The 5 Content Channels Every Business Should Be Using
[…]sure you’re thinking about your overall content strategy when you’re developing your marketing, communication, and business goals! Need Help Managing Your Content […]
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Top 3 Ways to Optimize WordPress for SEO
So, you’ve taken our advice and built a WordPress website for your business, and your website is performing pretty well in search results. You Google keywords associated with your business, and it pops right up. This is because WordPress is naturally pretty great for SEO. As the months roll by, however, you notice it starting to slip down the page of search results. Then, pretty soon, it doesn’t even appear on the first page of Google anymore. What happened? If you aren’t actively optimizing your WordPress website for SEO, eventually it will stop performing well in search. Below are 3 of […]
Social Media for Non-Profits: 3 Tips for Success
There are many questions that arise when doing social media for non-profits. Should you ask for donations? If so, how often? How often should you post? What should you post? If you are a non-profit manager, volunteer, or staff member, you may have questions like these when you sit down in front of your organization’s Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn profiles. Below we share 3 tips for success when doing social media for non-profits. But, What Does Social Media for Non-Profits Even Look Like These Days? A lot of our non-profit clients start out by asking us what social media platforms they […]
A Bad Conversion Optimization Strategy May Be Costing Your Business Real Revenue
[…]customers for your business. Make sure your website is performing the best it can. Need Help With Digital […]
Being the Top Search Result on Google: Local vs National SEO
In a previous post, we mentioned that being the top search result on Google is today valued at about $1,000,000. To back up this claim, we mentioned that all the research we’ve conducted, plus all the research of the smart people we follow, points to the fact that there’s no magic bullet for SEO anymore. Gone are the days when you could just keyword stuff to trick Google into thinking you have the best content. Google has gotten better and better at delivering optimized content to its users, which means it’s harder and harder to achieve real results in Google […]
Building a Startup? Lean UX Is Your Best Friend
[…]ask for them. Beyond UX: Remove Waste, Experiment, Collaborate Beyond developing experiences for digital products and services, Lean UX is a philosophy that can apply to any business. It holds that three main principles should be observed at all times: Remove Waste: “Work smarter, not harder,” the saying goes. Lean UX is not about doing more with less. It’s about doing only what’s necessary to achieve goals. If you find yourself working harder every week at your business and receiving less of a return on that effort, look for areas where your productivity is being sapped by tasks that are high-effort […]
Using Hootsuite to Promote Your Small Business or Non-Profit
[…]organizations should definitely take advantage of this social media management software in their marketing campaigns. Need Help With Hootsuite or Social Media Marketing for Your Small Business or […]
3 Ways to Increase Website Traffic Fast
[…]tools to help you here. We like MailChimp. If you need more advice on how to run a solid email marketing campaign, check out the article below. 3 Tips for Running Small Business Email Marketing Campaigns Way #3: Use Facebook Ads or Google Ads to Capture Search Traffic If you need to quickly reach a large audience, another tactic is to launch a Facebook ad or Google AdWords campaign. Both Facebook and Google have a pay-to-play feature, you see: you can pay per click (or per view on Facebook) to direct people back to your website. This is particularly useful […]
5 Website Must-Have Features for Small Businesses and Non-Profits
Website must-have features come and go. What is essential one year may be ineffective the next. If you are a non-profit manager or small business owner looking to build a website, or improve your current one, you may find yourself lost in the jargon of web design. Responsive? Single-page? CMS? Custom? Before you go chasing trends, read below to discover the 5 website must-have features that just about every organization needs. Won’t This List of ‘Website Must-Have Features’ Be Outdated as Soon as It’s Published? It’s true that web design trends change on an almost daily basis, but when you’re running […]
The 2 Paid Online Advertising Options You Should Consider Using
Even if you’ve never used paid online advertising for your business or non-profit, you’ve no doubt seen them, those little contextual ads that pop up when you’re browsing on Google or scrolling through your newsfeed on Facebook, Twitter, or LinkedIn. You may have wondered how much it costs to run ads on platforms like these, and more importantly: are they effective? Don’t people just scroll past them? Does anyone actually click on them? Why Should I Use Paid Online Advertising? The first question we get from a lot of clients is: why should I pay for online advertising? According to […]
28 Things You Should Know Before Using WordPress
[…]Colin Cieloha. Colin is the North American Territory Manager for Skilled.co, a ranked database of digital firms available for hire. He is also an avid snowboarding enthusiast and world […]
How Not to Get Locked Out of Your Own Website
