Small Business Web Marketing - Keep It Simple

I find a lot of small business owners are still overwhelmed when it comes to what to do on the Internet. Whether it is a website, blog, Pinterest, Houzz, Facebook, Twitter, etc. it is easy to lose sight of what it is all about. All these are just touch points where we have the opportunity to connect with potential customers. Keeping it simple will help make your online initiatives more productive. So how do we start?

In its simplest form the web is made up of content - text, images, and videos. That is what we upload to our websites, blogs, use in online ads, on social media channels and share with others in emails. And that is also what we need to focus on - quality, relevant content. Which means - written text, digital photos and videos that tell a story or fulfill customer's needs.

We also need a simple understanding of what is the purpose and goals of our online initiatives and define who is our targeted audience you want to appeal too. Only then can we then start to make a solid web marketing plan. Two great goals for small businesses start with:

• Build online awareness for our business
• Drive consumers to our brick-and-mortar storefronts

Now we have to sit down and start planning how to make the connection between content that will appeal to our targeted audience and get them engaged with our store. Again, keeping it simple to start with so we get comfortable doing this.

Probably the best place to start is by answering some questions:

• What are the common questions customers ask you when in your store?
• What are the most popular items people seek in your store?
• What services do you provide that your customers use your products for?

Now start to write a list of bullet points answering these questions. Once the list is completed you can prioritize the list and add a date by each one and where you want each one to be placed - website, blog, etc..   Review the list with your staff and have them help you gather the text content and images you may want to use with each one. Once completed either get this to your web designer or whomever in your store does the uploading along with a posting schedule. Lastly, keep adding new questions as you or your staff think of them. Try to make this a team effort.

This will start to become easier over time. At least now you are beginning to build a sound strategy that will evolve over time as you see what works and what doesn't. Either way you will be adding fresh content all the time that will help engage more potential buyers and definitely help with your search engine ranking placements too.

Slideshow on Online Local Business Listings

Below are some of my slides from the Surfaces 2012 tradeshow highlighting online local business listing examples and why they are important for local flooring stores.

Presentation Slides - Local Business Listings

View more presentations from WebstreamDynamics.

Building a Path For Success in 2012

To be really successful in business today you need to establish business goals for your entire organization. This may sound easy, but it is often misunderstood, or totally forgotten. The goals must be specific and customer focused so you can monitor and measure the results. Without being able to measure the results you have no clue if you are meeting your goals.

Too often I hear flooring businesses say they have a website because they have too.  I also see a lot of stores that just follow the group and have the cookie-cutter website offered by their major supplier or buying group, even though they are all in different marketplaces. Worse, these websites are never updated by the stores themselves to reflect their goals and specific customer informational needs, which means you have no effective way of measuring the website against your goals.

I also have seen this with some flooring blogs. They have a 3rd party creating and posting all the blog content for them. Unfortunately, the 3rd party often times has no idea what your goals are, what exactly is your product mix, nor do they understand the true informational needs of your targeted buyers. This means you are doing it because someone said you should, but you have no involvement or idea if it’s really helping meet your goals or having a positive effect on your bottom line. So why are you still doing it?

If you have not established any goals for this business year you should really take the time to list your key business goals. Then make sure everyone in the organization is aware of them and is striving to achieve them.

For example:

Let's pretend your business is split 40-60 between residential replacement business and commercial work. One of your goals could be for 2012 you are going to increase your overall residential replacement sales by 15%. That goal is measurable and can also be used to help decide on your marketing strategies. Now look at what are the informational needs of the residential replacement buyers in your trading area. What are the most effective ways (media channels) to reach them? What are the costs associated? Knowing the goal and your targeted customers' informational needs you can now start to formulate the editorial content you will need for print, Facebook, Twitter, Google+, blog, website, pay-per-click advertising, etc. Along with this you can create Call to Actions, such as: “Download our Before You Buy Checklist”, “Download this coupon” and tracking new replacement order transactions. These will help you measure if the customers are getting engaged and if you are you staying on track to meet your goal.

