Author Archives: DerrickHolder

Photo via dklimke

In the olden days of the Internet (say, 8-10 years ago) you could get away with a basic, even amateurish website.

If you are going to have a bad website, you are probably better off having no website at all. Hard to believe, but it’s true. While a bad website at least gets your name in the search engines, it can also ruin your credibility. A hard to use website, for example, may push your potential customers over to the competition, while an amateurish website can convince potential customers that your business is simply not a serious one.

Here’s a few tips how you can avoid these website issues.

1) Make sure that you get your website when you are ready.
You should only invest in a company website when you are ready to spend time and money on the project. Only develop a website when you … Read the rest

Photo via amboo who?

These days, a great danger lurks just a few clicks away: the online review. By Googling your company’s name, anyone can read and track your business’s performance – including mis-steps, poor service or less-than-stellar products that you’ve provided or sold.

Protecting your company’s reputation is now a 24-hour vigil. Negative reviews – whether they’re merited or not – can turn away potential customers and vendors, and reflect badly on your company’s brand.

The good news is that small-business owners can be proactive in securing positive reviews by asking satisfied customers to share their experiences. But what to do if it’s already too late and you are battling negative reviews that keeping your phone silent and your business down?

Reach out immediately to dissatisfied reviewers. Their negative comments don’t need to be the end of the conversation. Small-business owners should attempt a dialogue, experts say, as complainers … Read the rest

“The Bounce”: This is not a new dance, or a revival of an old dance (sorry Harlem Shakers). This is the dreaded percentage of users who come to your site and then “bounce away” shortly after.  Your bounce rate is only good if you have a one page website, and the last time I saw a one page website it was in highschool when I was learning how to write basic HTML or when in the affiliate marketer hey days- both of which are long gone.

These days, one to many website owners focus on the quantity rather than the quality of clicks. When they open up their Google Analytics dashboard, all they see is the big picture. Too bad the little picture is the quality of your clicks, which is far more important than how many people actually came.  Good thing you can determine from the data what your … Read the rest

Pic via filmingilman

So we spoke on why Social Media campaigns fail but you’re over that (pat yourself on the back a few times) so what’s next?

What usually happens next is you ask yourself this question “How do you know whether your social media marketing is paying off?”

First of all, the most valuable metrics won’t be the same for every social media marketing campaign.  Goals, experience, and focus may vary from company to company. Keep in mind that no one metric is proof of social media success and failure – but taken as a whole, there are some fairly good indicators of how your efforts are faring. So lets say your business is off to a great start. You know your market, you’ve developed a great presence, and you’re keeping your audience engaged and you know your social media efforts are playing a significant role. Naturally, some are … Read the rest