Author Archives: Nolen Walker

Jul '22

5 Ways to Generate Exclusive Web Design Leads in 2022

Exclusive web design leads are valuable for marketing agencies and freelance designers. Unfortunately, with so much competition, leads are harder to secure in 2022. Some agencies even resort to buying shared leads, reducing conversion rates, and limiting repeat customers.

The good news is that there are still effective ways to generate exclusive web design leads in 2022. You just need to know how to approach the lead generation process. Below, Nolen Walker Academy outlines five fantastic ways to bring in exclusive web design customers in 2022.

1) Make Contact Conveinenent

So many digital marketing agencies lose out on leads because of user inconvenience. When users find your website, it should be easy to submit a contact form. Your forms should appear prominently on the homepage and in the footer of other conversion pages.

Not everyone wants to talk on the phone immediately, so provide different ways to contact your business. It’s even more essential to ensure easy contact via mobile device. Contact forms must be responsive to any smartphone or tablet so users can quickly contact your company.

A homepage contact form makes a big difference in lead generation

2) Stay in Touch With Email

Every dollar you put into your email marketing campaign can return $42. It’s true! Email marketing has one of the highest ROIs of any lead-generation strategy, no matter the industry. For web design agencies, email marketing is a must.

But you must be careful with your strategy because you never want to be too spammy. So first, you must generate a good list of prospects based on past company interactions, impressions, and interests. Once you have a good list, try the following tips:

Be Personal: Studies show that people are more likely to open your email if it has a personalized subject line. You can personalize it by including their name or mentioning a service the recipient has expressed interest in.
Use An Emoji: The average email user gets dozens of emails daily, so it can be tough to make yours stand out. A simple emoji can make it look like you put more thought and effort into your message than you probably did.
Use Blog Content: You don’t always want to be too sales-y with your emails. Every once in a while, including an exciting snippet from one of your blogs entices the recipient.
Don’t Send Too Often: A couple of weekly emails for web design agencies is probably enough. Remember that you don’t want to be too spammy. If you are, you risk your leads hitting the dreaded” Unsubscribe” button.

3) Delegate Lead Generation Tasks

Small web design agencies probably don’t have the workforce to spare on lead generation. But that might not be the case for you. So when possible, it’s always a good idea to appoint the lead generation task to one person or a small group.

That way, you’re freed up to tend to more critical business matters. Be sure to check in with your lead-generation appointee(s) often and discuss their strategy to generate exclusive web design leads. Delegation is easy when you build an experienced SEO team for your agency.

4) Leverage Reputation & Reviews

Your agency should have a Google Business Profile at the bare minimum. But it would be best to use favorable reviews as a promotional tool. So, respond to as many reviews as possible, whether good or bad.

You should also utilize reputation management software to display your reviews on your website. One great tool for reputation management is DataPins, which also helps boost your local SEO through schema markup.

5) Go All-in on Search Engine Optimization

SEO is the best way to produce exclusive web design leads. If you can rank for keywords like web design in miami, or web design seattle, you will pick up consistent leads. Web designers in smaller towns can more easily rank for these location keywords though fewer people will click.

Check out some of the basic tenants of SEO for web design agencies:

Keyword Research: Keywords are still essential in getting your website in front of people interested in your business. Research your target keywords and implement them throughout your site.
Link Building: Links are an essential ranking factor, so make sure you have internal links on every page and reach out to colleagues, local business directories, and even HARO to get more backlinks.
Blogging: Create informational blog posts that target high-volume national keywords. These posts bring in traffic from all over the nation and naturally earn backlinks from authority sites.

Why Are Exclusive Web Design Leads Important?

Exclusive leads are important because they convert at a much higher rate than shared leads. You will be the only person reaching out to the consumer with exclusive leads. Exclusive leads are much more valuable as they save you time, allow you to charge a standard or premium price for your service, and they are much more likely to result in a sale.

Learn How to Start a Web Design Agency

If you have web design skillsets but lack the knowledge to start your own agency, enroll in Nolen Walker Academy. NWAcademy helps students create their own digital marketing agency in 2022, including extensive courses on lead generation, sales, and branding your agency.

Jul '22

How to Build an (Experienced) SEO Team in 2022 (w/New Tips)

Every SEO team will look a little different. First, you need to factor in the size of the agency. Next, you have to understand what your agency offers to clients. For example, some place the most emphasis on content creation and link building, while others invest heavily in web design.

An experienced SEO team will have a little bit of everything. So whether you are looking to start your own SEO agency or improve your existing company, this post will help you hit the checkmarks for your SEO team.

Nolen Walker Academy offers professional SEO training from some of the industry’s most accomplished SEO experts.

Web Design Department

There is an excellent reason that the most experienced SEO teams highly emphasize design. A company’s website is the foundation of its SEO campaign. Without a robust website, the rest of the SEO campaign is limited. Furthermore, a website is the most tangible digital marketing asset. Your customers will view their custom website as a deliverable.

Look for designers with experience in your marketing niche or industry. Ask for examples of sites they’ve designed, as you will be using your agency’s design portfolio to lure in new customers. Be careful about focusing only on the visual elements and ensure they know SEO.

Clear Website Design Encouraging Locksmith SEO

Clients see their website as a tangible representation of your company’s services

Big Picture Marketing

People have a lot of different concepts about SEO. One of the most dangerous perspectives is that if you rank well on relevant searches, you’re doing your job. But unfortunately, SEO isn’t that simple. First, you have to rank well and attract your target consumers.

Just because you get web traffic doesn’t mean you generate sales. Therefore, any experienced SEO team needs a marketing expert with great vision who can see the whole picture and analyze traffic and SEO results.

The marketing head or department should be able to analyze the bounce rate for your website and landing pages and determine if the traffic leads to conversion. If not, they should be able to devise a strategy to change that.

It’s about getting traffic from people interested in paying for your product or service. That can be challenging, which is why building a well-rounded SEO team is essential.

Content Marketing is Key

To maximize your agency, you will need to produce content in droves. While new AI software like Jasper can help you mass-produce content for your clients, you still need operators who can edit the content and ensure its clarity and uniqueness.

