Sunday, February 1st, 2009
I did some research on my new client, his site, and his industry. He has, or had, a web site built by someone else. I did some checking around to see where we stand before we begin. Here’s what I did.
Using the “SEO For Firefox” plug in and the Google Toolbar in Firefox, I found out that it’s been around for about 6 months. That will help us get out of the Google sandbox.
by NeilsPhotography
Using the “links:” search term in Google, where you type in “links:www.domainname.com”, you can find out how many other sites out there are linking to you. These are your “incoming links”. This one has 10 at the moment. That’s a cool place to start from.
It’s got a page tank of 0. That means there’s opportunity to improvement here! It’s got a good solid base, with a little history and some links to it, so when we start to optimize it, it should really respond.
This is much better than starting from a brand new domain name and new site, with no incoming links. Google doesn’t like those newbies. They could be spammers or child abusers or some kind of perverts.
Just like in the real world, they want to get to know you a bit before they trust you. It’s all about the reputation. Now that this site has been at the party for a little while, it’s time to make sure our hair looks good, that we don’t have bad breath, and there’s no food spilled on our shirt. Then we can walk over and introduce ourself to the host of the party, Google.com.
Posted in SEO |
Sunday, January 11th, 2009
I’m offended by the “greasy hair” stereotype, but other than that, this article has some true things to say. I came from the web development world, where a budget of $30,000 was average. I worked at a company that developed a web site and sold it for $580 million bucks.
You don’t need that. From the article: ” Many people I know are fine with a simple and professional Web page.” That’s what I advocate, a simple, professional web site for FREE!.
Quoting from Small Business – We Don’t Need No Stinkin’ Web Sites By Gene Marks
Many people I know are fine with a simple and professional Web page.
A Vested Interest in the Debate
When was the last time I visited the site for the corner Exxon guy or the sub shop across from my office? To see the price of gas? To get nutrition info on ham on rye?
If you search the Web you’ll find lots of people writing about how small business owners must have a Web site. Dig a little further and guess what? Many of the people shouting how absolutely critical it is for a small business to have a Web site are — drum roll, please — in the business of helping small businesses create Web sites. Surprise! Despite what all the business experts — including the turtleneck-and-vest-wearing classes — may say, Web sites are not an absolute necessity.
Good business owners invest wisely and for the most return. They’re not in business to run a site just because it’s cool or hip. Many people I know are fine with a simple and professional Web page. Let the turtleneck-and-vest-wearing, greasy-haired geeks suck their fees from someone else.
Read the entire article at:
http://www.cio-today.com/story.xhtml?story_id=013001HJPXZ6&page=3&full_skip=1
Posted in marketing |
Wednesday, December 10th, 2008
Everyone knows that the economy is in trouble. How should you react as a small business owner? How are you going to pay the rent next month? Which employee are you going to let go? How will you keep your current clients? Don’t panic.
The easiest and quickest budget item fora small business to cut back on is marketing. There’s no immediate affect felt, so you think it might be safe to cut, but nothing could be worse for your business. The Harvard Business Review said:
It is well documented that brands that increase (marketing) during a recession, when competitors are cutting back, can improve market share and return on investment at lower cost than during good economic times.
The best time to take advantage of your place in the market is in an economic downturn. Because other people are quick to cut marketing, you will have the perfect opportunity to reach even more prospective customers. In a downturn, aggressive PR and Communications strategy is the solution.
Building or updating your web site is one of the cheapest and easiest ways to reach those prospective customers. Now is the time to put some time into reviewing your web site. Does it say everything it needs to say about your small business? Can you add features that allow more customer involvement or at least feedback? Maybe it’s time to have a professional review your site and give you suggestions on how it can be improved.
Now is the time to spend more on advertising, not less.
