You can set up your site either through WordPress.com or WordPress.org. The main difference between the two is that WordPress.com sites are officially hosted by WordPress and wordPress.org sites are self hosted. So while you can get a site up and running online for absolutely no cost with WordPress.com, it has limitations as far as features and what you can do with the site. A major limitation and drawback is that the web address will look like this, www.yourdomainname.wordpress.com, which from a professional standpoint, can be considered less credible. While I would not recommend this option for business websites, it can be a good starting point for anyone getting started with a simple personal blog.

While WordPress.org is also free to use, you will need to supply the hosting service and you will need to purchase a domain name. However, you can easily pick up a domain name for less than $10 per year and hosting for as little as $5-$10 per month. I personally use HostGator for my web hosting and NameCheap as my domain registrar, but GoDaddy is another popular service many choose to use. Although these are added costs, the price you’re paying to get your business website up and running with unlimited freedom and flexibility is really inexpensive and in my opinion, worth every cent of the small investment.

Domain registrars and web hosting companies are fairly competitive with features and cost so who you decide to go with will more than likely be a matter of personal preference. However, I would strongly suggest that you consider using a hosting company that offers Cpanel. Cpanel is a back office application that makes the installation of many website features easy and manageable. If the hosting that you choose also offers Fantastico (which it usually will if it also offers Cpanel) then it just got even easier. Fantastico enables you to install WordPress into the root directory of your website with a few simple clicks of the mouse. Just follow the directions once you login to Cpanel and you are ready to go.

Once the WordPress software is ready to be used on your site, you have the option of making your site look more like a regular static website or having it work like a blog, or both. Depending on what your business is, any of these options will work great and help you to generate traffic.

Presenting a professional site is important and WordPress has many features that make this easy. The variety of themes and templates that are available help your business to be unique, while professionally and creatively showing what you and your business are all about. The use of plugins also adds to your web presence and extends the capabilities of your website for both your visitors and the search engines. There are for example, plugins that can make your website more interactive for your visitors, more secure, and even help with tracking statistics and analytics for better web usage.

WordPress is flexible, easy to install, free to use and is designed for visibility with search engines and your customers. With a growing range of plugins and themes, WordPress makes it easy to build business websites that are interactive, interesting and unique.

Still don’t know where to start? I can help not only build business websites and/or business blogs, but market them so they get indexed by the search engines and found by targeted buying customers.

Peace & Prosperity,

It appears that the main reasons small businesses may be reluctant to really dive in with a solid social media marketing plan has to do with time and know how.  Social media can be time consuming to maintain, especially as there are so many different social media sites and communities online.  It could feel like a never ending rollercoaster ride to try and keep up with all of the latest and greatest sites and applications.

Also, with so many social media sites, it can be intimidating to know where to start and how to integrate them into a cohesive marketing campaign.  Small businesses may be in a bind to hire a social media consultant to formulate and carry out an effective social media strategy for money reasons.  They are, after all, small businesses.

Implementing a social media marketing strategy into your overall business marketing plan is not that difficult if approached in the right manner. To start with, the business has to know what it is they hope to achieve by entering the social media arena.  It may be helpful to know that in a recent survey by MarketingSherpa of social network users with more than 500 connections, the top reason that they ‘friended’ or followed a brand or company online was to be first in line to hear about specials and sales.  Other top reasons included, to learn about new products, features or services and to get to know the company.

Knowing this, it would be foolish for small businesses not to include social media in their online marketing plan.  Don’t overlook this obvious but business boosting small business marketing tip: use social media.  However, avoid the temptation of joining every social networking site online.  Start by first formulating a social media marketing plan and then meet your social consumer where they hang out.  Getting to know  how your business can best use the social media tools of your target audience’s choice will not only boost your business but also build relationships – the core to consumer loyalty.

Peace & Prosperity,

Start by smiling.  This is very important in face to face encounters, but just as important over the phone.  Did you know that you can hear a smile?

