March 2021 Blog

Scroll down to view all of our latest blogs of the month!

March 1, 2021
What's the Secret to Increase Your Google Ranking?

What are the secrets to increase your website's Google ranking?

Most of us working in the digital marketing realm have our own strategies to increase website Google rankings. But wouldn’t it be nice if there were an official formula to follow and get top rankings no matter who you are? Unfortunately, no one really knows the exact secret of how to get ranked at the top of Google results. Google doesn’t share their formula so the truth remains a mystery. But all is not lost! SEO experts have deduced some of the information Google looks at to rank your website.

Relevance: This one should be obvious. If someone is looking for new running shoes, your website on cat toys should not come up as an option.
Backlinks: The links on your webpage play a large role in your Google ranking. If links are broken or lead to spam sites, it degrades your website’s trust ranking and can kill your Google rank.
Page speed: How fast does your website load content (largest contentful paint), respond to an input (first input delay), and how stable is your layout (cumulative layout shift)? The better the user experience on your website, the higher your ranking will be.
Content: Algorithms reward the best content, so make sure yours is the best. This Google blog gives you some great questions to ask about your content to help improve it.
Crawlability: Can the Google bots explore your website and links and index it all? If not, that’s a negative hit against your website in rankings. Read more about crawlability here.

Don’t forget to look at your competitors’ websites and see what they are doing different or better than you that may lead to a higher Google ranking. If you can figure out their secrets and apply them to your website also, your ranking will also naturally increase. Increasing your Google/SEO ranking is one of the most important things you can do for your website. You can read about more signals Google uses to rank your website in this article here.

If you need help with your business’ SEO, contact us! Paladin has the tools and expertise to help your website get the visibility you need.

March 2, 2021
5 Tips to Grow Your LinkedIn Follower Base

These 5 tips will help grow your LinkedIn followers

LinkedIn is a professional networking platform with over 722 million users as of the third quarter of 2020 according to this Business of Apps report. LinkedIn allows professionals to connect and build professional relationships. It also allows companies to connect with customers to promote their products and services. When you create a LinkedIn company page, what type of people might you expect to engage with you there? In general, people who follow your LinkedIn business page fall into five categories: they are interested in (1) the market you serve, (2) your technologies, (3) your company in particular, (4) working for your company, or (5) their friends that work for your company.

So how do you gain traction and grow your LinkedIn followers? Maybe you’ve looked at your biggest competitors’ page and realized they have three times as many followers as your company but how do you get there? Here are 5 tips from CMS WiRE you can use to grow your followers starting today:

Create content targeted at each of the 5 follower types listed above. A greater variety of posts will attract more followers.
Get your employees sharing your company posts. Your employees can help easily increase your reach.
Don’t forget to use hashtags (3 to 5 relevant hashtags per post) – they can help you connect with thousands of people who search for that particular hashtag.
Pay attention to analytics. Do certain types of posts correspond to greater follower growth than another type? Leverage that information.
Use videos for engaging content. Be sure to upload your videos directly to LinkedIn though so they automatically play in the viewer’s LinkedIn feed.

Don’t miss out on the business opportunities LinkedIn offers. It’s not just for finding a job. It can help you connect with followers and potential customers who will help grow your business.

Need help with your LinkedIn business page growth? Paladin Worldwide Management can help! Contact us today to get started.

March 3, 2021
5 Easy Steps to Start a Digital Marketing Plan for Your Nonprofit

Less than 50% of small nonprofits have a digital marketing plan

Many small nonprofits (those with less than 100 employees) don’t always see the importance of having a digital marketing plan. But not having a digital marketing plan is like leaving money on the table. There are many people who would happily support your nonprofit, but if they don’t even know you exist, how can they? According to data gathered by Tapp Network and TechSoup, less than 50% of small nonprofits have a digital marketing plan. Here are some other interesting data points from their studies collected between April 1 and July 1, 2020:

Only 23% said they use paid ads even though only 6% said they tried paid online ads with no success. 73% of those who advertise use Facebook ads with another 30% using Google Search ads.
68% of nonprofits do not blog at all, with 25% blogging once a month, and less than 2% blogging more than 5 times a month.
Social media presence varies by the type of nonprofit with 97% on Facebook, 55% on Twitter, 45% on Instagram, and 37% on LinkedIn.
Only 41% of those on Facebook use Facebook Fundraising even though 57% of those that use it find it to be somewhat or extremely successful.
70% don’t have an email marketing strategy that includes consistent communication with supporters and potential supporters.
More than 70% do not use email automation and 60% don’t use social media automation tools.
43% said they plan a website relaunch in the next year. Beyond full website relaunches, just 24% update content on their sites weekly with 34% doing so quarterly and 34% quarterly.

So what can you learn from all this data? The biggest takeaway is that most nonprofits could be doing a much better job at digital marketing. Digital marketing allows you to reach new donors you may not reach through your traditional marketing strategies. Here are 5 small steps you can take to get started with a digital marketing plan:

Regular, targeted emails or weekly blogs can help increase your nonprofit’s visibility to potential donors.
Stagnant websites that aren’t updated very often won’t get noticed, so make sure content on your website is current, relevant, and updated frequently.
Don’t forget to use the social media platform best suited to your ideal donor and update your posts often with content geared to different types of donors.
Consider digital advertising to expand your reach and engage with donors beyond your current ones.
Make use of automation tools for social media posts and emails so your supporters get regular updates.

Digital marketing is a critical component of your overall marketing plan. In today’s digital world, you cannot afford to ignore this important piece. If your nonprofit needs help developing or executing a digital marketing plan, Paladin Worldwide Management is here to help! Contact us today to get started.

Check out last month's blogs here!