6 Inexpensive Tips for Ongoing SEO

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Posted on 29th July 2010 by suem in SEO Tips

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You have a new business website that was well designed and built correctly for organic SEO. Good job. Now What? To be sure your site continues to climb in rankings or maintains the good rankings it has, it is not a time to rest on your laurels. Marketing your website doesn’t have to be expensive but it will take some work on your part. If you have a budget set aside for marketing your website, you can certainly hire an SEO service. Just be sure they don’t use black hat techniques. Although you may see an initial increase in search engine rankings, your site could be penalized or even banned completely from their database. There are several ways to promote your web presence and increase SEO in an ethical manner that can provide long-term positive results.

  1. Link Building – There are two kinds of links, reciprocal or non-reciprocal. You can achieve reciprocal links by contacting other businesses that are relevant but not in direct competition with yours and choose companies with good search engine rankings. This can be a difficult sell if your website is new and has low rankings but it is worth trying. You can create non-reciprocal links by submitting articles or press releases with relevant content to online repositories for syndication.
  2. Blogging – Search engines love fresh new content. The great thing about blogging is you are free to state opinions and write about whatever you like. Just try not to get carried away. The more relevant your blog content is to your business, the greater chance of it helping promote your website. You can also submit your blog to online blog sites and forums.
  3. Social Networking – Social networking is a great way to increase SEO but they only work if you work them. If you have anyone on staff (the younger generation seems to be exceptionally savvy in this area) that can devote some time daily to your Twitter, Facebook or Linked-In accounts, it can have a great pay-off. Because this is something that needs daily upkeep, hiring outside help in this area can become very costly.
  4. Updating and Editing Content – Check your websites content often and update as necessary. Be sure to repair any broken links and add special promotions or news. Always edit out what search engine crawlers don’t like and add what they do.
  5. Email Signatures – Think of how may email you send out in a day. Include all business and contact information with live links to your URL. Don’t miss a free opportunity to promote your business..
  6. Press releases & Articles submission – Once again fresh new content and link building opportunities. There are many sites on the web where you can submit articles for syndication at no cost.

Google Analytics is a great tool to examine your website’s overall health. It will enable you monitor site traffic; find broken links, and is a good way to see the effectiveness of your marketing efforts. You do need a Gmail account to sign up but both are free services from Google. They also have paid services like Google Adwords accounts to further market your business website.

Don’t Plan To Fail

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Posted on 22nd July 2010 by suem in In Your Business

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The Small Business Administration reported that 8 out of 10 new small businesses fail within the first 3 years. They also state that in the present economy, entrepreneurship will be a crucial means of moving out of the current recession. Sound pretty scary doesn’t it? Are we damned if we do and damned if we don’t? We don’t have to be. A good rule of thumb before opening your new business, is to remember proverbs, “ failure to plan is planning to fail.”

In doing my research on this why so many small businesses fail, there were the common reasons that I expected to see, including lack of capital and reserve funds, overspending, and having an inadequate business plan. But even I was surprised to find that not having a web presence was included in almost every article on the subject. These articles went on to stress the importance of business sites being well-designed to enhance businesses by being visually compelling and user friendly. Having websites that are poorly designed or built will actually discourage visitors from becoming customers.

Being a fairly new small business, we work hard to not fall into the common traps that could be disastrous for us. So our bookkeeper, the lovely Jaime, is here today to reconcile the business accounts as she does every month. Jaime keeps the books in order so we see clearly how the business is doing financially. This is how we know how to set our budget for necessary business expenses. Tina, the owner has always had a good head on her shoulders when it came to her personal finances, but knew when it came to her business, it would be best to hire a person who specializes in the field.

For us, having a great web presence is a non-issue. That is the easy part. Keeping the books in order is another story. So here at Insight Designs, we’re leaving the books to the expert. Does this mean we choose to be completely ignorant on the subject? – absolutely not. But what we focus on is what we do best, website design, graphic design and online marketing.

Properly promoting your business online and to your target audience is also crucial for business success. Is it worth taking the time to research and have a basic understanding? – Absolutely. As far as designing, building and marketing your business website, the best plan may be to hire a professional and stick to what you do best.

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