Increase Your Website Credibility in the Age of Content Marketing |  |
- Increase Your Website Credibility in the Age of Content Marketing
- Apple’s New Operating System Is Now Available From Mac App Store
- Six Unique Ways to Boost Web Traffic Without Marketing
- McDonald’s to Remove Heinz Ketchup From Restaurants
- How to Monetize Your Knowledge
| Increase Your Website Credibility in the Age of Content Marketing Posted: 30 Oct 2013 04:00 PM PDT
As content marketing increasingly becomes the standard avenue for building trust and gaining credibility with customers, your website is going to have to keep up with the trend. Heavy-handed and 'salesy' strategies that may have worked a few years ago in order to get email opt-ins or conversions just aren't going to cut it anymore. Consumers are looking for someone they can trust – period. And trust isn't something you can fake. So for business owners and marketers looking to succeed in this age of inbound marketing, having a website that conveys trustworthiness, credibility and authenticity is going to be paramount. So how do you do this? How do you make sure your website stand out among less credible resources online? 5 Ways to Increase Your Website Credibility1) Show Who's Behind Your Business Let's face it, your business's biggest asset is you. Don't hide behind your logo or business name. Let your website visitors know there are real people behind your business and/or brand. You can do this in a variety of ways, including:
2) Show Who's Writing Your Content This is, I believe, going to be a make it or break it proposition for businesses in the content marketing age. Don't assume that your audience demands your personal involvement in all areas of your content marketing such as emails, blog posts and social media updates. Most will understand that you simply don't have time to do it all. If you have staff to perform these functions for you, be transparent by having them include their names and credentials. 3) Show That Others Like You Offering social proof on your website is a not-so-subtle way of saying, 'Hey, others like me, why don't you?' Help alleviate fears your website visitors may have about connecting with you by showing that others have done it before. You can include social proof on your site by using social media counters, showing the number of email subscribers you have or by displaying verifiable testimonials. 4) Show That Your Content is Current There are obviously some sites and types of content that are, by their very nature, timely and up-to-date (think news sites, travel booking sites, shopping sites, etc.). But if it's not immediately obvious that your content is fresh and timely, you may be losing credibility without even realizing it. Make sure your blog posts are dated, and that any 'newsy' type content is clearly labeled as current. Of course, if you're not regularly updating your website, this is going to hurt your credibility, so be aware of this up front. 5) Be Clear About Your Biases Whether you have an eCommerce site, a content-based site or a site that simply represents your online and/or brick and mortar business, be clear and transparent about the purpose of your site and any potential conflicts of interest that could arise. For instance, if the ultimate goal of your website is to sell your web design services, don't masquerade your site as something else. Be up front about what you do, why you're doing it and if or how your content may be affected. In a time where content needs to be reliable and authentic in order to stand out from the pack, content marketers are going to need to be diligent about conveying this credibility to their website visitors. By following the general rule of being clear and transparent about all aspects of your site and business, you'll be well on your way to gaining the trust and respect of your website visitors both now, and in the future. What tactics do you use to establish trust and increase your website credibility? Suspiscious Photo via Shutterstock The post Increase Your Website Credibility in the Age of Content Marketing appeared first on Small Business Trends. |
| Apple’s New Operating System Is Now Available From Mac App Store Posted: 30 Oct 2013 01:30 PM PDT
Apple announced the new OS X Mavericks last week, it’s tenth to date. The company’s review of new features include many that sound like they would be ideal for the increasingly mobile small business owner. The new system is available now as a free download through the Mac App Store for desktop and laptop users. Current users of the Snow Leopard, Lion and Mountain Lion operating systems can upgrade to Mavericks for free. Apple says OS X Mavericks also includes several new features. For example, there’s a new Maps and a new Calendar that estimates travel times between meetings and appointments you’ve scheduled. The Calendar feature can even include a weather forecast for the location you’ll be traveling to in order to keep those appointments. Here’s a look at the new features from Lifehacker: Apple also says upgrades to the Safari browser include a Shared Links feature to collect the links your followers and those you follow on Twitter post throughout the day. The iCloud Keychain saves and protects vital security information like usernames, passwords and credit card numbers. And it remembers them across multiple devices when you need them. So if you’re away from the office with your iPhone and have forgotten the password to one of your accounts, your iCloud Keychhain probably remembers. A new Notifications feature will let you reply to messages and alerts you receive without leaving the app you’re currently using, too. Apple also says Finder Tags on OS X Mavericks will help you better organize a lot of your business files. These could include files you store on iCloud and may need to access on your iPad or iPhone when away from your office computer. Image: Apple The post Apple’s New Operating System Is Now Available From Mac App Store appeared first on Small Business Trends. |
| Six Unique Ways to Boost Web Traffic Without Marketing Posted: 30 Oct 2013 11:00 AM PDT
