Social Media vs. Website: What’s a Small Business to Do?

Small businesses with tight budgets are understandably cautious about where they invest their limited marketing dollars. This leaves many business owners wondering if they are better off skipping the costs of investing in a website and instead concentrating only on social media.

What many business owners do not realize is that a website can be as simple or as sophisticated as their budget dictates. And even if you start with a very basic design, you can build on that design as needed or when more marketing dollars become available.

Many people believe that they can make up for not having a website by increasing their social media presence. While the best case scenario would be to have a website and a social media presence, if you must make a decision between the two, a website is in almost all cases the best way to go.

Social media is appealing to businesses with very little money to spend on marketing because social media sites, such as Facebook and Twitter, are simple to set up and are free. Further, they allow businesses to engage with their customers without worrying about the overhead of a website.

The problem with diving into social media with no website to link it to is that you are at the mercy of the social media provider’s terms and conditions. You also have few options when it comes to layout. Further, the fact that social media sites encourage back and forth means that you may have people posting things on your social media accounts that you do not want posted.

While developing a website costs more to create and maintain than social media, it is well worth the effort. Here are some other advantages of a website for your business:

  1. In today’s digital world, savvy consumers are leery of businesses that don’t have a website. Such businesses are seen as behind the times.
  2. You own your website. Unlike social media sites, you can personalize even the simplest website to make it uniquely yours.
  3. You have space to market your business and obtain sales leads. You can include videos, customer reviews, testimonials, and promotional offers on your website without worrying about meeting your social media provider’s terms and conditions.
  4. While a website requires an upfront investment, it can actually save money in the long run. Many customer service tasks can be taken care of on the website, reducing your overall operating costs.
  5. Your business will be open 24/7.
  6. You can expand your customer base – exponentially. Billions of people are on the Internet every single day. Without a website, you have little chance of connecting with them.

It is always difficult to decide where your marketing dollars would be best spent. Creating and maintaining a website is one decision that is almost always in the best interest of your business.

 

Quality Content is More Important than Ever

Producing quality content is becoming more and more important for companies looking to market their products and services, generate sales leads, and get noticed by the search engines. Unfortunately, producing such content is proving increasingly difficult as the marketplace becomes more crowded and the competition gets tougher.

So how can you make sure that your content stands out from the crowd? What follows are some helpful tips and small changes you can make to ensure that your content doesn’t get overlooked.

  1. Make sure that all images attached to your content are relevant. While experts have told us for years that images make a huge difference in attracting readers, slapping up just any picture won’t reflect well on your copy. Also, make sure that all photos are formatted and optimized to avoid slowing load times.
  2. Make your posts as reader-friendly as possible by including bullets and lists. More than the look of your content, however, it’s important that your content uses clear, simple language. Unless a sentence adds real value to your post – get rid of it!
  3. Include influencers. Readers respond to industry leaders. Quotes from authorities on a subject matter always add credibility to posts.
  4. Tell secrets. Let’s face it, readers want to learn something they won’t hear anywhere else. Make sure when readers finish reading one of your posts, they learn something new – an insider tip. This type of information is what will keep them coming back for more.
  5. Don’t always play it safe. Got a controversial point of view on a particular topic? Don’t avoid it, embrace it. Even if readers disagree with what you have to say, they will respect you for having the guts to say it.
  6. Get emotional. There may be no crying in baseball, but when it comes to writing content it’s OK to get a little emotional once in a while. When readers feel that they can relate to your struggles and even failures, you will gain their trust. Open yourself up a little and you will be surprised at what happens next.

Many businesses believe that getting their content noticed involves making huge, sweeping changes to their posts. The fact is, sometimes just a small amount of tweaking can make a big difference. After all, when it comes to content, the way you are saying things can be just as important as what you are saying.

 

 

The Many Benefits of Quality Content

Changes in the world of search engine optimization (SEO) mean that quality content is more important than ever. While keywords were once the major factor in getting high search engine rankings, today it is engaging, shareable content that is the name of the game.

If you have spent a great deal of time and resources creating content that contained as many keywords as possible, these changes may seem daunting. In truth, the shift to writing quality content is good news for businesses. Why? Because now you can focus on giving your customers what they really need instead of just trying to get noticed through the use of keywords.

So what is considered good content? It is content that communicates with customers and prospects. It brings people the information and advice that they need to succeed in their industry. It solves problems.

It connects, educates and inspires.

One thing good content is not is a sales pitch or an effort to get sales leads. Instead, it is valuable information that people and businesses need. When you consistently provide your target audience high-quality content you will come to be recognized as a thought leader – and ultimately someone who they will want to do business with. In other words, you will increase sales without selling.

Another benefit of great content is that it will encourage people to share your content and engage with you. And when this happens, your audience will grow even more.

