.

What the Geek Squad Can Teach You About Branding

2011-08-31T10:21:00.000-07:00

As a small business, you've heard of branding and the role it plays in your identity and marketing. However, most small business owners are confused or overwhelmed by the concept of just what branding is... is it my logo? my color scheme? my website? my tagline?

So, what is branding? According to Bill Chiaravalle, Principal and Creative Director of Brand Navigation, “brands are promises that consumers believe in.” He simplifies the entire branding process down to the fact that if a company has done a good job branding themselves, the consumer will trust them and ultimately develop a strong emotional attachment to them.

So what can Geek Squad teach you? They know branding. They've embraced the full concept of customer confidence, loyalty and recognition through their amazing branding strategy.

The Geek Squad understands that branding covers every single aspect of business. It’s never just about your website or business logo (although that’s part of it). Branding is about creating a feeling and a response in the minds of your clients and customers.

Here are 10 ways the Geek Squad can help you explore your own brand:

1. Company Name.
The name of your company is an integral part of the branding process. You need to ensure that your customers understand who you are and what your represent through your company name. Obviously, the name “Geek Squad” speaks volumes.

2. Website.
Your website needs to offer your prospects a big picture look at your entire brand. Everything on your site should promote the promise that you are making to your clients and customers.

3. Mission Statement.
Your company mission statement should be a natural extension of your brand. The Geek Squad states, “We’re an army more than 18,000 strong, on a singular mission to rid the world of rogue technology. We’re still oddly dressed, but we’re now oddly dressed and saving the day across the globe.” Brilliant.

4. Phone Tactics.
Yes, branding even entails how you answer the phone. Think about ways that you can integrate your brand and your business phone. The Geek Squad doesn’t just “answer the phone.” Instead you are prompted to enter your “top secret pass code” or speak to a Geek Squad Special Agent. The on-hold music consists of a compilation of spy movie theme songs.

5. Dress Code.
If you can incorporate your brand into the way that you or your employees dress, this will even add more believability to your brand. Of course, Geek Squad employees dress in white shirts, dress pants, “geeky” ties and yes, some even flaunt the pocket protector.

6. Tweets.
If you’re going to use Twitter as a marketing tool, make sure that you use it as a platform to develop powerful brand awareness regarding your small business. @GeekSquad tweets daily tips on fixing your computer, removing spyware and other “geeky’ topics that their dedicated customer-base loves.

7. Blog.
One of the most important marketing tools for today’s small business is maintaining a blog. There is no better way to communicate directly with your prospects, customers and clients. At the Geek Blog, the writers go into depth about geeky technology, geeky facts and geeky jokes.

8. Videos.
Have you heard about GeekSquad TV? That’s the ingenious Geek Squad videos that showcase the intelligence and utter geekiness of these likable employees. Again, their videos continue to drive home the fact that these guys know what they’re doing.

9. The Car You Drive.
If you are creative enough, branding can even be a part of the car you drive. Take a look at the “Geek Mobile,” a compact, little VW emblazoned with the Geek Squad logo. If that doesn’t create brand awareness, I don’t know what would!

10. Consistency.
One of the most crucial aspects of branding a small business is that you must be absolutely consistent. Every single interaction that your customers have must send the same message. You are ultimately creating experiences for your prospects, clients and customers that create trust and build emotional attachments to your company.

So, as you begin the task of building a brand that creates fierce and intense loyalty in your market area, don’t forget about the Geek Squad. They are branding masters.

Jessica Swanson is a Manta Marketing Expert

10 SEO Myths

2011-06-13T21:42:00.000-07:00

When it comes to Search Engine Optimization (SEO), the myths and misconceptions are abundant. Here are some of the more common Search Engine Optimization myths:

Myth #1 - SEO Is A One-Time Deal
Search engine optimization is an ongoing process that requires attention and effort over an extended period of time. To do it properly, it is an ongoing process, and definitely not a one-time action. However, this doesn't mean you need to pay huge fees on an ongoing basis. Once you've started, you should learn how to keep it up.

Myth #2 - Quantity Is More Important Than Quality
When it comes to backlinks, quantity is simply not as important as quality. Attracting a huge number of backlinks is simply not as important to search engines as obtaining relevant links from related and trusted sources.Google rates your "popularity" on how many popular sites your link is on.

Myth #3 - Meta Tags Are No Longer Relevant
While meta tags are not the ultimate solution to search marketing, they still matter. Including a unique and keyword-rich title and description on each page of a website. This will help the site rank better in organic search results for those terms. Meta tags may not be as important as they once were, but they do still matter in the world of search optimization.

Myth #4 - PPC Will Help Search Ranking
There is no association between Pay Per Click (PPC) advertising campaigns and how well a website ranks in organic search results. There is simply no evidence to suggest that advertising via AdWords will help improve an organic search ranking.

Myth #5 - Submit Your Website Early And Often
Submitting your website to search engines is no longer a necessity. Search engines use spiders to follow links on a website. However, if you find a search engine's submit your site" button, by all means use it.

