SEO Archives - 232 Creative

5 Ways To Elevate Your Brand

Ryan Stetz — Tue, 13 May 2025 15:55:58 +0000

Marketing Spring Cleaning Tips

As the days get longer and flowers bloom, there’s a natural urge to declutter and start fresh. While most people associate spring cleaning with closets and garages, it’s also the perfect time to examine your organization’s marketing efforts. Like your home, your marketing strategies can become cluttered, outdated, and ineffective if not regularly maintained.

Here’s why spring cleaning your marketing is essential—and how it can help your business grow.

1. Clear Out What’s Not Working

What’s that old saying about “insanity” Over time, marketing campaigns, content, and strategies can become stale. What worked last year or last quarter may no longer resonate with your audience. Spring is a great time to dig into your analytics and identify what’s underperforming.

Are specific email campaigns consistently getting low open rates?
Did that video you thought would make you an overnight internet sensation a flop?
Is your social media engagement down?

Much like cleaning out your garage, things (especially your own ideas) can be extremely difficult to get rid of. But take a deep breath, let go of outdated and unsuccessful tactics, and make space for fresh, high-impact ideas.

2. Refresh Your Brand Presence

Your brand should evolve alongside your business. Review your visual identity and messaging across all platforms—website, social media, emails, ads—and ensure everything still aligns with your current goals and values. Maybe it’s time to update your website visuals, tweak your tone of voice, or rework your elevator pitch. A consistent and updated brand presence boosts credibility and keeps your audience engaged.

Additionally, you—yes… you—(and everyone on your team) are your brand. When you’re meeting with clients or potential customers, are you communicating in a way that accurately portrays your brand Are there new message pillars that you should address As much pride as you put into your website and digital presentation, you need to put into your own.

During a recent webinar with communications expert Vinh Giang, he mentioned an interesting reality about your vocal presentation that resonated with me. He said that your talent and actual impact to an organization can rank 10/10 – an absolute expert in your field. However, if your communication and presentation skills rank as a 3, that’s how your potential client views you, regardless of your actual skill – a 3. Take the opportunity to rethink, strategize and rehearse your elevator pitch and the messaging you want to portray.

3. Revisit Your Audience and Goals

The beginning of the year often brings shifts in customer behavior, market trends, and internal business priorities. Let’s face it, a lot has changed in the world in the past few months, and we cannot bury our heads in the sand.

Spring is ideal for reassessing your target audience and key marketing goals. Have your customers’ needs changed Are you still solving the same problems, or are there new pain points to address Refocusing your marketing on who you’re trying to reach and what you want to achieve will increase your ROI and impact. Now is the time to ask yourself the hard questions that’ll set you up for long-term success.

4. Optimize for Search and Performance

A healthy marketing strategy also means optimizing all your digital assets. Run an SEO audit on your website, fix broken links, update outdated content, and re-optimize top-performing blogs with current keywords. Check your site speed and mobile responsiveness, and ensure all analytics and tracking tools function correctly. Small tweaks can lead to big performance gains.

5. Try New Things

There’s no time like spring to try new things. With the warmer weather and the greener grass, we naturally feel inspired to “give it the college try”. Inspiration is perishable, so take advantage of it! Whether it’s creating more social media reels, polls, doing a drop-in at your prospective client’s office… do it! The hardest part is taking the first step!

Final Thought: A Clean Slate Leads to Clearer Results

Spring cleaning isn’t just about tidying up—it’s about creating space for growth – or more flexible sustainability. By refreshing your marketing strategy, you’ll be better prepared to meet the evolving needs of your audience and set your business up for success through the rest of the year. So take a breath, roll up your sleeves, and start cleaning. Your future marketing efforts – and your bottom line – will thank you.

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The 7 Impacts of Video in Today’s Marketing World

Ryan Stetz — Mon, 01 Jul 2024 09:00:21 +0000

In 2023, 91% of businesses leveraged videos in their marketing strategy to meet their yearly goals. In 2024, that number is expanding! Video content has cemented itself as a key aspect of digital marketing, but some businesses still hesitate to embrace it. In this blog, we’re bringing you seven reasons why video marketing might be exactly what you need.

1. INCREASED ENGAGEMENT

Video lets you quickly capture your audience’s attention and keep them focused! The dynamic nature of videos and their ability to communicate complex information quickly and efficiently will surely increase engagement.

According to recent data, 60% of video marketers prioritize engagement rate as a key performance indicator (KPI).

