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Considering travelling? If you look like your passport photo you are too sick to travel!

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Putting together a PLR article site for small biz. Hope to have it started by the end of next week. It is going to be a long process, yes.

Web design tip number one – Use black text on a white background.

Web design that converts visitors into customers must make sure that any sections of text greater than 2 lines uses dark text, preferably black text on a white background.  For blocks of text in your web design you need to forget about fancy font colours and dark backgrounds in your attempt to achieve visual appeal.Not keeping your web design simple so that your message is easy to read is a major mistake made by many designers.

The web design reasons for it include…

In order for you to be able to sell to your potential customers.

1. Your web design needs to make it easy for people to take in your information.
2. A 15% background tint is the maximum you should have behin your text before comprehension levels are negatively impacted.
3. Your web design needs to be all about conversion and less about the branding.

Small business will benefit from the simplicity of selecting a dark text on a white background for main body copy section on their sites. It will be the most effective and least expensive strategy in most situations.

Identify the most popular keywords.

Research of the most commonly searched keyphrases used to find your product or service is a critical step.  Then once you know what they you need to make sure that these keywords occur on your website.

A great web design that never gets seen will not help you grow your business, and the best online way to be seen is to be found in the search engines.

Web design is often a less about the design, and more about the copy, because if the copy does not contain the frequently searched for keywords/phrases, then you are never going to get in front of a customer. So make sure that you know which keywords you should be being found for and place these strategically in your text throughout the site.

Make your web site visually appealing.

Some graphic designers may be worried that black text on a white background is inconsisitent with making your web site visually appealling.

The truth is that your web site needs to be found in the major search engines and for your information to be clearly communicated (i.e. easily read).  But you must also at all times present your information in a professional manner to engender the customer trust required in order to purchase from you for request information from you.

By the following of these three simple rules above in your business, you will benefit from more sales leads, signups and sales conversions from your web design.

Blogs are popular ways to create an online presence for personal and business reasons. You can easily build a blog for free and begin posting content in just a couple of minutes. But, what is great content if you have no traffic. Here are ten great ideas and tactics to drive tons of traffic to your blog.

Of all the successful money making blogs on the Internet, hundreds more have failed to become successful. Running a blog is like running a business website. Unless you put the time in and work hard at first you won’t be a successful blogger for very long.

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Your customers are demanding. They’re extremely media aware and increasingly cynical – it’s a clever marketeer who can get under their skin. Online surveys reinvent the traditional format – bringing all the benefits of the Internet without the programming. Here are ten reasons why they may be the silver bullet marketeers’ need, complete with examples supplied by Martin Day, managing director of Survey Galaxy – one of a new breed of websites making online surveys quicker and cheaper

1. It’s cheap as buttons

Select the right survey website and creating surveys can be free of any charge and the cost to publish is minimal.
Useful information derived from surveys can be reused and repackaged in other marketing and PR for use in press outlets making it a very efficient form of information gathering.

2. It’s easy

Anyone can create, design and publish an online survey. Create professional looking online surveys in a matter of minutes, no programming skills are required and when published the surveys are simple to complete.

3. Anyone can play

Promoting an online survey can be via email (with a link enclosed), through a link from a website or as a referenced by other forms of advertising. Anyone who has the URL can be connected instantly to the survey, at a time that’s convenient to them, 24×7.

4. We have an opinion – and we like to give it

The majority of customers do not view surveys as spam and will in fact welcome the opportunity to voice their opinion and have the chance to make an impact on a brand. They can be particularly good for broaching sensitive subjects with concerned employees; a survey asking a workforce on their opinion of change allows the key issues to be raised in a positive manner and encourages employee participation. Online surveys ensures that the message reaches each individual and the feedback is compiled in a manageable form.

5. Get inside your respondent’s head

A customer may see an advertisement but you can’t be sure they have read it. Surveys actively engage the respondent, who read and then think about the question before giving their response.

6. Beautiful relationships start here

It needn’t all end once a survey has been completed – while you have their attention you can ask if they want to sign up for more information or a regular newsletter – making the most of the window when you have their interest.

