With the holidays just around the corner, this is a great time of year to really captivate customers. Virtually every business has some type of holiday promotion going on, but not all of them are equally effective at creating customer loyalty. Here are 8 unique, memorable ways to show you care about your customers.

1. Decorate  your website with holiday pictures

Decorate your website and change some pictures on it to holiday related topics, like a Christmas tree, Santa, gift packages and other holiday related images. You can promote your products and offer a deal at the same time. It is a great way to greet your clients and prospects, and also to promote your products and services through holiday season.

Take a look at what we did for one of our clients: www.shopforgood.net

2. Appreciate your Friends and Followers

Social network sites such as Facebook and Twitter have become a popular way for any size business to communicate with their customers. A company’s Facebook and Twitter account are important in generating sales year-round, however, these accounts can be utilized more significantly during the holiday season. A good example may be creating exclusive offers or specials to your followers on Twitter; this is a way to turn new customers into potential returning customers.

3. Send a warm newsletter

Every business should have a newsletter that is sent out to an email list. Offer exclusive discounts to people who sign up for your mailing list. Many companies do this by offering customers 10% off their first online order.

Other ways to show you care in a Newsletter:

• Promote your best customer
• Promote your best employee
• Highlight past years’ accomplishments
• Highlight future company goals

4. Live Web Person

Say thank you to your customers in style with a live web person. A live web person appears on your website and speaks to your visitors about anything you want to say. Through a simple thank you or happy holidays, a live web person can give a personal touch to everyone that visits your website.

5. Holiday Video

Sending  a personalized holiday video is a very entertaining way to get a customer’s attention. Keep it short and simple but make it memorable. The video is a long lasting way to increase customer reach. You can post the video on YouTube, the company newsletter, or on your website for everyone to see.

6. E-cards

E-cards are making a comeback as virtual gifts are becoming more popular. JibJab and other companies that offer interactive greeting cards like “Elf yourself” are creating great opportunities for people to spread some Christmas cheer.

7. Virtual gifts

Send some flowers or candy or maybe a car! It can get expensive for companies to send out gift baskets or other holiday packages to their customers. Virtual gifts are becoming the low-cost yet sentimental way of giving gifts this year. With virtual gifts you can send it to multiple people and can be customized to make the gift personal for each recipient.

8. Virtual Holiday Party

Did you ever think that you could host a corporate party or conference online? The virtual meeting sites open up a new world to businesses that want to add a new twist to interacting with customers and employers. You can create an online meeting place where people can create characters and attend. It is a simple way of attending a company gathering without really being there.

9. Share Your Knowledge

The Holidays are a time for giving and sharing. Figure out how your business can be helpful to people during the holiday season and advertise it online. Offer free tips and techniques to your customers about your line of work. Use your website, company newsletter, or Facebook account to highlight your free tips. Another great source for giving tips is through online article submissions. Article directory site will help improve your search ranking as well as offer valuable information for other internet users.

For any help writing articles, adding new design features to your website, or promoting your company online, let us know and we would be happy to discuss what is best for your company. Visit our services page to get your business the web presence it needs.

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Preparing for the holiday season can be stressful on small businesses. As a small business owner it can be tough to keep up with the competition when working with a small budget. Morebusiness.com offers several tips to help boost your sales during the holidays. By using these tips we were able to create 3 low-cost ways that will help you market, advertise, and promote your business online in order to boost your sales during the holiday season.

Exclusive Discounts

Social network sites such as, Facebook and Twitter, has become a popular way for any size business to communicate with their customers. A company’s Facebook and Twitter account are important in generating sales year-round, however, these accounts can be utilized more significantly during the holiday season. A good example may be creating exclusive offers or specials to your followers on Twitter; this is a way to turn new customers into potential returning customers. Your contacts can also work as a focus group, so don’t be afraid to ask questions about your products or services. This is a way to focus on the company’s future and improve your business for next year. Don’t forget to thank your customers for their support during the past year. For more information on how to offer deals on Facebook and Twitter visit: Facebook Places or Twitter Coupons.

