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June 29, 2009 • 10:45 am 0

Lessons from Scarlett: The Original Female Entrepreneur

The keys to success are always within reach. However, we need to remember that time and effort plays a big role in the equation. A successful person is one who is not afraid of failure despite the circumstances. Scarlett O’Hara is no different. Like a small business, O’Hara uses what’s available to her in order to achieve success. She does not give up, is resourceful and cut throat. A successful business online can relate specifically to the following examples. – WST

By: Alicia Forest

I think if you’ve been a survivor of any sort, you can relate to Scarlett O’Hara from Gone with the Wind. Sure, she used her womanly wiles to get what she wanted, but hey… who hasn’t? (And men, you’ve got ‘wiles’ of your own, so don’t think you’re off the hook.)

When Scarlett tore down her mother’s green velvet drapes to make the dress that ultimately saved Tara from the tax collectors, it was ‘necessity is the mother of invention’ in action. It’s sheer ingenuity to look at those curtains, one of the only things left by the Yankees, and see a fancy dress that could be the solution to her problem.

Scarlett was smart, savvy and had the spitfire spirit of her successful entreprenuerial-minded immigrant father. Over and over, Scarlett relies on her wits to maneuver her way out of predicament after predicament. And maybe some of her actions weren’t those of a lady playing nice (like marrying her sister’s beau) – but to her, the end result always justified her behavior. She took care of herself and her ‘folk’ with no apologies – and she made riches from it.

So, how does Scarlett’s smart and savvy personality relate to your business?

Your biggest client decides to quit working with you, for no apparent reason, leaving you with a huge income hole to fill. Your shopping cart bills your customers three times for a single purchase. Your virtual assistant decides to fly off for a spur-of-the-moment week away, leaving you with hours of admin nightmare to deal with.

There isn’t a businessowner around who hasn’t been surprised by these or similar challenges once they’ve been in business for awhile.

Yes, it would be nice to be prepared for all of our worst-case-scenarios with back-up procedures and the like, but please… especially if you’re the creative/idea type – who’s going to deal with all that detail for the ‘just in cases’? Not me…

When Scarlett turned that green velvet from drapery to dress, my heroine didn’t know she was carrying out a perfect example of exactly how to zig-zag your way very quickly from problem to solution:

Here’s how:

1. She stayed focused

Scarlett didn’t let herself get all spun up about only having one dirty dress to wear, picking cotton herself, or having no food to eat during the war that was going on around her. What she did was stay focused on the task at hand: saving Tara.

All the decisions she made and actions she took came from focusing on that single goal.

2. She quickly shifted priorities when necessary

Scarlett’s mantra of “I can’t think about that now. I’ll think about it tomorrow” kept her focused and on task, and allowed her to shift her priorities when necessary.

3. She was willing to fail quickly

Scarlett made a decision and took action. If things didn’t work out the way she wanted them to, she took stock, made another decision quickly, and took action again. By being willing to fail quickly, instead of trying to figure out and manage all the potential pitfalls beforehand, she was able to rebuild her life on her terms much more quickly.

The Original Female Entrepreneur Continued
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The Web Success Team’s Solopreneur Package includes a 5-page custom direct response website fully branded and optimized for Search Engines with 6-months of online marketing, social networking, blogging, article marketing and much more. Lock in your special pricing now before the rate goes up! Contact the Web Success Team at 818-222-5643 or email bob@websuccessteam.com. To your web success!

Filed under: Online Business , business advice, businessowner, female entreprenuer, Online Marketing, scarlett o'hara, small business, successful business online, Web Success, Web Success Team

June 26, 2009 • 9:05 am 1

Use POG Ads to Promote

POG Ads, also known as Pot of Gold Ads, can help you promote your business in line with Google Adsense or on their own. These are pay-per click advertisements that can help bring traffic to your site and/or increase page revenue. - WST

By: KC Morgan

There are a lot of online advertising opportunities out there. As a Webmaster, don’t you owe it to yourself (and your site) to explore the possibilities offered by them all? Is it possible that one of these advertising possibilities could lead you to a pot of gold? Find out how you can use POG Ads to promote your site and increase your page revenue.

