Our blog provides advice, tips, suggestions and promotion ideas to help you improve and grow your business.
Looking to add a simple payment option to your website, but don’t need a full shopping cart? Paypal may be the perfect solution.
Adding a Paypal “buy now” button to your website is quick and easy.
We have created a movie to show you how you can add this to your website.
We have recently upgraded our Application Vault with a ton of new applications.
Maximize your website with our Application Vault, a collection of easy-to-install applications that make adding improved functionality to your web site a snap!
Our Application Vault is located on your hosting control panel and allows you to install applications on your website with a few mouse clicks.
Some of the application categories include:
Our Application Vault is FREE and included on all accounts.
To see how easy it is to add an application to your website, we’ve created a how-to movie below.
What’s the most common thing visitors do on your web site?
Okay, so some of you might offer more…uh…visual adult entertainment. But for the majority of us, our visitors come to our sites seeking information. Simply, most come to do one thing: read.
But so often, the value placed on the site’s words isn’t commensurate with the value we place on, for example, its cool design.
At least, that’s the view of content guru Gerry McGovern, who says that “the ability to create and publish quality content is a critical skill in the information economy.”
Speaking at a San Francisco conference last month on web site usability, Gerry laid out his prescription for the twelve golden rules of writing powerful content that will pull readers or customers into your site. I’ve condensed them here for you to ten. (Yep…I’m always an editor!)
1. Know your reader. Don’t think of your “audience” as a faceless customer base. Gear your content to a particular person you think best represents the face of the people who use your site. Maybe he’s a 72-year-old retiree who is fond of cruise line vacations. Whatever. Write to HIM.
2. Develop a style and tone. Develop a voice that speaks to that individual. Be sure that your site writers and copywriters adhere consistently to that style and tone. Develop tools to help: invest the time and energy to pull together a style guide and word and phrase glossary. Otherwise, your style and tone comes across as flat as the beer at a college keg party.
3. Understand legal and copyright issues. If you outsource any writing on your site to freelancers, have a clear understanding of copyright and fair use laws. For example, will writers producing articles for your site maintain ownership of the piece, or would you prefer to buy their words for your own exclusive use? There are many shades of gray <www.publaw.com> in between those two extremes.
4. Size does matter. In web writing, shorter is actually better. The “word count” feature on your tool bar should become one of your most intimate friends. Readers online are impatient; it’s difficult to read documents on a screen that run longer than 500-700 words. This rule doesn’t apply only to text. Think short headers (4 to 8 words), short article summaries (30-50 words), short sentences (15-20 words), and short paragraphs (40-70 words). Really. It. Works.
5. Be direct and compelling. Remember Faulkner’s words: “Kill your darlings.” Those pieces of text on your site that are so well-crafted they bring tears to your eyes should be your first target: Strike them out. Really. Stick a stake straight through their beautiful hearts. As coarse and unlovely as you view them, practical bullet points and straight-to-the-matter text are what you want.
6. Titles are critical. Headings on the web are even more critical than they are in print. They should be short, of course, but also descriptive. Think keywords and search engines. Tempting as it may be, avoid clever headlines: Save your creativity and double-entendres for the subheads.
7. Summaries should - guess what! — summarize. Many of your so-called readers are actually scanners. Scanners impatiently look for the good stuff they need, so be sure that any summary truly offers the essence of a longer piece…and entices the reader to read on. An accurate summary is also critical for top search engine results and for other web sites that might want to link to yours.
8. Write for searchers. Throw plenty of relevant keywords into your headlines and summaries. Google will love you for it. And like all solid love, it’ll be returned in spades.
9. Create web documents. Okay, so there are those times when a longer piece of text really is necessary. You just have too much to say to cram into 700 words. In that case, you have two options: Publish it as an Adobe PDF file, or write a punchy summary in HTML that links to a whole ‘nuther web page. Break up that lengthy document in any way you can: Pull out quotes in a larger font size, use sub-headings within the text, break out interesting sidebars, or use hypertext links to break up blocks of text.
