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What Do I Need To Do To Start Marketing My Business On The Internet?

November 19, 2009 by IBI · Leave a Comment 

Many people are daunted by effective custom web design, site optimization, internet marketing, seo, etc. How can you blame them? There are so many so called “experts” out there spouting off the latest internet tripe. With just a little research, you soon discover that these experts are usually hawking some business opportunity or selling software. So, we’re going to divest the entire process of it’s mysticism and make it as plain as possible.

Here’s what you’ll need to market your business effectively on the internet. The first thing you’ll need is a great website. This is not the area where you want to play it cheap. Do not design your own website! Unless you’re a graphic designer, you’re probably not as artistic as you think that you are. Hire a good web design company. Think about it. The first contact that many prospective customers may have with your business are you marketing materials such as your web site. A well designed web site should educate, instill confidence and trust in potential customers and above all is A SALES OR CLOSING TOOL. This can not be emphasized enough. It should not merely be a pretty online brochure. It’s purpose to either directly or indirectly close business for you. Period. Make sure you check around on the internet and observe your competitors websites before deciding on the design of your site. A good design company will help you with this. Study the design elements and features of the most successful companies in your industry. Do searches to determine which of their sites get top rankings in the search engines. Also, look for opportunities to innovate to make your website even better than theirs. Make it clear what you want from your website to your web design company.After your site is constructed, the next thing that you need is for your site to be optimized. Site optimization consists of selecting the right keywords and then imbedding those meta keywords and phrases in the pages and links of your site, installing site maps, doing link exchanges, installing robots and analytics, tying in blogs and article directories, posting articles, and more. This makes your website search engine friendly and helps to get you higher rankings in the search results. Make sure your design company is experienced at this. Some designers are just so eager to get the business that they’ll claim to know more than what they actually do. Do not bypass the site optimization step and just try to submit your site to the search engines. All that will happen is that no one will ever be able to find it.The last component is actually internet marketing or promoting your site. One popular way is submitting your optimized website to the search engines. There are literally thousands to choose from. However, the majority of searches are done through: Google, Yahoo, AOL and MSN. A study conducted by Berrier Associates shows that of people who spend five or more hours a week online, they average an astounding 71% of their time searching for information. Other research shows that the most common method of finding a website is through search engines. Google powers over 70% of all searches and is the trendsetter for algorithm creation. Therefore, search engine marketing is of paramount importance.Some search engines are free and others you pay for. A good SEO company can advise on which search engines work best for you. By applying just these simple strategies, you will be well on your way to getting good results from your internet marketing.

From The Minds Of Wharton
Wharton Business Foundation
www.WhartonBusinessFoundation.com
(888)4-WHARTON
info@whartonbusinessfoundation.com

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Business Blogging – Why Bother?

November 18, 2009 by IBI · Leave a Comment 

“Communication is understanding” or so the saying goes. That saying is especially true when it comes to customers.
At first glance, business blogging may seem like a lot of work maybe even too much work. It is true that there is some work involved with blogging. However, that work will definitely pay off for your business in the long run.
Here are three reasons why you should consider creating a blog for your business:
Marketing
Blogging is a great way to get your marketing message across. A company blog allows you to reach your target market in a way that no other medium can. Someone who makes the extra effort to contact you through your blog, either by leaving a comment or through e-mail, is really interested in what you have to offer.
A good business blog will reinforce and enhance your company’s brand. The blog entries that you post help your clients and perspective clients understand who you are. Search engines will help you convey that understanding to people that you might not otherwise reach.
Finally, consider this: if you don’t have a business blog, it is likely that your competition will.
Cost
Blogging may be the most cost-effective marketing method that you will ever use. You can easily set up a business blog with very little cost. All that you really need is a domain name and place to host your blog. Even with these small expenditures, there is no other way that I know of to get as much marketing bang for your buck.
I recommend that you use a domain name related to your business and avoid using free hosting services like WordPress (www.wordpress.com) or Blogger (www.blogger.com). You can, however, download the WordPress content management system onto your own blog for free. There are many free business templates available on the Internet, so you don’t need to hire a graphic designer.
Communications
The bottom line is that a blog is about communication. With that end in mind you need to make sure that content on your blog is top-notch. Remember, the blog represents your company. For some people, the blog may be their first contact with your business.
Getting quality content for your blog may mean hiring a writer, or assigning the task to someone in your organization. While you don’t need to add new content to your business blog every day, it is important to post regularly. Your blog readers should feel that they are getting the inside scoop on your company.
A blog is more than just a series of articles, though. A business blog is a conversation between you, your customers, and your perspective customers. Make sure that comments are enabled and respond promptly and politely to anyone who leaves a comment. Be open and helpful. Blog with authority, but avoid turning your blog into an advertisement for your company.
Business Blogging – You Can’t Afford Not To Do It!
The prospect of running a business blog makes some business owners nervous. They either think that blogging will be a lot of work, or they think that it will cost too much. However, a business blog can be a valuable marketing tool. In fact, it is one of the most cost-effective methods of marketing that there is. A business blog can also open a valuable line of communication between you and your customer, fostering trust and relationship.