Touted as a Google AdSense alternative or complement, POG Ads is a pay-per-click promotion model that allows you to earn revenue by placing ads on your pages, or advertise your site on other pages. Want to take advantage of both? When you use POG Ads to promote, you can create your own marketing campaigns and earn income from your site.

What Are POG Ads?

POG, or Pot of Gold, Ads (http://www.pogads.com/) is an advertising service that helps Webmasters use pay per click in one of two ways (or both ways at once). POG Ads is a standard pay per click model that’s widely used for online advertising. The site widely touts itself as an alternative to Google AdSense, or a complement to that program which can be used at the same time.

POG Ads

POG Ads, in fact, work the same way as Google AdSense. You can choose to use this service to promote your Web site through customizable advertisements you’ll create with POG Ads. These ads, promotions for your site, will appear on Web sites belonging to the POG Ads network which somehow boast content similar to yours. It’s very inexpensive to use POG Ads to create advertisements and have them subsequently displayed on different pages across the Internet.

When traffic clicks on your ads, it will cost you money. For each click, you’ll pay a predetermined amount as outlined in your agreement with POG Ads. Hence, pay per click. POG Ads also offers a full advertising service, where you’ll pay a monthly rate to have an ongoing Internet campaign that promotes your site.

Google AdSense offers yet another way to benefit from pay per click, and you can enjoy the same opportunity with POG Ads. If you want to earn money on Web site advertising instead of spending it, you might choose to use POG Ads in a different way. By agreeing to rent out space on your Web pages and placing ads on your site, you can earn money through pay per click instead of spending it. You’ll be providing valuable advertising space for other POG Ads users, and you’ll be earning income with your site. Every time a user clicks on one of these ads, you earn an amount determined in your POG Ads agreement. The amount may be small, but the clicks can add up on very popular pages.

You’ll only place a cut-and-paste code in your HTML editor once; from then on, the page has the potential to earn. If it sounds like very little work, you’re starting to get an idea of how easy it is to use POG Ads and other pay per click advertising models.

What are POG Ads? POG Ads are a way for you to earn money or bring in more visitors to your pages — an advertising program you can use to your advantage. Use POG Ads to promote, use them to create income or use them both ways to give your site an overall boost. Use this service to replace other programs, such as Google AdSense, or use them in addition to other services already in place on your site.

Reducing the Risks of User-Generated Content

Understanding user-generated content and how it can both help and hurt you is a great asset to your business. Social media is a method of connecting with people, meaning providing your own user-generated content to communicate interest, link content and even share business ideas. This article explains the types of risks involved as well as how to protect yourself against negative content. This is important for every successful business online. – WST

By: Jeremy Gislason

User-generated content (or “Participatory Media” as some call it) can be a great way to boost the value of your website, and the traffic that’s driven to it. Many website owners have already found that developing online communities greatly increases their financial bottom lines. Sometimes, as has been the case with YouTube, user-generated content can even be a great business model in itself.

But user-generated content can also be a great source of risk and exposure. Again, there’s probably no better example of this than YouTube. YouTube was sued by the Viacom studio in 2007 for $1 billion in damages, for allegedly distributing Viacom’s copyrighted materials without permission.

If you understand the risks associated with user-generated content, you can take steps to reduce your exposure and protect your online assets, while at the same time increasing the value of your website.

What is User-Generated Content?

User-generated content is a broad term that includes any material that a website user posts on the website for others to see. This can include not only blog comments, but also pictures, videos, articles, or anything else that a user might post in a forum or bulletin board section of your website, or as part of their own personal profile on the website.

What are the Risks with User-Generated Content, and How Can I Address Them?

