Business

Optimizing Your Website’s Content for Search

Search engines like Google have many factors they look for in determining which pages of which websites they want to rank on their first page, second page, third page and so on. When a consumer types in a search for ‘computer parts’, search engines are quickly scanning websites that match this keyword search the best.

Search Engine Optimized Website Content

Since search engines are crawling (reading) your website to see if you are a match for the consumer’s ‘computer parts’ search, it’s good SEO practice to use these words throughout the copy of your site.

Keyword rich website copy attracts the attention of search engines and is one of many factors that can help improve your chances of getting in front of potential customers.

Having important keywords in your website’s copy is the first step in optimizing the content of your website. How many times that word appears is the second. Too little won’t do you any good but too much will flag search engines that you are trying to scam the system by stuffing keywords everywhere on your site, regardless of whether or not it makes sense.

How Long Should Content Be?

Content is King in the world of Search Engine Optimization. A home page should have around 300 words of copy, give or take. Try to naturally infuse two keywords into each paragraph. Space them far enough apart so that your copy doesn’t sound repetitive or forced.

Break up long copy by adding a bold headline in between the first set of paragraphs and the last. The headline can be a short description of what the reader will learn by reading the following paragraphs. Search engines also like text that is ‘bolded’. Your website designer may also want to code this headline with an ‘H2’ tag. This is a tag that says to search engines ‘these words are related to the subject of my website.’ Knowing that, use your important keywords in this headline.

The easiest way to write keyword rich copy is to first write about your company from the heart. Forget about which keywords you need to incorporate. After you are satisfied with your copy, go back and see where you can appropriately add in or replace certain terms with you targeted keywords.

Time to get started!

Filed Under: Business, Digital Presence Tagged With: B2B, blogs, SEO

5 Ways To Get More Done With WordPress

Powerful, and limitless. Two words that best describe WordPress in my opinion. WordPress gives me the ability to create, update, and innovate. It simply lets the user get more done. Here are five ways to get more done with WordPress.

Plugins. If you need your WordPress site to function in way that isn’t initially offered right out of the box, just hop over to the plugin directory and start searching. You will find what you need.
Widgets. Drag and drop at its finest. Change an offer on the homepage. Feature a new page. Add a contact form. If something isn’t working out as planned, change it. You dont have to know code to add a new look to your site.
Internal Linking. Awesome feature that simplifies creating internal links. Give your viewers new pathways to read more about your blog or business.
Full Screen Editor. Great new feature in WordPress 3.2 that will eliminate that countless distractions and result in getting more done. I started using this feature immediately.
Custom Frameworks. Having a solid foundation to built on is extremely important if you want to focus on getting more done on your blog or with your business. Frameworks alleviate the stress of coding and add the assistance of a solid community.

What did I miss? I know there a more things about WordPress that help you get more done. Lets hear them.

Filed Under: 31DBC, Business, Digital Presence, Genesis, Innovation, Journey, WordPress Design Tagged With: blogs, building website, Genesis, Improvement, Innovation, WordPress NJ

WordPress Can Change Your Digital Presence

What is stopping you from moving your website to a dynamic platform? Think about it. Lets step through some quick questions to see where your small business stands.

Let’s start simple. When was the last time your site was updated? Can you update it without going to a webmaster?
Can you easy update your product, and/or service?
Do you have old products still float around??

If you answered No, No, and I don’t know, then its time to look into making some changes to your digital presence.

Here’s why its time for you to move your website over to the WordPress platform.

Community – As of February 2011, WordPress has been downloaded 32.5 million times. So its been used by a few time I think.
Versatility – There is a theme for any business out there and if you can’t find one you like, no need to worry, it can be made exactly to your specs.
Plugins – Need a calendar? Need membership capabilities? Need conversion forms? You can find them as well. Hundreds of thousands of plugins.
Blogs – The backbone of the WordPress platforms. Blogs give you the capability to connect with your audience.
Unlimited Possibilities.

Now whats stopping you from evolving your static website to the dynamic WordPress platform?

Filed Under: Business, Digital Presence, Innovation, WordPress Design Tagged With: B2B, blogs, Innovation, Technology, WordPress NJ

Stop Asking About It And Do It

This guest post is by Todd Youngblood of ypsgroup.com and dreamlandinteractive.com

The question comes up all the time. As a small business, do I really need a web site? Normally, I’ll politely answer the question with a few more questions. “What do you do when you first consider buying something? You Google it to learn more, right? After you’ve learned more, you Google it again to learn still more, don’t you? …about different features? …about different suppliers? …about pricing? …about what other people think? You go to the web sites of businesses selling what you want.

