How to Keep Your Website from Calling in ‘Sick’ Days 🤒


August 16, 2024

This Week's Top Marketing News

Creating Value And Content Across Multiple City And Area Service Pages

If you're a local business that covers a larger area, like a personal injury attorney, a handyman, or a trade school, consider creating content to target people in the specific areas you cover.

Google will tell you that “city pages” are bad for SEO and that you shouldn’t do them on your website.

However, if done correctly, city pages can be a great asset for your website and help boost your SEO in and around your service area.

The best way to create city service pages is to have a strategy to get the most SEO bang for your buck.

  • Creating Value Proposition Differentiations
  • Internal Linking
  • Google Business Profile Linking
  • Writing unique content for each individual page

Fish Food:

This is not a case of creating one piece of content and changing only the H1 for the city on each page. To maximize your value, you should create unique content for each page. There will be some duplication involved, but overall, there is a lot of SEO value in creating city pages.



How To Turn Old Content Into a New Work of Art With an AI Assist

It’s time for a content remix, using AI to save time. Take your current blog posts and white papers, and remix them using AI to generate new content for your leads. Suggestions include a “Greatest Hits” - a compilation of your top performing pieces combined into a pillar page or white paper and Semantic Expansion, a deep dive into a key area, and applying real-world examples. The best part is the fleshed-out AI prompts to show you how you can get the most out of an AI remix.



Meta Must Face Class-Action Over Inflated Audience Metrics, Court Confirm

Google lied to us. LinkedIn was shady too. Now Meta is in the spotlight for potentially deceptive ad practices. The initial complaint cites that in 2017 “Facebook’s estimates of audience reach in every U.S. state were higher than the states’ population.” Oops… Good luck, Zuck.



How Social Platforms Measure Content Views [Infographic]

Last week, Instagram revealed a major update to its analytics, shifting all data references to "Views" rather than metrics like "Reach" and "Plays." Switching to "Views" as the primary metric can boost engagement numbers since views are easier to achieve than other metrics like "Reach" or "Plays." However, this might inflate engagement figures without reflecting meaningful interactions. With the right strategy, businesses can adjust their social media marketing to optimize for views while balancing them with metrics like comments and shares for a fuller performance picture.

Why Regular Website Maintenance Matters

When was the last time you updated your website? And we don’t mean changing the colors and themes. When was the last time you looked to make sure your services page reflected your current services? The last time you looked at your contact information? Is it up to date?

Regular website maintenance is like refreshing your “online” storefront. It includes not only small blog updates but also backups and security updates.

Security Updates: Protects your website from hackers by keeping software up to date and patching security vulnerabilities.

Performance Optimization: Improves website loading times, reducing the risk of losing potential leads or sales due to slow performance.

Content Management System (CMS) Updates: Ensures your CMS is updated with the latest security patches and bug fixes for optimal website safety.

WordPress Plugin Management: Regularly updates and manages plugins to prevent security risks and performance issues.

Backups and Disaster Recovery: Provides regular backups to recover your website quickly in case of technical problems.

SEO Benefits: Keeps your website content fresh and optimized, improving search engine ranking and increasing organic traffic.

User Experience (UX) Improvements: Enhance website usability by fixing broken links and outdated information and ensuring accessibility and mobile responsiveness.

Fish Food:

Website maintenance is like having some insurance for your digital online presence. That way you know you’re making an investment in keeping your website up to date, and have a team in your corner if something happens to go south.


Implementing Calls to Action in Blog Posts: 8 Examples

Everyone knows about the sidebar, but have you considered other areas for CTAs in a blog post? Some other areas include pop-ups, which are worked naturally into the blog, at the bottom of the page, and the exit pop-up.



9 Times You Shouldn't Use Email While Selling (& 29 Phrases to Avoid)

Have you ever been in the sales cycle and suddenly, the communication drops off? You reach out via email and crickets. Here are a few times you should pick up the phone instead. Contract questions, mid-stream introductions, fishing for answers, objection handling, breakups, and checking in on new clients. See all 9 examples in the article.

This Old School Marketing Strategy Can Better Sway Your Audience

Have you considered more traditional routes if social media posting isn't working for your business? TV, radio, newspapers, and podcasts might not be as flashy as social media, but their value is timeless and proven.

Despite the rise of influencers and instant content, traditional media still shapes public perception and reaches substantial audiences.

It's worth reconsidering these “classics” as they continue to deliver results that modern strategies sometimes can't replicate.

  • Trust and credibility: The gold standard
    There's a difference between seeing a sponsored post on your social feed and watching a CEO give a thoughtful interview on a morning news show. The former might catch your eye, but the latter captures your trust.
  • A spotlight on authenticity
    Traditional earned media offers a platform for genuine storytelling. This authenticity helps forge a deeper connection with the audience.
  • Amplified reach and exposure
    Traditional media channels bring your message to a wide demographic spread.
  • Leveraging legacy networks
    Something must be said about the established networks within which traditional media operates. These aren't just channels but institutions with deep-rooted connections and a broad reach.
  • Integrating with digital: The best of both worlds
    Integrating traditional media coverage with digital strategies creates a comprehensive campaign that leverages credibility and modern reach.
  • The long game: Building a brand legacy
    Traditional media is not just about the immediate splash; it's about playing the long game. The depth of coverage provided by these media forms means that your brand's story gets told in a detailed and nuanced way.

Fish Food:

If you have shored up your digital presence house, consider trying to get some more traditional spotlight on your business. You shouldn’t put all your marketing dollars in one basket. Having variety and some mix can help you earn the trust of your potential customers.

Share Fishbowl Friday and Earn Free Gear

Earn Sweet Gear by Sharing

Have friends who'd love our newsletter too? Give them your unique referral link (below) and get an awesome reward when they subscribe.

[RH_REFLINK GOES HERE]

facebook twitter linkedin email

PS: You have referred [RH_TOTREF GOES HERE] people so far

Start Sharing Now

Fishbowl Friday

Our team spends the week reading everything on the internet related to marketing and highlights the best news you need to know about in our weekly email called Fishbowl Friday. Subscribe today and get all the best marketing news sent straight to your inbox in a fun, 5-minute read.

Read more from Fishbowl Friday
Illustration of mountain with dashed red line running up the mountain ending at a red flag

September 13, 2024 This Week's Top Marketing News How to Let Customers Know About a Price Increase (Without Losing Them) It’s no secret that the cost of doing business is increasing, and you’ve finally had to bite the bullet and pass along the price increases to your customers. The key is communicating the increase effectively while maintaining customer trust. Here are some tips to help you raise prices without losing customers: Be transparent: Explain why the price increase is necessary,...

Illustration of mountain with dashed red line running up the mountain ending at a red flag

September 6, 2024 This Week's Top Marketing News Customer Journey Maps: How to Create Really Good Ones Many people might be familiar with the buyer's journey but don’t have a customer’s journey mapped out for their business. A customer journey is your brand’s interaction with a potential customer once they know their pain point and after interacting with you. Each touch point with your customers would be considered a part of the customer journey. HubSpot defines its customer journey as...

Image of boxes on conveyor belts with text "What are productized services?"m

August 30, 2024 This Week's Top Marketing News 20 Marketing LIES You Need to Stop Believing Whether you are a marketer or not, have you ever believed at least one of these lies? *raise hand* It’s ok. Now is the time to realize that you don’t have to believe these lies because they are just that, lies. It’s not so much about being scared as facing the unknown. You’re probably not a marketer at heart - you know your business - but maybe not the best way to promote it. The author offers up 20...