Why Should You Attend This June's Local Business Marketing Summit?

All Digital Marketers and Local Business Owners are invited to participate in a free two-day Online Local Business Marketing Summit being sponsored by the Colorado-based Local Marketing Institute.
On June 27-28, 2017, the Local Business Marketing Summit will kick off – it’s a FREE two-day online event designed specifically for local businesses who want to jump start their marketing efforts.

Scheduled presenters include more than a dozen digital-marketing experts who have been regular contributors to “Forbes” magazine, Google My Business, Moz, Search Engine Land, Social Media Examiner, SMX and “The Wall Street Journal,” according to a press release.

Speakers For The June 27-28 Local Business Marketing Summit

1. Eric Shanfelt
   Founder and CEO of Local Marketing Institute
2. Myles Anderson
   CEO of BrightLocal, Search Engine Land Contributor
3. Bernadette Coleman
   CEO of Advice Local, Contributor to Search Engine Land, Forbes
4. Sean Daily
   Founder / Lead Strategist at Social Media Ninjas
5. Chris Davis
   Director of Education for ActiveCampaign, Former Head of Mkt Automation at Leadpages
6. Lissa Duty
   Editor-in-Chief and Co-Founder of Rocks Digital, Social Media Trainer and Author
7. Joy Hawkins
   President of Sterling Sky, Google My Business Top Contributor, SMX , Search Engine Land
8. Collin Holmes
   CEO of Chatmeter, Former VP of Product Management and Marketing for V-ENABLE
9. Laurie Macomber
   President of Blue Skies Marketing, Local, SEO, and Content Marketing Expert
10. Marcus Miller
    Digital Strategist at BowlerHat, Moz and Search Engine Land Contributor
11. Phil Rozek
    Owner of Local Visibility System, Local Search Ranking Factors Contributor
12. Conrad Saam
    GM of Mockingbird Marketing, Former Director of Marketing for both UrbanSpoon and Avvo
13. Dennis Yu
    Chief Technology Officer of BlitzMetrics, Contributor for WSJ and Social Media Examiner
14. Phil Nicolosi

The Local Business Marketing Summit takes place Tuesday and Wednesday, June 27-28, and will feature 18 video sessions from some of the most well-respected local marketing experts in the world. The subject matter of the sessions will be centered around six themes: social media; local search engine optimization; online ratings and reviews; your website; email marketing; and online advertising.

The Local Marketing Institute was founded by CEO Eric Shanfelt, who has more than 25 years experience in digital marketing. His background includes serving as senior vice president of digital for Penton Media and HarperCollins. The goal of his company, he says, is to teach businesses, marketers and developers how to successfully market a local business online.

The two-day summit would normally be nearly $500, but Shanfelt is extending a special offer to Sign & Digital Graphics readers to enjoy all 18 video sessions free of charge. Click HERE to get your free pass.

What You'll Learn From Local Business Marketing Summit?

• The Local SEO Checklist 2017
• How To Get the Most from Your Google My Business Listing
• Social Media Tactics That Actually Work
• Digital Advertising 101 for Local Businesses
• A Complete Local Business Digital Marketing Strategy
• Tips and Tricks to Build Email List
• Marketing Automation
• About Paid Local Listing Service
• Content that Works Well for Web, Email and Social Media
• Anatomy of a Well-Designed Local Business Website
• How to Get the Most From Your Local Business Facebook Page
• Which Local Business Review Sites Work Best for You?
• Keys to Successful Facebook Local Advertising
• How to Get More Reviews for Your Local Business?
• Keys to Successful Google Local Advertising

9 Lessons On How To Attract High End Clients

It is every business goal to have high end clients — these are clients that can really create a big difference in the profitability of any business. They do not care at all about the cost as long as they can be certain to get superior quality.

However, not all businesses know the essentials of how to attract high end clients; most only go with the simplistic idea that as long as they work on their products and services and are at par with others, these important clients will come.

High-end clients don’t grow on trees—attracting clients with luxury tastes and budgets to match takes excellent service and great PR. The home improvement space is already full of competitors ready to try their hand at these customers. The Associated General Contractors of America estimates that there are about 6 million workers in the construction industry, which is a lot in the running, to say the least.

And from a global perspective, the American economy performed quite well in 2016, at least compared to other developed nations like Japan and many countries in Europe. That’s left Americans with much more capital, meaning an expected 5% growth in construction starts in 2017. And residential units will get a large share of that growth—there’s a projected 12% dollar rise in single family housing. And where there is money and growth, there’s the opportunity for luxury products and goods, and less need to advertise the savings of a particular service.

