Q&A: How do you get your website to appear on the first page, at the top, of a Google search?

Q&A: How do you get your website to appear on the first page, at the top, of a Google search?

Question:
How do you get your website to appear on the first page, at the top, of a Google search?

Answer:
Short answer, you don't. Most people when they think of searching will type in something very broad and very generic like "karate" or "training" or even a little more precise like "self defense" and see millions of results. Trying to tackle that amount of competition for the top spot is really a losing battle, unless you have very deep pockets. A better approach, and one that has a better chance of being successful for you is to focus your attention on specific search phrases.

For example, many of my martial arts clients are in the Western New York area. They aren't looking for someone in London England to hit their site, but for someone in the WNY area. So, a smart searcher will type in something like "Buffalo martial arts" (which results in 3 of my clients, and 5 of my sites on the 1st page) or "wny martial arts" (4 sites, 1 client on page 1), or "wny karate" (3 sites 1st page). Typing in something like "modern arnis seminar training" has 2 of my clients on the 1st page. Another example is "natural resource consulting" which has 1 of my clients on the 1st page of results.

It's important to think in terms of search phrases when you optimize your site, and focus on those. A combination of proper key words, solid descriptions, and appropriate text will greatly enhance your chances for high placement. Also, be certain all of your images are captioned using ALT tags. Those are an often overlooked place for extra optimization.

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Bob Hubbard, is the CEO of SilverStar WebDesigns Inc. and an Administrator at MartialTalk.com and KenpoTalk.com. He can be reached through those sites.

Q&A: How do you get people to volunteer work for your money-making on-line business without complaint and with consistent, quality performance?

Q&A: How do you get people to volunteer work for your money-making on-line business without complaint and with consistent, quality performance?


Question:
How do you get people to volunteer work for your money-making on-line business without complaint and with consistent, quality performance?

Answer:
My experience has shown that when people care about something, they will often put in the time to make it a success. Convention presenters have known this for years, and are often run by volunteer staffs in the hundreds, all working towards a common goal of a successful and entertaining event. Many of the same reasons apply when looking for staff for online communities. Treat your people right, stand behind them, give them guidance so that they know what is expected of them, and train them in how to do their job well. Don't treat them like slaves, or free help. Let them know when they are doing well, and show the your gratitude. A little appreciation shown can go a long way towards keeping god people happy. All of that however is useless, unless you have a purpose for which they will put in the time and effort. Make your enterprise one that people can feel a part of, that they can feel ownership of, and a part of, and you will find good people willing to help you build your dreams, together.

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Bob Hubbard, is the CEO of SilverStar WebDesigns Inc. and an Administrator at MartialTalk.com and KenpoTalk.com. He can be reached through those sites.

Q&A: How fancy and how big should your opening page be?

Q&A: How fancy and how big should your opening page be?


Question:
How fancy and how big should your opening page be?

Answer:
There are several different views on this. Some will recommend long and wordy, others hort an terse, others flashy, others simple. My suggestion is to tailor the page toward your goals for the site.

I recomend using a couple of graphics, 2-3 paragraphs of good descriptive text, loaded with strong keywords for the search engines to latch onto. This gives you a good starting point. You can add more paragraphs, but be mindful of how many graphics you place. Each one adds to the overall size of your main page, and slows down it's loading, especially for dialup users. A slow page detracts from the user experience.

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Bob Hubbard, is the CEO of SilverStar WebDesigns Inc. and an Administrator at MartialTalk.com and KenpoTalk.com. He can be reached through those sites.

3 Basic Features Every Web Site Should Have By Bob Hubbard

3 Basic Features Every Web Site Should Have
By Bob Hubbard

Look around the Internet, look at 100 different websites, and you’ll find 100 different mixes of features. No two sites are exactly alike. Nor should they be, for each site has a unique purpose. But there are some features that every site should have. In this article, I will introduce you to XX of them.

#1 Every site should have a copyright statement.
While US Law states that a work is copyrighted at creation, there are a significant number of people online today who are sadly ignorant of the law, and who believe if it isn’t marked, it’s free to use as they wish. By including a well formatted copyright statement, you will stop some people, and have better chances should you ever need to go the legal route.

At the minimum, use something like this : “Copyright © YEAR – NAME - All Rights Reserved.” Where YEAR is the current year, and NAME is your name, or the name of your organization.

#2 Make sure there is a complete address, and phone number.
Too often I’ll run into a site that assumes that the visitor knows where they are. They list a street address, but no city, or no state. They say things like “We’re located in the Widget Mall”, yet Google shows 15 different “Widget Malls” around the world. They list a phone number, but no area code, forcing you to guess, or do more research and hope for the best. Use a complete address and phone number to maximize contact.

#3 Check all your pages for a working TITLE Tag.
Ever been to “Unknown”? It’s a common website. Estimates are that anywhere from a third to half the web page out there re using the default title tag. Make sure yours identifies your site, and gives a little bit of a description on what’s on that page. Don’t just say “About Bob”. Bob who? Where am I? Why should I care about Bob? “About Bob Hubbard, Owner of SilverStar WebDesigns Inc., a web site design and hosting company specializing in affordable solutions for martial artists.” Is a much better title tag.

There are a lot more features that a web site should have, but to me these are 3 of the most important ones. Of course, proper proof reading of all of your site’s content and testing of email addresses and links, while not specifically features, are also crucial.

Use these tips, and you’ll see a better return on your web site investment.


