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Archive for the ‘Small Business Internet Marketing’ Category
Thursday, December 15th, 2011
We hear a lot of information about how social media is a great marketing tool. It is a great marketing tool, but is it better than other marketing tools? It depends on the market and how well you get your information out.
Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is actually the better way to go for small businesses. A recent Merchant Confidence Survey shows that 35% of small businesses use and are optimized by SEO over the social media marketing. Social media sites like Facebook, Twitter, Myspace and others is standing at 16%.
Surprisingly, traditional media such as newspapers, yellow pages and radio advertising are behind the SEO ratings at 19%. The proof is there. More small businesses are utilizing the SEO marketing tool over any other type of marketing.
At the same time, the survey also suggests that 70% of all small businesses do use Facebook over any other social media like Google, LinkedIn, Yahoo and Myspace just to name a few.
It is easy to see why marketing tools, no matter what they are, are very important to a small business website. The more information you get out about your business, the better off you will be. If you can consistently write a blog, interact with people on social media and do traditional advertising, chances are your business will grow even bigger.
If you are just learning the ropes on SEO and how to market your business, think about speaking with a consultant who can give you tips and ideas on the direction you need to go as far as your business is concerned. A new year is just around the corner, and now is the perfect time to start getting something in place for the coming year.
Tags: advertising, business, facebook, google, internet marketing, SEO, social media marketing
Posted in Small Business Internet Marketing | 11 Comments »
Tuesday, December 6th, 2011
When you think of doing business online, do you first think about those big businesses with million dollar budgets? You don’t have to. Small businesses are alive and well on the internet.
So, where do you fit in? What’s up with all that talk of keywords, SEO, social media, and such? There are three basic elements that will drive your business online. They are:
- On-Page Content – If possible, have mixed content on your site. Take advantage of articles, videos, etc. and provide your site visitors with a wide range of content to match their interests. Optimize your content to help it rank better in the search engines for your most profitable keywords.
- Off-Page Content – Content you create for marketing off of your website is good for building links back to your site and delivering new visitors to the site.
- Behind The Scenes Content – This is the code that makes your website visible to search engines and web browsers. You can have too much and you can have the wrong kind. Make sure your code is optimized for better results in the search engines.
Since the internet is growing by leaps and bounds, it is very important to have these elements successfully optimized on your website. It sounds complicated, but it really is not.
With the right guide and a good web marketing strategy you can build a great website with excellent on-page content, a wide variety of off-page content that drives traffic to your site, and great code that gets you well deserved rankings in the search engines.
Tags: advertising, google, keywords, link building, PPC, search engine optimization, SEO, small business
Posted in Small Business Internet Marketing | 3 Comments »
Monday, December 5th, 2011
Everywhere you turn, you can hear someone talking about a blog. Whether they are writing a blog or they are reading a blog, one thing is for sure. Blogs are wildly popular. And one more thing is certain – social networking is the most popular thing on the Internet. You might as well jump on the bandwagon and market your business this way.
Blogs are like websites, but you have social interaction with your viewers. Many blog sites are free and easy to use, too. Each time you post a blog, it looks as if it is an individual web page. This can make for a more dramatic look when viewed by your visitors.
Putting your business ideas into a blog will bring your business more potential customers and an audience who wants to see what you are discussing. Not only can you post your ideas in your own words, you can also have a shopping area where customers can view your products and make purchases.
One of the key things to remember is SEO. SEO stands for Search Engine Optimization. If you focus your blog posts on the proper keywords and phrases, then you’ll increase your chances of obtaining high search engine rankings. For instance, if you sell gardening products and a prospect Googles “gardening,” if you have a lot of the right keywords (gardening, garden, etc.) in your blog posts, Google will favor your blog posts over those of your competition that are not well optimized.
If you aren’t sure where to start, contact Small Business Mavericks for a free consultation. We have a lot of experience and can get you off to a good start with your new business blog.
Tags: advertising, blog, blogging, content, google, internet marketing, keywords, online marketing, SEO, Social Media
Posted in Small Business Internet Marketing | 8 Comments »
Friday, December 2nd, 2011
It’s wonderful to have small mom and pop stores in local towns. That is what defines the town. Most people will stay loyal to their local shops because that is what helps the community stay alive.
