Small Business Success Index 5

Index Score^*		Grade
SBSI INDEX	73	C-
Capital Access	67	D+
Marketing & Innovation	65	D
Workforce	76	C
Customer Service	88	B+
Computer Technology	75	C
Compliance	92	A-
*Index score is calculated on a 1-100 scale.

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Posts Tagged ‘blogs’

5 Ways to Get the Most From Your Blog’s Sidebar

February 2nd, 2012 :: Monika Jansen

The sidebar occupies valuable real estate on your blog. In fact, it’s the second most important space, which is why you should spend some time evaluating and tweaking it.

Your sidebar is the place where readers can subscribe to your newsletter, sign up for your webinar, or follow you on Twitter. Here are five tips for improving your blog’s sidebar so your readers will do just that!

1. Get readers to interact with your social media sites.

Using your sidebar to encourage blog readers to connect with you on Facebook and Twitter is an effective way to use this space. Try posting the latest news and trends on social media–not just from you, but from your fans and the people you follow, too. You can also ask readers to log into your site using Facebook, for example, to encourage interaction and content sharing directly from your blog.

2. Use photos to instantly personalize your blog and build trust.

When you include photos of yourself or your employees, readers can immediately feel more connected to the writers responsible for your blog. Photos offer a glimpse into the personalities behind your blog, and they build trust by showing the faces responsible for the words. A bonus is that the eye is drawn to images of faces, so you can be sure to get more attention for whatever additional information the sidebar provides.

3. Lead readers further into your site.

Sidebars are meant to get your readers to take action, which will help you make money. Think about what you want readers to do. Are you trying to build an email list, get people to purchase your webinar, or hire you for your web design services? Use the sidebar to navigate readers toward these actions by including eye-catching graphics or inspiring copy with links to the places on your site that convert readers to customers or clients. Just be sure to keep the sidebar content enticing, but not distracting – you don’t want to take away from your blog’s main content.

4. Encourage users to sit and stay awhile.

Your blog’s sidebar can be leveraged to make your site addictive to readers. Think about how YouTube sucks users in by showing a continuous stream of related content in its sidebar. You can use this tactic on your own blog by showcasing content readers might also enjoy in your sidebar. As they click on links, continue showing them different articles, videos, and other components of your site so they will stay and explore everything you have to offer.

5. Let your brand shine through your sidebar.

The look and feel of your sidebar can help to reinforce your brand, especially when blog articles, full of copy, begin to look the same. If your brand is clean and modern, use graphic design elements in the sidebar to develop your persona. Or, if you like to keep things quirky and fun, be sure the sidebar copy reflects these attributes. I discussed using photos above, and a fitting image of you or your employees can go a long way to establishing your brand equity.

Have you seen any head-turning, hard-working sidebars lately? What was it about them that made you sit up and take notice?

Image courtesy of creative design agency Arrae

Tags: blog sidebars, blogs, Branding, Marketing, newsletter sign up, photos, social media, Videos, webinars, YouTube
Posted in Marketing | 2 Comments »

How To Be a Pro at SEO: Part 2

January 5th, 2012 :: Monika Jansen

This entry is part 1 of 2 in the series How to Be a Pro at SEO

In the first article of this series, I provided an overview of SEO and discussed on-page SEO tactics. This article will cover off-page SEO as well as some tips on avoiding bad SEO practices.

Off-Page SEO

While you can control the content on your page, and therefore, your on-page SEO efforts, your off-page SEO can be a bit more challenging. Building this type of SEO requires nurturing relationships by creating content people want to link to.

Search engines look not only at the number of links to your site, but also at the quality of the links. For example, one link from The New York Times will mean much more than a hundred from smaller blogs. The search engines will also look at the anchor text surrounding links to your site, to determine the relevancy of the content.

Here are some tactics for getting relevant links to your website:

Use social media to spread your content throughout the web. Search engines use the content shared on social media when determining website rank because simply put, if it has been shared, it must be influential and attention-worthy. Make your website content easy to share by installing social network buttons throughout your site. You can also share your content on your own social media pages and profiles, encouraging your community to pass it on. If your content is useful, people will link to you in their blogs and on their websites.
Use email to spread your content, too. Make your email content easy to share by adding share buttons to your messages. These buttons can help readers tweet the content to their followers or forward it on to a friend.
Blogs are the best way to create a stream of fresh content that your customers will find useful. Write engaging articles about your industry, offer tips to help your customers and clients, and provide interesting news, and people will share and link to you. There’s no better way to build links than to create amazing content that everyone wants to talk about and share.

