2008-09-11 Hi Everyone, We are LITERALLY counting down the days till the next SBMU! That doesn't mean we've forgotten about you though. The content keeps coming, like Stoney's amazing series of web marketing checklists. Make sure you check them out. Believe it or not, we're also looking ahead to next year. Some of the 2009 Newsletter ad spots are already sold, so let me know if you'd like to lock in your spot and see your ad displayed below my wonderful and witty opening remarks. Have a great week! Rachel Phillips
 Site Clinic: The Most Important Question You Need To Answerby Jackie BakerWhen I ask for website submissions for this column, the very first thing I want to know is what is your goal for your website? "My daughter says I need to have one", or "everybody has one so I should too" definitely don't count. I'm talking tangible, profitable goals. And these goals ultimately come down to just one question: what do you want people to do on your website? This is the most important question you need to ask yourself when building a new site or revamping an old one....  Turning the Gears in the Viral Machineby Jennifer LaycockI've written a lot about the thought process that goes into creating a viral marketing campaign. I've also written quite a bit about how to form your actual pitch when you get ready to seed the message. What I probably haven't focused on near enough is the need to understand the concept of interlocking gears and how it relates to viral marketing.  When This Industry Is One Of The Helping Professionsby Miriam EllisMarketing discussions can be kind of grim sometimes, with one cynical voice proving to all the others that you can sell literally anything to anybody with the right tricks. If you hear yourself saying things like this frequently these days, and something inside of you doesn't like it, maybe now is a good time to pick some new projects....  10 Steps to Creating the Perfect Small Business Blogby Mack CollierWhile many small businesses are curious about blogging, few understand the steps necessary to get a solid effort off the ground. Here's the steps you should consider to create the perfect blog for your small business.... Google, Germany, Gore and an Assault On Reasonby Miriam EllisGore is warning Americans to wake up, stop being so numb about their runaway government, their privacy, their ability to maintain a free press and an open market. But Gore works for Google. And Germany thinks Google is becoming a threat to one of the basic rights which the United States Constitution and most state Constitutions make much of - privacy....  The Best Dang Web Marketing Checklist for the Contact Us Pageby Stoney deGeyterThose who land on this page are showing clear intent in wanting to to get in touch with you. Providing only a few ways to contact you can alienate visitors who have a particular preference. Providing robust contact options and information ensures that you capture as many would-be customers as possible. The Best Dang Web Marketing Checklist for the About Us Pageby Stoney deGeyterStudies have shown that conversion rates for visitors who have visited the About Us page increase measurably. Those who visit here are looking for a few extra elements of trust that will help them decide whether to continue on or move on. What they find can mean the difference in a conversion or the visitor leaving your site for a competitor's. The Best Dang Web Marketing Checklist for the Home Pageby Stoney deGeyterThe home page is often the single largest entry-point. It is the page that gives the visitor the sense of who you are and what they can expect. Go wrong here and it can be all over before it begins. The Best Dang Web Marketing Checklist for Links and Buttonsby Stoney deGeyterLinks and calls to action are a great way to allow visitors to navigate from page to page, finding the information they feel is important to helping them make the purchase decision. Without these calls to action many visitors will simply not know what they are expected to do next. The Best Dang Web Marketing Checklist for Content Appearanceby Stoney deGeyterGreat content can get lost if it's not easy to read thrown into an otherwise cluttered page. Ensuring that your content fits visually into the site is just as important as having good content to begin with. If you want the sales message to get across, your visitors will need to read it. The Best Dang Web Marketing Checklist for Website Contentby Stoney deGeyterContent is an essential part of the persuasion process. Pretty, image-based sites may be appealing to the eye, but it's the content that appeals to the emotional and logical centers of the brain. The inclusion of content as well as the effectiveness of the writing are all crucially important to the sales process. The Best Dang Web Marketing Checklist for Website Navigationby Stoney deGeyterA strong, user-friendly and