Do you pour hours into your marketing, only for it to fall flat? Does your content get a lot of views, but very few conversions (if any)? Final question: are you using marketing personas? If you aren't using personas (or are using inaccurate personas) there's a good chance that's the reason behind your lackluster marketing results. Marketing
Web Design
Google Will Stop Showing Any Website That is Not Secure. Is Yours?
Google is like the protective older sibling of the internet. And like any good big bro (or sis) they want to keep you safe. Google announced that they will soon show a "not secure" warning for any site that is not SSL compliant and exclude it from search results. The change will be effective when Google version 62 launches in October. We've talked
How to Know When It’s Time to Redesign Your Website
If your website was last updated in '97 and features a flashing rainbow background...you probably already know it's time for an upgrade. But often it's not easy to tell when a site needs a simple refresh or a full-scale redesign. Does a website made in 2010 need to be redesigned? What about one made in 2015? The truth is there is no set
How to Create Compelling CTAs [Infographic]
Here’s a million-dollar question: how do you get people to do what you want them to? It isn’t enough to just dump words out into the universe and hope that does something. Whether you’re putting together a website, sending out an email, posting on social media or drafting up a blog, you want to drive people toward a specific action. What that
Why Your Website Host Matters [Infographic]
Think of the web as one big chain of storage units. Before your website can live online, you have to buy a storage unit to have somewhere to hold it. That's where a website host comes in. A website host is the link that connects your website to the rest of the internet so everyone can see it. Not all hosts offer the exact same services. Use this
SEO Truths and Lies
Does your SEO strategy feel like you're running and running...only to look back and see that you've barely moved? It's no secret that SEO is tricky, but if you're still bogged down in common SEO misconceptions then you're doing more harm than good. Lie: You Set up SEO Once and Forget About It A common misconception about SEO is that you only
How to be an Online Marketing Jedi
May the 4th be with you. And also with your marketing. The Force is good for more than just flashy battles - you can use your Jedi training to master your online marketing strategy as well. Come along, my Padawan reader as we delve into the world of online marketing. Resist the Dark Side Like the Force, the dark side of online marketing is
20 Questions That Will Give You a Year’s Worth of Blog Posts
You've heard it before (probably from us): in order to rank on Google, you need a blog. And you need to update it. Regularly. It's usually at the words "regularly updated blog" that our customers' faces blanch and the panic creeps in. That's when we hear: "I'm not a writer. And besides, I don't know what to blog about." I'll let
How to Get the Most Out of Google Analytics
Google Analytics is a fantastic tool that provides real-time data on your website traffic. But as anyone who's looked at it knows, the interface is overwhelming and confusing. It can be hard to find the information you need. Kristin Hicks of Constant Contact highlights the must-have metrics from Google Analytics: 1. Website Traffic The first
How Do I Know if My Online Marketing is Working? [Quiz]
One of the biggest challenges when it comes to online marketing is attaching a clear ROI to your efforts. Many business owners struggle with knowing that they need to market, but being afraid of just tossing money down the drain. If you're already marketing but feeling like you're just treading water, there are a few questions you should ask
What Should My Marketing Budget Be? [Infographic]
The online marketing landscape is a bustling market. One the left, merchants trying to sell you services for an arm and a leg. On the right, merchants promising the same services for pennies. Business owners know they need to be marketing, but with all the noise they aren't sure how much they should spend on online marketing. Or, worse, they're
6 Do’s and Don’ts of Web Design
We talk a lot about what you should do when it comes to your website and digital marketing, but it's just as important to talk about what you shouldn't do. Avoid these common website pitfalls. DON'T Use Social Media in Place of a Website Social media is fantastic, but don't make the mistake of thinking it can do the work of a website.
The Anatomy of a Successful Website
Did you bring your scalpel? We're continuing our dissection of successful marketing tools to narrow in on what makes them work. Today we're slicing open some successful websites to see how they're built. It's Mobile Responsive 80% of people use a smartphone daily, according to Google. If your website isn't ready for them, they won't stick around.
How to Find Your Perfect Customer
I'm going to be blunt: if you're still thinking of your potential customer pool as "anyone who needs my product/service," you need to stop. If pure need was all the drove purchasing decisions, we wouldn't have the variety of products we do on the market. Think about the divide between Coke and Pepsi, and how passionately customers advocate for
How to Write Epic Content
Between TV, email and social media, we're all bombarded with so many words a day that they all blur together into a shapeless mush. It takes some truly special content to stand out from the rest. How can you make your online marketing efforts reach the most people? Make it epic. Stories unite us. They define us. There's a reason why stories like
Staying in Control of Your Website: Why Your Host Matters
One of the first questions we hear from new customers is: what the heck is web hosting, and why do I have to pay for it? Think of a website as an apartment. You own anything that goes inside your apartment, but you still have to pay rent to live there. In order for your website to appear online, you have to rent out the space. That's where a web
Why Your Website is Scaring People
Gather round, I have a terrifying tale. And every last word is true. There was once a website...a seemingly normal website. But underneath the surface, dark forces were at work. Visitors would come, but they wouldn't stay. The contact form was so unused it gathered dust. No one could find it on Google. Business began to die. Sound familiar? If
5 Ways to Rock the Holiday Season
You can't deny it any longer: it's now officially Pumpkin Spice season. The plastic bats are coming out of hibernation, skeletons are gracing storefront windows and you can't walk three feet without seeing orange. Now's the time to dust off your strategy and start gearing up for Holiday 2016. Even if you're not selling a tangible product, you can
8 Online Tools Every Business Needs
We spend so much time chasing after the shiniest new toy that it's easy to get sidetracked from the basics. Today we're tacking it back, slowing it down and giving you a play-by-play of the 8 tools your business needs online and how we can help you get there. Every business is different, but when it comes to online marketing there are 8 tools every
WordPress Alert: Will The New Update Break Your Site?