Often, being good at something requires knowing what not to do. To that end, here are five things you should never do if you want to excel at SEO:

1. Using “Black Hat” SEO to try to boost your ranking is discouraged by search engines and may even hurt your business. Black Hat techniques are designed to bend the rules of SEO, and they include:

Keyword Stuffing: cramming keywords onto a web page to create “content” with no regard to usefulness or even legibility
Doorway Pages: pages filled with keywords that redirect users to another site
Invisible Text: using white text on a white background so a search engine can see it, but a user cannot

2. Shady linking schemes have no place in a top-notch SEO campaign. Quick-fix link building will be recognized and punished by the search engines. Emailing tons of webmasters to ask for a link, offering to trade links with anyone who will link to you, and purchasing links will raise red flags. Building high-quality inbound links takes time and will happen naturally if your site contains useful, relevant content.

3. If you focus too much on metadata, you will miss other fruitful tactics for creating a site the search engines love. There was a time when cramming keywords into the HTML of your site was enough to rank high, but that time is over. Some search engines still use meta tags to index websites, so you should still include them, but don’t go overboard. Focus your efforts on the on-page tactics discussed earlier instead.

4. Creating irrelevant content just to get people to your website won’t lead to much more than increased bounce rates. When you don’t take the time to create content that flows naturally, your website visitors will become frustrated and will likely see through your efforts. Stuffing your content with keywords, to the point that it becomes illegible, is bad SEO practice.

5. Focusing on driving large amounts of traffic rather than qualified leads will leave you with an SEO campaign without much ROI. If you drive tons of traffic to your site, but your visitors never become customers, you should refine your keyword strategy. Aim to generate content that will have your website visitors saying, “Now, this is exactly what I was looking for.” So, if your traffic is increasing, but the bounce rates are also sky-high, reassess your keywords.

Hopefully, now you are well-versed in the strategies of SEO. Have you tried any of these tactics before? Let us know how it worked out by leaving a comment below.

Image courtesy of creative design agency Arrae

Tags: Black Hat SEO, blogs, email, leads, linking, Marketing, metadata, off-page SEO, search engine optimization, Search Marketing, seo, social media
Posted in Marketing, Search Marketing | 2 Comments »

10 Super Useful iPhone Apps You Need, Part 2

October 5th, 2011 :: Monika Jansen

This entry is part 1 of 2 in the series 10 Super Useful iPhone Apps

Social Media Examiner published a great blog post recently on social media marketing apps that I just pulled out and went through, pulling the most useful ones for small business owners out. I already wrote up the first 10 I liked the best; here are the second 10.

NetNewswire: This RSS reader for iPhone syncs with Google Reader so you can access all the blogs you love to read while out and about.

Peak Meetings: Capture and organize your thinking to make meetings more efficient when ideas hit you rather than waiting until you are in front of a computer or have a piece of paper handy.

PhotoRocket: You can share multiple photos with friends by creating PhotoRocket Galleries, which are customizable spaces that let post photos via Facebook, Twitter or your email contact list.

PitchEngine: Want to get press? This is social platform will help you get the word out about your company, products and services.

QuickVoice Recorder: The name of this app says it all. It is a full-featured iPhone/iPad voice recorder, so you can record your ideas, voice memos, voice email, dictation, lists, meetings, classes or entire lectures.

SocialMedia: #socialmedia.com hosts a weekly Twitter event every Tuesday focused on – any guesses? – social media.

Spout: This app lets you stream news, messages, tweets and comments from your Facebook, Twitter or Google Reader (RSS) feeds.

Vignature: Access PDF docs, like expense reports, consent forms, sales contracts and approvals, from email or Dropbox, open them in this app, sign them and return them to sender.

Wired PR Works: This PR and social media marketing app lets you access tips, ideas and strategies to grow your business.

Xmarks: You can view bookmarks and open tabs from Firefox, IE, Chrome, or Safari right on your iPhone or iPod Touch from this app, making Web browsing super easy while on the go.

