tips Archives - Website Design Company Kelowna BC - Atomic 55

Free software tools that will help you become more productive

Jennifer Fuller — Fri, 16 Sep 2022 16:47:27 +0000

n financial times like the world finds itself in right now, we all begin to feel the pinch in our pockets. Everything is getting more expensive, from professional services to food, gas, and housing. If you’re lucky to be in business, during this wonderful time of pre-recession, then you’ll soon get hit with inflation on your software monthlies too. We have some tips to help you crunch the needs, wants, and WTF’s out of your monthly software budget. Including some free, time, tested, and true software tools to help you save money and even increase your efficiency. Keep reading for more:

Micro-increases are more commonly seen at the grocery store. However, we’re starting to see software companies follow suit and subtly raise their monthly recurring rates.

Software costs like a bad moon rising

It’s a pricing tactic as old as anyone can remember. With a large enough customer base, $1.50 can go virtually unnoticed in that automatic withdrawal process. When you make a similar rate increase more than once per year you can ensure your profit grows. Inflation is hot right now. It also seems very bothered. Hence why interest rates are out of control.

As a business owner, you can’t control the interest rate, but you can control your spending. If there was ever a time to evaluate your digital footprint, yesterday was it. Today is just as good.

Here’s a list of where to start:

Make a list, because lists are where the productivity’s at

All good things start with planning and organization. First things first, make a list of all the software services you currently use. Your list needs to be thorough. Spreadsheet or paper. The medium doesn’t really matter, but having everything you pay for in the software column is imperative.

If you have an itemized list pulled from your books that’s the easiest place to start. If not, note everything you can from memory and then make sure you cross-reference with a full month of bank statements. Add in a cost column and fill out the monthly and annual costs for each software. Adding a note to indicate how frequently you access the software will come in handy when it comes time to axe or keep.

You pay how much?

Noting how much you spend on each software will give you two things. The most important being your annual spend, and the second your total monthly spend. Pay attention to whether the software has increased. The trick to software is sometimes a company will keep your price the same but move, or discontinue specific features to new packages. It’s important to keep tabs on whether you’re still paying for what you initially signed up for.

Once you’ve figured out which ones have increased. Move those to the top of your spreadsheet.

1, 2, or 3? To axe it or keep it?

Next, come up with a rating system. A simple 1,2,3, or a,b,c convention will work great.

1 is a keep,

2 is a maybe

and 3 is what even is this?

How do you decide what software tools to keep?

Easy, give all the 1’s to the things you access daily. Generally, these are things that you cannot run your business without. For example, a marketing agency without a subscription to Adobe would be a disaster. If you use it and need it we will move it to the top of the list for now.

2 is a maybe.

Maybe you use it sometimes. Maybe it’s nice to have for special occasions. In some cases, you might even be planning to try it out or use it more in the future. If this sounds familiar and you can’t decide, then try this. Visit the software marketing portal or talk to a rep and see if you can pause your account, find a cheaper plan or get into a trial scenario. If none of these options are available then might I suggest a trial separation? Sometimes you might just need to take a break from your software for a little bit. The distance will give you time to see if you really miss it. If you don’t, then great. You’ve saved some dough. If you do, then also great, because there’s nothing more a software company likes than offering a welcome back promotion.

3 is a what even is this?

These can be anything, from subscriptions you didn’t read the fine print on and ended up in a contract, to free trials that rolled over into full-blown paid campaigns. Whatever they are, if you don’t use them or you don’t know what they are getting rid of them will free up some cash and clean up your digital profile at the same time.

Take it a step further

Once you’ve gone through the process of steps 1-3 take another look at your list. Not just a glance. A really hard look. Do you see any overlap? Perhaps one software you’re paying for does the work of something else you’re also paying for? This is how you can really step up your productivity. One software that does the work of two is always a good idea.

Another way to really trim the fat on your monthly software tool subs is to look to Freeware. In fact, look no further than the almighty Google for productivity tools. Sheets, Docs, Gmail, Drive – they all do the same thing in manual mode as most CRMs can do. With a little more of a hands-on approach, you could do away with 90% of costs related to administrative work. Many people will complain about the interface and not having the time to learn something new. My advice is to adapt because the annual cost of a CRM is upwards of $5000.00 per year. That pays for a lot.

With added free extensions like Streak, you can track emails right from your Gmail account and even create sales funnels from the emails you send.

Run but don’t hide

A recession is tough on everyone. With a little more attention, less automation, and shrinking your digital footprint you can get through it. Don’t be afraid to come up with a custom solution that uses a combination of free software tools and paid services.

