Websites and information for the Workshop at Northern Beaches Community College and Sydney Community College.
Understanding Keywords and Google Searching
It's important to understand how your page is read or 'indexed' by search engines. They place high priority on the words in the title bar of the page (up the very top - in the frame of this page it reads: 'Marketing Toolbox: 20 Great Ways to Promote your Business Online') and what is in headings on a page eg the bold blue heading text 1,2, 3 etc on this page.
Search engine robots are blind - they can only go on the text contents and how it's laid out to understand what a page is really about. So make sure your title bars don't just read 'Home' or 'Untitled' - each one should describe the contents of that particular page.
Within the body of your pages you need plenty of descriptive words about what you do and offer. Pictures are important, but not enough by themselves - there's nothing for Google to 'read' and understand. It's another reason to avoid too much Flash on home pages - moving pictures and music can look good, but often block Google searches and there are no actual words for it to index. To see what Google actually sees on your web page, enter the URL into this Search Engine Simulator - it may be a surprise!
To understand how people search online - Google, Yahoo or MSN, use the Google Keyword Tool and the 'Wonder Wheel' on the left-hand side of a Google Search. The best tool for tracking website traffic (how people find you and the most popular pages), is the excellent and free Google Analytics - make sure your web-person installs it for you.
Inbound Links to your website from other sites are also extremely important - they're like VOTES from others saying that your site is important. Think about how you can obtain inbound links - Facebook Pages, Google listings and LinkedIn are good places to start.
Advertise using Google's AdWords - plenty of information here on how to get started. Your ad would appear on Google's search site or someone else's website like these below (colours and shapes vary but the wording is always as you wrote it):
Establish a Personal Profile Online
This should be done on the 'About Us' page if you have a website, and by using other social media services.
LinkedIn has very good business credibility for networking, and free membership is sufficient. Here are two short videos explaining how to set up your LinkedIn account and build your network.
Set up your Google Profile so it appears at the bottom of Page 1 when a Google search is done on your name.
Create a business Facebook Page profile will get you web presence and a link back to your website - here's mine! Other business page examples: Centennial Parklands and Northern Beaches Know-how - FB members can add themselves as fans.
Email customers and potential clients: First, think about all the ways you can build your customer and fan list - you may already have the email address for many of them. I highly recommend the online service Constant Contact. I have used it for my weekly email for 5 years - very reliable and inexpensive. Have a go with their 60-day free trial - they have easy tutorials to walk you through it.
Worried about spam? Read all about the Australian laws so you do the right thing.
Text Messaging to Customers, Students or Clients: Check services from Telstra or from BulkSMS. Impact Data also provides excellent SMS & Email Messaging Services. Generally these services cost about 15c per text and you buy in bulk, then manage it all online - recommended.
Google Maps has full featured searching in Australia, so if you want a cafe in Avalon, directions to the beach or the location of another business, it's as easy as a regular Google search. Try it. Google is constantly adding map tools and it's becoming a very powerful business tool eg 'My Maps' - let you create a map of features that interest you or promote your business eg My Sydney Cafe Collection.
Now is also the time to add a free Google local listing with a description of what you offer, hours, website, phone number etc.
Watch a quick video on how to do a Google business listing:
Find out what industry directories there are that will list you - usually basic information for free and fuller listings at a price eg I-Do for the wedding industry.
Make sure you have plenty of information on your About Us and Contact Us pages and always have your phone number on the home page!
It's best not to have your email address visible, as it will be 'scraped' by spammers. Much better to have a Contact form like the 'Contact Us' page on this site.
Your Website and Domain Name
Free website builders you can experiment with are Edicy and Webnode or Google Sites. I recommend Sitesuite for excellent sites you can edit yourself (they are also good designers) or NetRegistry and Webcity for low-cost build-it-yourself sites. Many sites are now being built using the Wordpress system, which allows you to edit and update content as you want to.
Register your .com domain name at Godaddy and your .com.au domain name at MelbourneIT or Webcity (much cheaper). These services also have templates for setting up your own website at low cost - worth checking.
If you're not sure of what domain name to choose, use NameBoy to make suggestions. BUT then register it with GoDaddy.
As a no-cost option for a web site, you could register your domain name and have it 're-directed' to your blog - this can be done on the domain registrar's site.
Selling Products Online and Accepting Payments
Set up a Shop online: if you want to sell products, a simple way is to use an online product like Ebay's ProStore or Shopify. These allow you to create your own design and sell fixed-price items from an online Store. Your bank will also have online store options that could be integrated into a website - useful if you already have a credit card merchant facility.
You can accept payment through PayPal (owned by Ebay) - open an account and upgrade to a Business account. No cost, but the upgrade will take a few days to be approved. Now you can offer a link to a PayPal cart where people can pay for items eg accommodation, services, goods etc. People trust PayPal because of the strong fraud-protection measures. Check this very useful article How to set up an e-commerce site using PayPal to process.
If you're running events or classes, there are excellent services to promote them and sell tickets: check EventBrite and Amiando - they use PayPal to handle the payments.
Finally, you can give people your bank account details and ask them to EFT the payment. But unless you offer a real 'buy it now' facility, there will be considerable drop-off.
Flickr is another excellent album tool. Here's an example of the great food photography you can find on the site. Here's an excellent Beginner's Guide for Flickr. If you need quality photos for your website, check iStockPhoto - very cheap and enormous range.
Place your events online with Google Calendar to publicly show events online and to privately organise your event bookings. Excellent for when you want several people working jointly on a calendar.
Contribute your course or events to other online event calendars such as Meetup and Upcoming.
Share your Ideas: use Blogger to start your own 'blog' or online diary. A blog is your voice, and a website is your presence.
Blogs in Plain English:
How to start a blog with Google's free Blogger:
Blog Examples - FIRST check the very comprehensive Blog directory AllTop by topic.
Blogs I write on industry trends: Espresso Updates and another for quick photos: Ken's Quick Photos. Think of writing content in four different categories: trends, education, inspiration and product promotion.
Want people to download a document (that might be too large to email), catalogue or report? Use the free Box.net to host it. If you want to turn your work into a PDF file for downloading or sharing, use the Mac's free PDF facility when you Print, or on a PC use the free PDF995 or similar.
Place a PowerPoint online for people to see, using SlideShare. Sign up and use for free at SlideShare. [Google now also has an online presentation service].
Find blogs in your area of interest using Google's Blog Search. Once you find some blogs, many of them refer to other blogs in their side panels - you will find hundreds! How to keep up with all this?
Use a News Reader programme, either web based or software to keep track of your favourite blogs. Time to understand the little RSS symbol - read about it in this article.
There's also a treasure trove of information on every subject area available for free download as a Podcast from Apple's iTunes Store - not just for teens, and you don't need an iPod to listen!
Other Resources...
Keep track of your reputation and topics of particular interest (even competitors) with Google Alerts. To find yourself in a Google search, make sure you put the name in double quotes like this: "Your Name".
Ask your webmaster to install Google Analytics on your site - it's a free service that gives you an enormous amount of information about visitors and the popularity of different pages. You can also analyse the strength and popularity of your site with these free tools.
Try searching for yourself or your business now:
Add a little humour to your blog by adding a YouTube video. We all need a laugh!
Would it help to have a translation service on your web pages? If you deal with overseas inquiries or anyone who uses English as a second language, there could be advantages. If so, add a Google Translation or Babelfish button to your site - click and try it (then click your back arrow to return to the original page):
For more information and follow-up, please send me an email or phone 02-93694558.
