Want to incorporate a very inexpensive tool into the arsenal of your internet marketing budget? Having an e-Newsletter is an excellent way to market your business. There are a lot of programs you can use, but in this post we're going to talk about Constant Contact.
Here are some great reasons why you should consider Constant Contact for your email newsletter.
1. You can try it free for 60 days
This is obviously one great reason, and if you're even remotely considering using an email newsletter, this should be enough to convince you to try it out. 60 days gives you enough time to get the feel for the program and see if you like it.
2. It brings more traffic to your website
Trying to promote a new product or service on your website? An email newsletter is a great way to advertise it. In our newsletter we like to link users to our business workshops and articles pages to keep them informed on what's new. It can also be a good reminder to your customers about your services. It's possible that someone was planning on visiting your website to find information on purchasing something or hiring you for more work, but just haven't gotten around to it yet. A friendly little newsletter with great information and links to your website will just give them a very subtle reminder that you're still there.
2. Easy to use templates
Whether you're an HTML wizard or new to the whole computer thing, it's easy to create a nice looking email in Constant Contact. You can also add pictures and links very easily. It takes an hour or two to get your email campaign set up initially, but once you have everything in place it only takes a few minutes to send out the next batch of emails.
3. Good technical support
We found that the technical support from Constant Contact was very good. This is probably the biggest benefit of using Constant Contact over other service providers. We also received a friendly sales call after we signed up to see if we had any questions.
4. Statistics
This is my favorite reason. It's fun to see when people open your newsletter, and what links they click on. Gives you a really good indication of what works and what doesn't. You can also see what emails bounced back, got spammed, forwarded, and who opted-out.
5. It saves lots of time
How does it save time you ask? By managing your contact list for you. Just add the new emails to the database and Constant Contact will take care of the rest. When you want to send out a newsletter, it will sent it to everyone in your list. It even personalizes it by putting the recipients name at the top of the email, which also helps keep the email from being sent to spam.
6. Users can easily opt in and out
It's important to have good email newsletter etiquette. If someone decides they don't want your emails anymore, they should easily be able to opt out. Constant Contact adds a link at the bottom of every email to easily do just that.
It's also just as easy to opt in. You are provided with a piece of code that you can put on your blog or website so that people can easily sign up to receive your newsletter. Speaking of which...if you want to receive our email newsletter you can do so on our sign up page.
7. Emails won't get sent to spam as much
If you sent out mass emails through a regular email account like Gmail or Yahoo!, it's more likely to get sent to the spam folder. Long story short - with a program like Constant Contact it's much less likely to happen. Plus if it does happen on the rare occasion, you will know it and you can ask whoever didn't get your email to add your email address to their recipients list.
8. It's not expensive
After the 60 days you have to pay, sadly. But it's $15 a month to start out with, which is a pretty low price considering how helpful it can be in drawing traffic to your website.
We highly recommend sending email newsletters to clients, and Constant Contact is a good way to do it. Also as a side note, there are plenty of really good other programs out there to choose from. Here is a very helpful blog post that compares some of the more popular ones, including MailChimp which is free if you have a small contact list (less than 500).
Tuesday, March 23, 2010
Tuesday, March 2, 2010
Harness the Power of Google Local
What is Google Local Business Center?
Results from italian restaurant chicago
The best way to explain Google Local is by using it. If you Google "italian restaurant chicago" you'll see at the top the 10 local businesses that fit your search phrase. These are results not from the regular Google database, but rather a separate one - the Google Local Business directory. Best of all - they always appear at the very top, and they're FREE.
Note that not all search terms will give you search results in Google Local. For example if you were to Google "italian restaurant hampton" you won't see any Local results. That's simply because the traffic isn't high enough to warrant any listings.
We highly recommend adding your organization to Google Local, even if you don't see any Local results when you search. The reason we still recommend it is because Google Local is tied to Google Maps. If you go to Google Maps and search for "italian restaurant hampton" then you'll see results. So go ahead and add your organization.
How to get listed?
It's easy to get listed - just go to Google.com/LocalBusinessCenter and submit your information. All you need is a Google account. You will get a call or postcard from Google verifying your information but it's fairly straightforward.
I submitted my business. How do I get listed on the first page?
