Ansars Internet Marketing Blog

Make a commitment to your website in 2010

chris@ansars.co.uk — Fri, 29 Jan 2010 11:39:00 GMT

Your website is probably the best marketing tool you have so make the most of it in 2010. By committing to your website you will be committing to your business. I say your business website is the best marketing tool you have because:

It is very cost effective marketing for your business – great return on investment for both time and money invested. The world is online, your customers and prospects are online.
You will generate more customers – getting more visibility will increase your attraction and customers will follow

As with most things in life getting your online marketing working effectively is not a quick fix – sustainable results only appear after a period of time. Your website needs to be nurtured, constantly developed and worked on regularly. Internet marketing is just one activity, it a series of related activities which combined deliver results. We wanted to give you some key pointers as to what you should be thinking about when promoting yourself online.

Stand out in Google by adding your entry to Google Business Directory

chris@ansars.co.uk — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 10:03:00 GMT

Google users are increasingly refining their searches to include geographic locations. Google Maps is also becoming a search tool for finding businesses as it links into the Google Business Directory.

A great way to make your site more visible and to make your site stand out in Google and to is add your business to the Google Directory. The following result is for the search ‘Internet marketing high wycombe’. As you see the entry stands out and has all the relevant contact details.

You will also appear in the main search engine for categories or terms where Google matches local businesses. So for the same search term as above you see the entry below.

How do you do this?

To do this you need a Google Account. If you have not got one then you will be asked to set one up. If you already have one then Log in to your account.

Go to Google Maps (www.maps.google.co.uk) and on the left you will see put your business on Google maps. Click on that entry and you will be taken to Google Local Business Centre where you can add your entry.
For help on this please view the following video.

7 Helpful Tips to make your Google Business centre entry stand out from the crowd.

Add your logo – this helps with brand recognition and will help you entry stand out.
Add your web address – another useful link
Add additional images – once again these can make your entry stand out
Add videos – if you have a video about your business – add this to You Tube and link to it from your entry.
Reviews – ask your customers to add a review for your business. If you have reviews Google sees this as making your business more relevant.
Add a coupon – put your monthly offer on to the entry to promote you even more and encourage people to click on your entry.
You can also add addition details to the entry i.e. Free Parking: Yes

I hope you found this post useful. Please feel free to add your comments below.

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What shall I Tweet about ? – Some ideas to boost your Twitter activity and attract more followers

chris@ansars.co.uk — Tue, 28 Jul 2009 10:37:00 GMT

Have you ever sat there in front of your screen, logged into your Twitter account and wondering what to Tweet about? The minds blank – what do I say?

Well don’t worry, some people seem to have no problem finding topics to tweet about, you know the ones. Others, on the other hand, sometimes struggle to know what to Tweet about. These can be people new to Twitter but even experienced Twitterers sometimes need a source of inspiration.

This blog is aimed at those who are new to Twitter or struggle to know what to Tweet about. Of course if you use Twitter on a regular basis then you become more visible within Twitter and more attractive to other people. This will result in attracting more followers and therefore enable you to amplify your message.

So why is it important to become a regular Twitter user? By way of reminder:

Regular tweeting (once or twice a day is enough) is the best way to attract new followers
People will look at your tweets and decide whether or not to follow you.
You want to attract and grow your followers as this increases your reach
You need to provide a variety of informative, interesting and relevant content

3 Twitter Content Strategies
        Strategy 1 - Answer the question! Info about you and what you are doing
        Strategy 2 - Giving valuable and relevant information
        Strategy 3 - Promoting yourself and your business

A good Twitter user will usually employ a mixture of these strategies

Strategy 1 - Answer the question! Info about you and what you are doing
What you are doing? Business and personal related activities - we are all human and like to see the human side of people.

What you are working on
How you are feeling today
What’s on your mind
Observations about what your doing

Strategy 2 - Giving valuable and relevant information
General Information – related to your business area of expertise. Position yourself as an expert in your field.

Thought provoking quotes
Ask questions – encourage people to respond
Source of information – Surveys / get people’s views
Websites you think are good
Blogs you think are useful
Good Articles
Events - networking / local events
Re tweet other peoples tweets
Comment on others tweets
#followfriday – promote people you think are worth following

Strategy 3 - Promoting yourself and your business
Self promotion – this is golden nugget, this is the real reason why we use Twitter.

