Improving Your Website

Creating a productive website does not require more flash or more pictures.  A great website requires simple navigation and great content.

Content that is interesting to your visitors, and eye catching for search engines.  The challenge is to find a balance between the two different audiences.

Search engines like lots of copy, containing key words, repeatedly if possible.   You readers, with serious attention deficit want you to get to the point quickly.

The key is to be sure you know the very best phases. One tool you can use to find a starting point for word selection in your copy is the keyword tool from Google Ad Words. Simply type in a phrase you believe clients will use when looking for your type of business and the tool will provide a series of phrases, and how often they are used when by consumers searching for you.

For example:  I selected “small business marketing” and discovered “marketing strategy” was searched significantly more often – on average 201,000 times a month, and “small business ideas” a phrase I have never deliberately used, is searched more than 20,000 times a month.   While not the most popular, it has a steady following, and would be interesting to add to the mix!

The lesson for you?  Take the time to reserach the best key words, and include them  in your writing.  Don’t over do it with text which reads like this: Small business marketing strategy should include novel ideas for small business owners, which expand their current small business marketing activites. While the engines will love it, your readers won’t!

Need help with your website?  Roundpeg offers great starter sites as low at $950

Warning: Shameless Self Promotion

In April, when we launched the new roundpeg website we included the blog: Business Notes as a way of driving traffic, sharing good content, and occasionally pimping what we do. To be fair to our readers, I am telling you in advance this particular post is about pimping what we do. So, be warned, and if you aren’t interested in samples of our work, skip this post!

Now that we have narrowed down the audience: We really wanted to show off some of the websites we have been working on. Built on a WordPress platform, we are really excited about how much variety and personality we have been able to build into these simple sites. And the best part? They are easy to maintain, so our clients, (small business owners) can have an affordable, vibrant and dynamic site.

Check out: www.sunnymoondj.com, www.chefjj.com, www.gomomfitness.com ( this one is very pink), www.aballstudio.com, www.turningpoint-consulting.com, and www.makeroomnow.com.

Need help with your small business web site?  Call Roundpeg today!

Build Relationships with Good Use of Web 2.0 Tools

Small business marketing is a different animal than marketing for a large corporation. As a small business you don’t have a budget to reach the masses, so to compete you need to have a more personal relationship with your clients.

Web 2.0 tools such as Blogs, e-zines or newsletters allow clients and prospects to get to know you as the first step in building a trusting relationship.

Not sure how to get started?  Which tools make the most sense for you?  Check out my Seminar: Web 2.0 and Why Do I Care on October 30. It is being offered as part of Rainmaker University.

On-Line and Off-Line Work Together

In a recent post, Small Busienss Marketing Expert – John Jansch of DuctTape Marketing asked the question Are You Too On-Line?   My immediate reaction was surprise… his title made it seem as if he was backing away from his solid support of on-line strategies.

But he didn’t disappoint me.  He goes on to reinforce what I have been telling my clients for a long time, the on and offline strategies compliment each other.  While your website is the center point of your marketing it doesn’t stand alone.    You can not run your entire business from behind your computer screen.

Examples of how to blend the elements

1. Get out! Network then bring the cards home and send an email or better yet, MAKE A PHONE CALL ( for you Gen y’s and Gen next in the audience, some people actually talk into that device you use for texting)
2. Send targeted direct mail, and drive traffic to a personalized URL more information or even order fulfillment

For other ideas, read his origianl post:

Overloading on Social Media

Getting involved with Social Media is like boiling a frog. If you put a live frog in boiling water, he will jump out. If you put him in cold water and heat slowly, he will never notice, and you get frog legs for dinner.

For the novice, I usually suggest starting slowly. Read before you write, comment first, then try to create.  To be actively engaged in the Web 2.0 world, without being overloaded a reasonable goal is :1 or more blogs, an RSS feed reader, one microblogging identities and accounts on business networking, social networking and aggregators.  For a broader perspective on this check out the following posts:

• There is no social media overload - Louis Grey
• Justin korn – How to make sense of it
• Kyle Lacy and the 4 Touch Point Model

As a matter of fact, considering adding these folks to your “RSS Feed Reader” and check them out on a regtular basis.

What Is Web 2.0 And Why Do I Care?

Roundpeg Founder and small business expert Lorraine Ball will share her favorite strategies on how to become more productive using Web 2.0 tools  in a 90 minute Rainmaker University Class: “What is Web 2.0 and Why do I Care?”

The class will be held from 12:30 – 2:00 pm in the Yeager office buildings located at 11650 Lantern Road, Fishers, IN 46038.  The Fee to attend is $75/person.  Rainmaker members receive a discounted rate of $25.

