Email 101: How to Utilize Email to Propel Your Small Business Website Forward

You may simply think of email as a means of communicating with family and friends or sending funny jokes and pictures. If you are a small business owner and this is your mindset, then you are missing out on a big marketing potential. Email is an excellent tool for marketing your small business website and keeping your customers abreast of your latest activities.

Email – Relationship Building Tool

Use email as a means of forging a relationship with customers by communicating with them and keeping the line open for feedback.

Promotions/Specials – Let your customers know when your small business website is having a new sale or promotion by sending out an email announcement. Customers will likely feel valued that you are notifying them and keeping them in the loop of new deals that may interest them.Newsletters – Informing customers of your specials is not the only form of email marking for your small business website. You can also regularly touch base with your customers by sending out newsletters, whether they are weekly, bi-weekly or monthly. These newsletters can contain information about changes to your small business website, industry news, a reiteration of sales and/or anything you want to share with your customers.Surveys – You can also utilize emails to send out surveys seeking direct feedback from customers to discover what they like/dislike and want to see on your small business website.

Email – Key Structural Elements

As for the emails themselves, there are certain elements that should be included in each of them.

Subject Line – The subject line of the email should be catchy and clearly stated because you want the customers to be intrigued enough to open the email.Introduction – Once it has been opened, the first line of text should be an attention grabber so they will be drawn in and continue reading.CTA – Each email should have a call to action (CTA), which will get the customers to “do something” – fill out a form, make a phone call, click a link to your small business website, etc.Social – Lastly, each email should include links to your social networks (Facebook, Twitter, Google+) so your customers can become followers, thus expanding your methods of reaching out to your customers.

A major thing to keep in mind when embarking on email marketing is that you do not want it to come off as being spam. Nobody likes spam, and if you are sending out unsolicited messages, your small business has a tendency of being viewed in a negative light. Additionally, if you are sending emails for your business, you should familiarize yourself with the local laws and regulations when it comes to contacting customers via email. Any email campaign should target those who have directly requested information from you and/or expressed interest in future news while making a previous purchase.

In addition to the email blast tool available to Webs users within the Members App, there are a number of affordable email marketing services out there that can effortlessly guide you through the process of creating an email marketing campaign for your small business website. Poke around and see which one best suits your needs. Good luck!

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Greening Your Business for Earth Day

Unless you live under a rock, you are surely aware that global warming has become a growing concern all around the world. The proof is right before our eyes in the daily news: heat waves, drought, freak storms, polar ice caps melting, etc. Most of us are not scientists who can find a magic remedy for global warming reversal, but there are some smaller things each of us can all do to shrink our carbon footprints in an effort to make a difference. The same can be said for your small business website and the environment in which you run day-to-day operations.

While everyday should be treated as Earth Day, we here at Webs.com are observing the official Earth Day 2012 with some tips for “greening” your small business. Some of these may be more ambitious than others, but every little bit helps in preserving our planet, and your small business can help make a contribution for the good of things.

Recycle, recycle, recycle. As a kid, you may have collected bottles and cans hoping to make a quarter or two, but these days recycling has become a part of everyday life. Your small business can make a difference simply by recycling paper, ink cartridges, bottles and cans.Use recycled products. Using productsmade of recycled materials for your small business supports recycling efforts and continues to keep our landfills from overflowing.Drink filtered water. Install a filter on a regular water tap or use water pitchers with filters instead of drinking from small water bottles. If you still want to use small water bottles, make sure to recycle them when emptied. Another option is to employ the services of a water cooler company that recycles their large water jugs.Energy Star. Reduce the electricity usage of your small business by getting Energy Star products, like computers and appliances. Learn more about the Energy Star program by visiting www.energystar.gov.Sleeping computers. Taking the time to power-up a computer every morning can be a pain, thus many people simply leave them on 24/7. Your small business should make a policy of setting all computers to auto-sleep mode. Logging back on will be quick and the energy wasted will be greatly reduced.Alternative energy. If feasible, your small business can consider other energy options, such as wind or solar power.Telecommuting. Consider allowing the employees of your small business to telecommute a few times a week. This will reduce your energy usage and cut back on exhaust emissions created by the driving commute to the office.Teleconferencing. In another attempt to reduce exhaust emissions, consider conducting meetings via phone calls or video chats instead of traveling to another site. This would also eliminate the time spent en route, thus allowing more time for productivity in the office of your small business.Electronic communication. Lean on your email system for communicating with your customer base.There is no need for a small business to use snail mail to communicate, wasting paper that is often discarded in a receptacle not intended for recycling.Don’t leave the light on. We have all seen buildings illuminated at night, and what a sight they make. But that sight is also wasted energy, as most of those lit windows belong to an empty room. Last person out – turn off the lights.

