A business blog today is much more than an online journal for companies to share news and views. Yes, it’s true that blogs can transform your business but more than that, an effective blog can change the way your customers, employees and associates perceive your business. As thought leadership becomes the leading objective of your blog, a growing audience starts to recognize the distinctive value your company brings to the table.

Your business blog can truly transform the way the world sees you—and the best part is, you are in control to shape and nurture this image for greater profitability, steady growth and dominant leadership in the competitive landscape.             

What a Blog Can Do For Your Business

Business blogs are an excellent corporate tool to share a company's expertise, offer a perspective on the industry, i.e. trends and developments, build additional web traffic, and connect with potential customers. Blogs are popular with online audiences because they offer fresh new voices and opinions. Business blogs can increase SEO ranking by on-page optimization, off-page optimization or link building, content creation and internal linking.

• A blog lets you reach a bigger audience
• With a blog, you can establish yourself as an expert in your industry 
• Gives you free publicity through search engine results pages
• Can bring more traffic to your website
• It’s another way to interact with your customers
• Makes your website look more active and content rich (great for SEO)
• A blog shows the human side of your business, and that you aren’t just an anonymous Internet entity.

Gives you a medium to promote new products and offers feedback / reactions quicker than other methods. If you would like to find out more about how blogging can help your business to spread the word please contact WSI South East.

Do’s and Don’ts for business blogging

Ultimately, even though to build organic traffic is important, for a blog to succeed and last long, it is more important to write clear, compelling content for human readers.

Here are some do’s and don’ts for effective business blogging:

Do’s

• Add links within your blog posts pointing back to other important pages that will help your rankings.

• Make sure the information you provide on your business blog is meaningful to customers and updated frequently, so they have a reason to return.

• Engage visitors in a dialogue. Filter out spam and profanity, but encourage comments, views and opinions without moderating them too much.

• Every blog article and post is an SEO opportunity. You can’t realistically optimize your site for every long tail search term, but you can certainly target niche keyword phrases. Each keyword or phrase should be within the first sentence or two of your blog.

Don’ts

• Blog posts ought to be useful to your site visitors. Don’t just talk about your products; instead offer useful, free information that people can use. Blog articles garner links because they are interesting, informative, and not overly corporate or sales-focused.

• Don’t keep using corporate rhetoric, acronyms and jargon that only a few will comprehend. Use common terms, keep the sentences grammatically simple, short and concise.

• Don’t put off regular posts and updates. Search engines will periodically crawl websites looking for new and updated content, so blogging consistently ensures fresh content on your site.

• Don’t try to micro-manage your brand image or keep consumers in the dark. Be confident that transparency is the best policy, and customers will reward your candor.

Online and offline businesses alike can benefit from starting a blog to offer their products and services to a wider audience, increase their traffic, and generate more leads and sales. Contact WSI South East to leverage the opportunity and start your business blog today.

You never get a second chance to make a first impression, so when it comes to your website, hiring the right web developer is one of the most important decisions you will make.

A good web developer will not only deliver the mechanics of building a usable website but also help increase your business’s chances of being successful online, identifying real opportunities to find new customers, improve your service to existing customers, reduce your costs and improve communications with customers and staff.

Understanding Your Business
Make sure your developer knows your business well. A good web developer will ask a lot of questions to determine your short term and long term goals; then be proactive about making suggestions for attracting and engaging your customers.

If your web developer doesn’t really understand the nature of your business, he or she isn’t going to be able to create the best possible website for your customers.

A sign of an excellent web developer is a thorough analysis of your business’s website needs, followed up with an in-depth interview to nail down any specific requirements. You should have the feeling that your web developer is responsive and engaged in your website design.

Can Provide References
It’s a good idea to ask for references in the form of other websites designed by the web developer. Try out the websites and make sure that you like the way they are designed, that they load quickly and are easy to navigate, and that the information is presented in a logical manner.

Helps With Marketing
Online marketing is vital to the success of any website; your web developer should have a good grasp of the most effective ways to attract traffic to your website. Knowing how to incorporate email, search and social media marketing activities into your website will give your online business a great head start.

Understands Usability and Accessibility Issues
A good web developer will know how to make sure your website content is easy to navigate, is engrossing and – as much as possible – adheres to the most basic accessibility standards that allow your site to be used successfully by the sight-impaired or people using assistive technologies.

