Did you know there are all sorts of search tools to help you return more specific Google search results? We often get so used to relying on Google’s basic search to find information that we forget Google has implemented a wide range of advance search options. These advance search options help us easily find exactly what we need when we need it. Check out the following ways to better refine search results using Google’s Advance Search page.

• (“”) Phrase Search – Search for an exact phrase.  Example: “library card”
• (+) Overlay Search – Includes search results with the exact word. Example: superman movie +reeve
• (-) Negative Search – Excludes the word from a search.  Example: green -environmental
• (~) Synonym Search – Finds words related to that word. Example:  ~ape, or ~ape -gorilla
• (OR) Option Search – Search one of the two things. Example: “2014 Olympics,” OR “2014 World Cup”
• (..) Number Range – Searches for something in a number range. Example: Camera $50..$100
• (*) wildcard search. Example: “Three * Mice” Three * Mice -blind” (** for two words)
• (site:) Searches a specific domain. Example: site:www.becauseitamusesme.com
• (link:) Searches within hyperlinks for a search term
• (intitle:) Searches for a term in the title of a document
• (inurl:) Searches for a term within a URL. Example: inurl:damonmcneil
• (inanchor:) Searches within anchor text.
• (related:) Finds things that are related. Example: related:google.com
• (cache:) Shows the cached version of a website from when it was cached on your computer. Example: cache:www.google.com
• (define:) Defines a term.
• (phonebook:) Find info about a phone number. Example: phonebook:555-555-5555
• (filetype:) Search for a specific file type. Example: recipes filetype:ppt

Keep in mind that not only do these advanced search options help you with your search, but they can also help you with your internet marketing strategy. For more information about getting help with your online marketing campaign, contact OrangeSoda today.

The post The Skinny on Advance Google Search appeared first on OrangeSoda.

No one likes a failing grade, but failing at SEO can be super easy. With all of the changes top search engines make to their algorithms, staying at the top of the SEO class requires a lot of attention to detail and a lot of homework. If you are planning on engaging in a stellar SEO campaign, make sure you study up, and avoid these common SEO pitfalls.

Don’t get caught up in old SEO trends

The moment you hear the words “keyword stuffing,” “invisible text,” or “buying irrelevant links,” you should run away screaming. These are all tactics that may have worked to game the search engine system at one time, but will surely end in banishment from search engines now. When it comes to old SEO trends, just say no.

Don’t be clueless to search engine algorithm updates

Did you know Google alone makes 500-600 updates to their algorithms a year? Thankfully, only a few of these updates affect search in a major way each year. To stay ahead of the game, follow a popular search engine blog, and/or consult with your SEO expert when Google announces any of these updates. Then, make sure all of your SEO practices still fall in line with Google’s search rules.

Don’t duplicate content

The most obvious way of duplicating content is intentionally plagiarizing content from another website. Doing this will not only earn you an “F” from search engines, but possibly expulsion. To avoid this pitfall, hire a content writer to add unique and fresh value to your website. Keep in mind, there are also ways you can unintentionally duplicate content. That’s why it’s important to hire an SEO professional from OrangeSoda to help you. They will look at your content, code, and webmaster settings to make sure you are the poster child for top search engine listings.

The post Avoid Failing at SEO appeared first on OrangeSoda.

Content Marketing—As a website owner, you are probably interested in how to get noticed by top search engines. Of course there are many different strategies involved in building a successful online marketing campaign, but all of these strategies should be built around one solid idea. What’s that idea? Drum roll, please—all strategies should focus on providing valuable, timely information to internet users. This is becoming more and more important because top search engines reward websites that produce relevant and valuable content. Here are 5 ways to provide valuable information to your customers.

1. Infographics

One of the main reasons people search the Internet is to find information. If you are an industry expert, consider organizing useful information into a well-organized infographic. Users will reward you with traffic, links, and shares.

2. Blog posts

Another great way to get useful information out in the cyber world is to consistently write informative blog posts. Consider giving tips, providing lists, and offering a new viewpoint on a popular topic.

3. Videos

Videos can be fun, interesting, and informative. When sharing a video, make sure it’s full of content that your followers want to watch and share.

4. Free eBooks

Take the time to write an e-book and offer it for free on your website. To save time, you can even compile related posts from your blog into a convenient eBook format. Not only will this bring you more traffic, but it will make you a trusted source for expert industry information.

5. Free tools

Videos, books, and infographics are not the only ways to offer value to a customer. Consider offering free tools that help out your followers. For example, think of how awesome it is to have access to free blog templates, mortgage calculators, infographic templates, and more. If you can provide a successful free tool, internet users will drop by your site often.

The post Increase Traffic with a Solid Content Marketing Strategy appeared first on OrangeSoda.

Last week, Google launched an awesome new analytics tool. Based on pulling data from 36,000 of Google’s largest advertisers, Google is now able to provide quality insights about the buying patterns of consumers in your target industry.

According to an article on Marketing Land, Google uses data from both e-commerce and multichannel funnels in order to create the benchmark data for this tool. Based on this benchmark information, Google displays how long it takes consumers to buy and how they move towards their purchase.

