Category Archives: Small Businesses

Great SEO Tools

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Successful business owners are constantly researching ways to reach more people through their website and online marketing campaigns. This process can take tons of time, which is why most companies outsource their online marketing and Search Engine Optimization. There are several great tools out there to help get you started optimizing your website for optimal placement on search engines.

Check out these favorites:

  • Open Site Explorer – Open Site Explorer is a great way to analyze your reciprocal links and link popularity. This tool also allows you to monitor your competitor’s sites and see why they are ranking higher than you, allowing you to optimize your reciprocal link campaign.
  • SEO Toolbar – SEOmoz’s toolbar allows you to view important SEO metrics about a website while browsing the web. It’s a quick and easy installation on your Firefox or Chrome browser.
  • Ranking Tracker – Track your website’s rankings in Google, Yahoo, and Bing automatically over time.
  • SEOmoz – SEOmoz provides the tools above and several other paid tools for optimizing your website. We highly recommend checking them out.
  • Wordtracker - It’s not free, but I’d be remiss in not mentioning Wordtracker. Analyze search patterns and search phrases that your customers are searching for. The best part is that you can also see which of those search phrases are being targeted by your competitors and which are not. Pick up valuable, untapped traffic using this amazing keyword research and SEO tool.
  • WebPosition – This invaluable SEO tool allows you track the success of your online marketing efforts. This online application offers you easy access from anywhere to view key, in-depth data about your online marketing campaigns. Easily track keyword performance, position changes, competition and trends. Even set up scheduled reporting.
  • Page Comparison Tool – Enter several domains to analyze your site against your competitors.
  • Google Webmasters Console – A great tool by Google to help webmasters (or website owners) submit, track and review their website on Google Search. Check robots.txt files, submit sitemaps (or dynamic sitemaps), see when your sitemap has been indexed and view search traffic. Use in combination with Google Analytics for more detailed website traffic analysis.
  • Google Analytics – View detailed site traffic information and analyze your marketing effectiveness with this professional enterprise solution from Google.

If you know of other great SEO tools, please feel free to add them in the comments.

Thanks for reading and good luck optimizing your website! If you have any questions, don’t be a stranger… Give us a call at 615-823-1234.

(Net)Work It!

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As the economy continues to shift into a buyer’s market, not only in housing but also in all other types of business, it is becoming more and more important to increase your business networking and seek out new business opportunities utilizing all your available resources.

It may seem that business is not out there, as people are slowly shifting away from hiring unknown companies to hiring companies and individuals recommended to them by friends and colleagues. Your local coffee shop, restaurant, bar and even the dog park are opportunities to network. So always bring your business card, talk to people and get out there!

Having a website is a great way to attract buyers, communicate with your network, share ideas and build a following. Additionally, there are a number of social networks which can help you develop a strong professional network, but you can’t stop there. Keep these networks updated, keep adding people, requesting recommendations and you will see your business grow. Utilize RSS to feed in news and stories to keep your content fresh on your networks.

Here are a few of my favorite sites for building business relationships and finding new business:

Results don’t happen immediately, but they don’t happen at all if you don’t (Net)Work It!

Feel free to comment and add other networks and websites you have found useful in increasing awareness about your company or finding new clients!

How to Maintain Brand Identity When Your Business is Scattered Across the Internet

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The explosion of social networking sites has made it easy for business owners to place their company in the thick of things.  Sites like MySpace, Facebook and Twitter allow business owners to reach out to their clients in a more casual and relatable way.  While these mediums may allow for more personal communication, keep in mind that consumers face an onslaught from marketers and if your messages aren’t reinforcing your brand identity, you’re likely to be quickly forgotten.

There are quick and easy ways to create continuity for your business online, even if it spans across a variety of platforms.

  • Rely on your logo. Your logo is the face of your business, so make sure it’s out there for people to recognize.  While it may seem like a fun idea to mix things up an use different images for different profiles, it will simply create confusion.  Make it easy for your customers to recognize you.
  • Take advantage of the customization features.  Many of the platforms like MySpace, YouTube, Vimeo and Twitter offer you the ability to personalize your page – and this is another great way to reinforce your brand standards.  So while your customer may have found your business page on YouTube, they still can feel at “home” on a page that reinforces the themes, colors and images that represent your business.  Here are a couple of examples of pulling elements together for different platforms:
  • Personalize your message.  The great thing about the social networks is that you have a very specific audience.  If you’re using an industry-specific networking site, customize your message to that market.  If your audience is in specific area, use Twitter or Facebook to target your message to those customers.
    • East Side Cookies uses their Twitter page and ESC on Facebook page to let customers in Nashville know where they’ve made the latest delivery so they can easily find the freshest cookies in town.