Furthermore, some content still requires completely original and human writing. For example, long-form blog posts (1,000+ words) can’t be properly crafted through AI. Instead, you will need on-staff writers who are knowledgeable and able to research different articles and industries.

Some of the most successful SEO agencies have entire departments dedicated to content marketing. However, smaller operations that might not have a lot of capital to spend on a vast content marketing team should seek out creators with experience in your niche.

Web Content Writing Blurb Explaining How Web Content Differs From Blogs

Solving the Tough SEO Problems

Link-building is still one of the most important aspects of SEO – it’s also one of the most challenging aspects. If you want to build an experienced SEO team, it will help to include people with link-building experience. You may even want to dedicate an entire team to it.

While your content creators will likely help with generating quality links to your sites and your client’s sites, bringing on someone with in-depth link-building experience would be beneficial.

They should be familiar with effective link-building tactics like blog outreach, broken link-finding, and link prospecting. Your team should also be able to keep up with developing link-building methods.

There’s always some tool, service, or tactic that comes around every few years, making it a little easier to generate quality links. Take the advent of HARO, for example.

Technical SEO

Of course, any SEO team worth their salt will include an ace technical SEO team. Over the past few years, SEO has shifted more towards the content side, but that does not mean that crawling, indexing, rendering, coding, and web development aren’t necessary.

If you run into technical SEO issues (and you will), your developers will come to the rescue – or at least they should. Of course, there are also a lot of relatively simple technical SEO issues that can immediately boost rankings. Still, new prospects will need a technical SEO audit of their site.

Depending on the sites you manage, you may not necessarily need a full-time developer on your team. Still, at the very least, you will need a coder and several technical SEO experts.

Site speed is one aspect of technical SEO that your agency clients will notice immediately

Learn SEO Today

The best way to build an experienced SEO team is to learn SEO yourself. Whether you want to be able to handle the SEO for your fledgling company yourself or interested in starting your own SEO agency, we can help here at the Nolen Walker Academy.

Jan '22

How to Learn SEO Writing in 2022 (for Blogging + Web Content)

Business owners and entrepreneurs that learn SEO writing have a significant advantage over competitors. Although writing is a skill, ranking content on Google is the most intriguing component for businesses.

SEO writing is the backbone of modern digital marketing. Sure, SEO entails a lot of technical aspects that don’t have much to do with writing; but without the written (or typed) word, SEO would be adrift in the vast sea of marketing tactics.

SEO writing is not the kind of writing you learned in school. So how do you, as a business owner, an aspiring SEO consultant, or just someone who wants to write good on-page content, learn the skill of SEO writing?

There is no simple answer to that question, but Nolen Walker Academy outlines how to learn SEO writing in the following post.

Misconceptions About SEO Writing

Many people think of SEO writing and automatically conjure up images of a writer hard at work behind the screen of a computer, working on a blog. However, while blog content is a big part of SEO writing, it is not the end-all-be-all. Another huge part of SEO writing is on-page web content writing.

On-page web content writing can encompass anything from a product description to an “About Us” page. And while there is a decent amount of crossover between the two types in terms of rules and general guidelines, they are still very distinct. Allow us to explain:

Blog Writing

Blog writing will typically focus on one topic and revolve around a particular keyword or phrase. In addition, blog writing will require the writer to be thorough in description and exhibit knowledge and authority on a subject.

The overarching idea behind blog writing is to provide the reader with a how-to guide, a countdown or “best of” list, or answer a frequently asked question.

SEO Blog Writing Blurb Explaining How Blogs Differ From Web Content

Web Content Writing

Web content writing is a little different than blog writing. For example, on-page content may entail writing a company bio, service page, or product page. In addition, it will usually include writing about a specific type of service and industry.

Additionally, depending on the client’s business or desires, on-page content may be much more sales-oriented, whereas blog content is more focused on education or entertainment. In general, on-page content is less dependent on one’s ability to write creatively.

SEO Writing Fundamentals

It’s essential to distinguish between web content writing and blog writing. However, you should also be aware that there are some fundamental requirements that you will usually need to meet for both:

Keyword Usage

If you are doing SEO right, you are centering the topics of your blog content and your on-page content around a specific keyword. The reason for this is that keywords help search engines rank blog content and on-page web content for relevant search queries.

Linking Opportunities

They never teach you to leave room for linking opportunities in your writing at school. But you have to create either internal or external (usually both) linking opportunities in your SEO writing, whether you are writing a blog or on-page content.

In other words, link placement is not arbitrary and must fit seamlessly within the written content. As a result, you must “write in” opportunities for natural linking.

Formatting

Most people prefer not to read massive walls of text – especially when shopping, researching, looking for local businesses and services, or simply just casually web-browsing. That’s why formatting is so important if you want to learn SEO writing.

Breaking up complex concepts into easily readable doses is vital to your value as an SEO writer. Bullet and numbered lists are great, but you also know when and how to break up ideas not to disturb the flow of the content as a whole.

SEO Writing Do’s and Don’ts

There’s a thin line between right and wrong that can be very hard to toe in SEO writing. So let’s take a look at a few key concepts and how to use them the right and wrong way:

Keywords

Do: Your research. Like any writing, SEO writing entails a lot of research that starts with keywords.

Don’t: Overstuff keywords. Just because your research yielded a long list of keywords doesn’t mean you should use them all on the same page, nor should you overuse the same keyword.

Readability

Do: Make sure that your content is easily digestible. Use lists, small paragraphs, and relatively simple language.

Don’t: Write essays. Just because your vocabulary is immense doesn’t mean Shakespearian-level prose will fly in SEO writing. Also, remember that the reading level of the average US citizen is between 7th and 8th grade.

Market Research

Do: Take a look at what is ranking highest among your competitors or those of your clients. Doing so will give you a good idea of what topics to focus on and topics trending among consumers.