Myth #6 - SEO Is A Scam
Search engine optimization, when done properly, is quite effective. In fact, a website may have a difficult time ranking at all if it is not optimized adequately.

Myth #7 - SEO Is A Guarantee
As the old saying goes, the only things guaranteed in life are death and taxes. When properly implemented, SEO can very likely improve your organic search rankings. But be leery of any search marketing company that makes guarantees. There are simply too many factors and variables for SEO success to be guaranteed, and some results from those companies may only last a short period of time - leaving you in the lurch after the very expensive honeymoon period.

Myth #8 - Build It And They Will Come
Once upon a time, before the Internet became so cluttered, you could build something new and interesting and it would attract attention without any effort. But now, with multi-millions of websites on the Internet, you must work to draw attention to your innovation. Do not assume that people will find it simply because it is cool!

Myth #9 - NoFollow Links Are A Waste Of Time
Acquiring links that are tagged as "NoFollow" are not a waste of time. A mix of both DoFollow and NoFollow links looks far more natural to the search engine algorithms than a website that has all DoFollow or all NoFollow links. Additionally, some search marketing studies suggest that not all search engines pay attention to the NoFollow attribute, and they do in fact value a NoFollow link the same way that they would value a DoFollow link.

Myth #10 - Google Is The Only Search Engine that matters
While it is true that Google is by far the largest search engine, a decent volume of web traffic can still be generated by achieving a high ranking in other search engines for competitive search terms.

Web Design For Mobile Devices

2011-05-27T10:01:00.000-07:00

More and more people are using their mobile devices to connect to the internet, look up information and keep up to date. From standard wireless phones to tablets, how easy your site is to navigate on a mobile device could make a the difference between holding and losing a customer.

Let's focus on the basics of designing for mobile devices.

1. Do You Really Need A Mobile Website?
Before diving into creating a mobile-ready website or shelling out a bunch of money to have one created, it's important to figure out if you actually need a mobile website. Of the estimated 91.4 million mobile internet users inthe US, how many of them are in your target audience? How many of them will need to gather information from your website on a regular basis?

Check your existing website analytics and identify how many visitors are using mobile devices, along with the types of devices and operating systems they are using. Identify where they are going and what sort of content they are using. If they are using just a couple of features, like finding your phone number or hours of operation, you may be better off for now just optimizing your desktop site to make that information easily accessible by mobile users instead of building and maintaining a separate mobile site.

2. Prioritize Content
After deciding you and your users will benefit from a mobile website, it's time to figure out what information they want access to

Mobile web surfing isn't the same as desktop surfing. Mobile users are not captive users and tend to use the internet for specific reasons, such as connecting with others, looking up contacts, keeping up to date on events or articles and using applications such as reservations or purchasing. By prioritizing your content for the mobile user, you make their experience clean, efficient and useful.

In Tapworthy – Designing Great iPhone Apps, author Josh Clark boils down the mobile user’s mindset to one of three possibilities:

    - Microtasking: Using the phone for short bursts of activity.
    - Local : Finding out what’s around the user.
    - Bored : Using the phone for distraction/entertainment.

Keeping all these factors in mind, now it's time to consider your mobile web design strategy.

3. Designing for the Mobile Device

Design for smaller screensThis is a given. Although you have a wide range of mobile devices from simple phones to tablets, make your site fluid. Be sure the width is shrinkable as well as expandable.
Simplify Navigation
Web design for mobile devices must take into account ease of navigation, and placing it at the top of the screen makes for a frustrating experience on a cell phone. Have the content show up first, and keep links at the bottom. For touch screen devices like the iPhone, long link text is easier to tap on than short links, so use more than three words for your text links.
Minimize User Input
Tiny keyboards and touchscreens are vulnerable to errors and take time. Good rules to follow:
- Keep URLs as short as possible
- Use alternate input mechanisms where possible, such as drop-down choices, buttons
- Limit input to essential fields. For example use zip codes only, rather than city and state inputs on forms.
Design for Intermittent Connectivity
Even with mobile providers offering faster and faster speeds, connectivity on mobile devices still can't match broadband. Users pay for internet access and not everyone has unlimited plans. Your site should be designed with reduced size in mind:
- Keep page sizes small so they load quickly
- Remove unnecessary code, comments and optional tags
- Reduce image sizes and resolutions that are optimized for mobile devices
- Minimize the number of embedded image to reduce the page load time

4. Testing Your Mobile Website
Once you've created your mobile website, it's good to test on as many mobile devices as possible. You can test your site's mobile-readiness by visiting one of these sites.

- http://ready.mobi
- http://ipadpeek.com/
- http://validator.w3.org/mobile/
- http://www.google.com/gwt/n
- http://www.gomez.com/mobile-readiness-instant-test

5 Must-Haves For Every Small Business Website

2011-04-08T14:33:00.000-07:00

Whether you're building a website yourself, or have a web designer to do it for you, work through this check list and you won't go wrong.

