs is similar to paid SEO advertising through Google Adwords, Facebook ads, or buying advertising space directly on someone else’s website.

    Niche Blog Posts for SEO Strategy

    A blog niche is about a specialized topic area, and the relevant content is about a specific idea, product, brand, or service.

    Niche blog posts hone in on users and craft much more relevant content for them. The target audiences get a great deal from the relevant content in these types of blogs, which adds to the ranking factor.

    Digital Marketing

    Blog SEO Tips for Better Google Search Results

    Effective Blog Post Title

    A compelling blog title not only catches the eye of the reader, it asks a question, and it generates a thought process that wants to know more. A compelling blogtitle should make the reader think right from the beginning.

    A compelling blog title helps with search engine optimization.
    • Include the target audience by using a question

    • Complete a keyword search for keywords related to the topic and include these

    • Don’t sound like spam.

    • Use the first personal and meaningful conversation

    • Make the content and value clear – What will I get from reading this?

    • Check the Search Engine Results Pages (SERPs), which respond to a user’s search query.

    • Follow a “how-to” formula, and these are the ones with the highest-ranking

    • Add brackets [ ]

    • Stress speed – don’t take too much time from the reader

    Readability

    Making a blog easy to read is vital for the ranking factor.

    Using short sentences, smaller paragraphs, punctuation, headings, and bullet points are all ways to help the user get the information they need.

    Images and White Space

    When you put white space and clear images around the text, it makes it easier to read and more appealing.

    White space is space.

    It gives the blog a simple, clean, minimalist look. It helps with convincing the user that the content is digestible and accessible. Use whitespace to your advantage to draw attention to content.

    Keyword Research Tools

    There are several keyword research tools to find relevant keywords. Keywords add to how the search engines find your blog post. Understanding not only the keyword but the competition analysis is essential.

    Low-difficulty keywords are essential to use in blog articles.

    Long Tail Keywords

    A new blog post will do better if it focuses on long-tail keywords. Long-tail keywords are not highly competitive. Long-tail keywords are three or four keywords specific to your brand, product, or service. They rank well because there is limited competition.

    Don’t Engage in Keyword Stuffing

    Keyword research will help you find keywords related to the informative post you are writing. But don’t use so many keywords, known as keyword stuffing, that the blog becomes challenging to read.

    A difficult blog that is hard to read irritates the blog followers, and Google may penalize you for it.

    Strategically placing keywords based on your keyword research is the key.

    As you decide how to write your blog, if you enter your focus keyword in the Google search and go to the bottom of the page, you will find the results for related searches. Try to include as many of these keywords in your informative post.

    Create Content That Answers Questions

    When writing content, create content that speaks to the user’s needs. To build and maintain a successful blog, you need a content plan. Create content related to future blog posts, and know what you plan to do for publishing schedules.

    Take time to know the characteristics of your target audience.

    Create quality content that will help search engines find the blog, and including internal links will help with website traffic to your site.

    Consider Posting Featured Snippets

    A featured snippet is a short snippet of text that Google search pulls from the search results. These appear at the top of the organic search results. Google will remove text from blog posts and articles and use featured snippets.

    Utilize Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Social Media to Promote Blog Content

    These social media sites have web exposure. Paid ads are helpful to promote blog posts. Use these sites to increase connections with your potential and existing customers. You can repurpose blog content on these sites to hook readers with your informative post.

    These sites are typically not free but may be worth the investment when you look at the google analytics data and determine the risk on investment for the cost per site ranking.

    Paid ads can help optimize your blog posts.

    Search traffic can find your blog post easily because these sites can work with target audience characteristics to improve rankings.

    Use SEO Plugins

    On your business webpage, the page title and meta description appear in the code of your page and search engine results. The meta descriptions and SEO plugins tell the search engines what the page is about. An SEO plugin affects search engine optimization, web analysis, online marketing, and other aspects. Many SEO plugins allow you navigational links to your page, and they are like breadcrumbs and helps users find what they need from your pages.

    Pawn Leads a CRM Automated Platform

    You’ve read through the blog and have made a decision to start writing a weekly blog post to help improve your web traffic through better rankings. You have completed a cursory review of your WordPress site and site speed and you are satisfied that these are in order. You would like to write your own articles with content focused on gold, gold buying and selling, and precious metals. You know that these are all hot items in today’s economy and something you could make a profit on in your pawnshop.

