I was interviewed this week by Rob Wilson of
www.r-plus.co.uk.

We talk about small business websites, why they don’t work, why WordPress is a good choice for a small business owner, how to make your website search engine friendly.

We finish with some more detailed information about our new Website Bootcamp Weekend taking place on 13/14 March in Canterbury, UK.

The recording is here, kindly supplied by Rob.
[display_podcast]

R-Plus provides small and medium size business with access to one off or part time IT Director support. You can find out more and get the 10 free videos about boosting your business online that Rob mentions at
www.r-plus.co.uk/10ways

Do let me know what you think of the interview and if you have any questions you would like an answer to!

Photo Credit

© Posted by Jo Dodds - visit www.counterpointmatters.com for more great content.

Related posts:

1. Website Bootcamp Weekend: some questions you might have We launched our Website Bootcamp Weekend this week and...
2. Local Websites; what makes them good and how to tell Image by La Citta Vita via Flickr Do you...
3. Webinar Replay: How to get a website earning its keep in your business Many small business owners tell me that the internet...

A couple of weeks ago when preparing for our webinar ‘How to get a webinar earning its keep in your business’, I asked those people on our mailing list what their biggest challenge is that is stopping them getting more business through the internet. I answered many of the questions in the webinar and you can see the replay using the link above but here are some more of the questions and my answers.
Please Login or Register to read the rest of this content.

Photo Credit

© Posted by Jo Dodds - visit www.counterpointmatters.com for more great content.

Related posts:

1. Webinar: 7 Simple Steps to Better Local Online Marketing [ September 16 2009; 8:00 pm to 9:00 pm. ]...
2. Webinar – Local Online Marketing for Small Businesses [ June 3 2009; 7:00 pm to 8:00 pm. ]...
3. How to Get a Website Earning Its Keep in Your Business – Free Webinar [ February 11 2010; 8:00 pm to 9:00 pm. ]...

We launched our Website Bootcamp Weekend this week and we’ve had a few questions come through, so I thought it would be useful to post them here (with our answers, of course!).

Our payment plans go away at close of play this Friday (26 March).

If you want to find out more then you can read all about it here.

Setting up a website sounds complicated and I’m not very technical, how hard is it?

If you know how to type (one fingered and slowly is fine!) and can use a mouse, you have enough skills to set up your website! WordPress is a content management system, which means that it is already written to provide a framework for you to use to manage your site. You really just have to add the content / fill in the gaps and we will be there to help you to do that.

As you know we have limited spaces on this weekend; we only have 5 places. We have 3 other people (all small business owners with existing WordPress websites) coming along to provide support on the day as well as me, so for this first weekend there is almost a teacher / student ratio of 1:1. So even if you are a tad nervous about getting to grips with the behind the scenes part of your website, there will be someone available to guide you through it as I demonstrate what you need to do on the screen.

What will the weekend entail?

On the Friday evening we will meet and introduce the weekend with an overview of what we need to achieve at each stage (then we’ll have dinner, and maybe a glass or two of wine, but not too much – you will be working hard the next day!). Saturday will be all about determining the keywords for your website and planning and writing the content and then on Sunday we will get your website online, add in the content and ensure that it is optimised for your keywords. The last thing we will do is ‘press the button’ to launch your site online to the world!

At each stage I will be teaching you what you need to know in theory and also showing you using my laptop and screen. When we’re setting up your website, you will be able to follow along and copy me so that we are all in the same place. And remember there will be 3 other people, all who have WordPress websites, hovering around ready to jump in and help you at the same time.

I haven’t got any content together for my website yet, and I won’t be able to before the weekend as it’s not far away. Is that a problem?

That is one of the main benefits of this weekend. You don’t need your content to be written beforehand and in fact that could be detrimental to the process as the first thing we will be doing is explaining what content you should have and how it should be written to ensure the best chance of being found by search engines and to be able to convert visitors into leads and/or customers.

If you have some ideas and maybe some photos you should bring them along but if you haven’t got anything yet then that won’t be a problem either. The only thing we will need to do before the weekend is to get a domain name and some hosting for you, which I will talk you through as part of our pre-weekend call.

Why is it better to set up my own website?