There are a number of legal issues that you will need to become familiar with if you permit or promote user-generated content on your website.

a. Intellectual property infringement. There are two primary types of intellectual property infringement issues that you should be aware of. The first is copyright infringement. Key elements of liability include knowledge of the infringing activity, inducing or contributing the improper conduct, and attaining a direct financial benefit in the infringing activity when you have the ability to supervise the direct infringer.

Copyright holders generally try to enforce their rights by means of “takedown notices” that are sent in accordance with the requirements a particular Federal law (the Digital Millennium Copyright Act). You’ll have to decide what position to take once you receive takedown notices. Do you evaluate each and respond notice as you feel appropriate? Or do you simply honor all takedown notices immediately? It’s a balance between avoiding legal risk of a lawsuit by those who claim to hold a copyright to the material that someone else posted, versus possibly alienating your users if you aren’t giving any consideration to their “fair use” rights in that content.

Trademark law prevents the use of trademarks of others in a manner that creates a likelihood of confusion about the source of goods or services or in a manner that dilutes the value of the trademark. User-generated content sometimes falls afoul of trademark law.

b. Defamation. You should also be aware that there is potential liability for allowing users to post defamatory statements about others on your website. There is a Federal law (The Communications Decency Act) which can provide some protection against defamation claims based on what your users do on your website, but the scope of the protection is still somewhat uncertain, so you should not ignore the possibility of claims against you based on user generated content.

c. Obscenity and Child Pornography. The Federal laws that provide protections to website owners generally exclude protections for obscene materials that appear on such websites, even if the materials are posted by users themselves.

How Can I Reduce My Risks?

One common technique for a website operator to reduce their risks of legal liability for user generated content is to not actively monitor the user activities on the website. While this may seem counter-intuitive, the relevant Federal laws provide a greater degree of protection (through a so-called “safe harbor”) for passive web services that do not actively manage or supervise user content.

Branding for Social Change

It’s a great day when your brand name is strong enough to effect social change. This article explains Levi Jeans use of their brand name to promote HIV testing in South Africa. Levi’s effect on social change not only increased sales for the company, but also increased testing. The lesson here is to broaden the use of your brand. Be innovative! – WST

By: The Times (South Africa)

Companies are using their financial muscle to bring about change, writes Claire Keeton

LEVI’S uses the sex appeal of its products to sell safe sex and SABMiller SA uses taverns to teach men about responsible drinking in philanthropic programmes that benefit South Africans.

The irony of this is not lost on the leaders of corporate social responsibility programmes.

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Filed under: Online Branding, Online Business , branded products, branding, improve roi, increase sales, levis, Online Marketing, red for life, social change, social responsibility, Web Success, Web Success Team

June 15, 2009 • 10:34 am 0

The Do’s And Don’ts Of Online Reputation Management

For many long-term business owners, tackling the web can be an intimidating and difficult task. It is important not to be discouraged by negative reviews by disgruntled customers, but rather to rise above and move forward in your marketing efforts. There are a few basic things to keep in mind when taking the step into the modern business world. Here are a few good tips that will keep your head on straight and your business making money. - WST

By: Jeremy Martin

The day you open your business you become vulnerable to the good and bad publicity you can get from either satisfied or dissatisfied customers. That is the price you pay to run a business. It happens to everyone regardless of what you do. Hopefully you are doing your best to please your customers and following through with the expectations you have given them. But when the unthinkable happens and you find a negative remark, blog post or complaint online there are steps you want to take.

Here are some of the “Do’s and Don’ts” of Managing Your Business’ Reputation Online.

Lets start with the Don’ts:

Don’t Panic. I know that is easier said that done but the last thing you want to do is lose your cool and try to retaliate. There is no reason for that. It often causes more damage than good.
Don’t immediately focus all your attention to the negative information you have found. It is important for you to have a plan or strategy. If you focus all of your time, money and effort on clearing your name then the rest of your business will go down the tube.
Don’t admit anywhere that you are wrong. Admitting any wrongdoing is not going to get your complaint removed from search results, blogs or forums. It can also cause further trust issues with existing or potential customers.
Don’t take your first negative publicity as a sign that your business is a failure. People that feel that have been wronged in any way are more likely to post the negative information about your company but chances are you have got 100 happy and satisfied customers for every one unhappy customer. Remember, you can’t always please everyone.

