5 WordPress Tricks That Will Make Your Blogg Better

WordPress is a cornucopia of plugins, themes, and countless different techniques that are supposed to help you beat the competition. Yet all these additions are getting massive, bigger and, to be honest, not exactly simple to use. Have you been searching for simpler ways to use WP but without success, for far too long? 

411 Locals will help you with some of the easiest WP hacks for blogging:

You Can Master the art Of Coding without Actually Coding

It’s about time for you to learn how to use shortcodes! They are special tags you can insert in the body of your post, which make a suggestion for more complicated coding. Whenever WordPress checks one of these tags in a post, it automatically replaces it with the corresponding HTML equivalent. Check out the examples:

• [ audio ]– embeds an audio file and displays a basic audio player in the page
• [ gallery ]– creates a basic gallery based on a set of images
• [ video ]– embeds a locally-hosted video in the page

Get Rid Of “Uncategorized” Posts

“Uncategorized” is your default category & as such, it adds no value to your posts. Proceed with this: From the left-hand menu, go to Settings > Writing, and switch the Default Post Category to whatever you want – for instance, your most frequently used one. Alternatively, you can rename the default category itself. This way, you can alter the category of your previous “uncategorized” tagged posts.

Get The Perfect Image Size With Ease

The most irritating experience when you create your blog post (apart from starting it) is to see how your image doesn’t fit, making your work amateurish. Instead of resizing, re-previewing, rechecking and what else not, you can use the following trick, provided by 411 Locals: 

You should simply change the default media size for your uploaded images.

When you opt for “Thumbnail,” “Medium,” or “Large,” WordPress pulls those pre-set image sizes from your blog settings. The “Large” category can fit the full width of your post layout. Do the following – from the left-hand WordPress menu, choose Settings > Media, and adjust the “Max Width” and “Max Height” settings to fit your blog sizes. You can also set the “Medium” size to take up 1/3 of your post layout, then use these “Medium” images such as featured images for your posts, by aligning them to the right, and set the “Large” size to fill the full width of your post layout. When you have questions you just might check the specialized sources. 

Use  the “Inspect Element” option in your Chrome browser to determine the maximum width.

Right-click anywhere inside the text of your post, and choose “Inspect Element.” Here, you can access the web code of your page. Point your mouse at the highlighted separate parts of your blog design, along with a display of height and width of the element. You can judge the right post size from here. Even more, you can go on the right-hand side of this new code window and click the tab for “Computed.” You should see a graphic of boxes with numbers in the middle. They show the size of your post, with the first number indicating the width.

How to Convert Instagram from a Fun Place to a Marketing Tool, in 9 Steps

Instagram recently reached the milestone of 500 Million users. 67,2 Millions of these users are from the US. Their number is expected to grow  to 95 Million by 2020. It is estimated that approximately 30% percent of the population of the US uses Instagram. Daily, Instagram is used by 49% percent of the adults in the US.

For every dedicated specialist working in the field of marketing, these figures can mean new and bright opportunities for reaching new clients and markets. However, a small business owner or self-employed professional can use their Instagram profile for marketing purposes. Currently, most people use Instagram as a place to share their cool pics, short videos, and to follow popular profiles. However, this is only the first step of turning your Instagram profile in a business-oriented marketing tool. For example, you might check 411 Locals Instagram's profile

If you are a small business owner or self-employed professional, you may already have a brand name. Fill the bio section in the profile, and tell people more about you and your services. Post your best and most eye-catching content. Instagram allows you to write several short sentences, so make them brilliant.

Instagram is a social network that focuses on visuals such as pictures and short videos, not longer than 15 seconds. The users are looking for visual rather than written content.  So, carefully pick your profile picture. It should be clear, colorful, and ïf possible, present your service somehow. If you specialize in construction service, the picture should be of yourself wearing a protective helmet, glasses, and carrying some tools.

You may be tempted to use hashtags in your bio. You’d better not do it. The hashtags in your Instagram bio are not clickable, so they will not be in great use and will just spoil the look of your profile. However, you can use the hashtags in your posts.