Here Are The 4 Lessons On How To Attract High End Clients

Lesson 1: Don’t Sell Yourself Short

Imagine you’re about to buy a car, and you’re presented with two options from your dealer. One model costs $5,000 and one model costs $500,000. Which one would you say is the better car?

Unless your clients come to you on a referral, they’re a lot like the customer in this example. That is, since they haven’t seen the product you intend to provide them—because it’s not built yet—much of what they know about you gets communicated through your prices.

Keep in mind that high-end clients aren’t necessarily looking for a bargain or the best value. To these consumers, a lower price translates as a lack of quality. And if you haven’t been in the business for a long time, chances are, you’re probably charging too little anyway.

Analysts who study this sort of thing note that most of the time, when the price on a product or service is wrong, it’s because it’s too low, not too high. In fact, that’s the case with about 85% to 95% of bad prices. As a small business owner, the first step to evolving your customer base is to step up your prices.

Lesson 2: Let Price Reflect the Quality

Providing economical or budget-friendly solutions is great, but if a business wants to appear thoroughly competitive and professional, the price it charges should always reflect quality like no other.

Every marketing expert says this: “High end clients do not care much for cheap provisions — they do not trust them.”

If the business is using prime equipment or technology and has the best professionals or experts in the business, in the mind of the wealthy and powerful, there’s no reason for the products or services to be cheap.

Lesson 3: Add Polish to Your PR and Customer Service

No brand wants customers to see how the sausage gets made—but particularly when you’re dealing with high-end clientele, customers will expect an experience that’s polished and thorough, from beginning to end. That means you may have to trade your work clothes for a clean collared shirt when you first greet your clients.

It also means branding your business using a well-designed logo and professional-quality photos of your past work (no more fisheye lens captures of that intricate cabinet work you did last summer). A trained graphic artist or photographer can provide these materials, and you can find many eager artists that will perform this work on contracting sites like Upwork.

Similarly, sensory touches—the ability to touch and feel wood samples, for instance, or walk through a showy display room—mean a lot to high-end consumers. Even very small touches, like your company cards, should be on textured cardstock meant to evoke a feeling of luxury and richness.

You may need to up your game when it comes to customer service, as well. That could mean hiring and training an employee to answer the phones when you’re out on the jobsite. It may mean investing in your website, or spending time responding directly to social media.

While every customer values their time, high-end clients are accustomed to fast, knowledgeable customer service exchanges. They prefer to be guided through the process by an expert, rather than doing a lot of it on their own.

Lesson 4: Establish a Top Quality Brand

Mahatma Gandhi once said, "It is the quality of our work which will please God and not the quantity."

It is the quality that will attract high end clients too.

Its the small attention to details that they notice. Things like a well designed site, quality photos, even the quality of the paper on your printed materials are all very important details.

You can also take a cue from one of the episodes of the '90s TV series "The Nanny."

Broadway mogul, Mr. Sheffield, only wanted an engagement ring for Miss Fine from the most famous jewelry stores like Tiffany and Co., Cartier, or Harry Winston because they are trustworthy and are known to produce the best money can buy.

A business should always strive and prove to be the best that money can afford because that solid reputation will establish a top brand that's reliable and worthy of respect.

Lesson 5: Get to Know Your Ideal Consumer

It’s easy to get excited about consumers with good financials. A customer base with a ton of expendable income? What business owner wouldn’t want that? However, your customers aren’t just a tax bracket, so if you treat them like a walking wallet, they’re going to feel it in your interactions.

To understand your ideal demographic, it helps to design a profile (or multiple profiles) of your ideal customer. Imagine the specifics: where they live in your area, what their home looks like, what they’re coming to you for. For instance, a highly-paid professional with two young children may have different needs than an elderly, retired couple living in a luxury community.

Additionally, you may need to keep an eye on the trends dominating the market. With a lot more income at their disposal, these homeowners are more likely to want to incorporate the latest designs into their remodel or new construction. Staying on top of new features like solar panel installations or floor-to-ceiling windows will help you capture these clients’ interest.

Lesson 6: Provide Special Perks for Premium Clients

Put a lot of thought into the bonuses and special privileges to that you can throw in for big accounts.

These perks are great manifestations of the business's fine taste and effort to take care of big money clients.

The key is to add things of high perceived value, that act as a "sandwich" to your main offer.

Think of your main product as the "meat" of the sandwich. To complete your sandwich, you want to include bonuses that become the "bread" of your sandwich -- one for below your meat, and another that goes above it.

The "bread on the bottom" is a bonus that addresses something that may be preventing your ideal client from using your service.

The "bread on the top" is a bonus that you create related to your main offer that your clients use after you deliver it, to enhance the results.

