With over 55% of all online activity now coming from mobile devices such as smart phones, a mobile ready website has become a necessity, not an option.

Which site would you actually want your customers to see?

Why Your Business Needs a Mobile Ready Website

By:  Alex Mickus

 There was a time when shoppers patiently flipped through the phone book, hoping to find a business that could meet their shopping, dining, or service needs. Customers would often call different places and ask questions to narrow down where they should try, or maybe call friends and ask for recommendations.

For today’s modern consumer, those days are just a memory. Most businesses have been quick to understand how important it is to have an online presence if they want to stay competitive, but many businesses are missing out one particular aspect of their web site that customers are now demanding: mobile readiness. 

What Is a Mobile Website?

 A mobile website is a scaled down version of your actual website that is designed to be compatible with today’s advanced mobile devices that have internet access. Smartphones like the iPhone and Android models are prime examples of this technology.

 People’s Shopping Habits Have Changed

 It’s important to realize that the consumer of today has radically different shopping habits than the consumer of yesteryear.

 What we know about today’s customer is that he or she no longer turns to the phone book, or even the internet, to find places to eat, play, or shop. Instead, customers flip open their cell phones, boot up their iPads, or use a plethora of other web-enabled mobile devices to search for businesses, directions, and reviews. Often this is done while they are travelling and going about their daily routine.

 This is backed up by a recent study by the Pew Research Center which shows 35 per cent of all adults in the U.S.A. now own smartphones and 68 per cent of them use them to access the web each day.

Many business owners don’t realize that their site won’t show up correctly – or at all on mobile devices unless they have created a mobile version of their site. The sobering reality is that if you don’t have a mobile website you are essentially invisible to the modern consumer.

What are the Elements of a Good Mobile Website?

 Having a mobile website for your business is more than just creating a “miniature” version of your site — the process requires you to not only format information so that it can be properly displayed on a mobile device, it also requires that you understand how mobile browsers work.

 Today’s customer is used to getting the information he or she is looking for in seconds – not minutes. When you create your mobile website, it must be designed to display quickly – a process that takes a significant understanding of the requirements and capabilities of mobile devices.

Another factor in your mobile website is the fact that not all mobile devices are created equal. One customer may be looking for you on a device with a large screen, while the next one has to peer into a tiny window. What will your customer see when he or she pulls up information about your company?

 A properly designed mobile website will be compatible with all makes of mobile and smart phones. This ensures that all of your potential new customers will have the same experience when they view your mobile ready website. 

 The Bottom Line for Businesses

 It is no longer enough just to have a website for your business; now it must be mobile ready to attract the millions of mobile phone users. As a business owner you must go where people are and people are going mobile.

 Therefore, in order to attract this new breed of consumers who want to find you, you must have a properly designed, fast loading mobile site.

 Creating a good mobile website is a tricky process, which is why hiring a design company that understands how to create a mobile site may be the crucial difference between being found online and being left behind. Ask yourself this: when your customers are looking for you on their mobile web, will you have a mobile presence or will you be invisible?

 Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Alex_Mickus

 If you’re interested in learning more about how to make your website “mobile ready” or to learn more about  the emergence of Mobile Marketing and how it will affect your business  CLICK HERE  or contact us at 1-800-858-8889 and ask to speak with one of our Marketing Consultants for a FREE consultation.

If you’re not yet familiar with QR codes, they’re similar to the bar codes used by retailers to track inventory and price products at the point of sale. The same technology used to scan retail bar codes now exists because of advances in smart phone development, giving many cell phones the ability to utilize these Quick Response codes.

The key difference between the two codes is the amount of data they can hold or share. Quick Response codes contain a very large amount of information, and can connect potential customers to that information in way that is very new to the marketing world.

QR codes are becoming more popular because of the unique opportunities that they offer to advertisers and promoters. With a single coded image you can bring viewers audio and visual messages, schedules, event or product information, and even call them to active engagement with the material.

