The Found Gen

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How to Optimize Your Website Content for SEO Without Hiring an Expert

All successful businesses share at least one thing in common: it’s easy to find them on Google. If you want your business to show up when someone in your area searches for products or services like yours, you’re going to have to make your website SEO-friendly. 

There are the basics of SEO, like creating a Google Business Profile and listing your business on relevant directories. To fully maximize your website’s accessibility, you have to show Google that your website is relevant, trustworthy, and user-friendly. 

Here are some fairly easy ways to optimize your small business’s website for SEO:

Leverage User-Generated Content

Your customers probably place a lot of value on reviews and testimonials. Well, so does Google. An SEO-friendly website is rich with reviews and testimonials. If you consistently encourage your customers to leave either form of social proof after making a purchase, you are consistently generating fresh and relevant content for your website. Reviews, testimonials, and frankly any user-generated content significantly enhances your website’s credibility. And when customers trust you, search engines will follow suit. 

Increase Inbound Links

Another great way to gain the trust of searching engines is inbound links. When another website links to yours, it shows Google that this website trusts your website enough to send its own visitors to your site. Each inbound link is like a vote of confidence.

So, how do you get other businesses to link to your website? One popular strategy is forging a partnership with a credible business that offers a complementary product or service to yours. When your partner posts content that relates to your business, they link to your website, and vice versa. Other ways to get credible websites to link to yours include attending and sponsoring local events, applying for local awards, and conducting research that’s highly valuable to your industry. 

Optimize Category Pages

People tend to search for specific products or services, not specific businesses. They might know what they need (e.g. “kitchen remodel”) but they might not know what kind of company can give it to them. Google often responds to these queries with links to product pages, as opposed to the homepages of these businesses. 

For this reason, you should make sure your product pages are SEO-friendly in themselves. Are you using the most important keywords in the product name in description? Are your product pages easy to navigate, with high quality images? 

If you offer products from many different categories, you should definitely optimize your category pages for SEO as well. In addition to relevant headings, make sure your category pages feature a clear product hierarchy, since this simplifies the customer experience and makes your website seem more legitimate. 

Update Content Regularly

Updating existing blog content takes much less time than developing new topics and composing new content. For instance, if you have content that revolves around important statistics, see if those statistics are still up to date. You could potentially add another paragraph to the post to clarify the update. 

Content can also be updated with quotes, additional statistics, and new developments in your industry. This is how countless successful companies continue to rank highly on relevant searches for years and years: They update high-volume content like listicles to account for new technology, new products, etc. 

At this point, it’s probably clear that a cornerstone of an SEO-friendly website is fresh, relevant content. If your website is informative, easy to navigate, and constantly adding fresh and relevant content, then you’ve checked the main boxes for effective SEO. For further guidance about SEO for small businesses, contact the team at The Found Gen today.

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Should You Use AI to Generate Social Media Posts – Including Graphics + Imagery?

Don’t. Just don’t. Here’s why.

If you want to build trust with your audience, you must be authentic and true to your brand. Using artificial intelligence to plug and play content and images on your social media accounts is neither. Audiences will take note. And that’s before we even get into a conversation about copyright issues.

The Double-Edged Sword

AI-generated content including text, graphics and imagery sounds like a dream, and in many ways it is! These tools deliver “creative” work in seconds, which means you don’t have to wait for your coffee buzz to kick in before your brain really amps up. Moreover, experimenting with AI can be fun. There’s a thrill in anticipating what will color your screen after you hit enter on the keyboard.

But fun and games aside, some of the biggest problems with using AI-generated content to market your business have to do with copyright protections and ensuring brand consistency and professionalism. 

In terms of content ownership and copyright protection, U.S. Copyright Laws only protect against human-made creative endeavors. So, if AI creates a sweet logo for your business, no one’s going to be able to stop an up-and-coming competitor from stealing it. Worse yet, who’s to know if AI didn’t steal that logo from someone else? Then, suddenly you will find yourself with a very big problem because, in case you haven’t heard, lawsuits are expensive. 

Quality Control Concerns

Another issue with using AI to generate social media marketing materials is that you run the risk of breaching brand standards. AI tools are machines. They can’t achieve the same level of creativity as your design team or marketing agency, and they can severely miss the mark on nuances required in human interactions. Moreover, they may deliver inconsistent, inaccurate or poor-quality posts. In many ways, generative AI feels too good to be true, and, well, that means it probably is. The best way to balance technology with personality is by adding the human element to your marketing endeavors. We’re here to help. Call us at The Found Gen today.

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Why Your Social Media Strategy Isn’t Working (And How to Fix it For More Engagement)

The success of a social media account is measured through engagement. This represents how frequently people interact with your content through different actions like sharing, commenting, liking, clicking a link, or watching a video. When people engage with your content, it’s usually because it resonates with them in some way. People are more likely to become paid customers when they feel that a brand truly understands them as individuals. 