Now the Do’s:

Create a plan of action. If you notice a couple of negative reports or complaints listed on the first page of search results you have got to find a way to push them off the first page and get them as far down the results as you can. A few really great ways you can do this are by submitting a Press Release to various PR distribution sites such as PRWeb.comm, PR.com and PRnewswir.com.. You can start a new blog that is about your company’s products or services. Make sure you share the good information about your business such as favorable stats or testimonials. Join forums related to your niche and contribute useful, relevant information.
Use social networking as a way to build a bigger and better network. Sites like Twitter, Facebook, MySpace, StumbleUpon and Digg are great because they such a deep user base. If you can get some buzz going about your business it will go a long way. People love to refer sites that are useful to them so make sure you have information that appeals to your target audience.
Do your best to resolve the issue with the dissatisfied customer. Sometimes it can be tough if they make the comments anonymously but do your best to find out who they are so you can take care of their concerns. If you try to reach out to them and resolve the issue publicly it shows that you are persistent and take your customer’s satisfaction seriously.
If your business is in the position to get certified through agencies like the BBB it can be beneficial to your credibility to potential customers.

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SPECIAL: Solopreneur Package – Jump Start Your Business
The Web Success Team’s Solopreneur Package includes a 5-page custom direct response website fully branded and optimized for Search Engines with 6-months of online marketing, social networking, blogging, article marketing and much more. Lock in your special pricing now before the rate goes up! Contact the Web Success Team at 818-222-5643 or email bob@websuccessteam.com. To your web success!

Filed under: Business Networking, Online Advertising and Marketing, Online Business, Web Success , fix negative results, managing business reputation, marketing efforts, negative publicity, Online Business, online dos and donts, Online Marketing, online reputation, online reputation management, social networking

June 11, 2009 • 12:30 pm 1

Crafting a Website with Personality Types in Mind

We, online marketers, always talk about finding your niche or target market. One of the best ways to do so is through an understanding of human psychology and how people buy. Marketing to personality types will help you craft your website or media campaign effectively. This article details four main personality types and how they buy. Use this as a resource for how you want to position your product/services and brand. - WST

By: Ivan Strouchliak

We are all different. Some of us prefer to know every detail; others come to decisions in a matter of seconds. For you, authority may be the main deciding factor, while for others customer feedback is the main selling point. How do you know what your customer will respond to? This three-part series will explore how different kinds of customers approach their buying decisions based on their personality types, and how you can cater to what each type needs to know before they buy from you.

In this article I cover four main personality types. I will explain how those personality types view websites and make decisions, and how to craft a website to sell more effectively to each. This idea has been thoroughly explained and proved by FutureNow, owners of the marketing blog GrokDotCom.

Four Personality Types

No two people are identical. Everyone has talents, unique abilities and nasty hang-ups. There are, however, four personality types to which one can effectively market. Those personality types were tested over and again in design, copy writing and advertising, and experiments have proven that it is possible to raise conversion rates when these factors were applied appropriately. These personality types are not new, but were identified centuries ago.

Many of the great philosophers who have dabbled in theories about personality have identified four dominant temperaments. In 370 BC, Hippocrates identified them as Sanguine, Choleric, Phlegmatic, and Melancholic. Carl Jung (1875-1961) called them Feeler, Thinker, Sensor, and Intuitor. More recently, David Keirsey identified Idealists, Rationals, Guardians, and Artisans. – Waiting For Your Cat To Bark

Myers Briggs classified those personalities as SJ, SP, NF and NT. Ken Evoy calls them boss, empathizer, mixer and ponderer, while Bryan and Jeffrey Eisenberg dubbed them Methodical, Spontaneous, Humanistic and Competitive.

