Self Boss Marketing Tips Mike Siciliano

We’ve said it time and time again, the website is the foundation of any business in today’s mobile world. One of the most critical questions a new business owner is faced with is How To Choose The Best Platform To Build Your Website On From Wordpress to Shopify and More. Each platform offers different functionality and benefits from design to SEO to functionality to user experience, and so much more. Choosing the wrong platform can cost a new business time and money if it is not an informed, well thought out decision.

In this episode we have grouped content management system (CMS) candidates into three groups and discuss the strengths of each.

1. Weebly, Wix, & Squarespace - These CMS platforms don’t require the need to code meaning anyone can go in and start creating a website for their new business. They have very large code bases to support their robust drag and drop editors, meaning they are clunky and difficult for major search engines to navigate. SEO options are limited on these platforms. Although advances have been made to include the ability to edit critical SEO components, many remain unavailable and the code base is not accessible to add them, meaning your competitors who are running on Wordpress or Shopify will already have an advantage. These platforms have made an effort to integrate commerce systems into their websites which is great for users who are just starting out, however the platforms are limited in their organic reach potential, not capable of being customized, and not very scalable to grow as your demand grows. These platforms provide free themes, but customization to improve overall user experience (UX) is limited to the visual editors capabilities as the code base cannot be fully accessed on this type of CMS.
2. Wordpress - This platform provides full-access to the code base and is used by many Fortune 500 companies to present their brand to consumers on the web. Minor coding knowledge is required to maximize the overall design that the free and paid themes have to offer when first starting. A theme can be built completely custom from the ground up on this platform which is why many marketing & web development companies provide designs to their customers before building the site (if they do not, they are probably utilizing a generic theme). With the Yoast and similar plugins, businesses can leverage full SEO implementation when building their site. Outside of the coast plugin, Meta data, hierarchy, internal linking, Schema markup, and much more can be generated to maximize visibility and improve positioning in major search engine results pages. With a proper initial build, Wordpress websites can be fully scalable by developing post types and posts to dynamically display in various locations across the website. This allows for efficient coding, minimizing the base, and making the website more navigable by major search engines in addition to promoting a more consistent design.
3. Shopify - Shopify is the world’s number 1 commerce platform and is used by both enterprise level and small businesses alike. Shopify provides full access to the code base. They provide free themes are the option to create a theme completely from scratch as does WordPress. Minor coding knowledge is a plus to maximize the website’s usability and aesthetic appeal, but is not required. SEO is slightly more limited than that of Wordpress when using the platform out-of-the-box, but with the help of a developer or marketing agency, full SEO is achievable. Shopify is the world’s favorite CMS to integrate with for marketing, meaning there are thousands of marketing tools at your disposal making it a developer and marketing company favorite. Shopify does not allow the ability to use global components across multiple templates, meaning the content within the component is local to the component itself and not the template making it difficult to scale the informational side of the website.

In this episode Mike Siciliano from https://heystackmarketing.com breaks down the fundamentals of a Buyer Persona, how to create a buyer persona, and how to use it to target high converting users to maximize the efficiency of your paid advertising spend. A buyer persona can be broken down into 5 parts as outlined below:

1. Identify the product/service being sold - The persona of a buyer cannot be identified without first identifying the product/service being sold. If multiple products are being sold, Mike recommends having a buyer persona outlined for each to segment the targeting. An example of this can be seen when the product is identified to be an item such as a computer. A computer that is built for gaming and a computer that is built for light business use have entirely different buyer profiles.

2. User Demographics - The next piece of the buyer persona must outline demographical information relating to buyers who are the most likely candidates to purchase the item/service. Demographics can include gender, age, ethnicity, income, location, parental status, etc. A garden hose customer can be male or female, between the ages of 26-65+ (homeowners with a yard tend to use garden hoses and homeowners are typically not under the age of 26), and must be located in a region that typically has homes with yards.