I wouldn’t say it is better per se but it certainly has some advantages, which we have talked about before like not being held to ransom by your web designer once the website is up and running, i.e. you won’t need to pay anyone to make any changes. Obviously there also won’t be any delays in getting the website set up, as we will be doing it there and then! I also think that having your own website gives you the opportunity to connect more with your potential customers as there is more opportunity for almost real time discussion through your site especially if you use it in conjunction with social media like Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn. And you can post up-to-the minute information on your site that would take a few days if you needed to get someone else to do it.

Another key advantage is understanding how well your website is working for you and why. Many websites that are set up by web designers have little or no search engine optimisation capabilities but the small business owner doesn’t know that and just assumes that the internet doesn’t work for them. With your own website you will be able to see the metrics from from your site, such as numbers of visitors and how they found you, and know what you need to do to make it work better, and you can implement those changes immediately.

Isn’t WordPress just for blogging websites?

That is a myth that I think is often precipitated by web designers who don’t use WordPress! WordPress started as a blogging content management system but it has the functionality to create static web pages too. In fact you could create your whole website without using the blog function, but that wouldn’t be a great strategy as the search engines want fresh content and the blog facility is a great way to provide it. Don’t think that if you have a blog you need to ‘become a blogger’, using your website like an online diary. You can do that but you can also just use the blog functionality to add an ‘article’ to your site every so often providing useful information to your visitors and sharing your expertise: both strategies that will help your potential customers to ‘know like and trust you’, which will hopefully bring in some sales.

WordPress is free, why would I need to pay to come on this weekend?

You’re absolutely right that WordPress is free but remember that this is just for the software and some technical instructions. What you will be getting on our weekend is easy to follow steps showing you how to use WordPress to set up your website there and then (as well as ongoing membership to our WordPress support site). And then there is also all the stuff (technical term!) around keyword optimisation and conversion and how to write your content to maximise both. Without getting those bits right you won’t end up with a website that increases sales in your business, and if that’s the case, then what’s the point of wasting your time?

Imagine how long it would take you to do all this on your own. You most definitely can, but I would suggest that it would take you a lot longer than one weekend. I have some personal coaching students who are going down that route but want some help from me along the way. They will get there eventually but it’s taking a while. Can you afford to wait months or maybe even over a year to get your website done?!

Oh, yes, and did I remember to mention the laptop that you will be taking home with you at the end of the weekend…

Can it really all be done in a weekend?

Yes, of course, we wouldn’t be offering this otherwise! Having said that as you already know, you do need to continue to add fresh content to your site on a regular basis to ensure that the search engines continue to find it so this weekend won’t be the end, just the beginning!

We are, of course, also influenced by how long it will take you to get the content together but the whole of Saturday will be about pulling that together and we will show you some short cuts to make getting it planned and written easier and quicker than just staring at a blank page for ages before you start! And remember you will have other small business owners there (both teachers and students) who will be able to help you to shape what you are writing. Not to mention a lovely, calm atmosphere to create your content in – you can even have a wander round the cathedral for inspiration if that would help

What about support after the weekend, does it all just end there?

You get access to our WordPress membership site where there are step by step videos and instructions for you to follow to help you to manage and further develop your new website. As part of the membership site we have a forum where you can ask (and answer!) questions and you do have access to me by email. Anyone who knows me will tell you that I am very helpful! I want your website to be a success for your business and I will support you to ensure that is the case.

© Posted by Jo Dodds - visit www.counterpointmatters.com for more great content.

Related posts:

1. Small business websites and how to build one in a weekend – Interview I was interviewed this week by Rob Wilson of...
2. Updating your own website is so easy when you use WordPress While everyone else is posting ‘happy new year, what...
3. 7 simple steps to better local online marketing This is an abridged version of the free report...

Many small business owners tell me that the internet doesn’t work for their business; in most cases I would say that it is actually their website that doesn’t work for them, the internet would if they had the right sort of website. Find out why on this webinar replay.

Please Login or Register to read the rest of this content.

© Posted by Jo Dodds - visit www.counterpointmatters.com for more great content.

Related posts:

1. How to Get a Website Earning Its Keep in Your Business – Free Webinar [ February 11 2010; 8:00 pm to 9:00 pm. ]...
2. Small business websites and how to build one in a weekend – Interview I was interviewed this week by Rob Wilson of...
3. Webinar: 7 Simple Steps to Better Local Online Marketing [ September 16 2009; 8:00 pm to 9:00 pm. ]...

