Small business owners on a tight budget are often tempted by the cheap prices of inexperienced web designers or the opportunities presented by tech-savvy family members. Unfortunately my firm has recently fixed a lot of problems caused by the creation of what we refer to as backyard websites.

If you’re serious about your business but don’t know much about the web here’s what you should consider when choosing someone to build your website:

• Has this person done a number of other business websites before?
  If so, have a look at them and ask other people what they think. Typical mistakes of an inexperienced developer include flashing or blinking text, dark coloured backgrounds with white text and blurry photos. If they have no previous experience with businesses, I strongly suggest you look for another developer.
• How much will the website cost?
  This might be a really simple consideration, but I strongly advise you to get a quote in writing which outlines what you will get. Websites are custom written, so be aware if you make lots of changes this will be more expensive. Your quote should detail how much extra changes will cost, and what warrants a chargeable extra.
• Will the website be search engine friendly?
  Many less-reputable website developers don’t know much about internet marketing, so this is a sure fire way to find out if they’re worth their money! Everyone wants their site included in Google, and your web developer needs to know what stops the search engines from good rankings.

This article appeared in the April edition of In Touch In Business magazine.

Website statistics are an endless source of joy, wonder and mystery. Many website operators love to look at them, check the totals, admire the rises and lament the falls. They are the most important tool in online marketing toolbox. Carefully analysing a website’s statistical data allows unique and acute insight unparalleled by any other media. Through understanding the statistics a website can be in a constant state of improvement based on measured, proven observations.

All web hosting companies have statistics software running on the websites they host, so first thing to do is find out how to access these. Hosting stats are often very basic, and sometimes lack the detailed information required for a thorough analysis, but they’re good enough to get started.

Most people are keen to see how many people have visited their website, and are often shocked at how high the number is! The number which is most interesting to look for is the number of unique visitors that have visited a website. This number represents the people visiting a website within a given timeframe, usually a month. By comparing the number of unique visitors for each month over the course of a year seasonal trends can easily be seen allowing comparison with the same season in previous years.

Keywords are the next most exciting part of website statistics. These are the words people have typed into a search engine to find a website. Compare these against a list of desired keywords to see where the website might need more optimisation and content.

The most startling thing about examining a keywords stats list for the first time is that for most websites 80% of the traffic comes from keywords that have only been searched once, or twice. It is this reason that internet marketing experts encourage businesses to include more pages on a website, and to write articles, newsletters and blogs in order to capture the many highly relevant website visitors who search for niche and specific things.

Search engines and link partners which have sent visitors to a website are referrers. Most businesses will see Google as their top referrer, and this reflect Google’s position as having the lion share of search traffic within Australia. Websites which have unique content, and have actively sought quality link partners will see many websites in their referrer lists.

Quick Statistical Analysis

Monitor keywords by grouping them into themes. Compare the performance of these themes between months, checking changes against the number of enquiries, bookings or sales the website received. Using this method will quickly establish which themes are the ones that make money.

Monitor referring websites that deliver significant amounts of traffic and observe fluctuations. This is particularly important where online advertising is being paid for. Consider talking to referring webmasters about fluctuations in traffic, especially if a spike in sales has been experienced during this period. In the same way, pay close attention to new websites that have recently become referrers.

When comparing analyses to previous years, be sure to check against the season to observe trends.

Acting On Analysis

Sometimes analysing stats reveal the website advertising that isn’t working. Ensure you check how much traffic you’re receiving from any paid advertising and report this to sales staff when you’re asked to renew your advertising. Don’t be swayed by any numbers of ‘hits’ or visitors the website might claim to receive. What matters is how much traffic you receive from the advertising.

Changes in country demographic groups are easy to monitor, and quite interesting to investigate. Check to ensure website customers match target demographics of the business, otherwise changes to the website text might be in order.

Observing which keywords are working well, and which you don’t have a presence for. Specifically target the flagging keywords by improving the text content of the website. The search engines will only rank a website for words which exist strongly within the text.

A cleaver way to use stats is to identify downward or upward changes in traffic that will cause an unexpected change in sales trends. This allows for the swift introduction of pay-per-click advertising to boost sales numbers, where necessary.

Statistics Software

While hosting stats are quick and easy, many people prefer the deeper information that can be gathered from beefy statistics software such as Google Analytics.