    You read the best blog seo tips above and realize you have a lot to learn but you are willing to try. You even searched respect and what does Goldie Locks and the Three Bears to see what came up just for fun.

    Pawn Leads Logo

    Now what? Writing Your Own Blogs?

    You search for automated marketing solutions for pawn shops. In the search result, up comes Pawn Leads and discover that the business is co-owned by a pawnshop owner and the other owner is a small business owner and is a full-service marketing solution.

    As you look through the site you find that it offers custom automated follow-up text, two-way texting, call recording, email, webchat replies, easy integration with Google and Facebook.

    You fill out the form to start the 7-day trial using Pawn Leads. You set up a time to meet with Sam and/or Lex for a consultation to discuss your goals and identify solutions.

    Sam sent a summary out after you met, and you were able to identify some high-level goals. The expert team at Pawn Leads agreed to set up some follow-up meetings to teach you how to use the software and understand the benefits of using the automated marketing solution.

    You’re excited!

    You sit down and start to think about a blog post with inbound links and recall the following:

    1, 2, 3 Summary – Blog SEO Tips

    How Do You Write A Blog for SEO So It Is Discovered by the Search Engine Algorithms and Appears In the Top Search Engine Rankings?

    Blog SEO isn’t for the faint at heart. It begins with writing a compelling article, blog posts, keeping the user and search engines in mind. Writing optimized blog posts is a skill. The topics that you choose to write abut need to snag the attention of the user and keep them engaged. A well written, easy to read blog with quality content has a good chance of pulling in website traffic and ranking well. Writing a mediocre blog with content that is so so and difficult to read, results in low rankings.

    1. Think and then think again before you write – do some discovery and determine the specific topic you are writing about and the end goal (more traffic, search engine rankings,user conversions).

    2. Answer this, how will the blog benefit your readers and keep them engaged?

    3. Create the structure for your blog. A blog title in the form of a question is engaging, using headings and short sentences and many shortof paragraphs make it easier to read.

    4. Craft completing the “hook ya” title is a vital step in your SEO tactics.

    5. Make sure your title is 55-60 characters long.

    6. It should contain a target keyword that the target audience would use to find it.

    7. Headings are important for readability as well as they help Google search engines and other search engines find your blog and increase your ranking.

    8. Add internal links whenever you write a new blog post but only when it makes sense. Internal linking helps search engines discover new pages on your website, creating options for your users.

    9. Less is more, or maybe the right keywords used effectively will get you the best results. Keyword research will provide you with keywords to use naturally in your blog and add them to the title, headings, content, and blog summary. Don’t use keyword stuffing – the overuse of keywords makes your blog post read clunky.

    10. Blog posts should be no less than 300 words, and remember, longer blog posts perform better. A longer blog post must be easy to read, navigate, and hold the users’ attention. Quality in content is better than quantity.

    11. It takes time to improve your google search results by paying attention to ranking factor tips like listed above.

    12. As you post new blog posts, you need to add them to your hub page, so users and search engines can find them later.

    13. Optimize blog content through meta descriptions. Meta descriptions summarize the blog post that is less than 200 characters. These summaries may be picked up by Goggle as featured snippets and can add to your ranking. They need to be captivating, hold your users’ attention, and informative.

  • SEO For the Win – A Method To Conquer

    SEO For the Win – A Method To Conquer

    SEO For the Win – A Method To Conquer

    Let’s Understand the basics of SEO

    SEO is SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMIZATION

    SEO is the practice of including content on your Website to attract and engage potential consumers so they keep your brand or product top of mind. It improves your site’s visibility to search engines and people searching and brings search traffic to your site.

    SEO will help your Website show up more often in relevant searches.

    SEO also helps with search rankings organic search rankings and helps your site rank higher than your competitors.

    Content Marketing

    Content marketing uses articles, newsletters, videos, podcasts, blog posts, and other media, so potential customers want to be a part of your business. This approach establishes expertise promotes brand awareness and an impression to remember.

     SEO is not only about search engines, and it’s about the practices that improve your site’s user experience and usability. When your site comes up in the first few positions of a search, the user’s trust is built, and the Website is trusted.

