Just for a minute, forget Google, let go of Bing, who is Yahoo?  Toss the search engines out and just think about your business site, your blog, or even your personal site.  What really assists in driving traffic to the site?  Yes, of course in order to be discovered you rely on other people to use search engines, you post links to your social networks, eBlasts, or whichever other method you have chosen thus far.  But what really assists your site in becoming the next stop for a starving surfer? Search Engine Optimization. Here are important components, then an explanation why SEO is such a big deal.

CONTENT!!

That’s right, content. Right now you might be thinking about a web site filled with nothing but text and a couple of images. However, content is not all text that the user can read. It is the content that the average web surfer is unable to see, though your average web browser can. Let’s now remember our search engines and begin to discuss a couple of a elements that will help you drastically in search results, as well as usability and functionality of your website.

TITLES!!

The title of your page will play a key role in search results. Generic names will not assist your search results at all, so be specific.  Generally a web browser will consider up to 60 characters for your title, so why not use the space?

HEADINGS!!

See that large font above?  That’s right, it’s a heading and search engine crawlers pick up on that heading. If you’re discussing more than one topic, then be sure to use more than one heading.

TITLE ATTRIBUTES!!

Links, images, and so on all need to have corresponding title attributes in the code. Not only does this assist the organization of your code, it will assist the web crawler in determining what exactly it is reading.

WHY?

Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is such a big deal for hundreds of reasons. Ever heard, or even used the phrase “it’s the little things that count?” Well that is SEO in a nutshell. It’s continually doing these little things, over and over, differently, being efficient and detail oriented with those little things that will assist your web site, blog and so on with becoming something from nothing.

Any further questions please click the Contact link above in the main menu. We will be more than happy to discuss your future options.

Beyond that, please visit our Facebook page and Like Us.

By Dustin Kring

When it comes to creativity, we here at PGN Agency are not limited to the design,

or marketing fields. We also have over 30 years of experience in the Restaurant Industry.

To assist our loyal client, The Green Lantern Lounge, we aided them in the

creation of a new appetizer that’s bound to drop your jaw to the ground. The minute you

smell the preparation of this dish, your mouth begins to water and your stomach churns in

excitement. Of course I couldn’t be talking about anything else but Green Lantern’s new

Bacon Sticks. Bacon is roasted, skewered and smothered with a unique blend of a sweet

& spicy glaze. Even vegetarians want to know the feeling of tearing off the first piece of

tender bacon, and enjoying the heartwarming flavors of the glaze.

We don’t want to just create flyers, postcards, web sites and eBlasts, we want to

help grow your business any way that we can. We are not a typical marketing firm, who

tells you where to go. We take the journey with you on the open road and we make the

right decisions together. PGN Agency gets involved, we’re hands on, we use your

product, and in this case, eat it too.

Conduct a meeting with the staff members who will answer the phones for your store. The goal is to make sure not to confuse or frustrate your staff and customers. The best way to do this is to inform your staff of the phone blast so they know what to expect and how to answer questions they may be asked after the phone blast occurs. PGN suggests holding a meeting the day of the blast 1-2 hours before the execution time to keep the info fresh in the minds of the staff members. Many customers will call the number (your store number) and ask why you have called. Please have a copy of the message used for the blast so the staff member can reiterate the message to the customer. Also be sure to review the message before the 12:00 noon call out. The better we prepare, the better the results.

What to expect:

Your store number is used on outgoing calls so that your customer knows who has called, and who to call should they have questions. There is always a group of customers that will cut the message short and ask “Did someone call me and why?” This is an ideal time to use the copy of the script to tell the caller the message that they should have received if they had listened to the recording. Some customers may call with questions like, “I only got part of the message,” or, “no one was there.” This could happen because when the call is answered, it waits for a greeting (i.e. “Hello”) and then a brief pause occurs before playing the recorded message.

In some cases, there may be too much background noise for the message to recognize a pause. Also, if the customer is talking while the message is playing, the listener might only receive part of the message. They may think that the whole message was not presented but it was but not heard. If this is the first time you have done a phone blast, you may have some customers ask to be removed from the call list. In this case, you should gladly ask for their number. Make sure they give the number that was called during the phone blast.

