Archive for small business

19 Mar 2012
business tips • internet marketing • small business

Review of Go Mobile


I just finished reading Go Mobile by Jeanne Hopkins and Jamie Turner and it was a great read. It’s so fascinating to see how mobile units are going to change the landscape of the Internet.  Here are some notes I took, hopefully they’ll give you an idea of what you need to do to get ready!

1) If your target audience is on Mobile then you want to make sure that you’re business is on Foursquare.com, Where.com and Scvngr.com.

2) Whatever new directory opens up (like the ones I listed above) you want to make sure that your business/website is claimed there.

3) If your a brick and mortar you absolutely MUST have location based pages.  In other words, pages that market the city (cities) that you service.

4) If it’s appropriate, you also want to make sure that you have urgency based pages.  (i.e., emergency plumbing services, etc.)

5) Use SMS (text messaging).  Make sure it’s permission based (get permission from your customer) and text them messages such as an alert when a new product comes in, alert on sales, updated information on a service, etc.

6) Have your Internet marketer look at the keyword phrases that your mobile users are typing in to find your website.  It’s an insight into what your audience is looking for.

7) Use QR codes and put them on…

a) business cards
b) promotional literature
c) product tags
d) trade show signage
e) product packaging
f) print advertising
g) ticket stubs
h) receipts
i) storefront signs and windows
j) company vehicles

8) The mobile version of your website should only be 5-10 pages in length.  Reason is people don’t really “read” website pages via their mobile.

9) Having an APP is not necessarily for every business.  Look at what other businesses are doing in the way of Apps, examine how you use your own Apps.  It’s not necessary that every website / business create an App.

10) “According to a report from Forrester Research, the conversion rate on tablet computers exceeds that on desktops by as much as 50%”.  This basically tells you that users on tablet computers are more ready to “buy” whereas users on desktop pc’s are still researching.

All in all, it was a great book.  There’s alot more to learn from it so I encourage you to add it to your summer reading!

 

 


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eckweb | No comments
23 Feb 2012
business tips • small business

Adding Mobility To Your Selling Process


These days, businesses are venturing out either in person or online to sell their wares or services.  “Build it and they will come” does not apply.  To survive, businesses are going OUT to the customers.

An Easy Tool To Help You Increase Your Sales

So, to help you accomplish this in a fancy “hi tech” way, is SquareUp.com.  They offer the tool needed to turn your mobile phone into a cash register.  At least, for credit cards.  Personally, I’ve seen vendors at craft fairs use this and my hairdresser has one on her tablet.  It’s even connected to a schedule program (which is so cool).

Anyway, take a look at Squareup.com.  If you can accept more sales “on the go”, why not?


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19 Feb 2012
internet marketing • small business

Local Business + Internet Marketing


Way, way, way back in 2000 when I began Eckweb and my escapades into this crazy industry of Internet Marketing I met with small business owners (mostly) and attempted to sell them the benefits of Internet marketing.  That was an uphill battle, still is in some ways but back then, there just wasn’t much empirical evidence that I could give.  I only had my gut and my opinions and that wasn’t much.

But how, how things have changed.  I was reading an article from Bruce Clay and in that article is this wonderful sentence.  “According to Google, 20% of all computer based searches are identified to have local intent and on mobile phones the percentage of local searches skyrockets to as much as 90% of all searches!”

So, local business simply cannot ignore the Internet, especially mobile Internet.  I still can’t believe how many local businesses still don’t have an Internet presence.  Really?

Call your Internet marketer, your webmaster and if you don’t have either one of these, get one!  It’s time.


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15 Feb 2012
article writing • internet marketing • seo • small business

Simple Effective Internet Marketing Strategy


Okay, I know, it’s been a LONG time since I’ve written.  What can I say?  Life gets in the way of work sometimes.

So, to make up for my long absence I’m going to share with you a valuable tool (method really) on how to market your website.  It’s a bit anal, so please bear with me.

Step One: Choose Your Keyword

You’ve all heard me say it a billion times, it’s all about the keywords.  Internet marketing is, after all, keyword driven.  People type in keywords and the search engine machines do their best to choose the right websites to show the people.  So, the game then is to pick the keyword phrase(s) that people are typing in.

That being said, there are many tools out there that claim to do this an frankly, in my 12 years of doing SEO I haven’t really found any tool that does what it says it does.  So, take all these tools with a grain of salt.

AND, with THAT being said, I will say that the tool that I tend to use the most is Google Keywords Tool.  It’s not exactly the keyword phrases that people are typing in, but believe it or not, it’s closer than the other tools out there.  Be sure to sign in with your Google Account – you’ll get more data this way.

