In these difficult times, we are responding to a pandemic that affects businesses and retailers around the world. Covid-19 is harming businesses in every country and destroying the economy. Uncertainty and not knowing when the pandemic will end will undoubtedly cause losses to most companies.
Things change every day. Different locations and states enforce different rules. Businesses of all sizes, from global institutions to small family businesses, are feeling the impact of the virus economically and emotionally. However, compared with brick-and-mortar retailers, this feeling is even greater. Because of the implementation of blockade measures, encouraging social isolation, and requiring people to limit contact with others, many physical locations have to open their doors to the public. Although this may encourage online shopping behavior in COVID-19, brick-and-mortar retailers need to find ways to stay relevant and improve their revenue figures to survive. (more…)
It is possible to get more organic search traffic without increasing your google rankings.
When users look for a service or product online, the results from Google all compete against each other for attention. Since the use of images in search results is limited (or non-existent) and all you have a words to compete, these words are the most important asset. The information that Google displays on search results is called the “search snippet”.
What is click-through rate optimization?
CTR (click-through rate) optimization is a process getting more clicks from search impressions by making your search snippet more attractive and appealing. It doesn’t always mean adding more words or 5 exclamation marks. (more…)
It is hard to find the right images to showcase your business and your products, especially if your business is a service. Hiring a photographer can be expensive, more if you don’t know exactly what you want, paying for a photographer to wait for hours for you to come up with the right idea is not a good use of money. But you still need images.
Stock photography is a great alternative to hiring a professional photographer AND models. Can you take the pictures yourself and use a couple of friends as models, sure you can. Will they have the crisp quality and excellent presentation of a professional photo? Most likely not. (more…)
Every day, week and month there are a series of inbound marketing strategies that a business owner should know to increase the number of leads. Having an excellent Guelph website design helps a lot. The top 10 tactics are right here:
Redesign the sales process
Seems obvious, and yet, when a business is not generating enough leads, the sales process is often overlooked and as a result, the little leads your business has are lost for an inadequate sales process. Users’ behaviour has changed in a drastic manner, if adjustments are not made to the sales process so that it matches the way your potential clients want to purchase, your business is at risk of loosing qualified sales.
Create a memorable experience
What is a memorable experience on a website? It starts with the very first interaction with your brand, a user needs consistency and reliability to gain trust in your products and services. A memorable experience is simply one that can be remembered, either because it was shocking, easy to go through or fun. Make your brand stand out or be forgotten. (more…)
The holiday season of 2015 is getting closer every minute. We are about 1 month away from the beginning of the busiest period of the year for retailers. In 2014, ecommerce sales had a record year and the expectations are that in this 2015, sales online are just going to keep increasing. With billions of dollars at stake, you want to be sure that your online store is ready for the most important season of the year.
Mobile ready, responsive, or whatever, but be mobile!
Not even going to try to convince you about the benefits of being mobile. Everyone holds a smartphone now, it is not 2008 when smartphones were still some sort of a high end thing. Smartphones and superphones are just phones now, it takes real effort to want to go back to a flip phone or a mobile that is just a phone. So, why is it that many ecommerce sites are still not mobile friendly? This year, mobile purchases are expected to grow in at least 32% compared to last year. This is almost double the growth since 2014. Get moving and hire someone to build your new web design with mobile in mind… now. (more…)
The construction market is an important pace maker for the economy in Canada. A healthy housing market means that the economy is in good condition and consequently, this is reflected in the renovations market. When people are interested and can afford home renovations companies that offer kitchen, basement, bathroom or other similar reno services should take notice. Even though your business may be successful now, ensuring that you take every opportunity to continue to grow is the best way to protect your business for years to come.
Doing online marketing for your home reno business is not only smart, but an important decision that will keep your business going even when those bad times come.
From our blog, we review some cases in which online marketing has been an important part of their success be it directly or indirectly. (more…)
Online marketing has become one of the main tools at our disposal, no longer in the hands of multinationals or large corporations, but available to all those who want to optimize their online presence, regardless of the size of their business.
This is why, digital marketing or online marketing has the quality of being able to adapt to company size, but also to goals and objectives and above all, the level of investment that an organization wishes to set at any given time.
From our Marketing Stuff blog, we will discuss some of these points as they apply to companies of different sizes and budgets, to see how these techniques can help them achieve their objectives. (more…)
Email deliverability. It is a common problem, you start sending business emails, doing some email marketing and using your business email. Suddenly, someone tells you that your emails are going to the junk folder or are being labeled as spam by their email software (Outlook, Thunderbird or whichever the person happens to use). Your business depends on being able to communicate with its customers, so you go into crisis mode. Start calling your hosting company, your web developer, and start asking everyone you know about it. Congratulations, you now have an “email deliverability” problem. (more…)
The very first step in search engine optimization is always keyword research. It is not advisable to start SEO without having done a proper analysis of the keywords we want to target. Running an SEO campaign without keyword research is like driving a car with your eyes closed. (more…)
The internet is a world where many believe that by simply setting up a webpage or a basic ecommerce website all the awesome benefits of online marketing will happen in a few weeks. Nothing can be further from the truth. In fact, you may be wondering, why is my ecommerce store not selling?
