Any Reno Marketing Experts Out There? You Bet!

May 31st, 2010

Reno…The “Biggest Little City”… (for Marketing? Web Design? Social Media? Networking? You decide!)

Quite a distinctive moniker don’t you think? It brings up all manner of fun interpretations. And with that, there comes many potential spin-offs for all kinds of industries.

All you have to do is fill in the blank… “Reno: The Biggest Little <fill in the blank>”

And in this Reno-centric mini-blog post about marketing, I am going to list ten of the fun marketing-related phrases I have heard over time. Here goes:

Reno: The Biggest Little Marketing Metropolis
Reno: The Biggest Little Social Media Savvy Area
Reno: The Biggest Little Networking Community
Reno: The Biggest Little Web Design Town
Reno: The Biggest Little PR Haven
Reno: The Biggest Little Copywriting Culture
Reno: The Biggest Little Promotional City
Reno: The Biggest Little Traditional Media City
Reno: Home of the The Biggest Little Advertising Agency (or Agencies since since there are some many per-capita)
Reno: The Biggest Little Center for SEO & SEM

Reno Has It: Tremendous Marketing, Web Design, Graphic Design Copywriting & Professional Promotion Opportunities… all right here in the “Biggest Little City”

Maybe not all that interesting to some folks… but what I do think it represents, is the idea that this area (Reno, Sparks, Truckee Meadows, Lake Tahoe) has tremendous talent and so many marketing and creative professionals for web design, graphic design, promotion, copywriting and even professional sales, all in a relatively small geographic area.

A real smorgasbord of options for local business no matter their size or budget.

Reno is definitely the place to be if you are looking for lots of options when it comes to finding a professional, or team of professionals, to help promote a business either online or with traditional media.

Reno: The Biggest Little City for Marketing Opportunities (and some of the nicest people you could want to meet).

(A special heart-felt kudos to all the amazing marketing minds and creative souls out there who really do make business sing… It is a wonder to behold all this talent!)

Tags: Local Reno PR, Reno, Reno Advertising Agency, Reno Copywriting, reno marketing, Reno Marketing Opportunities, Reno Networking, Reno Promotions, Reno SEM, Reno SEO, Reno Social Media, Reno Traditional Media, Reno Web Design
Posted in Reno Marketing Meanderings | No Comments »

Reno Businesses Can Dominate Local Search Engine Results (Part 6 of 6 – Conclusion)

May 30th, 2010

Part 6 of 6 – Reno SEO Expert* Shares Some Phase 1 “Secrets of Local Google Dominance”

It’s Not That Hard If You Understand a Few Basic SEO Ingredients

The Conclusion to the 5 Most Important Tips for the Do-It-Yourself SEO-preneur or Small Business Owner

For this mini-article, we will look at 5 areas of basic SEO concepts (Conclusion below: ). These are important to business who wants a local, top-performing search engine presence. By faithfully following this approach you will improve your Search Engine Rankings giving you superior Local Search Engine Results.

The final Tips and Summary: Top Ranking Search Engine Results Are What You Want

There are lots of SEO tips and tools to keep everything moving forward for real-world and effective search engine ranking results.

If you can incorporate these basic principles I have outlined in the previous blog posts, build on them over time, consistently implement the strategies (schedule it), and use the Right SEO Technology and you will achieve Dominance in the Local Search Engine Results.

I have seen these principles prove themselves time and again and am amazed at how fast local businesses can get to the first page of Google by following the tips I outlined. Often within 1,2 or 3 months for some basic keywords. Then just use the formula for other keywords and over time you will climb the ranks.

As my final piece of “Great SEO Tips for Small Businesses” I give you the following list of more actionable items.