Building a website is one thing, but getting website traffic and converting it into money is another. Steady growth should be your constant business objective. Have you planned a strategy to boost Web traffic without the use of marketing? If you focus on conventional link building process for traffic generation, then tell me inform that you are missing out on lots of potential customers. Although marketing is important for business success, there are a few secrets that help you double your website traffic without having to do any marketing. Without wasting too much of your time, below are a few tricks to implement to boost Web traffic to your site without marketing. Boost Web Traffic With These TipsWork on Rich SnippetsSnippets add significant value to an organic listing in search engine results and can dramatically enhance website traffic. A rich snippet is a summary of the data that a user sees on a Web page. The data includes information regarding your product's price, review count and product availability. They are useful for gaining an insight about a particular product or site at a glance without having to visit the site. It is a painless task that can boost Web traffic and the number of clicks to your page by 33%. It improves the appearance of listings, increases real estate on the page for better visibility and provides more information to readers. Snippets help to verify what exactly the user is looking for, so when they click through your pages, they stick around. The entire process minimizes bounce rate and maximizes time spent on the site. Start Influencing Internal LinksGetting links from other Web pages is crucial. Optimizing internal links helps search engines recognize which pages on your website are the most important and the most valuable. Internal links help your visitors flow through your website. Through internal links, you get website visitors from point A to point Z in an efficient way without losing them midway through navigation. Here are a few tips:
Once you implement the above steps, search engines begin to associate the critical pages with your keywords and list those pages higher in search rankings. Explore the Long-Tail VariationStop focusing on generic keywords and emphasize long-tail keywords which are easier to rank for and convert at a much higher rate than short generic terms. So how do you enhance the exposure to long-tail variations to boost Web traffic? Identify the long-tail modifier and make use of the Google Keyword Planner to make a note of all long-tail variation. Then work these modifiers into your page copy. Once a particular page is optimized, you no longer need to insert each long-tail search phrase verbatim into the page. Instead work on the unique variation. Write Compelling Meta Titles and Descriptions that People Cannot IgnoreMeta title and Meta descriptions are attributes that determine how your Web page appears in search results. Unique titles and a short, crisp product descriptions can drastically boost Web traffic. The description, which is the short bit of text that shows underneath the title in search results, should be informative, clear and straightforward. If they are boring, they will never offer any compelling reason to click through to your page. Highlight the primary keywords at least once in the title and description and ensure they flow naturally with the rest of the content. The best thing to keep in mind while writing the title and description is the way an advertisement is written. This is because through your title and Meta description, you are highlighting your unique selling proposition, your expertise and the reason why customers should shop with you. Apply Authorship Markup and Video ThumbnailHaving Google authorship benefits makes your search engine listing more inviting. The authorship allows you to associate your content with your Google+ profile. It then takes your Google+ profile image together with other profile information into search engine results for the content you author. Listings with author images and profile information attached will benefit from the perception of credibility and prevent fear of spammy content. Similarly, video thumbnails are a page's embedded videos that appear along a page listing. To get a video thumbnail, you need to create a video sitemap for Google. Just like product-based snippet, video thumbnail vividly upsurges the click through rate of the associated pages. The Power of Search Engine OptimizationThe most effective way to boost Web traffic to your site is through optimizing your website for search engines because it does not cost a thing. If your website holds a top ranking for even a mildly popular search term, it can obtain many visitors per month. Are you surprised to see how traffic can be generated without marketing? Implementing these six ways to boost Web traffic can deliver the maximum traffic required to accomplish your business goals. Surprised Photo via Shutterstock The post Six Unique Ways to Boost Web Traffic Without Marketing appeared first on Small Business Trends. |
| McDonald’s to Remove Heinz Ketchup From Restaurants Posted: 30 Oct 2013 08:00 AM PDT
We all understand the importance of relationships in business. And customers at McDonald’s restaurants both in the U.S. and around the world will have a clear reminder too when they can no longer find their favorite condiment. McDonald’s recently announced the unprecedented move of severing its relationship with arguably one of the world’s most famous ketchups. The reason? Well, H.J. Heinz Co. was just acquired by Bershire Hathaway and Brazil-based 3G Capital. 3G Capital also owns the Burger King hamburger chain, reports the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Add to this 3G’s impolitic decision to install former Burger King CEO, Bernard Hees, as the head of the iconic Pittsburgh ketchup company. Let’s just say McDonald’s doesn’t want to do business with the former head of their chief rival. It’s an understandable but regrettable development for Heinz ketchup lovers everywhere. But even more so for H.J. Heinz Co., it would seem. Relationships Gone Bad Can Hurt a BusinessThe decision by McDonald’s effectively ends decades of striving by Heinz to rebuild its relationship with the fast food restaurant company in the U.S., the Wall Street Journal reports. That relationship was damaged thanks to supply problems in the ’70s. But more importantly, the decision will hurt outside the U.S. where the Wall Street Journal says the company was doing even more business with McDonald’s. As a small business owner, you must constantly think about how business decisions may effect relationships with your existing clients, customers or suppliers. Will decisions to venture into a new business or take on a new client or partner be seen as a conflict with your existing clients or customers? And can you afford to lose them, if so? When considering buying a business, think about how customers and clients may react to that new ownership. Will they develop the same working relationship with you? Or was their business completely reliant on relationships forged with the prior owner? Image: Heinz The post McDonald’s to Remove Heinz Ketchup From Restaurants appeared first on Small Business Trends. |
