Showing posts with label online marketing. Show all posts
Showing posts with label online marketing. Show all posts

Thursday, July 2, 2015

Here's how I Increased My ROI Because of Online Marketing

source
Running my own business was a childhood dream. When I was young, I would enjoy visiting my father’s restaurant business and sat on his chair. I would see my father managing the family business like a piece of cake. His staff would even tell me that I would be managing my father’s business as soon as I grew older. My childhood dream came true; however, it was not as pleasant as I imagined when I was younger.

When I reached the age of 25 last year, my father gave me the responsibility to run our business. By this time, the business has grown and expanded in some cities in the country. It was quite difficult to manage a business with 15 different branches nationwide. It was a big responsibility given to me and I cannot afford to disappoint my father. The business has been running smoothly not until recently where competitors have started gaining more popularity in our area. The food industry is the most common business and competitors will always challenge other entrepreneurs. I had to make a strategy to make our business better than the others. That was the time when I decided to put a website under our restaurant’s name.

It was my cousin who created the website of our business. We talked about the design and the layout that will attract more customers to our restaurants. What he did was put the story behind my father’s restaurant business. The website also features the restaurant’s specialty and other services such as catering and deliveries. With the locations and contact numbers online, customers find it easier to place a reservation or even order online. A Facebook page was even created by my cousin to increase the restaurant’s popularity. Here, I was able to post pictures of our menu and received overwhelming comments from our patrons. Slowly, the business has earned more profit, and we made two of our branches open for 24 hours. By next year, we will be opening branches in different provinces.

What I learned from having our own website is that it has made possible for people to know our company. Our online presence has made a great advantage against our competitors. Further, because of our online visibility, people have access to us anytime and anywhere. It also saves their time in reserving a seat in our restaurant unlike before where customers had to wait for others to finish. The name that we built online has gained popularity and earned customer loyalty. The best among these is that the profits of our restaurants have been increasing yearly with the convenience provided by the website and Facebook page my cousin has created.

For those of you who want to invest on creating a website, I definitely recommend this to any entrepreneur. This is best for those starting businesses that are still making their way to the market. It takes money, time, and effort. However, with the positive return of investment, you will surely tell yourself that investing on online marketing strategies is effective and the best thing that your business needs.

Wednesday, June 10, 2015

Five Amazing Things You Never Thought Could Be Done Online

Amazing – a single word that could sum up everything about the Internet. Almost everyone around the globe has experienced being online. Using a computer, there are countless things one can do when connected to the internet. For students, there is a huge amount of information online than can help them do their research work. This helps them save a lot of time being in the library finding books that might never have existed in the bookshelves. Further, the Internet has made the world closer through the creation of different social media pages such as Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and the like. These apps have made it possible for people to share photos and even chat with their messaging applications. Truly, the Internet is a blessing to mankind. However, what else could one possible do when online?

Shopping

Are you tired of going out of your homes to buy a dress? Do you want to avoid the long lines and crowded stores during Christmas? Then, online shopping is the best for you. Online shops are ready to offer you the best products and deals. You can choose from a wide variety of products that can range from upscale clothing to groceries like what valetshopper.ph has to offer. Simply click on them adding them to your cart. Payment is easy when you have a credit card. These shops send your items through courier right at your own homes. How convenient!

Maps/Location Finder

Having trouble finding a good restaurant in your trip to Paris? Looking for a new club to hangout in Manila? Go online and use maps or location finder to find places you want to go to. Moreover, the maps can also be used when you are driving on an unfamiliar road. With the GPS technology, it is easy to locate you in the planet and find your destination while driving. No more problems of getting lost in the city or in the country.
 
File Storage
Ever had a problem sending a big file document to a friend through email? Today, there are lots of online file storage that can accommodate up to 36GB memory. Upload your files on Dropbox or Google Drive and make sure to share it with the recipient of your file. Now, you can even send downloaded songs or movies with just a few clicks online. Further, you can also use the file storage to keep all your documents if your USB does not have a large memory capacity.