Sign Up promotions

Every business should have a newsletter that is sent out to an email list. Whether you send out a newsletter once a week or several times a week, the goal of a newsletter is to entice your customers to buy your product. Offer exclusive discounts to people who sign up for your mailing list. Many companies do this by offering customers 10% off their first online order. This is an excellent way to increase holiday sales and continue sales throughout the coming year. Another great newsletter promotion is to attach printable coupons to your newsletters. People are always looking to save time and money during the holiday season so offering them discounts for being on your mailing list is more enticing during the holidays then it is any other time of the year.

Be Useful

The Holidays are a time to for giving and helping. Figure out how your business can be helpful to people during the holiday season and advertise it. Give out free advice to your customers, or help participate in a holiday program. Make sure customers are aware that you are there and that your business is active in the community. Use your company newsletter or Facebook account to highlight your participation in the community. Another great way to increase your online presence is through writing online press releases about the company’s involvement in the community. To find out the proper format for writing a press release go to PRWeb.com.

Online marketing is an essential low-cost method for small businesses to grow. These 3 ways to increase your sales can make the most of you’re online holiday selling season. Click here to find out other ways to use social media marketing to grow your business.

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For most businesses that perform social media marketing, the task has become more of a race to be #1 in the search ranks rather than trying to increasing consumer response. A high search rank is important; however, being #1 on Google doesn’t mean you will get new clients. There are 5 key tips that every business should know that will help them succeed in generating a response.

1.Newsletter

Referrals are a big contributor of increasing a new client list. Sending newsletters keep you in existence with your current and previous clients. If you are not keeping an adequate relationship with your clients, then you will likely be forgotten when they refer work to their clients.

Proper newsletter guidelines:

1.      Do not over-send your newsletters to clients- By sending out several emails a week you are likely to become an annoyance rather than a convenience. It is important that you send out a newsletter only 2-3 times a month.

2.      Irrelevant jargon.- No one wants to read a 5 page newsletter that contains boring and uninformative content. Keep each topic short and engaging. Provide pictures, videos, or raise questions in order to keep the client engaged.

3.      Provide contact information- Links are important when you want to drive response to a landing page, website, or email.

2.Blogs

It’s time to show people what you are made of. Blogs are a great way to drive conversation among readers. This is where you can provide tips, techniques or raise questions about specific topics. A blog is where you show people that you know what you are talking about. This can provide trust among readers which could land you future clients.

Proper Blog Guidelines:

1.      Have an attractive title- A title is the main way to attract readers. If a title is not engaging then the reader will think that it’s not worth reading your blog.

2.      Eye appeal- It is more appealing to readers when you apply pictures, graphs, videos, or any type of imagery to your blog.

3.      Keywords. Just like your website, keywords are important to have in your blog so that searchers can find your blog more easily.

3.Video

Viral videos are becoming very popular when it comes to achieving reach.  A video on youtube or dailymotion will increase a company’s visibility both domestically and globally.

Types of Videos to use:

1.      Advertisements- Create a video that is advertising your company or service. Create a commercial.

2.      Tips and Techniques- Put your blog into a video and offer informative content to your viewers.

3.      Testimonials- Have a previous or current client discuss how they benefited from your services.

4.Social Networks

It is better to have a few good social network accounts rather than having multiple accounts on less well-known social network sites. You should have a high-volume of activity on your social network pages with regularly scheduled postings. To learn about how to advertise on Facebook click here

Top Social Networking sites:       (view chart)

5.Discussion Forums

Not only are discussion forums a positive way to network with other businesses, it also helps you to expand your knowledge. Discussion forums allow you to develop ideas by discussing specific topics with other forum users.

These are tips that we have found very useful when it comes to social media marketing. If you have any more advice please feel free to leave a comment regarding additional tips. Thank you.

