Carl Ocab, Author at Carl Ocab

What Are Meta Tags? Add These 5 Important Tags for SEO

Carl Ocab — Wed, 20 May 2020 15:46:28 +0000

Back in 2006, when I was just introduced to the world of SEO, meta tags were the “craze”. Everyone was talking about stuffing their meta tags with keywords–and it worked. Meta tags were a big ranking factor back then even though it’s easy to manipulate.

Of course, Google was able to detect that right away and gave less importance to meta tags. Even though it’s not a strong ranking factor as before, it’s still an essential part of SEO.

What Are Meta Tags?

Meta tags are codes inside the tag that provide information about the page to search engines and browsers. That’s why meta tags are still important. Without them, search engines and browsers would have a difficult time figuring out what your page is about.

Add These 5 Meta Tags to Your Site

The list below is the 5 most important meta tags for SEO. Use these tags correctly and it will help Google rank your sites for your keywords.

1. Title Tag

The title tag tells search engines what a page is about. It’s the title that shows up on the tab of your browser. It’s also the title that usually shows up in the search results. I said usually because sometimes Google doesn’t use a page’s title tag if it thinks there’s a more relevant title it can use in its search results.

Here are some dos and don’ts when writing your title tag:

Do:

Add your keywords in the title tag
Put the most important keywords first
Use 40-60 characters
Write attractive titles (Not only will you get more clicks, but you’ll also get better rankings eventually through RankBrain)

Don’t:

Stuff your title tag with keywords only
Use ALL CAPS on unnecessary words
Use repeat variations of your main keyword (Google understands variations of your keywords. That’s why if you optimize for the keyword “seo”, you’ll also rank for “search engine optimization”)

Example: What Are Meta Tags? Add These 5 Important Tags on Your Site

Here’s what it will look like on Google:

2. Meta Description

The meta description tag is used for one purpose: to describe the page to searchers as they read through search results.

Meta descriptions can help you get better rankings… indirectly. It’s the text that appears at the bottom of the URL of a result on Google. People read it. It’s part of the copy of your website.

If you write an attractive meta description that gets people to click on your search result, then like the title tag’s influence on ranking via RankBrain, the meta description will indirectly affect your rankings, too.

Example:

Here’s what it will look like on Google:

3. Meta Robots

The meta robots tag tells search engines what to do and what not to do on a certain page.

We use this tag here at carlocab.com because there are some pages on our site that we don’t want indexed. For instance, we don’t want Google to index our success page. It’s where our visitors go to after they use our contact forms. It has thin content and we don’t want it part of Google’s record of our site.

These are the most common meta robot commands:

noindex – This prevents Google from indexing the page.
nofollow – This tells Google not to follow any links on the page.
noarchive – This prevents Google from showing a cached version of the page.

If you want Google to index and follow the links in a page, you do not need to use a meta robots tag as Google, by default, indexes and follows links on a page,

Example:

4. Meta Viewport

The meta viewport tag tells Google that the page is mobile-friendly. This is important for SEO as Google has implemented mobile-first indexing on most sites.

Paste the sample code below if your page is mobile-friendly. If you’re using WordPress, this is automatically added to the code of your site.

Example:

5. Rel Canonical

The rel canonical tag is crucial to avoid on-site duplicate content. Yes, duplicate content can happen within your site–on the same URL.

Did you know that you can show different content on www.domain.com and domain.com? That’s why Google treats those two as two different websites if you don’t redirect one from the other. Google also treats these URLs as different pages if left with no rel canonical tag:

http://www.domain.com
http://domain.com
https://www.domain.com
https://domain.com
https://www.domain.com/index.html
https://domain.com/index.html

You can tell Google which is the main URL by using the rel canonical tag. Aside from using the rel canonical tag, it’s good practice to canonicalize your domain as well by implementing 301 redirects.

Example:

Avoid The Meta Keywords Tag

Forget about it. It only worked before. However, people took advantage of it by stuffing huge amounts of keywords on it so Google stopped using it.

Other Meta Tags

These are tags that you can do without but can be useful for different sites for specific circumstances.

Social meta tags – This tag is not important for SEO but can be helpful for social media. If you correctly set up the 5 important meta tags above, your posts will look good on social media so this tag won’t be necessary.
Language – There’s no need to use this meta tag unless your site is not in English, which will require you to declare the main language used in pages.
Geo tag – This meta tag is not supported by Google. If you want to geo-target your site, verify it via Google Search Console and use the international targeting tool.
Site verification tags – If you’re trying to verify your site on Google Search Console or some SEO tool, you may be required to paste a small snippet of meta tag that includes a verification code.
Rating tag – This tag indicates the maturity rating of a page. If your website does not contain adult content, you don’t have to think about this tag.

The post What Are Meta Tags? Add These 5 Important Tags for SEO appeared first on Carl Ocab.

What Are Outbound Links? Are They Good for SEO?

Carl Ocab — Mon, 04 May 2020 09:38:03 +0000

Links are what makes the world wide web, a web–sites linking out to other websites. Links pointing from point A to point B.