These are just a small handful of things you can do to make your small business green. A simple web search can produce a myriad of green tips for making this a healthier planet. Being green is not just an individual effort… your small business and those involved with it can band together and collectively reduce your global footprint.

What do you plan to do this Earth Day?

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Example Site Wednesday: Special Earth Day Edition

Happy Example Site Wednesday Everyone!

With International Earth Day just a few days away, we thought it would be amazing to showcase one of our websites that is helping to save our beautiful earth!

Our Example Site Wednesday comes from Simply Birgit that provides organic, raw and fair trade skin care products.  Let’s take a look at their website, because the simplistic yet sophisticated beauty of this site is extraordinary.

Simply Birgit does a great job of showcasing their products by proudly displaying images of top products front and center on the homepage. This simple action allows visitors to quickly understand what the website is about and sets expectations of available products and their look. The skin care products found on this site are raw and natural, so to capture that essence Simply Birgit created a simple website that, like her products does not feature any unnecessary ingredients that throw off the main objective. We also love the ‘Call-To-Action’ message on the homepage; it is clear, straight to the point and invokes a specific reaction.

The most important reason why we all should start using eco-friendly products is because of the devastating effect of harmful gases, non-biodegradable materials, and dangerous gases which pollute our environment. It is our responsibility to take care of this planet, and we all should do our part to help make Earth a better place not only for ourselves but the animals as well. We commend the job Simply Birgit is doing by providing organic products that come wrapped in 100% biodegradable packing materials.

Earth Day is a reminder that we ALL need to work together to REDUCE pollution, REUSE paper and plastic and RECYCLE our wastes.

Thanks for checking in!

Tune in next Wednesday

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Tips for Authentically Branding Small Business Websites

All businesses, big or small, greatly benefit from creating a strong brand. Not familiar with what branding is? The American Marketing Association defines a brand as a “name, term, sign, symbol or design, or a combination of them intended to identify the goods and services of one seller or group of sellers and to differentiate them from those of other sellers.” In a nutshell, you will want to brand your small business website so that customers think of you and your goods/services when they need something.Piece of cake, right?

Branding a small business website isn’t necessarily that simple, but there are steps you can follow to get you on the road to creating a successful branding campaign.

Naming you small business website. This is a no-brainer, but your business name should reflect the goods/services that you provide. For example, if you sell dog toys, it would make no sense to call your small business Fran’s Cat Emporium. How to find a memorable domain name.Devise a catchy tagline. A cleaver and memorable tagline will assist customers in recalling your small business. Fran’s Dog Emporium could use a tagline such as, “if they’ll fetch it, we’ve got it.” Some humor and relatable; that will go a long way in branding a small business website.Create a memorable logo. All the major businesses have logos that are instantly recognizable. Your small business probably won’t achieve global acclaim, but a great logo will help your branding efforts on a smaller, more local level. Additional logo designing tips.Use favicons in the URL of your small business website. What is a favicon? It’s a small graphic in the URL field that precedes the “http.” Ideally, this image has some relevance to your small business and/or your logo. For instance, the Webs.com website utilizes a “W” favicon. This will personalize your small business website and help it stand out from the others. Discover how to add a favicon to your website.Budget for advertising. There are lots of resources available online for you to help create buzz around your brand. If fiscally possible, get the word out through advertising.

The above suggestions more-or-less represent the “physical” aspects of branding a small business website, but there are also branding elements that involve some brain power. Sit down to take a few moments to determine the vision and purpose of your small business website. What are your goals? Who is your target audience? What are your core strengths? Who is you competition, and how do they differ from you? If you can pinpoint an answer for each of these questions, you will develop a solid base for branding your small business website. If you are looking for more guidance, take a look at 3 steps to developing a popular and authentic brand.