Don’t: Plagiarize. We cannot emphasize this one enough. Even if the topic you’re writing on has been covered extensively, you cannot plagiarize anyone else’s writing. Google will penalize your site if it detects stolen content. You even have to be careful about plagiarizing your own content as duplicate content will not rank. It may be challenging to come up with fresh content, especially when you find yourself writing about the same topics frequently, but this is the challenge of the SEO writer and what separates the good ones from the great ones.

What’s the Best Way to Learn SEO Writing in 2022?

We won’t sugarcoat it: it always helps to have some background in writing if you want to get into SEO writing. It helps, but it’s not essential. We have seen it work best by studying under a mentor – someone who has extensive experience with SEO writing specifically.

Not everyone knows someone like that personally, though another good alternative is to take a copywriting course at a local community college or University. While copywriting isn’t the same as SEO writing, a lesson in copywriting will teach you the fundamentals that make for good SEO content.

Unfortunately, learning SEO writing rarely appears in standardized courses. It is a relatively new school of writing. By far, the best way we’ve seen it work is by learning from an SEO and marketing course.

Specialized, online SEO courses are the best way to learn because they offer a focused curriculum that teaches the unique nuances of SEO writing. If you want to learn SEO writing from a team with over 15 years in the industry, join Nolen Walker Academy.

Jan '22

Why is SEO So Expensive? (Breaking Down the Cost in 2022)

Blog Cover for "Why is SEO So Expensive"

As a small business owner, you may wonder why SEO is so expensive.

SEO has become vastly critical to growing your business online – and online growth translates to company growth.

The higher you rank, the more people will click on your site. The more clicks you get, the more chances you will close a customer. The general concept behind SEO is pretty simple, but the execution is complex.

That’s part of the reason SEO services are so expensive in 2022. Another reason is that SEO is in very high demand because, quite frankly, it works.

If you don’t think Search Engine Optimization is essential, consider the following statistic: consumers will begin their interaction with a business or service via a search engine query 68% of the time. Consumer behavior demonstrates clear evidence that people use search engines to find products and services.

In the following post, Nolen Walker Academy sheds light on the question, ‘why is SEO so expensive?’

Time, Expertise, and Resources

SEO takes time, requires expertise, and demands resources. Finding a single person to meet all three of these criteria is nearly impossible. Therefore, for the most part, professional-level SEO campaigns come from an agency. A company can employ experts in each facet of SEO while driving results efficiently through human resources.

Time

SEO involves several stages, each of which takes a significant amount of time. Of course, if you have multiple people handling the tasks, it will go by much faster. Depending on your online presence, budget, and goals, you may need to spend more time on SEO than other companies nearby.

Expertise

Expertise rightly costs more money because it drives better results. So while you may think you are paying more for SEO services, you are also lowering the chances of wasting money on your digital marketing campaign. Mitigating the risk of lousy SEO is worth spending more.

Resources

The smartest SEO professional can’t implement their recommendations without resources. If you hire an SEO consultant, you probably have in-house resources who can execute their plan. However, many things can get lost in translation. SEO agencies with resources for content, link building, and website design typically drive the best results quickly.

How Much Does SEO Service Cost in 2022?

In general, you can expect to pay between $100 and $300 an hour for SEO services. Lump-sum single project deals usually run the gamut from $2,500 and $30,000. Monthly SEO services typically range from $750 to $2,000 per month.

The truth is that there is no universal answer to the question. It will depend on several factors, including:

Whether you choose to pay for hourly SEO service or one lump sum for a single, long-term project.
The level of expertise of the consultant or agency that you hire
Your level of need (SEO services that you opt for)

It’s certainly not the cheapest service out there, which speaks to the high demand. So what are the specific costs associated with SEO services?

Multi-Faceted Work

SEO is so expensive because it is highly involved, multi-faceted work that requires several different areas of expertise. So many various aspects of marketing and web design go into a complete SEO strategy. Here are just a few of them:

SEO Auditing: Before launching a strategy, the company must audit your existing web presence. An initial audit involves tracking your current rankings, identifying target keywords, measuring monthly traffic, and researching your competitors’ traffic and ranking stats.
Web Design: Web design is a huge part of SEO because alterations always need to be made to your website to optimize it for search engine queries.
User Experience: UX is also an essential part of SEO. Optimizing your website means making sure that it runs quickly and smoothly. The user needs to easily find the information they need so that they will be more likely to complete a purchase.
Copywriting: Effective and clear writing with knowledge of SEO structure is essential to any SEO strategy.
Content Marketing: Like any good digital marketing strategy, a great deal of creativity goes into the content you publish. Content marketing is a massive part of a complete SEO strategy, whether written or video.

An SEO consultant needs to wear many hats to drive tangible results. That’s why SEO agencies are so prevalent. With an agency, you get a team instead of a single consultant. The group usually has various skills and experience backgrounds to develop comprehensive SEO strategies.

Level of Expertise

You can undoubtedly find monthly SEO services on the (relative) cheap. You may find a solo consultant willing to provide monthly SEO services for around $80 a month. Their level of expertise is likely to be minimal, though.

Often, these cheaper services come from consultants who are still cutting their teeth. They probably have a limited track record which is why they’re willing to offer such intensive service for so cheap.

The problem with SEO services and training is that it is not regulated. Therefore, there is no regulated training needed to start offering their SEO services. In general, though, it takes about 18 months to learn everything you need to know about SEO.

However, using it in the real world is a much different story. It’s generally agreed that it takes eight years of experience to yield results for clients. Like with many other kinds of services, level of experience and expertise will drive up the cost.

SEO Takes Time

We don’t just mean time to learn; but time to execute. Very rarely will you hear about someone hiring an SEO agency or consultant for a one-off service. Typically, people pay for monthly SEO service or “by the project,” which is usually a long-term deal.

That’s because it takes time to see actual results from SEO. 4-6 months at least – and that’s on the moderate end. So while you may start to see results after just four months, such results won’t necessarily translate to a fatter bottom line.

Upping your rankings and getting more sales takes time with SEO, so you will have to hire someone for long-term work, which, of course, also drives up the cost. SEO is very rarely a “one and done” service. It requires constant maintenance, adjustments, testing, and refinement to increase sales.

