iCreate Solutions Helpful Guide To Social Media For Small Businesses

Social Media marketing can be daunting for many small business owners. With a growing number of networks with very different functionalities, guidelines and also followings, it can be confusing to find out which to incorporate into the online marketing strategy and how to do so efficiently.

With 91% of on-line adults regularly using social media, it is no longer something which any business can afford to ignore. Society is changing and with this growing online lifestyle comes new expectations of different things from companies and brands. We are getting smarter when it comes to the commercial world and with that comes a paradigm shift in marketing strategies. The focus is now more on connecting with clients on a social level and much less about the sales pitch. The easy fact is people don’t want to be sold to, so, just how do we use social media to sell, while not selling?

The Top Players In Social Media

Facebook

Facebook is usually the first thing that comes to mind when we think of social media, which is not surprising as it still holds the top spot with over 1 billion active users. With that much influence and reach, Facebook is an evident choice for any small business. Even land estate advertising firms are making its way to Facebook.

It is a common misconception that the majority of Facebook users are tenagers and people in their early 20's; however as of August 2012, the age group that experienced the best increase on Facebook was 25-34 year olds, meaning that now 67% of users are over 25. As social media is progressing and the ‘digital natives’ are getting older, a large part of your target market are regularly utilising social media.

The key to Facebook success is sharing content that is concise and consistent with the focus on the client, not the company. What you may share on Facebook must be interesting enough for followers to like, share and comment on it.

It is essential to time your posts very carefully, to find that balance between not posting enough and spamming your followers. One feature that Facebook provides for pages is the ability to schedule posts, enabling you to set up your posts for the day, week or month in advance and have them go out at the exact times that you pre-determine. Over time it will become clearer which posts and at what frequency are best for the business and following, however as a basic guideline, posts must be at least one per day and no more than one every three hours.

Twitter

Twitter is the second biggest social network and is completely different to any of the others. Traffic moves much more swiftly on Twitter and the articles are restricted to 140 characters or less. Twitter requires you to be a lot more active with posting tweets and connecting with other users than other networks. A fair frequency for posting on Twitter will be between eight and ten per day.

The important thing to remember when sending out tweets is that the content shared must provide value to the readers. You’re fighting for your follower’s awareness against the hundreds or thousands of other users that they are following. The traffic on the home page moves quickly, so in order to stand out a tweet needs to be as sharable as possible. Try thinking about a tweet like a headline, it should be concise, innovative and grab the reader’s eyes. Utilizing hashtags and including other users within your tweets will also help to enhance its sharability.

Using tools such as TweetDeck, Tweetspinner or even Hootsuit that help to schedule your Twitter activity is an excellent way to reduce the time you need to actually spend on Twitter. These tools work as a great assistant but you should still keep an eye on yours and others activity to make sure that everything runs smoothly and no opportunities are missed.

LinkedIn

LinkedIn is known as the ‘professional network’, making it particularly useful for B2B marketing and networking. LinkedIn offers company pages, through which you can post present vacancies and share up-dates. A company page should be concise and professional with information about the business, what you do/sell, a link to the website and contact information.

While the firm page is a fantastic feature, the best way to maximise LinkedIn is through your personal, professional profile. Social media is creating a more personable business world and people are more inclined to connect with someone who works for the company, rather than with the company page. Bearing this in mind be sure to have a clear headshot as your profile picture, keep your status updates related to your professional life and industry and try to make sure your profile is 100% complete.

Google+

Google+ is usually overlooked as it is not really a ‘big player’ in the world of online social media, however Google+ provides great benefits for SEO and search engine traffic. Google+ is greatly integrated with Google’s other goods, such as Gmail, Google Docs, Google Maps and of course Google Search Engines.

Google+ Local Pages have also been introduced in place of Google Places and are being integrated to Google Search, Google Maps, and Google Mobile. This change means it’s now even more important for your business to have a verified Google+ page. More information about these changes and the actions that you may need to take can be found on Google’s support page for business owners.

Google have also recently launched a Social Search Engine called Search Plus Your World in the US, which is in Australia quickly.

Pinterest

Pinterest is now the third most popular network after Facebook and Twitter, having gained momentum quickly since its launch in March 2010. This social pin board allows users to share images in collections and categories.

Pinterest has recently announced, on November 14th 2012, that they now have separate Terms of Service for businesses, helping to guide business owners on how to use Pinterest. These new terms are in line with the intro of their new business accounts, which offer new features specified to business needs such as a ‘verification badge’ to confirm your website, new buttons as well as widgets to help integrate your Pinterest page with your website and access to forthcoming features yet to be announced.