If people aren’t interacting with your posts, it’s probably because your social media strategy is falling short in at least two areas. One, you aren’t communicating a clear understanding of your audience’s interests, and two, you aren’t taking enough action to solicit engagement. 

With this in mind, here are a few ways to correct these shortcomings and create a social media strategy that works:

Be Social!

People don’t visit social networks to see what they should buy next. They want to see content that makes them laugh, think, or feel validated. If most of your posts are thinly-veiled sales pitches, people are going to be turned off and scroll past them. 

Fostering engagement is more about socializing than selling. Let’s say you’ve just been introduced to a potential customer. Would you immediately launch into a sales pitch? No, because you want them to like you. So, instead of trying to sell something, you’d try to make them laugh, or tell them something they’d find interesting. 

The same concept applies to social media. To be engaging, focus on creating posts that educate and entertain. This will make your brand seem more human, and that’s the kind of brand people want to interact with. 

Engage with Your Followers

A successful social media account is a two-way street. The brand is an active part of the conversation, constantly responding to comments and questions from their audience. When you see the amount of effort the brand devotes to initiating and maintaining meaningful conversations, the high engagement rate makes sense. 

The point is, you can’t expect your audience to engage with your account if you don’t put yourself out there. People like to speak to the human beings behind their favorite brands. Replying to incoming mentions, comments, and direct messages also gives your account more reach. Why? Because people like seeing brands interacting with their audiences. Social networks know this, and their job is giving people what they like to see. 

Create Interactive Content

Another popular tactic for facilitating engagement is through interactive content like polls, quizzes, or trivia. Think about what kind of questions you could ask your audience that would really spark their curiosity and make them want to participate in the conversation. 

To that end, many brands also encourage engagement through contests and giveaways. People have to fill out an entry form to participate in either activity, and that counts as engagement! Besides, people love free stuff. Hosting a contest or a giveaway is a great way to create buzz around your products or services. Just make sure to clearly explain how to enter the contest so customers can easily engage. 

Use Hashtags

Hashtags make it easier for your audience to find social media content containing a specific topic. When you use relevant hashtags in your content, your posts are more likely to seen by social media users who have displayed interested in this topic, making them more likely to engage with your content. 

Generally speaking, hashtags should be short, specific, and reflective of the content of your post. They shouldn’t be generic or broad because that won’t make your content stand out. You may also consider researching trending topics to ensure your hashtags align with your audience’s current interests and concerns. 

All in all, the key to turning your social media strategy around isn’t necessarily being aggressive and posting lots of content. It’s more about presenting yourself as a good-natured human being who genuinely wants to start a conversation with some new friends. 

For more advice on how to boost engagement on social media, contact the team at The Found Gen today. 

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Simple SEO Fixes Every Small Business Can Implement Today

These days, people tend to discover new businesses through Google. They’ll search for what they need, and then choose which businesses to contact based on what they see in the results. 

Do you want your business to show up when people search for the kind of products or services you provide? Of course you do, and you can make your business easier to discover through search engines with SEO, which stands for “Search Engine Optimization.”

Here are a few very easy ways to improve your business’s SEO efforts:

Set Up Google Business Profile

Rule number one for small business SEO is setting up a Google Business Profile. This tells Google – and potential customers – that your business is legitimate. A Google Business Profile is free to set up, and it lets you share important details about your business, such as your phone number, hours, location, and products or services. 

The more information you include in your Google Business Profile, the easier it is for someone to find your business when searching for products or services like yours in your local area (i.e. “pizza restaurant near me”). To optimize your Google Business Profile, make sure it includes a brief yet informative description of your business, your industry, and high-definition photos. 

Leverage User-Generated Content

Any small business knows the power of social proof, like reviews and testimonials. Well, social proof can improve your SEO efforts as well, giving you yet another reason to encourage your customers to leave reviews, testimonials, or any kind of positive feedback on your website or social media platforms. Search engines favor websites with fresh and relevant content. You can also add reviews and testimonials to your Google Business Profile, so users will see them when checking out your business. 

List Your Business on Directories

Your website, Google Business Profile, and social media platforms aren’t the only places where people review your business. Many people also trust other review websites and business directories like Yelp or TripAdvisor. These websites are usually the first links to show up on Google when someone searches for products or services in a specific location. If your business is not listed on popular niche or local directories, you are losing out on second-hand search traffic. 

Not sure which directories you should be listed on? To find out, simply Google “(what your business does) in (location).” Your business should be listed on whatever directories show up on the first page of results. 

Blogging!

Blogging is a popular SEO strategy because it’s free and it can be highly effective if you follow the golden rule of blogging: be helpful. Search engines favor in-depth, detailed content that features relevant information about the topic. 

You know what kind of problems your customers have. Blogging gives you a platform to provide the information they need to solve them. Posting content that speaks directly to your customers’ problems is a great way to outperform other players in your industry on Google, not to mention giving you more valuable content to share on social media. 