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There are so many different factors that are involved in a company’s search engine results, and they change on a day to day basis. One of the newest elements the search engines are incorporating into their algorithms is emotion. With the popularity of social media sites like Facebook and Twitter, people are constantly talking about companies online. Some are expressing their praise for a product or service they recently received, but others are leaving negative comments on their blogs and profiles that show their dissatisfaction for a company.

Since search engines are becoming more powerful and can tell how a company is perceived on the internet, it won’t be long until a new form of web analytics are developed that will be able to determine if a name or URL is being depicted in either a negative or positive manner. How will this work? It is similar to the process of finding the amount of backlinks that are connected to a specific website. When a keyword or URL is entered in a search engine like Google, spiders then begin to process through the different sites that a keyword or URL is being used on. Once the sites are found, the spiders then begin to look at other keywords that are within the same sentences or phrases as the specific keyword you are searching for.  Spiders can then predict if your keyword is being used in a positive or negative way by the types of keywords surrounding it. For example, say I were to put in the URL www.EdsButcherShop.com, when the spiders begin to sift through the sites that this URL may be mentioned in, it will look for words that surround the URL, such as, “Hate”, “Good”, “Like”, or “Don’t Like”. Based on whether there is a significant use of negative or positive surrounding words, a specific keyword can then be ranked on whether or not it is liked.

Why is this important when it comes to your website’s search engine optimization? Because when or if the keyword comes up as either liked or not liked, your website’s rankings will be either increased or decreased. With the inclusion of more and more social media factors related to search engine results, you want to make sure your company is liked across the web.

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Facebook has Awesome Stats!

With the population of Facebook users at over 500 million and growing daily; can we say “Exposure?”   50% of Facebook’s users log in on any given day and the average user has 130 friends.  The massive amount of Facebook users are spending over 700 billion minutes a month on Facebook.  With the amount of time people are investing on Facebook and it’s popularity increasing, now is the time you should be advertising on Facebook!

Facebook has over 70 translations available on it’s site so it’s no wonder that it is one of the most widely used Social Media Outlets in the world.  Of Facebook’s massive population, the United States makes up only 30% of the Facebook-using population; so you owe it to yourself to make sure the whopping 70% remaining are capable of seeing your Businesses ads.

Follow the examples of Huge Corporations that utilize Facebook

The Facebook bandwagon is really catching on!  While watching TV for example, it is impossible to miss all the commercial ads and hear “Like us on Facebook” or simply see the well known Facebook icon along the bottom of the screen.   If all of these huge corporations that consumers look up to are using Facebook; it’s a good indicator that it is something that you should definitely check into it also.

Ability to Target your Audience!

By the use of Facebook to advertise you can set up ads to target a specific audience.  Here are just a few categories that you can filter who views your ads:

-sex

-age

-education

-keywords interests of the Facebook user

Create further awareness about events, webinars, and videos- Be Creative!

With Facebook Ads you have tons of possibilities.  It is all up to how you want people to ultimately hear about your business, products, and services. You don’t necessarily have to link your ads to your sales page, they can be associated with content right there on Facebook.  Take advantage of the events and video applications tools on Facebook to achieve your goals!

How will you be charged for this excellent Facebook Service?

You can set up your ad to be run using one of two methods I will go into more detail on below.

Bid-Rate CPC (Cost per Click (CPC) or Pay per Click (PCP) – In this bid-based model, you would sign a contract that allows you to compete against other businesses in a private auction hosted by Facebook.  You and the other bidders would then inform the Facebook of the maximum amount that you are willing to pay for a given ad spot which is often based on a keyword that you can use online tools to do so. The auction plays out in an automated fashion every time a visitor triggers the ad spot.  Keep in mind that as a CPC advertiser you are indicating that what is most important to you is having people click through to your website and controlling the actual cost to drive each individual person to your site.

Pay for Views/Cost Per Thousand Impressions (CPM) –This type of Facebook advertising allows you to specify how much you are willing to pay for 1000 views (or impressions) of your ad.   As a CPM advertiser you are indicating that it is more important to you that many people see your ad, not that they actually take action after seeing your ad. CPM advertising is usually more effective for advertisers who want to raise awareness of their brand or company.