Is it possible to survive, even thrive, without a web site? Sure! But why on earth would you purposely choose to go into the business battle hopping on one foot and with one hand tied behind your back? Is it really more important to prove you can do it with only personal networking, referrals and the other traditional tools? So what if it requires more time and effort? I’m going to cut my nose off to spite my face and prove my point!

Face it. “Do I really need a web site?” is a dumb question. It’s so dumb, that it leads me to believe it’s not really a question, but a defense mechanism that causes a logical loop. I think the actual thought process goes something like this:

Gosh, I really need to get a web site
But I have no clue how to even begin
I’ll sound like an idiot if I start asking people
I’ll do some research tonight
Eeeessssh, I really don’t have a clue
Return to step 1

Remove steps 3 and 6 from your brain! RIGHT NOW!!! Change step 5 to “Hire a web development service.” RIGHT NOW!!!

There are tons and tons of small businesses that don’t have a web site for the exact same reason you don’t have a web site. Leap out in front of them all. RIGHT NOW!!!

For less than $500 you can not only get it done, you can get something that is extremely professional in less than a month. And while you’re at it, have them include a blog page. Your blog will become the foundation of your e-Rep. An e-Rep is a web site on steroids. But that’s another post. And you need the basics first.

Todd Youngblood is passionate about sales productivity and marketing. You can read more about Sales Process Engineering on his blog and subscribe to his RSS feed. You can also follow the work at Dreamland Interactive to learn about working on your e-Rep.

Filed Under: Business, Digital Presence, Innovation, WordPress Design Tagged With: B2B, blogs, building website, Improvement, Innovation, nj web design, nj website designer, nj wordpress designer, website building, WordPress NJ

The Value of Conversation

Does your website “talk” to the visitor? Not literally speaking. As I witness and learn more about the new business environment, I see a recurring theme. Relationships. Conversations. There will always be someone who can do what you do cheaper and faster. How do you differentiate yourself from the growing pool of competitors? Interaction. Conversations. Relationships.

Tools to help your business and website interact with customers.

Social Media

I am not going to start ranting about all the different methods and tools out there. There is already enough blog posts that explain the value of all the different tools. If all you do is sit and watch the Twitter and Facebook streams then you will never gain anything. Create a conversation, jump into a conversation, even if it has nothing to do with your business and service. Check out Linkedin Answers and see if you can share knowledge and create trust.

Sliders on the homepage

Simple tool that will communicate your message out in a short time period. Get straight to the point and it will lock your visitor in.

Blog Comments

Reply when a visitor comments on a blog post. The worst thing you can do is let it sit there and age. Get it while it’s hot and interact with the reader. Maybe they will make a point that you missed.

These are just a few tools that help create and nurture relationships. Visitors want to know you are listening and will see your businesses value when you engage them. How do you interact? Any other cool tools you use engage your visitors?

Filed Under: Business, Business Model Innovation, Innovation, WordPress Design Tagged With: B2B, blogs, Challenges, Engage, WordPress NJ

Your Website Needs The Human Factor

Every website needs an identity that your visitors can relate to you and interact with. Social networks may put your face and thoughts everywhere, but does it give your website the “human factor”. Some might ask, what is the human factor and why is this important? The digital world has left the world of static websites in the dust. Dynamic platforms, like WordPress, have created a new way to interact with your visitors.

What is the human factor?

Your website has the ability to passively and proactively interact with the visitor.

Passive: Information that explains your purpose and digital presence.
Proactive: Dynamic content that creates and nurtures thought. (The blog)

Why is it important?

A dynamic, interactive experience helps create repeat visitors. Investing time into thoughtful content produces a fertile environment for comments and questions.

WordPress gives you the tools needed for a “human” website. Take advantage of the blog and constantly look for new tools that allow you to proactively interact with your viewers.

I am currently investing more time in understanding BuddyPress in combination with GenesisConnect (affiliate link). Instead of relying solely on others to create a social platform you can embed one into your website.

Filed Under: Business, Business Model Innovation, Genesis, Innovation, Journey, WordPress Design Tagged With: B2B, blogs, Business Model, Genesis, Improvement, Innovation, Studiopress, WordPress NJ

The Cage Match Battle for Visitors

Before beginning the ultimate cage match for visitors you must plan your strategy. How are you going to utilize your website? Need to make some changes before? Luckily you are using the Genesis/WordPress power combo and can take advantage of all it modular components. Now lets break down the game plan.

Have you identified your target audience?

