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Feel the love, speed and SEO all swirled together.

November 7, 2017 Carolyn Griswold

SEO MagicHocus pocus, give me focus, make my website fast, loved and popular. Feel the love, speed and SEO all swirled together. Are you looking for the magic SEO potion? Ta Da! Here you go.

First, find  love.

Find out what people love about you, about your product and about your business. Find out how they’re looking for love. Where are they looking? Are they looking on Google, Linkedin, Facebook. Do they even know they’re looking? How do you find out?

  1. Use Data. Find the key to love with Analytics. It can tell you what your clients or prospects are looking for and how they’re looking for it.
  2. Anecdotal Evidence. Ask your clients. Something as simple as “How did you find me?” “What made you decide to call me?”
  3. Be bold. Ask for some love. Ask for online reviews on Google, Yelp, LinkedIn, or for a testimonials on your website. Ask people to Like your page, subscribe to your YouTube Channel, sign-up for your email newsletter, or meet for drinks.  There are so many ways to ask for love. Find the best ways for you and ask!
  4. Respond. Listen to your clients. Answer their questions. People love that.

Then swirl some love on your website content. Make sure your website content loves your clients – make sure it answers their questions. Make sure it presents your product or service so beautifully it’s impossible not to love (buy) it! Make sure it presents material that your analytics indicate will bring results.

Spread the love. Social media makes it easy. Share on the social media outlets that work best for you. Share your blog posts, events, product news, business news, even jokes, inspirations, photos and anecdotes.

Second, find speed.

No one wants to wait. Waiting frustrates people. It’s not loving. Make your website fast. Google loves speed. Give Google some love. They’ll love you back. Your page speed is known to be one of the factors (among many) in your search engine rank. So make your website zippy.

To find out fast your website is check out the links in the post The Need for Speed. How to check your website to see if it needs a speed tune-up.

Here are some of the most common recommendations you’ll find when you run a speed test:

  1. Optimize images. The first thing to do is make sure your images aren’t size larger than they appear on screen. That’s just wasting bandwidth. Please. Don’t upload a 4000 px x 4000 px image to your website, if the size is going to be viewed is 400 px x 400 px. But that’s just the start of image optimization. Check out this Image Optimization article to find out just how complicated it can get.Fortunately, there are plug-ins for WordPress users that will help you optimize the images on your website. Two of the most popular are:
    1. WP Smush
    2. Ewww Optimizer
  2. Eliminate or reduce CSS and Javascript rendering above the fold.Fixing the above the fold recommendation can get complicated too, as sometimes, depending on the theme, relocating scripts can break the website. There is a plug-in for it that’s worth trying. (I hope to test it on soon and will review it for you then). The plug-in is Optimizing Above the Fold.  Beware, the plug-in is intended for pros and is not something you can install and it will automagically fix things for you.
  3. Minify Javascript and CSS – Optimizing Above the Fold can handle this for you too, but Autoptimize is a simpler plug-in that might be easier to use for most users. As always with plug-ins make sure you back up  your database prior to installing and running, so if something doesn’t work right, (ie. it breaks your website) you can restore to a functioning version without too much trouble. 
  4. Enable caching. W3Total cache is one popular plug-in used in WordPress sites to configure caching. Be careful with it though, the wrong settings will break your website. (BACKUP prior to use). Some hosts offer their own caching systems and disallow W3 Total Cache. WPengine is one that we use that has their own object caching process.
    You could also consider a CDN. Basically a Content Delivery System  that helps serve and cache your site’s static, cacheable content from multiple worldwide server locations.
  5. Server speed is slow. Check with your web hosting provider to see if they can help you with this. You might also check your DNS settings to ensure they aren’t slowing things down.

Sometimes it’s the WordPress theme itself that is slowing things down. If that’s the case, you might be able to speed it up using some of the tools above, but if given the chance it’s best to start with a fast theme. I found a list of 20 fast themes at https://colorlib.com/wp/fast-loading-wordpress-themes/. I haven’t had a chance to install and test their speed yet, but may test out a few for review in a later post.

Let the SEO Magic begin.

Swirl some love on your website by ensuring that it provides a good user experience with interesting, valuable content and make it load fast. That’s when you’ll begin to see some SEO magic happen.

Filed Under: Carolyn's Posts, Featured, Internet Marketing 101, Search Engine Optimization (SEO), Tips for a good website, Tools & Tips

The Need for Speed. How to check your website to see if it needs a speed tune-up.

November 2, 2017 Carolyn Griswold

Web Traffic SpeedometerWhen you drive a high-performance vehicle and step on the gas you can feel the acceleration. Quick acceleration makes it easy to merge onto a fast-moving freeway safely or outrun a high-speed chase (just kidding – we’re not recommending anything illegal in this blog post).

Just as it’s important to have a fast, responsive automobile on the highway to have the best driving experience, it’s also important to have a fast, responsive website on the internet if you want optimum user experience for your website visitors.

