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Tech Terms Every Small Business Owner Should Know

February 22nd, 2012

5890999718 3815e6f01c m Tech Terms Every Small Business Owner Should KnowIf you're a small business owner, you of all people know best that you are expected to be a jack of all trades. But you might not have expected to know all kinds of technology terms that IT professionals are experts in. Surprise! You should know a bunch of them if you want to run a successful business.

Here are some of the most important terms to learn if you're a small business owner just starting out in the world of tech terminology.

Bandwidth

Bandwidth, by definition, is a range of frequencies used to transmit a signal. So what does this mean for you, Joe Business Owner? It refers to how fast your website will run on your server.

Server, for that matter, is another term you should know. It's the provider of your website. It's how your website actually ends up on the Internet, accessible to millions upon millions of people worldwide.

High bandwidths are ideal, as it means your website will be more powerful and run more quickly than a server running on low bandwidths. Make sure you have a good service provider and plenty of bandwidth to keep your site running to its full potential.

IP

If you work in the tech world, you often hear the term "IP," but if you're a small business owner just starting out, you may be curious as to what these two little letters refer to.

IP stands for Internet Protocol, and it's just a fancy term used to identify your computer's location on the Internet. Just like how your house has an address so people can identify where you live on a map, an IP address is just an address for your computer so that the Internet people can identify your computer when it's online.

3G and 4G

If you have a smart phone, you may know these terms already, but if not, they can be greatly useful to your business. 3G refers to the third generation of standards for mobile phones and mobile telecommunication.

3G allows you to make wireless phone calls, send text messages, access the Internet, share videos and more all over a mobile device.

4G, on the other hand, refers to the fourth generation of standards for phones and mobile telecommunication. 4G allows you to do the same things as a 3G network, but 4G will generally be much faster, as the standards for speed are much higher than those for 3G.

If you have any plans to mobilize your website at all, familiarize yourself with the 3G and 4G networks.

Ecommerce

The general term ecommerce refers to any business done over the Internet.

As a small business owner, it's important for you to understand what ecommerce is and how it works, especially if you plan on selling any products or services through your website.

There are government standards for ecommerce sites that you need to be sure your business meets before you begin doing business online. Do some research, find out what you have to do to become a certified ecommerce site, and make sure your transactions with customers are safe online.

Static Web Content/Dynamic Web Content

Static web content is any content on your website that stays the same for an extended period of time. This kind of content generally refers to things like the overview of your company on your site's home page, your contact information and any "About Us" sections you may have included on your website that introduce the people on your team.

Dynamic web content is exactly the opposite. It's content posted to outlets like Facebook, Twitter or blogs - it's constantly being updated and new information is always being added. Combining both static and dynamic web content is an important part of maintaining your business' online presence and continuing to bring in traffic to your site.

Know when to use each one and how to balance out the two.

SEO

Abbreviated for search engine optimization, SEO is a way of promoting your website in search engines and trying to improve which position your site ranks at in search results.

Think about it this way - if you are a lawyer in New York City, what would people be searching when they find your website? There are different combinations of words that they might use, but whatever their search query, you want your website to rank above your competitors when potential customers do a search.

That's where an SEO comes in (yes, an SEO is a person - a job, actually). An SEO analyzes your keywords and what people are searching for when they come across your site on a search engine, and they work to help move your site up in the search results.

SEO is something you cannot overlook as a small business owner. If your competitors are doing SEO work on their website, you should be, too. If you aren't, you'll only be left behind.

Domain

Speaking of your website, understand that a domain is the actual address of your site, whereas the term "website" is often used to refer to the specific design and content on your page.

Some business owners choose to strictly differentiate between the two, while others use the terms interchangeably. Just understand that they are, technically, two different terms that refer to two different things, but both refer to your company's website and web address.

Say your website is "www.newyorkcitylawyer.com." That is your domain - newyorkcitylawyer.com.

While these terms simply scratch the surface of tech terminology that every business owner should know, they should give you a jump start on learning all you can about the world of technology, as well as give you a good starting point for operating and understanding your company's website.

Karen Walder is a freelance writer for several business and technology publications. She works closely with a company that provides colocation services to small businesses and works regularly with small business owners to help them understand the service she is providing and why it is beneficial to them.

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Posted in Small Business Marketing | No Comments »

Has Google Changed Social Search Optimization for the User or for them selves?