3. User Interests & Behavior - It is important to outline our buyer's potential interests and behavior while they are online. Interests can include hobbies, sports, music and more while behavior can be a user who is browsing particular websites such as Wayfair which signals that they have a space to decorate. When selling tickets to a comedy show, our target audience will have an interest in similar comedians to the main act, or might be interested in "date nights".

4. Identify The Platform - The next piece when developing a buyer persona is to identify the platforms they are most likely using. A user who is in the market for a trendy men's t-shirt cares about their appearance which signals that they are more visual than audible or scripted. This user is more likely to be on Instagram than they are to be on Facebook or Twitter as Instagram is a visual platform with a younger, & trendy audience. A female in the market for wedding products might be more likely to navigate to the Pinterest platform where they can find ideas for wedding theming & photography. A business professional is more than likely on the LinkedIn platform. Identifying the platform satisfies the "where" component in the buyer persona.

5. Create A User Story - Lastly, it is important to create a story for the buyer with the information outlined above. Ex: Jane Smith is a female, 24 years of age located in Orlando, FL. Jane does not have kids and was recently engaged. She is planning a wedding for next September. Jane enjoys modern art and home furnishings and is a frequent online shopper who is not an Amazon Prime member. Jane spends a majority of her social media time on Facebook and Pinterest.

By painting a comprehensive picture of a potential buyer, we are able to construct campaigns that hyper-focus on users who only fit the profile. In doing this, our reach is to middle of the funnel and bottom of the funnel users who are the best candidates to become customers. The buyer persona is a foundation to build ad copy and creative on that identifies with the target audience to promote a higher conversion rate.

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Schema is a universal vocabulary that major search engines leverage to understand the contents of a web page. There are over 614 Schema types to choose from which can all be found at https://schema.org. This episode answers the question of What Is Schema And How Does It Help With SEO through a few surface-level explanations and examples. This episode is a great starting point for web developers , marketers, and business owners alike who are looking to use Schema to improve their organic reach. The video is broken down into the following topics:

1. What is Schema? Schema is a universal vocabulary agreed upon by the internet’s largest search engines to identify elements within a web page, making the content easier to crawl and understand. This enables the search engine to deliver the best content possible to its users. A full list of the available Schema properties can be found on the Schema.org website and documentation for implementation can be found through various sources throughout the web.
2. How Can Schema be implemented? Schema can be implemented through JSON-LD injected between the head tags of a website, or inline through micro data. JSON-LD is independent of the content within a page while micro data attaches to the elements signaling them as properties to major search engines. There are benefits to each, but there is a clear shift towards JSON-LD being noticed across the web.
3. Types of Schema - Types of Schema include items such as “Thing”, “CreativeWork”, “Event”, and much more. Each of these Schema types have properties within them that are associated to the type. Structured Snippets can be generated from the Schema markup creating a robust listing in the SERPs. Some tools such as Yoast, a popular SEO plugin, automatically generate basic organizational schema and article schema, making it easier than ever for new developers to have schema within their website.
4. Inline Schema markup starts with the Itemscope with the Itemtype which wraps the properties associated to the type. The itemprops are attached to the html elements that they reference. For example the “headline” itemprop would be attached to the article’s title, which is generally wrapped with an H1 tag (if proper SEO hierarchy is executed on the page).

Schema aids major search engines in creating structured snippets to be displayed in the SERPs. These structured snippets can display event dates, reviews, address information, media content, and so much more. Once the appropriate Schema has been implemented into a webpage, it is important to run it through Google’s Structured Data analyzing tool to make sure there are no errors.

Self Boss Tips is a product of HeyStack Marketing in which Mike Siciliano, a serial entrepreneur, provides new entrepreneurs and small business owners with little to no capital tips on how to develop a digital marketing plan that is both efficient and effective. This channel dives into the topics of Local SEO, Paid Search, Retargeting, Proper Web Design practices, Email Automation, Social Media, GEO Fencing, sales process development, building a funnel, product development, efficient order fulfillment practices, small business setup, and so much more. Self Boss organizes tips into episodes, providing an in-depth look at effective tactics to increase relevant traffic to your storefront or website. Self Boss, HeyStack Marketing, & Mike Siciliano do not guarantee that you will see results after executing the topics discussed on this channel and are not liable for the results you experience.