Why is website speed important?

  1. It will make your visitors happy and more likely to buy from you. Slow websites equal frustrated visitors who leave and go check out your competitors’ websites.
  2. It may improve your website rank on search engines and that will provide greater opportunity for more people to get to your zippy, refreshingly speedy website.

How do you know if your website is fast?

There are numerous free tools online that can measure the speed of your website. Here’s a few to get you started:

  • PageSpeed Insights – Google
  • https://tools.pingdom.com/
  • https://www.webpagetest.org/
  • https://wpengine.com/speed-tool/?gclid=CKjZzcqOmdcCFQx6fgodoR4EsA

There are more. You could test all day long. But the important thing to do is to run a few tests and see where your weaknesses lie. Common problems that might be slowing you down are:

  1. Slow server response time
  2. Images need resizing/optimization
  3. Eliminate render-blocking JavaScript and CSS in above-the -fold content
  4. Leverage browser caching
  5. Minify CSS

So NOW WHAT?

There can be a lot of technical information to comprehend in the reports. The good news is that the reports provide you with links on how to fix the problems. But even with that it can be overwhelming for the average website owner to understand the problems and make the corrections.

Just like most people take their cars to a shop for a regular tune-up, it’s a good idea to have your website tuned up on a regular basis too. So whether you’re the kind of person who changes their own oil or you prefer to drop it off at the shop, it makes sense to run a few reports to check out your score and either make some of the improvements on your own, or give your website maintenance team a call to see what they can do to help you out.

Feel the love, speed and SEO all swirled together.  

Filed Under: Carolyn's Posts, Featured, Tips for a good website, Tools & Tips, Website Maintenance

Are You Missing Out On These 3 Marketing Opportunities?

December 20, 2016 Beth Devine

Marketing opportunitiesThere are three marketing opportunities that small businesses should be taking advantage of. These marketing tools are overlooked yet simple ways to increase customer interaction and brand exposure. So begin 2017 right and take advantage of these indispensable opportunities for marketing your business.

1. Use Public Relations With Trade Publications

There are trade magazines for every industry, you just have to dig a little to discover them. They serve the people who are interested working in your field of business.

Chances are, your industry’s publications will welcome articles or press releases from your company. Hot topics include new product or service announcements, special events, and recent innovations. Be creative and choose different angles to highlight your expertise and distinguishing features.

Editors are especially pleased when you pitch an idea for a story. Finding writers for trade publications is becoming more difficult on limited budgets, and keeping the news cycle fed around the clock requires many helping hands.

Don’t forget to reach out to local publications, such as your local newspapers and small-town dailies and weeklies. Community journalism continues to be widely read by loyal followers looking for familiar names and faces.

2. Join the Video Revolution

Competing for audience attention is a growing challenge with social media, online blogs, and the numerous specialized publications being introduced into the marketplace. Digital media has helped create an instant-gratification response to already shorter attention spans.

Everywhere you go online, it’s noisy and distracting. In response to this noise, a video revolution began in 2016 and shows no sign of stopping. While text-based content will never go out of style, the power of communicating with video as a versatile and profitable tool is worth your consideration.

Wyzowl statistics show that 61% of businesses have incorporated video as a marketing tool. Some of the top reasons to use video in your marketing include:

  • Product videos and videos explaining how to use your product can help increase sales and conversions. Effective videos can also help build customer trust by providing useful and interesting information, an essential ingredient in content marketing.
  • As an added bonus, videos increase the time your visitors spend on your website. This tells search engines that your site has good content, helping your rankings.
  • By embedding video in your site, you are fifty-three times more likely to show up on page one of Google, according to Moovly. Google likes video, especially when you’re optimizing your videos on YouTube, which Google now owns.
  • Video is easy to digest, share, and create. Take advantage of the video-making platforms out there, such as Magisto, Animoto, and numerous other apps. Social media has its own formats, including Twitter’s Vine, Instagram, and Snapchat.

In five years, will you be reading an article like this, or will you be watching it on video? If you think about the rapid growth in video so far, it’s a question you need to be asking.

3. Check Your Website

Just because you have a website doesn’t mean that you’re done with it. Certain website features are an absolute requirement for growing your business. Here are three:

  • How’s your About Us page? Is it designed to maximize its potential to yield results? Your About Us page should be more than a poster for your team. It should help you establish a relationship with people, turning leads into customers by building trust.

Talking directly to your audience and offering them solutions in a way that connects will help them in their decision to choose your product or service. Add some testimonials, include your company logo above the fold, and be forward-thinking by embedding a video.

  • Do you have a call to action (CTA) on every page? There should be a clear image or line of text that asks your visitors to take a specific action. The action to take should be clear and will often include an imperative verb, or a verb that gives an order.

Examples are “call now,” sign up today free,” or “get started now.” It should also be clear what your visitor can expect from taking action. They need to know if they’re going to download a free e-book, get a coupon, or receive a quote.