What to Look for in SEO Services

Whether you are a business owner or someone interested in learning SEO as a career, it’s essential to know what to look for and what you should be learning. Unfortunately, there is plenty of misinformation online regarding SEO.

As someone looking to hire an SEO service, you should ensure that the plan they are offering you fits your business needs. The agency or consultant should also be very clear about the pricing structure.

Ask them to explain all the costs in detail and tell you each service. Then, as someone looking to learn SEO, make sure you understand white hat tactics and offer them to clients.

It would help if you stayed away from any agency or consultant who practices keyword stuffing, link farming, an ad-centric strategy, and other Black Hat SEO tactics, even as a consumer.

Dec '21

5 Group Business Coaching Benefits to Consider in 2022

Blog Cover for 5 Group Business Coaching Benefits Showing Tall Building

Did you know that nearly 20% of all businesses fail within the first year? The number actually gets higher with time too. This is because it takes a lot to succeed in the business world: a good business plan, capital, wise decision-making, and the ability to take necessary risks, just for starters.

Not everyone will have all the skills and wisdom they will need to make it – even if their heart is 100% in it.

You may have heard of group business coaching but shrugged it off for various reasons. And while the truth is that group coaching really isn’t for everyone, we at least want to take some time to talk about its merits.

At Nolen Walker Academy, we have helped many businesses thrive through professional marketing practices. We also know group coaching to work for many large and small businesses.

In the following post, Nolen Walker outlines some of the best benefits that group business coaching could hold for your operation. Join Nolen Walker Academy today to gain access to Nolen’s DMA blueprint.

Table of Contents

What is Group Business Coaching?

Group business coaching guides multiple people within the same company for accountability, KPIs, and professional development. A group business coach works with three or more colleagues in attaining business goals and facilitating a superior work environment.

Group coaching can be advantageous because you simply get more resources. With group business coaching, you can draw from the collective experience of a few or several business professionals with expertise in different fields. Some of it will depend on the coaching service you choose.

In general, though, you should be able to receive coaching from more than one source in group business coaching. For example, your group coaching team could consist of an accounting expert, a marketing whiz, and a business development coach.

Of course, the goal of group business coaching is to help your business succeed. Therefore, it tends to be inherently more advantageous than one-on-one business coaching because of the wealth of experience and knowledge you are made privy to.

Advantages of Group Business Coaching

While group coaching may not be for everyone, we believe that every business should consider it at one time or another. Here are just a few reasons why:

Perspective

Many small businesses get so swamped that they develop tunnel vision. In other words, you are so focused on one or a small handful of things that they become all-consuming.

With group coaching, it’s much easier to gain an outside perspective that can help remind you of the bigger picture. It’s common to lose sight of your larger business goals when you start to get mired in the minute details.

There’s nothing wrong with that – it means you’re working hard. But it can be a great advantage to have more than one person on your team that can see your business and work from the outside and helps keep you on the grander path.

Blurb Describing Perspectives Introduced from Group Coaching

Comprehensive Support

It really comes down to that tired old adage, “two heads are better than one.” Group business coaching will put multiple people on your team dedicated to making your business thrive.

Having multiple coaches means that you will be able to bend the ear of one of them at any time. When one person isn’t available, you can talk to someone else.

Areas of Expertise

The problem with many one-on-one business coaching programs is that the coach will have a narrow area of business expertise. As a result, you get a diverse team with different backgrounds with better group coaching services.

Business is dynamic and requires skills in many fields, especially as your business grows. A group business coaching system will allow you to draw on the knowledge of experts in different areas.

It may not seem that important when running a brand new, one-person business. But having multiple experts on your side could be a considerable benefit as your business starts to expand.

Goal-Setting

It is common to go adrift while operating your business. It’s good to set goals, but what comes next after reaching them? Even worse, what happens when you aren’t sure what your next business goal should be.

A sound group business coaching system will consist of experienced business professionals with proven track records of success. One of the most valuable assets we have seen these group systems offer to business owners is goal guidance.

With a group coaching system, you will have experts helping you develop your business goals for prolonged and sustainable success. Short-term goals are easy, but with a group of professionals, you can set realistic goals that will set your business up for long-term success.

Blurb Describing Goal Setting Within Group Coaching Setting

Support

Perhaps the most valuable advantage of group business training is support. Getting a business off the ground is an uphill battle, and it can be typical to lose heart.

Drawing on the experience of multiple professionals can show you how they struggled and overcame challenges. Plus, you get support in various fields of business operation. Sometimes all you need is the encouragement to push through.

Group business coaching can provide you with the support and guidance you need to succeed.

Blurb Describing Support From Group Coaching

Final Thoughts

Of the people who have used professional business coaching, 70% reported a valuable experience. Now just imagine having multiple coaches in your corner. That’s what you get with Nolen Walker Academy. Experts in different areas of digital marketing coach you on success.

Group business coaching can help your company regardless of its current state. For example, you may be launching a new business, like an SEO agency, or growing your existing business online. In either case, enroll in the academy today.

Dec '21

How Long Should a Marketing Campaign Last in 2022?

Blog Cover Graphic With Title "How Long Should a Marketing Campaign Last"

Determining how long your marketing campaign should last is essential. Chances are, it’s costing you money to run your campaign in the first place, so ideally, you will want to pull the plug as soon as you have got your ideal return on investment, gained a new client base, have seen a good boost in conversions or otherwise accomplished your mission.

Several considerations influence an appropriate timeframe for any marketing campaign. So what is the answer to the question, ‘how long should a marketing campaign last?’ Unfortunately, there is no universal answer. Still, there are some helpful rules of thumb that you should know before you launch.

In the following post, Nolen Walker describes multiple scenarios and gives general time parameters for how long a marketing campaign should last. However, remember that there are more variables to account for, which you can learn about at Nolen Walker Academy, LLC.

Campaign Scenarios

Whether you are a business owner or a digital marketer looking to help out your client, it helps to have as many bases covered as possible. But, of course, if you are a marketer, then experience is the best teacher for figuring out how long a marketing campaign should last.