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Bob Hubbard is an administrator of the popular martial arts portal site MartialTalk.com and president of SilverStar WebDesigns inc., a web site design and hosting company specializing in affordable solutions for martial artists. Bob can be reached at webmaster@martialtalk.com
Article Copyright © 2009 - Bob Hubbard - All Rights Reserved. This article may be reproduced provided all text, the author bio and these terms are kept intact.

Tip Of The Week : Your Website Doesn't Close The Sale, You Do!

Your Website Doesn't Close The Sale, You Do!

People send hundreds of thousands of dollars on fancy, feature rich, deep content websites, then wonder why they are poor. The truth is, while a website can do a lot of things, it can't close the sale.

People still prefer to deal with other people, and a website is no substitute for the human touch. Prompt follow up and follow through by live people still is what makes a business a success.

Use your website as one of the tools in your sales kit, but make sure you add the human touch. Prompt reply, good service, and great communications are what's needed to succeed today.

- Bob

Tip Of The Week : Follow Up and Close More Sales!

Poor Follow Up Leads to Poor You!

If you want to shock your prospects, follow up with them the same day, or better yet within an hour of receiving their inquiry! Doing so will put a very good impresion in place with them. When you do this, you'll often hear them proclaim you're the first to reply, and they'll be impressed.

Doing this can help you close 30-50% more sales than your competition who puts things off for days or weeks.

- Bob

Tip Of The Week : Leave it to the Experts

Leave it to the Experts

I often hear from prospects and clients that they are considering doing it themselves, or handing it over to a student or junior family member. 'IT" is a lot of things. Design of their site, upkeep, marketing, etc.

The problem with this is, while it might be short-term cheaper, it can cost you more over the long haul.

For example, if the septic system in your back yard caves in, you could call your buddies, shore it up with plywood and cover it in dirt. Eventually however, you'll end up knee deep in, well, you know. For something serious like this you call the professionals.

Why would you trust the marketing of your business with someone who is just learning? Unless you have the experience and training, you should leave your website design and marketing to the experts. They can guide you around the pitfalls and traps, and free up your time to do what you are good at, which is the business.

Take off a few hats, and leave it to the experts.

- Bob

Staying On Top of your Website for a Successful Site.

Staying On Top of your Website for a Successful Site.
By Bob Hubbard

Business websites can be both complex and simple. Managing one, is both easy and hard, depending on what you are doing with it.

A simple, flyer site requires little regular upkeep. Pop in every couple of months, make sure everything is up to date, and forget about it until next time. But treating your website like it's merely a big phone book ad, ignores the great potential and benefits it can provide your business. The ability to change it on the fly, to update it at will, offers you a great deal more potential and greater rewards than a "update once a year" solution like the phone book.

When I talk to my clients about keeping their websites updated, I often suggest they keep a running "to do" list on their computer, and add things to it as they think of them. This is sent to me monthly for me to schedule and perform. Other times, I recommend they simply email me their changes, and I'll queue them up for once a week or once a month to maximize my efficiency and minimize their costs.

You need to take time to look at your competitions web sites. After all, you check out their locations, their offerings, their phone book ads and other advertising. Be sure to look at what they are doing on the Internet as well. Take careful note of when they were last updated, what features they have, and how easy or hard it is to navigate through their site.

Schedule time each month, or week, to look at your own site. If you list contact information, is it current? Hours of Operation? Are they accurate? Do you list specials or events or other time-sensitive information? Be sure to update that as well. How many times do you come across a site that is listing things from years ago as happening in the future? Does that give you confidence that they are on the ball in other areas of their business?

To do this, you need a reliable web master to help keep you running at peak performance. All the plans, organization or ideas are useless if they never get to your website. Webmasters aren't created equally.There are good and there are bad ones.

If you can never get in touch with them, if updates are always days or weeks late, never done, or regularly done wrong, you need to find a new webmaster.

A good webmaster will keep you posted on your sites update status, inform you of when updates are performed, notify you of any delays, as well as offer suggestions to improve the site and it's performance.

To ensure you are getting the best, you have to check your site. If you send in your updates on Monday, and the following Monday you have heard nothing and nothing has been done to the site, you may want to pick up the phone and call them. Reviewing the timelyess and qualty of your webmaster is vital. Provide them feedback so that they can help you better. Be clear in indicating when you need work done, if anything is a rush job, if certain things should be emphasized or changed. Clarity of communications is vital in having a successful working relationship with your web expert.

Regularly checking other sites an your own, working with your web master, and being clear on what you expect and when you expect it done is vital to success online today.

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Bob Hubbard is an administrator of the popular martial arts portal site MartialTalk.com and president of SilverStar WebDesigns inc., a web site design and hosting company specializing in affordable solutions for martial artists. Bob can be reached at webmaster@martialtalk.com
Article Copyright © 2008 - Bob Hubbard - All Rights Reserved.
This article may be reproduced provided all text, the author bio and these terms are kept intact.

Tip Of The Week : Don't Ask For Email if You're Not Going To Answer It!

Don't Ask For Email if You're Not Going To Answer It!

Has this ever happened to you? You visit a website, you click the "Contact Me" link and send in your inquiry, only to never get a reply? Have you ever then after a few days or weeks called them and gotten the "Oh I never check that" remark?

How'd that make you feel? Like maybe they didn't care? Or that they weren't really professional?

Why would you purposefully ignore contact from someone who is interested in putting cash into your pocket?

If you aren't going to read it, stop asking for it. All you do is hurt your business.
Take your email address off, and put up a phone number and ask them to call you instead. Don't ask for it and leave them in limbo wondering what's going on.

