One of the great things about the work I do is that I have a bird's eye view of what's working and what's not when it comes to social media. Every so often I like to give sort of a "state of the union" on Facebook and Twitter best practices, because as I am sure you know, social media is constantly growing, changing and evolving.
As you'll see, some of the strategies I am recommending are tried and true - they have been working since day one and will probably continue to for the foreseeable future.
However, there may be a few here that you've not ever considered - or may even be surprised by. But they are what I see as being the biggest keys to success and results for business owners on the two hottest social networks on the planet: Facebook and Twitter.
1. Find Your Peeps
What this means is that you want to become part of the community you are looking to serve. The first step of course is to be clear on whom it is you want to serve and what problem you are solving for them. Once you know that, the goal is to go where they are hanging out.
There are specific tools you can use to easily find and interact with your target market. Two of my favorites for Twitter are wefollow.com and search.twitter.com.
2. Concentrate on Conversing and Building Relationships, instead of Broadcasting and Selling
One of the most common yet biggest mistakes that people make when they are first introduced to social media is to focus on pushing their product or service in a spammy way. That approach fails miserably in social media because most people are there to build relationships and interact.
There's nothing wrong with letting others know what's going on with you or your business sometimes -- just be sure to intersperse your tweets or Facebook updates with some two-way conversation.
3. Use a Facebook Personal Profile AND a Facebook Business Page Together
This might be a little "controversial" - and don't get me wrong, your business SHOULD have a Page -- but when you have a personal profile, you are able to interact with other people much more easily.
As a business Page, a Page can't go comment on another person's Wall or profile or in their Gróup or on THEIR Page AS that Page. You are really contained inside the space of your Page. This might be something to consider because a lot of the magic of Facebook and the relationship-building and rapport-building comes from that ability to interact.
4. Cross-Post and Cross Promote
Once you've decided to make social media a part of your marketing strategy, you don't want to keep it to yourself.
There are lots of ways to spread the word. For example, you'll want to advertise your social presence on your blog, add links to your email signature and use one social media platform to post to another.
5. Use a Social Media Dashboard like Hootsuite and Other Productivity Tools to Accomplish More in Less Time
Hootsuite.com is my hands-down favorite, free social media tool, and the reason why is because it does so many different things. For example, you can use it to update many social networks at once, including Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn; you can use it to pre-schedule tweets, status updates and more.
6. Get Them on the List
In most cases, people aren't going to purchase from you right off from sites like Facebook and Twitter. You need to shift your thinking from "how can I get this person to purchase from me or hire me now?" to "how can I bring this person into my community and strengthen the relationship with them on an ongoing basis?"
One of the best ways to do this is to give people a way to provide their email address via your blog or website so that you have permission to keep in touch and build an ongoing relationship with them.
7. Measure and Track Your Social Media Results
Measuring the ROI of social media isn't exactly cut and dry. I am often asked how you can tell whether the time you've spent on social media activities is really making a difference.
Some of the best metrics? Blog comments, blog subscribers, newsletter subscribers, social media profile engagement, number of friends and followers and website traffic to name a few.
No matter who your target market is, you can be sure that at least some segment of them is using social media. The important thing is to understand that social media is a great way to get in front of that target audience.
And remember, you may not be able to equate your interactions to dollars now, but what you are doing is planting seeds which can have big payoffs later on.
Most of the strategies I've mentioned here aren't really "strategies" unless you keep applying them over time - so stick with it to reap those results you've been searching for.
October 13, 2010
September 26, 2010
Writing for the Web
Content is one of the most valuable things you can focus on during development of your website. Consider each page of your website a chance to capture or lose your audience. If a web page has paragraph after paragraph of text, many visitors won't bother to begin reading. There are various other things to be leery of when writing for the web. This article covers eight tips to help you succeed when writing content for your website.
Entice with Communicative Headings
Visitors decide whether to invest their precious time reading your content, typically after scanning a heading or two. Consider which headline will receive more attention:
• PHP solutions for the Web
• Three eCommerce PHP Solutions for the Web
While both could be headings for the same content, the second heading will attract more attention because it clearly denotes what will follow. Additionally, it adds a level of expertise. It is also important to keep your headings concise. When headings wrap to multiple lines, they start becoming paragraph-like and readers cannot scan them. Sub-headings are another way to make your content easier for visitors to scan. Once readers have decided your heading is worth investing more time in, they often scan the sub-headings to jump to the section that is most applicable to them.
Conclude Before You Expand
Every page of your website should cater to the most impatient reader and clearly state what the page is about in the first few lines. Most readers won't want to read an entire page to get to the point. Write an introductory paragraph that summarizes the most important parts.
Many successful writers outline the points they want to get across, fill in those points and only then do they write their first paragraph. It is not necessary to write from top to bottom and this method can help you write a stronger introduction.
Create Effective Lists
It is quicker to scroll down a web page than it is to read from left to right and keep your eyes wrapping from line to line. For this reason, readers appreciate lists. However, it is important not to use overwhelmingly long lists. Studies have shown people can remember 7 things at a time. A list of seven bulleted items is digestible, while a list of 50 is intimidating. If it is crucial for you to list 50 points, break up your lists with sub-headings so readers are able to jump from section to section efficiently.
Write Clearly and Succinctly
Whether your visitors are coming to gain information, make buying decisions or simply be entertained, respect that they don't have all day to read your content. If you are wordy, you can expect your visitors to drift to competitors' websites. However, don't sacrifice clarity for brevity.
Similar to print writing, each paragraph should contain only one idea. The attention span of a web reader is shorter than that of a print reader though, which makes it important to trim your paragraphs to a few sentences each.
Eliminate unnecessary words. For example, there is no need to say, "at this point in time" when you can say "currently." It is useless to say "an awful tragedy" when tragedies are awful by nature. Avoid describing an object as "round in shape" when you can just say round.
Avoid the passive voice. For example, replace, "My life has been made easier by templates" with "Templates simplified my life."
The above paragraph helps illustrate that examples are useful; however, I should specify that repeating yourself is not. Do not say the same thing in three different ways.
Use consistent language. Consider your audience when writing in first, second or third person and be careful transitioning from one to the next. Jumping from a formal paragraph to a first person story sounds like two authors wrote the content.
Finally, read your content aloud and trust your first reaction. If you have to re-read to put the emphasis in the correct part of the sentence or to understand your point, you can bet that others will too.
More importantly, have someone else read your content - preferably, your target audience, not your business partner. You are too close to the ideas you want to communicate and others may find ambiguities that you will certainly want to clarify.
Create Content Relative to Your Audience
Know your audience and speak to them, not at them. Whether your objective is to sell toilet seats or convey a change in the stock market, play to people's emotions. Don't use technical terms for a less than savvy audience.
Don't assume your readers have been to certain pages of your website before others. With a growing dependence on search engines, visitors often arrive at a website two tiers down from the home page. Consider the visitor's point of view: If I knew nothing about this company or website, would I understand this page?
Be cautious of tangents, information and links that will distract a reader from the web page's primary purpose.