Lesson 7: Network, Network, Network

It’s all about who you know, and that’s never more true than when you’re trying to rewrite your brand. Wealthy clients have the ability to consider reputation above price, so they’re looking for a standout business with a well-known pedigree. That can be difficult to accomplish with a small business: You’re likely not able to afford the kind of expensive ad space that you’d need to communicate your message.

One tactic that several remodelers have found successful, however, was asking former clients to post anniversary signs for their business in their yard. If you can, approach homeowners who live close to the neighborhoods you want to target. The signs communicate both your longevity—it’s your business’s anniversary, after all—and your good reputation in the community.

Another idea is to sponsor an event or charity function in those areas. Your business’ name will be plastered everywhere, and there’s no better way to meet the clientele you hope to draw.

Besides that, it’s an opportunity to gather intel about what your future clients need and want, so be sure to engage and ask plenty of questions as you talk to attendees—you might just walk away with a whole new customer base!

Lesson 8: Offer Consistent and Superior Customer Service

Customer support or service is a clear reflection of quality operations; be classy, eloquent and consistently ready to help because high end clients are used to being put first -- they do not like to wait.

A famous quote by Sam Walton reads, "There is only one boss. The customer. And he can fire everybody in the company from the chairman on down, simply by spending his money somewhere else."

And since they have the resources to pay for any service provider, no matter how high the charges are, it's a big advantage to provide them the support or services when they need and want them to get them to stay.

Lesson 9: Develop Strong Lead Generation

Big ticket sales guru, Kevin Nations stated, "Nothing fuels high ticket sales like powerful, authority based lead flows."

Authority based lead flows are from sources where you demonstrate your expertise in a certain area. This could be things like a weekly podcast, blog or even a book.

By giving them this content, you position yourself as an expert that understands their problems and can help them.

The other route is to develop a "trip wire", a low cost product that can introduce a new customer to you and your business. The key is to keep the price low, so there is not a possibility of price objection.

This will build a strong relationship, and result in attaining premium clients. Remember that high-end buyers are not looking for quick fixes, hacks or tricks; They want quality. They want you to move them, serve them, and show them they are unique and special.

Make sure that you are being yourself with your clients and allowing your authentic personality to shine.

14 Things Every Local Business Website Needs in 2017

A lot of small businesses don’t have a website, or if they do, they don't pay attention to the site. If you just starting out to create a website for your business or want to update/add features to your existing business website, Then This Guide Is For You. I've Crafted a List of Must-Have Features for Small Business Websites. From Choosing Domain Name to Displaying Trust Seal, Here Are The 14 Must Have Features that will Effectively help you Market Your Small Business Website Online in 2017.

Let's start with Statistic, If we have a look at the Clutch’s Small Business Websites in 2017 Survey, We'll get an idea about United States Small Business Website Status.

Small Business Websites in 2017: Survey

• 29% of small businesses do not have a website. In 2016 This were 46% small businesses.
• Of the small businesses that do have a website, 79% say their website is mobile friendly.
• Only 58% of Midwestern small businesses have a website compared to the Northeast (72%), the South (73%), and the West (77%).
• Low-revenue small businesses (those earning less than $1 million a year) are about 30% less likely to have a website than higher-revenue companies.
• High-quality web content and increased mobility are top website priorities in 2017.

It’s time to think about your business website. Take a deep breath.

The very first question you should ask yourself when you set out to Create or Update/Add Features your Small Business Website is: What Features Should be on my Website?

Answer is Simple, You should include As Little As Possible, But As Much As Necessary Information to Accomplish your business goals for the website, and Deliver Right Message To Your Website Visitor. Your site will be more complex if you use e-commerce feature, or if you rely solely on internet marketing for your business leads and sales.

But If Your Goal To Get A Simple Website Up And Running, There Are Only A Few Elements That Are Absolutely Essential On Your Business Website.

14 Features Every Small Business Website Needs

1. A Simple, Memorable Web Address

Don't make things complicated. Your domain name is like your brand. It should be easy for a user to type it into a Web browser or an e-mail address.

I always recommend the .com domain as users are conditioned to type that extension when they enter a Web address. For non-profits or organizations, I usually recommend using a .org domain for branding purposes, but also recommend having a .com version of the domain in case a user accidentally types the .com address.

I also suggests avoiding dashes (which can cause SEO headaches) and numbers (which can cause confusion for customers).

2. A Clear Site Description

Someone who stumbles upon your website shouldn't have to do investigative work to figure out what, exactly, it is that you do. That means clearly stating your name and summing up your products or services right on the homepage.

Tell people this is the right website that they have been searching for, A Clear description of Who You Are and What You Offer will attract the visitor's attention immediately within 2-3 seconds, and encourage them to stay on your website longer.

