SEO Tips for Small Business: Website Photos

SEO Tips for Small Business: Creative Picture (File Names)
There are a lot of SEO tips for small business, but some are more clever than others. One great way for your business to get found online is by using "search friendly photos." What does that mean? Search friendly photos are pictures that have been saved with file names that are related to search queries.

For example, before you upload a picture to your auto body shop's website, make sure that picture's file name is something search friendly like "auto body repair and paint in tampa florida.jpg." Your potential customers are typing that into Google. Naming your picture file "autopic1.jpg" doesn't do anything to get your photo to rank in an image result.

SEO Tips for Small Business: Why Pictures?
If you're still wondering why you want your pictures to rank in image results, it's because they are direct pathways to the rest of your website. The minute a visitor clicks on an image and then closes it, they're in your website. Even before they close the Google image of your picture, the visitor can see your website behind it.


It's all about getting people to your website and letting your website's design, content, offers, and imagery close the deal. It doesn't matter how great your business, products, or services are. People can't become your customers if they don't know your business exists. They don't know about your business if they are not stumbling across your website.

SEO Tips for Small Business: Be Clever
Be clever in the way you market your small business website. And go a step further - save all the pictures you have for one web page with similar file names around the search term you want to be found for. Make sure that the content on the page also shares those keywords.

Be clever about the way people stumble across your website. Sometimes it can be as simple as saving a file name and optimizing a pictures information.

Huh? What is Web Hosting?

If you're new to websites and the way things work on the internet, you're probably wondering, "What is web hosting."

A web host is a company that has a computers that are permanently connected to the Internet. Documents (web pages) located on those computers can be read by anyone connected to the Internet.

Yeah... you're probably still saying, "Ummm, so what is web hosting? Here's how it works. Let's say you live in an apartment. You've decorated the apartment so it looks nice when friends come to visit. The apartment owner allows you to live in the apartment and decorate it because you pay rent.

So what is web hosting? Hosting is rent. You decorate or design your website so it looks nice when guests come to visit. People are able to visit your website because you pay rent to the host. The host is the company that rents you space on the internet. They've purchased space and then rent to you and tons of other people with websites.

Just like apartments, some cost more than others and it depends how large your website is. For a typical website, should be purchase hosting for $10 a month or less. Hosting companies I recommend are GoDaddy and NameCheap.

Need Help With Domain Names?

Do you need help with domain names? If you're a beginner, no worries - we'll give you the domain name help you need. Below are some basic tips that will help guide you through the domain name process.

Let's start with the basics - What is a Domain Name?
A domain name is the name of your website, e.g. "www.yourwebsitename.com." It's your online identity. It's what people can type in to find your website.

Next - Choosing a Domain Name
Choosing a domain name can be tough because you have to pick one that's not already taken. You can use GoDaddy.com or NameCheap.com to see if your domain name is available. To have a better chance of appearing in search results, try choosing a domain name similar to what people are typing into Google when they're looking for your services; e.g. "chicago electrician services." If it's available, buy www.chicagoelectricianservices.com (or .net, .co, etc - as a rule of thumb, .coms are best if you're website or business is located in the US). That might be the best help with domain names out there from an SEO perspective (search engine optimization).

How to Get a Domain Name (aka, How to Get a Website Name)
So you want to know how to get a website name (or domain name). They typically range from $8 - $20 a year if they're available. If they're not available and you want to buy it from the owner, expect to pay $500 and up. If you're really stuck on buying a website name that's currently owned, try clicking on the "Who Is" option (or Find out who owns this) so you can get their contact info. You never know, maybe their willing to sell it for cheap. Typically though, if you want to know how to get a domain name for cheap, either buy one that's available or bid on one that's about to expire. So where do you buy these damn things?

Where to Buy Domain Names
I have a couple suggestions as where to buy domain names - It just depends on your preferences. If you need purchasing help with domain names, GoDaddy.com has a 24 hour customer service phone number. Even though they're a little more expensive, their customer service is awesome. If you want to know where to buy domain names for cheap, the name says it all - NameCheap.com. Even though there's no hotline, the interface is ten times more simple and easier to navigate than the million options GoDaddy bombards you with. And just to provide a third option for the hell of it, check out NetworkSolutions.com. They're nothing to write home about, but they've also been in business for a while, and three options are better than two :)

One Last Tip to Help With Domain Names
Last but not least, one more tip to help with domain names. Do NOT purchase hosting with the same company you bought your domain name from. It's a conflict of interest that works against you. If you buy your domain name from one company, purchase your hosting from another. If your website is "the business," then your domain name is "the name," and your hosting is "the rent" for the building.

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You have the domain name, now... need help building your website? Check out my blog on what to look for and how to pick web designers for small business... 
Top 5 Tips When Picking Web Designers for Small Business Websites


 

3 More Tips to Finding Good Web Designers For Small Business

When it comes to website design, there are so many options, so many web designers, and there is so little direction.  How do you know where to start? Who can you trust? How do you separate the good designers from the bad designers? Take a look at my 3 tips to finding good website designers that specialize in small business website design.