Studying

Online classes are very possible with Internet. Through different chat applications such as Skype, it is possible to hold classes anytime and anywhere. This is especially useful to those individuals who are studying in online courses. Online courses usually include master’s degree, short courses, and even reviewing for English proficiency test such as the IELTS or the International English Language Testing System examination. Learning is now much more convenient with the Internet.

Marketing

Are you a business that seeks more customers and popularity? Don’t just settle with TV or paper ads. Use the Internet to advertise your business. Simply make an account on different social media networks like Facebook and upload different pictures of your restaurant and the menu it offers. Further, create a website that can be linked to this media page. Internet marketing has tremendously increased in the past year, and it is considered one of the most effective ways in boosting online presence.

Don’t just go online to play games or chat with friends. Explore more possibilities and enjoy using the Internet.

Wednesday, June 3, 2015

How Do I Market My Business Online?

Sitting by your desk in an office for eight hours can be pretty stressful and boring. Some office workers even say that having a desk job is close to having a sedentary lifestyle. While others prefer working for a company, others take the risk of putting up their own business. Almost everywhere you look today, there are a number of people opening their own restaurants, boutiques, and shops. Having your own business seems to be trend, and these entrepreneurs are managing them quite well.


online marketing strategy - website design, SEO, social media

 
 
In managing a business, marketing your services or product is a priority. You have to attract more customers, interest more clients and encourage people to buy whatever you are selling. With the existence of current technology, marketing has been better. Entrepreneurs nowadays make use of online marketing, which is cheaper and has proven to be more effective than other forms of marketing. How can one market his or her own business online?

There are a number of strategies to make your business gain online presence. By doing these, the business is sure to gain more loyal customers, increasing your profit.

· Build a company website

International companies make use of their websites to inform other people what kind of company they are. For your business, this is a good step in letting the public know of your existence in the market. The website can be a hub where people find information about your company and the products and services it offers. It can also be a gallery of your offerings to let the public know that you are a legitimate business. When you create your website, consider finding a good web developer. Working together with a web development company will ensure that you get what you want in your website. Also, make sure that the website is mobile-friendly as many people now prefer using their smartphones in accessing the Internet.

· Good SEO

Search engine optimization (SEO) works hand in hand with web development. In the process of creating your website, SEOs will conceptualize strategies to make your website known. What they basically do is incorporate SEO techniques to your website for it to be searched on different search engines. SEO specialists build links and even create blogs that promote your business. These links and blogs lead to your website increasing the number of its visitors. As a result, traffic is gained thereby ranking you to a search engine’s search results page.

· Utilize social media

In this age, people are connected through different social media networks. They not only use it for communication but also for finding new businesses online. According to a recent survey, most customers who visit recently opened restaurants and cafes have found out about it through Facebook. It is very easy to spread news and information about one’s business online. Making your own business page allows you to update your customers and even an avenue for your clients to make business reservations. With the social media networks, finding your target market is easier.

Managing your own business is as stressful as doing a desk job. However, there are a lot of risks involved here as poor marketing can make your business go bankrupt. For all businessmen, making use of online marketing is a good step towards the business success. Take advantage of the social media network to gain more followers and turn them to avid and loyal customers.

Thursday, May 21, 2015

First Page: How important it is to be Ranked 1 in All Search Engines?

"I sell computers and computer parts for a living. A friend of mine told me that I can boost my sales if I setup a website for my business. Knowing a little about building a website, I launched my own website last year. However, I sometimes try to find it on Google search but I cannot see it on the results page. They say that ranking on search engines are important, but are they really that significant? What if I can never get a spot on the first page search results?" Reagan, 34

A lot has been said about putting a website to increase product popularity and sales. Entrepreneurs follow this advice, yet somehow, they fail to see the other need in having website – the need to reach the first page ranking on search engines.

Imagine yourself looking for particular information about the periodic table. Using a search engine like Google or Yahoo, you type the words “periodic table” and once you click search, millions of websites are presented that has relevant information on your word search. The words that you use are keywords in finding all the information related to your search. The results are those online sources that contain the keywords which the search engines think are helpful to your search. With all the information about periodic table from textbooks, journals and published articles, getting on the first page of the search results is a competition. 
 



