If you joined the Pooler Chamber of Commerce at their Lunch and Learn event today, hi! Read on for my expanded notes on the topics I touched on in my fifteen minutes. If you weren’t there, join up with the Chamber already. Their next networking event is coming up at the end of November at Spanky’s in Pooler!

Grab a coffee and settle in, this is the longest post I’ve written in a while.

Need help with any of this? Contact me.

New web design clients want a 5 page info site that will help them show up on the first page of Google.

A simple 5 page informational site just won’t do that. You’ve got an intro page, an about page, maybe a services page, a contact page, and maybe one for testimonials…

But a 5 page site with a blog could.

I’ve been blogging for 12 years now, and my own site is living proof how drastically a blog can change your site traffic. Take a look at Alexa.com, and enter your business’ web address. Alexa ranks every site on the internet based on how much traffic it’s receiving.

Out of the millions and millions of sites out there, Hearts and Laserbeams is in the top 400,000 sites worldwide, and in the top 150,000 in the U.S.

It’s not because everyone wants to see our awesome design portfolio.

It’s because of the blog.

Small business owners need to seriously consider a blog as a viable part of their marketing strategy.

• Each post is adding words to your site that Google can search, and each post increases the chances of you being found by your customers. Google also loves fresh content, and nothing’s fresher than a blog post you wrote this morning.
• A blog can give potential customers an insight into what your business is all about. For me, the Hearts and Laserbeams blog is a work at home mom lifestyle blog. Through posts about parenting, holidays, food, peppered in with funny pieces and of course art and design topics, potential clients get a feel for our family-focused brand. We become more personable to them. Our clients like us as people because we write engaging friendly content that tells the customer we’re fun to work with.
• You can target search terms people are entering into google to help them find you. Think about what your potential clients are searching for when they’re on Google. Write blog posts tailored to that. Want help with writing a blog post that targets your customers and search engines? My guide to doing that is right here.

Blog Strategies to Get You Started

1. Think of phrases people would type into google when looking for your business and write blog posts focusing on those phrases. Keep it simple, keep it in layman’s terms. If there’s super technical jargon that’s the correct way of addressing something, but the average joe calls it something different… Write blog posts that use the everyday lingo. Maybe even write a post educating the customer!
2. If you’re a store, maybe it’s getting cold out and someone’s looking for cute fall boots. Write a roundup of all the cute fall boots you have in your store right now!
3. Look at google analytics for what’s bringing people to your site most – give the people more of what they want. If they’re landing on your blog post about cute fall boots the most, versus a different post about what kind of shoes Neil Diamond wore to dinner, then give them more round up type posts. But if Neil Diamond’s getting the traffic, maybe do more celeb focused fare
4. Think about your brand, and what it’s saying. How does that come across in your blog? It’s okay to let your unique voice shine through – it shows your customer how you’re different from the competition!

Dos and Don’ts of Blogging and Social Media

Do

• Let your business have a unique voice that sets it apart
• Start a blog if you haven’t already
• Get active on social media to promote the blog – it’s all intertwined! Every blog post you write, tell your social network about it!
• Pay attention to analytics – it’ll help you figure out what’s working, and what’s not.

Don’t

• Be a sell sell sell robot (insert robot dance here). Give your customers a reason to visit your blog. Constantly posting “we have this for sale” with a link to the item is not a selling point. But giving the customer lots of valuable content and then saying “Hey we’re having a sale this weekend, join us for cake and pie” is way, way, way more enticing. Because pie.
• Don’t ever say “feel free to contact us”. In all your messaging, be clear. “Contact us.” Do it. Feel free doesn’t feel like a priority. It feels like a suggestion. Make your customers know you want to hear from them.
• Don’t build a 5 page site and think that’s it, you never need to build another one ever again. The internet is an ever-changing beast, and your web presence needs to evolve to keep up.
• Don’t let your Facebook business page be your business’ website. Facebook should be an arm of your social media strategy, it shouldn’t be the torso.(Why? Because Facebook is constantly changing its algorithm to make money. Even if you’ve got a ton of customers liking your page, only a fraction of those “likers” are seeing your posts. You need to be in total control of your content and how it’s available to customers.

