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Friday Small Business Roundup: Ecommerce Boosters and More

August 9th, 2013 :: Rieva Lesonsky

Is Your Ecommerce Website Giving Mobile Shoppers What They Want? Read Rieva Lesonsky’s post to find out.

Specifically, target one of the hottest groups of online shoppers by learning How Millennials Shop Online in Rieva Lesonsky’s post.

It’s not too early to start planning for holiday 2013 retailing. Read Is Your Ecommerce Site Ready for Holiday 2013? by Rieva Lesonsky to make sure you’re on the right track.

Looking beyond the standard promotional items? Read 19 Awesome and Useful Swag Ideas by Monika Jansen.

Power up your restaurant profits. Read Karen Axelton’s post on the latest restaurant trends to boost your business.

Is Your Office a Creative Space? Check out Maria Valdez Haubrich’s post to learn how the new trend in office design could spark innovation in your team.

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Tags: human resources, Marketing, restaurant
Posted in Generational Marketing, Marketing, sales process, Search Marketing, Small Business, Technology | No Comments »

7 Types of Content That Search Engines Love

May 13th, 2013 :: Monika Jansen

One of my favorite sources of marketing information is MarketingProfs – I learn so much from them. In a recent post, they wrote about the types of content that Google loves the most. I went through the list and pulled out the top 7 types that I thought were most relevant for small businesses – and that you are probably already doing.

Here are the 7 types of content that search engines like and you should be creating (if you’re not already):

1 – Interviews

Search engines like interviews for 4 main reasons: they get read, they get backlinks from the interviewee (bonus if the persons is an expert), backlinks are from trusted sites, and the content is unique.

You don’t need to conduct interviews in person unless you want to tape it and turn it into a video. I conduct most of my interviews via phone, but you can do them via email, too.

2 – Lists

Lists are usually fun, easy to scan, and easy to read – and readers love them. Search engines like them as long as the content is unique, and – bonus for you – they can be really easy to write. You can do lists of your favorite industry books or blogs, best airports for business travelers, best pieces of advice you ever got, top industry best practices – you get the idea.

3 – Resource Centers

Creating a resource center on your website is a new content marketing trend for small businesses. Think of it as a library of your content – ebooks, top blog posts by category, products, services, FAQs, etc. Because people share them, link to them, and spend time on them, search engines love them.

4 – Social

Did you know that Twitter, Facebook, and other social media networks are pulled up when you conduct a search? So, yes, the quality of the content you post on your social media accounts – and the amount of interaction it gets – helps boost your search rankings.

5 – Case Studies

Because case studies built around client success stories are interesting, people read them and share them. Your customers will link back to and share your blog posts, all of which is activity search engines really like – but you know that by now, don’t you?

6 – Predictions

You know the blog posts and articles that always come out around the new year that list industry predictions? People love them, read them, comment on them, and share them, so they tend to great search rankings.

7 – User-Generated Content

Search engines love user-generated content, whether it’s blog posts, images, or videos. Hold a contest that requires entrants to submit original content; if you allow others to comment on and vote for submissions, search engines will go crazy for all of the interaction.

Have you created content that showed up in the top of search results? What drove so much interaction?

Image courtesy of 123rf.com

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Tags: content marketing, Marketing, Search Marketing, seo
Posted in Marketing, Search Marketing | No Comments »

6 Top Myths of Social Media

May 6th, 2013 :: Monika Jansen

Despite the incredible amount of information out there on how to use social media for marketing, a few bad practices still linger. At best, following them makes you look like you’re new to social media, but at worst, you could get flagged for spam.

Here are the top 6 worst practices, or myths, in social media:

1 – You MUST be active on every social media network.

Well, sure, if you want to waste your time, go for it! But it’s highly doubtful your customers are active on every social network. Beyond Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn, you really have to do your research to see if your audience uses Pinterest, Instagram, Tumblr, Vine, etc. Some popular social media listening tools include Google Alerts and Social Mention.

2 – Automate all updates to save time.

The first rule of thumb when it comes to social media is to be social. Do you automate texts, emails, and phone calls to your friends? Of course not! You can’t have a conversation that way. You can automate certain things, like blog posts and major news releases to go out, but otherwise, treat social media like a cocktail party and be present.

3 – Auto-DM new Twitter followers.

