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There is only so much search engine optimization techniques like keywords, content, metatags and meta descriptions can do to raise your website’s profile. The real trick - and the method search engines like Google and Yahoo use to measure a website’s “relavancy” - are links, particularly incoming links.

Links, in human terms, show that like minded people are seeking out and reading your site content, whether its an online store, a blog, or some other type of website. Social networks and social bookmarking sites and indexes like Digg or Myspace are great places to drum up that important related traffic.

Incoming links are any link on another site that points to your site. Search engines index sites and their outgoing and incoming links - the more you have, the better. But while almost any incoming link can help your search engine ranking, the best links come from high-traffic sources related to your website topic. For example, this blog discusses web design, web development and web marketing strategies. Good links for us are similarly focused sites - a post on the Blogdesignblog about good blog design is related to our web design topics. A post about the future of search engine optimization on the Search Engine Roundtable relates well to this particular post.

The above links both to our own site and the blogs and websites I mentioned will all be counted by search engines as topical, related incoming links to those sites, and measured as topical, related outgoing links from this site.

But, as a blog author, I had to actively search for those above topics. I used the Google Blog Search to find them, but there are other ways to get those types of incoming links.

Social networks like MySpace, LinkedIn and Facebook are good places to post links and material related to your particular industry or topic so people looking for that type of information can find them. For those types of services, you can create a profile and post links to your site, with categories that people with related interests can see.

Social bookmarking sites are similar in that shared interests can draw attention to your website, but sites like Digg, Technorati and Reddit target specifically news-style articles. That might mean you have to go through the work of generating your own content, but that content in turn is put into a feed read by over 500,000 (in the case of Digg) users who rate, read, and discuss your article. Those comments might be full messages, but users also “digg” or give your site “authority” through links. The more links or diggs you get, the more eyes will see your article, and in turn your site.

One important note: People - particularly the savvy Digg community - can see through cheap tricks, black hat tactics and spam like X-ray. Don’t cheat with duplicated, plagiarized content or BS links. It’s not cool, and could get you blacklisted in the long-run.

So get out there - make friends, discuss your business, industry or hobbies - it all can track back to your business.

PS - Digg this article! Click the icon below!

HT: Lorne Fade Design for the pic

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As a small business owner, you have your hand in every detail of your business. You run payroll, you manage staff, keep track of inventory, in charge of ordering, chief of sales and direct your marketing. So it’s only natural that you want to be involved in every aspect of your company’s website.

As web designers, we want that - hands-on and involved clients are good website design clients. But sometimes a good client can make bad decisions.

Let’s say your web designer sent you the first mock-up of your website. It’s sharp, but not too flashy. It’s got a lot of information, but not cluttered. It’s color scheme even matches the precise hue of blue you use on the walls of your store.

But there are some things you need changed. You need another menu tab for a new product line you’ve just acquired. You’d like another picture of the inside of your store. And, by golly, you want your LOGO BIGGER. How are people going to remember your logo if it’s an inch-by-inch in the top left corner?

Hold up there, kimosabe. Take a breath, relax. It’s one thing to get more information on your site, to add functionality, but if you’re paying a professional web designer to build an effective website for your business, it’s worth it to heed some of their advice.

We can say with a fair degree of certainty that no web designer will say no to stuff like an extra menu item, additional pictures or more content pages. Information that is necessary to your business or functions you want from your site can always be worked in. What irks any web designer is when a client tries to overstep into design.

Now that doesn’t mean designers want unquestioning clients - matters of taste, such as color scheme, image choice or layout (to an extent) are perfectly legitimate critiques. Even a wholesale “I don’t like it at all - do something different” can be dealt with. Clients who ask questions are smart clients, ones that make it easier to deliver something both can be satisfied with.

But stuff like “Make a bigger logo” or “Make the text as big as possible” or “Can you add some flashing lights? Oh! How about a siren!” not only oversteps the boundary, it will hurt your website and web business too.

