SEO Ranking and Link Building

15/15

 

This is a report that I obtained from the seogroup.com website to show how effective or ineffective the website that I created is with search engine optimization. According to the report there are several things that could be improved upon. Apparently to this report the duration of time that the site has been up is not very long and there arent any Google PRs, it also states that there isnt a sitemap that goes with site even when I used weebly site builder. The css is also saying that it is a little out of place with having inline style guide in the html document. It says that there arent very many social media connections and that I should have more. At a percent 48% of my site looks acceptable when it comes to this report.

Link building is one of the most important things you can do in order for you site to appear in one of the top searches and can take a lot of time before it comes up so many people outsource their work to people that specialize in search optimization firms. There are several things that you need to think about so it is important to build a strategy while you are making your website.

Finding things out for linking websites are important if you want to be able to have a broader range of people to encounter your site. Linking will help over all in your ability for SEO.

SEO (search engine optimization)

 15/15
Search Engine Optimization are the words that are put into a website description that allows people to better search your website under search engines. This allows clients to be able to find your website so long as you use the right words and have the right descriptions that those people are looking for. It helps organize the information that customers and others are trying to get a hold of. This is a way to show your website on the organic level of search engines such as google, yahoo, and bing. According to the research it could cost you to have a search engine optimizer and if you have one get the information out as soon as you can. You need to understand what the experience a SEO has before you decide to hire someone to insure that your site is developed properly. Just make sure you do lots of research before you get involved in all the things that you do with SEO's because they can either do great things for you or they can cost you lots of money with no return. It would be best for you to try and do it yourself before hiring someone to do it for you.

• I like how this doesnt cost you if you know how to set it up right so that your services can be on the top of what people are searching for.
• I like how keywords are important to bring your site up and it can be categorized by SEO
• I like how SEO can help draw people to your website without needing it to be paid advertising
• I like you can attract more visitors with only a few amount of keywords
• I like how many options there are with getting links to be directed to your website through SEO

I will try to setup my SEO so that I can be on the searches with the description of  what I do with my company or business. I will try to use words that best fit what I do and add words that help me be searched better to promote my bicycle services.

Ads and Ad Groups

15/15

Ads are a great way to attract more customers and people to experience your services. Ads help promote things that you have available for their interest. According to google there are 3 main keys to having an effective ad and they are: 1. Be relevant with the ad, 2. Be specific as to what you have to offer, and 3. Include a call-to-action (such as a url link to your site that you want them to go to). These 3 steps are supposed to help you get more clicks to your website. Normally you find these ads to be short with a headline, a URL, and a simple description. The headline is to attract attention, the URL is to relocate to your desired site, and the simple description allows the person to know a little more insight to what you are about. There are a few other tips that google offers when it comes to setting up ads with text. These six tips are: 1. highlight what makes your business, product, or offer unique 2. include prices, promotions, and exclusives, 3. Tell your customers what they can do 4. Include at least one of your keywords in your ad text 5. Match your ad to your landing page and 6. appeal to customers viewing your ad on a mobile device.

1. I like how much information Google support can help you with setting up an ad account to attract more customers.
2. I like how they provide information through text and videos to help you find what is needed to set up ads and what things are needed to make it successful.
3. I like how simple and specific you can make your ads and make them more appealing to those that are searching for things in that field.
4. I dont like how it can be costly to you if people dont use your business even after clicking on the ad often.

I am glad to know and understand what needs to go into an ad if and when I decide to start advertising my business. I can plan to remember what I need to do to get my business started and planned out.

Keywords Basics

 15/15
Keyword basics goes along with the last post about Google AdWords. With Google AdWords you are able to select words that relate to your business making it easier to be searched under the google search bar for your ads to appear. There are several advantages to this if you have the words set up correctly and there are several people who dont understand that and waste their time and money in the attempt to making use of the key words. With the key words you want to use words that relate to your business and area if you have an area fixed for your location. You want to be specific as to the words that you use because if you are too general your ads will not pop up like you would like them to. With the amount of traffic that the words generate is could cost you per click and other things like that.

