Blog | X-Factor

Employ Lean Marketing Tactics to Optimize Your Marketing Budget

Lean Marketing is to sales and marketing what continuous improvement is to manufacturing. Agility and responsiveness separate effective marketing from the status quo. Startup mode is the mindset. Using digital marketing channels for customer and prospect engagement is becoming the new norm. Consistent measurement using web analytics tools like Google Analytics is key. The goal […]

7 Ways to Get Your Website Into Shape for 2019

If your company’s website isn’t getting the traffic you expected – and need – we’ve got a seven-point plan for shaping up the website in 2019. If you don’t have a good website designer on-staff, X-Factor stands ready to help you with the following cyber resolutions. Simplify Content When’s the last time you read every word […]

Blogging for Visibility, Credibility and Leads

According to the Hubspot, business-to-business companies that blog generate 67 percent more leads per month than those that don’t. And companies that have effective blogs tend to come across as knowledgeable resources. Here are some of the benefits B2B companies stand to gain through a company blog: More leads More credibility More inbound links pointing […]

The Effectiveness of Pay Per Click Advertising

Pay Per Click (PPC) Advertising is a form of Internet marketing in which advertisers pay for ad placement on search engines, websites, and social media platforms, and pay a fee each time one of their ads is clicked. Cost can be controlled with a daily budget. Once your budget is met for the day, your […]

Maximize Your Social Media Outreach

The following Q&A article written by Jennifer Goodman was recently featured on Builder.com. Marketing expert provides tips for using social media to get your message out (and mistakes to avoid). Web-based marketing platforms like Facebook and Twitter are crucial to reaching out to potential home buyers. Here, BUILDER talks with Woody Stoudemire, president of Hickory, N.C.-based […]

What is Responsive Website Design? And Why Do I Need It?

One Size CAN Fit All! With more online searches being made on smartphones than on personal computers, it’s important to make sure that everybody who’s in the market for your product or service can comfortably view your website. Your site may look great on a desktop or laptop monitor, but how does it appear on […]

Social Media Marketing for Manufacturers

Social Media like LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram, Google + and YouTube are just a sampling of platforms for promotion of industrial products and services. Social media is an affordable way to market, meets prospects where they spend time, demonstrates company culture and is measurable. Social media marketing for manufacturers requires diverse content that engages the market […]

Keeping the Sales Funnel Full

To a business that depends on leads and conversion, keeping the sales funnel full is always a top priority. While your marketing and sales teams have dozens of tools and techniques at their disposal to make this happen, there’s one “salesperson” that can sometimes be forgotten in the mix: your website. Used properly, your website […]

Philosophical SEO: If You Don’t Exist on Google, Do You Really Exist?

Let’s be honest. You don’t exist if you don’t show up on Google. It’s just a fact these days. Sure, there are plenty of other ways to market your business, and many of them can be very effective. But at some point, prospects are going to Google you, and what they find can make or […]

Three Powerful Reasons To Outsource Your Website Maintenance

Can you imagine saving up for a brand new Ferrari, then driving it off the lot, parking it in your garage and leaving it there forever? Of course not! What a waste, right? Unfortunately, that’s exactly what a lot of people do with one of their most valuable marketing assets: their company website. You’ve probably […]

Building a Personal Branding Strategy for Today’s Tough Job Market

In the Old West, there was only one way to differentiate between your cattle and the next rancher’s; you branded your cattle with a mark uniquely your own. No matter how far afield your cattle went, they couldn’t be rustled because that brand meant they belonged to you and everybody knew it. It’s not the […]

Facebook: Building Your Business With A Little Help From Your “Friends”

Every time you recommend the best Mexican food restaurant or your dentist or the book you just read, you are involved in what advertisers are now referring to as “social marketing.” In the old days, it was called word-of-mouth advertising. Friends recommending businesses they like to their friends, who tell their friends, is the oldest […]

Pinterest – Social Pinning That Is Also Creative Marketing!

The newest craze to sweep the Internet and create a social media frenzy is Pinterest. This website has quickly become one of the most visited and shared sites on the Web and a hot ticket for invites to join this members-only social club. The basic premise of Pinterest is that members are able to create […]

Go Viral! Ways to Increase Your YouTube Presence.

