Online Reviews are Vital to Small Business

Internet marketing is becoming more important to small business as a means of attracting the local trade. While online sales have continued to grow, the use of the internet to find those same products or services from a local supplier has also grown; Google is reporting that 20% of all searches from desktops and 40% from mobile devices relate to location1. With two thirds of all search engine traffic, Google2 is handling 471 million location related searches every month, and so claiming your business’ Google Places listing should be the first step towards developing a successful local online presence for your small business.

While this all seems straightforward on the surface, the downside to this trend for using local search to find a local business is that Google also turns up every single mention that has been posted online about your business at the same time. Worse yet, your Google Places listing uses the number of reviews of your business to determine where it will place your listing in the SERPs, and displays the latest reviews regardless of whether they are positive or negative. If one unhappy customer goes online and posts a couple of dozen bad reviews of your business, these complaints might be all that potential customers see when your Google Places listing pops up in their search results.

The internet has had a significant influence on the way that people choose to make a purchase, with 58%3 of people indicating that they first do online research on the products that they are thinking of purchasing. When they do go online, only 24%4 of users go to a company website for their information, and the remaining 76% look in the search engines or ask their friends on social media. The ease with which we can now leave a highly visible opinion about a business that we have dealt with has seen 24%3 of internet users saying that they have left a review of a product or service that they have purchased, and 80%4 of internet shoppers have said that they have changed their mind about making a purchase or dealing with a business after reading bad reviews online. All of this indicates that people are willing to take the time to post a review and that others are reading them and paying attention.

For a small business this can be a double edged sword, especially if you aren’t aware of what is written about you online. If it turns out that you do have a number of bad reviews online they can be difficult, if not impossible to remove, and the first step to turning your online reputation around could be to contact InfintechDesigns.com about internet reputation management strategies for your business. Even if you have good reviews for your business online, it is important to keep them fresh in order to keep your ranking as high as possible in the SERPs, as the crawlers that index the Google Places listings value new reviews more highly than old ones.

Testimonials are a well established marketing tool, and online business reviews fill a similar role for online shoppers. Collecting good reviews for your business should be a part of your long term internet marketing strategy, and encouraging your satisfied customers to leave a positive comment on one of the internet business directories to bolster your online reputation is a constructive way to build your ranking in the SERPs. InfintechDesigns.com can help you to structure a search engine marketing campaign with the focus on your local customers that takes advantage of all of the online opportunities that are available to small local businesses.

eCommerce SEO Marketing Business and Computer Electronics Business

With big industries looking to tap on the ever-growing Internet market, small businesses can no longer afford to delay doing the same. If you’re an entrepreneur and your aim is to have a huge company, it’s high time to know about eCommerce SEO and local SEO.

What is eCommerce?

Electronic commerce pertains to commercial activities that take place on the Internet. When a business establishes a website with an interface where clients can transact, this constitutes online trade and thus makes that business engaged in eCommerce. The concept encompasses many fields including online shopping, web-based banking, stock trading, rentals and many others. Even small businesses offering personal services such as salons are under eCommerce once they establish an online page.

Why do businesses commit to it?

Many business owners cite three common reasons: (1) it promotes their business and boosts their company image; (2) it makes transactions easier for their current clients; and (3) it helps them offer lower prices.

A website is another means for promoting a company. It also helps prospective clients know that a particular firm exists and this company offers several products or services. On the customer service side, eCommerce delivers more convenience to a firm’s existing clientele as all these people need is to log online and click several buttons. Lowered prices are possible since owners get to minimize overhead costs. Programs replace human workers and these can take in the same workload without adding extra expenses to the entrepreneur.

What is search engine optimization?

Search engine optimization refers to methods used by individuals or companies for a website to rank in major search engines like Google and Yahoo. White hat techniques may include employing keyword research, producing multiple original online content materials and performing link-building tasks.

Why is eCommerce SEO important?

It’s vital because it helps maximize business potentials. Imagine the Internet as one big race and this race will award the top ten race participants with fantastic prizes. You only get to win something fabulous if you belong to the first ten winners.

eCommerce SEO helps you become a winner in the rat race that’s the Internet. Their professional writers, marketers, researchers and link builders can find ways to help you gain first page visibility. When you hire a competent team to do this, your business can win over clients, reap revenues and have a clear shot of gaining repeat sales or service requests.

