By Paula Serber Your website can be a digital brochure... or it can be a client grabbing marketing tool. Here are some basics you’ll want for the latter. 1. Good Domain Name  There are 2 schools of thought about domain names. On one hand, you can have a website with your business name in it. That is fine, especially if you are not interested in having a site that does nothing more than provide your business with an internet presence, the digital brochure. However a website with a domain name that includes your search terms, like PalmSpringsRealEstate.com, is one of the best things you ... [Readmore]

It’s 9:00 AM on Tuesday morning, do you know where your website is? Can you enter your keywords (the words people would use to search for your product or service, like “plumber” or “hair salon”) into Google and find your website? If you can’t, no one else can either. Ranking high in Google using SEO (Search Engine Optimization) is not easy, even for the experts. But if you have a business that serves your local area, you are in luck. Expose Yourself... er, Your Business with Google Places Google has a program called Google Places. Google has created a page for every local business ... [Readmore]

Can you think of a local business that does not need a website? How about the local dry cleaners? Why would they need a website? However, if the trend is towards consumers going to the computer rather than the phone book to look up local services, which they are, I think they need a website. Let me explain why.   In 2010, 20% of consumers used the internet to find local goods and services on the internet. Of course this trend will only grow as the younger generations who have never even seen a yellow pages book, and only know that internet ... [Readmore]

Per Google, one out of five searches on Google is related to location. That means consumers are searching for goods and services and adding a “local qualifier” to their search term. People are entering searches like “plumber San Diego”, with San Diego being the local qualifier. The trend is towards using the internet to find goods and service providers in their town or city. This is a trend we an expect to continue at a good clip as younger, computer-using generations become consumers.   Enter Google Places. Google Places is a part of Google Maps, if that means anything to anyone. What ... [Readmore]

You would have to be living under a rock to have never heard of FaceBook (no offense to under-rock dwellers). You may have heard that it, along with other social networks, is a the biggest trend in marketing and advertising. Well, it definitely is a trend, but I see so many people I the internet marketing field pushing FaceBook, Twitter and even LinkedIn as a way to get new clients. It is somewhat misleading to the un-indoctrinated.   What are social networks? Well, they are called “social” networks for a reason. They are for socializing, for connecting with old and new friends. ... [Readmore]