Register with local search engines, local directories and social media portals (Think Google, Yahoo, Microsoft, AOL, Ask, Local.com and TrueLocal and many others. They all want your info so they can give the best results to the people who use their service and so they can sell more advertising!) Also be sure to use Craig’s list, Insdier pages and many other local sales and review directories.
Put your business name and local terms in you page titles — (not non-descript terms such as “Home page”, “About”, “Welcome” , etc. My example is Integris Marketing | Reno Marketing Firm | Reno Graphic Design
Now do the same thing with your HI and H2 tags (especially using the local terms)
Then do the same thing with your body copy (more local terms with the service or product offered)
Put a Google or Yahoo or Mapquest generated map on your website with your street address… really super for local search results (just go to Google maps
How’s your InfoUSA listing? Or Dun & Bradstreet? Go check to make sure they are current and have your correct address, web link, etc.
Local News? Well you can’t compete with local papers or local info or entertainment portals, but you can add local content that is relevant to your business or your favorite causes. If you have a local mailing address where your business lives.. add that too! (On every page is a great way to go)
I’ve said it before and I will say it again and again.. Add a blog (One that you control on your web domain and where you can 100% control all page content. So stay away from the free blogs…even blogger)
Get “Local Inbound Links”! Search engines are using this kind of ranking criteria as an ever-more important element in local search results. So get into “legitimate” local directories in every way you can… Make sure they don’t just list your web site but also link with keywords for services you offer if you can.

OK… so that should be enough for most local businesses to cling to the top of the local search results. Want more success? Get your Google, Yahoo and Bing business listings, run some online display ads and you will have 3 or more places where you show up on the first page of Google… not bad for a small business these days, especially considering that over 65% of buyers look for local resources online (and some say the number is as high as 90% of all buyers use online search for local results).

*Reno SEO Expert. A paid professional who can provide measurable results and demonstrate ROI for promised SEO services and also be able to share success stories for past clients they have worked with.

Tags: Reno, Reno SEO Expert, SEO optimization, Sparks, web design, WordPress
Posted in Local SEO, Online Advertising In Reno, Online Marketing, SEO, Social Media, WordPress | 73 Comments »

Reno Businesses Can Dominate Local Search Engine Results (Part 5 of 6)

May 29th, 2010

Part 5 of 6 – Reno SEO Expert* Shares Some Phase 1 “Secrets of Local Google Dominance”

It’s Not That Hard If You Understand a Few Basic SEO Ingredients

The 5 Most Important Tips for the Do-It-Yourself SEO-preneur or Small Business Owner

For this mini-article, we will look at 5 areas of basic SEO concepts (Tip 5 below). These are important to business who wants a local, top-performing search engine presence. By faithfully following this approach you will improve your Search Engine Rankings giving you superior Local Search Engine Results.

Tip 5 of 6) Time and Commitment yields the best local search engine results:

It seems like all things in life take persistence and local search engine results are no different.

When it comes to improving your local search ranking or even regional search engine results, you need what I call the “Time-Drive Machine” and the “SEO Ranking Equation” to succeed.

Part “fire in the belly” and part commitment to your business or endeavor, you need to combine these 2 elements or passion and commitment to make progress and achieve a degree of success with local search engine marketing (SEM) to achieve local search engine ranking results. This is true whether you live and work in Reno, Nevada as I do, or want to attract local customers in your community in Seattle, Susanville or Salem… the same principles apply.

I have this little silly equation I like to use to demonstrate my point: C+Tx$=R (Commitment plus Time multiplied by Ratio of Resources equals Results). As you can see see it all adds up to results. The questions is how much time and commitment do you have? If you don’t have a lot Time but a solid Commitment then you need more Resources. If you have few Resources but a little Time and lots of Commitment you can still get Results, especially over a longer period (1 hour a week = 52 hours a year… you can get a lot done in 52 hours!).

So it’s pretty easy. Just like walking but you have to take each step to get to your destination.

Coming next: “Conclusion: Top Ranking Local Search Engine Results Are What You Want”. Date for next post will be June, 2010 (Assuming we don’t have any more health or business challenges that impede our flow… Keeping it positive.)

Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »

Integris Marketing Wins Girl Scout Web Redesign Contract

March 16th, 2010

News Release (3/16/10)

For More Information, please contact:

Blair O’Neil

775-322-3663

Blair@IntegrisMarketing.com

Integris Marketing Wins Girl Scout Web Contract

Integris Marketing of Reno was chosen to redesign and rebuild the Girl Scouts of the Sierra Nevada (GSSN) Web site. The rebuild includes a web-based content management system that will allow GSSN staff to update their new site in-house.

