Monday, December 2, 2013

Google Hummingbird Update

It is not a secret that Google updates the search algorithm very often. Recently a major update was introduced - the "Hummingbird Update". This change was designed to make the search results respond to longer, more complex search phrases and questions that people enter through their smartphones and mobile devices.
Read the full article on "Google Hummingbird Update" to learn how this change affects your SEO results.

Wednesday, June 5, 2013

Continuing Education With Proceed Innovative LLC

Here at Proceed Innovative, we believe in the idea of continuing education within the office. Consistent learning helps any business grow and thrive. This is why we have again, teamed up with Northwoods Software to bring that education to you and your company.

On June 19, 2013, we are providing a seminar with Northwoods Software to bring you a presentation on Planning Your Website Redesign.


The workshop will be held on Wednesday, June 19th from 12 pm until 3:00 pm, at the Schaumburg Corporate Center - 1501 E. Woodfield Road.

By attending this event, viewers will be able to better understand the importance of website redesign, conversion-driving processes as well as strategy planning.
Interested participants will have the opportunity to learn about:

  •     Why the top websites on the planet are wildly successful                     
  • ·      How to create a step-by-step redesign strategy
  • ·      How to balance time, budget and resources
  • ·      What your users want
  • ·      The secrets of SEO
  • ·      What complimentary online tools are available
  • ·      How to throw social media in the mix
  • ·      How to increase your visits, leads and customers ratio
  • ·      Skills & roles needed for success










Who should attend:

            Business owners, directors, managers
            Marketing directors and marketing teams
            Organizations considering website updates or a redesign

According to the presenter, Northwood’s President Patrick Bieser, “This workshop provides website and digital marketing best-practices that we have developed through our work with major companies such as Briggs & Stratton, ABB, and Snap-On Tools. Mid-sized firms cannot succeed on name and brand recognition alone – they must have a strong and effective website, using the right online tools and strategy. Your website needs to be your best salesperson.”

The seminar will include a presentation followed by a question and answer session. Registration is at http://learnatnorthwoods.com/Chicago.

About Proceed Innovative LLC - Founded in 1996 as Meandaur Inc., Proceed Innovative is a pioneer in the development, execution and analysis of results-driven Internet marketing campaigns. A full-service interactive agency, Proceed Innovative helps businesses extend brand awareness and drive sales through a digital marketing strategy, search engine marketing, pay-per-click services, online media buys, creative design & user experience, technology services and web analytics consulting. Proceed Innovative is located in Schaumburg, Illinois, and serves clients worldwide.





Thursday, March 14, 2013

How to Increase Marketing Success - Three reasons competitor market research should be part of your marketing strategy

Welcome Victoria Cook as a marketing contributor to our blog.  Please enjoy.

Have you worried that an open networking event has wasted your time because several of your competitors attended?  You can confidently say the event was worthwhile if you know what sets YOU apart from the rest. I’m not talking about your fabulous customer service (isn’t that expected anyway?) or the greatness of  your specific product or service rather, what is it that makes YOU different, special, or the best option for a specific clientele. 

This information is why conducting competitor market research is an essential part of an effective marketing program. Not only is it a great way to assess and size up the competition, but more importantly, market intelligence helps you understand the expectations of the people you are trying to attract - - your BEST clients.

Here are three ways competitor market research will help you stand out in the crowd:

1. Identify the Real Competition

When taking a broader look at your competitive analysis, it is important to ask yourself, “Against whom am I really competing?”

Is your competition someone who offers the exact same services as you or is it someone who offers a different type of solution? Clients have a finite amount of money to spend. They may or may not have decided to spend their hard-earned dollars on what you have to sell.
For example, if you own a movie theater, you are not only competing against other theaters, but also with your ideal client’s other family commitments (like skating lessons, baseball, art classes, etc.)

Knowing what it is you are competing against and the experience your clients look for will help you form an effective and client attracting marketing message.

2. Leverage Industry Trends

Understanding industry changes and trends will allow you make more effective business decisions. It is also a way of positioning yourself as an industry expert able to better meet the needs of your clients.

Look to the thought leaders in your industry to see what they are talking about. Follow the sales in your specific category. If you have a product, you want to know if sales in this market are increasing or decreasing. If you offer a service, say to dentists, look for dentist organizations. Then investigate the number of people being trained and working in that field: is the number increasing or decreasing? This is a great way to identify trends vs. only looking at the things right in front of us.  For example, just because the dental office in town went out of business does not indicate the dental industry as a whole is declining.

