Google’s E-A-T: What Is It and How Does It Impact Your 2023 Marketing Goals

Nearly 50% of consumers report turning to Google when they are on the hunt for a particular service. If your business's online presence is lacking, you could be missing half of your target audience.

Luckily, a solid organic marketing strategy can help solve that problem. Organic marketing utilizes high-quality content (e.g., blog articles) that features search engine optimization (SEO) to increase a website's Google ranking.

But how exactly do you create this high-quality SEO content? In 2023, it is critical to use Google's E-A-T guidelines to produce content search engines will love and reward with a higher ranking. Here's why.

What Are Google's E-A-T Guidelines?

E-A-T is an acronym for expertise, authoritativeness, and trustworthiness. It is an update to Google's search engine ranking algorithm that came out in 2014. Though E-A-T alone will not determine your Google ranking, it does affect it.

Expertise

Expertise is defined as expert knowledge or skills. People typically have expertise in a particular field (e.g., technology). However, generalists can have expertise in many different fields.

Why is expertise important to Google? People with expertise in particular subjects can think deeply and intelligently about problems in their field.

Authoritativeness

Being authoritative means someone or something has authority over a particular skill or field. In other words, an authoritative website can be trusted to give out correct advice or information.

Authoritative content inspires, motivates, and influences people. Readers know that the author of the article is providing valuable and reliable information.

Trustworthiness

In the age of clickbait and fake news, trust is increasingly difficult to foster online. That makes honest and reliable content, content creators, and content publishers more valuable than ever before.

And building trust with your audience will not just improve your search rankings. Readers will begin to think of you as a safe source of information and services.

E-A-T and Your Digital Marketing Goals

Now that you understand the basics of E-A-T, you may be wondering: why is E-A-T so important? Here are three ways Google E-A-T digital marketing trends can impact your business marketing goals.

E-A-T Determines High-Quality Content

The number one reason Google implemented E-A-T was to weed out low-quality content. More specifically, Google wanted to address high-ranking websites that provided irrelevant or incorrect information to readers.

E-A-T intends to do the reverse: reward websites that consistently turn out correct and relevant content.

As long as a piece of content abides by the E-A-T guidelines, the Google ranking algorithm will consider it high-quality. And as we will discuss next, publishing high-quality articles on your site can improve your Google ranking.

E-A-T Impacts Your Organic Search Ranking

Search engine marketing (SEM) heavily relies on organic search. Organic searches occur when a customer types a query into the Google search box. Then, they click on one of the pages that come up under their search.

The majority of Google searchers only look at the first three results. So, how does your site get ranked in the top three results for a search query? You have to improve search engine optimization (SEO).

Publishing high-quality content that adheres to E-A-T guidelines can help you do just that.

E-A-T Can Reduce Bounce Rate

Another benefit of E-A-T that has less to do with Google and more to do with your prospective clients is bounce rate. Bounce rate refers to the percentage of people who visit your website and leave after viewing only one page.

A poor bounce rate is usually a sign of a low-quality website. As such, Google may consider bounce rate when ranking your website. But this is not the only reason bounce rate is important.

A high bounce rate means something about your website is turning away prospective customers.

Tips for Improving E-A-T on Your Site

The number one thing to do to improve your site's E-A-T is to update your content. Focus on providing trustworthy and easily verifiable information to your readers.

It is also a good idea to update content regularly as new information comes out. Keeping up with changing trends will impress not only Google but also your prospective clients.

Yet, updating the quality of your content is only the beginning. You should also consider doing the following to improve your site's E-A-T.

Publish Contact and About Pages

Blog articles are not the only kind of content to consider when updating your website for E-A-T. Google will also take into account the other pages on your site, including your contact and about pages.

Your contact page should provide trustworthy contact info. That includes but is not limited to your company's email address, phone number, and physical address. Include as many customer support points of contact as possible.

Your business' about page should speak to your authoritativeness. Include any credentials or relevant degrees members of your staff hold. You can also talk about prior speaking engagements that speak to your firm's expertise.

Check Your Facts and Cite Them

An authoritative and expert business website should have factually accurate content. If you do not have the expertise to create this type of content, it is important to hire a content creator who does.

Another way to build authority for your online business presence is to link to other high-quality sites. Always search for high-ranking, authoritative, and trustworthy sources when creating citations to achieve this goal.