This is the same for any kind of business. Your website should increase its traffic to be on the top search results. This is possible by utilizing search engine optimization (SEO) or pay-per-click (PPC) campaigns. These two are different strategies that help your website gain traffic to reach the first page results. With an SEO, they need to provide a good and strong content with keywords that can easily be searched by search engines. PPC, on the other hand, will place ads that will lead to your website once clicked. The two are different but their results are truly overwhelming. With this talk about reaching the first page, why is it so important to be ranked first or be placed on the first page results?

First and foremost, it will increase your visibility in the World Wide Web. People will know that such company and brand name exists. They will look forward to knowing what deals you can offer. Further, being on the first page results means the content of your website is relevant and better than others in the same nature. Yours are ranked higher since what you have is legitimate, helpful and most of all important for the search. Also, being ranked on the first page shows that your website is increasing its revenue. The more people visiting your website mean the more people getting satisfaction from your product or service. It shows that you are true to your service which boosts loyalty from your consumers or clients.

It is important for your website to be on the first page because clients click more on those searched items. Most do not click on further search once they get what they need on the first page. To be placed on the first page is important to your brand name and to the business’ profit as well.

Wednesday, May 13, 2015

What is the Advantage of Having PPC Campaigns in a Business?

Internet marketing has proven its worth in building a name for a company in the World Wide Web. Since consumers are mostly glued online, targeting them has been easier and much more convenient. However, thinking of ways to attract more clients into visiting a particular website involves a thorough research on trends online. For a certain campaign to be successful, there are different ways to increase traffic to your website.

image source: http://opheimdev.com

PPC campaigns or Pay-Per-Click attracts a lot of entrepreneurs since it can actually acquire traffic easily for a particular website. For businesses that have some money to invest, PPC is a good strategy for their business. The only downside of using a PPC campaign is that someone has to be knowledgeable and have a lot of experience in understanding how PPC works. Despite this fact, a lot of businesses still patronize the services of PPC. Here are some advantages in using a PPC campaign for your business.

Advantages of PPC Campaigns for Business

· Business can actually start with a small amount of money as an investment with a PPC campaign. The idea is you only get to pay PPC services once your ad is clicked by an individual. No fees in setting up an account, so it is easy and hassle-free.

· Since you can start with a small amount of money, you can manage your budget for a campaign pretty well. There is no threat on overspending on your account since you only pay when they actually click your ad.

· With a PPC campaign, you can easily reach your target market by specifically setting the target area. For example, you can have your PPC campaign to be only limited in a particular state.

· PPC campaigns helps you create a strategy that works best for your potential target market. This is possible by selecting the best keywords that fits your product or service. As a result, there is a greater chance for your page to be displayed on search results on different search engines.

· PPC campaigns increases brand awareness. Since it is usually placed on top of all searches, it can be easily seen by the curious public. Millions of people use the Internet everyday, so this is a good point to invest on.

· Using a PPC campaign results to a clear and better return-on-investment (ROI). With carefully chosen strategies, getting a positive result is assured.

· PPC campaigns make your brand memorable. It is important for business to have their brands remembered other than their company name. If the brand name is stuck on one’s mind, the marketing strategy used is effective and good results are to follow.

Many are encouraged to use PPC campaigns because of its stability and most of all, the cost of its service. Like what is mentioned earlier, a company will only have to pay the fee with the number of clicks done on their ad or companies can set a certain number of clicks that they can afford for their PPC campaign. It is easier to budget time and money for your company advertisement to run. So, if you are willing to invest more to increase website traffic, PPC campaign is the best choice.

Further reading:

PPC versus SEO - The differences between these two online marketing strategies. 

Friday, April 10, 2015

How Difficult is the Role of a Senior SEO Specialist?

