Frequently Asked Marketing Questions
Have a question about web design, print, SEO, PPC/SEM, or social media? We’ve compiled a list of some of the most frequently asked questions about digital marketing that we get from our clients and provided answers to each below.
Questions About Web Design
What is RGB?
RGB refers to the system of colour used in computer displays for web design. Red, green, and blue can be used together in various ways to create a broad spectrum of colours.
How Should I Provide My Logo to FirstPage Marketing for My New Website?
In order for a logo to be useful for websites, print, and other applications, it is important to use the proper file type. The best formats are JPEG, PNG, SVG, EPS, or PDF.
How Will My Website Look on a Mobile Device?
Every website designed by FirstPage Marketing is mobile responsive, which means that the content and layout adapts to the size of the screen. For example, rather than having the menu sit across the top of the screen, a small icon will appear in the top right-hand corner that expands into the full menu when clicked on.
What is Image Resolution?
The term “image resolution” indicates the quality of an image. Higher resolution denotes higher clarity and detail. Certain applications require a higher image resolution to avoid pixelated-looking images. If an image or logo is going to be bigger, it will need to have a high resolution.
Why do the Colours on My New Website Look Different on Other Computers?
Not all computer screens, browsers, and operating systems use the same colour schemes, so it is nearly impossible to create a colour or pattern to look identical on every medium.
Why do the Colours on My Website Look Different from My Business Cards?
Print design uses a different colour scheme than web design, which means that colours can come close but might not be an exact match. Also, printed work absorbs light while computer monitors emit light, which means that your eye perceives the colours differently.
Can I Use Free Fonts on My Website?
Yes, as long as the font’s license allows you to use it for commercial purposes. Some free fonts are only for personal use and cannot be used on a website for commercial purposes.
Questions About Print Design
What is the Difference Between RGB and CMYK?
RGB is used for digital content and CMYK is used for printed materials. RGB stands for “Red, Green, and Blue,” and CMYK stands for “Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, and Key” (black). If content will be used in print and online, you will need to have a version of each.
How Should I Provide My Logo to FirstPage Marketing for Print Design Projects?
Logos should be provided in high resolution JPEG, EPS, AI, or PDF format. In order to be printed, the colour code needs to be CMYK.
What is 300 DPI and Why is it Important for My Images?
DPI stands for “Dots Per Inch.” In print, images are made up of tiny coloured dots. When there are more dots present in each linear inch, images look less pixelated. This means that the higher the DPI value, the higher the resolution.
What are Pantone Inks?
Pantone uses a numbering system to identify and match colours. It is a standardized system with over 1,100 catalogued colours that can help designers control the outcome of print projects.
Questions About SEO
What Does SEO Stand for?
SEO stands for “Search Engine Optimization“. It is the science of driving better-quality organic search traffic through search engines, such as Google and Bing.
Why do I Need SEO-Friendly Headlines on My Website?
While headlines need to be able to grab the reader’s attention and provide structure to text content, they also play an important role in communicating the topic and relevancy of content to search engines.
How do I Rank Higher on Search Engines Without Paid Advertising?
Consistently publish high-quality content (better than your competitors that are ranking above you) that provides value to your target audience and structure your content in a way that makes it easy for search engines to crawl and index. When publishing this content, ensure that it is properly aligned with Google’s Webmaster Guidelines and Bing’s Webmaster Guidelines.
What is the Difference Between White Hat SEO and Black Hat SEO?
Search engines have guidelines that webmasters must follow. Black hat SEO tactics are shady and deceptive in nature as they try to deceive the search engines in order to yield higher rankings. Black hat SEO tactics include content cloaking, keyword stuffing, duplicate content, link farming and more. By violating these rules, they put a website’s domain at risk. White hat SEO techniques are in line with search engine guidelines as they aim to provide the best quality content to web users.
How Long Does it Take to See Results from SEO?
Results can often be seen in as little as 4-6 months; however, it truly depends on the competitiveness of the industry and the quality of content you are publishing. SEO results compound with time and, while it can take some work to get a website off the ground, the work will eventually pay off and web traffic will continue coming your way.
Why is My Website Not Ranking on the First Page of Search Engines?
Some industries are highly competitive and require greater effort to get on the first page of results. If you work in an over-crowded industry with a lot of other good websites, the SEO required to boost your website ahead of your competitors might be substantial. If your website is on a brand new domain, it will take time before Google can properly index it and factor it into its latest search engine ranking algorithm.
Will Securing My Website with HTTPS Help My Rankings?
Yes. HTTPS is a factor in Google’s search engine ranking algorithm, so having a secure site may result in a boost in rankings. Visitors are also more likely to click away when they see that the site is not secure.
Are Meta Keywords Still Relevant?
No. While you will not be penalized for using meta keywords, they do not add SEO value to a website. Meta descriptions are still very useful, as they allow the reader to discern the contents of the link, but meta keywords do not add SEO value.
How do I Optimize My Website for Bing?
Bing’s webmaster guidelines are very similar to Google’s webmaster guidelines and both search engines have similar ranking factors. To be compatible with Bing, websites must be indexed and registered. This can be done in Bing’s Webmaster Tools. Connecting your website to social networks, using SEO keywords in proper context, and tagging the website appropriately are all standards for Bing optimization.