Specify Links with Style and Language
Links are another way visitors can scan your web pages as they stand out from normal text - or at least they should. Make sure your links differ in color or style from other text on your website. Using "click here to learn more" is a waste of space. Instead, use "learn more." Your links should tell readers where they are going, but they shouldn't be reminded they need their mouse to get there.
Be specific with where the link is leading to. There are many websites that break up articles into two or more pages. Readers are more apt to click on a link that says, "Part 2: SEO Tips" than they are to click on a link that says "next."
Proofread - Forward and Backward
There are some people who are a captivating force to typos and grammatical blunders. While some will gloss over these errors, the people who do notice are typically repelled. Websites with typos look unprofessional - or worse - like the author didn't care enough about the reader to take the time to proofread.
Tips for proofreading:
• Use spell check and grammar check.
• Read backward. When we read forward, our eyes skip over small words and miss mistakes.
• Have someone else proofread your content.
• If in doubt, look it up!
Trusting copy/paste is a common mistake; be sure to proofread your content after it is on the web page.
Conclude with Action
Although many of your readers won't make it to the end of your content, it's important to summarize for those who do. Include your overall point, as well as where you would like to lead your reader to next. If you are fortunate enough to have your readers want more, don't miss a chance to provide it!
For example, I would like to conclude by articulating that web writing has similarities to print writing (entice and be concise!) but differs in that readers are more impatient and can easily "surf" elsewhere. The more you understand how people read on the web in general and what your audience wants to know, the more you will keep visitors coming back for more.
Entice with Communicative Headings
Visitors decide whether to invest their precious time reading your content, typically after scanning a heading or two. Consider which headline will receive more attention:
• PHP solutions for the Web
• Three eCommerce PHP Solutions for the Web
While both could be headings for the same content, the second heading will attract more attention because it clearly denotes what will follow. Additionally, it adds a level of expertise. It is also important to keep your headings concise. When headings wrap to multiple lines, they start becoming paragraph-like and readers cannot scan them. Sub-headings are another way to make your content easier for visitors to scan. Once readers have decided your heading is worth investing more time in, they often scan the sub-headings to jump to the section that is most applicable to them.
Conclude Before You Expand
Every page of your website should cater to the most impatient reader and clearly state what the page is about in the first few lines. Most readers won't want to read an entire page to get to the point. Write an introductory paragraph that summarizes the most important parts.
Many successful writers outline the points they want to get across, fill in those points and only then do they write their first paragraph. It is not necessary to write from top to bottom and this method can help you write a stronger introduction.
Create Effective Lists
It is quicker to scroll down a web page than it is to read from left to right and keep your eyes wrapping from line to line. For this reason, readers appreciate lists. However, it is important not to use overwhelmingly long lists. Studies have shown people can remember 7 things at a time. A list of seven bulleted items is digestible, while a list of 50 is intimidating. If it is crucial for you to list 50 points, break up your lists with sub-headings so readers are able to jump from section to section efficiently.
Write Clearly and Succinctly
Whether your visitors are coming to gain information, make buying decisions or simply be entertained, respect that they don't have all day to read your content. If you are wordy, you can expect your visitors to drift to competitors' websites. However, don't sacrifice clarity for brevity.
Similar to print writing, each paragraph should contain only one idea. The attention span of a web reader is shorter than that of a print reader though, which makes it important to trim your paragraphs to a few sentences each.
Eliminate unnecessary words. For example, there is no need to say, "at this point in time" when you can say "currently." It is useless to say "an awful tragedy" when tragedies are awful by nature. Avoid describing an object as "round in shape" when you can just say round.
Avoid the passive voice. For example, replace, "My life has been made easier by templates" with "Templates simplified my life."
The above paragraph helps illustrate that examples are useful; however, I should specify that repeating yourself is not. Do not say the same thing in three different ways.
Use consistent language. Consider your audience when writing in first, second or third person and be careful transitioning from one to the next. Jumping from a formal paragraph to a first person story sounds like two authors wrote the content.
Finally, read your content aloud and trust your first reaction. If you have to re-read to put the emphasis in the correct part of the sentence or to understand your point, you can bet that others will too.
More importantly, have someone else read your content - preferably, your target audience, not your business partner. You are too close to the ideas you want to communicate and others may find ambiguities that you will certainly want to clarify.
Create Content Relative to Your Audience
Know your audience and speak to them, not at them. Whether your objective is to sell toilet seats or convey a change in the stock market, play to people's emotions. Don't use technical terms for a less than savvy audience.
Don't assume your readers have been to certain pages of your website before others. With a growing dependence on search engines, visitors often arrive at a website two tiers down from the home page. Consider the visitor's point of view: If I knew nothing about this company or website, would I understand this page?
Be cautious of tangents, information and links that will distract a reader from the web page's primary purpose.
Specify Links with Style and Language
Links are another way visitors can scan your web pages as they stand out from normal text - or at least they should. Make sure your links differ in color or style from other text on your website. Using "click here to learn more" is a waste of space. Instead, use "learn more." Your links should tell readers where they are going, but they shouldn't be reminded they need their mouse to get there.
Be specific with where the link is leading to. There are many websites that break up articles into two or more pages. Readers are more apt to click on a link that says, "Part 2: SEO Tips" than they are to click on a link that says "next."
Proofread - Forward and Backward
There are some people who are a captivating force to typos and grammatical blunders. While some will gloss over these errors, the people who do notice are typically repelled. Websites with typos look unprofessional - or worse - like the author didn't care enough about the reader to take the time to proofread.
Tips for proofreading:
• Use spell check and grammar check.
• Read backward. When we read forward, our eyes skip over small words and miss mistakes.
• Have someone else proofread your content.
• If in doubt, look it up!
Trusting copy/paste is a common mistake; be sure to proofread your content after it is on the web page.
Conclude with Action
Although many of your readers won't make it to the end of your content, it's important to summarize for those who do. Include your overall point, as well as where you would like to lead your reader to next. If you are fortunate enough to have your readers want more, don't miss a chance to provide it!
For example, I would like to conclude by articulating that web writing has similarities to print writing (entice and be concise!) but differs in that readers are more impatient and can easily "surf" elsewhere. The more you understand how people read on the web in general and what your audience wants to know, the more you will keep visitors coming back for more.
July 26, 2010
The Top 10 Wordpress Plugins
If you already have a blog, chances are that you are using WordPress as your platform. If you're not, you should be. There are many reasons as to why WordPress is the most popular blogging platform on the Web today.
If you are not sure what a plugin is, it basically adds new functions to a WordPress blog. A plugin is essentially a program written in the PHP programming language that adds a specific set of features or services to the WordPress blog. All you have to do to add a new feature or service to your blog is find a relevant plugin, upload it to your plugin folder and then "activate" the plugin on the dashboard. It's that simple.
1. Akismet
Don't you just hate people leaving spam comments on your blog? I certainly do, and if you dislike such comments appearing on your blog, the Akismet plugin automatically filters them for you. I don't have time to deal with spam and I hope you don't either.
2. All-In-One-SEO Pack
If you are looking for the ultimate plugin to transform your blog into an SEO optimized blog, then this is the one. It's easy to use and before long you can be ranking for your keywords.
