Building A Brand Online

Small businesses don't generally have the budget or time to compete with the big brand names, like Coca-Cola or IBM. That shouldn't mean the exclusion of "must do" basics to build brand awareness for your small business, via the internet. A brand is defined as a name, term, design, symbol, or any other feature that identifies one seller's goods or services as distinctive from the competition.

What's Your Message?

Brand building for a small business isn't just about the products or services you offer, such as logo, taglines, catchphrases, graphics, shapes, colors, sounds, scents, tastes, or movements. For branding purposes these things are important, to be sure. However, branding is not just about the product but about the perception of the purchaser.

Do People Like You?

For the small business owner branding can be as simple as being "you". Do people like and remember you? Do they speak highly of your business and the way you do business with them? If they do, odds are - they will purchase from you rather than your competition. They will also tell their friends and thereby increase your positive brand image in the marketplace, as well as increase sales.

Join The Discussion

With the increasing use of social networking websites, like Facebook and Twitter, it is a must to participate in the discussion to build brand awareness. By keeping customers informed, offering incentives, and providing one-on-one direct contact with them, a continued following will develop.

Find Your Niche

To start, you may want to consider building your brand using a smaller niche market approach. For instance, if you are a small business offering cleaning services you might want to establish a niche market by specializing in blind cleaning services. Start small and then build brand loyalty and offer your full range of services or products.

Keep In Contact

Make sure you build an email list of your existing and new customers. You also want to make sure your website offers a email sign-up function for a mailing list or newsletter. If you create a mailing list you then have a direct marketing window to notify people who are interested in your products. You can also notify them of new products on your website or specials. Send emails regularly, at least once a month. For brand loyalty to continue to grow you should keep in constant contact with your customers.

Our Conclusion

The small business owner is running short on time, running their business. Here are some simple tips to start branding your company that don't take a great deal of time. After all, you have to reach out to new, potential customers seeking your products or services. Why not continually reach out to your existing customers too?

Spoofing, Phishing and Identity Theft

A warning was recently issued by the FBI and Federal Trade Commission (FTC) on how criminals on the internet are using new tricks called phishing and “spoofing” to steal our identities. The warning indicated that bogus e-mails can be sent to you from seemingly real companies that try to trick you into giving out personal information – this practice is called “phishing”. This tactic is one of the most troubling scams on the internet.

The FBI's Internet Fraud Complaint Center (IFCC) has seen a steady increase in complaints that involve some form of unsolicited e-mail directing consumers to a phony "Customer Service" type of website. Assistant Director Monroe said that, “the scam is contributing to a rise in identity theft, credit card fraud, and other Internet frauds.

We wanted to take a moment to educate you on the various terminologies and point out types of threats that you may receive, so you will be better equipped to recognize and prevent these unwanted scams.

Spoofing & Phishing

“Spoofing” or "phishing," frauds attempt to make internet users believe that they are receiving e-mail from a specific, trusted source, or that they are securely connected to a trusted web site, when that is not the case. Spoofing is generally used as a means to convince you to provide personal or financial information that enables the scam artists to commit credit card, bank fraud, or other forms of identity theft.

Email Spoofing

In "e-mail spoofing" the e-mail appears to have originated from someone or somewhere other than the actual source. Spam distributors and criminals often use spoofing in an attempt to get email receivers to open and possibly respond to their inquiries.

IP Spoofing

"IP Spoofing" is a technique used to gain unauthorized access to computers, whereby the intruder sends a message to a computer with an IP address indicating that the message is coming from a trusted source.

Link Alteration 

"Link alteration" involves altering the return address in a web page sent to a consumer to make it go to the hacker's site rather than the legitimate site. This is accomplished by adding the hacker's address before the actual address in any e-mail, or page that has a request going back to the original site. If an individual unsuspectingly receives a spoofed e-mail requesting them to "click here to update" their account information, and then are redirected to a site that looks exactly like their Internet Service Provider, or a commercial site like EBay or PayPal, there is an increasing chance that you will follow through in submitting your personal information. Don’t do it.

Tips To Follow

Maybe you already know how to protect yourself, but it bears repeating as we all forget, get busy, or we are in a hurry and don't check things before “clicking”. Here are some tips from the FBI on how to protect yourself from internet fraud and identity theft:

1) If you want to update your information online, always open a new browser window and type in the website address of the legitimate company. Never click to their website from a link within an email.

2) If a website address is unfamiliar, it's probably not safe. Only visit addresses that you have been to before, type them into a fresh browser window, or start at your normal homepage.

3) Most companies require you to log in to a secure site. Look for the lock at the bottom of your browser and make sure “https” is in front of the website address.