Make sure to include a CTA above and below the fold if possible. Including a secondary CTA can be beneficial in certain cases, such as asking visitors to subscribe to your blog. It can also prove to be useful when your visitor isn’t interested in taking the first course of action, but they’ve stuck around to keep reading. So why not offer them another option?

Give your audience plenty of opportunities to learn about you by optimizing your site, utilizing video, and getting your company recognized in trade publications. Each of these missed opportunities holds huge potential for marketing your business.

Filed Under: Featured, Kacee's Posts, Marketing, Tips for a good website

Website Security You Didn’t Know You Needed

September 15, 2016 Beth Devine

passwordwordcloud

You’re a small business and you can’t really afford to pay big bucks for website security. Besides, who’s going to bother hacking your site when there’s big businesses to mess with?

We covered seven fallacies to website security in the last post, beginning with having a false sense of security simply because you’re a small- or medium-sized business. This actually makes you a prime target because hackers know small companies don’t have the same resources available for protecting their business online. The good news is there are some great free and low cost options to keeping your website safe.

Get A Website Security Plugin

If you don’t already have Wordfence, you’re one plugin download away from an improved security firewall and malware scanner, its two core security capabilities. Wordfence scans for any new malware and provides new firewall rules to protect against attacks, using real-time data for paid premium accounts and a thirty-day delay in updates for all free versions.

The forensic detection work is ongoing so the latest malware threats are constantly being optimized. If you’re a free Wordfence customer, your site is currently getting 364 free malware scan signatures, with another 118 in the signature line-up to be added. Last month alone nearly 140,000 websites were found infected with malware. Don’t wait to be one of them. Get your site secured with a reputable plugin, or ask your web hosting provider for help with one of their security services.

Give Up Your Username, Your Password, and Your False Sense of Security

When it comes to site security, the point of entry that serves as an easy break-in is your site’s front door. If you’re using a username that includes admin or administrator, or the name of a site author or contributor, you’re making it too easy for a hacker to determine exactly half of your front door’s access information.

Follow this post on How To Change Your WordPress Username using Cpanel to secure the front half of your website’s entry portal. The other half involves changing your password to something that doesn’t fall into the most commonly used or worst password list .

Don’t let weak passwords allow hackers access to your website. Strengthen your passwords by changing them occasionally, using password strengthening tools like Strong Password Generator or Norton Password Generator, storing them in password managers, and forcing other WordPress users on your site to use better passwords with the Force Strong Passwords plugin.

Your Biggest Source of Security Trouble Is An Update Away

Check WordPress.org to see the last update of your plugins and delete or replace the ones that you’re no longer using and those that haven’t been updated in the last year or so. While you’re there, also check the plugin’s rating and how many people have contributed to the rating. The more people who use it and like it, the more likely it will be safe to use.

Finally, look to see if it’s compatible with the current version of WordPress. If a plugin has its own website, there’s a better chance it is being well maintained. Once you’ve done the basics of plugin selection criteria, your main concern is to keep all plugins updated. Never download a plugin unless it’s from the  official WordPress plugin directory.

Clever SEO Tactics That Land You In Google Time-Out

Honest mistakes made in an effort to improve your search engine ratings and boost traffic are still that—mistakes. You need to know what you shouldn’t do to boost SEO or Google will blacklist you. Blacklisting is like getting the monopoly “go to jail” card, and no one comes to visit.

Buying Links or Linking to Spam

This is going to lead to unnatural, spammy linking because most of these offers for paid links are from disreputable sites and social media accounts. Even if they promise you first page ranking, because eventually you’ll be totally unranked, and it’s not worth it.

Always check before you link to another page. If it’s a malicious webpage, it’s only a matter of time before your site could be infected with malware or Google blacklists you for the link. You don’t want Google to ever discover you’re linked to any of these malicious cyber spaces.

Broken Links

This might not land you on the blacklist, but it’s definitely going to hurt your SEO. If you have a page with several broken links, Google is less likely to see it as updated and a page without any broken links will easily outrank yours.

Yet broken links are a dime a dozen. Sites move, go out of business, undergo remodeling, and once intact links are no longer viable. So what do you do? Spend hours going through hundreds of pages checking?

Who has time for that? Go straight to Google Webmaster Tools (and make an account if you don’t already have one) and fix any broken links that it gives you.

Copyright Offense

Violating copyright is not only unethical. It’s a big Google no-no. This will send you right off the Google radar and into a black hole of oblivion. You’ll eventually get caught and lose your ranking. 

Keyword Stuffing and Masking

Whether it’s irrelevant keywords or hidden text or links, Google is very clear about the repercussions. Either you’ll harm your site’s ranking or you’re violating Google’s Webmaster Guidelines. Create quality content and stick to the high road where you’ll see authentic and lasting returns on your efforts.