2. IMPROVED CONVERSION RATES

Video cannot only capture attention but also drive action. Whether it’s an explainer video, a customer testimonial, or a product demo, video can help turn your audience into customers and clients.

Studies show that including a video on a landing page can increase conversion rates by up to 80%.

3. HIGHER CLICK-THROUGH RATES

Getting users to click through to your website or landing page is a crucial step in the marketing funnel. Videos give your customers a reason to click through and make that final step.

Emails with video content see a 96% higher click-through rate (CTR) than emails without!

4. LEAD GENERATION

One of a marketer’s main goals will always be lead generation, and video can be an important tool for accomplishing that goal. Creating content that provides information, entertainment, or value can attract potential customers and allow your business to capture their contact information for follow-up.

More than 87% of video marketers report that video has helped them generate leads.

5. ESTABLISHES TRUST AND CREDIBILITY

Trust and credibility are two of the most important aspects of your relationship with customers and clients. Video allows you to showcase your authenticity and establish your authority! People love people, and whether it is behind-the-scenes looks, real customer testimonials, or interviews with team members, this content helps humanize your brand and deepen your connection with your audience.

6. SEO BENEFITS

Search engine optimization (SEO) is imperative to see your business or organization online, and video can help you climb the ranks! Breaking it down, videos on your website increase the time visitors spend on it, which reduces bounce rates and signals to search engines like Google that your website is providing value and is relevant. Additionally, when optimized, video titles, descriptions, and tags help improve search rankings.

If you’re looking for more tips and tricks to increase your business or organization’s SEO rankings, check out our blog On-Page SEO Best Practices and Checklist for 2024.

7. SAVES TIME

Studies suggest that some businesses or organizations do not utilize video marketing because of the time it takes to create that content. However, the industry is adapting! As the marketing space has begun to promote video content, user-friendly video creation tools, and platforms have risen to help companies make the most of their time and bandwidth.

If you want to know more about the current state of video marketing, check out our blog What To Know About Video Marketing in 2024.

In today’s digital world, video marketing efforts are a must-have for your business. Contact our team if you’re ready to make that change but unsure where to start! We will work with you to find the types of video content and how to utilize video best to help your organization or business reach your business goals.

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5 Reasons Why You Need a New Website This Summer

Ryan Stetz — Thu, 13 Jun 2024 17:14:50 +0000

Summer is the time for growth and change – and your business shouldn’t be any different! By giving your website a makeover during this time of year, you’ll be ready to take on the holiday season and kick off the new year with more return users, higher conversion rates, and better SEO for higher search engine rankings!

1. FIRST IMPRESSIONS ARE EVERYTHING

Your website can be the first interaction potential customers have with your business. A sleek, professional website makes a lasting impression, while an outdated or poorly designed site can drive customers away.

2. ENHANCE YOUR BUSINESS’ CREDIBILITY

Your website is one of the most important pieces of establishing credibility for your goods or services. If your website is not operating at the highest level, with the most clean and aesthetic design, visitors might question your legitimacy. Make sure your website instills a sense of trust and confidence in your business.

3. BOOST YOUR SEO GAME

Search engines favor websites with fresh, relevant content – so don’t let your website fall behind! By regularly updating your website, you can significantly improve your search engine rankings, driving more traffic (and conversions) to your site.

4. IMPROVE USER EXPERIENCE (UX)

When someone visits your website, you want them to keep coming back, which means a positive user experience is key! Redesigning your website allows you to address any usability issues that might be causing your users headaches and ensure your site is user-friendly on both desktop and mobile!

5. STAY AHEAD OF THE COMPETITION

In today’s digital world, staying ahead of the competition is essential. Not only will a new, updated website keep you relevant, but it also sets you apart from competitors who may be lagging behind. When you keep your website up-to-date, you’re telling potential clients and customers that your business is forward-thinking and committed to delivering the best online experience.

What do you say Are you ready to make this summer a turning point for your website There is no better time to take control of your online presence than right now, and our team is excited to talk with you about starting your project!

Contact our team and let’s begin!

The post 5 Reasons Why You Need a New Website This Summer appeared first on 232 Creative.

On-Page SEO Best Practices and Checklist for 2024

232Creative — Tue, 28 Nov 2023 21:01:24 +0000

Google strives to provide the best content to its audience based on search queries. Google sorts through millions of possible resources to provide users with accurate results for their search in seconds.

How will your website stand out How do you rank online amongst your competitors?

Simply creating a website and hoping for the best is the worst thing you can do for your business. Google uses an algorithm that’s constantly improving to provide personalized results quickly to its users.

