by Nevin on January 16, 2012
What is “Search, plus Your World”
Last week, Google once again made a major adjustment to its search feature by launching “Search Plus Your World”. It’s a feature that integrates activity from Google+, its new social network, into everyday search results. What this means for your business is that it may be a good idea to be on Google+! Read more here Bonus link: What the merging of Google+ and Google Search means to SEO Yet another bonus link: Google “Search Plus” impact on Local: limited so far
4 tips to keep your website ahead of the curve in 2012
2012 is heralding a new wave of innovative web technologies and design, and a page that stays in step with these trends is bound to pique interest and lower your bounce rate. Here are 4 tips to keep your website ahead of the curve in 2012
11 ways to use content to build online authority
Being an online authority essentially means you’re not only a thought leader on a specific topic, but that you’ve also taken the time to translate that knowledge in a meaningful way online. Becoming an online authority helps you generate customers and revenue; people do business with the people they trust. So,
here are 11 ways to use content to build online authority.
How To improve site credibility through Search & Social Media
Today, SEO and social are inseparable. Customers can just as easily find a company through Twitter as they can Google — and those social media links are busy boosting a company’s SEO signals. Read more here.
6 lead-nurturing emails every business should send
Only 25% of your leads are sales-ready. In addition, a whopping 50% of your leads are qualified but
not ready to buy from you. So, what do you do with those qualified but reticent leads to turn them into customers? According to the marketing gurus at HubSpot, “lead nurturing”, of course!
Read more here.
by Nevin on January 3, 2012
Happy New Year from JumpStartWeb! 2012 is the Year of the Dragon – a year featuring vitality, leadership and action - and we like to think there are many, many Victoria online marketing opportunities to be found in the coming year.
So, as always, here are a collection of useful online marketing links that can help local businesses improve their online marketing efforts and, hopefully, their bottom line. So…
Predictions for local Search in 2012 – Year of the Dragon
Thanks to the growth of smart phone adoption, and aggressive efforts by online companies such as Google, local Search is becoming an essential marketing channel for business hoping to connect with potential customers in their own communities. Google, thanks to its overwhelming “Search” market share on both smart phones and traditional “desktop” devices, has received a lot of attention by on this blog, but in 2012 other credible competitors to Google may be emerging. Read here to learn more.
2012 – the year of Mobile Search
In related news, traffic measurement firm comScore released its latest mobile subscriber market share report for November. What it shows is that more people are now using Mobile platforms to access the web than than traditional “desktop”-based browsers. What does this mean for local businesses? Make sure you’re optimized for local search, so your customers can find you. Read more about mobile search trends here.
30 social media Predictions for 2012
It’s the beginning of the year, so many people are gazing into a crystal ball to see what the next 12 months bring. One big question: how will social media impact businesses in 2012? Read more to find out.
Understanding “conversions”
Facilitating conversions – persuading visitors to your website to perform a desired activity, such as clicking a link – are one of the trickiest aspects of designing a web page for local businesses. Google, as always, has some advice: Part 1 and Part 2 of How to Improve Your Conversion Rate
JumpStartWeb is an Victoria online marketing agency
by Nevin on December 5, 2011
JumpStartWeb offers social media marketing for Victoria small businesses
5 ways to generate excitement using social media
Many local businesses create blog posts, videos, and other bits of enticing content to engage community and actually provide customers with useful information, and then use social media to get the word out. But Tweets and Facebook posts can often be a one-time thing that can get lost amidst the cacophony. So, here are 5 ways to generate excitement using social media and generate more clicks on your links!
Bonus link: Google wants fresh content. Why?
5 tips for responding to negative customer reviews online
If you have a business, people are going to talk about you online, and sometimes what they say may not always be positive. There’s a right way and a wrong way to address customer complaints on the web, so here are 5 tips for responding to negative customer reviews online.
How to create a customer-friendly mobile website
As more and more consumers go mobile to search for products and services (especially local services), local businesses can enjoy more opportunities to connect with customers – and more competition from other businesses. So, in order to not lose out on any opportunities, here are some tips on how to create a customer-friendly mobile website.
Google Presents The Evolution Of Search In Six Minutes
Do you remember the first time you used Google to find something? Can you remember all of the changes that have happened to Google Search since then? Well, to help you out, Google presents the evolution of Search in six minutes. It’s a great primer to businesses what matters to Google, and help them experience better results.
For advanced web monkeys: how to get the new Google bar
As part of Google’s ongoing efforts to clean up its interface (revamped Gmail and GReader are previous examples), Google has redesigned the “black bar” that used to appear at the top of the page. Instead of the horizontal black bar at the top of the page, you’ll now find links to your services in a new drop-down Google menu nested under the Google logo.
However, the redesign hasn’t been made available to everyone yet, so here’s how to get the new Google bar. It involves copying and pasting some code in your web browser, so this hack is not for the casual user!
by Nevin on November 15, 2011
Do you have a Google+ page for your business?
Well, you may have been using business blogs to promote your organization, but the big news over the past week is that Google now allows business to create their own Google+ pages to connect with customers. As you may recall, Google+ is Google’s answer to Facebook and Twitter, and it’s a great way to connect with potential customers, and is also a great way to help your business enjoy better Google Search results. More here.
How to measure your online influence
“Social media marketing” is all the rage these days, but how do you measure success (and make sure your making use of your limited time and money)? If you’re using social media tools such as Twitter, there are ways to measure your online reach and your online influence. Read more here.
26 useful social media stats
800 million active Facebook users. 40% of social media users access their accounts through mobile devices. There are 900 million objects that people interact with (pages, groups, etc…). Want to impress your friends and customers with some cool (and useful) stats about social media usage? Look no further than this excellent blog post: 26 useful social media stats.
Why blending SEO and usability really matter for your business
Traditionally the term, “usability and SEO” represent two distinct countries, each with their own culture and belief systems. However, “users” (i.e., people) actually use search engines in specific ways to gather data, so it makes sense to approach SEO and usability together when designing or revising your website to help generate more traffic and ideally facilitate more conversions. Read more here.
Nevin Thompson works as a content strategist with JumpStart Web, a Victoria online marketing firm that does a lot of things, including providing help starting a business blog.