Over the years, building a website has made it easier for businesses to be known and popular not only in their areas but in the whole world as well. It is clear that websites have bridged the distances between other countries to promote products and services. Further, these webpages have been helpful in attending to customers’ need for information on new products and services, and it has even become an avenue for clients to experience customer service. 
SEO specialist

Before a website’s success online, which is measured based on its rank on search engine results, it is important to increase a website’s traffic at its early stage. Website traffic determines the number of times a website is visited by different users. Website traffic can have direct traffic (when people typed in your website at their browser) or referral traffic (when people clicked on your website when it’s linked from other website like blogs). For a website to be searched by search engine spiders, it should contain relevant keywords. A professional who does this employs the strategy of search engine optimization (SEO).

What does a Senior SEO Specialist do?

A Senior SEO specialist is responsible for analyzing, reviewing and implementing changes on a website. The said changes are made to websites are optimized for search engines. As a result, the website increases its traffic and improves its rank on search results. The Senior SEO specialist has to come up with original content that contains keywords and phrases that are commonly used by their target clients online. Furthermore, they are also responsible in testing and implementing different search engine marketing techniques and advertising for search engine optimization.

Other responsibilities:

  • Improve organic search results
  • Plan and implement SEO campaigns
  • Do PPC (pay-per-click) campaigns
  • Utilize cheap yet strong keywords for websites
  • Write original SEO blogs to link to websites
  • Improve track site performance
  • Record and present SEO performance reports
  • Evaluate campaigns implemented
  • Manage expenses and make sure to stay on budget
  • Analyze competitor advertising links
  • Recommend to the clients changes on the websites for a better look to increase visitors

Being a Senior SEO specialist takes a lot of responsibilities. How important are they to a company or to a website’s success?

  • SEO specialists have the most effective and latest SEO techniques. They are knowledgeable in finding the best tool to optimize a website.
  • They give out clear objectives for the project they are handling. There could be trial and error stages to find the best way in increasing one’s traffic.
  • They have the expertise to make a website reach the top ranks through generating keywords and making use of them on relevant content.

It is fairly difficult to be a Senior SEO specialist. Some clients can be so demanding that they want to see immediate results on a given project. SEO strategies take a few weeks to see positive results; hence, they have to think on more creative ideas for the client. Further, the competition online is very tight. Other SEO specialists may use the same strategy on what one has. As a result, the ranks might not change. The most difficult part of it all is beating the deadlines on giving the clients the rank it needs online. Most projects are time constrained so client satisfaction is the top priority.

Wednesday, April 8, 2015

What Should I Know About SEO Service Pricing?

Having your own business is like having your own family. It needs to be taken care of and must be given attention all the time. It was a pretty difficult time last year, but I managed to open my own car rental shop. The amount of money that I have invested on this business might actually cost my life earnings. I got tired of working in the accounting firm I worked for, so I decided to take the risk and managed my own business. Seriously speaking, it was not what I imagined.

I thought having your own business wherein you are the boss was less stressful. It was not. During the first few months, I had a hard time getting a lot of customers in my area. The only customers I had were my friends of whom I realized was helping me earn a profit. With my wife, we thought of different marketing strategies that would encourage more people to my business. Some strategies worked while others were not that successful. After a year, my business showed little progress, just enough for my family to get by. Hence, I should start looking for more ideas to improve my business until I read about SEO or search optimization online.

This search engine optimization will require me to have my own website for them to do their services. Well, having your own website is not a bad idea after all knowing that all people nowadays are glued online. What I learned about this information is that they can increase the number of people visiting my website through different online strategies. However, SEO services are no for free. They have different pricing details.

The first is what they call a monthly retainer where the client as to pay a set fee every month. Of course, this payment is under the agreement they have agreed upon. It is the most common since it guarantees the best return of investment.

Some SEO companies offer contract services at fixed prices. As the client, I have to choose on a contract service that I want for my website.

A project-based pricing sounds promising too. These are specially designed to a particular client. As for me on car rentals, the SEO company will come up with different marketing strategy online that can boost my web presence in my area.

Finally, they have this hourly rate wherein services are paid on an hourly basis. The fees will depend on the location and size of the company. However, I personally think that this is pretty costly.