Posted in marketing |
Tuesday, December 9th, 2008
SiteProNews: Webmaster News & Resources » Blog Archive » How to Convert More Website Traffic into More Customers & Sales by Inviting Prospects to Take Action
Here Are 3 Easy “Calls to Action” to Convert More Website Traffic into Sales on the About Us, Media and Contact Us Pages
1. On the “About Us” page, after your bio, add a powerful client testimonial praising your expertise and your measurable and specific impact on the client’s bottom line. Then add the line “Ready for these kinds of results in your organization? Click here to get started now!” (This links to the contact page).
This call to action, in fact, can be used for any page that does not have an obvious next step.
2. Your “Media” page should not just be a collage of logos. It should contain short videos of your TV appearances, audio clips of your radio interviews or featured-expert interviews on teleseminars. It should also include links to the articles where you were quoted or links to your articles that got published on the top websites. Let the world see what a sought-after, in-demand expert you really are.
With that being said, a simple, but effective call to action would be, “Sarah B. Marketer looks forward to being the featured expert on your next program. To schedule her appearance right now click here.” (This links to the Contact page.)
3. The Contact page, by definition, is a call to action. It needs to take your visitor by the hand and lead them through the next step.
It should not just be a page that displays your mailing address, phone number, and main corporate e-mail. Rather, it should lead with a paragraph that congratulates the reader for their decision to take action. Then, it should explain the process for getting in touch with you. It should also describe what someone should expect once they contact you.
Next, guide them through a simple web form that asks specific questions. This way you can do your homework and present prospects with a specific response and action plan. Make sure to keep this form as brief as possible, and only ask questions that directly inform how you and your visitor would do business together in the near future.
Having a web form, rather than just a link to your e-mail address, guides your visitor to take a specific action. This raises their level of commitment to you and increases your chances that they will buy from you.
Bottom line: Make sure that every page on your website provides a roadmap for your visitor with a specific call to action. This is the only way your prospects will reach the destination that you prepared for them. And, it’s the only way you will increase your website sales conversions.
Read the entire article at SiteProNews: Webmaster News & Resources » Blog Archive » How to Convert More Website Traffic into More Customers & Sales by Inviting Prospects to Take Action
Posted in marketing |
Tuesday, December 9th, 2008
My wife went through the draft with her pen and marked it all up. Anything that she didn’t understand is being rewritten. Some of my organization wasn’t clear, so I’m making that a little clearer. We want to make Web Site Starter Kit the best it can be, which means clear, concise communication.
They haven’t quite released WordPress 2.7 yet, so I’m still rocking the RC1 version of it. They say they will release the final version tomorrow. A few more screenshots today and it should be good to go.
Web Site Starter Kit should be released by the end of the week.
Posted in web site build |
Saturday, December 6th, 2008
Web Site Starter Kit First Draft is done!
I need to go back through it all and review it, but the basic idea of using WordPress.com to set up a free web site is a good one. I have all kinds of tips and tricks to make that the best possible web site you can get, including SEO and promotion of the site.
As an example, I created a free site aimed at 3 keywords. Within 3 weeks of creating it, it was number 3 in the search results for those keywords in Google. That shocked even me. This SEO stuff really works.
Of course, now that I’ve written it all out, WordPress is releasing a new version and the admin interface is very different. It’s in production on wordpress.com, but the downloadable version is not available yet. It should be any day now.
When it is available, I’ll go do screenshots and the book will be ready to sell. It will be aimed at small businesses, really small ones, and in addition to background on general good web site ideas, it will have a “free” and a “cheap” method for creating web sites.
It should be all done and ready to go by next week.
Posted in web site build |
Friday, December 5th, 2008
Many small business owners will use their old generic email address when doing business, even after they’ve spent money to buy a domain name. Sending an email to someone with a HotMail, Yahoo, or Gmail domain name is a sure sign that you don’t know what you are doing, that you are second rate, that you are not professional.
You should set up addresses like support@ and sales@ and information@, just to look professional.
Make sure that the web host that is hosting your web site can do email also. All of them should be able to. It’s not that hard. Take the time to go in a get it set up. Find out what the host name is there and set up the account.
Set up your email application to log into that account, then use it to send and receive email.
You should also have a “catch all” account that will probably get filled with spam, but you’ll also get those emails with misspelled email addresses that you might otherwise miss.