Professional web designers draw on both client needs and their own experience of what works in websites. They know (or should know) how people use websites. They know what works - that too much animation makes a site difficult to use, that a certain size of text is easier to read on the average computer screen, that if they make your logo bigger, it’ll blot out the sun.

Remember, your web designer wants your website to be successful too - it’s just as much a reflection on them as it is on you. Trust that they have your best interests in mind. It will make for a better website for the both of you.

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We’ve got some exciting times here at 360 PSG - namely the launch of a bunch of new websites for some of our clients. Here are some of the highlights:

Grow! Inc.

Grow! Inc. is a Virginia-based small business consulting firm that already had a website, but wanted something a bit more enticing to both clients and potential prospects. So we built a brand new website design for them, complete with the web content control of the Fission Content Management System. We also had our copy department build original web content for the site, including full search engine optimization. We’re pretty pleased with the design, and let us know how you think it worked.

KaLu Salon & Spa

KaLu Salon & Spa came to us needing a completely new website from the ground up. So we set them up with the content control of our Fission CMS and came up with a complete website design for them. One of the CMS features KaLu staff has used the most has been the graphical calendar feature of the website. With it they’re able to advertise their regular “special” nights, like teen parties and their Martini Nights. We’re proud of the look of the design, with the rich hues and calming design, exactly in line with the way a spa should look.

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It’s not news that the economy has seen better times, and traditional brick-and-mortar business is feeling the brunt of the drop in business. High gas prices keeping many consumers from going to the store, going to the mall, or walking into any business.

As a business owner, it’s an especially trying time. There are strategies to help bridge that gap in rough economic times. Some might cut hours, cut inventory or even cut staff, but there are strategies some businesses can take to help ease the blow of lowered traditional sales.

One way is to find a new venue to sell your products or services. For many businesses, particularly retailers, that venue is the Internet. This past holiday season showed traditional retailers suffering from drops in sales, but online retailers found their sales increasing.

Why? Simple: it’s cheaper. An online retailer oftentimes has cheaper prices than a traditional store. Because customers can order from their home, they don’t have to drive. Add in the convenience factor and web business is enticing to the average consumer.

But why should your business go online? It’s cheaper for you too. An online store adds a potential worldwide audience for your products at a minimum cost.

The strategy is to find a web developer that can help you build that online audience. While an inexpensive designer might offer incredibly cheap rates, it might be a half solution to conducting web business.

For your investment in the web, particularly in tough economic times, you should go with a web developer that can help you build not only a good looking site, but one that can function as well.

Some key phrases to look for when choosing your web developer is one that has experience implementing e-commerce solutions. Check their portfolio, read testimonials. Even contact some of their clients. A business that can help you make the transition is one you want to be able to trust to deliver on their promise.

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One of the most important parts of search engine optimization, or SEO, is that a site should be updated regularly.

One of the most important aspects of a blog is that it is (theoretically) updated regularly.

It’s simple addition: if your site has a regularly updated blog, your site can benefit from it through SEO. But that’s not the only reason a blog can help Google or Yahoo find your site.

Like we mentioned before, a business blog can be a powerful tool for establishing a good reputation among both customers and business peers alike, but that same blog can also raise your profile for search engine rankings because of the content and potential audience your blog can bring to your site.