Speaks Your Language
While a web developer should keep abreast of the latest and greatest web technologies available for improving your web presence, this shouldn’t equate to advising you to deploy the latest gizmo just because you can. A good web developer will provide you with the information you need to make an informed decision without blinding you with science.

Is Approachable
Remember, it’s your website and your business. While your web developer can make recommendations and offer good advice, you should never be made to feel you are imposing on their project. A good web developer acts as a consultant, not a dictator, working effectively with you as an integral part of your team to achieve the best results for your web presence.

If you would like to know more please call 0845 345 2592

Landing pages have long been the primary tool of the web-savvy marketer. Whether the visitor has arrived there through an advertisement, offer or search-engine link, your landing page is your first and best chance at making that conversion.

The following article is by no means a comprehensive guide to success, however it does provide some tried-and-tested techniques. Feel free to use them either as a starting point or, if your current landing pages aren't performing to expectation, as part of a strategy review.

Make Your Headline Clear and Concise
The headline is (or should be) the first thing a visitor sees on arrival. It's your chance to make an impression and will, more often than not, give them a reason to stay or leave. Think about what you're trying to achieve – does the headline summarise this intent? The headline should provide the bridge between the link the user has clicked and their desired goal.

Make it Snappy
We've all seen them, endless web pages usually linked to some miracle earnings scheme or weight loss method. This is the worst kind of marketing – in your face, crass and highly repetitive. Much as your headline should draw the reader in, your value proposition should be summarised in short, concise bullet points. In other words, make it easy for the reader to understand the benefits of what you're selling.

Pre-Call to Action
You've no doubt heard of the much heralded 'call to action', however remember that everything you have written to this point is aimed at persuading the visitor to either sign-up or buy. Before your sign off, end the main body of copy with a persuasive message that leads into the call to action – effectively bridging the gap and preparing the reader for the close.

You Guessed It – Call to action
When crafting your call to action, consider what stage your visitors may be at in the purchasing cycle; problem recognition – information search – evaluation – decision – purchase. If your message is meant to be formative only, an aggressive or dynamic call to action may not be appropriate.

Many marketers still make the common mistake of being too aggressive with the close. Using terms such as 'Buy Now' or 'Sign Up Now' signify a commitment that could turn some visitors off and impact your conversion rate. When appropriate, try a softer, more encouraging tone using words such as 'Try' to coax the reader into that all important click.

A well prepared landing page is a highly effective internet marketing tactic that will let your site visitors hone in on the information they need, increasing the time visitors spend on your website and spiking your conversion rates. If you would like help to improve your Internet marketing effectiveness, please call us on 0845 345 2592

With the World Wide Web increasingly accessible via a myriad of devices – many of which are mobile – the rate at which internet users consume their chosen content grows at a pace. Global time on social media sites is soaring; up 82% (Nielsen). News consumption is a socially-engaging and socially-driven activity, especially online, and participation is through sharing rather than contributing news (Pew Centre).

There is little doubt these trends will continue into 2011 as consumers read, share and publish content online with friends, family, local businesses and even global brands. With so much choice of content to consume, your marketing messages can easily get missed, or worse, ignored completely as consumers divide their increasingly limited time among their trusted online content outlets.

Content Marketing: Think Pull Not Push
Push marketing techniques, such as flashy banner ads and obtrusive pop-up ads will increasingly get ignored as consumer's online behaviour becomes more sophisticated. So rather than relying solely on traditional push marketing methods, think pull. Pull marketing relies on creating ‘magnetic content' that will naturally attract – and win over – consumers.

How Can Content Marketing Help You?
Producing a steady stream of fresh, interesting content that appeals to your target audience will benefit your business in the following ways:

• Help generate inbound links and attract qualified traffic to your website.
• Create a two-way dialogue over multiple platforms which consumers feel comfortable with.
• Identify genuine customers from tyre kickers to prioritise high quality, sales-ready leads.
• Build sales momentum that moves prospects toward making a purchase.

Make your content easy to share, the most trusted information sources for consumers continue to be family and friends.

Where To Publish Your Content
Content marketing is about increasing engagement with your target audience on a more personable level. While your website and ideally your business blog should be the hub for your content sharing activities, it is key to publish it in a number of formats over multiple platforms.