You should set up addresses like “support@” and “sales@” and “information@”, just to look professional. You, or someone, should be able to log in and send and receive email at each of your custom addresses.
Also, don’t let any address lay dormant. Make sure that someone is logging into every account, every 10 minutes. “I sent you an email last week. Did you get it?” is not the question you want to hear.
Posted in web host |
Tuesday, December 2nd, 2008
Stores seeking sales on Web :: PostStar.com
Locally, Paul O’Donnell, owner of Celtic Treasures in Saratoga Springs, saw an influx of orders Monday thanks to a free shipping offer.
“UPS came in with a big hand truck to carry it all out,” he said.
Online since 1996, Celtic Treasures has established an online presence and customer database that would make many small businesses drool. O’Donnell’s store appears on the first page of a Google search for “Irish gifts,” which he called “priceless” and chalked up to longevity.
Celtic Treasures in Saratoga Springs
While the Cyber Monday phenomenon is largely absent from Main Street, online stores are becoming a popular way for local merchants to reach out to their existing customer base, and sometimes beyond.
In Glens Falls, SensibiliTeas owner Donnalynn Milford said a Web site has allowed her to send teas, herbs and spices all over the world. And when gas prices exceeded $4 per gallon, she noticed that customers from Chestertown and North Creek were ordering online, too.
“It was cheaper for me to send it to them, than (for them) to drive down and get it,” Milford said.
For most small businesses, a functional Web site is as good as a second storefront, said Todd Shimkus, president and CEO of the Adirondack Regional Chambers of Commerce.
“The primary benefit for a local small business, irregardless of where you are, is it gives you a chance to compete with those larger operations who are trying to draw business away,” Shimkus said.
Merchants with a unique, specialized product often have an easier time attracting an online audience.
Read the entire article at Stores seeking sales on Web :: PostStar.com
Posted in marketing |
Monday, December 1st, 2008
Here is the web guy at the NYT saying that their main costs for their web site is the manpower to build it. The software is cheap. The hardware is cheap. That’s basically the approach I take in the Website Starter Kit. Use WordPress, which is free, and buy space on a cheap web host. Use their hardware for less than $10 a month.
The main cost to build a web site is the manpower to build it.
You be the labor. You do it yourself and save a ton of money. Using these tools, it won’t be that hard to do.
In my experience, even the building of the site is easy. The real time suck is politics. The meetings between marketing and well, marketing, seemed to drag out every decision. They needed to be sure everything was just right before we could move ahead. When you can tell a developer to “do it this way”, they can knock it out quickly. When you ask a marketing person which way they want it, have a seat and wait.
Don’t fall into this same trap. Just get the site up and out the door. When you build custom stuff, it will take a bit to make changes, but using WordPress, it’s easy. Make all of the changes you want.
Make a decision. Make it happen. Bam. You’re done.
Old Media Interview: Aron Pilhofer, interactive guru, editor at The New York Times | Old Media, New Tricks
Everything we use is free and open-source… The cost here isn’t software, or even hardware, which is relatively cheap these days… The price most … organizations (and it’s not just small ones) seem reluctant to pay is for people…
Read the entire article at Old Media Interview: Aron Pilhofer, interactive guru, editor at The New York Times | Old Media, New Tricks
Posted in web site build |
Friday, November 28th, 2008
Year-End Tech & Tax Tips for Smart Small Businesses – MarketWatch
Black Friday and Cyber Monday Sales Combined with Historically High IRS Write-offs Make End of 2008 Ideal Time for Small Businesses to Invest in New Digital Technology
LONG BEACH, Calif., Nov 24, 2008 /PRNewswire via COMTEX/ — Successful small business owners are constantly balancing the need to invest in new productivity-enhancing technology with the impact on their bottom lines. But between now and the end of the year, with the help of two unrelated economic factors — increased IRS Section 179 deductions and the growing importance of “Black Friday” and “Cyber Monday” — the decision to purchase that new high-speed color printer, multimedia projector, high-speed document scanner or virtually any other tech product, may just be a little easier.