What is On-Page SEO?

You hear the term on-page SEO, but what is on-page SEO?

This is the process of optimizing a web page so that Google will index it in its extensive database. Google chooses the best pages to serve based on several components including (but not limited to):

PageRank Algorithm: rates a webpage based on the number of quality links pointing to a page.
Crawling and Indexing: Google regularly crawls/reviews the web to discover new and updated content.
Ranking Algorithms: Google uses values such as relevance, quality of content, keyword usage, user experience, and more.
User Behavior Signals: User engagement, time spent on a page, and click-through rates are some of the factors Google considers.
Personalization: Google personalizes results for each user based on past search history, location, and other factors.
Mobile-Friendly Website: Google always values mobile-first design and ensures that pages pass its core vitals test.
Regular Algorithm Updates: Google releases new algorithm updates to provide the best possible user experience.

These components do update regularly with Google’s Core Algorithm updates. You can check for Core Updates and make enhancements based on Google’s recommendations.

Start With Your Keyword List

Last month we discussed how to choose optimal keywords for your business. With your list in hand, let’s dive into the basics of on-page SEO and how to use keywords to your advantage.

The first thing to remember with on-page SEO is that your keyword(s), placement, and content matter. Google looks for quality over quantity, so taking your time with the proper research will pay off in the end.

On-Page SEO Checklist

You need to strategically place your keyword-rich phrase(s) through each page of your site.

1. Within Content: Use relevant keywords within your content, and ensure not to use your keyword too much or too little.

SEO experts recommend a keyword density of about .5%. To determine keyword density, divide the frequency of keyword usage by the total word count on the page. This calculation helps in understanding how often a keyword appears in relation to the overall content.

Google ensures that it is providing the highest quality content to its users. The content on each of your pages should be engaging and informative, meeting the needs of your target audience.

2. Sub-Headings: Your page sub-headings such as h1, h2, etc., need to include your keyword phrase.

3. Titles and Meta Descriptions: The page title and meta description need to include your primary keyword phrases.

4. Image & Video Optimization: Use your keyword phrase as your file name for images and videos. After you add an image to a page, remember to add the phrase as your alt text.

5. Internal & External Linking: Link to at least one relevant link within your website and one to an outside source. This serves several purposes. One is to help Google bots scan and understand your website more efficiently. Another is to improve user experience and to keep users on your website longer.

6. Mobile Optimization: Ensure your website is mobile-friendly and passes the Google Core Vitals test in Google Search Console. Google will always serve a mobile-friendly website page over one that is not.

7. Page Speed: Optimize your website for page speed. You can check your website’s page speed on the Google Page Speed Insights page. If your website is running slow, ensure that you compress your images and videos. Also, make sure that your website’s hosting platform performs optimally for your website’s needs.

How Long Will it Take for My Keyword to Appear in Search Engines?

It takes Google three to six months to find your keywords and produce them in search results.

This process can also take longer based on several factors. Some of these include:

the age of your website
your backlink profile
your keyword combination
your competition
local vs. global targeting
consistency of SEO efforts
Google’s crawling frequency

When you consistently work on your website’s SEO efforts, your business wins. SEO can be a slow process, but the consistent flow of organic traffic in the end exceeds the effort.

If you would like 232 Creative to analyze the SEO health of your website, contact us today! We are digital marketing experts in Pittsburgh, PA, moving your business forward.

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Choosing the Right Keywords for SEO Success

232Creative — Tue, 31 Oct 2023 16:12:03 +0000

It takes a lot of careful thinking, planning, and strategizing to find the right keywords to move your SEO forward. Not only will this effort pay off, but it will also give you a deeper understanding of your audience.

Each keyword has an intent and purpose. It is your job to find which ones best represent your website and audience. Choosing the wrong keywords will not move you ahead, but will slow your progress.

Before researching keywords, think about the topics and purpose of your website’s content. This will help you to begin finding the keywords that matter to your business and audience.

Know Your Audience and Their Intent

Every business has a different goal and sales objective in mind. Finding the right audience for your service or product is essential for success. First, you need to ask who your target audience is, and what are they coming to your site to accomplish (intent).

Keywords serve four predefined intents:

Informational: this coincides with brand awareness and are keywords with informational intent. In other words, the user may have a question or problem they are looking to have answered.
Navigational: These keywords are intentional and gain the attention of people looking for very specific information or very specific pages.
Commercial: your audience does research and is now in the stage where they are seeking products or services.
Transactional: searchers in this phase have made a decision and are ready to move forward with purchasing or completing the conversion.