Still though, here are some scenarios that will give you a general idea:

Time Frame Variables Chart for Marketing Campaigns

Sales and Promotions

The duration of a marketing campaign concerned with a sale or special promotion should be at least as long as the offer is valid. In most cases, you will want to launch a campaign leading up to the beginning of the proposal – call it a week or two beforehand. After all, you want to generate some hype for the special offer.

Grand Openings

These are also pretty simple to figure out. If you are opening a brand new location or opening the doors of your business for the very first time, you will want to end your marketing campaign for it as soon as you are open for business, naturally. However, when to start your marketing campaign for a grand opening is a bit more complicated.

In general, you will need to consider the size of the local market. If you live in a densely populated urban area, you may want to campaign for 2-3 months before opening your doors. If the market is sparser, 2-4 weeks maybe just enough.

Brand Awareness

If the sole purpose of your marketing campaign is to raise brand awareness, the general rule of thumb is to run it for about three months. The triple-month campaign allows for enough time for the message to soak into the market, but not for it to overstay its welcome.

Campaign Variables

Next, let’s take a look at some of the factors you need to consider when answering the question ‘how long should a marketing campaign last?’ for yourself or your client.

Your Clientele

It would be best to consider your target audience first and foremost. If you have done your market research (as you already should have at this point), then you should know what kinds of patrons are likely to use/buy your product or service. In addition, audience research helps inform how long your marketing campaign should last.

For instance, if your clientele is primarily retirees, you aren’t marketing much online. You, therefore, may need to run your campaign longer so that print media, billboards, television ads, and other marketing platforms (which move slower) have enough time to saturate the market.

For example, a marketing campaign that runs mainly on the internet may only need to be live for a couple of months. However, the same campaign run on non-digital platforms may require four months or longer.

Your Market

Of course, your market is also an essential factor in determining how long your marketing campaign should last. This one is pretty intuitive overall: if you operate your business (or your client operates their business) in a small, rural, or suburban market, you won’t need as much time to reach the ideal saturation rate for your marketing campaign.

On the other hand, if you are in a big city or densely populated market, you should allow for more time for your message to get out.

Your Platform

Your platform will also determine how long your marketing campaign should last. Digital marketing (social media advertising, retargeting ads, SEO marketing, etc.) requires a good deal of fresh content.

For example, email marketing is almost instantaneous. However, a steady stream of new, sendable content is always in demand. So you can look at these types of campaigns lasting only about one week.

On the other hand, there is print media. Print media could include direct mail fliers, ads in the local newspaper, and local newsletters. Unfortunately, these platforms generally saturate the market much slower than almost any digital platform.

You have to be patient with print platforms. For example, direct mail fliers should be given at least a month to get the word out and maybe another month for you to start seeing responses.

Additional Tips

There are things you can do while your marketing campaign is live that will help you determine how long it should continue running and how effective it is. For instance, if you are doing any digital advertising, you will want to run A/B tests often.

If they are working like gangbusters, it could be a sign that it’s not time to pull the ads just yet. On the other hand, of course, if the A/B testing shows that you are getting abysmal click-through rates, it could be time to hang it up or at least make some changes.

We don’t want to state the obvious, but it’s worth mentioning that your budget should also be a determining factor when answering the question ‘how long should a marketing campaign last’ for yourself or your client. So don’t stretch yourself beyond your budget when you start, and be mindful of your bottom line.

Get the Most from Your Marketing Campaign

As you can see, there are many things to think about when answering the question, ‘how long should a marketing campaign last?’ If you want to learn how to nail the answer in every situation, join us at the Nolen Walker Academy. Our curriculum focuses on giving you the practical knowledge you need to thrive in business and marketing.

Dec '21

The Top 4 Best Niches for SEO in 2022 (+ Optimization Tips)

Blog Cover With Title "Best Niches for SEO"

There’s a saying in the SEO industry: the riches are in the niches.

But what are the best SEO niches in 2022? In the following post, Nolen Walker outlines the top 4 SEO niches to earn money and gain clients. Then, of course, you can learn how to start your own digital marketing agency by rolling in Nolen Walker Academy, LLC. But for now, get familiar with which industries you will cater your agency to in 2022.

Best SEO Niches for New Agencies

In 2022, there are specific niches that you should be targeting that will have the highest need for your SEO services. Furthermore, these are the niches you should focus on most of our sales and outreach efforts.

Consumers are generally more comfortable partnering with a firm that intimately understands their industry.

1) The Home Services Industry

The home service industry is one of the best niches for SEO in 2022 because of the high service and sales turnaround and the typically high price-point for the services. Believe it or not, increased competition is also a pretty good sign for SEO niches because people will be looking for ways to stand out in a saturated market. That’s where you come in.

Today, there are over 200,000 active roofers in the United States. Numbers are similar across the board for other home service businesses like plumbers, electricians, handymen, finish carpenters, general contractors, carpet cleaners, window washers, and more.

And while a densely saturated market may mean you will have to work extra hard, it also means that there is fertile ground for SEO sales. Plus, home services aren’t going anywhere any time soon.

As the lawyers say, people always need work done on their homes, so the industry is safe for you to plant your flag or hang your shingle.

Clean Web Design to Boost Roofing Company SEO

Optimization Tip

Home services like roofing, sheetrock, masonry work, and finish carpentry are all about visual representations of what the contractor can do. In plain English: pictures! High-quality images are always a good idea for SEO, especially in an industry like home services.

Compare the usefulness of images to home services to that of, say, legal services, and you will begin to see what we mean.

2) The Legal Industry

Legal services are a great point of emphasis if you are trying to boost your SEO service sales. Legal services are one of the best niches for SEO in 2022 because of the high price-point of the services rendered. In addition, lawyers tend to have a lot of dough to spend and are always looking for ways to get more clients.

However, you have to be shrewd when targeting law firms and private practitioners. You may want to omit big law firms altogether. That’s because they will likely already have a marketing or advertising team in-house. Instead, take a look at the local practices in your area.

