So my business is on Facebook–is yours?

If you answered “no” then it is time to get rolling and I’ll give you some resources at the end of this post to help you along the way.

If you answered “yes” then it is time to make sure you are tuned up for the best experience for you–and those who do business with you or who are considering doing business with you.

Now I find it funny how so many people are suddenly experts about Facebook.

Unless that person is Mari Smith (author of Facebook Marketing: An Hour a Day)–her or she probably isn’t.

I had to chuckle when one of the pages I visited claimed to be an SEO specialist for social media accounts (places like Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn).

Their own page failed to include some of the vital things–such a a link to their website that was clickable.

Since I am active on the web and have been on it for a long time (since 1995), I tend to watch things and invest in learning.

Part of my unique perspective comes from the fact that I’ve made pretty much all my mistakes early on–and still do stupid things now and again.

However, I am pretty savvy due to my investment of time and because I’ve attended college classes and paid for online tutoring from some of the best business people on the web.

So, since I’ve been watching a lot of stupid things happen for so long, I thought I would share a few of my thoughts on Facebook mistakes many business people make.

Facebook Mistake:  Open a business account on a profile page.

The problem with this is that it is against Facebook policies and they might shut your account down.

“Facebook profiles are meant to represent a single individual. Organizations of any type are not permitted to maintain an account under the name of their organization. If you create a profile for your business, your account may be disabled …for violating our Terms of Use. If you have questions about how to best leverage your Facebook Page, please check out our Insider’s Guide or FAQ.”

If you have a profile it is simply a matter of adding a page for your business, service or product.

There are a lot more advantages to having this kind of set up but that isn’t for this post.

Facebook Mistake: Add tons of people you don’t know to your profile.

A long time ago I decided to only let family, friends, and select colleagues into my private profile.

My life is public enough and having a small group of peeps together online without the whole world snooping in was appealing.

Some people add anyone and everyone to their profiles but not me–mine is a private profile and I interact with those people.

If you look here, notice that I offer other options to people I don’t know or have not been in contact with for eons.

That page shows a list of links where people can find my public accounts on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn.

Another important aspect of your profile is that you are limited to how many people you allow in–which isn’t the case with public pages.

Facebook Mistake: Fail to include your business information or link on your page.

A lot of businesses don’t know that you can include a link in the sidebar of their Facebook page so people can simply click right over to your website (and you can add an application to move your visitors over to your Facebook page too.)

Please don’t make the mistake of using your Facebook business page as a website–because like anything that is not on your domain–you don’t own it.

Facebook Mistake: Fail to find ways to bring people into your fold outside of Facebook.

It is possible to customize your business page so you can collect email addresses and build your relationship with people off of Facebook.

This is vital for any business owner.

Take a look at my customized Guerrero Ink page or Mari Smith’s active Facebook page to see how attractive they can be.

Facebook Mistake: Forget that social media pages are public.

One of the things that people tend to forget is that social media interactions and sites are public!

Always be professional online because your brand is always out on the web and reflects on you and your business.

Now I’ve only included five mistakes here and I know you could probably share a few more so why not leave a comment now?

To avoid mistakes I recommend the following resources:

• Facebook Marketing An Hour A Day by Mari Smith
• Mari Smith’s Facebook Page
• Mari Smith’s Website
• FacebookMktg on Twitter
• Social Media Examiner

Above: Stop Spam–and Stop Spamming!

I manage a few different blogs and use a professional autoresponder to manage my email–which means that people can subscribe to my email list but that they have to opt-in (twice) to verify they want to receive emails from me.

Usually I send a monthly newsletter and then there are times when I have a favor to ask–rarely do I send them something that I think they would be interested in such as a product or service.

So, this week I was surprised when a person on my list reported me as a spammer.

It wasn’t a big deal but in the six years that I have maintained a list, this is the first time that has happened–and it not only confused me but also pissed me off because that person had to jump through two hoops to get anything from me anyway–and the email was soliciting their help.

Today people are confused as to what constitutes spam.