If you’ve noticed a theme throughout this article, it’s legitimacy. SEO is about showing Google that your business deserves to be ranked highly because you check all the boxes of a legitimate business, like a good reputation and a solid understanding of your customers. For further advice on how to maximize SEO for your small business, contact our team of marketing experts and enthusiasts at The Found Gen today.

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Who Owns the AI Content You Generated to Market Your Business

Artificial intelligence (AI) has ushered in yet another wave of technological change, and with it come opportunities and concerns, particularly in terms of intellectual property ownership and U.S. copyright law.While it’s nearly certain laws will evolve as technology continues to become even more sophisticated, here’s what we know now about content ownership and copyright protections for AI-generated works. 

Ownership versus Copyright Protection

Using any type of AI-generated content requires you to tread lightly, as it comes with many grey areas.

In general, for now, and depending on the AI tool you use, the user (you) maintains at least some degree of ownership over the content created by the AI tool (depending on the tool, of course). For example, OpenAI’s Terms of Use regarding ownership of content states:

“As between you and OpenAI, and to the extent permitted by applicable law, you (a) retain your ownership rights in Input and (b) own the Output. We hereby assign to you all our right, title, and interest, if any, in and to Output.” 

While this may mean you can use the content created by an OpenAI tool, it in no way gives you legal copyright protection. Said another way, you may be able to publish AI-generated content on your website, but anyone can steal it without repercussions. 

If you want to protect your content against theft, you need to be able to copyright your work. The only way you can do that is by having a human create it. Full stop.

Creating Content in an AI World

If this has left your head spinning (it certainly has ours!), you may be wondering what’s next. AI is part of our world, so how can we coexist? 

Like any tool, AI software needs to be wielded carefully and for the right purpose. There is certainly a time and place for AI assistance. It can speed up brainstorming or help you break out of a mental block, but leaning solely on generative AI can carry serious risks for your business and brand. 

As you work to balance business growth with creative marketing efforts, turn to us at The Found Gen. We deliver the human touch in an AI world so you can build relationships, trust and loyalty with your audience.

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Engagement vs. Followers: Why Quality Matters More Than Quantity

When social media was first becoming popular, a high number of followers was an immediate indicator of success. For businesses, it was almost as if the more followers you had, the more customers you had. 

Today, many businesses continue to prioritize followers in their social media efforts because they see it as a sign of growth. When your followers are growing, it can seem like your business is doing the same. 

But the truth is, a high number of followers doesn’t help your business if your audience isn’t consuming your content. This is measured through engagement, which is what businesses should really be paying attention to in order to gauge their success on social media. 

What is Engagement on Social Media?

Social media engagement is a reflection of all the different ways people are interacting with your social media accounts and content. This encompasses a broad range of actions, such as: 

  • Likes and favorites on posts
  • Shares of posts
  • Comments on posts
  • Replies on posts
  • Tags of people in your posts
  • Mentions of you in other’s posts by tagging you
  • Opening a link you shared
  • Watching a video you shared
Why Social Media Engagement is Important

To understand the difference in importance between followers and engagement, think of a new follower as a very cold lead. When this person engages with your content, they go from very cold to very warm. 

In other words, someone who follows your brand on social media might be interested in becoming a customer one day, whereas someone who regularly interacts with your brand on social media is very interested in becoming a customer. The latter individual is statistically more likely to visit your website, share your content, and start a conversation with your brand. So, it’s really just a matter of interest. Though an engagement is just a minute action, it denotes significantly more interest than simply following an account. 

Here are a few other reasons engagement is more important than followers:

Engagement Affects Visibility

Engagement is the point of social media. It exists for people to interact with each other, as opposed to passively scrolling past each other’s posts. Since social networks place so much value on engagement, accounts with more interactions tend to get more reach. When more people engage with your content, more people will see your content. Why? Because this is what people like to see on social media: brands positively interacting with their customers. 

Engagement Tells You Your Content is Good

If you post content that effectively suits your audience’s needs and interests, they’re going to engage with it. Good content gets rewarded with engagement because you’re showing your audience that you understand them as individuals and genuinely want to connect with them. Forming relationships is a primary goal of social media for businesses. So, if people are engaging with your posts, you are officially winning at social media. 

A high number of followers, on the other hand, doesn’t indicate that your content is resonating with your audience. If it was resonating, people would take action and show you. If people aren’t taking action at all, it usually means your content isn’t making your followers any more interested in becoming paid customers. In comparison to followers, engagement is a much more accurate way to measure social media success. 

Your Competitors Need Engagement, Too

Since engagement is such an accurate indicator of success, this is what you should look at when researching your competitors’ social media accounts. What are they doing to facilitate interactions with their audience? How are their customers showing their approval of their content?

If your competitors’ content is resonating more effectively than yours, it’s time to dig deeper and find out what they’re doing right – so you can do it even better. 

For more advice on fostering engagement on social media, contact the team at The Found Gen today.