For more Information or to Register go to: Rainmaker University

Try, Measure, Adjust and Try Again

As a mediocre science student, the one thing I really understood was the scientific process.  This structured approach to testing any theory or idea made perfect sense.  Try something, measure the results, adjust your variables and try again.

In theory, this same process works for marketing.  Try a campaign, measure the results, adjust and try again.  The problem: traditional advertising is tough to measure.  How many of the phone calls you receive this week are really directly a result of the the advertisement you ran on Sunday?

The internet is a marketer’s dream! Rapid results, readily available from a wide variety of sources are at your fingertips on the web.

Bryan Eisenberg, author of Always Be Testing, shared ideas on this subject with John Jansch of of the Duct Tape Marketing Podcast.  Some of the tools he suggested:

• Google Website Optimizer tests the effectiveness of one headline or offer from another.
• Google Analytics gives you a better feel for how people view your pages.
• You can access the workforce ofAmazon’s Mechanical Turk or UserTesting.com and get usability testing done on your web pages.

Take advantage of these tools to improve your site and on-line marketing.  Test, Test, and Test again!

Improve Your Position in Local Searches

Local search, the act of showing up on page one when surfers type in phrases that hint they are looking for a local business, requires much of the same focus as any type of optimization – only localized. According to Small Business Marketing Expert John Jantsch winning the search game takes 3 things:

High quality, education based, frequently changing content

Naturally generated, inbound links from high quality sites

Properly formatted and used HTLM coding

Read full article

Need help getting started?  Call roundpeg today.  We can help your write blog posts on your site and others.

Protect Your Blog

Are your on-line assets secure?  Over the last few months we have encouraged many of our clients to switch from a traditional website to a wordpress website.  Simple and easy to update, like any other on-line asset, it may be susceptible to hacking.

While your site may not be as attractive to hackers, as Coke or Pepsi’s sites, you still need to protect your blog.  Here are a few simple tips from a WordPress Resource site which apply to any blog or website.

• Protect Passwords
• Run Latest Version of Software
• Always Keep Backups!

Read the rest of the article

Video is Viral

We are a visual population. Raised with the TV as a babysitter, we are comfortable with images being delivered via video.

While we no longer have the patience for a commercials, moving through them with the flip of a button we will watch clever marketing messages delivered via video to our email. This is a great example. Gary Busey’s content is short, and funny, interspersed, with a simple advertising tag.

It’s Blog Day

Ok, one more post about social media!

Thanks to Kyle Lacy I found out it is Blog Day. This world wide celebration is designed to introduce great bloggers to each other, and novice bloggers to some of the best writers and thinkers on the net.

Kyle has already commented on some of my favorites:

Mike Fruchter at My Thoughts on Social Media:

Erik Deckers. The Laughing Stalk.

The Marketing Technology Blog by Douglas Karr.

They would all be in my top five, but the point of this activity is to introduce new blogs, so check out Kyle’s description of those, and then here are some others that make my top list.

1. Kyle Lacy – Ok, so I am not sure I would even know what a social network was if it wasn’t for Kyle. An avid, possibly compulsive web junkie, he is continually trying out new sites, and sharing his opinions. Which may include humor, attitude, and more than a little sarcasm.
2. Louis Gray - Who describes his blog as a Silicon Valley Blog for early adopters, technology geeks, RSS addicts and Mac freaks. Ok, so I have to admit, sometimes I have no idea what he is talking about, but his write ups, and favorite picks are a great way to learn about what is new on the net.
   
3. Patric Welch – Alias Mr. Noobie boils down technology for the very, very novice. I love his sense of humor when he describes his battles with technology. On the complete opposite end of the spectrum from Louis, but equally fun to read.
4. Is This Stupid? – Tina (aka stupid blogger) defines her site as an outlet to poke fun at some of the stupidest things she comes across. While much of the posts are about tech she doesn’t stop there. As she says, the Internet doesn’t have a patent on stupid. whether she is taking on Monkey Spankers or people who want to follow their houseplants on Twitter, she does it with attitude and a great sense of humor!
5. Ok, I’m done.. I know I should have another one, but honestly, by the time I am done reading these four, and the three above.. misc posts on SI and FriendFeed the day is over!

So join the fun.. what are your favorite blogs?

It’s Blog Day

Ok, one more post about social media!

Thanks to Kyle Lacy I found out it is Blog Day. This world wide celebration is designed to introduce great bloggers to each other, and novice bloggers to some of the best writers and thinkers on the net.

Kyle has already commented on some of my favorites:

Mike Fruchter at My Thoughts on Social Media:

Erik Deckers. The Laughing Stalk.

The Marketing Technology Blog by Douglas Karr.

