Archive for March, 2012

34. Five things you should do when writing a small business blog

Tuesday, March 20th, 2012

A business blog is a place where your company employees can converse with existing and potential clients in their own unique voices. A company can demonstrate their collective knowledge and experience of the company and through these comments have a conversation with customers informally and openly. When writing a blog, think about the following:-

 

Content

Good content needs to have a purpose whether to inspire, educate, inform, assist or entertain. It should engage the reader and provide something they can relate to. Fresh information is better than stale so even if you are writing about a topic that is timeless, it should be done in a way to make it new and exciting.

 

Headlines

The headlines of your blog will the first and perhaps the only impression you make. Without a headline that converts a browser into a reader, the content of your blog may as well not even exist. A headline can grab someone’s attention, a great headline will entice the reader into the body of the text you have written. In essence, a headline should promise some kind of advantage or reward for the person reading it in trade for their valuable time to do so.

 

Keywords and Phrases

In order for your blog to get noticed by people other than those working for your company you need to maximise the potential for it to get noticed on the various search engines used by potential customers. It is important that you use the best and most unique keywords and phrases for your blog as they provide these search engines with a brief description of what your blog is about and the easier you make it for search engines the better chance your blog has of being noticed.

 

Writing Style

A blog is not an advert or flyer for your company. The other sections of your website should provide these bits of information, so try to sound like you are chatting to someone when writing your blog. Read your blog back to yourself before publishing, does what you have written invite your customers to initiate a response?

 

Frequency

You need to ensure that your blog is updated regularly. Content should remain fresh but not overstretch your resources. At minimum you should set a time each week, however depending on your business requirements you may have a need to respond to or update on posts more frequently.

If you are interested in starting a blog to help your business or organisation and would like advice and guidance, please contact me on info@digitalark.co.uk.

If you are ready to start, you may be interested in our reliable web hosting packages with 1 click WordPress install.

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33. Why a small business needs to make the most of client reviews

Thursday, March 8th, 2012

When looking to purchase a product or use a specific service, many of us like to know that that the company and the product or service on offer is going to benefit us by way of things like quality, customer service and in some circumstances, after care such as warranties and maintenance. In order to gain knowledge in these areas we like to refer those who have already had experience with what we are looking to purchase.

 

Many companies will publish testimonials from the clients but how often do you see a negative review on a company’s website or within their other marketing materials? No-one likes to broadcast when a customer has had a bad experience or that their product is not all it’s cracked up to be.

 

With the introduction of the World Wide Web came a whole new way for companies for market their products. We no longer need to wait for a local directory or newspaper to be published or for an advert to appear between television programs. We now have instant access to millions of companies, products and services worldwide.

 

Further to this, social media websites like Facebook have not only changed the way we communicate with other socially but have also allowed us to express our opinions by way of forums and reviews on pretty much anything and everything and this includes the products and services we buy and use every day.

 

Many of us now refer to the masses rather than the few by way of these social media websites in order to build up a view on and ascertain if we would like to purchase a product or service. Client reviews are a powerful marketing tool; they give you independent opinions from other clients that have already used what you have an interest in and not just the company marketing it.

 

A lot of companies like Amazon that sell products from multiple manufacturers and businesses have taken on board just how important a tool crowd sourcing is and have adapted their websites so that both positive and negative responses can be left.

 

All companies small and large should embrace this approach as even if the response from a client is negative, honest feedback will help them review on a regular basis the products and services they have to offer, how their personnel are interacting with their clients but most importantly they will be able to implement changes in order to improve their products and services.

A very good service for local mobile search is Google Places please read our blog post 28. How Google Places can help a small business.

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32. When was the last time you update the content on your website?

Tuesday, March 6th, 2012

Tired, outdated websites can cause people to leave your site earlier than you would like and this could mean that they are using your competitors. There are numerous aspects to your website that you need to consider updating on a regular basis.

 

Look at the products you have on tender and make sure that new ones are advertised as soon as they are available. If you are advertising a special offer you need to ensure that you don’t leave out of date promotions on your site, this will look unprofessional and if you are no longer able to provide your customers with the offer on show this could not only cause embarrassment but the customer may not choose to use you again.

 

Do you provide photographs of the products you sell? If you do, look to change them every now and then. It may be the same product, but a different photograph can change and enhance the look of your website. This should also be applied to other photographs you may use, for example; location and personnel photographs.

 

Most website service providers will offer the ability to change the background and page designs of a website. Whilst you will require your company logo to stay the same, think about changing the background colours and themes that you use.

 

Do you have a page that allows your customers to leave testimonials? If you do, then make sure that new clients offer you their feedback and remove the older ones and upload the new.

 

Maintaining your rankings within the search engines like Google is paramount to ensuring that your website is a successful tool for your company. The keywords and phrases that are used in the production of your website are vital to ensuring your status within these rankings. Changes that you make including new products or editing will automatically generate keywords and phrases.

 

It is not enough to just design a website, let it go live and then leave it in the hope it is working for you. Your website is a powerful marketing tool and it is vital you update it on a regular basis to ensure you continue to get traffic visiting both old and new which in turn will ensure your company continues to profit.

 

One option to keep your website fresh with updated content is to use a pay monthly website maintenance service like the ones provided by Digital Ark.  For a sensible, simple fixed monthly fee, you can have your website updated on a regular basis without having to worry about how much it will cost you.

 

If you have any questions or would like more information, please contact us on info@digitalark.co.uk.

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31. Importance of choosing the right key search phrases for your website

Thursday, March 1st, 2012

Your company name may differ from that of your competition, however, when it comes to promoting, marketing and advertising your business you cannot rely on your name alone. In respect of your website, using the right phrases and keywords is of the utmost importance, especially when you are looking to generate new clientele. The ones you choose can make a vast difference to the number of visitors that will find and use your website.

The greatest source of traffic for your website is those that are free. Usually these are people who have used search engines such as Google and typed in words or phrases relevant to what they are looking for. Research shows that many people using search engines like this will usually not investigate companies past the first three pages of results. So…you need to think not just about the obvious words that relate to your business but how to use them uniquely.

You may be using phrases that relate to what you have to offer but if they match what thousands of other companies offering the same as you are also using, the chances of your business showing near the top of the search engine results will be greatly diminished. The significance of your website being located near the top of search result lists cannot be overstated. If you are not positioned in the top percentage of listings then the amount of people using your website could be negligible.

Most SEO (Search Engine Optimization) tools will contain a keyword and phrase tool as part of the package they tender or these tools are available separately. It is worth researching these as the cost of these tools varies from company to company. Ensure that you find one that is capable of generating lots of varying ideas for keywords and phrases and that also affords you the ability to organise and report the results.

If you are still unsure of the importance of using the right keywords and phrases within your website, carry out a simple test. For example: – If you were a plumber and typed this into your search engine it will return over 69 million results! Obviously this is worldwide coverage, however if you entered it along with your location the results will probably still astonish you and show you just how many companies offer the same basic service as you therefore further  illustrating the need for unique keywords and phrases.

Key phrase analysis is a fundamental part of the website design process at Digital Ark.  If you would like more information please contact us by sending an e-mail to info@digitalark.co.uk.

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