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Reasons why you should set up a blog for your business

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StrategyDriven Online Marketing and Website Development Article |Set up a blog|Reasons why you should set up a blog for your businessMost companies these days realize the need to be online and understand the tremendous opportunities that can be gained from having a well-designed, optimized website and strong social media presence. However, in a world where there are now more web pages than there are people, it can often be difficult for firms to make their content stand out and gain the attention it deserves.

Industry experts suggest the world now produces a staggering 2.5 quintillion bytes of data per day (for reference, a quintillion has 18 zeros – a truly astonishing figure when you consider that’s the amount output per day). With so much information already floating around the internet, it’s perhaps little wonder your clients (potential and existing) have so many problems sifting through the sheer volume of information that’s currently available.

The need for updated content

To gain attention online these days needs strategy and planning – from both the perspective of users finding your content to then sticking around long enough to read it or watch it – and one of the most successful ways to do that is through a company blog.

Of course, established tools like Search Engine Optimization (SEO) and quality writing/images will help, but most web marketing specialists realize that Google (and other search engines) like nothing more than regularly updated content. Unfortunately, this can prove difficult when you’ve got a front-end corporate showcase site, as adding too many extra pages will only serve to confuse users – hence the reason a blog can prove so successful.

Tips for blogging

As a rule, you should keep your blog site separate (but linked) from your main pages – adding a simple ‘blog’ link to your main navigation will work well. Other tips for a successful company blog site include:

  • Add content that doesn’t particularly ‘fit’ with your main site but is still valuable or informative
  • Write about what you know (this should be obvious)
  • You should blog regularly – even while on the road – so make sure devices are charged regularly and protected from damage by power surge components like those available from https://baypower.com/westinghouse/circuit-breakers.
  • The last thing you want is failing or damaged equipment – particularly if you’re blogging from a sales conference or after an important meeting, etc.
  • Use your blog to detail company processes or things you might not normally be able to discuss on your main site
  • Try offering interesting ‘how-to’ articles as these can be a very successful way to generate attention and drive traffic online
  • Ensure you include a link to your main corporate site
  • Remember to focus on your marketing – while a blog shouldn’t be an upfront sales pitch, there’s no harm detailing your experience or knowledge on a subject in a subtle and informative way

How blogging can add value to your existing site

You want your main website to shout your company message, services, and products in the most professional and visually appealing way. Likely, you will have spent hours poring over your site’s images, text, and navigational structure to the point that there probably isn’t much room left for adding additional content. Using a blog site, you can add content that will subtly promote your skills (and could end up found in search engines) without detracting from your main professional, formal pages.

Mistakes People Make With Web Design

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StrategyDriven Online Marketing and Website Development Article |Web Design|Mistakes People Make With Web DesignAfter considering things for a while, you decide that you want to enter the field of web design. But you want to avoid getting overwhelmed by all the intricacies… and want to get a good foundation. There are college courses for it, but instead of paying a lot of money to get a degree, you might want to consider a bootcamp.

Before you decide to sign up for a web design bootcamp, it’s a good idea to learn some things to avoid when it comes to making web pages. The bootcamp will fill in the rest, but here is a head start.

There Is Too Much on the Page

You want to create a website that is easy for people to follow. Sure, there may be a lot of things that you sell or have designed, but you don’t want any potential customers to look at your site with no clear idea where their eyes should be going. A busy site feels chaotic.

There Is Too Little on the Page

On the other hand, you don’t want to have too plain of a site. Having too much empty space makes it feel like you might not have much to offer. You want to have something that piques the interest of the customer.

There is not a Good Call to Action

One of the main purposes of a website is to get people to buy what you offer. They need something to latch onto… and if you have not given them that, then they will likely click right off the page. Then you will get little to no results, which is bad for your bottom line.

There is No Clear Navigation

You don’t want to have people looking at your site with no idea of where they need to go to accomplish what they want. There need to be clear headers that show where people should expect to land when they click on a certain link. Do not assume that it will be intuitive … doing that will wind up with your getting poor feedback.

These are just a few of the mistakes that people make with web design … it can feel like a field full of pitfalls. But if you build a good base and are willing to make adjustments from feedback, then you can get on a good path. Then you might be able to do this for a living.

Four Key Web Design Rules For 2022 And Beyond

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StrategyDriven Online Marketing and Website Development Article |Web Design Rules|Four Key Web Design Rules For 2022 And BeyondThese days even the smallest businesses are expected to have top-quality websites. This means that new entrepreneurs should be prepared to invest in them. You don’t have to build your website yourself. In fact, it’s usually best to delegate the building to a professional. It can, however, be useful to understand the key web design rules for 2022 and beyond.

SEO needs to be baked in

When the internet first started, web design and search engine optimization were separate disciplines with little to no crossover. Now, however, the design of your website can do a lot to help or hinder your SEO. Modern search engine algorithms now assess sites on safety and usability as well as content. This is why SEO has to be baked in from the start.

