Google Analytics 4’s Transition from Conversions to Key Events: What it means for SEO and Digital Marketers

More Changes in GA4 To Look Out For: Conversions To Key Events

Oh Google, how we have a love-hate relationship. Especially when you make changes to your metrics recording in Google Analytics. But, we all must adhere to the man making the rules.

As digital marketing is a forever-changing landscape, staying updated with analytics tools is crucial for optimizing strategies and maximizing results. We learned from recent post on Search Engine Land AND discovered some of our clients, Google has renamed Conversions to Key Events.

Fun, we love it when Google changes things.

What Happened in GA4

Google Analytics, the quintessential platform for website analysis, has recently undergone a significant transformation with its shift from tracking Conversions to Key Events in its latest version, Google Analytics 4 (GA4). This change marks a fundamental evolution in how marketers gauge user interactions and measure success. Let’s explore the reasons behind this shift and try to find the benefits it brings to SEO and digital marketers.

Why Did GA4 Change To Key Events

The shift from Conversions to Key Events in GA4 reflects a paradigmatic change in how user engagement and conversions are measured. Traditionally, Conversions were tracked primarily through specific actions, such as form submissions or product purchases. However, this approach had limitations in capturing the nuanced interactions users have with websites, especially in the era of dynamic web applications and multi-channel marketing.

Key Events, on the other hand, offer a more comprehensive and flexible approach to tracking user engagement. Rather than focusing solely on predefined conversion actions, Key Events allow marketers to track a broader range of user interactions, such as clicks, scrolls, video views, and app interactions. This granular level of tracking provides deeper insights into user behavior, enabling marketers to better understand the customer journey and optimize their strategies accordingly.

conversions to key events in ga4, new changes in ga4

What This Means for SEOs

  1. Enhanced Data Accuracy: Key Events offer a more precise measurement of user interactions, providing SEO professionals with accurate data on how visitors engage with their website. This enables them to identify high-performing content, optimize user experience, and refine their SEO strategies accordingly.

  2. Deeper Insights into User Behavior: By tracking a wider range of user interactions, including non-conversion events, SEO professionals can gain deeper insights into user behavior patterns. This allows them to uncover valuable opportunities for optimization, such as identifying content gaps, improving site navigation, and enhancing engagement metrics.

  3. Adaptive Optimization Strategies: Key Events empower SEO professionals to adapt their optimization strategies in real-time based on evolving user behavior trends. Whether it’s adjusting content strategies, refining keyword targeting, or optimizing site architecture, the flexibility offered by Key Events enables agile and data-driven decision-making.

Digital Marketing Benefits

  1. Comprehensive Performance Tracking: Key Events provide digital marketers with a holistic view of user interactions across different touchpoints, including websites, mobile apps, and social media platforms. This enables them to measure the effectiveness of their marketing campaigns more accurately and identify areas for improvement.
  2. Cross-Channel Attribution: With Key Events, digital marketers can track user interactions across multiple channels and devices, allowing for more accurate attribution modeling. This enables them to better understand the customer journey and allocate marketing resources more effectively across various touchpoints.
  3. Customized Reporting and Analysis: Key Events in GA4 offer customizable reporting capabilities, allowing digital marketers to tailor analytics dashboards to their specific needs and objectives. Whether it’s tracking e-commerce transactions, lead generation activities, or content engagement metrics, marketers can create bespoke reports that provide actionable insights for optimization.
  4.  

Our Thoughts On This GA4 Change

We understand that Google is God — the digital god in the sense it makes all the rules that us SEO’ers need to follow.

The transition from Conversions to Key Events in Google Analytics 4 represents a significant advancement in how user engagement and conversions are measured in the digital marketing landscape. By offering a more flexible and comprehensive approach to tracking user interactions, Key Events empower SEO professionals and digital marketers to gain deeper insights into user behavior, optimize their strategies more effectively, and drive better business outcomes. Embracing this shift enables marketers to stay ahead of the curve in an increasingly data-driven and dynamic environment.

Access To An SEO Expert

An SEO Specialist can provide maintenance to your website’s visibility, increase traffic, and gain more customers with measurable data!  Laced Media has professional SEO experts to get your website thriving. Schedule a free consultation call today.

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Navigating Marketing Strategies for Wineries in Healdsburg, CA: Traditional vs. Digital

Traditional Marketing Vs Digital Marketing For Wineries & Vineyards

In the heart of Sonoma County lies the boutique town of Healdsburg, California, renowned for its vineyards and wineries that produce some of the world’s finest wines. As the wine industry continues to thrive, wineries in Healdsburg face the challenge of effectively marketing their products to stand out in a crowded market.

In this digital age, the choice between traditional and digital marketing strategies becomes increasingly demanding — but is one marketing area better than the other in this industry? We will be unbias as we can as the ultimate goal is to see wineries be successful.