They would all be in my top five, but the point of this activity is to introduce new blogs, so check out Kyle’s description of those, and then here are some others that make my top list.

1. Kyle Lacy – Ok, so I am not sure I would even know what a social network was if it wasn’t for Kyle. An avid, possibly compulsive web junkie, he is continually trying out new sites, and sharing his opinions. Which may include humor, attitude, and more than a little sarcasm.
2. Louis Gray - Who describes his blog as a Silicon Valley Blog for early adopters, technology geeks, RSS addicts and Mac freaks. Ok, so I have to admit, sometimes I have no idea what he is talking about, but his write ups, and favorite picks are a great way to learn about what is new on the net.
   
3. Patric Welch – Alias Mr. Noobie boils down technology for the very, very novice. I love his sense of humor when he describes his battles with technology. On the complete opposite end of the spectrum from Louis, but equally fun to read.
4. Is This Stupid? – Tina (aka stupid blogger) defines her site as an outlet to poke fun at some of the stupidest things she comes across. While much of the posts are about tech she doesn’t stop there. As she says, the Internet doesn’t have a patent on stupid. whether she is taking on Monkey Spankers or people who want to follow their houseplants on Twitter, she does it with attitude and a great sense of humor!
5. Ok, I’m done.. I know I should have another one, but honestly, by the time I am done reading these four, and the three above.. misc posts on SI and FriendFeed the day is over!

So join the fun.. what are your favorite blogs?

Blogging for Business of Every Size

It seems many of my posts lately have been about blogging.   Maybe I am spending too much time with Kyle Lacy, Doug Karr, and Erik Deckers, or maybe this is just the most important thing small business owners have to understand right now.

The more I read on the subject, the more I believe it is the latter.  Business, even traditional B to C business is going on line.   Blogs create a forum for an on-going conversation with your customers and prospects, a platform to help you share your knowledge, and establish yourself as a subject matter expert.

With the availability of great free blog software platforms, cost is no longer an issue.  And the simple user interfaces have removed the skill barrier as well.

If When you add your blog here are a few rules to keep in mind:

1. Post often – short frequent posts (at least several times a week) give readers a reason to return -
2. This doesn’t have to be a chore divide the workload, invite your employees to blog.
3. Don’t make each post an advertisement for your services – If the blog provides valuable content, your readers will associate the expertise with you
4. Link to others – - In today’s Web 2.0 world, you are judged by the company you keep. I read The Church of the Customer Blog by Ben McConnell almost daily and frequently quote his ideas because they are worth sharing.
5. Invite others to participate – Ask questions, even send links to friends, peers and customers inviting them to participate.
6. Don’t give up -Even if you have few or no comments, the fresh content is attracting visitors.  Many people will remain spectators.  It doesn’t mean they don’t like what they see, they just don’t feel the need to comment. Keep writing

So no more delays – it is time to start writing – and when you do… invite me to post!

Blog Log, Technorati and More

In the ongoing process of building traffic to my website, I am joining all sorts of aggregating and rating services, like Technorati , digg, and Blog Log.  The question is do any of these work?  I would love input from folks who use these tools regularly.

Which do you like best, and why?  Which have the biggest impact on the effectiveness of your small business strategy?

Time to Blog is Now!

There is a conversation going on at this very minute.  Are you a part of it?  The conversation, among your customers and business associates is occurring on-line with or without you.

According to the folks at Duct Tape marketing, it is not enough to have a nice website.  According to the author:

if you’re not participating in social media, you’re not really online.

To substantiate their opinion, they shared a few statistics from a comprehensive research project developed by Universal McCann.

• 73% of online users read a blog
• 57% join social networks
• 45% have started a blog
• 83% have viewed a video online
• 39% subscribe to RSS feeds
• 36% think more positively about companies that have blogs

Source: Universal McCann Wave3 research into social media

So the question is what are you waiting for?   Not a writer that is not an issue..  Your customers and business associates are not looking for elegant prose.  The research indicates they want to hear from you.  Share current information, inside scoop, industry trends, simple, relevant information and they will come back for more.

No more excuses!  if you have a website, it’s time to add a blog.  If you don’t have a website, create a blog, anyway!  Or at the very least start following and commenting on other blogs!

And if you need more convincing - check out Kyle Lacy’s latest blog.. In response to those who are still sitting on the sidelines, Kyle does not mince words.  He says:

“it is important to remember to be IN the conversation. If your demographic frequents any social network GET INVOLVED. This might mean hiring a part time employee or spending some extra time yourself. SUCK IT UP.

Honestly, you don’t have to suck it up. Maybe I was a little harsh? You could keep on ignoring the conversations and drive your brand into the ground. Your choice. I’ll buy you a shovel but don’t expect me to help you dig.”