Are you a small local business? This Local SEO Guide is for you…

So you’re a small local business and now that more and more people are searching for products and services online you find yourself competing with the big and not so local businesses that have more influence and brand recognition together with a huge marketing budget… ouch, how can you compete with that?

Here’s how…  with your Local SEO Guide

There’s a little work to be done, but if you’re serious about seeing off your not so local competition… keep reading and start implementing today and you’ll soon see the results that you’re after.

A targeted and refined SEO strategy

Let me explain: The more obvious short-tail, general keyword phrases tend to have a high amount of competition, so instead focus on the less competitive keyword phrases and add to that the area that you’re targeting and it’s very likely that you’ll gain useful visibility in the organic search results for the products or services that you provide in your local area.
 

Be sure, also, to fill out your contact page with your local address and local telephone number and include local information on your about us page.
One in three Google searches now have local intent and with location based search phrases having low competition and a higher conversion rate it would be madness not to have a refined SEO strategy targeted to your local customers.
Check out keyword information here:
Help with finding the right keywords and keyword suggestion tools

Local search campaign

For all local businesses with an actual bricks and mortar location, local search is crucial to being found in your actual area.
 

 
When your potential customers perform a ‘local search’ you could easily see your business details at the top of Google. For example: searching for “hairdresser torquay” in Google returns the search results together with a map and the search queries with optimised local listings. (see below) These local listings appear at the top of the search results meaning that small and local businesses can now compete for the top postions in the search results without the need for a huge marketing budget.

 
Here’s what you need to do: create an optimised listing on local search engines, especially the big ones: Google Places and Yahoo Local Not only will you achieve a good presence for your business on the search engines but you’ll also increase your ranking for your specific location.

Check out this guide for more help: Google Places for your business

Another advantage of Local Search:

Local search is becoming ever more important with the increase of smart phone users. People now search for products and services on the move and as their buying intent is greater because they are often looking to make an immediate choice, converting these searchers into customers is far easier if you have an optimised local listing that is immediately visible.

Any potential customers searching for your product or service on their phone can, not only, discover you but also get directions and call you… all with a simple click.

Social Media to drive local business

Using social networks to find local businesses is on the increase as more and more people prefer using local businesses that offer information on social networks. If you’re not using these social media platforms then you’re missing out on huge opportunities that could attract more local customers.

Social Media platforms allow you to create a personality for your business which creates trust, which in turn has the potential to lead to more sales.
Encouraging your customers to “check-in” at your business via Facebook Places, Google Places or with the Foursquare app will lead to all their friends (on average 150 people per person) seeing this and becoming aware of you and there’s nothing like social proofing to encourage others to also visit you.

Don’t ignore social media; it has a massive potential to reach your local audience by increasing brand awareness through ‘likes’, ‘check-ins’, ‘+1s’, mentions and shares. It also has the added advantage of influencing your SEO through the backlinks that are naturally created through shares, these backlinks will lead to increased ranking results.

More help is here: Successful Social Media Networking

To conclude:

You don’t have to lose out to the big companies or spend huge amounts on marketing in order to gain local customers… simply keep your SEO targeted to your local area, create optimised local search engine listings and get active on social media. Do this and you’ll limit the competition and give your small business much better visibility in the search results with increased search engine ranking.

Time to start implementing and seeing those top results!

Was this local SEO guide useful? If so, please share it using the links below or the purple ‘tweetable’ by clicking on ‘tweet this’
If this article helped you, or you have feedback please leave a comment and I will be sure to answer it. Thank you.

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There are many SEO elements that need to be performed or optimised if you really want to beat your competitors, however not all SEO elements are equal and I’m going to let you in on the most essential on-page Google SEO tips that will give your site a head start in the Search Engine Ranking stakes.

Sure you may need a little help with some of the other SEO elements and if you really want to race to the top with SEO that works then give me a call: 01392770119 or 07773031266

Before you get started – Keyword Research

Yep, I know keyword research sounds like a lot of hard work, but it doesn’t have to be. Check out the free Google Keyword Tool to help you find the best keywords. Add the words that relate to your web page into the box and let Google tell you the best ones to use! Aim to use words that have low competition and a high number of searches because you don’t want to compete with all the big boys and you want the best chance of being found.