These are just a few starter tips.  Also sure to check out the help sections of the site that you’re using to see what other features they’ve created for businesses to have a more dynamic presence, and if you’d like more assistance, always feel free to contact us at Brady Mills Graphics.

Small Business Marketing in a Recession

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View Brady’s online presentation about how to make the most of your marketing budget in the current recession. This video presentation includes tips for generating more quality leads utilizing online social websites. Watch the video here…

How Do You Get Shoppers to Open Their Wallets in Today's Economy?

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Consumers are spending less.  That’s hardly a novel headline in this economy, but just because spending is down, it doesn’t mean wallets are completely sealed shut.

Bazaarvoice commissioned a survey of 800 U.S. consumers to learn about what factors have the greatest impact on shoppers during the decision-making process.  Not surprisingly, 61% of respondents acknowledged that online resources can sway them as they’re making purchases.  Factors like “user ratings and reviews (77%), and recommendations based on other consumers’ purchasing or browsing behavior (66% and 65%, respectively)” played heavily into their final decisions.  This data reflects that word-of-mouth is alive and well online – even among people who may not even be on the same continent.

What does all of this mean for your site?

Make sure you’re allowing online shoppers to get involved!  Make it easy for them to leave reviews and ratings.  Incorporate systems that intuitively know when to suggest products or link to purchase histories of other shoppers.  Brett Hurt, founder of Bazaarvoice, explains it simply, “companies have a tremendous opportunity to provide online shoppers with authentic, user-generated content that is proven to build confidence, increase satisfaction, and drive sales.”

It’s an easy step that can have a far-reaching impact.  Work with your web designers to find ways to incorporate more user-friendly features and you may just find that you’re creating a loyal (and growing) consumer base.

New Website Portfolio Showcases Clients in Nashville and Beyond

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The last couple of years have been a great opportunity for the Brady Mills Graphics team to work with all types of clients. In order to better showcase our work with these great businesses, we’ve redesigned our portfolio. With the newly formatted portfolio, users can search by client as well as by industry or services provided by BMG.  Check out our clients – corporate and not-so-corporate – from Nashville as well as across the country.

The newly designed portfolio can be found at: http://www.bradymills.com/portfolio.php or you can sneak a  little peek below!

Brady Mills Graphics Portfolio

If You're Not Online, Small Businesses Are Missing Out on Local Customers

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MarketingCharts.com posted a great article about a survey done by Webvisible and Nielsen regarding how consumers look for local businesses online.  The survey uncovered some insightful information about how small business owners are missing out on customers who may be just around the corner – but can’t find the business because they’re not online.

With 82% of respondents citing search engines as one of their main resources of information, the unfortunate news is that  “39% report frequently not being able to locate a particular known business.”  That means these people who may be searching for your business are stumbling on information about other businesses – likely your competitors.

There are simple ways to make a business more prominent online.  Take advantage of the free search services like Yahoo! Local or Google Local Business Center to post free local business listings.  Also check out how your business is listed with YellowPages.com or SuperPages.com.  Yelp.com has some great resources for business owners to manage their reputations on Yelp and with CitySearch.com, business owners can create profiles that help bolster their presence on the site.

These are just a few free resources that every business owner should take note of.  If you’ve got questions about other ways to bolster your online presence, check out our online marketing services at Brady Mills Graphics and give us a call or drop us a line!

How Time's '50 Best' Can Make Your Site Better

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Time Magazine posted its list of the 50 Best Websites 2008, and as evidenced by the string of suggested sites that visitors left, there are thousands more out there that people are passionate about.

Aside from some handy resources and cool features, what does the average business owner have to learn from Time’s list? Plenty. These sites have been designed not just to be cool, but to have the user’s experience as the site’s primary focus. It’s this attention to the user that has prompted over 150,000 people to visit Time and vote for their favorite site.

When planning for your site, take a cue from the creative ones that made Time’s list this year.