Consider family law, divorce, personal injury, and patent practitioners in your area, for starters. The ones you will want to avoid (even though they are likely to have small practices) are public defenders. The reason is that it’s thankless (and nearly payless) work.

Screenshot of SEMRush Keywords for Law Firms

Optimization Tip

People aren’t typically willing to cheap out on a lawyer – especially when jail time or lawsuits are involved. So it helps to lend your client an air of professionalism. High-quality blog content and striking website design will be your best allies when optimizing for your lawyer clients.

3) Transportation and Moving

The “near me” search term has seen a staggering boom over the last couple of years. Transportation and moving services are ripe territories to cash in on this boom. Why? Because who is looking for a ride or a moving service two towns over? No one, that’s who.

Moving and transportation services need a high local SEO emphasis, and you could be just the person to actuate it for them. Nearly half of all Google searches are local searches. The “near me” search term has seen a 200% increase in usage over the last two years and a 900% overall increase over the previous three years.

As you can imagine, this boom doesn’t apply to just transportation and moving services. Still, they represent one of the business groups with the most substantial ties to local searches. As a result, they stand to benefit mightily from the regional search trend.

Optimization Tip

This one should be a no-brainer if you have read this far. First, of course, you’ll want to emphasize and present your prospective clients with a solid local SEO strategy that includes schema markup, locally oriented keyword profiles, and the like.

Now is the time to put your local SEO training to good use – you do have local SEO training, don’t you?

4) The Healthcare Industry

Last but not least, the service that everyone will need at some point in their life or another, healthcare. One of the reasons healthcare is one of the best SEO niches in 2022 is because it has a built-in workforce to respond to leads.

Yes, we are talking about receptionists – people paid to answer phones and respond to appointment calls. But, of course, the healthcare industry isn’t going anywhere any time soon. It’s a high price-point which means it will pay you a good amount for your services.

The competition is relatively low compared to some of the other niches we have mentioned so far. The only downside with this niche is your pitch. It may be hard to convince practitioners in your area with an established patient base that they need your services.

That’s why it will pay to do a bit of market research. Try to target relatively new practices in your area or ones close together. The competition works in your favor in this situation because the little guy will want to gain the edge over the more established practice in any way.

And don’t fall into the trap of just targeting medical doctors. Instead, it would be best to look at orthodontists, podiatrists, plastic surgeons, physical therapists, chiropractors, cardiologists, urologists, and radiologists.

Screenshot of Local Map Pack for Chiropractor Near Me

Optimization Tip

Patients flock to trustworthy doctors. As a result, reputation management will be massive for your clients in the medical industry. Start by getting them active on all relevant review websites, spiffing up their Google My Business pages, and creating Google review links for their patients.

Nov '21

How Long Does it Take to Learn SEO in 2022? (w/Top Shortcut)

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If you’re reading this post, you probably wonder how long it takes to learn SEO. Unfortunately, the answer to this question, like many others, is; it depends.

There are countless free SEO resources online, including guides from reputable platforms like MOZ, Search Engine Land, and even Google.

The main problem is that Google hides its algorithm from the public and privately makes changes 6 times per day. As a result, SEO is somewhat of a guessing game where guides can become obsolete in 24 hours.

Despite the constant changes, there are elements of SEO that don’t change. These elements are known as evergreen components. These kinds of SEO tactics worked 5 years ago, and they will work 5 years from now.

Learning these evergreen SEO tactics can take anywhere from 90 days to 10 years. It all depends on where you access your information and the credibility of the data presented.

SEO Learning Curve by Levels

When individuals set out to learn SEO, they may have different goals in mind. For example, someone may only want to learn basic SEO tasks since that’s all they are asked to provide for their current employer.

On the other hand, entrepreneurs may want to learn in-depth SEO processes to start their own digital marketing agency one day. But, unfortunately, these people are going to have to endure a much more grueling education.

Basic SEO Tasks

Learning basic SEO tasks like updating meta descriptions can take less than 10 minutes. Similar lessons like title tag optimization and keyword placement can be learned in as little as 4 weeks.

Practical SEO Knowledge

Acquiring enough knowledge to comfortably work on a client’s SEO campaign generally takes 4-6 months. Of course, you can expedite this process by investing in course materials like Nolen Walker Academy, LLC.

SEO Expertise

Becoming a genuine SEO expert typically takes 3-5 years of learning and performing SEO. One of the main factors clients look for is experience which you can only obtain through years of working on campaigns.

SEO Mastery

An SEO master exists in the 95 percentile of all SEO professionals. Most SEO masters have performed high-level SEO campaigns for at least 8 years, and most have more than a decade in the SEO industry.

What Can Affect the Time it Takes to Learn SEO?

There are a lot of variables to the equation. Some people take years just to learn the basics of SEO. On the other hand, we have seen some people become SEO wizards in as little as 3 years.

It all depends on a combination of factors that include:

Technical Acumen

Technically savvy individuals, particularly those with engineering or high-tech backgrounds, will grasp SEO much faster than someone lacking those qualities. Thus, computer literacy is another aspect of technical understanding.

Free Time

People with time on their hands will learn SEO faster than those working full-time jobs or raising 5 kids, for example. Time is the currency of education, so those with enough of it can learn SEO much faster.

Marketing Experience

An understanding of marketing can expedite the SEO learning process. For example, people with degrees in marketing will understand the basic principles of SEO. While they will have to learn technical tasks, the rest will come easier.

Mentorship

The most effective way to skip the line, so to speak, is to find an SEO mentor who has already gone through the trials and tribulations. Learning from an industry veteran can save you years of learning and put you on the fast track to success.

The #1 Shortcut for Learning SEO Faster

Mentorship is the best way to learn SEO fast. You can enroll in Nolen Walker Academy LLC to get your digital mentorship program. With NWAcademy, LLC, you will skip over years of mistakes and learn real-time agency practices.

Nolen Walker Academy provides a complete blueprint from an active digital marketing agency with hundreds of clients. Let’s be realistic; you cant’ find courses like this anywhere else. No other SEO membership platform has 200+ SEO clients that pay their monthly fee on time.