Spam is junk email–you’ve seen them, promises of Viagra or other offers (sometimes explicit emails) that clutter up your email box.

Spammers tend to buy email lists from groups or collect them with spam bots that crawl the web and pick up email addresses when they are posted on a website or appear somewhere in the code of a website.

Today there are laws that govern electronic mail–and a business needs to adhere to them.

In the past, people signed up for my emails via a sign up form at my speaking engagements but today I ask them to sign up via a form on my websites or email them an invitation to do so.

I am compliant but I can’t tell you how many businesses are not.

In fact, I have someone I know that spams me every month with an email that does not allow me to unsubscribe easily (which is also a requirement).

Now, I’ve been spammed by small businesses whose owners I never met and that think there is nothing wrong with emailing me–they are breaking the law and annoying me.

They want to sell me something, fail to target me correctly, or spam me from my blog forms because they think I will be interested–but they are seriously mistaken.

Unless they got my permission, or I actually signed up for their emails, they are spammers and if they keep up their wicked (or ignorant) ways they can actually get into trouble from the FTC.

So, is your business spamming?

You better stop and get complaint.

I’ll be exploring autoresponders soon (due to popular request) but in the meantime, check out what happened to this spammer and read the CAN-SPAM Act Compliance Guide for Business.

You can also check out the FTC Spam site.

And finally, do everyone a favor–don’t mark something as spam when it isn’t–just click the unsubscribe link at the bottom.

In Should Small Business Do It Themselves (Websites & SEO) I talked a bit about why finding the right web design team is critical for success and how you can start with a local website design firm–but that today you have global options available to you and so are not restricted in your choices.

I promised that I would share some resources for other options and will do so in this post but I also wanted to let you know what I do.

For instance, my last blog designer was found when I kept seeing interesting looking blogs and clicked through to see who designed them and the same person kept popping up in my screen.

Eventually I hired her and she has worked on three of my blog templates including the Fawnskin Flyer.

My mastermind group laughed when I told them I was essentially a spy out on the web and that is how I find valuable tools and super online professionals.

By spy, I mean that snoop on everyone in a variety of ways.

I am always looking at code, peaking at the links to website design firms from blogs and websites that I like, reading comments and exploring the blogs of the best commenters, and I also bring a lot of things onto my computer screen via RSS feeds, social media applications, etc.

Now don’t be overwhelmed if you don’t know what any of this means–my point is that if you are surfing the web, pay attention to what you like and take a minute to explore because you can find some real gems that way.

Then there are referrals or cyber introductions that can lead to someone special.

One of my professional writing services projects had an awesome website design firm that I worked with to optimize her site content.

I was impressed and so now we work together–but I met them intially because we had a mutual client.

The client met the web designer chatting in line at a business several years ago and eventually hired the team to construct her website.

So, those are a few other ways you can stumble upon the right person.

However, you can also seek out web designers via social media sites, by searching via keywords, and by contracting them from freelance sites.

Social media sites such as Twitter or Facebook have a lot of business pages with great professionals (and savvy pros are there working the system).

You can also use Twitter Search and conduct a general search or specific search on Facebook.

The business site of choice for many might be LinkedIn because they have professional groups for designers and other freelance professionals.

Take the time to check out their connections, their online website portfolios and their recommendations.

I always encourage you to connect with someone in person prior to hiring them.

Skype is a great online tool to use if the professional is not in your area as it lets you chat–plus ou can also use video conferencing.

As far as the online resources I’ve used (and am part of) eLance, Guru and Rent-A-Coder are a few of the best but there are a variety of options out there just seek out “freelance service-you-seek” or “freelance worksites.”

Once again, I am going to suggest you take your time to find the right connection because a good, long professional relationship is ideal when it comes to all things web.

Do you have a favorite resource or another idea to add? Chime in via the comments!

Above: Small business owners have enough to do without doing everything themselves.

So this week I noticed a prominent social media expert launching a do-it-yourself tutorial program on how to start and manage a blog/website.

Should small business do website construction or search engine optimization on their own?

No, bad idea.

