Some People Still Pick Up the Telephone!

small business networking 300x221 Some People Still Pick Up the Telephone!So over the past week I had the need to go and phone a few people – so of course the first thing I did was go to their website to look up their phone number.

I am not sure what the odds of this are but not one of these 6 people had their phone number on their website. 6 for 6… I think in baseball terms that is called batting a thousand, but not for the good in this case.

I live on the internet – my entire business could not survive without the internet… it really is true. I preach having a web presence and the importance of a website to ALL of my clients and anyone else who will listen… BUT you have to be prepared for everything.

Some people may not want to fill out your online contact form and send an email – some will have an urgent need and want to reach out via telephone. If you are in business you need to have a way for potential clients to call you, because some may do that – pick up a phone. Especially a cell phone!

Now, I know money and costs can be an issue for startups, but there are other options out there as opposed to a phone number with the telephone company. Many work from home people use their home line and don’t publish because they don’t want family members picking up the phone… my advice – spend a little money… you never know what opportunity you are missing when you have no option for people to reach out immediately.

I have signed on over 5 new clients from one phone call in the last couple years – and they are all regular clients we still work with. I suspect if I had not had a phone number on my site they would not have called – and who knows if they would have taken one more step to email me. The lost business can overshadow any monthly phone costs tenfold or more.

There are other options that are not cost prohibitive too – Magic Jack, Google Voice, Skype – make certain to check them out if you are someone who has no phone number online. Figure out a way to get one there.

Lost opportunities can add up to lost sales and revenue!

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How Up to Date is your Website?

 

 

One of the key factors in the effectiveness of your website is the experience visitors have during their time on your site.

 

Many small business owners build a website, put in the content and then update it as needed. For a good majority this may not happen weekly, or even monthly. In fact, sometimes yearly may be the norm.  However, in this age of using the internet for research when making buying decisions of any type – products or services – you need to be certain your site has current informations and that people can surf your site as you had originially planned. You need to get the basics of your business across as effectively as possible.

 

Technology is not perfect and often needs the human touch to check up on it. Disruptions in websites happen and you need to be sure that your site is working and that your message makes sense to visitors. One of the services I offer is social media strategy sessions and the first place we start is with the client’s website. And it is amazing what we find during these sessions.

 

inspect website 300x210 How Up to Date is your Website?I highly recommend taking 15 minutes each month and checking your website out – as a visitor would experience it, not you the owner. Kind of like a website audit or inspection. It is amazing what you can discover when you put yourself in someone else’s shoes.

 

Get click happy during this time and be open to reviewing every link and experience that is there for the visitor. Act as if you have come across your site for the first time and are trying to learn about this business. Can you find what you need? Often times you will run across broken links, out of date info, missing info or content, typos and more. These are all pieces that will affect the experience your website visitors have and how they interact with your website, but more importantly how they view your business.

 

If you cannot share with visitors the basics they want to know, then something may need tweaking or updating in your website.

 

What are the Basics?

  • What the business is
  • Who owns the business
  • What services/products you offer
  • Who is the typical client
  • What benefit clients receive
  • How to get in touch for more info or to buy directly online

 

These are all part of the website experience for visitors and users and if pieces are broken or missing or it is not a cohesive and intuitive process for visitors, you may be losing opportunities to make a sale.  Take 15 minutes, check your website and then make the changes or get help fixing or updating it right away. Take advantage of every opportunity you can and stay ahead of the game.

 

 

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You NEED to OWN your own Domain Name

Please! I am pleading with any business owner or entrepreneur who is looking to get a website for their business.

You really need to ensure that your domain name is registered and owned by you – the business owner. I cannot stress this enough.

Yes, I know websites are not your forte, if it were you would be in the website design business.  But you are not, you are a fabulous entrepreneur doing great business and with a nice website online that someone helped you setup. But, times have changed and now you need to up level and change your entire web presence, so you ask someone like me to work with you and on your website.

Trouble is… you discover really don’t have a lot of access to the site.

This following situation has happened 3 times in the last 2 weeks to people I know. PLEASE DON’T BE # 4.

We start checking into your present website setup only to discover that your other web guy (sorry boys, but 3/3 were guys) registered your domain name and nowhere in that setup is your name listed. This means that you in fact, do not own your own domain name nor have any control over it.

How bad can it be? out of order You NEED to OWN your own Domain Name

Let’s see…

  1. The other person has access to the domain registry, not you.
  2. The other person controls when your domain name gets renewed (hint, no renewal= no website online, also known as “Why is the website not working?”)
  3. The other person controls changes and access to your Domain Name Servers (which are part of the setup on how/where your account is hosted and with a web hosting system, you will run into the same situation as in # 2 above, people asking:  “Why is the website not working?”)
  4. Worst of all, your website is connected to this! The website that people use daily.

 

BUY IT YOURSELF

Please make certain when you need to setup a new domain name or website that you take 5 minutes and go to Bluehost or GoDaddy and buy your own domain name. It’s as simple as buying anything else online. Pick out what you want and put it in your shopping cart, the cart with your name on it, then pay for it with your credit card or paypal account.

Guess what – now you own that baby! No one else.

After this you can always give your web person the access in your account. You can give your webperson the technical contact in the account, something you can change anytime. Please buy the darn thing yourself. And no matter what way you do this you remain the Registrant – the person who owns the domain name.

If I now have you scared and not sure if you own your present domain name? You can go to Whois.com and look up your domain name. Be certain whose name it is under and while sill in a good working relationship, get it transferred to your name by your web person! Right now, in all three situations we are having a hard time getting contact to get access and changes made.