So you’ve created a YouTube channel, yet you have no views on your videos? There are several easy things you can do right now to increase your channel traffic. First things first, add a YouTube icon on your website to link viewers from your website to your YouTube channel and influence more traffic. YouTube remains […]

Mobile Websites Have Mass Appeal

With mobile Internet leading the future of the Web, most businesses are trying to grasp a new marketing direction. In March 2011, a full 80 percent of smart phone users accessed the Internet via their phones. A mobile website is the ideal way to showcase your business to customers who are accessing your information via […]

Want to know what your competition is up to?

Your website is the core of your marketing program. It is working for you 24/7. Is it working as effectively as it can be? Do you know who your online competitors are? Is your competition outranking your website on major search engines like Google, Yahoo! and Bing? An online competitive analysis is essential for businesses today. […]

How Does Your Website Measure Up?

Many companies operate without understanding the value of their website to their overall marketing performance. Some feel that if they have a website, their job is done. The most beneficial websites to prospects are those that change frequently, have beneficial case studies and demonstrate how a company’s products and services add value to a prospect. Once […]

How To Read Your Google Analytics Report

Did your web developer add Google Analytics to your website? Great! That’s the first step in measuring your website’s success. Now, do you know how to actually read all of those great reports? It can be a bit overwhelming. Here are a few things to look for when reviewing the data: Dashboard View: This snapshot […]

How Online Public Relations Can Boost Your Company’s Profile

The Internet has revolutionized the marketing world. In fact, online marketing initiatives are arguably more powerful and affordable than traditional advertising strategies because of the wider reach the Internet offers. Not everyone watches the same television or reads certain publications, so marketing towards traditional media forms exclusively can cost companies thousands (if not more) in […]

The Difference Between “Push” and “Pull” Marketing

What is marketing? Marketing is everything that leads up to the sale of a product. Many people confuse advertising or public relations with marketing when in fact, they fall under the marketing umbrella. “Push,” or traditional marketing, is what we think of as interruptive advertising: TV ads, radio spots, billboards, direct mail, email, etc. They […]

What is Local Search Engine Optimization?

Fifteen years ago there was only one resource to shop for services- the Yellow Pages. Ironically, many marketers are still trapped in a time capsule, spending ungodly amounts of money to have the biggest Yellow Page ad in the directory. I live in a town of 35,000 people and we are delivered at least three […]

Reallocate Your Budget for Better Marketing Success

Marketers in 2009 experienced a brutal year. Trade show attendance is down due to limited corporate travel; some trade publications simply closed up shop because of decreased ad revenues. Sales were harder to come by and often, optimal margins were not realized due to desperation in competing companies driving bids down. There is a shift […]

SEO Tips for a Search Engine Friendly Website

Redesigning your website to be more search engine friendly? Don’t forget these important SEO tips to help your new website attract more qualified visitors and provide a user-friendly experience: 1 – Do your research. Find out which keywords are being searched for most in your industry. The key is to find keywords with a high […]

Build Your Online Network Now To Escape the Recession

Now that the dust is settling on social media a little, it’s time to think about what it can mean for your business. Initially, people flocked to My Space and Facebook because it was viewed as a new technology “toy”. Many of us have reconnected to people that we hadn’t spoken to for over 20 […]

The Power of Analytics

Websites are now the core of any company’s marketing program. It’s the 24-hour storefront that never closes. It’s a resource of information enabling the showcasing of products pictorially, in video and in text. This is changing the face of marketing, which use to be a “push” message that utilized persuasion to educate prospects. With the […]

Improve your Bounce Rate

Google Analytics has a feature on its dashboard called a “Bounce Rate.” This is one of the key metrics in web analysis. Essentially, it is the percentage of times that someone “bounces” almost immediately when they find your site. A bounce rate of over 40% is cause for concern. It may mean that your site […]

Why are keywords so important?

