Blogs and Articles about starting up an Internet based business. What you need to know and how to succeed online.http://www.ladyluckmedia.co.uk/blog.aspen-ushttp://www.ladyluckmedia.co.uk/blog/how-do-you-create-an-email-marketing-campaign.256.asp]]>Email marketing, despite being around since the dawn of the internet, is still a major tool in most e-commerce business's marketing toolkits. A large list of interested customers, who all came to your website by choice and signed up because they thought you had something good to offer them, can be a fantastic source of continuous and reliable revenue.]]>Creating an email marketing campaign requires three things: a good offer, good writing, and a good plan to get people clicking. It also obviously requires a large list of people who have signed up to a newsletter. A 'campaign' includes all of the emails you will send in a specific order to new customers, or to your existing list. Let's go through these three things.]]>You can of course set up your own campaign and do all of the mail merges, etc., yourself, but it's much easier to use a service like aWeber, which does it all for you for only a few dollars a month.Click Here to Read Entire Blog]]>http://www.ladyluckmedia.co.uk/blog/how-do-you-create-an-email-marketing-campaign.256.asp#pcms2 Aug 2012 9:00:02 AM GMT http://www.ladyluckmedia.co.uk/blog/a-few-things-to-consider-when-you-are-starting-a-facebook-adverti.255.asp]]>Facebook ads are a great way to drive traffic to a page, or even to your website - though the clicks are quite expensive, so you had better be sure your landing page converts well. We'll assume you're trying to drive traffic to a Facebook fan page or get people to 'like' something or share something on Facebook.]]>The Difference Between Facebook Ads and Adwords]]>Facebook ads, while seeming very similar to Google Adwords, are most definitely a different thing all together. For one, they're much less intelligent, and much less keyword-based. They're also far more expensive than Google ads if you're trying to use them in the same way (around $1 a click). Click Here to Read Entire Blog]]>http://www.ladyluckmedia.co.uk/blog/a-few-things-to-consider-when-you-are-starting-a-facebook-adverti.255.asp#pcms2 Jun 2012 9:00:03 AM GMT http://www.ladyluckmedia.co.uk/blog/how-to-use-wordpress-on-the-go-through-mobile-devices.254.asp]]>I remember, a few years ago, reading a post by a prominent blogger and SEO expert about 'mobile blogging'. He had a 'blogging box' which allowed him to blog wherever he was (which I thought was a bit stupid and pretentious). It included a digital camera, a laptop with a 3G modem, a notepad and pen, and various other bits and pieces. The whole lot just about fit in a suitcase.]]>Thankfully, things have moved on a little bit, and we now have WordPress apps for iPhone/iPad and Android. Both apps are now in around version 2.0, and compatible with more or less recent versions of WordPress. That being said, make sure you check which version of WordPress you need to be running in order to access your dashboard via mobile.Click Here to Read Entire Blog]]>http://www.ladyluckmedia.co.uk/blog/how-to-use-wordpress-on-the-go-through-mobile-devices.254.asp#pcms2 Mar 2012 9:00:19 AM GMT http://www.ladyluckmedia.co.uk/blog/what-is-the-best-way-to-promote-your-website.253.asp]]>Asking this question is a little like saying 'what is the best way to cook food?' The answers are as various as there are types of food. But there are a few simple truths that hold for almost all websites, regardless of niche or product. For the purposes of this article, we'll stick with websites that are selling a product. Websites that 'sell' only information, like blogs, are a slightly different creature – but many of these tactics will work for those as well.]]> h3>SEO h3>]]>SEO is the cornerstone of online marketing, and an understanding of it is critical to promoting any website. SEO best practices change over time, and there are no hard and fast rules to how you should approach it. Generally it is made up of two things: article marketing and link building.Click Here to Read Entire Blog]]>http://www.ladyluckmedia.co.uk/blog/what-is-the-best-way-to-promote-your-website.253.asp#pcms2 Jan 2012 9:00:03 AM GMT http://www.ladyluckmedia.co.uk/blog/how-can-you-maximise-the-conversion-on-your-website.252.asp]]> Once you have a website that sells something, and everything is up and running, you will start to wonder how you can get more out of your traffic. There are usually a few more sales per thousand visitors to be squeezed out, but getting at these is sometimes more effort than it is actually worth.]]>This is why we do split and multivariate testing. Once you're sure all of your basic design principles are sound (buy buttons in the right place, etc.), it's easy to sit back, look at your website and think, 'damn, that's a good looking website I've got there'. Your customers might also think so, but you'd be surprised how subtle changes can make a huge difference. It's impossible to tell until you try them, and this is where split testing and multivariate testing comes in handy.Click Here to Read Entire Blog]]>http://www.ladyluckmedia.co.uk/blog/5-ways-you-can-improve-your-linkedin-profile.251.asp]]>LinkedIn is a great way to market yourself as a professional. It's not much use for a business as a whole, but if you're a freelancer, contractor or independent consultant it's one of the most important digital business cards you can have, and you neglect it at your peril. Despite being around for a while, I'm amazed at how some people just fail at using their LinkedIn profiles to sell themselves.]]