Have you recently launched your business start up website but have little to no visitors at all?

Did you spend time choosing your website colours? Or writing blog posts? Or even spent hundreds of pounds on a big-shot website designer?

But now you have launched no one is looking?

You have no readers?

Your website is quiet and you are starting to doubt yourself?

Should I just quit? Am I a failure? Why did I ever bother?

Well I have good news for you.

To begin with you don’t need to quit. There are over a billion websites on the internet and yours is just one. But don’t let that put you off trying hard to get your website noticed!

I’ve included a list of my top 3 tips for instant online visibility for any business start up that you need to start applying so your website can get noticed on the World Wide Web. 

Web Design

You may have already designed your website and this may be an obvious tip but it’s still a very common mistake. Your website design should be what your target audience wants and what is associated within your industry. Have you picked the wrong colours and design for your website? Check out your competition and other industry leader’s websites. This will help you to get clear on the common colours related to your industry.

When choosing your website colours choose only two or three. You need to have one main colour and one or two accent colours. Look at this website for example the main background colour is white and the secondary colours are blue and a little green.

Lastly have clear navigation buttons so visitors can find what they need and want quickly.

Achieving the right layout and web design for your audience helps to keep readers on your website for longer periods.

“How Does This Help?”

Google analyses how long visitors stay on your site and what pages they visited. This information is partially used to rank your website in their search engine and to determine the value of your site.

Websites that are full of advertisements and spam tend to be quickly clicked away from by the reader which tells Google that the website doesn’t maintain any value because no one stays there!

By creating a user friendly website you will encourage your readers to stay for longer periods of time. This helps to boost your website ranking which grows online visibility.  

“How Can I Create This?”

• Easy Navigation Buttons

There is nothing more frustrating than when you are on a website and you can’t find exactly what you want!

Ensure your navigation buttons are in clear view just like the buttons on this website. They are a permanent fixture on the left hand side and coloured in a different shade of blue which means they stand out a little bit more.  Your navigation buttons should include a Home, About and Contact page. You can add in additional pages depending on your niche and customer needs.

• Skim-Ability

With the majority of people now using mobile devices to access the internet they usually don’t have time to spend hours (sometimes even minutes) reading through lengthy web pages. Make sure your about page, blog posts and home page are easy to read and can be scanned over.

Include sub headings, bullets points and break up the content so it’s easy to simply skim over as well as read through the entire thing.

• Colour and Ad Control

 Unless your niche commonly uses extremely bright, loud colours I would avoid this. Overly bright colours can become distracting and even make a customer click away if your website colours become annoying.

The biggest mistakes I see on websites are sales adverts that flash, move and contain hyped up promotion prices. There is nothing wrong with the odd advert but make sure it doesn’t take over your website and is relevant your business start up. For example if you sell a mobile dog grooming service your adverts could advertise dog accessories and clothes.

 Social Media

Since the birth of Facebook there are many social media companies out there, but to join and manage them all would be pointless and time consuming. To improve your business start up visibility, choose the social networks your audience mainly uses and are most relevant to your business.

If your target audience needs to visually see your products then social media networks that mainly use images will get you more online visibility. For example if you sell jewelry, clothes, art or furniture the best social media networks would be Pinterest and Instagram where customers can see your work. If you sell EBooks, Audios or mentoring services then Twitter would be the best option as you can use catchy, short sentences to promote your products.

If your business means that you are regularly in contact and communication with other businesses then LinkedIn would be best for business to business connections.

Always choose the social networks your target audience prefers, but don’t neglect the most popular. Facebook is still the reigning champion for the most popular social networking sites, so you should still open and maintain a Facebook account because your customers are likely to have one too.

When creating a profile on any social media account be clear on the purpose of your business and include your main keywords for your business within the profile.

Adding keywords in your profile helps the users to find you. And don’t forget to add a website link that directs users to your website.

Stay in Contact

The biggest social media networks easily push out over a billion messages every day. If you don’t stay in regular contact with your followers you will easily be forgotten. The best way to maintain daily contact with your audience is to use a social media automation tool where you can plan, time and schedule exactly when and how often you want your message sent out (and to what account). I personally use BufferApp but there are many others to choose from.

RELATED: How to Find Your Ideal Client on Social Media

Calls to Action

When messaging your followers add in ‘calls to action’. A ‘call to action’ is a short statement where you ask the reader to perform a certain action. This could be to ‘Retweet This Tweet’ or ‘Sign up to the Newsletter’ or ‘Like This’ or even to ‘Buy Now’. Not all your messages need a call to action and not all your ‘calls to action’ should be about buying.

RELATED: Social Media in 30 Minutes a Day – Is It Really Possible?

“How does this help?”

Google is starting to rank and determine the value of a website by how strong a social media following and presence that website has. The more your business is shared, ‘Tweeted’ and ‘Liked’ the better Google will rank your site and increase visibility in its search engine. 

Blogging

Google uses their very own tech spiders and robots to crawl the majority of websites on the Internet to check for updated information which helps them decide where to rank you. The easiest way to add new information regularly to your website is to blog. Blogging is similar to just writing articles which are added to a file on your site.