You NEED to own your own Domain Name, I cannot say this enough!

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So? How many of you need to have a talk with someone now?

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Blogging Topics to help you Write

blogsign 300x199 Blogging Topics to help you WriteOnce you have decided to add a blog to your website and start blogging to help boost your online visibility the next step on the blogging path is continually adding content to your blog. The writing.

The writing of blog articles is always the hardest thing to overcome when blogging.  What to say??? Great content is important, but you also want to remember that part of the reason you are blogging is to share with readers how your products or services can help people. Part of your content should include references to your services and products but not in a way that you never write about anything else.  Don’t be frightened to refer to others sources or articles. Visitors want good information and a variety of info as well.

Here are some ideas that you can include in your business blog:

Product or Service Features and Benefits

You will need to incorporate blogs about your products or services and do so enthusiastically. Describe the features of the product or service that you are writing about. Be detailed; highlight its strong points or benefits. You must be realistic as well. Point out some of its weaknesses, if any, in the form of warning. Your approach or tone should also be based on the nature of the products or services that you are promoting. If you are selling computer hardware and peripherals, for example, your approach should be more formal or professional. If your product is women’s apparel, on the other hand, you can be more conversational and more candid about it.

Tutorials

You can offer tutorials that are related to the operation or functionality of your product or service. If your business is related to cars, for instance, you can upload videos demonstrating some “do-it-yourself” techniques to help customers perform simple repairs on such problems as car dents and scratches. If you’re selling cookware, you can include tutorials on gourmet cooking. Blog visitors will return if they can easily retrieve such tutorials from your blog in case they need it in the future.

Announcements

These can include the launching of a new product or upcoming promos that your customers should watch out for. These are helpful as they will trigger product interests and excitement, which can be passed to other potential customers by word of mouth. You must be creative so that your customers will be enticed to watch out for your upcoming products and promos. All these will surely contribute to the success of your blogging for business endeavour.

Related News

If your business is sportswear, your target market segment will surely be delighted to read some news about their favorite basketball players. If you’re selling computers, you can feature the latest computer software in your blog. This will make your blog more interesting and more useful to visitors.

Related Tips

Readers will appreciate it when you include practical tips that are related to the product or service that you are discussing. If you are engaged in a hotel business, for example, you can give tips on how to travel safely. If your business is health supplements, you can give tips on how to have a healthy body.

Always add a Call To Action or Feedback

You should try to encourage your readers to leave feedback or comments. Your willingness to receive feedback from blog visitors, whether positive or negative, will convey your sincerity and concern for them. Use the comments to further improve your products or services.

These are some of the types of content that blog visitors typically like to see in a blog. These will further motivate them to try your product or service or to continue doing business with you. When blogging for business, if it’s done the right way, you will surely have more customers contacting you.

Have you any other ideas for blogging content? Feel free to share them here by posting a comment.

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Backlinks on your website explained …

 

back links 300x225 Backlinks on your website explained ...If you want to increase your search engine page ranking and overall search engine optimization, then you want to maximize the number of backlinks to your site.

A backlink is essentially a link to your site from another website or internet location. If you are a blogger and you include links to relevant sites and resources, then you are giving that source a backlink. They are important because these links are part of the algorithm that Google and other search engines use to rank your website. Building these links should be part of your overall blogging and website marketing and search engine optimization strategy.

Not all backlinks are created equally.

Search engines value quality backlinks and therefore it is important to be aware of the most effective types and which ones are frowned upon by the various search engines. Link farms, link swaps and purchasing links are all areas that you want to avoid. However, if you decide to employ them, be very cautious. They may very well not be worth the time or money it takes to build them. In fact, they could significantly damage your site if Google were to decide they frown on your links.

You can tell link swaps by emails you will receive either asking for a reciprocal link on your site and then the other party will place one on theirs or sometimes they are even bold enough to already have your link on their site in order to pressure you to do the same.

I received an email from a client last week with just one of these emails. Sadly, the link they referred to that was placed on their site was not even my client’s but someone else’s. I consider these types of email spam…you will want to decide if contacting them is warranted depending on what type of site they have placed your link on.

The single best way to increase your backlinks is to offer great content.

When you offer your readers well written, relevant and interesting content, they will want to link to your site and in doing so expose you to more and more readers. Focus your efforts on offering your readers a site they value and read regularly. Provide good content and make your website and blog a place that people want to be. Make it a place they do not want to miss updated blog posts or new information.  It will prove to be the most effective strategy for building links to your site.

Other ways to get backlinks.

Article writing is another way to get great content online and in your author resource boxes that is where you have the links that will take readers back to your website. Ezine Articles is a well ranked article directory site where you can publish your articles. There are many rules in place to keep a high quality of content here so take the time to read through all the guidelines.  Visitors here can also use your articles on their own sites, as long as they place the author resource boxes as well. (hint : this is another link back to your site or even two if you have written an effective author resource)

Commenting on other relevant blogs can be a way as well. Most blogs are setup to have the people commenting post their name and website.  So the next time you are reading a blog related to your industry, don’t be shy to comment – that comment will allow you the chance to include a link to your website and be inventive, if it’s more relevant to the topic use something other than your home page.  Create a variety of links to all of your website pages.

What ways go you create back links for yourself?  Any other unique methods you have, please share by posting a comment.

Google has an easy to read guide to Search Engine Optimization which is very helpful to learn more about what top include and not include in your website.

 

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