At Nolen Walker Academy, LLC, the 90-day challenge is a lifestyle. We challenge our members to become DMA pros in 90 days and help them start putting their skills to work. In addition, members can earn 40% commissions on affiliate sales.

FAQ’s about Learning SEO

SEO is an industry filled with questions. Perform a search on Google, and you will see a box that says People Also Ask. At its core, search engines produce answers to questions. On that note, let’s answer some of yours.

Is Learning SEO Worth It?

Learning SEO is a worthwhile skill for just about anyone. However, business owners and entrepreneurs should be primarily concerned with their SEO knowledge. Not having it typically reflects a poorly managed online presence.

SEO is also a beneficial skill for people looking to change careers. The SEO industry is growing, and people can acquire an in-demand skill to gain employment from marketing agencies and businesses looking for in-house marketing specialists.

Finally, SEO is a long-term skill that increases the value of its education. With more people using the internet each day, SEO isn’t going anywhere anytime soon. Some claim SEO is dead, but they mean it in a different context. Learning SEO can only help your career and business in 2022.

How Hard is SEO?

SEO basics are easy to learn and implement. More advanced SEO strategies do require more education, but the experience is the best teacher. Depending on your SEO goals, the industry is complex or straightforward.

For example, a massive brand looking to expand its online presence will find SEO easy. Why? Because people already know about their brand and seek it out online. Only Google needs is fundamental SEO to help you rank.

On the other hand, starting an SEO campaign for an unknown business can be highly challenging. With these campaigns, you may need to deploy cutting-edge strategies only known to top SEO experts.

Nov '21

How to Create an SEO Roadmap in 2022 (w/Updated Tips)

Blog Cover for SEO Roadmap Showing Road and Title

An SEO roadmap can help anyone navigate the digital marketing landscape in 2022. While most businesses now acknowledge their need for search engine optimization, their paths to achieve their goals range from one extreme to another.

The primary downside of SEO is that Google hides its algorithm from the public. As a result, speculation, supposition, and misinformation infiltrate public discourse. You’ve probably seen it in pitches from SEO agencies.

Business owners would benefit from an SEO roadmap based on data. Think about it, most business decisions come down to carefully processed data, so why should digital marketing be different?

In the following post, Nolen Walker outlines the SEO roadmap for success in 2022.

What is an SEO Roadmap?

An SEO roadmap is a reference document that guides users through a defined SEO process. Roadmaps allow users to efficiently execute SEO tasks for campaigns at scale.

How is an SEO Roadmap Different from an SEO Strategy?

Roadmaps contrast strategies in that they outline global SEO processes at scale rather than custom plans for a specific campaign. On the other hand, an SEO strategy deals with customized tactics that vary from one project to another.

Implementing an SEO strategy is not possible without a roadmap, as the roadmap serves as the foundation for your SEO campaigns. Furthermore, it’s not possible to design a system without first having an SEO roadmap.

Setting SEO Goals

To form a good SEO roadmap, you must first think about what you want to gain from SEO. This will be key to determining what SEO services you need and how much of the job you can reasonably do in-house.

Benchmarking is an integral part of any business analysis. Start by setting goals for traffic, budget, and conversions to target your roadmap for success.

Here are a few benchmarks you need to consider when shaping your SEO goals:

SEO Traffic Goals

SEO is all about driving traffic to your website, social media outlets, landing pages, and other online content. So what’s a realistic traffic goal for your first month? What bout your second and third months?

If your website already generates substantial traffic, ask yourself how much you can expect to raise it in the first month. Not all companies can handle more traffic. For example, how many new leads can you take on?

SEO Budget Goals

Suppose you are planning to outsource your SEO strategy to an agency. In that case, the price can run the gamut from reasonably cheap to very expensive. So first, determine how much you want to spend on SEO in 2022.

You have to come to a concrete number on your monthly SEO budget for at least the first few months. Then, if you see the results you want and are ready to kick things into a higher gear, you can adjust your budget later.

SEO Conversions

Depending on your business type, you may have different conversion measurements. For example, an e-commerce business can easily measure conversions through user tracking. However, service-based companies must take additional steps.

Google Tag Manager can help you identify when website visitors call your phone number or submit a contact form. Then, work in Google Analytics to monitor conversions based on your specific business model.

Prioritizing SEO Goals

Determine which of your SEO goals is most important to deploy the most resources towards its implementation. For example, are you looking to increase traffic in the first month? If so, designate a specific increase as your top priority.

Secondary priorities remain crucial to properly craft your SEO roadmap, for example, after completing tasks that will assist conversion increases, move on to your following highest priority items, like increasing conversions.

Identify Quick Fixes

In most cases, you can identify quick SEO fixes for your website or overall SEO presence. Therefore, your SEO roadmap should include these quick and easy fixes for yourself or your team to carry out before the real work begins.

These easy fixes can consist of:

Dead Links

Dead links are an instant rankings killer, and fixing or replacing them is a breeze. To make things even easier and faster for you, try using a broken link finder tool. Google dislikes 404 errors almost as much as visitors.

Claiming your Business

Claiming your Google Business Profile is something you can do right now. An optimized GBP allows businesses to appear in the Local Map 3-Pack on Google Search. Therefore, GBP optimization is one of the quickest fixes.

Meta Descriptions

Optimizing meta descriptions, headings, and page descriptions is an easy way to improve search indexing. While the tasks may seem tedious, they make a significant difference at scale.

Optimizing means ensuring that keywords are included in these descriptions. You should also ensure that relevant keywords are included in the alt text and image captions throughout your website.

Nov '21

How to Become SEO Certified in 2021 (w/Updated List)

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In 2021, everyone is talking about SEO. Search Engine Optimization has become a significant focus for business owners and marketing agencies alike because it drives actual results. So it’s only natural for people to be curious about how to become SEO certified.

You may want to optimize your website for more traffic, or you might want to start a little business helping people with their SEO. In either case, you may be at a crossroads. So, where does one begin with learning SEO?