4) Check the domain name or website address of the website. Most legitimate sites will have a relatively short internet address that usually is the business name followed by “.com”, “.net”, or “.org”. Spoof sites are more likely to have a very long string of characters in the domain name, with the legitimate business name somewhere in there, or maybe not at all.

5) If you have any doubts or are not sure about an email or website, contact the company directly. Write down the questionable website's address and ask them if the web site address is theirs and that the email request they sent to you is legitimate.

We hope these tips help keep you and your personal information secure on the internet. If you are an existing Site Smart customer and you receive emails that are in question, you are welcome to contact us. We are happy to help scrutinize any “fishy” emails you may receive.

Goodbye Google Places, Hello Google Plus Local

Another very important update has happened on the Google front. Google Places is now gone and has been replaced by Google Plus Local, a combination of Google's social hub and Zagat, the popular restaurant reviews website that Google acquired in September, 2011.

Announced on Wednesday, May 30, 2012 Google Plus Local is intended to integrate the social networking website, Google Plus, with the other products and services Google offers like Maps, Search, and Mobile.

Businesses that have a Google Place page with reviews in the form of stars will now see the listing replaced with a Google Plus Local page showing a score (29/30) rather than stars. Google Plus Local will allow users to share reviews, experiences, photos and more socially relevant information relating to places and local businesses. Most of these changes are obvious at first glance, and the user experience seems much more easy to navigate with common logic. The Google Plus Local page is designed to show searchers a wide range of information about each business all on one screen. The information is now compiled from photos found on the internet, the old Google Places business listings, and now from friends and family and other people connected to the business.

So what exactly are the changes and how can they impact your business or organization? Well, let's take a simple overview of the basics:

• Google Plus Local pages are now replacing all Google Places pages.
• A “Local” tab has been added to the Google Plus dashboard.
• Reviews in the form of a number score (23/30) will replace the existing Google Reviews star system.
• Information from the web that already exists for your business are now complied to create your listing.
• Management of the listings still take place in the Google Places dashboard.
• Google Plus Local pages will be fully integrated across Google properties. (Maps, Search, Mobile)
• Google Plus Local will utilize “circles” to show users reviews and recommendations from friends and colleagues.

This change will definitely encourage businesses to claim and maintain their Google Plus Local pages in order to remain relevant and engaging within the marketplace. More good news regarding this update is that the now retired Google Place Pages were blocked from showing in search engine results, but will now be able to appear in search results, opening a new channel to engage and interact with customers.

Although this has litterally occurred just a few days ago depending on when you are reading this, it is certain that the implications for local search engine marketing are pretty tremendous. The effects of this in regard to search, local reviews, mobile and more will certainly be far reaching.

But for this moment atleast, as a local web marketer it is enough to know whatever you know today will change tomorrow. That's what makes the field of internet marketing so interesting.

If you have any questions, feel free to contact us anytime at (702) 666-8876.

Google Penguin Update

Google Releases A Major Algorithm Update 

Once again Google has updated their search engine algorithm. On April 24th, 2012, Google released their newest update, Penguin. The main reason for this update is to penalize overly-optimized websites, websites with hidden text, and reduce what Google calls “webspam”. 

We all know webspam. Type in any major keyword in to the search box and you're bound to find a website or two that are riddled with worthless links, stuffed with keywords, and other “black hat” search engine optimization techniques that make the page rank well, but leave the visitor wanting more. To continue to provide searchers with relevant and useful content, Google released a filter called the “Penguin update”.

Attack of the . . . Penguin?

What is the Penguin update, you say? Well, Google likes to name their updates after cuddly, lovable woodland creatures. Google's previously released update in August 2011 was aptly named “Panda”. Although the names sound cute and friendly enough, most often they can wreak havoc on a website's search rankings and the countless hours of SEO work.  To view a history of Google updates provided by SEOmoz, click here. In this post, we'll cover the basics of Penguin and what you can do to ensure your website is still loved by Google.

Who was Affected?

Released less than a year after Panda, Penguin is essentially a more fine tuned Panda update targeting websites that utilize bad SEO techniques and black-hat link strategies. The industry numbers vary on the percentage of websites affected worldwide by the update, ranging from 3% to as much as 11%. 

Our SEO team here at Site Smart has seen a little less than 2% of our clients effected by the Penguin update. For those of us that optimize our websites correctly and ethically, there really isn't anything to worry about. This update primarily targets websites with low quality content who are manipulating their linking strategies in an effort to pull a fast one on Google. Bad idea. The best reason to hire a professional to do your online marketing is because we are right here watching your rankings. We can react to these changes and stay on top of the trends.

