We just learned that the week of May 24 was Small Business Week. Sorry we missed it, but, geez, we thought every week was small business week.
To belatedly mark that milestone, here are four online marketing basics for small businesses that you’ll find useful any week of the year:
Get found. Search engine optimization is crucial, especially as local search options expand.
There’s a lot of information about SEO out there, and a lot of simple things small businesses can do to expand their visibility. A great place for you to start is by checking out these “7 Essential small business tips for SEO” from the Top-Rank Online Marketing Blog. You can also get some expert advice from Small Business Trends.
Get social. We agree with Brian Solis when he says that social media “finally places small, local and emerging businesses in the spotlight in ways that up until this point, were largely unattainable.”
Solis recently wrote on Social Media Today that 73 percent of small business owners surveyed in a University of Maryland study expected social media will help them grow their business.
So, where to begin? Start by checking out Mashable’s “10 Small Business Social Media Marketing Tips” and then watch Erik Qualman explain his 3 Social Media Tips for Small Businesses. Qualman is the author of “Socialnomics,” a great Web marketing book. In the video, he talks about social media with Hubspot’s Rebecca Corliss.
Get blogging. One of the best ways to get found is to create fresh content for spiders to index. Creating useful, compelling content is also a fabulous way to establish yourself as an industry expert, get linked to and bring new users (i.e. potential leads) to your site.
So, if blogging is such a win-win, how come few small businesses do it – or do it well? Time is obviously a factor, but we think much of the problem stems from the lack of knowledge of where to begin, plus a lack of confidence. If you see yourself in the previous sentence, check out these blogging tips from CopyBlogger, Problogger and RemarkaBlogger.
You can do this. Really.
Get measuring. You need to know who’s looking at your content, along with when, why and how. Analytics is another thing, like blogging, that may seem daunting for a small business owner. But guess what? It’s another one of those things you can’t afford to ignore.
Start your education with a spin through Top Rank’s “Small Business Tips for Reporting Web Metrics” and then check out HubSpot’s Web Analytics Marketing Hub for directory of posts, videos and webinars on the topic. A simple search will turn up a lot more sources, but these are two great starting points.
It may not be Small Business Week in capital letters, but that doesn’t mean you have to wait until next year to make the most of your online marketing efforts.
To belatedly mark that milestone, here are four online marketing basics for small businesses that you’ll find useful any week of the year:
Get found. Search engine optimization is crucial, especially as local search options expand.
There’s a lot of information about SEO out there, and a lot of simple things small businesses can do to expand their visibility. A great place for you to start is by checking out these “7 Essential small business tips for SEO” from the Top-Rank Online Marketing Blog. You can also get some expert advice from Small Business Trends.
Get social. We agree with Brian Solis when he says that social media “finally places small, local and emerging businesses in the spotlight in ways that up until this point, were largely unattainable.”
Solis recently wrote on Social Media Today that 73 percent of small business owners surveyed in a University of Maryland study expected social media will help them grow their business.
So, where to begin? Start by checking out Mashable’s “10 Small Business Social Media Marketing Tips” and then watch Erik Qualman explain his 3 Social Media Tips for Small Businesses. Qualman is the author of “Socialnomics,” a great Web marketing book. In the video, he talks about social media with Hubspot’s Rebecca Corliss.
Get blogging. One of the best ways to get found is to create fresh content for spiders to index. Creating useful, compelling content is also a fabulous way to establish yourself as an industry expert, get linked to and bring new users (i.e. potential leads) to your site.
So, if blogging is such a win-win, how come few small businesses do it – or do it well? Time is obviously a factor, but we think much of the problem stems from the lack of knowledge of where to begin, plus a lack of confidence. If you see yourself in the previous sentence, check out these blogging tips from CopyBlogger, Problogger and RemarkaBlogger.
You can do this. Really.
Get measuring. You need to know who’s looking at your content, along with when, why and how. Analytics is another thing, like blogging, that may seem daunting for a small business owner. But guess what? It’s another one of those things you can’t afford to ignore.
Start your education with a spin through Top Rank’s “Small Business Tips for Reporting Web Metrics” and then check out HubSpot’s Web Analytics Marketing Hub for directory of posts, videos and webinars on the topic. A simple search will turn up a lot more sources, but these are two great starting points.
It may not be Small Business Week in capital letters, but that doesn’t mean you have to wait until next year to make the most of your online marketing efforts.