1. Contact details
It might seem a bit obvious this one, but you'd be surprised how many people forget to add their contact details. Not only must you have your contact details--at a minimum your address, phone number and email address--but you must make those details easy to find. Don't hide them away in the footer. Make the "contact us" page one of the most obvious ones. Because having a website boils down to just one thing: making more sales. And if your website visitors have a hard time getting in touch, then they're not going to buy from you.

2. Map
This is a must-have if you have a store front or office, that can make a real difference to the number of leads your website generates. The nature of the Internet is anonymous--we're all dealing with companies and individuals through a computer screen. And because of this, the Internet is a scammer's paradise--it only takes a few minutes to build a website and pretend to be a company. So having a map of where you are adds a real reassurance to your website visitors. It turns a virtual interaction into something more solid, and gives your website visitors the peace of mind that you're real people living in the real world

3. A Lead Capture Form
This is the next step on from adding your contact details. Many website visitors want to know more about your products and services, but are disinclined to give you a call or drop you a line. But they're quite happy for you to get in touch with them. And in order to make that possible, you need a lead capture form. Think of this as a sales assistant approaching a shopper, rather than a shopper going out of their way to approach a sales assistant. A lead capture form allows your website visitors to leave their details and express an interest in you, without going the whole hog of picking up the phone. And since many people surf the web out of office hours, the chances are that the time that they're actually on your website is a time when you don't have anyone to answer the phone. Having a lead capture form allows you to give them more information when it's convenient for you, and lets them express and interest when there's no one around to talk to.

4. Photos of You and Your Staff
This is one of my favorites - it's yet another great way of reassuring your customers about who they're dealing with. In the same way that having a map gives your web visitors the confidence that you exist, having your photos on the website creates a personal connection between them and you. It's so much harder to turn away from a face than a computer screen. Having a photo kick-starts a personal relationship with your website visitors, and it makes it much more likely that the visitor will then get in touch. The added advantage is that not many websites include personal photos, so get this right and your site will start to get head and shoulders over the faceless ones around it.

5. Newsletter Sign-Up Form
This option is a good opportunity to warm up future customers. Many people surfing the web for products and services will be in a "research" phase of the buying cycle. They're not ready to get in touch or start buying just yet, but they are interested in finding out more information. Having a newsletter allows you to start to interact with them before they're ready to buy. They get the opportunity to "'taste" your service and personality, without having to commit to buying from you. You can start having a conversation with them, so that when they do decide to buy, that relationship already exists. And as anyone running a successful weekly or monthly newsletter will tell you, it can be the biggest source of new leads for your website. So add a newsletter sign-up form, and start emailing news about your company and industry to those signing up, and the customers will surely come.

Marketing Must-Haves
These aren't absolutely necessary for all types small business websites, but are very important if you want to push your marketing power.

6. Blog
This is a half way house between your website and a newsletter to your customers. A blog gives you the opportunity to add personality to your website and start an open conversation with your website visitors. It adds a human element to a company site, and gives you the opportunity to showcase your knowledge, products and industry. And because visiting a blog is anonymous, many more will read your blog than will sign up for a newsletter. Not only that, most blogging platforms allow visitors to comment and add to the author post. This means that having a blog allows web visitors to see that there are other people spending time on your website and interacting with your business. We all prefer to eat in a busy restaurant than an empty one!

The other real advantage of a blog is that it allows you to add fresh, relevant content to your website, which is one thing that Google really likes to see. If Google likes it, then the chances are you will be boosted up the Search Engine Results page for searches relevant to your products.

7. Customer Reviews and Testimonials
What's the most convincing way to sell your products? By having other customers recommend them. Its one thing for you to go on and on about how great you, your company and your services are. But at the end of the day, any website visitor is going to take all that with a grain of salt. Of course you'd say that you were great! But if other customers give recommendations or reviews of your product and service, then that adds real weight to what you are saying. Of course, you're hardly likely to publish reviews and testimonials that show you in a bad light. But if it is a genuine comment from a real person--and that person doesn't mind you publishing their contact details, so that other web visitors can check they're real--then that comment can go a long way to reassure people that buying from you is a good decision.

8. Email to a Friend
This is one of the oldest and most basic website features, and one that is sadly overlooked these days. As mentioned above, the most effective way to convince someone to buy from you is to have someone else recommend your products. An email to a friend feature on your website does exactly that --it allows a website visitor to send details of your products to someone they know, which is, of course, an implicit endorsement. Include an "email to a friend" link with each product you sell, and you will really see the benefits of the personal recommendations.

9. Social Bookmarking
Have you ever wondered what that strip of icons on web articles actually does? The icons are often accompanied with a message like "share this," or "add this." The icons all represent--and link to--social book marking services. Social bookmarks are a public web page where you place all the links to all your favourite websites. They're a way of you creating a simple web page and saying to everyone "I recommend these websites." When you place social bookmarking links on your website, you allow your website visitors to quickly add your website to their list of social bookmarks. It is yet another way of them endorsing your product.