There are already some good programs out there that teach how to do it yourself but I have to wonder why this social media expert is going out of her normal area of expertise to teach people something that really should be left to those who have the time to waste fool around.

If you are a small business owner it is not a good idea for you to try and do-it-yourself when it comes to web stuff.

Why? Because there is too much specialty expertise needed to do it right.

This program is not the only type taking advantage of the opportunity to serve those in need.

Intuit and other folks are trying to capitalize on the lack of knowledge most people suffer from when it comes to constructing websites and optimizing them.

Now who could blame businesses from expanding their brands or offering solutions to problems suffered by the masses?

Not me–but I d have to say the problem is that the temporary fix often ends up costing a small business in the long run.

It costs you traffic, it costs your money, and you lose time in getting where you need to go.

Sure, it is tempting. I’ve been right there with you and even used a popular web hosting service that also offered templates.

Templates that were a nightmare.

They restricted what I could do.

They failed to allow me to make optimization changes (or even to optimize) plus I was vulnerable in a lot of other ways.

With as much as every business owner has to do in a day, the last thing you need is to fiddle with a website and getting it up and running.

And don’t even think about having your staff do it.

They don’t have the knowledge either.

Plus, I believe your staff is better used in customer service efforts and actual tasks that reap benefits if you have a brick-and-mortar establishment.

Shortcuts that cost you time and delay success are not worth it.

So, how can you find good help? How do you sort through the mess?

I am working on the Small Business Guide to Websites & SEO which will help you but you can start by doing a search and looking–without contracting anyone–yet.

Do a local search, “web design your town” and take a look at the web designers in your local region.

Look at their portfolio but also call those businesses and ask how their websites are working for them.

• Are they happy with the response time from their web designer?
• Do they get people calling from their website?
• Is it easy to manage?

Then take a look and see where those sites come up in the search engines.

Try searching, “business type + your town” and see where they rank.

You can also sneak a peak at the code by clicking the “View” in your browser and then by clicking “page source.”

You’ll see who designed the site usually and also some of the keywords.

Check to see if the site ranks for those keywords. Search “keyword” and see.

Top ranking gets over 40% of all traffic so it does matter.

These are a few simple ideas to help you see if your local designer might be able to help you.

Research for a week or so and then call for quotes. Call those people whose site design you like.

Keep a list of your favorite sites by URL.

Notice the colors you like, if there are trends in the layout, or if the work is by one designer.

Most sites will have a link to the designer at the bottom of the page.

Don’t be confused that you have to use a local person either–they are not always the best and on the Internet there are no geographic boundaries.

There are other sources for you to find a designer and I’ll talk about those next.

]]> http://www.guerreroink.com/2010/06/07/should-small-businesses-do-it-themselves-websites-seo/feed/ 1 http://www.guerreroink.com/2010/05/25/why-your-small-business-should-be-on-linkedin-video/ http://www.guerreroink.com/2010/05/25/why-your-small-business-should-be-on-linkedin-video/#comments Tue, 25 May 2010 13:15:54 +0000 Professional Writing Services http://www.guerreroink.com/?p=83

While there are many different social media options available to people, the big three on my list are Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn.

LinkedIn is a business oriented social media platform and if you don’t have a profile that highlights your talents or small business you should invest some time in making that happen.

Of course, like all things web, get professional help to set it up so that it is done right!

Above: Video from Web Pro News

This video might be a little vague, in general fair use means you can use excerpts of someone’s work without permission.

If in doubt, it is best to

• ask permission,
  
• quote and credit the original work,
  
• and/or create a link back to the work or the author.

Your best bet is to always ask an attorney that specializes in this type of law.

As an author, I have been a bit miffed at those who take my work without permission and without credit.

Under the Digital Millenium Copyright Act you can actually get some help with duplicate material that has been taken from you.

After a request has been ignored, the website violating the terms can actually face consequences from their domain host or search engines.

Best practices are to be fair to those who have created the works by asking permission, crediting the author of the original work, and creating a back link to that work online–if you can.