Surviving the Cut

So when the next furry cuddly Google update strikes, what can we marketers and web designers do to stay on track? The main thing to keep in mind is that while web marketers get smarter, so does Google. The same old SEO tactics that worked in the past may seem effective today, but if you're not providing quality content to your website visitors or if you are using “black hat” SEO techniques, sooner or later Google will catch you. 

Practice proper SEO, write engaging content, make your websites useful and straight-forward. Follow that simple rule and your rankings will survive any future updates and as the garbage is weeded out by Google, you'll emerge from the pile. Remember, as Grandma says “the cream rises to the top”.

A Little Different Search

In the week or so since the update, the internet has been a buzz with criticism and praise in the direction of Google. The update affected certain search terms and industries more heavily others. Whether your industry was more impacted by Penguin, you probably have noticed that the search results are definitely different from what you saw a week ago. 

They will continue to change, too. Google has quite a few major updates scheduled throughout 2012. It should be an interesting year for businesses online.

If you have any questions about your website or the Google Penguin Update, give us a shout.

Wordpress VS Joomla | What CMS To Use?

When considering what CMS to go with you need to think about the goal of your website. For most of our clients the goal is to build SEO friendly websites that rank well on Google, as well as look very pleasing to the eye. For the most part, all of the content management systems you can choose will help you accomplish your online goals. But after looking at the marketplace you will quickly learn that some are way better than others.

What CMS Solutions Are There?

We have worked with many different Content Management Solutions also known as CMS websites. Some of the options you may have heard about are custom developed proprietary and some are "open source". Some of the open source CMS's we have worked with Drupal, Wordpress, Joomla, Volusion, Homestead, GoDaddy's Website Tonight and many more.

Why Not A Propriety Or Custom CMS?

Even though a lot of the options are attractive with some of the proprietary solutions, we decided to avoid proprietary solutions all together for many reasons. With new browser versions coming out weekly, new technology, new coding languages etc. it takes too much time and staffing resources for any proprietary solution to develop fast enough and keep up with the times.

Joomla VS Wordpress: Features & Benefits

For ease of use and the amount of built in features, we prefer to develop our websites in either Joomla or Wordpress out of all of the open source options. Here is why we prefer Joomla and Wordpress:

• Both are open source solutions open to the public to download for free.
• Both have a large community developing new extensions and plugins daily. 
• Both stay up to date releasing new versions to fix bugs, create security patches, and enhance the CMS.
• Both are easy to customize and have extensive support and help documentation.
• Both are SEO friendly and allow you to modify the meta tags, page titles, and set up search engine friendly URL structures.
• Both are easy to use for our clients and intuitive to navigate. 
• Both have a large design community who have developed many different themes, skins, and templates.
• Both have site-bridging options where you can link multiple websites together with common logins, shared content and shared users between linked websites.

Joomla Benefits

• Joomla has library of very powerful extensions not available anywhere else.
• Joomla has everything available (and then some) that most websites need. 
• Deep level navigation and display options built in.
• Very established community base with active members posting daily.
• Very complex and gorgeous templates pre-made out there.
• Many module positioning options. 
• User group management, permissions, private content, and other security features. 
• Progression has been made on each new release making it easier to use.
• More complicated options are available straight out of the box with no added plugins. 
• E-Commerce, news websites, and websites with a lot of content may need Joomla's power. 

Wordpress Benefits

• Fast set up, easy and quick to deploy. Seems lighter all the way around.
• Speed and website load time is faster than most. (Better for SEO and visitor retention).
• File structure is simpler than Joomla and more intuitive. 
• Handles content and photo websites very well. 
• The most common customization options are built in and easy to understand. 
• Navigation and widget management is drag and drop. Much easier to use. 
• Basic computer users can learn to manage a Wordpress website easier. 
• Has very good documentation about all the hooks that can be used. 
• Shortcodes make it easy to code custom features that a website admin can easily drop in where needed.
• Site URL structure is easy to set up through Permalinks and using Categories.
• More stable than Joomla. It doesn't seem to break quite as often. 
• Wordpress uses many less files to operate and seems to have less code bloat. 
• SEO changes are easier to admin, pages are easier to find. 
• Very fast powerful search features on the back end help you find what you are looking for quickly.
• The best solution for the majority of business websites.

Our Conclusion

We currently prefer to build using Wordpress if at all possible. Wordpress seems to be easier for our clients to use when they want to make changes to their websites after it's built. Wordpress has the majority of the options that Joomla has, but doesn't include everything that everyone in the world is going to need. You can always add that on if it's actually needed. That makes the load time of the CMS and the files being uploaded and downloaded much faster and more lightweight.

