Category: Web Site Tips

Most small businesses know that a good link building strategy is essential to a web site’s success in the search engines. If you want your site to show up on the first few pages of search results, you really need other credible web sites to “vote” for you by linking to your web site. Up until recently, it was common for web sites to exchange reciprocal links in order to help each other build inbound links to their web sites. But while this used to be a useful strategy, the rules have recently changed and now you must learn how to play the new link-building game!

Be Picky About Reciprocal Links
Reciprocal links can sometimes be helpful, but only in very specific instances. In order to be useful, the incoming link (from the other web site) should be on a page that has a higher page rank than the page on your web site containing the link that goes back to them. Plus, the text of the link on the other web site should match one or more of the keywords on your site. If you can get reciprocal links that meet these criteria, then they may be helpful to you in the search engines. Also remember to steer clear of inbound links from link farms, free-for-all sites, and paid links since these are almost always penalized by the search engines.

It’s Not a Democracy
The idea of a reciprocal link counting as a “vote” for your web site may be appealing, but there’s also a downside. Each link on your site that goes out to another web site essentially deducts a vote from your site as well. Reciprocal links can be a no-gain situation for you, and could end up hurting your site overall in the eyes of the search engines.

Voting Against Yourself
One of the new link-building rules that may surprise you is that one-way outbound links on your site may be a bad idea from a search engine’s point of view. For instance, if you have a “Helpful Links” or “Resources” page on your site that contains one-way outbound links to other sites, you are probably losing lots of ground in the search engines. To avoid these “negative votes” for your site, be sure your outbound links are coded with the NOFOLLOW attribute so the search engines know these outbound links should not be deducted from your web site’s score.

Link Content is Key
In order for your links to really be powerful, there must be a relationship between what you say about your web site, and what other people on the web say about your web site. How does a search engine determine this? It’s all in the link text. The text of each inbound link to your site must match the keywords used on your web site, or else the search engines may simply ignore that inbound link.

For example, if you want to rank for the keyword “travel” but the inbound links to your site contain just the name of your company, then there’s no way the search engines will know that these inbound links have anything to do with travel.

Send Your Site to De-Tox
Ranking well in the search engines can be a moving target, so it’s important to do everything you can to protect your site. Always try to build inbound links that contain your relevant keywords in the link text, and get rid of the reciprocal links on your site that are not working for you. Also be careful when coding your one-way outbound links so that you aren’t unintentionally “deducting votes” from your own web site. These simple steps can help you build effective inbound links, while avoiding those that may have recently become bad news for your web site’s search engine rankings.

For most small businesses, the goal of having a web site is to attract customers, gather leads, and convert sales. But is that what YOUR web site is doing? When you get it right, web visitors have a valuable experience and clearly understand how your product or service fulfills their needs. Get it wrong and you could be sending web traffic and potential business right to your competitor’s door! Here are some common web site mistakes that can scare away visitors and hurt your bottom line:

• Too many choices – When you give your visitors too many options, it can become overwhelming, making them less likely to make any decision at all. All options are not equally important, so be careful to present your information in an organized, logical way that is easy to understand.
• Non-relevant web site content – Be sure that the content on your site is focused on delivering your main marketing message. You are the expert on your business, so you already know what information customers need in order to make a decision. Extra information that doesn’t promote or support your message doesn’t belong on your web site.
• Unprofessional web design – The way your web site looks and functions speaks volumes about your business, even if it is unintentional. If your web site has poor layout, broken or missing links, outdated information, or looks unprofessional, your visitors will have a negative impression of your company, regardless of how great your business may be.
• Red flags – Most web users today have a healthy skepticism when they visit web sites, so make sure you show them immediately that your company is legitimate. Provide detailed contact information that includes your physical mailing address, phone number, contact names, and email addresses so visitors know your business can be trusted.
• Asking for too much information – When visitors want to make a purchase, sign up for your mailing list, or request information from your web site, what kind of a form will they be faced with? Make sure you ask only for the information that you absolutely need, and don’t try to gather too much information at once. Instead, keep the form short and simple, and then follow up later to gather any additional customer information that you may need.

While it’s true that “nobody’s perfect,” I think the same goes for small business web sites as well – no web site is absolutely perfect. Even the best of the best often have room for improvement! But there are some basic web site mistakes that many small companies make that can end up hurting business instead of helping it.  Do any of these mistakes show up on your web site?