However, there are many types of links. Today, we’ll be discussing outbound links. What are they? Are they important for SEO? How many is too much? We’ll answer those questions below.

What Are Outbound Links?

Outbound links are links that point from your site to another site. Most, if not all, websites have outbound links. They are used to reference other articles, share information from other sites, link to social media profiles, and more.

Its counterpart is inbound links. Inbound links are links from other sites pointing to your site. They are also called backlinks. These links are extremely important for SEO as these links determine the authority of your website. Inbound links are a different topic altogether. However, if you want to read more about it, here’s a good article on how to build backlinks. (By the way, that link points to another site, that is an example of an outbound link!)

What Are The Types of Outbound Links?

There are two types of outbound links. They are dofollow and nofollow.

Dofollow Links

Dofollow links pass link juice. This type of link passes authority. If you have a dofollow link from an authoritative site, you’re getting some of that site’s authority. It’s like a trusted individual vouched for you; most people would think you’re a stand-up guy, too. Generally, this is the type of link that you want for SEO.

Nofollow Links

Nofollow links do not pass link juice. But, it doesn’t mean that they’re useless for SEO. Nofollow links are often used if you’re unsure if the site you’re linking to is trustworthy. This is commonly used on blog comments and other user-generated content that may contain an outbound link.

Nofollow links from other websites can be good for SEO, too. In fact, Google “expects” several nofollow links pointing to your site. These “expected” links come from social media profiles, trusted directories, online maps, etc.

A nofollow link may look like this: rel=”nofollow”>Site

Why Are Outbound Links Important for SEO?

Outbound links are a ranking factor. Authoritative sites link to other trustworthy sites. So, always remember to link to other relevant authority sites. It shows relevance and enhances your credibility.

Aside from its direct SEO benefits, linking to other sites will likely result in those websites noticing you. They are webmasters, too, and they monitor their backlinks. If you have great content, one way or another, they may link back to your content as well.

How Many Outbound Links Per Page?

There is no exact number. However, this study only used two hyperlinks, and they’ve seen definitive results.

In our SEO Services, we usually practice adding 2-3 dofollow outbound links to authority sites per page we optimize. But, whatever feels natural is OK. Take a look at this post, there are more than 3 outbound links here. But it’s OK because it’s the natural thing to do. I’m talking about a lot of topics, and I have to reference a lot of stuff.

Are a Lot of Outbound Links Bad for SEO?

If the links point to relevant authority websites and their placement is natural, no. But, if you put a bunch of irrelevant links that offer no value, especially if those links point to low-quality spammy sites, it’s going to be a problem.

What Are The Cons of Outbound Links?

Even if it doesn’t hurt your site’s SEO, you have to keep in mind that outbound links may drive visitors away from your site as it points them to a different website. Determine the purpose of the page first. If it’s for SEO, then feel free to add relevant outbound links. If the page’s purpose is to capture leads like a squeeze page, then you may have to think again.

Key Takeaways

Outbound links to relevant authority sites are good for SEO.
Outbound links to spammy irrelevant sites are bad for SEO.
Dofollow links pass link juice–the type of link you want for SEO.
Nofollow links do not pass link juice, but they still have some positive SEO effects.
Add 2-3 outbound links to relevant authority sites per page you optimize. More is OK, so long as it’s natural and adds value to the page.

The post What Are Outbound Links? Are They Good for SEO? appeared first on Carl Ocab.

15 Essential Things to Do in Your Website During This Pandemic

Carl Ocab — Wed, 29 Apr 2020 11:53:25 +0000

COVID-19 has been affecting everyone in the world. We are all experiencing significant changes in almost all aspects of our lives. And, it is this pandemic that impacts most companies, if not all of them.

Reality hits every part of the economy. Global markets are likely to slow down, and it would be impossible to sustain cash flows. It all looks pretty grim at the moment, but if you want your company to come out of it in good working condition, it’s time to start playing a strategic game.

In this article, we’ll discuss different ways on how to improve your business through your website by providing the following:

What you need to change on your website
What you need to improve on your website
How this applies to any business who has a website

1. Add an Informational Banner/Pop-up

Adding an informational banner or pop-up is a great way to inform your audience of how your company is operating during this time. Inform them of your operating hours during this pandemic and if your company is applying a work-from-home scheme. Remember not just to position the information on your homepage, because not everyone will arrive on your homepage. That’s why it’s better if it’s a banner or a pop-up so that your website visitors will be able to see it.

Adding a banner/pop-up is not only useful during this pandemic. You can also apply this, in any event, i.e., if you have an on-going sale. Or, if you have an upcoming webinar or event, you can also let your website visitors know by using banners or pop-ups.

UX & SEO Warning on Pop-ups

Be careful when adding a pop-up (especially an interstitial) to your website. Pop-ups or interstitials can affect your website’s SEO and User Experience.

In terms of UX, pop-ups are just annoying. It’s as simple as that. So, make sure that your pop-up is relevant or necessary. Does it provide important information? Does it give anything to the visitor? If yes, then put it on your website.