search engine friendly navigation is essential in helping people and bots through your site. You visitors need to find information quickly with minimal hunting and the search engines need to be able to follow the navigation to reach all site pages with the fewest number of jumps (clicks) necessary. If the navigation is broken or doesn't get people (or search engines) where they need to go, the performance of a site will suffer. The Best Dang Web Marketing Checklist for Website Architectural Issuesby Stoney deGeyterWebsite architecture can make or break the performance of a website in the search engines. Poor architectural implementation can create numerous stumbling blocks, if not outright roadblocks, to the search engines as they attempt to crawl your website. On the other hand, a well-implemented foundation can assist both visitors and search engines as they navigate through your website, therefore increasing your site's overall performance. Return to the Top of this Page 
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In response to... Google, Germany, Gore and an Assault On ReasonAl Gore is an advisor to Google but I would not say that he "works for Google". Scott McNealy of SUN Microsystems is the originator of the phrase 'There isn't any privacy; get over it." I think his use and mine were somewhat tongue in cheek but considering how much content pours into the net each day, one really does have the sense that privacy is going to be in short supply in the long term. Vint Cerf In response to... 10 Steps to Creating the Perfect Small Business BlogConcise, clear, easy to follow. This post is gold. Way to knock it out of the park, Mr. Collier. (psst - hey businesses. You'd be well advised to hire Mack and get your blog off on the right foot. Dig?). Amber Naslund Return to the Top of this Page 
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A list of popular small business forum threads from the last week
SMALL BUSINESS ISSUESLegislation Pushing For Paid Sick Time Does Anyone Here Have Experience With SCORE Writing Terms For A Jewelry Business How To Get People To Fill Out A Survey Associating Your Business With Controversial Issues Esquire Magazine Unveils Cover, Ad Spread With Electronic InkSEARCH ENGINE OPTIMIZATION Absolute V. Relative Internal Linking Spamming Your Page With Key Words Increasing Backlinks Google SiteLinksOTHER ONLINE MARKETING Authorize.Net Expanding Range Of Transaction IDs Sounds Silly But What Is Spam Ebay Suing Digital Point FounderFREE LINKS Free Business Card OfferPREVIOUS WEEK Small Business Forum Update For September 2, 2008 (If you like our search engine news, you'll love our small business news.) Return to the Top of this Page
Archive of Popular Forum Conversations:
Small Business Forum Update | December 16, 2009 Small Business Forum Update | December 9, 2009 Small Business Forum Update | December 3, 2009 Small Business Forum Update | November 18, 2009 Small Business Forum Update | November 4, 2009 Small Business Forum Update | October 28, 2009 Small Business Forum Update | October 21, 2009 Small Business Forum Update | October 7, 2009 Small Business Forum Update | September 24, 2009 Small Business Forum Update | September 17, 2009 Small Business Forum Update | August 26, 2009 Small Business Forum Update | September 9, 2009 Small Business Forum Update | August 12, 2009 Small Business Forum Update | August 5, 2009 Small Business Forum Update | July 29, 2009 Small Business Forum Update | July 22, 2009 Small Business Forum Update | July 15, 2009 Small Business Forum Update | July 7, 2009 Small Business Forum Update | July 1, 2009 Small Business Forum Update | June 24, 2009 Small Business Forum Update | June 17, 2009 Small Business Forum Update | June 10, 2009 Small Business Forum Update | June 4, 2009 Small Business Forum Update | May 28, 2009 Small Business Forum Update | May 20, 2009 Small Business Forum Update | May 13, 2009 Small Business Forum Update | May 6, 2009 Small Business Forum Update | April 22, 2009 Small Business Forum Update | April 15, 2009 Small Business Forum Update | April 8, 2009 Small Business Forum Update | March 31, 2009 Small Business Forum Update | March 25, 2009 Small Business Forum Update | March 18, 2009 Small Business Forum Update | March 4, 2009 Small Business Forum Update | February 24, 2009 Small Business Forum Update | February 11, 2009 Small Business Forum Update | February 4, 2009 Small Business Forum Update | January 28, 2009 Small Business Forum Update | January 21, 2009 Small Business Forum Update | January 13, 2009 Small Business Forum Update | January 5, 2009 Small Business Forum Update | December 9, 2008 Small Business Forum Update | December 1, 2008 Small Business Forum Update | November 18, 2008 Newsletter InformationThis newsletter may be freely redistributed by email in its unedited form. We encourage you to share it with others. |