Traditional Marketing: Honoring Heritage

Traditional marketing methods have long been the backbone of promoting wineries. From glossy brochures to elegant wine tastings and prestigious events, traditional marketing embodies the essence of the wine industry’s heritage and craftsmanship. For wineries in Healdsburg, this approach may involve:

  1. Wine Tastings and Events: Healdsburg’s wineries frequently host wine tastings and events, providing an immersive experience for visitors to indulge in the region’s finest wines while getting close up and personal with the brand and winemakers.

  2. Print Advertising: Magazines, newspapers, and local publications remain effective channels for wineries to showcase their offerings and attract tourists seeking an authentic wine country experience.

  3. Direct Mail Campaigns: Sending newsletters, postcards, or catalogs directly to customers’ mailboxes can help wineries stay top-of-mind and nurture long-term relationships with their members.

  4. Collaborations and Partnerships: Teaming up with local restaurants, hotels, or tour operators allows wineries to expand their reach and tap into new customer segments through partnerships.

While traditional marketing strategies work and are prestige, they often bring higher costs and limit the targeted audience compared to their digital counterparts.

Digital Marketing: Reaching New Audiences

The fact that 85% of a sale in any industry starts with a Google search, wineries in Healdsburg should adapt to new marketing paradigms — to thrive in a competitive market. Digital marketing offers a plethora of tools and platforms to engage with consumers on a more personalized level. The crazy part is the majority of wineries are missing out on these lush opportunities. Key components of digital marketing for wineries include:

  1. Social Media Presence: Platforms like Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter enable wineries to showcase their vineyards, share behind-the-scenes glimpses, and engage directly with followers through posts, stories, and interactive content. 

  2. Email Marketing: Crafting targeted email campaigns allows wineries to communicate promotions, events, and exclusive offers to subscribers, and collaborate with associations to drive new business.

  3. Search Engine Optimization (SEO): Optimizing website content with relevant keywords and metadata helps wineries rank higher in search engine results, increasing visibility and attracting organic traffic.

  4. E-commerce Platforms: Setting up online stores enables wineries to reach customers beyond Healdsburg’s borders, offering convenient access to their wines and expanding revenue streams.

  5. Data Analytics: Leveraging analytics tools provides valuable insights into consumer behavior, allowing wineries to refine their marketing strategies and tailor how they engage with visitors on the website and expansion.

Digital marketing empowers wineries with cost-effective, targeted, and measurable strategies to reach a global audience while preserving the authenticity and allure of Healdsburg’s wine culture.

wine bottles lined up for marketing online

Finding The Best Marketing For Your Winery

In the dynamic landscape of wine marketing, a blend of traditional and digital strategies often yields the most fruitful — yes, pun intended — results for wineries in Healdsburg. By harmonizing the timeless elegance of traditional marketing with the incredible reach of digital platforms, wineries can cultivate strong brand identities, foster customer loyalty, and navigate the ever-evolving wine market landscape with confidence.

Laced Media admires the adventures of a vineyard tour or the immersive experience of an Instagram story, wineries in Healdsburg have a wealth of marketing avenues at their disposal — they just need to take the opportunity. By embracing both traditional and digital marketing approaches, they can raise a toast to success in the vibrant wine country of Healdsburg, California.

Be The First Winery Doing Digital Marketing

Get ahead before all other wineries! Get more visitors and website visibility, increase traffic, and gain more wine memberships with measurable data!  Laced Media has professional SEO experts to get your wines thriving. Schedule a free consultation call today.

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Digital Marketing Benchmarks for Wineries: How to Measure Success

Identifying The Metrics For Wineries From SEO

In today’s digital age, wineries have many opportunities to connect with consumers, drive e-commerce sales, increase wine club memberships, and secure tasting room reservations. However, the complexity of digital marketing can be daunting for wineries who are newcomers to SEO.

We created a simple guide for these platforms and offer essential benchmarks for evaluating your online presence.

Get Support Now

Understanding the Marketing Funnel

A fundamental aspect of mastering ad platforms is grasping the marketing funnel, which outlines the journey consumers take from brand awareness to making a purchase:

Awareness

Potential customers discover your winery.

Interest

Spark curiosity to research more about your winery.

Decision

They contemplate visiting your tasting room or purchasing your wine.

Action (Conversion)

They commit to a purchase, join your wine club, or schedule a tasting.

digital marketing funnel for wineries and success metrics

SEO Strategies For Wineries

To effectively navigate the SEO funnel, wineries should focus on the following strategies:

Keyword Optimization

Identify relevant keywords related to your winery, wines, and location, and incorporate them naturally into your website content. High-volume keywords like “wine tasting” “wineries in Napa” and “food and wine pairing” would be popular keywords to target.

