The Internet is a fast moving, ever changing place so it’s important for small business owners to review the performance of their website on a regular basis!
Here’s a list of review items:
Search Engine Performance
For most people this means Google so go the www.google.ie and check the following:
- Are my webpages listed in Google’s index? – enter site:www.yourwebsiteurl i.e. site:www.istech.ie and check that this lists at least some of your web-pages. If it doesn’t then you need to take action so contact your web design company or ask one for advice.
- Is your website shown in Google search results for your business areas? If you are a paving company in Portlaoise then you expect your website to be displayed when searching for paving+company+portloaise. Try some searches and establish if your website is showing on the Google results pages – if it’s not on the first 2-3 pages then you should consider taking action as outlined in the previous point.
Website Traffic Analysis
Do you review the number of visitors etc. to your website on a regular basis? This should probably be done a monthly basis as it will help you understand the current relevance of your website to its intended audience i.e. which are the most popular pages on your website and why?
There are a couple of good free traffic analysis packages available such as Google Analytics and Statcounter and your web design company will usually be to install one of them for a relatively modest fee.
Is Your Website Up To Date?
Does your website reflect your current product and service offerings? Photo Galleries and Testimonial webpages are popular with visitors looking for a service provider so make sure you keep them updated.
Does your website have a sitemap?
A sitemap is one page or sometimes a set of pages, which lists all, or most of the pages on a web site.
There are two types of sitemaps. One is used by visitors to a website to view a list of available webpages. The second is used by search engines, such as google, to compile information about a website such as number of webpages, frequency of change, priority etc.
It is important for websites to have a sitemap so if your website doesn’t have one then you should create one
Email Response
Do you review and respond to emails in a timely manner – this is a real bugbear with visitors so respond quickly to incoming emails. Potential customers won’t wait for a couple of days for you to respond – they’ll go somewhere else!
More to follow soon….
Thanks
Eoin Redmond
Web Design Kilkenny by Istech, Leading Website Developer and SEO Specialists
Kilkenny
Ireland
Tel: 00 353 86 154 1049
Web Design Kilkenny
SEO
Read handy knowledge about pay per click formula 2 guide – read hyperlinked web page.
In recent years we’ve seen a HUGE increase in the number of small businesses owned by women. This growth has been so dramatic that millions of people now think of a woman when they visualize who owns the businesses they buy from.
Women everywhere deserve a big pat on the back for this amazing accomplishment. But as is always the case for small business owners, there is still a lot of work to be done.
The one thing your small business MUST have is a web site. Sure, ten years ago having a site was an option many small businesses could do without. But that is no longer the case. Here’s why:
* These days consumers and business leaders are more likely to use search engines than the Yellow Pages. They’ll type the name of your town and your type of business into Google and start their research from there.
* A web site lets you put as MUCH information as you want in a public forum. You no longer have to pay thousands for a big newspaper ad just to let customers know about your prices, new services, or show photos of what you do. Now you can keep all that information available on your web site 24/7 at little or no cost.
* You know as well as I do that most customers are a little shy about asking questions. Often they don’t even want you to know they’re interested until AFTER they have learned more about your product, service, or idea. A web site allows that vast number of potential customers to privately and anonymously read all about your business. Then, when they’re ready to buy, they’ll come forward with their questions and orders. This is a MUCH more efficient way to do business, which leads to my next point.
* Web based business operations can be EXTREMELY EFFICIENT. Customers often prefer convenient email over phone or in-person visits. Email encourages customers to organize their ideas, contacting you when they know what they want and are ready to act. You’ll find your web site generates many more customers and the customers you get are better organized.
Women everywhere deserve a big pat on the back for this amazing accomplishment. But as is always the case for small business owners, there is still a lot of work to be done.
* Finally, women love to buy from women-owned businesses. Women, as a group, tend to be less compulsive shopper than men. While a large segment of men will buy an item on impulse, the vast majority of women prefer to learn about your product or service, getting all the details they can before placing an order. Web sites are perfect for presenting a lot of information at very little cost.
