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Affordable Websites- Tips on Improving Your Website

Aaron : January 3rd, 2013

Cheap, affordable websites is what Smallbuck.com focuses on but we read many articles from the web and are always trying to better our web designing services for the Nashville area. Recently, we read an article from Marketing Profs and thought we would share it with you. The article discussed ten tips to improve your website’s SEO (search engine optimization).

1. Affordable Website Tip #1

The first tip discussed the importance of having credible content on your affordable website. Even if you have good keywords, your website can get bogged down with keywords and your viewers will not make sense of anything on your webpage. Although keywords are important, do not overuse them!

2. Affordable Website Tip #2

The second tip advises people to decide where they feel comfortable and stay there. I.e. “find your niche and stay there”. As a website you do not need to have content discussing everything. Focus on the main things you want to highlight and stay with that!

3. Affordable Website Tip #3

Google offers keyword suggestions and the third point they discuss is to use the suggestions that Google offers. Do not over-use them but it is good to insert them throughout your website’s content.

4. Affordable Website Tip #4

Fourthly, having custom URL’s is an option- use them! It is much better for your website viewers to know which page they are looking at rather then just having a random page title. For example, if you have a page about cooking steak, instead of <www.myawesomesite.com/tips/item4?=45756>, convert your URL into something like <www.myawesomesite.com/tips/grilling-the-best-steak>. That is much more search engine friendly. That is the example they used in their article and it is the same advice we share with you.

5. Affordable Website Tip #5

The fifth one goes along with the fourth but always use page titles and meta descriptions. Allow the viewers to know what they are looking at before they go to a page that they may have not wanted to go to.

6. Affordable Website Tip #6

Sixth, when adding a picture to your website, always use HTML tags so when the search spiders see your image they are able to know what they are looking at. These tags should consist of a quick description of what the image is of or what it relates to in your website’s content.

7. Affordable Website Tip #7

Seventh, always build internal links in your website. Each page should have links to your website’s homepage and, if they relate to other pages on your website, they should have a link to the associated pages.

8. Affordable Website Tip #8

Eighth, try enabling external links. Unlike the seventh point, try to have links from off your website pointing to your website. This is harder to achieve but once achieved, you will see that the difference in SEO will be much greater.

9. Affordable Website Tip #9

Ninth, install social media links to your webpages. Your readers will be more willing to share how good your website is if a social media link is readily accessible. Eventually that information will feed back to the search engines and create valuable external links.

10. Affordable Website Tip #10

Lastly, they encourage to stay away from Flash websites. Search spiders aren’t able to penetrate them and follow the links so it is always a good idea to stay away from Flash for websites and stick with purely text-based written content.

We are a website design company in Nashville that offers cheap, affordable websites but we hope this has helped you. We would love to hear your feedback so please comment below.

Cheap, affordable websites is something everyone wants and Smallbuck offers just that! Some of the content in this website article is taken from marketingprofs.com. To read the full article paste the following url in your webpages browser. http://www.marketingprofs.com/articles/2012/9647/10-seo-tips-to-improve-your-search-rankings-and-your-website. Thank you for reading this article about affordable websites. If you have any questions about obtaining a cheap, affordable website please contact us here.

Tags: Affordable Websites, Cheap Websites, marketingprofs.com
Posted in Blogging, Nashville Web Design, Small Business | No Comments »

Affordable Website Design Landing Pages

Donald Rush : September 26th, 2012

What is a landing page you may ask?

A landing page is typically the website page that you are sent to after clicking on an ad. The landing page on your website can be important because unlike the home page of your website a landing page can be optimized to match the content of the ad. Your website has a lot of content on it and being able to deliver the exact content that someone is wanting quickly can make a huge difference.

Forms on a Website’s Landing Page

One very popular thing to do is place a contact form on your website’s landing page. This gives the visitor the option to fill the form when visiting your website. Some affordable options are to use www.wufoo.com. They have a great free version that will let you create 3 forms and embed them on your website. They will even email and text you when a form has been filled.