For SEO, Google penalizes websites with “intrusive” pop-ups or interstitials. First of all, it affects SEO because it affects UX to begin with. Google favors websites that have excellent content and excellent user experience. They always want to show the best websites to its users.

So, how can you not get penalized for putting pop-ups in your website? Here are a few ways to not get penalized by Google:

Don’t show the pop-up immediately when a visitor comes to your site. Let them browse for a few seconds before showing the pop-up.
Show the pop-up once or twice only.
Make it easy to close the pop-up.
Avoid interstitial pop-ups. Use a mild pop-up that doesn’t cover the whole page.
Make the pop-up simple and relevant.

2. Integrate a Chatbot

As more people are spending time online, expect a rise in your website traffic. Integrate a chatbot on the site to make communication efficient to these visitors. The popularity of chatbots is steadily increasing because of its effectiveness. It provides 24/7 online assistance, boosts online sales, and can quickly answer customer inquiries.

With a chatbot, your customers don’t have to wait for a representative to get back to them if a chatbot can answer their questions. Because of this, your potential customers who have doubts about the product or service will be able to go straight to signing up or purchasing with the help of the chatbot.

Chatbot integration is not only helpful during this time, but it can also help at any time of the year. Check out this list of chatbot builders to help you get started!

3. Introduce Cheaper Products or Services

As we all know, it is tough to spend money during this time. Many individuals have lost their source of income mainly due to prevention initiatives introduced in various countries. It is not wise to splurge on things that aren’t essential right now. So, it is best if you can add cheaper products or services for your customers. This is also a good time to utilize a downsell.

For example, if you are a retailer of coffee beans who usually only sells half-kilo or kilo packs, you could introduce a new variant of the beans on a smaller packaging like 200-250 grams per package. With this, people wouldn’t have a hard time deciding whether or not to buy your coffee beans because of its lower price.

Apple Introduces Cheaper Phones

Another real-life example is what Apple did this month; they announced that they are going to release a new model of iPhone, which is 40% cheaper than the cheapest iPhone 11 released these past few months. This is good news for Apple fans who want to get a new phone but want to spend much less than usual.

How About Luxury Brands?

Be careful when introducing cheaper products if you are a luxury brand. The example about Apple shows that they introduced a cheaper phone, although it is still much more expensive than the average smartphones like Oppo or Lenovo.

If you are a luxury brand, you might lose your class and exclusivity when too many persons can get a hold of your product. Think about how introducing cheaper products or services can affect your brand.

With this, you can continue selling your products and services during this pandemic. Don’t worry, if your product or service is worth it, customers will still come back for more!

4. Create a Landing Page for All COVID-Related Info or Posts

You can create a single page for all your COVID-related information. This is great for both your visitors and yourself! Why?

This helps your guests, as it would be quicker for them to find details relating to COVID-19 on your website. Talk about how your company is operating during this time. Let your website visitors know what your operating hours are, if you are operating at all. You could also add a short paragraph on how your company is reacting to this pandemic and assure everyone that your employees and yourself are all safe and sound.

This is also a great page to talk about why you are open to giving a discount to your products or services. Let people know that you are tackling the obstacle head on as a company and that you are with your customers to get through this.

5. Review All Automated Marketing Activities

Every person should always be sensitive to our current situation. Review all your automated marketing activities, such as emails, posts, or ads. Don’t get me wrong; automated marketing activities are useful for your company. BUT, you have to make sure that your emails, posts, or ads, are related and sensitive to our current pandemic. So, to be safe, check ALL your automated marketing activities!

For example, your company sends out automated emails to nurture leads. Now might not be the best time to do some hard-selling. It will turn-off a lot of potential customers. Most, if not all of us, are still thinking about the uncertainty our situation presents. Let’s be sensitive enough to the situation.

6. Focus on Discounts & Promos

If you can’t introduce cheaper products or services, you may want to consider giving out substantial discounts to your current products or services. Remember that almost all persons do not want to risk putting out money for things that might not be too valuable for them at the moment.

As a business, take in whatever you can get. It will help your business stay afloat during this pandemic. If you are sure that you have a valuable product or service, customers will always come back to you. So, just take the small hit today for a better tomorrow!

Although, just like introducing cheaper products or services, giving too much discounts for a luxury brand might have more cons than pros. Just remember that if you are going to give a lower price, it should still cater to your company’s buyer personas or target market. If you only target rich people, stick with it.

7. Increase Social Media Activity

As more people are staying at home, there is an increase in their time spent on social media platforms. Social media platforms play an essential role in giving out information to people (and keeping us sane during these trying times!). Now is the best time to reach out to your customers online. Know their wants and needs during this time. Just keep in touch with them; let them know that you are still there to help them out. Anticipate the wants or needs of your customers and use those things to create posts that can answer their problems.

You can also create posts that have an uplifting or inspiring message. This will be great for your brand awareness because people will be able to relate that uplifting feeling with your brand. This is a critical time to produce content that is “shareable” to reach more people, which will benefit you in the long run.

8. Start Creating High-Quality Content

Although other companies in your industry are reducing or totally stopping the creation of content, keep producing content at this period. But, make sure to go for quality over quantity!

