Five Key Things DTC Brands Must Consider For Building A Successful Subscriptions Program

<!-- <img class="aligncenter wp-image-10769 size-large" src="/uploads/2018/05/joao-silas-74207-unsplash-1-1200x800.jpg" alt="Book With Pen" width="1140" height="760"> --> Who doesn’t like free traffic from Google? I do and I am pretty sure you fancy a lot of traffic coming to your website from Google as well. And a thorough keyword research is probably the best way to get it. Obviously, if all your website content is wrapped around keywords that boast a high search volume, you are bound to receive some extra traffic. Moreover, merging the power of digital marketing with your keyword optimized content will have you reaching new heights of exposure and traffic coming to your website, which is never a bad thing for your business, right? Think you don’t have the required knowledge or time to conduct a proper keyword research? You’re wrong! It could have been the case 10 years back but in this tech-savvy world of today, doing keyword research is a piece of cake. How? By using the best keyword research tools out there. As you would have guessed it from the title, we will be diving deep to research the best keywords in both Ahrefs and SEMrush - which are undoubtedly the best keyword research tools out there.. But first, we need some keywords before we begin with our actual research. How to find the right keywords? Finding the right keywords to rank is crucial as the ranking of your blog/webpage will be based on the keywords targeted through the content wrapped around it. Accordingly, there are many ways to ascertain the aptest. keywords for your business. Let’s look at some of them - 1. Know who you serve If you are doing keyword research for a client or doing it for your own product, knowing who and what a website serves to its visitors is a crucial step in finding some relevant seed keywords. You can have a look at the title tags and H1 tags of any webpage to get a gist of the keywords to be chosen. For example, if you are a digital marketing agency, digital marketing or online marketing or marketing should be the keyword your homepage must be built around on... 2. See through your user’s eyes It’s important to get into your user’s shoes and think about their intent when searching for your services online. Say, a searcher wants to buy ‘shoes’. His searches would be something like this - ‘nike shoes’, ‘casual shoes’, ‘best formal shoes’ or something similar. So, if you sell shoes, it makes sense to add these search strings to your keyword list. 3. Use a tool You might need around 30-40 apt keywords for your research. And using a tool like Keyword Planner can come in handy when searching for keywords with high search volumes. But using Keyword Planner requires a Google Adwords account which can be a trouble if you don’t have one. Don’t worry though, there are other tools that deliver this functionality as well. And probably the most used keyword finder, after Keyword Planner, is Keyword Tool This tool literally bombards you with all the relevant keywords there are in accordance with your query. Suppose, you want to write a blog post for currently the most trending keyword in the UK - GDPR. Let’s see what keywords the tool throws at us - The search resulted in 538 unique keywords for the query. You’ll need the paid version to get the metrics as well but we won’t be needing them as all the data will be exported to Ahrefs. Now, combining the keyword results from the above-mentioned methods, export them to an excel sheet and delete some that you deem irrelevant. Getting down to the research Copy and paste the keywords to Ahrefs or SEMrush to begin your quest of choosing the best keyword. Both of these tools are great. Both are quite similar in pricing as both the tools offer a basic subscription of $99 and provide almost the same level of functionality (limited in free accounts) but all the difference lies in how they present data to users and that can sometimes make all the difference. I personally like Ahrefs more because of the sheer simplicity of the platform when it comes to keyword research and they also present their data in a more intuitive way (which you’ll see through screenshots as you’ll further read this blog). Which is probably the reason why we use it for our SEO purposes as well. But the only downside of using Ahrefs is that they don’t provide a free account. In the remaining part of this blog, I will be telling you how to research keywords both on Ahrefs and SEMrush so it completely depends on you which tool you want to use and spend your precious marketing budget on. But before we begin, it’s important to know about some of the metrics that we will be basing our keyword research on to find the most profitable keywords, which are: Keyword difficulty Ranked from 0 to 100, it is an estimate of how hard it will be to rank in the top 10 of search results. Volume Denotes how often a target keyword is searched by users per month in a given country SERP Features This metric shows us the different SERP features