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There is a misperception out there that building a new website will automatically draw in more leads. The first step, before you get more leads, is getting your website to appear at the top of the organic search results. Although the term is "organic results," it's not as simple as planting a seeding and walking away. Just like a plant, you have to do things to your website make sure it grows and stays strong. 

That means that the websites you see at the top of the  search engine results page (SERP) didn't show up by accident. They most likely spent time and energy figuring out what they can do to be the most relevant search result for their potential visitors. So what do you need to do to get up there at the top of the SERP?

Before we dive headlong into the differences between paid and organic search, it's critical that you understand a bigger picture first. Paid and organic search are both parts of a much larger umbrella in the world of sales and client acquisition – they're both forms of inbound marketing. And if you're trying to use your website to drive more visitors who could potentially become your customer/client/patient, then inbound marketing is something you need to know about.

Every organization, regardless of industry, should optimize the digital content that they release. If you fail to optimize the content you put out, you're losing valuable members of your audience before they've even had a chance to find you. It's essential that you make your content accessible to as many people as possible; and that's only achievable through content optimization. 

But what is content optimization? The short answer to this question is that it's a process designed to ensure that content is written in a certain way. This "certain way" essentially boils down to content being valuable and readable – it should be written in a way that allows it to reach the largest possible target audience.

Pillar pages are not a particularly new idea, but they've recently gotten more attention. Do you understand why pillar pages are a big deal today and how to use them to improve your organic ranking in Google results? 

Countless members of senior management across companies both large and small, find themselves asking the same question: why do we need to hire a marketing agency when we have dedicated marketing staff?

Whether you have a big marketing budget or a small one, it's always good to hear the word "free."  But are free marketing services really and truly free? Or are they stripped of most of their features so you pretty much have to upgrade? Those are the questions that run through a marketer's mind because, well, we've all been there. 

But, free online marketing tools really exist and they're pretty useful. Fair warning: Since they're not made by a charity there are additional things you can add on and pay for. But the basic tool is very functional for certain purposes, free, and you could stay on the free version for as long as you'd like. There are many options out there, but there are three free marketing tools that we recommend to get you started.

Did you know that 66% of ALL Americans use Facebook? Not only are they using it, but they're using it a lot. The average American spends 58 minutes per day on Facebook. From a marketing standpoint, Facebook is a goldmine. It's filled to the brim with active users (a.k.a your future customers), and those users are engaged. To add a cherry on top, Facebook has a robust ad campaign creation tool that lets you get hyper-granular and personalized with your marketing campaigns.

Unfortunately, Facebook isn't only saturated in users; it's also filled with your competitors. In fact, over 93% of marketers use Facebook as part of their daily social media marketing strategy, including both paid and organic posts. So, finding a way to reach your prospects in all of that digital noise can be tough.

It's no secret that using video is a critical component in just about every business' marketing strategy. With viewers retaining 95% of a video's message compared to 10% retention if they read the same message in text, it's absolutely the way to go. Great! So now what? How do you get good videos, that people will watch without literally breaking the bank?

While there is a time and a place for highly produced videos, it's not always necessary.  Some messages can be delivered from your desk or with attractive stock video footage, dramatically reducing the cost of production.

Remember back in the earlier days of SEO when the main goal was to fill a webpage with a keyword or two that you wanted to rank for in search results? Sometimes it would even seemed a little ridiculous when you were reading "SEO'd" content because you'd read the same key phrase over and over in a few paragraphs just stuck in the content where it didn't really belong. Many marketers know this practice as "keyword stuffing."

Whether you have some marketing budget left to spend before the end of 2017 or you're planning your marketing strategy for 2018, we have six recommendations on the best ways to invest your marketing dollars and your time. Some of these ideas include taking advantage of new marketing tools and others are a response to changes in the technologies we use everyday. Find out which may be best for you.