Author Archives: Stuart

Building a business website can’t be that hard?

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small business websitesSadly that’s an attitude Toni and I see all the time … so many business people seem to think that building a website for their business can’t be that hard … it must be easy … there’s nothing to it … anyone can do it.

Yeah right!

Sure anyone can get something so appear on the Web … after all there are any number of free site builders out there that you can use … there are plenty of WYSIWYG HTML editors out there too … and they must be so easy to use.

And basically they are easy to use BUT what’s not so easy is ending up with a website that looks professional … has some hope of generating sales or leads … and might even rank well in the search engines.

The fact is that building a business website should be left to professionals who know how to achieve the outcomes you want. Your cousin … your uncle … your son … or your best friend’s dog might all be able to use a free site builder or a WYSIWYG HTML editor but they’re not going to be able to give you a business website that will work.

Don’t believe me? Go ahead and waste your time or pay someone close to you peanuts to build your business website and objectively reiew it’s performance in six months time.

Perhaps you think that we’re losing business because people think that they can build their own websites but we’re not … in fact we’ve never been busier than we are right now and that’s why I rarely have time to post anything here anymore.

Perhaps you think I sound a little bitter that people are trying to do things for themselves but I’m certainly not bitter … I am just very sad that many business people try to do the work themselves, produce something that is never going to work for them and then complain that the Web is not working for them.

If you do it right and have your business website built by someone who knows what they’re doing then the Web will work for you and your business.

Does Your Website Offer Too Many Choices

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If your small business website is underperforming could it be that you’re offering your potential customers too many choices?

It’s hard to believe that anyone could be put off making a purchase … or picking up the phone to call your business … simply because they had so many choices that they couldn’t make a decision.

But it is possible and the video that you will find here will show you why … and give you some tips on other ways to improve your website too.

A Google Adwords Trap

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Google is really pushing Adwords at the moment … they’ve even got it packaged for Google Places as Adwords Express … but if you run a business that has a good ranking for a variety of terms on the Google Places results that are incorporated into the general results you need to take care.

Google encourages all their Adwords advertisers to target as many keywords as possible … if there is a keyword or keyword phrase for your particular business then you should be targeting it with Adwords or Adwords Express according to Google

What they don’t tell is that if you happen to target a keyword phrase in Adwords Express that you already have a good listing for in Google Places you may well lose your ranking in Google Places. A number of people have seen it happen to them or their clients.

So if John from John’s Gardening Service … who just happens to have the top listing for ‘gardening services’ in the Google Places 7 pack were to target that phrase in Adwords Express he would quite possibly lose his listing in Google Places.

That means that instead of getting something for free he has to pay … and compete in a bidding war for that top spot.

You can read more about it at Understanding Google Maps & Local Search

Marketing Tips for Small Business

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Just lately I’ve probably been more guilty than most other people of thinking within the box. We specialise in Internet marketing and that’s the box I’ve been thinking in as Toni and I have sought to expand the business.

But there are so many other things we could be doing when it comes to marketing the business … things that don’t involve the Internet at all … and it took a friend of mine to point them out.

Michael Dorausch is a successful chiropractor in Los Angeles and he runs a popular blog for chiropractors. Several years ago he wrote a post about 23 easy ways of marketing your business and even today it provides 23 invaluable tips for any small business that wants to build its customer base.

Follow the link to 23 small Business Marketing Tips and try them … they may work wonders for your small business.

Survival Tip for Small Business

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Yesterday I gave you 10 Survival Tips for Small Business and today I want to offer another survival tip that didn’t make it to yesterday’s list.

Even though times are tough and your struggling to survive don’t forget your family
Yesterday I was doing some research for a client when I came across this piece of very good advice … “remember the things you have, not the things you don’t have” … and I realised that it was definitely worth sharing here.

When times are tough we tend to focus on our business … all the problems with our business take up so much of our time that we forget that there are some very important people who still need our attention.

When you’re really getting hammered by the downturn in the economy don’t forget your family. They still need your love and support … and your attention … so give them all the love, support and encouragement they need because without them you and your business won’t survive.