Automatically sending your new Twitter followers a direct message (DM) is such an impersonal, spammy practice that it will leave a negative impression on your followers and make you look like you have no clue what you’re doing. Instead, send them a short, public note around your area of interest: “@newfollower Thanks for the follow! What aspect of social media are you most frustrated by?”

4 – Auto-publish the same content on every social network.

Again, this will make you look like you don’t know what you’re doing, because every social network is different. It’s OK to tweet and pin a few times a day, but it’s not OK to post on Facebook or LinkedIn a few times a day.

5 – Respond to all negative comments.

While it is generally a good idea to respond to negative comments in order to fix a situation, remember that some people are just mean. Instead of getting into a virtual shouting match, do what you can to address the complaint, and then leave it. That person will only look worse, while you’ll look better for taking the high ground.

6 – Just wing it.

If you want to actually generate results, you can’t “wing” social media. You need to have a plan. For starters, you need to know what content you will post where and how often. If you want to learn more, check out one of my recent blog posts, The Online Marketing Project, Part 2.

What other social media practices make businesses look like they don’t know what they’re doing?

Image courtesy of lifehappens.org

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Tags: Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, Marketing, Pinterest, Search Marketing, seo, social media, Tumbr, Twitter, Vine
Posted in Marketing, Search Marketing, Social Media | No Comments »

Web.com Small Business Tip of the Day: What Are Your Customers Doing Online?

May 3rd, 2013 :: Maria Valdez Haubrich

What are your customers doing online? The answer is most likely social media, according to a new survey from Experian Marketing Services, which also showed five minutes of every hour is spent on shopping. A great deal of this social networking and shopping is happening on consumers’ mobile devices, which brings up the question, how are your online marketing efforts doing? Is your business well-represented on local search sites? How does your website look on a smartphone? Are you using social media to announce new products, promote daily specials and communicate with your customer? The truth is there’s probably more you could be doing, so make it a point to find out what you don’t know about online marketing and get your business on the right track.

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Tags: Marketing, online marketing, small business, social media, Technology
Posted in Email Marketing, Marketing, sales process, Search Marketing, Small Business, small business, Social Media, social media, Technology, Web Design | No Comments »

How to Find the Best Keywords for Your Business

April 25th, 2013 :: Monika Jansen

I was recently tweaking my website, and one thing I did was make sure I had the right keywords integrated throughout the site. That little exercise got me thinking about how to identify the best keywords for a business, especially one that is in a highly competitive industry or market.

Let’s back up real quick. For those who don’t know what a keyword is, Google defines it as “any word or short phrase that describes a website topic or page. The more a keyword is used by searchers and websites, the more attraction power it has.”

Keywords are important. If you want to rank high on a search list, you need to do two basic things: create new content to keep your site fresh and use strong keywords throughout your content and Web pages.

Here’s how to audit your website and identify what keywords to use:

Give each Web page a purpose

Look through your website and make a list of each page: name, category (product page, about page, etc.) purpose. By defining your pages, you will have a clearer idea of what keywords to research and which keywords to use on which pages.

Brainstorm keywords for each page

Go back to your page list. Quickly think of the keywords that are most likely to be used when conducting a search on that topic. If keywords overlap from one page to another, that is perfectly OK. No need to edit – yet!

Check your list against the Google Keyword Tool

This tool sets the standard when it comes to keyword research – webmasters and SEO experts rely on it. Simply type in a word or phrase, and you’ll get a list of similar keywords with a count of how often each word is searched, along with info on which words advertisers think have most value.

Keep in mind that the more competitive (valuable) a keyword is, the harder it will be to rank high in search results for that keyword. Revisit your list, and throw those out. Don’t be tempted to use keywords that rank super low; no one uses them. Your best bet is to go for medium-values.

Consider using long-tail keywords

Long-tail keywords are entire phrases – like “non-toxic ways to get rid of ants” rather than “pest control.” They are less competitive, but they work very well for SEO purposes, and they convey user intent, which is great for lead conversion purposes.

Do some competitive analysis

Use the keywords you chose to conduct searches. As your competitors pop up, take a look at their sites. What meta-titles are they using (those appear at the very top of the browser window)? Next, conduct a keyword search for your competitors’ sites using semrush.com (handy little tool, isn’t it?) to understand what they’re being found for.