A change in the 2008 Federal Tax Code has resulted in historically high allowable write-offs of tangible property; property that generally includes that much needed printer, scanner or digital projector. Black Friday and Cyber Monday, the Friday and Monday immediately following Thanksgiving (this year November 28 and December 1), signal the kick-off by consumer electronic and office product retailers of their most aggressive marketing programs of the year. The combination of these two factors may result in small businesses being able to purchase new digital products at the very best prices of the year.
“Every small business owner I work with is looking to make every dollar invested payoff,” said Barry Drake, president, Drake Business Services, Inc., a San Jose, Calif.-based accounting firm. “Taking advantage of this year’s IRS Section 179 write-offs is generally a smart move, however, it’s only smart if its being used to purchase products that will help grow the company or help it operate more efficiently.”
Read the entire article at Year-End Tech & Tax Tips for Smart Small Businesses – MarketWatch
Posted in web site build |
Thursday, November 27th, 2008
One reason that I want the primary focus of my business to be helping people build their own web sites instead of building sites for them is that everyone needs to embrace their own web site. We should know what is the content and update it regularly.
Embrace your site!
I can’t stress enough that you should be personally involved in your web site. You would always keep a copy of the keys to your front door. You would always have access to your bank account. You should always be involved with, control, and manage your own web site.
Don’t pay people like me to build you a site so that you can forget it and get on with the important parts of your business. The web site IS an important part of your business and you need to treat it that way if you are going to be successful.
Web wise: Startup company’s website- Internet -Infotech-The Economic Times
So whether it is a small-time business setup or a larger brick and mortar entity you are launching, a website is like the screwdriver in a toolbox that you really can’t do without. Says Rajeev Karwal, CEO and founder of Milagrow Business and Knowledge Solutions, “Internet domains are the most cost-effective method of getting your message across to a huge audience.
In fact, it is a very personal way of connecting with them. Unfortunately, only one or two percent of small companies use their websites effectively today.” There are quite a few reasons: low connectivity, low awareness and a tendency to “outsource and forget” what is treated as a necessary evil. Also, a website is not just a one-time investment of time or money—it demands constant attention and upgradation. But as these entrepreneurs prove, an attractive and well-tended website can be a key pillar of success and growth.
Read the entire article at Web wise: Startup company’s website- Internet -Infotech-The Economic Times
Posted in web site build |
Monday, November 24th, 2008
Local search is getting huge. These are places that you can get listed to help establish you local listing on-line presence.
Each of these listings will bring you traffic.
Each of these listings will bring you traffic, since no one uses the phone book any more. Each should be pretty self explanatory. Some offer paid features as well as free listings.
- www.dmoz.org
- local.botw.org
- advertise.local.com/
- listings.yellowpages.com/
- selfenroll.citysearch.com/
- www.google.com/local/add
- www.localeze.com/manage/
- list.infousa.com/dbupdate.htm
- www.dexsearchmarketing.com/
- botw.org/top/Regional/United_States/
- searchmarketing.yahoo.com/local/business.php
- my.superpages.com/spweb/products/business-listing
- Friends, Family, Partnerships with websites. Ask if they would be willing to swap links with your website to help promote both of your businesses.
Posted in marketing |
Monday, November 24th, 2008
#1: Your Small Business Needs a Website – This may sound obvious, but I am still quite amazed at the amount of small businesses that don’t have even a basic website. More people use the Internet to look up information about local information and that includes your business. When your mother doesn’t use the phone book any more, you know it’s time for a web site. Follow the Free Small Business Web Site guide to create a good one for free.
When your mother doesn't use the phone book any more, you know it's time for a web site.
– This should be obvious, but given the fact that a large percentage of small businesses don’t have websites, an even larger percent don’t have blogs. I know you don’t want to write something every day, that you’re a horrible writer, and no one cares anyway. The search engines care. They rank web sites that are updated regularly higher than static ones.