• I like how you show your ad more times through key words that are being searched on the web.
• I like how through key words you can generate a way to promote your business online
• I dont like the costs that come from the adwords which you rely on and most of the time the ads are clicked on accident.
• I dont like how if there are several users using the same words in searches that your ad wont be shown as much as you would like it to.
• It is only effective if you are specific with the words that you use

I dont plan on using Google AdWords just because I have decided that the business that I am promoting is only a service and is not costing me except for the website that I created for it. If things change by a miracle and people start using my services then I may do it but until I generate more business I have decided not to use it. I also feel like it would only help those businesses that are more of corporations rather than simple single businesses.

Google Adwords

15/15
There are several ways to advertise and promote what you have on the internet and it is easy as taking a little bit of time setting up things such as an account with AdWords. AdWords is a google based advertising setup where your ads may appear when someone searches words related to your products or services. You can set this up using your google account and it's fast and simple to do. It does cost a little bit to do this type of advertising which can be per search that your ad appears after a search, per click on the ad, and per purchase generated by the advertisement. A lot of people use google to search the web for information and to purchase things so this can be a great way to advertise. As many good things come from AdWords there are a few drawbacks but anything that you try to advertise there always is some type of drawback.

• I like how simple and smart it can be to have an advertisement on google.com
• I like how trustworthy google is having majority of searches used by it.
• I like how the setup and benefits to AdWords is quick and simple.
• I dont like how it will take away from making a sale, that could cause you to make your prices be higher.
• I do like that according to what is searched in the word box it could show your advertisement depending on what words were typed into the search box.

I will give more thought into using Google AdWords but at the meantime I dont plan to use it because I have decided that my website is not for purchasing things but it is for contacting me for my bicycle services. I also dont have any products to sell on my website at the moment and I dont know if I will have anything to sell as of right now.

Accepting Credit Card Payments

 15/15
Depending on the type of business you own there are several ways to make credit card transactions. Some are through providers such as paypal, amazon, and even google. Most major bank companies offer other ways to make transactions with credit and debit cards. Others have come up with devices that you connect to your head phone jack to your cellular or mobile device enabling you to make transactions quick and simple from anywhere. With all this great development with money transactions it is important to remember that there is a small price to pay for each transaction that you make using these devices. Most companies add a per-swipe-fee along with a percentage of the actual bill. Normally these fees arent much for a bill less than $100 but if you get in the thousands it can be quite costly. Overall if your product is reasonably priced the devices can be a blessing making it easier for you to make money and settle the transactions quick and simple. Most card readers that are offered are given to their customers for free and just take away from the transactions made from them.

• I like how you can make transactions on the go wherever you are just by using your phone.
• I like that you can take your business anywhere and make transactions over the internet enabling you to receive money anywhere you go.
• I like how easy it is to setup an account and start making transactions right away. 
• I like how easy it is to obtain a card reader for free even if you dont use it. 
• I dont like however, how it can cost a lot of money if large transactions do occur. 
• I dont like how a lot of people have had bad things to say about the readers such as not working and reviews say the customer service with these companies are not very good.

I will someday attempt to add these payment types but as of right now I am not exactly going to take credit card for right now but eventually if things go well with the business I will then plan to sign up for the credit card services.

Pinterest

 15/15

Pinterest is quite an amazing network of ideas and things to share with everyone in the world. There are things you can search and things that you can just browse around. It's a place where you can create your own boards by grabbing ideas and things from others and add them to your boards which people can follow and get good ideas from. There is everything from things that you can buy to things that you make all on your own. You also can follow people and see their postings. For business you can advertise your products and things that you can do on there. It is more recommended for those that have products to share and show their uses along with sharing photos and possibly events. It is a highly addicting site that you can get trapped in with all the amazing and fun ideas and things that are shared on a daily basis shared with people all around the world. It is simple to post things from your website or another to share with the world and it is a snap to find out about certain things that you seem to find interests in.

• I like how it is able to attract many people very quickly and through it you can see who likes your ideas and posts. 
• I like how simple it is to log in just by connecting other networking media
• I like how you can share your products and ideas with the world instead of just people that you know such as Facebook.
• I like how there aren't any pop-up adds that get in the way as you use the site which is a big factor for users and followers.
• I like how everything is in categories to make searching easy and fun along with exploring made easy to look at things.