1. Not enough content.  Often, small businesses will put minimal information along with their contact information on their web sites and think that’s probably good enough. But today’s web visitors are looking for something more, and lots of good quality content is a great way to deliver value to your visitors and build credibility for your business.
2. Old or outdated content.  If you want visitors and search engines to pay attention to your web site, you need to keep adding new content and updating the existing information on your web site regularly.  If your site never changes, the search engines will ignore your site, and visitors will not have a reason to come back. It’s also unlikely that visitors will recommend your site to their friends and colleagues, too.
3. Not being search engine friendly. Speaking of search engines, what happens if a search engine spider visits your site, but can’t read your web pages? Nothing happens, and that’s a problem.  If a search engine spider cannot read your web pages, it just moves on to the next site, and your information is completely ignored.  Your web site must be search engine friendly in order to be included in the search engine databases.
4. Not monitoring your site in the search engines.  Even if your web site is search engine friendly, there are constant changes going on with the search engines and also with your competitors.  If you aren’t monitoring how your site is performing in the search engines, how will you know if these changes are affecting your rankings or if you are losing traffic? Monitoring your web site means that you can react to changes and take appropriate steps to make sure your site shows up in the search results and that web traffic keeps flowing.
5. The site is built using Frames or Flash. Not too many web sites still make this mistake, but there are still some small business web sites out there using one or both of these methods.  Sites built with Frames or Flash intro pages cannot easily be read by the search engines, and web visitors typically hate using them as well.  These are older web techniques that don’t reflect well on your business, they don’t perform well in the search engines, and today’s web visitors expect better.  

Making your web site the best it can be is a very effective and affordable marketing option for most small businesses. Of all the other types of advertising and marketing that you do each year, your web site has the potential to be seen by more customers, can continue to promote your company perpetually through links, is always accessible to customers, and can instantly reflect changes and provide fresh information to draw people in.  Avoiding basic web site mistakes will help your site perform better, making it a “perfect” marketing strategy for your small business.

Well, apparently there IS something new under the sun…..and it’s happening all over the web. New technologies, new applications, and new features are making all kinds of web sites more useful than ever before, including business web sites.   You may have heard it described as “web 2.0,” the “interactive web,” or the “content-driven web,” but all of these terms reinforce the same basic idea – the web has changed!

It used to be that small businesses could simply use their existing brochures and product sheets as content for their web sites, add a few keywords, and maybe add a contact form to create a pretty good small business web site.  But now, there’s a new web environment for business that’s based on multimedia, interactivity, and creative presentation techniques that make these old-school web tactics seem positively outdated.

So what’s a small business to do? 

Content Delivery

For starters, you’re going to have to actively communicate with your site visitors, not just provide them with a static “brochure-site” that they can read. For instance, what can your visitors expect to gain by visiting your site? Can they sign up for an e-newsletter? Do you have downloadable reports or e-books to offer them? Does your content offer them actual useful information, or is it just page after page of sales pitch? You may need to rethink the way in which you deliver your web content, and determine better ways to provide value to your visitors.

Meet New Expectations

You may also want to pay attention to the new technologies available on today’s web sites, because users are quickly becoming accustomed to them. Visitors often expect to see technologies such as RSS feeds, blogs, and podcasts available from business sites, as well as video “ads,” interviews, and tutorials. Even adding simple features can make a big difference for a web site. For example, adding an interactive calendar of events to your site (especially if you allow visitors to submit events for publication) can send a strong signal to your users that you are able to meet their expectations both on your web site and in your business, making you a natural choice over your competitors!

Make the Right Impression

If you’re a small business, the temptation might be to think that these new expectations don’t really apply to your business, or that your customers don’t really care about how sophisticated your web site is (or isn’t). Well, that’s simply not the case. Studies have shown over and over again that customers make decisions based on emotional “gut feelings,” often based on their impression of your business. If you present them with an old-fashioned, outdated web site, what do you think they will remember (if they remember you at all)?

Make sure your web site is an accurate reflection of your business, and give your visitors a reason to “click around” and get to know your company. Offer them a variety of interesting material that’s presented appropriately for today’s web users. Meet their expectations on your web site, and they will be less likely to move on to the next site (a.k.a. your competition!) and more likely to do business with you.

