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10 Free Local Internet Marketing Tricks

Intra-Designs Inc Blog — Mon, 07 Nov 2011 02:23:55 GMT

83% of U.S. households now use the Internet
...as an information source when shopping locally for products and services… the Internet will soon surpass newspapers as a local shopping information resource.” Source: The Kelsey Group
So how does a local company get access to the new generation of marketing? And, in this economy, how can we afford it?
Read on for 10 tricks to market your company for free over the Internet!

Trick 1: Google Places
Google Places: Are you in Google Places? If not, your competitors are being listed before you. Google places are the local listings that appear before natural results on Google’s search engine. Find out more at: www.google.com/local/add

Trick 2: Local Search Engines
Local search engines do not get as much traffic as Google, but it is well worth getting your business into them because your listing will link back to your web site. This is one of the ways search engines like Google rank your site. One of the most popular is City Search, but there are many more. Since Seattle is the largest city in the area, try doing a search on “Seattle search engines.”

Trick 3: Where is your contact information?
Search engines are constantly trying to deliver local searches, but they will not list your site as a high priority if they do not know where you are. One way to help is to put your company’s address at the bottom of every page on your web site.
Not everyone has a retail location however. For instance, we have an office, but it is not a location for retail business. In cases like that, you can just put the city, state, and ZIP on the page. For instance, you can see how we put that information right below the navigation on each page at Intra-Designs.com.

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The truth about Google Page Rank

Intra-Designs Inc Blog — Mon, 28 Dec 2009 18:18:00 GMT

We have been getting a lot of questions lately about Google Page Rank, and why it looks like most web sites never get above a page rank of 1 or 2.
First and foremost, if you have the Google toolbar installed, the Google Page Rank on the toolbar is not correct. It's out-dated by at least 3 months, and is not a good indicator of how Google is really ranking your site anyway.

Our main web site was a page rank of 5 for many years, when it suddenly (and without reason) dropped to 3, and has stayed there for over a year now, even though we have done nothing different than before.

Here is an interesting quote from SEOBook’s Aaron Wall :
Since Google is demoting PageRank’s viability as a site’s global authority score perhaps this is a time for Yahoo to bring back WebRank, or Ask to launch something like CommunityRank. The Google-webmaster relationship is fraying. This presents an opportunity for whoever wants to take it.

There are many, many (too many) so-called SEO "experts" out there that will say things like:

Use the "nofollow" tag in your links
Don't have any outbound links on your web site
Use different keywords on every inbound link to your web site

Let's debunk those. The web was created, and expanded, by links. The search engines find new sites by links. The "nofollow" tag, to me, just says that, even though you have the link on your web site, it shouldn't be trusted. Well, if it shouldn't be trusted, why have it? And if you have no outbound links, how are you going to exchange links with others?
The keyword suggestion is even worse. We have a Tacoma web design company, and we only work with Washington companies. Why would I want to change the keywords on every inbound link? The more different sources that link to us with the words "Tacoma web design," the more important the search engines see us for that keyword.

So here's what it boils down to: Don't worry about Google Page Rank. Have a quality web site designed for you, and make sure you have a reputable company doing the search engine optimization for that site.Work with your vendors and clients to trade links. Then you will have a high quality web site that people go to, and hopefully contact you about your products/services, which is what you want in the first place.

Backing Up Microsoft Outlook

Intra-Designs Inc Blog — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 21:58:00 GMT

What a beautiful summer we have been having!

The news keeps telling us the economy is terrible, and I've seen some slowing, but nowhere near as depressing as they keep trying to get us. I wonder why they so rarely put a positive spin on things like this. Yes, I know many people are being laid off, but that's a great excuse to start your own business! And an Internet business is easy to start! Just click here to read more about it.

We have also been getting many calls for help with lost information in Microsoft Outlook. My friends, Outlook does not automatically backup your data, and the Archive function is not a backup. There are many programs out there, and here is one we have recommended to our other clients: Backup Email. With Backup Email, you can backup messages, rules, address book, settings, accounts, blocked lists and more. And you can even transfer your Outlook setting to another PC (like if you have a desktop and laptop). The program is not difficult to use, and it's cheap compared to the headaches you will have if you have no backup.

With that in mind, don't spend all your time in front of the computer. Get out and enjoy the rest of summer!

The Sky is Not Falling For Windows XP

Intra-Designs Inc Blog — Fri, 06 Mar 2009 16:38:00 GMT

You may have heard that Windows 7 is due to be released soon, a major upset in the operating system market. Windows 7 is coming out because Vista is so buggy that Microsoft is creating a new OS rather than trying to fix it.
There are many rumors about upgrading to Windows 7, and what Windows 7 really will do. Here's some help:

No, you do not have to upgrade to Vista first. Microsoft is discontinuing regular support for Windows XP in a few months. After that, there will be no support for new applications that may have difficulties with Windows XP. That's why Microsoft is trying to get people to upgrade to Vista, but I wouldn't do it (this information comes from the Microsoft "Windows For Your Business" blog).
No, at this point, Microsoft is not even considering a free upgrade from Vista. That's just sad. Vista has been the worst operating system we've seen since Windows 3.1. It's buggy, clunky, and just not user-friendly. That's probably why the sales have been so terrible for this operating system.
No, none of this has anything to do with web design or the Internet. The Internet runs over 90% off the LInux and Unix operating systems. These systems are more stable, less buggy, and less prone to hacking and viruses than Microsoft operating systems.