In the past 3-4 years, less than 1 in 10 people have opted-out on correctly executed Harley dealership calls. Recently, one of our Harley calls only had about 1% of their calls that opted-out. This is why PGN prefers to write and review the recorded call to minimize any conflict to the caller. Your staff should tell the caller that at the end of each and every call there is an opt-out option for their convenience. This eases the customer’s mind. Always thank the customer for calling, and if they wish to be taken off the call list, you MUS T get the number to PGN so we can remove their number from the list for future calls. Most customers will thank you.

Give us a call to setup your next phone blast. 248-414-6860

- Goe Harley-Davidson

- Ken Fletcher

• 11×11 flyers are printed on 60# gloss text. They are 2-sided, 4 color on both sides. Design is included.
• Door hangers are printed on 12pt Cardstock. They are sized 4.25×11” and have a star die cut for hanging. They are also perforated above each of the four coupons. Design is included.
• Website includes four html/css pages, animated image transitioning with Javascript on home page (3 slides), meta data and keywords, and submission to Google.

We’ll help you serve up some business throughout the metro-detroit area.

Call Bob today for pricing. (248) 414-6860 x.111

- David Martenson Sr.

VIDEO

Want to do a video for your company? Give us a call now 248-414-6860. Or take a look at a few of our other videos we’ve done in the past here.

Today business reach out to their customers in many ways: phone, email, social media, and occasionally walk-ins. Each form presents its own challenges, but all can be improved. The quality of your customer service can answer the question many customers have, “Do they even care?” Cleaning up your process is never easy, as it involves training employees on new ways to interact, using technologies to make it easier, and coming from a mindset that the customer doesn’t need to be right, they need to be helped.

Some questions to ask while refining your process:

1. Does your customer service process have an exit? Rather than to be caught in an infinite loop of transfers, empower your representative help to solve the issue completely when traditional automated systems are too frustrating.

2. Is your process customer-centric? It may be easier to have a customer contact each department their problem affects, but it also sends the message that the company is disjointed. Make a single point of contact for your customer service and let your people work out the details.

3. The golden rule: Treat others the way you want to be treated. Your service should evoke the same empathy you’d like to be treated with. Use the opportunity to build a relationship and give a positive story for your customer story to share.

4. Making good again. Work to heal broken relationships with customer follow-up. After customer service interaction, reach out to the customer about they felt their problem was dealt with.

Customer service can be a challenge but with a very rich reward. Satisfied customers are the foundation of a successful company, especially when those customers buy with confidence, knowing that if there is a problem your company will respond in kind.

Photo: Mark Crossfield

If you run a company today, having a Facebook page is practically essential. It’s free to create and a great way to stay in contact with your customers. Below are some tips to keep your customers engaged on the social networking site:

1. Post consistently. Not everyone has the time to post every day, but posting a few times a week helps to make sure your company isn’t forgotten. Remember to mix it up. Post a combination of links, photos, or status updates, all staggered.

2. Respond! Unlike Twitter or your website, Facebook is a two-way conversation that demands dialog. Be sure to respond to posts on your page, as they are expected and offer a good opportunity to do some customer follow-up or answer customer service questions.

3. Be exclusive. Give a reason for people to like your company’s page. Offering deals or showing some behind the scenes photos or sneak peeks can help make your followers feel more inclusive.

4. Asked to be “liked”. Driving traffic to your Facebook page is only half the goal. Once there, your customer have to click the like button near the top of the page. Don’t be shy. Ask visitors in your description to like the page.

5. Get a custom URL. By visiting www.facebook.com/username you will be able to get a short URL for your page. You must have 25 people to like the page before this option is unlocked, so be sure to suggest it to all your friends.

If you have any tips to share about making your Facebook page, be sure to leave them in the comments below. If you’re new to Facebook, don’t worry. You can sign-up for a page for your business at http://www.facebook.com/pages/create.php.

Photo: Sean MacEntee