In some contexts, the effectiveness of your SEO will be seen as an indicator of your overall competence. This is particularly true of tech-related companies. For example, if you’re offering web design services in West Palm Beach then you’ll be expected to rank well for “website design west palm beach”.

Mobile-friendliness is a must

In the old days, people used to surf the net from a computer at their desk. Now, they can also surf it from mobile devices and they increasingly do. The experience of using a website from a computer is often very different from the experience of using a website from a mobile device. This means that websites have to be carefully designed to satisfy both groups of users.

At a superficial level, this means either having two separate websites for the two groups of users or having a single, responsive website. Effective, mobile-friendly web design must, however, go much further than this. It has to accommodate the very different ways and contexts in which the various devices are used.

For example, computers are generally used when you’re seated at a desk or table. Mobile devices can be used in all kinds of places and ways. Computers tend to have fairly large screens whereas mobile devices can have very small ones. Computers have keyboards, mobile devices don’t. In fact, mobile devices are often worked using one hand.

Voice search is now serious

Voice search has now matured to the point where it deserves to be taken very seriously. It’s particularly important for businesses targeting people who are actually on the move. Regardless of whether you’re driving or walking, you want (and often need) to keep your eyes focused on where you’re going. That’s why voice search is so useful.

Even if you’re not targeting people on the move, it’s often still useful to optimize your site for voice search. The growth of smart assistants, especially smart home assistants, is leading to growth in the use of voice search. Quite simply, it is or should be, a really convenient way of getting quick answers to straightforward queries.

Chatbots are go

Chatbots can be used for all kinds of purposes from collecting user feedback to answering basic queries. One of their most popular uses is as “first-responders”. In other words, they will try to help users themselves. If the query is beyond their capability, they’ll pass it on to a human agent. If it’s out of hours, they’ll take a message.

Don’t Miss These 5 Ingredients For A Successful Online Company

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StrategyDriven Entrepreneurship Article |Successful Online Company|Don't Miss These 5 Ingredients For A Successful Online CompanyAre you thinking about starting an online company? If so, then it’s important to understand the ingredients you’ll need to guarantee that your business is a success. There are various elements that you will have to get right here that should help separate your company from the rest of the crowd. Let’s look at some of the key possibilities.

A Great Website

First, you need to ensure that you do have a fantastic business website. The website will often be the first impression that customers receive of your brand. If you don’t hit the right marks here then they could be turned off enough that they will avoid buying from your business completely and that’s the last thing that you want.

When you are building your website, think about the structure. It’s important that they can find what they are searching for in minutes. You might also want to think about other elements of your website as well such as the content. In terms of marketing, content is still king. Any content on your site needs to be targeted, interesting and engaging to create the right impact.

Fantastic SEO Options

If you don’t have SEO then your new online business is going to be dead in the water. The reason for this is quite simple. The vast majority of online interactions still begin with the use of a search engine. So, if you don’t have SEO then customers won’t be able to find your business online at all. One of the ways that you can handle this is by making sure that you do explore the right SEO service. Affordable SEO services for small businesses are available and can be highly useful to you. You do, however, need to understand the signs that you have a high-quality service.

An example would be how businesses handle quotes for services that they offer. A high-quality company will want to get to know your brand and understand your current position on the market before they provide you with a direct quote. If they don’t do this, then there’s a chance that the company is providing a cookie-cutter solution. In cases like this, you are always going to struggle to stand out.

Ultra Levels Of Engagement

Next, you need to ensure that you are getting the right level of engagement with your business. One of the ways that you can do this is by making sure that you focus on your social media marketing campaign. There are various social media networks that could be beneficial to you. It’s worth using a marketing agency to research which ones your customers are most likely to frequent. For instance, if you are running a B2B business model, then LinkedIn and similar options could be very useful to you.

Fantastic Reviews

These days a business will live or die based on the reviews that it receives from customers. If you don’t get the right reviews in your company, then you are going to struggle to get customers to buy your product or service.

Indeed, polls suggest that 80% of customers will not commit to a purchase of a product or service until they have checked the reviews online. If you are struggling to get reviews for your business, it might be worth simply asking for them when customers buy your products. Even getting mixed reviews is better than having zero attached to your business brand.

Budgeting

Finally, you do need to make sure that you are not going overboard with your budget and your spending in your business. It’s important to make sure that you keep this under the right level of control. There’s no set rule on how much you should spend for a business like this. You just need to check that you are not sinking into debt. This can be avoided by using a cloud accounting service. A solution like that will mean that you can check your spending in real-time.

We hope this helps you understand some of the key steps that you can take to guarantee that your new online company is the tremendous success that you hoped for. If you make the right choices here, then you will be able to guarantee that you can effectively rise above the competition and ensure that your company gets the level of interest it deserves.

Be aware that there are countless small businesses started up online each year. The majority of these never reach a significant level of success. You need to make sure that your business doesn’t fall into this particular trap.