--Bob

Benefits of Computers For The Martial Arts Industry - Part 1 of 3 By Bob Hubbard

Benefits of Computers For The Martial Arts Industry - Part 1 of 3
By Bob Hubbard

Today in the opening years of the 21st century, computers are everywhere. They are in our cars, our stores, our phones and our home appliances. To exist in the business world of the 21st century, we need to understand the benefits that their use can provide our businesses. There are two main benefits to using computers today.


Benefit #1: They can help organize the chaos of modern life.

You’ve seen them. The walls full of sticky notes, the piles of paperwork on the desk, stacks of business cards, half done “todo” lists, and other assorted cluttered time stealers.

Proper use of a computer can organize this chaos and save you hours of time each week.

• Contacts can be organized into an easily searchable list; thereby avoiding stacks of easily lost or misfiled index or business cards.
• “ToDo” lists can be sorted, redone, reorganized, and worked from, all in seconds, compared to standard paper based systems.
• Scheduled appointments can be setup to automatically remind you about them, saving you from having to remember to check the paper planner in your drawer or on your wall that’s half hidden by sticky notes.
• Financial information can be quickly, securely and easily accessed, updated and maintained avoiding keeping track of paper registers and old fashioned accounting ledgers.
• Student information can be easily tracked, including contact information, special needs, attendance history, payment records, and promotions.
• Personal and Business expenses can be tracked allowing a more efficient means of financial planning.
• And many more.

Benefit #2: The can save you both time and money.

How many times have you thrown out old business cards, flyers, brochures or other paperwork? How much time do you spend doing paperwork each day rather than teaching or training? Have you ever needed 1 more flyer, or ran short of business cards during an event at your school? How much time do you spend tracking down paperwork needed each day or filing the days paperwork? Properly used, computers can save you time, and we all know time is money.

• Student attendance can be tracked quickly on a computer, replacing or improving the efficiency of old paper based systems of index cards, time cards, or similar.
• Student payments can be quickly checked, letting you know before class who hasn’t paid that month, thereby improving your payment speed.
• Rather than spend a lot of money on flyers at a print shop, you can print smaller quantities of flyers as needed, saving you money and helping the environment by cutting back on paper waste.
• You can quickly print out a few business cards as needed, even have several different ones using affordable off the shelf card stock that works in almost every printer.
• Using certain tools that either come with a computer or can be affordably added, you can plan out your day, week, month, and even year, increasing the efficiency of your use of time.

Computers are a valuable tool today, in both our personal and professional lives. To use them correctly and efficiently however, requires that we know how to use them correctly. In today’s ever changing world, that means we must regularly improve our knowledge and skills, just as we seek to keep our skills on the mat top notch.

In order to get the most from your computer, there are a few basic skills you must have, and several advanced ones that will be of great benefit. Both you as a school owner, and one or more of your staff should have these basic skills.

Join us next week for part 2, understanding your computer.

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Bob Hubbard is an administrator of the popular martial arts portal site MartialTalk.com and president of SilverStar WebDesigns inc., a web site design and hosting company specializing in affordable solutions for martial artists. Bob can be reached at webmaster@martialtalk.com
Article Copyright © 2008 - Bob Hubbard - All Rights Reserved. No Reproduction Without Written Permission of Author.

Q&A: How do I advertise my school or organization on MartialTalk and it's related sites?

Question:
How do I advertise my school or organization on MartialTalk and it's related sites?

Answer:
Advertising on MartialTalk is handled through SilverStar WebDesigns Inc.

A list of advertising options, ad specifications, and more is available at http://www.silverstarsites.net/scn/

The Dangers of the Staff Only Forum

Forum Building 101 - The Dangers of the Staff Only Forum

- Bob Hubbard

When setting up your forums, it is often recommended that you also setup a section that only your staff can access. The reasons for this are many. A staff-only area allows your staff to discuss important policy issues, problem users, and the board itself in private, without worry that the average member will stumble across something they shouldn’t.

The challenges with having a private staff area lie in your staff gradually “moving in” and reducing or outright stopping their public forum participation. Administrators must pay careful attention that they also do not fall into the “manage from the back” trap.

To protect against this danger, active administrators must pay careful attention to who is active in their staff forums. Spot check them to be certain they haven’t moved in full time. As most of us hire our staffs based on their prior performance in the areas they now moderate, we want to keep them active there, where their contributions can build content and draw in new members. Posts made in private may help guide things, but rarely translate into new content or new members.

Administrators in particular need to pay attention to their own posting patterns. A successful admin will guide and steer their board while avoiding the dictator role. This requires professional interaction with your board staff. It is up to you to set the tone and the pace. If they see you “hiding” in the back, they will often emulate you and also hide back. This runs the major risk of the board having previously active sections wither and die as the heavy posters had all been hired and resorted to lurking in the back. Lead by example. Additionally, when you as an admin aren’t publicly visible, you run the risk of being seen as the despot in the tower, only appearing to punish rule breakers. You run the risk of being seen as out of touch or worse by your members.

Encourage your staff to continue their past activity in their sections, and be certain to visit them regularly by posting yourself. Each post that staff makes in public both reminds the members that you are there, but also serves to further the conversation, build content and entice lurkers to register and post.

This also helps keep your staff as active members, and can serve to prevent the feeling that they are a special “elitist” group which happens from time to time on forums.

Remember:

- Encourage staff to remain active in public
- Check staff activity regularly
- Lead by example and be an active public poster.

I hope this has been of some help and welcome questions.

Thank you.