QR codes offer you many ways to help grow your business. The unlimited sharing ability of this technology makes it possible to view on t-shirts, billboards, posters, and other promotional material. It also works toward community building, bringing users together at a single destination, and linking them to each other through this unique venue of communication.

QR codes are also the most effective form of advertising via mobile phones. Advances in technology allow cell phone users to take and receive pictures, connect to the internet, and even receive special deals based on their GPS location. All of these features can be taken advantage of in order to create a successful marketing campaign that can be accessed with the press of a button.

Businesses find QR codes beneficial because they don’t require potential customers to remember a web address or a domain name. All they have to do is scan the code to gain access to your marketing material. And because this technology is permission based, not interruption based, you will be sure to gain the most exposure possible to the most interested and qualified audience.

So where can you get a QR code? There are several websites that will help convert your URL into a QR code for free. These sites include Kaywa, Qurify, Delivr. You can also use the Google URL Shortener if you have a shortened link.

If you have a mobile phone, there are also free applications that you can download that will allow you to create QR codes directly from your mobile device.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Avo_Mavilian

If you’re interested in learning more about
QR Codes and Mobile Marketing
Contact us at 1-800-858-8889 or
CLICK HERE for a FREE Consultation.

When using Facebook on a Business Level, you may have noticed the introduction to a new “Timeline” profile. On March 30th 2012 all your Pages will automatically get the new design.

Pages on Facebook gives a voice to any brand, business or organization to join the conversation with Facebook users. The new Pages introduced are for organizations, businesses, celebrities and bands to broadcast great information in an official, public manner to people who choose to connect with them.   Businesses and organizations can now express their identity through features like cover photo and Pages timeline (similar to Profiles Timelines).

Download the Pages Product Guide

Pages can be enhanced with applications that help the entity communicate and engage with their audiences, and capture new audiences virally through friend recommendations, News Feed stories, Facebook events, and beyond.   It also allows Pages to reach people on the web and mobile and respond to people in a quick, more personal way.

If you haven’t already done so, take a look at the new design:
http://www.facebook.com/about/pages

The new Facebook Pages design gives you the ability to:

• Add a unique cover photo to the top of your Page
• Star stories to make them bigger
• Pin posts to the top of your Page
• Add milestones to mark key events
• Arrange views and apps below your cover

You may be wondering what all this means to you and your existing Pages on Facebook…

For starters, it could mean the possibility of visual and content disarray if you aren’t prepared, not to mention the man-hours that you’ll need to learn the correct ways to get it all implemented properly.  AMS is here to help you take a step in the right direction.  You can call our office at 1-800-858-8889 to find out more on this pressing topic and arm yourself with the knowledge needed to keep your Pages on a competitive level.

Remember March 30th, 2012 your Pages are set to change whether you’re ready or not…

Facebook Resource Center:
Learn more by watching this short video: http://www.learnfacebookpages.com/

The recently updated Pages Terms make it more clear as to what is and isn’t allowed when you use Facebook’s Pages product. You can take a moment to read and understand the full terms here: http://www.facebook.com/page_guidelines.php

Best Practices for Pages: http://www.facebook.com/help?page=133956243386200

Most webpages are optimized by assigning those keywords to their pages. It is therefore important to choose the right keywords as the impact could be huge. Keyword selection is fundamental and integral to success when it comes to a website natural or organic ranking on the search engines.

But keywords are not just about SEO. Identification of the most import ant keywords for your company is essential so that you can effectively market your products and services to your target audience. Here is a guide which will provide you with some ideas when you are selecting keywords on which to build your online marketing.

The Importance of Using the Right Phrases in the Picking of SEO Keywords

Keywords are the most important SEO element for every search engine, they are what search strings are matched against. Choosing the right keywords to optimize for is thus the first and most crucial step to a successful SEO campaign. If you fail on this very first step, the road ahead is very bumpy and most likely you will only waste your time and money. There are many ways to determine which keywords to optimize for and usually the final list of them is made after a careful analysis of what the online population is searching for, which keywords have your competitors chosen and above all – which are the keywords that you feel describe your site best.