    Organic Search

    An organic search is a term for search engines when results are naturally generated and not influenced by a search provider. Organic search traffic comes from consumers finding business links in search engine results, and an organic search focuses on unpaid rankings in search results.

    Paid Search

    Paid search traffic is accomplished from a consumer searching and clicking on a link in an advertisement or sponsored listing from a business that has paid for to appear in the top search results. A paid search focuses on paid rankings.

    Search Engines = Google, Bing, Yahoo

    A simple way to think about search engines is they are answer machines. Search engines like Bing, Google, and Yahoo provide searchers to search the internet using keywords, phrases, and questions.

    Although the market is dominated by a few, there are many search engines that people can use. The consumer or searcher asks a question; the search engine finds the answer. Their whole purpose is to discover, organize, and present the most relevant results from what’s out on the internet to the questions asked.

    A Search Engine works by crawling, indexing, and ranking.
    Crawling

    It is the action of scouring the internet for content. It is performed by a Google search and other search engine bots (robot), and it looks over the code content for each URL. A bot performs automated, repetitive, pre-defined tasks that replace typical human behavior, and they are fast and efficient.

    During the discovery process, crawling sends out spiders or crawlers to find new and updated content on a webpage, image, video, blog post,  personal websites, business websites, social media, or anything on the internet with public access.

    During the process, Google search and other search engines send out a team of robots (known as crawlers or spiders) to find new and updated content. Links discover content.

    Bots start by getting a few web pages and then follow the links to find new URLs to find new content and add it to the massive database of discovered URLs. The storage can then be drawn on when a searcher seeks answers that the URL’s content can provide.

    Links

    Internal linking helps search engine optimization by assisting them to discover, crawl, and index pages on your site. Anchor text for your internal links tells Google search and other search engines what to expect when your link is clicked. External links are hyperlinks that point to another website. Pages rank better when there are both internal links and external links pointing to relevant content so it can be discovered and indexed.

    Indexing

    As the bot crawls, the internet indexing organizes the content found in a vast database to be drawn on later when needed. Once a page is in the index, it’s in the running to be displayed due to searches needing answers.

    Ranking

    Placing the search results in order of relevance ranking gives better visibility as consumers search for your product or service. The higher website rankings are, the more relevant the search engine believes the content is.

    It is vital that the information on our web pages is accessible to crawlers and that it can be indexed and achieve a high ranking. Otherwise, it’s invisible, and this is one of the essential pieces of the SEO puzzle.

    Search engine optimization works because search engines use their algorithm to rank different web pages making sure only relevant results are returned to answer questions asked by the consumer.

    Ranking Factor

    Ranking factors are the criteria applied by search engines during indexing. The search engine evaluates pages to determine the best order of relevant results to return to answer the consumer’s question. Understanding ranking factors is necessary for effective SEO.

    Did you know that there are over 200 Google ranking factors?

    Page Speed

    Page speed is a critical ranking factor. Page speed is how fast content on your web page loads. Page speed is measured by page load time or the time it takes to fully display the content on a specific web page Page “time to first byte” (how long it takes for your browser to receive the first byte of information from the webserver).

    Where Do Keywords, Keyword Ratio, and Keyword Research Come In?

    Reasonably simple to remember a keyword is a focus word, and it tells about your product on your Website. Keyword phrases are also used. What keywords do you want your brand, business, or product to be known for and discovered through?

    Keywords are essential because when a search is sent out, search engine bots look at the words on each website page. If keywords are used too often, the indexer’s algorithm can’t determine if the keyword is important because the algorithms see the exact words as equally important.

    Algorithms

    Algorithms are processes or rules, and there are algorithms everywhere. A receipt for chocolate chip cookies is an algorithm or method to “build” the cookie so we can have it to eat. The algorithm used by search engines is a set of instructions given to the search to index and return searches.

    The algorithm can change daily, and Google will change them daily and might even release updates every 24 hours. Because the algorithms are tied to the content on your web page through keywords, it is essential to keep your content and keywords current and updated.

    As a business owner, you want to have consumers end up on your Website by using a particular word or keyword phrase that describes your product or brand. When you think about keywords, try to think about how your potential customers think, what keyword or phrase will be in their minds, and stay in their minds.