Instagram

Instagram is an excellent tool for giving your business greater visibility online and better engaging with the community. This visual platform ties in well with both Facebook and also Twitter and is an excellent place to share photos of your items, what is happening behind the scenes, interactions with the community, sneak peeks and so forth. A lot of businesses have had great success using Instagram, due to its simplicity and popularity.

Which Networks Should I Utilize For My Business?

Which networks you decide to use in your business marketing strategy will depend on the type of business you are running. It’s important to look at your target audience and what networks they are engaging with, as this will enable you to decide which networks should be prioritised.

A Facebook page should be the foundation of any social marketing strategy, regardless of your business type people now turn to Facebook just as they do for Google to locate a local product or service provider.

Make it Work

Once you have chosen which networks to utilize and have set up your accounts, there are three simple ways to follow to improve the response your business profile receives…

Involve Your Followers - This is the golden rule of social media, to be social. Small businesses hold an advantage here, as they are capable of being more personable and connect straight with their followers on-line.

Have A Strategy - Social Media marketing is serious business and should be treated as such. Take the time to analyse how people do and will see your business and how certain messages will be received as well as interoperated.

Have Patience - Social media is not a quick fix. It takes time to see the results, but if you are patient and have a strong strategy in place, the results will be really worth the wait.

Do I Still Need A Website If My Business Uses Social Media?

A business website is an essential component of a strong and effective online presence. Your business website should be thought of as the online hub, central to all other social media, advertising and email marketing efforts. There are many clever ways that we can make your website integrate with all of your online requirements.
To learn more, see Icreate Solutions.

Five Useful Information To Manage A Good Design Agency

These days the term "design agency" often means a lot of things. From website creation to t-shirt graphics and advertisements including copy writing and marketing there is generally one thing in common: a strong emphasis on graphic design. Running a firm that has specialized in graphic design like Brisbane web design can be both challenging and satisfying. Here are some tips to help make your design agency operate as smoothly as you can for maximum ROI.

Firing Customers

As with any business your clients are your lifeblood. However several customers tend to be more trouble than they're really worth. If a customer is giving you or your group a difficult time and is being a general pain to work with it might be time to let them go. There is no sense in letting problem customers drag your business straight down. Here are some signs that identify a problem customer:

♥ They think they know more than you do about graphic design.
♥ They would like to micromanage you.
♥ They are very picky.
♥ They request constant revisions of your work for free.
♥ They do not pay the full price in advance.

Promoting Creativity Between Your Team

When managing a design agency you want to get as much out of your team as you possibly can and motivate them to take the initiative. However, you want to make certain they have the appropriate experience before doing this so they know where the line is and not to cross it. When a team member does something extremely creative or has a revolutionary idea be sure to reward them with a small bonus as a way of promoting that kind of decision making.

Eliminating The Unnecessary

This is important both on the financial and creative aspect. When talking about business expenses you need to eliminate as many as you can as quickly as possible for the best ROI. In the realm of graphic design you also want to avoid superfluous graphics and design elements to streamline your work.

Leaving Finances In The Right Hands

Just because you're an amazing graphic design artist, manager or administrator does not necessarily mean you are the right person to handle the financial side of your business. If you are struggling with this hire an accountant or other business professional as quickly as possible. A word of caution though, make certain the one you hire is trustworthy, you do not want someone screwing you over.

Exceptional Customer Service

When it comes to serving your clients you want to always over deliver; give them more than they pay money for. In addition to this also make sure you have a rewards system, discounts and other incentives in place to draw in new customers and keep current customers coming back to get more. Also make sure you have someone with a normally friendly attitude in charge of customer relations if you're unsuitable for that task yourself.

These tips should be useful if you are looking to take your design agency to the next level. Getting rid of problems such as bothersome clients, unnecessary business expenses and design elements that waste resources is a huge step in the right direction. Attracting new customers and creating repeat customers is also hugely significant. Overall running a good design agency is just like most other businesses, as long as you have you priorities straight it's simple to optimize you ROI within an efficient manner.

For more information check out: Icreate Solutions

What Software Is Used In A Graphic Design Firm

The definition of a graphic designer is somebody who makes use of and brings together images to make a piece of design work within the graphic arts industry. Most commonly if a designer is working for a graphic design agency they'll be using media, whether this is printed or electronic in order to create illustrations or web design. The role of a designer is a tough one, they have to always be coming up with fresh new ideas in a very competitive arena.