Finding and targeting the right keywords is crucial to the success of your SEO Campaign and here’s a great article if you need a little more help: How to find the right Keywords

3 Google SEO Tips for Top Ranking Results

Google SEO Tip 1: Add your Keyword to the Title Tag

Title Tags are one of the most important on-page SEO elements for targeting your keywords and achieving those sought after high search engine rankings.
You’ll find the title tag in the navigation bar right at the top of your browser window. The Title Tag of this post is: 3 Google SEO Tips for Top Ranking Results

My target keyword phrase is: Google SEO Tips

The contents of this tag will not only effect your website ranking but are also the first line people will see in the search results when searching for your product or service.

Title Tag Tips:

• For the title tag to be effective it is crucial that it contains the main keyword for that page. Remember to optimise every single page of your site with a unique and optimised title tag focused to the individual page
• Add your main keyword at the beginning as they are deemed more helpful leading to better ranking and also increased clicks from users.
• Include your brand name after your keyword in your home page title tag
• You will need to choose your words wisely as you’re limited to 70 characters
• Don’t only think about keywords and optimisation, but also give thought to user experience as creating a compelling title tag will lead to more visits from the search results

More information >> How to optimise the Title Tag

Google SEO Tip 2: Add the same Keyword to your H1 Tag

The H1 tag (Main heading) will help to influence your search engine ranking. The main heading tag should help visitors understand what your page is about. For maximum benefit, these H1 tags need to represent the page content and contain the main keyword for that page.
The H1 Tag should be found at the top of the page content. You’ll see in this post that I have used my Title Tag as my H1 Tag and then used H2 tags for each subsequent important section.

H1 Tag Tips:

• Use your most important keyword for the page within your H1 tag
• Matching your H1 Tag to your Title Tag will add more weight to the keyword included
• The H1 tag should be placed at the top of your content and help visitors easily understand what the content of the page is about
• Don’t overuse the H1 tag. Only one H1 tag in recommended on each page
• There are six levels of heading tags: H1, H2, H3, H4, H5, H6, with H1 being the most important. H2 is the next important tag which should be used for subheadings and include related keyword phrases.

Google SEO Tip 3: Optimise your Navigation

Optimised navigation is important for both your visitors and the search engines, after all you don’t want to confuse either! For the navigation to be properly optimised you will need to think about the exact terms that your potential customers will use in a search to find what you are offering. The navigation links anchor text should be the exact keyword term that you are targeting as Google is very precise about how anchor text is written. Your navigation should stand out and be easy to follow so that your visitors can easily find what they are looking for.

Website Navigation Tips:

• Use text links in the navigation so that search engines can read them. Image links, Flash or Javascript links are difficult for search engines to index.
• The page being linked to becomes more relevant for the search term featured in the link, so think carefully about the best keywords to use in your navigation and keep it all relevant.
• Ensure the homepage link is present on all your webpages
• Your navigation should stand out and be easily recognisable and information should be easy to find

Bonus Google SEO Tip: Keep your Content Relevant

Without quality content your website will not achieve good results in the search engines and will fail to attract the visitors you need. Content is the foundation of an optimised website. By delivering value your website will be liked by search engines and visitors alike.

Content Tips:

• Keep your content relevant and focused to your heading tag.
• Ensure any content is unique and give your visitors the information they want.
• Google likes fresh content so keep adding fresh content to your site or write a blog
• Easy to read and grammatically correct content is essential to keep your readers’s interest.

More information >> Tips to Creating Good Website Content

Once you’ve completed these Google SEO Tips, simply repeat for all of your pages and you’ll be on your way to top ranking results

Was this post useful? Then please share it using the links below. If this article helped you, or you have feedback please leave a comment and I will ensure I answer it. Thank you.

Hazel Jarrett

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Researching and selecting the best keywords is a critical element of effective search engine marketing; do it right and drive targeted traffic to your website.

If you still haven’t found the best keywords for your site check out this article – How to find the right Keywords and Keyword Tools

When you’ve found the right keywords that will work for your site… what are you going to do with them?

Keyword placement throughout the web page

There are many places that keywords need to appear in order to gain high search engine ranking and as a result drive targeted traffic your way. Check out my top 7 places below. Can you add any more to the list?