Take pictures regularly, but not too often. Once or twice a day is fair enough. Share your work and latest achievements. Also, share your latest work-related challenges and how you managed to cope with them. Your followers will love to see the results of your work. Clients nowadays check everything - not just the prices. They are also looking for examples of projects completed by the contractor they are thinking of hiring. And having lots of pics of your completed projects could be the ultimate commercial and low-budget marketing approach. You can learn much more about it check-in 411 Locals CrunchBase profile and the posts in it.

It is now time for hashtags. Remember, do not over hashtag your posts. 3 to 5 is the optimal number. A bigger number could be considered as improper behavior and can ruin your post. Use hashtags that are relevant to your brand, business, and services. If you are in the roofing business, using the hashtag for campers may not be the best idea. However, use keywords such as “roof, repair, roof leak, ceiling” and so on. Of course, you can share some posts that are not strictly related to your business, but this should be no more than a few times a week. Remember: you hashtags have to be relevant to your activity. Creating a custom hashtag is also a great way to promote yourself and create awareness. Use several hashtags in a post.

Tell a story with any image or video you decide to share.Use Instagram to educate potential clients about your services, products, results. Try to be creative as possible. For example, you can use the photo filters that are built in Instagram. Choose the one you like most. In addition, you can add photos with some quote about business or motivation. Helpful and useful info will be much appreciated too.

Get social, and connect your Instagram profile with your twitter, facebook, WordPress, and with all directories you are registered in. This will help you reach a bigger audience and maximize your influence. You can embed your Instagram or Twitter posts in your website. This will act as an engagement trigger.

Be active on Instagram - just follow current and potential clients, friends. It will be great if you give likes to some of the activities your clients or friends are posting. Send them a message, congratulate them for a success they are proud of. There is a comment option in Instagram too. Just use it and post relevant and positive comments. The comments should be under posts of your friends, potential, and current customers. Commenting under posts is a really easy and fun way to generate some attention and more followers.

Add and share videos too. In addition to pictures and posts, you can add short videos that are 15 seconds in length. Make every second count. Point your smart device to the work you already completed and generously share it with your audience. You can add some comment. For example: “After 5 days of hard work, we just completed this project and we are planning on celebrating our success”.

5 Latest Plugins And Creative WordPress Themes Used By 411Locals

If you follow the WordPress trends without double checking, you will be doing something mainstream.Globally, more than 70% of the websites are now powered by WP. With all the free plugins and themes, a good part of those sites look too similar to each other. So how do we stand as a unique site, which is more likely to be noticed? What plugins and themes work well for making a WP site user-friendly, SEO-friendly and with high content marketing efficiency? Here are some of the templates and extensions working for 411 Locals.

Masonry Layout

It is a Pinterest-like grid. The card-based layouts are easily seen on Pinterest, Dribble, Behance, Twitter, Facebook, G+ and so forth. This pattern slices your content and make it readable. It is also a mobile-friendly solution. With a structure like this, you can start your blog, online magazine, or e-commerce site with ease.

Parallax Scroll

This is the solution when you wish to create a header, or even a custom page with a scrolling parallax background by using only simple shortcodes. You only need to create the content needed for this specific post type. The admin page will display the shortcode that fits. You only need to toss the code into your page or post. Or else, implement the plugin straight into your theme or php code.

Animate It!

This plugin allows you to apply CSS3 animations on posts, widgets and pages. Visual storytelling is crucial for every modern portfolio, so you can benefit from the dynamic behavior of Animate It! The effects include bouncing, fading, flipping, rotating, pulsating and more. The plugin is highly praised in every ultimate guide to web animation.

Divi: Universal & Creative WP Theme

It is one of the most popular themes and definitely  the most creative one issued by elegant themes club! Great designs, thousands of clients, customer care and quite affordable price keep them ahead of the competition.  Divi is the latest template. It carries the legacy of the past brilliancy and brings it to a whole new level.

Oshine: Best Universal WP Theme For 2016

Since its release last year, Oshine has several thousand customers and over 18 demos. The true quality of this theme lies in its countless options to present your portfolio. It has a smooth design with clean typography and great layouts. The flexibility of this theme makes it perfect for all types of small businesses. The master Slider and Slider Revolution plugins are implemented in the theme for free. The updates are at one-click reach and also free.

WordPress has become a huge platform that makes it very easy for even untrained users to build a website. However, it does take time and a detailed eye to create a unique, astonishing site. For those of you who can’t afford spending hours in front of the computer choosing the right colors, creating the right headlines, or adding the right pictures, 411Locals offers the best solution. All you have to do is give us a call. We’ll handle the rest.