What is the Bottom line on Facebook Advertising?

Facebook Advertising includes a “Bid Estimator” which can help you decide what method of advertising to use.  For Example, If you’d like to see they recommend you bid for each click (CPC) or thousand impressions (CPM), just enter your targeting criteria and go through to the last step of ad creation (you won’t have to enter any payment information until the next step, so you can do this without purchasing an ad). The “bid estimator” will show you the range of bids that are currently winning the auction among ads similar to yours.  The minimum daily budget for both methods of Facebook Advertising is $1.00 a day.  Facebook’s system will automatically stop showing your ad once your budget has been met for the day, and you will never accrue charges in excess of your budget each day.  You will also be provided real-time reporting that will assist you in adjusting your ads on Facebook for better results.

I want to advertise on Facebook, what do I need to do?

To kick off your ad if you are a Facebook User already just go to the Facebook Ads page to be easily guided and complete your ad.  To create a profile you can start by going to http://www.facebook.com/ and fill in a few fields of info required and once you create your profile go to the Facebook Ads page and you will be off and running on your way to reaching tons potential clients on Facebook!  You will soon find that advertising on Facebook can be very time consuming and most businesses hire someone to take care of the updating of their Facebook ads.

Systemtek can help you with many types of  Social Media sites such as Facebook, Twitter, Linked In and more.  We will assist you in creating as well as maintaining and/or updating all of your Social Media Sites including Facebook.  Please contact us for help so we can discuss with you what your Social Media goals are and turn them into a reality!

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If you are like most of the internet searching population, when you need to find a local spot to eat, shop, or find an ATM machine you most likely have used Google Maps.  You may have even done this by accident.  If you were hungry and happened to be in Naperville, IL and you did a search for ”Restaurants in Naperville” you may get 10 options or so that automatically come up within a few seconds at the top of the results page along with local map of Naperville.  On the map restaurants are usually depicted by a  generic image such as a gray knife and fork over where it is located on the map.  Then you can take your pick of where you would like to go!  Here is the current way Google Maps is displayed:

These maps are very recognizable, take little effort by the searcher to pull up, and deliver fast results that are easy to view.  Google Maps has been testing their new idea out for about 6 months a new sponsored logos initiative in Australia that allows brands to display their logo on Google Maps on a cost-per- impression basis.  They received such a strong interest with advertisers in Australia that it is now being tested here in the US with huge companies such as Bank of America, HSBC, Target and Public Storage.  This will change the way we look at Google maps and will impact companies and brands positively to get their logos to be displayed as points of interest on maps also and in turn create more sales.  This is how HSBC’s logo is displayed now with the testing of the new logo feature:

How do you get your company’s logo to come up on Google Maps?

Google Maps considers the following along with other relevant info:

*how many citations a business has

*whether there is a Wikipedia entry

*if there is a lot of search volume

Once this is determined Google will then have the logo icon come up on the map view.  If you pay for a sponsored map icon it will not have an effect on if your logo comes up or not. You will only pay when your logo is viewed by someone.  With good results here in the US, there may be a day in the very near future your company logo will be spotted and recognized by Google Maps users everywhere.

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The goal of most businesses, when it comes to their website, if to have their site listed near or at the top of search engine results pages.  And when it comes to search engines, Google is the top dog.  Climbing to the top of the Google ranking can be an arduous journey, but there are ways to make the trek easier, and sometimes faster.  Today we’re going to talk about tips that can improve your Google rankings and optimize your search engine presence.

The first thing that you have to understand about Google is that the site is primarily based on keywords, both in the main text of the page as well as text that’s imbedded it what is called the meta portion of your page, the area that isn’t visible to anyone but programmers and search engines.  The idea is to put accurate and unique keywords in your page so that when Google is searching, your site pops up.  So in the content of your page, make sure you include key words and phrases that reference your business or your location of both.  For example, Systemtek uses the phrase “Naperville Web Design” in numerous location because it maximizes our presence.  Potential customers often search for the type of business they are looking for as well as the area that they live in, so always be very specific when it comes to keywords and phrases.  List specific services and products that you provide.  Make sure you cover all your bases.  You want to make sure that a customer will see that you indeed provide what they are looking for.