I will try to incorporate using Pinterest in my business of bicycle repairs in the way that I can link photos and things to bring interests on how to do repairs and what is possible to be done is your bike has a problem and I can show the tools needed to do certain repairs and things of that nature. I can use Pinterest to look for good ideas as well and follow other bike companies and parts with their innovations.

Text and LinkedIn

 15/15

SMS text messages can be great for promoting a business and advertising anything you want. It seems that nearly everyone that can drive or talk uses a cell phone and checks it daily and nearly every minute of the day. With that you can create an account for your business to send out text messages to your followers/ customers and give them the updates about new services or promotions. It can be super effective but also somewhat costly. It is a great way to promote discounts and deals every once in a while but I dont think it would be recommended to be done on a daily basis.

LinkedIn is a professional network that gets you connected with people more on a business structure. Through that you can build your professional experience of your work experience and receive endorsements from people to build a stronger connection to other people. You can use this site to help you endorse your connections to companies and explain what you do for others to see. Great things can come from this because it can show employers your experience.

• I like how you can receive texts about good information about promotions and deals on your phone 
• Advertising is getting easier with the help of sending instant text messages. Updates are quicker and everyone loves getting messages about discounts. 
• I like how you can show off your work and connections with LinkedIn with your friends and acquaintances and know what their professions are to possibly help expand your business and theirs
• I like how LinkedIn focuses more on the professional side of things rather than the daily social norms like Facebook.
• I enjoy the simplicity of how LinkedIn can be connected with your contacts and social friends making it easier to receive endorsements without having to look everyone up under search bars.

I havent tried doing text messaging with the small business that I have started and I dont think that I will incorporate it until I have more followers and more work from people in Rexburg. I do however have a LinkedIn account and I find it convenient to incorporate my simple business to it to show people what I do besides just going to school and working on a class assignment. 

Youtube and Google+ for business

15/15

YouTube is a great place for advertising and marketing your products. Through videos you can see how things work, explain why it's better than other similar products and you can show with great detail what it is you are marketing. YouTube provides a way to make a video journal and there are many things that you can do with it, such as make videos of how things are made, where things come from, where they are made, and it's an easy way for you to entertain your clients and market what you have. If you get a good amount of followers you could even get paid from people trying to advertise on your video page which could even pay for the movie that you made for your company. Google+ accounts with businesses have started to take form this year and is becoming more user friendly. There are a few reasons to add Google+ to your media marketing strategy that can only help in the long run. More users are starting to use Google+ and after all they should because Google is already the #1 used search engine in the world. It'll only be time before they become as good as most of the other social networking sites on the internet.

• I like how YouTube can be set up as a channel for you to promote your business
• I like how YouTube has become a great way to show in good quality what it is you do and what you are selling or trying to get out to the world.
• Everyone uses YouTube for videos and entertainment and people around the world can see what you are doing
• Through YouTube you can easily reach out to the world and show them your ideas
• Google+ is made by google and can be trusted
• I like how you can put people in circles and relate them to certain things in businesses.
• I like how easy it is to set up an account if you already have a gmail account, they just transfer from one to another
• Google+ is easy to use, they even have tutorials on how to do anything with it.

I will try to adapt putting up videos of how to maybe change a tire or repair something on a bicycle so that they can try to do it themselves to save them time and money and I can promote my services through that for assistance on repairs and things of that nature. I feel like Google+ will only help to show that I and my small business would have one and can be updated with things of that nature where people will also be able to connect to it.

Twitter

15/15

There are several great advantages to having a twitter account that I didnt think was at all necessary. I tried to avoid twitter as much as possible because I already feel that I am subscribed to everything else and it's just one more thing to bother with. After doing some research I have come to realize that through twitter you can get information that can help you to connect with others and that can help you with clientele. It was cool to see the functions and everything that comes from having a twitter account and the nice thing about it is that you can virtually followup on anyone you would like. You can even get good recommendations with ideas and people. Twitter is simple and easy to use which everyone likes and enjoys using because of how simple it is.