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Mike Siciliano from HeyStack Marketing has compiled 5 Small Business Marketing Tips To Dominate In 2020 based on current trends and forecasted trends from a large data pool reflecting a wide variety of industry verticals.

1. Website Optimization (SEO) - Website Optimization continues to make the list year after year and that is because search engine results pages are here to stay and remain valuable real estate for not only typed queries, but increasingly for voice search queries as well. DIY website builders don't allow for complex SEO structure to be implemented into a website from schema markup, to heading hierarchy control. Without the ability to have full control over a website's optimization, it is very difficult to outrank competitors in the search results. The website needs to be fast through various code optimizations, aesthetically attractive, and SEO friendly congruently. Because the following 4 marketing tips for 2020 all funnel users to your website, it is important to run an audit and check your website for optimization if you'd like to have an edge.

2. Google My Business - While not as important to eCommerce stores, Google My Business (GMB) optimization is critical to any service based, or local business that serves customers at their location or has them come to the business location. Various platforms pull their data from Google Maps and if you don't have a GMB listing you won't display on the map. Optimizing a GMB listing can be achieved through proper headline copy, description, service listings, product listings, image naming, and so much more.

3. Search & Display Ads - Search and display ads place your business at the very top of the search engine results pages and within the content that your target audience consumes the most such as YouTube and news outlets. Search ads help your brand gain valuable real estate for keyword phrases such as "private party venue in orlando", or "best chinese food near me", meaning you'll increase visibility and as a result, conversions. Display ads are visual ads that entice the user to take action through strategic CTAs based on the content they live in. Its important to look at the industry average cost per click and cost per acquisition of your products or services to make sure that your gross margins can support paid advertising in 2020.

4. Social Media - Content remains king in 2020. Choose 4 platforms that suite your business and generate content that speaks to the users on those platforms. Cross-channel posting can be leveraged but keep in mind that LinkedIn is a business platform, TikTok has a younger group of users, instagram is visual and great for products, Twitter tends to lean more on the business side, etc. Put an hour aside every day in 2020 to produce content for at least 4 platforms and your social presence will drive visibility to your brand over time. If you aren't producing content in 2020 you will lose, it's that simple.

5. Direct Marketing Online - Email automation in 2020 will continue to increase the lifetime value (LTV) of your consumers, building a strong base that will make new customer acquisitions icing on the cake. Create an email sequence that targets the user's actions every step of the way. If the user clicked on a particular button but did not make a purchase, have an email lined up that is designed to draw them back in. Retargeting existing customers or customers who have engaged with your brand is a direct way to convert any outliers and retain your current base for years to come. As marketing shifts to "Brand" in 2020, direct marketing tactics will be key to stay top of mind.

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This is a great start pointing when asking yourself How To Improve SEO Through Accessible Web Design. For more information, be sure to visit https://w3.org or contact us at https://HeyStackMarketing.com. WCAG is short for Web Content Accessibility Guidelines. there are 3 levels to being WCAG Compliant which are Level A, Level AA, and Level AAA each with their own requirements. Not only will having an accessible website help vision or hearing impaired customers browse your site, but it will also add a ton of organic SEO value. Search engines have one goal, and it is to deliver the best possible experience to their users as they leverage the tools provided to them. Because major search engines do not discriminate, it is important that the website they serve to their users are accessible and can be easily used in addition to providing relevant content pertaining to the user's search query.