One important thing to remember is that Google may go on keywords, but it also is designed to protect users from spam.  When you are considering the content for your page, don’t overuse the keywords.  A good rule of thumb is that for every 400 words on the page, 1-2% should be keywords.  This will ensure that you have the necessary means for being found in Google, but your page isn’t so oversaturated in keywords that Google will consider you spam and block you.  So be careful and have an even hand when it comes to including keywords.

Another tool at your disposal to move you up in the Google rankings is links.  On your page, link to other pages.  If you have a blog, link to it.  If you have a partner with a website, link to it and have them link to you.  Links provide more content for Google to read, and well named links are even better.  Rather than saying “Click HERE for more tips,” you would want to say “More SEO Tips and Tricks.”  That link does double duty, since it is both a link AND a key phrase for the business.  The more, well-named links, the better.

The last tip today is to get your site listed on online directories.  Do a little research on your own and find out if there are directories for business like yours.  Often you’ll find that there are places that will list your site for free or ask only that you put an icon on your page that will link back to the main site.  There are a lot of options to explore.  Just make sure you choose the right directory.  Again, do your research and make sure you’re not going to be balled up with a bunch of spam companies.  The name of the game is caution and care when it comes to SEO.

There are a lot of little things you can do to move your business up in the Google rankings.  The three we listed here are the biggest, and if you follow these directions you’ll see your page start climbing.  It takes some time, so be patient.  Just remember to keep everything well organized and don’t overuse the keywords, links, and directories and over time your business will show up in the first page when you Google yourself.

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In our last post, we talked about the importance of a testimonial page on your website and what it can do for your business.  This time, we’re going to talk about another often overlooked section of a website:  the About Us page.  Most companies have some version of this page on their website, but most people don’t know how to use it or what its real purpose is.  In this post, we’re going to give you some tips on how to set up your “About Us” page and tell you exactly what it’s there for.

First off, the “About Us” page is meant to give prospective customers an idea of what your company does and a little bit about the people in the company.  It’s not necessary to give a detailed description of every aspect of the business, or list all of the employees, but it is important to give a basic background description of the company.  Whether it’s a web development company or a home-based draft business, a description of the business is necessary.  Give your company a human side as well.  Let people see that there are actual people at the company, not just a faceless website.  It builds trust in the customer, knowing that they have a real person looking out for their business.

Let prospective customer know about the business aspect as well.  Tell them, briefly, how your business works.  It will help them to understand and, again, build trust in you.  Tell them what you do and how long you’ve been doing it.  Establishing credibility before you even have a chance to talk to them will give you an advantage of your competition.

People want to know that they are safe while doing business, both online and in person, so assure your customers that you do have a privacy policy and will not give any information you receive to other companies.  If your company is a member of any business associations or a chamber of commerce, advertise that as well.

The “About Us” page is a very small part of your company’s website, but it does a lot.  It may sound repetitive to mention this again, but trust is the key word when it comes to the “About Us” page.  That is the main purpose, after all.  A person viewing your site for the first time will want to know who they’re doing business with, and a good “About Us” page will get your interactions started off on the right foot.  So take some time to make the page detailed and professional.  It may just be the key to getting your company more business.

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Testimonials are one of the simplest and easiest marketing tools available to a business owner. Most of the work is done by the customer, and you, as the business owner, get to reap the benefits. But how do you use testimonials effectively and make them work for you? In this article, we will address three questions about testimonials and try to clear up some of the foggier areas.

1. What can testimonials do for me?

Testimonials are a great way to spread the word about your business. The content comes from consumers, rather than the business itself, so there isn’t an implied bias. Potential customers can read the testimonials and see how like-minded consumers felt about the service or product you provided. Testimonials are a way to promote yourself without having to promote yourself.