You may find it a bit surprising, but blogs are turning out to be a very effective method of promoting your business on the web!  Not too long ago, lots of people thought of blogs as little more than a tool for teenagers to journal every mood swing online. But today blogs have become quite mainstream, and people from all walks of life are embracing the technology and finding value in using blogs, especially for business purposes.

So what exactly is a blog, anyway?  A blog (short for “web log”) is basically a simple web site with an interactive format that allows users to “post” comments and add new information (entries) to the site.  This interactivity is really what differentiates blogs from other web sites.  Blog entries are typically posted in reverse chronological order, with the oldest information appearing at the bottom of the page and the most recent information at the top.

There are blogs on almost every topic imaginable, and businesses are finding that having a company blog helps them communicate with customers, get better search engine rankings, and attract a much larger customer base.  Here are a few highlights of how a blog can help promote your business online:

• Search engines LOVE blogs because the content is being updated constantly, resulting in higher search engine rankings for your business.
• Niche visitors are more likely to discover your business because blog entries can be very specific, often containing words that might not otherwise be in your web site text.  This will attract customers that would not have otherwise found your business!
• Blogs can be organized by topic, making it easy for readers to find topics that interest them.
• Blog entries continue to bring in web traffic 24/7.  Like many other forms of marketing on the web, blogs provide content and links that act like ripples in a pond – they continue to be shared, indexed, and published all over the web long after you have finished doing the work.
• Information on your blog can be easily distributed directly to your readers with an RSS newsfeed. RSS feeds automatically notify your readers whenever new content has been posted to your blog.
• You can differentiate yourself from your competitors with your blog.  You may even find that your competitors don’t offer this type of interactive communication with customers, which gives you an excellent opportunity to stand out.

So if you’re looking for a low-cost marketing strategy that can help extend your reach, improve your search engine rankings, and give your business an edge with customers, then you may want to consider a blog!

Most businesses already know the importance of having a professional-looking web site that provides visitors with a positive impression of their company.  Typically, business web sites offer their visitors something of value, which might be anything from simple company information to a completely interactive user experience. 

With web technology changing all the time, it can be hard for small business owners to keep up with what’s new on the web, and even harder to know what’s really important as opposed to what’s simply “bells and whistles.”

But as the new, interactive features of Web 2.0 continue to gain widespread acceptance and implementation, many small businesses find that their existing web sites are quickly becoming outdated and are no longer leaving such a good impression on their customers and prospective customers.

So how do you know if your web site is ready for an update? Do you really need a blog, video, RSS feeds, or other interactive elements on your small business web site?  How do you know when it’s time to re-design your web site?

The answer of course is different for each business, but here are some important factors to consider when thinking about a web site re-design:

1. A well-maintained, updated web site demonstrates a commitment to your business. If you want customers and potential customers to take you seriously, you have to provide them with a web site that is useful, informative, and up-to-date.  What message does it send to your customers if you allow your site to become outdated, or if you don’t embrace new technology and changing web standards?  (And what message does it send to your competitors?)
2. The cost of a web site re-design is often less than the cost of other marketing or advertising initiatives. It also typically reaches more people and lasts a lot longer, too.  Of course, your overall marketing plan should consist of a variety of marketing activities across multiple channels, but a web re-design often gives you a lot of bang for your buck.
3. Your web site differentiates you from your competition, and can even be a deciding factor for customers evaluating your products and services.  Studies in consumer behavior have shown that when people are presented with multiple options all at once, they often rely on “mental shortcuts” to help them make buying decisions.  The way your web site looks and functions when compared with your competitors will have a great deal of influence on how customers perceive your company, your capability, and your credibility.
4. Decide which new web features are simply “bells and whistles” and which ones are solid, useful web site improvements.  Don’t limit your idea of a “re-design” to include only things like Flash animation, new graphics, or a different color scheme. Instead, consider adding useful features such as a blog, an improved navigation system, upgraded content or articles, or even video and podcasts. Anything you can do to provide a better, more interactive, and more contemporary web experience for your customers is an excellent investment of marketing dollars.

                                                     
Most companies find that investing in a web site re-design ultimately improves their bottom line, mostly because of the positive impact it has on customers and prospects alike. Not only do customers end up coming back over and over again, they also tell their friends and colleagues about the great web experience they had at your site, which leads to more web traffic, more prospects, and more sales. A re-designed, up-to-date web site reflects well on your company, shows that you are serious about your business, and demonstrates that you care about your customers and are committed to giving them a useful experience on your web site.

