Web Centric 360 Logo Banner

How Online Marketing Can Help Local Business

by Adam Barber on August 24, 2010

Many local business owners may not consider online marketing as a high priority when it comes to their business. Or they may have thought about it but don’t know where to start. Well, these days with more and more people searching for products and services on the Internet, online marketing has never been as important to local businesses.

For me, the days of flicking through the Yellow Pages or Thompson Local to find local services is a distant memory, simply because the speed and accessibility of the Internet makes it so much quicker and easier to find local businesses online that provide the products and services I am looking for.

It surprises me though that here are still local businesses that don’t see the business potential of marketing themselves online, especially when you think about the potential revenue opportunity that could be available to them if they developed an online presence; all those potential clients and customers searching for products and services they sell. It is an opportunity that shouldn’t be missed.

Don’t just take my word for it, download the report below to learn more about creating an online presence and how this could help your business to attract more clients and potentially generate more revenue.

PDF Download: A Must Read Internet Business Report for Local Traders

Please feel free to share this ebook with friends and colleagues who might benefit from this information.

{ 0 comments }

Article Directory Marketing – List of 21 Directories

by lee on July 29, 2010

Have desk, will write
Image by Bright Meadow via Flickr

Now, I am no expert on article marketing, but our website has definitely benefited in a small but steady way from a small flow of clickthroughs and linkbacks over the years as a result of submitting some of our pre-written articles. I get better returns from other forms of marketing so would not personally spend long on this, however, you might want to try it.

Simply submit some of your pre-written work into some of the top article databases and monitor the results for yourself. Whether it is beneficial will depend on your industry sector and article subject so it may be more beneficial for you than me.

When I say pre-written, I mean we wrote them and put them on our own blogs first until they were indexed. This is important in my view as Google knows where the article originated from and gives that location the higher weight in terms of search engine ranking.

You can check to see if an article has been indexed by copying a line of your article text into Google… for example… here is a line from a recent article on our Media Music Now blog … “For a few months, I have been hearing about the Dr Who adventure game”. (you need to use the quotes)

It shows my article on the first page, so it is now safe to put into article directories.

I had thought about compiling a list for you, but then found this list, which is pretty good so I decided to link to it.

http://www.fridaytrafficreport.com/top-21-the-best-article-directory-list/

This only scratches the surface, but it is a good starting point without being overwhelmed.

Although I rate this list, I have never used a syndication service as it suggests as I know Google prefer natural methods. On that basis automatic syndication is not something I have used.

Good luck, and feel free to share this post and your results.

P.S. If you are doing this, I assume you have a website that you own to link back to? If not, get in touch with us :)

Enhanced by Zemanta

{ 0 comments }

How to Register a Domain Name

by Adam Barber on July 19, 2010

This is a step by step guide on how to go about registering your own domain name. I use GoDaddy for purchasing .com domains so for the purpose of this post, I am using them as the domain registrar.

  1. Firstly, you should know the domain name that that you would like to register. For tips on choosing a domain name, you may want to read my article Ten Tips for Choosing Your Domain Name
  2. Go to GoDaddy.com or another official domain registrar online
  3. Start your domain search by typing it in the search box. You should have alternatives ready if your first choice is not available
  4. Once you have an available domain, add it to your cart and continue to registration. You will also be asked to register an account if you don’t already have one.
  5. During the registration process you will be presented with lots of different options to add on to your domain purchase, and unless you really want any of these, just skip past them and continue to the checkout page. Also, the registration period may default to 2 or 5 years for example, but you can use the drop-down option to select a 1 year registration in most cases.
  6. At this stage, review your order and choose your preferred payment option. With GoDaddy you can pay by PayPal or credit / debit card.

Don’t leave it too long before registering your domain, even if you don’t intend to use it straight away, it is better to register it now than lose it to anyone else, especially if it’s your business name. At about £6-10 for a year’s registration, it’s worth making the small investment to secure a good name for your website.

If your business trades only in the United Kingdom, you may prefer a .co.uk domain. I usually register UK domains at SimplyNames.com (minmum 2 year registration). However, should both the .com and .co.uk be available, I would recommend purchasing both to avoid losing one or the other.

{ 0 comments }

SEO Tip: Optimize your Images for Search

by Adam Barber on May 7, 2010

When using images for your website’s content and any posts or articles you publish, it is important to make the most out of your images by optimizing them for search. This presents you with another opportunity of being found in a search engine’s image search. Below are some key points to action when adding images to your website.