3. SEO Smart Links
This cool plugin allows you to automatically link keywords and phrases in your posts and comments with corresponding posts, pages, categories and tags on your blog. Furthermore, you can set up your keywords along with their own matching URLs. A must have if you want the maximum SEO benefit for your blog.
4. Google Sitemap Generator
If you want Google to index all the pages on your blog as quickly as possible, then you need this plugin. It allows you to create a sitemap with a clíck of your mouse.
5. WP Backlinks
This plugin allows you to track the links going back to your blog. For SEO purposes, you want as many links back to your website as possible, but at the same time, you want them to come from reputable and legitimate sites. The WP Backlinks plugin gives you the ability to control and verify this.
6. MaxBlogPress Ping Optimizer
If there's one thing you don't want, it's for the blog to be banned from ping services. When you update or edit your blog, you automatically send a ping to let them know that your blog has been updated and that the changes need to be indexed. However, you can get banned from ping services if you end up doing this too often. In order to avoid this from happening, you need to use the MaxBlogPress Ping Optimizer plugin.
7. Remote Database Backup
Whatever you do on the Web, you need to have backups. Backing up data is one of those things that people don't take seriously until a site failure happens to them. This plugin helps you backup your WordPress blog at any time.
8. Sexy Bookmarks
This allows your readers to submit your articles to numerous bookmarking sites on the Web. A must-have in the era of social media. Get your Sexy Bookmarks plugin today.
9. Frame Buster
This plugin will thwart any attempt to load your site in a frame. Optimal for getting images to rank on the search engines.
10. CommentLuv
This plugin allows your visitors to comment while adding a link to their own blog post. This will encourage them to comment and in combination with the Akismet plugin can get you genuine and informative comments on your blog.
If you go ahead and add the plugins featured on this blog, you can be ready to start dominating the Web with your blog. Keep in mind that it's the quality and frequency of content that you add to your blog that will determine its success. My hope is that you have found this article about the top 10 wordpress plugins on the Web very useful.
If you are not sure what a plugin is, it basically adds new functions to a WordPress blog. A plugin is essentially a program written in the PHP programming language that adds a specific set of features or services to the WordPress blog. All you have to do to add a new feature or service to your blog is find a relevant plugin, upload it to your plugin folder and then "activate" the plugin on the dashboard. It's that simple.
1. Akismet
Don't you just hate people leaving spam comments on your blog? I certainly do, and if you dislike such comments appearing on your blog, the Akismet plugin automatically filters them for you. I don't have time to deal with spam and I hope you don't either.
2. All-In-One-SEO Pack
If you are looking for the ultimate plugin to transform your blog into an SEO optimized blog, then this is the one. It's easy to use and before long you can be ranking for your keywords.
3. SEO Smart Links
This cool plugin allows you to automatically link keywords and phrases in your posts and comments with corresponding posts, pages, categories and tags on your blog. Furthermore, you can set up your keywords along with their own matching URLs. A must have if you want the maximum SEO benefit for your blog.
4. Google Sitemap Generator
If you want Google to index all the pages on your blog as quickly as possible, then you need this plugin. It allows you to create a sitemap with a clíck of your mouse.
5. WP Backlinks
This plugin allows you to track the links going back to your blog. For SEO purposes, you want as many links back to your website as possible, but at the same time, you want them to come from reputable and legitimate sites. The WP Backlinks plugin gives you the ability to control and verify this.
6. MaxBlogPress Ping Optimizer
If there's one thing you don't want, it's for the blog to be banned from ping services. When you update or edit your blog, you automatically send a ping to let them know that your blog has been updated and that the changes need to be indexed. However, you can get banned from ping services if you end up doing this too often. In order to avoid this from happening, you need to use the MaxBlogPress Ping Optimizer plugin.
7. Remote Database Backup
Whatever you do on the Web, you need to have backups. Backing up data is one of those things that people don't take seriously until a site failure happens to them. This plugin helps you backup your WordPress blog at any time.
8. Sexy Bookmarks
This allows your readers to submit your articles to numerous bookmarking sites on the Web. A must-have in the era of social media. Get your Sexy Bookmarks plugin today.
9. Frame Buster
This plugin will thwart any attempt to load your site in a frame. Optimal for getting images to rank on the search engines.
10. CommentLuv
This plugin allows your visitors to comment while adding a link to their own blog post. This will encourage them to comment and in combination with the Akismet plugin can get you genuine and informative comments on your blog.
If you go ahead and add the plugins featured on this blog, you can be ready to start dominating the Web with your blog. Keep in mind that it's the quality and frequency of content that you add to your blog that will determine its success. My hope is that you have found this article about the top 10 wordpress plugins on the Web very useful.
April 07, 2010
How to Make a Website Successful
When doing business on the Internet, there are many ways in which you can make a website successful. Although the look of your website is important, fancy websites don't make sales. There is much more to creating a quality website. To make a website successful, you must create a website that will be of interest to your target market and make them want to visit your website over and over again. In addition, your website should lead your visitors to take the action you desire, such as joining your mailing list, or making a purchase.
Selecting a Website's Niche
The first step toward how to make a website successful, will be to target your website for one specific niche. For example, if you are designing a website about wine, everything within your website should relate to wine.
Selecting a Website's Keyword Phrase
You must also select the most relevant keyword phrase for each webpage. A keyword phrase is two or more words that best describe your webpage. For example, if your webpage is about 'making wine,' your best keyword phrase would be 'wine making.' You should use your keyword phrase a few times within your webpage, as this will enable the search engines to determine what the website is about. This is a very important step to make a website successful.
Using HTML Heading Tags
When you begin writing your content, it is very important that you use the HTML H1 heading tag with your main title at the top of your webpage. In addition, use the HTML H2 tags for your sub-titles. This is very important, as some search engines place relevance on the text displayed with heading tags.
As the default text for the H1 heading tag is very large, you may want to use CSS style sheets to display the heading tags in the font style and size you prefer.
Using META Tags Within a Webpage
Another step to help make a website successful is to include META tags between the HEAD tags of your webpage. META tags help the search engines to know what keywords are relevant to the webpage. They are also used to tell the search engines what the webpage is about. Many search engines will display this description within the search results.
Backgrounds and Text
It is always best to display a webpage with a white background and black text, as this will make the text easy to read. Distracting backgrounds will make the text hard to read. A good rule of thumb is to just use common sense and keep your website simple. This alone is a great way to help make a website successful.
Animated Graphics
If you're using animated graphics, it is important that you use them sparingly. Graphics that continually flash are VERY annoying and may prevent your visitors from returning to your website in the future.
Navigational Links
It is very important to include good navigational links on every page. They should be displayed at the top, bottom, left or right side of your webpage. In addition, your visitors should be able to get to any webpage within your website within four clicks.
Webpage Layout
Always be consistent with your webpage design. This is a very important step to help make a website successful. The layout for your website should be the same on each page. If you make it different, your visitors will become confused. In addition, it will make your website appear to be unprofessional. Your website design should include the same layout, logo, and navigation setup on each page.
Spelling and Grammar
Always make sure you proof read and spell check your webpages for errors. It is also very important that your webpage doesn't have any broken images or links.
Important Webpages
When you launch your website, it is very important that you include the following webpages:
About - The 'About' page is used to tell your visitors about you and/or your company.