• I like how you can only post a certain amount of words on each status or tweet
• I like how versatile it is with connections to other people
• It is easy to use and can be fun to use and follow people you know and also follow celebrities if you'd like
• I enjoy how you can share things with only the use of little words which makes it easy to get updates that are readable and noticable

I will try to use this more to follow other people and get updated on events and things that are going on around me which can help supply information to those that are trying to look for things associated with the services that I can supply. I will try to use it to promote my services by sending out tweets at least once a week and I will try to follow those that I know first and later move on to people my friends know in the community. 

Instagram

15/15
Instagram is something that has been applied to promote and share what is going on up to date, events, products, people and many other things. With the use of instagram you can share your business and be a photo journal. Through it you can share your timeline of what is going on in your business and show how business is going. You can also make people interested in what you are making and doing with pictures rather than talking about the problems. Today millions of people share their ideas on Instagram as a simple way of getting their idea out to the public whether it be between friends and family or with the entire world to see.

• I like the simplicity the app can be to share ideas and images of what is going on in the company
• I like how you can edit photos before you put them up so that they more appealing
• I like how it is easy to upload your pics straight from your phone without ever having to touch a computer
• I find it cool how you can share instagram photos on other things of social networks such as Facebook to expand your company and share your services.
• I like also how you can get Instagram for both your Ipad, Iphone, as well as any of your android devices. 

I will incorporate Instagram with my simple bike repair business taking pictures of the work that I will do to share with everyone that can benefit from my service. I will try to take before and after images of the things that I work on to show my skills in repairing bicycles. I think it will provide more material for my start up business and people will be able to see that I am capable of doing some of these services.

Newest and most successful update!

So earlier in this posting I had mentioned that I was going to make wallets for a simple business, turned out that it was going to be more costly than I was expecting to I found a better solution to starting a simple business.

While living in Rexburg I have noticed that a lot of people like to ride bicycles but most of the bicycles lying around are not up for riding so I am taking the initiative to repair bikes for my simple business and with this I would like to create a fun biking community here.

I have the tools necessary to work on bikes and I know what needs to be done to fix these bikes and make them useful again. I hope to also be able to make biking a more resourceful way of transportation in the community to reduce fuel costs that you would pay to drive a car.

Currently I am doing this for the Rexburg Community and the students at BYU-Idaho!

Lets get out and ride!

Facebook

15/15

Facebook was not intentionally designed for the purpose of advertising but was first made as a social network but today that has changed to be more of a social/ advertising network where you can be updated on everything that your friends to your favorite restaurants around town or anywhere in the world. It was interesting that the idea of facebook of what it was yesterday became something different today and they invested a lot of money into it to see if they can push it to be something greater.

• I liked the perspectives that Facebook showed to better the interactive connections of one another
• I liked how simple it is to promote things on Facebook whether it be a new store or business
• I liked how you can narrow your audience to get people to come to whatever it is you are promoting. 
• I dont like, however, all the advertisements it takes up on my news feed and all the constant reminders
• I like how easy it is to upload images and videos concerning the things that are promoting
• I liked how there are several ideas for people to get involved with one another.

I will incorporate these things into the Facebook page that I will make in order to advance promoting my services and products. I think that I will only make the page to expand peoples understanding of the things that I have to share and to help pull an audience into the interests they have with my business, it can also help me see the likability of what people think concerning my business. One thing that I will have to do is keep it up to date with new services or promotions.

Legal structure and DBA''s

15/15

There are many things to look at when starting a business and looking at the legal structure and DBA's to maintain your business legally operated to resist troubles and problems in the future. Most businesses that start up are normally done by a single person and for them and me the legal structure would be a sole proprietorship unless them or I would like to register the business as a corporation, partnership or non-profit entity. As a sol proprietor I would be in charge of everything for all the business decisions and financial obligations. As time goes on I personally would look to registering my business as something more than just a sole propriety because of the legal obligations that would take place if one tries to sue and it is also more difficult to sell the business in the end because the law does not recognize it as a separate legal entity.