present on the search results such as Ads, top stories, related questions, AMP carousels etc. Clicks This metric reflects the total number of clicks in a month on a particular keyword Cost per click It is an estimated cost-per-click value of a keyword. Clicks per search Shows how many search results people click on for a particular keyword. Return Rate Tells us how often search for a targeted keyword again. Now that you know all the metrics to look for in your perfect keyword, we will start off with Ahrefs first: Researching Keywords on Ahrefs Go to the ‘Keywords Explorer’ tab and paste your sheet containing all the remaining keywords on the search tab.You’ll be limited to a hundred keywords here. So, make sure you paste the best of the bunch. After all the keywords are processed, you’ll see a screen which looks something like this: This is the overview page. It gives an idea of the total search volume and clicks of your chosen keywords. But this is not where the gold is. To get a better idea of which keywords to choose, we will click on the metrics tab to get a better idea of how each of the keyword is performing on the SERPs. On the metrics tab, you get detailed information of all the searched keywords. Of all the metrics, you need to primarily focus on Keyword difficulty, volume, and clicks. The perfect keywords to capitalize on would be the ones which are easier to rank and receive a decent amount of search volume and clicks, I like to call them the ‘money keywords’, In this case, those money keywords will be ‘GDPR compliance checklist’, ‘GDPR checklist’ and ‘GDPR for dummies’.So, if you were to write a blog about GDPR, ranking for these 3 keywords would be enough to get to the first page of Google as there’s not much competition.But there will still be some publisher ranking on the top spot for all these keywords and having a look at what they have done to reach to the top can give you an idea of what you need to do better to outrank them. Ahrefs provides for this as well. When you’ll further click on a keyword, it will give you an overview of the keyword with all its metrics and it’s SERP overview.Say, we need to have a look at the competition on the SERP for the keyword ‘GDPR compliance checklist’, to do that, when you’ll click on the keyword, you’ll see something like this: Scroll down and you’ll see a fully detailed SERP overview for the keyword: Having an idea of what content already is out there gives you an opportunity to put on your creative hats and provide the kind of value to searchers that isn’t available yet, which I think can give you a certain edge.So, the best keywords we found on Ahrefs are - &nbsp;‘GDPR compliance checklist’, ‘GDPR checklist’ and ‘GDPR for dummies’Let’s see what SEMrush brings to the table... Researching Keywords on SEMrush (free account) Ahrefs and SEMrush are on the same level when it comes to functionality but to unleash the full potential of SEMrush you’ll have to spend some bucks on its subscription (just like Ahrefs). But the good part is that SEMrush lets you play with their tool ‘a little’ to get a gist of how it functions. If you are unsure whether to spend your marketing budget on the platform or not, I seriously recommend you to test their platform before making the final decision. You’ll be limited to 10 searches per day in your free account which I think is just enough to get a feel for the software. Note: Both the platforms are different in how they search for keywords. While Ahrefs can search for multiple keywords (100 max) in one go, SEMrush can search for a single seed keyword at a time and kills the need to use the keyword tool we mentioned earlier.Just go to their website and search for a seed keyword you want to rank for. In our case, we will go with the term we chose for Ahrefs - GDPR. After you click ‘Start Now’, you’ll be redirected to it’s ‘Keyword Overview’ tab in ‘Keyword Analytics’. The ‘Overview’ tab in SEMrush is just like that of Ahrefs, displaying the total search volume, number of results and the search trend of the keyword overtime. But we searched for a seed keyword and not keywords which we will be actually wrapping our content around. For finding keywords that have some untapped potential, you’ll have to click on ‘Phrase Match’ and ‘Related Keywords’ tab to get more results.Here’s what came up when I clicked on ‘Phrase Match’...