Where to add keywords for maximum impact

1. The Title Tag
   That area right at the top of your browser is where your page title tag shows up and it happens to help search engines understand what your page is about. This leads search engines to rank your site for the search term it finds here; therefore a carefully constructed Title Tag that includes the most relevant researched keyword phrase and also gives a good summary of the web page’s content is extremely important.
   Read more in this SEO article – How to optimise the Title Tag
2. Meta Description Tag
   This tag shows up in the search results and is the difference between a potential visitor clicking on your site or the competition. Yep, another important tag! Ensure then that you add a concise, focused and keyword rich description tag for each page of your site that will attract visitors to click on your website.
3. Alt Tag
   Images aren’t indexed by search engines, so whenever you add an image to your site be sure to give it a relevant file name and a keyword rich alt tag to enable search engines to understand the relevancy of the image.
   This is what the alt tag looks like: <img src=”URL” alt=”key phrase here”>
4. Links
   Including links on your page is good for your visitors and search engines as it drives them deeper into your site. In order to get the best from your links include a relevant keyword phrase in the anchor text of the link <a href=”URL”>my keyword phrase</a>
   Good and relevant links result in higher rankings and more traffic and are a critical component of most search engines’ page rank ‘weight’
5. URLs
   The Domain name and individual page names should include the most relevant keyword for that page, so yes you do need to think about your best keywords from your website’s conception!
6. Headlines – H1 Tags
   The main heading on your site should naturally include your best keyword and any sub headings should include secondary keywords that are related to your main keyword
7. Content
   Site content is the most important aspect of website marketing because it has an effect on both human and synthetic visitors. Fresh, focused and relevant content including your keyword phrases will have a positive effect on both human visitors and search engines.
   Read more in this SEO article – Tips to creating good website content

A few keywords of warning!

1. Keyword phrases need to be an exact match as search engine spiders and robots are not intuitive; they are programmed to look for exact matches
2. Don’t spam by adding your best keywords everywhere, if it doesn’t make sense to your human visitors don’t add it.
3. SEO is all about relevance, so ensure all your pages are focused to one subject.
4. Each page of your website should target a different keyword or keyword phrase as each page should be focused to a related but different subject.

The bottom line…

Effective SEO is all about keeping your website relevant, focused and natural. Search engines will index most areas of your website and by providing them with a highly focused website, targeted to your best keywords your site will stand the best chance of being found in the search engines and therefore the number of targeted visitors to your site will increase.

SEO resources:

How to find the right Keywords and Keyword Tools

3 Easy Steps to on-page SEO that works

7 Steps to Create an Effective Landing Page

Was this post useful? Then please share it using the links below. If this article helped you, or you have feedback please leave a comment and I will ensure I answer it. Thank you.

Hazel Jarrett

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8 seconds… and they’re gone!
If visitors to your website do not see what they are looking for within 8 seconds they will leave. Targeted landing pages focused to what your visitors are expecting is absolutely essential in order to keep your visitor’s attention.

Time is ticking… 7… 6… 5…

What is a landing page?
It’s a page within your website that visitors are directed to from an outside link. For example a Pay-Per-Click Advert should link directly to the page that is focused to that particular product or service in order to encourage the visitor to buy or take some form of action that will ultimately lead to a sale.

Still ticking… 4… 3… 2…

How do I create an effective landing page?

1. Don’t rely only on your home page
   Don’t insist on sending all your visitors to your homepage and expect them to navigate to what they are looking for. Point them straight to the relevant page with the information that they want and ensure this is focused information.
2. Make your headlines work
   A compelling headline is so important and plays a huge part in affecting the attention of your visitor and therefore your conversion rate.
3. Keep it relevant
   Repeat the visitor’s keyword in the headline or body text so that they see the same or a similar term immediately; this will make them want to read what you have to say.
4. Give them what they want
   Visitors won’t linger for long, so give them what they want rather than lots of irrelevant stuff. Any copy must remain interesting and relevant. Visitors only want enough information in order to make a decision on the service or product.
5. State a clear action path and keep it simple
   A high conversion rate requires a straightforward call to action. Avoid lots of distractions as your visitors will get lost.
6. A compelling call to action is essential
   Make it irresistible and match what your visitor is expecting. Offer a related bonus or deal or useful information. Make any hyperlinks compelling and include multiple calls to action if necessary.
7. Test and measure
   This is vital in order to know what works. Measure the conversion rate and then change one thing (the headline for example) then test and measure. When this is performing at its best, move onto the next thing, for example the call to action, and continue in this way until the site becomes the best it can be and therefore increases the conversion rate to much higher levels.