Privacy - The 'Privacy' page is used to let your visitors know what you do with their personal information, such as their email address.
Terms and Conditions - The 'Terms and Conditions' page should be displayed on your website for your protection.
Site Map - A 'Site Map' is used to help the search engines index your website more easily.
You can learn more about all of these pages by doing a search through your favorite search engine. They are very important and will help make a website successful.
Website Interactivity
Another way to make a website successful is to make the website interactive. This can be done by including a targeted forum that complements your website, a form in which they can subscribe to an ezine, a feedback form to enable them to give their opinion, or an informative blog in which visitors can comment.
Web Browsers and Screen Resolutions
When you begin designing your webpage, it is HIGHLY recommended that you install the most popular web browsers on your computer. This will enable you to see how your website will display in different browsers. You will find that your website may look great in one browser and terrible in another. It would be wise to design your website to display properly in Firefox and then it should display properly in Internet Explorer, Opera, etc.
It is also important that you view your website through different screen resolutions. You can either open your webpage in your browser and then change your computer's screen resolution, or there are website's online that you can visit, such as Any Browser, to test your website.
If you follow these simple guidelines, you can begin to make a website successful in no time.
Selecting a Website's Niche
The first step toward how to make a website successful, will be to target your website for one specific niche. For example, if you are designing a website about wine, everything within your website should relate to wine.
Selecting a Website's Keyword Phrase
You must also select the most relevant keyword phrase for each webpage. A keyword phrase is two or more words that best describe your webpage. For example, if your webpage is about 'making wine,' your best keyword phrase would be 'wine making.' You should use your keyword phrase a few times within your webpage, as this will enable the search engines to determine what the website is about. This is a very important step to make a website successful.
Using HTML Heading Tags
When you begin writing your content, it is very important that you use the HTML H1 heading tag with your main title at the top of your webpage. In addition, use the HTML H2 tags for your sub-titles. This is very important, as some search engines place relevance on the text displayed with heading tags.
As the default text for the H1 heading tag is very large, you may want to use CSS style sheets to display the heading tags in the font style and size you prefer.
Using META Tags Within a Webpage
Another step to help make a website successful is to include META tags between the HEAD tags of your webpage. META tags help the search engines to know what keywords are relevant to the webpage. They are also used to tell the search engines what the webpage is about. Many search engines will display this description within the search results.
Backgrounds and Text
It is always best to display a webpage with a white background and black text, as this will make the text easy to read. Distracting backgrounds will make the text hard to read. A good rule of thumb is to just use common sense and keep your website simple. This alone is a great way to help make a website successful.
Animated Graphics
If you're using animated graphics, it is important that you use them sparingly. Graphics that continually flash are VERY annoying and may prevent your visitors from returning to your website in the future.
Navigational Links
It is very important to include good navigational links on every page. They should be displayed at the top, bottom, left or right side of your webpage. In addition, your visitors should be able to get to any webpage within your website within four clicks.
Webpage Layout
Always be consistent with your webpage design. This is a very important step to help make a website successful. The layout for your website should be the same on each page. If you make it different, your visitors will become confused. In addition, it will make your website appear to be unprofessional. Your website design should include the same layout, logo, and navigation setup on each page.
Spelling and Grammar
Always make sure you proof read and spell check your webpages for errors. It is also very important that your webpage doesn't have any broken images or links.
Important Webpages
When you launch your website, it is very important that you include the following webpages:
About - The 'About' page is used to tell your visitors about you and/or your company.
Privacy - The 'Privacy' page is used to let your visitors know what you do with their personal information, such as their email address.
Terms and Conditions - The 'Terms and Conditions' page should be displayed on your website for your protection.
Site Map - A 'Site Map' is used to help the search engines index your website more easily.
You can learn more about all of these pages by doing a search through your favorite search engine. They are very important and will help make a website successful.
Website Interactivity
Another way to make a website successful is to make the website interactive. This can be done by including a targeted forum that complements your website, a form in which they can subscribe to an ezine, a feedback form to enable them to give their opinion, or an informative blog in which visitors can comment.
Web Browsers and Screen Resolutions
When you begin designing your webpage, it is HIGHLY recommended that you install the most popular web browsers on your computer. This will enable you to see how your website will display in different browsers. You will find that your website may look great in one browser and terrible in another. It would be wise to design your website to display properly in Firefox and then it should display properly in Internet Explorer, Opera, etc.
It is also important that you view your website through different screen resolutions. You can either open your webpage in your browser and then change your computer's screen resolution, or there are website's online that you can visit, such as Any Browser, to test your website.
If you follow these simple guidelines, you can begin to make a website successful in no time.
April 05, 2010
Tap Into A Huge Pool Of Opportunity 3 Quick Tips For Your Offline Pitch
The local businesses in your community are largely an untapped pool of entrepreneurs who are crying out for help.
Fact is, over half of them don't have a Web site yet. And the other half?
They may have a site. Most of the time their existing Web site is a brochure with some bare facts.
But these sites are like untended gardens. Gardens overgrown with weeds. They produce ZERO. Nothing.
Site or no site, you have some great offline sales opportunities right in your own neighborhood.
With several weeks left in this year's Offline Marketing Contest, we're going to give you some quick tips for tapping into this pool of opportunity...
1. Use The Case Studies
The SBI! Case Studies are evergrowing stories of success. Pick one that speaks your potential customer...
SBI! Case Studies
http://case-studies.sitesell.com/NUMURA.html
Feel free to print them out or pull them up on your laptop andr efer to them during your sales pitch. Or, include your RR URLto a specific story in your follow up e-mails.
2. Use The Offline Marketing & Sales Kit
The Kit has a ton of material to support your offline PREselling efforts...
Offline Marketing & Sales Kit
https://secure.sitesell.com/prot-bin/affiliatescripts/affiliateClubMoreInfo.pl?affsbisaleskit
3. Use Video Build It!
Video is a powerful converter. Check out VBI! for videos that cover just about any interest group. Pick the right one for your potential customer. They'll see themselves in the stories...
Video Build It!
https://secure.sitesell.com/prot-bin/affiliatescripts/affiliateClubMoreInfo.pl?videobuildit
We've recently added some new videos for both SBI! eLearning and SiteSell Services that have been converting like crazy.
Fact is, over half of them don't have a Web site yet. And the other half?
They may have a site. Most of the time their existing Web site is a brochure with some bare facts.
But these sites are like untended gardens. Gardens overgrown with weeds. They produce ZERO. Nothing.
Site or no site, you have some great offline sales opportunities right in your own neighborhood.
With several weeks left in this year's Offline Marketing Contest, we're going to give you some quick tips for tapping into this pool of opportunity...
1. Use The Case Studies
The SBI! Case Studies are evergrowing stories of success. Pick one that speaks your potential customer...
SBI! Case Studies
http://case-studies.sitesell.com/NUMURA.html
Feel free to print them out or pull them up on your laptop andr efer to them during your sales pitch. Or, include your RR URLto a specific story in your follow up e-mails.
2. Use The Offline Marketing & Sales Kit
The Kit has a ton of material to support your offline PREselling efforts...