The Most Important Changes In SEO – Part 2

Welcome back to the summary of the most important changes in SEO by the end of September. This part will introduce you to the social media aspects of the latest updates. 411Locals will also give you some insights concerning the current SEO and online marketing trends.

New Rules: Getting a Verified Profile on Facebook

Facebook has implemented new rules for branded content. Evidently, the verification of your FB business page is becoming more important than ever. Verified celebrities, public figures, and easily recognizable brands have blue badges. On the other hand, companies and businesses, especially local ones, receive gray badges. Verifying your FB business page is a smart move since it boosts your rankings and your trust metrics,  as well as widens your audience. Basically, businesses have two options for verification: over the phone or via documentation. The latter takes time since you need to upload business documentation, and confirming your business’ legitimacy is also time-consuming.

Summary of Last Month’s Conferences, Podcasts, and SEO Debates

The future of search marketing, as always, can be described as an industry that’s been through a lot of changes. The survival of any company in the SEO business depends on its ability to use update hits as opportunities to learn, grow, and share with the rest of the community. While it is impossible to sort out the top tools and trends in SEO for the rest of the year, 411 Locals can present to you some important metrics for last month, considering the information shared in leading SEO blogs and personal pages:

• It turns out that almost ⅔ of their time, SEOs are creating quality content: this task is far more time-consuming than removing duplicate content, data analysis, keyword research, link building and others.

• Over 28% of the SEO gurus point out that building relevant backlinks is their biggest challenge: while last year’s huge issue was mobile optimization, the current focus is on finding places for backlinks which are worth the effort.

In conclusion, this month’s changes in the SEO world showed that constant learning is a must – not for this year, not for tomorrow, but right now. Since search marketing will always be driven by content, link, and mobile-friendly practices, it is clear that, no matter what forms of content marketing work best for you, earning backlinks to your content is what makes you grow. New technologies will be on their way in the future, so our job as SEO specialists is to determine what works best for our sites.

411 Locals: An Internal Team Coaching Program for Better Team Performance

A study provided by the International Federation of Coaches shows that an internal live coaching program can improve the productivity and performance of the team at any company. The survey was conducted among 150 enterprises across the globe that are already running an internal live coaching program. All of them reported the internal coaching managed to increase the employee performance with 10% to 30 %and to lower the level of work-related stress with 15 to 22 points. 

Initially, the coaching was offered only to senior managers or individuals at specific grades - middle-level manager or employee with high potential. Nowadays, in most companies, including 411 Locals, the internal live coaching is delivered to all employees. An investment of such rank is quite reasonable as it offers high return on investment. 

External or Internal Coach? Which one is better?

411 Locals knows well, that both approaches have their supporters, so there is no right and wrong answer to that question. It is believed that the main advantages of the external coach are the experience with leadership and multiple tasks that were performed previously in different organizations. External coaches are supposed to have better training and tend to have the higher level of accreditation compared to internal coaches. However, the main drawback of hiring an external coach is not only the higher cost but the lack of understanding of the company’s internal structure and culture.
Internal coaches are considered to have a better internal understanding of the company processes and structure. Also, they are familiar with the company culture and are seen as an accessible and free resource within the organization. 

Internal coaching program for better team performance 

Employees and teams are the engine that drives most companies or organizations. The levels of efficiency, the work done, and the delivered outcomes are the results of how the team works together. 411 Locals reminds, that Indicators such as performance and productivity could suffer when the team members are lacking the knowledge how to work together. A crisis such as conflicts, hostility, or unclear expectations could lead to poor results and ineffective handling of the internal resources. Starting an Internal coaching program can prevent such undesirable events and harmful effects of unhealthy teams.

Understand and accept the team dynamics and establish behavior expectations 

According to 411 Locals, A great place to start an internal team coaching program is by understanding what is the role of the employees within the team and if they work well together. It is about different styles of working and interpreting the information, as well as verbal and nonverbal skills. Reaction on one and the same stimulus could be totally different. No matter the difference between the team members and their unique features, the team has to be synchronized. Some personal assessment tools can be of a great use to determine and uncover individual patterns - communication approach, conflict resolution, a capability of multitasking, and problem-solving. The main role of the Internal team coaching program will be bringing the team members together and finding a way to improve their performance. The coaching tools and mastermind groups are a great way to understand others people point of view. Once the point of view is clarified, is time for setting up internal rules, acceptable for all team members. Maybe, most important aspect of the internal team coaching is to develop a clear set of communication and behavior expectations. Using a team charter can easily formalize and visualize all expectations and agreements. 