Here are the three basic reasons for it, and how you can take advantage:

1. Frequent updates: A good way to use your blog is for information that might not warrant a press release (like a sale or new product). Those little news nuggets might happen as frequently as once a day or once a week, but you should make sure you post them on a timely basis. If you don’t have an announcement or something like that over a given time, find something. You might find a news article that deals with your industry, or maybe a customer question gave you an idea for a How-To piece (hey, kind of like this post!) to educate people on self-help tips (which might lead to them coming to your company for extra help). The simple trick, though, is to update your blog regularly. Don’t let it sit too long, or you’ll lose out on good SEO.
2. Keywords galore: If you keep your business blog focused on your business, meaning your posts are consistently related to one topic, you’ll probably find yourself filling it with vocabulary and terms related to your business. That’s exactly what you want for search engine optimization. Search engines love key phrases in fresh content. For example, in this post I’m discussing search engine optimization and blogs, so good words for me to include are “search engines”, “seo”, and “blog.” If you’ve made it this far in the post, you’ve probably read those words a few times. If you’re writing a blog about your own industry - let’s say it’s one that focuses on antique toys - you’ll be loading your blog with keywords and phrases like “victorian era toys” or “toy truck” or whatever other terms related to what you sell or do. While those words are naturally in your body copy, don’t forget about your titles, tags and categories. It’s just as important to target words for those areas as it is to include them in your copy.
3. Linkbacks got your back: If you’re writing a good blog, you’re already linking to other websites, blogs or news articles that are related to or illustrate your point. For example, SEO for Google has an article on how blogging frequency can improve your Google page rank. And this article talks about what a linkback is, and how it helps blogs. They’re both articles where I did research for this post, so it’s only fair that I reference them, especially if I quote them verbatim. The added benefit is that search engines reward sites that link to relevant content. And if you link to another blog, they might link back to you, sending not only more readers, but further rewarding you with SEO improvements.

Everything I mentioned above is something you can definitely do for your own business, but if you’re like many business owners, you might not have time to keep up on point number 1: frequent posting. That’s where (plug alert!) companies like 360 PSG come in. We offer blogging as a service, written by our staff of copywriters, focused on your business. So if you’re strapped for time, or maybe need a little bit of writing help, give us a call.

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“Credibility” and “blog” are not words that have traditionally gone together, at least not with celebrity-hounding sites like PerezHilton.com or any political blog constantly harped on in the news, but it has increasingly become an effective tool in spreading the word about your company - and drawing visitors to your site.

A business-based or industry blog can add credibility to your website and your business as a whole. By focusing on one particular niche issue, whether it be advertising, real estate or any other industry focus, you can offer commentary that contributes to the dialog on that issue.

Think of it this way: Let’s say you own a company that specializes in dog grooming. There are thousands of people every day looking for tips for primping their pet on the Internet. Who would be the expert those people would trust getting advice from? A dog groomer, right? You, as a dog grooming business owner have an authoritative voice in that particular topic.

It’s the same thing that we at 360 PSG are trying to accomplish with this blog. We’re experts in web development - from web design to custom programming to web marketing. So we’re offering our expertise with the posts on this blog. We’ve talked about web headlines and logo design, and we’re going to have more posts about anything else that can help a web business.

Why would a business, especially one that traffics in information, offer free tips about its specialties? Well, it’s not like we’re giving up the farm, such as the secret of our amazing Content Management System or telling people exactly how to design a great website. We’re offering tips and knowledge - background stuff that, in all honesty, we want potential customers to read before they work on a project with us. The information in our blog not only tells customers about 360 PSG, but customers with good research know better what we can do for them.

That’s what you want a blog to do for you. It’s a win-win situation, really - a blog both educates consumers and also sells your company, products and services.

Targeting potential customers is one way to approach your blog. Another tack to take can be to start an industry blog targeting your business peers as an audience.

Here’s another example: You’re a plumber. Sure, you could write a blog discussing tricks for customers to solve septic tank issues, but maybe you don’t specialize in home plumbing - you’re a commercial installer. An end-consumer blog won’t help you much because your sales are driven more by referrals from other companies. That’s where you can be a source of industry news within the plumbing industry.

Instead of how-to’s or tips, maybe you would focus on new technology in plumbing, and how it helps or doesn’t help plumbers, say, implement commercial bathroom installations. Or perhaps you comment on the Plumbing-Heating-Cooling Association’s actions in some way. You’re not at all targeting prospective clients, but your blog could potentially raise your profile within the plumbing industry, by extension helping your business.

