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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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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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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3 Tips on How to Use YouTube To Help Your Small Business Grow

Posted by Irina on March 13, 2012 | 3 Comments »

Small business owners often encounter difficulties when it comes to creating interactive ways to bring new customers to discover their websites. An often overlooked marketing channel that small business owners can take advantage of quickly and inexpensively is by creating a how-to video for their website.

Just think, how many times have you gone online for questions on how to create or repair something? Would you rather read instructions on how to solve your issue or WATCH a tutorial that had easy to follow steps?

Here are a few tips that will help you reach YouTube success!

Before your business becomes a viral sensation, there are a few YouTube channel options you should check out:

 Featured Video – Set-Up your channel to ensure featured video starts to auto-play as soon as a user lands on your channel. This can be achieved via the options available under the ‘Featured’ tab of your channel.

Latest statistics reveal that on average there are over 50,400 hours of content being uploaded on daily basis to YouTube. Thus you have to take extra steps to increase the likelihood your video stands out and comes up in searches.

Location Tagging – Don’t forget to tag your business location after uploading your video. This allows your video to be uploaded to Google Maps and Google Places, allowing it to be included in those search results.Captions and Subtitles – Just like adding SEO rich keywords into the description of your channel, the title of your video and captions impact the search engine ranking of each video. Thus, choose your words wisely.Thumbnail – Make sure the thumbnail you choose for your video is interesting and stands out, something that pulls a viewer in without being deceitful. Your thumbnail will be an excerpt from your video, so choose a thumbnail that shows action.Video Reply – Try submitting your video as a “video reply” to industry related videos, this allows for your video to be posted on to the same page of the video you are replying to.  Your video will be placed directly above the comment font box, so if you make a video reply to a high traffic video you are increasing your visibility.Related Video – Another great way to gain visibility, is to be featured in the ‘related videos’ section when a user is viewing a relevant video.  Related videos are chosen based on video categorizations. If you have a printing business, you do not want to be categorized as a restaurant, you want to come up as a ‘related video’ to videos dealing with printing or printing supplies. So make sure your Channel Tags, Video Tags and Video Titles are all relevant to each other, this gives you a better chance of being categorized correctly.

Once your video has been uploaded, don’t stop. Think of creative ways you can engage with your potential audience to drive community fellowship. Growing your follower list on YouTube will help you to gain social validation regarding the content value and gain potential new clients.  Here are a few suggestions on how to grow your new YouTube network:

Add users as friendsSubscribe to other video channels that relate to your businessSubscribe to channels you find entertainingPost regular bulletins to provide channel updates via the “Feed” section of your channelReply to posted feedbackAsk for advice or comments for future videos

Now it is your turn to give us some feedback. When was the last time you tested using videos to drive traffic to your website? What are the top lessons you learned from such videos.

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How to Make a Website: Building a Small Business Website – A to Z

Posted by Irina on March 9, 2012 | 2 Comments »

You have a small business and want to expand your reach and exposure. You want to enter the land of the Internet, but you don’t know how to make a website. When deciding to make a website for your small business, there are a number of aspects to consider in order to ensure that it is as successful as possible.

Here is a list of factors that will help guiding you in learning how to build a website.

A – “About Us” page. This is the area of your website where you provide in-depth information about your small business, like history, employees and contact information.

B – Blogging. A blog is an excellent means of providing fresh information for your customers, giving them a reason to make regular, return visits to your small business website.

C – Content. When making a website, content that is pertinent to its mission and engaging for the audience is of vital importance.

D – Design. The design of a small business website should be visually appealing, and at the same time, not so “busy” that it is off-putting, making it difficult to located wanted information.

E – Email. Provide an email address for customers to easily contact you should they have questions or require more information.

F – Font. Employ a font style on your small business website that is easy to ready by all site visitors.

G – Google. It’s all about getting a good ranking in Google and other Search Engines.

H – Home page. This is the first part of your small business website that potential customers will see, so it is vital to make it informative and appealing.

I – Images. Images and graphics are great tools for making a website more visually appealing, as well as breaking up chunks of text so the content is easier to read and grasp.

J – Justify. Create a justified/aligned website that is easy to digest and navigate.

K – Keywords. Content rich with search keywords will help improve search engine rankings of your small business website.

L – Linking. Cross links throughout your small business website, as well as link sharing with other sites, is another SEO tool that should be utilized.

M – Main website title and address (URL). Make your main title (the name of your small business website) something simple and easy to remember. The URL for the site should match the title as closely as possible for recall purposes.

N – Navigation. Simple and functional navigation will help customers find the information they are seeking without an extensive effort. If they cannot quickly find what they want, they will go elsewhere.

O – Optimization (SEO). Utilize search engine optimization tactics and tools to increase the exposure your small business website will get in web searches.

P – Paragraph structure. Do not crowd your website content in large paragraphs. Keep it simple, employing line breaks to provide information in small bites that is easy to digest.

Q – Questions (FAQ). Provide your customers with a Frequently Asked Questions page. This is a one-stop shop for finding desired information about your small business website. Customers are likely to learn what they want, thus eliminating the need to contact you directly and clog the lines of communication.

R – Retail (Store). If your small business website involves the sales of merchandise, it will need a retail/store area where customers can add and manage items.

S – Social Media. Use social media entities like Facebook and Twitter to promote your small business website, announce special deals, and open a line of dialog with your customers.

T – Topic. The content of your small business website should stay on topic with your mission and not go off on tangents. Also, if you are writing a blog, make sure the topics are in line with the main function of your website.

U – Updates. Frequently update the content of your small business website to keep it fresh and give customers a reason to make repeat visits.

V – Vision. Create a vision and purpose when making a website for a small business… and stick to it!

W – Web competition analysis. Take a look-see at the competition to see what they are doing. There may be elements you want to use on your small business website, and you may discover a niche that has not been tapped into, which you can get in on first.

X – X Factor. No, not the TV singing competition. X factor as in giving your small business website that extra something that the competition is not offering.

Y – YouTube. Create videos and use YouTube as another media channel for promoting your small business website. These videos can also be shared on your website, making it more attractive to search engines.

Z – Zero to fear. Making a website for a small business may sound daunting, but there really is nothing to fear. It is better to have a rudimentary site than it is to have none at all. Improvements can be made at any time as you get a better feel for things.

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