Promote your own material
Your own blogs
Your own articles
Your own e-books
Your special offers
Your discount codes
Your events
Links to your site with useful information
Promote your customers with links
Promote what you have done for a customer (results delivered)

Building stronger relationships in Twitter
There is a way to build stronger relationships online which results in others becoming advocates and promoting you.

Thanking people who re-tweet your tweets
Direct replys - comments on other’s tweets
Promoting others by retweeting their comments
Recommending others follow them

Using a mixture of the 3 content strategies will make you more attractive and so grow your followers. Hopefully now you will never be in the situation where you are sat in front of your screen wondering what to Tweet.

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We are writers now - like it or not.

chris@ansars.co.uk — Mon, 30 Mar 2009 08:15:00 GMT

I now wish I had paid a lot more attention in my English lessons at school, but grammar and spelling were so boring – but now they are essential skills in the tool bag of the world we live in. Like it or not, one massive impact of the Internet is that it is turning us all into writers, authors and diarists.

No more keyword data in your website statistics, unless you use Google Analytics of course.

blog@ansars.co.uk — Wed, 04 Feb 2009 16:09:00 GMT

Google's latest changes is important to all website owners. This is connected to your web site statistics and finding information as to what key phrases people searched for and found your site.

If you are using Google Analytics (recommended) then you will not be affected. However, if you are using any other statistics package then beware.

So, what am I talking about? In your statistics package where you see how many visitors you have, and when you will also have a section that tells you what keywords people have put into Google who subsequently find your site. This is very useful information because as we know, understanding keywords that people actually use are central to your online success.

Google is currently testing a major update that will change the way in which it collects search data and the way it provides that data for non Google statistics packages. Which means it no longer provides this information. So if you are using AWStats or Clicky you will no longer receive the keyword data.

Apart from the technical implications, there are the moral ones as well. It is obvious that by doing this Google will force people to use Google Analytics and will severely impact their competition in this marketplace. Should Google be able to do this? Are they not abusing their dominant position? Are they now not any better than Microsoft?

What should you do to get effective Analytics?

We have always advocated that you put Google Analytics on your site - it is free and provides most web site owners with more data than they will ever need. So if you are not using Google Analytics - set up an account with Google now at http://www.google.com/analytics/ . You will need to put some code on your site so that Google can collect the data - your website person or company should be able to do that for you if you do not have control.

This way whatever Google do you know you will be getting all the data and let the moral arguments rumble on around you.

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Barber with the worst haircut - putting into practice internet marketing principals

chris@ansars.co.uk — Thu, 30 Oct 2008 00:56:00 GMT

Ever heard the saying "barber with the worst haircut"? or "gardener with the worst borders"?No? well, it's a trap I am sure we all fall into from time to time, and I am as guilty as the next man if not more.

I find myself talking to people about their businesses, their websites, their online marketing and advising them on what they should be doing to improve their business. "You need to make your website a conversion engine" ..... "where are your calls to action?" .... "how are people going to know what to do when they come to your site?"...... "provide some free stuff to people" .... it goes on.

I advise people to invest in their websites and online marketing; not just in financial terms but in time and and effort and it is the time and effort that is the difficult bit. I must admit that I do get slightly disappointed when I look at people sites a few weeks or months later and see that actually nothing has changed.

Then I think to myself, well what have I done on my website recently ... answer - very little. Sudden pangs of guilt flood over me, and I suddenly understand more than ever the position of people I talk to. I realise that I am that barber with the worst haircut in the world; advising people on how to have their hair styled but not bothering with my own.

No longer! You are now looking at the new Ansars Internet Marketing website. Putting into practice some of the marketing and website principals I preach to others. We have been washed, cut, and styled! I hope you like it and any feedback or comments would be very welcome.

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Domian Names Free for all

chris@ansars.co.uk — Thu, 24 Jul 2008 14:53:00 GMT

Recent announcements by the powers that be in the domain world will mean a radical shake up of domain name conventions

What will this mean for business?