The new GSSN.org site will serve the organization’s 6,800 girl members and 1,900 adult volunteers, as well as provide information for the community about upcoming events, fundraising efforts, and training opportunities.

Integris Marketing, which serves the regional area of Reno, Sparks, northern Nevada, as well as national clients, is a full-service marketing agency, providing Web design, e-commerce systems, Web and print marketing, branding, public relations, and graphic design. It is owned and operated by design artist Blair O’Neil and business strategist Jenna O’Neil.

————————-

Integris Marketing was founded by Blair O’Neil, designer and owner of O’Neil Design Group, with Jenna O’Neil, a certified business and personal coach. With more than 25 years in the business, Integris Marketing provides an integrated strategy that includes Web, print, broadcast and trade show media.
For more information about Integris Marketing, please contact Blair O’Neil at 775-322-3663 or via email, Blair@IntegrisMarketing.com, and see the company Website at www.integrismarketing.com

Tags: girl scouts of the sierra nevada, web design, website redesign
Posted in Company News | No Comments »

Reno Businesses Can Dominate Local Search Engine Results (Part 4 of 6)

March 11th, 2010

Part 4 of 6 – Reno SEO Expert* Shares Some Phase 1 “Secrets of Local Google Dominance”

It’s Not That Hard If You Understand a Few Basic SEO Ingredients

The 5 Most Important Tips for the Do-It-Yourself SEO-preneur or Small Business Owner

For this mini-article, we will look at 5 areas of basic SEO concepts (Tip 4 below). These are important to business who wants a local, top-performing search engine presence. By faithfully following this approach you will improve your Search Engine Rankings giving you superior Local Search Engine Results.

Tip 4 of 5) Knowledge, Research, Curiosity and patience:

This aspect of Local Search Engine Ranking is partly a thinking exercise and partly a research effort. To get started just ask yourself, “What are the different things people might type in to find my services online.” Then make a list of those terms. Even though Google and Bing are aware of your location it helps if you tell them you are looking for local results so be sure to include “Reno” or “Sparks” or “Truckee Meadows” with your keyword phrases if you are searching in this area for best local search engine results.

Next see what happens when you search using your keywords list you just made. Make lots of tabs and notes and visit the top-ranking sites that came in from your search (just look at the top 3 or so) and see what you can gleen from their site.

Learn from these top performers. If you know how, and I recommend you learn the basics of how, look at the source code of the top-performing websites and get an idea of the keywords, header tags and meta-descriptions they are using. Look at how their information is organized on the page, look at how many words are on the page and what words are at the top middle and bottom. Get curious and take the Sherlock Holmes approach. You will be amazed at what you will learn if you look closely enough. Then take notes that you can use to implement their success tactics.

And if see something you don’t understand… look it up or hire a SEO consultant (Yes, we do that too!) to help you understand what you are up against.

Now this is a simplistic overview but it will yield results for any competitive local market. But you have to invest the necessary time and you have to commit to making incremental progress.

So get started, be patient and watch your results. I guarantee you will make headway if you incorporate this approach.

One note of caution. Older websites and domains have quite a bit of advantage here. All things being equal, Search Engines will give older sites a higher ranking. So in order to overcome this you have to be better on your subjective quality score.

Coming next: “Time and Commitment”. Date for next post will be March 12, 2010

Tags: Best local search engine results, Local search engine ranking, Reno SEO Expert, Reno Small Business Owner, SEO Consulting
Posted in Local SEO, Online Marketing, SEO | 23 Comments »

Reno Businesses Can Dominate Local Search Engine Results (Part 3 of 6)

March 8th, 2010

Part 3 of 6 – Reno SEO Expert* Shares Some Phase 1 “Secrets of Local Google Dominance”

It’s Not That Hard If You Understand a Few Basic SEO Ingredients

The 5 Most Important Tips for the Do-It-Yourself SEO-preneur or Small Business Owner

For this mini-article, we will look at 5 areas of basic SEO concepts. These are important to business who wants a local, top-performing search engine presence. By faithfully following this approach you will improve your Search Engine Rankings giving you superior Local Search Engine Results.