In the current economic environment businesses need to set goals, understand their customer’s informational needs and use their websites, social media, blogs and offline media channels towards achieving those goals. It is not too late to set your goals for 2012 and establish how you will measure them. Then examine your current online and offline content marketing to see if it is inline with your goals and with your customers’ informational needs. Also, look for new, cost-effective ways to reach and fulfill the informational needs of your targeted customers and help meet your goals, such as writing a column for a local paper, blog, or Facebook page.

If you don’t have the time then you should look to outsource the content publishing. Preferably, look for a company that already knows your industry and knows your customer informational needs. Be sure they fully understand your goals and there is a written agreement which describes exactly what they are doing for you along with an editorial publishing calendar. Also, establish how you and they will measure the results against your goals. Last, someone within your organization should read before hand everything they are going to publish for you.

If you are want to learn more about how to grow your business in this new marketing age I recommend you read: Get Content, Get Customers – turn Prospects into Buyers with Content Marketing, by Joe Pulizzi and Newt Barrett.It might be the best $12.90 you spend all year.

Google Newest Algorithm Change Affected By What's Above The Fold

On Google's Official Search Blog Google announced yesterday another Google alogrithm change that is based on the the page layout and what page content is actually above the fold. Websites that appear to stuff lots of PPC and banner ads above the fold pushing down useful content make find their search rankings penalized.

"Rather than scrolling down the page past a slew of ads, users want to see content right away. So sites that don’t have much content “above-the-fold” can be affected by this change. If you click on a website and the part of the website you see first either doesn’t have a lot of visible content above-the-fold or dedicates a large fraction of the site’s initial screen real estate to ads, that’s not a very good user experience. Such sites may not rank as highly going forward."

They seem to say here that there are two ways to be penalized..

1. not a lot of visible content above the fold
2. large portion above the fold is all PPC ads

What is somewhat confusing, how is Google defining: "visible content"?

The other question is what screen size are they using to determine "above the fold"? Monitors are becoming larger but most sites are still developed with 1024 x 760 pixel screens.

What I find somewhat ironic about this new Google algo change is Google Search doesn't seem to follow it's own rules. The screen shot below I grabbed is from a 1024 X 764 display size. Noticed the red -X-out areas are all PPC advertisements above the fold. At least 50% of the screen space is PPC ads. :-) If you pull out all the white space in the header it is even worse.

BTW, I think it is great that Google will use this to help reduce high rankings for web pages stuffed full of PPC ads (including Google AdSense). But, will inbound links continue to trump lack of visible content above the fold?

Accelerate Your Flooring Business Online

Just having a website is not enough any more. Even having a Facebook page with a few posts per month is not going to win in 2012. Search engines are constantly changing the rules, consumer browsing habits are changing, and even the devices we use to access the web are changing. Everything around you is accelerating and changing quickly, except your store’s online presence. Don’t be left behind!

Webstream Dynamics’ Accelerate is a solution designed to keep you on the top even if you have a buying group’s or manufacturer’s template website. A website is only one of many online consumer touch points. Search Engines, Blogs, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Google+, Google Places, Bing Local, Yahoo Local, YellowPages, Yelp, Localeze, Axiom, SuperPages, FourSquare, YellowBook, online business directories, Flickr, Tout, email marketing, mobile web, and more can all impact your business. Add to this keyword analysis and placement, search engine rankings, geo-targeting, link building, call-to-actions, customer reviews, analytics, measuring results, customer engagement, website updates, and more.

Too Busy Managing Your Business?
If you are too busy running your flooring store and you want a web partner for 2012 who can Accelerate your business online and help drive sales come see Webstream Dynamics and the WFCA at Surfaces 2012.

Surfaces Booth S6171
Just look for WFCA’s booth.. you can’t miss us both.