What Exactly Is Search Engine Optimization?

June 20, 2016 Leave a comment Lee Mitchelle

Broken down, search engine optimization (SEO) is a process of tasks designed to help increase the organic rankings of a website for particular terms in the search engines. The ultimate goal of these processes is to increase both the quantity and quality of traffic coming to your site.

For starters, the term organic rankings is any area of the search results that isn’t paid for. When you perform a search in Google, you can often find several listings labeled “Ad”. These are your paid listings. Everywhere else, more or less, is the organic listings. Showing up in these areas provides free traffic. By free traffic, that means you do not have to pay Google for this listing. You may pay an online marketing agency for these rankings, though.

There are many factors that go into getting your site to rank higher for specific search terms. At a basic level, these include on-site optimization, usage, and off-site linking. Of course there are many other factors that are involved in SEO, but these are a great starting point.

On-site optimization is the process of sculpting the pages of your site to target specific keywords. This is often accomplished through the meta data of the page. Having your keyword in your page title is important, but you also want to include a variation of your keyword in your meta description. On top of that, you want to include your keyword a few times sprinkled throughout the content of your page while utilizing heading tags. You do need to be careful, though, as over-optimization can cause your site to fall to a penalty. Most of this should be taken care of during your website design; however, it can all be added later if necessary

Site usage is another key statistic used to determine a site’s ranking. Site usage includes factors such as click-through rate (CTR), bounce rate, and dwell time. Your site’s CTR is a basic equation of how many times your site is clicked on compared to how many times it shows up in the search results. The higher your CTR, the better your site may rank. With a high CTR, you want to have a low bounce rate. If a person spends little time on your site before going back to the page he or she came from, that will increase your bounce rate. A high bounce rate is detrimental to your rankings. Last, dwell time is related to both CTR and bounce rate. Dwell time is simply how long a user spends on your site. Having great content or a video can increase your dwell time which in turn can increase your ranking.

Finally, off-site linking is important to your organic rankings. Any time a site links to your site, it’s like your site is getting a recommendation from the other site. The more recommendations you receive, the better. Of course, receiving a recommendation from the Wall Street Journal holds more power than a recommendation from Joe Smith’s blog. There is a definite advantage to having high-authority sites link to your site. Google will see these recommendations and rank your site accordingly.

On-site optimization, usage, and off-site linking aren’t the only aspects of SEO that you need to understand, but it’s a great start to figuring out why sites rank higher than others.

Why You Need A Bunded Oil Tank

June 20, 2016 Leave a comment Lee Mitchelle

When dealing with anything volatile, like the storage of heating oil, one should be cautious. Safety concerns should be raised up not just for the benefit of the household but also for the oil, as well. It is at constant risk of being stolen, especially when stored in a plastic tank in an unprotected shed, where thieves could easily come in, drill a hole through the oil tank, siphon off a bucket of oil, and plug it when they’re done. If the drilling had been done on the side of the oil tank that is not immediately visible, and if you don’t do periodic checks, you might not even realize what had happened until you refill the tank and the plug fails under added fluid pressure.

This is one of the scenarios where getting a bunded tank to replace your old single skin one is better for your home. Especially in a commercial or commune setting where you have tanks collected in a single shed and you won’t immediately notice the theft in any single one. Another reason why it might be for you? Think about accidental spills during refilling. You might not think much about it, but the oil that seeps into the ground accumulates, giving it irreparable damage over time. As an environmental concern, this is huge, which is why some countries like the UK have made bunded oil tanks a requirement for commercial and domestic installations that exceed capacities of 2,500 liters.

Other points for environmental risk assessment include bodies of water that might be near the oil tank. In a major spill, oil might find its way towards the nearest body of water and pollute the water supply. Not only is this an immediate threat to the community that relies on a single water pipeline, it is also a disruption to their daily lives. Why? Because contaminated water lines need to be purged. This is a process that will take a lot of time and patience to finish.