Tip 2 of 5) SEO Strategy:

The BEST and LOWEST COST SEO Technology for Small Businesses

In a word: WordPress. Our website is built on it (and so is this blog) and as of this writing (March 8, 2010) we are at 38 days of being live and we are quickly eclipsing several local firms who have been around for years. And if we can do this so can you! We went from no-where’s-ville to actually getting page 1 Google ranking for several primary and secondary keyword phrases… And we are just getting started.

Why WordPress? Because it works. Not only as a base package but also because there are a slew of 3rd party plugins that will Super-charge your Local SEO Performance unlike those low-cost “website builders” or “website generators” out there with all sorts of marketing hype attached to them. The problem is they all stink from the perspective of SEO (IMHO). They just under-deliver when it comes to SEO because they are not built on a strong understanding of what it takes to succeed with top-ranking SEO Performance.

But just because WordPress is “Free”, be sure to NOT use the “free WordPress themes” out there, but instead, opt for professional themes that are designed to be optimized for SEO. These are built with better code and also don’t have the built-in back-links to nefarious websites that can get you black-listed in Google (Not a good thing). Also be sure to include a solid set of 3rd party plug-ins or choose a WordPress template that is already set up to optimize your site for the leading search engines, most notably, Google and Bing.

And remember, search engines are the friend of local businesses and should be apart of your online marketing strategy, no matter if you are in Reno, Sparks, Tahoe or New York City. Most people use the internet to find local businesses they can buy from.

So whether you are on a budget and just getting started, or if you are an established business with a strong website, WordPress, if set-up and managed consistently, can help you with your local search engine rankings. I like to think of blogs, and in particular, WordPress Blogs, as today’s digital business card for your growing enterprise.

Coming next: “Knowledge, Research & Curiosity: Learn about your competitors”. Date for next post will be March 10, 2010

Tags: Local SEO Performance, Lowest Cost SEO Technology, Optimized for SEO, Reno Online Marketing Strategy, search engine optimization, SEO, WordPress
Posted in Local SEO, Online Marketing, SEO, WordPress | 22 Comments »

Reno Businesses Can Dominate Local Search Engine Results (Part 2 of 6)

March 5th, 2010

Part 2 of 6 – Reno SEO Expert* Shares Some Phase 1 “Secrets of Local Google Dominance”

It’s Not That Hard If You Understand a Few Basic SEO Ingredients

The 5 Most Important Tips for the Do-It-Yourself SEO-preneur or Small Business Owner

Tip 1 of 5) SEO Strategy:

Divide and Conquer and look for the little successes first. In my case, Let’s say I want to get to top rankings for Web Design and Graphic Design. A fairly competitive field for local results becuase these are the people that know what they are doing and have been around a long time. What to do? Look for other things that you offer that local people might be seeking and concentrate on those. For me it was things like Reno Copywriting and Online Marketing Reno and some other niche offerings. Now if I make some content about that (Think text) then it’s easier to get top ranking since there is less competition for those terms.

Once you get some “Google top ranking words or phrases” for your local market associated with your website, you can begin to build on that success. The theory is that once you get some success in Google it is easier to get more becuase Google likes a winner and if you can get on that path then you can build on your successes… one step at a time.

Coming next: “The BEST and LOWEST COST SEO Technology for Small Businesses: WordPress”. Date for next post will be March 8, 2010

Tags: Google Top Ranking, graphic design, Lowest Cost SEO, Marketing Reno, Online Marketing Reno, Reno, Reno Copywriting, Reno SEO Expert, SEO Strategy, web design, Wordpress. Small Business
Posted in Local SEO, Online Marketing, SEO, WordPress | 23 Comments »

Reno Businesses Can Dominate Local Search Engine Results (Part 1 of 6)

March 3rd, 2010

Reno SEO Expert* Shares Some Phase 1 “Secrets of Local Google Dominance”

It’s Not That Hard If You Understand a Few Basic SEO Ingredients

In most cities and towns around the world, including business right here in the Reno, Sparks, Tahoe area, the majority of businesses sell to the local customer base. This is of course as it should be because local business success is so vital to any regions economy. So with almost universal use of the internet to gather info about local businesses, it’s time for local businesses to to get savvy about how they can start to “show up” in front of local customers when they are looking to buy.