Bob

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Copyright ©2005 Bob Hubbard - All Rights Reserved

Bob Hubbard operates several forums online. A former Commodore 64 BBS sysop from the ‘80’s, he now operates MartialTalk.com, a leading martial arts forum, KenpoTalk.com, an community for the kenpo karate community, and The Dead Parrot Tavern , a community for sci-fi, anime and more. He is also technical admin at FMATalk.com, a forum for the Fillipino martial arts community. Copies of this article are free to distribute, provided all text is retained intact. It and other articles can be found at rustaz.net.

Q&A: How do I get my new website listed on the search engines?

Question: How do I get my new website listed on the search engines?

Couple ways:

1- Pay someone (sometimes worth it, sometimes a waste of money. If they mention 'thousands of search engines' they are full of crap.)

2- Find the free "add links" for each list/directory/search engine you want to try for, then wait the 1-6 months to be listed.

3- Use the pay 'rapid review' links on most of em to cut your time down.

4- Build a network of link exchanges.


Focus on Google(60%), Yahoo (30%), AOL (5%) & MSN (5%).
Rest of the sites out there tend to pull from those 4 to build their listings.

Googles Adwords and Adsence are good. Just pay attention to the rules they have as they will cut you off if they think you're trying to cheat the system.

Metatag use is an art. Make sure whatever you use in your tags is in your page. You can focus different tags for each page and fine tune.

Don't expect immediate results.

Search engine optimization and listings are an ongoing work.

Q&A: What should I look for in a web hosting company?

Q&A: What should I look for in a web hosting company?

Answer:

Looking for and finding a reliable hosting company for your website is a key component in your business success. When researching a company here are some tips:

1- Use Google.
Use Google to look for other sites hosted by the company, as well as reviews of their service. Include words like "sucks" and "fraud" to find complaints.

2 Visit webhostingtalk.com and check there as well.
WHT is the largest hosting discussion community around, and is regularly visited by thousands of hosts and their customers.

3- Check references.
If possible, find others who are using them and see how their service has been.


Some things to look for:

1- Connectivity to the rest of the Internet.
Are they running off a single cable, or do they have multiple connections to provide backup should 1 fail. Avoid hosts with a single connection, and run from anyone hosting out of their spare bedroom. That works for a hobby site but not for a serious business.

2- Uptime.
You'll see almost every host list 99.99999999etc uptime. But check those reviews and see what they were really providing. A few extra 9's doesn't really mean anything, but if a number of people are complaining about connection problems, that's a good sign to avoid that host.

3- Support
Everyone seems to offer email support, but that doesn't do you much good if your email is inaccessible. Look for a host who offers a help desk that allows you to track your issues. Email support is a default, but look for hosts who also offer support through instant messaging. As usual, phone support is golden, provided you reach a human who can help you, and not an answering service or voice mail. Try calling their support line a few times and see how long it takes to be answered, and if you get a live person.

4- Reliable Hardware
Cheap is cheap. Reliable hosts use quality components, and keep a supply of spares on hand to minimize downtime in the event of hardware failure. While modern server hardware is pretty solid, they do still run hot, and memory and drives and powersupplies do occationally fail.


These are a few of the many tips that will help you find a good host for your site.

You built it, but will they come? Some tips on getting traffic to your website.

You built it, but will they come? Some tips on getting traffic to your website.
By Bob Hubbard

Your new website has gone live at last! After weeks--possibly months--of labor, it’s online and it looks great. Only one problem remains: How do you get people to visit it?

Well, you can wait the 1 to 6+ months for the backlogged search engines to catch up and list you. But you need traffic now. So what do you do? I’m often asked this very question by our clients. In this article I’ll give several suggestions to help you promote your website for maximum exposure. Some will fit better than others, depending on your target audience, but all of them are proven strategies for success.

1: Realize that the Search Engines are only part of the puzzle.
Getting listed takes time and tweaking. Most of them are backlogged by months, and it’s getting tougher to get listed in them. Of course you can spend a lot of cash to get yourself listed under ‘Automatic Self Cleaning Water Strainers’, but would you get the same results under just ‘Strainers’? A well thought-out plan for getting listed can take up to a year to fully realize results. You must do other things to get the word out in order to get both immediate and long-term results.

2: Don’t depend on your designer to advertise for you.
Too often companies and individuals have websites built, do nothing to promote the site themselves, and then wonder why it wasn’t as successful as they hoped. You don’t expect Kinkos to pass out your flyers; why expect your designer to know how to market your business to your customers? Their job is to develop a site that meets both your and your clients’ needs. You must spread the word to your prospects yourself, through all means--online and traditional.

3: Put your website’s address in front of everyone.
You wouldn’t leave your phone number off of your business cards--why leave off your website address? Make certain it is on all of your stationery, flyers, brochures, etc. Put it on the back bumper of your cars and vans. Put it on your signage and in your front window. Put it on your promo items and give them away like mad! People like freebies, and if they are useful, they will keep them around. The more visible you make it, the more times people will see it--and the more they see it, the more likely they will visit.

4: Yellow Pages ads.
Spend the extra money to get your web address added to your yellow pages listing. That little extra effort can lead to new leads. Many people will check out listings as follows: Biggest color ads, biggest black-and-white ads, smaller ads, text only box ads, and line ads. Adding a website to your ad can greatly increase your inquiry rate.

5: Issue a press release.
This step is often overlooked by start-ups. Taking the time to properly prepare a release can greatly benefit your business.

6: Reciprocal links.
Find websites that complement yours and propose a link exchange. This has a dual benefit: You gain traffic from their visitors, and the more companies that link to you, the higher your ranking in some search engines. You must do your research here, but if properly implemented you can see great rewards from this strategy.