Craig Cannings is the owner and managing director of ESalesGuru.com, a innovative marketplace connecting ebusinesses with niche Internet Marketing Specialists and Firms worldwide. Visit us at: http://www.esalesguru.com.

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The Promise Of SEO Marketing

October 28, 2009 by IBI · Leave a Comment 

SEO is considered the most important aspect of getting a higher page rank even today after Google’s page rank upgrade has been introduced. Most web site owners/administrators either hire SEO experts or do it themselves. SEO has become so common that it seems that everyone from a content writer to a graphic designer knows how to work on SEO and how it can affect the overall ranking of your web site on Google or secondary search engines.

The first and foremost thing that you should look at while hiring an SEO expert is how well they have ranked their own website. There are many web site owners out there who would agree that they have fallen into the trap of big SEO promises at least once. Every SEO firm promises your website a good ranking on Google but how many of them can truly keep the promise is a different story. There are many websites whose targeted phrases are not even ranked forget about the ranking of the entire website or a web page.

So the thumb rule is check their website ranking before you choose to fall for their promise of SEO. There are some SEO firms who are new or don’t have their website yet. For such firms, you can always check their past records and if you get any good references from other website owners/their previous clients then that will hold its weight.

One of the other things you need to do especially in the light of the matter that SEO firms seems to be coming up everywhere is research. Do background research of the individual, the firm and their previous clients and SEO deliveries.

The Promise

If your web site is new, is in a high competition market or industry and if the SEO firm tells you that they can get your website top Google rankings within 60 days, then you should not sign up with the firm. This is simply because either they have no idea whatsoever of SEO or they are saying it to lure you. To avoid wastage of money and time and to avoid the frustration later on, you should avoid such a firm completely.

A straight-forward or top of the line SEO firm will always provide you with realistic expectations that can span over many months and even years depending on your market, the competition and scope. If you have a new web site that is competing in a market with moderate competition then a good ranking in 6 months is sound promise but the same time frame will not be possible in a high competition market.

SEO services

It is necessary that you ask your SEO firm what all will be included in the SEO package before you sign the deal. It is not necessary for you to receive a complete breakdown of each SEO activity but a broad understanding is essential. A SEO firm should ideally inform you about the areas of your website that will be changed to enable SEO and how they will carry on with the process of link building.

Most of the top level or good SEO firms will live their promises and provide ample proof of what they are saying and what they are planning to do. Some of the top level SEO firms even provide a guarantee although not all of them do it. Not providing a written guarantee doesn’t mean that a particular SEO firm is not good. The reputation of a SEO firm in the market is in itself a huge guarantee. So if you are signing up with a top level firm with a reputation to back it then you can be rest assured that they will back up what ever they promise to deliver in the SEO package and within the mentioned time frame.

There are time when you might end up being on the wrong track since it is not always easy to determine if your SEO company is as good as it claims to be. There are some SEO firms who have had a great record but off late their performances have gone down. So if you are not aware of their recent client feedbacks and if you go by their past client feedbacks then you might end up being on the losing side of the deal.

SEO is an important aspect but to deal with it better, you need to first get an understanding of what it really is and how it can actually help your web site. When you are informed enough, you will be able to take the right decision.

Seomul Davis is a senior SEO Services expert with SEO 1 Services a Dallas SEO Company.

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3 Ways to Personalize Your WordPress Theme

October 27, 2009 by IBI · Leave a Comment 

One of the great things about WordPress is the number of themes that are available to change the look of your blog. There are both free and paid versions available. Changing themes is quite easy but…

Finding just the right theme to fit your blog can be frustrating. And that is putting it mildly.

You find one that you like just about everything but that one little thing.

It may be…

* the way it displays hyperlinks
* the size of the sidebar
* the header image
* or any of numerous other problems

Now short of hiring someone to create a custom theme exactly the way you would like it there are a few easy changes you can make to take the almost perfect theme and make it much more YOURS.

Here is how you can change three of the most common things to personalize your them and make it your own.