Themes or templates are more "version specific" in Joomla, so once you design a theme then a new version of Joomla comes out - many times your theme won't work with the latest version of Joomla. Wordpress is way easier to upgrade and update. It has to do with how the template or theme files are communicating with the core platform. Joomla embeds more of the modules, plugins, and the customization you do into the core and actually modifies the core install. So when you go to upgrade things break. Wordpress likes to keep the theme files separate from the core and almost treats them as an add on so the core can stay intact. This makes switching themes or upgrading to the latest version more error free. Things break less, we like that.

We like lightweight websites. The load time being as fast as possible is very important to search engine optimization. We are comfortable to develop both in Wordpress and Joomla and they both have great options. Over the past year or so we have been known to cringe when we have to troubleshoot a Joomla issue over Wordpress.

So Which CMS Should You Choose?

Depending on the nature of your website consider going with Wordpress. If you are planning to display words, images, PDF, slide show etc. you don't need all the extras that Joomla offers "built in". They are probably features you will never ever use anyways, promise. They both allow you to admin your website quickly and easily in all the ways a regular website should need. If you choose Wordpress, all of your text editing, daily life, speed, and use of the website will be much better.

If you feel you need flexibility and built in power, over ease of use, and you like things a bit more complicated consider Joomla. It is still easy to understand, but the learning curve is steeper and there are a lot of settings and options that most people will never touch. We think it's better for managing large amounts of content (thousands of pages) and more powerhouse enterprise level websites mainly.

The choice is ultimately yours, but if you need free advise, we are here to help you. Give us a call anytime, (888) 664-9010.

2015 UPDATE: Wordpress wins by far. Joomla loses. Don't use Joomla if you can avoid it.

7 Myths About Marketing in the 2011 Economic Downturn

In an ideal world, marketing activity would be self supporting, always pay back multi-fold what it costs to execute, and be effective in reaching every potential buyer in the appropriate sector all the time. But in the world where the sky is blue, marketing activities are driven by several factors, including perceptions of the company and the head marketer there, economic forces that drive consumer behavior of all types and factors beyond your control.

As a result of these factors, marketing budgets are at the mercy of the reactions of the company to these perceptions. Many of these perceptions are flawed, skewed, marred by history, personal experiences of senior management, and most have no historical precedent or foundation.

Myth #1 - "Our brand is strong enough not to need support for the duration of the downturn."

Fact: Few brands are strong enough to survive without advertising, product promotion and customer service support. Brands are like delicate houseplants - they need attention, support, bolstering, and polishing, (the marketing equivalent of nutrients, light and water) - or they will wither and shrivel to a shadow of their former self. This is not a position you want your corporate brand to be in when the growth engine for the economy revs back up.

Myth #2 - "If we cut back on marketing spending, we can use the money for other things internally, and increase the budget when things get better."

Fact: Studies have shown that once that budget gets cut, it takes a herculean effort and a strong internal champion to boost it back to its former levels, and even if it does increase, there are much stronger conditions of ROI attached to its implementation. Once those funds are allocated elsewhere, they tend to stay there - after all, that other department doesn't want to give them up either.

Myth #3 - "Nobody's buying anything, advertising and promotions are a waste of money."

Fact: Many studies conducted by prestigious business publications and university think tanks have come to the same conclusion based on the data they gathered on U.S. and in some cases global companies: Those that reduce their presence in their key service markets are in a far worse position in terms of profitability, market share and market competitive presence when the downturn eases and profitability growth returns than those that maintain their marketing activity levels. Those companies that are so bold as to increase marketing activity stand a great chance of taking market share from their less aggressive competitors and can rule the category if the downturn lasts long enough.

Myth #4 - "We can cut back [on marketing] now, and then ramp up quickly when things get better."

Fact: This strategy has proven disastrous time and again, especially for companies that have inefficiencies inherent in their design, or product delivery channel. That inefficiency won't allow them to "ramp up quickly", since by that very inefficiency they will effectively always be "late" when timing the market - they are not market leaders but laggards, and thus the ramp-up activity gets started late relative to the buying cycle, and their more nimble competitors have already beaten them to the punch.

Myth #5 - "We should examine what's working for us, and cut out everything else."

Fact: This is not really a myth, but a knee-jerk reaction to a short-term slump in sales gross. Good marketing departments should be doing exactly that on a perpetual basis, not just when times are tougher. Why would any marketer worth their pay continue programs that didn't work, effectively dragging down performance across the board and wasting money.