3. Easy-to-find Contact Information

You wouldn't want to lose a customer to a competitor just because you made it difficult for them to get in touch with you.

Not every online visitor has the patience to click through every page on your website to find the contact information.

The best place for the contact information is the top left or top right corner of the home page. It is also a good practice to include contact information in every page of the website in the footer or side bar or even in top right corner, which helps the visitors to find it more easily.

You should also be sure to include several ways for them to contact you -- phone, e-mail, and a standard contact form, are all good options. Forbes also suggests including your address, and even a link to your location in Google maps.

One of the biggest mistakes business owners make is to force only one way to reach them. The point is to make it very easy for users to communicate with you on their terms.

4. Display Customer Testimonials

Some people don’t realize how important a customer testimonial can be. Testimonials help build relationship for the business for first time visiting consumers, and you want your business to look the best, don’t you?

The Importance of Testimonials:

• According to Nielsen research, “92% of people will trust a recommendation from a peer, and 70% of people will trust a recommendation from someone they don’t even know.”
• 88% have read reviews to determine the quality of a local business (vs. 85% in 2013)
• 39% read reviews on a regular basis (vs. 32% in 2013)
• Only 12% do not read reviews (vs. 15% in 2013)

For many businesses, it's ideal to have a website page devoted to testimonials where all of them are visible, but it doesn't end there. They're particularly valuable on website pages that drive important conversions, where your potential customers are making decisions.

It's well worth your time to select the testimonials that best complement the conversion you're trying to achieve. Depending on the content and format of the testimonial, it can achieve different goals at different stages of the sales process.

By choosing testimonials that address potential customers' questions and concerns at a given point, you're using social proof to guide them down the sales funnel.

Testimonials aren't only for your website, though—you can also share them on social media and incorporate them into emails, blog posts, ebooks, print materials, videos, broadcast ads, and beyond. Hey - if they're the most effective form of content marketing, then why not use them?

5. Include Several Calls-to-Action On Your Website

Calls-to-Action Tell the online visitors literally what you want them to do with clear tones of commend. For instance, you may want them to call you now for free quote, or sign up to your exclusively online coupons, or add products to the online shopping cart, etc.

Call-to-Action act like you Suggesting your site Visitor to Perform an Action -- Lile Contact You, Subscribe To your Site, Share your Site or Buy Something, for example.

If you’re creating a website to gather leads or interact with potential customers, make sure you’re clear on what you want your prospects to do.

Want your customers to call you or buy your product? Ask them. Want them to contact you? Show them where they can do it.

Overall, inviting people to call or buy your products is important. Some people may not even realize it’s an option unless you specifically tell them that it is an option.

6. Fresh Quality Content

Your website is your first impression on a customer, You want to give them what they're looking for, and perhaps even give them a reason to keep coming back.

Fresh Content is Critical for Your Website Search Ranking. You can keep your content fresh by incorporating a regularly-updated blog or connecting in your social media feeds.

By Fresh Quality Content, I Mean:

Fresh

-- Fresh can mean a lot of things. It can mean content that is relevant to a current issue or about a current event. It can simply mean up-to-date. It’s important to make sure that the information in your content is current and accurate - one of the many reasons Cascade Server’s Broken Link Report is so helpful. Since you’re not the only one updating your content, you need to make sure that when others update theirs, it doesn’t create broken links on your site.

Quality

-- Quality can feel subjective, but everyone has read content that was clearly not quality. Quality content is accurate, well-researched, targeted, free of spelling and grammatical errors, and intentional. Intentional content serves a purpose - it tells a story or imparts knowledge to the reader. Nothing is worse than finding a piece about a topic you’re interested in, and realizing it doesn’t actually give you any useful information.

Refreshed

-- Great content is either timely or timeless. Meaning it has the freshness of being current or the freshness of being content that transcends time. With information and technology advancing at an exponential rate, it’s getting harder to create timeless content, but periodically refreshing your content can keep it feeling timeless. As we mentioned before - a blog about best SEO practices is more of a timely piece which will need be rewritten as standards change, whereas a guide for creating a content calendar can be timeless with only minimal updating.

Value-Add

-- Quality content adds value. Once you know who your audience is, and what you want to achieve with your content, you have to make sure you’re giving something in return. True value is also original. Think of what only you can offer, or an angle that no one else has approached. Unique content is essential as more and more marketers are utilizing content marketing.

7. Know The Basics of SEO

Your website won't do you as much good if no one can find it. Become familiar with the SEO Basics to make your website more Accessible by Search Engine.