Content Creation

Produce high-quality, informative content that resonates with your target audience, such as blog posts, wine guides, and vineyard tours. Your content needs substance and can provide quality information to your winery visitors.

Local SEO

Optimize your website for local searches by including location-based keywords. Creating and optimizing a Google My Business profile will improve your visibility in Google Maps so people searching for wineries within a radius can find you. Obtaining citations from local directories can increase your visibility through referring websites like sonomacounty.com

Website Optimization

Ensure your website is user-friendly, mobile-responsive, and optimized for speed to provide visitors with a seamless browsing experience with opportunities to convert.

Healdsburg wineries who need digital marketing, bricoleurvineyards.com
Keyword Rankings of Healdsburg Wineries

SEO Benchmarks and Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)

To measure the effectiveness of your SEO efforts, it’s essential to track the following KPIs and benchmarks:

Organic Traffic

  • The number of visitors coming to your website from organic search results.
    • Benchmark: Aim for consistent growth in organic traffic over time.

Keyword Rankings

  • The positions of your website’s pages in search engine results pages (SERPs) for targeted keywords.
    • Benchmark: Monitor keyword rankings regularly and strive to improve your rankings for relevant keywords.

Click-Through Rate (CTR)

  • The percentage of users who click on your website’s link in search results.
  • Benchmark: Aim for a CTR above the industry average for wineries which is 5-6%.

Bounce Rate

  • The percentage of visitors who leave your website after viewing only one page.
    • Benchmark: Strive to maintain a low bounce rate, indicating that visitors are engaging with your content.

Conversion Rate

  • The percentage of visitors who complete a desired action on your website, such as making a purchase, booking a wine tasting, or signing up for your wine club.
    • Benchmark: Aim to achieve a conversion rate that exceeds industry standards with growth over time.

New User Traffic

  • The amount of new customers visiting your website.
    • Benchmark: Try to increase your new user traffic over time by comparing traffic data with previous time periods.

What-If Scenarios and Actionable Insights

In scenarios where your SEO metrics are not reaching the benchmarks, consider the following actionable insights:

  • Low Organic Traffic: Focus on improving your website’s visibility through content optimization, link building, and technical SEO enhancements.
  • Declining Keyword Rankings: Evaluate your keyword strategy and consider updating your content to better target relevant keywords.
  • High Bounce Rate: Enhance your website’s usability, readability, and content quality to improve the user experience.
  • Low Conversion Rate: Analyze your conversion funnel, identify potential barriers to conversion, and implement optimization tactics to improve conversion rates.

Need Support Getting Your Winery on the Map?

Laced Media can help get your winery more visitors. In regions with oversaturation of wineries like Sonoma County and Napa County, the online search for the perfect winery experience can be daunting.

That’s where we come in. By securing top placement in Google search results for relevant terms, we ensure that your winery stands out effortlessly among your competition. With many local wineries overlooking the power of Search Engine Optimization (SEO), this presents a golden opportunity for your establishment to rise above and capture the attention of discerning visitors. Let us guide you towards unparalleled visibility and increased foot traffic.

Get An SEO Expert For Your Winery

An SEO Expert can get your winery more visibility, increase traffic, and gain new customers with measurable data!  Laced Media has professional SEO experts to support your wineries in Digital Marketing. Schedule a free consultation call today.

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Understanding Dropshipping: The Business Model Revolutionizing E-commerce

How To Start A Dropshipping Business

In recent years, dropshipping has emerged as a popular business model in the realm of e-commerce websites, offering entrepreneurs an innovative way to start and scale online businesses without the traditional burdens of inventory management and shipping logistics. Let’s explore what dropshipping entails, why it has gained immense popularity and strategies for effectively marketing a dropship website.

What is Dropshipping?

Dropshipping is a retail fulfillment method where a store doesn’t keep the products it sells in stock. Instead, when a store sells a product, it purchases the item from a third party and has it shipped directly to the customer. In essence, the merchant acts as a middleman, facilitating transactions without ever handling the physical products.

setting up your dropshipping website

How To Create A Dropshipping

content writing for a website for SEO
  1. Product Selection: The dropshipper selects products to sell from suppliers’ catalogs. These products can range from electronics to clothing, home goods, and more.

  2. Setting Up an Online Store: The dropshipper creates an online storefront, showcasing the selected products. This could be through platforms like Shopify, WooCommerce, or custom-built websites.

  3. Customer Orders: Customers visit the online store, browse products, and place orders. The dropshipper then forwards the order and customer details to the supplier.

  4. Supplier Fulfillment: The supplier packages and ships the product directly to the customer, often under the dropshipper’s branding. The dropshipper pays the wholesale price to the supplier, keeping the retail margin as profit.

  5. Customer Service: The dropshipper handles customer inquiries, issues, and returns, providing a seamless experience despite not physically handling the products.

dropshipping marketing ideas

Why is Dropshipping So Popular?