If you have been convinced to opt for bunded tanks, your problem now might be regarding what kind you’ll get. Well, that depends on the boiler you’ll be feeding the oil into, how often it is used, the size of the house, and other uses you might have for the oil, which might include a cooker. If it’s a commune you’re replacing oil tanks for, it’s best to get bunded oil tanks in wholesale. Not only is this cheaper, but getting all your oil storage tanks from a single manufacturer means that inspection and maintenance would be easier. There would only be one type and one set of specifications to maintain. Also, wholesale discounts won’t hurt, as suppliers often throw these around for bulk sales.

There isn’t a lot of reasons why you should keep on using single skin oil tanks. Sure, those are cheaper, but they are risky. And think about the long term implications. Single skin oil tanks are flimsy compared to bunded oil tanks. They require more inspections and maintenance. They don’t have a secondary containment for spills. They are easy to steal oil from. These are just some of the reasons why you’d be better off with bunded oil tanks. It’s time for you to use one.

Internet Marketing Strategies

June 12, 2016 Leave a comment Lee Mitchelle

Do you know that the top earners on the web follow proven Internet Marketing strategies that keep bringing in consistent income every day? One of the hallmarks of success in any business venture is to observe and follow what trailblazers in your chosen niche have done to succeed, and you will be on your way to the top as well. Here are some of the strategies the big guns have utilized which has resulted in enormous financial returns for them on a daily basis:

i. Advertising Methods To succeed as an online entrepreneur, you need to utilize several advertising techniques that will reach a larger crowd of potential buyers in your targeted niche. Dont depend on just one advertising method, or opt for free publicity. Use both free as well as paid advertising procedures for maximum benefits. Some of the methods for advertising your products or services online include article marketing, blogging, etc. These free advertising strategies take a lot of time before you start seeing significant returns; you may likely become discouraged and just give up altogether.

Paid advertising, however, guarantees an immediate flood of traffic to your offers or squeeze page. The major disadvantage is that once you stop paying for the ads, the traffic also grinds to a halt. So, combining both methods of advertising will do your business well in the long run.

ii. Build a Responsive List One of the famous sayings in the world of internet marketing is Money is in the list! That is a proven fact; and the higher the responsiveness of your email list, the more money you will make every time. The key to getting a quality marketing list is to build a relationship with each one of your subscribers. By so doing, you will become knowledgeable about their wants and desires, which could be fodder for your next product of service.

iii. Social Media Marketing Another key to making money is going where the crowd is; social media sites like Facebook and Twitter receive tons of traffic every day. You can take advantage of Facebooks marketing platform to advertise to numerous groups which are usually dependent on the interests of members. Other types of marketing on social media include participating in discussion forums, engaging on social bookmarking websites, etc.

iv. Video Marketing Currently the trending form of marketing on the internet, video marketing has done wonders for a lot of internet marketers regarding financial returns. YouTube is the number one video-sharing website and is owned by Google. Therefore, creating, sharing and optimizing your videos on YouTube and other video-sharing sites will drive hordes of traffic to your offers from time to time, thereby resulting in good sales.
Follow these internet marketing strategies diligently and you will begin to smile to the bank, too!

Six top tips for making your home-based business a success

June 11, 2016 Leave a comment Lee Mitchelle

Home Business

1 Get the important things done first

By setting a timetable for your working week. It doesn’t have to be the same routine every week, but plan the following week’s schedule so that personal and business commitments are separated and you allow sufficient, uninterrupted working hours each day. This ensures that when meetings are arranged, professionally or socially, you won’t let anyone down. More importantly, it also means that you can relax, knowing you have an effective schedule, can take proper breaks and end your working day at a reasonable time. If you live with a partner or family scheduling is particularly important if you are to maintain a balance between your personal and work lives.

2 Create a separate workspace where possible

Working from home often means having to consider others, but your schedule won’t remain intact if you have kids demanding your attention or housemates bringing home friends and walking into your workspace. If possible, your workspace should be in a quiet part of the house. A sign on the door letting people know if you can be interrupted is also useful. At the very least have somewhere to shut away your work things at the end of the day. Packing up is an excellent way of signalling to yourself and others that your working day is over.