Does Facebook Marketing Help Your Website or Faceb

Let me start off by saying that I think social media marketing is an incredibly important component of any inbound marketing campaign. Alongside SEO and content marketing, social media marketing helps build your overall online brand presence, connects your company with new and interested consumers, and strengthens your industry authority and more. Without a doubt, Facebook is still the 800 pound gorilla of the social networking world and should be incorporated into every company’s social media marketing plan in one way or another.

But in the last year or so I’ve noticed a growing trend when it comes to Facebook marketing—companies are giving their Facebook profiles a lot of “face time” on all of their marketing platforms—TV commercials, radio ads and print ads invite consumers to Like a company on Facebook; websites publish big “Find Us on Facebook” banners on prime page real estate and entire marketing campaigns are built with around the goal of getting more Facebook fans. While I think it’s great that so many companies are invested in having a strong social presence, it’s important to remember that every time you promote your Facebook page it’s Facebook that could reap the most benefits in the long run, not necessarily your company. If you’re not careful, your Facebook marketing just markets Facebook!

In my opinion, Facebook is not a place of commerce; people don’t head over to Facebook with the intent to buy. They go to check in with their friends, post funny videos or breaking news, upload photos from their family vacation, plan parties and so forth. Even though Facebook is doing all it can to become a one-stop-online-shop for users it’s still mostly a social site. When you promote your Facebook page, you are encouraging your target audience to check out Facebook INSTEAD of coming to your website. Facebook is the one that benefits from all of your traffic!

hink about it like this—let’s say someone does heed your call-to-action and searches for your company on Facebook. Once they are on your Facebook page, where do they go from there? Sure, they could click over to your website or blog (the end goal of any Facebook marketing campaign), but there are literally dozens of other links on you Facebook page that could take them away from your brand. Never mind the fact that their own profile and home page is just a click away, Facebook also puts ads in the side bar on your page. You might be advertising your own competitors! The last thing any site wants to do is send a targeted customer over to the competition.

Now I am not saying that companies should stop promoting their Facebook profiles altogether. Having a social presence is critical to online success today, and obviously you want to make sure your audience knows where they can find, connect and interact with your brand online. However, I am suggesting that site owners take a good hard look at their Facebook marketing tactics. The end goal should never be just “get more Fans.” You want to use your Facebook profile as a gateway to send more qualified visitors over to your site. Don’t turn Facebook into the end destination otherwise Facebook reaps all the benefits while you do all the work.

Pay Per Click Advertising What is Pay Per Click Advertising?

Pay Per Click Advertising simply refers to a form of Online Marketing whereby a company pays a particular source to advertise on their website, for example Google AdWords. Payment is charged per click-through to your website from the ad on another's website. This could be another company or individual's site or a search engine such as Google for instance. For the purpose of this explanation however, we will focus on Pay Per Click Advertising through the major Search Engines.

Pay Per Click Advertising refers to the form of Search Engine Marketing that sees company websites advertised in the sides and top of Search Engine Results for selected Keyword Searches. These listings appear as Sponsored Listings within the major search engines. As the name Pay Per Click Advertising suggests, payment for the advertising is based on the number of clicks an ad receives.

How does Pay Per Click Advertising work?

Pay Per Click Advertising is a step by step, often complicated process. Its success is dependant on a range of variables, such as Budget Determination, Keyword Selection, Search Engine selection, Bid Placement, Ad Creation and Campaign Review, each of which are explained below.

