Top 10 Internet Tips for a small business

Posted by admin

May 21, 2008

1. Don’t just have static website.

Have your website as a content management system. If you are a business and you still have a static website then it is time you convert your static website into a content management system. A content management system is a dynamic database driven website. A CMS will offer features that a static website cannot deliver.

2. Start using Google Analytics

Google analytics is detailed website statistics software that will allow you to measure your websites performance. You will be able to track visitor behaviour, find out what they are searching for and also how much time they spend on each page,. All this information can be useful to evaluate and improve your online strategy.

3. Start using Google Apps

Google apps is a set of useful business web applications that are free to use and designed specially to meet the modern communication needs of small businesses. Google apps lets you run useful web applications on Google’s infrastructure. Tools include a professional web-based email system for your staff, an online document centre where can store and share documents, an online shared calendar system for booking appointments and sharing your diary with other members in your team and other useful tools.

4. Get a Blog!

Having a blog on your website can have a big impact on the search engine ranking of your website. Search engines love websites with new and fresh content. A blog is an easy way to ensure that new content is available on your website. E.g. yyour website can have a news section as a blog where you can add articles on a regular basis.

5. Get professional Hosting

Cheap web-hosting providers are easy to find. They may be sufficient for static personal websites but certainly not advised for businesses. They are often poor in performance; websites are slow to load at peak times and they may experience downtime that you may not be aware of. This has a negative impact on search engine ranking. If you cannot afford a virtual or dedicated server then go for professional business level hosting.

6. Get listed into Google quickly.

Do not fall for marketing gimmicks that guarantee Top Google placement in 5 days. However there are still things you could do to ensure your website is indexed by Google quickly. The best way is to get a link to your website from another website that already has a good presence on Google. Your web design company may be able to help provided their own website has a good rank.

7. Build Traffic Using Search Engines

earch engines are the best advertising medium for cash-strapped entrepreneurs and small businesses to spread their brand in the market. Google dominates the search marketing world by generating nearly 80% of search traffic. Optimise your website for Google first before moving to others like Yahoo or MSN.

Send Newsletters periodically

Newsletters are an excellent way to build brand awareness, get new customers and send product reminders. It is a very useful technique and an effective means of marketing for small businesses. You can either send out periodic newsletters as product reminders or it can contain useful news, resources and information for you industry. Make sure customers can sign up from your website.

9) Focus continuously on website content

If you want users to visit your website again and if you want search engines to display your website over your competitors then ensure your website has good content and that it has new fresh content from time to time.

10) Don’t use tricks and be patient

Don’t try and trick search engines in a nay way or else you will get [penalised and loose your ranking. Search engines like Google can be very strict when websites try to trick it by offering duplicate content on pages or use other tricks to improve their rank such as stuffing their webpage with keywords or hidden links and texts used solely to try and boost search engine ranking. Instead be patient and try to focus on adding new quality content.

11) Hire a professional SEO team

If you are serious about online marketing you will need to hire a professional team. Search engine optimisation is a highly skilled and time consuming task. Most professional companies will offer an annual or a monthly contract as it takes time to build an online presence in the highly competitive search engine market.

Do not fall for marketing gimmicks that claim to get you first page rank in Google in 2 weeks for £39.99. This is not possible. First page rank in Google is certainly possible and it can do wonders for your business. However it is not something that can be achieved in a few weeks.

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