[…]by how many referral clients we get who have been locked out of their own website by another digital firm. Our first work for them typically involves digging them out of the contract they signed that granted the firm unfettered access to their website, and no access to members of their own organization! If you’re not sure how to get out of such an agreement, or want to make sure you don’t get stuck in one, read on to learn how to avoid getting locked out of your own website. How Do You Get Locked Out of Your Own Website? […]
3 Tips for Setting Up Your Small Business Website for Success
[…]Where do they look for information about businesses like yours? Channels: What are the best digital channels to reach the types of people you’re trying to reach (i.e., social media platforms, blogs, paid online advertising, e-mail, etc.)? Check out this article for help developing an effective content strategy: What Should Go into Your Business’s Content Strategy Template? Tip #2 for Setting up a Small Business Website: Choosing a CMS Next, you need to choose a content management system (CMS) for your website. The advantage of using a CMS, whether you work with a web designer or not (and we recommend you […]
4 Tips for Creating a Winning Non-Profit Blog
[…]in, such as social media marketing and event planning? How will it support your website? Or other marketing endeavors? Ilma Ibrisevic at Donor Box gives a great example of how to align a blog with a non-profit’s goals: For example, if increasing your donor retention rate is a current priority for your nonprofit, a blogging goal might be to build relationships with current donors, and so most of your blog posts should aim for that. You want your blog’s content to get your audience interested in reading about your organization, and if you’re able to determine how your audience can […]
Facebook Ads Pros and Cons for Small Businesses
[…]Facebook ads underperform, but some common reasons are: The ads were not set up with the right marketing objectives in mind The settings used to create the ads were not optimal, given the marketing objectives chosen The ad image is not visually-appealing The ad copy is not persuasively written There’s no follow through on engagements like clicks and likes Even if you just boost a post on Facebook, you want to choose a post that will help drive your goals, not just get likes or comments. When in Doubt, Boost First If you’re concerned about Facebook Ads pros and cons […]
3 Great Email Newsletter Tools for Small Businesses
[…]services could help you with your email marketing efforts. To help you get going with your email marketing efforts, below we review 3 email newsletter tools for small businesses: MailChimp, Venngage, and Litmus. Email Newsletter Tool #1: MailChimp Since we talked about MailChimp’s email marketing in the previous blog post mentioned above, we’ll start with them as our first example tool. MailChimp is great because it has a lot of pre-made templates built right in that allow you to pick the look and feel of your newsletter before designing it or writing any content. Whether you’re looking to simply make an […]
Pros and Cons of the Google Ads Grant for Non-Profits
[…]If you need a boost to get going, don’t be afraid to reach out to neighborhood friendly digital marketer. $10,000 a month in ad revenue is a good chunk of change, and it may be worth a small investment of time and/or money to ensure you’re maximizing every dollar you’ve been awarded. Need Advice on Google Ads? Want to See if Your Google Ads Campaigns Are Up to Snuff (For […]
How to Start a Peer Review Circle to Improve Your Content
[…]engage in some kind of writing. Even if you aren’t a small business owner or don’t do marketing or promotion as your main work activities, you still need to know how to write effectively in order to communicate with a variety of audiences. Being technically correct in your use of spelling and grammar is important and there are many tools available to help in this regard. It is far more important, however, to be correct in your use of industry-specific terms and to communicate effectively with your target audience. One method you can use to become a better content writer […]
Creating a Healthy Buzz: Why You Should Use Social Media in Healthcare
[…]not come as a shock that integrating social media into healthcare is a complex feat. This is why marketing departments exist in large hospitals–to internally manage social media and more static forms of advertising. Healthcare organizations who don’t have marketing departments can still embrace social media if they create a strategy that guides their staff in the careful, conscientious use of social media. Need Help With Social […]
3 Benefits of Blogging for Non-Profits
[…]venue to hone your pitches to the different audiences you want to attract. While many successful marketing strategies (such as practicing elevator pitches with colleagues) require you to be succinct when delivering your message, blog posts allow you to provide details, evidence, and a rationale that reinforce the main strengths of your organization. Engaging in these deep dives into particular topics (i.e. how your main cause affects everyone in our society) may enable your organization to continually refine your marketing over time. Benefit #3: Blogging Can Promote Your Non-Profit’s Long-term Plan While non-profits can inspire the commitment of staff members and […]
Why Writing Matters for Business
[…]public than ever before. This is very true in the business world as well where company websites, marketing materials, social media platforms, and other channels all converge to provide audiences with a window inside organizations. The question becomes: will these audiences like what they see? To help your organization write better, below we provide three writing improvement tips. Writing Improvement Tip #1: Document All Key Business Processes One of the first things we do during a conversation with a new client is ask what they’ve written down about their organization. Do they have a website? If so: when was the […]