But it’s pretty clear that most businesses don’t have a clue about how do do this. More often than not, what I hear when I talk to prospective clients that are local Reno and Sparks businesses is the same question over and over:

“How to get to the top of Google… How, oh how, oh how?!” <insert much hand-wringing and sighing>

You have to wonder if there isn’t a straight-forward solution.

The good news is… There is! But first a little factoid for you (Source: Nielsen Online MegaPanel in October 2008):

“Though 63% of consumers and small business owners turn to the internet first for information about local companies and 82% use search engines to do so, only 44% of small businesses have a website and half spend less than 10% of their marketing budget online.”

What you need to know is that getting to the top of Google or Bing (or Bing, or MSN or Yahoo which I think will all one day be one search engine) really isn’t that hard. All it takes is some, Time, Commitment, a little Knowledge, the Right Technology, with a healthy dose of Strategy.

(Stay tuned for Part 2 coming Mar. 5, 2010 with more info about the first of the 5 core elements, Time, Commitment, Knowledge, Technology, Strategy)

Tags: Getting to the top of Google, Local Google Dominance, Reno, SEO, SEO optimization, Sparks, Tahoe Area
Posted in Local SEO, Online Marketing, SEO, Social Media, Uncategorized | No Comments »

Online Marketing Opportunities for Reno Businesses

February 27th, 2010

Hey Reno Businesses…
Are Your Customers Online?

If so, what are you going to do about it?

Chances are good, your customers are online… what with email, online newspapers and news feeds, hobby sites and online searches for products for services, you can bet that most people and companies are online for part of the day either for pleasure or work.

And if you know who your customers are, and can discover ways to get in front of them, then you can succeed in the local marketing game. Because, marketing IS a Contact Sport.

So if you think you have what it takes, then you too can dive head first into the online advertising world and take advantage of the opportunities that will get you in front of local customers.

Online Marketing Opportunities Here in Reno, Sparks, Truckee Meadows and Lake Tahoe

Here’s my growing list of the local opportunities for online advertising here in the Reno-Tahoe area. And best of all, some of it is Free Advertising, or at the least very low cost. And some of it if managed correctly can be targeted right to your customers

Here are the Free Online Advertising Opportunities here in Reno and the surrounding community:

Craig’s List
Google Business Listing
Bing / MSN Business Listing
FreeCycle.com (You Have to have something to give away free)
Friends of FreeCycle (You have to be selling things for a very low cost)
Ebay (Selling things locally)
And though not specifically “online” like a web site… think email… if you have customers and they have emails, it’s best to stay in touch so they don’t forget about you.

Low-Cost Reno Advertising Opportunities:

Local Bloggers
Local Retailers (non-competitive offerings)
Local Networking Sites
Local Reno Portal Sites
Local Chamber of Commerce websites (Sparks Chamber, Reno-Sparks Chamber, etc)
Local Online Banner Networks (we can help with this)

Local, Reno Chapter of the American Marketing Association website

Other Local Professional Membership websites
Nevada Women’s Expo
Local Non-profits (You can be a “supporter/sponsor”)

Traditional Paid Online Advertising in the Reno, Sparks area

The RGJ offers various online advertising opportunities on the following sites:
• RGJ.com
• RENOMagazine.com
• RenoLakeTahoeWeddings.com
• GoToRenoTahoe.com
• Metromix.com
• Momslikeme.com
Northern Nevada Business Weekly
Reno News and Review
Yellow Pages Online (Not a big fan of this one)
Local (Reno) Radio and Television Web sites (too many to list)
Reno.com
Tahoe Daily Tribune
Tahoe.com
Sierra Sun News (Truckee)
TahoeBonanza.com
MonshineINK.com

Other Paid Online Advertising for GeoTargeted Users here in Reno

Google Adwords (Radius results for Search Queries and local content networks)
AOL Content Network
Facebook Geo-targeted or based on user profiles
Bing/MSN/Yahoo Search and Content Networks

Tags: Bing Online Advertising, Facebook Ads, Google Ads, Lake Tahoe, Online Advertising Opportunites in Reno, Online Marketing Opportunities in Reno, Sparks, Truckee Meadows
Posted in Online Advertising In Reno | 22 Comments »

Best Practices for Reno Business
and the Local Social Media Scene

February 27th, 2010

Reno Business & Reno Social Media…
Friend or Foe?

