Useful Small Business Web Tips

How to Use Social Media for R & D

Have you ever wished you could use social media to conduct a focus group on your product or service offerings? No, you can't just open a Twitter account and say, "Hey, what do you think of our new recipe for pie?" But you can approach social media and use it for research and development two different ways: social media monitoring and directly seeking customer feedback. This is feasible even for a small business or one without a research-and-development budget.

Source: www.entrepreneur.com/article/220812

Why Your Small Business's Google+ Efforts Must Be Unique and Visual

With Google+ adding "Pages" earlier this month, the more than 260 million user platform has become yet another social network to add to your list of places to engage with potential customers. Let's also not forget the reach of its mother ship Google.com, which attracts more than 1 billion unique visitors each month. And according to a new study from search engine optimization firm BrightEdge, 61 percent of the top 100 brands have launched their own page.

source: www.entrepreneur.com/blog/220785

How to Hire a Webmaster.

In the web's early days, knowledge of HTML and an eye for graphics were all a webmaster needed to succeed. Now, a top-notch webmaster must be a jack-of-all-trades, excelling in server and application programming, graphics design, e-mail marketing, media development, site security, social media integration and more.

source: www.entrepreneur.com/article/218121

'Quick and Easy' Website Tools That Will Kill Your Business.

You wouldn't take your clients to dinner and serve them a fast-food meal deal. So why would you burden your small business with an "instant" website?
The downside: you get horribly invalid code (which affects your Search Engine Optimization or SEO). You get no keywords (another SEO killer). You get no real training on how to design a user interface or map out how pieces of your site should go together. You don't learn how content works, how content can sell for you, how blogging works, or any other number of tricks of the trade. That's why these "quick-and-easy" website builders will leave your small business in a world of hurt.

source: www.allbusiness.com article

How to Market Your Business Using Google Places

Here's a fact worth considering: 97 percent of consumers search for local businesses online. Another: 73 percent of all online activity is related to local content, according to data released by Google. This has huge implications for small businesses, which often depend on Google—in terms of organic and paid search—to generate phone calls, foot traffic, and overall brand visibility. But while most businesses spend time and marketing dollars perfecting their paid search campaigns and SEO strategies, plenty overlook one of the most valuable (and free) resources that Google has ever offered: Google Places.

source: www.inc.com article

Is Your Website Due for a Redesign?

Every day clients come into Blue Fountain offices looking for advice on how to improve the way they do business online. As we evaluate their current online presence, we often find that the best solution is a total redesign. This is a frightening prospect for many companies. Even though their website has failed to meet the business goals they set, they prefer a bird in hand approach out of fear that a redesign will confuse their current clients or customers.

source: www.inc.com article