Instagram and Pinterest

Instagram
Check out our Instagram presence at http:/instagram.com/hrtsnlaserbeams.

• Set up com account so you can auto post your Instagram photos to Twitter and Facebook. Doing it through ifttt instead of using the share rear endon on Instagram gives you back your insights on Facebook. (If you use the share rear endon on Instagram to post to your Facebook page, you don’t get to see how many people saw your post. Posting your insta through ifttt gives you back those stats.) Sharing to Twitter via ifttt can also make the post look like you posted a picture to twitter instead of some text and a link to Instagram.
• Keep the text in your initial post short and sweet with 1 or 2 hashtags tops. Then your text isn’t truncated by twitter’s 140 characters. Then go back and add a comment on Instagram with a bunch of hashtags to get more eyes on your post.
• Keep an eye on what gets the most interactions, and give the customers what they want. For me, it’s funny doodles I knock out super fast during the work day, and cute photos of my kids in the office. The overall working mom in the design studio branding again.

Pinterest
Check out our Pinterest presence at http://pinterest.com/hrtsnlaserbeams.

• Separate out your boards more so you can optimize them.
• Pick titles that are descriptive of what’s on the boards, and keep the content on those boards consistent. Use lots of descriptive text in the description box – Pinterest’s algorithm is changing to favor more information.
• Use it as a chance to show off – we have a board right up top that shows some of the cool projects we’ve done.
• Use it as a chance to help your customers. I’ve got boards that show clients a slew of different art styles, colors, fonts, layouts, etc, that really help the design process.
• Use it to align with your customers. Show them you get them by having boards that align with their interests. If you’re a bakery, your customers may be into party planning. Set up a party planning pinterest board!

Emerging Trends

Trends in Web Design

• Parallax scrolling is huge right now – you can see an example of that at this blog post. Picture a site with a big long vertical orientation, with lots of scrolling.
• People are loving on lots of white space in their design as well.
• Mobile responsive design is a must. Your site needs to look great on smartphones and tablets. The first two may be trends that you can take or leave, but the third is something that needs to be addressed. For everyone. Mobile versions of sites are great, but really, keep it simple. One site that looks great across the board is the way to go.

Trends in Social Media

• Ello was huge recently – it had a really big weekend where everyone wanted an invite. That’s like, all I saw on my Facebook feed. It’s already quieted down, so I don’t even know if it’s worth it at this point. I wrote my thoughts on the Ello craze here.
• Keep in mind that the new big thing may not be where your target customers are. Don’t get too stressed out when the hot new social media network shows up. Keep an eye on it, and try to figure out what kinds of people are using that new social channel. If it’s your target demographic, go for it. If it’s honestly not, do not feel bad about skipping it.
• One thing I didn’t mention in my part of the talk is YouTube – because YouTube is owned by Google, it makes sense that videos are starting to have major juice in search results. If there’s a way to work video into your content strategy, now’s the time to get on it.

In Closing

Blogging and social media can be a really new territory for small businesses, especially established ones that have been around for a little while. Don’t be scared, just jump in the pool and splash around. We’re all learning what’s best for our own unique businesses, and trial and error in social is the best way to do that.

Your rearignment? Start an Excel spreadsheet. Make a note on your spreadsheet of today’s date, and set up columns tracking all of the numbers you’re interested in. My own spreadsheet tracks important Google Analytics numbers and stats for all of the social channels I participate in. (How many likes, followers, subscribers for each channel). I’ve also got a column where I can note anything new I’m trying that month. Save that spreadsheet somewhere where you’ll be able to find it easily, and crack it open monthly. Next month, enter the new set of stats under the month before. Over time, you’ll start to get a really clear picture of what’s working, and what’s not.

Anything that’s not working? Ditch it, and try something new.

Thanks again to the Pooler Chamber of Commerce for having me speak at the lunch and learn today – I’m pretty chatty, so now you know why I needed to type this all out. It’s way too much for 15 minutes.

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