Mobile And Content: SEO Powerhouses

Mobile And Content: SEO Powerhouses

by | Blog, Contributed Post

***Contributed Post***

In this guide, we are going to take a look at two key elements of SEO. So, let’s get started…

Guide To Mobile SEO

With the rise of mobile usage, it is vital to make sure your website is mobile-friendly if your business is to be a success. Not only does this involve responsive web design, but also you need to adopt a strategy for mobile search engine optimization.

First and foremost, responsive website design is a necessity. This ensures viewers can use your website effectively on a smaller device. If your website has not been optimized for mobile usage, viewers will get frustrated, and they will look elsewhere, which essentially means you are gifting customers to your competition. Not only is responsive website design imperative for customer experience, but it is vital for your search engine optimization strategy as well, as Google’s algorithms will detect this set-up, and they will rank you higher. 

Aside from this, you should also use separate mobile URLs, as this will mean you utilise a different website code for each device and this can improve your SEO efforts. You should also avoid using pop-ups and flash when it comes to mobile web design, and page speed is imperative too, as no one wants to wait for ages for your site to load. 

You will also need to use an SEO agency to tweak your digital marketing strategy so that your mobile content is optimized for local searches, and that your titles and Meta tags are also optimized, as the perimeters are different from mobile Meta data. 

 Importance Of SEO Content Marketing 

 They say that ‘content is king’. No strategy for search engine optimization is complete without an elaborate content marketing plan. Keeping that in mind, in this section, we are going to reveal more about SEO content and why it is so important. 

If you looked at search engine optimization strategies from several years ago, you would be shocked by the difference. Back then, if you wanted to move up the search engine result pages, all you did was cram your website with as many keywords as possible. Companies were posting duplicate content of an appalling quality and simply shoving keywords in at every opportunity. This may have worked for a little while, but Google soon became wise to this, and they have updated their algorithms to ensure that these sites do not rank highly. 

Nowadays, your digital marketing strategy needs to consist of informative, original, engaging and interesting content for your customers to enjoy. This content needs to incorporate the subtle and natural use of keywords to help you rank better. Not only will quality content help you to move higher up on the search engine result pages, but you will also show yourself as experts in your field, and this will encourage people to trust your brand, which will, in turn, leads to greater sales and have a positive impact on your brand image.

How to survive the holidays as a business owner

How to survive the holidays as a business owner

by | Blog

How are you feeling about the holidays?

Are you relaxed, peaceful, and well organized? Or…like many of us…. are you walking along with a feeling of overwhelm?


For many businesses, the holidays are their busy season while for others it’s a season of extreme slowness. No matter what kind of business you run or how many customers you have clamoring for your attention, this time of year tends to present a long list of challenges!

Understanding how to take advantage of this holiday season and preventing it from swallowing you whole is extremely beneficial to your business and your personal well-being. This might mean taking extra time for planning, preparation, and education, but it also means checking out these holiday survival tips that will help you enjoy and profit from this holiday season.

Schedule In Time Off For Yourself

Sometimes when running a business, it’s altogether too easy to forget that you aren’t a robot and it’s okay to take some time off once in awhile. Schedule some time off during this holiday season to spend time with your family and friends, to go on a vacation, or to just chill out, eat good food, and binge watch some Netflix. You’ll be surprised at how much better you’re able to work once you get back to work after your time off! In order to maintain your peace of mind and keep your clients up to date, be sure to let your clients know you’ll be out of the office for a little while to celebrate the holidays. You can do this with an auto-reply email, or a special holiday-greeting email.

Be Generous With your Employees

Just like it’s easy to forget that you aren’t a robot, it can also be difficult to remember what your employees need, want, or would like. Offer them time off as much as you can manage it. They’ll appreciate it and be happier to continue working for you!

Bring On Some Temp Employees/Contractors

If this is your busy season, then do yourself and your full-time employees a favor by hiring some extra help for this flustered time. Many people are open to “temp” work in order to score some holiday cash. This will help you give people time off, and it will also help you better manage the floods of customers and orders.