Each type is distinct. For purposes of description, and to help keep their natures straight, I’ll categorize them with a mix of David Keirsey and Myers Briggs:

The Guardians SJ
The Artisans SP
The Idealists NF
The Rationals NT

Meet the Four Personality Types

SPECIAL: Solopreneur Package – Jump Start Your Business
The Web Success Team’s Solopreneur Package includes a 5-page custom direct response website fully branded and optimized for Search Engines with 6-months of online marketing, social networking, blogging, article marketing and much more. Lock in your special pricing now before the rate goes up! Contact the Web Success Team at 818-222-5643 or email bob@websuccessteam.com. To your web success!

Filed under: Online Advertising and Marketing, Web Design, Web Development, Web Success , branding, buying decisions, consumer buying decision, grokdotcom, market to personalities, niche marketing, Online Marketing, personality types, target market, Web Development, Web Success, Web Success Team

June 8, 2009 • 12:27 pm 0

Google Local Can Help You Gain Marketshare in Your Business Today

Small businesses need to wake up and get a website and market online. Even if you don’t have a website or aren’t ready for one, you can still use online marketing to boost your business. Google Local, also known as Google Maps, is a great way to get started. Index your business with Google, that way someone in your neighborhood looking for your products and services can easily find you. - WST

By: Laura Lake, About.com

When people search for the specialty that your business represents, do you show up in Google? Have you tried Googling either products that you sell or services that you offer lately? Did you show up on the front page of local search within Google? If not, you won’t want to miss this tip.

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Filed under: Uncategorized , Google, google local, google maps, marketing tips, Online Marketing, register with google, Search Engine Optimization, small business websites

June 4, 2009 • 7:09 pm 1

Writing Content for Small Businesses Online

Search taxonomy is becoming very important in search engine optimization. Using a recent study, Bill goes into detail on the types of searches that are done and how to implement them in your content. Knowing how users find your business and what they are looking for can help with ad and SEO campaigns. Marketing is a key factor for any online business. If you are starting out or need to revamp your website check out our new Solopreneur Package. - WST

By: Bill Slawski

There are creative ways that a small business may use to help visitors find them online, engage those visitors and customers, and keep them coming back. The Small Business Administration has a article that describes some ways that many businesses can use to promote their business in 15 Foolproof Ideas for Promoting Your Company. The article offers ideas like holding contests, or publishing a newsletter, offering demonstrations and seminars and more. Many of those ideas can work well in an online setting.

When you create content for an ecommerce site, it also can help to think about more than just how you may present the products or goods that you offer on your pages. Many ecommerce sites on the web simply break products own into categories, and provide very little beyond a listing of those products and brief descriptions about them.

Understanding how people may search for what you have to offer can be really important, especially if you hope to have visitors find you through search engines. It can be a key to finding creative ways to bring people to your site who might be interested in what you have to offer.

Different Intents Behind Searches

It can be helpful to understand that when people search, they often have different purposes in mind. When someone from one of the major search engines writes about these different purposes, they often refer to them as “user intent.”

Some people may want to learn about a topic, or to buy something, or to learn how to do something for free. Since many visitors may arrive at a web site through a search engine, it helps to know about different types of queries that a searcher may use to find your site. So, an important way of thinking about queries is to consider the intent behind them.

A convenient way of breaking down queries into different types is described in a paper written by search engineer Andrei Broder, who classifies the intent behind queries down into navigational, transactional, and informational, in the paper A taxonomy of web search (pdf)

Informational Queries – The web is much more than just a commercial space, filled with marketing and commerce. It’s a medium where people can communicate with each other, share ideas, learn about a world of topics, find and offer advice, and explore other countries and cultures and communities. Many people who do go online with some kind of commercial intent do so to save money rather than spend it, often looking for ways to do things themselves. People who may want to buy something may be looking for information that can help them make an informed decision before they decide to make a purchase.