Following the industry trends and changes will keep you up-to-date on the latest information and enable you to share that information with your market and be seen as an industry leader.

3. Find New Opportunity in the Market Place

Reviewing the various markets your competitors serve is a great way to discover opportunities in your market place.

Look for the hungry, underserved market that would react best to your brand. In Russ Fradin’s article “How to Identify and Reach Underserved Markets” (http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/207244) he states, “When you think about your audience based on things like interests, ethnicities or religions, rather than just demographics, you open up a much broader range of opportunities... where your message can stand out.” It also offers the chance to become an expert in this specific market. When you understand the market’s key challenges, secret desires, fears, and wants, speaking to it about the solutions you bring is easier and more effective.

One of my clients writes articles, newsletters, and marketing copy for businesses. She has found an underserved market she’s passionate about helping in those business owners for whom English is a second language. This sets her apart from some of her competition and shows her market she understands their specific challenges and has a solution to their unique problem.
Uncovering underserved markets provides opportunities businesses can capitalize upon without always needing to compete.







About the Author:
A popular author, speaker and internationally-recognized Marketing Coach, Victoria Cook is an expert on guilt-free success. She is the director of The Center for Guilt-Free Success, and an official instructor for the DIY Marketing Center. Women entrepreneurs can find like-minded business owners, group classes, and individual coaching programs at CenterForGuiltFreeSuccess.com. Victoria also offers articles, resources, and other goal-setting and marketing tools on her website.

Thursday, February 21, 2013

Introducing the Entrepreneurial Operating System (EOS)

Here at Proceed Innovative we have made some changes in the past couple of years; we have grown, expanded, revised, and learned how to create a working environment that thrives.  As a marketing company we want to make sure the work we are doing is profiting our company while staying up to date on the latest business techniques.  This is why we decided to implement the idea of the Entrepreneurial Operating System (EOS) to our office.  This system is useful for any entrepreneur that feels their company needs to combine business, employees and clients into a stronger group while reenergizing their business. This system should be easy to follow by providing growth and unity while alleviating stress to all tiers of employees. This is our beginning of the EOS system and we want to let you all know how it can help you too.

The 6 Steps to Know about EOS


Below is a brief description of the six steps of EOS.  This is just an introduction to the system, as you will be learning along with us. 

1. Vision

You may have a vision of how successful you want your company to be and how it will grow.  But if you ask your employees what they think the goal of the company is or even their goals within the company, there is a good chance every employee will have a different answer.  These different answers mean that goal you have in mind may not be the primary goal of all your employees.  Your whole company needs to have a specific target in mind and know how to get there. Once everyone is on the same path, you will be surprised how much quicker you can achieve objectives.

2. People

You should always surround yourself with the right people, people who get things done and are motivated within their job.  Hire people that are qualified, innovative and want to help reach the company goal.  You will notice your employees thriving at something they love to do versus employees just filling seats on a daily basis.  This will help the overall morale of the group.

3. Data

This is where your scorecard comes into play.  This scorecard has your weekly report containing 15 high level numbers pertaining to your organization.  These numbers allow you to monitor your goals and realize which procedures are not working.  Because you are reviewing these numbers constantly you’ll be able to spot the problems within your strategy right away.

4.  Issues

Once you start these first 3 strategies, your company will be running more efficiently and will allow you to recognize issues that need to be addressed.  There is nowhere to hide when your organization is running like a machine.  These issues will surface and you will be able to fix and move on to a better strategy.

5. Process

This is the way you do business.  Once you understand the process you need to share it with the company.  Make sure it is well known to all so the organization is headed in the same direction. You should document the way you want everything done and teach your employees how the process goes.  If anyone skips steps, preforms the process differently or training differs, you will enhance your issues and errors and increase your bottom line.

6.  Traction

To have the most successful organization, the leader needs to have traction.  These people need to know how to focus the company while leading the organization to success.

These 6 steps to EOS can be very beneficial to a lot of companies. Here at Proceed Innovative we are on the frontier of this system and are excited to see where it takes us.  In upcoming posts, we will go in depth on each of these strategies and how it is helping us as a marketing company.