What are Keywords and How to Find them

A good SEO keyword has three main functions. It can generate traffic, convert users, and align with what users are searching. The keywords you choose, however, are only as valuable as the content you create around them.

The first step in keyword research is knowing your audience, and the goal for each page on your website. It is easiest to begin a list when conducting your research. List each potential keyword for further analysis.

Seed Keywords vs. Long-Tailed Keywords

Not every keyword is the same and knowing the differences will help you understand which keywords may perform better.

A seed keyword is typically one or two words in length and is a broad keyword match. These are harder to rank for because the competition for these words is high.

Long-tailed keywords are 4 or more words in length and are much niched down to the topic. Since these keywords are more niche, you typically see less traffic, but more conversions. This is because you are targeting the “right” traffic to your website.

Perform Topic Research

When you begin your research, start by including topics around what your business does. Topic research better helps you understand what is important to your audience.

First, make a list of any relevant topics in your industry. Next, begin a Google search by typing in the beginning of your research and allow Google to auto-populate suggestions. These are terms users may already be seeking. Make a note of all the suggestions that coincide with your business.

Another valuable resource is Google Trends. This free platform allows you to enter a keyword or phrase and then list trending topics that coincide with that search. Google Trends also provides you with a list of related keywords and related queries to use. Add any keyword or phrase of value to your keyword list.

You can also gain more valuable information by conducting competitor research. Often you see what is working and not working for competitors and can mimic that success yourself.

To conduct competitor keyword research, you can pull a gap report. This Keyword Gap Report displays your ranking keywords in comparison to your competition’s keywords and shows the gap between them.

While performing competitor research, pay attention to what keywords are working for them and which aren’t producing any traffic. This will help you know which keywords to avoid.

Keyword Mapping & Research

Now that you have a completed list of topics and keywords you would like to target, it’s time to dig deeper. Remember that not all keywords are created equal. A keyword that may do well with one business may flop with another.

There are many free Keyword generators available online for you to use with your research.

These tools serve several purposes including finding new and related keywords and analyzing search volume, intent, and cost per click. Ideally, you want to focus on keywords with a high search volume, low competition, and high cost per click.

Analyzing Keyword Metrics

The best way to begin analyzing your keywords is to create a spreadsheet. The goal here is to choose the best keywords and phrases to use within your website.

To evaluate each keyword, you want to type it into a keyword research tool and look at a few factors.

First, what is the search volume of that keyword The search volume is the average amount of searches a month for that given keyword. If the keyword isn’t being searched, it is not worth your efforts to rank for that keyword.
Pay attention to the keyword difficulty (KD), as some keywords are highly competitive to rank for. Instead of aiming to rank for difficult keywords, look for variations that may be easier to rank for.
As we spoke about earlier, ensure that the intent of the keyword aligns with the intent of your writing and website.

Implementing On-Page Optimization

On-page optimization is a critical part of the SEO process. This is where you match keywords to pages on your website. While optimizing for on-page SEO, ensure to include your keyword in these places:

Title tag: these are the headlines for each of your pages. When you utilize keywords in your title, you are telling Google what the page is about.
Meta description: a summary of what the page is about that appears in search engines below your page title. Make sure to include your keyword within the meta description.
Header tags: such as H1, H2, etc. should also distribute your keyword.
Content optimization: Google looks for content to be at least 300 words in length. While writing content, be sure to include your chosen keywords evenly throughout the text.
Image optimization: be sure to compress images to a lower resolution and include your keyword in the image name. Also, be sure to add alt text including your keyword to each image.

Need Help with Your SEO Keyword Strategy?

Selecting the right keywords for your website can be daunting. At 232 Creative, we know that SEO optimization for your website is crucial for success. You can trust our experts to find the keywords that matter to you and your business.

The post Choosing the Right Keywords for SEO Success appeared first on 232 Creative.

What is SEO and Why is SEO Important?

232Creative — Thu, 29 Jun 2023 20:44:45 +0000

If you have a website, chances are you have heard the term SEO. SEO stands for Search Engine Optimization. This is the process of optimizing your website to improve visibility and rankings among search engines. The goal of SEO is to gain new organic, unpaid search traffic using keywords, links, and numerous other factors associated with your webpage.

Search engines like Google, Bing, and Yahoo use complex algorithms to determine the ranking of websites in their search results. SEO involves various techniques and strategies aimed at aligning a website with these algorithms to improve its chances of ranking higher.