Say “No”!

When you’re faced with a client who’s asking you to fast-track a new project, to work over the holidays, or simply do more work than you currently have time for, feel free to tell them no. It can be incredibly difficult to do this, especially when considering monetary or networking benefits lost, but you’ll be happier you did when Christmas comes around and you’re actually free to spend it with your family and friends. If the project is incredibly important, consider negotiating to have it delivered by a slightly later deadline or at a lesser quantity. Just be sure not to sacrifice the holidays for work.

Don’t Over-Do the “Holiday Cheer.”

It’s perfectly fine to send your clients holiday cards or even Christmas emails, but if you find yourself feeling obligated to hand-write a card to every one of your clients, you might re-think it. Consider selecting a handful of key business contacts/clients who have impacted your business this year and send them a handwritten note. For the rest, you might consider sending a classy, festive holiday email.

Pop Open A Recliner And Enjoy

This time of year only comes around once, so be intentional about enjoying it. While this might be easier said than done, especially with expenses, taxes, sales, and customers all on your mind, it’s time to put that on hold for a few days. Enjoy your favorite drinks, watch your favorite movies, eat some good food, and listen to music filled with memories. The holidays are meant to be enjoyed, so let yourself do just that.

If you’re looking for some extra help and ways to streamline/automate your business, let’s talk!! Because a lot of people are looking for help this time of year, I’ve opened up some additional slots on my calendar just for you!!

YES, I am ready to streamline my business and increase productivity and profitability!

Have a great week!

Robyn Bennett

P.S. Happy Holidays!

Tough Financial Decisions to Make as Your Business Venture Grows

Tough Financial Decisions to Make as Your Business Venture Grows

by | Blog, Contributed Post

***Contributed Post***

In business, our successes are generally defined by our profits. While many of us start a business venture with more than just money as motivation, when it comes down to it, what we earn is the most important thing. And finding the balance between spending and earning is always a tricky one in business. You need to be investing in the best workforce, equipment and materials to create good products or services – while still turning enough of a profit to make things a success. Here are three, tricky decisions you might have to make as your venture grows.

Generic vs bespoke software?

Software is so important in business. These days, so many processes throughout our company will be done online, and so, the right software to run everything on is crucial for speed and efficiency. There are lots of great software on the market that can fit most businesses, but in many cases you will need to adapt your processes around their limitations. If you have more money to spend, investing in bespoke software allows you to tailor everything to your exact tasks and needs. This won’t come cheap, but at some point you might reach the stage where it’s the next logical step.

Outsource or in-house?

Deciding whether to outsource departments of your business, or to hire your own staff and run them in house can be a tricky one. It’s not ‘one size fits all’, and instead, will depend on your personal preferences, time limitations, budget and other factors. When you outsource, it’s a weight off your shoulders. You know the work is being done to the highest standard as it’s being tackled by a business who are professionals in their field. However, it does come at a cost, and if you’re looking for ways to maximise your profits long term then this is an area to assess. When it comes to setting up your own in-house departments, it’s often a lot of money, time and effort up front- but plain sailing once everything is up and running. You’ll need to find bigger premises to house your staff, and spend time recruiting and hiring the right people for each role. You’ll have to train candidates for each position, from PMP and CAPM training for project management to CPCS training for those in construction. Even if the candidates you take on already have experience in a similar role, you’ll need to make sure their training is up to date and that they know exactly what they’re doing in their new position.

 Buy equipment or keep hiring?

As with outsourcing, there are plenty of benefits to hiring equipment too. You get access to a high-quality piece of machinery, tool or equipment right away without having to save. Not to mention any repairs and maintenance costs are covered by the hire company and not you (as long as you weren’t responsible for any damage). Hiring equipment also means there’s less risk for you, if your business venture does fail later down the line you can simply give what you’re hiring back. When you’ve purchased an item, you then have to sell it which will almost always be at a loss. But again, hiring equipment can cut into your profits and in some cases it’s worth investing yourself. It could be anything from printers to power tools to machines to vehicles, weigh up the pros and cons and decide if it’s best to keep hiring these things or put the money into buying your own.