Budget Determination: The first step to creating a Pay Per Click Advertising campaign is determining a suitable budget to allocate to the campaign. Determining the budget is almost entirely up to the company looking to advertise. The only budgeting restriction is any minimum spend requirement as set by the Search Engine itself. These are generally nominal, between $25-50 in most cases. These spend requirements allow almost any website to undertake a Pay Per Click Advertising campaign, making this among the most accessible forms of Online Marketing.
Keyword Selection: The next step in Pay Per Click Advertising is to select the most appropriate Keywords for which the company wishes to advertise. This is often seen as the most important step as it indicates which Searches will display the company ad. To begin with, brainstorming should be undertaken to identify as many possible keywords and terms that are relevant to the company and its industry. Once this list is established, Keyword Selection must be based on two major factors. Firstly, research must be carried out to highlight the most searched for words or terms on the brainstormed list. This indicates the level of exposure each ad is likely to gain. The list should be ordered starting with most searched down the list to least searched. Once this is completed, further research should be undertaken as to the competition for each of the Keywords or terms in the list. The intensity of competition for each keyword or term will indicate the price of that keyword or term. This is thanks to the bidding system in place on the major Search Engines (see below).
Search Engine Selection: Once a budget is determined and keywords or terms are chosen, the advertiser must select the Search Engine on which they wish to advertise. There is a whole range of Search Engines online, many of which offer Pay Per Click Advertising. The largest of these, in order, are Google, through Google AdWords, Yahoo, through Yahoo! Search Marketing, and MSN, which has recently teamed up with Yahoo! Search Marketing. Each of the different Search Engines has their own advantages and limitations. Some are more popular than others, increasing exposure as well as expense. Others are smaller and therefore less expensive, but can be riskier due to lower exposure. In most instances, the most successful Pay Per Click Advertising campaigns work across a combination of Search Engines.
Ad Creation: Once the above steps are completed, a Pay Per Click Ad must be developed. These Advertisements become the visual touch point for the company's targeted consumers. The design of these ads has several restrictions placed on them by the Pay Per Click Search Engines. We will discuss the restrictions in place via Google AdWords, due to the popularity of this Search Engine. Many of these restrictions are replicated on the other Search Engines as well.
Bid Placement: Pay Per Click Advertising works on a bidding system whereby a company places a maximum bid for each keyword or term they wish to advertise for. This bid not only indicates the maximum the company is willing to spend on each click (Cost-Per-Click), but also plays a major part in determining the placement of the company's ad for that keyword or term. Recent alterations to many Pay Per Click Search Engines, particularly on Google, increased the evaluating scope meaning not only the Cost-Per-Click determines the ad placement. Also considered is the Organic Search Engine Optimisation of a Landing Page, i.e. how relevant is the page to the user's search. This has been termed “Quality Score”. This prevents companies from being placed above others simply because they have a larger Online Marketing budget.
Campaign Review: One of the greatest benefits of Pay Per Click Advertising is the ability for businesses to monitor their campaigns. Pay Per Click Advertising is a highly effective, highly measurable form of Online Marketing. Every time a consumer clicks through to a company's website, their actions within the site can be tracked. These actions can include number of pages visited, sales made, contact enquiries, newsletter sign-ups and more. Each of these actions can be allocated a particular value based on the dollars earned for the company. In turn, each click received can then also be allocated a value. The ability to track each click allows a Pay Per Click Advertising campaign's performance to be closely monitored and enables the campaign manager to constantly review the campaign, maximising the clicks which receive the most value and ensuring the overall campaign ROI is maximised. With the right selection of keywords, a Pay Per Click Advertising campaign can be a very cost effective form of Online Marketing. Each keyword can be individually evaluated, allowing careful monitoring of the campaign and ensuring only the most valuable keywords are retained.

What are the limitations of Pay Per Click Advertising?

Pay Per Click Advertising does have its limitations. The competition for keywords can at times be intense, driving the Cost-Per-Click to increase, in some cases rather dramatically. At times, this competition can be so intense that the Cost-Per-Click can reach $10 or more, especially on the more popular Pay Per Click Search Engines. For small-medium businesses, this competition can completely blow the Online Marketing budget, making it very difficult to effectively reach their target market. This limitation has been seen to be within the Pay Per Click Advertising key term bidding model. The advent of the Quality Score Indicator has somewhat reduced this limitation, as now it is possible for businesses to be seen in the paid search listings even if they can't quite match the financial clout at times thrown around by their larger counterparts.

One of the toughest limitations to overcome within the bounds of Pay Per Click Advertising however is consumer distrust of paid ads as compared to the Organic Search Results. Online consumers are increasingly learning that the Pay Per Click listings are in fact paid advertising, and that the only true indication of relevance to a particular search term is found in the Organic Search Results. Whilst this can be partially overcome through effective ad creation and content development, it is an issue that cannot be totally avoided. However, one positive of the Pay Per Click Advertising model is that businesses only pay when someone clicks on their ad. If a particular consumer chooses to ignore the paid listings, at least the advertiser doesn't have to pay. However, in order to reach the greatest depth and breadth of a market segment, it is important to combine effective Search Engine Optimisation with Pay Per Click Advertising.