Time’s nearly up… 1…

Ker-ching!

You don’t have to be a mathematical genius to see how the formula works.

Simplicity + irresistible copy + a clear call to action =

Higher conversion rates, increased ker-chings, and more TIME for you to surf for that ideal holiday and drink cocktails while your website does all the work!

Do you have any more tips to create an effective landing page? Please feel free to comment in the comment box below.

And if you enjoyed the post, please share it… thank you.

Here’s a few more related posts that you might like:

6 Tips to Creating Good Content

How to find the right Keywords

How to optimise the Title Tag – 10 Tips

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Hey, you’re writing a blog? Congratulations!

It’s full of useful information? Great, your visitors are going to love it… so where are your visitors?

Aww, I know that feeling – you research your topic, you get your creative juices flowing, you re-read, you tweak, you fret a little, research a bit more and then tweak some more until you really feel that it’s a pretty darn good blog post… wahey! And then you post it and wait… and wait… and wait. Nothing happens.

So how do you get your blog ranked by those hard-to-please search engines and gain targeted visitors and an interested audience?

5 Tips to Create SEO friendly Blogs

1. Optimise the Title 
   The title of your post is one of the first things that search engines see and those first words in your title are considered to be the most important so don’t neglect this point. It is unlikely, however, that you will gain strong ranking for more than one keyword due to the fact that using various keywords will dilute the relevancy of all of them. To find the best title for your post, consider what words people might enter into a search engine in order to find the type of information that you are offering.
   Tip: focus on one keyword and make sure it’s at the beginning of your title.

2. Create good Content
   The quality of your content is the most critical element of search engine optimisation for your blog. Writing for your human audience and providing valuable, relevant and interesting information will lead to visitors sharing your content and passing on the link to your post which in turn will help your search engine ranking.
   Keeping your content relevant, unique and fresh also has the advantage of maximising its SEO effectiveness as Google thrives on new and focused content.
   Tip: post regularly and keep blogs focused and relevant to your title.
   
3. Find and use the best Keywords
   Use the best and most relevant keywords throughout your post and ensure the post remains focused to your title. In order to gain good search engine ranking for your post use your targeted keywords in sub headings and content and also image alt tags.
   Tip: Use your keywords throughout your post but remember to keep it natural
   
4. Relevant Links
   Search engines assume blog posts with links carry more authority than those without links. The linked word also matters; your keyword needs to be included in the link for maximum impact.
   External links offer the most value in terms of SEO, especially from sites that search engines already consider to be an authority on the subject
   Tip: include keyword rich anchor text links within your post as search engines assume the keyword used in the link is more important and therefore relevant, however be careful not to overdo it.
   
5. Appropiate Tags
   Add tags that reflect the topic of your blog in order to help both humans and search engines find what they are looking for. Google indexes these tags and will use them to prioritize your site in its search ranking for those terms.
   Tip: Don’t overdo the number of tags and ensure the tags are related to your content. Between five and ten appropriate tags are recommended.

The bottom line…

Blogs should not be used to try and manipulate the search engines. Blogs naturally fulfil certain criteria that search engines look for in order to rank pages high, so creating a well written and focused blog will naturally give search engines exactly what they want to provide for their users – good, focused and up to date information on the subject that they are searching for.

The key to creating successful SEO friendly blogs is to write genuine and helpful posts combined with a good dose of relevancy together with a good but natural sprinkling of your best keywords.

Was this post useful? Then please share it using the links below. If this article helped you, or you have feedback please leave a comment and I will ensure I answer it. Thank you.

Happy successful blogging!

Hazel Jarrett

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Title Tags are the single most important on-page SEO element and will have a huge impact on your website’s search engine ranking when used in conjunction with your website content, so optimising them is essential.

What is a Title Tag

A title tag defines the title of an online document and appears in the top of the browser, the search results page and external websites as the anchor text.

