Plain Language Marketing
  • Home
  • Blog - Micro Tutorials
  • Philosophy
  • Services
  • About
  • Contact

The Importance of the Website Page Description

4/28/2013

0 Comments

 
Picture
There is a place on every page of your website for a short description. It's something that is done behind the scenes in the code, but it's very important. The page description tells Google and other search engines what your page is about which then helps them determine if it is a good match for what people are searching.  Without it some of your pages can go almost unnoticed in a search.

Another great advantage is that the one line that you choose to describe that page is what people see in the Google search results. For example below is a search result done for this website.

why you need a description for your web page- plain language marketing
And below you see a search result for a page that a page description wasn't made for. What you get is some random copy from the page. It may or may not have anything to do with what your page is about and certainly doesn't have the correct terms that the people who are looking for you are going to use.
best seo for your small business - using page descriptions
You can't tell what the website above is about based on those lines and they aren't helping the searcher or the search engines know much about it.

So, what can you do to fix it? Make sure each page of your website has a page description. Where you find access to this of course depends on the kind of website you have. Most often it is under settings or options. Look for a description for the website if you are on a blog. If you have a website with multiple pages look for a page description under settings, options or search engine optimization. You can also put it directly in the code.
0 Comments

Clean up Your Website in Minutes - Find Those Broken Links

4/18/2013

0 Comments

 
Picture
Nothing makes a website looks like it isn't cared for like lots of broken links. Broken links are links in your website that go to locations that are gone or empty. You might have deleted a page and forgotten that you linked to it from some other page. Or it could be that some website you linked to changed their pages.

Broken links happen to everyone. However when a user comes across more than one of them  it looks pretty bad. 

But, fear not! I have a quick and easy way for you to find out if you have broken links on your site. Use this handy little free tool - The Broken Link Check. Just put in the address of your website and you will get a report of all broken links on your site. Super easy and a quick way to clean up your site.

0 Comments

Social Media is Customer Service

4/12/2013

1 Comment

 
Picture
Image: Rodolfo Sampaio & Marco Martins
When you're a business and you have a Facebook, Twitter, Instagram or any social media account, it's important to remember that a lot of social media is just Customer Service.

Yes, Social media is a way to promote your business, a way to post positive and feel good images and a way to remind people that you're there ready to provide them with what they need. But, it's also your new Customer Service Center.

I've seen too many businesses not reply to customers questions or replies on FB or Twitter too often. These social media outlets are your new customer service. Just like people stopped calling in favor of emailing about ten years ago. People now don't even email, they go straight to the FB page or Twitter and post a comment - and this comment is public! So, if the comment is not positive, everyone can see it - and they can also see when you don't reply.

 Another reason to keep up and reply to all posts by customers is that the more comments that are on your status, the more people who will see your posts.  

So, remember to monitor your Facebook and Twitter page daily. Respond to any questions and comments. Even if someone just posts that they love your product - make sure to thank them.  

1 Comment

How to Reach More of your Facebook Followers

4/9/2013

1 Comment

 
how to reach more than 16% of your facebook followers - plain language marketing
The average amount of people who see the Facebook posts you make on your Facebook Business page is 16%. That means 84% are not seeing what you're posting.

Facebook uses an algorithm called EdgeRank gto determine what posts of yours that they post.  They haven't completely revealed how EdgeRank works, however they have let us know some of how it works. I'm gonna break it down as simple as possible.

Facebook rates your posts based on three main things:

  • Affinity
  • Weight
  • Time Decay


Affinity is basically how many people responded to your Facebook Page. The more people that respond, like and share the more likely your posts will appear. This relates to you, as well. The more that you interact with people, like responding to their comments - the better your ranking in this category. So, because of this, think about asking your followers questions, ask them to share pages or images and post useful content that they will want to share.

Weight is determined by what kind of sharing they do. If a follower shares a post you made that carries more weight than just a like or a comment

Time Decay basically just means older posts don't get as much attention. So, this is just another reason to keep creating new posts.

The kind of posts you create carry a different rank, as well. They rank as follows, and in this order.

  1. Photos
  2. Links
  3. Status Updates


So, posting an image is going to reach more people than just a link. Posting an update with a link will reach more people than just a status update.

We'll cover in the future more things you can do to reach your followers. In the meantime, these rules of ranking are good to know and can help guide you on what to post and how to word it. Now, get to posting!
1 Comment

Remember KISS - Keep It Simple, Stupid

4/4/2013

0 Comments

 
Keep it Simple -tips for small business web and social medai
According to Wikipedia (and that is the last word these days, right?) the acronym KISS was a design principle created by aircraft designer Kelly Johnson in the 1960's.  KISS stands for Keep it Simple, Stupid. At least that is the most common interpretation. I've also heard, Keep it Short and Simple. Also, good advice.

The KISS Principle states that most things work best when the design is kept simple and that you should avoid unneeded complications in designing and strive for simplicity.  Although this statement was originally meant about design and designing aircraft in general, KISS has taken on a life of it's own and I've heard it applied to all aspects of life.

It seems pretty unimpressive in our time now. I mean, every where you turn all anyone talks about is simplicity, but in 1960 it was pretty unique.  Think of some of the designs pre-60's. Simplicity wasn't a desired thing at that time.

Anyway, I bring this up because it is just as important now and it's very important to your web presence. I know it can be so tempting to make fancy websites with lovely graphics filling the screen. And it's tempting to be cute and coy sometimes filling out Facebook business pages, but I am here to say, don't do it.

If customers have to scroll down to find out any information about your company, when the important information is hidden behind fancy graphics and flashy intros - it isn't helping your business. When a customer goes to your Facebook information and sees a cheeky line about who you are and not a straight forward explanation of your business,  you lose a customer.  

Don't over design, don't over think it. You're there to provide a service. Tell people about what your service is. Show them some images. Give them your contact info. Be real. Only participate in social media that suits your customer base and give them relevant information to your business. It's that simple. 


Keep it simple, stupid. Just keep that in mind when you aren't sure which way to take something and you'll do fine.



0 Comments

    About Micro Tutorials

    The Micro Tutorials you find here are designed to share one small tip of online marketing help at a time. With a couple of posts a week you can slowly learn and implement the new information. In a little while your website and marketing efforts will be be more productive.

    Archives

    August 2016
    December 2015
    October 2015
    May 2015
    September 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013
    February 2013
    January 2013

    Categories

    All
    Blogs
    Customer Service
    Design
    Ecommerce
    Email Marketing
    Etsy
    Facebook
    Seo
    Social Media
    Twitter
    Website Building
    Website Layout
    Web Tools

    RSS Feed


 © 2018 Plain Language Marketing