7: Your regular advertising.
Make certain that any print or media advertising you do has your website mentioned somewhere in it. Too many times this simple step is overlooked. You cannot rely on Internet advertising alone to make your site a success. Even Amazon.com and E-Bay have to use traditional advertising. Have you seen the “Do You, uh, Yahoo!?” ads? There’s a reason!

8: Visit web forums and the Usenet newsgroups.
You can successfully advertise your company through these discussion groups (formerly known as “bulletin boards”), but be careful, especially when advertising on Usenet. Many people frown on advertising there, so be sure to carefully research any group you wish to advertise on before making your post. A few extra days patience can save you from a major public relations nightmare.

9: Publish an e-newsletter.
This has many benefits to you. It helps establish your credibility. It helps keep your clients and prospects up to date on your company and its offerings. It educates. It adds content to your website. The content helps you get better listings with the search engines and as it changes on a regular basis it helps bring return visitors. Return visitors will in many cases put your website address on their links pages which in turn helps drive traffic and boost search engine rankings. A well done, Opt-In (they subscribe) newsletter can also provide you with a detailed mailing list of people interested in what you have to offer. The costs of emailing are almost nil. Done properly, this can be a great boost.

10: Your business card.
Make it a mini-flyer, include your website, and pass them out whenever you can. When you go to trade shows or conventions, take 500-1000 and hand them out to everyone. Go to every booth and trade cards with them. “But I have plenty of my old ones”, you say. Well, unless your cards are works of art, throw them out and get new ones with your web address on it and send 2 to every customer and prospect you have.

11: Email. Let us not forget email. You and your employees probably send several emails each day, at the minimum. Make sure that your web address is featured in the ‘signature’ of each email. Too many times I receive email from clients and prospects that have missed this simple step. Many modern email programs allow for multiple signatures so you can have 1 for each occasion if you wish.

The message is: In order to see your site succeed, you need to promote it. There are millions and millions of websites online. While the numbers vary, it is estimated that only 40-60% of the web is listed on search engines. That means that the other 40-60% must be doing something else to get traffic. You wouldn’t open a store in your basement, tell no one, and then wonder why you went broke. Starting a website online is like that, except that you have the power to route a superhighway through your front door. You simply have to promote it using all of the means at your hands. Keep in mind that this is only an outline, and that many of these steps are more complicated than they may seem to be. Only by properly researching the correct approaches will you get the most success from them. Give these tips some thought. I’m sure you will find several that will work for you. Good luck! See you on the web.

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Bob Hubbard is an administrator of the popular martial arts portal site MartialTalk.com and president of SilverStar WebDesigns inc., a web site design and hosting company specializing in affordable solutions for martial artists.

“Webifying” your Business for the Martial Arts Industry By Bob Hubbard Ok, so you have a website. It’s live, it’s open for business but, now wha

“Webifying” your Business for the Martial Arts Industry
By Bob Hubbard

Ok, so you have a website. It’s live, it’s open for business but, now what do you do? One of the hardest things about having a website, is always getting it noticed and used. You will hear people talking about “search engines” and “directories” and a ton of geeky jargon, but what can you do to make your site more visible and get more visitors? Several things in fact, that don’t require a PHD in computers to understand or do.

One of the fallacies is that a search engine listing is all you need. Nothing could be further from the truth. According to GoDaddy (one of the leading domain name registrars) over a million new web sites are registered every day! Google, the leading Internet search site, currently indexes billions of web pages. Billions! Obviously, you are going to need more than just a search engine listing.

So, what do you do?
Simple. You do what has always worked. You tell everyone, and let word of mouth be your best salesman.

1: People need to know your site exists in order to go there.
When was the last time you went someplace you didn’t know about? Almost never, right? The web is the same way. People almost always go where they plan to go. Making people aware that you exist is a main part of getting noticed and visited.

So, how do you do this?

• Put your website on everything going out of your business. Put it on receipts, invoices, letterhead, business cards, boxes, class handouts, flyers, etc. If it leaves your business at any time, make sure there is a website address on it.
• Place it prominently in your windows. Remember, your window works 24/7/365 for you. Make sure that you have 3 key pieces of information on there: Your name, your phone number and your website.
• Have a custom bumper sticker made for your vehicle that lists your website. You can also have a local vinyl or sign company do some work for you that advertises your business on your vehicle. Be certain to include the web site! Your vehicle spends a lot of time in parking lots. Let it be a mobile billboard for your business and work for you.
• If you sell or give away “branded” merchandise (sports bottles or towels for example), have the website included.
• All advertisements that you run must include your website address.
• Make sure that all of your students, parents and instructors know about the site. Remind them regularly about it.

2: People need a Reason to go there.
Knowing you have a site is not enough. People need to be told to go there, and they need to know why.

• When talking to a prospect on the phone, don’t just tell them about the classes. Tell them that “and information can be found on our website xxx.com.” or “Our full class schedule is always available on our website, xxx.com”. If you have a web coupon, be sure to mention it as well. Everyone likes to save a buck, and pointing that out will almost guarantee that they will take a look at the site, and hopefully, also pass the address on to someone else.
• When talking to your students, parents and instructors, be sure to mention that class schedules, upcoming events, school news, and whatever other areas of interest you have there exist, and encourage them to check regularly. Ask your students to link to the school site from their web pages. When doing “Tell a Friend” promotions, be sure to suggest that they also tell them about the website. Update your site regularly, and announce the updates at every class for a week after the updates are done. “Our class schedule on the website has been updated. You can print a copy for your own use right from there.”
• Update your site regularly, and let everyone know about it. Students, parents and instructors all should be checking the site out regularly. Encourage feedback on the site and ask your students and instructors for suggestions on improvements. This involves them in the process more, and makes them feel good. Updates are especially effective if done after an event, and photos and reviews are included. Most people love seeing themselves, and the “Hey everyone, I’m on my schools website working with Master Z” can get you great word of mouth promotion for your site.