Tip #1 - Make Sure Their Portfolio Consists of Small Business Clients

Certain website designers specialize in niches. For example, there are several website design agencies that only develop websites for the medical field. Other designers only build websites for attorneys and lawyers. Then there are web designers that take any and all clients and have little understanding of what your small business needs are. These are the kinds of designers to stay away from. You want to find web designers for small business.

Tip #2 - Find Out What Their Pricing Model Looks Like

Most web designers charge a set up fee up front and then charge an hourly rate when you request changes and design edits. This can get expensive fast. Other web designers will require a deposit up front and then request the rest of the money after the website has been completed. This isn't a bad way to go, but what happens when you don't like the design? You're basically trusting that this company will build you a killer design. Otherwise you'll be forfeiting your deposit to them. Still, other companies will bill you on a month to month system - like a magazine subscription or like renting an apartment. These might be the best types of web designers for small business because they allow small businesses to actually afford the cost of a website. For example, http://www.setmysite.com is well known for offering custom website designs for around thirty dollars a month.

Tip #3 - Make Sure Your Web Designer Builds Your Website To Be SEO Friendly

After your small business web design is complete, you may want to begin investing in online marketing like Pay Per Click advertising and search engine optimization. Some website builders like Wix are flash-based and do not produce search engine-friendly code. The best web designers for small business use Java, CSS, and HTML programming languages because they are search engine friendly. If you're smart about making sure you invest your time and money into a search engine-friendly design now, you won't have to worry about it later when you begin thinking about doing SEO.

Follow these three tips when looking for the best web designers for small business and you'll be sure to find the web designer that is the right fit for you!

Top 5 Tips When Picking Web Designers for Small Business Websites

 When looking at web designers for small business websites, there are important things to consider. Do it right the first time and save yourself the trouble. Your bank account and sanity will thank you later. Check out my Top 5 things to consider when picking web designers for small business websites. There's also a list of some web designers for small business that you may want to check out.

5) Who have they designed websites for past?
Not every web designer is created equal. Some have developed niche talents for niche markets. Designers who create websites for rock bands are much different than web designers for small business. Why? They're both appealing to different audiences. People visiting a band website are looking to be impressed with creative layouts, cool pictures, and swanky web design. People visiting small business websites are looking for easy-to-navigate layouts that help them find the products or services their looking for quickly. To start your search, some web designers for small business are Web.com, Homestead.com, and SetMySite.com.

4) Can your web designer take direction?
It helps if your web designer has some business experience. As a small business person, you understand the value in understanding your market. Does your web designer understand the value in creating a look and feel that targets your market, or would he rather just build something flashy and cool to impress future clients. Make sure your guy can take direction and produce what you need - not what he wants. Ask how his or her process works. Can he design off a sketch you drew or another website you like? It's important that they can make your ideas a reality. Web designers for small business will understand this.

3)  Can they create a design that compliments your brand?
You probably already have business cards, letterheads, fliers, banners, signs, car magnets and more. You're a small business owner. When you're not answering phones, you're washing windows, balancing budgets, and running every aspect of your business. You have enough things to do. You probably don't want to redesign your business cards and all your other marketing material to match your website. Make sure that your web designer can match your website to your small business. And if you don't like your current letter heads, logos, and fliers, can your web designer grasp your market by creating a look that works. Ask for examples. Speaking of examples...

2) Ask for examples of websites they've previously designed.
Checking out a web designers portfolio of websites will give you a good idea of their style. Professional web designers for small business should have plenty of examples and websites ready for you to view. If they don't, how long have they been doing this? How many websites have they built? Examples of past work verifies their track record, abilities, style, and genre. If a lot of the examples are small business websites, that's a plus. If the examples are mostly bands, they're either really good at designing websites for rockers, or they have a lot of musician friends that they owe favors to.

1) How much is this going to cost?
Web designers price their work differently. Find a price and payment structure that you're comfortable with. Some charge by the page, the hour, the feature while others will give you a quote for the project as a whole - each designer is unique. Web designers for small business need to fit your small business budget. Don't let the excitement of your new website put you in a financially shaky position; it's easier than you think. A lot of people forget that their website needs to be updated from time to time - that cost can really add up. Some important questions to ask include:

• How do you price your services?
• How much will my website cost?
• Does the cost include my domain name or hosting?
• Is there a down payment?
• Do I have to sign a contract?
• Can you update my website? If so, how much does that cost?

Some Web Designers for Small Business You May Want To Check Out...
Homestead.com
SetMySite.com
Web.com

Do you have any tips to offer from you experiences? I'd love for you to share them. I hope this post at least gets you headed in the right direction. Below are some web designers for small business you can take a look at. Best of luck with your small business ventures!