This type of thinking is usually not associated to the offline world, where most people believe (to varying degrees) that it is necessary to invest in paying your retail location’s lease, setup distribution methods and provide products that relate to market needs. Most understand that to start a business you have to invest in a physical location, setting up shop and doing some traditional promotion. Furthermore, most agree and accept the costs of traditional media. Not so much with digital media.
This is why the starting point of all marketing is always the same fundamental principle. More than once have we heard from business owners that they expect to invest as little as possible (‘I don’t have much to invest’), without understanding what is required to attain the level of success required for their business (‘I don’t believe in online marketing, but everyone is doing it’), asking for the minimum and expecting the best. It should be no surprise that many of these businesses end up struggling. (more…)
The internet has become one of the main business drivers for small business owners. It is so, that one of the first things that people think about when setting up a business is having an online presence that represents their brand’s identity. The ease and convenience of using the web to find out information or make purchases without having to go out or listen to a sales pitch are some of the big reasons why the internet has become such a powerful global economy driver. (more…)
The design of the right website is one of the most essential points of any digital marketing plan. It is no longer enough to have a simple brochure webpage, it is important to consider several different paramters surrounding it that can be critical to obtaining the expected results. (more…)
The whole reason for you to have a social media presence is one single goal: to increase revenue. This could be because of better customer service, improved sales conversion, word of mouth on steroids or great branding, but the goal remains the same. SearchEngineOp can help you create and manage your social media networks to achieve measurable goals. (more…)
Waterloo, Ontario is a beautiful town. Housing is high quality, the standard of living is superior and the people are very friendly. If you find yourself living in this beautiful small city, you are lucky.
If you ever need renovations Waterloo, you should consider talking to an expert like DaMaren Renovations. An expert will assist you in deciding the right design and plan for your home, ensuring that all considerations are taken and that the legal requirements of your city are met. They also know great ways to find savings and improve the reach of your budget, so that it will go beyond what it normally could. (more…)
Surfing is a fantastic experience. The beach, the sun and the waves, what could be any better than that?
During winter in Canada, people dream of escaping to a sunny destination like Costa Rica. Some even consider Costa Rica surfing as a great option… (more…)
For several years now, an online presence has been an extremely important asset in business and startups. Companies look at an seo firm as an actual partner more than a simple service provider and web design agencies as a vital element in their promotional efforts. (more…)
Small businesses and independent professionals (like consultants) are experiencing a rapid presence growth in the web. This is particularly true if we talk about professionals related to the health markets.
Doctors, dentists or simply businesses that related to the medical field like plastic surgery or even ophthalmologists have learned how to take advantage of the web to promote their services to prospective and real clients.
In the case of counselling, it is one of the health services specialties that have the great benefit of connecting potential customers with providers through the internet. Lets review on specific examples of how to have website of this type and how to improve results.
What should a Counselling services website have?
A website about counselling services should of course have the basic elements of the rest of websites should have. Information should be clear, specially information related to the people who are behind the website, including contact information, office address, phone number and ideally, the name and professional background of the person offering counselling services. Web design Guelph trends should be kept in mind while designing for its target audience.
Colours are important. White backgrounds with green or blue elements, preferably pastel tones would be the most adequate for this type of websites. White, greens and blues are colours associated with health professions and well-being.
Once established the previous elements, it is important to present the specialties and services offered. If the site is about family counselling Guelph or online counselling, it is important that the home page have direct access to that information.
Important: Where is the counselling provided?
If it is about counselling Kitchener or Guelph, it is important to provide this information to the users and visitors right away. People will want to know if the services are within their travelling distance or if an alternative like online counselling is available.
Fot this, we have several options that Google provides, which means that getting good ranking would be essential. It is convenient to have an SEO agency create a plan or strategy to achieve those first page rankings when someone is typing the search keyphrases related to counselling Guelph or counselling Kitchener.
This way, we will not only have a great website for this type of services, but we will also be available and easy to find by those prospective clients who are searching for the services.
As in many industries, it is all about location, location, location. Where do you put your calls to action? What is the service area? Where is the office located?
Planning is the best way to ensure the results are what is expected. Starting a project without any planning or at least some basic research is a risky endeavor that should be avoided.
To obtain the first place in some keyword phrases that have a high conversion rate is one of the most important goals in our business, this is also to improve the benefits obtained for a company working with us. (more…)
Many people find themselves with a great idea for a product or service. Even though the prospect of starting a business seems daunting at first, many attempt it. The learning curve is long and difficult, however, success is always at hand.
The most important thing to keep in mind when starting your business, is a clear understanding of your product or service and how you plan to market it, in other words, how you plan on getting the word out so that people come to you.