  • Images for web content should ideally be in .jpg format and not be too large in size. The smaller the file size the better.
  • Descibe what the image is in its filename, rather than leave it as random letters and numbers. For example, do not leave the filename as jjj3794.jpg or whatever the sequence may be, instead, create a filename that describes the image.
  • Seperate each word in the filename with a hyphen e.g describe-what-the-image-is.jpg
  • Depending on the keywords you are tageting for the website page, post or article, use relevant and related keywords when naming your image and describing it in its alt text. Also, remember to be descriptive and not just list your keywords.

Following these points will further help optimize your website and allow your image content to be found in search engines. Also, it doesn’t take long to implement these as you go and is a worthwhile SEO habit to develop.

{ 0 comments }

New Look for Google Keyword Tool

by Adam Barber on May 6, 2010

In previous posts, I have metioned the Google Keyword Tool a few times and how this is a free keyword tool service that you can use to research keywords / phrases in your marketplace. Well, Google have given it a new look. The old tool is still available via the link ‘Previous Interface’ in the right hand corner while it is gradually phased out in favour of the new Google Keyword Tool. You can see the difference between the two looks below.

New Google Keyword Tool

New Google Keyword Tool
◄ Back
Picture 1 of 2

Screen shot of the new look Google Keyword Tool interface

Please feel free to leave any comments about the new look tool over the old one.

{ 0 comments }

Walk Mill Flour & Visitor Attraction

by lee on April 16, 2010

walk-mill Walk Mill is a beautiful flour mill located in the Cheshire country side. The Mill is open for visitors Tuesday to Sunday every week and sells its own freshly ground flour. Their website needed an update with CMS software so that they could add news and blogs when required. We have also used a photo plugin to display their many high quality photos.

To add some movement to the pages we have incorporated a flash header banner that transitions through a number of related images.

Click the image for a closer look, Alternatively, visit their website www.walkmillflour.co.uk

{ 0 comments }

£20,000 Generated from 30 Minutes Per Day Online Marketing

by lee on April 13, 2010

During the span of my online career so far, I have often heard things like…

How long will it be before I get visits & sales on my new website?… Lee, tell me the things you have learnt over 10 years so I can quit my day job… etc.

Harsh Reality: There is no one size fits all answer and it will take time and consistent effort.

Also, I often hear website owners say… I have not got time to do this everyday, tell me something I can do every month or so.

Harsh Reality: It does not work like that, you need to be consistent, daily if possible.

Cheery Reality: It does not have to take over your whole life. 30 mins to an hour per day can really be effective

Truthfully, there is no definitive answer to any of these questions, it depends on how much time you have and what you are trying to achieve not to mention numerous other factors. Also, it depends on you knowing what you are doing to start with.

That is one of the reasons we provide our clients with training and we are currently creating the Online Marketing Tuition product via Affordable Websites Now.

All of our websites are search engine friendly, but that is not enough on its own. Success online requires carrying out a well executed plan on a consistent basis, focusing on the requirements of your target audience or customer base.

Shameless plug here – If you are thinking of having a wordpress based website built or possibly a redesign of your current site, you should consider our service. At the moment, our online marketing tuition is being offered for free to our clients as we are still developing the syllabus, but eventually, we will be selling this course as a home study pack.

So, to back up what I am saying about consistent activity, here is an interesting view from one of our website stats. In the interest of privacy, the domain will remain anonymous.

The graphic shows how only 30 mins (approx) per day, consistently working a strategic online marketing plan can make a huge difference. Ignore the spike, this high exposure marketing did not impact much on revenue, just visits. The important bit is that the traffic has slowly grown from 0 to over 100 unique visits daily in less than 12 months. Now 100 visits per day may not blow you away, but, these are targeted visitors who are generating a growing revenue for the business owner. Recently, sales exceeded £20,000 within the first 12 months.

This is the right way to do online marketing…

Consistently & steadily to a predifined plan. There are no short cuts. If anyone tells me differently, I don’t believe them, but I am happy for them to try and convince me :)

Click the graphic to study this example of good, consistent online marketing.

traffic

In comparison, here is one of my sites that I have neglected. This is the stats of a failing website. I know what to do about it, but need to do it consistently for it to be effective. If your stats resemble this, you need to make some changes.

traffic-bad

Please feel free to contact us about our SEO services or to get your name down to be notified about the launch date of our Online Marketing Tuition course.

Also, if you wish to share any of your own experiences with online marketing, feel free to leave a comment.