You are about to find out because it is all downhill from there.

However, I want to remind you of an old saying.

You might have heard this:

“There is a reason you were born with one mouth, two ears and two eyes.”

The reason? To watch and listen before you speak!

This leads me to the three L’s of website success–look, listen, and leave it to your web team.

LOL

I believe the real saying is look, listen and learn but you know how I feel about doing it yourself.

Just sayin’…

Now if you have been reading this blog for any time at all you know that I’ve been there done that myself.

These days I am so happy to turn things over to the professionals so they can do there thing and empower me to focus on those things that I am good at (and that make me the money) versus the things that make my eyes get blurry and take oodles of time to make little to no progress.

Okay so the Triple L is a hard and fast rule when it comes to obtaining an online presence.

I know you you want to know the worst first mistake of a small business website–it is selecting the wrong URL or domain name.

Of all the things I’ve done, making a mistake getting the wrong URL has only happened once.

I’d like to tell you that I was a seasoned web researcher but that would be a fib because it was beginners luck.

Today I know a whole lot more but the first, horrible, nasty, unforgiving mistake small business owners make when it comes to getting a website is deciding that they know what to get and then buy one.

It is a critical piece for making your website work instead of investing in a nightmare that ultimately won’t work and will need constant fixing.

The second worst?

They get a web designer with little or no SEO experience to secure a website.

Now I know you are wondering just why this is such a big mistake…

If you have not launched the site yet–no problem.

If you have zero traffic yet–no real problem.

If you haven’t put anything on your business cards or other print marketing materials–you are lucky!

The wrong domain name or URL can be a big mistake for a few reasons:

1. You need the right business name to appear.
2. You need to have the right domain name to attract traffic.
3. You need to make sure the domain name doesn’t get buried by the competition.

Recently, over on Facebook, one of my pals announced that she was going crazy over website stuff.

She wondered aloud about how she was ever going to understand how to get her website to work.

After lamenting for a while, I wrote and asked her why she had not asked me about my web designer or team.

We both laughed because as menopausal women our brains sometimes seem to shut off or go haywire.

She said that was the case. Which was probably a  good thing because I also believe it is usually best NOT to work for your friends.

Anyway, since we talk on a regular basis, I did get to chat a little with her about the challenges.

So time will tell what is going to happen with her new site.

But like many people, she first put up a blog on a subdomain (read Blogspot or WordPress) where the content basically does not belong to her and they can shut her down any day without warning.

However, it is a good learning platform to start with. The good news is that content can be migrated.

Plus, she was able to secure her actual name as a domain name and that will be good for what it is going to be used for.

Then I noticed another pal on Facebook who had changed her email to a private domain address.

I took at look at the domain URL which was “nameandname” dot com.

And then shook my head in disgust.

Why?

Because it won’t serve the purposes she wants as effectively as if she selected a more optimized name for the business site.

These gals are not alone in their mistakes during the efforts to get a new website up and running.

The selection of the right domain name and the write online management system can be critical to your small business success with an online presence.

It is also important to find someone you can work with on the tech side–meaning your web team.

Sure, you can get good deals some places but try and get a call returned.

For instance, a local business person was lamenting about a web designer in my area (and someone I happily don’t work with) who would not return their calls.

The website was not up and the deadline for completion had passed.

Now there are a lot of reasons a site is not ready for launch, but if you have a good relationship with your tech team and good communication channels–things are easier and a lot more pleasant.

I know I am ranting on about this but I am working with lots of small businesses at the moment and they all make the same mistakes or hire people who really don’t know much about the entire process of making a small business website work.

So, have your web team help you with the URL as part of the whole website construction and search engine optimization package.

Yes, I’ll have more for you soon and I’ll be updating you about how my two pals are doing since they are not working with me or my team.

Me? I have to get back to my search engine optimisation work…yes, that is with an “s” on purpose!

I am working on a book called the Small Business Owner Guide to Websites & Search Engine Optimization but if you have not read my article on the Top Website Mistakes Small Business Owner’s Make–read it now!