How do I Optimize My Website for Local SEO?
To optimize for local SEO, make sure that you are including local keywords, related keywords and LSI keywords that denote your location throughout your website and its content. Ensure that your NAP (business name, address, and phone number) are consistent across your website, social sites, and third-party directories. Register your business to online directories such as Yelp, TripAdvisor, etc. Set up a Google My Business listing and use all of its available features. Getting reviews on your Google My Business listing can be very helpful.
Questions About Social Media
How do I Get More Followers?
Frequently post relevant and shareable content that provides value to your audience. Follow and engage with other businesses on social media. For fast results, host a contest or giveaway.
What Social Media Channels Should I be Using?
Social media trends tend to change with the times, so make sure that you are investing in relevant channels that your audience is active on. The main social media channels for business are Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn and Twitter.
How Frequently Should I Post on Social Media?
This is dependent on your business, but a good target is twice a week. If you post more than five times a week, it may overwhelm your audience. Posting less than once a week may limit your social media potential.
What is the Best Time to Post Content?
This all depends on the locality and geographical targeting of your business. Global businesses that target customers across several different time zones may face a greater challenge with this. The best approach to posting at the right time is to test photos at various times throughout the day and week in order to track which posts receive the most social media engagement.
Should I be Using Paid Social Media Advertising?
While this depends on the demographic and the type of business, most companies can benefit from social media advertising. It increases visibility and your reachable demographic, it is easy to budget for, and it can be used on mobile devices.
How Expensive is Paid Social Media Advertising?
Each social media platform runs advertising differently, but it is usually very affordable. There is a flat fee to set up the platform, and then you pay a certain amount per click, view, impression, like, or other action. You can set your advertisement to cap out once it hits a certain budget, meaning you never spend more than you want to spend.
Questions About PPC Advertising
What is PPC?
PPC stands for “pay-per-click” advertising. It is a form of search engine marketing wherein a fee is paid by the advertiser each time their ad link is clicked. It can be more expensive than SEO, but it is faster and often easier to put together.
Will Pay-Per-Click Ads Help with SEO?
PPC does not directly affect organic SEO ranking. Google has set up walls to keep PPC ads from adding to a site’s SEO; however, visitors to a site are likely to return, so it can still help SEO ranking in the long run.
How Much Will I Get Charged When My Ad Gets Clicked on?
Cost-per-click (CPC) varies depending on how oversaturated browsers are with keywords relating to your website. The more businesses there are competing for PPC ad space, the more expensive each click is. CPC can vary between $1 and $50, but it is most commonly below $5.
Will I Always Get Charged the Same Amount Per Click?
Not always. The amount charged is dependent on who else is bidding on your keywords, but it also depends on the quality score of your ads.
What is Considered a Good Clickthrough Rate?
The average click through rate is 2% and anything above that would be considered good. A great target to shoot for is 5%, so tweak content and optimize the site until you have hit that mark.
Can My Ads Show up When People Search for My Competitors?
Absolutely! If you are using the right keywords, your ads will appear alongside your competitors. If they are not using ads or the right keywords, your ads might even appear first.
How Can I Improve My Quality Score?
By creating targeted, relevant landing pages with fast load times, you can increase the quality of your website for both human visitors and search engine rankings. Make sure that your chosen keywords are optimized on your landing page as well as in the ad, and to divide your ad campaigns into targeted, branded groups.
Why Aren’t My Ads Showing?
It is possible that you have run out of ad budget for the day or week, which is usually a good thing because it means your ads are working. They also may not be showing because of your location, you might be getting outbid by competition, you could have a bad quality score due to irrelevance, or you may need to include some negative keywords.
Technical Questions
What is a Host?
A host is the physical location of the data contained on your website. This does not affect the relevance of your website to your physical location; it is merely the website server that contains the information that others can access. This space is typically rented from high-quality servers.
What is a Registrar?
A registrar is a web service that registers domain names so that they are unique and cannot be duplicated by anyone else. You own your website domain name by registering it with a registrar, at which point no one else can use that domain name.
What is a MX Record?
“MX” stands for “mail exchange.” Mail Exchange records are instructions within the domain name system that tell emails where to go when they are sent to your domain. For example, if you email contact@firstpagemarketing.com, it sends the email to our mail server rather than letting it float aimlessly.
What is a DNS?
The Domain Name System (or DNS) is an Internet directory linking domain names to IP addresses. It is essentially a phonebook for Internet browsers. If a human enters a domain name (like firstpagemarketing.com) the DNS tells the computer where to take that person to load those resources.
What is a Server?
A server is a computer that stores and processes information to run websites. It uses specialized programs to deliver web content to other computers as requested. Servers have a physical location but can link to computers anywhere in the world. For example, a server in Nebraska could hold the web content for a website based out of British Columbia.
What is FTP?
“FTP” stands for “File Transfer Protocol.” It is the standard protocol that servers use to send information to a computer. Simply put, it is how website files are transferred from the server to the web browser on your computer. FTP allows you to download and upload files from and to websites.
If you are interested in learning more about our digital marketing services, let’s start a conversation.