3: You need to do some promotion of the site as well.
When talking to a vendor, inquire if they do link exchanges. A link exchange is where you put their banner (a small image) and a link to them on their website, in exchange for them doing the same for you. These are good ways to help boost your visibility and rankings on the search engines.

• When you go to other events or seminars, ask if you can bring flyers or other handouts to help promote your school. Many will say yes. Even if they say no, be sure to bring several business cards with the address on them with you. This way, you can do some personal networking and exchange cards.
• When talking to key people in your art (your instructor, the guest instructor of the seminar, etc), find out if they have a website, and would be interested in a link exchange as well. Many people are very happy to do so.
• Make certain that all your newspaper, magazine, phonebook, radio and TV advertisements mention your website.
• When you do trade shows, you want your website address visible and prominent. Many people today will write a website down before they write the phone number.
• If you frequent web forums and mailing lists, most will allow you to include a small block of text, often called a “signature” in your postings. Do so, and make sure that, if allowed, you include your website.
• Most email programs also allow you to include a signature. Add one to all outgoing messages.

Conclusion
Having a successful website is a lot of work. Gone are the days where you can just put it up, list it on a search engine, and watch traffic role in. Each day, over a million new sites go up. That’s a big ocean in which to shine, but, with the proper promotion, you can start a motion that builds to a popular and successful web presence. All it takes is some old fashioned promotion.

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Bob Hubbard is an administrator of the popular martial arts portal site MartialTalk.com and president of SilverStar WebDesigns inc., a web site design and hosting company specializing in affordable solutions for martial artists.

Email Marketing Tips.

Email Marketing Tips.
By Bob Hubbard

E-mail is the most popular activity on the Internet, with upwards of 90% of internet users having used it. With 63% of the US adult population on line, that opens a market comprising more than 100 million prospective clients. Successfully marketing your business by email can be done. The challenge lies in doing it right. Every day I get literally hundreds of junk email or “SPAM” selling everything from adult items, to software to of all things, anti-spam software! With over 40% of the 31 Billion emails sent each day considered “SPAM” and the rules tightening, you need to be up to date in order to successfully market your services by email. While an in-depth e-mail marketing attack is beyond the scope of this article, I will list a select number of tips to help enhance and optimize your chances of success.

Don’t randomly gather email addresses.
We’ve all gotten those junk mails that we didn’t ask for that tell us to “Click here to unsubscribe”. Rarely do those work as listed. Usually, they result in even more junk mail. So, who subscribed us in the first place? Someone either bought a list, randomly generated addresses, or used special software to find your address from message board postings, and web pages. I recommend only using addresses that have specifically been sent to you for information.

“Opt in” versus “Opt Out” lists.
An “Opt In” list is one where you specifically ask for information before they send it to you. An “Opt Out” puts the burden of stopping it on you. Increasingly, “Opt Out” lists are generating scorn and hatred from internet users. When someone “Opts In” they are specifically asking you for information. This is one of the more ‘web friendly’ means of doing professional emailing.

Learn how to use the “BCC” or “Blind Carbon Copy” feature.
The BCC feature is your friend. It allows you to hide the list of email addresses, thereby respecting and preserving the privacy of those on your list. Not using this feature can and will generate angry replies from those on your list.
Include a way for people to be removed from your mailing list and honor all “Unsubscribe” emails immediately.

Do not send your mailings to anyone who hasn’t requested it.
That is considered spam, and violates most ISP’s service terms. If you anger the wrong people, you can lose your Internet connection! Internet Service Providers are increasingly taking harder stances against those who spam.

Collect your addresses in a web-friendly manner.
Doing this insures that those you send email to will welcome your message. You can do this in a few easy ways.

1. Add a signup form on your web site. This is called “Opting In”.
2. When you receive an address, send a confirmation back. Include a standard “This address was signed up for XXX. If this is in error, please reply to this email with the word CANCEL at the top.” Type message. This is very important! By doing this, you will let the person know that their email address was submitted successfully to your list, or that someone else submitted it. It also ensures that your list is clean and full of good addresses, since your verification will usually bounce back if the address is really invalid.
3. Include a short privacy policy at the end of your mailing and on your site. A standard “We never share your name and address” is usually good. If you do share addresses, include a way for the subscriber to –not- be shared.

Now that you have your list, understand how to send to it in a web-friendly manner, you now need to compose your message for optimum effect.

Include a “Call to Action”
This is text that will motivate the reader to “Act Now”. Terms like “Limited Time Only”, “Act Now”, “Offer Expires” are all examples of action calls.

Include –all- of the “Need to Know” information.
How many times have you gotten a flyer that assumed you knew which location an event was held at, or that you knew how to get there?

• What: Be certain to list the “What” outlining the purpose of the email.
• When: Include the full date (yes, year too), month, date –and- day of the week, times of events.
• Where: Include a complete location (if applicable). This is very important if you have multiple locations.
• How Much: This is mostly for events. If it’s free, say so. If there’s a charge, let people know up front. For events that don’t require advance registration (which is what we’re talking about here), the fee is typically nominal, so it won’t scare anyone away. This differs from an e-mail for a large conference requiring pre-registration, where you might want to sell people on the value before disclosing the price.
• Who: Who is this event/item for? This will help people decide if the offer is for them.