RELATED: How to Get Your Blog Post Shared 1000 Times.

“How Does This Help?”

Blogging helps add more pages to your website which also improves ranking because Google uses the amount of pages contained on a website to decide rank position.

But if you have never blogged before you might be thinking…

“How do I write?”

“What do I write about?”

“Will anyone really be reading it?”

The best way to get better at blogging is to practice often. Publish a new post at least once a month.

To know what to write about just think about common problems within your industry or use your blog to respond to questions that your customers ask/email you about.

Finally your blog will be read by your target audience and this helps them to see you as an industry leader and a valuable resource.

Conclusion

As I’m sure you have realised a strong element to gaining online visibility is following Google’s guidelines. No one knows exactly how Google decides where or how to rank websites but all the methods listed above are all tested and proven methods.

Your journey to improving your online visibility will include further education about Google and to ensure you stay updated with the latest changes in the rules and regulations about how they rank.

A great resource is Matt Cutts’ Blog. Matt Cutts is the head of Google’s Web spam Team and he regularly uploads videos and blog posts about how Google will be ranking your site.

Let Denise and me know what you’re doing to gain online visibility for your business start up. Please leave your comments below.

photo credit: nico.cavallotto via photopin cc

The post 3 Top Tips for Instant Online Visibility for Any Business Start Up appeared first on Adventures in Visibility.

Today is my 10 Year Blogiversary!

Over the past ten years there have been intermittent reports that blogging is dead. I’m not sure where those rumors come from, but in my experience blogging is anything but dead.

September 28 is the anniversary of the date I started blogging. That was in 2004 and I built my first blog in about an hour or so on TypePad (now defunct).  This blog was set up in 2011. And there have been quite a few others that have come and gone depending on the purpose and project. Today, my focus is here and on The Future of Ink, co-founded with Ellen Britt.

While platforms have evolved, tools have come and gone, design has become more sophisticated, security precautions are a must, and blogs have become more visually appealing, one thing hasn’t changed…

…the blog publishers that are enjoying longevity are consistent and constantly churning out great content that engages, educates, and entertains  their audience.

I started using the Internet as a marketing tool in 1996. I started my first blog in 2004. There wasn’t much social media – Facebook didn’t open up to the general public until 2006 and LinkedIn had just launched in May 2003 – so the ease of setting up a website (blog) without a web guy started breaking down barriers. Small and solo businesses could easily publish content that would help them get found by their target audience in search results. 

The playing field was beginning to level.

Recently I asked the folks in my social networks and on my email list to fill out a short survey about how long they’ve known me and where they follow me. The results were enlightening.

 Of those who responded, 73% have known me for a couple of years or longer. In the remarks, many said “since your Blog Squad days” which were from 2004-2008.

Then I wanted to know we were connected online:

If you’re one of those who has been following me and my blogs “forever”, give me a shoutout in the comments so I can say “hi”!

This isn’t a scientific survey and in this question, people could select all sites that apply. Still, interesting to note is that more people connect with me through my blog than on any social network. My business would not be where it is today if I had not started a blog. Blogging isn’t dead!

Blogs come and go. Blogs evolve and change to serve different purposes. In the end though, as I have said for 10 years, your blogsite needs to be the centerpiece of your online presence. Nurture it, serve your audience and your business will grow.

Now, as I did last year, I want to celebrate you and your blog! A couple years back I hosted Brag About Your Blog Day on my Facebook page. Today, it’s back! You can share on Facebook or

Post the name and URL of your blog in the comments below.

NOTE: you must include http:// before the URL so the link is clickable.

Then Share with your friends so they can get some blog luv too!

Blog on!

P.S. have questions about how to improve your blog? Click here to get your burning questions answered.

The post Who Said Blogging is Dead? Celebrating 10 Years of Blogging appeared first on Adventures in Visibility.

Today, it’s a different story. Yet, during consults with clients, I’m frequently asked how to get more traffic and visitors to new blog posts. The infographic below, created by Ian Cleary of RazorSocial and Canva, will help.

There is a belief by many online entrepreneurs that they cannot share their own posts. WRONG! Yes, I’m saying that if you believe that, it’s wrong. You can and should share your blog posts. Don’t wait and hope others will share it for you. Start the ball rolling…

The first thing you need to do after publishing your post is to use the social sharing buttons on the post, to share with your own social networks. It’s OK. The blog promotion police won’t come after you, I promise. 

One of the sharing tools Ian Cleary recommends is Triberr. I agree and also recommend Social Buzz Club. Both are communities of bloggers that rely on reciprocity among members with complementary subjects, to share content and drive traffic.

I’m a member of both sites and get dozens of shares and lots of traffic from the communities. If you’re interested in joining my Online Visibility Tribe on Triberr, let me know in the comments and I’ll invite you. 

Now it’s your turn. What your top tip for getting your blog posts shared? 

The post How to Get Your Blog Post Shared 1000 Times [#Infographic] appeared first on Adventures in Visibility.