    If you use the wrong keyword or phrase in your keyword research, you won’t get potential consumers to visit your site when the key is to drive traffic to it. Too many keywords in your Website may make the readability clunky and unpleasant.

    If a reader finds the content hard to read, so will the search engine. Keywords should be used naturally and not by keyword stuffing, and Keyword stuffing, even if the words are relevant keywords, will negatively impact Google rankings.

    SEO In Advertising and Pawnshops

    As a pawnshop owner Bing, Google, and other search engines want to provide consumers the best answers possible. Search engine optimization is built on your Website, providing the best results by using more data points.

    Data points can be things like are you a local or national business, is the search news related, is the search to buy, sell, or loan on something?

    The bottom line is you want your pawnshop to use search engine optimization to drive traffic to your store (directions), to drive phone calls to your store (calls), to fill out a web form or chat form to gather customer information for future marketing efforts (lead engagement), to purchase something from your retail store or online service (customer loyalty.)

    When a potential consumer sits down and searches for an item or service, the traffic to your site is organic traffic if the traffic to your site is human instigated.

    Once the search engine detects that a potential customer gets the answer they need from your site, this is called conversions.

    SEO Strategy Coupled with Google Ads, Map Pack, and Content Marketing

    A story to make it real. You have a customer who has a beautiful Breitling Submariner in their safe. They are thinking about selling it, but they have no idea what it is worth. They have never shopped at your store, and you have never met them. As a pawnshop owner, you want their business, sight unseen.

    About a month ago, you wrote a blog post about a Breitling Submariner watch as part of your content marketing efforts. You posted the blog on your Website and linked it to Facebook. You were careful to include keyword-rich anchor text without overdoing it and made sure specific keyword ratios were perfect. You have worked with Pawn Leads to work on your Website’s SEO, keyword research results, and site rankings, all hoping to generate more traffic to your store.

    Pawn Leads explains that bringing up your organic rankings will take some time.

    When the potential customer searched, the answer was provided because the search results could pick up on the grammar, the question, that the Breitling is a product, and that a price was needed. Pawn Leads keeps up to date on SEO myths and answers and understands that SEO advice becomes outdated quickly. You trust the leadership of Pawn Leads and have already seen results.

    Google Ads

    The potential shopper sees in their results a shopping ad in google ads. These Google ads you paid for by pay-per-click (PPC) allowed you as a pawnshop owner to bid on keywords for a chance to show ads in Google search results. You only pay when someone, like this potential customer, clicks on your ad to visit your site or when they call your business.

    Your rankings are affected as potential consumers click on the Goggle Ads, and Google Analytics shows you that these ads are working. The amount of money you have spent on Pawn Leads out of your marketing budget has been well spent.

    Map Pack

    Part of your SEO Strategy you worked on as a pawnshop owner is to use Google Ads and other tools to help promote organic search results and increase search volume to your site. You spent some time thinking about how to answer the question, “Is this a national or local service?”

    When your potential customers search for a pawnshop near them, the MAP PAC will return results about pawnshops near them. The pack includes three businesses that Google believes the best match what the searcher is looking for based on relevance, distance, and prominence.

    Because you have this as a part of your Website, your online visibility is increased dramatically. You have a better chance of having top-ranking pages. Your potential consumer calls the store and makes an appointment to come in for an appraisal of their watch.

    You’ve trained your team to have anyone who calls in or visits the store as a result of visiting your Website fill out a web form before they come in so that you can gather customer information for lead nurturing. This information will help with future marketing efforts (lead engagement). As a pawnshop owner, you know that customers want to be involved in converting into long-term customers (customer loyalty.)

    The potential customer got the information they needed, came to the store, had the watch appraised, and sold it to you. You were able to turn around and put it on your retail shelves for a reasonable price.

    Pawn Leads Understands SEO Can Be Overwhelming

    Pawnshop owners have a lot going on. Most pawnshop owners have similar goals, to run an honest business, support and help their community members, and build their business to profit.

    As a pawnshop owner, you can do some things to conquer the SEO method and win.

    Pawn Leads – A Method

    Step 1:

    Go to https://business.google.com/ and make sure your Pawn Shop is listed on google. 

