I made a video (link below) that outlines some of the sections that you should definitely make sure to have on your marketing plan. I also am giving away a FREE copy of a marketing plan template that I use.

You don’t have to use all of it, but it will give you a good idea of what you should have laid out for your business to have a successful marketing campaign. This will also help you stay on track better since you can see the goals and really break them down.

Sections of the Marketing Plan 

You need to make sure that your marketing plan has all of the specific sections that will lay everything out for you.

• Who are you? What is your business? Why is this valuable to the customer or client?
• Who is your audience or target audience? – what person would use your service or product and why?
• Who is your competition? Why are you better to use than them?
• What kind of marketing do you want to do or think is the most effective when thinking about your target audience?
• Overall goals – main goal and then broken up into different goals

Remember to keep track of everything – you want to know how many followers you start with, how many jobs you get or things you sell to make sure you’re moving up and not down. If you are moving up, keep up the good work! If down, re-evaluate your marketing and do something else that works.

Tips for a Marketing Plan

These tips can help you create the best marketing plan and also make sure that you have actionable, attainable goals that you are able to reach when considering your marketing efforts.

• Use the SMART method (Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic and Time-Based)
• Set up a strategy to reach the marketing goal you set up whether you are going to send out 10 letters a day or 20 emails to get 2 new clients, do it!
• Assess your resources. Are you using qualified people to help? Do you have a budget to do something bigger? Something better?
• Always establish time frames and stick with them. Know what you want to accomplish and when.
• Remember! Try everything! You never know what might work and what might not!

When putting together a marketing plan, create goals that are easily attainable and something that can help you grow. Even if your business is growing slowly, it is still growing! Of course, if you need help, make sure to contact me today and I’d be more than happy to help with marketing plans and making them actionable!

If you missed out on the video where I talked about what the marketing plan was and what it does, check it out here on Facebook!

Make sure to CLICK HERE for your FREE Marketing Plan Template!

The post Creating a Marketing Plan: Tips for Small Businesses & FREE Plan! appeared first on Web Design & Marketing Services.

However, not everything is good when it comes to social media. You can actually do a lot of bad thing in your quest to do good for your company. Some businesses have botched the social media scene with mistakes that they probably should have thought about before doing them. Learn what these mistakes are so you don’t have to worry about making the same mistakes and facing the same consequences.

Social Media Mistakes You Can Make as a Business

These mistakes are made by businesses everywhere. Make sure to keep your social media game strong by watching out for them and not repeating history.

Not Having a Specific Strategy for Social Media

Having a marketing strategy is one thing, but you should always have a strategy for social media, too. You want to make sure that you have a clear idea of what you need to do, when you need to post, what you’re going to post and more. Setting a schedule and being regular can help you make the best of the social media that you use.

Engaging Your Audience Ineffectively 

Building your brand means engaging your audience and making them feel like they are valued. Having a clear idea of how people want to see you is important. When you don’t engage with them effectively, you’re actually harming your chances of being effective at marketing through social media.

Incorrectly Using Hashtags

Hashtags are important when posting on any social media. If you’re not using them correctly, then you will find that it can actually harm, not help you. Always make sure that you are using a hashtag correctly and that you are using it to go along with the same meaning that you are using it for.

Incorporating too Much Politics

This is a hot and heavy subject and while it is important to stick to your beliefs and what you stand for, it is also important that you don’t push them on other people. Don’t stick with politics too much because you might actually make more enemies than followers. It is a tough subject and there are many opinions and thoughts.

Forbes has even more tips for using your social media accounts correctly. You don’t want to overdo it, but you want to make sure that you’re set to go when it comes to engaging and connecting with your audience.

Of course, you can also find out more right here with some of the other blogs that I have written! You can learn more about how you can balance your work and personal life, the top marketing changes and even the mistakes that kill startup businesses – if this might be you!

The post The Worst Social Media Mistakes You Can Make appeared first on Web Design & Marketing Services.

Font Matters with a Business Website

Websites are essentially online portals made up of three elements, text, pictures and video. Of the three, the text is by far the most important. A business’s text explains concepts in-depth and the other pieces on the page serve as resources or an expansion on that explanation. According to Creative Market’s findings, it’s imperative to nail the right font down when you put your website up. If your website is using the wrong font, color or size, you’re missing out on potential visitors whether you know it or not.

Utilize a Sans-Serif Font

After looking at the analysis of Creative Market we were surprised to see that so many of the sites relied on a Sans-Serif typeface, but when you stop to consider the benefits of Sans-Serif it makes sense that so many of the leading online websites would be leveraging this leading type. The major difference between sans-serif and other typefaces is that there are no little feet at the bottom of the letters. That might not seem like much at first, but removing those feet makes a website easier to read when using low-resolution devices like a smartphone.

Choosing the right font option can make your website accessible and more enjoyable to a larger group of people, which is exactly why so many market leaders are relying on top sans-serif fonts like Helvetica, Arial, and Open Sans. If your site uses a font with intricate details or small feet, one of the first things you should do to it switches over to a sans-serif font to make it more accessible to everyone.

Go for a Deep Black Font Color

According to the study by Creative Market fonts closest to black are best for business. When looking over all 1,000 of those top websites, nearly all of the sties relied on pure black for their font color. Some of the sites relied on a dark gray as the font color as well, but pure black, or #000000 for all you hex users out there is the most obvious way to go. Lighter colors might look cool, or create a unique look for your site, but black is the most practical option for serious web owners looking to expand.

