Most Important Factors for Small Business SEO

The online space is changing constantly and every day there is a new product, platform or idea being created to attract and distract business owners. Whilst writing this article there could be a new product being launched that renders this article out of date and so rather than look at the shiny new things available online this article will focus on the fundamentals of online success for a small business owner.

1. Clear Project Aims - What do you want to achieve online? Are you looking for brand awareness, direct sales, lead generation or is your web site simply a supporting act for your more traditional offline activity? Setting out clearly defined goals will lead to the second key area for online activity which is keyword selection.
2. Keyword Selection - Once you have identified your project aims you can set about the task of creating a keyword map. The aim here is to identify keywords or phrases that people who are searching, browsing or even fumbling their way online would use to find you. An example of this might be "Cheap Car Insurance" might be a phrase suitable for generating direct sales whereas "Insurance Companies" might be more brand awareness. Google's own keyword tool is a really useful free offering for identifying good phrases with regular search volumes.
3. Traffic - Once you have created a keyword map you need to identify the best place to generate traffic. Search engines like Google are usually the best place to start but are you looking for a Pay per Click campaign through the likes of Google Adwords? This is quick and easy to achieve but very often far too expensive for most small to medium sized businesses. Are you looking for organic traffic from the natural listings? This typically needs a good Small business SEO specialist to help but tends to deliver more quality and sustainable traffic. Could social media be more suited to your product i.e. Facebook, Twitter, Linked-in or the host of social bookmarking sites like Delicious or Digg? What about the power of video which is becoming ever more important online and traffic can be gained from the video streaming platforms like You Tube, Daily Motion or Metacafe and also direct from the first page of Google.
4. Traffic Quality - One key factor when deciding where to get your traffic is the quality and quantity you need. There is a fine line between quality and volume - too much attention to the quality and you may not generate enough visitors to convert, too much attention to volume and you may waste lots of money generating leads that do not convert or you cannot cope with. Concentrate on your highest profit margin phrases first and build from there.
5. Traffic Behaviour - Once you get visitors to your web site they need to stay in the first instance, get to where they need to be quickly and efficiently and once there convert into a lead or sale. If you have a high bounce rate it could be that people are searching for one thing and arriving at a page that says something different. If someone is searching for "red shoes" make sure they arrive at the page within your site that sells red shoes not a page that sells "green track suits" or your home page that talks about your business in general. If someone is searching for 'sports wear" by all means send them to your home page or a category page that says Sports Wear. Can the user navigate the site easily without needing a crash course in code writing!! Is your site clunky or slow to load if so change it customers will get board, it is a fact that searchers are spending less time on each page they visit and bounce rates as a whole are increasing indicating that todays searcher is less prepared to dig for what they want and are looking for it to be served to them quickly.
6. Traffic Conversion - Once visitors are on your site and have been able to navigate or have landed on the correct page you need mechanisms to help them convert. If you have a shopping cart this is straight forward you want them to buy something however if they don't what next? How can you grab their details so that you can market to them again? It is essential to have multiple reasons for a searcher to leave their details and often less is more here. Rather than giving away every piece of information at your disposal reduce it slightly and get the searcher to ask for it. Give them a snippet of a newsletter or white paper and get them to ask fro the rest (this way you generate a lead), show them a video and ask them do they want more? (another way to generate a lead). Early stage researchers may only want to leave an email address in order to receive a newsletter perhaps whereas a searcher who is ready to buy might leave lots of information to receive full product specifications or a price list?
7. Traffic Retention - Most small business owners have one chance to convert traffic into leads or sales and that is usually the first time a potential customer visits the site. Many blue chips and larger web site real estate work really hard to create a web site that is appealing enough for visitors to return therefore giving them multiple opportunities to convert traffic to sales. Small business owners however usually do not have the time, resource or subject matter to create a site that engages visitors over and over again with the possible exception of e-commerce sites. This doesn't mean that small business owners shouldn't try by introducing videos, industry news updates, company news updates, blog posts, twitter posts, weekly offers or even competitions in order to give visitors a reason to return.
8. Traffic Profiling - Most businesses will now have some kind of traffic analysis software (often Google Analytics) however few small businesses are conversant with all there functions. With Google analytics for example it is possible to set up targets and goals to track the performance of traffic throughout the site. Traffic profiling takes this a stage further by separating traffic and leads into predetermined categories from early stage researchers to general enquirers and the holy grail of hot leads who are ready to buy now.
9. Lead Management - Once a lead has been captured it is essential that business owners can store and manage these leads effectively. This ranges from creating categories for leads, compiling a history, prospect system to manage calls and recalls and some kind of filtering system to facilitate target marketing and re-marketing. Even if your site is an e-commerce site it is proven that less than 5% of people who visit your site for the first time will buy something and so it is essential to have a lead management programme to facilitate the other 95%
10. Re-Marketing - It has long been proven in the world of offline marketing that it takes between 5-7 contacts on average to turn a prospect into a top quality lead or sale and this is no different online. On average small to medium sized business owners tend to contact their prospects only 2-3 times and many only make one contact. This is one major area where a small business owner can truly maximise their ROI when it comes to online marketing by having the capacity to simply and regularly contact their prospect base.