For more tips on how to consolidate your digital footprint get in touch with us.

The post Free software tools that will help you become more productive appeared first on Website Design Company Kelowna BC - Atomic 55.

Practice Your Cornerstone Content.

Tatum G — Fri, 02 Sep 2022 18:11:32 +0000

The Importance of Cornerstone Content should not be overlooked. Cornerstone content serves your website in a number of ways. Mainly, cornerstone content helps lay out a road map for your internal linking structure that will boost your ranking in SERPs.

Cornerstone content serves your website in a number of ways. Mainly, it helps lay out a road map for your internal linking structure that will boost your ranking in SERPs. In order to unlock the true power of SEO, you need to focus on creating strong content. But what is cornerstone content? And, what does it have to do with your SEO? Is linking really that important? Discover the answers to these questions and more by reading the following article.

What is Cornerstone Content?

Cornerstone content makes up the foundation of your SEO content. Generally, these articles are the longest and most detailed pieces found on your website. Further to this, it’s typically what you want your readers to see first. This is because cornerstone articles contain key information about your focus area. This content should be informative without coming across as an ad. Moreover, these pieces of content can be in the form of a blog post or a page. Usually, these articles are longer and contain a minimum of 900 words. When you are writing content with the purpose of it being a cornerstone piece, it is important that you write it with the intention of it ranking for your most desired keyword.

Why is Cornerstone Content Important/How Does it Impact my SEO?

Cornerstone content is very important to your website and has a powerful impact on your SEO. Outlining cornerstone articles to your target audience helps you build brand authority with consumers. Furthermore, it helps search engines identify you and rank you in the correct position. This is because of the strong linking structure that goes hand-in-hand with this type of content. When you build this content, it must follow a specific pattern in order to be successful. The pattern is as follows:

“Cornerstone content is the foundation upon which your SEO is built.”

What’s Linking?

Linking is a crucial part of creating cornerstone content. Without linking the idea behind the cornerstone structure does not work. This is why it is important to have an understanding of linking and why it’s important. Let’s start by defining what linking is: linking is the process of adding a link to your website that redirects you to a new page of information. However, not all links are the same.

There are many different types of links that all have different impacts on your website and your SEO performance. When it comes to cornerstone content, we want to focus on two types of links: internal and contextual links. An internal link is a link that takes you to another page/place on your website. A contextual link is one that is embedded within your content. Therefore, a contextual link is just another kind of internal link. Contextual links are the kinds of links that tell search engines what the hierarchy of your content is. For example, in the diagram above, the two main focuses are “Alberta Real Estate” and “Homes in Alberta”. All of the article topics after these are based on the main topics but rank slightly lower in the blueprint.

As we mentioned before, links are necessary because search engines use them to navigate through your website. Without links, search engines would not be able to find or rank your pages. This is why most SEO software requires you to include at least one internal and one external link in your articles. The more links you have pointing to your cornerstone content and vice versa, the better you’ll start to rank. This is why linking is so important to the foundation of your SEO.

Crafting great cornerstone content takes practice and a good formula.

How do I make Cornerstone Content?

Crafting great foundational content takes practice and a good formula. When making cornerstone articles start by laying out a blueprint for the content of your website. Then, follow these steps:

Step 1: Use The Right Keywords

Using the right keywords is an essential part of building your mainstay content. You want to choose terms that you would eventually like to rank for. Your cornerstone content should use a broad key term that encompasses your company’s services. Leave the specific terms for your lower-ranking articles.

Step 2: Find a Good Topic

Next, you need to find an interesting and informative topic that will allow you to use your main keyword and still have lots of ideas for other articles based on that topic (long-tail articles). If you are using an old article, look for the one that summarizes your long-tail articles. Or, one that could be formatted in a way that encapsulates your other content. If you are starting from square one, keep all of this information in mind while writing.

Step 3: Edit

It is vital that you don’t skip the editing step in creating keystone content. If you are using an old article or starting from scratch, make sure that it follows SEO guidelines for readability. Moreover, add lots of subheadings and ensure that you are hitting the proper word count. In order for an article to be considered a cornerstone piece, it needs to be a minimum of 900 words. Furthermore, you’ll need to go through your cornerstone articles every once and a while to edit the content and keep it up to date with SEO standards and current information.

Step 4: Optimize

The last step of building great cornerstone content is optimization! This is where you add those links that we talked about earlier. Be sure to optimize your other articles with variations of the target keyword in your cornerstone article. Then, add links from these articles to your cornerstone content and vice versa. And, Voila! You’ve created an awesome article that will help your SEO big time

Contact Us About SEO Today!