The other added benefit is that when people link to your website using a social bookmarking service, it can also help boost you up the Search Engine Results Page for searches that are relevant to your product or service.

10. Twitter and Twitter Feed
In short, Twitter is a micro-blogging platform that allows you to send and receive short messages. I'm not here to discuss the ins and outs of Twitter, but it can effectively achieve lots of different things. First of all, it allows you to communicate and have a conversation with your customers or visitors to your website. Second, it allows other people to sit in on these conversations, and find out what you're saying. Both these help add a human element to your website--turning a computer screen into a real person again. And as stated before, its so much harder for a web visitor to walk away from a real person than their computer screen. It means they will be much more likely to get in touch.

5 Questions You Must Ask Your Customers That Will Save You Money

2010-11-10T13:09:00.000-08:00

If you seem to be throwing lots of time and money at advertising, SEO, PPC, SEM and every other type of advertising - with less than desired results, then these five questions could save you money, time and and build customer loyalty.

Most business owners steer away from asking their customers what they think about their products or services for fear that they may find fault. This is a "bury your head in the sand" mentality that limits your potential and your opportunities to stay ahead of your competition.

How do I know this? Because I have worked with dozens of small businesses, and most of them have never asked their customers what they think. When I work with businesses, one of the first things I do is evaluate their products and services for my personal liking - and sometimes asking colleagues and friends to do the same. If I don't think their offerings are up to par, then bringing in more customers will do more damage than good.

So here's the top five questions and why you need to ask these.

1. How did you hear about us?
It is important to understand which marketing channels are working for you. If the majority of your new customers are coming from word of mouth referrals, create opportunities for more referrals. Don't spend your hard-earned cash on advertising to people who don't know and love you.

2. What was your main reason for choosing us?
I am constantly reminded that price is not the main reason people choose to do business with you. Consistently across the 70 industry sectors we have surveyed, trust that you can provide the right product or service is the Number One reason. But there are others and you need to know the reasons why customers choose you, because this is essential to your communication with existing and potential customers.

3. What is one thing we do really well for you?
This question gives you clues about why you are better than your competitors--and this creates opportunity to exploit your strong points in your marketing. Customers will tell you why you are better than the guy down the road. Your job is to make sure that you keep delivering well on your strengths.

4. Is there anything we could we do better?
This is the main reason why business owners don't do customer surveys - they don't really want to know - yet this is vital information that you need to know. You need to know where the gaps are so you can plug them. Don't allow your weaknesses to be your competitors' advantage.

5. On a scale of 1 to 10, how likely are you to refer a friend or colleague to us, where 1 is not likely at all and 10 is extremely likely?
Those of you who are familiar with net promoter score will know that a customer who scores 9 or 10 is a strong referral source. You also want to ask them why they have given you this score so that you can understand what is important to your best customers and be sure that you continue to meet their expectations.

So there you have it. With the answers to these questions, you can create marketing plans that have a balance of strategies for attracting new customers as well as retaining existing ones. You will know what areas you need to work on and what you need to constantly keep on top of to avoid losing customers.

-D. Taylor

SEO Crash Course

2010-06-22T09:36:00.000-07:00

In business, location is everything — and that includes where you are on the Internet. The way people find that online location is through search engines. So, while a pure brick-and-mortar consideration of location involves being on a good street with a highly visible sign, the online version means ranking high when someone does a search to buy what your "store" sells. Search-engine optimization, the art of improving your search rank, isn’t hard, but it’s something a lot of small businesses don’t pay attention to — either because they’re too busy, or because it sounds both technical and scary. Amit Bakshi, who oversees oDesk’s SEO efforts, puts together a very basic primer:

SEO in a nutshell
All search engines, like Google, Yahoo and Bing, want their users to find the quality websites they are looking for. You need to make a top-notch website, in a way that both human customers and search-engine "spider-bots" can identify. These programs crawl the Web to find sites, and send back information that allows the search engineers to rank the sites through complex algorithms. So SEO is the process of establishing your site as attractive and relevant to these Web crawlers. There are three main steps or considerations: Clean up your site design, create quality content and reach out with links.

Step 1: Designed to Succeed
Your website needs to be both easy to find and easy to read. To make it easy to find, consider what your customers would search for. "The first step is to figure out which keywords you’re likely to be discovered with," Bakshi says. "The basic terms should be pretty obvious, but later you can augment that with a bit of keyword research."

If you’re a florist in Boston, the searches you want to top are variations of flower delivery in Boston. Start with the page title, that field in the code that tells search engines what the page is called. “Bob’s Blooms” won’t tell Google anything. "Boston Flower Delivery — Bob’s Blooms," or "Bob’s Blooms — Boston Florist," will be more relevant to someone trying to get a fistful of peonies to Beacon Hill. Working with your web designer and/or webmaster, make sure your site is easy for search engines — and humans — to navigate, and make sure the key terms appear prominently.