This tool is a great way to understand the purchase patterns of your customers before you start throwing money at an experimental marketing campaign. Here are just a few of the insights you will glean from using this tool:

• Learn how purchase patterns differ from industry to industry
• Compare data across 11 of the top industries
• Gain quality insight about your paid search campaigns
• Understand the correlation between the time it takes to make a purchase and the purchase value
• Compare your data with the industry benchmark data provided
• Understand how different channels influence conversions

If you’re not sold yet, check out the tool for yourself.

The post Welcome to “The Customer Journey to Online Purchase” appeared first on OrangeSoda.

If you have any lofty notions of minimizing your social media contacts in order to lead a more Zen life, you may want to stop by Facebook just one more time and re-evaluate your decision. You may be caught off guard by how Facebook is continually improving their game, and find yourself happily buried in your phone once again. The most recent update to Facebook’s mobile software is hip and addicting and improves smart phone chatting.

Facebook Chat Heads is a new tool that allows you to browse Facebook and chat at the same time. Instead of switching between your chat screen and your other pages, Facebook now presents a little circular profile picture of the person you are chatting with. As soon as you receive a new chat, a small red number will appear on the top and left side of the circular chat head. When you are ready to reply, simply click on the chat head and your chat will open.

If you are not ready to chat, you can also move the chat head around and drag them wherever you want. Additionally, Facebook developers recognize that sometimes you want to just browse Facebook and not worry about chatting. If this is the case, all you have to do is drag the chat head down to close.

Doesn’t it just seem like Facebook gets cooler each day? Take some time today to visit Facebook on your mobile app and learn more about these chat heads.

The post Introducing Facebook Chat Heads appeared first on OrangeSoda.

With a huge emphasis on relevancy and quality in the world of online marketing, it’s no surprise that Google takes measures to reward credible authors. In fact, Google has its own system called Author Rank that helps cut down on spam and helps Internet users find the most relevant information quickly. In order to increase your credibility as an online entrepreneur, all you have to do is follow a few simple steps to start building your Author Rank.

To sign up for Author Rank, follow these simple steps.

1. Sign into your Google+ profile page.
2. Once you are in your Google+ profile page, click on the “about” tab, and locate the “links” section.
3. At the bottom of the “links” section, click “edit.”
4. Once you have clicked “edit,” add the name of the site and the URL where you contribute content. This can be your personal blog, your business blog, or any other website.
5. Save your information.

Once you have registered with Author Rank, Google will start weighing your content and help you build a stronger reputation online. Keep in mind that registering with Author Rank is only the first step to building a solid reputation. However, if you consistently publish quality content, you’ll be well on your way to climbing up in those search results.

The post Improve Your Online Credibility With Google Author Rank appeared first on OrangeSoda.

When JCPenney came out with their February 2012 catalog, our marketing department spent a few hours combing through their new brand and approach. We were so impressed that we kept the catalog for a long time (though I couldn’t find it this morning). At the time, I thought their new approach was brilliant.

The Psychology of Sales

The premise seemed simple enough: how can you make the shopping experience easier? Get rid of coupons and sales and just have good prices all the time. People love deals, but it’s really a mental hack. Every sale and discount has to be subsidized by higher prices elsewhere, so the net result is that as a group, consumers don’t actually save any money. In my mind, sales are a lot like gambling: when people win, it creates the illusion that they’re coming out on top. Of course, there are a couple billion dollar casino hotels that prove their patrons are, in fact, not winning, but losing on average.

The second prong to their attack was to revamp the sales experience to revolve around designers. In-store boutiques gave stores the great local boutique feeling and an environment where shoppers could get to know the collections of individual designers.

So what went wrong? The store looked great, the brand creatives were beautiful, and the new direction was refreshing and exciting.

A Simple Rebrand Gone Wrong

At the end of the day, JCPenney didn’t understand what motivated their consumer. If you started from the premise that people want shopping to be simple, it’s easy to see how JCPenney arrived at their rebrand. But the truth is that their consumers don’t want simple, they want games. In March, NPR’s Planet Money ran a story comparing JCPenney’s sales to drugs. For their loyal customers, it was about finding the right deals at the right time, so they could all feel like they were beating the system. JCPenney customers don’t want a simple shopping experience, they want the casinos; they want the sales game. As one customer in Planet Money’s story said: “I come home and I cry over it, and my husband’s looking at me, like, ‘What’s wrong?’ I said, ‘Penneys doesn’t have sales anymore. I need my store back!’ ”

It doesn’t matter that the prices were in actuality better, it doesn’t matter that the experience was simpler, or that they were pulling people in with a boutique experience. In retrospect, JCPenney’s rebrand wasn’t so much a refresh as a pivot: an effort to change customer groups and focus on younger consumers while moving away from the deal-hunting crowd. Loyal customers were alienated and the younger consumers JCPenney hoped to attract still viewed the store as a low-end, non-hip store.

Car companies facing similar challenges to JCPenney have been solving these kinds of problems for years by launching new brands. Honda launched Acura, Toyota started Lexus and Scion. Car companies have known for a long time that trying to change your brand is a lot tougher than just starting a new one (Cadillac got lucky).