What I want to discuss today are some of the things people don’t know and should because it is getting increasingly difficult to multi-task and take care of your online presence or compete online with others whose business team includes a savvy web designer or search engine optimization specialist.

As usual, there seems to be a wave of misunderstanding that remains rampant out in the business world when it comes to online marketing or strategies.

There are a few things small business owners need to understand when it comes to the web:

Internet Marketing is a specialized field.

Marketing your business or service on the internet is a very specialized field.

Therefore, don’t hire someone to handle if for you if they are not an internet marketing specialist.

Also, don’t hire cheap labor to interface between you and your team of internet professionals.

It is not the job of your internet professional to educate you.

Most internet professionals have invested vast amounts of time and money into their training.

Therefore, stop trying to make them educate you about what it is that they do or how they do it.

No, you can’t watch.

No, you can’t help by giving your opinion on something you know little or nothing about.

When is the last time you invited someone in to watch you work because they were interested in the project you were doing for them?

If you answer like most people the answer is, never.

Tutoring is a whole other process and it is not in the job description of your web professional.

Also, their services are very specific.

You are not putting them on a retainer so that you can call them at will or drop in at any time.

What you are paying for are specialized services related to the design and programming of your internet presence.

Anything beyond that goes into the category of billable hours.

Phone calls, emails, multiple interruptions that require time away from your project go into a category called additional billable hours.

Most web professionals charge for any additional time their clients take because a “simple” change or task usually means a minimum of 15 minutes or more to deal with it.

Now I happen to be part of a team that does a lot of customer service at little or no charge–but that is rare because time is money and there are only so many hours to trade for dollars so don’t expect it at no charge from your professionals.

I’d suggest if you are that interested in understanding the process, enroll in a class or read books on the topic but don’t make additional demands on your web team.

Hand it over don’t try to understand the internet or the nuances of internet business.

When my first web designer put up my site back in 1995, he told me that I should not bother with learning Html or how to manage the site.

This was true and I believed him.

Because I was already writing professionally on the net, when he moved away and no longer offered services, I had no choice but to manage the sites I owned.

I learned that as a designer he was great but he wasn’t good with the business side of things–such as marketing or monetization (making money on the net).

Today I’ve invested more than four years into training to do what I do out on the net.

However, he was right when he said to turn it over–if it is not your area of expertise you have no business dealing with it.

Plus, you probably have enough to do without tackling the task.

What you don’t know is that you don’t need to understand it–so leave that to your internet professionals.

Your job is to understand how to keep your team empowered to keep your site working and updated.

That’s it.

Don’t take notes unless your professional asks you for something.

And don’t delay when they ask you to supply information because they cannot move forward without it.

Other than their specific requests, let everything else go and rely on your team.

Terms you (or your colleagues) use are probably worthless which is why you need a search engine optimization specialist.

This was a topic I discussed in the last small business post I wrote but it is so important–here it is again!

One of my team members just sent in a key term list from a client. It was a horrible list.

Again, they think they know what they need but the first term I received only gets about a dozen searches a month and then the others have so much competition that there is no way a new site will rank for the terms.

Now, to address this I’ve had to come up with another worksheet to get what I need.

Remember, help your team out with as many terms as they ask for and go ahead and add manufacturer names, model numbers, and other details that might be pertinent.

Proper website design is essential to getting your website ranked for the proper terms and to convey a professional presence.

I had to laugh when I was discussing good design with a website designer this week.

You might have noticed that this site isn’t fancy but it works well.

Recently I had to update it because I was so embarrassed when I was asked my opinion on a “rival” search engine optimization specialist.

You see, his site was not optimized at all and had not been updated in over two years.

When you work on other people’s sites yours tends to get ignored…but his was so bad.

But what is different from his site and mine is that I actually talk about web related things and don’t try to dazzle anyone.

Also, I rank pretty high for the reviews I write and on the things that matter.

LOL

And yes, I still have to optimize this site but I am busy getting my clients to get good rankings to really want to stop and bother!