Image by Flickr user Yutaka Tsutano (Creative Commons)

Tags: apps, blogs, Dropbox, email, Facebook, Google Readers, iOS, ipad, iPhone, Marketing, pr, RSS, social media, Twitter
Posted in Marketing, Social Media | 1 Comment »

10 Super Useful iPhone Apps You Need, Part 1

October 3rd, 2011 :: Monika Jansen

This entry is part 2 of 2 in the series 10 Super Useful iPhone Apps

Social Media Examiner published a great blog post recently on social media marketing apps that I tucked away for future use. While I don’t really think they are social media marketing apps, they are definitely good ones to know about. So, since there are some super useful apps on the list, here are the first 10 I liked the best. Look out for Part 2 soon.

Analytics App: This is a Google Analytics app that lets you view 55 reports via your iPhone. Caveat: There have not been enough reviews to rate the app; however, it’s only $6.99, so it’s worth a try.

Chomp helps you finds apps you want, so you can search based on what apps actually do. Super useful, as an app’s name usually tells you very little about it. Just search by keywords to start finding apps by category.

DocsToGo: Want to work on the go? DocsToGo lets you view, edit and create Word and Excel files and view PowerPoints and PDFs.

Dragon Dictation: This is a really, REALLY useful app, as it lets you speak your text, email messages, and Facebook and Twitter updates right into your phone.

Dropbox: If you don’t know about them yet, time to check them out. This free service lets you bring all your photos, docs and videos anywhere.

Flipboard: This app is basically a magazine for the stuff you care about. It lets you flip through the news, photos, videos and updates your friends are sharing on Facebook, Twitter, Google Reader, Flickr and Instagram.

Homebase: If you are time-crunched, you can blast your announcements to all the social media platforms you use, like Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Tumblr, Flickr and Foursquare.

Instapaper: If you travel a lot by plane and don’t want to pony up for an Internet connection, use Instapaper to save Web pages for later offline reading.

LastPass Tab Browser: How many passwords do you have? A zillion, right? Store your passwords here and access them on any device anywhere.

LiveProfile: This is another really cool app that will make your life a lot easier. It is a free, cross-platform messenger for iPhone, BlackBerry and Android smartphones that lets you send messages, photos, videos, post status updates and customize your profile.

Image by Flickr user Yutaka Tsutano (Creative Commons)

Tags: analytics, apps, blogs, Facebook, Flickr, Foursquare, Google Readers, Instagram, iOS, ipad, iPhone, LinkedIn, Marketing, smartphones, social media, Twitter
Posted in Marketing, Social Media | 1 Comment »

Inbound Marketing and Online Advertising: Just-Released Stats and What They Mean for Your Business

August 5th, 2011 :: Monika Jansen

This entry is part 2 of 2 in the series Inbound Marketing

I recently downloaded the just published “The Marketing Data Box,” and I found the information super useful for decisions related to online marketing. In this, the first of a two-part series, we’ll look at data on inbound marketing and online advertising; in the second, we’ll look at video marketing and mobile advertising.

So, where should you be spending your marketing dollars? Let’s begin by looking at the big picture. When it comes to marketing online, B2B and B2C businesses use:

Websites: 88%
Email: 84%
Social media: 66%
Paid search: 50%
Banner ads: 41%

If you are still relying on traditional marketing channels like direct mail and print ads because you think that online marketing is too costly, consider these numbers:

In 2011, the average cost per lead for outbound marketing was $373, while inbound was $143.

The least expensive inbound channels are blogs, social media and SEO, so if you are using those, you are likely spending your time and money well.

The most expensive? Paid search (PPC). (The most expensive source of leads overall, by the way, is trade shows.)

Don’t count out paid search, though, because it is still less expensive than traditional marketing or advertising. If you want to try it, use these numbers to help you decide where to spend your online ad dollars:

Google’s Ad Network reaches 93.1% of Americans online, followed by Yahoo Network Plus with an 85.5% reach, AOL Advertising with 85% and Yahoo Sites with 84.5%. Facebook.com crossed into the top 10 for the first time in January 2011 with a 72.3% reach.

So if you had to choose between advertising on Google and advertising on Facebook, you’ll need to know the demographics of your target market.

According to Gallup, men (42%) are about as likely as women (45%) to have a Facebook page. However, men (63%) are 12.5% more likely than women (56%) to say they visit Google in a given week. Overall, 40% more U.S. adults say they use Google in a typical week (60%) than have a Facebook page (43%).

“The Marketing Data Box” is a quarterly series published by Watershed Publishing’s Data Insights, based on HubSpot’s data and using graphics supplied by MarketingCharts.com.