Title Tag Code Sample

<head>
<title>Example Title</title>
</head>

Optimal Title Tag Format

Primary keyword – Secondary keyword | Brand Name

SEO Best Practice

Title Tags, much like book titles, need to be accurate and concisely describe the content of your web page.
Don’t underestimate the power of your title tags as this SEO element creates value and is critical to both user experience and search engine optimisation.

1. Relevant Title Tags
   All the pages within a website should have a specific purpose and the title tag needs to reflect this. Relevant title tags will not only help the page rank well in the search engines but it will also increase the number of visitors to the site. When searches are performed the search engine will highlight the keywords used that also appear in the site’s listing, resulting in the user seeing that a site is relevant to their search query and increasing the chance that they will click through to the site.
2. Unique Title Tags
   As every page of your site is unique and offers different but specific content your page titles also need to reflect this and therefore be unique. Using the same keyword phrase for all the pages is not good practice . Site visitors and search engines need to know about the content of the page they are landing on not the keyword phrase for the site.
3. Interesting and Convincing Titles
   For maximum results the title tag should use convincing words. Title tags show up on a search engine results page and therefore need to be compelling in order to make anyone searching for your product or service want to click on your site instead of one of your competitors’ sites.
4. Optimum Title Tag Length
   Google displays up to 70 characters in their search results page so take advantage of this by including the most relevant keywords for that page.
5. Keywords First
   It is far better to place your best keyword at the beginning of the title tag as this is the prime place for searchers scanning results pages. The first words are also considered to be of more importance to search engines. Be sure to research and find the right keywords.
6. Keyword Stuffed Title Tags
   Don’t load title tags with lots of keywords. Including too many keywords in the title tag will dilute the relevancy of the entire title tag and the site is also at risk of being penalised by the search engines, as they will view this as spam.
7. Brand your Title Tag
   Including your brand in the title tag will help to increase return visits, however be sure to also incorporate the most valuable keyword phrase for that page.
8. Stop Words in Title Tags
   Stop words are common words, like a, an, the, etc. These words do not increase a keyword phrases value and should be avoided as it can prohibit the site from achieving high ranking.
9. Local Businesses for Local Searches
   Local based business should target a specific geographic area and include a suburb or city name in the page title as this will help the website appear when people search locally and there will be the added advantage of having far less competition.
10. Sharing a Page Link
    When a web page is added to favourites or a page link is shared via social media applications the title tag is used as the link so it makes sense to have the most relevant title tag possible.

Bottom line…

Search engines use the titles of your web page to determine the content on the page and this has a huge impact on how well the site is ranked.
People use the titles to decide whether or not to read the content of your web page or blog. This can result in a possible interested customer or a lost prospect.

Title tags matter so optimising them is essential. Be sure to research the best keywords for each page of your website and optimse each page accordingly for the best results.

If you have any title tag tips, comment away in the box below. And don’t forget to share this post… thank you.

Hazel Jarrett.

More SEO information

For more SEO Information please take a look at my SEO blogs which are packed with useful optimisation tips to help anyone gain higher search engine ranking for their website.

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If you want the best results from your social media and SEO efforts it’s time to get some focus.

Focus on your goals, focus on quality and focus on relevance.

I want to share a few tips with you to help you stay focused and achieve the most from SEO and social media

If you have any additional points to share or something that has worked for your business, I’d love to hear from you, so please tell me in the comment box below or simply tweet this and add your success tip.

Tips to Successful Social Media and SEO

1. Goals…
   What do you want to achieve from your social media and SEO efforts? Do you want to increase your online presence, and build and strengthen your brand? Do you want to engage with your target audience? Do you want to drive more traffic to your website or blog?
   The first step to successful social media and SEO is to establish your goals and use this as your focus. Your goals must be achievable, so be realistic as this will give you direction and be your motivation.
2. Quality…
   Quality matters; create high quality content on your website and ensure text on all the pages remains interesting and focused. Your visitors don’t want to and won’t read through reams of poor quality information.
   Writing a blog can also be a great tool to market your business; providing high quality and interesting content on a regular basis will increase your online visibility and give more focus to your business.
   Think about quality throughout your social media; sharing links and quality information will enhance your social media profile and lead to you being recognised as knowledgeable within your field.
3. Relevance…
   From relevant information, keywords and meta tags to relevant tweets and social connections, focusing on relevance enhances the optimisation and will improve the chances that your website will be found and ranked highly for your targeted keywords. Staying relevant will also bring more exposure and traffic from interested connections.
   In social media providing value to your clients by posting relevant content will help them and also lead to possible retweets and links back to you, further enhancing your optimisation efforts.