Evaluate the achievements and set up a proper reward system

In general, people have different values and these create a dominant obstacle to team effectiveness and unification. To overcome this the Organization or the Company should set up a rewarding system, evaluating both individual and team contribution. Here steps in the team coaching once again. With group and role play games, the rewards expected by every team member can be clarified and then the expectations evaluated. It is important the coach to find overlapping between expectations, reality, and the company values. Next is to find goals that both individuals and the team share. Great tool for achieving that could be mastermind sessions focused on the team and individual values. 

What works well for one particular team, may not necessarily work for another department or team. One of the goals of the internal coaching is to create effective relationships between team members. However, the effective work relationships are build by revealing employee’s needs, style of work, and preferences. An internal coach can easily use them to identify the differences between team members and then to focus their attention on overcoming them and bettering the performance of the team.

411 Locals Is Starting An International SEO Training Academy

411 Locals, one of the Leading Local SEO companies in the US, is starting an International SEO Training Academy. The innovative courses will be taught jointly with Varna Technical University in Varna, Bulgaria.

“Search engine optimization (SEO) is widely used as a marketing and lead generation tool. However, it is still not a part of the education system. We decided to start an international training project in order to face the challenges of the constantly changing online industry”, says Roumen Todorov, Business Consultant of 411 Locals. Up to 500 students will join the courses. The main focus of the program is to prepare students for further education and career in the field of SEO and Internet marketing.

The participants will be trained by widely-recognized SEO professionals from all over the world, including top performing employees of 411 Locals and professors from the Technical University. Teachers and trainers will share their theoretical and core practical experience with the students.

The company is continuously investing in education and in continuous SEO and online advertising training. Many of the employees of 411 Locals are certified by Google and accredited by Bing ads. Their skills set and know-how are up to date with the latest SEO progress and changes, as developing people is one of the core values of the company. Keeping abreast of the latest developments in the online marketing industry is essential to every online marketing business and to every one of their clients.

411 Locals

Thanks to our policy of constant improvement and continuous technological and marketing training, the company has so far served more than 38,000 local business, ensuring that they reach the first position in Google search results.

About Our Company

411 Locals is an Internet advertising agency based in Las Vegas, Nevada. Established as a local business 9 years ago, today 411 Locals is an international company with offices in USA, Europe, and Asia.

More than 400 employees meet the client’s needs and requirements. 411 Locals has an A+ rating from Better Business Bureau and is a Google Partner. The main services of 411 Locals are website design and local search optimization for small and medium-sized businesses.

411 Locals 6 Steps to Configure a Cross Functional Team

411 Locals, as an international company, would like to advice you that a project usually requires commitment from employees or professionals from different functions or department that are already existing in the organization. Such a team is called cross-functional team.

This type of team can be in great help for any company and they are very useful when you need to fix an existing problem or to find a new solution. They are just assigned to a specific assignment. Just for example, a company might set up a cross-functional team from software specialist, hardware specialist, people from customer service department, procurement. All of them will be “loaned” full or part time from their existing team temporarily, till the job is done. After finishing the project the cross-functional team will be dismissed. 

However, to finish the project on time and to reach all goals, the cross-functional team first have to be set up properly. 411 Locals would like to introduce 6 steps that might help any company to configure a cost-effective cross-functional team with great productivity 

1. Clear objectives. You need to set a clear objective or objectives

Layout a clear objective or target. Make sure you clarify what kind of outcomes are expected from the team. Make sure those objective are purified, identify the resources that the team can rely on and create a team charter. 

2. Determine the team roles and select the virtuous team members

After you already have the idea what is expected, you have to define the roles and then to attract the proper team members. First, you need to think about the technical competences and skills each different cross team member have to have. Consider that putting together people from different and eventually opposing departments might lead to communication issues between the members. To cope with that assign at least some people with great communication and decision-making skills. 

