Each year, there are approximately 340 million work-related accidents around the world. However, many victims of work-related accidents and injuries never get compensated as they should.

That’s why it’s important to understand what to do if you suffer a workers’ comp injury. By following the correct procedure, you can get the financial assistance you need while you’re injured.

Keep reading to learn more about what to do if you suffer and injury while on the job.

Visit a Doctor

The first thing you need to do following an on-the-job accident is visit a doctor. If your injury is severe, you may need to go directly to the emergency room to be treated.

Visiting a workers’ comp doctor is important not only to treat any injuries you may have received, but also because they can document exactly what injuries you have, including ones that may not be visible. This is important when you make your workers’ comp case because you want to be compensated for all the injuries you have suffered.

File an Accident Report

After you’ve sought medical care, you must file an accident report. This needs to be done as soon as possible because many states have limitations on how long you can wait to file a report.

Regardless of whether you have suffered an injury or not, an accident report should always be filed. This is necessary because you might not realize you suffered an injury until days or weeks later. If you never file an accident report, it’ll be nearly impossible for you to win a workers’ comp case over an injury that wasn’t apparent until weeks later.

Filing a report is also helpful for any coworkers that were involved in the accident who may have been injured as it can back up their workers’ comp claim as well.

Report Injuries to Your Employer

Your employer is the one responsible for filing workers’ comp claims to their insurance company, so you need to report any and all injuries you have suffered as a result of your on-the-job accident. This is especially important for those injuries that aren’t apparent at the time of the accident.

Once you report your injuries to your employer, be sure to follow up with them to make sure your claim was filed.

Meet with an Attorney

You also might want to consider meeting with a workers’ comp attorney following an on-the-job accident. You can usually schedule a free consultation to find out what benefits and compensation you are entitled to.

If your employer is giving you any pushback on filing a workers’ comp claim, you can consult with an attorney on what your best course of action will be.

What to Do After a Workers’ Comp Injury

Now that you know what to do after you’ve suffered a workers’ comp injury, it’s time to take action. The longer you take to report your injury, the less likely it’ll be that you get workers’ compensation.

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When 70-80% of consumers actively ignore paid advertisements, ranking highly in organic search results is vital to your business.

SEO isn’t magic. It takes time and dedication, which means it may be smart to hire someone else to take care of it for you. But how do you know who to hire or where to start?

Here are 15 tips to help you choose the right professional SEO firm for your business.

1. Understand There Isn’t a Fix-All Method

Before you seek an SEO firm, it’s important to know that there is no “secret sauce” for SEO marketing.

A low-quality SEO consultant will tell you they have secret optimization techniques that beat the algorithms. This isn’t true.

If you ask a potential firm how they drive results and they say it’s a proprietary method, run away. SEO is an open field and there are various techniques marketers use to improve search rankings. If a company’s method is veiled in secrecy, consider it a red flag.

2. Don’t Trust Google

This might seem like an oxymoron, but don’t automatically trust the first result on Google when looking for a high-quality SEO consultant.

A good SEO company will rank well if they know how to do their job. But the best SEO companies are so overwhelmed by doing good work that they don’t need to worry about optimizing their websites.

Great SEO firms have loyal clients that refer even more loyal clients to them, so they don’t spend resources to gain new clients if they don’t have to.

Many companies that rank well are focusing their energy on ranking well because they don’t have clients. Not that there aren’t any good SEO companies ranking well on Google, but don’t blindly trust Google without doing your own research first.

3. Establish Your Goals First

Before deciding who to hire, know what you’re after. Establish clear goals and share them with the SEO firm in your consultation.

You can’t just say “I want to increase traffic to my website.” Here are examples of good goals:

• We need to boost revenue through new sales and hope SEO will drive those sales.
• We want to promote email sign-ups by offering free trials.
• We want to improve the reputation of our brand by pushing bad reviews down and bringing good reviews up.

The more easily you can measure metrics for it, the better the goal.

4. Define an SEO Budget

Know how much you want to spend before you go after any certain SEO company.

Ask about specials and package deals early on to determine whether a firm’s services are within your budget. Most will be willing to piecemeal their services to work with you.

When selecting a package, always defer to the goal you made in the beginning.

5. Make a List of Options

From your budget and a list of goals, come up with 3-4 good options to choose from. Then, have conversations with each consultant or firm to determine which is the right one for your business.

Good sources for this include personal and professional networks, similar (non-competitive) companies, and industry insiders.

6. Ask Good Questions

Never go into a consultation without a list of relevant questions. They will help guide the conversation and determine whether the firm is a good fit.