For more information on the importance/method of cornerstone content, be sure to contact us today! We’d be happy to help you get started with SEO marketing. Check out our social media for the latest updates and more here! We look forward to working with you in the near future

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How to Prepare for a New Website

Jennifer Fuller — Thu, 20 Aug 2020 11:30:08 +0000

et's just agree that things are better when they are prepared. From dinner to dinner parties to websites and marketing. A little planning goes a long way. When you've made the decision to embark in a new online presence you should be prepared for a lot of things, like running through your deadline, and running over your budget, if you don't prepare. Recently our company purchased a new office space. It was once an old cafe/pizza place. Great bones, an outstanding view of the 18th hole, close location to UBC-O (more on why that was important later) and an outdoor space made it a no brainer. Even better for us was the location being far, far away from downtown Kelowna and it's mounting problems. We jumped. This is where we wanted our next office to be. Next came the budget and preparations. Now we bought the space at the tail end of 2021 and at the time of writing this we are looking 2023 square in the eyes. When it was closing at the end of last year we thought out loud that our budget, plans (all in our head) and ideas would be super easy to accomplish. Three months tops and we would be working for the weekend in new digs. Excuse us while we choke on those words. In fact, it was just last week that the official plans fro the architect began to take shape into something tangible. We're still a long way from permits, and all the other good stuff like occupancy because at this stage not a hammer has been swung.

“To be successful websites need planning. Not only do they need a sitemap to follow, but also content, graphics, and the intangible items like style should be firmly laid out.”

In our previous offices, whether leasing or owning a lot of the heavy lifting was carried out by a builder. In more cases than not, we were just making small cosmetic adjustments that didn’t require an Architect, Health Authority or Strata to approve. This new office was a much different process for us and one that begs comparison to building a new website for customers who are out of practice. Understandably we had to tear out all semblance of what was once a pizza, bakery/Brazillian meatball cafe and turn it into a calm and elegant place of digital marketing. Many of our customers face the same issues with their digital marketing. How do we change what we were a few years ago to better reflect who we are now? Let’s face it. A lot of us – you, me, them have changed since the “end” of the Pandemic. It’s pretty natural to want to shed our pre-pandemic business selves and reinvent. It’s also entirely easy to do with careful planning and a healthy budget of time and money.

Where do you start when you want to reinvent yourself online? If you were hoping for a list then you’re in luck. If you were hoping for a magic bullet, sorry?

Setting Realistic Expectations/Goals

Setting realistic goals and expectations for a project is a great place to begin. Dates are helpful as a universal way to communicate with every supplier on your project. There’s not too much one can argue about a date. It either comes or it goes. My advice in today’s hyper-paced wanted it yesterday world, is to be more generous with this particular budget than was ever required before. Grab a calendar and look at what you’ve got coming up. Factor in weekends for creative burnout, add in a week or two for personal time and then add a few more weeks for good measure. This should give you a good start. It’s also good to confer with your developers before you sign the contract. They’re likely as busy as any builder, or Architect. Don’t expect that just because you’ve signed and sent the deposit that they’ve already started. All your deposit has gotten you is likely a spot in line. Most marketing businesses are working on a whose next basis these days with funnels that are very full. Trust us when we say that working with your first choice regardless of the wait is often worth it in the end. I was so happy that we waited for our Architect to make room in his schedule. The end result is exactly what we hoped for and in the end all the months of waiting allowed us to really dig into and explore some cool concepts.

Setting Realistic Budgets

This is one I have personally never been great at. I know what I want and as a rule that wanted thing is generally the most expensive option. It can be a problem, but one thing I’ve learned is how to compromise and how to listen when it comes to budgeting. Listening for queues is key when you’re setting a budget, but so is planning. When someone’s face changes expression abruptly in a budget meeting you should pay attention. Sometimes you can’t get everything you want right out of the gates, either due to time constraints, cash flow, or these days’ availability crunch. What you can do, is make a plan to add said items later down the road. I like to plan things in phases, very similar to a house build. We start with a top-level budget and filter it down from most to least important. Most important are the bones of the building eg: electrical, HVAC, plumbing, drywall, etc., next are the fun things eg: fixtures and finishings. A website is no different, you need to have the foundation in place before you can add the things that make it come alive. Start your budget with a good foundation and spend the money on getting the bones. Don’t blow your budget on one home page animation that will wear out its welcome faster than your neighbours Airbnb. That means getting into a website that is up-to-date to start, secure, and fast. From there you can plan to add new sections, animations, and lead generation that will make it more worthwhile over time. It’s hard to go back when it comes to technology, so keep that in mind when you set a budget.