Several factors contribute to the popularity of dropshipping:

Low Initial Investment: Unlike traditional retail models that require significant capital for inventory, dropshipping allows entrepreneurs to start with minimal upfront investment since they don’t need to purchase inventory upfront.

Minimal Overhead Costs: Operating a dropshipping business eliminates the need for warehousing, inventory management, and fulfillment infrastructure, reducing overhead expenses significantly.

Location Independence: Dropshipping can be managed from anywhere with an internet connection, offering flexibility and freedom for entrepreneurs to run their businesses remotely.

Scalability: With dropshipping, scaling a business is relatively straightforward. As sales increase, the dropshipper can add more products or expand into new markets without the constraints of inventory management.

Wide Product Selection: Dropshipping allows access to an extensive range of products without the need to stock inventory, enabling merchants to cater to diverse customer preferences and market demands.

Marketing Strategies for Dropshipping Websites

While dropshipping offers many advantages, success hinges on effective marketing strategies to drive traffic and conversions to the online store. Here are some proven tactics:

Search Engine Optimization (SEO): Optimizing the dropship website for search engines improves visibility and organic traffic. This involves keyword research, creating high-quality content, optimizing product pages, and building backlinks.

Social Media Marketing: Leveraging platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and Pinterest can help reach a broader audience. Engaging content, influencer partnerships, and targeted advertising are effective tactics for driving traffic and generating sales.

Email Marketing: Building an email list allows dropshippers to nurture leads, promote products, and drive repeat purchases. Offering incentives like discounts or freebies encourages visitors to subscribe and stay engaged.

Paid Advertising: Pay-per-click (PPC) advertising on platforms like Google Ads and Facebook Ads enables precise targeting and immediate visibility. Effective ad copy, compelling visuals, and A/B testing are crucial for maximizing ROI.

Content Marketing: Creating valuable and informative content such as blog posts, tutorials, and product reviews can attract and engage potential customers. Content that addresses pain points or provides solutions establishes credibility and fosters trust.

Partnerships and Affiliates: Collaborating with influencers, bloggers, and complementary businesses can expand reach and drive referral traffic. Affiliate marketing programs incentivize partners to promote products in exchange for commissions on sales.

dropship e-commerce websites

Get A Dropship Website

We build and optimize dropship websites increasing their visibility, increasing traffic, and selling more products with measurable data!  Laced Media has the experts to get your idea moving and thriving. Schedule a free consultation call today.

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Why Every Realtor in Sonoma County Needs Their Own Website

Websites & Digital Marketing for Realtors

In today’s digital age, having a strong online presence is essential for success in any industry, and real estate is no exception. For realtors in Sonoma County, where the market is dynamic and competitive, having a personalized website can make all the difference in standing out from the crowd and reaching potential clients effectively. 

Let’s explore why realtors need their own website in Sonoma County and how Laced Media can help create a responsive and affordable website tailored specifically for residential or commercial realtors in this vibrant region.

Realtors in sonoma county need a personal website

Why Every Realtor Needs Their Own Website:

Establish Credibility and Professionalism: A well-designed website serves as a digital storefront for realtors, showcasing their expertise, experience, and listings. It establishes credibility and professionalism, instilling trust in potential clients who are searching for their dream home or property investment.

24/7 Availability: Unlike traditional brick-and-mortar offices with set operating hours, a website is accessible round the clock. Prospective buyers can browse listings, schedule viewings, and gather information at their convenience, even outside regular business hours.

Enhanced Visibility: With a website optimized for search engines, realtors can improve their visibility online, making it easier for clients to find them when conducting property searches. This increased visibility can lead to more inquiries, leads, and ultimately, closed deals.

Showcase Listings Effectively: A website provides realtors with a platform to showcase their listings in a visually appealing and organized manner. High-quality photos, virtual tours, and detailed property descriptions can help attract potential buyers and differentiate listings from competitors.

Build and Nurture Relationships: A website isn’t just a tool for transactions; it’s also a means of building and nurturing relationships with clients. By providing valuable resources, such as market insights, neighborhood guides, and real estate tips, realtors can position themselves as trusted advisors in the eyes of their audience.

Full Control: Having your own website away from your brokerage can give you leverage online. This can open up new opportunities for people to find you while searching for a realtor online.

First Page of Google for Realtor

At Laced Media, we understand the unique needs of realtors in Sonoma County and the surrounding areas — born and raised in Santa Rosa. Our team specializes in creating responsive websites for realtors. We tailor your site or redesign specifically for residential or commercial real estate professionals, helping them maximize their online presence and grow their clientele.

  1. Custom Website Design: We work closely with realtors to design and develop custom websites that reflect their brand identity and resonate with their target audience. From sleek and modern designs to user-friendly interfaces, we ensure that every website we create is optimized for both aesthetics and functionality.