Happy focusing!!

I’d love to hear what you think so please feel fee to comment below.

Hazel Jarrett

Related Posts:

6 Tips for Social Media Networking

Facebook for Business

Twitter for business

3 Easy Steps to on-page SEO that works

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Last night I was determined to make it to the gym first thing this morning. However, I overslept and then due to a massive lack of time (yes, I overslept by quite a bit!) I had to decide between writing my blog or exercising.

Hmm, tough choice… on one hand I could spend over an hour sweating from every single pore and working my muscles until they ached so badly that they would be useless for the rest of the day or I could sit down with a coffee and wait for my creative juices to flow. So here I am writing!

Why do you Exercise?

For all of you out there, like me, that don’t exercise for enjoyment but for the results that it will hopefully bring, do you get as frustrated as I do when those results seem to take forever?

SEO and Exercise

Well, it got me thinking that exercise is a lot like SEO!! Take a look below and let me know if you can think of any more similarities!

One off SEO is of little benefit.

Exercise: How I wish exercise could be done just once in order to achieve those sought after results. Toned and fit after one gym session… if only! I guess we all know that’s not going to happen though don’t we?!

SEO: In the same way, one off  SEO will achieve very little and won’t give you the top results that you need for your website.

Short term SEO has short term effects

Exercise: A short term exercise programme will boost your fitness levels and begin to tone your wobbly bits, however, these effects will soon disappear when the exercise programme stops. Fitness levels will decrease and those pesky wobbly bits will begin to wobble more unless exercise is continued.

SEO:  If SEO is done for a short time only, this too will have short term effects. You might begin to see your website rank well in the search engines for your chosen keywords leading to more visitors and you should also see your site’s bounce rate decrease but when you stop the SEO your site’s search engine ranking will soon decrease while your bounce rate increases again.

SEO isn’t about just one thing

Exercise: In order to tone up your entire body different muscles need to be worked in various ways meaning that different exercises need to be done, after all if you want toned arms it would be silly to spend all your time on the treadmill! And it’s not even all about the gym and exercise, in order to enhance your body further your diet must play an important role too.

SEO: In the same way, there are many different SEO factors that need consideration in order to achieve the best all round results for your website. It’s not enough to just optimise the code, focused content and good inbound links are also essential. And it’s not all just about SEO, social media networking is also an important aspect in obtaining optimum results for your website.

Conclusion

So there you go… SEO is just like exercise!!

If you want the top search engine results for your website, together with targeted visitors and maximum exposure for your brand then you will need to put ongoing effort into your SEO. If you need help, with the SEO give me a call or drop me a line and I can either give you great advice to help you do it yourself or I can optimise your site for you. Your ideal body however… that’s all down to you!!

If you liked this post please share it. And if you can think of any more similarities I’d love to hear them.

Here’s some related posts that may be of interest:

3 Easy Steps to on-page SEO that works

6 Tips to Creating Good Content

How to find the right Keywords

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If you’re planning a new website for your business then this post is for you. Avoiding these common website design mistakes will greatly help your site to achieve popularity with your intended audience and therefore gain a better conversion rate.

