On September 23 from 6-8 pm, Angie will be teaching Website 101 at PACE LA Business Development Center.   This class will cover the basics of websites for small businesses.  You’ll learn why you need a website, how to pick a domain, how to plan your site, creating the design of the site, managing the site and more.   

On September 30 from 6-8 pm, Angie will be teaching Website 102 at PACE.   If your business already has a website and you’re ready to move to the next level of Internet presence, this is the class for you.  In this class you’ll learn the basics of SEO, how to find key terms, how to implement some SEO strategies yourself, the importance of inbound links, landing page basics and tracking your marketing efforts.    

On October 14 from 6-8, Angie will teach the third class in the series, Website 103, at PACE.  This class will cover the basics of social media strategies, including deciding which social media sites are best for you, how to start a successful social media campaign, and knowing when to turn your campaign over to a professional. 

All classes will be held at 1055 Wilshire Blvd, Ste 900B, Los Angeles, CA 90017.  They will be held from 6-8 pm each night.  Please click on the links above to enroll.  Most importantly, the price is right — all classes are free!   We’d be so lucky to meet you.  Please, come join us!

So, how much should you invest in your website?  I’m afraid the answer is that dreaded response:  it depends.  If you have a retail business, you will need to invest more money in building your site.  You have to make sure that your shopping cart is effective and safe.  Also, you’ll  undoubtedly be changing inventory on the site constantly.  If you have a service site (such as this one), you can get away with a smaller financial investment. 

Once you have a site built to your liking, you’ll need to invest some capital to make sure that it’s visible to folks who need to see what you have to say.  It may be time to hire an Internet marketer, an SEO specialist or a PPC manager.  These individuals are professionals who can help get creative with your site, help your site make it to the top of search engines, and help advertise your site to those who are searching for your products/services.

If you already have a website, it’s time to spend some time figuring out how effective your site is and how you can make it work even more efficiently.  Hire an expert to review your site and make suggestions.  I won’t promise that it will be cheap, but it may be even more expensive to overlook a detail on your website.  Even one error could decrease sales on your site dramatically. 

When it comes to your website, spend the time and money to built the site correctly.  Hire professionals to help guide you in this process.   Your efforts (and the professional’s efforts) will pay off in the long run.   Take a look at your website and contact us with questions.  We’d be lucky to help!

1. Make sure the site is easy to navigate.  When deciding how you want your site to look, try to think like an average web searcher.  Will someone who knows nothing about the site be able to navigate the site easily?  When he/she is looking for certain information, is the site designed simply enough that he/she will be able to find it?  If the answer is no, take another look at the design and make some changes.

2. Make sure your web team builds the site with a CMS system.  CMS stands for content management system.  Your site MUST have a CMS system.  This will allow you to make changes to the site yourself without having to ask the web builder each time you want to change information like your business hours or to add a picture.  This will cut down on a lot of time and effort on your part.  We at Lucky Marketing Firm insist that every new website is built with a CMS system.  Make sure your online marketing team is just as insistent.

3. Install Google analytics as soon as the site goes live.  Google analytics is a free program offered by Google to help understand the “back end” of your site.  With this analytics program, you’ll be able to see how many people view your site each day, how they find your site, how long they are on your site and which key terms they used to find your site.  It’s an absolutely amazing tool, and you will learn a lot from reviewing your site’s analytics.  

4. Make sure that the team you use to build your site understands your vision for the site.  Every business owner has a goal for his/her website.  Communicate your goal to your online marketing team.  Make sure that you’re all on the same page.  If your web team or marketing team doesn’t understand your vision or tries to change your vision, it may be time to look for a new internet marketing consultant. 

Websites can get complicated, but don’t let yourself get overwhelmed.  If you have any questions about your website, or if you’d like to build a new site, please contact the marketing team at Lucky Marketing Firm.  We’d be lucky to help you!

• MarketingExperiments tested product conversion with and without product ratings by customers. Conversion nearly doubled, going from .44% to 1.04% after the same product displayed its five-star rating. 
• RSS study: Burpee measured a 43% higher click-through on RSS feedswith reviews than without. (Burpee, December 2007)
• Shoppers who browsed the site’s new “Top Rated Products” page, which features products rated most highly by customers, had a 59% higher conversion rate than the site average and spent 16% more per order than other browsers of products. (Bass Pro Shops, June 2008)
• Giving shoppers the ability to sort products within a category by customer rating led to a sales increase of 41% per unique visitor. (PETCO, June 2007) 

Unbelievable, right?  So you may be asking yourself how you can start getting some positive reviews on the Internet about your business.  The answer isn’t so simple.  We’re living in the time of user-generated content.  The users are in control.  The company no longer has complete control over the message.  You can, however, take some proactive steps to encourage reviews. 