5 Steps to Start and Grow Your Online Business

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StrategyDriven Managing Your Business Article |Grow your online business|5 Steps to Start and Grow Your Online BusinessThe modern business world is becoming increasingly dependent on the digital market. It’s more efficient than the traditional market and allows businesses to connect to the entire world instantly. Large-scale and small-scale organizations invest heavily to create a strong online presence and utilize the internet’s vast potential. No doubt, the future of business lies in e-commerce.

However, when it comes to starting an online business, things can get quite challenging. The main reason behind this is the fierce competition in the digital market. You need to constantly stand out from the crowd and prove your business reliable. To do so, you’ll need to follow some technical digital marketing tactics and strategies, which can be complicated at times. However, if you follow a sequence of effective steps to build and grow your online business, your business will soon flourish. So, to help you with this purpose, here are five steps to start and grow your online business.

1. Make a Business Plan

Regardless of where you’re starting your business, making a business plan is the essential step. It helps you to make clever decisions regarding how to start and grow your business effectively. An effective business plan includes a lucrative business idea, market analysis, and brand development ideas. A lucrative business idea is crucial to start a business online. It will set you apart from millions of other businesses, giving you a competitive advantage. To come up with such an idea, conducting a market and competitor analysis is a good idea. You can develop innovative ideas from your competitors by observing the way they grow their business. A market analysis will also help you find effective strategies and online platforms for your business.

However, an online market analysis is nothing like a traditional analysis. You can use digital marketing tools that help analyze your competitors effectively. Otherwise, you won’t be able to gain much insight. Moreover, it’s crucial to use reliable and effective tools to carry out in-depth research. So, make sure to compare each tool with other available options to find the most suitable one. For this purpose, you can head over to DigitalSupermarket.com to find and compare all different digital tools.

2. Build a Website

A website will act as the main online presence for your business and brand. However, it’s essential to create an appealing and functional website. No matter how unique your business idea is, you won’t gain network traffic with a mediocre website. More importantly, search engines will show your website after the first search engine result page, further reducing the chances of gaining customers.

An essential aspect of modern and popular websites is simplicity. Effective websites only use videos and graphics when they are necessary. For example, it’s good to use graphics to make it easier for people to use the website. Otherwise, it only makes the website unappealing. You can also reduce the processes or clicks needed to buy something from your business to increase simplicity.

Moreover, you can make your website functional, which means building a website with easy navigation and zero errors. People don’t like to visit websites that make it hard for them to find what they’re looking for, nor do they like pages that give errors. More importantly, you can increase your website’s loading speed for faster accessibility.

3. Identify and Focus on Your Target Audience

To become a successful entrepreneur in the digital market, you must know your audience well and target them specifically. After all, not all types of people will be interested in your business. You don’t want to waste your time, money, and efforts on attracting such people. Moreover, identifying and targeting your specific audience will help you to cater to their needs effectively. You will be able to develop unique and effective digital marketing strategies to grow your business rapidly.

To identify your audience, you’ll first need to collect data on what type of people visit your website and interact with your business. For this purpose, you can request your website visitors to fill out surveys and pop-up quizzes. Moreover, you can also gain information about your customers through customer feedback, emails, and comments on your website. Once you have enough data, you can create buyer personas representing the type of people your business attracts. For example, suppose teenagers mostly visit your website. In that case, you can represent each visitor by a single teenager buyer persona. 90% of companies are known to have gained a deeper understanding of their customers through personas.

4. Utilize Social Media

The digital market is a highly competitive place. You can’t rely only on your website for a robust online presence. You can reinforce your online presence by bringing your business to a social media platform. Social media platforms are used by 57% of the global population, making them perfect to increase your business’s reach and grow rapidly. What’s best is that a social media platform makes your business more accessible to mobile users. More importantly, social media helps businesses to build a better relationship with their customers through social interactions, such as posts, likes, comments, and more.

To build an effective social media presence, you’ll first need to find the most suitable platform. For this purpose, you can carry out research to find what type of platform your target audience uses. Once you’ve created a social media presence, you need to interact with your customers frequently to increase their interest while providing them with quality content. You can even collaborate with other online businesses or influencers to increase the popularity of your business online.

5. Monitor Metrics

If you want to lead successful marketing campaigns and implement effective strategies, it’s essential to watch metrics. Metrics are essential to see where your business is headed and how it has been performing over time. Without the use of metrics, you may lead your business to failure without even realizing it, as you’ll be running your business blindly.
Some essential digital marketing metrics are website visitors, bounce rate, session duration, and interactions per visit.

Each metric gives you the necessary information required to keep your online business on the path to success. You can think of each metric as an indicator of your business’s health. Even if a single metric starts to indicate declining health, you can take immediate action and save your business from failing. Metrics are especially to be monitored when you implement a new strategy, to check whether it works or not. You can use digital marketing tools to analyze metrics.

Conclusion

Undoubtedly, e-commerce is the future of business. Therefore, starting an online business is one of the best decisions a modern entrepreneur can make. The online market is indeed becoming increasingly competitive. However, follow the right methods of starting and growing your business. It won’t take long for you to gain a competitive advantage. So, make sure to follow the steps mentioned above for a smooth transition into the online business world.