  2. Mobile Responsiveness: With an increasing number of users browsing the web on mobile devices, we prioritize mobile responsiveness in all our website designs. Our websites are optimized to deliver a seamless experience across all devices, ensuring that potential clients can access property listings and contact information on the go.

  3. Search Engine Optimization (SEO): We implement SEO best practices to help realtors improve their visibility on search engine results pages. By optimizing website content, meta tags, and keywords, we help realtors rank higher in search results and attract more organic traffic to their websites.

  4. Affordable Pricing: We understand that budget is a concern for many realtors, especially those starting or expanding their business. That’s why we offer competitive and transparent pricing options, allowing realtors to get a professionally designed website without breaking the bank.

Expand Your Digital Real Estate

A personalized website is essential for every realtor in Sonoma County looking to succeed in today’s competitive real estate market. With our expertise in creating responsive and affordable websites, realtors can enhance their online presence, showcase their listings effectively, and ultimately, attract more clients and close more deals. Contact us today to learn more about how we can help elevate your real estate business through innovative web solutions.

Get A Website Designed for A Realtor

Set yourself away from the real estate crowd and expand your digital real estate.  Schedule a free consultation call today.

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Unlocking SEO Success: How to Measure the Impact of Structured Data

Is Your Schema Mark Up Working

In the ever-evolving landscape of Search Engine Optimization (SEO), structured data has emerged as a powerful tool for improving website visibility and ranking on search engine results pages (SERPs). By providing search engines with explicit information about the content of a webpage, structured data enables more accurate indexing and presentation of your site’s information. However, measuring the impact of structured data on SEO requires a strategic approach. In this article, we’ll dive into the key metrics and strategies for assessing the effectiveness of structured data implementation.

What is Structured Data?

Structured data, also known as schema markup, is a standardized format used to annotate web content in a way that search engines can understand. It provides additional context to search engine crawlers, helping them interpret the content and present it in a more informative and visually appealing manner on SERPs. Structured data can include details such as product information, reviews, events, recipes, and much more.

schema markup, structured data

Key Metrics for Measuring Impact

Visibility and Click-Through Rate (CTR):

One of the primary indicators of structured data impact is the change in visibility and CTR for your web pages. Monitor the performance of pages with structured data markup compared to those without. Tools like Google Search Console and third-party SEO analytics platforms can provide insights into impressions, clicks, and CTR for structured data-enhanced pages.

Keyword Rankings:

While not directly tied to structured data, monitoring keyword rankings can help assess the overall impact of SEO efforts, including structured data implementation. Look for improvements in rankings for target keywords associated with pages using structured data markup.

Traffic and Engagement:

Analyze the overall traffic and user engagement metrics for pages with structured data. Look for changes in bounce rate, time on page, and conversion rates. A well-implemented structured data markup should drive more relevant traffic and encourage user interaction with your content.

Rich Snippets and SERP Features:

Structured data often leads to the generation of rich snippets and enhanced SERP features like Knowledge Graph panels, Featured Snippets, and Rich Cards. Keep track of the appearance of these features for your website in search results. An increase in rich snippet appearances indicates the successful implementation of structured data.

schema mark up for products

Strategies for Measuring Structured Data Impact

Baseline Measurement:

Before implementing structured data markup, establish baseline metrics for relevant KPIs such as organic traffic, CTR, and SERP features. This provides a basis for comparison and helps attribute any changes to the structured data implementation.

A/B Testing:

Conduct A/B tests to compare the performance of pages with and without structured data markup. Implement structured data on a subset of pages while keeping others as a control group. Measure the differences in metrics between the two groups to assess the impact.

Continuous Monitoring:

SEO is an ongoing process, and so is measuring the impact of structured data. Continuously monitor relevant metrics and adapt your strategy based on the insights gained. Regularly review search engine guidelines and update your structured data markup accordingly.


User Feedback:

Solicit feedback from users regarding their experience with structured data-enhanced content. Conduct surveys, analyze user comments, and track user behavior to understand how structured data impacts user satisfaction and engagement.

Schema For SEO

Structured data is a valuable asset in the SEO toolkit, offering numerous benefits in terms of visibility, user experience, and engagement. By employing the right metrics and measurement strategies, you can effectively gauge the impact of structured data on your website’s performance and make informed decisions to optimize your SEO efforts. Stay vigilant, keep experimenting, and reap the rewards of structured data mastery in the ever-competitive digital landscape.

Get An SEO Expert

An SEO Specialist can provide maintenance to your website’s visibility, increase traffic, and gain more customers with measurable data!  Laced Media has the professional SEO experts to get your business thriving. Schedule a free consultation call today.

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Google Local Services Ads: Google Guaranteed

Unveiling the Power of Local Services Ads Search Results Placement

Having undergone initial beta testing in 2015, Local Services Ads, commonly referred to as LSAs, have firmly established their presence over the years.

