All businesses love receiving positive online reviews; they’re a great form of third party validation. Still, we all know that not everyone follows the social etiquette rule that states, “If you can’t say anything nice, don’t say anything at all.”
In this week’s top inbound marketing article, John Jantsch discusses his best tips for generating positive and genuine online reviews and testimonials on a routine basis.
1. 5 Ways to Get Rockin Reviews
Author: John Jantsch of Duct Tape Marketing Blog
Local search directories such as Google Maps and Yelp have made reviews a factor for ranking well in local search, which makes it even more important for businesses to generate positive reviews from their customers. But fake or over-the-top review generation campaigns can actually cause negative results, so Jantsch offers some great ways to create genuine reviews on a consistent basis:
- Take advantage of references.
- Repurpose testimonials.
- Teach the review process to your sales team and customers.
- Give out your own reviews.
- Hold a review party.
Marketing Takeaway: Don’t avoid review sites for fear of negative commentary. Instead, embrace them as a way to generate positive testimonials for your company.
2. How to Develop a Case Study
Author: Valeria Maltoni of Conversation Agent
On a slightly related topic, Valeria Maltoni examines the value of the case study, which she thinks is a great medium for a B2B company to concretely show its problem solving abilities and success.
In addition to highlighting case studies’ benefits for businesses, Maltoni walks through the process of creating them, from gathering information and content to the variety of ways for structuring their flow.
Marketing Takeaway: Create case studies to showcase the successes your customers have had with your products and/or services.
3. 6 Ultimate On-Page Search Engine Optimization Tips
Author: John Britsios on Search Engine Journal
Are you making a conscious effort to improve your website’s on-page SEO? This article from Search Engine Journal offers six great tips to help make sure your pages are set up with the appropriate on-page search engine optimization attributes.
Specifically, the article advises how to appropriately set up a page’s title tag, description meta tag, keywords meta tag, heading tags, phrase elements, and alt attributes.
Marketing Takeaway: Don’t forget to optimize your website’s on-page SEO for better visibility in search engines.
4. The Three Key Elements of Irresistible Email Subject Lines
Author: Brian Clark of Copyblogger
Despite recent buzz, email is not dead. Yet, we all know how much of a challenge it is to get your subscribers to actually open them in the first place. Therefore, Brian Clark’s article examines the art of creating subject lines that will entice readers to open your emails.
Clark discusses three key elements: the fundamentals (that they be useful, ultra-specific, unique, and urgent), the specifics, and the secret sauce (that you earn initial trust and grow it).
Marketing Takeaway: While there are a lot of elements that can make or break an email, remember that the subject line is the first thing people see.
5. Does Your Landing Page Say Trust Me?
Author: Cynthia Boris on Marketing Pilgrim
Converting site visitors to leads is no easy feat, and a lack of trust will make it even more difficult. Cynthia Boris’ article emphasizes Tim Ash’s “Four Pillars of Trust” that you need in order to make your landing pages convert:
- Appearance
- Transactional assurances
- Authority
- Consensus of peers
Marketing Takeaway: Verify that your landing pages conform to these four tenants by asking a few random people to visit your site and share their thoughts . Then adjust your landing pages as needed.
Photo Credit: Mike Baird
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