Go all out on your content marketing. Create blog posts, videos, or other social media posts, that talk about your services/products or other vital questions that would answer your customers’ questions.

And if they may not be willing to avail of your services or goods right away, at best you’re more likely to be on people’s minds than other companies. Keeping constant communication with your customers is key to increasing your chances of getting more sales in the future!

9. Adjust Your Messaging to Saving Money Instead of Making Money

I can’t stress enough how important it is to be sensitive during this time. Right now, a lot of people are going through all kinds of struggles. It is off-putting if your messaging focuses on making money. It is better that instead of making money, adjust your messaging to saving money.

For example, you are selling software that helps people create videos easily. Instead of advertising it as something that could help them make money faster because users can create more videos daily, show them how using the software can save you money by doing more work in less time. On top of saving money, they will also save time, which can’t be replaced by anything!

Just remember always to double-check any email, post, ad, or any other content that you are about to send out. Make sure that your messaging takes into consideration the on-going pandemic, which is causing a lot of problems worldwide.

10. Focus on Improving Your Search Rankings

Search Engine Optimization never yields results immediately. This is something that takes a lot of time and effort to see excellent results. This is why you should focus on improving your search rankings right now! While your competitors are not doing anything, you are starting to improve your rankings slowly but steadily. By the time they decide to resume their marketing activities, you will be far ahead from all of them.

So why is it important to get high rankings? It’s because online searches have always been rising every year! SEO is always an excellent investment (if you are doing it right! If you need help, we offer SEO Services). It’s as simple as “higher search rankings = more traffic = more leads = more sales.”

11. Evaluate All Texts and Images

In relation to being sensitive and adhering to the current situation, evaluate all texts and images that your company shows to the public. Check your website first if you have any texts that might be inappropriate during this time, such as asking people to sign up for an event or to go out and go jogging. (If you are a sports website, maybe?)

For example, if you have upcoming events, instead of giving a seminar physically, you could just make it a webinar. With this, people do not have to gather but will still be able to get the information that you’ll share in the seminar. Another thing to evaluate is the imagery that you use for your content. It is not advisable to use fear as a hook during this time. People are already thinking about a lot of things; let’s not add to their worries.

12. Update Your Website Info

During these times, people are uncertain of what is going to happen. So, at least let them be sure of the status of your company. Let them know if you are operating, changing schedules, or if you are closing. Even if they know you are closed, it will give them the impression that they could check back again soon.

Why is it important to update your website info? Well, because doing so would avoid wasting the time of your website visitors. For example, your business is not operating. But, you didn’t put it on your website. What if someone orders your product then doesn’t receive anything after ordering? It will be a bad impression. That person would certainly not come back to you.

13. Update Your Social Media Accounts

Other than your website, it is also important to update your social media accounts. More people are spending their time online; it is a great way to keep in touch with your customers. Let them know your operating hours or at least tell them what your company is up to during this time.

Use the high-quality content that you’ll create (like we talked about earlier) to post on your social media accounts. Give your customers great content that they could consume to keep them company while we are all stuck at home.

Just remember to keep your language and imagery appropriate. You do not want to cause irreparable damage to your company’s reputation. So think before posting!

14. Reach Out to Your Current Customers

Remember that your current customers are the reason why your company is where it is right now. Take time to message or email them to update them of your company’s situation and how it may or may not affect them. Bear in mind that they’re probably worried about a lot of things right now, and it’s better if the message is more reassuring than offering more things to fear.

Talk about how the pandemic affects your products or services. If you can’t deliver products, let them know so they won’t wait for nothing. Or, If your services are affected, inform them how it is affected. Provide answers to all possible questions that are in your customers’ minds.

Just keep in touch and let them know that you are still here. They will appreciate it as long as you make the emails personalized. Don’t send out generic messages that will only fill up their inboxes with useless information and irritate them.

15. Continue Your PPC and Social Media Ads

Are you utilizing PPC and social media ads? If not, you should! Even during this pandemic. More people are spending time online, and there is also a surge in search engine searches. Invest in your PPC and social media ads to reach your target audience now.

Even before the pandemic, marketing efforts have been switching to digital! So, creating effective PPC or social media campaigns will always yield good results for your business.

Another reason why it is a good idea to continue your PPC and social media ads during this time is that most of your competitors are cutting or reallocating their ads budgets. Because of this, cost per clicks is lower, while impressions are higher!

Conclusion

These are just some of the things that you should focus on during these trying times to keep your business relevant. What we marketers need to do is adapt to a new, post-pandemic environment with revised tactics and buyer personas. Make moves always to keep improving! Now is the time to learn more things while we have some downtime. And lastly, stay at home and stay safe always!

If you need help doing any of these things, fill out our contact form to get a call from our business growth specialist.

The post 15 Essential Things to Do in Your Website During This Pandemic appeared first on Carl Ocab.

Restaurant SEO: 6 Things You Can Do Right Now to Improve Your Rankings

Carl Ocab — Fri, 20 Nov 2015 16:21:08 +0000

It’s APEC week here in the Philippines, and traffic is at its worst. That’s why we went out of town for a while and avoided the busy streets of Manila. Tonight, I’m in the City of Vigan. Home of the guilty pleasure Bagnet and Vigan longganisa.

