“Doing” social media is not enough. We need to know what we want to achieve and whether we are getting there. That’s where social media measurement comes into play. Be sure your marketing strategy includes social media measurements that matter.

Search Engine Optimization is nuanced, with best practices being influenced by your industry and your target customers. However, there are best practices every brand should follow. Common SEO mistakes that I see: slow site speed, content not optimized for keywords, lack of metadata, and no attention to the mobile experience.

The number of web searches that are done by voice continues to rise. Optimizing your website for these types of searches isn’t hard.

Here are the factors to consider as you optimize your website for the growing trend of voice search.

You spend a lot of time composing email marketing. It’s painful when people unsubscribe and even more so when they flag your messages as spam. If that happens too often, you may not be able to send any messages to anyone. That would kill your email marketing strategy.

Here are five easy-to-do items to keep your website search engine optimization (SEO) on track.

You work hard to create compelling content but your analytics show that your site traffic isn’t delivering on your expectations. You aren’t alone. Few sites attract visitors without a visibility strategy. You need to promote your content to attract an audience.

Social media can be a grind. The options are always changing and new content is always needed. The effort can help you reach and exceed business goals, so stick with it.

A competitive analysis is the systematic process of understanding who the competition is and what they’re doing. You look at what is going well and what’s not working. Digging into what’s happening will help you develop an effective digital marketing strategy.

When you’re selecting images for your website, social posts and other online efforts, you want to maintain a look and feel that’s true to your brand. Take time to define the factors that make a visual “on brand” and use only those that fit.

First impressions are critical to your success in building relationships. In seven seconds you form an impression – good or bad. It’s human nature to maintain our initial impressions of people and we often find it extremely challenging to change our perceptions. How to Use LinkedIn for Business and Personal Growth. With this in mind, consider your LinkedIn profile and business page. Are you setting yourself up for the best first impression? Here’s how to make the best impression on LinkedIn.

The content you provide in your marketing isn’t for you. It’s for the people who you want to market to and to engage with. Never forget this critical element.

Keep in mind that the people you want to reach have different needs at different times. Align your strategy to ensure you are there for them with what they need, when they need it.

Google now processes around 63,000 Google searches per second. That's 3.8 million per minute and 228 million per hour. When people search for the product or service you offer will they find you?

The unquestioning use of social media is a thing of the past. Facebook and other platforms have had issues with privacy, fake accounts and other trust-breaking events. We are all more skeptical.

About 40 percent of online adults in the US say they use Instagram. It is most popular with users from their mid 20s to early 30s.  Businesses can engage on Instagram with the right digital marketing approach.

I’m doing a lot of reading and thinking about where social media marketing is headed. I offer these thoughts for your consideration.

Here’s a question to ask to keep your digital marketing on track: does my target audience care? Am I talking about what I care about, rather than what they care about? If the former, you need a course correction.

As a marketer, you nurture the voice of your brand. Brands with a consistent voice that resonates with the target audience will achieve the most success.

Sadly, the majority of brands don’t have a clear and consistent voice. Messages conflict. Themes are mixed. You lose the audience because they can’t figure you out.

Here are some things to consider as you tune your brand voice to find the right pitch, tone, and volume to be heard.

I recently saw a stat that 60-70 percent of business content sits unused. It gets used somewhere once and then sits lonely and untapped. Content gets created and not used. That is sad! Creating content is a lot of work. You want to make sure you get lots of mileage from every piece you create.

Wondering if your audience will read your content is a valid concern. Publishing content does not ensure that it will be read, let alone reach new audiences. You can’t expect everyone in your audience to view and share all the content you produce. However, there are things you can do to increase the chances that your content will be seen.

Social media can help you connect with your customers. This makes social media a powerful lead generation tool for businesses. There are two main ways that you can draw people into your sales funnel.