Join us for a Webinar on February 11 at 8pm GMT

Space is limited.
Reserve your Webinar seat now at:
https://www2.gotomeeting.com/register/668850179

Many websites that you see look good but don’t do very much to increase income for the business owner.

The internet is a really important market place for small business owners and, in particular, local business owners. But that doesn’t matter if you have a website and/or web presence that isn’t designed to get you more customers and more income.

I will show you:

- how to tell whether a website is any good
- the questions to ask your web designer
- why I believe that WordPress is the content management system that you should be using for your website
- why it’s essential to use social meda to promote your business
- how to integrate social media with your website

Join us to find out all the above and more. Please bring your questions – I’ll be happy to answer as many as I can in the time we have available.

Title: How To Get a Website Earning Its Keep in Your Business

Date: Thursday, February 11, 2010

Time: 8:00 PM – 9:00 PM GMT

After registering you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the Webinar.

System Requirements
PC-based attendees
Required: Windows® 2000, XP Home, XP Pro, 2003 Server, Vista

Macintosh®-based attendees
Required: Mac OS® X 10.4 (Tiger®) or newer

© Posted by Jo Dodds - visit www.counterpointmatters.com for more great content.

Related posts:

1. Webinar – How to get a search engine friendly website for free using WordPress [ September 17 2009; 8:00 pm to 9:00 pm. ]...
2. Webinar Replay: How to get a website earning its keep in your business Many small business owners tell me that the internet...
3. Webinar Thu 21 May 8pm [ May 21 2009; 8:00 pm to 9:00 pm. ]...

I had an email yesterday from a fellow small business online marketing specialist with a question. He has some business owners saying that as they have a Google Maps entry they don’t see why they should bother to have a website as well. His question was what would I say in answer to them?

All small businesses need a Google Maps entry

A Google Maps entry is really important and as it’s free there is really no excuse – all small businesses should have one. It is especially important for local businesses to have a Google Maps entry as Google develops more and more tools for enabling local search; Google Maps is one of them and provides a link to some of the other new products. Many of these new initiatives are for the US market only at the moment but as with most internet developments they will get to us eventually (if not sooner!). But do you need a website too?

What happens when you do ‘local’ searches with no geograpic identifier?

One of the aforementioned new initiatives is here already and actually gives one of my reasons for why a small business owner definitely needs a website too. If I type ‘electrician’ into Google without a geographic identifier Google returns, amongst other entries, a load of Google Maps entries for electricians in London. Now, I don’t live that close to London but my IP address presumably shows that I am fairly close to London and that’s why I get those results.

As Google’s Tools get more sophisticated I would expect to see better, more local, results appearing for my search. Now, imagine I had searched for ‘house rewire’ and didn’t put a geographic locator in there. You might imagine that I would get some Google Maps entries for London electricians again. Wrong – I get a list of websites with useful content about getting your house rewired, and three of them happen to be electricians/electrical companies who offer that service. One in London and two in a county north of London. Now, I’m guessing that it’s probably no coincidence that the entries I’ve got are local to London, after all Google knows where I’m searching from. But as my search wasn’t interpreted as being for a local business / service there are no Google Maps entries listed even though the top listed website www.majorelectrical.com/rewire.php does have a Google Maps entry (which I found by searching within Google Maps). If they were just relying on their Google Maps entry I wouldn’t have found them.

A well-optimised website is also essential to enhance & support your Google Maps entry

So, what does that tell us? Google Maps is a must for all businesses and I would say that a website with fresh, relevant content is also essential. Marketing a small business for me is all about taking many potentially diverse, yet targeted, actions to make up ‘a whole’, which is the presence of the business. So, online that means Google Maps, a website, a Facebook Fan Page, a Twitter profile and even a YouTube channel (all searchable by Google) at the very least. Now I realise that not everyone has the time or the inclination to do this but as more and more of our local business search goes online (when was the last time you looked at an online directory?), those businesses who don’t use this opportunity will lose out big time to those business owners who take the time and make the investment to participate in this increasingly online business world.

Some other reasons to have a website as well as a Google Maps entry:

Regular, fresh content

As mentioned above (and many times before on this website!) Google likes fresh, relevant content. You have much more oportunity to create this to help your Google ranking using a blog website than by just using the functionality you get on Google Maps.