2. How do I get testimonials?

There are a number of ways to get testimonials from customers. The simplest way is to just ask them. Many happy customers are more than willing to put down their satisfaction in writing. If you don’t want to come right out and ask for a glowing review, you can ask customers to complete satisfaction surveys. These are a little less invasive, as you aren’t specifically asking them to write a paragraph about your company, only to rate their satisfaction and write something only if they care to. You can also check online review sites, like Google reviews or Yelp. You may find that people have already written a testimonial without you even having to ask them.

On a side note, don’t offer incentives for customers to give good reviews. They will feel forced and insincere. Instead, if a customer gives you a good review, send them a coupon or another promotional item as a thank you after the fact.

3. What do I do with the testimonial now that I have it?

Display it! If you have a website, put it on the homepage. If you have the means, have an entire page on your website dedicated to testimonials. They are an invaluable resource to you and your company. You can also post them on your Facebook page, put them on print advertising. Use them in any way you see fit.  For an example of how to present testimonials, check out Systemtek’s testimonial page here.

At this point, it’s necessary to talk about some of the unwritten rules of testimonials. As we said before, you don’t want your testimonials to sound insincere. So make sure you pick just the right examples to display. You want them to be positive, but if they are too over the top, they won’t be believable and potential customers will think you wrote them yourself.

Also, don’t edit testimonials too much. You can run into the problem of a prior customer reading what they wrote and getting upset because you cut out some possibly negative things. If you aren’t sure if you’ve edited it too much, don’t use it. And don’t ever write a fake testimonial yourself. They will come across as fake and that’s not good for you. Finally, give credit to the customer, with their permission of course. If you don’t have written permission, maintain their anonymity by only using their initials and not giving their location or business. You don’t want to get in trouble because you used someone’s words without their consent.

Testimonials can do a lot of work for you if you use them right. Follow the tips we’ve outlined above to maximize the usefulness of them and grow your business. Just remember to be ethical.

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On the internet, just as in person, the first impression can make or break your business.  Imagine walking past a store and the outside is falling apart, and the little bit you can see inside is no better.  Odd are, you won’t be shopping at that particular business.  On the internet, your website is your store, and making sure that the outside looks as good as the inside is important.  It’s vital to your business to make that person’s first experience with your website a positive one.

The initial contact your customer is going to have with your business will most likely be on a search engine.  A potential customer will search the internet for a particular service, and you obviously want your business to be near the top.  Customers are much more likely to visit a site that is in the top five on a search than one that may be buried further down the list.  So making sure that your website has good placement in an engine is imperative.  Search engine optimization companies specialize in helping businesses customize their website in order to give them better positioning on search engine results.  So enlisting the help of an SEO company can help drive more business.  Additionally, your company name, as well as additional information that pops up on a search will help business.  Make sure that your site has key words attached to the site name so that potential customers know that your business specializes in what they are looking for. 

Once a possible customer clicks on your link, the first thing they will see is the homepage.  This is going to be their first real experience with your company, so it’s important that the homepage is a good representation of not only your company, but of your target customer.  Make sure that the site content reflects what you want your customer to think of your company.  Have an image in mind of your company, whether it’s sleek and stylish or warm and inviting, and have a website that reflects that image.  Like a good first sentence in a book, a good homepage will keep the viewer interested and will compel them to stay and explore. 

Finally, in addition to the layout and theme of the homepage, make sure to keep the first site current.  Whether it be through a daily message and weekly blog or monthly specials, it’s important for customers to know that you are maintaining the site.  Like a rundown store front, an unmaintained homepage gives potential customers the impression of a faltering business.  Show your presence to your customers so they know that you care as much about the appearance of your company and website as you will about their business.

You can never make another first impression, so make sure it’s a good one.  From search engine results to image to upkeep, a potential customer is going to judge your business on the first few clicks into your site, so make sure that those few clicks are memorable.  It will help drive business and keep people coming back for more.

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