I know the city’s specialty, but I don’t know what restaurant serves it best. What do I do? You got that right, I search Google. Gone are the days where “word of mouth” was really word of mouth. Now it is word of mouth through Facebook, blogs, and Google.

So I thought I’d share with you some of the stuff we do to improve the search engine rankings of our clients who own a restaurant.

1. Create A Google My Business Account

Google My Business was created by Google for people to have an easier time locating businesses. One of the benefits you get when you create an account is that your restaurant’s details will appear on the right-hand side of a desktop search result for your business. Google maps will also show all your necessary information such as your address and contact number.

2. Create A Google Alert

When you create a Google Alert for your restaurant name, you will receive an email every time Google sees a page with your restaurant’s name on it.

What does this mean to you?

You can recover unlinked mentions. There might be some people who blogged about your restaurant but didn’t realize that you have a website they can link to or someone who simply forgot to link to your website. When you’ve set upped a Google Alert for your restaurant name, you can recover these links by emailing them and asking for a link. Simple. Cunning. Effective.

3. Start A Blog

A blog is a great way for you to talk to your customers, announce discounts, and set events. A blog could also make them feel closer and connected to you and your business because you can talk in a more personal way.

On the SEO side of things – A blog can help you get better rankings because you can easily publish new content – and Google loves sites that are often updated. With a blog on your restaurant website, you can update your site regularly.

4. Create A Facebook Page

Having a Facebook page is as common as being able to breathe. Almost everyone is on Facebook. When you create a Facebook Page for your business, you could easily share your website and blog posts to get shares and likes.

Social shares as a ranking factor is a controversial issue. There are lots of studies that prove that there is a positive correlation between social shares and rankings, but Google did not confirm it. Nevertheless, most content that gets shared is quality content, and quality content is what you should be posting. So even if social shares are not ranking factors, it could only do you good because you will be producing quality content.

5. Implement Structured Data

By having a structured data for your address and contact information, your search result would look better. A person who searches for your restaurant could easily see your address and contact information under your search result.

Structured data is not limited to your address and contact information. Your page title, description, and other details should also be structured. By doing this, it would be easier for Google to determine what your page is about, helping you rank higher in search results.

6. Encourage Online Reviews

Encouraging online reviews are good for your business because other people would get an idea on how other people liked or disliked your business.

That’s why Google is displaying restaurant reviews on their search result as well. Reviews is a local SEO ranking factor. So if you have extra desserts, offer them for free to your customers in exchange for a review.

P.S. – This post is NOT sponsored by Gordon Ramsay. Though, it would be awesome if it was!

P.P.S. – Check out SEO Philippines. Maybe we can help you rank your restaurant’s website. (Shoutout to my bud, Dirk, at Serpshake SEO. If you’re in Singapore and need SEO, hit them up!)

The post Restaurant SEO: 6 Things You Can Do Right Now to Improve Your Rankings appeared first on Carl Ocab.

Inbound Marketing vs. Outbound Marketing: What’s The Difference?

Carl Ocab — Thu, 20 Aug 2015 08:28:48 +0000

“Make your marketing so useful people would pay for it.” – Jay Baer, author of New York times bestseller, Youtility

Marketing is very important to every company. In fact, I think marketing is king. Marketing could make or break your company. Even if you have a great product, without the right marketing, people would not know how great your product is.

There are two types of marketing, inbound and outbound:

Outbound Marketing

Outbound marketing is also known as the traditional marketing. We see this in televisions, newspapers, and radio. The company is the one who initiates the interaction with the audience. Digital versions of outbound marketing are PPC, banner ads, and email blasts.

Inbound Marketing

Inbound marketing is the new age of marketing. Usually, it uses social media, blogs, search engine optimization, and subscription-based email marketing. Instead of the company initiating the interaction, the audience is the one who finds the company through its quality content that aligns to the audiences’ interests.

Here are their key differences:

1. Interference vs. Consent

The first difference between inbound and outbound marketing is how they try to engage with their customers. In outbound, it is always interfering with anything that we are doing. When we watch television, we watch our favorite shows. But, every ten minutes or so, the show is momentarily paused in order to give way to advertisements.

On the other hand, inbound marketing focuses on waiting for the customer to give his consent before giving out further information regarding your product. This is usually done through sharing in social media. A person shares and reads a post because he wants to, not because it is forced upon him.

2. Extra vs. Lead Role

The second difference between inbound and outbound marketing is how they are seen by people. In a movie, usually, you do not remember the actors who were just walking in the background because they were not important. But, you always remember the star of the show. Outbound marketing always only has the extra role. They buy advertisement space, only to be shown at the bottom-right parts of newspapers where no one bothers to read.

Inbound marketing focuses on being the star of the show. They are always the most talked about in facebook or twitter. The more they are talked about, the easier it is for information to spread like wildfire.