Don’t ignore them just because you’ve got a heap of worries. Don’t take all the support they have for you and give nothing in return just because you’re struggling to survive … they’re struggling to survive too and you are the person they look to for help so don’t let them down.

Easier said than done? Of course it is … I know from personal experience just how hard it is but if you have the strength to build a business then you have the strength to support your family through these tough times too.

10 Survival Tips for Small Business

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There’s no doubt that times have been tough for small businesses over the last few years and by the way the economy in Europe and the US is going those tough times may get even tougher.

So as part of a small business that’s been going through the same tough times as everyone else I thought that we might share 10 survival tips for small business. If your small business is in the middle of some tough times these tips will help you survive.

Don’t Give Up
When times get tough there comes a time when you start to think of giving up. Don’t feel guilty about feeling that way when you reach that point … it’s normal … it’s part of human nature.

But don’t give up … keep on pushing ahead … keep on looking for ways to drag yourself out of the financial mess that’s going on around you. Always remember that these bad times will pass and every day you survive you get yourself one step closer to that point where the good times return.

Pay Down Debt
Got credit cards? Got regular monthly debt repayments? Get rid of them if you can!

If you have loans that you can’t pay out then look for ways to reduce the amount that you’re paying on those loans each month. The more you can reduce your outgoings in tough times the better your chance of surviving.

Don’t buy anything on credit
Cut up your credit cards and pay out the accounts … if you can. Don’t even run 30 day accounts with your suppliers if you can avoid it.

Pay cash or use a debit card for everything and if you can’t pay cash or use a debit card then don’t buy it.

Cut Expenses
Look at everything you spend money on each month and make an objective decision on whether that money is well-spent or not. In tough times lots of big businesses bunker down and don’t come up till conditions improve.

Unfortunately most small businesses can’t do that but you can certainly cut your expenses.

However there’s one expense you can’t cut … the cost of advertising. Tough times are the times when it’s important to spend money on getting your message out to those people who still want to buy the goods and services that you’re offering.

The trick is to find the form of advertising that gives you the best return on investment. If you haven’t thought about it before then think of trying Google Adwords and if you don’t know how to do that then talk to us … click Google Adwords Management for more information.

Make equipment last longer
Equipment is expensive to buy or lease so make it last longer and if you replaced your gear every two years make it last for three. Look after your equipment and it will last much longer than you might think.

Review staffing
This is something that I feel uneasy about … letting someone go who has worked for you for a long time is never easy but there may come a time when letting some of your staff go is the difference between surviving or seeing your business go down the drain.

Curb your lifestyle
I know that can be hard … partners and children develop an expectation of what their lives should be like but what sort of lifestyle will they have if you go broke. So bite the bullet … sell the jet ski … cancel that expensive holiday … eat at home more often.

It can hurt but it’s what you have to do if you want to survive.

Keep your business premises neat and tidy
When things are tough some people tend to let things slide and their business premises is often one of the first things to start looking shabby. Their cars don’t seem to get washed as often either … and their websites never get updated.

If you want people to do business with you then you have to look as though you’re worth doing business with. Keep your office space or your workshop neat and tidy … keep your cars and vans washed … and keep your website up to date.

If you can’t afford to spend a lot of money updating your website talk to us … when it comes to small business website management we’re the experts. We understand small business.

Look for ways to expand
Expand?? In tough times??

Yes … when times are tough and your competitors are hiding away till the storm passes there are always plenty of opportunities around. Be cautious and don’t rush in but at the same time don’t be afraid to grab an opportunity to grow when it comes your way.

Have a positive mental attitude.
When you can’t pay your accounts and no one is paying you keeping positive can be all but impossible but if you want to survive it’s what you have to do. Look for ways to stay positive … keep your mind away from negative thoughts … keep encouraging those around you and let others encourage you.

Stay positive and you will survive … believe me, there have been times when a positive mental attitude has been the only thing that has kept us going.