You don't need to Use Mysterious, Ninja, black hat SEO types to rank well on the search engines. Simply make sure your website's User Experience is Good and Properly Accessible by Search Engine.

Good User Experience Means:

• Design For End Users’ Perspective.
• A Clear and Functional Website Architecture.
• Intuitive Visual Presentation.
• Responsive Design.

Search Engine Accessibility Means:

• Ensure site meta titles and description are descriptive, yet Concise.
• Use alternative text for all of your site images.
• Use a clear and proper heading structure and avoid empty headings.
• Provide descriptive link text (i.e. Avoid “click here”).
• Don't rely on JavaScript for things that don’t need it.
• Avoid mouse dependent interaction.
• Use standard web formats when possible
• Provide transcripts and captions for video.
• Declare the language of your site and pages.
• Allow multiple ways of finding content (i.e. search, a site map, table of contents, clear navigation, etc.)
• Use text instead of images when possible.
• Providing useful links to related and relevant resources.
• Ensuring URLs are human readable and logical.
• Presen a clear and consistent navigation and page structure.
• Avoid CSS and other stylistic markup to present content or meaning.
• Define abbreviations and acronyms.

8. A Secure and Reliable Hosting Solution

While most business owners see the value of creating awesome website and content, the importance of selecting a reliable web host often takes a back seat. In my experience, most small businesses end up making a wrong choice in the beginning because they do not properly evaluate their needs.

Choosing A Secure and Reliable Hosting Solution is a major consideration when launching a site; remember that without a web host - how can anyone view your site! Figuring out which web hosting provider and level of service you need can be mind boggling. This can be especially true for Small-Business starting out who may lack technical experience in this area.

It is imperative that you go with a secure, trustworthy hosting company to keep your online information safe and your content up and running. It is also very important to keep your content management system updated in order to stay one step ahead of the hackers.

Choose a hosting company that occupied with latest server hardware, technology and infrastructure and support high level of performance & reliability.

9. A Responsive Website

Smartphones and tablets are driving an increasing amount of web traffic, and the numbers are only going to grow as mobile devices become cheaper and more mainstream. Andy Chu, director of Bing for Mobile, says 70% of task completion happens within one hour on mobile sites, meaning that people are often browsing on the web with intent — they're looking to do something, buy something or go somewhere. If someone searches for a restaurant on his smartphone, he's likely to eat at that restaurant within the hour, says Chu. So your website better be readable on handheld devices.

Until two years ago, designing for the web meant designing for a computer, now it means designing for anything with an internet connection, referring to laptops, tablets and smartphones, all of which have different screen sizes. So, how can you do it? Responsive design.

Why should I care about Responsive Design?

Here're 15 Facts to help you Understand Importance of Responsive Design

• 80% Of Internet Users Own A Smartphone Gadget (Smart Insights)
• Mobile Devices Will Drive 80% Of Global Internet Usage and 60% of Digital Ad Spend Will Be On Mobile By 2018 (Zenith)
• Mobile-influenced Offline Spending Already Over $1 trillion (Forrester)
• 48% of consumers start mobile research with a search engine (Google Research)
• 68% Of Digital Media Time Is Now Spent On Mobile (comScore)
• By 2018, 80% Of Email Users Will Use A Mobile Device To Access Their Email Accounts (Email Monday)
• Tablet devices account for the highest add-to-cart rates on e-commerce websites at 8.58%. (Smart Insights)
• 68% of companies have integrated mobile marketing into their overall marketing strategy. (Salesforce)
• 71% of marketers believe mobile marketing is core to their business. (Salesforce)
• Google says 61% of users are unlikely to return to a mobile site they had trouble accessing and 40% visit a competitor’s site instead. (MicKinsey & Company)
• 83% of mobile users say that a seamless experience across all devices is very important. (Wolfgang Jaegel)
• 91% of mobile users say that access to content is very important. (Wolfgang Jaegel)
• 57% of users say they won’t recommend a business with a poorly designed mobile site. (CMS Report)
• 88% of consumers who search for a type of local business on a mobile device call or go to that business within 24 hours. (Nectafy)
• 40% Of Mobile Searches Have Local Intent (Google Mobile Moments Study)

Responsive website design enables you to use fluid widths, so that your website layout will adapt to the screen on which it's being browsed. You can enter HTML code so that your sidebar takes up, say 20% of the screen width, and the remaining 80% is reserved for the body of your website. Layouts are adjustable and images are scalable to make for a better web experience on myriad devices. https://parvezweblog.blogspot.com is good example of site with responsive design, so you can see for yourself.

Need Help Design a Responsive Website? Contact Us.