Next, make sure to use the appropriate respectful greetings and do not use slang or general terms when referring to customers, like “Hey guys.”  In the initial interaction, be proactive and ask how you can help or be of service to them.  Then, actually listen to the response.  Be attentive and take notes if you need to, then repeat back to the customer what you understood they needed before proceeding.  This is a basic, yet effective business communication skill and not used often enough in customer service settings.  However, if your aim is a happy customer, then this technique can resolve many misunderstandings and miscommunications before they even start.

Excellent customer service often calls for patience and an open mind.  While it’s all too easy to judge a customer based on age, appearance, the way they talk or attitude; refrain from making assumptions about the customers. Delivering great customer experiences means that everyone is treated equally and with respect.  This includes keeping your cool when a customer is being sarcastic or rude.

When situations arise where the customer is upset, have your staff take responsibility and apologize.  Remember, it is current situation they are in that is making them upset and not so much you personally. Then empower them to make decisions on their own regarding refunds or free products to give away.  Always take the high road and offer customers more than what they were asking for or expecting.  It does not have to be significantly more, but just showing that they are important with a small gesture can go a long way.

Have systems in place for dealing with the changing marketplace and developments.  This can be done by implementing in house training or utilizing online training for your industry.  It might not be a bad idea to also have yearly training on customer service standards as a reminder for everyone.

Make sure to be consistent in your message to the customer.  Let them know that a happy customer is the aim of the business and then act on it.  It may be helpful to have regular meetings with your staff to see if they have any ideas that can be implemented to increase customer satisfaction.  Often, asking for feedback can really open up the channels of communication and help everyone feel like they are on the same page.

Also, lead by example and treat staff as the internal customer that they are.  If they feel that their contributions are recognized and appreciated, they are then motivated to provide that same appreciation and attention to the customer. Excellent customer service really relies on the basics being delivered in a sincere and consistent manner.

Peace & Prosperity,

P.S.  Feel free to share any customer service experiences you may have had, good or bad, in the comments section below.

photo credit: doo3

General Keywords

Broad or general keywords are rather generic and large in scope, covering a large base in topic.  While a broad keyword has more overall searches, going after the most searched keywords can prove to be more difficult to achieve a high ranking for because they also have more competition.  An example of a broad keyword would be “dog.”

Long Tail Keywords

Long tail keywords are named ‘long’ because they are made up of several words.  This helps them to be more focused and specific.  As fewer sites target and try to rank for longer keyword phrases, there is less competition and it can be easier to get good results in the search engines. An example of a long-tail keyword phrase is “best dog training guide.”

Choosing Between General Keywords and Long Tail Keywords

In order to optimize your results, it is best to use both types of keywords in your copywriting and content for your site.  However, there may be times where you are not able to use both at the same time and you’ll need to select one over the other.  More often, you will decide to use only one for a specific purpose.

A good example of what we are talking about is when you are ready to register a domain name or a web 2.0 property.  Just about all of the simple, general keywords are taken and it may not be possible to find a URL containing your first word choice.  In such cases, you will need to dig a little deeper and select a long tail keyword phrase that is appropriate.

Then there will be times when you’ll want to get to the top of the SERP rankings quickly and will therefore select long tail keyword phrases on purpose, regardless of whether it is for a web 2.0 property or for your own domain.  The reasoning behind this is as follows: even though long tail keyword phrases may get fewer searches individually, they are often the most searched keywords before a buying decision.  In other words, long tail keywords attract a targeted audience; people who know more specifically what they are looking for.  This can help you to dominate a niche where your competitors are only focused on the more general keywords.

Using our examples from before, someone who enters “dog” into the search engines is either just browsing for a variety of general information on dogs, or will eventually drill down and get more specific when they see the massive number of returned results.

In our other example, someone who types in “best dog training guide” is looking for specific information on training dogs.  To get even more specific, you might want to add a particular breed and/or a particular type of dog training.

