Content should be SEO-friendly

• Just like your website copy, blog copy should be high-quality and informative
• Use keywords where possible but especially in your title and headline
• Useful information is more likely to be shared by your readers

Connect your blog to your profiles

• Add a link to your blog in your social media profiles (Facebook, Linkedin, etc.), in your online videos and in your email signature

Design can impact traffic and sharing

• Keep it simple but attractive and relevant to your business
• You don’t need to be a designer to have a visual appealing blog that readers will want to spend time reading and sharing

Offer an RSS Feed or email subscription

• Entice followers to come back and read new posts and information

Link to other posts

• If your subject touches upon a topic you’ve covered in another blog post include a link to it
• Link to other bloggers’ posts if they are relevant to yours. For example, this post is summarizing 21 Tactics to Increase Blog Traffic (Updated 2012). Read the full version at www.seomoz.org/blog/21-tactics-to-increase-blog-traffic-2012.

Share your posts via Social Networking

• Need an instant status update for your Facebook page? Link to your latest blog post
• Tweet your blog topic and a link

Add Google Analytics and use the results

• We encourage all our website clients to add Google analytics to their sites and a blog is essentially another website
• It’s free and offers a wealth of information about visits, keywords and more
• Check out our recent post about Taking advantage of Google Analytics here.
  

One of the best tips, listed: Don’t Give Up

• As with a website, it takes time and a little legwork to make it success
• Be patient and keep on trying

We’re always available to help you complete many of these recommendations for your blog or website. We can even help you design and maintain a blog.  Check out our website www.WebSwagger.com to find out more.

Monitor your posts and respond and join the conversation. Acknowledging your customer’s effort should be an automatic. A popular trend is to reward customers who blog about you in a positive way.  If by chance, there is negative feedback it is critical for you to use the moment as an opportunity to turn the unhappy customer back into a fan. There are several ways to monitor what is being said about your business. Try using TweetDeck by Twitter, an app that brings more flexibility and insight to users of Twitter and FaceBook. When responding, try using a genuine tone as if you were speaking to a close friend as opposed to sales approach. Include photographs whenever possible. Include related pop-culture photos that people will respond to. For example, if you are a landscaper, use photos of people in a field of flowers or tight shots of beautiful plants.

Make sure the information you provide on one platform is not duplicated on all of the other platforms you use.  If a customer does not see a variety of information from you, they will not participate with your company on more than one. For example, use different offers on FaceBook that you use on Pinterest.

Sharing meaningful content and being part of the conversation is one key to success that is low-cost and can build your audience.  Just like a plant needs constant water, sun and a bit of pruning in order to grow, so does your company. So plant the seeds and before long you will have something beautiful for your efforts!

Your team at WebSwagger.com can help you with your social media efforts. Call 888-772-6400 to get started!

Page branding is one of the most important and easiest ways to ensure prospective fans find you.

• Naming your page. The best name to go with is your brand/business name. If that’s not possible, choose something similar or that is related. Keep in mind once you reach a certain number of fans, you will not be able to change your page name, so choose carefully.
• Change your URL to your name. When setting up your page, Facebook assigns your URL with numbers and letters. You can change it to be your page name instead, which is great for those searching for you and for using it on external links, as well.

Once you get people to your page, you need to keep them and entice them to “like” you and also come back.

• Involve your fans. Random posts aren’t going to keep most people sticking around too long. You need to engage them with surveys, polls, contests, or offers. If you have the budget, you can even create game apps.
• Use your Insights. You can view analytics that Facebook captures about who is looking at your page, page activity and more. In addition, you can add Google Analytics to you Facebook page. These free market tools can help you better market toward your potential customers.

Social Media is where it is happening these days. Taking these simple steps can help you cash in on your “fan” base. Looking for more ways to make the most of your social marketing strategies? Give WebSwagger.com a call at (888) 772-6400.

Key findings of the survey included that there has been a significant jump in the number of consumers using the Internet to find local businesses, and the regularity of their ‘searches’ has also increased. More consumers are reading online reviews now than 15 months ago, with 27 percent regularly reading online reviews when looking for a local business to use.

The survey showed a decline in the number of reviews being read by consumers. Consumers are forming opinions faster and trusting reviews more, leading to lower consumption of reviews. It was observed that the total quantity of reviews a business has remains important.

“What does this mean for your business?”  InGroup / WebSwagger.com concurs that positive reviews can establish greater trust in your business and customers can be swayed by location and price. It is truly notable that today’s consumer values and trusts online reviews as much as personal recommendations and they are doing it faster than ever before due to the convenience of their mobile devices. When speaking to your customers, ask them to note their positive experiences online whenever possible.

Have you noticed that when you search for a business on Google, Yahoo or Bing within the listings is usually a map that will include expanded information? Did you also know that your business can have (and most likely already has) a map listing and that you can edit the information?

And the best part is that it is completely free!

All three search engines included basic information with your map including address, hours, phone numbers, email address and, of course, a link to your website. Plus, you can edit and add more to your listing including photos, products, services and more.  Customers can also write reviews – so be sure to check it regularly to ensure your business is seen in a positive light.

It’s simple to “claim” your listing to edit and add to it. Just find your listing by entering your name into a search engine and then click on the link “enhance this listing,” “edit this listing” or “change this business listing.” Then, follow the simple instructions.

