Expert Interview and Review with John Cashman for Idea Design Studio

Published September 16, 2014 | By Edward Lakatis

In a world obsessed with likes, re-tweets and pins, it might surprise you that not all marketing experts are sold on the lasting shelf life of social media.

“People just put up random items that get filtered out unless you boost them in the news feed,” says John Cashman, CEO for Digital Firefly Marketing. “However, if you are lucky and get something going like the Ice Bucket Challenge, you can still get a pretty good return on your social media.”

Instead of investing all your efforts in social, John recommends tried-and-true (though less flashy) standbys like SEO and link building. Here, he offers advice to entrepreneurs and small business owners on build their brands online.

Tell us the story behind Digital Firefly Marketing.

I have spent 15 years working for various companies and helping them get found on the Internet. When my last company sold, I decided I would start looking for a job. I was coming up empty, so I started a company doing SEO and social media. Then, I got my first client in two weeks, and from there it started to grow and we’re now 18 strong.

What are the most interesting marketing trends you’ve noticed this year?

I would say the continued move from more traditional forms of marketing to digital media continues to be a big trend. This has been a trend for the last three to four years, but it keeps increasing as the world becomes more on demand and marketing based on interruption is increasingly being ignored.

For a small business owner with limited support staff and resources, like a product inventor, what are some SEO basics they can do on their own?

They can do two things that will help them a lot. The first is to learn about SEO so you understand the basics. This will help you communicate with your vendor and understand if they know what they are talking about. The second is to do some research on your industry. How do people find your business? What search phrases or keywords do they use in Google? Those will help you design a website that works but also define a marketing strategy that is on par with how people search for your business.

What steps should website owners take to fully optimize their site?

Use a content management system. For small sites, we recommend using WordPress and a plugin called Yoast because WordPress is super easy to use and Yoast will tell you whether or not a website page is properly optimized for search. It does the best job out there for understanding search. The only thing a website owner will need to do is the research on the keywords people use to find the site.

How do you analyze whether the SEO is actually working? How often should you measure your results?

We use a combination of Google Analytics and webmaster tools to measure our success. For Google Analytics, we look at the organic search category and measure results over time. Then we see whether or not the search traffic has gone up month over month and year over year. We also look at the conversions either on a leads basis or on a revenue-from-eCommerce basis.

What are some of your favorite tools or resources for staying up to date on SEO best practices?

We read Search Engine Land and Moz.com and Google’s Webmaster Tools blog.

What SEO tricks or techniques often result in sites being penalized by search engines?

Anything that’s manufactured with a computer will get you trouble. This means having many links submitted on different sites or scrapping sites for content are all big no-nos.

When should business owners and product inventors seek the help of digital content marketing experts like you?

You should seek an expert like us when you need to bring your traffic up. We can also help get your business found on the Internet. Or, if you used to rank for certain keywords but you no longer rank or get traffic from Google search.

How important is link building today, and how can business owners and product inventors do it efficiently and effectively?

Link building is very important. Business owners should start with friends and family and ask them to feature the business on their site. Another way to do it is to join associations like the Better Business Bureau or your local chamber of commerce and make sure you get a link. Another great way to build links is press. Talk to your hometown newspaper about doing an article on your business.