Posts Tagged ‘Blog hosting services’

The Search for Bananas: Building Better Websites, PART TWO (continued from Friday)

By Rick Sloboda

Make it easy for visitors to share what they find on your site.

Godin liked the “send this page to a friend” functionality offered by some websites. By providing a little bit of information, such as name and email address, visitors could email pages to friends.

Since the publication of Godin’s book, the ability to share online information with friends and colleagues has grown exponentially. Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter make it easy for visitors to share with their networks. Today, sharing a favourite blog post or YouTube video is as easy as a single click.

This kind of sharing has become an important marketing tool. By starting an online conversation with your customers and their networks, you can develop a stronger web presence and drive more sales.

The Best of Today’s Websites Emphasize Marketing, Not Technology

Websites have grown up, and many have adopted Godin’s ideas and recommendations. Technology has become a means, not an end. Websites are segmented to target different audiences. Sharing has become a critical marketing tactic and tool. So don’t lose too much sleep over that little monkey. He’s often getting his bananas, and some chocolate sauce too.

What do you think? Are websites doing a better job of meeting the needs of visitors? Which websites are setting new standards of excellence and which are stuck back in 2002?

Rick Sloboda is a Senior Web Copywriter at Webcopyplus, which helps designers and businesses boost online traffic, leads and sales with optimized web content. Clients range from independent retailers to some of the world’s largest service providers, including AT&T (formerly Cingular), Quest Diagnostics and Scotia Bank. Rick advocates clear, concise and objective website content that promotes readability and usability, and conducts web content studies with organizations in Europe and the U.S., including Yale University. He speaks frequently at web-related forums and seminars, including Small Business BC, Content Convergence & Integration, SUCCESS and HRMA. Rick also serves as a consultant to various organizations, such as the Web Development Advisory Committee at Vancouver, B.C.’s Langara College.

Posted by Lynnette in Getting Organized, Technology on February 28th, 2011

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Tech Tuesdays: 5+ social marketing start-up tips for your small business.

For those who still aren’t sold on the social media phenomenon, these and these numbers ought to get your attention, or at least give you pause:

  • Social media adoption by small businesses doubled in 2009 from 12% to 24%.
  • 59% of small businesses with a social media presence say it has provided value.
  • 49% say their social media presence has produced advocates for their business.
  • 65% say they actively use it for promotion.
  • 1 in 5 small business owners are actively using social media, including blogs, Facebook and LinkedIn profiles.

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So if you’re considering dipping your toe in the social media sea, here are 5 of 30 musts you might want to keep in mind from inc.com:

1. Pull back the curtain: “Offering a sneak preview of new products, services or features online can help build demand and provide critical feedback to help smooth the launch.”

2. Be candid: “In unsure economic times, transparency goes a long way toward retaining and attracting customers. Giving readers the scoop on your company blog is an easy way to keep the lines of communication open.”

3. Reward customer loyalty: “Sprinkles Cupcakes, in Beverly Hills, California, uses Twitter to send out daily promotional offers. The tweets, which ask customers to whisper a ‘password’ to receive a free treat, have helped the company draw more than 17,000 followers.”

4. See what they’re saying about you: “A quick search for mentions of your company on Facebook, Twitter and Yelp can yield a goldmine of information concerning your reputation.” The owner of one Chicago bookstore focused on improving customer service after reading comments online.

5. Help others promote you: “Social media can help you find passionate customers who are more than willing to spread the word about your company. Crafts supplies manufacturer Fiskars reached out to scrapbookers by inviting four avid users to blog. Its crafts community has since attracted 5,000 users who serve as brand evangelists.

You’ll find some additional small business social media tips here and here.

Have you already gone social? What advice can you offer?

Posted by Lynnette in Technology on July 13th, 2010

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Is social media a trend that's too big for your business to ignore?

If it felt like everyone was talking about Twitter last year, it wasn’t your imagination. According to the Global Language Monitor, which documents, analyzes and tracks trends in language, Twitter was the top word of 2009, beating out other trendy words like H1N1, 2.0, Deficit and, of course, Obama.

That’s not all. According to Nielsen Online, Twitter grew 1,382% – and that was just from February 2008 to 2009! Other social media sites like Facebook and LinkedIn also saw impressive growth.

Forrester’s Nate Elliott says the social craze is here to stay and Canadians are the world leaders in embracing it. In fact, he says 57% of us use social networks like Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn at least once a month. (Americans are second, trailing at 51%.)

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Okay. So how does all this twittering, facebooking and linking in impact your business?

It turns out some Canadian marketers like Vancity and Molson have been using social media for 3 or 4 years. For the rest of us—social networking newbie’s—we have some catching up to do.

Forrester developed a cool tool your business can use to better understand your customers who use social media. Check it out here.

And the Harvard Business Blog’s David Armano, offers some additional insight with his six social media trends for 2010:

1. As networks continue to fill with noise, more will allow users to select the chatter they most want to hear.

2. Most companies will use social technology to find effective ways to serve customers more economically.

3. Businesses will become more savvy at providing incentives to increase activity within their networks.

4. Companies will formalize how their employees can—and should—use social media network to interact directly with customers.

5. As many organizations ban social networks on work PCs, smartphones will become the social media vehicle of choice.

6. Email sharing will become so ‘Year 2000’ as more websites allow users to share information directly through networks—why email when you can tweet?

What’s your experience with social media been like? How do you plan on taking advantage of the power of social networks in 2010?

Posted by Lynnette in Marketing on January 26th, 2010

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Tech Tuesdays: Best Blogging Platforms

Coke or Pepsi?

Mac or PC?

Uma or Oprah?

Ask any experienced blogger which platform is best for your small business and you’re liable to get a very specific response. Ask another and you’ll likely get an equally specific opposing opinion. That can make it a challenge for a novice to decide between platforms like blogger, wordpress, typepad, livejournal or others – no one, after all, wants to feel confined by a platform’s limitations once a blog is up and running.

As rstanley at Highfade.com explains, the truth is:

“There’s no such thing as a blogging platform that is objectively the best platform, because every blogger has unique needs.”

So, if not the best platforms, which are the most popular?

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Combine the hosted and self-hosted versions of WordPress and Movable Type (which includes Typepad), and these platforms dominate, supporting 60 of the top 100 blogs. So while it’s difficult to say which platform is the best, the ones the world’s most popular blogs use ought to give you a good idea.

Other considerations.

According to Maria Reyes-McDavis, the three things to consider when choosing your platform and building your blog are:

· Goals: “Whatever your goals, they need to be a result of your business objectives…. How you build, maintain and market your blog will depend on your goals.”

· Money: “Be realistic about money and your entire online experience. Don’t plan a caviar plan with a kool-aid budget.”

· Technology: “Build a blog you can easily manage. Blogging can be time-consuming…. And, think long-term too. It’s a heavy cost to realize an make changes later.”

What blog platform are you considering or do you use? And what are the pros and cons?

Posted by Lynnette in Technology on December 1st, 2009

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