Sadly, a lot of those same mom and pop stores are closing simply because they don’t have enough business in today’s world. This is due to more people using the internet for their purchases. For some, it is much easier to sit at home, in front of a computer, and purchase whatever you want and have it shipped, instead of visiting the local stores.
This is why it is more important than ever for those same stores to get a website and add a few products to the site and let people purchase from the site. It not only boosts the business owner’s revenue, but it puts that same business owner in the driver’s seat as far as keeping their doors open.
No one wants to see the quaint little corner market or antique store close. These businesses have been the mainstay for many small communities to stay alive and there is a bit of history and nostalgia associated with local business.
A challenge to all small business owners. Start a website, build your presence on the internet and get your business rolling again. The internet is here to stay and you should just hop right on and take your piece of the pie too.
You don’t even have to be computer savvy to do it. Hire a web designer. That person will get a domain name for you and design you a website according to your specifications. You will be surprised at how easy it is. You can then still retain the old world charm in the store itself, but your pocketbook will thank you.
Tags: business, internet marketing, local business, Local Internet Marketing, small business, web design, website development
Posted in Small Business Internet Marketing | 4 Comments »
Thursday, December 1st, 2011
“Conversational marketing” is a term that has been around for about as long as the Internet. The concept goes back further, however. The idea is based on the concept that markets are conversations.
The “markets are conversations” concept was discussed in a book published in 1999, “The Cluetrain Manifesto.” According to its authors, markets have always been conversations, except for that period in the 20th century dominated by mass media. During that time, marketers would promote their products by “shouting” at consumers, who had no way to talk back to the peddlers. With the advent of the Internet, however, that changed.
Today, not only can consumers talk back, but they can walk away. There is always someone else in the conversation who can meet their need. And it isn’t all about price. It’s about the conversation.
Conversational marketing is all about using the tools at your disposal to engage with your audience and that requires being able to speak their language. I mean language in the vernacular sense, not in the cultural barrier sense.
When you talk about your company, your products, or your services with your prospective audience, are you respecting them? Are you shouting or listening? Conversations are a two-way street. If you don’t treat them as such, then you will lose in the age of conversational marketing.
Tags: conversational marketing, marketing, online marketing
Posted in Small Business Internet Marketing | 3 Comments »
Wednesday, November 30th, 2011
Google has finally decided to kill its Knol pages. The big question is, Why?
It’s been 3 1/2 years since Google opened up its Knol pages to the public. My suspicion is the service isn’t as popular as Google initially thought it would be so they are either selling it or making some kind of deal with the new owners/developers to keep the product going under a new name.
The Google Knol home page links to a company called Annotum, which will be the new name of Knol pages starting in May 2012. It appears that Annotum will be powered by WordPress.com.
I’d say that Annotum appears to be an open source endeavor being pushed by for-profit companies like Solvitor LLC and Crowd Favorite. They appear to target scientific industries and academic or scholarly organizations.
Nothing is wrong with any of that. But it makes me wonder whether the new face of Knol – Annotum – will provide any value to the average small business owner. At this point, I’d have to say, it doesn’t look like it will. But it could be too early to tell. We’ll just have to wait until they provide more information on their intentions. But it appears that come May 1, 2012, Google will be out of the picture.
Tags: google, knol pages
Posted in Small Business Internet Marketing | 4 Comments »
Tuesday, November 29th, 2011
Ask Aaron Wall who’s taking over the Web and it seems as if he is saying it’s Wal-Mart. He makes some good points in this post, but there was one paragraph that really stood out.
In the meantime, I expect Google to keep increasing search complexity such that it’s prohibitively expensive to make & market a small independent commercial website. That will force many smaller companies to live inside the Google ecosystem, with Google ranking the Google-hosted pages/products/locations for those companies, so that they can serve ads against them and get a bigger slice of the revenues.
If you ask me, I think that’s pretty cynical. I’m not saying it couldn’t happen, or that it won’t happen. It’s just cynical.
In Aaron Wall’s world, big companies win because Google let them win. Then small companies have no recourse but to use Google-hosted sites so that Google can monetize them with ads. But as a small business marketing consultant, I’d never encourage you to serve up someone else’s ads on your own website.
When you consider the low cost of web hosting, domain purchases, and do-it-yourself marketing, I can’t see any time when it will be cost prohibitive to own your own standalone website with your domain name hosted outside of the Google ecosystem.