Finalize your list

Now that you have done all that research, plug your almost-final list of keywords back into the Google Keyword Tool to make sure they’re not too competitive, but that they do deliver results. Finalize your list, integrate them on your website, and you’re good to go!

Have you ever done in-depth keyword research? What did you learn?

Image courtesy of 123rf.com

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Tags: keywords, Marketing, Search Marketing, seo, website content
Posted in Marketing, Search Marketing | 2 Comments »

What Do Women Want When They Shop?

April 22nd, 2013 :: Rieva Lesonsky

By Rieva Lesonsky

The way women shop is changing, with brick-and-mortar stores no longer the focus, reports the second annual SheSpeaks/Lippe Taylor Women’s Buying Behavior Index. The study polled some 2,152 women in the past two months about their buying habits and future purchasing plans.

The biggest finding? Shopping no longer starts in stores, but online. Asked how they most often research products, some 71 percent of women say they use their desktop/laptop and 18 percent chose a mobile phone or tablet. Just 6 percent said they research by actually browsing in a physical store; amost as many (5 percent) say they ask friends and family.

Where do women most often make the actual purchase? Even when it comes to buying, digital still has a slight edge, with 47 percent saying they most often buy via desktop/laptop. Forty-five percent most often go to the store. Just 8 percent say they most often buy via mobile phone or tablet.

While mobile devices aren’t women’s top choice for making the purchase, they are heavily used for other types of shopping behavior:

53 percent use phones and other devices to find store locations and hours
49 percent use mobile devices in-store to look up and compare prices
46 percent use them to search for coupons
41 percent use them to get detailed product information
24 percent use them to make purchases

If you’re trying to target women with your marketing messages, you’ll want to know when they typically do their research. Most (43 percent) said they research at home during the day; 42 percent say they research at home at night. Just 9 percent did product research at work and only 7 percent did so at home on the weekends.

Women’s purchasing habits don’t just affect the products and services they buy for themselves. Women not only wield major influence over men, they actually buy for them. Asked in what categories they are the primary shopper for their husband or boyfriend, 71 percent say apparel; 69 percent say grooming products; 51 percent cited travel; 39 percent said technology products; 29 percent said financial products and services and 18 percent said cars.

What does it mean to your business?

Online research is a huge factor in the purchasing process for women, with nearly 90 percent of women regularly going online on computer, tablet or phone before they buy. Make sure you provide all the information women need to make their decision, including:

Reviews and ratings of your business
Local search information about your business so women can more easily find you
Search-optimized website that drives women to your site when they use the keywords relevant to your business to search for information

Another huge takeaway? Even if you sell products and services for men, you need to take women into account, since women are buying just about everything for men (and, if not actually buying, most likely having input into the decision). When you picture your target customer, picture his wife or girlfriend, too, and target specific marketing messages to her.

Image by Flickr user Kevin Ryder (Creative Commons)

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Tags: Email marketing, Marketing, marketing to women, Search Marketing, small business, social media, Web Design
Posted in Business Development, Marketing, Sales Process, sales process, Search Marketing, Small Business, small business, Social Media, social media, Web Design | No Comments »

Why Local Search Matters to Your Business

April 19th, 2013 :: Rieva Lesonsky

By Rieva Lesonsky

Are you taking advantage of all the ways local search can drive users to your business? The 6th Annual 15miles/Neustar Localeze Local Search Usage Study, conducted by comScore, found that local search is more important than ever in attracting customers and closing sales. Here’s some of what they found, and what it means to your business.

Search is the primary activity consumers conduct on mobile devices is search. Nearly 86 million Americans regularly look for local business information on their smartphones. Last year, the total number of visitors to search sites and search apps grew by 26 percent on smartphones and 19 percent on tablets.

In contrast, PC/laptop searches are in decline. The percentage of local searchers who say PCs/laptops are their main way of accessing local search sites has dropped by 7 percent year-over-year.

There are important differences in how users search on laptops/PCs, tablets and mobile phones:

Mobile phone searchers are more concerned about accuracy rather than depth of information. They are more likely than tablet users to say maps, driving directions and distance are helpful to them.

PC/laptop searches are more likely to take place earlier in the purchase process, during the research stage. In contrast, mobile and tablet searches were more likely to be used in the middle or at the end of the purchase process. These searches were also more likely to lead to a purchase. Just 59 percent of PC searches resulted in a purchase, but 78 percent of mobile phone searches and 77 percent of tablet searches did.