A blacklisted site might show the warning “This site may be hacked” when you search for it in your browser. Go to Google’s Safe Browsing Site Status to check for blacklisted sites. Get help for blacklisted or hacked sites on Google’s help page. 

 

Filed Under: Featured, Kacee's Posts, Tips for a good website, Website Maintenance

The 7 Common Fallacies About Your Website’s Security

August 26, 2016 Beth Devine

site security
“Birthday Presents” by Mike McCune, used under CC BY / Modified from original

The three things you can be sure of in this world are death, taxes, and being hacked. Were he alive today, Benjamin Franklin would add the third, I feel fairly certain.

This latest of life’s certainties comes with being connected to the internet in any way at all. Every time you’re online, you’re a potential victim. And if you own a website for a small- or medium-sized business, your vulnerability is far greater.

By taking your business online, a necessary move if you want to be competitive, you become a target to a variety of attacks. Yet if you’re like most small business owners, you believe you’re safe.

Here’s why you’re wrong.

Fallacy #1: Small businesses aren’t worth a hacker’s time of day (or night).

Why would anyone want to bother with a small- or medium-sized business like yours? Because you’re far more likely to lack security, that’s why. Hackers know you’re less likely to take all the necessary measures to protect yourself, making you the low hanging fruit that offers itself as an easy target.

The fun they can have with your site is no different than what they can do with big business sites. Their three main reasons for hacking a website is to send out spam email, gain access to your mailing list, credit card information, and other private data, and to install malicious software onto your site or your end user’s computers.

Fallacy #2: You’re doing everything right to stay off Google’s blacklist.

As long as your site is free from malware, you’re safe, right? Except for when you do something wrong, and then Google punishes you for your mistake. When you make a mistake that lands you on its blacklist, your site will be shut down from all traffic. No more business as usual.

These mistakes often involve methods to improve your SEO, but the end result is the opposite. Using clever SEO tactics that turn into the wrath of Google can happen to anyone.

Fallacy #3: Your SHA-1 site is alright with you.

SHA-what, you ask? Because if you knew what SHA-1 was, you wouldn’t be all right with it. Basically, it’s old and decrepit and if it’s not replaced, collision attacks could lead to “catastrophic effects on the security of the internet.”

Here’s an example of what SHA (Secure Hash Algorithm) does. Let’s say you sign in to a website’s login page using your password. SHA-1 might be used to verify that your username and password are authentic. Behind the scenes your password is turned into a secret checksum and compared to the checksum that’s stored on the website. You’re granted access only when the two match.

All sites are being required to update to SHA-2 by the end of 2016 due to the weakness found in its predecessor. Chances are, your site has been changed to SHA-2. Check on shaaaaaaaaaaaaa.com just to be sure.  

Fallacy #4: Your site is safe because it’s WordPress.

WordPress is the largest content management system in the world, with thousands of plugins and widgets written by the community that enhance user experience. Hundreds of people all over the world are working on it, making it as safe and reliable as possible.

The problem is, they can’t make site owners take responsibility and keep their sites’ WordPress version up to date. At any given time, there are tens of thousands of WordPress sites with outdated versions, ripe for the picking by hackers.

It takes these attackers only a few minutes at most, using free automated tools, to find your site’s outdated version and exploit it. WordPress issues updates regularly for good reason. Don’t delay in making the upgrade.

Fallacy #5: I need to download all these plugins and themes because they’re so cool.

The single biggest source of vulnerability to your WordPress site is that nifty plugin you had to have. With over a thousand plugin vulnerabilities at any given time, keeping your plugins updated to their most current version is critical.

Not only that, don’t download plugins that you don’t need. Unnecessary plugins are like storing potatoes and forgetting about them until the smell of decay infests your home.  Either use them and keep them updated, or throw them out.

Fallacy #6: My password is safe and known only to me.

New bruteforce cracking software is available, making 8 million guesses per second in its attempt to crack passwords. Yet the use of common passwords persists, despite the growing threat of cybercrime.

Based on the annual list of worst passwords released in 2015, people are still using passwords that don’t follow the simple formula of CLU: Complex. Long. Unique. Notice #25 on the list: Star Wars. When you think you’re being unique, think again.

Try this password checker to get an idea of how fast some of your old passwords can be cracked. As a precaution, don’t type in anything you’re currently using. You never know who’s watching even the online checkers.

Have trouble dreaming up a strong password? Use a password generator to generate strong unique passwords. A strong password in combination with a password management program like LastPass will help you secure your identity throughout the internet.

Fallacy #7: I’m the administrator of the site, so that should be my username.

Remember those brute force attacks used for cracking passwords? They are also used for getting past your username, since a hacker will need to have both to break in. Making your username “administrator” gives them exactly half of the information they need.

Making your username your actual name is another mistake. If your name is on the site anywhere as a site administrator or contributor, it’s a no-brainer to attempt hacking in using those names as hopeful admin roles.

