Archive for the ‘Small Business Web Solutions’ Category

Can Small Businesses Find an Affordable Niche in Google’s Paywall Service?

Discussion started over at SEW…

Google always gives prominence first to paying customers (PPC above natural results) and second to what it deems are the most relevant results.

Let’s say that now when we produce valuable content on a client’s website, we have the opportunity to collect a fee. If a customer of Google’s paywall clicks and “accepts the charges”, supposedly we as the publisher of valuable information gain a dominant share of the fee.

This shows a great potential for businesses to invest more greatly in researching and publishing quality content. Of course it could also mean that writing a great headline could earn you the same fees rather than focus on the content behind the paywall…

Let’s look at it another way. I publish great content and offer it via RSS feed to other websites to increase my traffic. Will the paywall only be enacted if the visitor enters by Google referral?

Many questions certainly but I truly hope that Google succeeds in developing a working model for paid content. The dumbing down of literature and culture badly needs a buttress against the hammering of small opinions writ large.

What’s the best CMS for an ad agency website, complete with multiple blogs and password-protected areas?

- Kevin F. 24 / M / Lincoln, NE

Sounds like you have a big project on your hands. I think the most important thing to consider is that any one product that handles multiple blogs and group level access may have too many moving parts, be over developed, or be packaged software that requires extensive customization.

I’d recommend you carefully consider the various elements you need, why you’d want separate blogs, and what information needs to be password protected. I’d suggest you’d be better served by multiple, simple solutions than trying to force one of the popular open-source CMS’ to fit your mold.

Thanks!

- Kevin F. 24 / M / Lincoln, NE

One of the great downsides to outsourcing business services is that once in a while, you totally lose a customer, and sometimes that customer takes the time to tell others why. Here I am! Read the rest of this entry »

1) In addition to tried-and-true reciprocal link building, we are also coupling this with social media promotion(digg, delicious, twitter), article submissions and blog commenting

2) We’ll want to incorporate conversion tracking to measure results

3) By properly identifying your competitive niches by keyword (i.e. town/region or type of job), we can help grow specific aspects of your business.

4) By partnering with 3PRIME, your company greatly extends its control and interest in what your web presence represents for your business. This 24/7 sales presentation can become a much more critical asset to your business.

Stop waiting and start doing, call 203-789-8229, today!

This question comes from an Internet associate:

I’m actually creating my own website right now (and no, it’s not cosmetics-related) and I seek some advice from you regarding hosting. Just like you, I buy all my domains thru GoDaddy, only so far I never had to worry about hosting and FTP upload. I am reading horror stories online about GoDaddy hosting services and I’m having a hard time evaluating where the truth is… Some love it, some hate it!

Is GoDaddy a decent option for hosting? Or is it for suckers/newbies who don’t know any better?

Regarding hosting, I do recommend GoDaddy, but it may be that I am highly familiar with it, so I am used to ignoring the upsells they send you through when you are setting up services with them. I have had sites run poorly, I have had problems with hacking, but overall, with over 100 sites hosted with them I’d say they are good bet.

For someone better, and at $60 per year paid upfront very comparable in price, we use KnownHost.com. It takes longer to setup, you have to wait for emails and such (24 hours) but the control panel is much more powerful and the service is somewhat more reliable. Main difference, they don’t provide telephone support. So if you you want more personal support, go with godaddy.

Response to an article from the Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology, Inc.

What’s interesting about the use of the “cottage” terminology is it, to me, references “cottage industry” where people work independently to bring their “goods” to market. I suspect that for many people, who are comfortable with their niche in a larger organization, they are likely to feel alienated in a primarily telecommuting environment. However, I believe the author misses a key opportunity.

If employees acclimate themselves to working from home, it seems likely to me that those that are successful at it will expand their productivity to include other processes, new initiatives and new methods.

Perhaps the greatest potential outcome is that these individuals begin to offer their services to other individuals in addition to their employer, or completely evolve and specialize their niche service to offer it entirely as their own product, branded or unbranded. This can then lead to them needing additional persons to meet demand, and their “electronic cottage” becomes a “electronic cottage industry”.

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Where can I find statistics on why Web Design and User Experience matters?
- Jed H. 31 / M / Portland, OR

I like this article:

How does user experience affect your company?

Bottom line though is that you already know that useful and pleasing presentation makes 100% of the difference between whether a website visitors stays or goes, whether they call or click, or whether they back out.

Thats true. But good stats to back that up would go a long way in selling design services This is the best site I have seen so far. Thanks
- Jed H. 31 / M / Portland, OR

After a slow beginning of 2010, 3PRIME has signed up 4 new web design clients in the past 10 business days. It’s not the statistics that did it, business owners know what they need. Once they find a reliable, clear-spoken advocate for their business that ALSO helps them transform their vision into a website, they’ll move on it.

Great job 3PRIME team!

A web solutions company that can get you on Google’s First Page? We have, they’re right here!

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What is a free way to get my business website ranked higher?
- Shane S. M / Tampa, FL

It’s always helpful to have more information about your domain and keywords but here are some general things you can do:

1) Make sure your home page title tag has your major keyword and regions of influence. So if you have a shoe store, you might have your title tag be:
Kids Shoes Tampa FL | Bridal shoe packages in Florida

Try and draw out a niche for yourself and try and get the best ranking you can for these more specific phrases. It’s far easier to gain a ranking for so called “long tail” search terms that specify your region.

2) Improve your link popularity, which means to get more links pointed to your homepage. Links are perhaps the most important measure of whether your website deserves a first page ranking in Google. Some methods to do this are:
a) Exchange links with other business websites in your area
b) Find stories on blogs related to your industry and comment on them, making sure you take advantage of the [Website] field when placing your comment.
c) Setup a twitter account and make posts/tweets about inner pages on your website with a link to the page.

If you spend 1-2 hours per day doing the above, you’ll see your rankings start to rise after 3 weeks and continue to as long as you remain diligent in your new, free SEO ranking improvement habits!