Additional information to include would be extra details. If this is an event, include directions. Presenter bios are always good if this is for a seminar. If selling a product, include more detailed specs here. More information is always good.

Another point I cannot emphasize enough here is, write clearly, and proof read. Misspellings, typos, and grammatical errors will kill an otherwise well done mailing.

Avoid sending large graphics, sound, music or video files.
Keep your mailing to a small size, as nothing angers people like having their email box jammed full of videos they didn’t ask for. Having to contact their ISP for ‘unplug’ things will cause a lot of bad PR. Keep the mailing small and simple for best results.

Track it!
Tracking the success of mailings is good business, and tracking an emailing is no different. Include a coupon with a special code, or an “Offer Code” to use when registering or purchasing. Be certain to also ask people how they heard about the item/offer.

1 last key piece of advice:
Answer prospect emails within 24 hours!
If you don’t reply promptly, you risk losing a client for life. People also tend to tell others when they feel ignored! To avoid this and to ensure you’re not missing any opportunities, make it a top priority to reply to all incoming mail within 24 hours.

While there is some work that goes into a good email campaign, you can reap some excellent rewards.

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Bob Hubbard is an administrator of the popular martial arts portal site MartialTalk.com and president of SilverStar WebDesigns inc., a web site design and hosting company specializing in affordable solutions for martial artists.

Getting Online.

Getting Online.
by Bob Hubbard

In todays’ competitive business climate, getting exposure is harder than ever before. It is vital that your business have a website that will give you that exposure on the Internet. You need a partner who both understands what it takes and can provide you with that solution.

In order to get your organization online, you need four things:

1-A Good Domain Name –
What is a Domain Name? Your Domain Name is your address on the Web. Just like people use your phone number to call you on the phone, your Domain Name allows people to access your site on the Web. Clever, simple, or easy to remember Domain Names are most desirable as they can play a large part in attracting visitors to your site. Most Domain Names end with “.com” - but other extensions such as “.net” (such as spike1.net) and “.org” are also available.

You need a name people that people can remember. Your customers will find yoursite.com easier to remember and type than www.somewhere.com/~something/index.html. Why should your site be hard to find? For about the price of lunch at your favorite fast food place, you can reserve your own unique and easy-to-remember web address for an entire year. And for just the cost of one month’s lessons in most schools, you can lock in your name for an entire decade! Don’t be overcharged! My company has carefully researched the registrars that we use. With well over 100 to pick from, and several closings each year, you want to know that your name is reserved with a company that will be there for you.

2-Reliable Hosting –
A good analogy for website hosting is that our server is an apartment building. We rent space out for websites, giving different services to different “tenants” with different needs. If your site’s not up, it does you no good. Our data center offers redundant connections to several Tier 1 providers, multiple fiber paths, multiple redundant power back-up, 24 x 7 onsite staff and 24 x 7 monitoring, and high security. All of this is running on modern, state of the art, high-speed servers designed to serve millions and millions of pages without fail. What this means for you is that your site will be up when your customers and clients are looking for it! In the rare event of a problem, we will usually have it fixed before you are even aware of it. We pride ourselves on the reliability of our hosting, and are regularly audited to guarantee that we have the most up to date software and security possible.

Not all hosts are equal. Many of the low cost hosts are running off a DSL or Cable setup out of their homes, or pack thousands of sites onto a server that is little more than a suped-up home PC. Do some real research into the company you choose to host your site. After all, you wouldn’t want to locate your place of business in someplace that wasn’t ‘customer friendly’. Why put your website there? More expensive also is not really better than dirt cheep. Compare features as well as prices, but also check out their support. What do they cover and what don’t they? Do they offer phone support or just web-based? What if you call them with a support question even though they say “web only”? Do your homework and you’ll be pleased with the results.

3-Quality Site Design –
What is web design? Web design is putting together a Web site. A Web site is your message to the world telling them who you are, what you are, and what you are about. It is critical to have a well-designed and well thought out Web site. It allows your site to grow and expand as your needs change. Whether your site is a single page or multiple pages or even spread out over many physical locations on many different machines, a well-designed site will make your connections appear seamless and streamlined.

People who are visiting Web-sites do not want to spend a lot of time figuring out who you are, where you are, and how to find out the information they want. And time is the critical element here. So, web design is simply presenting yourself at your best so that people can get to know you and to use your services as soon as possible.

Too often, people cut corners on their websites. They use pre-designed templates that give their site a ‘cookie cutter’ look. They also have poor navigation that makes it hard for someone who visits to find information easily. Remember, the average visitor only spends a few minutes skimming your site. If they can’t find it, they move on to the next site. Even though many people have high-speed connections, many more do not. AOL is still the dominant internet provider for over 30 million people. That’s a lot of slow dial ups. Too many sites today have huge ‘Flash’ animated intros that don’t allow you to skip them.

4-Site Promotion –
What is site promotion? In a nutshell - bringing people to your web site. Simply put, it is a submission of your web address (domain name) to the search engines (like Yahoo, Excite and InfoSeek) that allow people to find your site among the millions of sites on the Internet. Each search engine and database handles submissions differently. While not a difficult task, promotion is time consuming when done properly. Not done properly, promotion submission can be a disaster. There is an entire science behind it. A website does you no good if no one knows it’s there.

Site promotion is different for each search engine. Right now, the dominant search engine is Google. Google is tricky. If you submit yourself too often, you end up on a ‘blacklist’ and will never be listed. Some search engines read your site, while others use hidden comments in your sites HTML code called ‘Meta Tags’ to rank you.