As a client, we should be vigilant on some suspicious claims of SEO services such as high guarantee, instant results, being on the top rank in search engines in no time, and even cheap prices for SEO services.

I was told by the SEO company I talked with that I have to choose which suits best for my company. Utilizing SEO services is an investment; hence, I have to be very considerate to the needs of my company. SEO takes time and results will not be evident in just a few short days.

With SEO pricing, every client should consider the need of their business. It is through this that they can establish their plans with SEO companies.

Wednesday, April 1, 2015

SEO Companies in the Philippines: Why are They Booming?

Foreign or local – new business have been started operating in the Philippines. Despite the economic status in the country, there are still a number of people who believe that they can make their business a success. As a step to have their company name known on the market, businessmen try different marketing strategies to attract their target audience. Investing on TV, radio and print ads have always been effective, yet they can be too pricey. For a businessman starting his own business, saving a lot of money on marketing is a priority. Hence, most tend to build their own websites – it is expensive but twice as effective as other media. 
 


 
Building a website is not enough. There should be a team of people managing and constantly updating these websites to increase its traffic. A website with high traffic gets more searched online. As a result, the business is introduced and made known to the public. To have this much needed traffic, one must bank on SEO or search engine optimization from SEO companies here in the Philippines.

The industry of SEO has undeniably been growing in the country. Businesses are more into getting their services rather than investing a large amount of money to other advertising tools. What has made the SEO companies here in the Philippines dominate the marketing industry?

(1) The buying pattern of consumers has changed overtime.

Consumers want to know more about the product or service they want to have online first before purchasing it. They use search engines as Google or Yahoo to find the product or service and carefully study the pros and cons before making a decision. As a business, putting up your own website with good high quality content helps you become known to this audience.



(2) Internet has become very accessible.

It was difficult to find an internet connection before. In the Philippines today, almost 4 million people are online. Nowadays, almost everybody is online checking on what the latest trend is. They want to be ahead of others and constantly check what they can take advantage of. With this in mind, entrepreneurs should always keep their websites posted and updated through SEOs.



(3) Filipinos are hooked on social media.

Almost everyone has a Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram account. These social media platforms made it easier for businessmen to reach their audience. It has been reported that a Filipino can spend up to four hours using the social media. This is a good point for entrepreneurs. SEO companies make sure that the website is linked to this social media networks for easy access and advertising.



(4) Internet has more access in the country.

Since the internet has been more accessible, entrepreneurs find it easier to attract more clients. SEO companies create different tools to make a website ranked on higher numbers by optimizing the keywords used by these different people. The increase in internet access in the country, the more people will be introduced to your company.



(5) SEO has been proven effective to a lot of companies.

People trust SEO companies because of the success rate they have in other accounts they handled. Though some might be pricey, investing on their services makes it more possible for a website to increase its traffic online.

Filipinos nowadays are almost glued with their smartphones. It is a great advantage for entrepreneurs to make use of this existing technology through the quality service provided by SEO companies.

Friday, March 20, 2015

Search Engine Optimization: How Long Does a Website Crawl in Search Engines?

Convenience: this could be one of the most positive effects the Internet has given to mankind. Back in the early years before the Internet was created, man had to do everything manually. Students had to go to libraries and spend hours gathering and collecting data to volumes of books. Today, doing research has become very easy. Typing some keywords on search engines like Google and Yahoo, you are given millions of information that carries the keywords. There is no need to be reading a lot of books since information on the Internet is fast and easier to find. However, have you ever wondered how certain results are given to us when we search online? 
 

When you search something online, you use some keywords to help you find them. These keywords are found in every content on the Internet. There are millions of webpages online that may have the same keywords. Search engines have spiders that build all the words found in the websites. The process of building is what we call Web crawling. It looks for all relevant information starting from websites who are very popular among the pages and have the most traffic.