Since it’s harder to get in the viewers mind when using broad or general keywords, it’s imperative that you spend time doing keyword research and use long tail keywords.

Peace & Prosperity,

P.S. Confused about keyword selection, let High Profits Marketing do the job for you. Whether you do it yourself or outsource it, make sure your using keywords in your SEO strategy!

photo credit: ajkohn2001

By spending time doing keyword research, you’ll discover the terms your prospective customers enter in the search engines to find what they are looking for or better yet, what you have to offer.  Once you have these golden nuggets of information, waste no time cashing in on them. Include the relevant keywords and phrases on your site, in your copy, and in your content.

Be forewarned, site owners at one time used to stuff their sites and content with keywords in an attempt to trick the search engines into giving them a higher ranking.  When the search engines realized they were being duped, they quickly changed the rules and let it be known that they were not going to put up with any unethical marketing.  So if you don’t want to take the risk of getting penalized by the search engines, I’d strongly advise you play by their rules.  Honesty is always the best policy and should be applied when trying to get ranked with the search engines as well.

So now that you have your keywords, how do you use them and where do you place them?  For awhile, everyone was saying to use them in the Meta tags in the HTML.  While you shouldn’t discount this tactic, it doesn’t seem to hold as much weight as it used to.

Keyword placement is not a constant and has a lot to do with the type of page you are building. For Web 2.0 properties such as Squidoo, Hub Pages or Google’s Knol, it is suggested that the keywords be in URL you pick, in the titles, subtitles, written content and in any tagging space that they allow you to fill in.

When creating a blog post for your blog, the keyword should be in the URL as well.  However, this will only work if your blog template is set up in such a way so that the permalink structure for individual blog posts can be changed.  Look in the settings to see if you can change the permalink for your particular blog post or not.

There are many blogs that will assign a blog post a number such as this: http://www.yourblogname.com/?p=123. In this case, you will need to select a custom structure and enter this code: /%postname%.html – this will make your blog post URL appear with the title of the post, where your keywords will be, like this: http://www.yourblogname.com/title-of-blog-post.

There are tremendous benefits to using keywords in all of your content.  Focus on using your keyword in the first paragraph and if possible, within the first sentence.  By doing this, Google will bold your keyword as an exact match if that keyword or phrase is being searched.

While there is some debate over the optimal percentage for keyword density, recommendations usually range between 2% and 10%. To keep it simple, write for both your human visitors and the search engine spiders; but make sure your content reads smoothly, makes sense, and still contains enough keywords to get the ranking you desire.

Peace & Prosperity,

P.S. Confused about keyword research, let High Profits Marketing do the job for you. Whether you do it yourself or outsource it, make sure your using keywords in your SEO strategy!

photo credit: parushing

Additional key social media usage highlights reported by SBSI:

• 75% surveyed have a company page on a social networking site
• 61% use social media for identifying and attracting new customers
• 57% have built a network through a site like LinkedIn
• 45% expect social media to be profitable in the next twelve months

So if you’re a small business owner or entrepreneur who has yet to take advantage of the social media technologies available to you on the internet . . . it’s time you reconsidered.  For the purpose of business growth and profits, it’s no longer a question of “Should I be using social media?” but rather . . . “How can I best use social media to serve my customers and target audience?”

When considering which social media platform(s) to use, bear in mind that it’s all about your customers.  Forget about what you like best or where you’re the most comfortable.  And don’t think you have to have a presence on every social media platform available. To get the most from your social media marketing efforts, you need to determine what your customers are open to and meet them where they’re at.

If for example, you create a twitter account, and your customers are all on Facebook, the return on your social media marketing efforts will not be as productive as they could be.  Since not everyone uses social media in the same way, it’s important to first find out how YOUR audience uses social media and then develop social media marketing strategies specific to your target market.

So how does your business use social media?