&nbsp; And on ‘Related Keywords’... You’ll be limited to 10 results while using a free account. You could’ve played with their filters and stumbled upon the most relevant of keywords for free but SEMrush now requires that you pay to add filters as well… sigh! So, you’ll have to choose the best keywords from those 10 results based on the same metrics we chose in Ahrefs. Go for the keywords that have high search volume and low keyword difficulty.With a free account, unfortunately, that’s all that you can do with SEMrush when it comes to keyword research.Now, we move on to the better things…. Researching Keywords on SEMrush (paid account) With a paid account, you’ll be able to see all the results there are in the searches we did above on the free account.Other than that, you’ll get access to it’s ‘Keyword Magic Tool’ (beta).... sounds interesting, doesn’t it? But what exactly is it? Simply put, it is a new feature that saves researchers using the platform a lot of time as it shows the best keyword results there are that go well with the seed keyword and lets them add them straight to a ‘Keyword Analyzer tool’ that evaluates and analyzes all the selected keywords, kind of like how Ahrefs does things in the first place, but SEMrush does it in a more personalized way. Let me show you…Just go to the ‘Keyword Magic Tool’ tab and search for the seed keyword you want to rank for. Which in our case is… yep, you guessed that right… GDPR. Once you search for your seed keyword, it will automatically create a list and show you all the keywords there are that relate to the seed keyword in any way. Bear with SEMrush for their blank metrics as this feature is still in beta.The next step that comes in our keyword research using this new feature is to select the best keywords and adding them to ‘Keyword Analyzer’. To do that, just click the green plus sign beside a keyword to add it to the Keyword Analyzer list for further research. Once you’ve selected the keywords you like, click on the green ‘Go To Keyword Analyzer’ button on the top right. And you’ll be redirected to the Keyword Analyzer tool which will place all the selected keywords together with all its metrics. You can further decide the final keywords to choose from here. In this case, I chose ‘GDPR Compliance’ and ‘GDPR Summary’ as the chosen keywords as they have a lower keyword difficulty than others so it will be easier to rank for these keywords. And with this, we are done with finding the perfect keywords in SEMrush as well. After using both the platforms, we have finally stumbled upon 5 keywords full of opportunities. If I was to select a title for my blog on GDPR, using all the keywords, it would look something like this - ‘GDPR for dummies: Your GDPR compliance checklist is here!’ and the blog would summarize the whole GDPR thing to make use of the ‘GDPR Summary’ keyword as well.Like I said before, with all these advanced tools at our disposal, keyword research is not what most of the business owners and marketers think of it.Doing keyword research with the help of Ahrefs or SEMrush will hardly take you 20 minutes and you’ll be on your way to creating highly keyword focused content that will bring in traffic for a lifetime.. a lot of it!Hopefully, with the help of this guide, you’ll find using these tools a lot, lot easier! ...

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The most important part of any business is to make a sale and is also the monumental task. There are a million of questions that entrepreneurs can ask themselves before they jump in the business environment: How can he make his company’s products stand out of the competition?How can he handle objections? How should he ask for orders? There are some pretty useful answers to these questions that were given by the industry experts. Sales Secrets Revealed 1. Don’t focus on selling features, instead sell benefits The biggest mistake done by entrepreneurs is that they focus on what their product is, rather than focusing on “what it does”. This helps the customer in making a decision quickly. You should always focus on how your product will benefit the customer. 2. Selling to people most likely to buy Best prospects are the ones who are searching for products just like yours and have a keen interest and the required financials resources to purchase it. Sell to those people who already have the kind of product like yours or to those who you know would be interested in buying one. You should learn to tell them how your product is superior. 3. Differentiate your product Why should a customer buy from you and not from your competitors? Experts reveal that you should come up with at least three distinct features that will give customers reasons to buy from you. It happens most of the time that people don’t want to move out of their comfort zone and try out something new. 4. Give Personal attention to customer For new entrepreneurs, print advertising or mailers is one of the least effective way to build up their business. Try out personal approach by getting in touch with the customer via face-to-face meet or at least thru phone. 5. Focus on second sale Giving the utmost experience to the customer in the first sale that they are more likely to refer to their friends or associates to buy from you. This is the method that you should aim your second sale at. Increase or encourage your customers to refer your product or give them such a satisfactory experience that they are most likely to return next time. 6. Build Rapport Before discussing business with the client, try building a rapport with them. You need to do some homework: try finding some common colleague, has the prospect’s company been in the news lately? Is he interested in sports? Build a genuine rapport by getting a little insight into the company and the individual. 