Remember, good content:

Solves a problem.

  • Every business faces problems. Your content helps to solve these problems. That helps you to become the go-to person or Thought Leader when people need answers.

Engages.

  • When people read your content, they want to weigh in. They may agree or disagree with you and want you to know why. They may have a follow-up question. You get the idea. And remember, the search engines love this type of back and forth.

Provides value.

  • If a person is looking for information on a particular topic, he or she isn’t going to waste time on fluff pieces. Instead, your content will always be filled with credible and substantial information that isn’t available anywhere else.

Is consistent.

  • Once your target audience sees you as a thought leader, they will come back again and again so make sure you always have fresh content available. If you don’t, they will look for it somewhere else.

Finally, no matter how important the topic, no one is going to read your content if it puts them to sleep. A great story must keep a reader’s attention. And while it is admittedly tough to make certain products and services sound like great literature, you should try your best to make your content as interesting as possible.

How to Get Your Company Some Free Press

GoLeads Content

Advertising your product or service in a newspaper or on TV can cost a lot of money. In some cases, one television ad can eat up an entire year’s marketing budget, or more. If you are like many small businesses, this type of advertising is just not feasible.

One way to get some media attention for your company – without the huge price tag – is to become the focus of a feature story. The key, according to Mark Nowlan in his article How to Attract Attention with a Feature Article, is to emphasize information over outright promotion. By doing so, it is more likely that a reporter or editor will use your story just as you pitch it.

  A feature is an in-depth look at a topic, product or industry–it’s a complex story designed to be read at a leisurely pace. And a feature can benefit your company by linking your brand or product to a larger trend or industry focus while also showcasing you, the entrepreneur, as a thought-leader in your field.

What many people fail to realize about the news industry is that journalists are always on the lookout for feature stories that they can have on hand to be printed or broadcast when there is a shortage of breaking news or on what are commonly referred to as slow news days.

In his article, Nowlan gives you a step-by-step guide to pitching your idea for a feature article to reporters. While such free publicity may seem too good to be true, you might be pleasantly surprised at the interest a quality feature story can generate from the news media. But be patient, sometimes it can take weeks or months before you are contacted regarding your story. If your story is used, however, it will no doubt be worth the wait.

The Ever-Changing Game of SEO

Our topic this week is about Search Engine Optimization (SEO). As most of us already know, this game is changing dramatically. Google is placing a lot of emphasis  on content, social media, sharing, etc. Old ways of doing SEO are obsolete.

Enjoy the article. Hopefully it sparks some ideas for you. Feel free to contact us. We would love to hear about them, and if there’s any way we can help you, please let us know.

 

The Changing Face of SEO

Seismic changes are taking place in the world of search engine optimization (SEO). Today, algorithm updates and an emphasis on user experience mean that search engines are better able to rank a website based on the quality of its content instead of the number of keywords it contains.

If your SEO strategy consists simply of increasing your website ranking by producing subpar content that is littered with unnaturally placed keywords, it’s time to get a new strategy. And this new strategy must include producing quality content that offers insight on a particular topic or solves a problem.

Of course, the goal of search engines has always been to produce the most relevant and useful results. While in the past this was achieved almost exclusively by identifying relevant keywords, search engines have become much more sophisticated. Search engines are now pinpointing content that connects, educates, and inspires its readers. All while filtering out content that, while chock full of keywords, offers little or no value to the reader.

If you are working with an SEO company that is telling you that they can improve your SEO through keyword placement, you are working with the wrong company. Instead, increasing your online visibility involves filling your website with quality content that not only helps to generate more sales leads, it also helps you to become known as a thought leader in your industry. The best part? Your search engine rankings will increase as a result.

Like most people, you are probably wondering just how search engines are able to distinguish between high-quality content and keyword-laden content that exists only to manipulate SEO. The fact is, until very recently, search engines were unable to. That’s why so many SEO companies could promise higher search engine rankings simply by increasing the number of keywords used.

But the times are truly changing and today search engine rankings are determined almost exclusively by the amount of quality content contained on a particular website. The type of content that leads to increased user engagement and is more likely to be read and shared.

Of course, for content to be read and shared, a website must be mobile-friendly. After all, if you want people to read your content it must be easily accessed from smartphones and tablets. It also must be easy to share through the use of things like social sharing buttons. Remember, today’s Internet users have little time or patience for unresponsive sites that are hard to read or slow to load. And search engines don’t like these types of sites either.

Finally, while keywords may have fallen from grace in the world of SEO, you don’t need to do away with them completely. There is nothing wrong with placing an appropriate keyword in the title or body of an article as long as it helps people understand what they are reading. But one thing is for sure, gone are the days when keywords were the darling of the SEO world. And those days aren’t coming back anytime soon.