There are several things you can do to help your listing rank higher. Of course there's no guarantee that you will be on the first page. No one is really sure of the exact formula that Google uses, but here are some suggestions that will most likely help.
1. Include a good keyword in your organization name. Example: Say you're targeting the search phrase "chicago children's books". Don't tell Google your organization is "Paul's Bookstore", tell Google that your business is "Paul's Bookstore Children's Books". It doesn't matter if that's not your legal business name. By adding that key phrase, you're helping Google find your listing.
2. Include good keywords in your description. Same as above, but apply it to the description of your organization. Remember that you are writing for humans AND search engines. So don't just list keywords, but also make sure you include them in your writing.
3. Put your address and phone number on every page of your website. This is helpful both for users on your website as well as Google Local. Make sure you use your local number, not just your 800 number. Also a P.O. Box does not help, use your physical street address. Here's an example of a website that does this.
4. Have a Directions/Locations page on your website. This is helpful, unless of course you are a home based business and cannot have foot traffic. Give directions in plain English, with good descriptions. Again, this will help your regular search engine traffic as well as the search engine crawlers.
By the way...don't have a website? See our web design services, including help with submitting your site to Google Local.
5. Upload a few photos. Google seems to place higher ranking on business listings that include photos. At the very least upload your logo and a couple pictures of your building or products. There is no guarantee that this will help, but it can't hurt. At the very least it will look nice to real users.
6. Create a page on your website where you list your areas served. Like several of the suggestions I've mentioned, this will be helpful for real users also. In fact this might even help your organic search results.
Hopefully these steps will get you started with Google Local. Don't forget to check it occasionally once you submit your business to see where you fall in the rankings. And if you need any help with Google, your website optimization, or any other internet marketing services, come visit us at Fresh Look Web Design and we'll be glad to give you some help.
Results from italian restaurant chicago
Note that not all search terms will give you search results in Google Local. For example if you were to Google "italian restaurant hampton" you won't see any Local results. That's simply because the traffic isn't high enough to warrant any listings.
We highly recommend adding your organization to Google Local, even if you don't see any Local results when you search. The reason we still recommend it is because Google Local is tied to Google Maps. If you go to Google Maps and search for "italian restaurant hampton" then you'll see results. So go ahead and add your organization.
How to get listed?
It's easy to get listed - just go to Google.com/LocalBusinessCenter and submit your information. All you need is a Google account. You will get a call or postcard from Google verifying your information but it's fairly straightforward.
I submitted my business. How do I get listed on the first page?
There are several things you can do to help your listing rank higher. Of course there's no guarantee that you will be on the first page. No one is really sure of the exact formula that Google uses, but here are some suggestions that will most likely help.
1. Include a good keyword in your organization name. Example: Say you're targeting the search phrase "chicago children's books". Don't tell Google your organization is "Paul's Bookstore", tell Google that your business is "Paul's Bookstore Children's Books". It doesn't matter if that's not your legal business name. By adding that key phrase, you're helping Google find your listing.
2. Include good keywords in your description. Same as above, but apply it to the description of your organization. Remember that you are writing for humans AND search engines. So don't just list keywords, but also make sure you include them in your writing.
3. Put your address and phone number on every page of your website. This is helpful both for users on your website as well as Google Local. Make sure you use your local number, not just your 800 number. Also a P.O. Box does not help, use your physical street address. Here's an example of a website that does this.
4. Have a Directions/Locations page on your website. This is helpful, unless of course you are a home based business and cannot have foot traffic. Give directions in plain English, with good descriptions. Again, this will help your regular search engine traffic as well as the search engine crawlers.
By the way...don't have a website? See our web design services, including help with submitting your site to Google Local.
5. Upload a few photos. Google seems to place higher ranking on business listings that include photos. At the very least upload your logo and a couple pictures of your building or products. There is no guarantee that this will help, but it can't hurt. At the very least it will look nice to real users.
6. Create a page on your website where you list your areas served. Like several of the suggestions I've mentioned, this will be helpful for real users also. In fact this might even help your organic search results.
Hopefully these steps will get you started with Google Local. Don't forget to check it occasionally once you submit your business to see where you fall in the rankings. And if you need any help with Google, your website optimization, or any other internet marketing services, come visit us at Fresh Look Web Design and we'll be glad to give you some help.
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