10. Edit, edit, edit! Get that first draft out. And then get out your chainsaw and slice it neatly in half. After that, produce your choicest set of editorial surgical tools and precisely cut and remove excessive words and verbose prose. Be your own editor, before your readers take a look at it. It’s less painful to criticize yourself than to hear it from others.
Really. I should know.
Written by Ann Handley, the chief content officer of MarketingProfs (www.marketingprofs.com). She writes for the MarketingProfs Daily Fix (www.mpdailyfix.com) and authors her own blog, Annarchy (www.annhandley.com).
What is MarketingProfs?
MarketingProfs is a great resource for how-to marketing articles and advice for small businesses. For more information, go to http://www.MarketingProfs.com
We’ve been working hard on our upcoming Site Builder Pro upgrade and we just wanted to share some of the great new web design templates we will be adding very soon.
We are currently in beta testing and will be releasing the new version of Site Builder Pro including these great new templates in about 60 days.
Twitter is a great new free micro-blogging service that allows you to broadcast your thoughts to followers in quick, 140 character chunks. As a user, you can follow people or companies and get real-time updates.
140 characters may seem kind of small, but that is the great thing about this service, it forces you to be succinct in your thoughts.
More and more businesses are starting to use Twitter. Companies like Comcast, Whole Foods, Delta Airlines and many more are using Twitter in various ways including promotion, customer service and branding.
At OneWebHosting, we are still thinking about ways we can effectively use Twitter to serve our customers.
For now, we feel it is a great compliment to our blog and an effective customer service tool.
You can follow us here: http://www.twitter.com/OneWebHosting
Here are some ways Twitter can benefit your business:
1. Use Twitter for Promotions
You can use your business Twitter account to “tweet” last minute discounts or promotions to your followers. The key idea is it is real-time, followers can get the promotions on their phone (should they choose) and this can spur sales.
2. Use Twitter for Customer Service
Chances are you have a toll-free number, a business email address, so too can you use Twitter as a customer service tool. We are looking at using Twitter to deliver real-time server updates, tips and suggestions, much like we do with our blog. Think about ways your business can benefit from this real-time communication to followers of your account.
3. Use Twitter for Competitor Search
Twitter has a great search feature located at http://search.twitter.com. You can search for keywords that pertain to your business or your brand to see what people are saying. You can use this for ideas and inspiration on how to improve your business. You can also search to see how competitors are using Twitter for their businesses.
So, Twitter may or may not make sense for your business, but I thought I would share our thoughts on it.
If you start using Twitter for your business and want to share your thoughts, let us know!
We are often asked by customers about how to get professional quality stock photos to be used on their websites. A great website we use for our marketing materials is called iStockPhoto.
iStockPhoto is a online service that features royalty free stock photos, icons and illustrations. Images cost between 1 and 20 credits, depending on the size and each credit is about $1. With iStockPhoto you can add great quality, professional stock imagery to your website for a very affordable price.
Simply search for keywords that pertain to your business or business concept and you will find tons of great images, illustrations, icons or video that match your keywords.
Professional photos for your website:
Standing out from your competition, especially when it comes to your website, is very important. By using professional imagery, you can do this and with little cost.
Check it out, we use it regularly and it may be a great resource for your website: http://www.istockphoto.com.
Word of mouth marketing is often overlooked by business owners as a way to grow their business, especially in tough economic times.
In this brief article, I’d like to talk about why word of mouth marketing is so important and how you can use your website to make it a part of your business operations.
Prospective customers always ask their friends and family for referrals to products or services they are looking for. A personal referral is a powerful thing. Most of our customers come from personal referrals.
Why is word of mouth marketing so important?