A website gives a more professional impression of your business. You can make your Google Maps entry look great but you are reliant on their format, with your own website you can create the presence that you want. Visitors may also feel more confident about doing business with you once they have been introduced to your own website, bought and paid for as it were, rather than just a free entry on Google Maps. And, of course, you can publish reams of information about your business on your own website that will always belong to you.

Two results returned (or even three if you include PPC/sponsored listings)

If you have an organic result on the Google page that is returned as well as your Google Maps entry that gives you a really strong presence on that page, with more chance of getting the click through. And if you have a Pay Per Click / Sponsored Entry that can be even better (although let’s hope your potential customers clicks through on one of the free entries, not the one where you’re paying!)

Keep in with Google

Lastly, I can’t help thinking – with no evidence mind you – that having a strong website presence in Google searches may help in getting your Google Maps entry to appear nearer the top. No one (outside of Google) knows how Google works out which order to list the Maps entries in – I’ve heard that including a coupon can be helpful and so can reviews, possibly – but I just wonder if also having a strong presence on Google with your own website stands you in good stead all round!

What do others think?

© Posted by Jo Dodds - visit www.counterpointmatters.com for more great content.

Related posts:

1. Local Online Marketing – at least have an entry on Google Maps Some local businesses we know don’t think that a...
2. Weave geographic keywords & local information into your website content Our friend, a local small business owner, recently set...
3. Local websites for local businesses Image by Aaron Landry via Flickr Check out this...

I’m speaking at a couple of events this month about using social media like Facebook and Twitter to promote your local business, so I thought it might be useful to post a few statistics and useful hints and tips for you. As I’ve just spent some time developing our Facebook Fan Page, I thought we’d start there!

Facebook Statistics

These statistics were taken from the Facebook Press Room Statistics page.

• There are more than 350 million active users of Facebook in the world

• 50% of active users log on to Facebook in any given day

• More than 700,000 local businesses have active Pages on Facebook

• Pages have created more than 5.3 billion fans

• Average user spends more than 55 minutes per day on Facebook

• Average user becomes a fan of 2 Pages each month

• About 70% of Facebook users are outside the United States

• There are more than 65 million active users currently accessing Facebook through their mobile devices.

How should small businesses use Facebook?

What does this mean for small businesses? Well…chances are that your target market are using Facebook! And if you’re not then you are missing a trick.

People who don’t know better often think that Facebook is all about silliness and playing games. Whilst that can be part of the experience if you so choose, there is much more to be gained from using and participating in Facebook. Aside from the personal side of things (re-connecting with friends, old and new; sharing family news; sharing photos; sharing funny stories & videos), Facebook can be an excellent low cost (free!) opportunity for small local business owners to promote their business online.

How should you do it? In brief:
Please Login or Register to read the rest of this content.

Photo Credit: LocalGoogleGuru

© Posted by Jo Dodds - visit www.counterpointmatters.com for more great content.

Related posts:

1. Is Facebook Useful for Local Online Marketing? Image via Wikipedia Many people are now using Facebook...
2. Are Twitter, Facebook & LinkedIn useful for local business? More and more local business people are asking us...
3. Facebook Launch Vanity URLs Image via Wikipedia What is a ‘vanity url’ you...

While everyone else is posting ‘happy new year, what are your plans for 2010′ posts, I’m going to start with one about the VAT change…”how boring”, you say?

Well actually this isn’t really about the VAT change, that’s just what prompted it. In the UK the VAT rate (sales tax to everyone else) has gone back up to 17.5% this month and that prompted me to need to make some changes to the pricing on a couple of our other websites www.counterpointnetworking.co.uk and www.aspinallbusinessclub.co.uk, which are local networking groups that we run. Our monthly membership and meeting cost used to be £10 including VAT and then when the VAT changed last year to 15% we had to make it £9.99 as £10 doesn’t divide by 1.15 properly! Anyway, now it’s changed back to 17.5% we have changed our pricing back to £10.00. So, I needed to change some of the pages on our website.

Making changes to your website needn’t be costly or complicated

I popped onto the sites over the weekend and changed the price in about three places per site, saved the change in each case and job done. It took about 10 minutes, I didn’t have to pay anyone else to do it and it didn’t cost me anything other than a small amount of my time. That is one of the real advantages in my view of using WordPress for our websites: being able to make changes immediately, at no cost.