Maybe I’m naive. What are your thoughts?
Tags: google, SEO, small business marketing
Posted in Small Business Internet Marketing | 3 Comments »
Monday, November 28th, 2011
Today is the biggest online shopping day of the year. Or is it?
According to Mark W. Smith of Detroit Free Press, it’s all a sham. You’ve been had. Just as Hallmark created days for greeting card sales, the candy makers created days to make more candy sales, and the Easter Bunny is in cahoots with Santa Claus and the credit card companies to keep you busy twice a year. We all love a good conspiracy theory.
Who knows? Maybe it’s true. Maybe today isn’t the biggest shopping day of the year. Or maybe if it is it’s because the e-tailers have convinced you to pull out your credit card on this day.
Even if it is true, I still believe this will be a record-breaking year. Today will likely pass all records for single-day sales online. And this Christmas season is poised to become the highest sales season online in history. Not because online retailers have conspired against you, but because consumers have become more comfortable buying online. OK, and partly because online retailers want your money.
If you have to establish an Internet presence, or if you have and Internet presence but haven’t taken advantage of your online promotional opportunities, don’t you think it’s time to get your piece of the online shopping pie?
Tags: Cyber Monday, e-commerce, small business
Posted in Small Business Internet Marketing | No Comments »
Saturday, November 26th, 2011
First there was Black Friday – the biggest shopping day of the year for most brick and mortar stores.
Then there was Cyber Monday, which turned out to be the biggest shopping day of the year for online merchants.
Now, small businesses can relish in the day that is their’s. Small Business Saturday. Today, of all days.
Small Business Saturday is a way for small businesses to get in on the action and you can do this whether your business is an online-only business, a brick and mortar business, or a business that enjoys a dual virtual + brick-and-mortar presence. The hub of the Small Business Saturday is the Small Business Saturday Facebook page.
I probably should have shared this with you sooner, and I would have had I known about it sooner, but they’ve got some pretty cool resources on this page – not to mention a beautiful design. On this page you can get your own in-store signage, e-marketing resources, create an offer, create your own Facebook page, create a video, do some LinkedIn and Twitter marketing, and more.
It may be a tad late to take advantage of some of these resources, but there’s always next year. Look forward to Small Business Saturday and make it work for your small business.
Tags: online marketing, small business
Posted in Small Business Internet Marketing | 3 Comments »
Wednesday, November 23rd, 2011
This weekend is the weekend that every Internet marketer and every offline marketer will be looking at to determine the state of the economy overall and the state of their business. We all know that Black Friday, the day after Thanksgiving, is the biggest shopping day of the year – off line. The following Monday is the biggest shopping day online. Are you ready?
It’s called Cyber Monday, the Monday following Black Friday. And until 2008, it was the biggest shopping day online. comScore says that day has been moved to either Green Monday (the second Monday in December) or the Tuesday after. Why is that?
Here’s my theory. People would rather still shop off line. On Black Friday they go to the mall. They visit their favorite local merchants to see what they can find for Christmas gifts. If they don’t find what they want, they shop online.
Enter Cyber Monday. Big shopping day. But it’s still not the end of Christmas shopping. If consumers think they can still get a better deal on something locally, offline, then they’ll hold off on their online purchase. Until the last minute.
So they continue to shop locally off line until around December 15, the last day they can expect to order something online and receive it by Christmas. In 2008, Green Monday was December 15. It was the biggest online shopping day of that year. The next year the biggest shopping day was also December 15, but then it fell on the third Tuesday of the month – the first Tuesday after the second Monday. So what will happen this year?
Last year was the biggest online shopping day in history. The biggest day turned out to be Cyber Monday with more than $1 billion in online sales. The second biggest day was Green Monday, the second Tuesday in December, and that day was December 13. Sales on that day exceeded sales the previous Green Monday by $100 million.
If these trends are any indication, this could be another record year, but which day will be the biggest shopping day of the season? Will it be Cyber Monday, Green Monday, or the first Tuesday after Green Monday?
I think it’s anyone’s guess which day this year will be the biggest online shopping day, but one thing is for sure. Online merchants should be prepared for the best.
Tags: Cyber Monday, e-commerce, Green Monday, online shopping
Posted in Small Business Internet Marketing | 3 Comments »
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