1. Ask your best clients to write about their experiences with your company.  When someone loves the service/product you’ve provided, they’ll usually be happy to write a quick testimonial or review. 

2. Encourage folks to review.  If you sell products or services online, it’s OK to encourage the users to rate the product.  But don’t take my word for it, listen to iJustine (a YouTube “celebrity”).  At the end of her videos, she encourages the user to “give it five stars.” 

3. Get involved with social communities. Check out what people are saying about you on the Internet.  Take some time each day to review Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and any other social communities in which your customers participate.  Respond to people who are making comments.  If they say something wonderful, thank them.  If they say something horrible, listen to them and let them know that you care.  By paying attention to their praise, concerns and complaints some folks may be impressed enough to actively market for you.

4. Spread the word about your great reviews.  If you are lucky enough to get wonderful online reviews, it’s OK to brag just a little.  Make sure that your website has a testimonial page, and link from your site to the reviews online.  Reviews can be like yawns — when you see someone else do it, you want to do it, too!  The more reviews, the better!

If you have any questions about online reviews, don’t hesitate to contact us.  We’ll be happy to show you how to take your online reviews and turn them into profits!  (And, if you’re so inclined, leave a comment with a review  )

First, the definition:  SEO stands for search engine optimization.  Search engines like Yahoo and Google are used by millions of people every day to find information on any number of topics.  You probably use search engines, as well.  You go to Google and type in a few words to try to find information.  After you type these words into the search bar, the search engine will “magically” find sites that are relevant to your search.   The companies with sites found on the first page of results are, no doubt, masters at SEO.  They know that these results aren’t magic, they actually come from strictly following a methodology for attracting the search engines’ attention.  Sites that follow this methodology (SEO) will see their sites increase in rank and may even grace the coveted “first page of Google.”  

So, the key question for every business owner is “How do I make sure that when a searcher looks for my type of business, my website appears?”  The answer is search engine optimization.  Although this can be a complicated subject matter, on the most basic level, there are four main components to SEO. 

1. Relevant incoming links.  One of the best ways to make sure that your site is found is to find other, relevant sites that will be willing to link to your site.  Sounds simple enough, right?  Unfortunately, this can be very difficult.  Most sites do not want to link from their site to a competitor’s site.  A successful link strategy must be well-planned and well-executed. 

2. Content, content, content.  It’s very important that your site has relevant content with specific key terms.  Key terms are those terms that people looking for your type of product or service might type in to Google or Yahoo.  There are many different sites that help analyze which key terms are searched the most frequently.  In some cases, you can also use common sense to figure out which terms searchers are entering. 

3. Site structure.  Even though you may not be able to see the “back end” of your website, the search engine “spiders” can and do.  As a result, it’s crucial that your website builder and/or designer understands the basic principles of SEO and includes search-engine friendly web building techniques.

4. Website age.  The age of your website can affect its placement in the search engines.  The idea is that the longer your site has been live on the Internet, the more credible the information on that website.   Unfortunately, there’s not much you can do to speed up this process.  It’s just a matter of time…

So, now that you’re an “expert” on SEO, what’s the first step?  You should contact someone (like your friendly marketing consultant at Lucky Marketing Firm ) who works closely with SEO companies in order to start developing a SEO plan.  This can include finding key terms, developing a linking strategy, creating content, building a blog and beginning an Internet marketing campaign.  It may seem overwhelming at first, but speaking with someone familiar with the process will ease a lot of the stress. 

If you’re ready to begin working on SEO, but unsure how to get started, contact Lucky Marketing Firm!  We can help whether you’re a beginner or if you’ve had a long-running SEO campaign that needs a few tweaks.  We know that the best SEO campaign is one that you don’t have to worry about.  We’ll explain the process and act as a liaison between you and the SEO company. We can “translate” all of the technical jargon, review your contract with the SEO company to make sure you’re getting what you’re paying for and explain the process at every step along the way. 

Who needs luck?  You’ve got Lucky!