Google’s software is completely free to use and install, and has strong customisable features which allow you to exactly track sales and enquiries to the city of origin, the keywords searched for within a search engine or the referring website. It also links with pay-per-click advertising programs such as Google AdWords.

Although Google Analytics is free, a web developer will need to install it. This will take between 30m – 2 hours depending on the level of customisation required.

Many business owners don’t get the chance to even give their website statistics a cursory glance, but serious web businesses will spend hours each month pouring over the numbers and tweaking their website for maximum results.

Every business owner wants their website well ranked, but most are mystified about how the ranking work. Here’s some easy steps you can take to start moving your rankings upward.

1. Think carefully about what your visitors will search for.

Consider your product, industry, location and services. Also look toward complementary products and services.

For example if you sell tennis balls you will want to consider tennis balls, tennis, tennis ball, tennis equipment, tennis coaching and sports equipment.

2. Write your website text to naturally include these words.

Be careful of including too many keywords as it will affect your customers’ readability and the search engines will not like it.

Here’s an example from a real website:

For those who are fascinated by natural marvels, the privately owned Granite Gorge Nature Park is an unforgettable spectacle.

This is how more keywords could be included:

Granite Gorge Nature Park is a spectacularly scenic holiday destination just outside of Mareeba with wide sweeping views across huge volcanic boulders, private swimming holes and abundant wildlife. Come for a few hours and enjoy hand feeding our rock wallabies, or stay for a few nights in our holiday park. We cater for caravans, motorhomes, campers and are especially popular with Grey Nomads.

Whenever you add new text to your website keep in mind your target keywords and include them as you go.

In the world of case sensitivity, it’s always refreshing when I tell people their domains and email address are not case sensitive. The major benefit of this is course, is that you can use capital letters at the beginning of words in multi-word domain names and alleviates the temptation to buy a domain with a hyphen.

So here’s some examples, see how the capitalisation makes them easier to read:

getwebservices.com.au > GetWebServices.com.au

evolveenergy.com.au > EvolveEnergy.com.au

tourstogo.com > ToursToGo.com

goodsexporter.com > GoodsExporter.com

Did you get caught on the last one? *shakes finger at you* You have naturally naughty thoughts!

The examples show how much easier it is to read a business name in the domain or separate the words with a capital letter. Have you seen any domains that have tricked you up when all written in lowercase?

Back in the old days search engines were different creatures. They’ve gradually grown more intelligent, especially to people trying to trick them.

The beast of the link exchange came about because everyone wants to rank higher. The number and quality of incoming links your website has is a very important part of search engine’s ranking algorithm. So naturally millions of website owners across the world went about inflating their incoming link count by participating in link exchanges. Often you’d get an email like this in your inbox:

Dear Webmaster,

My name is Wild Earth Adventures, and I run the web site Wild Earth Adventures: http://www.wildearth-adventures.com/

I recently found your site http://www.cairnsconnect.com and am very interested in exchanging links. I’ve gone ahead and posted a link to your site, on this page:

http://www.wildearth-adventures.com/linkmachine/resources/links_adventure_travel.html

As you know, reciprocal linking benefits both of us by raising our search rankings and generating more traffic to both of our sites. Please post a link to my site as follows:

Title: Wild Earth Adventures
URL: http://www.wildearth-adventures.com/
Description: Adventure Holidays Canada, Wilderness tours and Eco tours

This email is generic, impersonal and somewhat irrelevent to my business. There is an industry theme, travel. So how could it hurt to exchange links with them?

• A link is an endorsement
  By linking to this company on your website you’re saying to your customers that you stand by this company and support it. Consider how embarrassing it might be if this company also links to dodgy sites, or worse, pornographic websites. Not a good look for your business.
• You might end up in a ‘bad neighbourhood’
  The search engines will trust your site less if you appear to be linking to many websites, especially if they’re not related to your business. Having a link to a website who has dodgy outgoing links cause cause your website to receive a penalty from the search engines.
• Customers don’t like it
  Your potential customers come to your website to find out information about you, your products and services. By sending them off to various links of an unrelated nature indicates you don’t really know how to support your product with complementary businesses.

Years ago search engines decided they’d had enough of reciprocal linking monkeys, and removed the value attached to a reciprocal link in terms of your rankings. They now reward you when someone links to your website, without you needing to link back. That’s a real endorsement.

