By Whitney Lemon
Can you believe it’s almost 2015? The final blog post for the year recaps our favorite lessons that can help businesses grow and succeed online.
#1: Start with the website
The majority of today’s consumers start their shopping process online, so a company’s website may be the first interaction with the business. For businesses just starting out, review this lesson about choosing a domain name (your website address, or URL) and determining the goals of your website.
When building a website or making improvements to an existing site, pay attention to the header and footer, the top and bottom of the page. These are valuable areas for communicating important information about the business. Check out the blog post here.
To help create compelling text and images for a website, as well as some advanced tips on pages names, page descriptions and error pages (404 pages), read our post from last January.
#2: Use Google’s online tools to grow your business
Google offers a variety of online tools to help businesses grow online. Start with this introduction to Webmaster Tools, a free resource that helps you understand more about a website’s visibility on Google.
You can see what’s trending on Google search, and monitor your own business’s presence by using Google Trends and Google Alerts. This article explains how these free tools work.
Some businesses promote themselves by advertising on Google. If you’re not sure if this is the right approach for your business, check out this article to learn about AdWords and AdWords Express.
#3. Try email marketing and social media
Email marketing is one of the most effective ways to communicate with customers, prospects, and fans. If you want to learn about building your audience and creating emails that people will open and read, check out this lesson.
Social media websites like Google+ are a great way to communicate with your fans. If you’re new to social media and unsure how to get started, check out this lesson about hashtags. You’ll be a pro in no time.
We’re excited about 2015!
Please stay tuned for our January blog post. We’ll be announcing a new program to help more businesses be found on Google.
We hope you have a wonderful holiday season. If you’re already thinking about New Years’ resolutions, we suggest improving passwords for all your online accounts to increase online security. And yes, we have a lesson about that.
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Friday 15: Small Business Tips, is a series designed to help small businesses like yours make the most of their online presence.
You can read the full lessons and view more tips for growing your business online at www.gybo.com/friday15. Don’t forget to sign up to receive new lessons directly in your inbox, and make it a habit to grow your business online with Friday 15.
On behalf of the entire Get Your Business Online team, I wish you great success growing your business.
Whitney Lemon – Friday 15 Host, Google Small Business Engagement
BIO: Whitney hosts Friday 15: Small Business Tips, Google’s series to help small businesses succeed online, in 15 minutes or less. Friday 15 is part of Google’s Get Your Business Online program, providing small businesses with a custom domain name and web hosting- free for one year.