What you think people search for and what they actually search for are different.

If you think you know what people are searching for to find you, chances are you are wrong.

How do I know?

Because I research what they search.

I also take a look at the analytics provided to see what the sites I work with are ranking for, the status of their competition, and I analyze a lot of factors on the page and in the website design, PLUS I also research what words would be the best to optimize for to bring in traffic and business.

Most people use the wrong terms and most people don’t even know how to go about finding the right terms–so invest in the right team so you don’t waste a lot of money (or time) in those things that won’t work for you.

Too many clicks mean you won’t convert a prospect into a client.

This week I’ve had quite a few discussions with other web professionals about firing clients.

It happens.

One of the things a savvy team likes are those long term clients who  let you do your job.

We build working relationships that are like great friendships. We respect each other and want each other to do well.

Unfortunately, not everyone works well together and there comes a time to part.

In last post about top website mistakes I mentioned two types of clients that were hard to work with.

Those that won’t give you what you need when you ask for it are tough but usually that can be worked around.

However, those who bury you with emails, files, or directives are harder to work around since they tend to get in the way of making their website work successfully and make things more complicated than they should be.

One of the biggest mistakes they make is that they want to provide prospects with lots of options.

Basically, the more you ask people to click, the less likely they are to buy or convert from a prospect to a client.

You have to lead them to an action and the more you ask them to click the more likely they are to click off to somewhere that requires less work or action.

Keep that in mind when you want multiple links or want a website to do too much.

Now once again, I am speaking from direct experience–both as a web professional and as a small business owner that has done that.

Since I have multiple talents and since my business model has changed–I’ve probably made all the mistakes I am talking about.

At one time my website had three identities that became subdomains.

Today I have multiple targeted websites instead.

It is work but it is also less confusing to people like the fireman I met who asked what type of writing I did.

When I explained, he laughed and said, “Wow you are all over the map.”

“Yes, I am very diversified” was my answer.

So, my message? Keep it simple for you and your prospects and don’t ask them for more than one or two clicks.

Too many choices won’t allow you to target your audience or convert to a sale–which means a poor ROI (return on investment).

And the other message?

Leave the web related work to your online professionals–it will save you time and money and save everyone a lot of grief.

Recently I’ve had the good fortune of doing search engine optimization for small businesses–working in conjunction with a great web design team.

But one of the things I’ve noticed is how many mistakes small business owners makes when it comes to their websites and when working with a web design team.

So what are those mistakes?

• Ignoring the professional advice of someone who does know.

This is not just an online mistake because I see people hiring professionals and then ignoring their advice. But when you do this online it actually sabotages the success of the online presence of that small business. When working with a professional web team–take their advice as it will save you time and money.

• Don’t put everything in the hands of staff.

Many people want to hand off their online presence to their staff after the initial work is done.

However, the problem with this is that most staff members are already overwhelmed and most are not web specialists. The Internet and the nuances of working in it and the algorithms for traffic change constantly.

For instance, in my sphere of influence, I recently had someone ask about page rank. That person did not realize Google dumped it at the end of 2009. (We are waiting to see the new model that is likely to raise its head sometime soon.)

Also, during a recent crawl through an extensive website being handled by an in-house design team, I discovered it was not only hard to navigate but also not optimized.

Why? Because the in-house team listened to the owner (their boss) who had no idea about the Internet and how it works.

• Vary from the advice of the designer.

Looking great and working well are two different issues.

Some people want something that looks pretty but if it is not search engine or visitor friendly, it is a waste of time and money.

For example, a lot of blogs have huge headers that simply take too much valuable space when something less splashy would work more to their benefit and also put that space to better use.

It is one thing to get your website looking good and another to get it working well. Hopefully you can merge the two and benefit with the help of your web design team.

• Alter or change the configuration of the blog/website.

I periodically check up on my former clients and take a look at their websites. Some that stay with the team benefit because I regularly check the stats to see how they are doing and make alterations to help with their ranking.

In many cases, those who no longer work with me (or their original team) start adding pages where they shouldn’t and begin using terms that were not identified as proper keyword terms or phrases.