Offline Marketing & Sales Kit
https://secure.sitesell.com/prot-bin/affiliatescripts/affiliateClubMoreInfo.pl?affsbisaleskit
3. Use Video Build It!
Video is a powerful converter. Check out VBI! for videos that cover just about any interest group. Pick the right one for your potential customer. They'll see themselves in the stories...
Video Build It!
https://secure.sitesell.com/prot-bin/affiliatescripts/affiliateClubMoreInfo.pl?videobuildit
We've recently added some new videos for both SBI! eLearning and SiteSell Services that have been converting like crazy.
March 26, 2010
Ten Ways to Use Twitter for Marketing
Twitter is a micro-blogging site that asks you a basic question, "What are you doing?" It allows anyone with an account to write up to 140 characters in a text field as a means to update, comment, promote or communicate to others who are "following" you. When people follow you, they see what you've recently contributed when they login. They see your "tweets", which are the messages you leave.
And of course you can follow others who tweet about the things that interest you. As an Internet marketer you may want to follow other Internet marketers, for example.
Like anything, and this is especially true of working with social media, the more you give, the more you get. In other words, the more often you tweet the more activity you'll generate. Some suggest that you tweet a few times a day, every day. Not every tweet needs to be profound. But they should all be useful.
It's important that you don't abuse Twitter for marketing and promoting your products, services or affiliate links. Most of your tweets ought to be about offering your followers useful and valuable information. Only once in a while should you try to use Twitter to promote something. Otherwise you'll be perceived as a spammer, and no one wants that tag.
Imagine if you had a large number of people following your tweets? Some people have tens of thousands following them. If you had something to promote and you had a large following, you could quickly and efficiently alert a lot of people of your promo. It acts sort of like a mass emailíng blast to your house email list, but it's a heck of a lot easier and faster. This is the power of Twitter.
One thing that I've noticed with Twitter is that it can seem overwhelming at times. The sheer information on Twitter, the 'how-to's', tutorials and all the other ubiquitous advice on how to use and take advantage of it can seem hard to understand and implement. So here's an easy-to-understand list of the top ten ways in which you can use Twitter to market yourself, your business and your website.
The Top 10 Ways To Use Twitter for Marketing:
1. Use it to promote new pieces of content you or your company create to drive traffic to your site. From online articles to blog posts or from videos to webinars, each time you add something to the Web that is of value, tweet about it and include a link. (Most people on Twitter use www.TinyURL.com to take a long URL and make it short.)
2. Use it for learning new marketing ideas, strategies and techniques. If you follow the right people, and you have to be picky about who you follow, you'll get pointed to a good amount of useful tutorials, videos, e-zines and other things that teach you about marketing.
3. Use it to get new customers. Use Twitter's search to find people who may be interested in your product or service. There are many ingenious ways to search for people on Twitter. For example, if you sell red widgets you could go to http://search.twitter.com and find people who have tweeted specifically looking for red widgets. To do this, type the following into the search box: red widgets?
• You'll notice a lot of the results will be of others selling red widgets. These ones will all obviously have links in them to direct people to the site they're selling red widgets on. To weed these people/tweets out, use the negative sign like this: -http red widgets?
• Since every link has 'http' in it, using the negative sign in front of it will cause your search results to not include any tweets with links in them.
4. Use it to build your email list. Use Twitter's search to find people who may be interested in the monthly newsletter you send out to your house email list. Invite these people to join.
5. Utilize Twitter plugins or add-ons such as TweetMyBlog or The Twitter Updater, which both automatically make tweets of every new blog post you publish. Also check out TwitThis. When visitors to your website click on the TwitThis button or link, it takes the URL of the Web page and creates a shorter URL using TinyURL. Then visitors can send this shortened URL and a description of the web page to all of their followers on Twitter. Finally, look at TweetLater, a service that allows you to write lots of tweets at once and then schedule them to go out over time.
6. Use it to build buzz about an upcoming product or website launch.
7. Use it to better brand yourself or your business. Remember, when someone wants to learn more about you or your company, they are increasingly using sites like Twitter for research. You could easily use Twitter to establish yourself as an authority in your field.
8. Use it to update followers on breaking news regarding your company. If your company is mentioned in a new article, tweet about it and include a link to the article. Or if you're at a conference or trade show, you could tweet what you're doing and invite people to visit you in person.
9. Use it for business networking, master-mind groups (see Napoleon Hill), and getting yourself seen by high-profile people in your industry.
10. Use it as an instant messaging system to keep you and your team on the same page during projects. This is especially useful for those who work with teams spread out in different cities or countries.
You should note that this top 10 list is not in order of importance or in any particular order. I suggest that you give Twitter a try if you haven't already. See if you can apply a few of these techniques and tactics to help you take advantage of Twitter as a marketing tool.
And one more important thing to remember is that there is no silver bullet in marketing. You should always be trying and implementing numerous tactics when marketing your business. Don't only rely on Twitter or any other one thing. Instead, use Twitter (or any other Web 2.0 site) as simply one more tool in your entire social media and marketing toolbox.
And of course you can follow others who tweet about the things that interest you. As an Internet marketer you may want to follow other Internet marketers, for example.
Like anything, and this is especially true of working with social media, the more you give, the more you get. In other words, the more often you tweet the more activity you'll generate. Some suggest that you tweet a few times a day, every day. Not every tweet needs to be profound. But they should all be useful.
It's important that you don't abuse Twitter for marketing and promoting your products, services or affiliate links. Most of your tweets ought to be about offering your followers useful and valuable information. Only once in a while should you try to use Twitter to promote something. Otherwise you'll be perceived as a spammer, and no one wants that tag.
Imagine if you had a large number of people following your tweets? Some people have tens of thousands following them. If you had something to promote and you had a large following, you could quickly and efficiently alert a lot of people of your promo. It acts sort of like a mass emailíng blast to your house email list, but it's a heck of a lot easier and faster. This is the power of Twitter.
One thing that I've noticed with Twitter is that it can seem overwhelming at times. The sheer information on Twitter, the 'how-to's', tutorials and all the other ubiquitous advice on how to use and take advantage of it can seem hard to understand and implement. So here's an easy-to-understand list of the top ten ways in which you can use Twitter to market yourself, your business and your website.
The Top 10 Ways To Use Twitter for Marketing:
1. Use it to promote new pieces of content you or your company create to drive traffic to your site. From online articles to blog posts or from videos to webinars, each time you add something to the Web that is of value, tweet about it and include a link. (Most people on Twitter use www.TinyURL.com to take a long URL and make it short.)
2. Use it for learning new marketing ideas, strategies and techniques. If you follow the right people, and you have to be picky about who you follow, you'll get pointed to a good amount of useful tutorials, videos, e-zines and other things that teach you about marketing.
3. Use it to get new customers. Use Twitter's search to find people who may be interested in your product or service. There are many ingenious ways to search for people on Twitter. For example, if you sell red widgets you could go to http://search.twitter.com and find people who have tweeted specifically looking for red widgets. To do this, type the following into the search box: red widgets?
• You'll notice a lot of the results will be of others selling red widgets. These ones will all obviously have links in them to direct people to the site they're selling red widgets on. To weed these people/tweets out, use the negative sign like this: -http red widgets?
