Link Building

Link Building:

Link Building is a significant portion of your performance in SEO. You need backlinks, but when you are new, it is very difficult to aquire them. There are a few different types:

Organic: This will help your ranking the most, but is the hardest to get. AN organic back link is when you have written content that is creative, unique, credible, and deemed beneficial enough that someone else links to it. The best way to get these is to consistently put out informative and unique content on a consistent basis.

Outreach: At first you made need to reach out others, and find a mutually beneficial, win/won situation. If you have content that will make them seem more credible, or will help them and their audience, you can nicely ask them to link to your content, and offer it to them. They may or may not use it, but this will help.

Personally Posted: These help the least but it is a good starting point. As you interact with other sites and blogs on the internet, you can leave comments pointing people to your content and leaving links that way. The key is not to spam the entire internet with  links to your blog, but to place those links carefully, where they can be found by people who would naturally enjoy or have a need for your content.

Trial and Error

Running an online business is not easy. Luckily, there is a lot of information out there. Many people have started an online business. Many have done well, and many have failed. A lot of them have been generous enough to give us some tips and tricks. People have invented many technological tools that will give us ideas and predictions on how well an idea will work. The keyword planner in google was very useful. However, there is also some trial and error that goes along with starting a business. I had some keywords that I thought would perform well, the keyword planner thought would perform well, and really they didn't get anywhere. However,  the tool also gave me some ideas to switch around some keywords, and it was really helpful. After a couple weeks, I reevaluated, and optimized the site, and my Ads. At the end, I still have a lot more to learn, I am learning it takes constant reevaluation, using all the tools at your disposal, and a some trial and error, and going with your gut. Doing all of this gives you a better chance to succeed.

Google Ad Optimization

Google really wants everyone to be successful, because that is what makes them successful. If  people are clicking on Advertisements, and deciding they are not worth their time, and immediately clicking away, they eventually will start to distrust google, and not click on Advertisements. If people stop clicking on Ads, companies will stop spending money on them, and then google will lose a lot of money. So t is in their best interest as a company to help people learn how to make good Ads, get them in front of the right people, and help everybody win. As you go through the process to place an Ad, then to keep updating it, Google will give you many tips. They will help you find better keyword, and better titles. They will show you what words are performing better, and offer suggestions. They offer top of line analytics to help you run better performing Ads. Bottom line, Google isn't leaving you hanging. If you do your research, and take advantage of the tools they offer, you will be able to run better performing Ads, make more money, and be part of something great!

The 4 Best Mobile Phone Photography Tips

The 4 Best Mobile Phone Photography Tips Reviewed

1.      LIGHTING: It doesn’t matter how awesome the subject of your photo is, if the lighting is off, people won’t look at it. Yes, we have filters on almost any application or camera these days, but do not rely on them. Do the best you can to get the lighting right before you take the photo, and then if needed you can edit it to perfection after the fact.

·        Natural Lighting is your best friend. Flashes can wash out your photos and create unnatural looking images. Try and take photos outdoors, and when inside, take them near open windows, at a well-lit time of the day, without the sun shining directly through the window. If shooting at night, try and find sources of ambient lighting before relying on your flash.

·        Have you heard the term Golden hour? This is the time frame when the sun is rising or setting and is low on the horizon. If you want to take photos when the sun is directly overhead, your photos will be overexposed, and that is hard to correct. When the sun is low, the lighting is wonderful. If you can’t shoot during that time, try and find a place where the sun is not directly overhead.

2.      Depth: Consider the items around your subject that add interest to the photo. For example, when taking a picture of your kid on the beach, sure you could just zoom in and get the picture of your kid but consider the following that might add texture and depth to the photo.

·        Are they sitting in the sand? Some of the texture and color?

·        How is the water behind them? Are there waves? What would those add to the picture?

·        Are there any interesting buildings behind them?

All of these things can add interest without taking away from the main subject of the photo.

3.      Rule Of thirds: This helps guide your eye to the subject in a natural and pleasing way. Beginners often tend to center their subject in a photo, but this is not what is most pleasing to the eye. Think of your photo as a 3x3 grid. When taking a photo of your subject, or editing it later, consider putting the subject along one of those grid lines. It will look more natural and be a more balanced photo. This can be done in editing after the fact, but only if there is enough in the photo to edit. If you take a photo that is already zoomed in, you will not have enough material to work with, so keep this in mind.

4.      Perspective: When taking a photo, we tend to stand where we are, and snap the photo. Most photos are taken this way. Consider a new perspective.  Crouch down to get a different angle of the subject. Maybe get up higher, on a roof, or a ladder and look at your subject from above. Instinct is to take a photo at eye level, but try getting out of the box, and looking at it from a different perspective. You will be surprised at how your photo changes.

Google Analytics

This week showed me ow much there is to Google Ads that I do not know, but I am excited to keep learning. I feel like I read a summary this week, but still do not have any idea on how to use this powerful tool. I think technology has come so far, in such s short time. Years ago, when people marketed, they just came up with an idea, and through it out to the masses. Now, because of tools like google analytics, we can know so many things about our customers, and we can then take that information, and market directly to our target audience. Google analytics shows us what people are doing on our site. How long are they staying on each page, what are they looking at? What website or ad brought them to us? We can figure out if the advertisement we wrote is effective, and if not, we can do better.

