Marketing services with high investment returns.

Just because your customers are nearby doesn’t mean they don’t use the web to find businesses like yours who have the products or services that they are looking for.

Think about it this way. What did you do last time you needed something local and didn’t already have a relationship with a provider?

Did you Google it? Did you read reviews? How many times have you done business with that provider since?

While the internet has had a significant impact on national and global commerce, business owners who are ignoring its power right at home are never going to get to that stage. Nearly everybody is online, and it doesn’t matter if they are searching worldwide or within two blocks. When they are looking for exactly what you provide, they should be finding you.

Those who are taking command of their presence online in Fairfax are earning more business and cultivating new relationships with the community every day. Business that should be going to you!

Each person that clicks on your competitor’s website instead of yours is costing you money.

Content Marketing

We could write a book about content marketing, but let’s save you the time and boil it down to a summary.

You can’t rank in Google if your content isn’t relevant to what people are searching. We are going to develop a content strategy that tells your visitors what they want to know, sends the right message, and establishes you as the local authority in your industry. We will build credibility, target your best audience, and give them a better experience on your website than your competitors can offer.

Search Engine Marketing SEM

If you want to run paid search ads, we have the tools and qualifications to manage SEM campaigns that maximize your budget to drive the highest quality traffic possible. We have the flexibility to manage marketing budgets of all sizes to generate positive returns on every dollar spent.

Top Reasons Why SEO is Vital for Business in the DMV

SEO (search engine optimization) is a set of guidelines (over 250 to be exact) that are followed by website owners to optimize their sites in the eyes of search engines. Essentially, effective SEO will help skyrocket your business’s website position on search engine result pages like Google. In today’s competitive Washington D.C. market, SEO is more imperative than ever before. Search engines such as Google and Bing serve millions of people per day, all of whom are seeking answers to their problems.

If you have an online store, blog, or any kind of website for that matter, SEO can help you grow your business toward your enterprising goals. Here are all the essential details you need to know about SEO in Washington, D.C..

Improve your Search Ranking. Most internet users make mental note of the rankings for the terms they search online. In their minds, your ranking is a vote of confidence. According to Google, most search engine users will click on the sites listed on the first result page, ignoring the rest. Thus, if you want to increase traffic to your website, and, in turn, make your business more successful, then it is important you find a way onto the first pages of search engines. Once you achieve that foundational goal, it is now time to focus your efforts toward the top three spots. The only way to succeed in this endeavor is by following proven SEO tips and tactics.

Marketing done right.

SEO is one of the most inexpensive forms of marketing that gives business owners high yields. It helps your company grow, enhances your online visibility, and serves as an excellent method of generating new sales. Like other marketing techniques, SEO is an investment that calls for hard work and maintenance to achieve the results you desire. However, with the aid of an experienced SEO company, you can rapidly jump to the top of local results.

Unmatched Customer Insight for targeting and retargeting

Quality SEO generates massive quantities of traffic to your website. Google Analytics tracks this behavior and generates valuable data and metrics that can give you insight into your customer base. This analysis includes information such as browsing patterns, language used, location, finding method, etc. This data can help you make educated decisions on which keywords to target in ranking.

Enhance and Excel Your Brand Image

SEO tactics such as creating valuable, high-quality content provide you with an essential benefit- improving the overall image and message of your brand. Putting effort forth in this approach does not mean you can neglect using strong social media marketing, as that is of equal importance for this reputation enhancement. Creating content that helps your target audience understand what your business offers is imperative to cementing your brand’s standing. Additionally, the higher you are ranked in local search results, the more people become aware of the kinds of services or products your business provides.

Attract new customers

In the internet age, very few clients search the yellow pages to find a product or service, even if they are seeking a local business. This evolution has led improving your search engine ranking to become a powerful approach to growing your customer base. Whether a potential patron is new to your area, or has lived their entire life in that location, they will use search engines to find the goods and services they need. To rank high in search results, you need to employ strong DC SEO tactics.

Target the right customers

One of the primary shortcomings of any marketing campaign is the failure of your message in reaching the individuals who are most likely to act on it. SEO helps secure that the relevant people find your online business. After all, SEO’s primary goal is to put your online business in front of those who are likely to become customers.

Complement your other marketing methods

SEO compliments other marketing techniques you may already be utilizing. If you are running a television advertisement or a social media campaign, SEO makes it easier for customers motivated to act by your ads to find your website and gather any other information they may need to make an informed purchase.

Increase your websites value

Relevance and keyword content are vital components of strong SEO. Google is placing more emphasis than ever before on the uniqueness and value your content can give to your target audience. Any SEO campaign must involve creating content that will benefit and relate to your readers.

Remain ahead of the competition

Competition in almost all industries is more fierce than ever before. Every year sees the creation of thousands of new sites and the stabilization of more businesses into formidable enterprises. In response, the search visibility of many sites is actively plummeting. New trends, such as long-standing blue-chip brands and Knowledge Graph taking over search engine result pages, have increased in prevalence. In turn, businesses must now look for smaller target niches in which they can achieve relevant visibility. One of the easiest means of obtaining this niche prominence is through local optimization.

Here are some valuable SEO tips for business owners in the DC Metropolitan area

Although it’s best to let a local expert handle your websites SEO, every business owner should have a general idea of what’s needed in a successful campaign. Read on to make sure your website is addressing the most important factors that aid in search engine visibility.