3. Indefinite vs. Exact

The last difference of inbound and outbound marketing is how the companies know that their strategy is effective. In outbound marketing, it is indefinite or cannot be quantified. They heavily rely on the responses of their consumers on “how did you hear about us?” forms. Customers can just check anything in that form.

On the other hand, inbound marketing can be quantified. It is exact. Our technology is already advanced which is why we should take advantage of it. Companies who use the inbound marketing strategy can easily know whether or not their campaign is effective through online analytics. Every time a person looks at their article, they could automatically know who is reading it and where that person lives in.

The post Inbound Marketing vs. Outbound Marketing: What’s The Difference? appeared first on Carl Ocab.

Popup Domination Review: How it Tripled our Opt-in Rate

Carl Ocab — Thu, 07 Oct 2010 15:12:16 +0000

Notice May 2020: This post has been published in 2010. There have been a lot of updates to Popup Domination. We now also offer professional services. Visit the links below:

Start review:

Let me tell you a quick story…

Several years ago, when I was a little kid, I used to play with marbles.

The game is simple. First we make a circle on the road using a chalk or a rock (but most likely we play on the dirt since it’s WAY fun) then we “bet” 5 marbles each and put them all inside the circle.

We then take turns shooting the marbles out of the circle using our “shooter marbles” and we keep the marbles that we are able to shoot out of the circle.

I was good but I was not the best.

Fortunately, the “best” player was my close friend and he told me his secret. His secret was simple (it’s simple now, it was an “AHA moment” back then)

The secret was – use heavier marbles as your shooter marbles.

Of course it didn’t make sense at first but I just threw away my hesitation and used the heavier marbles my friend picked for me.

And what do you know, I was KILLING it. I took home 3/4 of the marbles in the circle on my best day.

Then I realized how much marbles I lost by not doing this earlier. I mean, how could I have missed that! Of course what’s done is done, I lost a lot of marbles but at least I’m rocking now.

That Weird Story Reminded Me Of How This Simple Tool Works

I installed it on this blog 2 months ago and check out what happened to my opt-in rate:

I expected results from it but seriously NOT THAT MUCH.

We all know that email subscribers = money. That means I’ve been losing *triple* the money since start! Of course that’s hypothetical but let’s say I was just losing double – that’s still A LOT.

What Is This Simple Tool?

It’s called PopUp Domination.

You may have noticed it appear from time to time – and I have to admit, it’s an old tactic (i.e. using popups). But keep in mind that not all popups work.

Most Popups Annoy Visitors But This Is Different

To start things off, PopUp Domination has a very sleek, very very gorgeous design.

They have 7 templates to choose from there you could personalize it by choosing buttons, adding text and all those stuff without tinkering any code – unlike other popup scripts out there.

Aside from that, you’ll be able to decide on when and how you are going to show the popup.

More about the features below, in the mean time…

Here Are Some Top Bloggers Who Are Using Popup Domination

Here Are The Cool Features I Found In Popup Domination

Choose from 7 gorgeous preset popup templates with 14 color schemes for each template
Works with ALL major autoresponders (Aweber, Getresponse, iContact, Mailchimp, etc.)
Edit ALL the text inside the popup without tinkering with any code
Seamlessly add bullet points with the spiffy “list point” editor
Decide when (by number of days) and how (entry popup, exit popup, mouse leaves the site) you are going to show the popup
Choose the pages where you want to show the popup

And my favorite…

5-minute Set-up

I like stuff that just work (That’s also why I’m more inclined in getting Apple stuff recently)

And that is what PopUp Domnation did. When I first got it, I was able to get it up and running in just 5 minutes – and that is already saying a lot LOL. I get easily confused with buttons, forms and all those stuff.

I’ll Be Upfront, GET POPUP DOMINATION

Call me a salesman or whatever but I am absolutely vouching for this 100% and I’m ready to push it to you.

I mean let’s say you’re selling this cure for a weird disease. Your neighbors’ daughter is sick with that disease but he doesn’t want to get your cure.

Of course you won’t let his daughter die. You’re going to convince him that your cure is the thing even if it takes you all day.

The cure is Popup Domination. This will literally help you with your business and I vouch for it 100%.

The post Popup Domination Review: How it Tripled our Opt-in Rate appeared first on Carl Ocab.

Upsell, Downsell, & Cross-sell: Do You Know What They Mean?

Carl Ocab — Wed, 15 Sep 2010 15:23:55 +0000

Before we talk about the differences between upsell, downsell, & cross-sell, you may want to check out our digital marketing services:

Many marketers swear that real profits are not in the first sale, but rather in the up-sell, cross-sell, and down-sell. In fact, these techniques are as old as marketing itself, and most mainstream businesses employ them one way or another. But do you know what each of these terms mean? No? Well, don’t worry. I’ll explain everything below.

1. What is Upsell?

This technique involves persuading the customer to upgrade or buy a more expensive product instead of the one they originally want to purchase, increasing the overall profit of the sale.

Examples:

A warranty upgrade like Apple Care.
A salesperson suggesting a higher variant of a car.
McDonald’s employee asking to upgrade your drink.