Google Ad's really can be simple or complicated. AT this stage, we are using it simply,but the great thing is, google ads wants to help us. They want the Ads to be a good experience for the marketer, the user, and them. Because of this, they really make it as easy as possible, because they want you to succeed.

Ads and Keywords

This week I learned a lot about Ads. I am starting to see why companies employ so many people on marketing teams to help come up with ideas. I am also starting to understand more how an advertisement needs to be tailored to the format it will be viewed on. Whether it is a desktop, a tablet, or mobile ad, people view them differently. You have to make sure you can get the point across quickly, and draw in attention fast. People move on fast, and they have a lot of choices of media to consume, so you have to make the most of your time. The Ad needs to be concise, catching, and clear. It needs to convey value, and give a reason for someone to take action. If it cannot do that, it will get lost in a sea of advertisements, and it will be a waste of money.

Make it Easier

We all know businesses help the local economy. Set up a business, and the local municipalities will get taxes if you are successful. It is in a city and state's best interest to make their area business friendly, and have a good balance between business and residential. That being said, it is super hard to figure out how to start a business and what is required. It was pretty easy for me to figure out what type of business I would want, and that I wanted a sole proprietorship. Past that, it was very difficult. I found a lot of conflicting information. Some sites said I needed a EIN for taxes. Others said I just used a schedule c on my personal taxes. There are real consequence to messing these things up, and it is so important to get them right. You can be fined if you mess them up, or the liabilities can be huge. IF cities and states want businesses, they need to make it easy to figure out. I could understand when online business was a fairly new thing, but it is not new anymore, and the information should be clear and easy to access.

5 Things to Consider When Choosing where to build your website

When deciding on a way to build a website for your new Online Business, There are many factors that should be considered. Every Business demands a different type of website, that will support the features you need. Here are five things to consider when making your decisions.

1. What is your skill level? Are you capable of building a website from scratch? DO you need a lot of help? Do you want to just drag and drop? Some companies let you build your site yourself, and others will walk you through step by step, and just let you make decisions.

2. Where do you want to host your site? Do you want to use the same company that you are using to build your site?

3. How long do you plan on having this website? Some hosting sites choose a low monthly fee, but you are locked into a long contract. Other companies may charge a bit more, but you do not have a contract. Some companies give perks like google ad vouchers to sign up with them. Do your research and choose the company that works best for you.

4. What are you selling? DO you have a physical product? Are you writing content and relying on Ads? Do you need to be able to take payments? When looking around, figure out what features are offered. There are a lot of companies, but they are not one size fits all. They excel at different things, so what works for someone else may not be ideal for you.

5. Will you be advertising? If you need to track analytics, look at what sites offer different tools, or if they integrate google analytics, or use an in house analytics program. Depending on what you need to track, your needs will differ. Choose what will work best for your experience level.

How to choose a Site Builder

YAY! you decided to start on online business. Great. You know what you want to sell or write about? Great. Where are you going to put your site? If you read that and thought, "I have no idea" then that is ok, because I wondered the same thing. There are many options for places to build your website, but you need to ask yourself some important questions.

• Do you want to build your site from scratch? Can you code, and what is your ability level?
• DO you want a drag and drop, quick build?
• Do you need to be able to take payments on your site?
• What can you afford? Can you afford a monthly fee?
• How much support will you need to maintain and build your site?
• How long do you plan on running your web site?
• Will your site need a lot of videos and graphics?
• Do you plan on allowing advertising on your site?

Once you know the answers to those questions you can start researching. There are multiple sites that will guide you through the process step by step, and have great customer support. Wix and Weebly are good examples. If you have a little bit more experience, you can try wordpress, building the design yourself. Make sure you consider what you need, and the time you have to devote to it. Then get building! Good luck. 

Business Models: Affiliate or Drop shipping?

What is an affiliate? Simply speaking, it is bringing people to your website, sharing knowledge, and then directing the customer to different sites where they can purchase the same, or similar items you have been discussing. Your part of the process is done at that point. If the customer purchases from the other site, for example, Amazon, Amazon will pay you a small commission on the sale, and they will then ship the item to the customer, and deal with any other issues that may arise from the transaction. You do not take any payments from the customer on your site, you are simply providing information, and a link where they can make a purchase if they choose.

What is drop shipping? Drop shipping puts you in business with the customer. You will create a web site, You will offer products, and then you will take payments. However, you will not have inventory on hand. You will have to choose a manufacture, and as you get orders, you will then purchase from the manufacture, and have them ship the items directly to the customer. Even though you are not the one shipping the items, you are the one responsible for all interactions and problems that may arise with the order, and all customer service.

This Week I learned a lot from the marketing class, and that is that there are so many different things to consider when starting a business. The internet truly changed the way businesses work, and it is evolving every single day. If you choose to be in business on the web, you must continue to educate yourself on new technology, and new ways to reach your customers.

This week, as I considered the steps to starting a business I realized how many different ways there are to go about starting. I have not used the keyword planning tool, but I played around with it for a while, and it made me realize there really is just a tremendous amount of competition out there. I can see how it can be overwhelming, and scary to even start thinking of a new idea. The thing is, you have to figure out a way to be different. You have to do what everyone else is doing in a better way, a way that makes you stand out, and a way that solves a problem for people. You also have to want to be doing it. It is clear it will never be easy, and you will probably make a lot of mistakes. If you believe in what you are doing, it will be easier to want to push through the hard times.