  • Keep the navigation simple. While you may be tempted to try out funky link graphics or titles, remember that most of your users will be new to the site and if they find it difficult to get around the first time, they probably won’t be back for more. The easier it is for a user to navigate, the better they’ll feel about the experience. The better the experience, the more likely they’ll be to take action – whether it’s as simple as signing up for a mailing list or a full-out e-commerce transaction.
  • Make your products interactive. Not all sites need to be as extensive as Lookybook.com, but one visit to Lookybook’s library makes it easy to understand why the site made the 50 best list. The flip-through technology takes the guess work out of picking out a children’s book for your favorite little one. Not all e-commerce sites need to offer such extensive detail. Depending on what you’re selling, simple features such as alternate views, 360° rotation, or just a solid, creative description will be enough to move the user to action. However you choose to do it, make your products come alive. It’s the best way to move the user from a shopper to a buyer.
  • Instant gratification. Internet users are a fickle bunch, so don’t make them jump through hoops. Offer up the most pertinent information early in their visit, like the search engine SearchMe.com. One visit to this innovative, graphic-driven site and you’ll see how users don’t even have to bother clicking to visit a site to make sure it’s the right one. When developing your site, brainstorm with your programmers about ways to give your users an easy feeling of accomplishment.
  • Make your site a place to hangout. You don’t need to create the next Myspace or Facebook, but in today’s internetland, people like to make their presence known. Sites like iliketotallyloveit.com let users lead the way. On this site, guests get to submit products for review by fellow visitors as well as comment on items posted by friends or strangers. As Time notes, it’s a good way to watch trends “bubble” up to the top of the shopping charts, but by allowing the user to track his or her product responses, you’ve also created incentive for users to visit more frequently.

Time’s list is far from exhaustive, but strolling through it will offer up more than a few creative ideas for designing a site of your own. Once you’ve got a list of features that interest you, talk to your web designer about the best way to incorporate these ideas. Working with a designer that has your site’s best interest at heart will help ensure that your site is as functional and intriguing as it is informative.

Cost Effective Marketing Can Minimize Economic Distress

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The concern of a recession is beginning to become a reality as businesses look to cut spending, decrease overhead and bunker down during the possible economic turbulence. Despite the old adage that it is best to spend your way out of a recession, many business owners are preparing to freeze their marketing budgets.

The good news is that cutting marketing budget doesn’t have to negatively affect the your bottom line. By diverting deflated budgets to more cost-effective mediums, companies can boost their marketing power while reducing advertising expense. There are low-cost solutions to fit a variety of marketing budgets, including email marketing, search engine optimization, PR, professional web presence, pay-per-click and mobile marketing, not to mention the value of ensuring good relationships with existing customers.

For most companies that weren’t open during the last recession, the impact of a struggling economy may be more difficult to handle. This is why it’s important for a company to have its marketing forces armed and ready, so if the recession hits they can immediately take charge and begin generating new sales. Preparedness is key to competitive advantage.”

The Direct Marketing Association estimates that email marketing ROI will hit $45.65 for every dollar spent this year. When compared with traditional direct mail marketing, email marketing allows a company to reduce the production costs and focus more of their advertising budget directly on the consumer. Starting a direct mail campaign will incur significant costs and the response ratio is usually much lower than with online campaigns.

Moving your marketing budget online offers great advantages. With online marketing, a company can view detailed statistics about their campaign including how many people have opened their email, geographic distribution, click-thru-rates, ad effectiveness and conversions. Traditional marketing including television and print doesn’t offer this advantage. Close observation of these metrics help ensure the company receives premium ROI.

Developing a strong online marketing program allows companies direct interaction with potential customers and powerful marketing at a fraction of traditional advertising costs. Interactive marketing as an extension of a company’s current advertising efforts has proven invaluable in both strong and difficult economic times. Interactive marketing should be considered when business owners find economic impact is impeding their marketing budget.

battling bunker mentality in a rocky economy

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The economy’s trajectory has been far from smooth over these last few months. Shaky confidence in the future is causing many businesses to scale back on marketing budgets, which while it may ease the immediate cash flow concerns of some in management, developing too much of a bunker mentality will make it difficult to bounce back once things get rolling again. Take a minute to review Scott Shane’s post about Four Mistakes Entrepreneurs Make in a Recession. It’s good food for economically-weary thought.