The real trick is focusing on one issue, and as a business owner your business is your focus. Just talk about it.

There’s another benefit to blogging, one that might draw more eyes to your website. But we’ll put that up tomorrow. Check back soon!

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Problem 3: Too much stuff, Part Two

One thing people often forget with their websites is that they have room to spread out. A website can theoretically have unlimited numbers of pages - in business that translates to a page for every product, service or idea a business might have. So with so much sprawl space, why do so many companies insist on cramming as much stuff as possible on one page?

Yes, studies show the average web user skims one to three pages of a website before they move on, meaning you’ve got to catch their attention quick. But filling a screen with scattershot information is just white noise - your reader doesn’t want to filter through that much information.

The best strategy is to prioritize your information. Highlight the most unique, most interesting or most useful ideas, features or products on a page, and through intuitive navigation, your users will follow up on them. If you have a catalog of hundreds of items, like Amazon, organize items by category, or include a search function on your site so users can find what they want easily.

An added benefit of targeting featured products or services - it allows you to show off your company’s best features, presenting your company in its best light.

Problem 4: The Professional Look

The early promise of web business was that anyone has the potential to make it big. It’s supposed to be the great equalizer - the guy in the basement on his Dell could build a company to rival Microsoft. Today there still is that potential, however it takes more than a basic knowledge of HTML to build an effective website.

A carryover idea from the early days of the Internet is that all a business needs to get online is a tech guy who knows how to code. For a time, it was possible to pull that off. But as websites and web business has become more complex, it takes more than a basic knowledge of HTML and Microsoft Frontpage to build an effective, dynamic business website.

Web business is no longer an emerging, risky industry. It’s an established medium to reach customers - one of, if not the most cost effective ways to market your business. A good website is an expectation customers have of a business - it is almost as important as your brick-and-mortar shop. People get a feel for what kind of business you are, what type of business owner you are by the look of your website. Don’t mess around with your image by cutting corners: get help. It’s worth every penny.

A clear, well-designed website projects a professional image. Huron Sprinklers is a well-established, professional sprinkler system installer. They have a good reputation and good local business. However their website used to look like this. It looks like an inexperienced designer put this together in their spare time…all five minutes of it. In fact, that’s not far off from what happened - their original site was designed by a neighbor kid, basically working from the book HTML for Dummies.

The right thing to do is get help - for a business website, it’s the right thing to invest in a web development partner. There are three good reasons for this:

1. Web developers know what works. Web business has evolved enough to know what tricks work for web pages, and what doesn’t. Working within the industry, they also analyze where web trends are heading. It’s true your web developers will never know your business as well as you, but they’ll know how to present and market it best on the web. 1a)Web developers know what works…for EVERYBODY. This is, seriously, one of the most overlooked problems with homebrew websites - W3C compliance. In a nutshell, that means your website looks the same for every visitor, regardless of whether they use a Mac, a PC, Windows, Internet Explorer, Firefox, whatever. Developers test designs for all these things, making sure your business reaches everyone.
2. Web developers save you money: If you don’t have the skills and tools immediately available to you, building your website takes time and money you don’t want to take away from your normal business. In fact, the time commitment might be why you might not have a website yet. Look for a web developer that can take the sting out of that investment - someone who makes it easy. Some one like (PLUG ALERT!) 360 PSG. Here’s why - companies like us handle EVERYTHING for the web - hosting, design, content, programming, e-commerce. We have it all in one place, working together. It’s solutions like ours that make the web that cost effective solution.

Problem 5: Can your host handle the party?

Let’s say your website is up, looks good, is very usable and is getting noticed on search engines. In fact, business is booming - you’re getting hundreds and now thousands of visitors a day. But one day, everything goes dark. What happened?Probably one of two things:

1. Your site got more traffic than your web host’s server could handle.
2. Your web server got hacked.

Not all web hosts are created equal - going for the cheapest option may constrict your business. A cheap host might not have the bandwidth for your growing web business, or charges a steep premium after that cheap hook. Or that web host might not be as secure as you need - particularly if you handle online payment transactions through your site.