1. Don’t sell to everyone
   Selling to everyone will have a negative impact on your relevancy and position. It is essential to know your target market and sell niche products or services specifically to them. This will ensure focused information, higher ranking, less competition and a higher conversion rate.
2. Don’t hide your message
   It may seem obvious, but do not hide your message. Home page design should be your advert – state your message clearly and also state what you want your visitors to do.
3. Avoid huge unnecessary graphics
   Images need to be optimised to be as small as possible. Large graphic files will cause the site to load slowly, which is frustrating to visitors who will not wait around but simply hit the next search result.
4. No obvious contact or sign up details
   If visitors can’t easily find your contact details, they will leave the site. Ensure your navigation includes a link to your ‘contact us’ page and include different forms of contact.
5. Visitor counters are tacky
   Arriving at a website and seeing that you are visitor no. ### is not an impressive feature. It will make the website look cheap and show visitors that it was designed by a beginner.
6. Don’t ask visitors to download software just to view your site
   Visitors hate having to download anything just to see a site and therefore won’t bother, but simply click on the next site. So unless it is absolutely essential for virtual tours or music stores etc don’t do it.
7. Don’t add sound that can’t be turned off
   Don’t let any sound or music start when the page loads. Visitors can find sound infuriating. Ensure any sound can be disabled by offering a button to disable the sound function. Think of those visitors that surf the web at work!
8. Avoid lots of adverts and pop-ups
   Adverts and pop-ups can be distracting. If visitors are researching information concerning your company, too many ads or pop-ups can detract from this.
9. Don’t hide text within a graphic
   Search engines do not index graphics and Flash, they only index text which is essential to your site’s search engine ranking and also to selling your product or service.
10. Just because you can doesn’t mean you should
    For all those web geeks out there – new or just discovered technology isn’t always suitable for a business website. New technology should only be used on a business website if it improves the visitors experience or sells more products.

Can you think of any more website mistakes? Have you made any mistakes or do you have any website gripes? Let me know in the comment box below.

If you liked the post please share it. Thank you

Hazel Jarrett

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So you’re here, you’re already participating in the world of social media and you’ve read the ‘how to’ articles, the ‘be successful at social media’ blogs and followed the ‘social media information’ tweets.

With so many different social media platforms out there all with different requirements and aimed at different targets, knowing the right way to proceed takes time, practice, patience and no doubt a few mistakes along the way!

Top Ten Social Media Mistakes

1. Less Is More
   Creating profiles everywhere is not the way to go and will not lead to greater popularity and brand awareness. It’s important to find out where your users are and connect with them there; this will help you stay focused and prevent social media overload.
2. Don’t Confuse Numbers With Success
   Easily done in this very competitive world. Successful social media is not about numbers it’s about relationships. Building social connections that are relevant to you and your business will have a far greater impact on your social media networking efforts.
3. Where Are You?
   Don’t hide; promote your social media profiles by including links on your site, your blog your emails, your business cards… everywhere! Tell people where you are and how they can connect with you.
   I’m Here!!
   Twitter
   Facebook
   SEO Blog
   LinkedIn
4. Don’t Mix Business With Pleasure
   Keep business and personal profiles separate. Your business contacts will not take you and your brand seriously if you’re posting photos from drunken nights out and ranting about your ex. Your business profiles need to be focused to your goals so be sure to send the right message.
5. Constant Selling and Self-Promotion Won’t Cut It
   No one will listen and you risk damaging your brand if you constantly promote yourself or your brand. Connect with people and build relationships and only offer your product, service or advice when it makes sense to do so.
6. Results Take Time
   Don’t expect instant results; social media networking is a slow process… relationships cannot be built in a day… or even a week. You have to be actively social on the social media platforms and build relationships with your followers before you are likely to see results.
7. Don’t Be Fake
   Keep it real, authentic and genuine; be yourself, connect with other users and keep content relevant and helpful.
8. Value Matters
   Continuous tweets and updates with no added value will only lead to a loss of followers. Just like in the real world people won’t want to be friends and follow you if you’re dull and repetitive and offer nothing of value, so be interesting and be fun, meet new people and share interesting information
9. Don’t Steal
   Always give credit where credit is due. Plagiarism is common in the social media world and is obviously disapproved of. Being original and unique will have a positive effect on your social media efforts.
10. Don’t Only Do Things That Can Be Measured
    Although, it’s important to know how social media is helping your business and effecting your brand awareness, social media marketing cannot always be measured and will not always effect your bottom line. Social media is about connecting with your followers, providing good customer service and engaging with fans in order to create trust in your brand.

With so many social media ‘experts’ out there with their own set of rules it is easy to get bogged down in the rules of social media. You need to find out what works in your particular industry by following successful people in your niche and see what works for them. Take a look at how they interact with their followers and fans, check out their blog if they have one, and read their profiles. Above all remember to keep social media social; build relationships and interact with your followers, be helpful and share useful information, be interesting and have fun.

Have you made any social media mistakes or do you have any social media gripes? I’d love to hear them!

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Hazel Jarrett

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