{ 2 comments }

Make Social Media an Essential Part of Your Online Marketing

by Adam Barber on March 5, 2010

Social media dataflows

Image by Anne Helmond via Flickr

These days, there is no getting away from the fact that social media plays an integral part of any online marketing strategy. Businesses small and large are taking on social media in their marketing campaigns to improve their company’s online visibility.

So, what exactly is social media?

Social media put simply is the practice of sharing information online (video, audio, images, text) and interacting with others through various internet-based technologies and communication platforms such as YouTube, Twitter, Flickr, Facebook, Digg etc.

Participating in social media activities can encourage potential clients, customers and fellow industry professionals to link to you as well as increase the chance of you being discovered. This articles aims to give you an insight into the benefits of adopting a social media marketing strategy in your business.

OK, I understand what social media is, but how can I use it in my business?

First off, it is important to identify who your intended audience is, how to get your content discovered and what you want them to do once they find it.

Social media is all about sharing information with others whether that be through video, audio, images or text. So, if you have useful content that you want to share with a wider audience, then make sure it can be found through social networking profiles, video sharing sites, blog posts, RSS feeds, Press Release sites or other media platforms.

Sharing content and interacting with like-minded people helps to improve your online presence and build reputation and trust. This is definitely good for business and is worth taking advantage of.

What’s better still is that once you have a Facebook profile, Twitter account, YouTube channel or blog that is regularly updated, these platforms present another opportunity of your business getting found.

Just having a static business website may have been enough a decade ago, but not any more. These days, if you want your business to grow online, then social interaction plays a key part in its success.

Think of your website and blog as a destination point for all your social media activities. Make it easy for your online community to find you, for example, if they arrive at your Facebook profile or YouTube channel make sure that they can easily get to your website / blog from there.

Now, you just need to get social

There is no way of getting away from it, in this day and age, social media is a core principle of Web 2.0 and plays an important part in your online marketing mix. The web has become a social place for sharing information and participating in conversations and many businesses small and large have already adopted social media into their marketing strategy. The social web is here for the foreseeable future so if you are not already taking advantage of social media in your business, you should start exploring it today as you can guarantee that your competitors will be.

Reblog this post [with Zemanta]

{ 0 comments }

Building a Business Web Presence

by Adam Barber on February 11, 2010

Building search engine friendly websiteOK, so you have a website or are thinking about having a website built, but you are not completely sure how to go about building an effective web presence for your business.  Well, here is a link to a recent article that highlights the key elements you should think about when creating a business web presence, covering aspects such as the goals of your website, updating your website with regular news and information related to your industry and about connecting with others.

Article: 4 Elements of a Successful Business Web Presence

Resource: Mashable.com

Reblog this post [with Zemanta]

{ 0 comments }

10 Easy Tips for Effective SEO

by Adam Barber on February 1, 2010

SEOHere are ten search engine optimisation (SEO) tips to help improve your website’s search engine ranking. These are strategies that you should be able to implement easily without an in-depth knowledge of SEO.

  1. Find keywords that best describe your services or products, keeping in mind that there is no point optimising your website for keyword phrases that people don’t search for. A great free tool that will help with your keyword research is Google Keyword Tool
  2. Add good relevant content on a regular basis. Search engines will keep coming back for more if you keep feeding them unique and fresh content.
  3. Include your keyword phrase sparingly throughout your content. Don’t overdo it though! If it doesn’t read naturally because you have mentioned your keyword phrase too much, then search engines will treat it with no relevance. Take the time to write well-written content with the reader in mind.
  4. Make sure you use your keyword phrase in your Title tag. This will vary throughout your website as each page will have its own keyword phrase you want to rank for.
  5. Use the meta description effectively, including related keywords, but not overdoing it. This is often pulled through as the copy in your search engine listing and can help attract searchers to click on your website.
  6. Use text links within your page content and navigational menu. This will allow search engine spiders to find other pages on your site and indicate what the page is about.
  7. Build a network of backlinks to your website. Link back from quality sites related to your industry.
  8. Remember to use descriptive keyword phrases when creating external and internal links to your site. For example, if the page you are linking to is about ‘blue widgets’ then link with the text ‘blue widgets’. This is much better than just linking with ‘Click here’.
  9. Use relevant and descriptive text in your image ALT attributes. Search engines will see this as relevant text when indexing your site.
  10. Add social networking and bookmarking capabilities to your website or blog i.e. Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Delicious, Digg, StumbleUpon. If you have good content that is worth talking about, this will encourage visitors to share your content.
Reblog this post [with Zemanta]

{ 0 comments }

← Previous Entries