The Most Versatile Free Website Solution Today

If you are a fan of DIY projects, especially when it comes to building a website, you may have come across a variety of applications. Some are free but too limited on features, while others are paid but are versatile and easy to use. Isn’t it great if there is a solution that is free, versatile, and easy to use today?

In fact, there is a solution. It’s called WordPress.

Originally built for blogging, WordPress has come a long way. Many people use WordPress as a content management system where users can post articles, videos, or just about any content. Some individuals learned how to build a simple website using WordPress, even with little to no website building knowledge.

Granted, some people debate on its versatility and ease of use, especially when some technical know-how is needed. On the other hand, many online communities out there are willing to help at no cost as long as you ask.

What makes WordPress versatile is its ability to customize. You can input your own “header” graphic at the top of the site, change the appearance (or skin) of the website – the sky’s the limit. You also have many free design themes so you won’t have to create one of your own.

If you feel like having someone else create a WordPress site for you, there are even website design services to help with that. All it takes is a little effort to find the one who has what you seek.

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Important Questions to Ask When Hiring a Reliable Social Media Expert

Hiring a social media marketing consultant is one of the best decisions you can make for your company. Their job is to promote your business by raising brand awareness and bringing attention to your company's reputation.

With the rise of social media today, it's only right to hire a professional. Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr and other social media websites are no longer used leisurely, but to aid businesses as well.

Types of Social Media Marketers

1. Self-Proclaimed Experts: These are the people who manage to get tons on followers on their social media accounts, even without professional experience.

2. Agencies That Shift Their Focus to Social Media: These firms are just beginning to focus on social media marketing because of the rising trend. It's their attempt to keep up with the pace.

3. Actual Experts: These companies specialize in social media marketing and have mastered the approach to using this tool to help other companies prosper.

Questions to Ask Potential Hires

1. What is your area of expertise?

2. Are you familiar with my industry?

3. What social media techniques are ideal for my business?

4. Where can I find your previous work and names of the clients you've worked for?

5. How successful are your social media markets?

6. How do you measure ROI?

7. What are your payment terms?

Those are just a few of the many things you can ask social media marketers. When seeking a professional, be sure to ask these questions so you know what you know what the service entails.

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Managing PPC: Because Mistakes can Still Happen

Pay-per-click (PPC) advertising is one of the most popular online marketing tools today, primarily because it is simple and reasonably effective at attracting “hits”. However, since PPC relies solely on keyword groups, this also means that it is quite easy for PPC to fail, especially if the wrong keywords are used. This is just one mistake that PPC management services try to avert -- one in a huge laundry list.

The other most glaring problem with PPC is that some people rely on it entirely, disregarding the fact that PPC is meant to be used in tandem with other marketing tools like search engine optimization (SEO). In fact, it’s almost as if SEO is mandatory for PPC, because it is the former’s job to come up with correct, effective, and relevant keywords that the latter will use. Incidentally, SEO can also identify the wrong keywords that PPC shouldn’t use. For example, a company that sells snow gear should use “skis”, “snow shoes”, “winter wear”, and the like as keywords, as opposed to “snow cones”, “snowballs”, and “frostbite”.

There is also the common mistake of scheduling PPC ads so that they don’t appear in the evening or in weekends (probably to reduce marketing costs). This is understandable, although a PPC management tool can be used to identify “traffic peaks” on any given day so that the ads would appear in these time periods, as opposed to have them strictly following a schedule. 

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Managing Your Reputation despite Negative Reviews

Reputation management is a public relations term that focuses on influencing an individual or group about a person’s or a company’s character. With the prevalence of social media and Internet usage, reputation management has become primarily an issue of influencing search engine results and monitoring social media activity. Known as online reputation management (ORM), this dynamic form of internet marketing can help suppress negative complaints and content online, and give positive content a more prominent place in search engine results pages (SERPs).

ORM is no longer the exclusive reserve of multi-billion dollar corporations, celebrities, athletes, and politicians, as even ordinary citizens and small and medium-sized businesses have become victims of libel. In other words, a dynamic ORM strategy needs to be incorporated into a company's internet marketing strategy to build a coherent brand image and engage with the target audience.

More than 78 percent of Internet users state that they perform research online before they decide to invest in a product or service. Additionally, 80 percent say that they have decided not to purchase a product or service from a particular company after browsing negative reviews online. If companies do not manage their online reputation, they could lose prospective clients and revenue.

An effective online reputation management strategy will boost a business's online visibility. This ensures that only SERPs with excellent reviews and content are what Internet users see, while damaging or libelous reviews and content can be discreetly pushed down SERP rankings. 

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Crawling in a Nutshell

Crawling is the essential process where web pages are recognized in search engines such as Google. Right now, there are millions of web crawlers on the hunt for web pages with unique and not-so-unique content. The process is inevitable; every web page or document will be crawled, but programmers can instruct certain web pages to be exempted or follow specific instructions when crawling.

To put it simply, crawling is like following a trail of bait that spans to multiple directions at some point. Crawlers look for their pick-me-up—in the case of SEO, related results—and follow the trail to its base. When it finds another tasty trail in the base, the crawler will follow that, too, and end up in a new base. The main purpose of the entire process is to assess and collate website information along with pages that link back to those websites.