How to Create SEO-Friendly Product Pages for Your Website
[…]in Chicago that offers SEO, PPC and web design services. With more than 25 years of sales and marketing experience, Brad has been featured in leading online publications including Smashing Magazine, American Marketing Association and […]
Social Media for Small Business: 3 Do’s and Don’ts
[…]in a Nutshell Small business clients sometimes come to us with the following misconceptions about marketing their businesses over social media: The goal of social media is to “go viral” by getting thousands of interactions very quickly The best way to “win” at sales over social media is to make every post about selling a product or service Customers use social media to learn about what to buy For small businesses, these mindsets can get in the way of being effective with social media marketing. Here are slightly different ways of thinking about social media that we recommend to all […]
Engage! The Importance of Using Calls to Action (CTAs) on Your Website
Websites can be powerful marketing tools: they can convert visitors into customers or donors. To do so, you need to include calls to action (CTAs) that guide your visitors. It is not enough anymore to simply create a website and wait for the magic to happen. If you build a website without a strategy, you may convert a few visitors into customers. But if you want your website to be a tool for customer or donor engagement, you need to strategically employ calls to action in your website design and content. What Are Calls to Action? A call to action is […]
How to Find the Right Editor: 5 Questions to Ask
[…]about their experiences working with the editor. Question #3: Ask For Their Portfolio If part of a marketing firm, an editor may not be hired to work on every project (i.e., a website redesign might only involve graphics and not writing). Make sure to ask to view projects an editor has worked on. Read through the content to check for errors. Their representative projects should be error-free. Question #4: Ask For a Sample Edit It’s not unreasonable to ask to see proof of concept. An editor should be willing to edit a paragraph or to simply point out the errors […]
6 Tips for What to Include in a Website About Page
[…]energy to craft. If you are struggling to create an about page for your website, seek the help of marketing professionals that can aid you in achieving your vision. Need More Help With What Goes Into Your Website? Check out these other articles on the features we recommend for small business and non-profit websites: What Features Should You Have on a Small Business Website? What Features Should You Have on a Non-Profit Website? Looking for Help with Your Website About […]
3 Tips for Building a Non-Profit Website
[…]a community of followers. Small businesses are different than non-profits in that they are often marketing products and services through their websites. Non-profits provide services at reduced cost or at no cost, and also have to attract volunteers and donors to continue to provide these services to their clients. Because of this, the focus of any non-profit website should be building a community of people who care about your cause and are willing to contribute to your mission. You want your website to showcase the types of events, fundraising efforts, and programming that your organization is engaged in. You want […]
When You Shouldn’t Write Your Own Website Content
[…]A good lawyer can help you establish enforceable rules of engagement on your website. An excellent marketing team composed of writers and designers can help you execute your vision for your website. A thriving website needs many voices. Make sure you’re including the right ones. Looking to Write Your Own Website […]
A 4-Step Website Audit Checklist for Small Businesses and Non-Profits
[…]ways. Unfortunately, many websites fall short of this goal. To make sure that your website is marketing for you 24/7, as it should be, follow our website audit checklist. Step 1: Conduct Interviews or Focus Groups with Target Audiences The best way to know how your website is performing with your target audiences (i.e., current customers, potential customers, current donors, potential donors, etc.) is to talk to them face-to-face and to see what they think of your website. You’ll learn valuable feedback that you’ll be able to incorporate as you work to make your site more appealing to the people […]
How To Supercharge Your Social Media Strategies Without Spending a Fortune
[…]you to see all the content you have scheduled. What NOT To Do Over Social Media Just like all marketing straetgies, social media strategies can be either effective or ineffective. It’s your brand, and what you post on social media is completely up to you. As a rule, though, you should probably avoid the following when posting to social media: Arguing with your followers: Every time you post on social media, you need to think of yourself as being on a public stage. Would you argue with a potential customer if you saw them in public? Probably not, so don’t argue […]
Not Magic: Who’s On Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube in the U.S.
[…]exactly who is using each site and what that might mean for your organization’s social media marketing efforts. Who’s on Facebook in the U.S. Facebook is a social media giant. Approximately 90% of U.S. social media users are members of Facebook. Over 56% of U.S. residents use Facebook. What’s more, U.S. Facebook users are committed: 70% are on Facebook on a daily basis. In addition to being a force on social media, U.S. Facebook users are diverse. Not surprisingly, Facebook attracts a young crowd: 63.7% of U.S. teens and 84% of U.S. residents 18 to 29 years old use Facebook. […]