In any case, below we give you some basic pointers to consider when starting your own business in Ontario:
Time and effort are the two biggest tools of an entrepreneur. Starting a business and running it can be a lot of work. Take time to consider all it will take and your willingness to work for it. Are the risks associated with business’ ups and downs something you can manage?
Structure. What will be the structure of your business? Will if be a sole proprietorship, a partnership or a corporation?
Marketing. Consider a budget for marketing. Many businesses are started without any consideration for marketing, it is important that you take some time to research the potential and evaluate the best marketing options. Who are your competitors and what are they doing? Why should a customer prefer your products over the competitions? Do you need a website?
Financing. How much money do you need to start? Plan your budget realistically and decide whether you need financing. Keep in mind your overhead, every cost including staff, office/store space, marketing, tools and operating budget. Can you support your business and yourself for at least 2 years? Most businesses only find out if they succeed after the second or third year, the first one is usually the hardest one when starting.
The Law. Learn about taxes, licensing, health and safety regulations, etc. Understanding your local and federal legal obligations is important, particularly taxes.
This is a primer of what you should think about when starting a business in Ontario. It is by no means an exhaustive exploration of each element and each one deserves special attention and consideration. Take your time to plan and work hard, good planning and resilience are trademarks of successful business owners.
The road ahead
Another complexity is if you are trying to start a business in Ontario (register it), but that operates at another location outside of the province. When we were asked by Water Dreams Costa Rica to do their web design, we faced an interesting situation. They provide surf camps in Costa Rica and wanted to attract people interested in surfing and SUP. Their main customers are in Canada and particularly from Ontario. Their marketing had to consider several law complications, licensing matters in two countries and business structure and management. A simple idea of having a surf school where people can learn to surf and do SUP, became quite complicated. Fortunately, they were able to sort through the complications and people are enjoying great surfing experiences through the Water Dreams team.
When you are considering starting your business, look at all angles before opening the doors. Digital marketing can do a lot for your business, but do not rely on it to make your business, it is still marketing and as such it is just one component of a much more complex endeavor.
This last command will enable an option in the Gnome Advanced Settings panel go to “Shell Extensions” and enable the “User Themes Extension”. Logout and log back in. At this point there should be a new “Shell Theme” option that allows uploading of new gnome-shell themes which can be found at GnomeLook.org.
Facebook allows for videos to be uploaded to any account and it is easy and convenient for many users. However, Facebook does not offer a simple way to embed them in your web pages or website like Youtube, Vimeo or other video sharing sites do. Facebook does not officially provide an embedding code, so for people who want to embed a Facebook video on their blog post or web page, there is no readily available way to do it. (more…)
Sort of gave the trick in the title. Inserting Youtube videos in Joomla 1.6 or Joomla 1.7 (sort of our flag systems along with WordPress), the only thing that needs to be done is clear all the filters from the content editors on the articles manager options. (more…)
We online marketers and web world people like to think our language is as universal as music. However, majority of people, even people who use the internet fairly regularly, have difficulty understanding the whole concept of “online marketing” or ideas like “SEO“. But what are these concepts really? (more…)
Don’t wait until your competition out-ranks you, get SEO right now!
Really. SEO is an extremely important element for your website. Back in 1994, when there were a handful of websites, SEO was meaningless (doubt if it even existed beyond getting the proper domain name). In 2011, launching a website that is not search engine optimized with clean code, proper tagging, well written, etc, will only mean you are spending money to have a pretty brochure that only the people you give the domain address will see. Its not bad, you can use it in your printed materials to give people more information online. However, most businesses want their websites to be a strong sales tool that gets them prospects and customers. (more…)
I was recently browsing through the Guelph Mercury’s website. I was trying to find some contact information and did find it in http://www.guelphmercury.com/contactus as well as other interesting stuff. (more…)
Took it while shopping for groceries the other day, this is a great offer no one can resist. 1 pack of wieners for $3.49 or 2 for $7!
As a matter of fact, most of the store was offering “discounts” and “special offers”. I’ve noticed that in this particular store, they normally have a rotation of offers to keep products circulating. (more…)
Geekspeak alert. The following is a horror story about playing with Joomla, VirtueMart and its PHP files. May this help anyone looking for a solution to the itemID problem in VirtueMart. The following may not be a perfect solution, however, in the particular situation it worked like a charm and continues to work. (more…)
…or how to get people to give you money with your copy
When writing for anything that has the goal of someone giving you money, tell them why they should do it. We as buyers are only interested in your product or service for selfish reasons… what is known as the WIIFMs (or What’ s In It For Me).
SEO is sometimes referred as an art, a skill, a craft and even a science. However it is never referred as something people just do for fun.
Search engine optimization is complicated and time consuming. There is no serious SEO who will tell you otherwise. Most serious SEO companies need to have a large team of programmers and SEO experts to provide proper services to their clients. (more…)
Everybody remembers the days when Yellow Pages was the place to get all business information you needed. You wanted a service or product, didn’t know where to get it, you looked into the Yellow Pages. However, times have changed dramatically. (more…)