| How to Monetize Your Knowledge Posted: 30 Oct 2013 05:00 AM PDT
According to statistics, most small businesses today are service providers. They may be financial advisors, lawyers, personal trainers, accountants, dentists, pool cleaners, consultants, engineers or in similar occupations. Essentially businesses like these sell time, not a product. Time is a finite resource. We each only have so many hours in a day. That means it is harder to scale a service business where you sell your time. Typically you have to hire more employees or outsource certain activities. And labor, especially for knowledge workers, is expensive. So the question remains: How do you grow when you've started and run a service business? That's where the power of your knowledge and today's trend of content marketing work to your advantage. Evolving to a Subscription Based Business ModelAccording to Greg Head, Chief Marketing Officer of Infusionsoft, a marketing automation software provider, one of the ways to scale a service-based business is to turn your knowledge into a subscription-based model. "With a subscription-based model, you can automate educational services online — and even the services you provide through in-person interactions," he noted. By incorporating self-service access to their expertise, small businesses can expand and transform their operating models beyond in-person engagements, he added. Infusionsoft and research firm Audience Audit teamed up on a study earlier this year of more than 1,100 small businesses that showed a growing interest in subscription-based delivery models. Those small business owners focused on growth spent more of their time and budget on marketing and sales, and they also used technology to gain a competitive advantage. All the businesses in the study had annual revenues of more than $250,000. Head told us:
Small businesses that embrace online content marketing typically attract and convert new leads through educational materials such as blogs, ebooks, videos and tutorials. Once they start using knowledge for their marketing, they convert their followers' interest into recurring revenue streams through a membership site. Head added:
Membership sites are websites that provide gated, permission-based access to educational content, including ebooks, videos, tutorials, articles and more. They allow subscribers to access services on demand or participate in online communities with other members. The membership site's owner controls access to the content, which might entail a one-time, monthly or annual membership fee and free content. Monetize Your Knowledge Using a Membership SiteWith that in mind, we asked Head for his advice when it comes to membership site best practices. He recommends these six essential elements of a successful membership site: 1. Monthly Recurring IncomeSmall businesses with special expertise can generate recurring revenue by charging a monthly or annual subscription fee for access to valuable educational content. Simply load the information chosen to be shared with members, set the membership level pricing structure, and update the site according to the content model. Billing occurs at the frequency that's been defined, which helps in predicting future cash flow. As long as the content is valuable to customers, they'll continue to pay for their subscription. 2. Lead CaptureProvide free access to some content behind the registration wall captures contact information that can be used in subsequent marketing. 3. Prospect NurtureOnce the prospect's contact information is captured, nurturing can continue on the membership site by sending the individual more content and previews of premium content that encourages an upgrade in membership. 4. Customer ServiceUpdates and training can be provided as new products and services are released. This allows customers to gain access to common customer service questions without having to contact the company directly. 5. Product Introductions and UpsellsIncreasing average revenue per customer is critical to business growth, and current customers are the best targets for additional sales. A membership site simplifies the introduction of new products and services and provides a low effort, low friction opportunity to recommend complementary offerings. 6. Modernizing Your Small BusinessesJermaine Griggs, founder of Hear & Play Music, an online music learning center, uses membership sites to deliver training and tutorials to his growing community of music students. Using a membership site has allowed him to not only build a loyal fan base, but it has resulted in repeat sales increasing by 90 percent. His lifetime customer value also went from $90 to $375 and he reduced his work week by 60 percent. "He's a prime example of someone that's succeeding in this new education economy by using membership sites," Infusionsoft's Head told us. A Matter of Successful GrowthSmall business success has always been a matter of making the most out of limited time and resources. With an online membership site and other Web based tools, small businesses with educational based products and services can elevate their unique value propositions and transform their operations. Intelligence Photo via Shutterstock The post How to Monetize Your Knowledge appeared first on Small Business Trends. |
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