It’s still a relatively new concept, so there aren’t accredited degrees you can get in SEO. However, you may wonder what it means to become SEO certified and how to become SEO certified in the first place.

In the following post, we will answer all of these questions and share some of the best online certification courses currently available. Of course, you can always get started with Nolen Walker Academy to be your SEO certification journey with lessons from industry experts in the agency niche. For now, though, let’s begin by answering some basic SEO certification questions.

What Does it Mean to Become SEO Certified?

Does it mean getting some fancy diploma that you can frame and hang in your office? While nothing stops you from doing so, it won’t exactly carry the same weight or prestige as a legit diploma from an accredited school.

All it means to become SEO certified is that you took an online course, studied the materials, took a test, and passed it. SEO certification varies depending on what program you sign up for, and there is no universal regulation or accreditation system for the certification.

Private companies offer certifications and can vary in length, subject material, price, and curriculum. Some may not even have exams at the end.

So what can you do with an SEO certification? While an SEO certification may open many career opportunity doors for you, it will at minimum give you a solid foundation of SEO knowledge that you can then apply for yourself and your clients.

The good thing about modern SEO certification programs is that many come from experts in the field. Thus, a certification program will teach you how to apply SEO to the actual (or digital if you want to be technical) world and use the methods effectively.

So while getting an SEO certification won’t win you a cap and gown, it will provide you with something more valuable: practical knowledge of a skill-set that is in very high demand right now. So now here are some of the best SEO certification programs available today:

List of Top Certification Programs

HubSpot Academy

The nice thing about HubSpot Academy is that they segment their topics very neatly. So if you are a complete newb at SEO, this would be a great option because HubSpot Academy won’t overwhelm you with a bloated single course.

Instead, the constituent parts of SEO are broken down into different course batteries so you can take them at your own pace. HubSpot does an excellent job of dissecting SEO so that you can focus on it in a segmented manner.

For instance, they have separate certification courses for inbound marketing, content marketing, and web design. The only downside with HubSpot Academy is that they don’t have a specific SEO course. So while it would be great for someone with little to no SEO knowledge, it might not be a great benefit for someone who is intermediate with SEO.

In a Nutshell:

The courses are free
Breaks down digital marketing tactics into segmented courses
Great for anyone just starting with SEO

Moz SEO Essentials Certificate

The Moz SEO, Essential Certificate program is another online course that would be great for SEO neophytes. Over six instructor-led hours, you will learn SEO basics, like keyword research and link building.

The Moz SEO Essentials Certificate program is a 6-part course. Each of the six parts focuses on a single area of basic SEO to be too overwhelming for beginners. There are also five exams to go through to get your certificate.

The good thing about the Moz SEO Essentials Certificate program is that you can learn SEO basics rather quickly. Some people complete the course in a day. The not-so-good news is that it doesn’t cover any advanced topics like SEO auditing or optimal site architecture. It’s also not free. The course will cost you almost $600.

In a Nutshell:

Another good course for SEO beginners
Instructor-guided courses
You can learn the basics of SEO relatively quickly

Google Digital Garage

Who better to learn SEO than the people behind the search engine that gets used more than any other search engine in the world? So when most people are talking about Search Engine Optimization, they are specifically talking about Google Search Engine Optimization.

So what else makes the Google Digital Garage a good choice for SEO certification? First, they don’t just focus on SEO but also on the periphery subjects that affect SEO. For instance, in the Google Digital Garage, you can learn about things like User Experience (UX), content marketing, and even Pay Per Click Advertising.

Overall this is a fantastic course because it goes through the basics and the technical aspects of SEO. During the course, you will learn skills that you can apply to yourself or your clients. The best part about all of it is that the course is free!

In a Nutshell:

It covers indirect SEO topics that you will eventually need to know
Great for SEO beginners and intermediates
It’s free

Nolen Walker Academy

For students looking to learn from top industry experts, NWA provides the most extensive training available. With applicable SEO techniques from agency professionals who use them every day, the knowledge obtained from these over-the-shoulder courses is unmatched by other platforms.

In addition, NWA expands beyond technical SEO concepts and delves into the process of creating a million-dollar marketing agency. Having SEO skills is imperative, and the course teaches you every craft imaginable, but applying these skills as a business model gets messy for many aspiring SEO professionals. NWA simplifies the process for consumption.

NWA also provides non-course material that keeps students engaged and helps motivate them to apply their education. For example, members gain access to hundreds of exclusive videos, podcasts, and real-time sales calls from Nolen Walker himself. It’s not often that the top agency owner in the United States shares such restricted information. However, NWA presents a blueprint for anyone looking to make a living in SEO.

In a Nutshell:

It covers every SEO craft along with agency sales, and operation
Provides exclusive non-course material to keep students engaged
Offers a reputable certification to students who pass challenging exams

The Good and Bad of SEO Certification

There are two sides to every coin – SEO certification courses are no exception. There are pros and cons to putting the time (and possibly money) into getting certified.

First, the good stuff:

You get to learn SEO in a structured manner instead of piece together knowledge from blogs and forum posts.
Many online SEO certification programs come from SEO experts who have excelled in the field.
You learn skills that you can apply for yourself and your clients.

Now the not-so-good:

These types of certifications do not come from accredited institutions, so while they might provide a boost to your resume, don’t expect them to land you any jobs in and of themselves.
A certification only means that you took a course and passed exams. Real-world SEO skills will require practice and experience that a certificate cannot replicate.

The Bottom Line for SEO Certifications in 2021

With more businesses transitioning to the online world, the demand for skilled SEO work is higher than ever before. In addition, more people are looking to work remotely, which SEO allows for more than other types of jobs. Still, learning SEO from free blog posts and forums doesn’t translate to advanced knowledge and can limit job opportunities and performance.

Achieving a certification from a structured course can give aspiring SEO’s the confidence they need to improve their client’s performance and advance their career. The great thing about certificates is downloading the PDF and attaching it to your resume or promotional materials for your business. If nothing else, earning a certificate will boost confidence and help aspiring SEO pros find their niche and apply proven methods for success.