3 Have at least three external meetings each week

Building meetings outside of your home into your working week means you actually get out and speak to people. It also means that you are engaged in building your professional network and promoting your business. A great way to do this is to use a co-working space. These are open-plan, shared workspaces where you can hire a desk by the day or half day. They often have social cafeterias and business events that you can attend to learn new things and make new connections.

4 Make sure you love what you do

This might sound obvious, but you have to really love something about your business if you are to get through more demanding days. Whether it’s being your own boss, loving what you make or the service you deliver, or simply engaging with people to promote and sell your product or service. The more you like something the better you tend to be at it. And it makes the things you don’t like easier to tolerate.

5 Deactivate notifications on mobile devices when you’re not working

It’s tempting to have every work-related email and social network app notification pinging just in case you miss something really important, but whether you’re in working hours or not, this can be incredibly distracting, diverting your attention away from your well-planned day or critical objectives. If your business does not need you to be available 24/7, turn off the automatic notifications on your devices out of working hours.

6 Find yourself a mentor

A good mentor can help you succeed. They’re usually someone who has been in business, having started from exactly your position; someone who has overcome similar challenges. They may have specialist knowledge or networks you can tap into and will ask you questions to test your thinking. It’s good to be challenged in this way. A good mentor will help you see things from an external, impartial perspective, which can be incredibly valuable when you’re working from home, mostly by yourself. Equally important, a good business mentor also brings compassion and empathy and cares about your long-term success.

This article is taken from http://www.startupdonut.co.uk/blog/2014/10/six-top-tips-making-your-home-based-business-success

Importance of Proper Financing to Businesses

April 3, 2016 Leave a comment Lee Mitchelle

Making the best financial plan is a very important exercise for any or every business owner who is looking forward to establishing a great and successful business. Having a well outlined plan for all your financial necessities can make running of your business even easier, from being able to manage your cash, staying focused, as well as managing your expenditure.

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Cash Management

Many businesses have monthly or seasonal variations in revenues, which translate into periods when cash is plentiful and times when cash shortages occur. Having a financial plan that is structured so there is always a cash cushion helps the business owner sleep better at night. The cash cushion allows the business to take advantage of opportunities that arise, such as the chance to purchase inventory from a supplier at temporarily reduced prices.

Long-Range View

In business it is easy to become focused on the crises or issues that must be dealt with on a daily basis. The price for being too short-term oriented is that the owner may not spend enough time planning what needs to be done to grow the business long-term. The financial plan, with its forward looking focus, allows the business owner to better see what expenditures need to be made to keep the company on a growth track and to stay ahead of competitors. The financial plan is a blueprint for continual improvement in the company performance.

Prioritizing Expenditures

Conserving financial resources in a small business is a critical element of success. The financial planning process helps a business owner identify the most important expenditures, those that bring about immediate improvements in productivity, efficiency, or market penetration, versus those that can be postponed until cash is more plentiful. Even the largest, most well-capitalized corporations go through this prioritization process, comparing the cost to the benefits of each proposed expenditure.

Sourced from: http://smallbusiness.chron.com/importance-financial-plan-small-business-4713.html

Whether you are planning on putting up a small business or you already have one, having a reliable source of funding to keep it off the menace of being doomed by lack of funding is critical. If you are a starter, you may have a problem getting the idea on raising the extra amount of cash you need to get started. Despite the dilemma that many people find themselves in, being prudent in the pursuit for finances can give a great range of choices where one can get any needed financial support.

Smart leases. Leasing fixed assets conserves cash for working capital (to cover inventory), which is generally tougher to finance, especially for an unproven business. Warning: Don’t put so much money down that you end up spending the same amount of cash as you would have had you bought the asset with a down payment.

Bank loans. Banks are like the supermarket of debt financing. They provide short-, mid- or long-term financing, and they finance all asset needs, including working capital, equipment and real estate. This assumes, of course, that you can generate enough cash flow to cover the interest payments (which are tax deductible) and return the principal.

Customers. Advance payments from customers–assuming the terms aren’t too onerous–can give you the cash you need, at a relatively low cost, to keep your business growing. Advances also demonstrate a level of commitment by that customer to your operation.