Step 2: Quality
Wins Google and its competitors spend millions of dollars on search algorithms that have just one purpose: to present the highest-quality websites to users anytime they search for something. An important aspect of rising to the top of a search is to actually be a quality website. Smart, well-written content on the topics close to your heart (and bottom line) will improve your rankings, and it’s an ongoing effort. You or a qualified marketing writer should routinely expand your site with good content on relevant subjects, such as how to preserve fresh-cut flowers in a hot Boston summer, which flowers are the best deals in Boston, season by season, or a feature on arrangements you’ve done to suit various Boston wedding venues.

Step 3: Get Out There
What search engines value most is a site that real humans value, and that appreciation is measured by inbound links. When other sites start pointing to your site, you look more authoritative and rank higher in search engines. As a Boston florist, you’d would probably want to trade links with local wedding planners and party stores, and might comment on forums and blogs about the community or industry, with a link back to your site. There’s considerable etiquette involved in link exchange (check out the resources below), but the basics are: relevance, politeness and quality comments. You can take the time to do this yourself, or delegate it to your linkbuilder.

Don’t be intimidated by SEO. There’s a lot of information online, and the basics are pretty easy to pick up. After all, knowing who your customers are and how to create an appealing storefront were part of your original business plan, right? SEO shouldn’t take over your life, but I do keep a basic SEO strategy in place.

Why Traditional Marketing Still Works

2010-06-02T08:38:00.000-07:00

So you've paid a hefty amount for a great logo and a cutting edge website. You've spent hours on SEO, link submissions and blog entries. Finished, right?

Not quite.

If you'd done this ten or even five years ago, that might have been enough. Now, it's time to think of traditional marketing. This includes mailings, flyers, print ads and face-to-face time.

Now, if you have a very exclusive, niche market - where you are selling something truly unique, then your online efforts may be enough. However, if your business is more common (service industry, products, etc.) then the competition is very stiff.

Two examples of great marketing efforts are outlined below:

Case 1: We created a website for a regional portal that included a business directory, local information, news and advertisements. It sounds like it would be enough since it was concentrated on one local region; but with many sites out there providing similar services (like citysearch and yelp), my client decided to take a few computers to the local mall and show people directly and let them browse the site. It was a hit, and he signed up a slew of people that day and got off to a good start.

Case 2: We created a service industry website that appealed to the general public. Because the subject of the site was not very unique, we started a traditional marketing campaign regionally, then expanded. We sent out hundreds of white postcards with nothing on them but a very small-print website address. Curiosity got the best of most people and got a large number of visits to the website and our first customers.

A good rule of thumb is if you do traditional print advertising is if you get a 2% return you're doing well. The above examples returned over 15%.

Web surfers are getting smarter, and they know the difference between paid search engine results and run of the mill ideas. When you include print or television advertising, you're now standing apart. Don't discount those weekly mailers and car flyers - it just might give you the edge!

Simple rules for improving your Google Rank

2010-05-21T11:14:00.000-07:00

Google is the internet's most popular and perhaps most important search engine. In addition to being a top search in itself, it powers the search engine components of AOL and Yahoo to name just a few. So if you haven't figured it out already, you'd better have some understanding how Google indexes and ranks your web page.

Here's what Google looks at:

1. Link Popularity
Contrary to popular belief, just exchanging vast amounts of links with other sites doesn't necessarily make you popular. Getting a link to your site on an already high-rate, popular site does it. If Google thinks Site A is popular, and they link to you - then you are considered popular as well. Link popularity is calculated on all of the pages of your website, so make sure to link to all of the important pages on your website.

2. Meta Tags
Google considers your Title and ALT Meta Tags when indexing your page. It does not give much weight or consideration to your Description Meta Tags or Keyword Meta Tags.

a. Title Tags: Title tags play heavily in your ranking for a search on Google. Title tags with just your company name on every page are not going to cut it. Or are you a victim of "new page 1" title tags because you forgot to name your pages? If so, go fix your Title tags right now!

The Title tag is what appears at the top of a Google search result, so it should describe what your business is all about and should include keywords people would use to find your site. Google will read about 59 characters (including spaces) in a Title.

b. ALT Tags: Google also reads the ALT tags that are attached to your graphics. They are a good way to include more keywords in your web page. They are also the words that appear when you move your mouse over a graphic (For more information on ALT Tags, see http://www.internetbasedmoms.com/alt_tags.htm).

3. Content
Google searches the content on your site to return relevant search results. Be sure to include relevant keywords in the text of all your pages. Also, try to keep them near the top of your pages - Google may not crawl all the way down your page.

For example, if someone would search for your site with the keywords "cloth diapers" - be sure to include those words in your Title tag and near the top of your web page.

4. Domain Name
Having your keywords in your domain name may boost your ranking. Google seems to favor sites with keywords in their domain.

For example, if you search for "diaper" on Google, the top results have the word "diaper" in the domain name.

These are the beginning basics of pleasing Google. Wait a few weeks for Google to index the changes and see what works and what doesn't. Remember to check often, change often and always keep on top of your efforts!

