Is moderating blog comments really worth your hard work, time and effort?  Here’s some more info why perhaps you shouldn’t turn off those comments just yet.

So you want to get your website on page 1 of Google, but you're not sure how? Well, you've come to the right place! Let's start with a quick summary on how Google and other search engines work so you can be on your way to Page 1!

Have you ever wondered what that little blurb of text that followed the title when you searched for something on Google?  That is called a Meta description. For those who aren’t familiar with meta descriptions, keep reading below!

Have you ever gone to a party or event, took a quick look, and decided to just leave? Did you ever think later what if I missed out on something?   Or what I was just being too judgmental?  Chances are probably not.  You made your decision and went with it.

Your “bounce rate” is the same thing when it comes to your website. It’s the percentage of visitors who come to your website (home page, blog post, sales page, landing page, etc.) and leave without engaging with any content, filing out your opt in form, or clicking through to another page.

So why should you optimize your images?

Google Image Search only gets a small piece of Google’s overall traffic, but since the search results are now blended, images can generate a lot more traffic than you might think.

So if you search for a particular thing or subject matter (‘chocolate chip cookies’), you could see images in the standard listings without ever having to click on the Images tab.

Now is the time to get your images optimized for SEO success.

When I ask my clients this question “What keyword or phrase should I type into Google that you want your business or brand to be known for?” about 90% of them have no idea how to answer me.

If this sounds like you, that’s totally ok.  You don’t have to be an SEO ninja to figure it out.    The fact that you can discover how many people per month are searching for something, what words they're using, and what questions they're asking in search still boggles my mind!

Keyword research doesn’t have to be a painful process and I am going to show you 5 easy hacks that connect you with your target audience in no time.

Did you ever wonder if your website could be costing you sales?  Sure it looks pretty and you have tons of content.  You constantly tweak your product and service pages.  But did you ever think your content could be causing that customer not to add that product or service to the cart?

Here are five ecommerce copywriting mistakes that might be costing you business and I’ll show you how you can fix them.

Our first post that chatted about creating a local SEO strategy introduced you to creating a Google My Business Listing for your business.  Now let’s focus on the Questions and Answers portion of that listing that Google introduced back in mid 2017 that many small and large businesses are still not taking advantage of.

Over the past few years, Google has been building on their success in local search by providing more and more information to consumers directly in the search results.  Consumers are making their decisions right there and then without necessarily heading over to your website.  Consumers want instant information to make an informed decision and this Question and Answer feature is doing just that.

You created a business and that pretty website of yours-now it is time to get it found.  One of the most first steps in any DIY SEO strategy especially if you have a service based creative business is to think of getting found locally.  Makes sense right?

Before searchers get the opportunity to visit your page, the first thing they will see could be your Google Search Business Profile, also known as Google My Business (GMB).

You know what I mean: that box at the right with a picture of your business that has your contact information and a link to your website.   Yes, that one.  If you didn’t know how important this resource is, you soon will.

Now chances are you might be planning your own Black Friday/Cyber Monday event for your online store or website. If you’re a small business, competing with retail giants on price shouldn’t be your main objective. Let's be honest here- It just might not be profitable.   You have to use your creativity to bring the customers to your store during the holiday season. No matter if you have a physical or online store, you can also create your marketing campaigns around the following three events.

I know SEO can be downright intimidating but it can also be your best friend when it comes to getting found online. You also don't have to have an entire SEO team in place or be an SEO guru to make simple changes to your website that can improve your ranking in search. Here are five mistakes that you might just be making- or as I like to call them missed opportunities-— on your website and how to quickly fix them.

Did you know your URL’s are an important aspect of SEO when it comes to optimizing your website?  Not only do they make an appearance in your web browser but also on search.  That is why it is important to take a look at them- whether it is a blog post or product page and make sure they are formatted for optimization.

Did you ever wonder how sites get featured in Google’s “featured snippet” which appears above the organic search results and below the paid advertising?   Appearing in this snippet can prove to be a huge competitive advantage, increase visibility and rank for your creative business.  Is it impossible to achieve?  Here’s a quick tutorial on how you can optimize your website (whether it be content or video) to be picked for a featured snippet.

Congrats on finally making your keyword list!  You may have found keywords or keyword phrases that are often four to five words long with a high search count and low competition.   So what’s the problem you ask? Well, even if you have a bunch of keywords when you put it into your site the copy does not seem to flow.  It just doesn’t make sense.   Did you know you can break up these keywords with the use of basic punctuation and line breaks?