Here’s How To Use The Google Keywords Tool

a) Once you’ve signed in, type in a keyword phrase that you would like to be found for.

b) Open an excel sheet and begin typing in the keyword phrases that you find on the Google Keywords Tool that match your needs.  Type them in a column.

c) In the column next to the keyword type in the number of global monthly searches.

d) Once you’ve completed your list go to Google and type in each keyword phrase from your list and use quotes (i.e., “keyword phrase”).

e) In another column type in the number of search results.

f) Once you’re done with that list, you want to separate them in the following way…

*** All keyword phrases with 1 million or more search results in one group

*** All keyword phrases with 100,000 to 999,999 search results in one group

*** All keyword phrases with under 100,000 search results in one group

Choosing The Best Phrases

Now comes the hard part, you’ve got your list of keyword phrases and basically the amount of requests and the amount of competition for each phrase.

Obviously you want to try to use the phrase with the highest number of global searches because that means it’s the most popular.  Yet, you also want to use the phrase with the lowest amount of search results (which is the competition).  So, use your judgement as to what phrases to use.

Now, from the list of phrases that have 1 million or more search results, choose ONE PHRASE.

From the list of phrases that have 100,000 to 1 million search results, choose 2-3 phrases that will support the ONE PHRASE that you already chose in the million + category.

From the list of phrases that have less than 100,000 search results choose 2-3 phrases for each of the phrases that you chose in the 100,000 to 1 million category.

The idea here is to write a website page about the MAIN keyword phrase (this is your ONE PHRASE) that you pulled from the million + list.

Then, to write 2-3 pages using associated keyword phrases to support that ONE PHRASE.  This would be the pages written for the keyword phrases you chose in the 100,000 to 1 million list.

Then, to write 2-3 pages using associated keyword phrases (from the under 100,000 list) to support the keyword phrases you chose from the 100,000 to 1 million list.

Confusing?  Yeah, I know, but if you read what I wrote and go through an example, it’ll be clear to you, I promise.

In Summary

So, the idea here, if you haven’t already figured it out, is to build a section on your website, not just a page, to market a highly competitive keyword phrase.  And these days, there are many more highly competitive keyword phrases than not.  So, it’s a strategy that works.

The downside?  It means more writing.  More pages on a website are not a problem, the glitch is in the writing.  From my perspective, getting clients to write down information is a losing battle.  Out of 50 clients, only 2 do this – the others – it’s just a monthly battle that I don’t win.

The upside?  More business!!!!!!  I don’t know how else to say it, but it’s more business for you.  More sales, more exposure, more everything.  It works, it absolutely works.

Well, I hope this valuable method makes up for my long absence.  I will work hard to keep myself more active in my writings.


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30 Jan 2012
internet marketing • seo • small business

Freshness and Internet Marketing


The Freshness Factor (no, I’m not talking about fabric softener).

For years and years and years I’ve been touting the benefits of adding new (fresh) content to websites and blogs.  I have to suspect that some of my clients think I’m just fishing for more work (as if I have the time to do that!) but anyway, the truth is that new content on a website is how the search engines know that the site is alive and working.  Otherwise, you might as well hang the “closed” sign up.

Well, The Daily SEO Blog had a great article about this very topic and you can certainly explore it and see the details but I’ll try to break it down for you.  The article lists how fresh content influences rankings on the search engines.

1) The Inception Date – this is the date when Google first becomes aware of the particular website page.  We can’t influence how this changes, the inception date is firm.

2) Page Changes – how much content changes on website pages?  This means adding text, removing text, graphics, etc.  The amount of change on your webpage definitely plays a role in website rankings.

3) Rate of Change – how often do changes occur?  Daily, weekly, monthly?  Never?  Ugh – there’s no industry on the planet that doesn’t have SOMETHING new happening.  Is there?

4) New Website Pages – “Websites that add new pages at a higher rate may earn a higher freshness score than sites that add content less frequently.”  I couldn’t put it in any better terms.

5) Importance of Content - You may think that you can get away with just adding a few lines to your website pages here and there and consider your job of adding freshness all done.  Well, the search engines DO have a sense of what is important content and what isn’t.  Semantic phrasing plays a part in this but the bottom line is that the better the new content is, the better your chances of getting more traffic.

6) Incoming Links – always a factor when marketing websites, incoming links are important.  The words of the link, where the link is coming from and how often new links are added.  So, this means that the more relevant and helpful your content is, the more other people will link to it and the more incoming links you’ll have.