Look for a web host that can grow with your business, and also one that has security options in place to protect your data. For example 360 PSG has its servers in a secure, Level 3 datacenter nearby our offices, with a powerful generator backup, climate controlled facility and a redundant lock system. And that’s just the physical protection - firewalls and other web security measures make our servers secure enough for almost any business. And because it’s located nearby our headquarters, 360 PSG staff can respond quickly to any issue that may arise.

It’s that kind of protection you want for your business data, and one that will not only protect your data, but give your customers the confidence to trust you with theirs.

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So your business has finally made the jump to the web. You’ve got a website that has a high-tech look (or not), a web address with your name in it (www.yourname.com….or something close to it), and even pictures of your business, your products and maybe even yourself.So why isn’t your website increasing your sales?

Just having a website does not mean your business will benefit from a web presence. Whether you are selling products, services or simply trying to drive potential customers to contact your brick-and-mortar business, a good business website needs to direct people closer to a sale.

The list below addresses some of the most common mistakes small business owners make when they’re making their first foray into web business, and offers some tips to fix them. If you have other tips, leave them in the comments below.

1) Problem 1: I can’t find anything!

Easy navigation is one of the most important aspects of your site, if not the most important. How will a visitor buy your product if they can’t even find what they’re looking for? Make your web visitors’ lives easier by simplifying your websites navigation and flow.

Many small business owners get caught up in flashy design or become obsessed with branding (we in the biz like to call it logo creep). Sure, eye-catching animation and artful design look cool, but it’s possible to go overboard. This bookshop is case in point. Click on the splash page, then click on the book, then click on the logo, then click on the dot (and pray your browser doesn’t crash). With that obtrusive animation, label-less menus and hard-to-read text, would you have any idea that this place sells books?

Good web navigation easy to use and consistent. Simplify your menus and navigation in the most intuitive way you can. Menu items should follow natural priority - what is your site trying to accomplish? Is it selling a product? Then that specific product should be featured high on the menu. Are you an online store with many products? Categorize and alphabetize your catalog. If you’re publicizing your business, organize company information by what is most pertinent to your customers.

An easy-to-use website naturally removes barriers to a sale. The easier it is for a customer to find a product or information they are looking for, the more likely they are to follow through on a sale.

2) Problem 2: Too much Flash

This sort of lends itself to the first problem, but in a slightly different way. Flash or video elements have almost become de rigueur for a dynamic website, and with good reason. It’s an eye-catching device and can illustrate information in unique ways, whether it’s through movie-style presentations, slide shows, images or diagrams.

Because it’s so powerful and has the potential to be visually interesting, it’s tempting to use Flash all over your site. Don’t. A little restraint goes a long way.

There are instances where loads of Flash makes sense. Nightclubs, production studios or design showcases all can benefit from complex Flash use - it highlights their best features or conveys emotion that helps sell their non-traditional services.

The average business, however, should stick to a simple rule: one Flash element, max, per page.

There are several reasons for this:

1) Not all computers, Internet connections and thus customers can use animation. Flash and videos are larger than the average image file, and older computers often don’t have the latest version of the software that plays that file, meaning it might appear clunky to that user.

2) Too much action on a screen means the things you want to highlight on the screen get lost in a sea of motion. Choose the most important idea you want to express, sticking to simple images and text for less important items.

3) Because you want to be found. Flash-based text is terrible for search engine optimization - search engines can’t read text that appears in those animations, so it’s a good idea to have normal text on your page, containing key words and phrases for that site.

Exercising restraint in your website design is one of the most important design decisions you can make for your business website. It simplifies your company image, makes it easier for visitors to use and ultimately drives a sale.