>Before I make a list, there's just one thing I want to say about LinkedIn – it is not Facebook. That means that Facebook rules and customs do not apply. You want to be connected to everyone you've ever met, and everyone they've ever met – because you never know when one of those connections will turn into a business opportunity. Click Here to Read Entire Blog]]>http://www.ladyluckmedia.co.uk/blog/is-email-marketing-dead.250.asp]]>With the massive focus on SEO, social media engagement and PPC marketing techniques, you'd be forgiven for thinking that classic email marketing is a dead field. And it might be – but it's easy to forget that email in itself is a type of social network, and one that is used by more people than any other. ]]>I contend that email marketing is not dead – it's just evolved into such a different creature that most companies have no idea how to approach it. Those who do, however, are raking in the cash. It's all about using technology that's available to you, and understanding what makes someone sign up to an email list and click on a link in your email, and what makes them delete your emails on sight.Click Here to Read Entire Blog]]>http://www.ladyluckmedia.co.uk/blog/how-can-twitter-be-useful-for-businesses.249.asp]]> a href="http://www.ladyluckmedia.co.uk/blog/the-power-of-twitter-as-an-internet-marketing-tool.91.asp" title="Twitter">Twitter a> is undoubtedly a useful tool for promoting just about any a href="http://www.ladyluckmedia.co.uk/blog/going-into-business-for-yourself-the-ultimate-business-oxymoron.210.asp" title="business">business a>, but it’s application needs to be properly understood in the context of your business. Here are a few tips for using Twitter to promote your business.]]> h4> 1.Don’t underestimate Twitter’s usefulness h4> If you are in an extremely specialized a href="http://www.ladyluckmedia.co.uk/blog/niche-marketing--pros-and-cons.183.asp" title="niche market">niche market a>, don’t expect to suddenly have thousands of Twitter followers. Rather focus on entering the circles that are relevant to your business. Identify “power tweeters” in your area, and engage with them. Tweet at them, mention them, etc. Find trending topics relevant to your area and participate in these discussions. Click Here to Read Entire Blog]]>http://www.ladyluckmedia.co.uk/blog/what-is-reverse-google-pagerank-algorithm.265.asp It's a pile of rubbish that's what it is, however it does highlight the fact that there are lots of people out there who have no clue about internet marketing and no idea of the terminology, so when emails like these come into their inbox, some people would actually believe it to be useful.]]> h3> So what is this? h3> We recently got a spam mail which read like thisClick Here to Read Entire Blog]]>http://www.ladyluckmedia.co.uk/blog/what-you-need-to-look-for-in-a-good-logo.248.asp]]>Your logo is one of the most important – if not the most important – pieces of your website's graphic design. A poorly designed, or an over or under-designed logo, will rob your website of credibility and make it look like you don't know what you're talking about. There are no hard and fast rules for logo design, but here are a few things to think about:]]> h4>Two Types of Logo: h4>]]>Iconic logos are logos like the Apple image, which contain no words but represent a brand. These are harder to come up with, and even more difficult to associate with your brand, but can be highly effective if well-designed and cleverly associated.Click Here to Read Entire Blog]]>http://www.ladyluckmedia.co.uk/blog/how-do-you-choose-brand-vs-domain-name-for-your-new-website.247.asp]]>A lot of people ask me this when starting a new website, and I usually give them the same answer: Go with keywords. There are many reasons for this, which I'll get to in a minute, but first let's have a look at the case for using a catchy brand name as your domain.]]>There are plenty of websites that use a phrase or name that isn't a common English word, and they are wildly popular. But they're popular because they've spent millions of dollars on above-the-line advertising to associate that phrase or word they've made up with their business activity. A classic example is Wonga.com.]]