Before we start though ALWAYS, ALWAYS, ALWAYS have a back up of your files. And I do mean always if you did not guess from the previous statement.

Change your header

In your theme folder you will find an img or images folder depending on which one the theme author used. Inside that folder will be an image called header.jpg or header.gif. You can easily grab a copy of that image and check to see exactly what size it is.

Either create a new image the same size your self or hire a graphic designer to create one for you if you lack the skills. Name this new file the same as the original one and replace the original one. You now have a personalized header.

Hyperlink colors

Just the other day a friend of mine had found the perfect theme for his blog but the hyperlinks were not the standard blue and underlined but they were just black and bold.

He loved the theme except for that and had spent hours finding just the right look. This problem was easily solved by making a minor change in the css (cascading style sheet) file of his theme.

WordPress themes are run using style sheets and you can change the attributes quite easily. In this case it was the hyperlinks so you needed to look on the style sheet for the “a link” attributes.

It will look something like this

a {
color: #000000;
text-decoration: none;
}

Just change the color to the appropriate hexadecimal code in this case #0000ff and then the attribute from none to underline and you have a “standard” hyperlink.

Changing sidebar size

This takes two changes and they have to be the same amount of change. If your sidebar is a bit narrow say 120 pixels and you want to use 125×125 buttons you will have to change the sidebar width and reduce the body width by the same amount.

Here are the two entries

#sidebar {
position: relative;
float: right;
width: 237px;

#content {
float: left;
width: 676px;

You need to subtract from one what you add to the other but this will allow you to customize the size of a sidebar if that is the feature that you don’t like.

WordPress themes can be easily customized to your needs so if you find most of the features you want try your hand at customizing them. Just make sure to have a backup before you start.

Mike Paetzold is known as an expert on using WordPress for your marketing solutions. You can find other items to improve your WordPress look, feel and usage at Advanced WordPress or more WordPress information at his blog at WordPress Made Easy.

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10 Ways That Twitter Can Boost Your Online Business

October 24, 2009 by IBI · Leave a Comment 

Tweeting, as it is called, is all the rage amongst online businesses these days. Twitter consists of writing short text messages of less than 140 characters that can be viewed by all of your followers. Twitter is a great way to attract attention to your online business thus serves as a form of free online marketing. Companies can use Twitter to interact with both current and potential customers, building brand loyalty and image. Here are 10 ways in which Twitter can boost your online business.

1. Twitter generates traffic to your site because you can send messages that include links. The only problem with trying to increase clientele with Twitter is that it is difficult to target a certain group or demographic. There is a possibility to create viral content on Twitter however because you can ask your friends to include your links in their tweets.

2. Twitter greatly enhances your personal brand. By using Twitter, you and your company develop a casual, approachable personality that is in the loop. This helps you attract new potential customers. The better you get at tweeting, the more likely you are to expand your potential customer base because new Tweeters are attracted to well-established Twitter users.

3. If you need to hire a writer, graphic designer or anyone else for that matter, you can do so easily on Twitter by sending a tweet out to your friends to ask if they know of anyone. This eliminates the need of putting out classified ads and weeding through prospective employees.

4. If you work remotely with other people, you can use Twitter as a way to interact as a group. Twitter options include making messages visible only to certain people, which would obviously be useful if you want to use it as a tool to communicate with people in your business.

5. It is easy to find new, potential customers by using Twitter’s search function. Search Twitter for your target keywords and you will find related tweets. Follow the Twitter users that are talking about relevant topics and you may be able to offer your product or services to them in the future.

6. Twitter can assist you in your social media efforts because anytime you submit an article to Digg or Stumble Upon for example you can include a link to your story and perhaps get others to vote for it.

7. Twitter allows you to stay in touch with your current customers. If you begin offering a new product or service, you can use Twitter to make an announcement.

8. With Twitter, you can connect with other people in your niche. This is helpful for building business relationships that will enhance your future networking efforts.

9. It’s easy to get feedback on any of your current projects with Twitter. If your site has a new design or you just put up a new article, you can tweet about it and ask your followers for feedback. This valuable feedback can help you improve your business and even come up with some new ideas for future projects.

10. With a Twitter widget on your website, you can link up with potential customers who find your site through a search engine. This allows you to connect with people on a more personal level and increase your followers.

Twitter can be very beneficial for your online business if you know how to use it to your advantage. It’s a free and easy way to network with both current customers and potential customers. Using Twitter allows you to connect with people on a personal level and is a powerful way to improve your online marketing and networking efforts.

SEOSapien.com is a SEO Company. We offer search engine optimization services to all industries. Read this and more original articles at http://www.seosapien.com
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