Image by Flickr user epSos.de (Creative Commons)

Tags: blogs, email, Facebook, Google, Inbound Marketing, Marketing, onine advertising, paid search, pay-per-click, PPC, seo, social media, The Marketing Data Box, websites
Posted in Marketing | 1 Comment »

6 Ways Your Blog Can Build Your Social Media Audience

April 11th, 2011 :: Monika Jansen

While blogging is often used to increase search visibility, establish expertise on a topic, and drive traffic to your website, it’s not often used to build your audience on social media, whether you are trying to build up your Twitter following, Facebook fans, or status on Tumblr. It’s a lost opportunity, as there is really nothing better than building on an audience you already have. (Of course, this can work in the other direction too—use social media to build up your blog audience.)

When building your social media following, just remember that quality of fans totally trumps quantity. And by quality, I mean the kinds of fans who engage with you, retweet your tweets, comment on Facebook posts, post to your Facebook wall, and, of course, become customers!

Let’s start with two very basic, common-sense things you need to do:

1. Add social share buttons at the bottom of each blog post to make it easy for your blog readers to spread the word about your fabulous blog and build awareness of your social media presence.

2. Add social media icons on every page of your website, especially if your website and blog are one and the same, which is becoming more and more common. Make as easy as possible for people to follow you on social media.

And here are four common-sense things you might not have thought of:

1. Promote your social media presence (with links to the accounts) in the bio you supply for guest blogging gigs. You’ll be reaching a whole new audience, and if they like what you wrote, hopefully they’ll feel compelled to connect with you on social media.

2. At the end of blog posts, add a link to the social media account you’d most like to promote, asking that people follow you there. This sounds so simple, but you will be amazed by what you can achieve just by asking.

3. Mention your social media accounts in blog posts. We’ve all got so much going on that we cannot remember everything, even if we have the best of intentions.

4. Reference tweets or Facebook posts, either from you or your audience, in your blog posts when relevant. Add screen shots if you can. You can also build entire blog posts around the conversations that are happening on Twitter and Facebook between you and your audience. People are very lemming-like, so the more you show your engagement on social media, the more people will want to be a part of all the fun you are having.

Image by Flickr user Holger Zscheyge (Creative Commons)

Tags: blogging, blogs, Facebook, guest blogging, social media, Social networking, Tumblr, Twitter, Website
Posted in Marketing, Search Marketing, social media | No Comments »

5 Quick Tips to Attract More Blog Readers

April 7th, 2011 :: Monika Jansen

If you are struggling to attract and retain readers to your blog, the problem could be easily fixable. Check out these five quick tips, and if you’re not already using them on your blog, time to start!

1. Provide relevant information

The number one rule when creating content for marketing purposes is to write and distribute relevant, useful information your readers want.

If you don’t know what your readers might be interested in reading, worry not. It’s actually very easy to find out what information your readers are hungry for: You can either ask them by creating a quick survey, or do a little online research. Take a look around Quora and LinkedIn Answers to see what questions are being asked, or use Google and Twitter to learn what topics are hot.

2. “You,” not “I”

Another content rule that is frequently broken is the emphasis on you and not your audience. While it is oh-so-tempting to write about yourself, resist the urge. In all honesty, we don’t care about you, we only care about ourselves. Frame your blog posts so the emphasis is on your audience and their experience.

Now, there is a slight exception to this rule. It is perfectly OK to use yourself or your company as an example in a blog post. Say you are writing about cloud computing and are comparing several different backup solutions. Your experience using those different solutions is really helpful to your audience, as you will be providing them a service with your critiques and recommendations.

3. Solve problems

Any marketing content you create should also address a problem your reader is having, from trying to figure out how to choose a florist for their wedding to creating the most attention-grabbing Facebook landing page possible. What it really comes down to is education: the more educational your blog content, the better.

4. Stick to one idea per post

This tip is really more common sense than anything else. If you write about multiple topics in one post, chances are no one will read it all the way through. That’s due to the simple fact that you cannot possibly cover each topic thoroughly without making the post super long. If it’s too long, readers will bail on you (or at least your blog post). If no one finishes reading it, no one will share it, either, which isn’t good.

5. Style counts

With blog posts, both your writing and visual styles count for a lot.

For your writing style, focus on short paragraphs, one-sentence paragraphs, bulleted items and mini-headlines—all of these elements make the post quicker to read or skim. Speaking of quick-to-read, leave out the SAT words and complicated sentences—you want to make your audience’s reading experience as pain-free as possible.