Ultimately this drops their rank and messes up their optimization which results in poor exposure and less targeted traffic.

• Believe they know what works.

Sometimes despite coaching or direct advice, people ignore it because they believe they know what is best.

When they ignore the advice of their web professionals (and insist on certain aspects) this can result in a poorly designed website and only fair results if they are lucky–and poor results and little or no traffic if they are unlucky.

• Try to micro manage.

Most web professionals cringe when people try to micromanage or overwhelm them with information. A web professional will ask for what they need and it works best when you send it all at once upon request. It also helps if you just give them what they need and do not overwhelm them with notes or additional materials.

• Don’t participate in the process.

On the opposite side of the spectrum are those clients who fail to participate. They don’t help the web team at all. This is a huge mistake because small business owners are the only ones that can tell the team their unique selling position and pass on the proper terms or reveal the products and services they offer.

Participation makes the project go quicker and get completed faster when they do participate.

Participation and information also gives their online presence a huge advantage over competitors.

• Attempt to pick different brains and then try to put together a project from that information instead of working with a good web team.

There are some people who shop around, talk to different web design teams and then try to put something together from what they have compiled from those discussions  instead of hiring a professional to tackle the job.

Unless you have a good solid strategy, this type of behavior ultimately makes a bigger mess and a bigger job when that project is handed off to a good team.

• Assume they know the “right” keywords.

Since I’ve been contracted to enhance the work of a team, my job is to identify the right keywords for each small business so that they are incorporated into the blog design.

I recently did extensive research on what terms would get a site to rank and bring in traffic. The client insisted that they knew the “right” keyword but were totally off base.

This is common because most small business owners do not understand what words will actually result in the right traffic–it isn’t always the words they think are appropriate or that will convert.

Also, some keywords get a lot of traffic but also have intense competition and websites that are securely ranking for those terms already. It is hard to take over and move a longstanding, successful site from a number one position.

So, don’t assume you know the right words but do send in what words are associated with your industry and what you think your customers or clients would use.

The purpose of this post is to encourage small businesses to cooperate with their web team because they are in business to help you succeed online.

Do you have any other mistakes to add? If so, leave a comment below.

One of the biggest complaints I’ve heard locally is about how business is so bad.

This surprises me because many of the businesses I know are showing an increase over last year from 15% to 30%.

These are brick and mortar stores and not internet businesses which are growing and doing well.

What is the difference?

I took some time to take a look around and to chat with a few successful businesses.

For instance, one of my favorite hangouts looks like hell. The parking lot is full of potholes and weeds. Cigarette butts litter the walkway to the entrance…and the owner is seldom there. When she is, she isn’t exactly amiable or friendly to those who want to chat.

Also, the product is inconsistent and her price point is steep…and they just announced they will be closing. Not a big surprise to some of us.

Down the boulevard is another establishment. The place has some of the same eyesore problems. Poor parking lot maintenance and trash and boxes stacked up outside make it look trashy. However, the business is up and churning in profits.

Here the manager is focused on customer service and pays attention to customers needs and wants. If a customer has not been in for a while–he or she gets a call. And nothing ever seems to be a problem.

No wonder the customers keep coming back.

Another business in a great location is up 30% because they are under new ownership and let the manager do what she needs to do to make customers happy.

Personally, I quit shopping there under the previous owner because she was penny wise and pound foolish. It was great news to hear that they are doing great.

The two establishments that are doing well each track their profits and their inventory. They know when a customer is going to need something and if they don’t have the product, they usually have it within 24 hours and at least one will drop off the merchandise to the customer’s home if they desire.

I know other businesses that do well simply because they really service their regular customers. About 80% of all business seems to come from 20% of their customers.

If you want to attract and keep customers present a good front–a clean and tidy store and a smiling staff member and personal service can go a long way to establishing a regular customer base.

Don’t forget to find ways to provide extra service to your customers and find out what they might like and offer to meet their needs with new products and services…it could make all the difference on your bottom line.