Work With a Digital Marketing Firm

Google's E-A-T guidelines can be tricky to understand. And even if you do get the basics down, you still might not outrank your competitors. That is where a professional digital marketing service can come in.

Digital marketing firms are experts in Google's algorithm and SEO. They can help improve your rankings, even if your own efforts have not achieved the results you want to see.

At Optic Marketing Group, we specialize in digital marketing strategies for home services businesses like yours. We can help you design a new website from scratch or update your old one to adhere to E-A-T standards.

Optic Marketing Group Is the Partner You Need

Google's E-A-T guidelines help distinguish high-quality content from low-quality clickbait. In 2023, it is critical to creating an expert, authoritative, and trustworthy website. If you don't, your Google ranking could suffer.

Do you need help updating your business website according to SEO best practices? Optic Marketing Group is the partner you need to get it done right the first time. Contact us today to learn how we can help you E-A-T.


New Year, New You? ..... Well, the Same Applies to Your Business. 2023 Is the Year to Focus On Building Back!

New Year, New You: Why 2023 Should Be When Your Business Builds Back

It is estimated that there are 32.5 million small businesses currently in America. It is also estimated that 50% of those businesses will fail within 5 years.

The new year is just starting, and your focus on your business should be building back. This new year provides an opportunity to grow your business and become part of the small businesses that succeed.

One mistake that business owners make is not having business goals. You will not be able to hit your target if you don’t know what your target is.

Keep reading to find out more about building back your business in the new year.

Review Your Expenses

A recession is looming and has become something that is weighing heavily on business owners. That is why your business initiatives should include analyzing your expenses.

You can counteract this problem by looking closely at your business operations and where your money is going. Chances are, there are a few areas where you could cut back and save.

The first thing you should do is review your pricing strategy. Do some research on your competition to see what rates your local competitors are charging their clients.

Sometimes it can be worth raising or lowering your prices depending on what is going on. No matter which option you choose, you will need to look at how it will impact the rest of your business.

You should also review unnecessary expenses in your business. There is a good chance that money is going to places that aren’t actually benefiting or growing your company.

This is a good time to review the areas where you lost money last year. By looking at the mistakes that you made previously, you can avoid losing money this year by trying other methods.

Create Goals

Part of building back your business in the new year includes business goals. You should take some time to sit down and figure out what the goals for 2023 are that you want to achieve.

You should have made goals last year, which you can compare to the goals you want to reach this year. If your business is growing, your goals should also grow and become more extensive.

You can also take the time to share these goals with your employees. This is a great team-building exercise and helps everyone to stay on the same page.

Nurture Your Clients

It's very easy to run into the new year with a goal to scale a business quickly. When you do this, it can be very easy to start to neglect your current clients.

Every small business wants to grow by collecting more and more clients that you can depend on. But you will need to be able to do this while nurturing the relationships you already have.

Many businesses neglect to do this and risk losing their current clientele. You want to make sure your clients continue to feel important and valued by your company.

One great way to do this is to send out emails for the new year to your clients. You can let them know how much you appreciate their trust and look forward to continuing to work with them in the new year.

Branch Out in Marketing

Building back your small business is going to require some new steps. If you really want to experience business growth in 2023, you need to experiment with marketing services.

Marketing is going to be your number one tool when it comes to growing your business. This is something that can be far too easy to neglect, but your business will ultimately suffer from this.

Handling marketing on your own can be quite difficult if you don’t know what you are doing. Juggling a business and trying to hit all of those marketing goals is not usually going to be a productive use of your time.

Companies like Optic Marketing Group make this much easier for your company. They will handle all of the marketing services that you need, so that you get guaranteed results.

Find What People Want

At the start of 2023, you should put the time into researching what people are looking for. In the HVAC, lawn care, and plumbing industry, there are plenty of statistics that you can dive into.

You will want to look at the services that people are predicted to need this year. You should also compare that to the types of services that were in high demand in 2022.

Predicting what people want is going to predict the services you offer. It will also help you to know where you should invest your money in your business.

Take Time Off

Something you may not have done in 2022 is taking enough time off of work. As a business owner, it is very easy to neglect yourself and throw yourself into your work.

The downside to this is that eventually overworking yourself will lead to burnout. This will result in a lack of motivation and less concentration when it comes to important business details.

You need to set aside time for yourself, so that you can recharge and regroup. Pushing yourself too hard will only damage your business operations in the long run.

Building Back Your Business in 2023

If your business goal for 2023 is building back your company, there are a lot of places to start. This is something that all small businesses should aspire to do for better growth in the new year.

