Open Links Away From Your Website in a New Browser Window
When you do link to other websites, also referred to as external linking, and give people a path to leave your website, use the new browser window option which will leave your website in the background. [LINK] (43)
Best Instagram Image Sizes to Use
Here are the best image sizes to use at Instagram, courtesy of LousieM.com. [LINK]
Will Posting to Facebook and Instagram Improve My Rankings at Google?
Probably not as much as you’d think. Maybe not at all. [LINK]
Terms You Should Know – Backlinks
Backlinks are links from other websites that point to your website. I often refer to them as “inbound links” because I think that more accurately represents what they are. [LINK]
WordPress 101 – Keeping WordPress Up-to-date
WordPress is a powerful content management system (CMS) that can be used to build great websites. WordPress is popular because it is fairly easy-to-use and manage, which can drive down costs. There are alternatives to WordPress, but each has its pros and cons. [LINK]
The Three “C’s” of Social Media Marketing
Today I’m talking about Facebook and Instagram, but the same information applies to any other social media that you may be using. [LINK]
Use QR Codes to Drive Traffic to Your Website (or Special Offers)
QR codes, otherwise known as Quick Response Codes, are those weird-looking little square images that people can “scan” or take a picture of using their smartphone. [LINK]
Run & Test Special Offer Advertisements at Facebook & Instagram
I like to use Facebook and Instagram advertising as traffic building tool that drives targeted people [LINK]
Create a LinkedIn Profile and Company Page
Linkedin, owned by Microsoft, is the world’s largest professional network with nearly 660+ million users in more than 200 countries and territories worldwide. [LINK]
Turn On Google My Business Performance Reports (and notifications)
If you have claimed your Google My Business profile, and I hope you have, you can turn on a monthly Google My Business Performance Report that will automatically be sent to you via email. [LINK]
Create an Infographic
People love INFOGRAPHICS and when they go viral it can create tremendous long-lasting online visibility for your company, brand, products, and services. [LINK]
Email Marketing: Responsive Design Newsletters
Responsive website design is an Internet Marketing Best Practice, but let’s not forget responsive email newsletters. [LINK]
Common Social Media Marketing Mistakes: Forgetting to Put Links in Your Facebook Posts
Avoid this common problem I see far too often on Facebook Business Pages. Forgetting to put links in your Facebook posts. [LINK]
How Fast Does Your Website Load (aka Hosting Performance)
Slow-loading websites are the #1 reason people leave. People will not wait for your page to load, I guarantee it. You probably have less than 5 seconds for your full home page to load. Some say it’s 3 seconds! Here is how you can test the load speed of your website for free [LINK]
Open Links Away From Your Website in a New Browser Window
When you do link to other websites, also referred to as external linking, and give people a path to leave your website, use the new browser window option which will leave your website in the background. [LINK] (43)
Email Marketing Basics
EMAIL marketing is “push” marketing. Unlike your website, blog, or Facebook page, email marketing allows you to PUSH your message to your subscribers when you want to. The power of push marketing with email is virtually unmatched by any other online marketing technique. [LINK]
SEO Basics: Get More Inbound Links to Your Website
Google looks very favorably at links from other websites to your website, also known as “inbound links.” [LINK]
SEO Basics: Understanding Two Important Meta Tags (Google Search Engine Optimization)
There is more to search engine optimization (SEO) than meta tag optimization, but properly written and optimized meta tags are definitely one of the fundamental building blocks required to get a website and its pages top ranked at Google. [LINK]
Build an Email List
Email marketing may be the most powerful of all Internet marketing tools and comparatively generate the best and most consistent ROI [LINK]
How to Get Traffic Reports from Google Analytics Without Logging In
You don’t have to login to Google Analytics to get reports, here’s how you do it. [LINK] (38)
Forget About WWW
You should no longer need to use www in front of your domain name. This is helpful particularly in print where you may have limited space. For example: newspaper advertising, magazine advertising, or on business cards. [LINK] (37)
Website Design (Content) – About Page
Your “story” should be incorporated throughout your brand, but an About page at your website is a great launching point. [LINK]