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As a small business owner, you’re proud of your logo. It’s sleek, it’s vibrant, and it captures your company’s image in a great visual metaphor. It cost a hell of a lot of money, so you’re damn well going to get your money’s worth.

You highlight your logo everywhere - in your signage, your brochures, and your billboards - and it is effective. People remember that logo and it’s becoming an icon, similar to Apple Computer’s Apple or the FedEx hidden arrow logo, which are synonymous with their brands.

So why does your web designer insist on shrinking your logo to a small space in the upper left corner of your website? Doesn’t he or she realize how important that logo is to your website? Doesn’t he know how expensive it was?!

Hold your horses, boss. You might have a great logo, but your web designer is looking out for your best interests. It probably is a waste of both a good logo and a good website to make your logo so big on your homepage. When visitors hit your homepage, the brand recognition battle is already won. The customers are through the door, and now your website design has to drive them to buy. Broadcasting your logo only wastes space and valuable selling time.

There are occasions where a big logo on a website makes sense. Usually it’s on a splash page or on an entertainment site, where the visual impact is the point of the site, or at least complements the content and function of the site. On a business website, however, a big logo often affects the usability of the site.

Take Pepsi, for example. The ostensible purpose of the website is to market Pepsi products, not sell them. But this current website is a perfect example of too much taken too far. To start, you have a giant, animated Pepsi can which transforms into a hodgepodge of logo themed art. Even after that all settles down, you’re still inundated with Pepsi logos on a Flash menu, a cluttered layout that can make it difficult to navigate. Sure, you’re going to remember the logo, but good luck accomplishing any actual business on a site like that. Your visitors would struggle to find what you’re selling, let alone how to order it.

A good business website should have clear design and function. Remember, when visitors come to your site, they’ve already discovered your brand. That first job of catching their eye is already done - the next step, and the purpose of your website, is to further your sale. Your website should clearly attract and direct visitors to the functionality of your website: product or service information, contact information, and ultimately sales.

Take, for example, bank websites like HSBC or Bank of America. They’re sites are function driven. A small logo identifies the site, but almost all the other iconography and text is driven to the sale - advertising loans and checking accounts, driving customers to register for more information or online banking.

Sites that aren’t so reliant upon web functionality also benefit from function-based design. The Left Brain is a 360 PSG-designed site for a Buffalo-based bookkeeping firm. Its site is pretty basic - a homepage, pages that describe services, then a contact page. They also have a very unique, visually effective logo. However, on a site used exclusively for directing visitors to place a phone call, it does not resort to logo-overload.

The Left Brain site is built to inform - it has clean design and respects that visitors who come to the site already have brand recognition for the company. With a clean menu design and functional information, the site drives business by providing basic research and incentive to contact Left Brain offices.

So when you are deciding how to handle the logo issue, think about what your website is trying to accomplish. Is it selling a product or a service? Is it driving visitors to make a “real life” connection through e-mail, phone or in person? Is it driving people to use a service? In terms of your logo, however, the specific function doesn’t matter, only that you allow your website to showcase your company, not just your logo.

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In the 360 PSG offices, Ben Shepard, Director of Design, and Eryn Yates, Assistant Director of Design, and I (Evan Pierce, Director of Content Services) often scour the web for design and content ideas. Every once and a while we find a design we absolutely fall in love with, and one of our favorite magazines, Good Magazine, happens to fall in that category.

What do we like about it? Its clean simplicity. Articles are clearly highlighted, the top feature-call-out uses clean, natural multimedia, and the font…oh man we love the use of fonts on this page. It’s a mix of approachable accessibility with authoritative professionalism, perfect for that type of publication.

These ideas - clean, beautiful design with intuitive functionality - are the types of designs we at 360 PSG strive for, and we’re continually evaluating other sites to gain ideas to incorporate in our own designs. Let us know some of your favorites below.

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