Small Business Websites and the Search Engines

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I was recently at a meeting of some small business owners here in the town where we live and there was one of our competitors present as well.

The purpose of the meeting was to discuss two websites that this group of people owned. One was designed by our competitor and the other was designed by us and during the meeting discussion turned to search engine optimisation … something that we specialise in and our competitor does not.

Almost as soon as the discussion turned to SEO our competitor thought he might score some points and announced that although he had no experience in search engine optimisation for any for of business he was sure it was something that these business people could do for themselves.

I’m over arguing the point about that subject … if people want to believe that small businesses can do it all for themselves then that’s fine by me. They’ll learn the hard way … and hopefully they will remember who gave them that bad advice.

The fact is that search engine optimisation is a never-ending sea of change and those changes are coming faster and faster. Nothing stays the same and Kristine Schachinger, a search engine optimisation specialist, from Las Vegas put it in perspective when she asked “Is there any other job out there where you have to keep up w/ it every day almost every hour?”

And just to press home the point she followed that question up with this statement “What is happening now in Search & Social is like code in 200/1 – miss a week is like missing 6 months missing a month is like (missing) a year ”

Does that sound like something that small business people can do for themselves?

Small Business Websites and Google

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So you run a small business website and you know that a good ranking in Google is crucial to the success of your business?

You understand that Google has an algorithm that it measures every website against and as long as you get your keywords in the right places … include a title that contains your keywords … and have lots of links pointing to your website you’re going to achieve that ranking that was so important to you.

Well I can tell that you’re a little bit behind the times because Google now has Panda and you’re not going to win the heart of Google’s Panda with keywords and links no matter how hard you try.

we now know that with the introduction of what everyone now refers to as the Panda update Google has brought on board a whole bunch of human reviewers and their assessment of a website, combined with the algorithm is what is influencing rankings these days.

So what do Google’s human reviewers look for? Fortunately Google has given us the list that those human reviewers use when looking at a website and this is that list:

  • Would you trust the information presented in this article?
  • Is this article written by an expert or enthusiast who knows the topic well, or is it more shallow in nature?
  • Does the site have duplicate, overlapping, or redundant articles on the same or similar topics with slightly different keyword variations?
  • Would you be comfortable giving your credit card information to this site?
  • Does this article have spelling, stylistic, or factual errors?
  • Are the topics driven by genuine interests of readers of the site, or does the site generate content by attempting to guess what might rank well in search engines?
  • Does the article provide original content or information, original reporting, original research, or original analysis?
  • Does the page provide substantial value when compared to other pages in search results?
  • How much quality control is done on content?
  • Does the article describe both sides of a story?
  • Is the site a recognized authority on its topic?
  • Is the content mass-produced by or outsourced to a large number of creators, or spread across a large network of sites, so that individual pages or sites don’t get as much attention or care?
  • Was the article edited well, or does it appear sloppy or hastily produced?
  • For a health related query, would you trust information from this site?
  • Would you recognize this site as an authoritative source when mentioned by name?
  • Does this article provide a complete or comprehensive description of the topic?
  • Does this article contain insightful analysis or interesting information that is beyond obvious?
  • Is this the sort of page you’d want to bookmark, share with a friend, or recommend?
  • Does this article have an excessive amount of ads that distract from or interfere with the main content?
  • Would you expect to see this article in a printed magazine, encyclopedia or book?
  • Are the articles short, unsubstantial, or otherwise lacking in helpful specifics?
  • Are the pages produced with great care and attention to detail vs. less attention to detail?
  • Would users complain when they see pages from this site?

So how does your small business website measure up when it’s compared to this list from Google? Will your website have a good chance of getting Google’s tick of approval?

 

Is Your Website Failing to Produce an Income?

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We’ve just sent out our latest newsletter to our clients and it covers a wide range of topics including how the current economic climate is affecting small business and what we must all do with our websites to keep the cashflow happening.

We thought we should reproduce that part of the newsletter because I know that there are a lot of small businesses out there who rely on their websites for their income … and for many it’s just not happening.