10. Clear Website Navigation

A Map is useless without a legend and a website is useless without clear navigation. Make sure you use easy-to-understand and logical names for the various pages of your site — Service, Products, Contact, About, FAQ, etc. Being cryptic or clever will just be a turnoff for users.

When developing your navigation strategy, you should consider a call to action. Ask Yourself, What is it that you want people to do on your site? Place an order? Email for a quote? Become a member? Come to your brick-and-mortar store? Call to speak with a customer service rep? Make your goals clear and obvious.

11. A FAQ Section

People have a lot of questions. As you hear concerns from customers and receive feedback via email, gather up the most frequently asked questions into a list and write clear and concise answers. Try to address common customer concerns, questions or objections that customers have. Questions often raise about your services, warranty, specifications, pricing, company history, your accreditation and cancellation policies.

Then Create a Page or Section called FAQ in your website and display all the answers you wrote. By creating a well-structured, planned and thoughtful FAQ page, you can develop a very useful piece of content for your site, and a standalone selling tool – one that is often overlooked, and just as often – not developed as effectively as it could be.

12. Social Media Integration

There are a lot of social platforms out there, and you should promote your presence on them on your website, because social media is critical part of marketing your business. Some of the popular social media are Twitter, Facebook, Google+, YouTube, Pinterest, LinkedIn, Instagram, Tumblr, Foursquare.

Integrating these platforms into your website will help boost your site search ranking, improve your business' footprint on the social media and build your following across numerous social platforms. Is it worth it to maintain a presence on so many social platforms? Yes — as long as you actually maintain your online presence, you'll keep your brand top-of-mind and keep users engaged. Social media is not going to leave us anytime soon and its worth the investment in time — it does make a difference.

Ways to Make Social Media Work for You:

• Pick the proper social media platforms related to your business.
• Do not over promote your business.
• Write individual posts for each network.
• Have personality to your posts.
• Measure your results and act accordingly.
• Engage with the community.
• Give your content real value.

13. Add a Sitemap

Sitemaps are organized lists or flow chart diagrams that shows connections between web pages, web page trees, and website content. A visual sitemap is a very effective method for both planning and communicating ideas about a website’s structure. Pages and content are typically organized in a hierarchical tree with root and parent pages at the top, deeper and more specific child pages toward the bottom, and subject matter distributed horizontally.

There are basically two main types of sitemaps; the HTML sitemap that is primarily built for human site visitors and the Extensible Markup Language (XML) sitemaps designed for the search engines. The HTML sitemaps are basically lists of links to all the pages in a website, just like a book’s table of content. In most cases, this kind of sitemap lists pages hierarchically based on the categories and their location on the site. You can use a website mapping tool to create sitemaps of this kind so that your visitors can quickly find the information on your website and search engines bots can thoroughly crawl the content.

On the other hand, XML sitemaps are principally meant for use by search engines. This sitemap is mostly a string of codes to directly communicate with the search engines regarding parts of the website that should be crawled. Note that the XML is a language that is understood by the search engines, which makes it ideal for this purpose. This type of sitemap is highly recommended for sites with complex content. Some websites cannot be easily accessed from the homepage because of some formats like Ajax or Flash that search engines have difficulty crawling.

It is recommended that you include both HTML and XML sitemaps because they serve different targets and purposes. You stand a high chance of improving your SEO with sitemaps because they increase internal linking as well as create a content-rich web page. After using a website mapping tool to create sitemap, place it on the homepage and ensure it is at the footer of all the other pages.

14. Add a Trust Seal

For any website that sells a service or product online – whether it be a service or physical good, there are two primary ways to increase transaction volume. One is to increase website traffic (By Organic or Paid Search Engine Results), getting more potential customers into your sales funnel. The other is to increase the conversion rate, getting more revenue and more customers from your existing traffic base.

A trust seal can increase your website conversion rate. Comodo Prepared a Survey showing a 78% of online shoppers said the presence of Trust Elements, such as Trust Seals, would dictate if they’d trust a website.

So, What is a Trust Seal?

A Trust Seal, sometimes called a Secure Site Seal, is something you’re likely already familiar with if you’ve ever noticed small badges displayed on a website footer or sidebar, Particularly on Small-Business Website.

A trust seal is a seal granted by an entity to website or businesses for display. Often the purpose is demonstrate to customers that this business is concerned with security and their business identity. The requirements for the displaying merchant vary, but typically involve a dedication to good security practices or the use of secure methods for transactions or most importantly verified existence of the company. Trust seals can come in a variety of forms, including data security seals, business verified seals and privacy seals and are available from a variety of companies, for a fee. A Trust seal can be either active or passive. Most seals are validated when they are created and remain so for a specific duration of time, post expiry of which the business/process has to be re-validated.