High search engine rankings in competitive spaces are undoubtedly very attractive for potential buyers. Why is it then buyers are so reluctant to place monetary value on the rankings as part of a business sale? Determining how much the rankings are worth is tricky, dubious and inexact.

Rankings are fickle because of the reliance upon the search engine. This third party is one you have no control over, and they can change their ranking algorithm at any time, without warning. There is significant risk in paying large sums of money for a marketing resource completely outside your control.

Undoubtedly, there in value in the rankings though. For many web businesses the search engine rankings draw a significant percentage of their customers. Consider also that the business may have paid a search engine optimisation company to achieve their rankings.

One formula I have seen used in valuations examines the keywords the website ranks for, and cost of acquiring the same customers through pay-per-click advertising. This formula also has the added bonus of giving you a realistic idea of what it will cost you to advertise on the search engines should something happen to your rankings in the future. Is the web business still viable if the traffic is fully paid for?

Do you have other ideas about the value of search engine rankings? Please sure your thoughts by commenting.

There are many reasons why you should avoid owning a domain name with a hyphen.

1. It’s harder for customers to understand.

Customers will trip over the hyphen and need to double-check your domain name. People stumble over hyphens. Don’t place any extra barriers in front of your customers, they’re fickle enough.

2. They sounds dorky when you say it.

Think about how you present a domain name with a hyphen over the radio. “Just log on to city hyphen of hyphen Cairns dot com for more details.” Seems kind of ridiculous, doesn’t it.

3. They’re worth less.

If you ever want to sell your business, there is more value in domain names without hyphens.

Many businesses use hyphens in their domain names to separate words, and therefore make them more clear in their marketing, particularly print marketing. Hyphens are also popular for new businesses where their business name has already been taken, or for competitive keyword rich domains.

Be creative with your domain names, and avoid hyphens. Anyone disagree? Please, your thoughts.

I am eternally frustrated with the number of ISP email addresses like businessname@bigpond.com I see in advertising. In newspapers, magazines, Yellow Pages and even on business cards it seems many small businesses are unaware this is so naughty. Using an email address at your own domain is very important for these reasons.

What happens when you change of ISP?

Inevitably, you will also need to change your email address. Having your primary business email address at your ISP means if you find a great deal on internet access there is a large cost associated with changing the email address over across all sources of advertising.

Owning a domain name and operating email addresses on your domain means your email is independent of your ISP, and you’re free to move as you please.

Brand Awareness

Strengthen your brand at every opportunity. This includes your email address. By having your own email address shows you’re operating a serious business.

Which is better in your mind?

nickycitycairns@bigpond.com or nicky@cityofcairns.com?

It’s very disheartening when businesses have their name tarnished by an ambitious competitor who understands the internet just a little better than they do. So how can you protect your business’ good name online?

Brainstorm for permutations of your domain name. This can be as simple as considering the alternate extention on your current domain. So if you have a .com, consider the .com.au, or expanding into other extentions like .net, or .org.

Next think about different ways in which your business name might be written. For instance, if your business name is The Rock Man, then you might consider both TheRockMan.com.au and RockMan.com.au.

Protecting your name has an unlimited number of possibilities, and can be an expensive exercise. Major companies go even further than the methods outlined here to include typos and less common mispellings of their domain to protect their brand. My best advice is to always purchase your .com and .com.au, and if you’re in a particularly competitve industry, also buy the .net and .net.au.

To seasoned internet users, blogging is a household word. To business it’s a new and blossoming addition to their websites bringing new visitors, customers and clients.

Blogging in business is booming in popularity due to them being easy and simple to use, relatively cheap to have installed on a website and an excellent form of communication to share corporate expertise and connect with existing and potential customers.

A great business blog has a continuous stream of fresh and interesting content and helps establish a relationship with website visitors and build a climate of trust. Blogs offer business a chance to build a real community by making it quick for people to post, comment and update posts – essentially making it easy for everyone to participate.

Benefits of Blogging

• Easy to use – simply type your thoughts, link to other websites, add photos, all with simple and quick steps.
• Cost effective – many free blog websites exist across the internet, or you can fully customise a blog into your website between $500 – $1000.
• Quick updates – you don’t require your web designer to update your blog which means no waiting for updates, and no cost ongoing.
• Credibility – share your expertise and knowledge with a larger audience, an especially powerful tool for service based business.