By creating a structured holistic marketing plan covering all ten sections business owners will undoubtedly generate maximum return for their online marketing activity and spend particularly when embarking on Small Business SEO

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/6068071

How to Start Your Own at Home Manufacturing Business

When it comes to at home manufacturing businesses, most people choose to do the manufacturing off-site, and simply manage the day-to-day business it involves from their homes. If you're thinking of how to start a manufacturing company, here are some tips to consider.

If you're planning any sort of manufacturing at home, you must have a license to do so. In many neighborhoods, at home businesses of any kind just aren't allowed. With a home based manufacturing business, even where they are allowed, there will be many regulations and laws that you will have to follow. And you should know that any rules that apply to the big manufacturing companies will also pertain to your starting a manufacturing company from home.

These rules and regulations will primarily concern safety, pollution, and quality control issues. You likely have to do some major work on your home to meet these regulations, as well as setting up the necessary equipment for your at home manufacturing business. Getting all the licenses, approvals, certifications, and permits takes time. Doing these things can also be quite daunting.

So daunting, in fact, that most people who are involved in starting a manufacturing business choose to run the business from their homes, but do the actual manufacturing in another location.

By doing this, the facility where they do their actual manufacturing is in a place where all the codes and regulations are already met. They will often also have all the necessary equipment so that all a person does is have to staff up to get their at home manufacturing business going.

Regardless of which way you choose to go, you should understand that it will take time to have everything in place before you can actually start your at home manufacturing business. This is not a start-the-same-day business opportunity. You will need to have a business plan that maps out your strategy for starting your at home manufacturing business.

Some questions to think about as you plan your at home manufacturing business strategy are:

• Where's the best location?
• How will I finance my home manufacturing business?
• Will I need to hire people?
• If so, how many people will I need?
• Should I hire an accountant?
• What equipment and supplies do I have to have?
• Do I have the business knowledge I need?
• Are any special permits or certifications required?
• Are there any government regulations concerning the product my home manufacturing business will be making?
• Where do I want this business to be in 6 months? A year? Two years?
• Am I willing to do what's necessary to make this business a success?
• Does my family support my at home manufacturing business idea?
• Do I have the space I need for an at home office?
• Would having a partner be beneficial?
• What sort of tax plan is best for me?
• Who's my competition and what are they doing?
• Is there a need for my product?
• How will I get my product to market?
• What sort of advertising and marketing should I do?

As you can see, there are lots of things to think about when thinking about how to start a manufacturing business at home. But to be successful, it's necessary to do as much research and planning in the beginning as possible. This saves you a great deal of time, money, and frustration in the long run. No one has ever regretted taking the time to do something right, but far too many people have huge regrets over leaping before they look. You don't want to be one of them.

© Copyright Randy Wilson, All Rights Reserved.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/44104

Liability Business Insurance Management

Liability business is big business for insurance companies.

It is the one insurance policy that every business owner simply can't be without. Every insurance company offers liability insurance coverage for small business simply because liability business is a big requirement today.

Any small business trying to run a business without this business liability insurance policy to cover mishaps, accidents or fraud stands a high risk of losing their business and all their hard-earned assets if they get into trouble. The trouble doesn't even have to be of their own making as they could too easily become the target of fraudsters. Without having any liability insurance coverage they would have to fight the legal battle on their own.

Liability business insurance consists of clauses in the terms and conditions (T&C) of the policy which will clearly state what you are or are not covered for. When a small business takes out this type of insurance policy, it is imperative that you read and familiarise yourself with all of these T&C within the mandatory cooling-off period.

Once this cooling-off period has expired and you have paid your premium, then it becomes a legally binding contract between you and your insurance company provider. With this contract, you will have certain responsibilities that you must adhere to or you will cause the insurance contract to become "null and void".

This simply means that your liability business insurance will become non-existent. If you are paying your insurance in monthly installments and you fall behind in your payments will also cause your liability insurance policy to be doubtful as you will have broken your contractual obligations in the contract.

Many small business owners today try to cut costs by not carrying any liability business insurance.

This is a big mistake because when something goes wrong, through no fault of your own, and a member of the public gets hurt through doing business with your business and decides to sue you for the damages, then you will be responsible for all the legal costs that will be involved and if the court finds your business to be responsible and orders you to pay reparation, then you will also have all the legal bills involved in the court action to pay for. Can you really afford to take this gamble?

With a liability business insurance policy to cover you for these types of unpleasant proceedings then you will have someone on your side to fight the legal battle on your behalf.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/6396410

How to Cut Legal Costs for Your Business

Obtaining legal assistance for your company can be a very costly proposition, especially for cash-strapped small businesses that are hard pressed to come up with the money to pay a lawyer.

If this is your situation, it's a good idea to let your lawyer know right off the bat, and ask him for advice on how to handle your legal issues for the lowest possible cost.

For routine clerical work such as drafting contract and writing simple letters, it is often best to have a junior associate or paralegal handle your case, rather than a senior lawyer. You might also want to try revising simple documents yourself (depending on your level of experience), rather than making repeat visits to your lawyer's office.

If your business requires representation in court, you might want to try and negotiate a contingency fee, usually a percentage of gains (i.e. from a lawsuit), which would be paid upon successful completion of your case. This type of deal isn't always possible for very difficult or specialized court battles, and can represent a significant premium over normal legal fees. It does take away a lot of your risk, however, and reduces up-front costs, while providing additional incentive for an attorney to work hard on your case.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/297823