Here are some helpful questions to ask:

• How will you improve our search engine rankings?
• Can you share information on past clients and their results?
• Will we have to commit any internal resources?
• How will you keep me informed during the process?

Write out these questions as you make your list of goals and bring them with you to the consultation.

7. Consider In-House SEO

In the middle of your search for an SEO firm, you might have the urge to bring SEO in-house. Your employees know your business better than any consultant ever will. And if your communication is good, it might be worth a shot.

Or, you can always try the consulting thing for a while and determine whether your team can do it. Contract their services for a year, then let your in-house team handle it.

8. Ask for Advice

If you have your heart set on an SEO firm that you can’t afford, ask if they can advise you on the work. Then someone in-house (or someone new you’ve hired) can work under them as an apprentice to learn.

If you go this route, you’ll have an in-house employee coached by the experts, which may be the best of both worlds.

9. Know When to Let It Go

SEO is difficult and extremely competitive. Over 75% of people never click past page one of the results on Google. As such, you need to decide if spending time and money on SEO is worth it.

You may not see much value going from page six to page two. Unless you want to commit and give it your all, SEO may be something you focus on when you have more resources down the road.

10. Ask for Testimonials

If you’re looking for unbiased opinions about an SEO firm, look for reviews. Reading through testimonials and unsolicited online reviews is a great way to find a reputable firm.

Find these reviews by searching for them on Yelp and Glassdoor. Some agencies will provide references and case studies if you ask. Case studies will show you what the company is capable of.

A great firm should have no problem putting you in direct contact with a former client so you can talk with them about their experience. If the company says no to this, it’s not a good sign.

11. Don’t Go Local “Just Because”

Yes, supporting local businesses is always a good thing, but not always with SEO.

SEO can be performed remotely from anywhere. There are many options to choose from, so you’re not stuck with your local SEO agency.

Just be careful about choosing SEO companies in foreign countries. Unless your target audience lives in that country, that may not be a good move.

12. Watch out for Questionable Practices

Be on the lookout for black hat SEO practices. Companies that use “shady” hacks to improve their search results can cause damage to your rankings that take years to recover from. This damage is because Google punishes sites that they catch using these practices.

If an SEO firm makes unrealistic guarantees about results, look elsewhere. Some practices to look out for are:

• Buying links from low-quality, random websites
• Using a program to generate web pages
• Scraping content from other sources
• Using fake press releases to spam links

If you’ve used any of these techniques, let your SEO expert know. They can help you clean up your website so you don’t have a run-in with Google.

And just to be safe, don’t enter a business agreement with anyone who wants to keep copyrights to the metadata they create, edit, or analyze for your website. If you give them this right, they can legally bar you from your site if you leave them for a competitor.

13. Check out Digital Marketing Agencies

Don’t forget to include digital marketing agencies in your search for an SEO firm.

SEO can work seamlessly with pay-per-click advertising, social media marketing, and conversion rate optimization. Some companies offer all of these services at once. If you’re focusing on SEO alone, you may miss these companies that will help you meet your business goals.

14. Familiarize Yourself with Common SEO Tools

Don’t blindly trust anyone you have a consultation with. Before hiring an SEO company, familiarize yourself with common SEO tools and tactics.

Some tools are better than others, so do your research. This way, when you ask what they’re using, you’ll understand their knowledge of SEO. Plus, the more tools they use, the more capabilities they have—this is a win for you.

15. Pay Attention to Their Proposed Timeline

SEO is an ongoing activity that takes patience and time to implement and achieve success. Be wary of any company that promises success with an unrealistic timeline.

A reasonable SEO timeline will outline the firm’s plan from beginning to end. The timeline will probably range from several weeks to months. Make sure they know what you expect as well, so you can work together with a common goal in mind.

It’s Time to Hire a Professional SEO Firm

Now that you’re equipped with these tips, do you feel prepared to hire a professional SEO firm?

You can’t go wrong if you set realistic goals, follow a budget, and ask the right questions before signing any contracts.

If you want to learn more tips for SEO beginners, check out the rest of our site.

Even if you avoid looking at the calendar, you know when it’s getting close to the holiday season. Whether it’s pumpkin spice or frosty snowflakes, it seems like every business jumps aboard the holiday train by adding seasonal design elements to their brand.

While holiday branding can help with your brand awareness, there’s a fine line between spreading joy and seasonal overkill.

Before you make the season part of your brand, read our short guide to seasonal products and branding.