Choose a Mid-Level Font Size

Creative Market observed three main font sizes in use on all the websites, 14px, 16px and 13px in that order. There were far more websites out there with a 14px font size than any other. That doesn’t mean that 16px or 13px isn’t any good because they have decent success as well. The findings show that you definitely shouldn’t be going with an 8px font, or a 20px font though. Readability is everything in an online website, and a mid-range font helps ensure that your sites show on full-sized computers as well as mobile devices.

The Takeaway

• Choose the right font for success. Black, 14px, Sans-Serif works best.

Article Length is Important

Next on the web-design checklist should be the length of your content. According to the research covering the top 1,000 businesses, the wordcount to shoot for is 605 words. That’s right in the middle of the range and shows that quantity isn’t the most important factor. These businesses are all wildly successful, and they aren’t relying on 5,000-word articles to achieve that success.

Instead of adding every single detail into your business articles, focus on the important key points, explain things very clearly and rely on branching articles to address topics more closely.

The Takeaway

• Nail your page design, and create brief, top-quality content. Longer isn’t better in the case of article length.

Site Speed is a Real Factor

Have you ever been stuck at a business website where every page loads slowly? It’s infuriating. That’s exactly the opposite of how you want your visitors to feel when loading up one of your business webpages. This is why we weren’t surprised to see that the average website response time of the 1,000 top websites examined in the study was just 1.36 seconds. That’s pretty darned fast, and that means visitors will enjoy a smooth browsing experience.

Business owners need to rely on lightweight themes when building a site so that it loads as fast as possible. Take a website speed test right now and look for ways to decrease your load times if they’re notably higher than the 1.36-second gold-standard.

The Takeaway

• Top websites load quickly. Take action to avoid having a sluggish site.

Page Size Matters

This goes along with site load speeds, but during the Creative Market tests, the average webpage size was just 66,970.0928 bytes, or significantly less than 1Mb. Those findings show that fancy sites aren’t better. Instead, simple web pages that minimize heavy graphics and special features are the industry-standard. Lightweight web pages load faster, and they show up nicely on a wider range of devices. That’s why business owners should go for a simple approach with their own sites.

Check your web page size and try to find ways to minimize it if the size is significantly higher than 1Mb. Bigger is not better in this case, and those bloated pages could be deterring visitors hoping for fast information. Cut the page size down and we guarantee you’ll see faster load times as well.

The Takeaway

• The best websites feature compact pages. Cut down on your own page size for improved customer interaction.

Now you know what the top business owners are doing. It’s time to take all those simple best-practices and apply them to your own business website. Look through the details and make the necessary changes for yourself. It’s worth the effort, we promise!

The post 4 Business Website Design Best Practices Top Businesses are Already Using appeared first on Web Design & Marketing Services.

When it comes to what I can do for you, there are so many answers that I could give. Whether it is marketing that you want, a website that you need or just really persuasive content. I can provide a large variation of types of services that not only get you seen, but captivate the audience that you’re trying to impress.

So What Exactly Can I Do For You?

I am a content writer, but I also can develop simple, beautiful websites, as well provide the backend marketing that many companies need when it comes to showcasing their talents online. With my help many companies were able to find themselves on search engines, have a beautiful website to send their customers and clients too, while also feeling proud of the work that they perform.

Without my help, a lot of companies do not get the web presence that could actually be quite beneficial to them. This can become a problem if you find that you’re having a hard time reaching an audience.

Why Do I Do it?

In my life of work, I have to go out there and find jobs for myself, find long term client and even some short term. However, I provide them with something valuable, so that if they ever needed any future help, they’d come to me to find it.

I can be your eyes and ears on the internet. I can put your name out there and make sure it is whispered. I can give you something to share with those around you that you’re thinking of working with. Whatever it is that you want to have done with your website, content or marketing online, I can be the one to help you achieve everything that you need to have done.

Learn more about why you might need website content for your business, or if you’re already considering an online presence, then make sure to reach out and contact me today. We can discuss your online presence or lack of in more detail!

The post I’m Often Asked… “What Can I Do For You?” appeared first on Web Design & Marketing Services.

Website content is one of the most important aspects of having an online presence. Not only is it good for companies, big and small but also individuals looking to gain attention.

When you work with someone that understands SEO and the importance of quality content, you’re working with someone that can build your name, your business’s name and get you seen by the target audience of your choosing.

Why is Website Content Important?

If you’re looking to move out of the everyday thing and move into the world around you, then the internet is the first place you’re going to go to find the customers you want.

However, how do you reach these customers? Where would you start?

You’d have to work with a marketer and content writer that understands how to market your company through website content and marketing means so you can be seen.

Not only does the content have to be enriching and provide value to the reader, but it also has to be optimized correctly in order to get the right amount of views.

More views mean more potential customers and clients for your company. This is due to having the search engines pick up on these keywords and provide your website as one of the many that can be found when those words are searched for.

Overview of Benefits of Having Website Content 

Here is a brief bulleted list that showcases the benefits of having high-quality website content for your business:

• Be seen on search engines
• Have enriching, valuable content for your readers
• Have a link that potential clients and customers can visit
• Provide more information to those that want to know more about you and what you do
• Enjoy the benefits of growing with the technology around you

As always, it is important to hire a professional content writer for your website content. They can not only provide thorough SEO work but enriching, helpful content that can engage the customers and clients and help them reach you better. Here is more information about creating engaging website content for your business.

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