Developing your branding message and making sure it is clear and consistent will keep you well on your way to growing your small business and keep it thriving.

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Example Site Wednesday: Boogiebabys + Tips to Enhance the Appeal of Your Products

Happy Example Site Wednesday! This Wednesday we are bringing to you a delectable website that features a successful family oriented business that strives to make the world a beautiful place with each creation. Boogiebabys makes personalized hand-crafted, wedding cake toppers, decorative figurines, wall letters, name plaques and keepsake decorative greeting cards.

The site owner does a great job of providing clear information on the services the website offers and the quality of materials utilized to create their products.  Additionally the website offers special promotions,  FAQ’s page and much more.  Attention to such little details is what helps to enhance the overall website visitor experience.  Looking to improve your website experience?

Be The Customer:  In order to provide value to your customer, you must put yourself in their “shoes”.  When coming to your website, what are customers looking for? What type of information would help them make the purchasing decision? What could showcase your product better? Simple questions such as these can help you figure out ways you can improve HOW website visitors/potential customers view your products. Quick Tip: Think of ways you can organize your products into organized categories to help customers find what they need on the go. Make sure that your pricing and shipping information is easily located and descriptive of what is and isn’t included.Special Offers: Creating a page where you advertise special product discounts can help push conversation rates with customers who are in limbo about whether they should purchase from you or not. You can also utilize a blog or a forum page to bring attention to relevant news pertaining to the products you offer. Information t hat is updated on regular basis  can be a great way to keep customers checking in on your website just to see what new deals you are unraveling.Strong Foundation: Make sure that you utilize the correct pages offered by Webs to enhance your products and help your customers find out everything they need to know before making a purchase. Here is some information on pages that are essential for a successful small business website.

Quick tweaks to your website can make a big impact on its overall look and feel.

See you NEXT Wednesday!

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Example Site Wednesday: Adventure Maine + Website Enhancement Tips

This Wednesday we are going to be featuring an adventurous website that shows how you can utilize inbound links to drive your website traffic. Our featured website is Adventure Maine, where you can go to find out the many attractions Maine has to offer.

This website is chock full of information about the many things to do in Maine, and today we would like to offer a few suggestions to take this website to the next level:

Simplicity can help drive interaction. While a lot of relevant content is important for a website to rank well in search engines, it is important to strike a balance between content and usability. As you look at the homepage, you can see a lot going on and it can be hard for site visitors to know where to go. Discover few tips on how to simplify your homepage.Alignment can help improve readability.  Did you know that a simple step of ensuring that items are aligned and easy to view on your website can improve your website readability? Thus our next tip for this website would be to ensure all content is centered and spaced correctly. Clear content can help to make your website call-to-action stand out more.  Learn how to build a call to action that can boost conversion rates.Intuitive navigation can boost retention rates. If website visitors can’t quickly and easily locate specific information they are more likely to leave your website and head for the nearest competitor. Deter this from happening by simplifying your navigation bar. 3 Tips for a more intuitive website navigation.

Take today as a reflection day to look over your website one more time to see if you can apply the above mentioned tips to improve your website interaction, readability and retention rates. Think your website has what it takes to be showcased next week? Comment below!

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How to Handle the Audit of Your Small Business [Infographic]

Posted by Irina on April 3, 2012 | 1 Comment »

Small businesses in the United States always have to make sure that they file taxes in a correct and legal manner. According to the latest data, the odds of being audited if you are a small business owner are against you. Small business owners are 30% more likely to be audited today than they were in 2005.

Click on the image to view full-sized
Click on the image to view full-sized

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How to Use Pinterest to Promote Your Small Business

Posted by Ryan on March 30, 2012 | 5 Comments »

Don’t look now but there is another hot shot social media site out here. Pinterest is the name and pin-boards is its game. The beauty of this service is its ability to bring many diverse people together not through words but visual boards. Users on Pinterest rave about the ease of use, the ability to be creative and the advantages of the organizational tools of the site.

Many Businesses are also using Pinterest to drive web traffic, according to Shareaholics latest referral traffic report: Pinterest has sent more referral traffic to other websites than twitter in Febuary. So if your business thrives off of website traffic to generate leads and sales, Pinterest is definitely a platform your company needs to take advantage of.  This article will show you how you can use this social media platform to increase your brands awareness while generating leads and website traffic.