3. Set a budget and resources

No matter the newly formed cross-functional team is from employees, it will need resources to function and to work on the task. For example, it could be free office space, access to a conference room. Furthermore, the cross-functional team might need new software and / or hardware to finish the task. 

4. Initiate and Institute the ways of team functioning

Establish the way the newly developed cross function team will operate. 411 Locals practice advice you to start a project with clear and understandable rules. Before the real work is starting organize a meeting with the team and check for any questions and possible improvements. The main issues with any new team is that you cannot make upfront any precise presumptions how it will work together. However, you can ensure rules, communication channels, decision-making process, resources, time for feedback and training. 

5. Appoint the right for the team leadership style 

A manager can use in his daily routine one main leadership style. Within a cross-function teams, things are different.Usually, the members are equal so the Autocratic style might not me the proper choice. The Democratic style might lead to team spoiling and delay. For sure the balance between equals has to be kept, no matter that the team will quickly appoint a nonformal leader. Several group coaching sessions conducted in the beginning of the project might help the team to clarify the roles and appoint the most suitable nonformal leader

6. Communicate with the team 

During the work process, conflicts between the different cross function team members will arise naturally. To reduce the negative effect or even to avoid it, you have to communicate regularly with the team. Showing a weekly interest on the progress and meeting with the team could be a good idea. Use simple words and a lot of visuals. 411 Locals practice shows that you just need to just make the thing smooth and easier for the team. Pay attention to the team members and listen what they have to say or state. It could take you some time but when created, a receptive atmosphere will boost the productivity of your cross-functional team. 

Once you are ready with your team, you just will have wait about 1 - 2 weeks for the first results. The practice shows that this is a crucial period for the cross-functional team . The things might not start smooth between the team participants - do not forget they have different education, background, specialization. To glue them, use friendly jokes, avoid any kind of mumbling or blaming. Cross-functional teams are known also as a cross-department teams. Regardless of the name and you internal company structure, those team could be a great asset for your company.

Make Sure You Are Seen By Potential Customers

Plumbing is one of the most common jobs in the States. Everyone needs their help and appreciates their work, which is why the competition is so high in this industry. If you too specialize in this field and you wish to appeal to your potential customers, having a visible online presence that is on the first page of Google’s search results is a great way to outshine your competition. 411 Locals is here to get your listing to the first page, which will allow customers to see you, even if they are not looking for you specifically. This will generate you more calls and ultimately increase your revenue substantially.

With 411 Locals, you will also get an optimized website for your business as well as social media channels and a persuasive marketing video hosted on YouTube. Whether you specialize in sewer and drain cleaning, plumbing or septic systems, you will quickly get to the first page of local searches targeted towards your business type. This is equally valid for water and fire damage restoration companies, well-drilling experts, and any other business types. Simply turn to us, and we will make sure you get those extra calls that you need to keep you busy from month to month!

411Locals is a company that has been helping businesses throughout the country with proper internet advertising since 2007. Our dedicated experts will make sure to get you the online presence that you need to be visible to anyone who needs your expertise. Give us a call, and we will elevate your business where everyone will be able to find you!

Here are some of the business types we have served over the years:

• Plumbers
• Water Damage Restoration Experts
• Septic System Contractors
• Well Drilling Contractor
• Fire Damage Restoration Specialists
• Drilling Contractor
• Sewer and Drain Cleaners
• And More…!

Why Online Presence Is Good For Your Business

• A New Market
• Higher Sales
• Improve Your Visibility
• Return on Investment (ROI)
• Minimal Start Up Time & Investment
• More Exposure For Your Services and Products
• Advertise Your Business 24/7
• Low Start-Up Costs
• More Access to Your Business
• Increase Brand Awareness

4 Mistakes That Make Your WordPress SEO Inefficient

You're convinced that your writing talent and impeccable design skills will make your WP blog the next big thing? You think that covering viral topics, finding awesome images and using the social media to spread the word is all that it takes?

Running a blog like 411Locals takes more than the aforementioned efforts. Small WordPress details can cast a big shadow – you can boost the rankings of your posts or on the contrary, lose the advantage and remain unnoticed. More often than not, it is all about ignoring opportunities. Here are the WP features that you shouldn't miss:

Ignoring XML Sitemap

As Google clearly indicates, sitemaps are telling the search engine which pages to crawl. Moreover, not using a sitemap means that some of your site's pages can remain undiscovered. Sitemap's features allow you as a webmaster to point out how often you update your pages. This works well for relatively new sites and ones with too few backlinks pointing towards them. Building and updating a sitemap is quick and automated. The usual options are those two plugins: Google XML Sitemaps and WordPress Seo by Yoast.