Know Your Google Bounce Rate
If you use Google Analytics (and you should be) it calculates what Google calls a “Bounce Rate.” Bounce Rate it is an important number to know and will tell you if people are coming to your website and immediately leaving, or staying and looking around. [LINK]
Show Up Higher in Local Search – Understanding NAP
NAP is an Internet Marketing Best Practice that will improve your online visibility at Google, create authority and trust (two VERY important SEO factors), and help your Google rankings. [LINK]
Favorite Internet Marketing Tools: ProWriting Aid
One of the tools that I use when writing is ProWriting Aid. It is super easy to use, offers a free version, and helps me polish my content. [LINK]
Email Signatures
An often-overlooked opportunity that supports new customer acquisition, as well as existing customer retention, is the effective use of an email signature. [LINK]
Website Design – Frequently Asked Questions Page
One of the most powerful pages at your website is a Frequently Asked Questions page, otherwise known as a FAQ page. [LINK]
Use Hashtags in Your Facebook Posts
Hashtags are commonly associated with Instagram posts, but they can also be used in your Facebook posts. Using them will help you extend your reach and visibility at Facebook. [LINK]
Monitor Your Website Hosting Performance (for free)
Another Internet Marketing Best Practice is to monitor the performance of your website hosting server and be notified if your website becomes unavailable. [LINK]
5 Easy & Smart WordPress Best Practices
These five WordPress Best Practices will help you keep your WordPress built website up and running properly, secure, and safe. [LINK]
WordPress Backup & Disaster Recovery
The popularity of WordPress has also made it a target for hackers who exploit unprotected and out-of-date WordPress websites. [LINK]
Favorite Internet Marketing Tools – Password Management
Today virtually all the tools we use to manage our Internet marketing are online and require a login and password. It’s super dangerous to use the same password across multiple accounts and doing so sets you up for trouble. [LINK]
Chunking Content
Chunking your website content, email newsletter content, and social posts, makes it easier for people to read and comprehend. It makes it easier to read on mobile devices and leads to better conversion. [LINK]
Active Blogging Gives You Competitive Advantage
Like most things that consistently create positive results, blogging takes a bit of time and effort, probably more than most want to invest. Yet this is a mistake. [LINK]
Show Up Higher in Local Search – Understanding NAP
NAP is an Internet Marketing Best Practice that will improve your online visibility at Google, create authority and trust (two VERY important SEO factors), and help your Google rankings. [LINK]
How to Use a Facebook Business Page to Drive More Traffic to Your Website
Using links properly in your Facebook posts is a powerful strategy to drive more traffic to your website. [LINK]
Proactively Plan for 404 Errors at Your Website
404 errors create a poor user-experience and hurt conversion. 404 errors are problematic primarily for three reasons. [LINK]
Favorite Internet Marketing Tools – Email Receipt Notifications
Knowing if someone that you sent an email message to received it and opened it can be very valuable information. [LINK]
Recommended Website Hosting Provider
I previously hosted at Hostgator using their shared business plan. I’ve also use Go Daddy for hosting. I experienced a lot of issues with Go Daddy and I’d stay as far away from them as possible for hosting. Their domain registration services are fine, it’s the hosting that’s a problem based on my experience. Stay away from Network Solutions also. [LINK]
Create and Use a Post-Inquiry Landing Page
A post-inquiry landing page is a page that someone is redirected to AFTER filling out the inquiry form on your website. Post-inquiry landing pages will help you improve conversion and close more sales. [LINK]
Get More Testimonials Easily (try this)
To get more testimonials you are going to have to assertively ASK FOR THEM. Here is how I get 99.9% of my testimonials and reviews. [LINK]
Get More “Google Love” Using a Sitemap
The more Google knows about your business website the more likely it is to look at it favorably, increase its overall visibility, and ultimately reward it with better rankings (assuming you are also using SEO best practices). [LINK]
Consider Using an Auto-Responder for Quick Initial Follow-ups to Website Inquiries
[INTERNET MARKETING BEST PRACTICES] An auto-responder can be a very powerful tool that allows you to automatically and quickly respond to the people who make an inquiry at your website. [LINK]
Use Reviews More Effectively (and here is how!)