Let Your Logo Say Happy Holidays

Your logo speaks volumes about your business and what message you strive to relay to customers. A logo reflects quality, professionalism, and gives the world insight into the culture you’re building at your company.

Using a holiday theme, give your logo a subtle change by using holiday color schemes in place of your usual palette. Have fun and embellish your logo with a pumpkin, snowman, or bright red holly berries.

Notice the word subtle—keep in mind the critical part your logo plays in your brand identity. You don’t want to change the logo so much your customers no longer recognize it. Have fun with a seasonal design but keep your company’s voice speaking over the din of pumpkins and Santa hats.

Speaking of seasons, don’t limit your business to only using seasonal design elements during the winter holidays. Take advantage of the range of seasons, including those specific to your industry.

Seasonal Designs and Social Media

Social media is the ideal platform to implement seasonal design elements.

You can update your Facebook cover photo with a temporary design inspired by holidays. Switch your usual Twitter header for a seasonal-inspired design with a cozy, inviting message. Greet customers who visit your various social media pages with seasonal imagery and messages.

Make things easy and use a Logo Scheduler Plugin to seamlessly update your logo across email and social media pages for the seasons.

If your company has a blog, post content appropriate for the season. For example, if your business promotes sustainability or you offer green products, write a post about decorating with eco-friendly holiday lighting.

Tie Your Brand in with the Season

When you think about seasonal design, you’ll notice familiar elements that everyone associates with a particular season or holiday.

Even if your brand doesn’t represent pumpkin spice or snowmen, you can find ways to tie your brand into the season.

For example, if you run a cleaning company, create a festive holiday theme on your Facebook page and promote how your services help busy people prepare for the holiday rush or the company party.

There’s no limit to how you can use seasonal design to promote brand awareness.

Ready to Use Seasonal Design in Your Brand?

We hope we’ve inspired you to add a little seasonal cheer to your brand by using touches of seasonal design.

Whether you make subtle changes to your logo, or go all out with seasonal images on your social pages, have fun with it!

If you’ve enjoyed reading this post, continue browsing our blog. You’ll find an array of articles interesting to small business and branding.

When you’re looking to create campaigns for your advertising it makes sense to look to the big boys.

After all, what better way to pattern yourself than after companies with good marketing.

You don’t even need a comparable budget to get there.

So, if you’re wondering what tried and tested methods of marketing are available then read on and we’ll show you some of the proven ways that companies have gotten ahead.

1.Brand Consistency

Delivering a repeated, consistent message across all platforms is something used by brands to get ahead.

Think of it this way: you’d know it’s a Coke commercial when you watch it even if the bottle wasn’t labeled. They’ve built an empire on repeating the same message in slightly different ways for decades.

You may not have the reach of Coke, but if you do it right then customers will think of you whenever the emotional association pops up. It’s a long road, but it’s a proven way to build something which lasts for years to come.

2. Telling Stories

Storytelling is all the rage these days. Many brands miss the mark, however, by telling a story simply for the sake of telling one.

Don’t take a page out of the book of recipe websites that tell you long, rambling stories before getting to the point.

Instead, you need to work in your brand and product naturally over the course of any given piece of marketing. Tell your viewers a story they’ll love right from the beginning and you’re well on your way to forming a lasting impression in their minds.

3. Content Marketing

Intertwined with storytelling is the idea of content marketing.

Many people make the mistake of thinking of their content as simply a means to one simple end: their search engine optimization.

That’s a huge mistake. Instead, you can use your content marketing to intertwine more high-concept ideas for your products and services.

SEO is still important but content marketing can be used across platforms to deliver your message to those reading, watching, and generally enjoying your content.

And that’s the key: content marketing should always be enjoyable to go through. It’s not about slipping a sales letter into an article and snagging higher Google ranks. It’s about people viewing your company as a content creator, in addition to selling your products.

4. Staying Mobile

A huge percentage of your viewers are going to be using phones or tablets to view your marketing.

That means a tight focus on mobile marketing is key to ensuring you’re ahead of the competition.

It’s not just about reactive web themes either. Focus on how people use their phones. Are you targeting the sorts of questions a person might actually ask their phone when making a search?

Does your website load cleanly on mobile? Are ads interfering with the user’s experience?

Design things with mobile devices in mind for the best end result.

Emulate Companies With Good Marketing

Copying companies with good marketing isn’t hard. Think about the things that you know for sure about the big brands that most of us use in our daily lives and scale them down to suit your own business model.

The sky’s the limit and you don’t need to split test every idea that comes to mind when you can just steal a page from the big boys.

So, consider, how can you modify your marketing today to bring it in line with industry titans?

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