7) Quality of Incoming Links – if you get a link to your website from another website page that is “fresh” you’ll gain more points than if you get a link from another website page that is “stale”.  Not too much you, as the website owner, can do about this unless you specifically solicit certain websites to link to you.

8) Alerting Sites of Incoming Links – as time goes by, your website will change keyword phrases, etc.  It’s important to alert the other websites that are linking to you of these changes.  Is it THE most important thing in this list?  In my honest opinion NO, but it should be kept in mind that it’s an issue that eventually should be managed.

9) Old Data = Less Time Spent On Page – so, if your website has information that’s outdated, when a visitor lands on that page, the amount of time they spend on that page is not going to be very much.  The search engines can see this decline over time.  This can hurt you.

10) Don’t Throw Out The Baby with the Bathwater – what I mean is don’t dump your old pages.  If the information on them is still relevant, there’s no need to remove them from your site.  They will continue to come up for certain queries.


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eckweb | No comments
11 Jan 2012
seo • small business • social media

How Does Google + Affect SEO?


Yesterday I received in my email box an article from a client. His company offers executive recruiting services and he’s very much on top of his company’s marketing campaign. Which is great! Anyway, he sent me an article about Google + and their new project.

Basically, Google is now adding information from your Google + account onto your search result pages.  This will only work if you’re signed in to your Google account while you’re doing your searches.  The article read, “The change is live now, though not everyone will see it until it fully launches over the next few days.”  So, this morning I opened my computer and guess what I saw???

How Does This Google+ Thing Affect Your SEO Campaign?

The answer to this depends on who you speak to.  I mean really, we can all try to predict what every political candidate will do based on what they say but the truth is, no one knows what they will actually do until they’re in office.  So, no one really knows what’s going to happen to SEO with the implementation of Google+ integrated into their search results.  But, it doesn’t mean you should do nothing.  After all, not voting shouldn’t be an option.

Okay, so, to the what, how and why.

1) Google+ is a social network.  It’s Google’s version of Facebook and Twitter.  The idea of integrating Google+ into search results is twofold, in most opinions.  For one thing, it’ll help Google to boost their Google+ program.  Second, they are following the study by Nielson that 90% of people trust their friends when it comes to referrals or recommendations.  So, it makes sense that if you’re searching for a tire shop and your friends have recommended a tire shop on their Google+ then guess what, that particular tire shop (or shops) will show up on your search results.  (Of course, only if you’re signed in to your Google account).

2) So, I’ve been talking about search engine rankings for a few years now, saying how irrelevant they have become and that the only true measure of a successful Internet marketing campaign is the traffic and of course, the conversions through a website.  But this new Google+ feature, pretty much ends any argument that rankings have any importance anymore.  So, don’t focus on where you find yourself on a search result.  It’s all about the traffic and the sales that come through from that traffic.

3) eConsultancy did a great article, basically an interview of several SEO superstars (we can call them that, can’t we?)  You’ll see that there are varying views on the implications of Google’s new move on search results.  What I concluded from it is that Google+ is important, but the effects are yet unknown.

4) I can’t help to think though that social networks like Facebook and Twitter are mostly used just for that, “social” and not really for business.  Although certainly there is no reason for businesses to avoid them.  They really have to embrace them these days.  But, again, do I mix my friends with my business partners on my social networks?  Not really.  I would rather not.  After all, my life is not all business.  I mean, do I really want my business partners to know that I am a complete Gleek and that I love westerns and sci fi movies?  (Well, now they know).  So, what’s the answer?  I really don’t know at this point.

What Should You Do With Google+ And Your Business

My personal recommendation, as someone who has been doing SEO for 12 years now (OMG, can’t believe it’s been that long) is the same as I’ve had for facebook and twitter.  Integrate them, if you can, into your business marketing model.  I don’t know if Google+ per say will be a huge effect because the bottom line is that by 2014 the majority of Internet users will be on mobile units.  That means tablets and smart phones.  So, how many of those are signed in to Google?  That’s the real impact, I think.  If 80% of your potential customers will be coming to your site via their smart phone and they’re not signed in to a Google account then Google+ means nothing to you.  (Well, 20% is nothing to sneeze at either, but you know what I mean).

I think the real “take away” here is that social media is not going away, ever.  If you own a business and you’re marketing on the Internet then you HAVE to integrate social media into your marketing campaign.  The reality of this statement though is that you cannot really outsource social media.  I mean you can, there are companies that will do it for you, but they don’t know your business like you do.  You don’t want ghost writers writing about your company.  So, take the time to do it yourself or have someone within the company do it.  Or share the responsibility amongst several people in the company.  It’s that important, it really is.