Basically, (in my opinion) what it comes down to is this: Microsoft tried to get more money from us by creating Windows Vista right when XP started working better (SP2). However, Vista was so buggy that Microsoft lost money on it. So now they are coming out with another operating system to replace the buggy one, and charging us all over again.

Recommendation: Do not buy any OS upgrades from Microsoft before Service Pack 1 comes out (unless it's pre-loaded on a new computer and you don't have a choice). Anything before that is really just their beta version.

Generating traffic to your web site by publishing articles

Intra-Designs Inc Blog — Fri, 30 Jan 2009 16:37:00 GMT

One of the most fundamental ways to generate traffic is to have other web sites link to you. Finding those sites that are willing to link to you can be difficult though.
One way is to write articles and have them published. EzineArticles.com is an article marketing and distribution, publicity generating, and traffic building service designed to get your articles in front of a potential audience. There is no charge to use the service and all new accounts get to submit ten articles that will be evaluated for quality and reader interest. If you get accepted, you can constantly submit articles into their content directory. The high-visibility of the site, its value as a link opportunity, and the ability to distribute your content, with your site's link included, to a large audience of publishers all add up to a high-value traffic-driving opportunity.

Generating traffic to your web site using blogs

Intra-Designs Inc Blog — Thu, 29 Jan 2009 16:09:00 GMT

So your web site is up, and you want to generate more traffic to it. One good way is to offer something people want on your site. For instance, start a blog (you mean, like this one?). There are thousands of blogs out today, so just putting a blog up isn't good enough. You need a blog that imparts information your potential clients would be interested in. This blog is all about web sites; whether you want to design, market, or maintain your site, along with many other useful (I hope!) information. I do this for two reasons:

It generates more traffic to my web site. Right now, approximately 500 people visit our site each month. Does that mean we have 500 new clients a month? Oh, no! I wouldn't know what to do with that many clients... . People come to our web site for many different reasons. If you've been reading our blog, you know that we offer helpful informaiton for free, like this blog and our free e-books.
It helps our existing (and potential) clients. Most of the blog entries you read are because of questions our clients have asked us. My thought is; if they asked it, then others are thinking the same thing.

Setting a blog up is easy and, sometimes, free. Our KoolWebHosting.com offers a blog service, just like this one. You can get free blogs if you have a domain name (but you get the ads like above), or purchase ad-free blog space (for as little as $1 per month). Think of it, you might be able to triple the number of people that come to your web site, just by adding a blog and typing about what you already know.

*ZigZiglar.com had a Webinar on:
how to generate more leads than you can handle without breaking the bank!
During this Webinar, David Johnson said that the #1 way to market today is to use the Internet, and the #1 way to market on the Internet was to use blogs.

The SEO (Search Engine Optimization) Solution

Intra-Designs Inc Blog — Wed, 17 Dec 2008 19:11:00 GMT

What is Search Engine Optimization?

SEO… No, it’s not sew spelled wrong, it’s a computer (or, to be more precise, a web) acronym standing for Search Engine Optimization. As I tell my clients, it doesn’t matter if you have the best Web site in the world if nobody can find it. Search Engine Optimization is the process in which your web site is designed or modified to conform to the standards search engines set for indexing Web sites. That’s a pretty long way of saying it’s the way to get your site ranked higher in Google and Yahoo.
Click here to read more from our e-book, the SEO Solution.

SEO is the buzzword of the Internet right now

So is the hype true? Well, yes, it is. Being at the top of the search engines can make a company, and dropping off the search engines can break a company. The moral is: Don't rely only on SEO work, it will bite you.
SEO work should only be a part of your advertising campaign. Here's why:

I was on Web Pro World not long ago, and read a post similar to what I'm going to write below. I'm changing the name and product because I forgot the real name of the person and product. You can find hundreds of these posts on related sites, though:

Dan, a widget maker, decided to spend all his money on SEO work so he could be #1 in the search engines for his keywords (NOTE: run if anyone tells you they will guarantee #1 in search engines, especially Google. Nobody can guarantee that), so he hired several people to help him, at great cost. He became #1 in Google, and life was good. He was making money hand-over-fist (I wonder where that saying came from?). The one day Google changed their algorithm (they do this a lot) and he completely dropped off for all his keywords. He wasn't listed anywhere, and his sales plummeted.

This is common, it happens all the time! Google will not guarantee anyone a #1, or even page 1, position. They won't even guarantee it for their Adwords pay per click program, so don't rely only on search engines for your marketing. Always have a backup.

