LionShark Digital Marketing Blog

Why Quality Content Will Always Be Golden

3/6/2018

In its 20+ year history, SEO has taken on a variety of forms – both good and bad. While black hat SEO has utilized unscrupulous tactics to try to trick the search engines into acquiring search relevance, white hat SEO has been used to honestly gain exposure for high-quality content. And somewhere in the middle is the average marketer who has noble intentions but may also be prone to chasing the latest rumors and fads to get a leg up on the competition, sometimes helping and sometimes hurting their cause.

But amidst it all, the importance of quality content has always reigned supreme!

High-quality content will always be golden because it appeals to real people and factors heavily into search engine algorithms.

4 Pieces of Content Your Business Needs Right Now

11/30/2017

With all the nuances between companies in different industries, it’s a bold statement to say that every business needs the same type of content. However, it’s true!

The forms of content that drive customer engagement, sales, and search engine visibility don’t vary.

No matter what your business sells, where it’s located, how long it’s been operational, how many employees it has, or what it’s short and long-term goals are, it absolutely must have these four types of content:

When Your Competitors Aren’t Really Your Competitors

10/10/2017

Who are your competitors?

Chances are, you probably have a list of other companies that have similar offerings and operate in the same geographical space as your business. If you hired a digital marketing agency and they asked for your biggest competitors, you’d rattle off a few names from the top of your list and ask for help outdoing them online.

However, when it comes to paid search advertising (PPC) and search engine optimization (SEO), your usual competitors aren’t your only competitors. And in some cases, they aren’t even your biggest competitors!

While consumers determine who your direct competitors are by comparing products and services across similar companies, search engines determine who your competitors are organically by comparing content across pages. As a result, your online competition can vary widely based on your industry.

These are the top competitors you should be aware of, as well as tips for outranking them online:

PPC for Beginners: Can it Replace SEO?

8/23/2017

Thank you for following our ongoing PPC for Beginners blog series. If you’ve missed any of the previous articles, you can find them here:

We’re wrapping up this series by answering another frequently asked question – “Can PPC replace SEO?” (Spoiler alert: It can’t.)

There is a lot of confusion around this topic because both types of online marketing use keywords as building blocks and they share similar goals, which leads new advertisers to falsely believe that PPC and SEO are interchangeable. This misconception leaves advertisers without the relevant information to make informed marketing decisions. We don’t want you to fall into the same trap!

Hopefully after you’re done reading this article, you’ll understand the essential differences between PPC and SEO, be more knowledgeable about how they work together, and feel equipped to make decisions about prioritizing your marketing efforts.

The Lineup – Your Favorite Blog Posts

6/27/2017

Want to know what your colleagues and competitors are reading? Great! We combed through our analytics and found the can’t miss posts from the last three years. Here’s a list of our most read blog posts across our most popular categories. Enjoy!

How Much Will Your Website Rewrite Cost?

6/1/2017

If you’re looking to have the content on your website updated or revamped, you’re probably wondering how much a professional copywriter or content marketer will charge. Here at LionShark we write content for clients every day, which means that we have the inside scoop on what a project like that will cost.

So, check out this guide to pricing out your website rewrite and if you don’t get your questions answered, let us know! (We’d be happy to provide you with a custom quote based on your specific needs.)

The Best Ways to Optimize Your Existing Content

4/11/2017

Most business owners understand that unique, well-optimized content is the most crucial component of any SEO strategy. Many also believe that creating content has to be time consuming to do internally or expensive to outsource. However, one of the best ways to win at the SEO game is to simply optimize your existing content. Here are four easy ways to optimize the content that you already have laying around:

What is “Content” Anyways?

2/28/2017

As a content marketer, it’s easy to forget that not everyone knows what content is exactly. Many people have a general idea of what content is but, often times, business owners have trouble wrapping their heads around what counts as content and why it matters. And who can blame them really!? Even marketers disagree about what “content” actually means.

So, if you’ve ever nodded along while hearing a marketer talk about the importance of content without really knowing what they’re talking about, read on!

Analyzing the Results of Expanded Text Ads – What We Found

2/2/2017

Expanded text ads were one of the biggest changes that Google rolled out to PPC advertisers in the last decade, which meant that their unveiling was met with both excitement and trepidation. Advertisers speculated that expanded text ads would result in dramatically higher click-through rates and conversion rates due to their much larger size. Industry insiders speculated that with approximately twice the characters to work with, businesses would find it easier to convey value propositions and engage with shoppers, making their lives easier and consumer experiences richer.

So, now that they’ve gone live, you might be asking yourself whether all the hoopla about expanded text ads was justified. Well, we analyzed the results that our PPC clients saw and put together our findings:

Blogging in 30 Minutes a Day

1/24/2017

People always use the same few excuses as to why they can’t maintain a blog. The biggest one I hear from business owners is that they just don’t have the time. This is probably the worst excuse not to blog, and I’ll show you why!

You can maintain a great blog in just 30 minutes a day.

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