Having that said, it is important for any business which has a website to build traffic to increase their visitors or traffic. SEO or search engine optimization is the key to this. SEO specialists create keywords that are relevant and powerful for a webpage to be listed on the top rankings. For this to be possible, SEO specialists build links, tags and blogs that will lead to the website. These people will even utilize the social media in gaining more people to check the website. These spiders can crawl in milliseconds and will not put you on top search results if your website has little traffic.

For your website to be on top search crawls of these spiders, it should have the following:

· the best content containing keywords of good content

- SEO specialists build keywords that are relevant to your content. They make it sure that these keywords are visible to spiders once web crawling has started. The changes in the trend in keywords are understood by SEO specialists – the reason why they can create content based on what is current.

· links from blogs and social media pages for it to be easily located
 
- Social media pages and blogs invite more people to visit your website. As people share this information, the more it gets popular resulting to increase in traffic.

· a website that is easy to load

- Some websites take a long time to load though your Internet connection is speedy. Some clients value their time so it is important to create websites that can load in a matter of seconds.


· a website that can be loaded on smartphones or tablets

- Almost everybody owns one. They use it anytime and anywhere so it is best to develop a page that is supported by these devices platform.

· a sitemap

- Sitemaps helps users to navigate through the sites they wish to find information.

· a working and good server

- Make sure your servers do their maintenance at off peak hours. You will lose clients if the server is always down or unavailable.

It may take a few months to gain good ranking; however, it is worth the wait. Choose SEO specialists who know what you want and can do your targets.



The bottom line: there is no definite time when a certain page will be crawled. But one thing's for sure: spiders love to understand the sitemap and architecture of your website, its meta data must be properly indicated. Submit your websites to search engines too.

Thursday, March 12, 2015

Different Types of Website Platforms

Internet marketing has proven its help in increasing a particular company’s popularity in the World Wide Web. It may be difficult to build a name online since it takes time and a lot of work; however, once your name is known, more and more clients and customers will begin trusting your brand name. With this, a lot of starting businesses put extra effort in finding a website platform that will be remembered by people using the internet.

Choosing a website platform could be tricky as you want to personalize as many details as you can for your page. There are website platforms that can easily be navigated while others might need a little more getting used to. As someone who wants to create something memorable, unique and attractive in the cyber world, here are some website platforms that you may check out.

1. WordPress

 
 
This is a popular choice among many web creators for the past years. Further, a lot of bloggers have been using this. WordPress is so easy to manage; it is not really a rocket science to make a page, but if you do know more on playing with codes, it will be a great bonus. This website platform has a variety of templates or themes you can choose from. Most of these are free while others are not. With this vast amount of themes, you can easily find one that suits your style. Like mentioned earlier, knowledge on codes can help you create plug-ins and your own theme as well.

2. Tumblr
 
It typically hosts a lot of short posts, yet it is still possible to create your own page. Though your options are limited, any person who does not have any idea on coding can manipulate this site. Setting up an account is easy: sign up, pick a template and start creating your posts. Since it has a networking community, other members can share your posts making whatever content you have be known in the web. Create catchy and witty posts to gain more followers on Tumblr.

3. Squarespace
 If you are looking for templates that are awesome, Squarespace might just what you need. Templates can be personalized to give you that stand out look among others. People who are good at codes can easily create wonderful customized tools on your webpage. Perfect for blogging and posting photos, your account can be shared on Facebook and Twitter – a good way in spreading your content on the online world.

4. Drupal
 
 
One of the popular and best CMS in town, Drupal is also a favored choice. What people love about Drupal is its security updates that are timely checked making your page secured. It might not be that user-friendly as it needs someone who has a lot of technical knowledge to create an account. Drupal is best for complex sites with a number of content.

5. Joomla
 
 
With a very powerful interface, Joomla has proven to the public that it is user-friendly. Codes available are free of charge, so you will be saving a lot from using Joomla. Anybody without technical knowledge on creating web pages can use it. Create, set, and manage – three simple steps in building your own page.

Different website platforms can have their own pros and cons. It is up to you to decide on which of these you will go for. Just remember to think of your target audience in building your webpage. The success of one’s website depends on how well thought of the plan is.