Navigational Queries – A navigational query is one in which a searcher is attempting to find a specific page or site that they have visited before, or have assumed likely exists on the Web. For example, if I want to visit the pages of the American Psychological Association, I might type [apa] into a search box, hoping that the top search result might be the home page for the organization. The major commercial search engines have even been trying to help people who perform navigation type queries by attempting to associate certain query terms with sites that may be ideal destinations for those queries. The search engines may even offer additional links under a listing for those sites, referred to as site links or quicklinks, which may help lead searchers to pages within a site that they may be interested in ending up at on those sites.

Transactional Queries – Transactional queries are ones in which a searcher may not have a specific site in mind, but they want to perform or complete some kind of task online, such as accessing and searching a database about a topic, being entertained interactively, downloading a video, making a purchase, or interacting with the site or others in some way. If you offer goods or services to consumers or to other businesses, you’ll want to be found by the people who are looking for what you have to offer and want to interact with you.

Advanced Search Operators and SEO

For those with an understanding of search engine optimization (SEO) and its importance, here is a comprehensive explanation of a new “SEO” called search engine operators. These operators allow you to see specific details about your keywords and can help with researching new and more effective keywords. - WST

By: Ivan Strouchliak

In this article we’ll share with you a couple of cool hacks to use in search engine optimization called advanced search engine operators. To use this article you must already be aware of your core keywords (the main keywords for which you’re trying to rank). If you’re not sure which keywords you want to target, use the Google Keyword Tool or Wordtracker for some research.

Using Advanced Search Operators – Intitle, Inurl, Inanchor

First, go ahead and open Google.com or Yahoo.com in a new window. Just follow the steps in the article and you’ll learn some new, helpful tricks. Use both to compare their usefulness.

NOTE: Keep in mind that Google doesn’t share much data with SEOs, while Yahoo is more open. Google is well aware that mainly SEOs use the commands described below, so it limits results on purpose. Take this information with a grain of salt.

Intitle: Command

intitle:keyword

intitle:”keyword phrase”

With this command, you will only see search results with your keyword phrase in title. The title tag is a crucial SEO element, and all pages targeted to a particular key phrase have targeted keywords in the title tag. With this command you can estimate the approximate number of competitors fighting over a specific keyword. Search both Google and Yahoo to get an average number.

As an example, a regular Google search for mortgage broker gives 7,440,000 results. A search with intitle:”mortgage broker” gives 251,000 results, which is a better representation of your competitors.

Search in Yahoo with this command gives 1,250,000 results. Yahoo’s results tend to be three to five times bigger than Google’s.

Inurl: Command

inurl:keyword

This command shows websites that have your keyword phrase in their URL. The keyword may be located in the domain name, as with www.examplekeyword.com, or in the filename (URL), as with www.example/yourkeyword.com.

For example, if you search with inurl:”mortgage broker” you’ll see 102,000 results for sites that have “mortgage broker” in their URL. Chances are, the sites on the first three pages are your competitors.

Yahoo shows 408,000 results.

Inanchor: Command

inanchor:keyword

inanchor:”keyword phrase”

inanchor:keyword1 inanchor:keyword2 inanchor:keyword3

With this command you can see websites that have a specific keyword in anchor text pointing to the domain. Usually this means that the site did link building with this keyword phrase. Google shows 7,020,000 results for inanchor:mortgage inanchor:broker, which is not likely to be a real number, while a search for “mortgage broker” gives 7,450,000 results. As mentioned above, Google distorts this data.

Yahoo is a little bit better when it comes to the inanchor command. Its index shows 118,000,000 for “mortgage broker” and 982,000 results for inanchor:mortgage inanchor:broker, which is a more accurate. You’ll notice that Google’s search count is a lot smaller than Yahoo’s, so don’t trust those numbers too much.

The inanchor command is very important, but unfortunately search engines don’t share this information with SEOs for obvious reasons. Linkscape and Majestic SEO keep their own indexes of the web and allow SEOs to see the anchor text of links. You need to pay for both, but it’s worth it.