Ignoring Categories And Tags

Categories and tags are usually referred to as taxonomies. Their role is to increase engagement and traffic. The wrong use of taxonomies makes your WP site less user-friendly. The cause is that basically a site category works as a table of content and tags are the site's index. Taxonomies also give a good impression of the keywords that are important to your site.

Ignoring Canonical URL Defining

Instead of awaiting Google to determine which version of your page is meant to index and rank, you can deal with this problem by setting a canonical URL. It is a simple process that requires three steps: telling WP what URL represents your site; setting the URL as you want it in the options of Google Search Console; use WordPress Seo by Yoast to set each and every canonical URL of your site;

Ignoring The CTR Features Of Your Posts

To make sure that users see where your post is only half the job done. The rest is to suggest what they are going to see by telling Google how to describe it. You can optimize the latter easily by using a plugin like Add Meta Tags or the well-known WordPress SEO by Yoast. Those plugins give you control of the content that appears on the results page. It is all about the titles and the description of your page. Creating a custom meta title will put a text that will be displayed on the SERPs in place of any headline you choose for the post onsite. In addition, making your description more than a random combination of sentences will lead to a better click-through rate.

Make Your HVAC & Appliance Company Known

Everyone enjoys the convenience that comes with a proper HVAC system. Air conditioning and heating systems are everywhere – in shops, offices, our homes, and restaurants. We are dependent on the work they do for us, which is why HVAC contractors are necessities. If you specialize in this field of work, you should know how tough the competition can be. This is exactly why you need to make your business as known and visible as possible. 411 Locals is here to offer you this opportunity. With our Internet advertising, you will get more calls than you have hoped for.

Those who underestimate online presence and the importance of getting results on the first page of the most common searches miss out on potential calls from paying customers. People would use the Internet to find anything, whether it is appliance repair experts, duct cleaners, or air conditioning specialists. And since the competition is so strong, getting on the first page seems unrealistic to many. However, with 411Locals by your side, your business will be shown on the first pages of local search results, and you will notice the progress almost immediately. Suddenly, you will find yourself receiving more calls, and that will notably increase your revenue.

411 Locals is a company that strives to give its clients the exposure they need to remain competitive and successful in any field. We will create for you a listing, website, social media profiles, and a persuasive YouTube marketing video. All in the effort to make your business the one that gets calls from potential customers who are looking for you online. Whether you offer a professional refrigeration repair or you specialize in the installation and maintenance of HVAC systems, you can get on the first page of any Google search and attract clients that might have not known about you. Call us and allow us to make money for you!

Brands Are Clearer And More Responsive to Twitter Now

Twitter has turned into something far more complex than its early days of microblogging and bandwagoning. Now the social media platform gets more responsive to businesses. It is the new “Most responsive” feature that is now visible on some accounts. Basically, it tells you the hours when your business is most responsive? But how to make it useful for theTwitter account of your business? Is it just a test and do the retailers have any control over it? /see the original article at promotionworld.com

It is clear that businesses that need constant feedback from clients are going to need this feature. That's the case with industries like retail, tech and automotive, indeed. The certain time frame will give guiding light to those customers who expect immediate response. While the medium expectation for response can be easily beaten by socially active brands or reduced to epic fail by seemingly responsive businesses, the “most responsive” feature will be a kickstart for a change.

Picking Tweets With Higher Engagement Clearly a test, “Featured Tweets” is a tab that picks from those with higher engagement. In fact, it was a long-expected change for Twitter and it's definitely one that mirrors the “featured pics” on Facebook. As far as the business accounts in Twitter are concerned, this new feature would bring benefits as long as the account owners are authorized to create the lists of featured tweets along with the option to emphasize specific detail and features on them – such as logos, campaigns, special offers, seasonal deals and other elements like these.