Peace & Prosperity,

P.S. If you’re at all confused about how to leverage the power of social media, let High Profits Marketing do the job for you. Whether you do it yourself or outsource it, just do it!

Keyword Optimization: A Simple Explanation

Begin by selecting the keyword phrase that you want the page to rank well for in the search engines.  Most often, the keyword optimization is organized like this:  main page is optimized for the most general keyword or phrase, the categories are optimized for more specific keywords and the pages or posts are optimized for very specific keyword phrases.

Long Tail Keywords

The more specific a set of keywords tend to be, the longer the keyword phrase gets.  Phrases with 3 or more words are also known as Long Tail Keywords.  These are good to target because they return more specific, targeted traffic.  Another search engine optimization strategy to use with long tail keywords is to include shorter keyword phrases within your original long tail keyword phrase.  An example might be this phrase for a dog grooming site: ‘starting an organic dog grooming business.’‘ While the page is optimized for the entire phrase, you may want to also break out and use the phrase ‘dog grooming business’ within the content and rank well for the shorter phrase as well.

Keyword Optimization: Getting the Attention of the Search Engines

When using keyword optimization to get ranked and found by the search engines,  have the selected search engine keywords strategically placed on each and every individual page of the site.  The keyword phrase should be in the file name, the title tag, the text header, sub-headings, within the content, within the Meta description tag and in anchor text of incoming links.

To keep it simple, when you add your keyword phrase within the content of the page, you will want to include it in the first and last paragraphs and at least once in the middle.  This is all that is needed to have the keyword phrase properly placed within the page content.  Placement is important, but it’s not necessary to go overboard.  Make sure that the use of the keyword phrase sounds natural and flows with the rest of the information given.

As far as the title tag, and file name, you have to think about the trail from the search engines to your site.  When people see your link in the search engine results, what is the first thing they see?  They see your title tag and the URL.  Make sure that it is clear what they will be seeing when they click on either link by including the keyword phrase in those places.

This same concept applies to the use of the keyword phrase in the text header, Meta description and within the content.  Google either uses the supplied text or will pull its own text for use with the listing that best matches it.  A good title may inspire your target audience to click through, or it may be the description that prompts the call to action. Better safe than sorry, so make sure both are properly optimized.

In the end, the main thing to focus on with keyword optimization is to make sure that the content of your page properly matches the keyword phrase that is being targeted.  Let your target audience know exactly what to expect when they decide to click on any link to your site.  When they find what they have been looking for, they are more likely to come back, and you will have accomplished your goal of increasing traffic.

Peace & Prosperity,

P.S. Have Keyword Optimization questions? Feel free to post them in the comments section below.

A lot of site owners make one of two mistakes: they either think using keywords and keyword phrases is very complicated or they think that they already know what keywords and phrases their target audience is using.

Search Engine Keywords

Choosing search engine keywords does not have to be a long and complex undertaking.  What it will require is a good keyword suggestion tool and a little analysis of which keywords and phrases will work the best for you.  There are plenty of free and paid for keyword tools available.  You may want to start with a free tool to get a feel for how they work and then consider paying for one later on.

A good free keyword search tool to start with is the one offered by Wordtracker.  This tool is used by you typing in a broad term that your site is based upon.  As an example, if your site was about dog grooming, then that is what you would type in.  The keyword tool would then supply a listing of the top 100 keywords and phrases associated with ‘dog grooming’.  This list will also show the average number of daily searches for that specific keyword or phrase as well.  Some will have hundreds or thousands of daily searches, while others will only have tens of searches.  You will want to begin choosing keywords that make sense for your site and have a good number of daily search results.  It’s not necessary to always select the keywords and phrases with the highest searches as those also have the most competition.

For example, the phrase “dog grooming equipment,” at the time of this writing, is searched 75 times per day, but put that into perspective.  That means that the term is searched 2250 times per month or 27,000 times per year.  If you properly optimized a page on your site for the phrase “dog grooming equipment” you could easily rank well and reap the traffic rewards.