• Things I liked was how descriptive the information was on the idahobizhelp.org site was
• I liked how simple it is to understand what type of legal structure is best for you and your business
• I liked how they have forms and give scenarios and show the benefits and challenges you would face in each different category or legal structure.
• I like how simple it is to start your business and have a simple legal structure.
• I liked that you can register everything for your business very quickly if needed to and it gives the different details what you need to do to get started.

I will apply this to my own business so that I can be registered and legal for owning and selling the services that I will apply to do and that it will be legal to run and operate without the hassle of other businesses getting in the way. I will use what I learn to help grow my business and generate clients that need my services and even help expand my business to other places. 

Google Analytics

15/15

With Google Analytics you can see many things behind the scenes of the websites that are on-line and see how well they are doing compared to other websites. You can also see what statistics represent people visiting your website and how effective or likable others see your website. I feel that this could help you understand how well your website is out in the public and what potential you have to keep your site up to date to draw more traffic to it. I feel like it could also push you to expand or explore new approaches as to how to get more people to visit and stay on your site.

• I like how simple it is put to see the stats of your site even compared to others
• I like how you can see everything clearly laid out to the T, it's easy to read and uses lots of charts to show the data
• I like how you can see how long people stay on your site looking at the things that you have to show or offer
• I like how you can tell what pages and content your visitors look for in your website

 I can use Google Analytics to help me better my website and find uses to help me attract more people to what is being offered and searched for. I will also use it to find information about people who visit my website.

After much deliberation I have chosen my business idea!

I have been changing my mind like crazy looking into one thing and then into another and I have noticed that I want to do something that is in my budget and not out of this world and design something that everyone uses from day to day. So my idea is to create a small business designing and making wallets from anything that you'd like to use for one. It could be from recycled materials to the skins of animals. I just want to start a simple business to help me get through school and enjoy life. That is my plan for an idea to start a business for my class needs.

Designing Your Website

15/15

We are asked to look through the following two websites and look at the similarities and differences between the two. I chose the following:
1. http://www.allfreesewing.com/ 
2. http://www.fossil.com/en_US/shop/men/wallets.html

These sites are quite different but they are both appealing to what I want to create and sell and those are wallets for men. I want to design and sew wallets together using customization.

Five similarities between the two website designs are
1. They both have simple navigation bars at the top and left side for convenience.
2. They both use a white background with black font with light colors entice you to look at their website.
3. They each have variety in what they are trying to display and show or advertise.
4. They both have search bars at the top of the page making it even easier to navigate through the list of items they have available to look through.
5. Both keep their company logo in the top left of the page with contact information in the top right hand of the page.

Some differences are: One is a service providing ideas and patterns in wallets and accessories of many kinds and the other  is more of an ordering provider to buy wallets and other things that they carry. I like how one gives examples and uses words to describe things along with pictures while the other site uses just images. Both are great because they display enough information to draw your attention to what they are showing.

Choosing a Host

15/15

It is important to do research into hosting sites to make sure you know what you are paying for and what functions that apply with that hosting with web builders and what not. Some provide more features than other. I looked into hostgator.com for my hosting services and found the following...


1-2. What is the monthly cost for your host? What is the minimum number of months required for the price stated? The monthly cost for hostgator.com depends on how long you want to stay with them and also the type of hosting that you want to have which can make your price go from about $3.96 a month with a 3 year service on the cheapest plan or if you go month to month it is $7.16.  The most expensive plan is $11.96 per month for the highest plan going month to month.3. Is the domain name included? The first domain on the cheapest plans allows one included or it you buy the higher package deal you can get unlimited. 
4. Is there an AdWords Credit amount?With hostgator.com you get $100 credit of AdWords with Google.
5. What type of support do they offer?  Local? Phone? Email only? Etc.   They offer phone and email but limited to what type of hosting plan you go with.
6. Will the host easily support your chosen site builder? What site builder did you choose? Gatorhost.com will support the site builder that I plan to use and that is going to be word press.

