By : Tasha Cunningham
source : http://www.miamiherald.com
Category : Small Business Grant
Each year, small businesses spend considerable time and effort marketing their products and services online. But are you making the most of the time you spend marketing on the web? To help you find out, BizBytes offers the following list of five things small businesses do to undermine their online marketing efforts.
1. Not developing a proper online marketing plan: Many small business owners market online without having a plan in place. Take the time to make a list of your business’ goals. For example, are you aiming to increase online sales by 10 percent in 2012? If so, take the time to put a plan in place to get you there.
BizBytes 101 Tip: To help you get started, check out the book Web Marketing for Dummies by Jan Zimmerman. Published in 2011, this book will help you create a solid online marketing plan to achieve your goals.
2. Not having a mobile-friendly website: Having a website online isn’t enough. It’s important that you develop a mobile version of your site that users can interact with on their smartphones, tablets and other mobile devices.
BizBytes 101 Tip: Try Google’s Mobile Optimizer to generate a mobile version of your current website free. If you are looking to customize your new mobile site, you may want to enlist the help of professional Web designer. Check out Google Mobile Optimizer here — http://www.google.com/gwt/n
3. Not geo-targeting campaigns: If you sell products locally, it’s important that you target your online marketing efforts that way. For example, if you’re using Facebook to advertise, target your ads using their geo-location feature. You can do the same if you’re using Google Adwords to advertise in search results.
BizBytes 101 Tip: Make sure that your location, including city, state and zip code are featured prominently in the header and footer on all pages of your website.
4. Poor online customer engagement: Many small business owners have Facebook pages and Twitter feeds for their companies, but they aren’t updating these platforms with fresh content or interacting with followers on a regular basis. This results in poor customer engagement and once they lose interest, most will head to your competitor to purchase the same products and services.
BizBytes 101 Tip: Spend at least an hour a day updating your social media platforms and responding to posts from customers. To get the best results from your online marketing efforts you have to make time to engage your fans, friends, customers and anyone else who shows interest in your products and services.
5. Failure to implement basic SEO: Optimizing your website so that you fare well in search engine results is crucial to the success of your online marketing efforts. Yet, many small business owners fail to implement basic search engine optimization strategies that can generate sales and customers.
BizBytes 101 Tip: Don’t know the difference between a keyword and a meta tag? Author Jennifer Grappone has you covered in her book Search Engine Optimization: An Hour a Day, published in 2011.
Source : http://www.miamiherald.com/2012/03/04/2675423/five-things-small-businesses.html
source : http://www.miamiherald.com
Category : Small Business Grant
Each year, small businesses spend considerable time and effort marketing their products and services online. But are you making the most of the time you spend marketing on the web? To help you find out, BizBytes offers the following list of five things small businesses do to undermine their online marketing efforts.
1. Not developing a proper online marketing plan: Many small business owners market online without having a plan in place. Take the time to make a list of your business’ goals. For example, are you aiming to increase online sales by 10 percent in 2012? If so, take the time to put a plan in place to get you there.
BizBytes 101 Tip: To help you get started, check out the book Web Marketing for Dummies by Jan Zimmerman. Published in 2011, this book will help you create a solid online marketing plan to achieve your goals.
2. Not having a mobile-friendly website: Having a website online isn’t enough. It’s important that you develop a mobile version of your site that users can interact with on their smartphones, tablets and other mobile devices.
BizBytes 101 Tip: Try Google’s Mobile Optimizer to generate a mobile version of your current website free. If you are looking to customize your new mobile site, you may want to enlist the help of professional Web designer. Check out Google Mobile Optimizer here — http://www.google.com/gwt/n
3. Not geo-targeting campaigns: If you sell products locally, it’s important that you target your online marketing efforts that way. For example, if you’re using Facebook to advertise, target your ads using their geo-location feature. You can do the same if you’re using Google Adwords to advertise in search results.
BizBytes 101 Tip: Make sure that your location, including city, state and zip code are featured prominently in the header and footer on all pages of your website.
4. Poor online customer engagement: Many small business owners have Facebook pages and Twitter feeds for their companies, but they aren’t updating these platforms with fresh content or interacting with followers on a regular basis. This results in poor customer engagement and once they lose interest, most will head to your competitor to purchase the same products and services.
BizBytes 101 Tip: Spend at least an hour a day updating your social media platforms and responding to posts from customers. To get the best results from your online marketing efforts you have to make time to engage your fans, friends, customers and anyone else who shows interest in your products and services.
5. Failure to implement basic SEO: Optimizing your website so that you fare well in search engine results is crucial to the success of your online marketing efforts. Yet, many small business owners fail to implement basic search engine optimization strategies that can generate sales and customers.
BizBytes 101 Tip: Don’t know the difference between a keyword and a meta tag? Author Jennifer Grappone has you covered in her book Search Engine Optimization: An Hour a Day, published in 2011.
Source : http://www.miamiherald.com/2012/03/04/2675423/five-things-small-businesses.html
