New and Just Released- $400 per month for 4 months
- Easy and quick to get started
- Learn the secrets your competition doesn’t know
- Tuned for every SEO benefit
- Visitor Friendly Design
- Connect with potential customers
Included is our new eBook: The Business Blog Marketing Starter Kit By Doug Williams © 2007 is your complete guide to Business Blog Marketing and “How To” guide on the operation of your new business blog.
Business blogs are sweeping the business community. Our starter kit makes it easy for you to tap into this incredible business tool. Our starter kits come completely set-up, and ready to use. Simply write your thoughts, link to resources, and publish to your blog, all at the push of a few buttons.
This kit is all that a business owner will need to start their adventure into the world of business blogging. You will be able to get business from new markets, be viewed as an expert in your field and be able to promote your company website with the search engines.
Our starter kit is pre-packaged and complete with:
- Business Blog fully set-up
- Blog planning consultation
- Keyword analysis
- A blog plan designed around SEO and business goals.
- Domain name – 1 Year (if required)
- Website hosting – 1 Year (if required)
- E-book that describes the operation of your blog and how business blog marketing works.
- Up to one hour training / Business consulting with Doug Williams
Call (800) 393-7740 to get started today!
Let’s say you are looking for an Allis Chalmers 1000 HP, 2300 Volt motor because the one on your centrifugal blower just died. Or maybe you need a second Parkson, Model 32FT2 Gravity Settler because you need to expand your industrial plant’s waste treatment system. Well you have to look no further than Kravas Equipment in Amboy Washington. They actually have many thousands of pieces of surplus equipment. Chances are if you need a key piece of process equipment, they have it.
This is actually one of my favorite stories. They have over 150 acres of land in Amboy, Washington. The president, Bill Kravas, has been buying surplus equipment since 1985 and he is very good at it. The problem is that they are one of the best kept secrets around. They are now the largest surplus equipment dealer west of the Mississippi. Bill Kravas has pretty much filled up all the existing buildings he has and is adding more storage space so he can continue buying more equipment.
Their new website is part of their new marketing effort being headed up by Demetri Kravas and Dawn Lingle. Their job is to reduce their extensive inventory so Bill Kravas can continue purchasing more surplus equipment.
We produced their new website design and development to integrate with their in house database that they use to track their inventory. Their new website allows you to search or browse thru their equipment listings. With a single click, add equipment to a shopping cart and you will get a quote back within 24 hours. If your need is urgent… then give them a call at (360) 247-5151 and ask for Dawn or Demetri.
Yes they are very important! Categories represent a summary of content that can be found on your entire blog. Categories give your blog focus and act as an ongoing reminder of your blogging plan. They are important to the search engines since these names are link anchor text. Clear category titles help direct visitors as they seek information.
The category title should be directly related to the subject matter and serve many purposes. Blog categories will…
- Define your blog’s purpose and content
- Keeps you on topic in writing blog posts
- Act as a table of contents for your blog
- Create related grouping of content.
- Makes it easier for readers to find related postings (user friendly).
- Using keywords in category names make your blog SEO friendly.
In business blog marketing, search engine rankings are extremely important. Using keywords in the category names is given a very high importance with the search engines and these appear on every page within your blog.
How many categories should you have? Five or six is a good number. Too few really doesn’t organize your postings and too many and becomes confusing to your visitors.
Categories if used correctly organize your blog and make it easier for both the writer and visitor.
Think of a blogging plan as a road map. Use your blogging plan to create focus and purpose for your blog. This can be a simple one page document. This helps you develop your vision and reason for blogging.
What is My Purpose for Blogging?
For business blog marketing purposes can include any or all of the following:
- Reach new customers or markets
- Promote products
- Visibility and branding
- Search engine rankings
- Be recognized as an authority
- Communications
Who is Your Audience?
Many times this is the same as your customer. This includes things like age, income, gender, etc? Are they home owners? What are their interests? Use this kind on information to select topics and how you communicate your ideas.
What will you write about?
Remember that your postings should be interesting to your audience and relevant to your business. Choose topics that you have an interest and passion for. This way your enthusiasm will show and you will enjoy it more.