In this episode we cover a few of the minimum requirements needed to be Level A WCAG compliant. These include:

1. ALT Text on all images. The ALT text provides a description of an image that will be displayed should the image not load or should a screen reader be used. The ALT text should relate to the primary keyword of the page and the title of the image that the ALT text is attached to should reflect this keyword as well.
2. Videos, whether hosted on the website or through a CDN such as YouTube, should have captions enabled. This will allow vision impaired individuals the ability to consume the content within the video.
3. The website should have various features that allow it to be Navigable. This includes a wide variety of components including heading hierarchy. Heading hierarchy makes is easier for screen readers to navigate the content and makes the content easily navigable by major search engines. H2's should be sub topics of H1's. H3's should be sub topics oh H1's and so on. A user should be able to tab through all of the elements within the website without the need of a mouse. This allows for better overall UX and makes the website more accessible to a wider audience.
4. Every piece of the website should be distinguishable. the contrast ratio of text to background should always be at least 3:1. If white text is on a light yellow background, it will be very difficult to read and the website will not be considered accessible. there are a ton of contrast ratio checkers online. Enter in the hex codes of the text and background colors to see if it has a ratio of at least 3:1. The minimum font size site wide should be 16px. The minimum spacing between tap targets should be at least 8px to prevent major search engines from assuming your website is trying to trick users into inadvertently clicking other elements.

Run a surface level audit of your website right now to see if it is partially WGAC compliant by inspecting an image for the ALT tag, a title for the h tag and the body copy for the minimum font size. If any of these requirements are not met, your website was not built with WGAC compliance in mind as these are surface-level requirements for Level A compliance.

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1. Transparency - The first "T" in TVT represents Transparency. It is important to be open with your client or yourself on where you weak points lie, unknowns you have in the process, ulterior motives you might have with a business partner, etc. Transparency is healthy and allows for additional questions to arise that will help manage the expectation of a particular outcome when performing a service, selling a product, or accomplishing a goal. Transparency is essentially a comprehensive view of a problem, and the honesty required before kickstarting an objective.

2. Variables - The "V" in TVT is for Variables. Variables are the most likely component to derail you from reaching an objective. Variables are anything that change which are outside of your control. Variables are anything that is not "fixed" or absolute in the process. Ad development, copywriting, creative development, hiring, firing, process development, etc, are all within your control. Total revenue, search volume, injections, etc. are all outside of your control and considered to be variables. Because we cannot control variables, it is important to factor in a lot of buffer for pivoting variables in your process. Forecasting variables can help manage expectations and allow for you to present a wider margin of error in the expected outcome making both yourself or your client aware.

3. Time - The second "T" in TVT is for Time. Forecasting time correctly can make or break a project or accomplishment of a goal. It is important to have an objective perspective on the time available. A granular scoping process can help make sure that all components to delivering your service or accomplishing a goal are thoroughly accounted for and factored in to the total time estimate. This can include work hours, prep time, injection forecasting, Quality Assurance, and so much more.

Managing Expectations using TVT refuses to deliver promises and refuses to make assumptions. Delivering absolute promises when variables are present can lead to an unhappy client, or mentally exhausted self should the promises be broken. Estimates are acceptable, but it will not be possible to manage expectations when promises are made. Assumptions are the single most detrimental thing when it comes to managing expectations because they assume a component to an objective is an absolute when in reality it is in fact a variable. Assumptions are the result of negligence when planning an objective, and because assessing all variables in TVT is required, assumptions will not be present in an accurate TVT process that will help manage overall expectations.

Self Boss Tips is a product of HeyStack Marketing in which Mike Siciliano, a serial entrepreneur, provides new entrepreneurs and small business owners with little to no capital tips on how to develop a digital marketing plan that is both efficient and effective. This channel dives into the topics of Local SEO, Paid Search, Retargeting, Proper Web Design practices, Email Automation, Social Media, GEO Fencing, sales process development, building a funnel, product development, efficient order fulfillment practices, small business setup, and so much more. Self Boss organizes tips into episodes, providing an in-depth look at effective tactics to increase relevant traffic to your storefront or website. Self Boss, HeyStack Marketing, & Mike Siciliano do not guarantee that you will see results after executing the topics discussed on this channel and are not liable for the results you experience.

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