There are a couple of reasons why word of mouth marketing is important. First of all, people are social animals and like to discuss with friends and family about their experiences. If they find a service or a product they really like, they enthusiastically spread the word. It allows a business to pass the first test, that is, being qualified as a company you should potentially work with.
The power of numbers is also a top reason. You tell a few friends and they tell a few friends, pretty soon, the word spreads quickly.
Another reason why word of mouth marketing is important is that, unlike advertising, it is effective. Nothing beats a personal referral.
How can you integrate word of mouth marketing to your business?
Here are some tips on ways you can use technology and your website to encourage word of mouth marketing:
1. Make sure your customers are happy and satisfied
The first step in getting referrals is to make sure you are doing a great job with your current customers.
If your customers are not happy with your service, they are unlikely to refer someone.
Also, if you can satisfy your most outspoken and critical customers, chances are you are doing a great job and they will tell others.
2. Simply ask for the referral
It seems obvious, but often times businesses don’t ask for a referral. In your email communications to existing customers, have a tag line that says something like “Know someone what could use our service? Let them know about us!” This can go on your outgoing email signature, auto-response forms, etc.
If you have a contact form on your website, as part of your reply, we suggest having a “forward-adable” feature so the person visiting your site can forward your response to a friend.
You may even consider having an affiliate program which can reward your customers for spreading your message.
3. Integrate social media features into your website
By using new social networking services like Twitter, you can encourage more word of mouth. Twitter is a great tool you can use to deliver real-time updates and encourage people following you to share the benefits your products and services with friends.
If you use our Site Builder Pro, we have a Goodie called “Tell-A-Friend” you can easily add to your website.
By using word of mouth techniques within your business and in an automated fashion, you can ensure your happy customers spread the word and help grow your business.
Microsoft PowerPoint is the most widely used presentation program for PC. A lot of small businesses use PowerPoint to sell their services.
Often times customers will email prospective clients their Powerpoint presentations as an attachment via email.
Now you can share your PowerPoint presentation on your website.
In this movie tutorial, we show you how to convert your PowerPoint presentation using a free service called Slideshare.net and add your PowerPoint presentation on your website.
If you use PowerPoint, this is a great way to share your presentations online and give your customers even more convenient access to your business materials.
Whois Business Listings allows you to easily drive more traffic to your website by promoting your site to 1.6 million searches daily on WHOIS.
Whois Business Listing allows you to customize and advertise your site through your WHOIS listing - the required domain name registration information. A business listing allows you to customize whatever is important to your business on your WHOIS listing including website links, blogs, map to your location and more.
Additionally, since search engines often crawl WHOIS for as much information as they can find about a domain, your whois results will help improve the relevancy of your website an result in better rankings in search engines.
Whois Business Listing Example:
Benefits of Business Listing:
A Whois Business Listing is only $15/year. Click here for more information…
Looking to add a calendar to your website? Google Calendar now integrates with Site Builder Pro!
Using Google Calendar, you can add events and invitations effortlessly, share with business associates, friends and family (or keep calendar items private), and search across the web for events you might enjoy.
Google Calendar can easily be integrated with your website whether you use Site Builder Pro or have a custom designed website.
One of the great things about integrating with Site Builder Pro is that you can manage your calendars on Google and when you make changes, they appear on your site automatically without the need to re-publish.
Google Calendar also allows you to receive email or mobile text-message reminders for all your calendar events. You can also set different types of reminders for each of your events.
So, if you’re looking to add calendar features to your website, we suggest you check out Google Calendar.
A common question we get here at OneWebHosting is how to add audio to a website.
Customers typically add audio for various uses like background music, podcasts, conference call audio, etc.
In this tip, we show you how to add an audio file (MP3) and how easy it is using our Site Builder Pro. Even if you don’t use our Site Builder, you can still use our MP3 code generator located in this how-to movie.
95% of our customers are small business owners and we are constantly looking for ways to help our customers succeed. One of the best small business books we have found on the topic of running a business is a book called The E-Myth Revisited by Michael E. Gerber.
