Archives for July 2022

Domain Name Best Practices For Personal or Business Branding

Being Instantly Recognized Online

A key aspect of building your personal or business brand online is being instantly recognizable through your business name or brand. This is why it is imperative for you to have a clear and unique business name, and register your matching domain name as soon as you can. Your business name and domain name, are ideally the same thing. This will help you build your brand and create consistency across your site and various online platforms. Even if you are not ready to start a website, registering your domain name right away, ensures that once you are prepared to move forward with a site, you will have that part already taken care of.

A key aspect of building your personal or business brand online is being instantly recognizable through your business name or brand. Click To Tweet

It is wise to buy your business name as a domain, as it will be how people find your business online, and tell you apart from others who may have similar offerings. You could look at your domain name as your online phone number. Through this unique string of characters people will easily and quickly find you on the internet, without having to rely on Google or other sources to find you. Not having a domain name is like not having a direct line to reach you, and that could hinder the growth and credibility of your business. The easier you make it for people to find you, the better results you will see in the long run. Purchasing and registering your domain name is one of the very first steps for getting your business online exposure through the creation of a blog or website.

Using a personal name or company name for your domain name?

Your domain name plays a crucial role in your overall branding strategy, so it is important to select your domain name based on your business goals and long term vision. A good tip is to double check that your chosen domain name is available as a twitter handle and Facebook page. This keeps your personal or business brand consistent across all networks and makes it easy for people to identify who you are. It is best practice to run your business under a business name, other than your personal name. This will set you up for future growth. If you intend on hiring people, and eventually having a team, it is easier to do when you have a business name that is not your personal name.

Your domain name plays a crucial role in your overall branding strategy, so it is important to select your domain name based on your business goals and long term vision. Click To Tweet

However, If you also want to register your own name and it is available I would highly recommend buying it as well. A good practice is to own your first and last name as a domain and point it back to your main company website to start out. This gives you the flexibility in case five years down the road you decide to change your mind about the direction or vision of your business. In going this route, you also have the advantage of building your business around your personal brand, which is a great idea for coaches, authors or speakers. This is not always the best route for other less personal, and more serious types of businesses.

Keep it simple and don’t make people think!

Domain names should be short, easy to spell, and easy to remember. I highly recommend .com’s or .nets and if neither is available .co can be a good alternative. Usually when people see a website with dashes in the name like social-media-today.com they instantly come off as less serious and less professional than domain names without dashes. Usually having symbols like dashes, or other non-letter characters can create confusion or frustration, as it is easier to misspell or mistype.

When the domain you want is already taken you can try to add words like : my, online, guide, or blog. If you are wanting a domain like simplewidget.com, and it is not available you can also try to look for plural alternatives like simplewidgets.com. Usually domain names that are clear and don’t need an explanation, will give you the best results. It’s good practice to keep it simple, and don’t make people think too much.

Usually domain names that are clear and don’t need an explanation, will give you the best results. Click To Tweet

There have been instances where people use cre8tive in their domain name for example, and that is not easy to read off over the phone. While this may seem fun, creative, and different, it can create confusion when you are explaining to someone, “ we are a creative agency, but creative is spelled with an 8 . . . ” that can potentially start you off in the wrong foot with a potential client. Simplicity pays off in the long run, so keep this in mind when buying and register your business domain name.

If you are having trouble finding a good one …

If you are just starting your business and you can’t find a domain name that you want, there are online resources that can help you find something that may otherwise show up as taken. Sometimes people register domains but are not using them and they may be thinking about letting them expire, or people could be open to selling domains they don’t use or need.

Godaddy has a database of domain names that have recently expired and are available to purchase, but they may not show up as available in the main search results. Check out godaddy’s domain auctions, but beware that some domain names could be considered “premium” and cost much more than a standard domain name that is available

There are some benefits of buying expired domain names that could potentially help your business. It is widely known that Google looks at the age of your domain for ranking purposes, as well as many other factors. If your domain has been registered for 7 years, it will carry more weight than a website with similar content that has only been registered for 2 years. Usually the domain name with the most age and backlinks will rank higher than newly registered domain names.

When you register a brand new domain name or an aged domain, it is recommend that you register your business domain name for at least 3 – 5 years. Again, Google tends to favor websites with domains that are registered for a long period of time, even if they were just purchased yesterday.

When you register a brand new domain name or an aged domain, it is recommend that you register your business domain name for at least 3 – 5 Click To Tweet

Another thing to keep in mind is if you want a private registration or a public one. Going with a public one means that your name, address, and e-mail can be published for people to find out who the domain name belongs to. If you are concerned about privacy, it would be best to go with a private registration.

When you register your business domain never pay the full price! Try to Google “ ( current month ) Godaddy promo code” and you will more than likely find promo codes where you can buy a domain name for $2.49 or less.

Look at your domain name, and website, it as a business investment, and branding tool that will help you build a sustainable business.

7 Proven Facts to build WordPress Websites that Work & Convert

Creating a WordPress website is not as easy as using a free theme, uploading some pictures and text, and then sitting around to wait for the sales to come in. As technology advances, web visitors have become more savvy and have a high expectations about who they do business with. If your WordPress website doesn’t follow these 7 guidelines, it could be the reason that you are not seeing significant traffic or sales.