Pros and Cons of the Short-Content Approach to SEO

Many content writers don’t dare questioning the notion that Google loves long content. They hear that same mantra over and over again ad infinitum. But what if there is evidence to the contrary and nobody has noticed it yet? What if a company like 411Locals excels at benefiting from balancing short and long content while the rest of you still dream of reaping the rewards of long articles, which may never come? Is short better than long content or vice versa? Perhaps, they just have different pros and cons, and in capable hands, they can both be very efficient.

The Effects of Syndication

Long content brings long-tail SEO traffic easily – that’s the most frequently heard argument in favor of using it when you want more traffic, more shares, and engagement. However, there’s one tactic that often gets ignored – short articles can be syndicated for better exposure. The latest analysis of Jamesclear.com shows that social shares can be increased with 70% by only syndicating to one site.

Time Is of the Essence

Short articles take less time. You can write multiple short posts instead of a big, ultimate guide. When you have built your own audience, your subscribers will check out and read each and every article you post, no matter how small it is. This actually leads to more shares, hence more traffic. Two short articles instead of one long will get slightly more social shares. This means more total shares with fewer words written.

What About the Cost?

If you work with freelance writers, you should consider the cost of the article. The average content marketer makes a decent amount of money, and a writer that specializes in long articles can charge you double. What is more, the attention span of users worldwide is shorter than ever. In order to maintain a high reading rate, you will need the short-content approach.

Quantity Doesn’t Mean Quality and More Traffic

Writing short content gives you the flexibility to test new ideas faster and easier before you switch to long content. And one more thing – oftentimes, longer articles are in one way or another comprehensive guides. And those guides are now crowding the search results. You cannot expect that 3000 words will make your groundbreaking analysis of the Brexit voting results climb to the first page for its target keywords, when its content can’t be very different from any other topic-related article.

What Strategy to Use for My Blog or Site?

Considering the pros and cons of the latest content strategy examples, 411Locals suggests that the best approach is to use a hybrid strategy. It is an evergreen master plan since there will be always people who respond to short content while others enjoy spending more time reading and thinking over long articles.

Angie’s List is now free: What this change means for your business

In a move that hasn’t attracted a lot of attention online, Angie’s List followed through on their March announcement and removed their paywall last week. /See the orifinal artical/ 

Anyone can now become a member without paying the previous ~$40/year fee, and reviews are now accessible by anyone. This change, which did fly under the radar, does have strong implications for the online reputations of many businesses.

Angie’s List has always done well in the home services market: think plumbing, landscaping, HVAC, roofing, concrete and the like. And while Angie’s List did have an impact on their reputations, less than one percent of the US population were members, which meant the vast majority of people couldn’t see the rating or reviews posted on a company profile. Unlike Yelp, businesses could get by with bad Angie’s List scores and negative reviews because a lot of people couldn’t see them. Now, everyone can.

The tearing down of the Angie’s List paywall is a game-changer for these service providers. Here is what you need to know. 

 1. It is going to rank better for company names

Content, content, content. Angie’s List has it. Angie Hicks, the site’s CMO and namesake, has credited the success of the website to the fact that members “tend to give really meaty reviews.” The depth of these reviews is why people sought out info on potential contractors there. And now, with the site opening up, these meaty reviews will add value in another way: rankings.

It has always surprised me that Angie’s List ranked fairly well for businesses despite providing little more than NAP information on the publicly accessible page. The domain is strong and trusted, and now with it having deep review content, we can expect it to climb in the SERPs. If you don’t have a strategy to get positive reviews on Angie’s List, you need to start building one.

2. Your monitoring tools might not work on it

If you use a review monitoring tool, there is a good chance that it is not able to pull in your Angie’s List reviews. Because their content lived behind a paywall, they’ve resisted creating an API which would free up access for developers to get at the review and rating data. What this means is that the review platforms can’t pull your Angie’s List data in.

What you’ll want to make sure you do is claim your profile so that you are notified of any new reviews. Claiming will also make it easy for you to respond to reviews. Additionally, for our clients, we always save a copy of reviews as they come in, just in case the user deletes or edits their reviews. Having the original review has come in handy for disputes, so it is a best practice to save them.

3. More markets and industries are likely to follow

In the same way that Yelp started out with restaurants and has expanded into many other consumer businesses, we can expect that Angie’s List will try to grow into other markets as well. Angie’s List is a publicly traded company and is trading 75 percent lower than it was just three years ago, so management is definitely under pressure. Making the platform free is a drastic change, but likely just step one. They need to increase revenue, and that comes from page views. They can get that by covering more types of businesses.