If you’ve encountered the distinctive Google Guaranteed badge on various Google Business Profiles, rest assured that these signify businesses are leveraging LSAs. It’s important to note that the two go hand in hand and can hugely impact your business if you fit the criteria. 

The relative obscurity of LSAs may be attributed to the absence of a primary category for certain professions, such as Painters. Nonetheless, this should not deter painting businesses from joining the ranks of LSAs.

Differentiating Local Services Ads from Search Ads

In stark contrast to Google’s conventional pay-per-click (PPC) search ads, Local Services Ads operate on a pay-per-lead model, a notable departure from the familiar click-based payment approach.

The Take Away: The key differentiator lies in the fact that, instead of paying for mere clicks that might not yield tangible results, you exclusively pay for actionable leads that can be quoted.

An added advantage is that LSAs hold a prominent position ABOVE standard Google Search Ads, providing enhanced visibility for your painting enterprise at a more economical cost. Combine with with SEO and your painting company will be on a fast track to new leads.

Local service ads for painters, advertising online

How Well Does Local Services Ads Perform

LSAs hold a prominent position ABOVE standard Google Search Ads, providing better visibility for your industry at a more economical cost.

Local Services Ads For Painting Companies

Here are some pivotal points about Google Local Services Ads that substantiate their position as an increasingly favored advertising avenue for painting companies:

  • You only pay for leads that can be quoted, leads directly related to services offered within your service area.
  • If a lead you receive from local services ads end up being non related to your service, you can get a refund.
  • Google currently exhibits leniency in lead dispute cases.
  • The typical cost-per-lead (CPL) ranges from $18 to $42.
  • The average conversion rate for these leads (from lead to closed job) ranges between 60-70%.

LSA Leads over Shared Leads?

It’s natural to ponder how LSAs distinguish themselves from platforms like Angi or HomeAdvisor, notorious for shared leads we love.

The fundamental distinction lies in the exclusivity of painting leads generated through LSAs. Unlike shared leads, which are often considered lower quality sources of clientele, LSAs offer leads that are solely accessible to your painting business.

local SEO, search engine optimization

The Drawbacks of LSA for Painters

While LSAs serve as an exemplary avenue for top-tier repaint leads in terms of quality and cost, there are certain nuances worth acknowledging:

  • Given the absence of a dedicated primary category for painters, there might be a notable influx of unqualified leads. Though these can be contested, the process does consume valuable time.
  • A comprehensive background check procedure may span several weeks before completion.
  • The business name registered with the state should align with the one utilized for LSAs. Google undertakes verification of this information. 
  • If your business name lacks terms like “Painting” or “Painters,” anticipate an increased occurrence of unqualified leads (the rationale unfolds further).
  • Like the map pack display, search results accommodate just three primary ad slots, with placement of your LSAs determined by the quantity of 5-star reviews on your Google Business Profile.
  • LSAs are exclusive to the United States

How to get your Painting Business Google Guaranteed

Laced Media gives you a Step-by-Step Guide to setting up your Google Local Services Ads. 

Before you start: It is important to have and claim your Google Business Profile for your painting business, as this is a requirement.

  1. Google Local Services Ads mandates a background check upon setup, a process averaging 3-6 weeks for completion.
  2. Select “Handyman” as your Primary Category.
  3. Select “Painting Indoors” and “Painting Outdoors” as subcategories.
  4. Use your Business Name with the same one registered on your Google Business Profile and state, Google does verify state registration.
  5. Input “0” for the Total number of workers. Assigning a figure higher than zero would prompt a background checks for all employees.
  6. For Service Areas, use only the zip codes within your target area. This dictates which leads are contestable.
  7. Configure the Ad Schedule to “All Day,” or Google with use your business hours instead.
  8. Proof of Business Insurance may be required.
  9. After your application submission, expect a text message requesting photos of your driver’s license. This can take a couple days to receive.
  10. Disabling the messages feature can weed out Spam leads.

Let Professionals Setup Your LSA

If you’re interested in having the professionals set this up for you, Laced Media has the professionals. We can setup up and mange your Ads campaign and more. Schedule a free consultation call today.

digital marketing for small business, is digital marketing worth it

Content For Your Website – Why is Content so Important to SEO

Content: A Huge Factor in SEO Page Ranking

In the ever-evolving digital landscape, search engine optimization (SEO) has become an indispensable aspect of online marketing. Among the numerous factors that influence a website’s ranking on search engine result pages (SERPs), one element stands out as a driving force behind the success: relevant content. We explores the crucial role that relevant content plays in SEO and highlights why it is paramount for website owners and marketers to prioritize content creation and optimization.