The premise of the E-Myth is that small businesses are started by people that are really good at a particular skill and enjoy doing that task. This can be anything from a business consultant to a life coach to a dog breeder to a programmer, however, when it comes to managing other aspects of “running a business” they tend to fall short.
The E-Myth is all about helping a small business owner setup processes that help an owner manage the aspects of their business that are not their strong suit.
The author uses an example of franchise companies which are very successful because they use clear procedures, reproducible processes, automation and consistent sales techniques and every detail of running a business is documented and can be passed on to other employees.
The idea is essentially to document and create a process for all aspects of your business as if it was a franchise. This will allow you to grow your business consistently, train employees and allow you to have a true business and not a job, a common problem for small business owners. I highly suggest this book, it has greatly helped our business and the ideas are applicable to any business.
Every business has a sales cycle. A sales cycle, from a customer’s perspective, is a series of steps that a one goes through when deciding to buy a product or service.
This cycle can vary depending on the industry, but basically consists of these basic steps:
1) Identify a need, 2) Find company to meet this need, 3) Evaluate company, 4) Address concerns/objections, 5) Buy.
Most people spend a lot of time on steps 3 and 4. This is typically done by calling the service provider and asking questions.
A great technique to assist prospective customers is to use a frequently asked questions page on your website. You can address common questions, objections, and concerns directly, giving your customers the information up-front and accessible at their convenience.
Using an FAQ page is a fantastic way to speed up your sales cycle, so when your prospective customer calls or emails you, they are much closer to the buying decision than without a FAQ page.
Adding a FAQ page is easy, quick and allows you to help more customers transact with your business, faster.
1. Automatically advertise your website address
Do you broadcast your website URL to your customers? This is the single most effective thing you can do. Put your website address on your letterhead, business cards, promotional materials, company vehicles and on all email correspondence.
This is essentially free and will keep your website address at the forefront of your customers and prospective customers’ minds.
2. Combine advertising efforts with complementary businesses
If there are businesses in your area that compliment your business, strike a deal with them
to share advertising materials in each others mailings. You can also include marketing materials like newsletters, coupons, etc. at point of purchase and vice-versa.
By doing this you tap into the other business’ network as they do yours. This can lead to very low cost word of mouth and eventually increased sales.
3. Gather and share customer testimonials
Satisfied customers are always ready to provide a good word about your business. You most likely have access to lots of testimonials you can use to help spread the word about your business. Let prospective customers know what your customers are saying. Even better, use audio and display your testimonials on your website. We use this technique to great success on our website: http://www.onewebhosting.com/testimonials.php. We use a service called BYOAudio.com which automatically takes the call and generates a piece of code you can paste into your website to play the audio testimonial.
4. Increase your insurance deductibles
You most likely have various types of insurance for your business. A time tested way to save money on your premiums is to simply request a higher deductible. A small increase in the deductible can result in big savings moving forward. In most cases, even when you do end up needing to pay that deductible, you have saved more money in the long run.
5. Buy used office/computer equipment
Looking to get some new equipment for your business this year? Buy used! This is a tried and true way to save money for your business. Using Ebay or even better, Craigslist (better since it’s local), you can find great office equipment for a fraction of what it would cost new. Things like conference tables, office desks or computers can be purchased for more than 50-75% savings.
** Bonus **
Make sure to submit your website to Google. It’s a quick and easy thing you can do to get your website listed on the #1 search engine in the world. Here’s the link to add your URL to Google.
A great new feature of our most recent site builder pro upgrade is the ability to integrate Google Analytics.
Google Analytics is FREE and shows you how many people visited your site, how they found your site, where they linked from and more.
Learn more about where your visitors come from and how they interact with your site.
You’ll get the information you need to write better ads, strengthen your marketing initiatives, and create higher-converting websites.
Google Analytics provides detailed site information which enables you to improve your website.