People do care and they do read your stuff. They want to get an idea of who you are, what your values are, and if you can be trusted or not. Write a little bit often and you’ll make everyone happy.
#3 Make It EASY to Contact Your Business – If people aren’t using the phonebook any more, then they are coming to your website to find out where you are, what time you’re open and what your phone number is. Put this information on every page in a sidebar or at least the footer. If people try to contact you by going to your website and can’t find that information, you have just lost a customer. I can hear the money falling out of your pockets right now.
#4 Claim and Update Your Google Local Listing – Google gathers information about your business and puts it in the local listings. It might be, and probably is, wrong or outdated. Go to http://www.google.com/local/add and add your company information if it’s not there or correct it if it is. People looking for local businesses based on location will go to your competition if you are not there.
I’ve also heard of people changing the information on their competition (you) to their contact info. You look for Jack’s Plumbing, but Joes’s plumbing has changed the phone number for Jack’s to his own phone number at Joe’s. You want Jack, but Joe gets the call and you don’t know Jack.
Posted in marketing |
Sunday, November 23rd, 2008
Seth Godin, as always, is correct about the way to make money on the Internet. This is as important to small business owners, churches, bloggers, and wanna-be millionaires. Look at your organization and figure out how to connect people. Connect you and your customers, your customers with each other. He’s got examples. Do this now.
Seth’s Blog: How to make money using the Internet
The essence is this: connect.
Make money: not by building an internet company, but by using the net as a tool to create value and get paid. Use the internet as a tool, not as an end. Do it when you are part of a big organization or do it as a soloist. The dramatic leverage of the net more than overcomes the downs of the current economy.
The essence is this: connect.
Connect the disconnected to each other and you create value.
- Connect advertisers to people who want to be advertised to.
- Connect job hunters with jobs.
- Connect information seekers with information.
- Connect teams to each other.
- Connect those seeking similar.
- Connect to partners and those that can leverage your work.
- Connect people who are proximate geographically.
- Connect organizations spending money with ways to save money.
- Connect like-minded people into a movement.
- Connect people buying with people who are selling.
Some examples? I think it’s worth delineating these so you can see that the opportunity can be big, if that’s your taste, or small if you don’t want to invest heavily just yet.
Read the entire article at Seth’s Blog: How to make money using the Internet
Posted in marketing |
Sunday, November 23rd, 2008
Note: This is for people who already own a business, but don’t have a web site. This is not about how to blog your way to millions. It’s not about how to create the next Digg or FaceBook. This will tell you how to get your business on the web for free. That’s it. Don’t come whining to me if you expected something else.
Are you broke? Or are you just cheap? You just want a web site for your small business, but all you can pay is attention? Then listen up.
It’s really possible that you can create a web site for your business for free. It’s not going to be the prettiest. It’s not going to have some of the features that you’d expect in site that you paid for, but it’s going to work really well, give you all of the functionality that you need to put your site in the top rankings of the search engines, allow your vistors to find the information they want, and make it easy for them to give you their money. Best of all, it’s going to be absolutely free. It will not cost you a dime.
Before we walk through how to do that, let me tell you that there are better ways to build small business web sites. This process will get you a good web site, but it’s possible to get a great website for just a little bit of money. Since you’re reading this, we’ll only talk about the free stuff. After you see how cool the free stuff is, you’ll want more, so come back and read my other stuff about getting a small business web site for cheap, instead of free.
Posted in web site build |
Sunday, November 23rd, 2008
Now that you have all of your pages, which has created all of your menus, and are filled with all of your content, what else do you want the site to do?
All of the fancy features that you want your site to do can be added using “plug ins”. Each plug in adds one bit of functionality. You can see all of them on the WordPress site here. www.wordpress.org/extend/plugins/
To install a plug in, you need to copy the plug in files to the plug in directory in your WordPress installation. That’s located at /top_directory/wp-content/plugins/. You’ll probably
http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/all-in-one-seo-pack/
Posted in web site build |
Sunday, November 23rd, 2008
There are some things that a small business web site should have to establish credibility and not look stupid. You should make it easy for people to contact you. Yes, even your phone number. Being able to call up and get a real person, even if all you can say is “Sorry, I’m busy right now, but I’ll get back to you” really means a lot to your customers.