Source — Wikipedia

The function of most trust seals will depend on the company who issued the seal. Some of them indicate trust scores, ratings or sales stats of the websites that show visitors how safe the particular business is. Others indicate the presence of SSL/TLS (Secure Sockets Layer), meaning the site connects over HTTPS (Hypertext Transfer Protocol Secure) and data transmitted between a visitor’s browser and the server is encrypted and can't be theft by third party.

Here are Different Types of Trust Seals:

1. Security Seals
2. Privacy Seals
3. Buyer Protection Seals
4. Business Identity Seals

Example of Trust Seals for Small Business Website can be showcase of your Business Accreditation, Certificates, Brand or Trade Association Badges and Awards that show You and Your Business is Legitimate with Notable Achievements. This also includes Privacy Seals and SSLs (Secure Sockets Layers). This helps users feel more secure when browsing your website and filling out personal information about themselves. Even if your business is only asking for something as simple as an e-mail address, adding this kind of trust elements will increase the likelihood of a user providing that information.

Example of Some Trust Seal for Local Business Website Can Be

• BBB Accredited Business Seal
• Certificate From Your Local Chambers of Commerce Association
• Federal Licenses & Permits
• SBA Certificate
• Industry Related Certificate. If you are a HVAC and Refrigeration Technician, NATE Certificate Can Validate your Field of Expertise.
• Brand or Trade Association Badges, Like The National Association (PHCC) Association Badge.
• Any Valid SSL Certificate

Conclusion

Above 14 Things are Extremely Important and Must Have Features for Every Local Business Website. So, if you’re running a small business website, consider straying from what people say is right and try out what actually works for small businesses.

5 Ways to Attract Readers to Your Small Business Blog

So you can write compelling blogs, and you’re up to date on your social content calendar, everything is going dandy, but there is just one thing you’re missing – you need to attract blog readers.

Some people think coming up with fresh topics to write about or finding the time to write regularly is the challenge but actually, it’s getting enough viewers to engage in your post. So much so that people are commenting, asking questions, or your blog has been shared across numerous social networks. That’s what the end goal for your business’s blog should be.

Add a “subscribe” button
If you attracted a reader, why not ask them to come back. Adding a subscribe or signup button gives the customer an option to be updated on your blog is the best way to grow your following.

Ask customers to visit your website and follow your blog
If a customer is showing interest in shopping in your store or visiting your beauty salon, they could possibly be interested in seeing what you have to share online. It certainly won’t hurt to ask!

Have your website appear on your business card and share it with your customers before they leave and simply say, “When you have a chance, take a look at our blog, I think you’d find a few articles helpful when using our products” or something to that effect. People won’t know to read your blog unless they know it exists!

Follow and engage with others in the blogging community of similar interests
Not everyone that would be interested in your blog are customers or buyers. It’s mostly other bloggers and business owners in the same industry looking to network, grow, share likes, comments, follows, etc. Pass by other blogger’s pages and share your comments and likes. For the most part you’ll find they’ll return the love!

Share Blog Posts to Facebook,
But not every post, or you’ll come off too pushy. Every week you should try to post a “highlight” article, perhaps highlighting the best moments or topics shared over the week. This is the kind of post worth sharing to Facebook without flooding your friends pages.

Monitor your Blog’s analytics
Just because there aren’t any comments doesn’t mean people haven’t visited or read the article. Get familiar with your blog’s analytics and see what topics gain the most traction. Follow the trends and post more about what people seem to be interested in.

A Guide to Establishing Online Presence on a Budget

Getting started with a new small business can be an upward climb. But, as we all know the view from top is so rewarding. It’s certainly challenging when you have high hopes and goals you want to accomplish; only to realize you’re stuck with a tight budget.

Understandably you want to start making sales, gaining clients, whatever it is you do so that you can grow your budget and do more with your business. How do you get people to seek out your business? How do you get people to notice you?

While posters and handing out flyers might be the first thing you think of, it is a great idea however, since the print and design could get costly and only reaches people in that specific area. With a limited budget you want to extend your reach without spending too much to start.

Here’s how:

Search Engine Optimization (SEO)

This is an internet marketing strategy that you will use to be found online through search engines like: Google, Yahoo, or Bing. To optimize your business’ organic search results will be based on how well your SEO strategy considers how search engines work. For example, the content on your website should contain keywords or terms that your targeted audience would be searching. For example, a restaurant in Niagara Falls would would contain content on their website that some way or another mentions key terms like, “things to do in Niagara Falls” or “places to eat by the Falls”.