2. What is Cross-sell?

This technique is similar to up-selling. Cross-selling involves selling additional products or services to the customer that may or may not be related to the first one the purchased from one. Usually, this technique is employed to increase profits, but it can also be used to solidify the relationship with the client.

Examples:

We sell web design services. We offer SEO services as a complementary service.
Car insurance companies offering life insurance.
A salesperson selling a laptop offering you other peripherals.

3. What is Downsell?

This technique is used when the customer, for some reason, decides to back down from the purchase. In this case, you can offer him a cheaper product, which has a higher chance of being accepted. The goal here is to acquire a customer, even if you will not profit as much as possible right away.

Example: Car dealers down-sell all the time. If you enter a dealership looking for a BMW and get scared with the price, the salesman will certainly bring up many other options that cost a lot less. That is down-selling.

The post Upsell, Downsell, & Cross-sell: Do You Know What They Mean? appeared first on Carl Ocab.

The Ultimate Blogging Theme 3.0

Carl Ocab — Mon, 26 Apr 2010 08:35:05 +0000

NOTICE: The Ultimate Blogging Theme or UBT has been discontinued. We’ve shifted our focus to providing services. If you’re looking for web design services or SEO services. Contact us. If you’re a previous customer, email contact@carlocab.com.

I won’t beat around the bush, I’m really excited to show this video to you:

I hope you liked it :-)

In addition to that we’ve added a “custom stylesheet” and “custom functions” file so that you won’t lose your customizations when you upgrade in the future.

The new UBT is also iPad ready and of course, compatible to all browsers.

We really did a lot of stuff and it’s a major jump from the last 2.1 version that’s why we are relaunching with all the launch propaganda, mailings, etc. on…

May 18th, 2010

It will be limited though, check back soon or if you want, you can subscribe to the notification list.

Of course, we will not be sending you any “promotional stuff”, spam you or any of those uncool stuff :-)

The post The Ultimate Blogging Theme 3.0 appeared first on Carl Ocab.

What Makes Some People So Successful At Internet Marketing?

Carl Ocab — Sat, 13 Feb 2010 11:13:58 +0000

I must admit this blog has been inactive.

Today I’ll revive it – and this time, it’s on.

The last couple of months I got the most severe case of… guess what?

MULTI TASKING.

Seriously, I’ve been juggling 5 projects. Add to that the holidays plus school work (I’m at senior year, high school)

All this time I’ve been blind. Multi tasking…

Made me work more
And work more…

BUT with all those work, believe it or not, my earnings decreased.

The TRUE Secret

With that experience, I realized how important the tip “focus” is. I knew it before and I’ve heard of it a lot of times but I never really paid that much attention to it.

But before that, let me show some examples (cause i find it funny that even before, focus really IS the true secret)

300 – 300 Spartans fought thousands of Persian soldiers by focusing on one little narrow pass called Thermopylae. They funneled all the Persian soldiers in one pass and concentrated on only one side.

Blitzkrieg – The infamous blitzkrieg, focus on one single area and flood em’ with tanks, soldiers and air power. Served the German pretty well.

NBA – Ok that’s a weird jump but I think that also proves that FOCUS can be, should be applied anywhere.

Most players on the NBA before (way back! The time when they didn’t have a 3 point line) were all rounded. To play you have to be good at dribbling, shooting, rebounding and all skills. But look how players play today, each player focuses on 1 skill. One is good at dribbling, one at shooting, one at rebounding then they put it all together. They play better.

How did that happen? Because each player were able to train and master a specific skill instead of practicing all of it to get well rounded.

Here’s The Game Plan…

Now let’s put that into a business perspective. Let’s say you’ve got 3 projects. Each project consists of 3 weeks of work, on the 3rd week you make money.

The multitasker, let’s call him Thomas just for the sake of sounding cool, would do:

Week 1 – Project 1
Week 2 – Project 2
Week 3 – Project 3
Week 4 – Project 1
Week 5 – Project 2
Week 6 – Project 3
Week 7 – Complete Project 1 and Make Money!
Week 8 – Complete Project 2 and Make Money!
Week 9 – Complete Project 3 and Make Money!

That means it took Thomas 7 weeks before he started making money.

Now here’s Hocus Focus Max would do:

Week 1 – Project 1
Week 2 – Project 1
Week 3 – Complete Project 1 and Make Money!
Week 4 – Project 2
Week 5 – Project 2
Week 6 – Complete Project 2 and Make Money!
Week 7 – Project 3
Week 8 – Project 3
Week 9 – Complete Project 3 and Make Money!

The Blind Side

(Coincidental title, heh. Saw the movie btw – very touching and inspirational)

To me this is very crucial because I’ve missed this for a long time.

As you can see, Thomas makes money on weeks 7, 8 and 9 but Hocus Focus Max makes money on weeks 3, 6 and 9. That means Max makes money earlier and if Max is even smarter, he’ll use that money to finish the other projects faster.

Thomas however, makes money on the last 3 weeks – but that doesn’t include the time between switching projects to work on.

The post What Makes Some People So Successful At Internet Marketing? appeared first on Carl Ocab.