Consider hosting a webinar to share your expertise, or join the conversation using social media networks such as Twitter, Facebook, YouTube or LinkedIn to name a few. Engage with customers by publishing product reviews, how-to articles, demonstrations and more. Be creative and deliver content that fills a need.

Creating Content That Gets Followed
If you're not a confident writer you may wish to collaborate with a copy writer. If you intend to produce the content yourself, consider the following questions.

• Is my content unique?
• Is my content useful – would I share it?
• Does my content get the message across?
• Does my content convey the right personality?
• Does my content make good use of the channel in which it appears (e.g., social, mobile, video)?

Think about what makes you want to share the content you consume and identify what will enable your content have similar ‘follow appeal'.

Finally, in order to maintain a well executed content marketing campaign, develop a content plan to help focus your activities. Key to the plan will be to follow a content editorial calendar which will enable you to produce a steady stream of ‘magnetic' content.

It's that time of year again – the goose is getting fat and the shrewd internet marketers are busy putting finishing touches to this season's killer email campaign. For many businesses, Christmas is a superb opportunity to capitalise on the nation's willingness to splash out on family and friends.

Experts predict that approximately £6.4 billion will be spent online during December 2010, an increase on the £5.5 billion spent in December last year, according to IMRG and Capgemini. In this article, we'll take a look at how you can ensure you get a slice of the pie this Christmas.

Email Marketing Ideas to Boost Christmas Sales
As with all forms of marketing, your company's email newsletter shouldn't stand still. With increased online buying comes more competition and greater shopper expectations, happy to give their well earned cash to those offering the best Christmas shopping experience and value for money.

The following tips are designed to help hone your email marketing techniques in preparation for the holiday season.

1. Check Your Calendar
Timing is everything. Ireland, for example, has a traditional day (the 8th of December) set aside for shopping. Are there any regional variances relevant to your target audience? Consider arranging your campaign to coincide with this collective surge in consciousness. Learn from last year, what worked well, what was the busiest period?

2. Subject Line
Don't under estimate the importance of your email's subject line. Time spent working through ideas and trying them out on people can make all the difference with how many of your emails actually get opened.

• Use relevant product names where possible
• Create a sense of urgency
• Include your unique proposition
• Avoid generic, unimaginative headings at all costs

Your offer may be amazing, your copy outstanding, but all to no avail if your email subject line doesn't entice your customers to open the mail.

3. Less Is More
Instead of bombarding your audience with promotions, consider focusing on a single well thought through offer. A genuinely attractive promotion over a longer period is likely to carry far more weight than a splash of one-off, low value deals.

4. Conversions
Bringing people to your site is one thing, but converting those prospects to sales is entirely another. Ensure your call-to-action is clear and defined on the page and double check the 'customer journey' – from shopping cart to payment. Consider using split testing with small samples to gauge responses.

5. How Much Is Too Much?
If you're going to step up a gear this Christmas compared to your usual mailing frequency, consider warning your customers first. Suddenly and aggressively targeting current subscribers could well result in customers unsubscribing. Building a little excitement with an imaginative campaign comprising of a sequence of emails will both warm your subscribers up and, better still, pique their interest.

Online shopping is an increasingly popular activity, especially in view of the busy schedules people keep. By running these few checks you can ensure that your Christmas email marketing campaigns will be an effective resource for your customers, and a sound investment for you.

In this age of digital marketing, it's all too easy to spend your time chasing the latest social media fad or hot tip. Even the most seasoned internet marketers occasionally lose sight of the basics from time to time – those foundations upon which the internet marketing industry was built, and without which wouldn't exist.

If things aren't working for you, or you feel your website has lost its way, then read on. In this two-part article, we're going to go back to basics and look at some simple ways in which you can harness the power of a simple web strategy.

Creating a Winning Website
Every website is different. Each needing to be customised to complement your marketing goals. But whatever your needs, here are some basic tried and tested factors to consider when preparing your online business presence.

1. What Does Your Web Address Say About You?
The best URLs (Uniform Resource Locator – or website address) speak clearly to both readers and the search engines. To give a clear indication of what you do, whilst sending visitors directly to your main website. In terms of Search Engine Optimisation (SEO), there is no better time to start than at the very beginning with your URL.

Keyword research forms the foundation of any sound search marketing strategy. Once you have identified the right combination for you, give some thought as to how this could be built into your URL.