Is Social Media important to your customers?
Then use it (wisely)!

Social Media: Marketers love it, social butterflies love it, the cool and the hip love it, young people love it and traditional business models are experimenting with it, and trying to figure how, and if, they should love it.

As you can imagine, Social Media is not everything to everyone and there are definitely naysayers out there. But if you listen to the ongoing buzz of Social Media, it pretty clear there are a lots of reasons to embrace it and its not going away anytime soon. But like all things that are new, it is best to approach with patience, common sense, an attitude for learning and maybe a sense of adventure.

And if you have a tight calendar with lots of tasks and activities, then limit your time for engaging and be clear about your reasons for being involved. Otherwise you will drown in a seemingly endless sea of tweets, posts, tips, rants, links, “What I had for lunch” (Like I care), and thinly veiled self-promotional hype.

No Question… Social Media is here to stay

There are thousands of people, noted experts, self-proclaimed experts and social media minions, who endlessly preach and glorify social media while basking in its endless surge… yes endless.. (as long as we have electricity and the internet I guess).

But what about the rest of us?Does it really matter? Are customers listening? Well I think Social Media just a new way of delivering info and connecting with people? Just a larger scale of older technologies. that used to be the realm of real face-to-face interactions?

My Advise: Keep it Real, Honest, Inclusive, Enjoyable, and Value-Rich. And remember to get, or keep, you life intact… There is more to living than being online.

Social Media Basics: Tremendous and helpful information from Mashable.com

Start here for the basics on how and why your business should be implementing a social media campaign.

Sign up, stay on message, and utilize some leading sites and apps that can give your business a social edge.

These posts have real-world advice and examples of how businesses have succeeded on social networks. From Facebook to Twitter to LinkedIn and beyond, here are the resources you’ll need to get started.

– Social Media 101: How to Avoid Alienating Your Customers

– Why Should Traditional Businesses Care about Social Media?

– 10 of the Best Social Media Tools for Entrepreneurs

– Putting Social Media in Real Life Context for SMBs

– Why Your Business Needs to Be on Facebook

– Making Social Media a Tool, Not a Distraction

– How to Use Twitter Hashtags for Business

– 5 Mistakes to Never Make on Twitter

– 5 Small Businesses Successfully Using Social Media

– 3 Great Social Media Policies to Steal From

– 5 Secrets From Social Media Insiders

– Social Media: What’s Next

Tags: Social Media, social media for business, social media for reno businesses
Posted in Online Marketing, Social Media, Uncategorized | No Comments »

Reno Businesses Can Dominate Local Search Engine Results (Part 5 of 6)

Part 5 of 6 – Reno SEO Expert* Shares Some Phase 1 “Secrets of Local Google Dominance”

It’s Not That Hard If You Understand a Few Basic SEO Ingredients

The 5 Most Important Tips for the Do-It-Yourself SEO-preneur or Small Business Owner

Tip 5 of 6) Time and Commitment yields the best local search engine results:

Integris Marketing Wins Girl Scout Web Redesign Contract

Reno Businesses Can Dominate Local Search Engine Results (Part 4 of 6)

Part 4 of 6 – Reno SEO Expert* Shares Some Phase 1 “Secrets of Local Google Dominance”

It’s Not That Hard If You Understand a Few Basic SEO Ingredients

The 5 Most Important Tips for the Do-It-Yourself SEO-preneur or Small Business Owner

Tip 4 of 5) Knowledge, Research, Curiosity and patience:

Reno Businesses Can Dominate Local Search Engine Results (Part 3 of 6)

Part 3 of 6 – Reno SEO Expert* Shares Some Phase 1 “Secrets of Local Google Dominance”

It’s Not That Hard If You Understand a Few Basic SEO Ingredients