Keyword Plan
If one of your purposes is to promote your company website on the search engines, then choose keyword phrases that are relevant to your topic(s). Develop specific pages each phrase will link to.
Developing a Blogging Schedule
Blog a minimum of three times a week if you want to develop an audience and get good results with the search engines. It’s easiest if you set aside some time either every day or every other day at the same time.
Remember to relax, have fun and enjoy. Writing can be fun, even therapeutic. It can be exciting when you start engaging others in conversations.
Writing blog posts and making comments on blogs is actually very simple. Your writing should be clear, concise, lively, factual, and optimized for the search engines. There are no hard and fast rules on blog writing, only guidelines to follow. These guidelines apply to both personal blogs or for business blog marketing.
- Create a plan and follow it. If your goal is business blog marketing, write your postings around a core subject. Having a blogging plan is like having a business plan for your business. If you are promoting your plumbing company, write postings about plumbing issues.
- Keep it short and sweet. Using short sentences are best. Aim at keeping your posts at about 250 words. Use bulleted points or a numbered list whenever you can. In blog writing, less is more. Keep sentences and paragraphs short.
- Make it fun to read. Don’t be afraid to write with personality. People like people they can relate to. Also remember that people trust people that they consider authorities.
- Linking is important. Each post should have links to previous posts, quoted sources, definitions, articles, products, bios and more. Use links to support your opinions and statements.
- Link Text is Important. If one of the purposes of your blog is to promote your business website, then use keywords in the link text to promote your business website to the search engines.
- Ask questions to engage your readers. Asking questions is a good way to get comments back and to start a two way conversation. Watch your statistics and see what topics get the most attention.
- Encourage comments. Make it easy for your readers to comment. Avoid registrations before comments can be made. Comments are the lifeblood of a business blog. Ask your readers for information and opinions and experiences.
Blog marketing uses blogs to publicize or advertise a website or business. Business blog marketing is simply marketing your business using a blog. About 70% of all businesses have a website of some sort today: this is website marketing. Less than 10% of businesses today are currently using blogs to promote their business: this is business blog marketing. Blog marketing is starting to become commonplace as companies start to use the Internet for publicity.
Blogs are a communication tool used to provide an engaging online experience for your customers. Business Blog Marketing is a strategy used for marketing, visibility and branding. It is also effective to help generate leads, increase sales, improve communications and promoting your brand online. A blog makes your business visible. Blogs open up new markets for your business.
Blog marketing builds a following of customers and prospects that are interested in your company’s products and services. The goal is to create a following of readers who will give feedback and comments to what you have to offer or things you plan on offering. Blog Marketing is about consistent posting of valuable information to your readers on an ongoing basis.
Effective marketing is a two way communication. Trade shows and workshops are examples of marketing that allows two way communication. Surveys are used to understand what your customers are thinking. Blogs allow a conversation type relationship with your customer that allow feedback.
Business blog marketing allows your marketing to talk directly to customers. A business blog is a communication tool that allows your business to reach a new audience by writing in a conversational way and showing the human and personal side of their business
Portland web design firm, Cyphon Design, specializes in creating high quality yet affordable web designs that promote your business with simplicity and style. They provide the highest quality design services to both small and medium businesses that need a professional image in their marketing materials. They will design a great looking web site and help you with ways to make the most of your Internet marketing. Your website speaks a great deal about your business. By focusing on your customers, giving you the latest technologies along with our creative designs… they make you look good!
Cyphon Design: They have the capabilities and expertise to meet your most exacting requirements. First Cyphon Design spends time understanding your business and your marketing goals. They then translate your marketing message into captivating online designs to give you the image you deserve. Their websites are high-end web designs that are intuitive and easy to navigate.
They design banner ads, Flash ads, create email campaigns. They write ad copy to get your marketing message heard and most of all to get you the results that you need.
We at Doug Williams and Associates have worked with Cyphon Design on multiple projects and it is a pleasure to work with a professional, top notch design firm. Lien Hong, one of principals is an outstanding designer and we wanted to highlight Lien and her company on our blog.