Thursday, February 14, 2013

The Future of Mobile Marketing

I recently ran across an article that explained the importance of mobile SEO and its users.  Generally speaking, a typical website will have a mobile version of itself that will prevent you from magnifying and shrinking your mobile screen to search for links.  Yet many websites have yet to expand their site to mobile.  This idea can be frustrating for most, especially for those who are on the run.  For customers who do participate in mobile web, how do you know it's being optimized? Is there a different target group for mobile apps? Are there special requirements that need to be met? What does the future hold for mobile marketing? Steve Olenski from Business 2 Community explains some of these steps.

The Future of Mobile SEO Marketing


Many companies today are realizing that mobile app users and website users should be different targets.  It's been determined, and obviously speaking, that most people who use mobile apps are people on the go.  Information needs to be organized on the top of pages so users take little effort in finding what they need.  The longer someone searches for a product or information the less a conversion happens.  Make sure the most important and popular information is easily accessible to your users.

In years to come, mobile SEO is going to take a lead of its own.  Many lead generation studies have not yet been separated between website and mobile.  Future studies and research will have to separate the two to accurately decipher the difference between each other.  A 2010 Google study explains an "11.5% increase in mobile click-through rates when they run a mobile-specific campaign as compared to a hybrid or PC-only campaign."  In the next couple of years these statistics can drastically change if more research and effort is put into creating optimized mobile apps.

An important thing to remember is your listing online.  Many people feel that Yellow Pages is a requirement.  This allows consumers to easily find you while conducting searches.  Keep in mind you should also keep an updated Google Places and Yahoo Local listing.  Verifying your listings will keep your site and information current to users.

Mobile users use reviews just as web users do.  I tend to read them more on my phone actually.  If you are on the go, searching for a store, hair salon, restaurant, etc. reviews should be very noticeable on your mobile site.  Even a couple bad reviews can still make your site more credible versus no reviews at all.

Let's all keep in mind that smart phones and tablets are being used by everyone, everywhere.  In the next couple of years that number will be increasing exponentially.  Don't wait to jump on the mobile SEO train before it is too late.  Read and research what your consumers want, how they search and the best keywords to heighten your rankings.  SEO is growing  beyond your desktop or laptop, make sure you're prepared to expand your mobile presence.

Sources: http://www.business2community.com/mobile-apps/what-does-the-future-hold-for-mobile-marketing-seo-0404914

Wednesday, February 6, 2013

The Difference Between PPC and SEO


The Internet marketing world can be a tricky one for many newcomers. PPC, SEO, SEM, Google analytics, Google algorithms, the list goes on of tools and ways to optimize you brand and business ideas into a successful online campaign. But lets start out small, the first thing anyone comes in contact with when “Google-ing” anything is the Pay Per Click (PPC) and Organic (SEO) results.  Once you type in a single word or phrase, Google, Yahoo, Bing or any other search engine uses these phrases to pick out the most qualified article or information for you. Lets take Google for example:


Everything highlighted in a darker shade and the right hand corner column is PPC ads, all other results in the white are organic search, otherwise known as SEO, or non-paid search results.

Search Engine Optimization (SEO) involves search engines such as Google, Bing, Yahoo, and more.  When typing in a keyword or phrase, each search engine has a specific algorithm of determining a web site’s relevance. The more relevant your site, the higher your site will show up on a search engine.

Some key factors in SEO ranking are HTML, quality content and architecture and layout.  Social media, a strong following and great inbound links are also ways to increase organic rankings.  Keep your website relevant and updated consistently to keep your readers interested and information fresh.

Pay Per Click (PPC) is an advertising model that is used to direct users and traffic to your web page.  You can use different PPC programs, Google Adwords for example, to bid on keywords or phrases that will attract users to your site.  Every time a person clicks on your ad, you pay a certain amount set for that online ad. You can choose demographics, times and dates for your ads to show up that you believe will attract the most attention to your site.  PPC ads can appear instantly while SEO results can take a couple months to generate rankings.

Each company and website is very different. You may decide to choose one or both of these internet marketing methods to target your audience.  Either way it takes time to learn Search Engine Marketing and to understand which works better for you. If you feel comfortable with creating an online strategy or campaign make sure to get started as soon as possible. If you need expert advice, here at Proceed Innovative, we can manage and operate any SEO or PPC campaign you may have.  We want you to have quality online traffic year round and can work with you to achieve this.