With that said, we all have room for improvement. If we’re taking the time to create this content, why not get more return on our efforts?

Here are nine ways that I’ve used to improve blog performance and get better results from my content creation efforts. You can integrate these into your blogging efforts right away!

1. Reader Attracting Headlines

After you write a headline, ask yourself. Is it compelling or dull? What can be done to make it more intriguing, interesting or engaging? Turn that post about “The Best Way To Remodel Your Bathroom” into “8 Tips For Remodeling Your Bathroom (With Less Tears and Cost)”.

2. Proactively link to your old posts in any new posts

Bridge the gap (for your readers) between your new posts and your old ones. Referencing previous posts with links in the text of your new posts allows readers to go deeper into a related topic. They’ll stay on your site longer and they’ll share more of your old posts in social media. So while you create each new post, proactively find opportunities to link to your previous work.

3. Make your best old content more discoverable

Providing content discovery vehicles is a challenge for all bloggers. Your old posts quickly fade from view. Consider creating a “top posts” section in your sidebar with links to the ones you want to feature. Or, you can create a “Start Here” menu item at the top or on the side bar that has a collection of your top posts. I’ve even created guides like my “Ultimate Business Blogging Guide” that is a blog post that includes many of my top posts on various topics. Be creative about helping readers discover your best posts.

4. Share your best old content in social media

Another way to maximize all of your efforts includes occasionally sharing your older evergreen posts in Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest or LinkedIn. Evergreen posts are those that never get “old” in terms of the value they provide. My favorite tool for sharing old posts is to utilize Buffer. I load in some of my older posts or even guest posts (like this one) and allow Buffer to schedule and share them out. I use Buffer mainly for Twitter (and do the other sites manually).

5. Leverage your contacts for content

Make your blog a team vs. an individual sport! Ask some of your trusted colleagues if they’d be interested in contributing a post to your blog. Obviously the benefits for them include the fact that you’ll promote it and provide a link to their site. Make sure the quality is high (so reserve the right to edit it as needed).

Another way to get fresh content from your contacts is to interview someone who would be of interest to your audience. You can summarize the notes (in a compelling way) and/or provide a recording on your site.

6. Make sure your calls to action are clear, strong and focused

[pullquote position=”right”]With each post, you should have a strategic call to action that supports your business goals.[/pullquote] Whether it’s a invitation to a webinar, an invitation for a free consultation or to get updates from you in Facebook. Make sure you don’t provide too many different calls to action and that your important ones are clear and visible.

7. Commit to consistency

Nothing’s worse than finding a blog that is updated daily for a week, then weekly for a month, then every six months or so. Commit to a reasonable schedule, stick to it and give yourself a break every once in a while when things get busy. Just make sure you come back and post after that little break!

8. Don’t get stuck in a content rut

Guess what?? Blog content doesn’t just have to be the same type of post, written the same way, day in and day out. Mixing up post types, formats and media types can keep you interested and can keep your reader’s engaged. I mix in written posts of different lengths, different post structures, pictures, video, infographics and slideshares (amongst others).

9. Understand where your blog fits in your sales process

Last, but not least. Make sure you understand the role that your blog plays in your sales process. Are you using the content here to pull visitors from social media, the web (via SEO) and possibly via your email list to your blog? Where do they go from there? Do you have a clear sales process laid out on paper that shows where your blog fits in?

Learn my sales process in the upcoming “Purpose Driven Content” Webinar hosted by Denise. It’s Wednesday, April 24 at 10:00 am Pacific Time and you can register for free here!

The post 9 Ways to Improve Your Business Blog’s Performance Overnight appeared first on Adventures in Visibility.

The last few days I’ve been thinking about how I can support you, the small or solo business owner, so you can attract more customers and clients, not just today, but throughout 2013 and beyond.

One of the biggest problems I see for small businesses is a poor online presence, specifically, a poorly optimized blog.

Your business blog is one of the most powerful marketing tools you have to attract organic and social traffic so you can educate and inform prospects, build your email list and convert visitors to customers.

To help you out, I’ve decided to offer my signature business blog review at a 50% discount, for two days only. Once you’ve submitted your payment, you can schedule your blog review anytime between Monday and December 30, 2012.

You get a one on one 75-minute review, recorded on video where I show you step by step how to optimize your business blog.

You’ll learn how to:

• Drive more traffic to your blog
• Optimize your blog posts so readers stay longer
• Get more comments
• Build up your blog subscriptions
• Optimize the look of your blog
• Create content that informs, educates and inspires
• Write better headlines
• Add content to sidebars that promote your business
• Link to other sites and why it’s important

I can take only 10 9 clients on at this one-time only 50% discount, so it’s first come, first served.

Click on this link to reserve your blog review.

Use code SMALLBIZ to save 50% [Discount available November 24 & 25 only, until all 10 8 spots have been booked.]

I look forward to supporting your success going into 2013…Blog on!

P.S. Remember this rare offer is only available for two days and limited to 10 8 people [use coupon code SMALLBIZ].

The post Is It Time to Tune-up Your Business Blog? appeared first on Adventures in Visibility.