If JCPenney had followed the lead of car companies, they would have started a new brand and store to focus on low-prices in a boutique environment. At the end of the day, the pivot they tried to pull was too much too fast.

The post JCPenney’s Failure: Understanding What Motivates Their Customers appeared first on OrangeSoda.

This morning (April 29th), Google rolled out ‘Google Now’ for iOS! Google Now is a notification card system integrated into the Google Search app for iOS, available for the iPad and iPhone.

The Google Search app is a Google, Inc. app that allows you to easily search from mobile devices. As its integrated cohort, Google Now can notify you of pertinent information at just the right time. I consider it a precursor to the Google Glass technology, which is very soon coming. Google Now will notify you conveniently of things that matter in the moment: local weather, traffic and public transit commute times, flight status, sports, calendar notifications, translations, currency exchange rates, time zone differences, and more are sure to come. See the introduction video here.

To Switch or Not to Switch

For those reluctant to switch to an iDevice, this update has been long awaited because the iDevices lacked full integration with all Google’s latest technologies (maps, search, etc). For example, I stayed with Android for a long time because it usually had the latest and greatest software and hardware, but the push to both Android and iOS platforms is slowly becoming more equal. This shows us that Google is ‘less evil’ by being no respecter of platform.

Google Maps

This convenience of information is awesome because you no longer have to go to Google; Google comes to you!

Here is a critical takeaway for local businesses: Since Google is taking businesses’ information to people, you need to make sure your information online is accurate. It is especially critical that your Google Maps information is detailed and accurate.

There are also many online directories that keep your local business information. If there is misinformation on the web, effort should be taken to correct this information as quickly as possible. If you don’t know how to do this, we can help.

Customer Information

Along with getting accurate information in a timely manner, Google also likes statistical data.

Google is all about information. Just like with Google Analytics, I imagine that in the future they will be able to provide you demographic data for your online visitors and your in-store visits as well!

Think about it; if you use Google, they know an awful lot about you and your customers. With GPS in your phone, they know where you go and what you like. If you frequent a place, they are starting to give you commute time to your favorite places, directions for your recent local searches, and potential offers and promotions for businesses you already like.

The future of search goes beyond search. It is ‘discovered and delivered’ at your convenience. Are you ready for it?

The post The Skinny on Google Now for iOS appeared first on OrangeSoda.

It’s no secret that one of the best ways to boost your ranking in the search results is to attract quality links. There are a number of different ways to do this, including generating super interesting content, creating a fun infographic, and hiring OrangeSoda, to name a few. Another great way to generate a quality link is to provide a popular blog with an awesome guest post. Of course, you can’t just write anything and expect them to publish it. You want to provide unique, interesting content they are dying to post. Here are some ways to do just that.

Thoroughly Read Potential Blogs

Remember, the primary reason you are submitting a guest post is not to get a link but to provide some meaningful insight the blog owner wants to publish. This means you need to be familiar with the type of content they publish.

Spend Time on Your Proposal

If you write a generic 1-2 line proposal e-mail, rest assured your e-mail will end up in the trash. Put a good deal of time and energy into personalizing the e-mail.

Use Proper Grammar

Don’t know the difference between its and it’s? Then ask someone who does. Anyone who is serious about blogging will trash any e-mail with grammatical errors.

Follow Up

If you don’t hear back right away, don’t be afraid to follow up. If you really are providing awesome content, then drawing attention to yourself isn’t a bad thing.

Promote your post

Once your blog post has been accepted, take the time to promote it. Post it to your social media sites, tell your friends about it, and encourage people to comment. After all, the more traffic your post receives, the more people learn about your site.

The post Guest Post: Blog Promotion Strategies appeared first on OrangeSoda.

Have you ever been the one in the meeting wondering what the heck the acronym everyone keeps saying actually means? Don’t worry; you’re probably not alone. In the world of online marketing, it’s easy to get lost in a sea of abbreviations and acronyms. Here is a short glossary of important online marketing terms, so you’ll be ready to explain the acronym to your clueless neighbor in the next meeting.

SEM (Search Engine Marketing)

A type of internet marketing that revolves around optimizing websites for search engines like Google, Bing, and Yahoo!.

SEO (Search Engine Optimization)

Using specific online marketing strategies to make your website more visible in the free/organic listings section of search engines.

PPC (Pay Per Click)

A type of online advertising where the marketer pays the advertiser (search engine) a designated amount for consumer clicks.

CPC (Cost Per Click)

Another fancy name for pay per click.

CTR (Click through Rate)

A metric that tells you how many users are clicking on a specific link.

DA (Domain Authority)

A metric that tells you how powerful a site is based on size, age, and popularity.

PR (PageRank)

A Google metric that tells you how influential a website is. PageRank scores range from 1-10.

ROAS (Return on Advertising Spending)

Revenue divided by the cost of the ad.

ROI (Return on Investment)

A metric used to measure cost and efficacy of your advertising campaign.

The post Must-Know Online Marketing Terms appeared first on OrangeSoda.