Because of crawling, search engines can deliver results much faster. Every time they deploy their crawlers, they create an index of the information they collected on how certain words relate to the various website locations. When the users look for what they need in search engines, the algorithms simply go through the index to match the keywords or search terms with the appropriate web pages.  

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Creating Local Buzz for Your Small Business

Small businesses are considered as one of the pillars of the economy, bringing in jobs and revenues in their localities. Starting a small business can be very fulfilling, especially for individuals with an enterprising spirit. However, making a small business successful requires a lot of hard work and good decision-making.

Thanks to the ever-growing use of the Internet, small businesses have a venue to promote their products and services in a cost-efficient manner. Competing against the millions of businesses worldwide for online attention, however, may be unnecessary, since your target market is more localized. Local small business marketing strategies aimed at reaching the target demographic within the area where you operate may work better.

One of the first things you will need is a well-designed website that will be attractive to your target market. The website has to include all the information potential customers would want to know about your company. It will also help to give it a “local flavor” to create an immediate connection with your market.

Social networking is also part of local small business marketing. Facebook, Twitter, and other social media accounts can help you develop a more personalized interaction with your customers. Likewise, on-location sites such as Google Maps and Foursquare will help customers find you and generate local buzz about your business. If you are not confident about your abilities to conduct a successful campaign, it may help to get the services of business marketing professionals.

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How Online Marketing Improves Customer Service

Internet marketing is the new trend for businesses when it comes to reaching out to their customers. Online marketing consultants create websites that are more interactive and appealing to businesses' target markets, which translates into more profit. More than improving websites, online marketing goes much deeper, right into the important aspect that is customer service.

Through the service, business owners get the chance to hear out what their valued customers have to say. Through social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter, customers get to voice out their praises, comments, complaints, and other concerns to the companies. As a result, businesses will get a clear-cut idea of what their customers think and feel about them, resulting in an improved level of customer service.

Online marketing tools create a more open communication line between companies and their consumers, a crucial contributor to the success of any business. Companies are able to adjust faster to their clients' needs and conduct the necessary changes that will address customer concerns. Moreover, it saves customers from going through a customer service hotline, which eats up precious time.

If you want to be a step ahead, online marketing can take you and your company, along with your valued clients, to the next level.

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3 Ways Online Marketing Can Help Local Businesses

As local businesses appear left and right, the Internet continues to be one of the most powerful partners of entrepreneurs, as far as their branding and marketing strategies are concerned. Start up businesses that fail to utilize the power of the Internet will be left behind by their competitors in no time, and making an immediate impact in the market will become much harder, as well. Here are a few points on how online marketing helps local businesses significantly, especially in their first few years.

Lower marketing expenses

Compared to traditional marketing methods and strategies, Internet marketing requires a far less monetary investment, which is a big advantage for new businesses. Unlike TV ads, radio spots, and billboards that cost large amounts of money, online marketing is a more affordable and flexible option.

Convenient alternative

Another major advantage it provides is convenience, which plays a crucial role when it comes to customer service and satisfaction. Through products and services that are sold by companies online, clients will no longer need to physically go to the store to get hold of the goods. Meanwhile, business owners no longer need to think of hiring an employee dedicated to look after their items.

Unlimited reach

The potential of reaching millions of customers is virtually limitless. Countless numbers of consumers use the internet and have social media accounts, which serve as an entry point for businesses to introduce and market their products and establish brand awareness.

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Promoting Your Business for the Holiday Season

The holidays are often seen as the time for gift giving. However big or small, it’s the thought that counts when people give a loved one something they’ve wanted all year. If you’re a retail business owner who made it out of Black Friday and Cyber Monday in one piece, it gives you a chance to prepare yourself for the holiday shopping rush that is bound to happen when December’s in the calendar. That often means setting up better promotions and putting the word out early with help from your online marketing specialists.

The first thing on the agenda is to revamp the website and your social media accounts with more holiday-themed trimmings. Some experts recommend fixing the meta tags and product descriptions including those in the search results. The latter is important because it gives shoppers a short snippet about the product in the search results so they can see how what it has to offer before even clicking the link.

It is even a sound marketing point to share pictures of your business’ office decked out in holiday flash, along with info bits about any charitable activities your team is doing. Your online marketer can also help with setting up mobile promotions, especially since people mostly prefer surfing through gadgets.

Promoting more of your business during the holidays is always a win-win. Moreover, you help spread the cheer with every quality product or service you provide.  

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The Need for an Internet Marketing Company

As the Internet has turned into the most popular source of information, even for consumers looking for products or services, more and more companies have set up websites to increase their online visibility. Any type or size of business can have a website created for potential customers to stumble into and perhaps make a purchase.

However, not all web surfers check all the items that appear toward the end of search engine results pages (SERPs) so what businesses need to do to increase their chances of gaining customers is to get their web pages on top of SERPs. A good way to achieve this is through effective search engine optimization (SEO), which is one of the services commonly offered by internet marketing companies. SEO utilizes various methods like building quality content around effective and popular keywords and meta tags.

While SEO sounds relatively simple, the continuous updates in search engines like Google prevent those who are unfamiliar with SEO to keep up with the process. In addition, not all businesses have the time or manpower to understand SEO strategies, which is why they can benefit from hiring an internet marketing company to do the work for them.

Businesses who wish to compete with others within the same industry can benefit from hiring a company that’s focused on improving their online visibility using acceptable and effective methods.

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