Sourced from: http://www.forbes.com/2010/07/06/best-funding-sources-for-small-business-entrepreneurs-finance-dileep-rao.html

As much as financial planning is important in getting the much needed financial balancing of the business operation, all does not always go as it is supposed to be. Sometimes planners go wrong with this exercise and make mistakes that cost them eventually. A wrong presentation, an incomplete plan or a plan that is not realistic are just signs that you are headed the wrong direction.

The plan presentation is sloppy. Once your writing’s perfect, the presentation has to match. Nothing peeves investors more than inconsistent margins, missing page numbers, charts without labels or with incorrect units, tables without headings, technical terminology without definitions or a missing table of contents. Have someone else proofread your plan before you show it to an investor, banker or venture capitalist.

The plan is incomplete. Every business has customers, products and services, operations, marketing and sales, a management team, and competitors. At an absolute minimum, your plan must cover all these areas. A complete plan should also include a discussion of the industry, particularly industry trends, such as if the market is growing or shrinking.

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The plan makes unfounded or unrealistic assumptions. By their very nature, business plans are full of assumptions. The most important assumption, of course, is that your business will succeed! The best business plans highlight critical assumptions and provide some sort of rationalization for them. The worst business plans bury assumptions throughout the plan so no one can tell where the assumptions end and the facts begin

Sourced from: https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/81188

Marketing for a Small Business

February 21, 2016 Leave a comment Lee Mitchelle

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The main aim of marketing is to get to know the needs of your customers and come up with a plan that addresses those needs. The desire of every business person is to see growth. One of the best ways for this to happen is through marketing because marketing helps you acquire more customers.

How can you the basics of marketing to acquire more customers?

Spend time researching and create a strategic marketing plan.

Guide your product development to reach out to customers you aren’t currently attracting.

Price your products and services competitively.

Develop your message and materials based on solution marketing.

The Importance of a Target Market in Small Business

When it comes to your customers keep in mind the importance of target marketing. The reason this is important is that only a proportion of the population is likely to purchase any products or service. By taking time pitch your sales and marketing efforts to the correct niche market, you will be more productive and not waste your efforts or time.

Sourced from: http://marketing.about.com/od/marketingbasics/a/smmktgbasics.htm

Marketing strategies are always the same. But because there are a lot of differences between small and big businesses, marketing strategies for the two cannot be the same. There are things like budget constraints, target market and even creative methods.

  1. Differences on Budget Constraints

In a small business, you already know one substantial difference between your marketing plan and those of the corporate titans that hover over you in every direction. These big guys have astronomical budgets. They talk about a few hundred thousand dollars as a routine issue. You talk about 200 dollars as an amount worthy of cautious consideration.

  1. Differences on Creativity

The top notch marketers routinely require six figures to produce ads with the single purpose of establishing brand awareness and market orientation toward their brands – frequently without a single hint about a specific price or product.

Small businesses adopt a significantly different method. They need to establish brand awareness just like the big advertisers, but their advertisements have to fulfill two tasks. Small business marketing expenditure has to provide direct and measurable marketing action. Each action has to stir adequate buying activity to compensate the expenditure involved in producing and running the advertisement in the first place.

Sourced from: http://www.retireat21.com/blog/four-marketing-differences-between-small-and-big-businesses

Marketing is not rocket science and anyone can do it. It is also important to note that it is not a one size fits all thing. You need to customize your marketing strategy so that it fits your business. You will need to identify your market target, the resources you have and how best you can utilize them.

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Making Marketing Work in Your Small Business

Get the know-how. Knowing what not to do when it comes to marketing is as important as knowing what to do. Let’s face it, the murky world of marketing can be tricky to navigate. So get the full know-how before you go jumping into building that flash website.

Put your customers first. Understanding who your customers are, what makes them tick and what they really want and value, and of course staying in touch with them long after the sale, puts you ahead of the competition.

Know your target market. ‘Anyone who is breathing’ is not a target market! Targeting your marketing activities fairly and squarely at the people who need and want your service or product is the secret to creating quality enquiries and getting prospects to open their wallet.

Sourced from: http://www.dummies.com/how-to/content/marketing-your-small-business-for-dummies-cheat-sh.html