Enhanced User Experience With Engagement Content

Search engines aim to provide the most relevant content and valuable results to users’ search queries. When users land on a website, they expect to find information that aligns with their search intent. By creating and maintaining relevant content, website owners can meet these expectations, leading to improved user experience. Content that answers users’ questions, addresses their concerns, and provides valuable insights. The goal is to not only enhances their experience on the website but also increase the likelihood of longer visit durations and reduced bounce rates. These positive user engagement signals send a strong message to search engines that the website is providing value, consequently boosting its SEO performance.

content writing for a website for SEO

Are you not showing up in search on the 1st page? Does your website have little or no content? 

Increased Organic Traffic

Relevant content acts as a magnet for organic traffic. Search engines analyze the relevance and quality of a website’s content to determine its position in search results. When content aligns with users’ search queries, search engines are more likely to rank the website higher, making it more visible to potential visitors. With each relevant and optimized piece of content, website owners have an opportunity to target different keywords and capture a broader range of search traffic. Consistently creating valuable content that addresses users’ needs and interests establishes a website’s authority in its niche, resulting in increased

Improved Keyword Rankings

Keywords play a vital role in SEO, as they connect searchers with relevant content. By incorporating targeted keywords into the content, website owners can signal to search engines the relevance of their web pages for specific search queries. Creating high-quality content that naturally incorporates relevant keywords helps search engines understand the website’s focus and topic authority. Over time, this can lead to improved keyword rankings and increased visibility on SERPs. It is crucial to strike a balance between keyword optimization and providing valuable content, as search engines prioritize user satisfaction and penalize keyword stuffing or low-quality content.

Enhanced Backlink Potential

Relevant and valuable content has a higher likelihood of being shared and linked to by other websites, which contributes to a website’s backlink profile. Backlinks, or incoming links from other websites, are considered a crucial ranking factor by search engines. When other reputable websites link to a website’s content, it signals to search engines that the content is valuable and trustworthy. High-quality backlinks obtained through relevant content can significantly boost a website’s authority and visibility in search results, ultimately leading to improved SEO performance.

Long-Term Sustainability

In an era where search engine algorithms are constantly evolving, investing in relevant content ensures long-term sustainability for SEO efforts. While SEO tactics may change, the value of relevant content remains constant. By focusing on providing valuable information, insights, and solutions to users, website owners can establish themselves as trustworthy and authoritative sources within their industries. Building a reputation as a go-to resource for users helps maintain organic traffic and visibility, irrespective of algorithmic updates or fluctuations in search trends.

Relevant content lies at the heart of successful SEO strategies. It enhances user experience, drives organic traffic, improves keyword rankings, boosts backlink potential, and establishes long-term sustainability. By prioritizing the creation of high-quality, valuable content that aligns with users’ needs, website owners and marketers can significantly enhance their website’s visibility, authority, and overall SEO performance. In a highly competitive digital landscape, relevant content serves as the foundation upon which successful SEO campaigns are built

Content Strategy for websites

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What is Google Indexing?

What is indexing and How Does it Work?

Google indexing is the process by which Google’s search engine collects and organizes information from websites and webpages to make it searchable and accessible to users. When Google discovers a new website or webpage, it sends out automated programs called “crawlers” or “spiders” to explore and analyze the content. These crawlers follow links on the web, moving from one page to another and gathering information about each page they encounter. Much like a spider web.

What Happens When Google Crawls Your Website?

During the crawling process, Google’s crawlers gather various types of data, including the webpage’s URL, title, meta tags, headings, text content, images, and links. They also take note of the site’s overall structure, the relationship between different pages, and the frequency of content updates.

Once the crawling is complete, Google’s indexing system processes the collected information and stores it in a gigantic database known as the Google Index.

Google Index Stores Billions of Websites

The Google Index is essentially a massive library that holds information about billions of webpages. It serves as a reference point for Google’s search algorithms when users enter queries — essentially, searches for something in Google.

PRO-TIP: A Query or Queries refers to a user searching in Google. It can also be known as keywords and phrases for question-type queries.

When someone performs a search on Google, the search engine’s algorithms use the data in the Google Index to determine which pages are relevant to the query. The algorithms consider factors like keyword relevance, user intent, webpage quality, and many other ranking signals to provide the most relevant and useful search results to the user.

Google indexing websites for search

Google Can Take Time Indexing

It’s important to note that Google indexing is an automated process, and it doesn’t guarantee that a webpage will appear in search results. However, by optimizing their websites for search engines, webmasters can increase the likelihood of their pages being crawled, indexed, and displayed prominently in search results. This optimization process is known as search engine optimization (SEO).

Other Search Engines

Search engines are online platforms that help users find information on the internet. They accomplish this by indexing and organizing vast amounts of web content and providing relevant search results in response to user queries. While there are various search engines available, Google is the most popular and widely used search engine globally. Other search engines include Bing, DuckDuckGo, Yahoo, Baidu, and Yandex.