Last week we chatted about online reviews and how to handle them when you find a negative one out in cyberspace.  Check out this post here in case you missed it.  When it comes to responding to the concerns of your customers, there’s no such thing as overdoing it. They can’t interact with the product before they purchase it so they need the extra assurance that they can buy from you and contact you if there is an issue.

So when issues do arise, it’s imperative that you provide your customers multiple avenues to resolve their problems. Customers these days expect omnichannel integration. What does that mean exactly?

Feedback about your products or business can pop up anywhere these days.  Finding comments about your work, services or brand can easily be found on social media and blogs but what if you stumble upon a negative review or feedback?   What should you do?

You have finally gotten your site launched and are ready to starting making sales!  But have you thought about your website’s return policy?  Sure the goal is not to have any returns but let’s face it the online sales return rate for some product categories can be as high as 50%! That’s right, 50%!

Having a solid return policy in place on your ecommerce site will not only create credibility and validity with potential customers  but will create loyal and lifetime customers for those that decide to make a purchase.   So are customer returns somehow your fault?  Not necessarily but you can do everything in your power to prevent them!

Here are 6 handy tips to think about when creating your ecommerce return policy.

Blogging is very popular — now more than ever. And, with good reason. There are a lot of benefits to blogging. But, are those benefits worth the time for your business? In this article, I'm going to go over the benefits of blogging. I'll cover businesses should avoid blogging, and businesses that would I would encourage to start.

Let’s face it no one likes a slow website.  Think of how many times you left a site because it was too slow? Did you know how fast (or slow for that matter) your website loads is a factor that Google takes into consideration when ranking your web pages in the search results?

Have you been harboring dreams of starting a new career, launching a business or taking on a new life challenge but lacking the confidence to get started? Committing to something new is scary - fact! Our brains are hardwired to favor the status-quo and often work overtime to resist any change. So if you’re currently experiencing self-doubt and uncertainty about pursuing a dream then rest-assured that you’re like the 99.9% of the rest of us. So how do you overcome this mindset and find your mojo?

If you ever have been stuck coming up with product copy for your website or Amazon listings you are certainly not alone!   I used to sit at my laptop for hours besides myself wondering how I am I going to write about hundreds of items that are exactly the same but somehow make the copy sound different?  Seems impossible right?   Not at all.  Here are my 8 top tips how to write just about anything on your website!

Let's face it people search for the same product  differently.  I learned this when creating content for over 50,000 items on Amazon.  The mere fact that this happens may make you unaware of keywords that could be missing in your own website copy.

Guest post by Phon Baillie. Do you want to make some extra money on the side? Would you like to do it as easily as possible, without any capital investment or lots of training? Do you have a natural talent with language?

If so, then you’re a great candidate for proofreading. Proofreading is a skill that doesn’t require an English degree and can be done remotely. It also makes a great side hustle that you can balance with your full-time job or other hustles.

International shipping doesn’t have to be complicated and scary.  Simply by knowing the restrictions, and how to overcome them, you can easily surpass the international hurdle and start finding customers all over the world.

Chances are if you have done any research on how to bring traffic to your website there is probably no doubt you have come across the term SEO (search engine optimization).  Do you have to really worry about it?  That seems to be the ongoing debate.  Personally I think SEO is extremely important even though it can be really confusing and overwhelming on where to start first.  However, I am going to share 5 found easy-peasy DIY SEO hacks that will help get your creative business found online.

Moving your site from Wordpress to Squarespace doesn't have be difficult. To tell you I was beyond nervous leaving the land of Wordpress would be an understatement.  I could not have been more wrong.  I am so delighted with the switch I am wondering why did I wait this long?

One of the most powerful ways to gain traffic to (or back to) your website is through the use of testimonials. Just think of how many times you browsed a site just to read the testimonials.  Did they influence you in anyway?  C’mon I bet they persuaded you or even made you think twice about buying the item!

When you’re launching a business, it can feel like there are too few people trying to do too many things. Sometimes remembering to share anything online feels like an achievement. But if you make a few small decisions now it can make your posts way easier to do and more effective.

Unhappy customers are an invaluable resource for providing honest information about your creative business.  Believe it or not you need this information if you want to improve and stand out from your competition.  Join us for our weekly video tip on how to turn an unhappy customer into a learning experience!