Cool Firefox Add-On

2010-05-13T23:03:00.000-07:00

Alright, this is a bit off-topic from the usual web marketing info - but we just had to share this one with you!

For those of you who use Firefox and have it customized to the teeth (or even are new to firefox addons), this is a must have...

Grab and Drag

Installing this extension allows you to grab the page and drag it up and down, just like you would in a PDF document. It also has 'momentum', which means if you drag and "flick" it, it throws and scrolls the page on it's own.

Why do we like it? Well, with today's content-rich websites, the old scroll wheel can get tiresome; plus, it's so nice and smooth... and it's another gadget.

There ya' go! You can get it here:
https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/1250/

Hope you have as much fun with it as we do.

Marketing Tip - Go Small

2010-05-10T10:33:00.000-07:00

These are the days of new products, social networking and Web 2.0. If you want to leverage the best of these ideas and opportunities, think small!

We have many clients that come to us wanting to purchase our Real Estate Listing Software or have a great idea to start a new Social Network online. Some of those come back to us months later asking why they aren't making money, or why nobody is visiting - despite their marketing efforts, web design or money spent. These are the ones who've missed the "little" picture. They've gone global national.

Now that it's the year 2010, the web isn't as small as it used to be. What would have worked in 1999 isn't going to work now. For instance, if you want to start a National Real Estate Network online, you'll never compete with the big guys like Realtor.com who've been around for years, and have multi-million dollar budgets. However, if you start a real estate network for your specific town, county or small region - you've got something special.

As a websurfer, wouldn't you want to go to a site that specializes in JUST your city, your group or your product rather than one that has them all? If I'm looking to buy a house, purchase a solar panel or join a forum about dot-walking, I want to go to a website that covers just those items - not get lost in the rest of the stuff that's not important to me.

As we always say, websurfers have short attention spans, and if you don't give them what they want in just a few seconds, they next guy on Google gets their business.

So, think local, think one specialty product, cater to one audience. Make your customers feel special!

Your website report card... know where you stand

2010-04-21T10:39:00.000-07:00

If you want to know how your page ranks on the web, the search engines and compared with your competition, it's time to get your "Website Report Card".

HubSpot's Website Grader does just that. You can get a free, automated evaluation of your site without paying an SEO firm to do it. Just type in your Website address, and it will analyze and generate a report detailing what's good and not so good about your website - and what you can do to boost your site’s SEO efforts. Then, it even gives you a grade. (flashback to high school!)

We like to run all of our clients and potential clients through this site to give them a better understanding of what their site has or is lacking. We find it an invaluable tool in teaching our clients about what's good about their site (that they may have wanted to change!) and to help explain what all of these SEO terms are. The Website Grade site does a great job in explaining this stuff!

In case you're curious... we got a score of 97.1.

SEO Trick of the Day: Links

2010-02-11T09:47:00.000-08:00

Ok, so we are all getting to know the ins and outs of Search Engine Optimization: key words, meta titles, indexing, and image tags...

Here's one I bet you over looked:

Using KEYWORDS in your text link.

That's right, inserting your keywords into text links on your site will help boost your search engine rank.

Whether the link is to another page on your own site, a completely different link or an affiliate link, putting a keyword for your own marketing is key.

An Example:

If your website is about "Website Marketing", for instance, you want several links on your page with the keywords 'website marketing' in the text.

Where you're linking to isn't as important (although the page should be relevant content).

Of course, this strategy won't do much for you if you haven't implemented other SEO techniques for your site in the first place, but this just may be the final trick it takes to raise your page rank!

Customized PayPal Payment Pages

2009-12-18T15:06:00.000-08:00

If you’re using Paypal to take payements, you've probably heard of Custom Payment Pages.

PayPal allows you to add a header or logo to the PayPal checkout process, in addition to background colors and font colors.

You've probably purchased items using someone's PayPal page before and seen a company logo above the PayPal form, instead of the generic company name. You've also probably had a little more trust in that company because of it.

First of All, here's how you set up a custom Payment page in PayPal:

Login to your Paypal account and click the profile tab.
Then click “Custom Payment Pages”

Then you see this field on the page:

Header Image URL – Please specify an image that is a maximum size of 750 pixels wide by 90 pixels high. Larger images will be cut to this size. The image you choose will appear at the top left of the payment page. We recommend providing an image only if it is stored on a secure (https) server.

Sounds easy enough, right? Well, there is one glitch in the mix. The image needs to be on a secure (https) server, or your visitors will get the dreaded "unsecure message".

I know this stops many of you from completing the page, since they don’t wish to pay for an SSL account (which may be one of the reasons they're using PayPal to begin with!).

Now, there's a solution! It's free, it's easy and it's secure! It's ffrom the file download site e-junkie.com.

You can create and store a secure image in seconds with SSLpic.com

Upload your image and SSLpic sends you an email with the secure link. That's it! Takes a couple of seconds.

Once you've gotten your link, go back to your Custom Payment Page and use it for your new header logo. Choose your header background color to match your new header logo, and you're good to go! For a seamless look, make your whole page background the same look. I recommend creating a nice header that's about 750 pixels wide for a full-page look.