    Step 2:

    In your Google My Business (GMB), be sure to have all of your services listed, pictures, and represent your brand as well as you can. 

    Step 3:

    Start getting 1 Google Review a day. Ask customers and friends to give you a review to start. Then, ask each customer. One Review a day, and you are well on your way. Consistency wins with reviews. This is probably the best thing you can do to drive business to your pawn shop over anything else.

    Pawn Leads software can help ease the process, and if you would like to like a demo, sign up for a 7-day free trial.

    We can work together to help with getting your SEO up and going, fine-tuned, and organic ranking up.

    Step 4:

    Make sure your Website has ways to get your leads engaged so they convert. “Click to Call,” “Direction Button,” “Web Form Button,” and a “Chat Widget” will all help Google detect your drop-off rate.

    Step 5:

    Please take a look at our Website and make sure it represents your pawnshop, product, and brand when your Website is visited. Google will pick up this data based on intentions and help you rank higher. 

    Step 6:

    Building your Website with landing pages and several service pages will help develop content and increase your efforts in content marketing. Create sub-service pages for bullion, coins, rounds, and diamonds. Make sure the pages have your local city, names determined through keyword research, and clear images.

    Step 7:

    Content marketing includes blog posts and consistent content. Blogs perform well with 1,000+ words and offer quality answers to questions using a good balance of keywords. Blogs take time to write and are time-consuming to ensure they are current and updated with links that make sense for national and local searches. Connections fuel your ranking power, and these users may not find you if you don’t optimize for local search.

    SEO Myths

    An SEO strategy can cost a lot of money. Using Pawn Leads designed with pawnshops in mind, it was understood that pawnshop owners need to have a marketing and SEO strategy that makes sense for their business.

    Search engine optimization is essential for your pawnshop but doesn’t get caught up in some misnomers.

    SEO management is not a one-time event.

    After spending the time and money to increase your website visibility and improve organic search results, an owner has to have an SEO strategy that mains and updates their SEO.

    A good SEO plan is continually be monitoring, analyzing, and fine-tuning your approach, and it is a continual process.

    SEO is necessary to help potential customers find your Website and increase the qualified traffic that comes to your site.

    Organic Web Traffic

    Business owners may think that the more keywords, the better. This is not the case. High keyword density will not improve organic page ranking, and search engines don’t give you a good grade for how often you use a keyword you identified in your keyword research.

    If you saturate your webpage with duplicate keywords, you may get a search penalty. Sprinkling a few well-researched keywords placed appropriately on your pages is part of good content marketing.

    Taking the time as a pawnshop owner to understand the characteristics of your potential consumers will help you with keyword research.

    You want to include keywords your future customers will use to find you.

    Making sure that the internal and external links and link building is essential. The quality of the link is more important than the number of links, and the links need to be high quality.

    When someone searches for your product, they want to have helpful information. If the link is irrelevant, it seems like your site is a waste of time. Make sure you reach out to find out the few quality leads you should use.

    Your site speed is essential. Nothing is more frustrating than waiting for a page to load.

    Speed is also important for page ranking.

    Find an SEO plan that works best for your pawnshop. There is not a one-way approach. Working with Pawn Leads, you will be able to identify a strategy that works best for your business and improve visibility.

    Potential customers who search and visit your Website want to be involved.

    By engaging them in some action (lead magnets), visitors will have a good experience. The type of content used in content marketing makes a difference, and interactive content increases engagement and visitors’ time on your Website. This improves your site ranking factor. Some of the ranking factors become obsolete because Google changes its algorithms frequently.

    Pawn Leads Logo

    Pawn Leads offers experts regarding pawnshops and how to get potential consumers to visit your site and convert to paying customers. Pawn Leads was built with pawnshops and small businesses in mind because the owner and co-owner are both business owners.

    Pawnshop owners are busy people. Offering the Pawn Leads automated marketing platform Google Ads, SEO discovery and search engine optimization, and dedicated marketing support (flyer creating, holiday marketing, etc.), Website Builds, Text Pay, 2-Way Texting, Bulk Messaging, Web Chat, Call Tracking, Call Recording, Auto Text Response to Missed calls, and more will give you an excellent SEO campaign. Signing on by using a small portion of your marketing budget will make your Website strong in about 3 to 6 months.