Do you want to use marketing services to grow your company? Contact us today at Optic Marketing Group to create a marketing plan for your business.


How to Make a Website Mobile-Friendly

In 2023, 60.9% of all website traffic come from mobile device users. With more mobile-based traffic on the go, it is essential for businesses to have a proper mobile website. If your website isn't up to speed for mobile use, your business will suffer the consequences.

61% of mobile users will abandon a site altogether that isn't mobile-friendly. This means you're missing out on a huge chunk of potential business. But having a mobile-friendly website across a variety of devices is one of the best things you can do to boost your online presence.

If you're looking for ways to make your website more mobile-friendly, this guide can help, so keep reading.

Enhance Your Mobile Website's Loading Speed

Your business may already have a mobile website, but is it truly mobile-friendly? This pertains to areas like the loading speed of your site on mobile devices like smartphones and tablets. If your website lags and takes too long to load, this can cause major issues such as site abandonment and a poor opinion of your overall business.

In the digital era, the attention span of users waiting for websites to load on average is about 3 seconds tops. You must check your mobile website's loading speed to determine what could be holding up the process. This could be due to a number of reasons like large images or too many videos loading at once.

Compress Images for Your Mobile Website

If large images are slowing down your mobile website's loading speed and affecting its mobile-friendly capabilities, there's an easy fix. Compressing large images limits their overall file size so they take up less space and require less time to load and view.

You also have the option to only load these images when needed instead of all at once. For example, you can make it so that images lower down on the mobile website will only load when the website visitor scrolls down. Both of these methods will make your website more mobile-friendly and load faster.

Utilize a More Responsive Website Layout

Along with speed, having a responsive layout is another key aspect to consider. This means that your existing business website can easily scale itself and adapt its layout for use on different mobile devices.

The content should still be readable no matter what the screen size of the mobile device is. This also means that it won't interfere with your mobile website's loading time.

Not only do mobile-friendly websites have a more user-friendly layout, but they can also help you improve your ranking on Google through SEO. Google heavily favors websites that are mobile-friendly and ranks them higher in its search result data.

Adjust Your Font and Button Size and Placement

Your mobile website fonts and buttons must also be adapted to create a mobile-friendly experience for its users. If buttons on a standard website are already small, they will likely be even smaller on a mobile website and make it hard for users to see or tap on. Make certain they are larger, visible, and accessible.

Avoid using ornate or fancy text fonts that may be difficult to read, especially on a smaller screen. Your fonts should be clear and legible. Also, don't use too many different types of fonts, you want your mobile website to have a uniform and professional look.

Ensure the Proper Use of Pop-Ups

Pop-ups may be a part of your website marketing to get users to opt-in for mailing lists and other purposes. But they can be a nuisance for creating a mobile-friendly website. Using too many pop-ups can feel spammy and detract users from further navigating your site.

A mobile website pop-up may also be harder to close out since the "X" in the corner is too small to see or tap on. This can create frustration for mobile website visitors. Use pop-ups sparingly and ensure that they don't trap your mobile website visitors on the page and prevent them from viewing the website.

Use Appropriate Link Spacing

When using links, you need to remember that these will also appear smaller and closer together on a mobile page. Links rely on the user's thumb to tap on them to open them, which is much larger in relation to the mobile screen.

Mobile website users may get frustrated easily if they mistakenly keep tapping on the link above or below the one they want because your links are placed too closely together. You need to allow for the right amount of space between links for a more user-friendly navigation and mobile-friendly experience on your site.

Simplify Your Website's Design

One of the best ways to make your website mobile-friendly is to start with a simple and straightforward design.  You don't need a lot of bells and whistles to attract attention, a good mobile-friendly website design will do this for you. So make sure that your website content is up-to-date, well-organized, and easy to find or search.

Don't use long and cluttered menus, especially when using drop-down-style menus. You want your website users to be able to easily find the options they are looking for to navigate through your site. Use white space strategically in between to accommodate easy website viewing.

Test Your Website to Check Its Mobile-Friendly Usability

When it comes to creating the best mobile-friendly website, don't just assume that it's mobile-friendly. Check it out for yourself first. Try accessing your mobile website from a variety of different mobile devices like tablets, Android, and iOS mobile operating systems to ensure that your website's display and design are optimized for all devices.