Doug Williams, Web Design / SEO Consultant
One of our most satisfying web design – SEO projects was working with a local non profit school who trains blind and visually impaired for a career in piano tuning. They bring in students from all over the United States for training. Training is a two year program with only two months off each summer.
The School of Piano Technology for the Blind approached us to re-design their website to help them attract new students. Their old website was home made type design and was all but invisible on the search engines. They needed their new website to be completely handicap accessible for the blind. This was our first website designed for blind “viewers.”
They wanted to be highly ranked for people searching for “piano tuning school for the blind.” We asked why? You are much more than that… you are offer careers for the blind. They agreed.
We quickly learned about screen readers such as JAWS (Job Access With Speech). This software converts words on the screen into an audible voice. We added jump boxes which allow easy navigation using screen readers and the website was designed in XHTML and CSS for maximum compatibility. A high contrast viewable mode was added for the visually impaired.
The result. Their have great search engine positions on Google, they are extremely happy with how their website functions and most of all their classes are now running at capacity with new students finding out about their school and coming from across the nation.
Doug Williams, Internet marketing Consultant
Branding is about making your business unforgettable. When you have a different name for your business and a different name for your website you create confusion. I am a strongly in favor of naming your website and your business the same. This way if someone knows your business name, they will know your website name. Make it easy on them.
There are two events where you should look at domain and business names. The first is when you are first beginning to name your business. The second time is if you have grown and expanded and you need to rename your business. For instance, you started out as a flooring company selling carpets and flooring and you have now grown into an interior design company.
I strongly recommend that you pick out both a business name and a domain name that match… preferably in a .COM.
Let me give you an example. Five years ago when I started my business: Doug Williams and Associates, the domain dougwilliams.com was not available. So I selected an abbreviated domain name: dwassoc.com. This seemed reasonable to me. It was short and easy to type.
Now here was the problem. When I verbally gave out my website or email address, I was having to spell my domain name. It just didn’t make sense to people. It was not intuitive and easy to remember. I finally got tired of this and sought out the owner of dougwilliams.com and purchased the name. This was the best decision I could have made. Now I say the website or my email once and they have it.
Another one of my clients puts together business referral networking groups. They were getting ready to expand from a local company to a national franchises. Their business name was Take the Lead and their website was itakethelead.com. Takethelead.com was not available. I suggested that they change the name of their company to I Take the Lead as part of their branding strategy… and they did. They are very happy with their decision.
In researching domain names, I like to use the tool domainsbot.com. There are a number of good ones out there, but this one is my favorite.
Remember, no mater what business name you select and which domain name you select, make it memorable. This is a key part of your company’s branding strategy.
Custom PHP MySQL databases are used to add interactive functionality to websites. By adding online tools, searchable databases of your work, pricing wizards and complex sign-up applications you can automate your business website.
Databases allow you to structure data on your website so that it can be searched, sorted, retrieved and displayed. Data can mean names, part numbers, photos or blocks of text. Databases allow visitors to interact with your website and make it much more than just a static electronic brochure.
For websites, the most popular database management system is MySQL, because it is free, works well, and most web hosts have it installed. This can be used in conjunction with a language such as PHP to create a website which interacts with the database.
PHP is probably the most popular of languages for interacting with MySQL databases. It can be easily used to create web pages for a site dynamically. Creating a web site in a language such as PHP and using a database to store the information, or some of it, has many advantages over a normal static site.
A database driven website involves the separation of a site’s content (words and pictures) from its design (the look, feel, and navigation). Databases are behind what makes Content Management Systems and Blogs work. PHP and MySQL are essential components for running the popular WordPress blogging platform. Some examples of online database applications are an online DISC personalty test or an online business systems analysis tool. Another common use is for vacation rental advertising websites.
Searchable databases are an excellent way to market anything that you keep in inventory. Structured correctly, these databases are regularly spidered by the search engines. So if you include specifics such as manufacturer and model number, these will come up in online searches. Databases of specialty used equipment and equipment parts do remarkably well with these online equipment databases.