I’m not expecting Angie’s List to become a restaurant review site (although anything is possible), but I could certainly see it getting into the health care space, B2B reviews and maybe even software/SaaS reviews.

Time will tell how this all shakes out, but we are fully preparing to work on Angie’s List in the same way that we help our clients with Yelp and Google Reviews. I can’t see their rankings declining, and with their meaty reviews, they are bound to have a larger impact on the reputations of many businesses.

Become the Top Roofing Company in Your Area

Every building needs a stable roof, siding, and proper insulation, which is why we demand for reliable contractors is high and the competition is intense. Most people would search for any services they may need online, which is why advertising your roofing company on the internet is a sure way to get the attention of more customers. But what would happen if you can’t be found online? Next thing you know, your competition will get the calls that could have went to you. At 411 Locals, can make those problems go away by ensuring your placement on the first page of Google’s search results for local listings in your area. Whether you are a siding contractor, a chimney sweeper or you specialize in insulation, you will become visible to those who need your expertise and that will generate you more revenue.

411 Locals does not benefit your company with just a local listing on Google. You will also receive a website that is designed for your business, along with a persuasive YouTube marketing video. We will also create effective social media profiles to increase the appeal of your company. We have experience working with waterproofing contractors, roofers, stucco professionals, and many other specialists, and know how to spotlight your business. With us, your company will be properly represented and will reach those who need.

411 Locals is the Internet Advertising Agency that has been helping its clients get the necessary online presence that is required to keep up with the competition To us, it doesn’t matter what you specialize in since we know that we can get you to the first page of any Google search. Do not miss on the clientele that can be coming your way, and get those extra calls with our help! Call us today and we will elevate you above your competition!

Here are some of the business types we have served over the years:

• Professional Roofers
• Siding Contractors
• Chimney Sweepers
• Insulation Contractors
• Stucco Contractors
• Waterproofing Contractors
• And More…!

Benefits of putting your business on the Web

• Enter a New Market
• Achieve Higher Sales
• Present Your Company’s Image
• Get More Calls
• Get Returns on Investment (ROI)
• Do Business 24/7
• Easier Access to Your Services
• Low Start-Up Costs
• Increase Your Visibility
• Go Statewide!

411 Locals Reached 9 Years on the SEO Market in the US

411 Locals, a leading provider of Local SEO services and web design, reached 9 successful years on the Local SEO market in the USA. The company started in 2007, in its office in Las Vegas, NV. In a short period of time, 411 Locals grew from a start-up to a multinational enterprise. Currently, the company employs more than 400 professionals on three continents - America, Europe, and Asia.

“Every single day, the web and SEO environment is changing. To be on top of each new SEO wave, we have created a unique employee training program.  Our main assets are our highly educated professionals,” says Roumen Todorov, Business Consultant of 411 Locals. Sponsored by the company, the 411 Locals Advertising team members have successfully passed Google Certification and Bing Ads Accreditation trainings and tests.

411 Locals measures progress in numbers of clients served. “We have helped more than 38 000 clients boost their sales, by successfully completing their Local SEO projects.” Compared to 2015, the number of our company’s customers has increased by 18%. The company retention rate is  in the high ninety percentile.

Our Las Vegas, NV based advertising agency is driven by the principles of integrity, diversity, growth, and innovation. The result is a business environment where employees and affiliates are valued, trained, and encouraged to help clients with their diverse business objectives. Recently, 411 Locals received another professional recognition from FindBestSeo. The leading global SEO industry ranking agency ranked 411 Locals number 4 out of hundreds of US local SEO companies.   

About 411 locals

411 Locals is an internet advertising agency based in Las Vegas, NV, that specializes in providing search engine optimization solutions to small and medium businesses. Relying only on the highest business standards and open-book policies, the company has received the maximum possible rating from the Better Business Bureau: A+. Being on the US Local SEO market for 9 years, 411 Locals uses only sustainable white hat SEO techniques and approaches.

The combination of white hat SEO techniques and approaches, a Research and Development team of our own, and highly trained team members, have lead to 411 Locals being granted the top honor in the word of SEO - becoming an official Google Certified Partner.