>Wonga.com is a microlender – one of the first to gain a real foothold on the internet. You'd never naturally associate the meaningless word 'Wonga' with borrowing money, which is why Wonga has spent so much money on catchy jingles, expensive TV ads, content network banners, etc. Personally I think they could have got a lot more bang for their buck by calling their business 'QuickCash' or something – but they didn't ask me for some reason.Click Here to Read Entire Blog]]>http://www.ladyluckmedia.co.uk/blog/what-is-social-bookmarking-and-what-is-it-for.239.asp]]> a href="http://www.ladyluckmedia.co.uk/blog/the-advantages-of-social-networking.134.asp" title="social bookmark">social bookmark a>ing is the practice of posting links to articles and web pages to various “link aggregator” or social bookmark sites, such as a href="http://www.ladyluckmedia.co.uk/blog/social-networking-and-other-keys-to-online-business-success.109.asp" title="Digg">Digg a>, Stumbleupon and so on. Social bookmarking sites rise and fall in popularity fairly quickly, but they generally have a few common features:Click Here to Read Entire Blog]]>http://www.ladyluckmedia.co.uk/blog/what-is-twitter-seeding-and-what-is-it-for.238.asp]]>'Seeding' is the practice of carefully distributing content online through various channels, in the hope that it will become 'viral' and be spread of its own accord. If this content is an advertising campaign cleverly disguised as a joke or some other kind of content that is noteworthy, the company that created it can reap huge benefits.]]>Twitter is uniquely suited to seeding viral content, because of its unique 'trending' feature. A trending topic on Twitter can be seen by everyone – not just the people in your immediate network. This means that all you have to do to get tweets about your 'topic' (for lack of a better word) seen by millions of people is reach a critical mass where that topic begins to 'trend'.Click Here to Read Entire Blog]]>http://www.ladyluckmedia.co.uk/blog/what-is-twitter-seeding-and-what-is-it-for.238.asp#pcms1 Nov 2012 9:00:03 AM GMT http://www.ladyluckmedia.co.uk/blog/a-few-stories-to-illustrate-the-power-of-blogging.260.asp]]>We all know that blogging to promote your business is a good idea, but you've also probably had an experience with putting tons of energy into a blog and then seeing the traffic languishing at 40 visitors a day. This article isn't about making a success of a blog that exists for its own sake – a monetized entertainment or informational blog that is designed to be its own source of income.]]>This is about a few examples of how using a blog can save your business, be it web-based or brick-and-mortar. Click Here to Read Entire Blog]]>http://www.ladyluckmedia.co.uk/blog/a-few-stories-to-illustrate-the-power-of-blogging.260.asp#pcms12 Dec 2011 3:55:32 PM GMT http://www.ladyluckmedia.co.uk/blog/how-do-you-structure-up-a-returns-policy-for-your-retail-website.227.asp]]> Sooner or later, someone is going to want to return something they bought from your online store. How you handle this process can decide whether or not that customer returns to buy from you again, even after having a bad experience with one product. Your returns policy will depend on what kind of industry you are in. For example, you cannot have the same returns policy for electronics and for underwear, but there are certain things you can do to make sure it is as usable as possible, without costing you a fortune.]]> 1) Know the Law ]]>Consumers are savvy about their rights, and so you need to be too. Regardless of your product, there are certain minimum consumer protection laws in most countries that govern when a person is entitled to a refund, and in how much time. You can choose to stick to the minimum here, or you can tailor it to suit your website specifically. Either way, if your returns policy does not meet the minimum legal requirements, someone will eventually call you out on it.]]> 2) Protect Yourself ]]>While it's important to worry about your customers, it is equally important to make sure that they don't bankrupt you by constantly returning products you cannot resell. Make sure that if you sell something consumable, or something that loses value immediately after being opened or used, that you protect yourself as much as possible against abuse of your returns policy. Click Here to Read Entire Blog]]>http://www.ladyluckmedia.co.uk/blog/what-should-you-write-on-an-about-us-page.226.asp]]> Whether your website is a large online retailer or a special interest blog, you will invariably have an 'About' page. This is the page that everyone feels they need, and yet people seldom put the right kind of information on it. If your website is a personal blog, there is a good chance that nobody will need to look at your About Us page to find this out. For most other kinds of websites, this page presents an opportunity to connect with a very important type of visitor – the visitor who is interested in knowing more about your site, or your business.]]> When Not to Market Yourself ]]>Although the About Us page presents an easy opportunity to market to your visitors (clicking on the 'About Us' link can be equated to saying 'I want you to try and sell yourself to me'), that doesn't necessarily mean that this is the place where you should put yet more sales copy. ]]>Once a visitor is on your site, they are probably already interested in the products you sell or the services you provide. They don't necessarily want to read more of the same thing that you have on your home page and in your product descriptions. ]]> Why Someone Clicks on 'About Us' ]]>Most of the time, when someone visits your About Us page, they are interested in some of the following things:]]>• What exactly does this company do/who owns it/what is their business objective?]]>• Is this a legitimate business, and if I want to talk to someone is there a real person behind it?]]