Never use words that are the same color as the background, and never stick multiple copies of the same word back to back. Both of these are sure fire ways to make the black lists.

To give yourself the best chance of being listed use this 4 part check list:
1- Have your own domain name. – Many search engines are no longer taking the /~somethings sites. They only want to list something.coms.

2- Have reliable hosting. – Once you get listed they check back regularly. If they can’t see you, they remove your listing. A poor host will majorly hurt you here. Its worth the few extra bucks to have the reliable hosting.

3- A good site design. – Both in layout and ‘under the hood’ will help optimize your chances at successfully being listed.

4- A well thought out promotion campaign. – Getting listed doesn’t happen over night. Some search engines can take months to even look at you. A year long series of checks and submissions combined with your other promotions will greatly enhance your exposure.

In this article, I touched briefly on what a successful website requires. Each section could easily fill an entire book. It is your job to educate yourself enough so that you understand this a little. Your designer should have a more in depth knowledge. When talking with hosts and web designers, keep these points in mind. After all, it is your money we are talking about.

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Bob Hubbard is an administrator of the popular martial arts portal site MartialTalk.com and president of SilverStar WebDesigns inc., a web site design and hosting company specializing in affordable solutions for martial artists.

Why do I need a Web Site?

Why do I need a Web Site?
By Bob Hubbard

When I’m talking with potential clients, I’m often asked “Why should I have a website”. This is a very good question. Today, having a website is a cost of doing business, just like business cards, a phone line and credit card acceptance. A well planned and designed website can be a boost to almost every business. In this article, I will give you some information on the “Why”.

Why do you need a web site?
A website can be a key ingredient of a businesses marketing attack. It is a lead generator, it helps retain clients, and save on costs. In today’s business environment, if you don’t have one, your competition most likely does. Customers are increasingly net-savvy and are doing more and more research online before calling a company. With 63% of American adults and 75% of American children connected to the Internet, not having a website puts a major hole in your marketing ability. In the past, people would open the yellow pages. Today, more and more people are using the internet to search for information, and finding not just a phone number or address, but full catalogs and price lists, directions, color photos of products and more, all without leaving the house.

The Lead Generator
Many people today look at the existence of a website as a ‘validation of legitimacy’, much as we often look for the acceptance of credit cards. People who are reluctant to call can at their leisure visit your site and see what you offer. This means if its 3am on a Sunday, they can get some information. A well designed website will have an easy means of them contacting you, perhaps a sign up form they can fill out to schedule a visit or request additional information. A website can also be used by existing clients to generate referrals. A website is a tireless 24 hour a day salesperson that works to turn suspects into prospects, and prospects into clients. Being able to learn more about your business will often turn a browser into someone who makes that phone call, or stops in to visit. Having a website puts you ahead of the competition. There’s no delay in customers getting information on your products or services. Imagine if your competitor has information online, and the best you can do is send a brochure overnight. A day is a long time for that potential customer to form an opinion.

Client Retention
Client retention is often tied directly to customer service. A well designed website will have the important information on your business easily viewable. Hours of operation, contact information, upcoming events, and directions at the very least should be obvious. Many other parts are industry specific. A supermarket could have their weekly ad on line, a hardware store could have home repair tips, and the martial arts school could have training materials and class schedules. Special offers can also be run, as well as an organizational newsletter to keep clients and prospects up to date on your business.

Cost Savings
How many of us have printed flyers for an event, only to end up throwing out hundreds of dollars in over printing or errors? Using your website as an information distribution point can significantly reduce your printing and postage costs. By putting items like student handbooks, employee guides, and flyers online, you can save an enormous amount of money. Combine this with a web-friendly email-marketing program and you can save thousands of dollars each year. You can also improve on the quality of your handouts and flyers by using full color and photographs, rather than the black and white clip art we often see.

Now, it is important to do your email marketing in a friendly manner. E-Mail marketing is covered in my “E-Mail Marketing Tips” article.

Now, two additional areas you can use your website are “UpSells” and Retail.

UpSells and Upgrades
Also known as Upgrades, Upsells are a great product to promote on your website. Internal programs like Buyers Clubs, Access to expert advice, special web-only content, discussion forums, newsletters and more. We will use the example of a karate school. They want to increase student retention so they add a signup form on their website for new students. An option on this form could be for the “Black Belt Club” which gives the student special services and access to a special area of the website, for an added cost of course. A music store could have a “Music Appreciation Club” which offers members only discounts and other premiums.

Retail Sales
Retail sales are an additional way to generate both profit and potential. Without having to maintain a large physical inventory, pay utilities or worry about shrinkage, you can often run an online store at a higher profit margin than a traditional store. Without the physical limitations, you can carry more merchandise. This allows a 1-person operation to look just as impressive as the super centers. Care must be taken in the setup of an online store to avoid fraud. Successful online retailing is covered in my “Online Selling with Success” article.

Having a website is an excellent way to generate new business, keep and grow existing clientele, save money and improve your bottom line. It is available rain or shine, night or day, helping you to grow your business. It also levels the playing field, allowing you to compete equally with much larger businesses. With more and more people each year using the Internet, a website has become a requirement of business, much as a phone and credit card acceptance did in the past. Remember, the Internet is one of the first places someone familiar with computers is likely to look for information.

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Bob Hubbard is an administrator of the popular martial arts portal site MartialTalk.com and president of SilverStar WebDesigns inc., a web site design and hosting company specializing in affordable solutions for martial artists.