Social Media Marketing (SMM)

Social Media marketing is an essential part of any marketing campaign. It is one of the most effective ways of marketing, advertising, or communicating with people and potential customers online. An important element of social media is the way people can follow and like your posts further increasing your social popularity online.

Blogging

Invest time into your website by creating intriguing content. Remember the purpose of content is two-fold:

• It is engaging, educational, relevant and timely to the intended audience.
• To ensure Google values the content that you have published by being SEO-friendly, to increase organic search results.

Negative Effects of Not Having an Internet Presence for Your Small Business

Small businesses should value the need for online marketing and building their online presence. It’s important to note that online presence is not only established in the way you promote and sell your products online. There are definitely negative effects for not having a proper internet presence for your small business. With proper internet presence, you can establish the story behind your brand to your audience. If you own a local bakery or coffee shop, people want to see the behind the scenes in visuals, through photos and video. Sharing your story humanizes your brand, it gives it warmth and makes it all the more desirable to potential customers. 

Of course, being a business owner you may not always have the time to regularly update your blog or manage social media. Which is why there are services available like Airi Business to provide who will work to build your internet presence for you.  It’s no longer a “do it later” option, it’s a must now or you risk falling behind competition. Here’s why having no internet presence is a bad idea:

Lack of confidence if your brand

Having no internet presence is like being stuck in a primitive era, there’s no simpler way to say it.  Today, everyone from buyers to suppliers, and even your grandparents are online making purchases, browsing new products, or researching new services.  If you’re not online, how do you expect people to know about your brand.

Less exposure of your product or service

Again, how will you extend your reach to more people, more neighbourhoods, more prospective customers if you are not online?  Sure, you may attract the people who walk by your business or by word of mouth but, why limit yourself?

Poor reach

As you can see, all of the reasons why not having internet presence are related.  It all comes  down to getting your brand, your business more exposure.  Getting the word out there on a larger scale.  Meeting your customers expectations by appearing online through photos, testimonials, videos, etc.  These are what people need in this day and age to inspire trust in a business.  It’s all about the image and story that’s online for the world to see.

Lack of control over your brand’s image

If you’re not online telling people about your brand, someone else will.  The power of the internet is inevitable.  Visitors at your coffee shop are probably posting photos of their lattes and scones at this very moment.  

• Learn what people are saying about your business on Yelp
• Claim your business on Google
• Manage your reputation by managing your reviews

Get advice and helpful tips on building your small business internet presence with Airi Business tools today.  An Airi Business membership will get you everything you need to build and protect the virtual side of your business, with access to professionals who will do the work for you so you can spend more hands-on time building the business you love.

Using LinkedIn for your Small Business

Today, a LinkedIn profile acts as a business card and the content works as a great networking tool. Although, LinkedIn is a social platform, it’s unique because it’s used more as a publishing channel, as opposed to a sales channel for promoting offers and coupons. It focuses more on the foundation of a business and it’s credentials. But, do you know the rules for using LinkedIn for your small business? If used correctly, LinkedIn can help you reach your small business goals by expanding your network with key contacts and builds your credibility with content.

LinkedIn is effective for almost any type of business, however it’s especially effective for small businesses offering personal services like: financial services, spas, tutoring, real estate, photography, law, daycares, fitness, physicians, medical centres, funeral homes, etc. This is the ideal tool to showcase your credentials. The majority of prospective customers believe online reputation is especially important for businesses offering work related to health, well-being, childcare, and financial services.

Create a LinkedIn page

Signing up for LinkedIn is free! When creating your company page, highlight your services, leaders and employees to amplify your credibility. Connect with groups and local networks in similar industries or business goals.

Use your personal page and small business page as a pay-per-click or SEO campaign

Every small business should include a marketing strategy for search engine optimization. Ensure that your headline contains keywords and terms that increase your findability. The summary or job descriptions is a great place to tuck this sort of content. Run a PPC campaign on both your personal and business page to boost your opportunity for appearing in search engine results.

Blog on LinkedIn

Again, this idea goes back to optimizing your content for SEO purposes. Extend your reach to a greater audience by sharing these blog posts across social platforms.

Endorsements and Recommendations

Furthermore, positive endorsements and recommendations build your small business reputation with the ability to inspire trust in people. Before they even make a purchase from you. Recommendations through LinkedIn are like referrals, a quicker and more widespread virtual version of word-of-mouth.

LinkedIn may seem a little tricky to get a hang of. The key is to embrace the unique and professional nature of this social channel. Keep in mind that the content you would typically share on Facebook or Twitter would likely be different on this platform. Navigate through LinkedIn and get familiar with other successful business pages. Take note of tone and language used in their content when creating your content. Remember to keep it consistent, professional and of course intriguing for your audience.