Local searches on tablets are declining too, dropping from 64 percent to 48 percent compared to last year. This suggests tablet users are becoming less mobile with the device, and is probably why they are more interested in in-depth information than mobile phone searchers are.

Accuracy of information was the most important factor for all three types of searchers; however, tablet and PC/laptop searchers gave slightly more importance to depth of content than they did last year.

What can you do to benefit from all types of local searches?

Make sure your business is represented on local search sites such as Local.com, Bing and Citysearch.com.
Provide driving, map and distance information to help users find your business.
Regularly check your listings to make sure they’re still accurate.
Provide as much detail as you can to help shoppers make the decision to visit your business, whatever device they are using.
Make it easy to contact you quickly with a click-to-call button or prominently displayed phone number for customers on the go.

Image by Flickr user vestman (Creative Commons)

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Tags: local search, Marketing, Search Marketing, small business, Technology, Web Design
Posted in Marketing, sales process, Search Marketing, Small Business, small business, Technology, Web Design | No Comments »

What Can Content Marketing Do for You?

April 15th, 2013 :: Rieva Lesonsky

By Rieva Lesonsky

“Content marketing” is a hot business buzzword these days—and for good reason. The practice of creating online “content,” whether it’s articles and blog posts, social media posts or online videos, can bring a small business big results. If you’re skeptical about whether content marketing can really help you—and whether it’s worth your time—check out BusinessBolts’ Content Marketing Survey Report.

This study specifically focused on how small companies use content marketing and what the payoffs were. Here’s what they found.

It doesn’t have to take a ton of time. The average small business in the survey spent between one and five hours per week on content marketing.

It makes a huge difference. More than three-fourths of small business owners say content marketing improves their website traffic. Seventy-one percent say it boosts their position in search rankings, 70 percent say it improves awareness of their brand, and 59 percent say it increases their sales.

Have I sold you yet? If you’re ready to try content marketing, you should know that articles and blog posts were the most common type of content, used by 74 and 64 percent of small businesses respectively. This could include articles on your own website, on someone else’s website or on your social media accounts.

Less common, but also effective, were email newsletters and online videos. It’s important to note that the highest-earning businesses in the study were more likely to use these types of content marketing.

Content marketing isn’t always easy. It takes time to create good content. Here are some of my ideas for simplifying things:

Delegate to someone on staff. Not all business owners are great writers or have the time to write content. Put someone else in charge—you can still come up with ideas, or they can interview you or others on your staff to get fodder for content.
Consider outsourcing. It’s possible to find copywriters or bloggers who will create content for a reasonable price. This can be a smart move if you can afford it. Which brings me to my next point:
Don’t be stingy. The BusinessBolts study found the businesses that spent more time and more money on creating content, as well as on advertising and marketing in general, had higher incomes. Content marketing pays off.
Use podcasts or videos. These can be simple to create and since no writing is involved, they’re often faster. Again, interviewing someone on your team about a topic of interest is a natural for podcasts and videos. This also adds variety to your content and helps your site rank higher in search engines.

Image by Flickr user mkhmarketing (Creative Commons)

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Tags: content marketing, Marketing, small business, social media
Posted in Branding, Marketing, Search Marketing, Small Business, small business, Social Media, social media, Thought Leadership | No Comments »

Web.com Small Business Toolkit: Infocaptor Bubble My Page (SEO Tool)

March 20th, 2013 :: Maria Valdez Haubrich

Infocaptor

If you’re having a hard time figuring out whether your SEO strategy is working and you’re struggling to make sense of your website analytics, sometimes it helps if you can visualize the data. Infocaptor’s Bubble My Page scans your website for word content and coverts the keywords into a bubble word cloud so you can see what words you’ve used often on any given page of your website. (Only the first 100,000 bytes are read from any page.) The tool is useful to help you keep on target when writing content for your site by providing an easy way to visualize whether you’re sticking to your keywords and topics.

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Tags: Resources, Search Marketing, seo, small business
Posted in Marketing, Resources, Search Marketing, Small Business, small business | No Comments »

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Search Marketing Articles

Friday Small Business Roundup: Ecommerce Boosters and More

7 Types of Content That Search Engines Love

How to Find the Best Keywords for Your Business

Why Local Search Matters to Your Business

Web.com Small Business Toolkit: Infocaptor Bubble My Page (SEO Tool)