7. Ask questions to get insight You must ask questions from the prospects that reveal their motivation to purchase, their problems and needs, and their decision making processes. You need to ask questions more than a ’yes’ or ‘no’ response. 8. Probe Deeper If the prospect asks for cost-savings and efficiency then how are you going to respond? Will you tell him/her that your product is just meeting their demands? We suggest that you probe deeper and do not respond by saying that your product is just the right fit. It helps you position your product rightly and show that you understand the client’s needs. 9. Let the other person talk Sales people who like to go on and on during the presentation and do not let the prospect talk, they bore the prospect and are most likely to lose the sale. You can improve your listening skills by taking notes, observing your prospect’s body language, not jumping to conclusions, and concentrating on what your prospect has to say. 10. Follow-Ups This is very important to know how well the prospect is doing after making a purchase decision from you. Write thank-you notes, call the customers after completing the sale to make sure that he or she is satisfied, and maintain a schedule of future communications. Follow-ups are very critical and you have to be very responsible after making the sale- you must show attention and responsiveness. Sales is a very critical process and must be performed with a lot of research and caution. Steps listed above will help you in not only communicating with the client but also get a deeper understanding about why prospects need products just like yours. ...

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With the significant expansion of digital marketing, establishing a robust online presence is crucial for companies. Search engine optimization (SEO) is the most critical dot that connects your business with its most significant asset – your customers. Every year, trends in SEO change, and 2023, the significance of SEO has only intensified. With time, SEO emerged as one of the most effective channels for acquiring new customers, and with nearly half of all marketing teams increasing their digital marketing budgets for this year, the spotlight on SEO costs in 2023 is brighter than ever. According to the Pew Research Center, 93% of adults in the US surf the internet, which makes it an opportunity for companies to reach out to this massive base for their business. If you are among the savvy marketers seeking to boost your SEO game, you will likely do extensive research on SEO costs in the year ahead. This blog will help you gain a clear understanding of what to anticipate. Regardless of the size of your budget, substantial or modest, we offer guidance to help you make informed decisions about the right paid SEO services for your unique needs. So, keep on reading this for better SEO pricing insights. Why Do You Need SEO Services? Before we dive into the SEO pricing trends, we need to know why SEO services are essential with our SEO guide. The need for SEO services can be summed up in one answer: visibility. This visibility is the most critical aspect for a company to profit from its digital strategy. Approximately 75% of users only scroll up to the first page of search results. In practical terms, if you want to expand your business's online presence and attract potential customers, securing a prominent position among the top search results for relevant keywords and phrases is a ‘must-have.’ The equation is simple: the higher your website ranks in search results, the greater the number of users who will discover and explore your online platform. This will further contribute to a broader customer base and increased revenue potential for your business. In essence, SEO services are the key that unlocks the door to enhanced visibility, expanded reach, and improved profitability in the digital world. What Consists of SEO Services? SEO services comprise a comprehensive approach to enhancing your online presence and search engine visibility. These services encompass two fundamental components: on-page and off-page optimization, along with crucial elements like SEO audits, keyword research, link building, and reporting: On-Page Optimization: This aspect focuses on optimizing your website's pages to align with user search intent. It involves strategically incorporating target keywords into critical areas of your page, such as headings, meta tags, and content. On-page optimization ensures that your website provides valuable and relevant information to your target audience, making it more search-engine friendly. However, it's essential to recognize that on-page optimization alone can only take your SEO efforts so far. Off-Page Optimization: A significant portion of SEO services is about off-page optimization, involving activities apart from your website to build its authority and credibility. Approximately 75% of the SEO is about off-page, and only 25% is about on-page only. A critical aspect of off-page SEO is attracting