Simple, huh? Not only do you have a nicer looking checkout page, but it will probably translate into slightly higher conversions, now that you've given your customers a little more confidence in you.

How to Choose a Web Developer

2007-05-15T09:34:00.000-07:00

Choosing a web developer or firm can be confusing. These days, everyone and their sister-in-law can design websites, right? So why do I need to pay someone?

I can tell you, we come across this all of the time. With all of the software out there and free website builders, who even needs a web design firm? The answer is simple: unless you are a professional web designer, YOU do!

Of course, this mostly applies to business websites. If you have a personal or informational website, a website builder or a friend is just fine. However, if you are starting a business or are creating an online presence for your existing business, professionalism is key!

So what does a professional web developer know that Dreamweaver doesn't?
Business. Today's business web developers need to know business, marketing and internet strategies. If your developer knows business and marketing, they can build a better website. There needs to be a fine mix of graphic design, marketing and tech savvy. A great design alone won't get you visitors, and a functional, hi-tech site alone won't grab your customers either.

What should I look for in a web developer?
When you start discussing your website with a potential designer, you should get feedback about your ideas and suggestions on new ones. A developer should never discount your business ideas, since it is what you know - and a developer should never try to upsell you on all of their expensive products, either. A good developer will give you cost-cutting ideas along with long-term saving ideas and be honest about up front costs.

Your discussion should also lead to marketing ideas and questions about your business. If you developer shows no interest in your business and what you do, chances are they don't really care. Today's great web developers should be very concerned about your potential customers, who your audience is and what your products and services are. By understanding your business, your goals and your customers, then the best potential website can be developed.

Make sure you see examples of work. Seeing a developer's portfolio is important. It gives you an idea of their design talents as well as their programming expertise. It's best to go over previously created sites while you're talking with your new developer; this way the developer can explain the details of the site, what was difficult or specialized, and how they met the owner's goals.

What should I beware of in a web developer?
There are some clear signs that should help you steer clear of less than professional firms or developers. Here's a good start:

Avoid Package Pricing
It's always a good idea to avoid developers or firms who have fixed pricing packages. If they sell you a "business website package" with a fixed price, chances are they already have a stock idea of what they are putting on your site and it won't be suited to your specific needs.
Avoid Low-Cost Solutions
Although a website should not be in the multiple thousands to develop, it's important to avoid bottom-barrel pricing as well. No good developer or firm can build a great website for $200. Unless you just need a page up for looks and not generating business, then your professional business presence should be at least over $500. It takes a professional time to research your business, look at the competition and perfect your corporate identity and if you're only paying a couple of hundred dollars, you're not going to get it.
Avoid Giving Control
Many business owners are inexperienced when it comes to technology and they put their faith and control in a web developer. You need to do some research before creating your online presence. There is the domain name, the website and the hosting of that site. You should have complete access, control and ownership of those items. Any firm or developer who says they'll take care of it all for you and not to worry about it is not working for YOU. Your domain name, website and hosting should all be in your name only and you should have all of the relevant passwords for accessing them. If you don't, you're looking for trouble in the future.
Avoid 'Add-Ons'
Any good developer will suggest ideas for improving your marketing and overall impact of your site. However, many developers try to add on items for the purposes of making money. If a developer is trying to add-on forums, shopping carts, blogs, etc. to your website, it's a good sign they're not for you. Many website 'add-ons' are free or low cost enough not to be a big money-maker for a good developer. A good developer will suggest what is important for your site now and what can come at a later date. Many times spending more money now to avoid costly updates later is a good idea - many times it's necessary to see what the site does before adding more functionality. A good developer will be honest about what is needed and what isn't needed for your site.

All in all, it's not that daunting of a task to hire a web developer. The thing to remember is, are they working for you or your money? A good firm will work hard to make your business a success, and not take the money and run. Your success means their success. Not only will you tell others about how good they are, but they will then have something to be proud to show other potential clients.

Website Marketing Strategies

2007-04-27T22:13:00.000-07:00

So, you want to start with this "SEO" stuff - getting my site noticed on the internet...

BUT - you know nothing about it, you're not a web guru and you certainly don't have the money to hire a big firm for thousands of dollars.

How do you get started, then? How can you make a difference with your new or small business?

Try these on for starters:

Search Engines
Make sure your and/or your web developer are up to date on the latest techniques to access search engines and directories. This means your web site can be easily found from anywhere on the Internet. Make sure that your site is listed with the most popular search engines and directories. These include sites like Google, Yahoo!, AltaVista, InfoSeek and many others.
STRATEGY: Visit the search engines and look for the link and directions on 'how to add your URL'. It's free and it's easy. Also make sure to list in DMOZ.org - the directory that most other search engines get their info from.