Having your physical address really helps also. If you want to go all out, put on a photo of your shop if you have one. I’ll be very confident if I can see that someone has a real shop that way. Of course, you could go to Flickr or Google Images and find some slick office building and call it your World Headquarters, but, well, that would be stupid. If you want people to trust you and come back for more, don’t lie to them. Didn’t you learn that in third grade?
Posted in web site build |
Sunday, November 23rd, 2008
While it’s true that video can increase traffic to your web site, and is generally a wonderful thing, please, please, please make sure that you don’t make it start it playing as soon as someone loads the page. Please let me watch it if I want to or ignore it if I must. Nothing is more irritating than having sounds start coming from your computer when you didn’t expect it. It’s like walking up to a stranger on the sidewalk and shouting at them. It’s just rude.
Supercharge Your Web Site with Video | The Small Business Blog by Rieva Lesonsky
All smart entrepreneurs know that in order to compete today you need a robust Web presence. But not everyone has yet embraced online video, which (according to many Web gurus) can increase your site’s traffic and boost your sales. To learn more, I talked to Benjamin Wayne, president and CEO of Fliqz.com, a company that helps small and mid-sized businesses integrate video on their Web sites.
Supercharge Your Web Site with Video
Benjamin Wayne: Video can help businesses in three ways: drive increased traffic, drive more interactivity and page views, and drive increased [sales] conversion.
Lesonsky: Let’s talk about boosting traffic. What are the best ways to do this?
Wayne: The three primary ways are through site placement, search engine syndication, and viral propagation. When you add video to your site, consider using the home page, your galleries, and calls to action. Video on the home page will attract clicks from more than 50 percent of your users, and can be a great tool to draw visitors deeper into the site. The videos should be instructional in nature, or include a message from your company that provides an immersive introduction for new visitors.
Galleries are another good way to draw users into the site and encourage deeper interaction. Make sure that [videos within your product] galleries have a means to drive viewers back to a specific product or to purchase, and keep the videos short to encourage high completion rates. Finally, combine videos with a call to action. Videos are incredibly effective in driving user conversion [to sales], and should be featured prominently next to products as a means of driving purchase behavior.
Read the entire article at Supercharge Your Web Site with Video | The Small Business Blog
Posted in content |
Thursday, November 20th, 2008
Here are the first three reasons that your small business really should have a blog of some sort. I know you want a normal “brochureware” site, but posting good content regularly is magic in terms of traffic and people finding out about your small business. Static pages are so 1998.
Six Reasons Why Blogs Are So Good for SEO – flyte blog: web marketing strategies for small business
Posting good content regularly is magic in terms of traffic.
1. Blogs are all about content. Search engines love content. They don’t love Flash, and they’re still struggling with photos and video, but they absolutely get content.
2. Blogs have text-based navigation. Search engines have an easier time with text based (vs. image based) navigation because it’s more transparent. Search engines for a while now have told us that they want sites to serve up the same information/experience to a search engine bot as to a person.
3. Blogs offer lots of links. If search engines feast on words, they travel on links. Blogs are often a good place to find new content on the Web.
Read the entire article at Six Reasons Why Blogs Are So Good for SEO – flyte blog: web marketing strategies for small business
Posted in SEO |
Wednesday, November 19th, 2008
I’ve put up a link under my short bio over there on the right. Put up a new head shot while I was there. If you click on the button, it’ll pop up a window and you can ask me anything you want to know about small business web sites. I’ll answer it as soon as I can. I want to build some traffic to the site, so I thought I’d put that possibility out there for you.
If you have any questions about small business web sites, web hosts, HTML, design, development, management, WordPress, or anything at all, go ahead and send me the question. We’ll see just how much I really do know. You can also leave a comment below, if you want to do it that way. Either way should work.
Thanks!
Posted in web site build |