Content is king in the SEO industry. Gone are the days when short articles would rank higher. Both Google’s algorithms and web users love to consume in-depth and information-rich content. Create detailed, informative, and comprehensive posts that are robust in both content and keyword amount. According to a recent Searchmetrics report, Google now displays a preference for long, well-researched content more than ever before. The study indicated that the average content length of the first 30 search results was 1,140 words. The number was even higher for the first ten results, with an average word count of 1,285. Thus, when writing content, strive to cover every aspect of your topic and ensure the total word count is preferably 2,000+ words.

Ensure your website is mobile-friendly

For your page to be relevant and your search rankings to improve, your site must be mobile responsive.Responsive websites provide the user with the same experience regardless of the device used to access them. To present users with the best possible web experience, Google has developed a preference for Accelerated Mobile Pages (AMP) in its search results. To rank high in 2018, ensure your website is mobile-friendly.

Optimize your images and videos for speed performance

Adding images and videos to your page enhances the user experience. For SEO purposes, ensure that you scale your images correctly. The larger the photo or video, the longer your page will take to load. Further, it is important that you remember to make your targeted keyword the alt text and create a title that is unique and applicable to the image or video. Alt tags should describe what is shown in the picture or video. Properly optimizing your photos and videos can help your website rank higher for the relevant keyword.

Perform a routine competitor analysis

To beat the competition, you need to know who they are. Familiarity with who is ranking in your industry is imperative. Spy on every move your competitor makes by tracking their search ranking, along with any other actions they take to boost their business. Step one of this critical process is to find out what keywords your competitors are targeting by using tools such as SEMrush or Ahrefs. Subsequently, you must analyze their site optimization, keyword density, meta information, internal linking, web design, Google My Business Page, and social media presence.

Focus on creating unique content

Keyword focus is vital to successful SEO. To get the most from your campaign, carry out keyword research and be confident your company can convert for targeted terms. Use SEMrush to analyze what your competitors are targeting, or Google’s Adwords Keyword Planner to see search volumes. It is imperative that you understand the different types of keywords and determine which work best for you. The three most prominent keyword types are:

• Transactional Keywords: Words that target potential customers. Examples include adjectives such as top and best. These keywords are typically long-tail.
• Informational keywords: Words that allow users to learn more about a topic. Ex: “SEO Company.”
• Location Based Keywords: Words useful to users searching for a local business or physical location.

To assess the relevance of a particular query, Google looks at LSI (Latent Semantic Indexing) keywords. LSI notes patterns within the concepts, topics, or terms of an individual page. Therefore, when creating long-form content, consider naturally including LSI keywords. Your SEO goal should be to rank all synonyms and related queries.

Analyze the density of keywords on your competitors websites

Keyword density was formerly the only way for Google to determine the relevancy of a particular web page. That was how the concept of keyword stuffing was invented. This previously successful approach no longer works. In 2013, Google launched the Panda algorithm with the goal of improving search relevancy. The implementation of Google Hummingbird two years later further promoted this goal. Google now penalizes keyword stuffing; this is not something you want happening to your site. To determine the proper density of main and LSI keywords for your content, analyze top-ranking competitor sites. Most do not exceed a keyword density of 2-3%.

Have a Google My Business Page

Formerly known as Google Place, Google My Business is a unified interface that enables Google to have an easier time finding your business. To optimize your local rankings, take the time needed to set up this account. The process involves providing essential business information, including (but not limited to) your address, phone number, category, and opening/closing times.

Utilize proper on-page optimization techniques

On-page optimization is crucial to the local optimization of your site. Make sure that your title tag and meta description both contain the primary keyword, city, and state of your business. Equally important is ensuring that your landing and sales pages contain unique and relevant content.

Critical SEO Mistakes That Could Harm Your Online Business

SEO is the most effective tool for online business retention and acquisition. According to a recent study, roughly fifty percent of online buyers begin their shopping experience through a search engine. Therefore, it is essential that you optimize your online business to garner a constant targeted traffic flow. To meet short-term goals, some online business owners attempt to game the system through black hat SEO or cramming their websites with an overabundance of keywords. Google penalizes companies that engage in these illegitimate tactics. In order to avoid this punishment, it is important to understand the common mistakes that may be harming your online business.

Not having reviews online

If your e-commerce does not contain any third-party reviews, you are missing out on significant volumes of traffic. According to a recent study, roughly 75 percent of online shoppers read reviews before making a purchase decision. Thus, the inclusion of ready-to-read reviews on your web page is vital. Reviews are also a fantastic way to obtain new content about your products. If well written, they can help improve your site’s ranking.

Having too many pages

Online businesses stocking a plethora of products tend to have too many pages on their sites. This overabundance makes writing unique content for each individual page an immensely difficult task. With too many pages comes a tendency for plagiarism. Thus, it is imperative that you make an effort to minimize the number of pages on your e-commerce site.

Slow Page Loading Speed

One of the paramount characteristics that Google’s algorithms use to rank websites is page loading speed. Load time impacts not only your search engine positioning but also your bottom line. A slow loading speed can be caused by weak hosting and servers, as well as large image and video files.

We have only touched the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the intricacies of SEO in the DC/Maryland/Virgina area. To get the most out of your optimization campaign, it is important you hire an SEO Agency with a vast background of success. Look no further than Direction Inc. We have the state-of-the-art resources and experienced staff needed to implement a top-tier SEO campaign. The size of your industry is no matter. With our renowned services and expert guidance, you will be ranking within your niche in no time. Although you may be cautious about investing in SEO, this cost will be nothing in the face of the exponential amount of profit our services will make you. Businesses that fail to adopt SEO will be losing out a massive chunk of their potential customer base. With our help, you will not have to worry about this unnecessary loss.