Keyword generation should start with a simple question of “What products or services do you sell?”

What to Avoid in Picking SEO Keywords

• Targeting keywords that are not used. Far too often companies select keywords that are so common in their corporate lives that they forget that not everyone uses corporate or insider jargon.
• Not paying attention to keyword appropriateness. Keyword popularity should not be confused with keyword appropriateness. Keyword popularity doesn’t always mean that it will be popular for your company. For extremely competitive keywords the PPC bid prices will be higher and achieving a top organic rank position will require more work because more competitors are targeting that phrase. An alternate approach, especially for a small business would be to pursue more focused, more relevant terms that are less popular, but be better choices because they return a higher conversion rate.
• Choosing single word keywords. In most cases, single terms are highly competitive and expensive, giving you a lower return rate than more focused phrases. The broadness of keywords rarely targets the right customers.
• Failing to check on competitors. Many companies select keywords and do not consider how competitors are ranking for those phrases on the web. Put potential keywords into google, yahoo, or whatever search engine and see how competitors’ sites are ranking for the keywords or phrases.
• Not reviewing keywords after implementing campaign. Reviewing keyword performance is key to knowing if your campaign is working or not. Keywords that are not performing well might need to be tweaked or dropped. It could indicate they are inappropriate to your campaign and your money would be better spent on different terms.

Keyword Tool

Well Google keyword Tool is a free tool provided by Google to help advertisers determine the search volume and other user behaviors related to keywords.

There are two versions of this tool, one is the Google External Keyword Tool. And the other one is the Internal Google Keyword tool.

Keyword Variation

One concern we hear frequently is whether it is beneficial or harmful to repeat keywords. In other words, should we vary keywords (cat food, kitten food) or repeat keywords (cat food reviews, cat food comparison, and cat food rankings.) The short answer is that the repetition is just fine, as long as the meaning of the phrase as a whole is sufficiently varied. In other words, cat food and cat food online are basically synonymous, and the content that one might expect to find associated with both keywords is the same. However, cat food reviews and cat food comparison indicate somewhat different content and therefore are appropriate to be used in tandem as keywords.

The more important concept to keep in mind is that you want to choose keywords that best relate to the content present on a web page and on a website; if you don’t have a cat food comparison matrix, then don’t bother including comparison-related keywords; you are misleading your users, and certainly not fooling Google. So in an ideal world, you do have a comparison section, a reviews section, and a rankings section, housed on different pages or sections of your site, with each one tagged with the appropriate keywords. Correspondingly, your SEO and PPC search engine marketing efforts should that content by driving review keywords to the review pages and so on.

It’s all about Content

Keywords should guide your overall content strategy. We have referred to this concept several times in the preceding tips, but it is important enough to leave as a final guiding paradigm.

Conventionally, we think linearly about content and keywords; we build a website, and then launch search engine marketing campaigns to drive users to our content.

To be greatly successful, content is key and we have to leverage the existing needs of the users, and use that knowledge to help us create the best possible user experience. That, in turn, will result in higher rankings, greater traffic, and a higher ROI from our marketing efforts.

Interested In SEO? Get The Competitive Edge And Find Out How To Become The #1 Online Authority In Your Market!

Sure, you know about Google Maps and Google Places. Google Maps is a free service from search engine giant, Google.  It provides map views, driving directions, and contact information about businesses and points of interest.  In search results, businesses show up beside a Google map first in the list, for searches including location-related terms (like city, street, or zip code).

Google Places is the service that you can use to put your business on Google Maps, with more content.  You can add photos, video, your web address, hours, categories, and more, to help local customers find you.

Google frequently fine-tunes and adjusts these services.  Google Places itself is recently re-named, formerly known as Google Local Business Center.

If you’re wondering how it all works, you’re not alone.  Let’s jump in and clear up some issues now:

Myth #1: Google Places and Google Maps is just the same information shown 2 ways.

Fact #1: Google Places helps people find business when searching a specific location. Maps helps people explore a geographic area many ways, including street views, business listings, and more.