If you need some advice on what to do with your small business website you can contact me on Skype – stuart4101 – we offer a consultation and website review service and your first 30 minute consult is always free.

Well here we are in the depths of winter in Australia and we’re really feeling it here in Hervey Bay. We’re also feeling the chill winds of the financial winter that seems to have engulfed Australia in the last few months.

While employment is still strong in most parts of the country financial experts are suggesting that people are saving their money rather than spending it and of course that means that sales are down … everywhere.

Here at Total Website Management we service clients from a wide range of industries including tourism, retail, medical, motoring, real estate and education and training and every client is reporting the same thing … sales and enquiries are either down or non-existent.

They are all still seeing plenty of people visiting their websites … and some are even reporting an increase in the number of site visitors … but the sales just aren’t happening.

That lack of sales is particularly noticeable for our clients who have online shops that sell in a market where there are cheaper … and often inferior …alternatives or where the items for sale could be considered to be luxury items.

I guess that trend is perfectly understandable in a climate where people want to save money rather than spend it however I also understand that it can be hard to understand when you’re the owner of the e-commerce site that isn’t making sales.

For far too long business people everywhere have had a vision of the Internet as being the place to be if you wanted to make money. I know a number of people have come to us with the idea that all they had to do was have a site built and sales would happen.

I’ve been involved in e-commerce since 1998 and for a while sales did seem to just happen but not anymore. Back then there was little competition and it was easy to get good rankings in the search engines but now there’s lots of competition and getting a good ranking in the search engines is hard work … very hard work.

And even when you do achieve a good ranking in the search engines there’s no guarantee that you will keep it and there’s no guarantee that good ranking will result in good sales.

So if you want to make money with your e-commerce website in this current economic climate you have to get out there and advertise … market … and push your product everywhere and in every way you can.

Business Blogs

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There are plenty fo people out there telling SME’s that they need a blog to help promote their business.

Personally I’m not sure that’s necessarily good advice because not every business has something worth saying at least once a month … or even once a week … and nothing looks worse than a blog that has had nothing posted on it in months. A blog with few postings send the wrong message about a business.

On the other hand a business that has lots to say can really benefit from having a blog but all those benefits can easily be negated if you make a fundamental mistake when setting up that blog.

I was reminded of that yesterday when someone asked me where a business blog should be set up. They were wondering if it should be set up on the businesses own website or on some free hosting at somewhere like Blogger or WordPress.com and right there is the fundamental mistake that can undo all the benefits of having blog.

If you’re going to go to the trouble of setting up a blog for your business then there really is only one place that the blog should go … it should be part of your business’ website! And just let me say that again because it is very important … if you are going to set up a blog for your business then it simply MUST be part of your business’ website.

To use some free hosting for your blog … such as you can get on Blogger or WordPress.com is wrong for three main reasons.

  1. Putting your blog on a site that doesn’t belong to you dilutes your brand. You may think that your business is too small to have “a brand” but it isn’t. Your business has a brand and you should always be building on that brand rather than sharing it with some other business as you would be doing if people saw your business blog on Blogger or WordPress
  2. You should never place yopur future … even part of it … in someone else’s hands if you can avoid it. When you place your business’ blog on Blogger or WordPress.com you’re giving control of that blog to someone else and they can do whatever they like to your blog. Imagine what your customers would think of your business if they went to your blog one day and found that it was a total mess … the page was jumbled … the information they needed was almost impossible to find etc. It’s been known to happen when WordPress.com has released an upgrade to their software and blog owners weren’t told.
  3. Links to your business website are hard to get and can be very valuable when it comes to ranking well in the se3arch engines. When your blog sits on a site that you don’t control everytime someone links to your blog they’re not giving that link to you … they’re giving it to whoever owns the site where your blog sits.

Of course some people will say that they save money and time by setting their business blog up on one of the free blog hosts but that’s a false saving. We can handle your blog setup no matter which country you live in for as little as $395.00 and if you can’t afford to invest a small amount like that in your business then you’ve got a lot more that needs your attention right now than a blog.