Visually, your blog posts should include a great graphic and have a neat and clean layout—lots of white space makes it easier to focus on the words. Too much stuff in the sidebar(s), from ads to blog plug-ins, can be distracting.

Image by Flickr user m kasahara (Creative Commons)

Tags: blog writing, blogs, content, Marketing, small business
Posted in Marketing, Small Business | 1 Comment »

9 Reasons to Choose Network Solutions

February 4th, 2011 :: Monika Jansen

Every company today, no matter their size and or industry, must have a visible online presence if they want to grow. You need a website that is optimized for search, has e-commerce capabilities, and has tight security to protect customer information. You need a mobile website so people who are using their smartphones to conduct research online can find you. You need a blog and social media integration.

Choosing a company to host, design and support your website can be a nerve-wracking decision.

You could choose a company based on their celebrity spokesperson.

You could choose one based on how cute their mascot is.

You could choose one by playing eeny-meeny-miny-moe.

Or, you could choose a company that has been doing this for years, that you can trust, that delivers value, that resolves issues quickly, and that can support your online marketing efforts.

Here’s why you should choose Network Solutions:

Everything is under one roof. No need to use a handful of Web and online service providers. Network Solutions offers e-mail hosting; Web hosting, design, and support; e-commerce hosting and design; merchant accounts; SSL certificates; graphic design services; online marketing services; and mobile website design and hosting. In other words, if you need it in order to have a successful online presence, Network Solutions offers it.

Their website is easy to navigate. Some e-commerce websites are so cluttered with information and graphics that you can’t find what you’re looking for. Network Solutions has made it easy to find exactly what you need, and they clearly explain the benefits and features of their products.

Ordering is a snap. On some e-commerce sites, you can barely place your order because so many new products are thrown at you on the checkout page. Not at Network Solutions! They don’t want to confuse you; they want to help you and make you happy.

They are innovative. Network Solutions is continually tweaking their products and services and rolling out new ones, like the .ASIA domain extension, goMobi™ mobile website builder, and a new domain validation SSL certificate called the nsProtect™ Secure Xpress Certificate.

They provide great customer service. The reps are friendly, helpful, and able to answer questions or solve issues quickly, whether by e-mail or phone.

They continually offer great promotions. Not only is Network Solutions’ pricing competitive, but they run special promotions all the time. Right now, for instance, the domain validation SSL certificate is 40% off and annual hosting packages are 50% off.

They understand small businesses. Together with the University of Maryland’s Robert H. Smith School of Business, Network Solutions created the Small Business Success Index to measure how small businesses view their capital management, marketing and innovation, human capital, customer service, IT deployment, and compliance. The latest study can be accessed via the Small Business Success Index website.

They are a great resource for small businesses. Trying to figure out how to run your business, use social media and grow? Through this blog, their main blog, and their Women Grow Business blog, Network Solutions provides small businesses owner with the latest information, resources, tips and trends.

They offer a vetted list of vendors and resources for small businesses. Need financing, help setting up an LLC, a CRM, or someone to write your business plan? Check out their list of partners.

They also clearly have a great sense of humor. You will smile, and probably laugh out loud, when you watch this Network Solutions parodyvideo http://bit.ly/gogranny

Tags: blogs, e-commerce, email hosting, mobile website, online marketing, search engine optimization, Small Business Success Index, Website, website design, website hosting, website support
Posted in Resources, Small Business | 1 Comment »

The 5 Types of Blog Posts You Should Be Writing

January 19th, 2011 :: Monika Jansen

Mixing up the types of blog posts you publish is crucial for a few reasons. One, you don’t want to bore your readers. Two, when you are building thought leadership, sharing your knowledge is just as important as opining on trends in your industry. And three, taking the time to create a video, post someone else’s video (with your own commentary), or film a short video blog from the comfort of your desk is like hitting the SEO jackpot.

The key to success with any of the blog posts you write is to make sure they are keyword-rich. Try using Scribe SEO or Zemanta—they are online tools that will ensure your blog posts contain the keywords that your customers use. In no specific order, here are the 5 types of blog posts you should be writing:

1. How-to’s

These contain information your customers can actually use. They are usually short and can be written quickly. This blog post is the perfect example!

2. Fun

These are meant to be purely entertaining, and they are a great way to humanize your company. Whether your customers are other businesses or consumers, everyone likes to put a face (and personality) with a name. If done well (meaning, they really are funny), they’ll end up driving a lot of traffic to your blog and you’ll get lots of links. Here’s a great example from Hubspot.