In addition, there should be metrics built into any campaign so that there is a way to "take the pulse" of its success, and mid-course correction is possible to boost effectiveness and increase ROI on a continual basis. Further, in some channels, there is a cumulative effect that blurs perceptions of what's working and what's not - interdependencies exist between channels that are not planned or scheduled but that live in the customer's mind and trigger sales inadvertently. Cutting out what can't be measured accurately hampers this effect, dragging down results with no apparent reason.

Myth #6 - "Marketing spends more money than any other department, they have the most room to cut budget."

Fact: While spending may be a measure of power in some corporate structures, at least informally, return is really what counts when its budget review time. Marketing is one of the few departments that can actually point to contributions they make directly to the bottom line. There is a proven cause-and-effect relationship between sales gross and marketing expenditure for larger and enterprise-size firms. Increased spending in the IT department might yield long-term benefits, but better servers don't often move more product, unless the product is server space. Cutting the marketing budget only reduces the opportunities available to build market share, boost product awareness and memorability in the mind of the consumer, and dampens profitability in the long run.

Myth #7 - "All of our competitors are pulling back advertising and media expenditures to save money, so we should, too."

Fact: This kind of lemming-like sheep thinking can destroy your company! Your Mom knew better than this when you used the excuse "All the other kids are going, why can't I?" and her response was likely something along the lines of "If the other kids jump off the bridge, are you going to jump, too?" Despite being competitors, their financials likely look a bit different from yours, and it's foolish to think that you can mirror their moves and be successful - at best you will be equal! The smart money here is being used to take market share from your more timid competitors, by increasing presence and exposure, and cutting other less-than-mission-critical expenditures for a short period to accomplish it.

Bonus!
Myth #8 - "We should downgrade the quality of our marketing materials, use a cheaper creative agency, and mail out less frequently to save money."

Fact: This set of moves will actually cost you both in the short- and long-term. You might save a very small incremental amount on cheaper paper, shorter, smaller brochures, cheaper handouts, smaller tradeshow giveaways - but the damage you're doing to your brand and the resulting poor reflection on the company as a whole does far more damage than can ever be repaired by spending those few dollars later to try and fix it.

Not to mention shaking the confidence of your customers by giving them a visual representation of how poorly your company is performing! "Gee, they must be in trouble, this looks like cheap junk. Maybe I'd better take my business to the other company that's likely to be around to support their products down the line," is the thought you're promoting by reducing quality in your publicly released materials.

Good design often costs less than bad design, due to fewer creative iterations, fewer miscues, greater effectiveness and higher return. Jumping ship from the agency you're with if they are delivering on dollars spent just to save a little money is fool-hardy. The ramp-up time for a new agency to learn your needs, your products, your style and your brand will just about be exhausted by the time the average recession is over, and it will have cost you more to get the same level of productivity in that time, just in time to reposition for the new economic conditions.

When times get tough, the tough get going in the marketing department, providing the market with visual evidence of your corporate strength, your leadership role in the sector, your expertise in the market, and the supportive strength you offer for your products and services. Don't believe the nay-sayers who want to slash your marketing budget, reduce your headcount and reduce the quality of your materials. Everything you do here reflects on the health of your company, and cutting here shows the most and helps the least.

David Poulos, Chief Consultant at Granite Partners has been offering marketing guidance to firms for over 25 years. Specialties include non-profit marketing and full-scale strategic marketing campaigns.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/1024110

Google Plus One and Google Plus

Google has rolled out a new way for people to share what they are interested in and increase the relevance of some sites. With something reminiscent of the “Like” feature on Facebook, Google introduced the Google +1 feature. With the push of a button, you will now be able to “Plus One” a site and show other searchers that you like it. Your friends, through Google’s new social network project Google Plus, will be able to see what sites you Plus One and other searchers will be able to see how many Plus Ones a site has when they search for it.

There is speculation that is widely accepted as fact that the amount of Plus Ones that your website has will affect the ranking of your site, which will increase the pressure on websites to remain relevant and attractive to users. The Plus One feature will certainly help boost the popularity of Google’s new Google Plus social network. As of this writing, access to this social network is by invitation only from an existing user and may even be frozen from that. This is possibly due to the large amount of users activating accounts. Frankly, we suggest to anyone with a site, get a Google +1 button installed on your site as soon as possible.

Plus One is looking to change the way that people search online and share popular sites. What will this feature do to the search engine landscape? Will websites that have been heavily Plus One’d bury all of the websites that have not? Only time will tell. One thing is for sure, Google’s Plus One feature is taking off and their social network is soon to follow, once it is opened up for outsider registrations. As always, Site Smart Marketing will keep you posted.