February 22nd, 2012

With the ever growing presence of social media, many experts in SEO have already mentioned the way that search engine optimization should continue to progress towards the social media platforms.  However with the recent changes that Google has made to the way that users search for content on the internet, it does seem to be giving out signals that the only personal and relevant information can be acquired through these searchers using the social platform Google+

The Changes

The Changes labelled “Search Plus Your World” are the update that Google defines as the first step to understand not only relevant content through out the web but a way to incorporate the users relationships and interests into their search queries. This basically boils down to three areas of change. The first one being the “personal search” As mentioned above the means the ability to find information just for you, the second is implementing a profile search so that people with the same interest you might want to follow and finally pages that might be of a specific interest that will enable you to follow them.

I am a lifelong cricket fan and below is a search result that I have pulled out when searching for the term cricket. Here you can see the changes that Google have adopted when searching through search plus your world.

google Has Google Changed Social Search Optimization for the User or for them selves?

The Effects

Now when it comes to getting spam and rubbish removed from the search rankings most can be relatively happy with the way Google are looking at viewing things. However this particular change has brought out some strong opposition against Google. Many see the new update as a complete change in mentality and ethics and when studying the update it is clear to see why.

While Google has pushed to increase the amount of social aspects in its algorithms it seems too have left out the two rather large social media sites Facebook and Twitter.  Now considering that Google’s statement is that it is introducing social media into its search to improve results that an individual will search for, the fact that it hasn’t included Facebook and twitter is both detrimental to Users and companies and here is why?

The fact that now 800 million users are now on Facebook, and there are 175 million accounts in twitter, it seems baffling that Google would not include such a presence when it comes to social media. Therefore many have come to the conclusion that Google is now not thinking of the User audience but in fact the livelihood of its own Social media platform Google+.

Users searching are now offered Google+ pages of people and profiles that they might like to follow on Google+ on the right hand side, but not Facebook and Twitter. If we take an example of the searched term above, Cricket. The profile pages on the left are those of famous Indian cricketers. However compared to the 14,000 circles that Gambhir is in, compared with the 189,000 he is in on Facebook, Google have clearly missed the point. Or is the fact that they are using the powerful search tool to fuel the needs of their 3rd Placed Social Media program.

This change has provoked a furious from those at Twitter and Facebook – with the lead lawyer at Twitter

Alex Macgillivray, called it a "bad day for the internet" and he is unfortunately correct.

 

The stance that Google has now is completely unethical and could even be in breach of anti-trust laws. Another way to look at it is if we think of Google in terms of a physical business. It’s pretty certain that Google does have a digital monopoly on the searching world with 65% of searches in the USA coming from Google and 90% in Europe. A business using a monopoly like this to push other areas of its business is illegal in the US and I don’t expect Twitter and Facebook not to jump on this topic.

So the question that companies face that are on Facebook and Twitter is do I need to throw my budget at Google+?

 

Well the answer is yes? If you have seen the Emergency Whiteboard Friday by Seomoz Rand tells us the reasons for why every marketer now needs a Google+ Strategy. Now this is considered quite astonishing as Google search plus your world is clearly twisting the arms of companies to make sure that if they want to be found in circles and profile pages in Google searches – they will need a Google+ strategy.

 

Written by Annabel., Digital Marketer for Chillisauce a company specialising in corporate events

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Optimizing Your Website - The Best Way to Boost Sales

February 22nd, 2012

3 6 Optimizing Your Website The Best Way to Boost Sales
Image by Imagaday

These days, people's attention spans are so short that in order to get their business, you need to be on point. With the economy the way it is, the competition for business has gotten more fierce than ever, and if your website doesn't deliver the goods, there is someone else's that will, and people would much rather move on than spend too much time fighting with your site or going through endless pages to find the one item they are searching for.

Efficiency is everything, and for business owners, that means as much for your online sales as it does for your physical sales, if not more so. Not only do you have to have the most up-to-date and relative content, but you also need to make sure that the infrastructure of your site can handle the amount of traffic that you are likely to encounter, without the performance of the site being hindered.

Regular Site Updates

By conducting regular updates on your site, you can help your visitors become more comfortable and give them something to come back for, creating return business, but you should also look into doing regular maintenance on the back end of your site. By monitoring the analytics of your site as well as utilizing website load testing tools, you can get a good idea of where the opportunities for your site are and get the insight to take advantage of them.

This will do wonders for your site, and you may even find some issues you didn't know you had, giving you the opportunity to really optimize your website and create a seamless experience for your visitors. You will not only build their confidence in you and your product, but you will also free yourself up to focus on other ventures, allowing you to move forward knowing that your website is performing up to its fullest potential.

Mobile Site Regular Updates

This also goes for mobile websites, and testing tools for mobile applications are very similar, even though the size of the site may be significantly smaller. Your customers will want the same level of service and accountability, and by making sure that your infrastructure is sound and reliable, you can continue to deliver the same great service on a number of levels, without fear of instability.