3. Opinion pieces

These are a great way to establish thought leadership, but they require time to write. You can analyze trends; offer your view on a popular or emerging subject/tool/software/business process that is relevant to your audience; dissect someone else’s article, blog post or video; yor interview a thought leader in our industry—let them offer their opinion to your audience. If you write a few times a week, I would only do an opinion piece once or twice a month. Here’s an example, written by Ben Casnocha.

4. Bold contrarian opinion pieces

These are totally different from regular opinion pieces, which are more thoughtful in nature. A bold, contrarian opinion piece is written to start a debate, ruffle feathers and generate a lot of attention. You’ll most likely receive numerous comments, so be sure you can defend your statements. Here’s an example, written by Penelope Trunk.

5. Series

A blog series will take time to write as well, as you will be delving down deep into a particular subject. They will probably include a lot of links, screen shots, and maybe videos, but once you are done, you can turn the series into an e-book to sell or to use as a promotion to gain leads, new fans on Facebook, new subscribers to your newsletter, etc. A great example is the three- part social media series I just wrote for the Network Solutions blog.

Image by Flickr user Brice Ambrosiak (Creative Commons)

Tags: blog writing, blogs, keywords, lead generation
Posted in Marketing, Small Business, Social Media | 3 Comments »

10 Social Media and Marketing Resolutions for 2011

December 31st, 2010 :: Monika Jansen

The word “resolution” is heard so often around the beginning of each year it’s become almost meaningless. They are half-heartedly made and quickly forgotten. These resolutions are different, though. They’re ones you do want to make, and with that whole fresh-new-clean-slate feeling that comes with a new year, now is as good a time as any to implement some of them.

Your 10 social media and marketing resolutions for 2011, in no specific order:

Use a social media dashboard. I love Hootsuite, but TweetDeck and Seesmic are also super popular. It doesn’t matter which you use, though, just pick one so you can better manage Twitter, Facebook, and the other social media platforms you use.

Get active on LinkedIn. Finish filling out your profile and keep it updated. Go through your business cards and connect with the people you really want to keep in touch with. Link your Twitter account to your LinkedIn account so the blog posts and other useful information you post on Twitter is seen by your network. Answer questions via LinkedIn Answers. And the list goes on.

Create a custom landing page for Facebook. I used Hy.ly, which is free and really easy to use (read more about it here). A custom landing page is a memorable way to welcome new people and give them a reason to “like” you.

Join conversations on Twitter. I know you know social media is supposed to be used for engagement. But you probably don’t take full advantage of Twitter to build a community and start discussions, do you? (Don’t feel bad, I don’t either, so this really is one of my resolutions.) Search for hashtags (#) of terms you use and want to talk about. Pull up the list of tweets that use those hashtags and jump into the conversation (just use the hashtag in your tweets).

Add calls to action to your website. To convert your Web visitors into leads, add prominent messages on your website that offer something of value. It could be a white paper, free consultation, eBook, or special discount for new clients. The call to action can be a button or link; the person will click on it and get redirected to a form where you’ll gather their contact information before sending them what you promised.

Add video to your website. Search engines love videos, so by adding one to your website, you will greatly improve your chances of being easily found during an online search. The video need not be long, but it should be fun, engaging, and professionally produced.

Start blogging already! You know you should blog, so start. Make sure your blog is integrated into your website (in other words, it looks like another page of your website). Put together an editorial schedule of what you’d like to write about. You don’t need to publish every day, but at least twice a week is preferable, and your blog posts need not be long, just full of useful info.

Analyze your website. Check Google Analytics and Website Grader on a regular basis so you know how you’re doing: what pages people visit the most, what information they download from your site, how long they stay on your site, what blog posts generate a lot of traffic, etc. Use this information to improve your marketing and social media efforts.

Optimize your website. Stop procrastinating and hire an expert to optimize your website so search engines can find you. Not all SEO “experts” are created equal, so ask around to find someone with the experience and methods to get you the results you want.

Repurpose content. Reuse the content you have already written for other purposes. Turn blog posts on a certain subject into an eBook. Use short articles you have written for your newsletter for your blog. Break down a white paper into a few blog posts.

Good luck! And Happy New Year!

Image by Flickr user draml (Creative Commons)

Tags: blogging, blogs, calls to action, Marketing, seo, social media, social media dashboard, video, web analytics
Posted in Marketing, Search Marketing, Small Business, Social Media | 4 Comments »