By Tarah Heupel | July 22, 2010

When it comes to Search Engine Optimization (SEO), many business owners don’t understand how it works or how to use it – so this week we brought in the big guns to help demystify the process.

The SEO Expert

Woessner, SEO Guru

We had the pleasure of bringing in renowned SEO expert (and one-time RSA intern) Stephen Woessner from the University of Wisconsin-LaCrosse to host public workshops and meet with our staff.

Stephen kicked off the week with a seminar for small business owners, sponsored by RSA and AAF Black Hills. More than 40 people turned out to learn Stephen’s 15 simple steps to SEO, and we’ve heard some great feedback from attendees who took home a step-by-step plan for optimizing their sites.

For those of you who missed out, you’re probably wondering what big secrets Stephen revealed. We can’t give you all the details, but Stephen’s book is a great resource for business owners who want to take a stab at doing it themselves. Want to try to do SEO yourself? Here’s what you should know. …Read more »

By Kyle McCabe | January 19, 2010

Blogging is a waste of time?

Seriously, why bother? Isn’t this kind of a waste of time? It’s not like blogs really matter – it’s just throwaway content, after all. What really matters is the website.

False.

Look, the web is about two things: content and search. Content because that’s what you’ve come for, and search because that’s how you find the content. Nothing else matters.

In light of this, a blog can be the most important tool you employ for two reasons: …Read more »

By Kyle McCabe | January 14, 2010

Whenever I sit down to go through ideas for blog posts, I inevitably think of a few that sound great, only to realize hey, we already wrote that one. A lot of the things we wrote about last year are still relevant even now – maybe more so.

Looking back through our logs, it’s no surprise to find some content was more popular than others. After all, we’re still experimenting to find the sort of thing you, our readers, find most useful.

To make sure you didn’t miss any of the good ones from last year, here’s a short list of our most viewed posts from 2009.

Why Good Customer Service Is So Important

5 Reasons Not to Cut Your Marketing Budget in a Recession

Elements of Internet Marketing

Going Nuts? Don’t Cut your Marketing

Should You Put Video On Your Website?

Understanding Web Design

14 Practical Uses For Social Media

–

Photo courtesy of kevinzim

By Kyle McCabe | July 21, 2009

This is your website (credit: machity)

An old, rickety car slowly pulled into the car dealership lot and parked. It belched black smoke as the clunky engine finally backfired and gave up. A man got out of the car and strolled into the office. The salesman met him there, asking if he could be of any assistance.

The conversation went something like this:

Salesman: “Hi, how are you doing? What can I help you with?”

Customer: “I need a new car.”

S: “Ah, I see! Well you’ve come to the right place. We have plenty of cars on the lot, and can order anything you might want that we don’t already have. Any idea what you’re looking for?”

C: “Yes, you see I am a salesman myself, and I spend a lot of time driving to see customers and prospects. But my car is rather old, and the engine barely works. In fact, I can only drive in first gear!”

S: “Wow! I bet that makes it hard to visit many customers in a day. Can I interest you in this brand new Complete Car? It’s well-rounded with a great engine, good looks, comfortable interior, and will certainly connect you with your customers.” …Read more »

By Kyle McCabe | July 2, 2009

So quick to cut? (original photo by klynslis)

Yes, okay, I’m biased. I work for an advertising and marketing agency. You might think, since the welfare of my company depends on the advertising budgets of our clients, I’d say whatever I needed to in order to convince people to advertise. Clearly an inherent conflict of interest, right?

But consider: as such an agency, we’re intimately familiar with the workings of many businesses across multiple industries, and in our role as business partners we share a common goal with each of our clients. Our job is to keep them healthy and growing with the skills and knowledge we bring to the table. So it wouldn’t make much sense to push more advertising if we knew it would hurt a client’s business. …Read more »

By Jillian Anderson | June 24, 2009

Though people have been finding ways to market on the Internet for years, its broad marketing potential is still pretty new.

In my experience, most small business owners aren’t yet familiar with what internet marketing is and how it differs from/relates to traditional marketing media. I hope to answer some fundamental questions, or at least paint a clearer picture with this post.

Since we are talking about the world wide web, there are many advertising and marketing possibilities.  But what’s best for your business?  Well, that depends on your desired outcome (and budget). I’ll highlight three of the most common ways to market on the internet.

In addition to a company’s website, search engine marketing, social media marketing, and banner ads have proven to be highly effective in generating both web and foot traffic.  All of these are useful marketing elements that enhance a company’s internet presence to promote offline business and online sales. …Read more »

By Jillian Anderson | April 28, 2009

Photo credit to spodzone

Social media campaigns should have a start and finish. BUT campaigns are only a piece of the social media marketing puzzle.

For several months, I’ve had an issue with people using the term “campaign” when talking about social media marketing. This bothers me because, overall, social media marketing needs to be looked at as ongoing process/strategy and it should not be thought of with a beginning and an end.

Last week, Tracey, Kyle and I attended a presentation by social media strategist Jason Baer.

His talk was lively, entertaining, to the point and right on – breaking down 7 ways to use social media: …Read more »