Helping to brand your company is usually (and should be) a goal for every business’s website.  A website is an important part of any branding strategy.  Let’s talk a little bit about how to use your website to help brand your company. 

- Make your logo prominent in your site design.
It is so important when you are tying to brand your company to include your logo on all the marketing materials you create.  Your website is no exception.  Make sure your logo is prominent in the design of your website.

- Use your company colors.
Company colors are also an important part of building your brand.  Your website design should be in your colors so customers can easily recognize that they are at the right site as soon as they land on your homepage. 

- Include your company name in your domain name.
It is always a good idea to include your company name in your domain name.  This will help brand your company and help people find you. It is also important to go to a domain registrar like godaddy.com sooner rather than later to reserve your domain name.  Reserving it will ensure that it is under your control and that competitors and domain squatters cannot buy it or themselves.

- Maintain the look and feel of your business.
Your website is an extension of your business and should reflect the personality of your business– whether that is classy and sophisticated, hip and trendy, or fun and energetic. You know if you have achieved this if going to your website kind of feels like walking into the door of your business. And if you don’t have a physical location that customers visit, you have even more flexibility to create the look and feel of your business through your website.
Your customer needs to know within seconds of landing on your site that they have come to the right place. A lot of business names are similar so it is important that your website maintain a look and feel that is uniquely you.

• Typically, if you ask someone in their 20s or 30s where they go first to find a product or service, they will say the internet– even if it’s just to pre-shop or find prices. But it is interesting to note that the fastest growing population on the web is people over the age of 55.
• 19% of consumers said they planned to spend MORE in 2009 despite the economic climate, and this statistic continues to grow as we move into 2010.
• Internet sales in the United States are expected to reach over $300 billion this year. The online growth rate continues its upward trend by as much as 13% per year. And while many people are worried about the economy, it is interesting to know that sales on the web continue to grow because of the convenience and savings of online shopping and browsing.
• 72.4% of people in the US are using the internet, an increase from 43.9% in 2000. Chances are, your competitors are online. And chances are, your customers are online buying from them. With the right tools, a website can transition your business from a local company to a national or even global one.
• Approximately 55 million households will be shopping online in 2010. Don’t limit yourself by only doing business offline!

I decided I had to write a blog post today.  I looked at the site and realized no one has posted anything since Sept 4th.  I guess thats not leading our clients by example.  Sometimes we get so busy working with our clients on gaining social media relevance we forget to work on our own. 

We have been very busy around here working on sites for great companys like Seal Arc Welding, Christopher Macken Concepts, Light Force Chiropractic and more…

Check by our web design portfolio to see these new sites as we finish them.

Online social networking is using the internet to make connections with potential clients. Social networks are websites such as LinkedIn, Facebook, MySpace, and even YouTube. It is one of the latest ways that internet-savvy business owners are connecting with potential customers. Becoming an active member of these websites is a good way to gain search engine relevance, maintain a strong online presence, and meet people who would not know of your business otherwise. It is also a great way to meet other business owners who can give you ideas or team up with your business.

If you are trying to drive more traffic to your website, think of these social networks as a free advertisement. On all or most of them, you can add the link to your website or blog absolutely free! You can also join groups or forums on many of these social networks based on your line of work. For example, if you are a wedding vendor, you can sign up for wedding groups where you can connect with thousands of brides. These social networking sites find ways for you to communicate with others, and you can use them to your advantage. For example, “LinkedIn Answers” is a place where business owners can ask other business owners questions. If you sell telephone systems and someone asks a question about phones, it gives you an opportunity to promote your business to a potential client free of charge.

Goebel Media Group can create your accounts on these social networks or you can do it yourself. There are hundreds of social networks out there… you just have to find the ones that are right for your business and your niche. We can also train you on how to use the sites and maintain your profiles. Or if you prefer, we can manage your online presence for you while you are busy doing what you do best— running your business! Learn about our social networking services today!

I wouldn’t base any SEO or internet marketing campaign only around website directories, but there are some essential directories that I think every business website should be listed in.   These are all free directories that are pretty simple to get listed in.  I have included my favorites below:

-DMOZ - Great directory, but it takes a long time to get listed.
-Jayde - Very quick and easy submission process
-Kudzu - Instant approval
-Merchant Circle -Instant approval and very quick indexing in Google.
-Yelp - Based around user reviews
-Turnpike -Simple design but a good free directory
-Little Web Directory - Easy and fast submission process

It is important to understand the basics of search, including the difference between paid and unpaid search, before starting any SEO campaign, especially a campaign that has both paid and unpaid elements.

Terminology To Know:
Organic: Un-paid search results
PPC: Pay-per click
SERPS: Search engine results page

Pay-Per Click Results:
PPC results are advertisements.  If you run a PPC campaign, you pay everytime a user clicks your ad and follows it to your website.  You usually choose relevant search terms to bid on, and your ad is displayed when a user searchs that term within Google, Yahoo, or other search engines. PPC results are displayed above and to the right of organic listings in both Yahoo and Google.  Google calls these ’sponsored links’ while Yahoo uses the term ’sponsored results’.

Organic Results:
Organic listings are un-paid results that are typically displayed in the main column of the serps.  These results are ranked by a number of factors used to determine their relevance to the search term.  Some of these factors include: keyword density, title tag relevance, incoming links, Google Page Rank and meta tags.  Organic results can contain map results, product results, blog results and video results.

The Above Image Shows How Google Displays Organic & PPC Results