Not anyone can be a graphic designer, there are specific qualifications that you will need if this is the career path you would like to follow. Such that even a Google apps consultant would say this to most people. You should have some sort of industry experience prior to any agency employs you so you may have to do some voluntary work in order to build up your own portfolio. It is quite common for a design agency to ask to view your portfolio so they can get an understanding of the type of work you do. Graphic design is an art and you will realize that it is a very skilled branch of creativity.

There are several software programs that you will need to have quite a high level of proficiency at. Photoshop is the most widely used computer program amongst designers. It allows you, as the designer, to control images and play around with them in order to get the best finished outcome, you can even do this with photos of individuals. Photoshop is used in the media to improve photos of celebrities and other influential figures. In order for a designer to understand how their work will be viewed online they should equip themselves with a basic understanding of some basic web programming scripts including HTML. Graphic design is a diverse discipline and may require a designer to learn a great number of skills as there are so many branches. Printing is a great example of this simply because it is quite a complex process, meaning that you will need to have some background information before you jump straight in.

A designer has to remain flexible as it is a discipline that is continually changing. Graphic work is now predominantly done through digital media meaning instead of carrying a hard copy of a portfolio, it could be on a disk instead. This was not the case in previous years; if a designer was visiting or applying for a job at a graphic design agency then they would usually be asked to bring with them a printed portfolio. This was the best possible way to show off some of your work, it was placed in a large book or binder and displayed to people who showed an interest in your or your work.

For more information do see Icreate Solutions.

Factors In Website Designs

There are many ways to get a website on the internet and if you are in a budget crunch you can even get free website designs. A company or individual can also hire a company to design their own website and spend as much money as needed. So whether you are broke or have more money than you know what to do with - a big company or just a start-up, you can have a website presence on the web.

Professional Design Companies

If you choose an expert web design agency, be certain to see their portfolio. You may be spending a large sum of money so you want to at the very least see what some of the agency's past work looks like. See IT small business consultant for references. A good professional agency provides you with a professional design that is customized to meet your unique needs. Great agencies will also offer logo design, on-going maintenance, and registration of domain name. They will arrange for web hosting and also provide copywriting of all content. Some will even do your search engine optimization complete with monthly reports. These agencies that do it all might cost a great deal but are well worth the money.

You may have your concerns about one company that does both copywriting and SEO but it ensures they are dedicated to making certain the website is successful. Having the content professionally written as well as professionally optimized over time is worth every penny that you invest.

Factors Important To A Site

There are some aspects that a well-designed website should have. Load time is one of those elements since a well designed site that loads fast is not leaving visitors waiting.

Another vital element is "cross browser compatibility". This means that the site needs to look great in whatever browser a visitor is using. This is ensured by making any website design WC3 compliant and a good design agency will make that happen.

Additionally , it is important to make certain that the layout doesn't have text that is too small or too much. A website that is cluttered is almost painful to browse through. This means that the website should look balanced with just the right quantity of organizing features.

A Bad Impression

Everyone has always been taught that a first impression is the impression that is remembered. This is also true in websites. There are just some factors that leave a visitor with a terrible first impression. One of these factors is error messages. If a visitor is new and keeps getting error messages, they probably will not be back.

Another bad first impression is advertisements. Now all web users know that advertisements are a fact of life in the online world. But... they can leave a bad impression particularly if there are too many, are about the wrong subject or the ads are badly placed. In these cases - they can be a turn off for some site visitors.

Factors Of Great Websites

There are three ways to make the design of a website good. A really superb website has great content and it's content that also changes often , making the visitor keep coming back. Another factor of a fantastic website is one which has an extremely clever design which is easy to get around. Websites that are hard to navigate will lose visitors because they do not know where to go.

To further understand web design, check out Icreate Solutions.

Increase The Quality Of Your Web Design With These Tips

If you're one that considers most websites to be the same, try to compare Google to Facebook or Yahoo to Bing. The elements of these websites portray the importance of a quality web design. The ideas in this article should be used as a reference to raise your awareness of the possibilities you can incorporate into making your web design unique.

Google loves fast websites. One example would be a website that is designed by Brisbane graphic design. A fast website is a great website. You can't assume much from impatient viewers. If they are left looking at an incomplete page for minutes while your content loads, the frustration will probably lead to closing your site and find what they're looking for elsewhere.

You should validate each web page that you create. Something you should avoid is using a "what you see is what you get" editor when validating your website designs. If you choose to use all those programs, be sure that you take extra effort to utilize a validation service to validate your code. This type of metric sits well with Google. A free service called W3C is a good start for this.