Here are some key components and processes involved in search engines:

  1. Crawling: Search engines use automated programs called crawlers or spiders to browse the web and discover webpages. These crawlers follow links from one page to another, gathering information about the content and structure of each page they encounter. They collect data such as the URL, page title, headings, text content, images, and links.

  2. Indexing: After the crawlers collect the information, search engines organize and store it in their index, which is essentially a massive database. The index contains a copy of the webpages and their associated information. Indexing enables search engines to quickly retrieve relevant results when a user performs a search.

  3. Ranking: When a user enters a search query, the search engine’s ranking algorithms analyze the indexed webpages to determine their relevance to the query. Numerous factors influence the ranking, including keyword relevance, website authority, user engagement metrics, page load speed, mobile-friendliness, and many more. The goal is to provide the most useful and relevant results to the user.

  4. Search Results: Based on the ranking algorithms, search engines display a list of search results to the user. Typically, search engine results pages (SERPs) include a mix of organic results and paid advertisements. Organic results are the webpages that search engines deem most relevant to the user’s query based on the ranking process.

  5. Search Engine Optimization (SEO): SEO is the practice of optimizing webpages to improve their visibility in search engine results. By following SEO best practices, webmasters can enhance their website’s chances of ranking higher in organic search results. SEO involves various strategies, including optimizing content, improving website structure and navigation, using relevant keywords, acquiring high-quality backlinks, and ensuring a positive user experience.

  6. Search Advertising: Search engines also offer advertising platforms, such as Google Ads, that allow businesses to display ads alongside search results. These ads are often shown above or below the organic results and are marked as “sponsored” or “ad.” Advertisers bid on specific keywords, and their ads are displayed when users search for those keywords.

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Can AI Content Writers Take My Job?

Ai Content Writers Can't Do it All - But They Can Help

Artificial Intelligence (AI) has come a long way in recent years and has revolutionized the way we interact with technology. From chatbots to virtual assistants, AI has made our lives easier and more efficient. However, when it comes to writing content for your blog or website, AI like Google BART and Chat GPT can’t do it all. Here’s why:

AI like ChatGPT and Bart Aren't Perfect

Lack of Creativity: AI is designed to analyze data and provide responses based on that data. While it can generate content based on data inputs, it lacks creativity and the ability to create original content that resonates with humans. Creative writing requires intuition, imagination, and human emotions that are not yet fully understood or replicated by AI.

Limited Knowledge and Experience: AI learns and improves over time based on data inputs, but it still lacks the knowledge and experience that humans possess. AI may be able to generate content on a specific topic, but it cannot provide the same level of insight and expertise as a human with years of experience in a particular field.

Tone Of Voice:  AI lacks the ability to write in an appropriate tone of voice for a particular audience. It is unable to capture nuances like satire, sarcasm and humor, which are essential elements of human writing that can be used to engage with readers– much like this blog post.

Limited Cultural and Social Understanding: AI can generate content based on data, but it may not understand the cultural or social context in which that content is being consumed. Humans have a better understanding of the context in which content is being consumed and can tailor their writing to resonate with a particular audience.

Limited Editing and Proofreading Capabilities: While AI can generate content quickly, it lacks the ability to edit and proofread that content effectively. Editing and proofreading require a human touch, and mistakes or inaccuracies in content can damage a brand’s reputation.

Relative Nature: While AI is great for getting information, it can have a hard time connecting the dots. It is given instructions for content creation but may not be exactly how you want the content to be relatable to another specific topic or elements you want to hit in your article. AI’s are not accurate with relativity. Much like a toddler, they are learning.

How Can AI Content Writers Benefit Content Writing

AI can be a great tool, in the right hands. There are many ways AI can benefit content writers already in the industry. For example:

Faster Content Creation: AI content writers can generate content at a much faster rate than human writers. This is because they don’t require breaks, rest, or sleep. This can be especially useful when it comes to creating large volumes of content for content marketing or social media campaigns.

Data-Driven Insights: AI content writers can analyze data to identify trends, insights, and areas of opportunity. This can help to inform your content strategy and ensure that you are creating content that resonates with your audience — kind of. 

SEO Optimization: AI content writers can be programmed to write content that is optimized for search engines. This can help to improve your search engine rankings and increase organic traffic to your website. Only content generated with SEO, metadata, and page titles are elements only humans can create and understand–for now.

AI like Google BART and Chat GPT can be useful tools for generating content quickly and efficiently. However, they cannot replace human creativity, expertise, and understanding. Writing content for your blog or website requires a human touch that AI cannot yet replicate. If you want to create content that resonates with your audience and establishes your brand as an authority in your field, you need to rely on human writers with knowledge and experience in your industry. While AI will continue to evolve and improve, it cannot replace the unique qualities that humans bring to the table when it comes to writing content.

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