First things first, you need to be introduced to the language of this new site:

Pins: Images, articles or videos uploaded via PC or found anywhere on the web, that are added to Pinterest.Boards: Just like a poster board, or collage these are where you place your pins. Boards are sorted into categorgies or subjects like food, sports, or ‘products I like’ etc.Like: Just like Facebook, you choose to “Like” a pin and Pinterest conveniently places your Likes into the ‘Like Section’ of your profile.Re-Pin: When you add an image you find on Pinterest onto your board, when you Re-Pin the user who pinned the image first is credited.Pinner: A user on Pinterest.Follow: You can follow Pinners that interest you, and you can receive their latest updates on the Home feed of your profile.Mention: You can mention other Pinners in the comments of your pins by using the “@” symbol and adding the username of the Pinner.

To see an example of a Pinterest board, check out Webs Pinterest account.

Use twitter hashtags and keywords to drive SEO rankings in pin captions.Remember to add the “Pin It” button to your website, right next to your Facebook ‘Like’ button and your Twitter “Tweet” button. Here is an article by Pinterest on how to do this (http://pinterest.com/about/goodies/)Make sure that you create a detailed description of your business and be mindful of the keywords that you use for SEO purposes. Don’t forget to make sure the button that says “Hide your Pinterest profile from search engines” is turned off.Add your website URL to the pins you post on your boards so that you can increase web traffic.Sync your Facebook & Twitter accounts to allow for your Pinterest content to post on these networks; this is a great way to let your followers know you’re on Pinterest so they can follow you.If you are Pinning a product, add a “$” or “£” followed by the price of the product in the description of a Pin. This will allow for your products to be displayed in the ‘Gift’ feed and this is where pins are grouped into price ranges.Follow: Follow Pinners and Pin-Boards that are within your industry and that interest you; doing so will provide additional exposure for your brand within your niche.Quality Content: Pin distinguishable and exotic content so that you can stand out and attract audiences you normally would not have the opportunity to influence. If you are pinning pictures of your products or services make sure that you use images that are high quality and vibrant so users can repin and like your products.Consistency: The Internet is full of vibrant and beautiful images that can help paint your story and taste of your brand. Make sure you use that to your advantage and Pin often and consistently so users can expect fresh content from you on a regular basis, this is how you increase your followers and increase your opportunity of being found.SEO Captions: Make sure that you are narrating your captions on your Pins so they are SEO friendly, many users search on Pinterest for content all the time. This heightens the chance that your content will be found and it can help you increase your unique visitor traffic.Re-Pin: Pinterest is built around sharing content between users, re-pinning is a great way to engage with others that have the same interests as you.

Pinterest allows for all of your virtual ideas to come to life, so get creative and think of ways to add personality to your board to help your brand’s image stand out.

Your History: Create a board of the things that you feel influenced your brand and think of things you can add that have sentimental value to your business.Show Your Expertise: Create a board that highlights some of the newest things in your field or books that you have read that you suggest others in your field should take a look at.Emotional Connection: Show your commitment for a cause and devote a board that brings awareness to the cause. Include a charity you support and the different ways in which other can help out and support.Personality: Take some high quality photos of your employees and yourself behind the scenes. Let your businesses personality shine through and have fun, let others know that you’re human as well.Create A Contest: Entice your followers to re-pin a particular image from your business and offer a prize.Compliment: Create a board that shows the many products that compliment your brand, so if you sold smoothies it would be a good idea to have a board that shows creative looking straws to enjoy your smoothies better.Favorite Foods: Food seems to be one of the most popular boards searched for on Pinterest, see if you can create a board that shows your favorite meals to prepare at home.

Keep in mind that Pinterest is a community of people, so be respectful in all comments and conversations. Pinterest has conveniently listed out a set of rules to keep the playing field even and to allow for users to uphold a positive atmosphere (http://pinterest.com/about/etiquette/). We suggest taking to take the first day on Pinterest to get familiar with browsing the site, looking at what your competitors are doing and following things that interest you. Don’t forget to always be creative; this website was made for your organic creativity to shine.

Please comment below and tell us all the ways you are using Pinterest to ignite your business and create quality leads for your products!

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