Although most people are acquainted with Photoshop, many are unaware of a similar Adobe product known as Dreamweaver. This software is a gold mine for web developers and allows you to create any kind of page, content, or function you desire. I suggest looking into this type of software and how it can assist you in your web design objectives. Remember - you need to be extremely unique with your web design.

Making a site that is cross-functional across various platforms will attract more unique guests. You'll also benefit from becoming fluent in several platforms, including PHP as well as Java. Web development can be another language - one that you can become fluent in with practice like a regular language! Whether you're designing a new site, or simply helping a buddy launch their own, a wide variety of experience and knowledge can help you over time.

Create a favicon for your website. This is a small graphic which can be seen in the browser and will make it easier for your visitors to bookmark your website. Once they pull up their bookmarks, your memorable favicon will stick out. Your own favicon should be constant with your website's logo and design features.

If a design company does not have a portfolio available, I wouldn't even consider them. Carefully review the portfolios of the companies which are in your consideration set. You want to make sure they have the proper experience, knowledge, popularity, and have the capital to satisfy your demands. The company's portfolio will show you how experienced and knowledgeable they are.

When you decide to venture all on your own web design, you probably aren't going to create a innovative site like Twitter or Facebook. Overall, the likelihood of making a worldwide known site are slim. However , with unique web design skills, you can create attractive sites that will function even better than those owned by a big company. Use the suggestions learned here, and start designing your site today.

To know more, check out Icreate Solutions.

Clarifying The Term SEO

SEO means Search Engine Optimisation. It is a term common to just about everyone these days. Anyone with a website desires their site to appear on the very first page of google for their keyword or key phrase. This worthy objective is becoming increasingly difficult as thousands more sites are made and indexed every single day.

It is also a field that changes quickly, as Search Engines – like Google continue to shift the goal posts as they modify and improve the way they rank pages. Further all these ranking algorithms are closely guarded secrets, so the exact location of said goal posts, aren’t actually known by anyone outside Google.

However there is a lot that is known. What I am going to focus on in this article are the basics, and this article is targeted at the non-technical website owner, enthusiastic about the essentials.

The field of SEO is generally split into two distinct topics. “ON Page” and “OFF Page” SEO.

ON Page SEO

ON page SEO is the simple part. It is about tweaking the content of your website, to ensure that Search Engines can look upon your site in the most favorable light possible. The following list includes the most crucial aspects of On Page SEO. If you do not know what all of these terms mean, that’s ok, but the person that develops your site should definitely be on top of this..

- Have a keyword suitable title tag for each page.
- Have a keyword appropriate description meta tag for every page.
- Utilize H1, H2, H3 & tags throughout your pages to spotlight the key content of each page, and underline those keywords to Google.
- Have plain text links internally for all your pages. (A footer is useful for this)
- Include keywords, in the page path. eg www.site.com/services/keyword/
- Include keywords in alt tags for each image, so Google attributes value to your site’s images.
- Have a content rich site full of useful info for people, this will naturally create a keyword rich site.
- The larger your site the better. The more content google can index the better. A great way to add to your site over time is through a blog. (like this one) This also gives useful industry information to your viewers.
-Blog writing also keeps your website fresh, update frequency is also something Google considers.

If you don't know about any of this stuff, that isn't a problem. There are many companies out there. One example would be Icreate Solutions. They are known for there innovative designs.

OFF Page SEO

OFF page SEO is a tricky one. One of the main ways Google measures your site’s importance vs all the other sites out there, is by how many other sites link to your one. If your website has 200 incoming links, and your competitor has 2, all other things being equal, Google will consider your site far more relevant and list it higher.

Getting other sites to link to yours, is not that simple and is one of the key activities SEO companies traditionally offer. Commonly called “link building”. Google does not like to be tricked though, and the old techniques of building thousands of incoming links automagically via networks of spammy websites, no longer works. Infact you would be penalised for this. Quality SEO companies don't engage in this activity. Google now measures all inbound themselves for their quality and importance.

A great way to increase inbound links, is to publish quality content out there on the interweb, with links back to your website. This might be on Social Media, or even sites like articlebase. com, squidoo, youtube, digg and so forth

Also posting useful (non spammy) comments on other quality websites, with a discreet backlink – is a good strategy.

This is clearly a lot of work, a good idea is to have a long term approach at off page SEO, and make frequent small hits at it. Or engage a good SEO company to assist with an off page strategy.

Social Media & Content Creation I mentioned before it is good to have a large site, and even more important to have a freshly updated site. Well a good way to do that is to use your blog. Write an article weekly. Make it useful. Google will like that content is changing every time it pays a visit, over time the indexable content of your site will continue to grow and grow!