Build your credibility using social proof

Building your credibility using social media can be very easy. Make sure that you are an active member of Facebook/ twitter/ meet-up or some other online community that your readers like and trust. For example if your WordPress website is about social media, make sure that you show buttons of how many people follow you on twitter and Facebook. If your target market is local, I would recommend using Meet-Up.com to build a local audience, and post your events on you WordPress website.

Don’t make people THINK!

As soon as visitors land on your website, if they don’t know what to do they will leave! So the message here is to be as clear as possible and keep your website clutter-free and ad free so that it is easy for your visitors to focus on your main offering. One big thing is to make sure that your website loads fast, visit http://tools.pingdom.com/fpt/ to check your website’s load time. Also make sure that your navigation is easy to read and follow, and use plenty of white space. The more that you make your visitors think, the less likely that they will stay on your website. Make it as simple as possible, remember KISS! Keep it simple silly!

Tell them what their pain is and how you can solve it

The simple fact that your visitor found your website means that they are looking for what you have, or a trusted friend sent them there. Now that they are there make sure that you connect with them and speak in their words. Tell them that you understand their pain, and that they are not alone, and how you can solve it. Remember to use emotion and explain what is in it for them.

Use the proper SEO to make your site visible

No matter how amazing and beautiful your website is, if nobody can find it, that does not do you or your target market any good. Make sure that you use the proper WordPress Plug-ins, as well as the right H1 tags, titles, keywords and tags to label your pages and posts. The All-In-One SEO pack and Platinum SEO plug-ins are both great to make sure that you use good SEO on each page. Using a good theme is also key because Google loves clean code and this single thing can boost your SEO. Also if you use images or videos make sure that they also have proper SEO settings.

Make your site EASY to share

One of the best things about WordPress is the huge community of people that are constantly reading and sharing content. Make sure that your website is easy to share using many social networks. I recommend using the “Share This” plugin to allow people to share your content on Twitter, Pinterest, Google+, LinkedIn and more. Make sure that you pick the “classic” widget as this allows people to share your content without ever having to leave your page. The easier you make it for people to share, the more likely that you will get social shares and more visibility you will get.

Show your face and personality Remember people buy things from people that they LIKE and TRUST, so don’t hide yourself behind an e-mail address. Show them your face, and that you are a real human being. Make it easy to contact you by letting them know that you are available to help them in more than one way. People have different comfort levels with varying communication channels, so let them know that they can reach you in more than one way.

Make the mobile experience seamless Keep in mind that not everyone that comes to your website will be using a desktop. It is good practice to use a responsive WordPress theme to allow viewers with tablets or smartphones to see your website. Keep the pages to a minimum and post the most important information on your first page. If you are a local business publish your map and phone number where it is easy to click and call or click and get directions.

Building value and transitioning from free information to paid education

education

Content Marketing and Value Building Go Hand in Hand

Content marketing success comes by strategically building and delivering valuable information to help solve people’s problems. The magic of this dynamic comes from the fact that people are already searching for the answers to their questions and your role is to be at the right place at the right time with the answers. Your goal should be to provide your target audience with information that can help to solve their problems relatively easily and quickly.

First, people need to learn to like and trust you

On the first layer of the process people are learning to like and trust you. When your audience sees the value in your content, some will be satisfied with your free solution, do it themselves and just stop. Most people will do nothing at all. And yet another group will be impressed with your knowledge and will be inspired to further explore what other problems you can solve for them. These are the people you need to focus on, nurture and aim to build relationships with.

Next you need an easily deliverable digital product

The next level of your funnel should be some kind of paid educational piece that is automated and easily deliverable without you! This can be in the form of a marketing email serious, webinars, videos, audios, any other kind of online material that makes them feel like you have personally delivered your promise on their expectation. This solution should solve a more complex problem and give them actionable steps they can take to see considerable results quickly. A lot of people’s curiosity will stop at this level, but the real avid fans will be looking to see what else you have to offer.

Getting close and personal

The next layer can include a one-on-one consultation, an offer to an event, or some other deliverable that involves getting in touch with you personally. At this point, people are willing to pay a much higher price because they believe in what you have to offer and they have already seem the amazing value that you have provided for them in the past.

Building a community and social proof

Offering an option to join a mastermind, a monthly meeting or some other form of membership website could be your next goal. Having loyal followers that can all congregate in one place delivers amazing value and also helps you build social proof. Since this is usually an ongoing monthly commitment, it is a great way to build relationships with loyal followers and create a community around your message or cause. Selling through teaching and building relationships This is a process from free information to paid education. It is built on content creation, engagement, and relationship building, with no shortcuts allowed. Each step is necessary and if you build out a platform without a product to offer, multiple ways to follow up, or other upgrades, you will be limited by the amount of people you can help on a one-on-one basis.

Continuously committing to deliver valuable content on a timely manner can help build your personal brand and establish you as an authority in your field. Also sharing your expertise and growing your business in this way can result in creating multiple streams of passive income and having a rewarding online career. Progress from being their leader to being their friend Through this process you can transition you from being a leader, and walking in front of others to point them in the right direction, to being their friend, walking next to them, listening to them, and making them feel included. When people see that you authentically care about them, and that you have their best interest in mind, it makes all the difference in the world.