Which Businesses Should Have a Blog

Most businesses who have ever thought about publishing a newsletter, or an e-newsletter will find a blog a natural addition to their website. Because blogs are centred around frequently updated mini-articles, they’re essentially little news items and any business which has information they want to deliver to potential customers is a good candidate to have a blog.
Here’s a couple of specific examples for business types;

Consultants & Services

Share your expertise and develop a stronger sense of credibility through your blog.

Consultants and service-based businesses are the most common businesses currently using blogs. People working in these industries spend considerable time displaying their skills within their target market through networking, panel appearances and mentoring. Blogs help to establish consultants as a trustworthy expert and build oneself as an authority or expert in a particular field.

Specialist Businesses

Encourage new custom through in-depth detail on your specialist area.

Businesses which operate in a niche target market or a tight product range are ideal for communicating with their customers through a blog. Use the blog for a knowledgebase of product information or a dynamic frequently asked questions section. Industry specific news and events are

Interesting Product Lines

Keep customers updated with new products and their features as they become available.

Many retail businesses evoke natural curiosity and following from their customers. These businesses especially should consider a blog to keep customers up to date with new and interesting products released.

Real Estate Agents

Announce new listings and keep poignant sales information in the buyer’s eye.

In a fast paced and ever changing industry like real estate, blogs are an excellent way to keep potential buyers informed of market trends as well as industry expertise, knowledge and specific suburb data.

Travel & Tourism Operators

Attract more customers through detailed product knowledge and regular news.

Many tourist operators already publish a reef report or regular newsletter which discusses specific topics pertinent to their product but much of this information is only distributed to booking agents. By publishing regular articles in a blog potential customers researching travel product online will be more likely to book through a company they know more about. This is especially true for travel agents whose business is built on experience with product.

Blogs are not necessarily designed to capture the largest audience and widest readership possible, but rather like most forms of internet marketing it is intended to help convert already interested visitors.

Common Blogging Mistakes

Unfortunately many businesses fall into the same trap with blogs as they do with e-newsletters – and abandon them after just a few months. Blog abandonment happens for lots of reasons, but mostly because in business we just get too busy. Here’s a quick list of common blogging mistakes that should be avoided;

1. Not posting frequently enough.
   2 – 3 times a week is recommended
2. Content is not defined.
   Carefully consider your target audience before you start writing, and continually refine your blog posts to this market.
3. Articles are too long.
   A blog post is a mini-article and best length is between 200 – 300 words.
4. Not linking to other resources.
   An expert in their field is expected to back up with expertise with citations, so make sure you link to relevant websites.
5. Poor spelling, awful grammar and typos.
   Lots of readers will get turned off by these. Proofread your work.
6. No information on writer.
   Blogs readers are curious by their nature, so include a photo and detailed information on yourself within the blog.
7. No information on business products and services.
   The purpose of your blog is to raise your credibility and (hopefully) to make you more money – so make it easy for your visitors to discover what you sell.
8. Comments are turned off.
   Ensure readers can leave a comment about your posts as this encourages them to return and interact further.

Things you might love about a blog

Blogs give you freedom to express.

Many new bloggers love the feeling that comes with expressing their opinion in a public place. It is especially warming when you receive comments from others that agree with you! A blog is a channel of communication that builds momentum and is ideal for opinionated thought. Many journalists and editors now use blogs through the major media newspaper websites.

It’s online networking.

Blogs which encourage a genuine exchange of ideas are a great platform to network with other industry leaders and further grow your business. The best minds in business often tell us how to attract the right customers with a strong opinion than the lowest price quote.

Cheap advertising.

As with many internet advertising opportunities, a blog provides inexpensive exposure for your business. Allowing customers to interact with you through a blog encourages repeat business.

Quickly gauge public opinion.

Have you checked lately how many people visit your website? For most small businesses it’s a couple hundred people every day. Bloggers post comments at a fiery pace, and you can very quickly gauge the public’s opinion on products, services, events and business ideas. Blogs have most recently been established by political reasons heading into elections for precisely this reason.

Who Has a Blog?

Andrew Griffiths has a great example of a blog which combines marketing expertise and commercialism. Have a look at www.andrewgriffiths.com.au.