[INTERNET MARKETING BEST PRACTICES] Everyone has the fear of making the wrong decision. Here is how to address this in your marketing communication (MARCOM). [LINK]
Shorter Inquiry Forms Work Better Than Long Inquiry Forms
[INTERNET MARKETING BEST PRACTICES] As you might guess, or have experienced yourself, it’s far more challenging to fill out a LONG website form when you’re visiting a website using a mobile device. [LINK]
Use Geo-targeted Hashtags at Instagram
[INTERNET MARKETING BEST PRACTICES] While broadly used hashtags certainly have value, equally valuable, and arguably even MORE valuable, are geo-targeted hashtags. [LINK]
Perform a Quarterly Review of What Your Competition is Doing Online
[INTERNET MARKETING BEST PRACTICES] One of the best things you can do to optimize your own Internet marketing is to find, review, and then watch what your competitors are doing online. [LINK]
Use Google Bounce Rate to Analyze Website Effectiveness
[INTERNET MARKETING BEST PRACTICES] If you use Google Analytics (and you should be) it will give you what is known as a “Bounce Rate.” It is an important number to know and it will tell you if people are coming to your website and immediately leaving, or staying. [LINK]
Facebook Insights
[INTERNET MARKETING BEST PRACTICES] Facebook Insights is a valuable tool that will give you valuable information into the success of your Facebook business page. [LINK]
Responsive Website Design
[INTERNET MARKETING BEST PRACTICES] Responsive websites deliver the BEST VISITOR EXPERIENCE no matter what browsing device is. [LINK]
Secured Website Hosting (https://)
[INTERNET MARKETING BEST PRACTICES] Encrypted data makes it more difficult for hackers to hijack and steal data that is moving across the Internet. Why should you care? [LINK]
Carefully Integrate Your Offline Marketing with Your Online Marketing
[INTERNET MARKETING BEST PRACTICES] Print advertising including direct mail isn’t dead, but things sure have changed. [LINK]
Optimize and/or Improve Your Call-to-Action (CTA)
[INTERNET MARKETING BEST PRACTICES] “Chris, we launched a new and what we thought would be an improved website three months ago but we really aren’t seeing better results. Inquiries have actually gone down with the new website and we are not sure why?” [LINK]
3 Must Use Google Tools (that are free)
[INTERNET MARKETING BEST PRACTICES] The right tools make a challenging job easier. These three FREE tools from Google will help you monitor, manage, and get better results from your website and Internet marketing. [LINK]
Use More Social Proof to Get More Inquiries & Close More Sales
[INTERNET MARKETING BEST PRACTICES] Not to be confused with social media, social proof is the use of reviews, testimonials, awards, and membership in professional associations in your Internet marketing. [LINK]
Claim and Configure Your Google My Business Profile
[INTERNET MARKETING BEST PRACTICES] One of the easiest and most effective ways to get more visibility for your business at Google is to use one of my favorite Internet marketing tools – Google My Business (formerly Google Places, formerly Google Maps). [LINK]
Post Consistently to Your Social Media Channels
[INTERNET MARKETING BEST PRACTICES] Regardless of the social media channels you use to promote your business you can count on better results if you POST CONSISTENTLY. Using social media most effectively has many benefits. [LINK]
Three Reasons To Register (Buy) Extra Domains
There are three reasons to buy EXTRA domains. I’m talking about domains other than your main domain. If you aren’t buying them for one of these reasons, then you probably don’t need them.