Last year saw the largest number of cyberattacks recorded around the world, with 230,000 new malware samples produced daily, according to PandaLabs. Website security is never going to be a process of eliminating risk. It’s about reducing risk when full-proof security is unattainable.

Stop making these common mistakes and ditch the fallacies about site security. Take proactive security measures and watch for the next post on what you can do now to fix your site’s security weaknesses.

 

Filed Under: Featured, Kacee's Posts, Security, Tips for a good website

Have Fun With GIFs In Your Marketing

April 15, 2016 Beth Devine

Have fun with GIFsIt all started with emoticons. Then it was online memes. Today, GIFs are more than corny banner ads or headache-inducing social avatars.  The animated GIF is a common staple seen across social media, blogs, and websites.

Like video, GIFs are visual eye candy that will grab your audience’s attention, but their format is short and sweet, only about five to fifteen seconds long. They can be a series of still images or a short video clip that plays over and over again.

They don’t (usually) have audio, giving GIF’s a retro appeal with their silent film feel. Besides, there’s something annoying about repeatedly hearing the same sound, whereas we can watch something many times over without the same aversion.

Images invoke emotional responses, break language barriers, explain complicated ideas, and prompt imagination — all at a glance. Make them come alive with GIFs and you’ve got a riveting story in motion.

Marketers have jumped on the official GIF bandwagon with new ways to use them for stand-out content that delivers its message fast. Why use words alone when a GIF can – literally – stand up and do a jig for you?

5 Ways To Use GIFs In Your Marketing

1. Social Media

Facebook joined the ranks of platforms that support GIFs, along with with Pinterest, Instagram, Tumblr, Twitter, and Google+. Because images generate more likes, reactions, and shares than plain text, posting GIFs makes your content more clickable and increases engagement.

So what are you waiting for? Now that you can easily add a GIF to social media updates, the internet relies even less on words. Why say anything with words when a moving image says it so much better?

2. Blog posts

Why settle for static images when you can boost your blog with GIF-appeal? Follow suit with sites like BuzzFeed and Unbounce and make your posts jump off the page with an occasional GIF.

GIFs give your audience an immediate message. Compared to asking your audience to click on a link or watch a video (which they might not even do), a well-timed GIF doesn’t require asking for anything.

3. Free Ebooks and Whitepapers

Creative use of GIFs can change boring static ebook images into looping graphics of relevant text, charts, and quotes. Spice up your offerings with captivating GIFs instead of settling for the same old inert images.

4. Announce New Features

Anytime you have something new to shout about, whether it’s new software, a new service, or a new product, GIFs are a way to call attention from the rooftops of your corner of the internet. Their instantaneous nature make them effective attention-grabbers.

Attach them to your newsletter, send in an email, or include them on a landing page, in your “About Us” page, or on your home page. They take up less place than posting a series of single static images. 

5. Describe How To Do Things

Have you ever tried to explain something in text but were unable to keep it short and simple with just words? Try making a GIF to describe how you did it.

Whether it’s how you manage your files, a step in your software solution, how to do a quick install, or any quick fix. Think of ways to highlight a key function or feature, such as a series of GIFs demonstrating a short tutorial or illustrating the steps to a process. The sky’s the limit with what you can record into a GIF.

Look for how to make GIFs in the next post.

Filed Under: Featured, Kacee's Posts, Marketing, Tips for a good website, Tools & Tips

What Does Your Online Presence Look Like?

January 22, 2016 Beth Devine

OnlinepresenceDo you have a solid footing for your online presence for 2016? As another year begins to unfold with all its possibilities, once again we are confronted with goals, predictions, trends, expectations, and best-laid plans.

In order to have the competitive advantage, you need to create a strong identity online. To help you succeed in the year ahead, consider these three areas when establishing your online presence.

1. Make a Good First Impression With Your Website

An established business needs a professional website if you want to promote growth. Your site should reflect your current success as well as set you up for further advancement with a strategy that matches your business model. Your first impression is critical in attracting new clients and retaining current ones.

Your main internet tool is your website. Your customers aren’t looking you up in a phone book or the Thomas Register. A continually updated website helps with your SEO, so when people search for you online, they find you.

Does your home page address your customer needs? The immediate message should describe how your customer will benefit from your product or service. This is far more meaningful than an explanation of what the company does, what products and services are offered, and the who and when of the company’s background.

Frame your content around your customers rather than making claims about how great your company is. You’re more likely to elicit skepticism and indifference with self-promotion. Impress your customers with testimonials instead of giving them unsubstantiated claims that falsely inflate your business.

Don’t forget to keep your website updated. A good first impression will be lost if your site gets hacked through plugins that weren’t updated or you’re operating under the misconception that your small business site won’t be targeted.

2. Other Ways to Build Your Online Presence

There are many opportunities to grow your online presence once you’ve established a professional website. Does your business write white papers? Would short videos of your processes or service be of interest to your audience? Do you have a blog for sharing information with your customers? What else will help with your website activity?