>• Where is the business based, and how did it start? (less likely) These aren't all the questions they could ask, but they're good ones to begin with. You have to remember that most of the people who come to your site are probably not as interested in these things as you are. ]]>Internet users have short attention spans, especially when it comes to big pages of text. Here's how to give out the most information, make yourself look good, and not lose your reader's interest. Click Here to Read Entire Blog]]>http://www.ladyluckmedia.co.uk/blog/make-pages-easy-to-find-how-to-create-a-great-navigation-menu.225.asp]]> If you run a site with lots of pages - be it a large a blog="" href="http://www.ladyluckmedia.co.uk/blog/what-is-the-future-of-online-marketing.208.asp" http:="" title="<a data-cke-saved-href=" www.ladyluckmedia.co.uk="">eCommerce a> store or a multi-topic blog with over 500 posts - one of the problems you will inevitably run up against is organizing your content. At the heart of this problem is the top-level navigation, and how you organize it. Your limitations are normally that it can only contain a certain number of items. Other problems could be that you are not certain which way to create your page hierarchy.]]> Here are a few steps to take to make the process easier, and to set up your navigation to make it scalable as your website grows:]]> 1) Map The User Journey /> User behavior and User Stories are integral to software and a blog="" href="http://www.ladyluckmedia.co.uk/blog/web-site-design-mistakes---database-parameters-in-urls.213.asp" http:="" title="<a data-cke-saved-href=" www.ladyluckmedia.co.uk="">website design a>, so it’s important to understand:]]> ul> li> Why your visitors are there li> li> What they are looking for li> li> What they are likely to click on when presented with a random page li> ul> Click Here to Read Entire Blog]]>http://www.ladyluckmedia.co.uk/blog/have-you-taken-note-of-your-image-sizes-a-guide-on-image-compress.224.asp]]> One of the most distressing moments in a computer professional’s life is when their mother tells them she wants to email them some photos. Unless you have a very high speed internet connection, this means your inbox will be backed up for the next hour as you download six image files that would barely fit on a CD.]]> We can blame the problem on the free availability of high speed broadband and near-infinite storage, or we can blame it on ignorance, but most people have no concept of what a megabyte actually is. When you ask them how big the image is, they will most likely say “about the size of the screen, maybe a bit narrower”.]]> Unfortunately, this ignorance of file sizes extends to people who build and own websites - if you didn’t grow up with a background in computers, and learnt how to build websites using free tools such as WordPress, then you might not be too savvy about speeding up your user experience.]]> Here are a few things to note, before we get to the actual process of compressing an image.]]> Click Here to Read Entire Blog]]>http://www.ladyluckmedia.co.uk/blog/are-you-designing-your-website-for-widescreen-monitors-yet.223.asp]]> Technology changes all the time, and the type of technology people like to use is always shifting. The latest fashion is to have screens that are much wider than they are tall – it makes for better video watching, and allows you to see more information on a screen in one go. Yet strangely, most websites are still the width of early 2000s monitors – around 800 pixels. ]]>This means there is loads of wasted space on either side, and visitors have to scroll down two or three times to see all of the content that you could easily have fit on one screen if you had designed your website for wide screens. Let's review a few basic concepts of web design, to see how we can take advantage of wide screen monitors.]]> Above The Fold ]]>This is simply the term for the content that people can see when they visit your website, without having to scroll down. One of the most irritating things to find on a website is when the top screen is entirely taken up by a fancy header and advertisements, and all of the content you want is two or three mouse scrolls down. ]]>With the advent of wide screen monitors, you can now take advantage of this landscape-style layout to present more content to your visitors at first glance. This means you can direct their attention to the things you want, and you can still have your header and advertisements in the same frame.Click Here to Read Entire Blog]]>http://www.ladyluckmedia.co.uk/blog/why-create-a-custom-404-page-.222.asp]]> No matter how well made you think your website is, visitors will somehow manage to confound it and end up at a URL that doesn't exist. Making a custom 404 page ensures that, when this happens, your website handles it in the best way possible, and gives you the best chance of rescuing that visitor.]]> What Happens Without a Custom 404 Page ]]>Encountering a message that tells you that the page you are looking for on a site – a page that you are pretty sure should exist – cannot be found, fills a user with despair, and destroys their confidence in your website. A visitor is much more likely to go back to Google and attempt to find the information or product somewhere else, than go back to your home page and start again, even if the page they're looking for does actually exist.]]>Click Here to Read Entire Blog]]>