 

Website Builder/ Comparison

15/15
Website editors are quite unique and important for a simple business and they can be as simple and creative to difficult and complex depending on how you would like to use it. Thankfully there are easy website builders such as the drag and drop weebly.com ( which I have used in the past) and there is wix.com for those that like to design and build websites using a mac computer and there is webstarts.com which is similar to weebly in the drag and drop form but seems to have more template designs to choose from. There seem to be a lot of drag and drop website builders because no one wants to go through the difficult tasks of building a website with html and css and php and all the other applications that is needed to code a website.

• I like the drag and drop features of website builders because it makes it simple to create a site the way you want without having to type in a bunch of code to get it the way you want
• I like how with the web building sites that you can choose from a variety of templates and layouts to almost however you would like the page to look like.
• I like how you can build a nice website within an hour and have everything outlined the way you want it very quickly. 
• Normally the website builders are pretty affordable and worth the money to start the business
• Some websites have more functions than others and are easier to use than other.

It is important for me to know what website builder I will use because it can help promote what it is I want to sell or create. With this knowledge I will be able to determine what I can put on my page and the limitations that these web builders have between one another. 

Choosing a Business Idea - Web Business 250

15/15
Choosing a Business Idea - Web Business 250 

 It is interesting to me how many ideas there are out in the world to make a small or large fortune and how the internet can help bring in income. The greatest this I find interesting is that you dont have to be skilled in anything really. All you really need is the motivation and the exploration to broaden your horizon. 
It was cool to read about the many types of new things that people are creating these days and trying to promote and it only started or developed by one or two people working to get it all going. Sometimes people try different things that arent very common such as taking old things such as videos and pictures to be stored and shared in other places. There are several simple ways to start and create a business on the internet as well as several simple ideas for businesses. You can almost turn anything into a business including internet space and url names. Even dumb ideas such as diaper bags and antenna balls have huge sales and great wealth in the idea and products. 

• I loved how you can literal think of any idea and make it big no matter how dumb it sounds
• I love that there are thousands of ideas and success stories floating around the internet showing others that it is possible to make a career out of something so simple
• I love how they talk about how you dont necessarily need to be skilled to start up a business where you would like to explore and expand
• I loved reading the success stories that help turn an average Joe to someone that has lots of success and enjoys their job

I will incorporate the ideas and motivation of becoming successful as I take on the challenge to create a business that will push me to expand my horizons in the business life and generate income. I will remember even the dumbest ideas can be worth a pretty penny. 

Here is the Start up!

This is my start up and write blog of the process of starting my own business using the web and expanding it through ideas of myself and other.
 

(score 15/15)

Advice for Getting Started - Web Business 250 – Brother Gardner

Part A –

Thoughts on getting started (No Business Plan):

So when it comes to thinking of an idea for a business it is important to believe in yourself and not let others to talk you out of your idea even when it's close to what others have created. Reading the articles and descriptions of creating a business tells me that you just need to go for it and not give up. It's sometimes good to have a plan but you have to expect them to change but in all sense you should just go for it.

You also learn more from doing it rather than still planning it. Sometimes you just need to take new opportunities and just go with them unplanned. Also make use of the little things that you already have and you'll be surprised how far you can go. Keep things simple and try not to out do everything and everyone because it could lead to large problems down the road with structure and finances.

DO NOT limit yourself to the industries you already know, go beyond that and learn from the experience of doing rather from planning everything out. 

Surround yourself with people that are willing to help you become better, that is an important one to take in because everyone has their opinion and can either drag you down or they can lift you up and it could determine how successful you can become.

Try to collaborate and work together for new ideas on how things can be done and create ways for system that will push your company farther, this means that you must try new ways and not always will be successful.

• What I love is they say to keep it simple and not try to out do yourself 
• I love how they say just go and do and the plan will kind of come naturally instead of building a plan and wasting your time just lying around
• I liked also how it said to make use of the things that you already have
• I love how you should ignore the opinions of others when it comes to achieving what you want.

In my mind I plan to look back at these few helpful tips to create ideas to create a successful business, especially when it comes to starting with a simple idea. I want to remember to push myself and just go instead of always planning things out.