When you create compelling content, you’re opening wide the doors to your website. The more you offer, the more your online presence grows. The more good content you share, the more your SEO will improve.

Remember, there’s no such thing as digital writing. Writing for SEO is dead, but writing for the reader is what’s going to help the search engines — and your readers — find you. So give your customers something to search for in addition to a well designed website.

3. Building Relationships on LinkedIn and Social Media

People want to do business with companies that share useful and relevant information. Today’s social media is a giant indicator of how important relationship building is in the business world. And for professionals, the social network is LinkedIn.

With over 380 million members, LinkedIn is growing in its B2B transactions. It’s the place to be for businesses, no matter what your expertise is. Connecting with your contacts just got a lot easier with the updated Voyager app, helping you stay informed about the conversations and content that matter the most.

Search also improved, and is 300% faster for your jobs, people, and group searches.

LinkedIn has also acquired Lynda.com, an online education company that features thousands of online video courses on a wide variety of topics. Employers can see what courses prospective employees have taken, and members can grow their skill sets.

Your online presence is incomplete without social media. Get involved in the online networking community and give your website more internet exposure.

Know Your Audience

Each of these three online areas has an important ingredient in common. To better understand your customers and their needs, all of your online strategies have to include audience awareness. Getting to know your audience’s demographics involves doing some market research. Entrepreneur defines market research as:

The process of gathering, analyzing and interpreting information about a market, about a product or service to be offered for sale in that market, and about the past, present and potential customers for the product or service; research into the characteristics, spending habits, location and needs of your business’s target market, the industry as a whole, and the particular competitors you face.

The ideas you get from your market research will inform your content ideas, helping you to target your audience’s needs. With the right information you’ll be a better online communicator whose online presence will reflect your concern to meet your customer’s needs.

Filed Under: Internet Marketing 101, Kacee's Posts, Tips for a good website, Tools & Tips

Small Businesses Make Big Targets for Hackers

November 20, 2015 Beth Devine

cybercrime
“Out” by bradhoc, used under CC BY / Modified from original

If you’re a small business, don’t be under the illusion that you’re too small for singling out by hackers. You could be one of the growing number of small businesses who have moved into the cyber crime spotlight.

According to Symantec Security Response, 50% of all targeted cyber attacks are on businesses with fewer than 2,500 employees. In 2012, businesses with fewer than 250 employees saw an increase in attacks from 18% to 31% in just one year.

The top businesses and occupations targeted are:

  • Manufacturing –  received the greatest number of attacks in 2012; at 24% of the attacks, they got twice the number as government organizations.
  • Finance, Real Estate, and Insurance – hit with 19% of the attacks.
  • Research and Development – highest target for job occupations at 27%.
  • Sales Representatives – 24% of targeted job occupations.

So what are cyber criminals looking for? When you look at the use of the stolen data, the information tells us they want trade secrets, products plans, and customer and employee data. All your proprietary information that can be used to help competitors gain an advantage or be sold to unscrupulous organizations. Your social security and driver’s license numbers, addresses, credit card numbers, health and financial history, purchase information, and other private details are up for grabs.

The news is continually warning us about data breaches that occur at all levels and includes major retailers, hotel chains, government organizations, and other businesses. In July the headlines were about the breach on government systems affecting 21.5 million people and is related to the previous month’s government breach compromising an additional 4 million with stolen sensitive information.

This government incident is “not without precedent,” and “cybersecurity in both the private sector and the public sector” must be raised, said Michael Daniel, the White House cybersecurity coordinator.

Cybersecurity has been a documented issue going back to 1997. In a cover letter to the President on the Report of the President’s Commission on Critical Infrastructure Protection, it reads, “We did find widespread capability to exploit infrastructure vulnerabilities. The capability to do harm—particularly through information networks—is real; it is growing at an alarming rate; and we have little defense against it.”

So what are we doing about it? What measures should you be taking to protect confidential business data and private personal information?

INTERPOL, the world’s largest international police organization with 190 member countries, is committed to becoming a global coordination body on the detection and prevention of digital crimes. They advise that we do two things to protect our business and personal data.

Update your OpenSSL.

For website owners, it’s important that you have an updated OpenSSL. The Heartbleed vulnerability in encryption software which is used by the majority of online web servers is leaving nearly everyone open to one of the biggest cyberattacks in the internet’s history.

Heartbleed lets its attacker anonymously download a random chunk of memory from the server, including secret keys, passwords, and other personal information. The secret keys are the most problematic because this opens the door for even more secret information to be revealed.

The bug went undiscovered for two years until being uncovered in April of 2014, and it’s predicted that the ripple effects could continue for years. Vulnerable versions are still being used on websites, most likely small e-commerce sites that don’t have the administrative support to patch things up.

If you’re concerned about a website, you can use this handy Heartbleed checking tool to check if it’s vulnerable.