Example
Lets say you have an ad for Water Heater Replacement. The ad directs the visitor the landing page that has info about common water heater problems the has a form below. “Would you like a representative to give you a price on a new water heater?” Of course I would. So the visitor gives you their info and you reply back promptly. This is a great way to get an affordable website landing page created.

Free Unlimited Website Landing Pages
One of the great thing about Small Buck is that we have free unlimited landing pages. You have the ability to create affordable website pages with out having them show in the website navigation. We also allow you to add a form at the bottom of the page. This can be a big help to any business looking for an affordable website solution. Especially if you plan to advertise online.

Posted in Marketing, Nashville Web Design, Small Business | No Comments »

Local Directory Marketing – Small Business Tip

Donald Rush : May 8th, 2012

Local Directories are hugely popular and are being promoted heavily in the search results by engines such as google. Because they are being promoted on the home page. It has become very important to get found on these listing. Updating your listing on google as well as many other sites can drastically improve your rank. It is very important to make sure that you have updated accurate info on your listings. In this video you will learn more about local listings. It is important to note that once your listing is found you should give attention to your website to make sure that your visitors are finding what they need. I well designed website can make all the difference in winning or loosing a new client online.

Posted in Blogging, Marketing, Small Business, Video Blog | No Comments »

Pinterest for Business – Small Business Tips

Donald Rush : April 18th, 2012

Is Pinterest right for your business? Pinterest is centered around graphic content. It is a way to share images of things that are of interest to you and your friends. If your business doesn’t have a website that showcases images of things that people want to share with their friends it may not be a good fit for you. I would recommend signing up and seeing how it works. Play around with it for a while and see if you can make it work for your business. If it is not a natural fit. Don’t force it. There is probably something else you could be doing to benefit your business with that time. Oh and it is by invitation only. So you will have to find a current user to send you an invite. That shouldn’t be to hard since they have over ten million users.

What do you think of Pinterest? Do you use it for your business. Have you seen an increase in traffic to your website because of it?

Posted in Blogging, Marketing, Small Business, Video Blog | No Comments »

No Name Domain Name.

Donald Rush : March 14th, 2011

I have you noticed this location trend in search results. It is becoming quite common to see the websites in Googles organic with a name that matches the search. You see if I am looking for Springfield web design a domain like www.springfieldwebdesign would come up before a website like fred web design that just happens to be located in Springfield. Of course this only works in low competition searches. Which just so happens to be all small town searches. So is it a viable strategy for a local business to buy up all the domains that combine the local small towns and their service or product ? I think it could be. I have seen several business find good success with this strategy. The problem is that in order for each domain name to rank well, there would have to be an actual website on each domain name. Then in addition to having a bunch of different websites. Each website would have to have unique content. At the very minimum the location text on the page would need to be different. Take a look next time you Google a local business. See if the domain names have the city and service in the name.

Posted in Nashville Web Design, Small Business | No Comments »

Goople Places Crack Down

Donald Rush : February 6th, 2011

Local is the trend online this year and last. The prominent placement of Google places listings in the Google search results has caused businesses to pay attention to where they are in the Google places map. Because it is so valuable to rank well in the places results there is of course some abuse by businesses that don’t actually have a physical location to go along with their submission. To correct this Bing has been sending letters to the address submitted to confirm that it is authentic. This is slow and costly . Google has always given maps/places users that option , but the more popular option was to have Google give you a call at the number listed. This of course is not as reliable as a letter. Evidently the amount of spam on Google places is to the point that Google has resorted to requiring authentication by mail. This will of course slow the number of people that can submit their location but will establish Google places as a legitimate local listing service to its users.

Posted in Marketing, Small Business | No Comments »

Goverments and Google

Donald Rush : January 10th, 2011

It is becoming a trend for local and national government to start using Google apps as a way of outsourcing their email servers. Google apparently has passed the required security expectations of these groups. They are moving tens of thousands of emails over to Google. This is saving these institutions thousands of dollars a year. Not to mention they are probably receiving better features and service.