Run additional testing from time to time to verify that all of your website options and settings still work with new software updates or device releases. This will help you keep your website's interface user-friendly and working its best for users over time.

Let Optic Marketing Group Make Your Website Mobile-Friendly

Your business website is your unique opportunity to inform and attract potential customers. When it comes to designing a website that is also mobile-friendly, don't leave anything to chance. Come to Optic Marketing Group.

Optic Marketing Group specializes in designing all types of websites for businesses from HVAC to Plumbing and Lawn Care. We are a premier, full-service marketing agency with locations in Tampa, FL, and The Woodlands, TX. We want to help you tell your story to your customer base through a professional and well-designed website.

Contact us today for more information on your business website design needs today.


Small Business Marketing Ideas and Tips for Business Owners

As a small business owner, you have a lot of competition. There are around 32 million small businesses in the United States.

In order to be successful and beat out your competition, you must invest in marketing. The idea of creating a marketing strategy can be overwhelming and you may not know where to start.

It doesn't matter if you studied marketing in college or if you have a small budget; the tips in this article are going to help you push your company to the next level. Read on so you know what small business marketing steps to take next.

Know Your Audience

The first marketing tip is knowing your audience. Who is your ideal client?

If you're offering residential lawn care, then you'll want to grab the attention of homeowners and landlords. You'll then need to figure out where they get their information.

How are you going to get your business information to them? Find out where they hang out and what their hobbies are.

You need to put yourself in a position where you can help them solve a problem. Another example would be if your small business installs HVAC systems.

Are people in your area having a hard time keeping their homes cool in the summer? Or maybe they are having issues with high humidity levels.

You need to know this information about your audience so you can better serve them and market to them. If you're marketing a solution to a problem that your ideal client doesn't have, you'll be wasting your time.

Build a Website

The next step when it comes to a marketing strategy for small businesses is creating a website. Now it's a bit more complicated than it might sound.

You must have a working website that is easy to navigate. You don't want your clients to get frustrated and leave your site.

All the information your customers may need should be laid out in an organized fashion that is easy to read. Be sure there aren't any glitches before launching your website as well.

It's likely that there are other companies in your area that offer similar services. When someone searches for home services, you want your website to be the first one to pop up.

This requires you to do some research. You'll need to include keywords throughout your website to make it SEO-friendly. The more quality content you provide, the more traffic you'll have to your site.

Get On Social Media

It's crucial that you get your company on as many social media platforms as possible. It's affordable, but you will have to invest some time into it.

People tend to overthink social media, and while there are strategies out there that can help you grow your following; the algorithms are different for each platform. One post that gets a lot of views or likes on TikTok may not reach as many people on Facebook.

It's a lot of trial and error and figuring out what your audience likes to see. When it comes to marketing small businesses on social media, it's crucial that you don't get discouraged.

Offer Rewards

Another small business marketing tip that will help you find new customers and keep old ones coming back is to offer rewards or a loyalty program. Back to the lawn care business example, you could offer your clients half off their fifth lawn mowing appointment.

If you're installing HVAC systems, you could offer one free maintenance check a year. Everyone is always looking for a good deal and marketing rewards and discounts will grab people's attention.

Look at Reviews

As a business owner, it's crucial that you look at your online reviews and encourage your clients to leave them on all platforms. Take the time to respond to as many reviews as you can.

If someone said they had a great experience, write them back thanking them for their loyalty. This shows your clients and future customers that you care about them personally, not just about making money.

Seeing a negative review can be discouraging; however, how you handle the situation is key. Respond to unhappy clients and ask if they would be willing to speak with you offline so you can work out the issue. This shows anyone who reads the review that you genuinely care and didn't try to make excuses.

The problem could have been out of your control or it could be an issue you need to address with your staff later. You can't make everyone happy, but as long as you're doing good honest work and treating your customer's rights, you'll have more positive reviews and the negatives will fade away.

Send Emails

Our last small business advertising tip is to send out emails. This can be tricky as you don't want to send too many and annoy your clients, but you also want them to know about the services and deals you're running.

You want to send just enough to keep them engaged. Setting up an automated system to send emails out regularly can help save you some time, too.

Small Business Marketing

Whether you just opened or you've been running your business for years, creating updated and new marketing strategies can be challenging. There are so many things to think about when you're running your company and it's vital that you don't put small business marketing on the back burner.

Don't continue to struggle with your marketing plan. We work will all types of companies and our experts will help you grow your clientele. Give us a call today to get started!