SEO encompasses both on-page and off-page optimization. On-page SEO involves optimizing elements within a website, such as content, tags, URLs, and internal linking. Off-page SEO focuses on factors external to the website that can impact its ranking and focuses on external resources.

On-Page SEO

On-page SEO refers to the optimization techniques and strategies that are implemented directly on a website. These strategies improve its visibility and ranking in search engine results. It involves optimizing various elements within the website to make it more relevant, user-friendly, and search engine-friendly.

Here are some key aspects of on-page SEO:

1. Keyword Research: Keyword research is the backbone of any SEO campaign. Successful research is founded on an understanding of the business, and its target audience. This includes finding the best keyword options based on the search volume potential for each.

2. Content Optimization: Creating high-quality, relevant, and engaging content is crucial for on-page SEO. This includes optimizing your web pages with target keywords, using them in headings, titles, meta descriptions, and throughout the website content. The copy should be well-structured, easy to read, and provide value to the users.

3. Title Tags and Meta Descriptions: These tags tell search engines how to display your website in a search. The title tag will show as the page title and the meta description is the text that describes the page. Optimizing title tags and meta descriptions with relevant keywords and compelling descriptions can improve click-through rates.

4. URL Structure: Google prefers short, easy-to-read URLs. Avoid long, complex URLs with unnecessary parameters.

5. Header Tags: Proper use of header tags (H1, H2, H3, etc.) helps search engines determine what the content is about. It’s essential to include relevant keywords in your headings and use them to break up content into logical sections.

6. Internal Linking: Linking relevant pages within your website helps search engines discover and index your content more effectively. It also provides a better user experience by guiding visitors to related or important pages on your site.

7. Image Optimization: This includes optimizing your images for the web. The optimization process includes compressing the image to the smallest size without losing quality to improve page speed. Optimization also includes adding your chosen keywords to the alt tag and file names of each image.

8. Mobile-Friendliness/Responsiveness: With the increasing use of mobile devices, it’s crucial to have a mobile-friendly website. A great user experience can positively impact your search rankings.

9. Page Speed: The loading speed of your website affects both user experience and search engine rankings. Optimizing images, minifying code, leveraging caching, utilizing a CDN, and choosing a reliable hosting provider can improve your website’s loading speed.

10. User Experience (UX): Search engines prioritize websites that provide a positive user experience. This includes factors like easy navigation, clear calls-to-action, intuitive design, and optimized website structure. This also can help keep your bounce rates down so users don’t leave because of poor UX.

Off-Page SEO

Off-page SEO is the optimization strategies and activities that take place outside of a website. This is done to improve its visibility, reputation, and authority in search engine rankings.

Here are some key aspects of off-page SEO:

1. Link Building: Link building is the process of acquiring high-quality backlinks from other websites to your own. Search engines view backlinks as a vote of confidence and authority. Earning relevant and authoritative backlinks can significantly improve your website’s rankings.

2. Social Media Marketing: Engaging and promoting your website through social media platforms can help increase brand visibility. This in turn helps drive traffic to your website. Sharing and promoting your content on social media channels can also lead to more backlinks and increased exposure.

3. Online Reputation Management: Reputation management is the process of watching any mentions of your brand online and responding appropriately. This often includes managing online reviews, feedback, and mentions of your brand or website. Building a positive online reputation can improve your website’s credibility and trustworthiness, which can indirectly impact search engine rankings.

4. Content Marketing: Creating valuable and shareable content can attract attention and generate natural backlinks from other websites. Producing high-quality content, such as blog posts, infographics, and videos can position your website as an authoritative source.

5. Local SEO: If you have a local business, optimizing your online presence for local search is essential. This includes optimizing your Google My Business profile, managing online directories and citations, and encouraging customer reviews. Local SEO strategies help improve your visibility in local search results and drive targeted traffic to your physical location.

Off-page SEO requires a strategic and ethical approach. Quality and relevance should always be prioritized over quantity when it comes to link-building and online mentions. Unethical practices, such as buying links or engaging in spammy tactics can harm your website’s reputation. As a worst-case scenario, you may receive Google penalties from search engines.

It also complements on-page SEO efforts by establishing your website’s authority, reputation, and visibility across the web. By implementing effective off-page optimization strategies, you can enhance your website’s overall online presence and improve its search engine rankings.

How 232 Creative Can Help

By having a strong understanding of your business and goals, 232 Creative can help you gain more organic traffic. This also helps improve your online presence and gain on your business goals such as generating leads and increasing sales.

Contact 232 Creative today for your SEO audit and see how we can help you reach your digital marketing goals.

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