Small businesses sometimes find it difficult to keep their web sites updated with fresh, relevant information, because they either don’t have the time or don’t have the content (or a combination of both). But in order to keep traffic flowing, visitors interested, and sales increasing, you simply must keep your site updated with great content.

Studies show that visitors will spend approximately seven seconds to decide if your web site is worth their time, or if they should click away to another site to find whatever it is they are looking for. What differentiates your web site from your competitors? After all, if you have products or services that are similar to what the competition offers, you may not be perceived as being very different at all. But your web site can be the differentiator! Give your visitors lots of interesting content that is useful to them, and they just might stick around long enough to turn into customers.

One of your site’s goals should be to give visitors enough information about your company, products, and services that they feel comfortable doing business with you. If you don’t have enough content on your site (or if your web site is outdated), visitors will simply move on to other web sites until they find the information they need. If a visitor leaves your web site without finding sufficient content, it’s unlikely that they will return – ever.

Another important reason to keep your site loaded with good content is because search engines evaluate your web site and rank it based largely on the site’s content. It’s true that things constantly change with search engine algorithms, but one thing that stays the same is the importance of fresh, relevant content.

So don’t underestimate the value of keeping your site up to date and adding fresh content on a regular basis. It’s well worth the effort!

We all know just how important it is to have a web site for your business. In today’s world, you pretty much have to have a site – it’s often the first place customers look for information about your business and the products and/or services you provide. But once your web site is live on the web, do you know who owns it?

The answer to this really depends on the web developer that you select to build your web site. Believe it or not, some web firms actually retain ownership of your web site files, and sometimes they even retain ownership of your domain name! We have had clients come to us for help with updating or upgrading their web sites, only to find out that they don’t own their own web sites.

You might think that it doesn’t really matter, especially if you don’t need access to your site files very often. The problem with this comes in if you decide, for whatever reason, that you want to move your site to a different hosting company, or if you want another web developer to update or work on the site. If you don’t own the site, you will not have access to any of the files, and you won’t be able to move it or have another web team work on the site. The same is true for your domain name; if you didn’t register the name yourself, you may not actually own it, even though you paid for it!

So before hiring a web developer or firm, be sure to ask who will own the end-product, as well as the domain name. If you already have an existing web site, ask your web developer for a copy of your web site on a CD. (Note to Five Sparrows clients – of course you own your web site and domain name!) The same is true for other materials that you pay to have created – whether it’s a newsletter, logo, flyer, coupon, etc., you should be given an electronic copy (like a .pdf file) of the final product.

After all, if you paid for it – shouldn’t you own it?

What does your web site say about your business? The reality today is that your web site represents your entire company, and visitors make judgments about your business based on their impression of your web site. Often, businesses focus on creating a professional image, which of course is vitally important for making a good first impression. But what is often overlooked is the value of web site usability, which can be even more important to your online success.

We’ve all seen web sites that look great, but the important information is buried, unclear, or just plain missing. Most users will spend a few minutes attempting to find what they are looking for, but then abandon the site to find another that is easier to use. Making sure your site is usable is like a gift to your visitors that pays back rewards in customer satisfaction and a positive user experience. If visitors like your site and find it easy to use, they will come back.

When designing or re-designing your company web site, visitor satisfaction should be the guiding principle. A good, consistent navigation system is essential for any web site, especially sites with a lot of pages. Use a common menu system on all pages and include drop-downs or sub-categories if necessary. Make sure your visitors can get to any page on your site, yet find their way back “home” easily. Keep your navigation design to only two or three levels deep, and always include a site map. The end result will be visitors who can find their way around your web site and get to the information they need quickly and easily.

Sometimes, businesses find they have differing goals for their web sites, depending on which department you talk to. Goals range from “make the investors happy” to “meet the deadline no matter what” and everything in between. Although these are things you probably have to consider, keep the goal focused on the user experience and it will pay off in the end.

Paying attention to your web site’s usability adds enormous value. The advantages to a web site development process that incorporates usability standards results in fewer problems or “bugs,” and increases customer satisfaction when your site goes live. It all comes down to the end-user experience, the ultimate test for a successful, useful, and profitable web site.