• Since every link has 'http' in it, using the negative sign in front of it will cause your search results to not include any tweets with links in them.
4. Use it to build your email list. Use Twitter's search to find people who may be interested in the monthly newsletter you send out to your house email list. Invite these people to join.
5. Utilize Twitter plugins or add-ons such as TweetMyBlog or The Twitter Updater, which both automatically make tweets of every new blog post you publish. Also check out TwitThis. When visitors to your website click on the TwitThis button or link, it takes the URL of the Web page and creates a shorter URL using TinyURL. Then visitors can send this shortened URL and a description of the web page to all of their followers on Twitter. Finally, look at TweetLater, a service that allows you to write lots of tweets at once and then schedule them to go out over time.
6. Use it to build buzz about an upcoming product or website launch.
7. Use it to better brand yourself or your business. Remember, when someone wants to learn more about you or your company, they are increasingly using sites like Twitter for research. You could easily use Twitter to establish yourself as an authority in your field.
8. Use it to update followers on breaking news regarding your company. If your company is mentioned in a new article, tweet about it and include a link to the article. Or if you're at a conference or trade show, you could tweet what you're doing and invite people to visit you in person.
9. Use it for business networking, master-mind groups (see Napoleon Hill), and getting yourself seen by high-profile people in your industry.
10. Use it as an instant messaging system to keep you and your team on the same page during projects. This is especially useful for those who work with teams spread out in different cities or countries.
You should note that this top 10 list is not in order of importance or in any particular order. I suggest that you give Twitter a try if you haven't already. See if you can apply a few of these techniques and tactics to help you take advantage of Twitter as a marketing tool.
And one more important thing to remember is that there is no silver bullet in marketing. You should always be trying and implementing numerous tactics when marketing your business. Don't only rely on Twitter or any other one thing. Instead, use Twitter (or any other Web 2.0 site) as simply one more tool in your entire social media and marketing toolbox.
February 01, 2010
Social Networking for Business Guide
It seems like there's an over-abundance of social sites nowadays. For a newbie, it can be quite intimidating when first joining a network or two and building a community. A handful of questions may run through your head:
• Which networks to join?
• How to participate?
• What's enough, or too much?
• How will it help my business?
So, to answer some of these, I'd like to present my "Social Media For Dummies" overview. First, a quick recap of my favorite networks and what they're about.
Facebook - The ultimate platform for keeping up with (stalking) friends. I joined Facebook way back in 2005, you know, when it was just for college students and before you could even share photos (gasp!). I've witnessed the evolution of this mega-network over the years, and it has become, not only the 4th largest website in the world, but the best place to find people, keep up with them, and inform them. It is the son of Classmates.com on every possible steroid ever ingested by humans. The ability to share and communicate with friends and colleagues is seamless. Overall, Facebook is a great place to start your social networking endeavors.
LinkedIn - A must-have in every business person's arsenal of tools. If you are (or hoping to be) in business of any sort, LinkedIn is a great place to set up shop. Very similar to Facebook, minus the annoying applications, plus job postings and resumes. This is where you network with those in your industry, join groups, research companies, and prospect clients. Build your credentials by asking colleagues for recommendations or head to the "Q&A" section to provide advice.
Twitter - Share, Learn, Meet. I wouldn't be surprised if Webster adds a new definition for "tweet" this year. Within the first half of 2009, Twitter has gone from nearly 5 million users to over 23 million. It is the social media platform of choice at Fortune 100 companies. Easily share links, pictures, videos, articles... Oh, and personal updates... with followers. Twitter is kind of like the cocktail party of social networks. Here, you can easily reach out to strangers by tuning in to their tweets or quickly replying to them. A limited amount of customization keeps annoying advertisements and outlandish profiles at bay, unlike the outdated MySpace.
Digg, del.icio.us, StumbleUpon, reddit, etc. - Social Bookmarking to share and store your favorite links. You just read an article over at NYT.com that you loved. Use one or more of these bookmarking sites to share it with the world. Looking for information or articles on a certain subject? Head to one of these sites and search your topic, you'll be able to peruse a list of articles or sites that others have found useful or interesting. Not only are these great for sharing, but storing sites for later use as well. Say you have a home desktop, a netbook for travel, and a work computer... customize your bookmarks and easily access them on each computer without updating each machine.
FriendFeed - All of your networks in one place. FriendFeed lets you put all of your networks in one big stream. Users can see your Facebook status, latest Tweet, pictures posted on Flickr, blog post, bookmarked article and much more when they follow your feed. Much like Twitter, but a whole lot more.
These are the networks that I tend to spend most of my time on and are probably some of the key ingredients that should be in the pot. Every person and business is different and may need to change their recipe accordingly, but the key to all of these is to contribute and become a part of the conversation.
Now What?
So, now that we've covered some of the major players in the social networking field, it's time to discover how we can use them. As a person in business, especially an industry with a significant amount of its target market online (which is really all of them now), you've got to understand that these networks are an integral part of their lives. Just like in previous decades where television commercials were considered a major part of any advertising/marketing plan because every one watched TV... now, as many are leaving cable in the dust and turning to the Internet for their information and entertainment, it's more crucial than ever to join the ranks of the digital pioneers.
However, the people using these networks are smart. They don't fall for blatant advertising traps like they used to. They want to know that there's something in it for them. If your product isn't it and that's all you're talking about on Twitter, then they'll ignore you. Social networks aren't about advertising - they're about building relationships
Say you run a small business, maybe you own a restaurant, a clothing boutique, a PR firm or a chiropractic firm... What is in it for you?
How to Participate Effectively :
Facebook - The ultimate platform for keeping up with (stalking) friends. I joined Facebook way back in 2005, you know, when it was just for college students and before you could even share photos (gasp!). I've witnessed the evolution of this mega-network over the years, and it has become, not only the 4th largest website in the world, but the best place to find people, keep up with them, and inform them. It is the son of Classmates.com on every possible steroid ever ingested by humans. The ability to share and communicate with friends and colleagues is seamless. Overall, Facebook is a great place to start your social networking endeavors.
These are the networks that I tend to spend most of my time on and are probably some of the key ingredients that should be in the pot. Every person and business is different and may need to change their recipe accordingly, but the key to all of these is to contribute and become a part of the conversation.
Say you run a small business, maybe you own a restaurant, a clothing boutique, a PR firm or a chiropractic firm... What is in it for you?
- Take a look at your customers or clients when they're in your office or store. Are they on their iPhone or Blackberry checking email? Did they mention finding you online? Did they hear about you from a friend? If you can answer "yes" to any of those questions, then you're missing out on connecting with your customers and should probably put on a pot of coffee, cause you're going to be here for a while.
- Social media is a chance to be at your market's finger tips when they look at their phone or get online in a friendly and non-obtrusive way.
- You can quickly address customer service issues by communicating directly with the customer.
- Prospect new clients.
- Learn about trends in your industry, stay up-to-date with competition and network with power players in your industry.
- Provide existing customers incentives, coupons or interesting information to keep them tuned in to your brand.
How to Participate Effectively :
- Do not start a social media campaign if your intention is free advertising. No one will listen and you will waste your time. Period.