Also, keep in mind that Google is now putting a lot of weight on domain trust, rather than anchor text. Anchor text is still an important factor, but domain trust is just as important.

Combining Intitle and Inanchor Commands

By combining two commands you can get results that list real SEO savvy competitors. When you use this command you will see results that have your keywords both in the page title and as anchor text for incoming links. . . Again, take the information with a grain of salt and use both Google and Yahoo. Let’s see the results.

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SPECIAL: Solopreneur Package – Jump Start Your Business
The Web Success Team’s Solopreneur Package includes a 5-page custom direct response website fully branded and optimized for Search Engines with 6-months of online marketing, social networking, blogging, article marketing and much more. Lock in your special pricing now before the rate goes up! Contact the Web Success Team at 818-222-5643 or email bob@websuccessteam.com. To your web success!

Filed under: Google, SEO Expert, Search Engine Optimization, Web Analytics, Yahoo , google search operators, inanchor commands, intitle commands, inurl commands, more analytics, search engine operators, Search Engine Optimization, seo, seo hacks

June 1, 2009 • 7:24 pm 0

When Should You Fire Your Website Designer

A website can be an effective marketing hub, driving traffic and sales to your business. However, there is much more to a website than a fancy design. Search engine optimization and marketing are key points for any successful website as well as a comprehensive design that is well branded and easy to use. You need all of the above to maintain a successful business online. Many web designers do not know how to market the beautiful websites they create. So be careful when shopping for a web designer. – WST

By Ajay Prasad

Your online business is not a wild crazy idea, but a source of your income. Trust the right people to design your website. Your 17 year old nephew may be able to create your website or you can get a free one from several services…they might even be kind of pretty. In my research and experience, less than 2% of businesses that have websites have planted the seeds to online success. Many of them are your competitors.

The problem is web designers’ focus on the technical aspects of the site. They don’t have a clue how to build a website that makes you a ton of money, drives floods of traffic, and gets you top placement on search engines.

Why Do You Have a Website?

The reason you have a website for your business, no matter what business you are in, is you want to rake in bundles of cash. Maybe not now, but definitely later, it should be bringing returns on your investment.

Your Website is Like Your Business

Make sure that your web designer owns a successful online business and knows how to run it.

Your sole purpose in having a website should be to use it as a marketing and communications tool. It is not there to be pretty. It should not be there to win awards. It is there to make you money. Even if you have a better product or service than your competitor, the one who attracts more prospects and customers – wins! Being the best at marketing is all that matters.

Online Marketing Is Completely Different Than Marketing Offline

All of the tools, techniques, communication, etc. in the online world are different than those offline. A very common mistake is to think because it works offline you can just put it on your website! It’s important to realize the reader of offline copy thinks and processes information in a different way than someone reading online copy. What works offline may be a complete flop online.

They are two different worlds. For example, online marketing REQUIRES you to know how to get your site ranked high, very high, in the search engines like Google and Yahoo….so you routinely appear on the first page for the optimal search terms for your business.

Of course, this assumes you know how to find the optimal words for your business, your marketplace, your niche, etc. Just so you know, the “include all words” strategy has proven to be a total failure.

And, most designers and businesses do not know that SEO (search engine optimization) is not SEM (search engine marketing). If you do one and not the other, you will probably be very disappointed with your results.

Studies have shown that you need to be on the first page of search engine results to get enough people coming to your site. SEO and SEM are not optional for online success – they are mandatory!

Increase your ROI: Only Work with People Who Know Website and Online Marketing Read the rest of this entry »

Filed under: Direct Response Marketing, Drive Traffic, Search Engine Optimization, Web Design, Web Development , increase roi, Online Marketing, online offline marketing difference, Search Engine Marketing, Search Engine Optimization, seo and sem, successful business online, Web Design, web design company, web designer, Web Success, Web Success Team