Organizing your assets & vision

Get familiar with a free, easy-to-use cloud storage system called Google Drive. Use Google Drive to create folders that you can share with suppliers to keep the project moving, keep everyone informed, and track your progress. For instance, when we started designing the new office I created a series of folders for potential suppliers to view and collaborate with. Pictures of the space and surrounding area, interior and exterior vision boards, potential floorplan layouts, and existing documentation on the buildings mechanical were all carefully organized into various folders. These folders were then shared with the appropriate suppliers. It made it easy to see who had viewed the docs, we can message within the folders and all information was centralized even though we were working between multiple cities. The best part about using free tools like Google is that they are efficient, secure, and free. Get familiar with Google’s business toolset and stop wasting money on flashy software that does less to keep you organized. A website project should contain folders like Sitemap, Logos/Branding, Content Map/Docs, Images, Mockups, and whatever else is important to the project. Each folder will likely have various sub-folders associated within that hierarchy.

Tracking your progress & budget

Reviewing your progress can be tied to a few metrics. Time is one. Money is generally the other. How much have you spent and where has it landed you on X date is generally the equation we look to when it comes time to quantify a project. It’s important to stay in touch with your project. Some developers will provide progress reports, others will provide live wire-frame links where you can watch the project evolve in real-time. This will vary between project, developer, and customer. Again, it’s all about communication and planning. If you know that you need regular updates like sands through an hourglass then spell that out early to your team. If you’re happy with setting a date and surfacing for air until the reminder bell chimes then I always say prepare to trust in the team you hired and hope for the best. In the case of our office space, it’s been a long haul. Much longer than ever imagined to inch barely forward. But man, can I see it all so clearly now and it is EXCITING. And that’s exactly how you should feel when you plan ahead to work with a great team on your next website.

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All About Google My Business.

Tatum G — Thu, 12 Dec 2019 07:55:53 +0000

ptimizing your Google My Business is certainly worth the effort. No matter where your company is located, having a strong Google My Business (GMB) profile is advantageous. As more and more people look to GMB profiles for information, it is crucial that your GMB is up to date. This platform is incredibly helpful and can support your marketing efforts when used correctly. Actively posting on your profile can help boost your local ratings and increase search traffic. For more information about Google My Business postings and why they are important, continue reading below.

“Actively posting on your profile can help boost your local ratings and increase search traffic.”

What is Google My Business?

Google My Business is a tool that allows you to manage your business profile on Google. Your business profile is the listing that appears on Google with your company information. This profile will include photos, reviews, a name, location, and category of your business. The business profile can be created by anyone and can include information that Google adds from the web. Your business profile is not the same as a Google My Business account. Even if you created your own business profile, you will not have the ability to manage the information in the profile or reviews. However, by creating a Google My Business account, you can manage and customize your business profile.

So, to clarify, your business profile is merely the listing that appears on Google. And, a Google My Business account is the tool which you can use to enhance and maximize your business profile. For instance, by making posts, engaging with customers, highlighting your business and gaining insights. More on that below.

Making the Most of Google My Business:

There are a number of ways that you can use Google My Business to optimize your business profile. The first thing you’ll want to do is fill in as much information as you can. For instance, hours of operation, location, availability, contact info, and more. Filling in your google business is about making it as easy as possible for customers to find and source information about your business. The easier it is to find information about your business, the more clicks and traction you will receive.

Start by updating/filling out these areas:

Fill In Your Company Name
Provide Your Address
Add Your Phone Number
Link Your Website
Write a Description
Select an Appropriate Category
Add Some Attributes (free wifi, kid-friendly, services offered, etc)
Upload Some Photographs

You must ensure that all of this information is identical to the information on your website. Failing to do so will harm your search ranking. However, when filled out correctly, this information will provide a solid platform for your local SEO.

Ask For and Add Reviews!

Reviews are key to any Google Business profile. Moreover, reviews indicate your reliability and improve sales. And, even if you get a few bad reviews you have the opportunity to respond, which can also improve your rating. Asking your customers for reviews is a great way to build your profile. Unlike some websites, Google My Business encourages business owners to get reviews from their customers.

Once you have the reviews, it is important that you spend some time interacting with customers. Say thank you to patrons who left a wonderful review and take the opportunity to smooth things over with anyone who left a negative review. This will help improve your customer service rating and better your business profile.

Post Often and Add New Images!