- Take a minute and figure out what you want to get out of being involved in social networks. Research how other businesses have been successful. Make a plan. Mashable is a great place to learn about social media.
- Twitter is a great place to find people in your area, geographically or by industry, and interact with them. Start a conversation, always give if you ever want to receive and don't constantly advertise. No one likes spam... so don't spam your followers with pleas to go to your website or go into business with you. Provide your followers a coupon or discount if you're hoping for business from them... Keep them up-to-date on any changes to your menu or services... Share fun pictures from happy customers... Follow-up with an unhappy customer or use your competition's bad customer service as a great way to introduce you into their lives. Just remember to keep it real, be you, because every one wants to know that there's a human behind your username.
- Facebook is generally most successful for companies with a large following or customer base. But that doesn't mean you should skip it... create a personal profile so you can network with friends and family. By being there, you can instantly share things about your business with people who already like you and will probably listen more than the average stranger. By keeping your brand in their mind, they'll be more likely to spread the word and pass you along to their friends, and so on. Word of mouth, my friends...
- LinkedIn is a must for anyone in business. Very straightforward here, like a virtual resume on steroids. It's always good to network with past and present colleagues and continue to build relationships, because you don't know when you may need them or vice versa.
January 12, 2010
How a Blog Can Seriously Help Your Business
If your business website doesn't have a blog, get one. A blog, if done right, can act as a direct and indirect mechanism that brings large amounts of qualified visitors to your site, many of whom may become customers.
This is mostly related to the way blogs interact with search engines and the traffic I am speaking of will come from search engines, mostly Google.
Before I explain how you can do this to help your website, let me first give some background on how search engines work, Google in particular.
When it comes to optimizing your website (or blog for that matter) for search engines you must always keep in mind two things: on-page optimization and off-page optimization.
On-page optimization is the elements of a Web page that better optimize it to be found and ranked well in the search engines. These elements can include on-page content such as the actual sentences and paragraphs on the page, the headlines (or headers or Hx tags), the links, the links' text, the title tag and much more.
Off-page optimization means the things that are done on sites besides your site, namely link-building. Off-page optimization is the process of creating links (or causing others to create links) on other websites that point to your site. Inbound links as these are often called have a major impact on how well you rank in search engines. Generally speaking, the more inbound links, the better. But the quality of the sites with these inbound links, or the way the search engines perceive the sites, is even more important.
To rank on the first couple of pages on the search engines requires work on both on-page and off-page optimization.
Two additional and important pieces of information that you'll need to understand are related to site content and internal links.
Search engines also very much love new, original and quality content, and they like to see your website regularly adding this kind of new content. You don't need to add pages every day, just add pages at the same rate over time. So if you add a page a week to your site, keep it at around that same pace, or increase or decrease gradually.
A website can be considered a living entity in a sense. It certainly shouldn't be static. It should grow over time. And the fantastic thing about content is that the more of it there is on your site, the more chances you have of getting found in the search engines.
Consider this. If you add fresh, quality content to your blog on a regular basis by writing posts, something the search engines love, and within each post you link to an important page within your site, let's say your product page for instance, you're now building links to help your rankings using your blog. With this additional link your product page gets that much more boost in the search engines.
Remember how I explained that links from within your site help your rankings? Adding links within your blog posts pointing back to your other important pages that you want to rank well is a great way to help your rankings.
And every time you publish a new post, you're giving the search engines one more entry point into your site. Your site will quickly get bigger, and with each new page your site gets more visible.
Keep in mind that the links you make within your blog posts should be relevant. Only link to your product page from a post that has to do with your products. And also, blog posts ought to be useful to your site visitors. The less you talk about your products and instead offer useful, free information that people can use, the more traffíc and repeat visitors you'll get.
Remember that people really don't care about you, your website or your products, they only care about how you can help them. If you sell furniture, a blog post about how to find the best deals on furniture would be far better than a post about how your chairs are the best in the world.
One important thing to remember is that if you plan on creating a new blog for your business as a way to augment your website be sure you put the blog on your actual domain. This means that you would not use a remote service like Blogger.com. Instead, you must have the blog on your business website's address (or domain).
By adding a blog to your business website you are creating a way to get additional traffic. You'll get direct traffic from your posts, which get indexed by the search engines and drive traffic to your site from searches. And, you'll get indirect traffic from your other site's pages ranking well in the search engines because they have links pointing to them from your blog posts.
You'll be regularly adding fresh content to your site, which search engines love, thereby creating more ways to be found in the search engines at the same time. And each post provides a new chance to create a link or two to other pages and blog posts on your site, thereby boosting those pages' rankings.
Like I suggested at the beginning, if your business website doesn't have a blog, go get one.
This is mostly related to the way blogs interact with search engines and the traffic I am speaking of will come from search engines, mostly Google.
Before I explain how you can do this to help your website, let me first give some background on how search engines work, Google in particular.
When it comes to optimizing your website (or blog for that matter) for search engines you must always keep in mind two things: on-page optimization and off-page optimization.
On-page optimization is the elements of a Web page that better optimize it to be found and ranked well in the search engines. These elements can include on-page content such as the actual sentences and paragraphs on the page, the headlines (or headers or Hx tags), the links, the links' text, the title tag and much more.
Off-page optimization means the things that are done on sites besides your site, namely link-building. Off-page optimization is the process of creating links (or causing others to create links) on other websites that point to your site. Inbound links as these are often called have a major impact on how well you rank in search engines. Generally speaking, the more inbound links, the better. But the quality of the sites with these inbound links, or the way the search engines perceive the sites, is even more important.
To rank on the first couple of pages on the search engines requires work on both on-page and off-page optimization.
Two additional and important pieces of information that you'll need to understand are related to site content and internal links.
Search engines also very much love new, original and quality content, and they like to see your website regularly adding this kind of new content. You don't need to add pages every day, just add pages at the same rate over time. So if you add a page a week to your site, keep it at around that same pace, or increase or decrease gradually.
A website can be considered a living entity in a sense. It certainly shouldn't be static. It should grow over time. And the fantastic thing about content is that the more of it there is on your site, the more chances you have of getting found in the search engines.
The idea that inbound links help your search engine rankings that I explained above can be extended to your internal pages as well. In other words, the more links to a particular page coming from other pages within the same site will boost that page's rank as well.
Think of it this way. If you had a ten page site, including a product page and every page on the site contained a link to your product page and, if all other things were equal, your product page would rank higher than the rest of your site's pages (besides the home page which is given a little extra weíght).
Now let's consider what would happen if there were only you and your competitor in your industry (if only that could be true!) and your site still had those ten pages while your competitor's site contained one hundred pages. Furthermore, your competitor set it up the same way as you where he added a link to every page on his site that pointed to his product page. If all other things were equal, his product page would outrank your product page every time. Why? Because he had 100 internal links pointing to his product page and you only had 10.
If you put all these pieces together now, on-page optimization, off-page optimization or link building, content creation and internal linking, can you begin to see why a blog may be a good thing? A blog helps with all of these.