Adding Value To Your Web Site
Repeat visits and referrals are important to the success of your presence. Find the items and information that will bring your clients back to your web site and your products.
STRATEGY: Offer regular promotions, updated news & content and offer incentives (frequent customers get discounts or free gifts)

Detailed Statistic Analysis
Your Website should have a comprehensive, real-time statistics package available. By tracking the movement through your site, you can determine which of your products or services stimulates the most interest. Statistical user information such as city, country, browser type and operating system can help us determine target market areas and users to help increase traffic and sales. You can also see where your visitors are coming from - whether it's a search engine, an ad or an online directory - great for targeting your efforts.
STRATEGY: If you don't know how to access your stats, ask your hosting company. If your hosting company doesn't provide them, get a new hosting company!

Directory Advertising
In the online world of information, many web sites are strictly functioning as web "directories". These directories provide information to the public about various industries, and provide links to those sites that do business in that industry. Having your site listed on these directories will not only help to increase traffic to your site, but will increase the "popularity" of your site by having it linked on yet another page. Costa Pacific can find and request links to sites that complement your business.
STRATEGY: Do a search on the search engines for your industry, as though you're looking for your own type of business, you'll be surprised how many directories come up that you can get your business listed on! Many of these directories are free, or are very low cost, for just a few dollars a month.

Cross Link Marketing
Cross-linking is a standard practice in the Internet world and is one of the fastest and most cost-effective ways to drive traffic to your website. By providing a link to someone else's website, they in return provide a link back to yours, so every time you link your website to another, you add one more avenue of exposure. This can be accomplished in several different ways. Any website that you provide a link to, or advertise on your website, should promote you as well.
STRATEGY: Approach all of the people that you currently work with. Ask them if they would add a link from their website to yours, and that you'll do the same for them. Explain that you are paying to advertise your website wherever possible and that the more traffic you drive to your site, the more traffic they will receive. Also, contact sites who's services or products you really would LIKE to show on your site along side your own, and ask about reciprocal linking.

Next week, we'll get into pay per click advertising and the very inexpensive way to increase your site's rank and popularity!

How Much Does a Website Cost?

2007-04-23T11:09:00.000-07:00

This is the question of the day, isn’t it? How do you know if you’re spending too little or you’re being taken advantage of? Here are some universal guidelines:

Unless you have a student, a friend or a non-profit agency building your website, you should NOT be spending less than a few hundred dollars for a website. Any good developer’s time is worth something – and $2/hour is not enough!
An average website with no bells and whistles will NOT cost you $6,000! The average cost of a standard small business website with a contact form, images and relevant information should fall in the range of $800 - $1500. Anything more than that without interactivity or applications is too much.
An e-commerce site is fairly easy to build, since there are so many solutions out there. The main determining factor in the cost of an e-commerce site is the number of products you will sell. To build a shopping cart should only be a couple of hundred dollars, while customizing the look and feel, and populating your store with the products adds to the price.
Functionality costs money. Standard applications such as calendars, forms and news services are pretty affordable, ranging in cost from $25-$125. Heartier applications that involve databases, custom solutions and online administration will be higher in price and might fall in the range of $100-$2,000. Research your needs.
Design Rules. One of the main reasons someone hires a web developer/designer is because they are skilled not only in building the functionality of a website, but in how to design one. Your image is going to be put out there, so if you want something special, be prepared to pay for it. Almost anyone can learn to build a website, but it does indeed take talent to design the look and feel and create a corporate identity. Don’t scrimp and save on the design, because if you have nothing else on the site, the look will say it all.

The Bottom Line
You get what you pay for. If your budget is $500 versus $1,500 – you’ll get a nice site that looks good and has everything you need to get started, but probably doesn't have alot of specialized applications.

Follow the process of steps, do your research and you’ll likely know exactly what kind of costs you’re looking at. If you go in blind, you will either pay too much or not get anything of what you hoped for.

Before You Build Your Website

2007-04-21T19:44:00.000-07:00

Your website is a representation of you, your company, your products or your thoughts. Therefore, your website must reflect the way you do business or the point you need to get across. It is designed to present to your audience, the products, services or ideas you have, and be a resource for your customers or potential customers.

The following are the major points to consider before building your website, or hiring someone to do it:

Audience
Who is your target audience? Are you appealing to existing customers, potential new customers or just the general public? Your audience determines the priority of the content on your website – whether it’s design or function, or a balance of both.
Purpose
What is the purpose of your website? Do you want to present information, sell products, share ideas or something else? The purpose of your website determines the features you will need to implement.
Competition
Take time to research the competition online. Find other businesses or sites that are selling or talking about your topic, product or service. The competition determines what you may need to add to your website to be a healthy competitor in the market.
Budget
This is usually the first consideration when building a website. Many things to consider when looking at your budget are applications & programming, marketing and updates. Your budget determines which elements can be added now or need to wait until a later date.
Maintenance
Maintenance is a very important consideration when building your website. You need to decide before hand whether you want to maintain the site yourself, hire someone to do it for you, or build a site that requires no maintenance at all. Sometimes it costs more money up front to build a site that is self-maintaining or can be done easily by you. Your maintenance needs help determine your initial budget and your need for future growth.