Posting is easily the most effective way to boost your business profile’s ranking. There are lots of options when it comes to posting. By actively adding new postings at least once per month, you will help your company stand out from the crowd! Your Google Business posts don’t need to be long. In fact, it shouldn’t take more than 15-20 minutes to craft an excellent post. Aim for the 100-300 wordmark when you are writing your Google Posts. These are a great way to lead potential customers to your website. Google Posts offer the option to add images, videos, and/or call-to-action buttons as well! The clicks you get from users interacting with your call-to-action buttons will directly translate to improving your website metrics.

In the past, Google deleted the posts you added to your profile after 7 days. However, now, any posts added to your profile will remain there indefinitely. This means that business owners should focus on creating content that will lead to more clicks in the long term. Moreover, Consumers are more likely to engage with your Google My Business posts than other social media posts.

Posting regularly sends a positive message to Google about your business activity. The more consistently you update your profile, the better Google will rank your business. Adding quality information and images on a frequent timeline is one of the best ways to make the most of Google My Business. It is important that you include images in your posts because users are more likely to click on profiles with good-quality images. Furthermore, Google is beginning to recognize images in local search results. So, it is crucial that you include photos in your profile. Additionally, the use of photographs helps increase engagement with your content.

Ideas for Google My Business Postings!

There are so many posts you can make for your Google My Business page. But, if you are unsure of where to start, we’ve created a list of some of our favourite go-to topics! Follow along below to get inspired.

1. Promote a New Product/Service

Posts are a great way to promote a new product or service that you are offering. For instance, maybe you want to advertise that your clothing company has new colours available for your best-selling t-shirts.

2. Let People Know About a Sale or Special Offer

Everyone loves a good deal. Especially if they are shopping around on the Internet. Give the people what they want by advertising a BOGO sale or give consumers who saw your post 20% off with a special code. Be sure to include one of Google My Business’ call-to-action buttons for best results.

3. Get Festive With a Holiday Post

Holidays are the best. Nothing puts consumers in a shopping mood like seasonal festivities. Make a post about the upcoming holiday season and tie it into a new seasonal product or special offer. This will surely draw in new customers!

4. Update Consumers on the Latest Happenings at Your Business

Providing a company update helps to keep your loyal customers in the loop. This is a great way to boost customer service rankings and keep your clientele engaged. For example, make a post if your company is opening a new location or just hired a talented new employee.

5. Celebrate a Company Milestone

Did your business just hit its goal of 1,000 orders shipped? First off, congratulations! Secondly, post about this awesome milestone on your Google My Business. Not only is this something to be proud of, but it can also show consumers that you are a reliable and trustworthy company. Milestones make great topics for Google Posts.

6. Say Thanks to Your Clients

Gratitude goes a long way in showing the importance of your clientele and the kind of people that operate your business. Write a post that thanks all of your loyal clients for their continued support!

7. Advertise an Upcoming Event

What better way to advertise your next upcoming event than with a Google Post? Get to the keyboard and let your customers know about the next event that your business will be hosting/attending. This is a great way to get people excited about your event and get them to your website!

8. Share Some Tips and Tricks

If you have a list of tips and tricks for your industry, get it on paper! Any advice that will help cut back on time and effort is always appreciated. You can even dress up the post with a helpful image or two!

9. Explain Your Services

Does your business have a range of services that people don’t always get right? If yes, make one post each month dedicated to explaining your services. This will give consumers the information they need and take up less of your time answering the same questions.

10. Share a Short FAQ

FAQs are a great way to help consumers find the answers they are looking for. Posting a short FAQ with 1-3 of your top asked questions can be all you need. Post all of your most asked questions each month for an endless supply of content!

11. Encourage Customers to Leave a Review

As we mentioned earlier in this article, reviews are an essential part of your Google My Business profile. So, why not make a post that entices/reminds customers to leave a Google review? This way you’ll be getting your monthly post out of the way and increasing your chances of getting some reviews!

12. Introduce a Business Partner/Collaborator

If you work with a business partner or are collaborating with a company, announce it on your profile with a post! This gives consumers a unique inside look at how your company operates. How fun?!

Google My Business Overview.

Google My Business is an incredible tool that is currently free to use! By setting up an account you can optimize your business profile to help boost your search ranking and draw in traffic to your website. Google Posts are one of the most effective ways to make the most of your Google My Business account because they get customers attention, show that you are active, and make it easier for consumers to find the information they need!

Contact us today about getting your Google My Business account in order. We’d be happy to share some of our insights on how to make the most of your business profile. Reach out to us now for additional information and support. We look forward to helping you grow your business in the future!

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