Apps to Make Running Your Small Business So Very Simple

Apps to Make Running Your Small Business So Very Simple

by | Blog, Contributed Post

***Contributed Post***

 Running a small business means being able to do many different tasks. You could be marketing one day, shipping goods, giving advice and bookkeeping, as these are just some of the skills a small business owner needs.  Of course, your business could be so well funded that you can outsource some of the jobs, or employ someone to help you. However, most small businesses do not have that luxury but do not despair, there are apps specially designed to make your life a little easier.

Best Apps For Accounting And Finances

As with all areas of your business, there are many apps to choose from when it comes to the finances of your business. There are ones specifically designed for accounts, investment apps, payroll apps and many others to help with your financial matters. It almost makes accountants obsolete!

Gusto is a very good payroll app, while Freshbooks provides a simple way to manage sales and purchase invoices. For a full package for all your financial needs, QuickBooks is ideal, and so is Wave.

Best Apps For Communications

Good communications are vital to any small business if it is to succeed. Addappt will make it easier to manage your contacts and you can send messages with it. Fuze provides high-definition video calls, and Slack is an instant messaging platform. Skype is probably the best-known video conferencing app, and although many have tried to knock it from its top position, it is still the most used for this purpose.

Best Apps For Time Management

Time is one of your most valuable assets and you need to make sure it is used to its best advantage.  Rescuetime will track how much time you have spent on other apps and websites, and then provide the details in a report. This will let you see where time is being wasted. My Minutes is great if you are having trouble focusing on the most important tasks. You can set goals, such as an hour on social media, and it will track the time spent throughout the day and let you know when you have reached the time limit.

Other Good Apps To Help You

These are just three areas where apps can make life a little less stressful, there are many others. Dropbox has more than 500 million users. It lets you store and share files in the cloud.  It is a very reliable app that can save you much time not having to send emails to several different people. MailChimp can help you to build a mailing list, as well as customize emails to send to all the people on it. This app is simple to use and can be a great marketing tool. Expensify can be linked to your bank and credit card accounts. It keeps track of money that goes in and out of them, including any charged and interest you may have to pay. You can then extract reports of the information in just a few minutes.

While you are building your business it is crucial to keep all your costs as low as possible Using business apps can be a way of doing this, and they help you to keep everything in order.

BYOD: A Boon For Business?

BYOD: A Boon For Business?

by | Blog, Contributed Post

***Contributed post***

For all of the numerous business gadgets we have at our disposal, sometimes, the simplest approaches are usually the best. BYOD, or bring your own device, is something that many young companies use, predominantly for the reason that it saves them money. And while there are so many benefits to this approach, there are plenty of downsides also. So, if you are considering implementing this into your workplace, let’s break down BYOD.

How It Can Benefit The Business
Apart from the financial aspect, the bring your own device policy can help in terms of familiarity. For example, if you have employees that use their own tablets or laptops and have their own shorthand with the device, this translates directly into productivity. And while money is saved exponentially from the employer’s perspective, the money that is saved can be implemented in other ways. For example the various cloud computing solutions that can ensure that the devices are in keeping, not just with the BYOD policy, but secure within the working environment. And while there can be issues with this, if you implement an appropriate policy that is followed to the letter, you will see how it makes the lives of your employees easier.

The Overarching Concerns
Technologically speaking, the compatibility issues can cause disarray. Conflicting platforms, issues with access rights, or devices that don’t use a specific protocol, not to mention numerous others, can cause a headache for the tech department. Not only this, the issues you have with your employees sharing data on a personal level have to be addressed. As already mentioned, if you have a BYOD policy that is followed properly, and the consequences of not following it are communicated, this can help in one respect. When you are dealing with sensitive data, it’s important that you communicate to your employees, not just what will happen to them, but to the business. When you think about the employees that leave the work environment and have devices on their person that contain sensitive data, they are leaving themselves open to data theft in a personal sense.