Speaking of updating, keep all your software programs and websites up to date and backed up for added security.

Change your passwords.

INTERPOL says to use unique passwords for each of your online accounts and to change them often. While this may be wise in theory, in reality it’s difficult to carry out. Start by changing important accounts, ones that have financial information on them, for example.

Create strong passwords that are at least eight characters long and use a combination of letters, numbers, and symbols. Don’t use words from the dictionary (the use of symbols comes in handy here) and don’t use personal information that is readily available, such as your name, birth date, or apartment number.

What else can you do? Here are a few more preventative measures to use in protecting yourself from cybercrime.

Get two-factor authentication.

When a site offers this step, use it. If you are a site owner, enable it for your customers and subscribers. One of the largest attacks on banks occurred in 2014 when failure to enact two-factor authentication at one of the bank’s servers caused a weak point in the bank’s security, allowing the hackers to access 90 other servers in their network.

Be careful what you click on.

One of the ways hackers manage to steal information is through infecting your computer. Malware such as remote-control Trojan programs, worms, viruses, and botnets can affect computers using sophisticated techniques.

Spam email, infected files on downloads, and malicious pop-ups and links can all infect your computer, which in turn can be used by hackers to launch DoS attacks or send spam with even more malware.

Always think twice before going to a website that’s unknown to you, and if you do, type a legitimate address in a new browser tab instead of clicking on a suspicious link. Never trust an email from an unknown source.

Put barriers in place.

Utilize the best tech barriers you can afford, like this cloud-based security app for mobile phones. Anyone operating their computer without some serious security software is taking a huge risk. Install and regularly update virus protection and adware/spyware removal software programs to keep malicious applications from invading your privacy.

Good luck — it’s a digital wild west out there.

Filed Under: Featured, Kacee's Posts, Tips for a good website, Website Maintenance

Understanding Creative Commons Licenses Made Easy

September 18, 2015 Beth Devine

free imagesNow that you have new image sources — and even more — that you’ve probably never heard of before, free to use for your blog posts and other creative pursuits, it’s the perfect time for an easy-to-understand explanation of Creative Commons licenses.

Because let’s face it, Creative Commons licensing is almost as difficult to understand at first glance as legalise. Oh, the horrors. Relax and fear not; this is going to be a breeze for even those of you who fear the dreaded clicking on “agree” to lengthy terms and conditions imposed on us with every piece of software we use.

Oh, the jargon. Will it never end? Here it is in common English, complete with my own personal disclaimer: I assume no responsibility for anything legal, even the lack of jargon. (Hint: I am not a lawyer.)

Go to the CC license site for each license deed and legal code for full explanation. If you really want to roll up your shirtsleeves, click here for a handy License Versions chart that compares all the different licenses.

But first, a little trick from Creative Commons. All CC licenses require attribution. To help you with remembering this, start with a simple acronym. Think “TASL” for Title, Author, Source, License. This handy mnemonic device means thinking about a bunch of threads hanging from a knob. How hard can it be?

The next time you’re wondering what to do for image attribution, ask yourself:

  • What’s the title of the image? (If there is one, include it.)
  • Who’s the author or owner of the image? The word “creator” would be better, but then that would mess up the acronym.
  • Where can the source be found? This is usually a URL or hyperlink to the image.
  • What’s the license of the image? There are now eight different Creative Commons licenses, so name it and create a hyperlink to its Creative Commons license page.

There are good ways to do this, and not so good ways. The good ways are all going to clear the TASL-minimum. Did you know that including the title is only a requirement for CC license versions 3.0 or earlier? And it’s optional for 4.0? Go with TASL and you’ll be covered.

On with understanding the Creative Commons licenses:

attribution

Attribution License

For this attribution only license, give the creator of the image the correct attribution by following TASL. You can use the image however you want, distribute it, and make changes to it for both commercial and non-commercial use. Indicate if you’ve modified the work from the original in your attribution.

attributionnon-derivs

Attribution-NoDerivs License

This is the same as the attribution except for the one all-important difference. You can’t modify the image in any way, including cropping, changing color, and adding text. It must remain in its original, unaltered condition in order to use it for any purpose you want, and with all the TASL requirements.

attribution

non-commercial

non-derivs

Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs License

This license allows you to share the image for non-commercial purposes only, but that’s it. No altering it in any way. The TASL still stands, so don’t forget to give attribution to the original creator.

attribution

non-commercial

Attribution-NonCommercial License

This is similar to the attribution only license except you aren’t allowed to use it commercially. Remember the TASL requirements, give attribution to original creator, and use the images only in a non-commercial way. You are allowed to modify the image, just be sure to indicate you’ve done so.

attributionnon-commercial

share alike

Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike License

You can use the image, manipulate it in any way, but only for non-commercial uses. You need to give attribution to the original author. The one caveat here is that the share alike gives you rights to the new work you created when you changed it. Your new, altered work carries the same license, which means others can again alter the image, etc. .

attribution

share alike

Attribution-ShareAlike License

Can you guess what this one is by now? You must give proper attribution, manipulate the image in any way for either commercial or non-commercial use. The same share alike portion applies, giving you the same license should you build upon the image, and anyone else who builds upon your new work.