The other thing that is cool about blog pages, is they act as new entry points to your website. If you write a blog reviewing the new xyz widget your business sells, and an xyz widget is a relatively unique product. There is a chance your article might just show top on google for a search of xyz widget. With time, blog pages can have a large impact on your sites traffic.

Make the most out of the fantastic article you have just written, and hit your Social Media channels, with a quick excerpt and a link back to your article. Get some eyes reading it.

Also your site needs Social Media buttons. Allowing visitors to Facebook like, Google plus, tweet or even Pinterest pages. This is good simply because;

- It helps spread the word about your site.
- It is widely thought that social measures, are going to be used more and more by Search Engine algorithms. Particularly the Google Plus button. A site with 20 Google pluses, will rank higher than a site with none. Apparently this is simply not happening yet, but it is likely just a matter of when, so better to start building some social recommendations right now.

The PPC option

PPC stands for pay per click. Its paid advertising. PPC's are quite advantageous for people with like property advertising. Google’s version of this is Google Adwords. Many websites, that do not list on page 1 organically in a Google could bring a reliable stream of traffic to their site through paid advertising. You can advertise for as little as a $1 a day, and can be scaled up and down as necessary. It can be a good supplement to your SEO efforts to get the phone ringing now, while your website climbs the stairs of Google.

Summary

SEO is a journey. The days of getting to number one easily are gone, there is just too much competition. You need a site that is built right, that is number 1. However you also have to commit to a long term strategy of quality content publishing, social interaction, and quality link building. It's a big task, but like any big task over time it can simply be managed with lots of small consistent efforts.

Also the more you do it, the easier it will get.

How To Select A Good Graphic Designer

So you have started up your very own business or even need a design to sell/promote your product or service or business. You require a great logo, some business cards, stationery & assorted marketing collateral. Where do you go from here? Many individuals will fall into the trap of signing up for a ‘can’t believe it’s so cheap’ design deal on the internet. There are a lot people offering design services, land estate advertising and they range in experience from true professionals with years of experience to high school students with pirated software who want to make a quick buck. Will you get the opportunity to speak with them about your business And the direction it is headed?

One of the best ways to find a great designer is to ask around. If you have a buddy or colleague that has a good logo or brochure for their business, simply ask who did their design work. Contacting somebody whose work you are already impressed with is a step in the right direction. Failing this it may be time to put Google to work for you. Search online for graphic designers in your area and start to take a look at their websites. These days the best designers will have an online portfolio so prospective customers can get a feel for the work they have done.

When looking for a graphic designer there are some questions you need to answer:

♣ Do they have a professional, well designed website? The design quality of their website is most likely a fair reflection of their design skills.

♣ Do they have a strong portfolio along with a wide range of designs? It is necessary for you to like their job & feel assured they can speak your message.

♣ Are they easily contactable? Are you able to get in touch with them by phone or do they only offer online/email contact? A designer really needs to get within your business which comes best from direct contact with you, possibly face to face, over the phone or even a video call.

♣ Do they have great social skills? A great designer will be able to interact well with their clients. They will work carefully with you to develop a creative brief that is right on target.

♣ Will they offer you with contact details for a few of their clients so you can get a reference? An excellent designer will have absolutely no problems letting their clients sing their good remarks.

♣ How do they charge for their work? Will you be paying an per hour rate or are they comfortable enough to charge a flat charge for the job? Don’t hesitate to ask questions about their rates – you do not want any nasty surprises that will throw your financial budget out the window.

♣ Will these people be able to carry out the job in due time? Do not expect to find a designer & have your new logo within a couple of hours. Provide a timeline which gives your designer plenty of time to plan, research & most importantly create!

♣ Are they properly qualified? It is a good idea to check your potential designer’s qualifications. It may not be a regulated profession in Australia at this time, but graphic design is a specialized field like accounting, architecture or law. You wouldn’t hire a lawyer that wasn’t properly qualified and the same should go for a graphic designer. Professional graphic designers will be happy to inform you where they studied and what certification they obtained. Their application of design principles and adhering to design procedures and commercial guidelines is a good indicator of a professional, well versed graphic designer.

When you find the designer that is the perfect match for you the results will be amazing. Always remember that communication is vital – both before, during & after the design procedure. Never accept a design that you don’t absolutely love & can stand proudly alongside. A great designer will never want you to settle for something good – they may want you to be amazed by the end result.

To have a better understanding of graphic design, check out Icreate Solutions now.