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eckweb | No comments
03 Jan 2012
business tips • small business • social media

Social Media Glossary


I’m often accused (and rightly so) of being nerdy and geeky and some of that is because I know the “lingo”. In other words, I know what Klout is and I use Hashtags in my tweets and I love Widgets. I only know these and more because I read about them often and I’m sure if you read the same things that I did you would be just as nerdy and geeky as well. (Not sure if that’s a good thing or not).

Anyway, my business coach sent me this great link with descriptions of 120 social media terms that you might not be familiar with.

So, take a look, see what you’re familiar with and any that you may not be familiar with, take a moment to learn about it. Who knows, you just might like it!


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eckweb | No comments
12 Dec 2011
business tips • internet marketing • small business

The Importance Of The Smart Phone Client


I tell everyone I know (and my hairdresser can attest to it) that the proof is always in the pudding. I mean, political candidates can say anything they want, but it’s what they’ve done in the past that really counts – that’s who they really are. I mean, studies and research are great but it’s important to know the details otherwise, it’s just a bunch of numbers put together to give the reader a skewed report.

So, needless to say, I am a bit empirical in my thinking – I like proof and I mean reliable proof, not just what someone said or wrote.

BUT – with that being said, I found an interesting study online today about how smart phone users are interacting with retailers. Now, although the study gives me percentages, what it doesn’t give me is the number of responders to the study. So, for all I know, only 10 people were “researched”. So I say, take these numbers with a grain of salt. But, what I liked about the article is that it did get me thinking about how small business retailers should be thinking about their Internet marketing when it comes to smart phone users.

So, to summarize this study…

1)  43% of smart phone users have installed a retailers app on their phone.

2)  But only 14% of these users actually used the app.

3)  78% of smart phone users check prices of the product and then buy it from another store.  My husband does this all the time.  He’ll be at Best Buy or Frye’s and stand right in front of a product he’s thinking of buying, pull out his smart phone, find that same product somewhere else or somewhere online, and make the purchase right then and there (if it’s online) or just get in his car and go to the other store to buy it.

4) The types of products that smart phone users do this “price check and buy elsewhere” thing are…


So, what does this all mean?  Well, if the numbers are significant, I mean if they researched 5000 people then it’s a study certainly worth looking at.  As a retailer, what can you do when someone is standing in front of a product in your store and checking prices elsewhere?  Can you match the price?  Can you offer free shipping?  Or maybe some bonus product?

Think about it – you may end up having that customer walk out of your store with an item vs. empty handed.


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eckweb | No comments
11 Dec 2011
small business

This Might Just Be Google’s Greatest Contribution To Mankind


Have you heard of Google’s experiments with a driverless car?  Frankly I thought many had but as I speak to people about it they all are surprised so I thought I would just stop assuming and go ahead and write about it.

So, the story goes that Google created and has been experimenting with a car that completely drives itself.  They’ve tested it in the desert and also in San Francisco – here’s some more in depth information about the project.

And here’s the video so you can see it for yourself.

So, can you imagine the impact of this technology? If it happens within the next 20 years I’ll be able to take full advantage of it. I mean, as it is now, I have trouble driving at night so this would be a GREAT benefit for me. I wouldn’t have to rely on others to drive or cancel the even entirely just cause I can’t see well enough.

And what about those who are completely blind? They’ll be able to travel completely independently – it’s just an amazing concept. For those who are physically disabled, they won’t have to get specially equipped vehicles to accommodate a lost limb.

On the other hand – it’s always a bit frightening when a company contributes so much to the planet – I just can’t help but think of Terminator consequences. Let’s hope Google knows what they’re doing and how they manage the distribution of this amazing technology.


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eckweb | No comments
27 Oct 2011
ppc marketing • seo • small business

Guarding Your Domain From .xxx


Well, it was just a matter of time I suppose.  “Earlier this year, the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) approved the .XXX top-level domain. The new .XXX top-level domain is expected to be big business for domain registrars and of course the entire adult entertainment industry.” (Original Article)

Basically, to business owners this means that someone can purchase your domain name with .xxx after it.  It may not turn out to be harmful at all  (to your business I mean) but if you’ve worked hard to brand your business name, do you really want it associated with an “adult entertainment” industry?

If you are concerned about this and want to “block” others from purchasing your domain name.xxx then purchase it yourself.   GoDaddy has a page set up just for that.

I know, it’s at least $100.00/year – it sucks.  What can I tell you?  The price of doing business just went up a bit!  But if it’s worth it for you to keep your name out of that XXX industry, then do it.  You won’t be sorry.  Cause, if someone does purchase it, it’ll cost you much more than $100.00 to get it back.


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