A blog that is regularly updated is providing a mechanism for adding fresh content on a regular basis. Plus, it's so easy to use a blog that anyone can use them, so even if you or your employees don't know a thing about Web pages and HTML, you'll still be able to add new content to your site.
Think of it this way. If you had a ten page site, including a product page and every page on the site contained a link to your product page and, if all other things were equal, your product page would rank higher than the rest of your site's pages (besides the home page which is given a little extra weíght).
Now let's consider what would happen if there were only you and your competitor in your industry (if only that could be true!) and your site still had those ten pages while your competitor's site contained one hundred pages. Furthermore, your competitor set it up the same way as you where he added a link to every page on his site that pointed to his product page. If all other things were equal, his product page would outrank your product page every time. Why? Because he had 100 internal links pointing to his product page and you only had 10.
If you put all these pieces together now, on-page optimization, off-page optimization or link building, content creation and internal linking, can you begin to see why a blog may be a good thing? A blog helps with all of these.
A blog that is regularly updated is providing a mechanism for adding fresh content on a regular basis. Plus, it's so easy to use a blog that anyone can use them, so even if you or your employees don't know a thing about Web pages and HTML, you'll still be able to add new content to your site.
| |
Remember how I explained that links from within your site help your rankings? Adding links within your blog posts pointing back to your other important pages that you want to rank well is a great way to help your rankings.
And every time you publish a new post, you're giving the search engines one more entry point into your site. Your site will quickly get bigger, and with each new page your site gets more visible.
Keep in mind that the links you make within your blog posts should be relevant. Only link to your product page from a post that has to do with your products. And also, blog posts ought to be useful to your site visitors. The less you talk about your products and instead offer useful, free information that people can use, the more traffíc and repeat visitors you'll get.
Remember that people really don't care about you, your website or your products, they only care about how you can help them. If you sell furniture, a blog post about how to find the best deals on furniture would be far better than a post about how your chairs are the best in the world.
One important thing to remember is that if you plan on creating a new blog for your business as a way to augment your website be sure you put the blog on your actual domain. This means that you would not use a remote service like Blogger.com. Instead, you must have the blog on your business website's address (or domain).
By adding a blog to your business website you are creating a way to get additional traffic. You'll get direct traffic from your posts, which get indexed by the search engines and drive traffic to your site from searches. And, you'll get indirect traffic from your other site's pages ranking well in the search engines because they have links pointing to them from your blog posts.
You'll be regularly adding fresh content to your site, which search engines love, thereby creating more ways to be found in the search engines at the same time. And each post provides a new chance to create a link or two to other pages and blog posts on your site, thereby boosting those pages' rankings.
Like I suggested at the beginning, if your business website doesn't have a blog, go get one.
January 06, 2010
Top 10 Firefox Plugins
The ability to customize Firefox with these plug-in extensions is what makes this open-source browser so special. However, there are so many available options for plugins, it's tough to know what's worth installing and what will be a complete waste of your time.
There are lists of Firefox plugins that have been created citing the best extensions for web developers or for a better YouTube experience. However, I wanted to create an everyday list of my best choices just for the ordinary online business owner.
Out of these, here are my top 10 Firefox extensions:
Note: To locate these, search for the plug-in extensions here: addons.mozilla.org
If you don't currently use Firefox as your browser, perhaps this list will convince you to give it a try. I have liked my experience so much with Firefox that I won't ever use any other browser.
There are lists of Firefox plugins that have been created citing the best extensions for web developers or for a better YouTube experience. However, I wanted to create an everyday list of my best choices just for the ordinary online business owner.
Out of these, here are my top 10 Firefox extensions:
- Adblock Plus. If you have ever been annoyed by all those ads and banners on a site that often take longer to download than everything else on the page, install Adblock Plus and get rid of them. Right-click on a banner and choose "Adblock" from the context menu, and the banner won't be downloaded again.
- Colorful Tabs. This simple add-on makes a strong colorful appeal. It sets each tab to a different color and makes them easy to distinguish while beautifying the overall appearance of the interface. After a long day of research when you have lots of browser windows open, this makes online page viewing easier on the eyes.
- ColorZilla. ColorZilla puts an eyedropper icon in your status bar. Click it and you'll get a crosshair cursor. As you run this over a Web page, the RGB values of the pixel under the crosshair will display in the status bar, both as three separate values and as a hex value (e.g., R:255, G:255, B:255 | #FFFFFF). I use this all the time if I'm trying to match colors; i.e. a font color to an the primary background on an image, for example.
- GMail Manager. This Gmail notifier is great if you have multiple Gmail accounts. It allows you to receive new mail notifications along with viewing account details including unread messages, saved drafts, spam messages, labels with new mail, space used, and new mail snippets.
- MeasureIt. After installing this extension, you'll have a small ruler icon on the left side of your status bar. When you click on it, your browser window will fade out a little, and you'll have a crosshair cursor. Drag the cursor over a section of the screen that you want to measure. Next to the box is its height and width, measured in pixels. I use this all the time when trying to measure the size of images. When you're finished, just hit the Escape key to turn it off and return to normal viewing of the page.
- Quirk Search Status. Search Status allows you to see how any web site you visit is performing. When you land on a page, SearchStatus lets you view its Google PageRank, Google Category, Alexa popularity ranking, Compete.com ranking, SEOmoz Linkscape mozRank, Alexa incoming links, Alexa related links and backward links from Google, Yahoo! and MSN. This combined search-related information means you can view not only the link importance of a site (according to Google and Linkscape), but also its traffic importance (according to Alexa and Compete), so providing a balanced view of site efficacy. I use this all the time to determine whether a site has enough traffic to warrant accepting a joint venture proposal.
- Scrapbook. ScrapBook helps you to save Web pages and easily manage your saved collections. Major features are: saving web pages or snippets of a page, saving a web site, organizing the collection in the same way you do bookmarks, full text search and quick filtering search of the collection, and editing of your collected pages.
- Session Manager. Session Manager helps you manage your Firefox tabs. If you visit the same sites every day, all you need do is open all the sites in separate tabs and/or windows, and then use Session Manager to save the session with a distinct name. Then, you simply go to Tools > Session Manager, pick your session, and all the windows and tabs open up just as you saved them. And, Session Manager tracks your sessions as you surf, and if Firefox (or your system) crashes, you can recover the selection of tabs you had open when it crashed.
- Tabs Open Relative. Tabs Open Relative makes all new tabs open to the right of the current tab, rather than at the far right of the tab bar. This reduced a huge annoyance I had with how the Firefox browser worked.
- XMarks. XMarks (formerly Foxmarks) provides seamless bookmark synchronization between your computers and browsers via their synchronization server. Your bookmark (and optionally password) data is securely stored and backed up on their servers and is available online, as well. After you install the add-on, click on the notification to set up Xmarks and start backing up and synchronizing your bookmarks. Install Xmarks on each computer you use, and it seamlessly integrates with your web browser and keeps your bookmarks safely backed up and in sync across all of your computers. Secure Password Sync is an optional Xmarks feature.
Note: To locate these, search for the plug-in extensions here: addons.mozilla.org
If you don't currently use Firefox as your browser, perhaps this list will convince you to give it a try. I have liked my experience so much with Firefox that I won't ever use any other browser.
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