This Tuesday, WordPress unveiled their latest update - WordPress 4.6 Pepper. The update comes with some slick new features (more on those later) but also a warning - make sure you install it correctly, otherwise your site will be kaput. Do I Need to Do Anything?Well, that depends:✓ I Host With BizzyWebIf you host with BizzyWeb, we automatically
Schrödinger’s SEO: Search Engine Optimization is Both Dead and Alive
Schrödinger's cat is a quantum mechanics paradox in which a cat trapped in a box with a bottle of poison may be simultaneously both dead and alive. Schrödinger's SEO is a paradox in which Search Engine Optimization is dead or alive, depending on whichever headline makes more waves. Everyone has an opinion on SEO: it's dead and over, it's alive and
6 Dos and Don’ts of Marketing to Generation X
Poor Generation X. Wedged between the Baby Boomers and Millennials, Generation X frequently gets swept to the side. Which is a shame, because Gen Xers are the managers and entrepreneurs. In other words? They're the decision-makers.These folks, aged 35-51, have a monumental influence on the market that isn't being tapped into. Millennials are the
Let It Go: Removing Products From Your Website
Let it go, let it go Can't sell this thing anymoreSometimes, your business needs to tap into your inner Elsa. If a product has stayed its welcome, it's time to let it go. With e-commerce sites, we spend so much time adding products that the idea of removing one is horrifying. So when you have to cut a product, a grand solo on top of a mountain is
3 Simple Steps to Finding the Right Words to Use in Your Marketing
By now, you're probably sick of hearing us talk about Search Engine Optimization, but there's a reason we bring it up so often: it really is that important. Dave recently walked through the basics of SEO and he stressed the importance of keywords. But how do you identify the right keywords for your business? Natalie Denyse over at Constant Contact
What Type of Website Does Your Business Need?
From Facebook to Forbes, the web allows for seemingly endless complexity. When it comes to building your business's website, however, it's best to start simple. Almost every business will fall into one or two of only three major categories: B2C, B2B and/or eCommerce. Those acronyms probably look familiar to anyone exposed to online marketing, but
Five Facebook Advertising Features You Haven’t Tried Yet
As 2016 marches on, now is the perfect time to re-strategize your social media campaigns. You've probably tried Facebook advertising already, but have you tried video ads? Did you know you can pinpoint-target a specific market (say, women in their 40s who drive a Prius and watch detective shows)? Mike Bird and Webbiquity highlight five Facebook
12 Warning Signs Your Website Redesign Could End In Catastrophe
It's a story we hear too often from our clients: they spent thousands of dollars on a brand-new website only to find out that they can't edit it, or it's not mobile-responsive or Google has flagged it as malware. That money is gone, and now they're left with an unusable website and the prospect of wasting even more money trying to make it
Make Google Work For You With These 4 Videos
Oh Google, my Google. What would the internet be without that trusted blue G? Since its launch, Google has moved beyond its impressive title as the most frequently-used search engine to a suite of applications, marketing tools and social networks. Plain and simple: pleasing Google is good for business. If your potential customers can't find you
Back to Basics: 4 Videos to Watch Before You Build Your Site
The internet is awash with tips and tricks on how to build the "best" website. Everyone has a different opinion when it comes to what makes a website truly fantastic, but nearly ever expert will say that a successful website is:Easy to useEngaging Accessible to as many users as possible Current and regularly updatedEven if you already have a
10 SEO Mistakes You Can Avoid [Infographic]
Rank Better in Search - Avoid These 10 SEO Mistakes Did you know the top three search results 61% of all clicks? Or that 75% of search engine users never look past page one search results? Search ranking continues to be a vital component of any online marketing strategy. To improve your ranking through organic search, avoid making any of these
Get to Know WordPress With These 4 Videos
Posts, pages, menus, oh my! And what the heck is a widget? Sorting through all of the features WordPress has to offer can be overwhelming. Fortunately, WordPress is easy to use once you know the basics. The trouble is figuring out what those basics are. You may have already seen some of our tutorial videos, but are looking for a bit more context
4 Videos That Will Amp Up Your Online Marketing
Online marketing is a strange new beast. Customers expect their online advertising to behave a certain way, and become frustrated and unresponsive when it doesn't. It isn't as simple as transferring your print marketing into an email newsletter – you need to build your online marketing strategy from the ground up.We've rounded up 4 videos from our
Making Sense of Google Analytics: 10 Tips for Small Businesses
by Jeremy Taylor, Constant ContactGoogle Analytics offers a truly extensive range of actionable data. It will show you who’s browsing your website, how they’re using it and how they found you. Without analytics, you rely on guesswork (and guesswork is a terrible business model).The problem is that it can be tricky to identify the metrics that
Can Your Customers Trust Your Website?
We're hearing more and more frequently about hackers breaking into a company's back end systems and stealing customer information. As a business owner, it is your responsibility to protect and secure customer information and keep hackers at bay. How confident are you that your business's website is protecting your most important asset - your
What’s The Big Deal About a Little Mobile ‘Buy’ Button?
Google recently debuted a new mobile feature called "Purchases on Google," which makes buying products directly from mobile search advertisements easier for consumers. Consumers turning to Google for search on their mobile devices now see a "buy" button in select promoted results. When consumers click on the button, it takes them to a page where
Top Four SEO Trends for 2015
Google is now better able to reward high-quality Web content that is relevant to a search query, and less dependent on traditional signals, such as keywords, according to a recent report from Searchmetrics and detailed in this article by MarketingProf's Ayaz Nanji.Below are four key search engine optimization (SEO) lessons from the report, as