Of course some people are not fans of allowing confidential data to be stored off site. However this seems to be the trend. The cost of managing your own servers is becoming cost prohibited. This will likely continue to be the trend until some breach of security calls in to question the reliability of these services.

I happen to think it is a perfect solution. Especially for small businesses. At Small Buck we regularly encourage new web design clients to consider using Google for their email. With the increase in smart phone usage this is an ideal solution for small businesses. The idea that you can check your email from your phone or any other computer at any location is exciting. Especially to someone that fills tied to there local computers Outlook. Of course there are ways to access that data as well, however it may not be cost effective for small businesses.

What do you use for your email a document sharing?

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New Year New Website

Donald Rush : January 3rd, 2011

I love the new year. There is something about it that gets me motivated to make changes. Get going on that thing I have been putting off. Hopefully in your resolutions there was time to work on your website. Create a new page. Try a facebook competition. Write a new blog post. Create a blogging schedule. The most important thing is that you don’t forget about your website’s online presence in 2011. Maybe this will be the year your site rises to the first page of Google. Perhaps this will be the year you start advertising with Google. Twitter may even be on the horizon.

I’ll challenge you to pick at least one thing that will benefit your business online. Something you can do once a month or even once per week to get the word out. To get you noticed online.

My top recommendations would be to start blogging. Writing a post for your blog only takes a few minutes. The problem most people have is coming up with what to blog about. Try spending a few minutes by yourself or in a group and only brainstorm about future blog posts. Make a list. Save that list. It seems like when that blank page on your blog is staring you in the face, your mind also goes blank. However if you have a list handy you can get started right away.

Update your facebook business page wall. Ask a question once per week. Make a challenge. Get people involved.

Search for your business online without using your name. Only describe your business and see where you are. Look at the other websites that come up and see if there is something they are doing that you should start doing.

Create an email newsletter. They are free to start from Mail Chimp.

What do you plan to start doing in the new year? Let me know in the comments.

Posted in Blogging, Small Business | No Comments »

Unique titles

Donald Rush : December 30th, 2010

The business card is a basic necessity of business. They change hands at most meetings without much excitement or interest. Most cards are pretty plain.

I think this is an opportunity to create interest. To spark a conversation. To show your creative side. The card itself should be somewhat unique. Perhaps in layout or the type of paper used to print it. One thing that we all could do is have more creative titles. Think of your title as a nickname or a stage name. Be unique. Be unexpected. When someone grabs your card with a quick glance, a unique title may have them take a second look. It may be enough to plant that experience in their mind to help them remember you. Possibly they would be more likely to follow up with you.

Most business people take themselves to seriously. Mix it up. Add a little humor to the day. Of course if your a brain surgeon or something I’d prefer you be boring focused and professional. Everyone else give it a try. Get 250 cards printed and see what the response is.

What are the most creative business titles you’ve ever seen? Do you have a creative title? Have you thought of changing yours? Tell me about it in the comments.

Posted in Marketing, Small Business | No Comments »

Cost of a Lead

Donald Rush : November 3rd, 2010

Lately I have seen some great stats on open rates of mobile texting. Email has a lower open rate and even lower is direct mail. However the cost of these is different and can not be measured simply by the cost to send each. Each list has to first be built. What does it cost to build a database of cell numbers? What is the cost of an email address? What is the cost of an physical address.

A company’s address is pretty cheap. Even a list of addresses is relatively cheap. The great thing about direct mail is that you can purchase these addresses. There is no need to collect these from the home or business owner. However with email and mobile you have to get these individuals to opt in. The cost of the opt in has to be measured.

This is why an opt in list shows greater open rates. While direct mail which does not require opt in shows a lower open rate or response rate.

These are things to consider when thinking of how to generate business or leads. So when you design your marketing/advertising plan be sure to find a balance across this media.