7. Have you also seen….

Maximise the interest of those responding to your survey by referencing related information. By embedding links within the survey you are able to reinforce the marketing message.

8. Subtle marketing

In the mind of the respondent a surveys can help associate a product with a number of positive attributes. By listing the many features of a product and then asking the respondent to say how important the features are to them, regardless of their response, the respondent will associate the product with the features.

9. Not just selling

A survey is an effective, easy and quick method to promote and gain acceptance for a difficult proposal; for example a public body trying to gain acceptance and support for a particular scheme.
Take the example of a city trying to gain support from the general public for their bid to host a future Olympic Games. With a survey you have the opportunity to explain each benefit putting the respondent in a much better frame of mind to appreciate an argument and be more positive in their response. Your primary goal may be to promote a cause but you will automatically receive useful feedback that can then be used to fine tune the overall marketing strategy.

10. Fresh topics engage interest
By thinking laterally a lively and imaginative approach to surveys could provide a ‘hook’ to engage respondents. The survey subject can be aimed at a particular group on a subject close to theirs hearts. The survey’s marketing message can take the form of a simple brand awareness message by stating that ‘the survey is being sponsored by brand name’, or by finding a link from the subject matter to the product – something that is surprisingly easy to do and that is highly effective.

Discover the benefits of including in your website a Public Survey section as many people who enjoy completing crosswords and doing word puzzles enjoy completing surveys. Low cost and automated, having a public survey notice board as part of a website will help increase traffic and establish a loyal and returning following. Unlike discussion boards there is no opportunity for people to disrupt the site by inappropriate remarks as the survey results are displayed in summary form enabling them to dispense with moderators and maintenance.

Customers do not often view surveys as spam and the majority welcome the opportunity to make their voice heard and a chance to have an impact on a brand.

Many of the techniques and a few more are contained in the following Sample Marketing Survey.

Does your company need an award-winning professional web development service with the goal of your growth at the forefront of everything they do? With trained, professional web design consultants, marketing experts, website content writers and project coordinators on staff to assist you, you can set new objectives and be confident you’ll be able to attain them.

Search Engine Optimization companies can do much more than just get you on Yahoo’s first page. They can help you to establish improved brand recognition, control reputation management, increase your company’s sales, and assure you of improved customer retention.  They can also help to launch a new business, save a failing business, establish e-commerce initiatives, and help you track the effectiveness of all your advertising efforts.

Ask your local search engine optimization expert, up-front, how long they think it might take you to reach your objectives, and what they are willing to do to help you to achieve those objectives. The responses you receive should make sense, should be quantifiable, and should address your concerns over getting a good return on your investment. If they don’t, look for a consultant that can.

Professional web development companies are growing in numbers across the world, and as businesses get wise to how today’s consumer finds what they want online, the organic search engine optimization field is expanding faster than anyone could have predicted.  Almost any SEO company can promise you better online visibility. But here’s a few tips to save you time and problems as you look to make a longer-term partnership with a search engine optimization company that is concerned with your long-term success.

Ask for references. Read case studies. Talk with other clients of the professional website development or SEO firm you’re considering.  Get an understanding of the process by sitting down with your prospective SEO service provider and having your questions answered.

Internet marketing is rapidly changing, scientific, and artistic in nature. Because of all that complexity, many business owners shy away from it, especially if they aren’t doing e-commerce.  What you need to know is that even if you don’t do business online, chances are very good that your prospective customers and competitors ARE online. That’s how they go about searching for companies to do business with.  So, even if you don’t do e-commerce, you still need a website that works, is easily found on the popular search engines, and one that directs and inspires action from customers.

This is no time to be wasting money on marketing initiatives that aren’t delivering the results you need. This is the time to get leaner, to operate more efficiently than you ever have before, and to streamline your marketing efforts down to only those initiatives that deliver results.  This is the time to get smart and to understand what search engine optimization can be doing for your company today and long into the future.  Contact a partner with one of the most reputable, growing, and knowledgeable Search Engine Optimization Companies in the country.

Searching using eHow.com and/or by searching Hotbot could possibly yield additional resources.

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