And feel free to contact us with Search Engine help. Search engine optimization has been 60% of our business in 2008. We do natural SEO to help get you high in search engines, and we also help many clients with Adwords and other pay per click programs. Call us today if you need help.

Top 10 Recession-Proof Jobs

Intra-Designs Inc Blog — Fri, 05 Dec 2008 18:18:00 GMT

Forbes magazine just came out with their list of the Top 10 Recession-Proof Jobs, and I found the list rather interesting. Jobs like health care assistants, accounting, and software development were on the list (click here for the full list), but what caught my eye was the number 1 most recession-proof job: Sales Representative and Business Development.

"Really?", you might ask. "What does this have to do with marketing my web site?" Small businesses don't have a large staff in general, so knowing that a sales representative is a recession-proof job doesn't help much, or does it? I know, right now the thought of hiring another person is probably the last thing on your mind, but think about what your web site does... It's a virtual sales person. Do you treat it that way?

For instance, many companies come to us with ideas for their web site. They want their mission and vision statements right on the front page. They want people to know the name of their company. But how many people put a vision statement on top of a phone book or newspaper ad? You want something that catches the eye of every potential client on top, don't you? In fact, if you go to our web main page (www.intra-designs.com), you'll notice that what we do is much more prominent that who we are.

Use your web site as a sales representative, and you will have generated a new position within your company that costs a fraction of actually hiring a new person.

New Domain Name Options On The Way

Intra-Designs Inc Blog — Wed, 03 Dec 2008 15:53:00 GMT

The ICANN (Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers), the ruling body for all domain names, will be opening the flood gates early next year. Where there is now domains like microsoft.com, soon it will probably be something like windows.microsoft. That's right, anyone will be able to put whatever they want on the right side of that dot, provided you have the money to do it, of course.

Many people are saying "don't do it." It sounds like it will be very expensive, at least at first, so only larger companies will be doing it. I remember the days when one year of a normal domain registration cost $180 (versus about $10 now), so the price will come down.

gTLD's (generic Top Level Domains) are expected to increase choice and competition for domain names. Personally, I think this is going to be good in the long run for small businesses. The push has always been to get a .com domain name, because it's the TLD that people recognize. That thinking has lessened with all the new extensions out, like .tv, .info, and the rest, but this new option will really break the chain of needing a .com.

More information on the new gTLD's can be found at www.moderndomainer.com.

Making Money on the Internet in this Economy

Intra-Designs Inc Blog — Thu, 23 Oct 2008 13:02:00 GMT

I think every entrepreneur wants to find new ways to make money, and the Internet is full of options that can help.

We recently completed an ebook called How to Make Thousands of Dollars in Two Days. The ebook describes how to create affiliate programs to help you capitalize on free information you might send out over the Internet. Affiliate programs allow you to make residual income 24 hours a day/7 days a week, for years after you have finished writing whatever it is that's on your mind.

Think of this: MySpace is wildly popular right now, and it's free. How can they do all the work to create such a huge web site, with all that specialized programming, and keep it free? Well, Google ads are everywhere on the site, and every time you click one of those Google ads, they get paid. Now, add in the millions of people that go there every day, and if each of them clicked one ad a day, that can add up very quickly.

MARKETING TIP:

Having multiple domain names can help drive traffic to your web site. Intra-Designs, Inc. is a web design and Internet marketing company, but the domain name www.intra-designs.com doesn't convey that well. So how do you better market a web site on the Internet? Find domain names that fit with your marketing. We have several domain names that forward to our web site. For instance, type www.washingtonwebsite.com into your browser, and you will find our main web page.

Likewise, if you type www.koolwebhosting.com into your browser, you will go to our main hosting area. In fact, you can go there and look for good domain names for your marketing. Try it, you might find a domain name you like!

Welcome

Intra-Designs Inc Blog — Tue, 30 Sep 2008 21:21:34 GMT

So I'm sitting here watching my kids play MX Vs. ATV (the best MX game for Wii I've seen), wondering what would best help Washington small businesses in this economy.

We've created several ebooks to help people better market their web sites. Have you looked through any of them yet?

The first, How to Save Thousands of Dollars in Two Hours, shows how to effectively use a FAQ page.
Click here to go to the ebook.

MARKETING TIP:
Blogs are a great way to help your results in search engines. Intra-Designs has just started a new set of hosting options, inlcuding the ability to set up, manage, and update blogs easily. In addition to the standard options, you can even send emails that will post on your blogs. For instance, imagine being somewhere in a meeting, and you come up with a great idea for your blog. well, if you have a phone that can send emails, you can blog right from the meeting. In fact, the blog your'e reading right now is from our new system. Click here to learn more about our blogs. Oh, did I mention, you can even set up your blogs for free (just transfer a domain name to our new servers at www.koolwebhosting.com, and you can get a free blogcast as part of the transfer).

I'm going to try to find one free way to help market your company every week, so keep reading for new marketing tips.

Take care, and God bless!
Ty