2. Include the Right Titles and Descriptions
Ensuring relevant metatags are included in your web pages is essential to achieving healthy organic search engine rankings. Loosely speaking these are broken down into a title (displayed in blue in the search results) and the page description (the lines of text beneath the title).

Incorporating rich keywords into these areas will, if done correctly, yield visible results when combined with other search marketing activity.

3. Provide a Clear Call to Action
Imagine you are a first-time visitor to your website. What is it you are required to do? Sign up? Buy something? At the very least, the site should be offering you something of value in return for your contact information.

If you're unclear as to what it is you want your visitors to do, then you can guarantee they're not going to spend time figuring it out for themselves. Decide, on a page-by-page basis, on a single desired 'action' – this way the point is clear and your visitor isn't confused by too many choices. Arrange your information in a clear concise manner, leaving nothing to chance.

4. Lead the Charge – Give an Incentive
Deciding on a clear 'lead product' is a simple but effective tool used by the majority of internet marketers. Enticing visitors to make a relatively low-value initial purchase is a fantastic way to build long-term sales opportunities.

Ultimately what to use as your lead product is entirely up to you – there are no hard and fast rules. Consider carrying out a series of split tests, in an effort to find out which product converts visitors to customers most effectively.

The internet is not a static medium, so your web strategy shouldn't be either. If necessary, be prepared to go back to basics to help attract more of your target audience. We return to this topic next month for some more tips on making your website work for you.

The last ten years have seen the internet flourish, expanding exponentially with the growth in business websites and personalised blog-centric content. Previously the domain of web designers with programming expertise, it's never been easier to create and manage your own content online.

The growth in popularity has brought with it a flood of CMS (content management system) platforms onto the market. For newcomers the choice can literally be overwhelming. In this article, we'll take a look at some of the key features to look out for when choosing your content management system.

Managing Your Web Content With Ease 
Choosing the right content management system for your website could make all the difference to your online publishing plans. Here are some pointers to help you choose.

a) Clear, Accessible Interface 
An absolute pre-requisite for any CMS – users should be able to navigate menus and locate basic functions with ease. Impenetrable front-end design is entirely counter-productive in terms of your time, effort and motivation. A good CMS will guide you fluidly, making micro-management of content and categories a breeze.

b) Admin Rights 
For those working in small teams or allowing external freelancers to contribute content, a clear admin system is vital. The ability to retain tight control over who can and who can't access certain areas of the system will ultimately prevent any unwanted interference or nasty surprises.

c) Updating Meta-data 
Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) has come a long way during the last few years and, whilst no longer the be all and end all, meta data still have a vital part to play. Ideally a good content management system will offer full control over each individual page instead of offering a blanket meta description. Try to avoid sites offering default meta-data.

d) Editing Your Content 
A basic component of most modern CMSs is a WYSIWYG (what you see is what you get) editor. A CMS that offers this facility offers users the best of both worlds. Those who aren't familiar with HTML coding can create content quickly and easily, whilst more advanced users can tweak down to the finest detail.

For users somewhere in between the two, such an editor enables them to switch between the two – thus catering to coders of all levels.

e) Statistics and Logs 
Knowing who changed what and when is essential when it comes to running a tight ship. It will also assist in preventing problems before they occur. Overlooked by many amateur administrators, statistics also provide a useful method of gauging a site's performance and identifying areas for improvement.

Whilst it's highly unlikely you'll find a CMS offering every single feature mentioned in this article, the best advice is to decide which are the most relevant to the type of site you intend to create and go from there. If you like some help and advice in choosing the right CMS to suit you, call 0845 345 2592.

There are virtually no rules in the world of blogging – from political commentary to personal diaries – the scope is literally endless. Recent years have seen an explosion in the use of blogs as an effective internet marketing tool, but for many the most challenging aspect of business blogging remains knowing what to use as content.

In this article we'll examine some simple ideas to come up with fresh, engaging content designed to drive traffic to your site and keep them coming back for more.

Blogging Your Way to New Business
The goal for any blogger is to publish unique and compelling content. With this in mind, it's probably worth noting here that the following ideas are designed as a general guide, so feel free to take the ideas presented somewhere new and get your creative juices flowing!

How to...
How many times have you asked Google to come up with the answer to a particular question? How to? guides present a fantastic way to engage the reader and encourage interaction through working examples and so on. They are also a great way of demonstrating your expertise and credibility within your chosen niche. Support well-written, informed content with great visuals and downloadable content for extra bonus points.