high-quality backlinks from other reputable websites. Search engines perceive these links as votes of confidence, which helps a site with valuable content and information. This means that off-page optimization demonstrates to search engines that your website is a valuable resource for individuals seeking answers or solutions. SEO Audit: An SEO audit comprehensively evaluates your website's current SEO performance. It involves analyzing factors such as site structure, content quality , on-page optimization, backlink profile, and technical SEO elements. The audit identifies strengths and weaknesses, helping formulate an effective SEO strategy. Reporting: Regular reporting is a fundamental part of SEO services. It includes the monitoring of key performance indicators (KPIs) and the measurement of progress. SEO professionals track your website's rankings, organic traffic, and other relevant factors to help you understand the current situation. These reports help you understand the level of your SEO efforts and how to make better-informed decisions for ongoing optimization. Keyword Research: Keyword research involves comprehensive market analysis and competitor research to pinpoint potential customers' terms and queries when searching online. These identified keywords form the bedrock of your SEO strategy, ensuring that your website's content contains what your target audience is actively seeking. By using these keywords in your web content, including headings, meta descriptions, and body text, SEO professionals aim to optimize your website for search engine ranking success. Link Building: Link building is a significant part of SEO that cannot be overstated. Search engines regard high-quality backlinks from authoritative and reputable websites to check your website's credibility and relevance. SEO gives a different approach to building such backlinks. This includes establishing connections with other industry-specific websites, online directories, and credible sources to secure valuable links to your site. Effective link building is vital in building bridges between your website and the vast digital landscape, ultimately bolstering your online presence. Content Creation and Optimization: Quality content engages and informs your audience and contributes to SEO success. SEO services often encompass creating and optimizing content that is engaging, informative, and strategically rich in keywords. This content is carefully generated to resonate with your target audience, addressing their needs, questions, and pain points. SEO professionals ensure that every piece of content aligns with your SEO strategy, incorporating relevant keywords seamlessly while maintaining the highest standards of readability and user-friendliness. Content optimization also extends to ensuring that the structure and format of your content are SEO-friendly, enhancing its visibility and rank in search engine results. How Much Does SEO Cost? Many factors determine the cost of SEO services. Some research indicates that SEO costs range from approximately $3,000 to $7,500 per month. However, this cost range is flexible since it can change with time, region, and requirements. For instance, if you focus on local SEO efforts, the monthly average can be notably lower, hovering around $1,400. Factors Determining SEO Costing: What Impacts the Costing? Below are the critical factors on which the SEO cost depends and which help companies determine a comprehensive evaluation: Technical Aptitude of Your Website: The foundation of your website's technical infrastructure plays a significant role in SEO costing. Websites designed with SEO and eCommerce best practices current SEO trends in mind are more cost-effective to optimize. On the other hand, websites that are developed on content management systems (CMS) lacking SEO optimization capabilities may require more resources and effort. Existing Visibility in Organic Search: If your website is brand new, with zero domain authority and no existing rankings, you may need to invest more in SEO or be prepared for a longer timeline to see tangible results. Brand Awareness and Exposure: Your current level of brand recognition can influence SEO costs. Brands with higher visibility often enjoy certain advantages in SEO optimization. Business Goals and Objectives: Your specific business objectives and the role you envision organic search traffic playing in achieving those goals will impact the cost of SEO services. Competition: The level of competitiveness within your industry and the specific keywords you wish to target can affect SEO pricing. Highly competitive niches may require more resources and a more robust strategy. Urgency: SEO is a long-term strategy, and quicker results often necessitate increased investment in time and resources. Target Audience and Demographic: Whether you are targeting a local, national, or global audience can influence the overall cost of your SEO campaign. Expertise Level of the SEO Provider: The experience and expertise of the SEO agency you choose can also impact costs. Companies