The second mistake that many site owners make is thinking that they already know what keywords and phrases their target audience are using.  Very often, they are wrong.  Knowing how to choose search engine keywords requires stepping into the audience’s shoes for a moment.  Too many site owners use industry jargon or set up their site from an insider perspective and then scratch their heads when the traffic is nonexistent.  The site’s copy needs to incorporate the same language the target audience is using, not what the site owner thinks they should use.

Don’t make the mistake of assuming that you already know what your audience is looking for.  In fact, choosing keywords and phrases after conducting some research can make conversions soar because you are meeting the people where they are.  Your target market will let you know precisely what they are looking for by typing keywords and phrases into the major search engines.  Collect this information by conducting your own research and choosing keywords that fit in with the purpose of your website.

Peace & Prosperity,

P.S. If you’re looking for help with keyword research feel free to ask your questions in the comment section below.

photo credit: iQoncept

Blogging is a way to create interest and traffic to the perspective business or web site. Blogging allows a way for the business to announce itself and present information about the business in a creative, informative and interactive way.

Keyword Phrases and Blog Post Titles

Through the use of specific keywords in the blog post titles, you are using search engine optimization (SEO) to draw in traffic via the search engines. Add to that, information and solutions that your readers need, you are driving targeted traffic to your blog and increasing the likelihood of sales. The information presented should be focused, and address a specific need within your audience. Your product or service should then help them resolve that need. This is effective blog marketing.

Use of Images

Photos and graphs are used to illustrate the written information presented in the blog. The result is a dramatically focused and visual approach to draw the readers’ attention. Images just make for a more interesting read.

Compelling Content

When you are writing a blog post, you need to have in mind your objective. What is it that you want to say, what issue or need within your market do you want to address. Once you know the purpose behind your blog post, you write to address that need.

Like any good writing, you should have a compelling title, a beginning, middle and end to your content. Blog posts are generally shorter than articles or other types of written content. While there are no hard and fast rules on length, it’s best to identify their need, discuss the need and then offer a solution within the call to action.

Call to Action

A call to action is used at the end of the post to direct your readers in what you want them to do after they have read your post. The action can be a special sales offer, a discount on your products or services, your affiliate link to an off-site product or service, or even a request for them to leave a comment.

The continued result for the small online business is updated advertising in a way that allows for a greater audience to be reached on the internet, through the use of keywords phrases. The online business can then see a continued return audience as the interest grows.

Are you leveraging the internet with a business blog?


Peace & Prosperity,

P.S. Discover the hidden challenges that may be sabotaging your website presence with a free 30 minute marketing strategy session.

Let us have a look into these basic aspects as the essentials for drawing up small business marketing plan.

Branding

Branding is significant to let the customers relate the value of your product or service with the needs of prospective customers.  Many companies are known for their corporate identity due to the strong brands. In fact, all the organizations are battling to create a brand image with better brand value. Your goal is make your brand stand out in the crowd. This is called brand identity; the stronger the brand identity, the bigger your slice of the market. Hence distinguish your product identity to impress the customers.

Know Your Market – Provide A Solution

Identifying and knowing your market is essential. Your marketing plan should identify a need in your market and your product or service is the answer to that need.  An effective marketing plan depicts your unique product value.  The use of imagery with logos, print ads, TV commercials, as well as, online advertising via a web site and social media marketing, all comprise a well rounded marketing plan.

Know-Like-Trust

Marketing is a way for potential customers to become familiar with your brand, as it builds the know-like-trust factor in association with your business. People do business with those they know, like and trust a well written and executed small business marketing plan will encompass the know-like-trust factor with your potential customers to convert them to buying customers.

Peace & Prosperity,

P.S.  Are you monitoring your marketing? For help with your small business marketing plans inquire about our free 30 minute Marketing Strategy Call and start creating a crystal clear vision for your “ultimate online marketing success.”