Common Problems – Great Solutions
Just as the internet is a great resource for finding out how to do things, it also provides a valuable opportunity to find new ways around general or specific problems. It therefore follows that presenting a structured, concise entry dedicated to a particular issue is a surefire way of both attracting traffic and presenting yourself as a knowledgeable expert in your field.

Proven Methodology
One drawback with the internet age is that anyone can present themselves as an expert in anything. A great way of building credibility and attracting traffic is through the use of referenced case studies. Back up your advice with hard evidence, demonstrating how a methodology has been applied to assist a particular client and the subsequent results. The proof, as they say, is in the pudding.

The Latest News
A great case in point for regular updated content – positioning yourself as a valuable resource for the latest industry news is a great way of attracting and retaining traffic. Becoming your clients' 'go to' resource for the latest news via a simple RSS feed is a great way of staying connected to your audience.

Book Worm
Don't assume that everything your audience reads is online. In fact, the majority of internet users are only interested in snippets of information. Providing references to offline material is a great way of demonstrating both empathy for your readers' needs as well as your own knowledge on a particular subject.

Feedback
Requesting feedback is by far the most simple method of both gauging your success and encouraging user interaction. Don't assume you know it all, open up your blog and invite your readers in – you never know what valuable ideas and suggestions could come out of it.

As you can see, blogging provides you with a versatile online publishing tool – which can also be used as a hub to coordinate your social media activities.. If you need some help and advice to get your business blog up and running, call us on 0845 345 2592.

Websites have moved on from being merely online company brochures. While your website should still be your online 'shop window', open twenty four seven for your customers to visit – it should also be working hard for you to convert visitors into clients.

Think of your website as an additional member of your sales team – always available and ready to win new sales. Just as you might invest in training for such an employee to hone his or her skills, your website can be a great instrument for converting more online leads by putting the right tools in place together with some tried-and-tested lead conversion techniques.

Simple but Clever Lead Conversion Tactics
Influencing your website visitors to take the next step in becoming your customers can take many forms. It could be to:

• Fill in an online form in return for a free White Paper, industry report or discount coupon.
• Sign up to a newsletter or stay updated with your blog via RSS feed.
• Follow your social media updates on sites such as Facebook or Twitter, for example.
• Register to gain access to exclusive areas of your website, such as video tutorials or a webcast.
• Buy a product, request a meeting or make a booking.

Once you are clear on what the desired outcome should be, you can start crafting an appropriate online conversion strategy. While the desired end results may vary, the following key conversion techniques will mostly apply.

1. Attract the Right Audience
Consider this your foundation. It may take longer to get up and running in order to research the market and identify the best ways to attract targeted web traffic, but your conversion rate and advertising budget will thank you for it. The scatter-gun approach may get you started quicker, but it will also drain your resources, with little return.

2. Create a Great First Impression
Once you have attracted your audience, presenting them with a well-designed website that offers a first- class user experience will be a great start. But don't stop there, use dedicated landing pages which relate specifically to your ads and which funnel your visitors into the direction of your conversion process.

3. It's Time to KISS
Keeping it straight and simple is key to channelling your customers' attention. Remove distractions and make the next step – your conversion goal – blindingly obvious. Other ideas for giving your most important message some focus would be:

• Keep your copy short and to the point.
• Try to keep your content readable without too much scrolling.
• Present your strongest selling points towards the top of your page so visitors see it immediately.
• If you are using an online form, make it easy to fill in. No jumping through hoops.
• Use a mixture of text and images to help break up the copy and complement your message.

A well-prepared landing page will make a big difference to the effectiveness of your advertising campaign and help you gain favour with search engines that emphasize more relevant content.

4. Give a Great Incentive
Whether you are offering an industry White Paper in exchange for contact data, or selling state-of-the-art golfing attire, the starting point for completing the conversion is the same question all customers will ask: "What's in it for me?"

Creating value-added offers not only provides potential buyers with incentives, but it also fosters loyalty and can act as a gatekeeper to qualify your customers.

5. Respond Swiftly
Research shows that customers are most responsive immediately after initiating correspondence. An automated email function will allow you to send an immediate message – perhaps with an offer – upon your visitors filling in a form, signing up to a newsletter or making an enquiry.

In conclusion, don't leave it to chance, it may take a little testing and tweaking before you optimise your conversion process – but it is worth the effort.