with more experience and a huge portfolio may charge higher rates due to their consistent results claims. Location of the SEO Agency: The geographic location of the SEO agency can have cost implications. Agencies in areas with higher living costs and other miscellaneous expenses may charge more for their services. Competency in Your Target Language: If your target audience primarily speaks a specific language, ensure your SEO provider has a firm grasp of that language. Language proficiency can influence pricing and the effectiveness of your SEO efforts. Level of Expertise in Your Niche: SEO agencies with experience in your industry may charge higher rates due to their specialized knowledge and ability to tailor strategies to your specific niche. What Are The SEO Pricing Models? There are different kinds of pricing models that you can see in the SEO field. These models are essential for businesses investing in effective digital marketing strategies. SEO pricing can differ based on how services are structured. Here are the primary SEO pricing models explained in simple terms: Retainer-Based SEO Pricing &amp; Monthly Plans: Many SEO companies offer retainer-based pricing, which involves signing monthly or annual contracts based on a calendar month. These contracts typically include ongoing SEO services. Effective communication between the SEO agency and the client is crucial to achieving the best results. While monthly plans are standard, there may be more effective approaches than one-size-fits-all monthly packages. Some SEO agencies offer packages with a fixed number of services, such as articles written, backlinks gained, or pages optimized. However, these pre-packaged offerings may only consider some clients' unique needs. SEO Hourly Rates: SEO pricing can be available at hourly rates. The cost of SEO services can vary significantly, ranging from approximately $50 per hour to over $250 per hour, depending on the SEO agency's reputation and expertise. For instance, renowned SEO experts like Neil Patel may charge considerably higher rates. It's worth noting that while some individuals or small providers may offer lower rates, the quality of their services can vary widely. When considering hourly rates, assessing the provider's qualifications and track record is essential to ensure you receive value for your investment. One-Time SEO Costs: Businesses may also encounter one-time SEO costs, particularly if they require specific SEO services without committing to ongoing contracts. One typical example is an SEO audit, which is like a health check for your website. Just as a doctor evaluates your physical health, an SEO audit assesses your website's technical structure, content quality, and visibility on search engines. The purpose is to identify any issues hindering your website's ranking on search engine results pages (SERPs).Once the audit is complete, you can hire an SEO company for further services or address the identified issues in-house. This flexibility allows you to tailor your SEO investment to your specific needs. What Saffron Edge Can Offer You? At Saffron Edge, we understand that every business has unique goals and budgets. We offer highly customized SEO solutions and flexible pricing models to meet your needs. Here's what sets us apart: Tailored Solutions: We create customized SEO packages to address your unique requirements like local SEO, link building, ecommerce SEO, and others, ensuring your strategy aligns with your goals. Flexible Pricing Models: Whether you prefer monthly plans, hourly rates, or one-time projects, we have options to suit your budget and preferences. Proven Expertise: Our experienced team stays up-to-date with industry trends and search engine algorithms to deliver effective SEO strategies. Measurable Results: Our team provides transparent, data-driven strategies that allow you to track your SEO campaign's progress and see tangible results. Dedicated Support: With Saffron Edge, you have a dedicated team that values open communication and collaboration throughout your SEO journey. Choose Saffron Edge as your SEO partner to navigate the complexities of SEO pricing and achieve online success tailored to your unique business goals. Wrapping Up With intensive knowledge about how the SEO field works and what costs you need to incur while opting for SEO services, you can make better and more informed decisions for the business budget. These services help you gain more profits and reach more customers in the long run. At Saffron Edge, we help businesses to gain a competitive edge over the other players in their respective markets. We offer the best SEO services that drive organic traffic, boost visibility, and enhance online presence. If you want to hire an SEO expert to help you with your digital requirements, contact Saffron Edge. Whether you seek monthly plans, hourly rate services, or one-time SEO projects, Saffron Edge is the right place for you. So, why wait? Get a free quote and free website audit from us! ...

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