Who are your target visitors? You want to convert, sell and get your name out there. If you don’t know who they are you will lose the battle. All the information on the homepage must lock them in and make them want more. Test different content to see what creates the most page views.

How are you going to keep them?

The customer experience expands beyond your widget or service. Its is important that they can interact beyond the “submit payment”. Using a blog will help make you a trusted source for information and give you the opportunity to interact with your visitors. Knowing who they are and what their needs are gives you an important edge over the competition. Collaboration goes miles. Another over looked tool is to create a social network WITHIN your website. You can do this with WordPress, Genesis and GenesisConnect for BuddyPress (affiliate link). Contact me if you want to learn more.

Now you have a solid group of visitors, but it doesn’t hurt to have a few more.

Promote yourself as a knowledge leader in your market. Blog, and share what you know. Humbly promote what you or your widget can do. Bragging isn’t the answer. Solid reviews and interaction of your posts will go well beyond bragging.

It is also important your website as been optimized for search engines. Everyone talks about “SEO”. Yes it is probably an over used catch phrase, but it is extremely important if you want to be seen. Genesis gives you the all the options and makes it easy to enter your meta descriptions, and keywords. You can easily take advantage of the blog importance in search engines.

Now that we have laid out your game plan its time to take action and step in the ring.

What else do you do to get ready for the battle?

Filed Under: Business, Genesis, Innovation, WordPress Design Tagged With: building website, Innovation, Journey, nj website designer, nj wordpress designer, Studiopress, WordPress NJ

The Beginning of Your Small Business’s Digital Presence

You always have to start somewhere. An Idea.

What is your next step?

Start off asking yourself this question, “How do you describe your organization/business/client in one sentence?”. Seriously, one sentence. Not as easy as it may seem. You need a confident, solid answer. This is the foundation of your idea and business.

“NLI will take your idea and create a beautiful, innovative website” The goal and purpose of Next Level Innovation is stated in one sentence. What is your single sentence?

If you are having trouble creating your sentence, lets take a step back and ask ourselves the following three questions.

What three words describe your organization/business/client?

What makes you unique?

What makes your company stand out in the crowd?

When you find an answer to each, describing your business in a single sentence will be easier than you first thought.

Filed Under: Business, Innovation, Journey, WordPress Design Tagged With: B2B, building website, Business Model, Engage, Improvement, Innovation, nj wordpress designer, WordPress NJ

The Evolution of Your Ideas

Where do you see your business heading in the short term and/or long term? Does the direction match your business goals? These questions could be simple or complicated if you haven’t clearly thought them through. A solid website can help formulate answers for both.

An important aspect of your businesses evolution is your electronic presence. Every day something new is created in the digital universe and you need to take advantage of it to have a continuous presence.

Your Website:

Your website is the backbone for your business electronic presence. Without it all the fancy new apps, social media websites mean nothing. The customer has to go somewhere to see your content, products and/or services. If your selling widgets from a home-based small business, you may be able to survive regionally by word of mouth, but as the world evolves around you it will become difficult to keep up.

Scenario A:

Customer always have questions, good or bad, about your widget. Many of the question will be similar. Do you want to sit on the phone repeating the same answer? No. Customer interaction is valuable, but you do need time to sell your widgets.

Solution to A:

A website. Okay, its not that simple but pretty close. Your website can have an F.A.Q. page and a contact form for the oddball question. Done. Now you have created more time to sell your widget.

That is one scenario of many that can be solved with a website built in WordPress.

If you have an idea or question about evolving your business’s digital presence please share your thoughts below.

Filed Under: Business, Innovation, WordPress Design Tagged With: Business Model, Challenges, Innovation, nj web design, nj website designer, trust, website building, WordPress NJ

If Time Wasn’t an Issue…

If time wasn’t an issue this child theme probably would be complete now. Maybe. I could just use a few more hours in the day. From a time management point of view I have seen some improvement though.

Good news is I will have two clients sites up and running this evening, so extra time should be flowing in now (hopefully). What would you do with the extra time? I am going to fill it with some reading and cosmetic work to my site and the soon to be released child theme.

This brings me to a thought, what is the best practice after completing work for your clients? During the work with clients you learn new techniques, but you also want new business. I think its important to sit down if time allows and review your previous path of work before you move forward to a new client. Set the new client search to a passive mode until your ready to rock again. WordPress is growing and evolving every day, so giving yourself a chance to catch up, learn, and try things out is important to your clients and your business.

The new info you learn may create some time savings… Something I would enjoy.

Filed Under: Business, Innovation, Weekly Innovation, WordPress Design Tagged With: Engage, Innovation, Journey, nj web design, Wordpress, WordPress NJ