It was also really easy to do. I just logged onto the ‘behind the scenes part’ (did you spot that technical term there?!), went into each page and post where the price was mentioned, changed the text in the text editor and hit ‘Publish’. It was that easy.

If you’re interested in finding out more about using WordPress for your own small business website then stay tuned – I will be posting more about using WordPress to set up your own search engine friendly local small business website in the coming days! If you want to just get on and set your own site up, you can join our membership site and get step by step instructions and videos to show you how.

[display_podcast]

Photo Credit: andy54321

© Posted by Jo Dodds - visit www.counterpointmatters.com for more great content.

Related posts:

1. WordPress website and blog set up day! Image via Wikipedia Yesterday we spent a very enjoyable...
2. Webinar – How to get a search engine friendly website for free using WordPress [ September 17 2009; 8:00 pm to 9:00 pm. ]...
3. Local Websites; what makes them good and how to tell Image by La Citta Vita via Flickr Do you...

What do you think is more important: an attractively designed website or a search engine friendly website? Well I would say that the two shouldn’t be mutually exclusive but that if you really had to make a choice you would need to think about how your customers will find your website.

If you need your potential customers to find your website when searching online you need to ensure that your website is search engine friendly. If the main way that your website will be viewed is when you give your prospects your business card and direct them to your website then I don’t suppose it really matters whether the website is search engine friendly or not!

Design is important but shouldn’t be the only focus

The design of a website is obviously important, I’m not saying that it isn’t, but the design comes more to the fore when looking at grabbing a prospect’s attention once they’ve found it and encouraging them to take some action…and they can only do that if they have found your site in the first place.

Web designers are often just that – ‘graphic’ designers who know how to code a website, or there may be a team of graphic designers and coders working together. But there often isn’t an online marketing expert in that mix, and hence many websites don’t work for their owners.

Local small business owners often don’t know enough about local online marketing

I often hear local business owners saying that the internet doesn’t work for them. They have a website but they don’t get many leads from it. There are two issues here. Often the business owner isn’t actually tracking their enquiries and so doesn’t really know where their leads are coming from anyway; the feedback that they do have is anecdotal. A website analytics programme, like the free Google Analytics, would at least help with that from an internet perspective but in my experience is not often included as standard when a website is designed.

Secondly, as their website isn’t search engine friendly or optimized for their keyword phrases it rarely comes up in local searches, and hence they don’t get many leads from it. However local search is really common nowadays. When was the last time that you picked up the Yellow Pages to find a local supplier? Exactly! In the main nowadays we ‘Google’ to find local products and services, so the potential leads are there, they just aren’t finding the local websites for the above reasons; and that’s leaving loads of money on the table for the business, as well as undermining the business owner’s view of the internet as a marketing tool.

Local Businesses can get to the top of Google comparatively easily

It is comparatively easy to list high on Google for a local business. I have two local businesses in Kent: a local community magazine based in Hythe that is first on Google for ‘advertising hythe’ out of a possible 77,700 entries and a local business networking group that is first on Google for ‘business networking Folkestone’ out of a possible 226,000 entries and there are quite a few local business networking groups, some much bigger than us! If you think of the types of business it is probably harder to list top for the networking business but in the absence of much online competition, which is also the case for many local businesses, it is comparatively easy.

Questions to ask a potential web designer

So when choosing a web designer make sure you ask them about their online marketing knowledge too including how they ensure that their websites are search engine friendly.

They should be talking about:
• a content management system that you can use to regularly add fresh content to your site
• an analytics programme that you have access to so you know how people are finding you and how many of them there are, so you can make adjustments to your online marketing as appropriate
• what keywords and keyword phrases you want to be listing on Google for
• how your new site can be integrated with social media like a blog, Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn

If they can’t offer, or even worse can’t even talk about, the above as a starting point – run a mile, or at the very least get an online marketing expert to work with the web designer to ensure that you end up with a website that really works for you and your business.

Photo Credit: Jim-AR

© Posted by Jo Dodds - visit www.counterpointmatters.com for more great content.

Related posts:

1. Local Online Marketing: is your website optimized for your keywords? I was called recently by someone saying, “your website,...
2. How to choose your keywords Choosing the right keywords for your website is really...
3. Local Online Marketing – at least have an entry on Google Maps Some local businesses we know don’t think that a...