Of Google Maps, Google says “Each business listing on Google is in fact a giant ‘cluster’ of information that we get from a few different places: Yellow Pages, for example, as well as other third-party providers. However, the basic information that you submit through Google Places is the information that we trust the most.”  So Maps and Places are not exactly the same thing.  Your Google Places is a listing that allows you to create, verify, and control the content describing your business.  But your business may be listed on Google Maps due to input from others.  The standard Maps link:  “Put your business on Google Maps” leads you to the Google Places service, where you can find, claim and edit an existing listing for your business.

Myth #2: You have to have a physical store to put your business on Google Maps

Fact #2: New in 2010, you don’t have to show your mailing address publicly in your Google Places Listing.

You can opt to show your service area instead.  The map pin looks like a dot instead of a pointed pin-type shape.  While Google requires a mailing address to create your listing, you have the option to keep that address private and show your service area instead.  This suits home-based businesses and those with no office address who want to get found in the local area.  If you don’t want a personal address broadcast to the world, you can keep that off line.

Myth #3: Unless I put myself in Google Maps, I won’t get a marker and my business won’t be listed there.

Fact #3: Google Maps pulls information from the community and other business directories, and aggregates it.

Some businesses find they are already have a marker and listing on Google maps.  Active Google Maps listings come in 2 types:  verified and unverified.  In a verified listing, Google and the business owner have completed a process that enables the business to claim and control much of the content of the listing.  Unverified listings are made from community data and aggregate data, and are not claimed or controlled by any one business owner.

Myth #4: The 7 pack, or the group of 7 listings beside a map at the top of the search results list in Google, is the way Google returns the best matches relevant to a local area.

Fact #4: Google also returns a 1 box, 2 pack or 3 pack listing.

While the 7 pack may be more familiar, Google does return listings in other groupings.  What kind of pack you get is not completely under your control.  Groupings depend on words people use to search:  Google matches location related words, like a zip code, city or place name in the query, and general terms, like “pizza” You will see 1, 2, 3 or 7 items next to a map at the top of the search results, depending on the number of place listings found to match in that area

Myth #5: You have to have a website to put your business on Google Maps

Fact #5: No website required.

Google requires a business name, mailing address and phone number.  Start with these, and you can make your business visible on Google Maps and Google Places.

Myth #6: There are many bigger businesses in my area doing the same thing — it’s too hard to get my business to show up near the top of the search results in the 7 pack.

Fact #6: There is a lot you can do to improve your ranking in Google Places.

For starters, make sure your business name includes a primary word for the type of work you do.  “Pop’s Market” might be too general. But by putting specific key words in your business listing, ” Pop’s Market: Organic produce and free range poultry.”  You have 60 characters.  Use them wisely.  (Optimizing your Google Places listing is a worthy subject unto itself.)

Myth #7: If I create my own listing in Google Places, I have complete control over the content.

Fact #7: You control some of the content, but not all of it.

Anyone can post a review of your products or services, on your listing.  Remember that Google Maps and Google Places listings are for the benefit of the community, not your business alone. Reviewers can say good and bad things about your company.  Reviews on the whole benefit your listing, because listings with review comments tend to rank better than listings without comments.

If you complete the process to verify your listing, you have the most control. You can post a description, hours, and assign categories, to help your site rank well in search results.  If a comment from the community violates Google’s guidelines for posting, you can ask to have it removed.

In Conclusion:

One of the best things you can do for your business is post a Google Places listing.  You’ll learn a lot from the weekly report of any clicks or impressions (appearances in search results) your listing gets as a result.  It’s not a substitute for your website, but gives a real boost to your visibility online, whether you have a website or not.

By Joanne Masterson
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com

To see if you and or your business has been indexed by Google and to request a consultation on Local Search Engine Marketing, enter your details below…

P.S. – Please don’t forget to do your part by forwarding this information to a deserving friend, family member or colleague who you think can benefit from this service. They’ll thank you for it later!