Public Domain Dedication (CC0)

This is a new addition to Flickr’s licensing, a popular free image source. This particular licensing carries the CCO or “CC Zero” restrictions, meaning zero restrictions. There are “No Rights Reserved” and no copyright restrictions. Feel free to make changes, even for commercial use, no attribution or permissions needed. Thank you very much, Flickr.

Public Domain Mark

Also new to Flickr, this license carries no known restrictions under copyright law. Go ahead and modify and distribute it as you wish, commercial purposes included, no permission or attribution required. See other information as noted in license.

Your Creative Commons 101 course is now over. It’s up to you to stay informed, follow the requirements, and be a happy image sharer.

 

Filed Under: Featured, Kacee's Posts, Tips for a good website, Tools & Tips

Tips for Thinking Up Blog Content for Small Businesses

July 19, 2015 Beth Devine

blog content for small businesses
“Amelia cat” by brownpau, used under CC BY / Modified from original

Small businesses who blog are ahead of their competition. A small business owner with a blog generates 126% more lead growth than those who don’t, according to a HubSpot study on 2,300 customers.

Kudos to you if you’re already a blogging. If you’re not blogging yet, then what are you waiting for? Here are some tips for generating blog content to help you get started, or to jump start some idea brainstorming.

Use Your Customer’s Questions

You’re so close to this one, it’s easy to miss. Like when my mom used to say, “If it was a snake, it would’ve bit you.” You’re looking right at one of your easiest blog topics every time a customer asks you a question.

Your blog is not for you, it’s for your customers. When you use their questions, you’re helping them solve a problem. What better way to show you’re listening and you care about your customer’s concerns than to give them the answers.

At the same time, you could be giving them new insights about your business that helps you stand out.

Use the Don’t-Do-This Tactic

We all make mistakes. But we’d rather not. Use your blog posts to provide ways to avoid common pitfalls related to your business. Think of current issues that plague your customers and write about how to eliminate them.

Tie in your services or products, but only in a very non-promotional manner. Blog posts aren’t for hard selling. Use your blog to increase awareness on problems and topics that your business is designed to handle. Write about the failures and struggles you’ve encountered in your business that could help your readers.

Share your stories in a way that gives your visitors a look-see into your business, but doesn’t toot your horn. When you give answers with a don’t-do-this approach to problems, you’re also demonstrating your authority on a subject.

The next time your visitor has a question or concern, they know where they can go for some help.

Spy On Your Competitors for Ideas

If you are aware of what your competition is doing, you’ll be more prepared to advance your own blog strategy. If your competition appears to be making a mistake, avoid doing the same blunder. If they’re doing something fabulous, think of how you can try to outdo their efforts.

Spying on your competitors is easy with free tools to analyse their data. With SEMrush, you can discover new competitors, what their best keywords are, and what they’re using for display advertising, organic and paid search, and link building.

Another handy tool is Buzzsumo. You can do a quick search on key phrases or terms to see how content that’s related to your industry is doing. You can also find out who the top influencers are in a particular niche to further your idea-generating spy efforts.

If Sherlock had been internet savvy, he would applaud your genius.

Research Keyword Terms

If you want to blog about something relevant to your business, Google Adwords Keyword Tool is a great way for discovering the keywords and keyword phrases internet surfers are using to search for your product or service. Google Webmaster Tools shows you the keyword queries being used to find your site, so you can check to see if you’re on the right track.

Try using these keywords terms for your blog title, subheading, and in your meta tags, as well as to generate ideas for your blog content.

Build on a Good Quote

No need to reinvent the wheel when there are reams of quotables out there. Use a quote to inspire your next post, making sure to credit the source.

Search a particular topic or person using the word quote after the search term. Visit Bartleby.com for thousands of quotations from famous authors, Goodreads for more recent quotables, or Google Book Search for references to books of interest for quotes.

You can build your entire post around a particular quote. Quotes from famous people and industry leaders will inspire your readers as well as your writing.

The Official Blog Post Ideas Generator

Matthew Loomis of Build Your Own Blog has created the Blog Post Ideas Generator, a terrific free tool to help you think of blog post ideas when your brain is failing you. It can help small businesses get creative when in a crunch. Try it out; it’s fun!

Loomis also has a bunch of videos for WordPress users to help you get started blogging. Helpful tutorials include creating an about page in minutes, installing a plugin, and changing font and background color.

However you do it, do it with your own distinct flair. Find a way to communicate using your own voice, giving your blog some personality. Blog those ideas of yours with something besides textbook-speak so your readers will know you’re human.

Filed Under: Featured, Kacee's Posts, Tips for a good website, Website Writing Tips

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