Here’s a quick overview of what each of the search engines offers for free:

• Basic information – about the company, hours, payment options, toll free number, etc.
• Contact information – name, address and phone number
• Link to website
• Directions – plus the ability to embed a map into your website (but that’s a whole other topic we’ll discuss in another blog)

Plus, Yahoo offers:

• Additional information  – products, services, affiliated associations
• Up to five category specific data fields (i.e. cuisine for restaurants, amenities for hotels)

Google includes:

• Adding your own photos, videos and offers
• A way to respond to customer reviews

Bing also allows:

• Photos, logos and add-ons like menus
• Special promotions

According to Google, 97 percent of consumers search for local businesses online. Taking advantage of your local listings couldn’t be easier and since it’s free you can spend your marketing budget on other efforts. So help your business and spend some time enhancing your map listings today.

WebSwagger can help you take advantage of Google Maps, Bing Maps, and Yahoo Places.  Give us a call to get started at (888) 772-6400.

Tracking website details including visitor totals and most used keywords isn’t just for large companies with IT departments or web consultants sorting through data. Anyone with a website – a small business or even a personal blog – can track details to better understand how effective the site is.

Google Analytics is a free service and is easy use. It continuously updates your account with data from your site including:

• how many visitors you had in a given time period
• how long visitors stay on your site
• even tracks video views and social media networking sites
• and more

Reports can be accessed at any time just by logging into your account when it’s convenient for you. Plus, you can customize the reports to suit your specific needs.

Setting up a Google Analytics account is simple. No technical knowledge needed!

Follow the instructions at www.google.com/analytics/index.html to set up an account and add your website information. After following the step-by-step instructions, custom HTML code will be generated to be added to your website. Don’t worry, you don’t need to know code or programming – all you’ll need to know how to do is cut and paste.

If you have a WebSwagger website, just add your code where designated in your client administration section. If you have a custom site, simply send the code to your programmer to add where it is needed.

Google Analytics can also be used with other Google products to help better optimize and advertise your site. Adwords, Adsense and even YouTube can be integrated with your Google Analytics to help measure your site’s effectiveness.

WebSwagger can help you add Google Analytics to your site whether we build it or not. And once you start getting data, we can help you update your site or build you a completely new one to better serve the needs of you business. Give us a call to chat about your needs at (888) 772-6400.

• Quick and easy to get the word out about a new product or service you are promoting, all you need is current customer list to email it to. If you want to branch out to new areas, you can always use a reputable email marketing provider to build a compliant list and develop eye-catching messages and graphics that are less likely to be deleted.

• Budget friendly and affordable as most e-mail marketing providers offer convenient pay-as-you-go plans or monthly subscriptions to cover the volume you plan using—often without a contract.

• Statistics monitoring marketing efforts through reporting that identifies who is receiving, opening and clicking on your emails. These analytic tools show how much traffic you are getting to your website from your email. You can also compare the performance of multiple emails in order to make appropriate changes to future emails and continue to improve your e-mail marketing.

• Visibility among key audiences such as customers and targeted prospects. Although your customers may not need your product or service right now, they will eventually – and by staying engaged with them on a regular basis, you can ensure they’ll come to you first.

• Track return on investment (ROI) from the emails you’re sending out. Not only can you see how your e-mails are performing but you can also measure how many sales each email is generating.

• Extended reach through social networks. When sending out an e-mail you not only reach the people on your customer list, but you reach their friends, family and colleagues when they forward your email. New social media has made it easy to communicate to the masses.

As you can see, there are many advantages to setting up an e-mail marketing campaign. The most convincing perhaps is that it actually works.  In 2010, The Direct Marketing Association stated that email marketing made on average, $42 for every $1 spent.

If you need some help getting started with e-mail marketing, give the client service specialists at WebSwagger.com a call at 888-772-6400.

Also, please make note of our holiday schedule:

• We will be closing at noon on Friday, December 23 and Friday, December 30.
• Our office will be closed on Monday, December 26 and Monday, January 2.

Improve Your Customer Service
Do you like having to navigate through endless telephone menu options when trying to reach your target? Undoubtedly, your customers don’t either. Why not trying ditching the voice mail during the day and make every effort to answer calls as they come in? Potential customers, and current ones too, will be delighted to speaking with a real, live person. What a novelty!

Create a One-Page Strategic Plan
Ever set out for an unknown destination without consulting a map? Chances are, you know you know if you want to travel East or West. Well, think of the start of 2012 as a trip for your business. Picture where your business is right now, and where you want to be by December 31. Then write a list of actions you need to take in order to reach these goals. Keep this plan handy so you can look at it every day and stay on the route you set for yourself, keeping detours to a minimum.

Re-evaluate Your Vendors
Every business owner should periodically review their vendors and suppliers to make sure that you are getting the best possible price and services. There is no better time to do this than at the beginning of the year when suppliers are looking to finalize their business forecasts. They may be more amenable to cutting special deals in order to ensure that they reach their targets

Learn Something New About Your Business
No matter how long you’ve run your business, there is always something new to learn. Now is a good time to educate yourself about the latest trends or best practices. Read some new blogs in your business area, attend a conference, join an association or your local Chamber of Commerce, take a continuing education course at your community college, go to a bookstore and peruse the business section. Think about some of your weak points, and concentrate on improving in those areas.

Learn to Delegate
Lots of small business owners tend to be fearful about giving up control over some aspects of their work load. While it’s true that no one will complete a task in the same exact way you will, that doesn’t necessarily mean that your way is the only correct way. Think about some tasks that eat up your time but don’t contribute to your bottom line. Train an employee how to accomplish these tasks and let them take ownership of them. If you’re a one-person business, consider hiring a contractor to do the work for you. Think about how much time you spend on billing and calculate if your business would be more profitable if you spent that time making new sales and hired a part-time bookkeeper deal with invoicing and paying the bills.

And there you have it. A few New Years Resolutions to help ensure that your 2012 is on the road to being profitable and efficient.