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Regardless of the type of business you conduct, there is a significant risk of being sued in our litigious society. Lawsuits can range from claims of negligence to defective products to disputes with employees. Incorporating is a means of guarding against these potential threats.
Single Incorporation – Protecting Your Personal Assets
Incorporating your business is a method for creating a legal wall between your personal assets and business. Any judgment against your business will not impact your personal assets. While your home, savings, stocks, etc., are protected, what happens to your business? If a judgment is rendered against your business, the business assets are as good as gone. This doesn’t have to be the case.
Double Incorporation Strategy – Protect Your Business Assets
Many businesses can benefit from pursuing a double incorporation strategy. The strategy is designed to address the situation where a business has significant assets that are exposed to litigation risk. If you incorporate your business, it is all well and good that your personal assets are not at risk. But what if your business has a number of high value assets such as manufacturing machinery, office equipment, popular domain name, custom software or other items? Merely incorporating your business will not protect these assets because they are owned by the business entity. Since a successful lawsuit would result in a judgment against the business entity, all assets of the business could be seized as part of the judgment. In short, you lose your machinery, office equipment, intellectual property or any other item of tangible value. The double incorporation strategy prevents this scenario.
As the name suggests, the double incorporation strategy involves the creation of two business entities. The first is your “at risk” business that interacts with your customers or clients. The second entity, a “holding corporation”, is then created to own the valuable assets of your business. This holding corporation then leases the relevant business assets to your “at risk” entity. If the “at risk” entity is sued, the holding company merely recovers its assets and the plaintiff is forced to settle for pennies on the dollar because the “at risk” entity has few assets. In essence, the plaintiff wins the battle, but loses the war.
Lawsuits can range from claims of negligence to defective products to disputes with employees. Incorporating is a means of guarding against these potential threats. The first is your “at risk” business that interacts with your customers or clients.
Most people know that a business entity can be used to create a protective shield for their personal assets. If your business has high value assets, now you can use this double incorporation strategy to protect those assets as well.
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I don’t know how many times I’ve flipped through the channels and heard Lou Dobbs talking about “Exporting America.” Now, I know Lou is discussing the political and economic context of American companies outsourcing their jobs overseas. However, this new one-dimensional definition of outsourcing has other implications to some of us in the States.
I am no expert on politics, economics or Lou Dobbs, so I’ll keep my opinions on those subjects to myself. However, what I would like to discuss is the negative connotation that the word “outsourcing” has taken on in this country.
There are thousands upon thousands of small businesses in this country whose sole survival depends on other companies outsourcing their needs. Just think about it for a moment. How many companies in the service industries only exist to support the needs of other businesses?
Imagine if every company had to act as a fully self-sufficient corporation. They must handle all of their own HR issues…no more employment agencies, payroll companies, etc. They must employ a full-fledged IT department to handle all of their own web design, networking, software and database designs. Each enterprise has to have enough administrative assistants, data entry specialists, desktop publishing experts, marketing gurus. The list is endless.
If American companies were to completely eliminate all forms of outsourcing, life as we know it would end!
Now, we all know that this is not what Lou or anybody else who has defined outsourcing as one of the most popular buzz words of the last few years is talking about. I understand that most people know that the business to business outsourcing within America is not a bad thing. Nonetheless, it seems strange to me that one word can take on such a life of its own. It’s really not a new phenomenon, yet it is the first time that I’ve encountered one of these controversial terms in my own ventures.
Let me say that as a business person in a field that is solely based on other businesses looking to my company to meet their needs, I find myself quite often searching for synonyms to outsourcing. Not that there’s anything wrong with it, but when I’m advertising, I’m forever brainstorming for words to replace that one that starts with o and ends with source! After all the talk that’s been spinning around Washington and the rest of the country, it seems that it’s turned into a dirty word.
I’ll keep my opinions on those subjects to myself. However, what I would like to discuss is the negative connotation that the word “outsourcing” has taken on in this country.
Obviously, most people understand that there are all types of outsourcing. On the other hand, when you’ve got limited time and space are you going to choose a “hot button” word to describe what you’re selling?
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