Bring your own device policies, on the face of it, are a great way for any company to save money. But when you are thinking about the impact this can have on the business, the financial approach doesn’t dictate everything. BYOD can be a great way to encourage employees to make the work more mobile, especially for those people that work from home, but from a technological perspective, you have to invest a bit more to ensure that the information is secure. In many ways, the ideal solution is to have every device vetted, but this can throw up more issues in terms of your employees’ rights to privacy. And when dealing with sensitive data, in many ways, the best approach is consistent communication. Ultimately, we cannot watch our employees 24 hours a day, but what we can do is provide a very strict policy, one that is continually updated. BYOD can be a boon, but we have to be very careful.

Tech Tools for Freelancers

Tech Tools for Freelancers

by | Blog, Contributed Post

***Contributed Post***

It will come as no surprise that to make it in the freelance world, you have to rely on yourself. However, there are a few pieces of tech that can help you on your way. Running a small business isn’t an easy feat by any means. You are responsible for finding work in the early days, invoicing, taxes, websites, and many other facets of running a successful business. There is somewhere in the region of 54 million freelancers in America at any one time, in a few key areas. Writing, consulting, photography and design tend to be the top choices. 

It doesn’t matter if you are just dipping your toe into the freelance pool, or you’ve been at it for years. Here are some tech tools that will help you manage your business that much better.

Money Matters 

When it comes to managing your money, you have to be smart. Having a card swiper handy when you go to meetings, or you are wrapping things up with the client is always a good idea. Not everyone wants to pay the fees for online transfers like PayPal. There are also a couple of very popular choices if you are doing your own accounting (and you probably are for the most part). 

Wave. This is a free service that helps you generate a dashboard configured to the needs of your business. You can put in information like transactions, receipts, invoices, and other information. It will help you keep everything in order without much fuss. This is suited to smaller businesses or freelancers who aren’t planning on huge growth. 

FreshBooks. This cloud-based accounting software system is excellent for tracking things like billable hours, invoices and will even calculate taxes for you. This is a step up from Wave and is suited to businesses that make a decent turnover but need to keep track of their billable hours. This nifty kit can also work out your profit, losses, and provide you with quarterly analysis.

 

Time 

When it comes to freelancing, your time is literally money. If you start a project but waste too much time procrastinating, you are wasting perfectly good billable hours. One of the most popular ways of breaking down a working day is by using a Pomodoro, time tracker. This will improve your productivity and give you a way to track your working hours. 

Pomodoro Timer for Trello. If you like to have your projects neatly organized, they chances are you use Trello already. The Pomodoro Timer for Trello allows you to implement this productivity tool in your cards. 

Self-control. If you find yourself floating between a research website and Facebook, you can curb that nasty habit quickly with this app. You can block specific sites for set periods of time. So, if you like to work from 10-4 every day, then you can block that period of time each day. Just set the time, click start and work away. 

Getting in Order 

When it comes to making the most of your time you need to make sure that you have some organizational tech in place. These might be simple checklists, or you might like more comprehensive options. 

Wunderlist is a super simple to-do list app. You can access it on your mobile or desktop so you can work easier on the go. You can set your to-dos up by client or project and then break it down into tasks. The extra added bonus for this app is that you can add photos, files, and notes as you go. Plus, you can set yourself deadlines and reminders that will sync across all of your devices. Handy. 

Google Drive. This is used by freelancers and businesses the world over, and it’s probably not a surprise to see it made the list of tech that can make your life easier. Some people are terrible at keeping track of their files and can never produce what they are asked for on a whim. Google Drive has options like Sheets which is similar to excel, and Docs which works like any other word processor. You can share things quickly with a link, and you can protect your work with a view only option. You can export into .doc or PDF and a few other file types so you won’t run into compatibility issues. And, you’ll never lose your work as it is all stored safely in the Google Cloud. If you travel a lot, and many of us do, the Dos app is available on your phone if you should need to edit anything on the go or share the files. 

For other great gadgertry check out this post – The Essential Gadgetry That Every Business Needs.