Selecting the right keywords for your website is essential when optimizing for search engines. Many people think that adding basic keywords to their website will do the trick. Not true. For example, a website promoting “vacations” should not optimize their home page with the word “vacation”. Your chances for ranking for such a basic, highly […]

Case studies promote your company and showcase your expertise…

Charles Stewart Contract, a long-time X-Factor public relations client, hired us to compose a case study regarding a recent project. A case study is a detailed account of a company, person or project over a given period of time. It describes a problem or challenge that a company may have faced, and their process for […]

The Year of the Frozen Budget

You’ve probably been to a Chinese restaurant and seen menus with illustrations of animals representing the Chinese New Year – dragons, tigers, rats, etc. 2009 is the Year of the Ox. Unfortunately, the Ox is not strong enough to pull us out of the economic quagmire we seem to be trapped in. 2009 could also […]

“Who You Gonna Call?!”

Completing the Web Optimization Services Loop “I’ve worked in the private sector. They expect results.” – Dr. Ray Stanz Times are tough, budgets are tight, and clients are scared. “Who you gonna call?” No, not Ghostbusters, even if many folks are running around looking like they just saw a ghost. If you’re looking to build […]

Seven Deadly Sins of Web Optimization

Web optimization, often referred to as search engine optimization (SEO), should be an integral part of your internet marketing strategy. As with any new(er) product, service or technology, it takes time to work out the kinks and get it right. This process is Darwinian in nature, as individuals and businesses of all shapes and sizes […]

Using Keywords to your Advantage

A Web site’s keywords can be defined as the key to a code, or be used in a reference work to link to other information. Most companies have identified their Web site’s keywords and use them throughout the Web site. While this is good Internet marketing, a company can see more traffic to their site […]

Text is King!

We have all heard, “a picture is worth a thousand words.” In advertising, it’s what everyone lives by. There is an “old” kid back on the block that’s ready to rule the neighborhood again however: Written word. Somewhere, Shakespeare must be smiling. At the beginning of this decade a program called Flash came out and […]

What is the Difference Between Public Relations and Advertising?

Two distinct disciplines, two distinct definitions, one age-old debate. No, we’re not talking about butter and margarine. What is the difference between public relations and advertising? Here is one of the most basic explanations you’ll ever find: Public Relations is what others communicate about you, your business, your client, etc. Advertising is what you communicate. […]

Top 10 Reasons to Use Strategic Internet Marketing

1. There are currently over 215 million Internet users in the US alone (71% of the population). This is a growth of 125% from 2000-2008. 2. Generation X, Y, and the Millenials all turn to the Internet first. 3. Interruption based marketing is a thing of the past. 4. Internet Marketing provides measurable results. 5. […]

Investing in Internet Marketing 2.0

Has your business begun investing in internet marketing and search engine optimization to stay in front of consumers? If not, it should. Immediately. Changing Consumer Before you dismiss the internet as a youthful playground, try thinking of it as a base of business. Consider that while 87 percent of 18-29 year-olds have used the internet […]

The Internet: The Death of the Sales Call

When I started out in the advertising business twenty year’s ago, I had no marketing budget, no sales staff and not much experience. What I did have was energy and a telephone, using both I would fervently set appointments, take what little graphics we had to show at the time and meet with potential clients […]

Is your Business “YouTubing”?

It’s hard to believe that the video sharing Web site YouTube is over three years old. It’s also hard to believe that the general public still thinks the largest video sharing Web site is just videos of kids doing crazy skateboard stunts or clips from movies. YouTube has become a popular landing spot for videos […]

Welcome to X-Factor Web Marketing

Gotham Strategic Marketing made a quantum leap forward this spring with the introduction of X-Factor Web Marketing. Many of our clients understood immediately the value of adding this innovative service that blends public relations and search engine optimization to their marketing mix. The Internet has changed our lives, so much in fact, that this […]

Compelling Reasons To Use Strategic Internet Marketing

• Generation X, Y and Millennials all turn to the Internet first • Green movement • Segmentation of markets • Interruption based marketing is a thing of the past • Engineers and purchasing agents use the Internet as their primary tool for research • Ease and convenience of use • There are over 215 million […]