Even if you don't see the value right away, as soon as you experience your first big hiccup, you'll quickly come to understand just how important it is to monitor the performance of your site, and when you start doing that, your customers will thank you for it.

SOASTA website load test is great for Website Performance Testing. SOASTA website load testing results are correlated and analyzed in real-time to quickly find and fix problems.

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Internet Marketing - Outsource or DIY?

February 22nd, 2012

A good Internet marketing strategy is an essential part of selling your product online. However, with more and more consumers using the Internet to research products and find out about businesses, even brick-and-mortar companies must consider how internet marketing can help their business.

Of course, having decided to start an online marketing campaign, the next decision that needs to be made is whether to outsource to a specialist company or handle the job in-house.

When making this decision, there are a few factors to consider.

1) What is Your Own Level of Skill?

While it is entirely possible to learn about online marketing, starting from a basic level will cost you in both time and money while you learn on the job. Taking advantage of a specialist company allows you to benefit from experience, training and contacts that could take you years to establish for yourself.

The learning curve in online marketing can be quite steep, and while there is a wealth of information out there for you to learn from, much of it is contradictory, and following some of the advice you will find could lead to your site being blacklisted by Google!

2) What Are You Looking to Achieve?

While you may well have the skills to put together your own SEO packages and optimize your website, this is not the same as having the experience that is needed to envisage, plan and implement a whole marketing campaign.

Another important element to consider is whether you have the experience to recognize why a particular strategy is or is not working so that you can revise our campaign. When you outsource this work to another company, you can negotiate a payment schedule where you pay for results, meaning that you do not have to worry about the methods.

3) How Can You Best Spend Your Time?

One of the greatest advantages of outsourcing any business practice is that it gives you more time to concentrate on your core business. Online marketing is a constantly evolving field, such that keeping up with the latest developments and tweaks to Google’s algorithm is a full time job in and of itself.

Trying to split your attention between running your business and keeping up on your online marketing will cause both to suffer. Outsourcing to a reputable company allows you to oversee your marketing without needing to be involved in the nitty gritty of the day-to-day workings, while taking advantage of economies of scale that would not apply if you hired a dedicated member of staff.

While DIY web marketing is certainly better than no online strategy at all, outsourcing has benefits that should not be ignored.

Post by guest blogger Michelle, a writer who enjoys blogging about technology like internet marketing and Google analytics consulting.

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Signs that your Website Needs a Redesign

February 22nd, 2012

If you’ve had the same website design for a while, it could be causing you to lose business. The ways that people access and use online information has changed dramatically, and your website may not be up to scratch.

So, how can you tell if your website needs to be redesigned? Read on!

Your Web Designer is the Only Person Who Knows How it Works

If any problems or downtime with your website leave you scrambling to get in touch with your original web designer, you’re in trouble.

This is a problem that often occurs when new additions to your site are added piecemeal, making it an unstable, idiosyncratic structure. Not only is your website likely not operating optimally, you’re locked into services from your original web designer as trying to get someone else to figure out how your website works will cost a lot of money – and that’s before they even get to work.

Your Pages Take Longer than 3 Seconds to Load

Three seconds doesn’t sound like a very long time, but a whopping four out of ten Internet users will simply click off your website if the load time goes above three seconds.

Almost half of Internet users expect page load times to take only two seconds. It’s clear that slow load times are as annoying as the buzzing of mosquitoes to today’s online community. If your website is slow, you might need a redesign to bring it up to an appropriate load-time.

Your Website Suffers Frequent Downtime and Errors

Occasional downtime is part and parcel of the operation of any website, but if you notice it occurring more and more frequently as you add new services and pages, it’s probably to do with the underlying design.

Starting afresh with a clean slate can actually end up saving you money as your site will be more stable, requiring less fixes and with less downtime keeping customers away.

Your Website No Longer Effectively Reflects Your Brand … Or the Brand Image You Want to Portray

As the Internet has evolved and grown, users have become more sophisticated. Nothing screams unprofessional like an outdated, old-fashioned website. If you have kept the same design since the early 2000s then your website likely does not reflect the professionalism and competence of your business today. Redesigning your website to reflect the current taste of users could bring you a boon of business as you look more professional.

A website redesign will likely cost you an investment of money and time, but the return of that investment can be substantial. Redesigning your website to take today’s trends and practices into account can bring you a more professional image, less costs for maintenance, and happier customers.

Post by guest blogger James, a writer who enjoys blogging about technology like control of mosquitoes and website design.

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Posted in Graphic Design | No Comments »

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