I Have A Secret… Content Is Not King

Carl Ocab — Wed, 26 Aug 2009 13:34:47 +0000

DANGER: Extreme rant ahead. Proceed with caution!

*START RANT*

Is content king? I think that’s overrated.

The way I see it…

Marketing is king.

Let me throw some examples first:

Case 1: Coca Cola vs Pepsi

Since 1975, Pepsi has been running “The Pepsi Challenge” wherein they hand 2 blank cups to bystanders in malls – one containing Pepsi and the other one, Coke, and then they’d ask which tastes better.

The result? Pepsi topped the challenge.

But Coca Cola is still the number one soft drink. Why? Advertising.

Case 2: Problogger.net

It’s widely accepted that Darren is the #1 blogger who blogs about how to make money blogging (And I amen to that) but does Darren give “the” best content about blogging to make money? I’m not saying that Darren’s content sucks, Darren gives high octane info. But does he give the best content around the blogosphere?

Of course not, there are a lot of bloggers out there who give hard core advice on blogging but they’re unnoticed. Why? Because they didn’t market themselves enough. They haven’t positioned themselves properly. Darren positioned himself as THE Problogger.

Case 3: McDonalds

Let’s face it.

They don’t have the best tasting burgers.

They don’t have the best tasting french fries.

But they do know where to put their branches.

One of my dad’s MBA teachers once said “McDonalds is not in the fast food business, they’re in the real estate business.”

Content is just a part of marketing

I personally believe, and the way I apply it to my business, content – is just part of marketing.

There are a lot of people out there who are topping the charts but are not really “the” best or don’t really posses the best skills – but they know how to market themselves.

Another quick example: Bruce Lee, not the strongest, not the quickest but the most popular martial artist ever.

There are a lot of people too who have “the” best content, but are unknown.

Of course, I’m not saying that you should just put all your efforts into marketing – again, content is part of marketing – you have to deliver.

Not necessarily the best content, but “good enough” content to keep them coming back.

So in conclusion: Marketing is king.

*PHEW! END RANT*

The post I Have A Secret… Content Is Not King appeared first on Carl Ocab.

Carl Ocab, Author at Carl Ocab

What Are Meta Tags? Add These 5 Important Tags for SEO

What Are Meta Tags?

Add These 5 Meta Tags to Your Site

1. Title Tag

2. Meta Description

3. Meta Robots

4. Meta Viewport

5. Rel Canonical

Avoid The Meta Keywords Tag

Other Meta Tags

What Are Outbound Links? Are They Good for SEO?

What Are Outbound Links?

What Are The Types of Outbound Links?

Dofollow Links

Nofollow Links

Why Are Outbound Links Important for SEO?

How Many Outbound Links Per Page?

Are a Lot of Outbound Links Bad for SEO?

What Are The Cons of Outbound Links?

Key Takeaways

15 Essential Things to Do in Your Website During This Pandemic

1. Add an Informational Banner/Pop-up

UX & SEO Warning on Pop-ups

2. Integrate a Chatbot

3. Introduce Cheaper Products or Services

Apple Introduces Cheaper Phones

How About Luxury Brands?

4. Create a Landing Page for All COVID-Related Info or Posts

5. Review All Automated Marketing Activities

6. Focus on Discounts & Promos

7. Increase Social Media Activity

8. Start Creating High-Quality Content

9. Adjust Your Messaging to Saving Money Instead of Making Money

10. Focus on Improving Your Search Rankings

11. Evaluate All Texts and Images

12. Update Your Website Info

13. Update Your Social Media Accounts

14. Reach Out to Your Current Customers

15. Continue Your PPC and Social Media Ads

Conclusion

Restaurant SEO: 6 Things You Can Do Right Now to Improve Your Rankings

1. Create A Google My Business Account

2. Create A Google Alert

3. Start A Blog

4. Create A Facebook Page

5. Implement Structured Data

6. Encourage Online Reviews

Inbound Marketing vs. Outbound Marketing: What’s The Difference?

Outbound Marketing

Inbound Marketing

1. Interference vs. Consent

2. Extra vs. Lead Role

3. Indefinite vs. Exact

Popup Domination Review: How it Tripled our Opt-in Rate

That Weird Story Reminded Me Of How This *Simple* Tool Works

What Is This Simple Tool?

Most Popups Annoy Visitors But This Is Different

Here Are Some Top Bloggers Who Are Using Popup Domination

Here Are The Cool Features I Found In Popup Domination

5-minute Set-up

I’ll Be Upfront, GET POPUP DOMINATION

Upsell, Downsell, & Cross-sell: Do You Know What They Mean?

1. What is Upsell?

2. What is Cross-sell?

3. What is Downsell?

The Ultimate Blogging Theme 3.0

What Makes Some People So Successful At Internet Marketing?

The TRUE Secret

Here’s The Game Plan…

The Blind Side

I Have A Secret… Content Is Not King

Case 1: Coca Cola vs Pepsi

Case 2: Problogger.net

Case 3: McDonalds

Content is just a part of marketing

That Weird Story Reminded Me Of How This Simple Tool Works